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THE 
 
 WHOLE  WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 / 
 
 THE  RIGHT  REV.  JEREMY  TAYLOR,  D.D. 
 
 LORD  BISHOP  OF  DOWN,  CONNOR,  AND  DROMORE: 
 
 AVITH 
 
 A  LIFE  OF  THE  AUTHOR, 
 
 AND 
 
 A  CRITICAL  EXAMINATION  OF  HIS  WRITINGS, 
 
 BY  THE 
 
 RIGHT  REV.  REGINALD  HEBER,  D.D. 
 
 I.ATE  LOUD  BISHOP  OF  CALCUTTA. 
 
 IN  F  I  F  T  E  E  N  V  O  L  U  M  E  S. 
 
 VOL.  VII. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED  FOR  C.  AND  J.  RI VINGTON  ;  T.  CADELL ;  LONGMAN, 
 REES,  ORME,  BROWN,  AND  GREEN  ;  J.  BOOKER  ;  J.  RICHARD. 
 SON;  HATCHARD  AND  SON;  R.  H.  EVANS;  J.  DUNCAN; 
 J.  COCHRAN  ;  J.  PARKER,  OXFORD  ;  AND  J.  AND  J.  J.  DEIGH- 
 TON,  CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 1828. 
 
LONDOK : 
 
 Printed  by  W.  Clowes,  Stamford-Stteet. 
 
THE 
 
 WHOLE  WOIIKS 
 
 OF  THE 
 
 EIGHT  REV.  JEREMY  TAYLOR,  D.  D. 
 
 LORD  JUS  HOP  OF  VOWN,  CONXOR,  AND  DKOMURr.. 
 
 VOLUME  VII. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED;  AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUniORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS 
 OF  LITURGV;  AND  A  DISCOURSE  ON  THE  LIBERTY 
 OP  PROPHESYING. 
 
OF 
 
 THE  SEVENTH  VOLUME. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Of  the  Sacred  Order  a\d  Offices  of  Episcopacy  ...  3 
 SECTION  I. 
 
 Christ  did  institute  a  Government  in  his  Church    ....  7 
 SECTION  II. 
 
 This  Government  was  first  committed  to  tlic  Apostles  by  Christ .   .  10 
 
 SECTION  III. 
 With  a  Power  of  joining  others,  and  appointing  Successors  in  the 
 
 Apostolatc       .      ,  11 
 
 SECTION  IV. 
 
 The  Succession  into  the  ordinary  Office  of  Apostolatc  is  made  by 
 
 Bishops  13 
 
 SECTION  V. 
 
 And  Office   17 
 
 SECTION  VI. 
 
 Which  Christ  himself  hath  uuidc  distinct  from  Presbyters     .       ,  J8 
 
 SECTION  VII. 
 Giving  to  ApostUis  a  power  to  do  some  Offices  perpetually  neces- 
 sary, which  to  others  he  gave  not  I9 
 
 a  2 
 
IV  CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION  vm 
 
 And  Confirmation  
 
 SECTION  IX. 
 
 And  superiority  of  Jurisdiction  27 
 
 SECTION  X. 
 
 So  tliat  Bishops  are  Successors  in  the  Office  of  Apostleship,  accord- 
 
 ini,'  to  the  ^-eiieral  Tenet  of  Antiquity  37 
 
 SECTION  XI. 
 
 And  particularly  of  St,  Peter  41 
 
 SECTION  XII. 
 And  the  Institution  of  Episcopacy,  as  well  as  the  Apostolate,  ex- 
 pressed to  be  Divine,  by  primitive  Authority     ....  46 
 
 SECTION  XIII. 
 In  pursuance  of  the  Divine  Institution,  the  Apostles  did  ordain 
 
 Bishops  in  several  Churches  51 
 
 SECTION  XIV. 
 St.  Timothy,  at  Ephesus  56 
 
 SECTION  XV. 
 
 St.  Titus,  at  Crete  63 
 
 SECTION  XVI. 
 
 St.  Mark,  at  Alexandria  69 
 
 SECTION  XVII. 
 St.  Linus  and  St.  Clement,  at  Rome  71 
 
 SECTION  XVIII. 
 St.  Polycarp,  at  Smyrna,  and  divers  others  72 
 
 SECTION  XIX. 
 So  that  Episcopacy  is,  at  least,  an  Apostolical  Ordinance ;  of  the 
 
 same  Authoi-ity  with  many  other  Points  generally  believed.       .  74 
 
 SECTION  XX. 
 
 And  was  an  Office  of  Power  and  g  reat  Authority         ...  76 
 
 22 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 V 
 
 SECTION  xxr. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Nol  Lessened  by  Uic  Assistance  and  Counsel  of  Presbyters  .       .  77 
 
 SECTION  XXII. 
 And  all  tliis  liath  been  the  Faith  and  Practice  of  Christendom      .  91 
 
 SECTION  XXIII. 
 Who  first  distinguished  Names,  used  before  in  common       .       .  93 
 
 SECTION  XXIV. 
 
 Appropriating  the  word  '  Episcopus'  or  Bishop  to  the  Supreme 
 
 Church-officer   .       .  101 
 
 SECTION  XXV. 
 
 Calling'  the  Bishop,  and  Hini  only,  the  Pastor  of  the  Church        .  106 
 
 SECTION  XXVI. 
 And  Doctor  108 
 
 SECTION  XXVII. 
 AndPontifex  109 
 
 SECTION  XXVIII. 
 And  these  were  a  distinct  Order  from  the  rest      .       .      .  .113 
 
 SECTION  XXIX. 
 To  which  the  Presbytcrate  was  but  a  Degree       .       .       .  .116 
 
 SECTION  XXX. 
 There  being  a  peculiar  Manner  of  Ordination  to  a  Bishopric       .     1 17 
 
 SECTION  xxxr. 
 
 To  which  Presbyters  never  did  assist  by  imposing  Hands     .       .  120 
 
 SECTION  XXXII. 
 
 For  Bishops  had  a  Power  distinct  and  superior  to  that  of  Pres- 
 byters.   As  of  Ordination  127 
 
 SECTION  XXXIII. 
 
 And  (Jonfiniialion  143 
 
vi 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION  XXXIV.  lAGE 
 
 And  JurisdicUou.  Which  they  expressed  in  Atlributcb  of  Authority 
 and  great  Power  131 
 
 SECTION  XXXV. 
 
 Requiring-  Universal  Obedience  to  be  given  to  Bishops  by  Clergy 
 and  Laity       .       .       •  154 
 
 SECTION  XXXVI. 
 
 Appointing  them  to  be  Judges  of  the  Clergy  and  Spiritual  Causes 
 of  the  Laity  139 
 
 SECTION  XXXVII. 
 Forbidding  Presbyters  to  officiate  without  Episcopal  License       .  180 
 
 SECTION  XXXVIII. 
 Reserving  Church-Goods  to  Episcopal  Dispensation    .       .       .  190 
 
 SECTION  XXXIX. 
 
 Forbidding  Presbyters  to  leave  their  own  Diocese,  or  to  travel, 
 
 without  leave  of  the  Bishop  191 
 
 SECTION  XL. 
 
 And  the  Bishop  had  Power  to  prefer  which  of  liis  Clerks  he  pleased  192 
 SECTION  XLI. 
 
 Bishops  only  did  vote  in  Councils,  and  neither  Presbyters  nor  People  203 
 
 SECTION  XLII. 
 And  the  Bishop  had  a  Propriety  in  the  Persons  of  his  Clerks       .  210 
 
 SECTION  XLIII. 
 Their  Jurisdiction  was  over  many  Congregations,  or  Parishes      .  212 
 
 SECTION  XLIV. 
 And  was  aided  by  Presbyters,  but  not  impaired    ....  223 
 
 SECTION  XLV. 
 
 So  that  the  Government  of  the  Church  by  Bishops  was  believed 
 necessary   232 
 
CONTENTS.  vii 
 
 SECTION  XLVI.  PACK 
 For  they  are  Schismatics,  that  separate  from  their  Bishop    .      .  235 
 
 SECTION  XLVII. 
 And  Heretics  237 
 
 SECTION  XLVIII. 
 And  Bishops  were  always  in  the  Church,  Men  of  great  Honour     .  241 
 
 SECTION  XLIX. 
 And  trusted  with  Affairs  of  Secular  Interest      ....  252 
 
 SECTION  L, 
 
 And  therefore  were  enforced  to  delegate  the  Power,  and  put  others 
 
 in  Substitution  266 
 
 SECTION  LI. 
 
 But  they  were  ever  Clergymen,  for  there  never  were  any  Lay  Elders 
 
 in  any  Church-Office  heard  of  in  the  Churcli     ...  269 
 
 TITLES  OF  THE  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED  AND 
 SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 The  Author's  Preface  to  the  Apology  for  Authorized  and  Set  Forms 
 
 of  Liturgy   283 
 
 A  Letter  from  Jeremy  Taylor,  D.  D.,  addressed  to  Bishop  Leslie  315 
 
 An  Apology  for  Authorized  and  Set  Forms  ol'  Liturgy        .       .  319 
 
 Question  I.   321 
 
 Question  II.   344 
 
v5ii 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 TITLES  OF  THE  ©EOAOriA  EKAEKTIKH. 
 
 A  Discourse  on  tlie  Libci-ty  of  Prophesying,  witli  its  just  Limits  page 
 and  Temper  439 
 
 SECTION  I. 
 
 Of  the  Nature  of  Faith,  and  that  its  Duty  is  completed  in  believing 
 tlie  Article  of  tlie  Apostles' Creed  443 
 
 SECTION  II. 
 
 Of  Heresy,  and  the  Nature  of  it ;  and  that  it  is  to  be  accounted 
 according-  to  the  strict  Capacity  of  Christian  Faith,  and  not  in 
 Opinions  speculative,  nor  ever  to  pious  Persons        .       .       .  450 
 
 SECTION  III. 
 
 Of  the  Difficulty  and  Uncertainty  of  Arguments  from  Scripture,  in 
 Questions  not  simply  necessary,  not  literally  determined  .       .  49G 
 
THSOLOL. 
 GENERAL  DEDICATION 
 
 TO 
 
 THE  POLEMICAL  DISCOURSES. 
 
 TO 
 
 THE  RIGHT  HONOURABLE 
 
 AND  TRULY  NOBLE 
 
 CHRISTOPHER  LORD  HATTON, 
 
 BARON  HATTON  OF  KIRBY, 
 
 PRIVY  COUNCILLOR  AND  COMPTROLLER  OF  THK  HOUSEHOLD  TO 
 HIS  LATE  MAJESTY, 
 AND  KNIGHT  OF  THE  HONOURABLE  ORDER  OP  THE  BATH. 
 
 MY  LORD, 
 
 AVhen  we  .  make  books  and  publish  them,  and  by 
 dedications  implore  the  patronage  of  some  worthy 
 person,  I  find  by  experience  that  we  cannot  acquire 
 that  end,  which  is  pretended  to  by  such  addresses ; 
 for  neither  friendship  nor  power,  interest  or  favour, 
 can  give  those  defences  to  a  book,  which  it  needs : 
 because  the  evil  fortune  of  books  comes  from  causes 
 discernible  indeed,  but  irremediable  ;  and  the  breath 
 of  the  people  is  like  the  voice  of  an  exterminating 
 angel,  not  so  killing  but  so  secret.  But  that  is  not 
 all ;  it  is  also  as  contingent  as  the  smiles  of  an 
 
 VOL.  VII.  B 
 
X  DEDICATION. 
 
 infant,  or  the  fall  of  a  die,  which  is  determined  by 
 every  part  of  motion,  which  can  be  in  any  part  of 
 the  hand  or  arm.  For  when  I  consider  that  the 
 infinite  variety  of  understandings  is  greater  than 
 that  of  faces,  not  only  because  the  lines  that  make 
 our  faces  are  finite,  but  the  things  that  integrate  and 
 actuate  the  understanding,  are  not  ;  but  also  be- 
 cause every  man  hath  a  face,  but  every  man  hath 
 not  understanding  ;  and  men  with  their  understand- 
 ings, or  with  their  no  understandings,  give  their  sen- 
 tence upon  books,  not  only  before  they  understand 
 all,  not  only  before  they  read  all,  but  before  they 
 read  three  pages,  receiving  their  information  from 
 humour  or  interest,  from  chance  or  mistake,  from 
 him  that  reads  in  malice,  or  from  him  that  reads 
 after  dinner  ;  I  find  it  necessary  that  he  that  writes, 
 should  secure  himself,  and  his  own  reputation,  by 
 all  the  ways  of  prudence  and  religion ;  that  God, 
 who  takes  care  of  fame  as  certainly  as  of  lives, 
 may  do  that  which  is  best  in  this  instance ;  for  no 
 other  patron  can  defend  him  that  writes  from  him 
 that  reads,  and  understands  either  too  much  or  too 
 little.  And  therefore,  my  Lord,  I  could  not  choose 
 you  to  be  the  patron  of  my  book,  upon  hopes  you 
 can,  by  greatness  or  interest,  secure  it  against  the 
 stings  of  insects  and  imperfect  creatures ;  nothing 
 but  Domitian's  style  can  make  them  harmless ;  but 
 
DEDICATION.  Xl 
 
 I  can,  from  your  wisdom  and  your  learning,  the  great 
 reputation  you  have  abroad,  and  the  honour  you 
 have  at  home,  hope  that,  for  the  relation  sake,  some 
 will  be  civil  to  it,  at  least  until  they  read  it,  and 
 then  I  give  them  leave  to  do  what  they  please,  for  I 
 am  secure  enough  in  all  this ;  because  my  writings 
 are  not  intended  as  a  stratagem  for  noises ;  I  in- 
 tend to  do  not  only  what  is  good,  but  what  is  best ; 
 and  therefore  I  am  not  troubled  at  any  event,  so 
 I  may  but  justly  hope  that  God  is  glorified  in  the 
 ministration:  but  he  that  seeks  any  thing  but  God's 
 service,  shall  have  such  a  reward  as  will  do  him  no 
 good. 
 
 But  finding  nothing  reasonable  in  the  expecta- 
 tion that  the  dedication  should  defend  the  book, 
 and  that  the  gate  should  be  a  fortification  to  the 
 house,  I  have  sometimes  believed  that  most  men 
 intend  it  to  other  purposes  than  this,  and  that, 
 because  they  design  or  hope  to  themselves  (at  least 
 at  second  hand)  an  artificial  immortality,  they  would 
 also  adopt  their  patron  or  their  friend  into  a  partici- 
 pation of  it ;  doing  as  the  Caesars  did,  who,  taking 
 a  partner  to  the  empire,  did  not  divide  the  honour 
 or  the  power,  but  the  ministration.  But  in  this 
 also  I  find,  that  this  address  to  your  Lordship  must 
 be  destitute  of  any  material  event,  not  only  because 
 
 you  have  secured  to  yourself  a  great  name  in  all 
 
 B  s 
 
Xii  DEDICATION. 
 
 the  registers  of  honour,  by  your  skill  and  love  to  all 
 things  that  are  excellent,  but  because,  of  all  men  in 
 the  world,  I  am  the  unfittest  to  speak  those  great 
 things  of  your  Lordship,  which  your  worthiness  must 
 challenge  of  aU  that  know  you.  For,  though  I  was 
 wooed  to  love  and  honour  you  by  the  beauties  of 
 your  virtue,  and  the  sweetness  of  your  disposition, 
 by  your  worthy  employments  at  court,  and  your 
 being  so  beloved  in  your  country,  by  the  value 
 your  friends  put  upon  you,  and  the  regard  that 
 strangers  paid  to  you,  by  your  zeal  for  the  church, 
 and  your  busy  care  in  the  promoting  all  worthy 
 learnings,  by  your  religion  and  your  nobleness  ;  yet 
 when  I  once  came  into  a  conversation  with  these 
 excellencies,  I  found  from  your  Lordship  not  only 
 the  example  of  so  many  virtues,  but  the  expressions 
 of  so  many  favours  and  kindnesses  to  my  person, 
 that  I  became  too  much  interested  to  look  upon 
 you  with  indiflferency,  and  too  much  convinced  of 
 your  worthiness  to  speak  of  it  temperately  ;  and 
 therefore  I  resolve  to  keep  where  I  am,  and  to  love 
 and  enjoy  what  I  am  so  unfit  to  publish  and  ex- 
 press. 
 
 But,  my  Lord,  give  me  leave  to  account  to  you 
 concerning  the  present  collection  ;  and  I  shall  no 
 otherwise  trouble  your  Lordship  than  I  do  almost 
 every  day,  when  my  good  fortune  allows  me  the 
 
DEDICATION.  xiii 
 
 comfort  and  advantages  of  your  conversation.  The 
 former  impressions  of  these  books  being  spent,  and 
 the  v^orld  being  vv^illing  enough  to  receive  more  of 
 them,  it  was  thought  fit  to  draw  into  one  volume  * 
 all  these  lesser  books,  which  at  several  times  were 
 made  public,  and  which,  by  some  collateral  improve- 
 ments they  were  to  receive  now  from  me,  might  do 
 some  more  advantages  to  one  another,  and  better 
 struggle  with  such  prejudices,  with  which  any  of 
 them  hath  been  at  any  time  troubled.  For,  though 
 I  have  great  reason  to  adore  the  goodness  of  God, 
 in  giving  that  success  to  my  labours,  that  I  am 
 also  obliged  to  the  kindness  of  men  for  their 
 friendly  acceptance  of  them;  yet  when  a  perse- 
 cution did  arise  against  the  church  of  England, 
 and  that  I  intended  to  make  a  defensative  for  my 
 brethren  and  myself,  by  pleading  for  a  liberty  to 
 our  consciences  to  persevere  in  that  profession, 
 which  was  warranted  by  all  the  laws  of  God  and 
 our  superiors,  some  men  were  angry  and  would 
 not  be  safe  that  way,  because  I  had  made  the  roof 
 of  the  sanctuary  so  wide  that  more  might  be  shel- 
 tered under  it  than  they  had  a  mind  should  be 
 saved  harmless :  men  would  be  safe  alone,  or  not 
 at  all,  supposing  that  their  truth  and  good  cause 
 
 •This  and  some  other  expressions  in  this  DedicalioDj  refer  to  the  folio 
 edition. — Ed. 
 
Xiv  DEDICATION. 
 
 was  warranty  enough  to  preserve  itself;  and  they 
 thought  true ;  it  was  indeed  warranty  enough  against 
 persecution,  if  men  had  believed  it  to  be  truth ; 
 but  because  we  were  fallen  under  the  power  of  our 
 worst  enemies,  (for  brethren  turned  enemies  are 
 ever  the  most  implacable,)  they  looked  upon  us  as 
 men  in  mispersuasion  and  error;  and  therefore  I 
 was  to  defend  our  persons,  that  whether  our  cause 
 were  right  or  wrong,  (for  it  would  be  supposed 
 wrong,)  yet  we  might  be  permitted  in  liberty  and 
 impunity.  But  then  the  consequent  would  be  this : 
 that  if  we,  when  we  were  supposed  to  be  in  error, 
 were  yet  to  be  indemnified,  then  others  also,  whom 
 we  thought  as  ill  of,  were  to  rejoice  in  the  same 
 freedom,  because  this  equality  is  the  great  instru- 
 ment of  justice;  and  if  we  would  not  do  to  others 
 as  we  desired  should  be  done  to  us,  we  were  no 
 more  to  pretend  religion,  because  we  destroy  the 
 law  and  the  prophets.  Of  this  some  men  were  im- 
 patient; and  they  would  have  all  the  world  spare 
 them,  and  yet  they  would  spare  nobody.  But  be- 
 cause this  is  too  unreasonable,  I  need  no  excuse 
 for  my  speaking  to  other  purposes.  Others  com- 
 plained that  it  would  have  evil  effects,  and  all 
 heresies  would  enter  at  the  gate  of  toleration;  and 
 because  I  knew  that  they  would  crowd  and  throng 
 in  as  far  as  they  could,  I  placed  such  guards  and 
 
DEDICATION.  XV 
 
 restraints  there  as  might  keep  out  all  unreasonable 
 pretenders ;  allowing  none  to  enter  here  that  speak 
 against  the  apostles'  creed,  or  weakened  the  hands  of 
 government,  or  were  enemies  to  good  life. 
 
 But  the  most  complained,  that,  in  my  ways  to 
 persua<de  a  toleration,  I  helped  some  men  too  far, 
 and  that  I  armed  the  anabaptists,  with  swords  in- 
 stead of  shields,  with  a  power  to  offend  us  besides 
 the  proper  defensatives  of  their  own.  To  this  I 
 shall  need  no  reply  but  this :  I  was  to  say  what 
 I  could  to  make  their  persons  safe,  by  showing 
 how  probably  they  were  deceived  ;  and  they  who 
 thought  it  too  much,  had  either  too  little  confidence, 
 or  too  little  knowledge  of  the  goodness  of  their  own 
 cause ;  and  yet,  if  any  one  made  ill  use  of  it,  it  was 
 more  than  I  allowed  or  intended  to  him ;  but  so  all 
 kindness  lma.y  be  abused.  But  if  a  criminal  be 
 allowed  counsel,  he  would  be  scorned  if  he  should 
 avow  his  advocate  as  a  real  patron  of  his  crime, 
 when  he  only  says  what  he  can,  to  alleviate  the 
 sentence.  But  wise  men  understand  the  thing,  and 
 are  satisfied.  But  because  all  men  are  not  of  equal 
 strength,  I  did  not  only,  in  a  discourse  on  purpose, 
 demonstrate  the  true  doctrine  in  that  question,  but 
 I  have  now,  in  this  edition  of  that  book,  answered 
 all  their  pretensions,  not  only  fearing  lest  some  be 
 hurt  with  their  offensive  arms,  but  lest  others,  like 
 
XVi  DEDICATION. 
 
 Tarpeia,  the  Roman  lady,  be  oppressed  with  shields, 
 and  be  brought  to  think  Avell  of  their  cause  by  my 
 pleading  for  their  persons. 
 
 And  now,  my  Lord,  I  have  done  all  that  I  can 
 do  or  can  be  desired,  only  I  cannot  repent  me  of 
 speaking  truth,  or  doing  charity  ;  but  when  the  loins 
 of  the  presbytery  did  lie  heavy  upon  us,  and  were 
 like  to  crush  us  into  flatness  and  death,  I  ought 
 not  to  have  been  reproached  for  standing  under  the 
 ruin,  and  endeavouring  to  defend  my  brethren  ;  and 
 if  I  had  strained  his  arm,  whom  I  was  lifting  up  from 
 drowning,  he  should  have  deplored  his  own  necessity, 
 and  not  have  reproved  my  charity,  if  I  say  I  had  been 
 too  zealous  to  preserve  them,  whom  I  ought  to  love 
 so  zealously. 
 
 But  I  have  been  told,  that  my  discourse  of  episco- 
 pacy, relying  so  much  upon  the  authority  of  fathers 
 and  councils,  whose  authority  I  so  much  diminish  in 
 my  liberty  of  prophesying,  I  seem  to  pull  down  with 
 one  hand  what  I  build  with  the  other :  to  these  men 
 I  am  used  to  answer,  that  they  ought  not  to  wonder 
 to  see  a  man  pull  down  his  out-houses,  to  save  his 
 father  and  his  children  from  the  flames ;]  and,  there- 
 fore, if  I  had  wholly  destroyed  the  topic  of  ecclesias- 
 tical antiquity,  which  is  but  an  outward  guard  to  epis- 
 copacy, to  preserve  the  whole  ecclesiastical  order,  I 
 might  have  been  too  zealous,  but  in  no  other  account 
 
DEDICATION.  XVU 
 
 culpable ;  but,  my  Lord,  I  have  done  nothing  of  this, 
 as  they  mistake. 
 
 For  episcopacy  relies,  not  upon  the  authority  of 
 fathers  and  councils,  but  upon  Scripture,  upon  the 
 institution  of  Christ,  or  the  institution  of  the  apos- 
 tles, upon  an  universal  tradition,  and  an  universal 
 practice,  not  upon  the  words  and  opinions  of  the 
 doctors:  it  hath  as  great  a  testimony  as  Scripture 
 itself  hath ;  and  it  is  such  a  government,  as  although 
 every  thing  in  antiquity  does  minister  to  it,  and 
 illustrate  or  confirm  it ;  yet,  since  it  was  before 
 the  fathers  and  councils,  and  was  in  full  power 
 before  they  had  a  being,  and  they  were  made  up  of 
 bishops  for  the  most  part,  they  can  give  no  authority 
 to  themselves,  as  a  body  does  not  beget  itself,  or 
 give  strength  to  that  from  whence  themselves  had 
 warranty,  integrity,  and  constitution.  We  bring  the 
 sayings  of  the  fathers  in  behalf  of  episcopacy, 
 because  the  reputation  they  have  justly  purchased 
 from  posterity,  prevails  with  some,  and  their  reason 
 with  others,  and  their  practice  with  very  many ; 
 and  the  pretensions  of  the  adversaries  are  too  weak 
 to  withstand  that  strength ;  but  that  episcopacy  de- 
 rives from  a  higher  fountain,  appears,  by  the  jus- 
 tifications of  it,  against  them  who  value  not  what 
 the  fathers  say.  But  now,  he  that  says  that  epis- 
 copacy, besides  all  its  own  proper  grounds,  hath 
 
XViii  DEDICATION. 
 
 also  the  witness  of  antiquity,  to  have  descended 
 from  Christ  and  his  apostles ;  and  he  that  says,  that, 
 in  questions  of  religion,  the  sayings  of  the  fathers 
 alone  is  no  demonstration  of  faith,  does  not  speak 
 things  contradictory.  He  that  says  that  we  may 
 dissent  from  the  fathers,  when  we  have  a  reason 
 greater  than  that  authority,  does  no  way  oppose 
 him  that  says,  you  ought  not  to  dissent  from  what 
 they  say,  when  you  have  no  reason  great  enough 
 to  outweigh  it.  He  that  says  the  words  of  the 
 fathers  are  not  sufficient  to  determine  a  nice  question, 
 stands  not  against  him,  who  says  they  are  excel- 
 lent corroboratives  in  a  question  already  determined 
 and  practised  accordingly.  He  that  says,  the  say- 
 ings of  fathers  are  no  demonstration  in  a  question, 
 may  say  true ;  and  yet  he  that  says,  it  is  a  degree 
 of  probability,  may  say  true  too.  He  that  says  they 
 are  not  our  masters,  speaks  consonantly  to  the  words 
 of  Christ;  but  he  that  denies  them  to  be  good  in- 
 structors, does  not  speak  agreeably  to  reason  or  to 
 the  sense  of  the  church.  Sometimes  they  are  ex- 
 cellent arbitrators,  but  not  always  good  judges :  in 
 matters  of  fact  they  are  excellent  witnesses;  in 
 matters  of  right  or  question  they  are  rare  doctors, 
 and  because  they  bring  good  arguments,  are  to  be 
 valued  accordingly ;  and  he  that  considers  these 
 things,  will  find  that  ecclesiastical  antiquity  can  give 
 
DEDICATION.  Xix 
 
 very  great  assistances  to  episcopal  government,  and 
 yet  be  no  warranty  for  tyrannical;  and  although 
 even  the  sayings  of  the  fathers  is  greater  war- 
 ranty for  episcopacy,  and  weighs  more  than  all  that 
 can  be  said  against  it;  yet,  from  thence  nothing 
 can  be  drawn  to  warrant  to  any  man  an  empire 
 over  consciences  ;  and,  therefore,  as  the  probability 
 of  it  can  be  used  to  one  effect,  so  the  fallibility  of  it 
 is  also  of  use  to  another;  but  yet  even  of  this  no 
 man  is  to  make  any  use  in  general,  but  when  he  hath 
 a  necessity  and  a  greater  reason  in  the  particular; 
 and  I,  therefore,  have  joined  these  two  books  in  one 
 volume,  because  they  differ  not  at  all  in  the  design, 
 nor  in  the  real  purposes,  to  which,  by  their  variety, 
 they  minister. 
 
 I  will  not  pretend  to  any  special  reason  of  the 
 inserting  any  of  the  other  books  into  this  volume ;  it 
 is  the  design  of  my  bookseller  to  bring  all  that  he 
 can  into  a  like  volume ;  excepting  only  some  books 
 of  devotion,  which,  in  a  lesser  volume,  are  more  fit 
 for  use.  As  for  the  Doctrine  and  Practice  of  Re- 
 pentance, which,  because  I  suppose  it  may  so  much 
 contribute  to  the  interest  of  a  good  life,  and  is  of 
 so  great  and  so  necessary  consideration  to  every 
 person  that  desires  to  be  instructed  in  the  way  of 
 godliness,  and  would  assure  his  salvation  by  all 
 means  ;  I  was  willing  to  publish  it  first  in  the  lesser 
 
XX 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 volume,  that  men  might  not,  by  the  increasing  price 
 of  a  larger,  be  hindered  from  doing  themselves  the 
 greatest  good  to  which  I  can  minister  ;  which  I  hum- 
 bly suppose  to  be  done,  I  am  sure  I  intended  to  have 
 done,  in  that  book. 
 
 And  now,  my  Lord,  I  humbly  desire,  that  although 
 the  presenting  this  volume  to  your  Lordship  can 
 neither  promote  that  honour,  which  is  and  ought  to 
 be  the  greatest,  and  is,  by  the  advantages  of  your 
 worthiness,  already  made  public,  nor  obtain  to  itself 
 any  security  or  defence  from  any  injury,  to  which, 
 without  remedy,  it  must  be  exposed;  yet  if  you 
 please  to  expound  it  as  a  testimony  of  that  great 
 value  I  have  for  you,  though  this  signification  is  too 
 little  for  it,  yet  I  shall  be  at  ease  awhile,  till  I  can 
 converse  with  your  Lordship,  by  something  more  pro- 
 portionable to  those  greatest  regards  which  you  have 
 merited  of  mankind ;  but  more  especially  of. 
 
 My  Lord, 
 
 Your  Lordship's  most  aflfectionate  Servant, 
 
 JER.  TAYLOR. 
 
TO 
 
 THE  TRULY  WORTHY, 
 
 AND  MOST  ACCOMPLISHED 
 
 SIR  CHRISTOPHER  HATTON, 
 
 KNIOHT  OP  THE  HONOURABLE  ORDER  OF  THE  BATH. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I  AM  engaged  in  the  defence  of  a  great  truth,  and 
 I  would  wilHngly  find  a  shroud  to  cover  myself  from 
 danger  and  calumny  ;  and  although  the  cause  both  is, 
 and  ought  to  be,  defended  by  kings,  yet  my  person 
 must  not  go  thither  to  sanctuary,  unless  it  be  to 
 pay  my  devotion,  and  I  have  now  no  other  left  for 
 my  defence;  I  am  robbed  of  that  which  once  did 
 bless  me,  and  indeed  still  does  (but  in  another 
 manner),  and  I  hope  will  do  more  ;  but  those  dis- 
 tillations of  celestial  dews  are  conveyed  in  channels 
 not  pervious  to  an  eye  of  sense,  and  now-a-days  we 
 seldom  look  with  other,  be  the  object  never  so 
 beauteous  or  alluring.     You  may  then  think,  Sir, 
 I  am  forced  upon  you ;  may  that  beg  my  pardon 
 and  excuse ;  but  I  should  do  an  injury  to  your 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 nobleness,  if  I  should  only  make  you  a  refuge  for 
 my  need  (pardon  this  truth) ;  you  are  also  of  the 
 fairest  choice,  not  only  for  your  love  of  learning, 
 (for  although  that  be  eminent  in  you,  yet  it  is  not 
 your  eminence,)  but  for  your  duty  to  holy  church, 
 for  your  loyalty  to  his  sacred  majesty.  These  did 
 prompt  me,  with  the  greatest  confidence,  to  hope 
 for  your  fair  encouragement  and  assistance,  in  my 
 pleadings  for  episcopacy,  in  which  cause  religion, 
 and  majesty,  the  king,  and  the  church,  are  interested, 
 as  parties  of  mutual  concernment. 
 
 There  was  an  odd  observation  made  long  ago, 
 and  registered  in  the  law,  to  make  it  authentic: 
 "  Laici  sunt  infensi  clericis."  Now  the  clergy  pray, 
 but  fight  not ;  and,  therefore,  if  not  specially  pro- 
 tected by  the  king,  "  contra  ecclesiam  malignan- 
 tium,"  they  are  made  obnoxious  to  all  the  con- 
 tumelies and  injuries,  which  an  envious  multitude 
 will  inflict  upon  them.  It  was  observed  enough  in 
 King  Edgar's  time,  "  Quamvis  decreta  pontificum, 
 et  verba  sacerdotum  inconvulsis  ligaminibus  velut 
 fundamenta  montium  fixa  sunt,  tamen  plerumque 
 tempestatibus,  et  turbinibus  ssecularium  rerum  re- 
 ligio  S.  Matris  Ecclesiae  maculis  reproborum  dissi- 
 patur,  ac  rumpitur.  Idcirco  decrevimus  nos,  &c.'"' 
 There  was  a  sad  example  of  it  in  king  John's  time. 
 
 »  In  Charta  Edgar.  Regis  A.  D.  4S5,'-Hen,  Spelmm.  ■ 
 
DEDICATION.  XXUi 
 
 For  when  he  threw  the  clergy  from  his  protection, 
 it  is  incredible  what  injuries,  what  affronts,  what  rob- 
 beries, yea,  what  murders,  were  committed  upon  the 
 bishops  and  priests  of  holy  church ;  whom  neither 
 the  sacredness  of  their  persons,  nor  the  laws  of  God, 
 nor  the  terrors  of  conscience,  nor  fears  of  hell,  nor 
 church-censures,  nor  the  laws  of  hospitality,  could 
 protect  from  scorn,  from  blows,  from  slaughter.  Now 
 there  being  so  near  a  tie  as  the  necessity  of  their  own 
 preservation,  in  the  midst  of  so  apparent  danger,  it 
 will  tie  the  bishops'  hearts  and  hands  to  the  king, 
 faster  than  all  the  ties  of  law-allegiance,  (all  the  poli- 
 tical ties,  I  mean ;)  all  that  are  not  precisely  religious, 
 and  obligations  in  the  court  of  conscience. 
 
 2.  But  the  interest  of  the  bishops  is  conjunct 
 with  the  prosperity  of  the  king,  besides  the  interest 
 of  their  own  security ;  by  the  obligation  of  secular 
 advantages.  For  they  who  have  their  livelihood 
 from  the  king,  and  are  in  expectance  of  their  fortune 
 from  him,  are  more  likely  to  pay  a  tribute  of  exacter 
 duty,  than  others  whose  fortunes  are  not  in  such  im- 
 mediate dependence  on  his  majesty.  iEneas  Sylvius 
 once  gave  a  merry  reason,  why  clerks  advanced  the 
 Pope  above  a  council ;  viz.,  because  the  Pope  gave 
 spiritual  promotions,  but  the  councils  gave  none. 
 It  is  but  the  common  expectation  of  gratitude,  that 
 a  patron  paramount  shall  be  more  assisted  by  his 
 
XXiv  DEDICATION. 
 
 beneficiaries  in  cases  of  necessity,  than  by  those 
 who  receive  nothing  from  him  but  the  common  in- 
 fluences of  government. 
 
 3.  But  the  bishops'  duty  to  the  king  derives 
 itself  from  a  higher  fountain.  For  it  is  one  of  the 
 main  excellencies  in  Christianity,  that  it  advances 
 the  state,  and  well-being  of  monarchies  and  bodies 
 politic.  Now,  then,  the  fathers  of  religion,  the  reverend 
 bishops,  whose  peculiar  office  it  is  to  promote  the 
 interests  of  Christianity,  are,  by  the  nature  and  es- 
 sential requisites  of  their  office,  bound  to  promote  the 
 honour  and  dignity  of  kings,  whom  Christianity  would 
 have  so  much  honoured,  as  to  establish  the  just  sub- 
 ordination of  people  to  their  prince,  upon  better 
 principles  than  ever ;  no  less  than  their  precise  duty 
 to  God,  and  the  hopes  of  a  blissful  immortality. 
 Here,  then,  is  "  utile,  honestum,"  and  "  necessarium," 
 to  tie  bishops  in  duty  to  kings  ;  and  a  threefold  cord 
 is  not  easily  broken. 
 
 In  pursuance  of  these  obligations,  episcopacy  pays 
 three  returns  of  tribute  to  monarchy. 
 
 1.  The  first  is  the  duty  of  their  people.  For 
 they  being,  by  God  himself,  set  over  souls,  judges 
 of  the  most  secret  recesses  of  our  consciences,  and 
 the  venerable  priests  under  them,  have  more  power 
 to  keep  men  in  their  duteous  subordination  to  the 
 prince,  than  there  is  in  any  secular  power ;  by  how 
 
DTEDICATION.  XXV 
 
 much  more  forcible  the  impressions  of  the  conscience 
 are,  than  all  the  external  violence  in  the  world- 
 And  this  power  they  have  fairly  put  into  act ;  for 
 there  was  never  any  Protestant  bishop  yet  in  rebel- 
 lion, unless  he  turned  recreant  to  his  order  ;  and  it 
 is  the  honour  of  the  Church  of  England,  that  all  her 
 children  and  obedient  people  are  full  of  indignation 
 against  rebels,  be  they  of  any  interest  or  party 
 whatsoever.  For  here,  (and  for  it  we  thank  God 
 and  good  princes,)  episcopacy  hath  been  preserved 
 in  fair  privileges  and  honour  ;  and  God  hath  blessed 
 and  honoured  episcopacy,  with  the  conjunction  of  a 
 loyal  people.  As  if  because,  in  the  law  of  nature, 
 the  kingdom  and  priesthood  were  joined  in  one 
 person,  it  were  natural  and  consonant  to  the  first 
 justice,  that  kings  should  defend  the  rights  of  the 
 church,  and  the  church  advance  the  honour  of  kings. 
 And  when  I  consider  that  the  first  bishop  that  was 
 exauctorated,  was  a  prince  too,  prince  and  bishop  of 
 Geneva  ;  methinks  it  was  an  ill  omen,  that  the 
 cause  of  the  prince  and  the  bishop  should  be  in  con- 
 junction ever  after. 
 
 2.  A  second  return  that  episcopacy  makes  to 
 royalty,  is  that  which  is  the  duty  of  all  Christians, 
 the  paying  tributes  and  impositions.  And  though 
 all  the  king's  liege  people  do  it,  yet  the  issues  of 
 their  duty  and  liberality   are  mightily  dispropor- 
 
 VOL.  VII.  c 
 
XXyi  DEDICATION. 
 
 tionate,  if  we  consider  their  unequal  number  and 
 revenues.  And  if  clergy-subsidies  be  estimated 
 according  to  the  smallness  of  their  revenue  and 
 paucity  of  persons,  it  will  not  be  half  so  short  of 
 the  number  and  weight  of  crowns  from  lay-dispen- 
 sation, as  it  does  far  exceed  in  the  proportion  of 
 the  donative. 
 
 3.  But  the  assistance  that  the  kings  of  England 
 had  in  their  councils  and  affairs  of  greatest  difficulty, 
 from  the  great  ability  of  bishops,  and  other  the 
 ministers  of  the  church,  I  desire  to  represent,  in  the 
 words  of  king  Alfred  to  Walfsigeus,  the  bishop,  in 
 an  epistle,  where  he  deplores  the  misery  of  his  own 
 age,  by  comparing  it  with  the  former  times,  when 
 the  bishops  were  learned,  and  exercised  in  public 
 councils  :  "  Felicia  turn  tempora  fuerunt  inter  omnes 
 Angliae  populos  ;  reges  Deo,  et  scriptse  ejus  volun- 
 tati  obsecundarunt  in  sua  pace,  et  bellicis  expe- 
 ditionibus,  atque  regimine  domestico  domi  se  semper 
 tutati  fuerint,  atque  etiam  foris  nobilitatem  suam 
 dilataverint."  The  reason  was,  as  he  insinuates 
 before,  "  Sapientes  exstiterunt  in  Anglica  gente  de 
 spiritual!  gradu,"  ^c.  The  bishops  were  able,  by 
 their  great  learning  and  wisdom,  to  give  assistance 
 to  the  king's  affairs.  And  they  have  prospered  in 
 it ;  for  the  most  glorious  issues  of  Divine  benison 
 upon  this  kingdom  were  conveyed  to  us  by  bishops' 
 
DEDICATION.  XXVii 
 
 hands ;  I  mean  the  union  of  the  houses  of  York  and 
 Lancaster,  by  the  counsels  of  Bishop  Morton'',  and 
 of  England  and  Scotland,  by  the  treaty  of  Bishop 
 Fox"";  to  which  if  we  add  two  other,  "in  materia 
 religionis,"  I  mean  the  conversion  of  the  kingdom 
 from  paganism,  by  St.  Augustin,  archbishop  of  Can- 
 terbury ;  and  the  reformation,  begun  and  promoted 
 by  bishops ;  I  think  we  cannot  call  to  mind  four 
 blessings  equal  to  these  in  any  age  or  kingdom, 
 in  all  which  God  was  pleased  by  the  mediation  of 
 bishops,  as  he  used  to  do,  to  bless  the  people. 
 And  this  may  not  only  be  expected  in  reason,  but 
 in  good  divinity ;  for  amongst  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit, 
 which  God  hath  given  to  his  church,  are  reckoned 
 doctors,  teachers,  and  helps  in  government''.  To 
 which  may  be  added  this  advantage,  that  the  services 
 of  churchmen  are  rewardable  upon  the  church's  stock  : 
 no  need  to  disimprove  the  royal  banks,  to  pay  thanks 
 to  the  bishops. 
 
 But,  Sir,  I  grow  troublesome.  Let  this  dis- 
 course have  what  ends  it  can ;  the  use  I  make  of  it, 
 is  but  to  pretend  reason  for  my  boldness,  and  to 
 entitle  you  to  my  book :  for  I  am  confident  you  will 
 own  any  thing  that  is  but  a  friend's  friend  to  a 
 cause  of  loyalty.    I  have  nothing  else  to  plead  for 
 
 '•  John  Speed's  Hist.  lib.  ix.  r.  19.  n.  23.  p.  716. 
 <=  lb.  c.  20.  n.  64.  p.  747.  "  1  Cor.  xii.  28. 
 
 C  2 
 
XXViii  DEDICATION. 
 
 your  acceptance,  but  the  confidence  of  your  good- 
 ness, and  that  I  am  a  person  capable  of  your  pardon, 
 and  of  a  fair  interpretation  of  my  address  to  you, 
 by  being, 
 
 SIR, 
 
 Your  most  affectionate  Servant, 
 
 JER.  TAYLOR. 
 
OF  THE 
 
 SACRED  ORDER  AND  OFFICES 
 
 OF 
 
 EPISCOPACY, 
 
 BY 
 
 DIVINE  INSTITUTION,  APOSTOLICAL  TRADITION  AND 
 CATHOLIC  PRACTICE. 
 
OF  THE 
 
 SACRED  ORDER  AND  OFFICES 
 
 OP 
 
 EPISCOPACY. 
 
 In  all  those  accursed  machinations,  which  the  device  and 
 artifice  of  hell  hath  invented  for  the  supplanting  of  the 
 church,  "  iniinicus  homo,"  that  old  superseminator  of  heresies 
 and  crude  mischiefs,  hath  endeavoured  to  be  curiously  com- 
 pendious, and,  with  Tarquin's  device,  "-putare  gumma  papa- 
 verum."  And,  therefore,  in  the  thi-ee  ages  of  martyrs,  it 
 was  a  ruled  case  in  that  Burgundian  forge,  "  Qui  prior  erat 
 dignitate,  prior  trahebatur  ad  martyrium."  The  priests, 
 but,  to  be  sure  the  bishops  must  pay  for  all,  "  Tolle  impios, 
 Polycarpus  requiratur."  Away  with  these  peddling  perse- 
 cutions; dilvvv  Tipoi  r-hv  pi2,c/.v  "  lay  the  axe  at  the  root  of  the 
 tree."  Insomuch  that  in  Rome,  from  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul 
 to  St.  Sylvester,  thirty-three  bishops  of  Rome,  in  immediate 
 succession,  suffered  an  honourable  and  'glorious  martyrdom, 
 unless  Ptleltiades^  be  perhaps  excepted,  whom  Eusebius  and 
 Optatus  report  to  have  lived  all  the  time  of  the  third  consul- 
 ship of  Constantine  and  Lucinius.  "  Contcret  caput  ejus," 
 was  the  glorious  promise,  Chriist  should  "  break  the  devil's 
 head;"  and  though  the  devil's  active  part  in  the  duel  was  far 
 less,  yet  he  would  venture  at  that  too,  even  to  strike  at  the 
 heads  of  the  church,  "  capita  vicaria,"  for  "  the  head  of  all" 
 was  past  his  striking  now  ;  and  this,  I  say  he  offered  to  do 
 by  martyrdom,  but  that,  instead  of  breaking,  crowned  them. 
 
 His  next  onset  was  by  Julian,  and  "  occidere  presbyte- 
 rium,"  that  was  his  pi'ovince.  To  shut  up  public  schools,  to 
 force  Christians  to  ignorance,  to  impoverish  and  disgrace  ths 
 
 '"Maximini  jussit  mailyrio  coronatur,"' saith  Platin-.' ;  but  that  is  wholly 
 uncertain. 
 
4 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 clergy,  to  make  them  vile  and  dishonourable,  these  are  his 
 arts ;  and  he  did  the  devil  more  service  in  this  fineness  of 
 undermining,  than  all  the  open  battery  of  the  ten  great  rams 
 of  persecution.  But  this  would  not  take.  For,  "  that  which 
 is  without,  cannot  defile  a  man."  So  it  is  in  the  church  too. 
 "  Cedunt  in  bonum"  all  violences  "  ab  extra." 
 
 But,  therefore,  besides  these,  he  attempted  by  heresies, 
 to  rend  the  church's  bowels  all  in  pieces ;  but  the  good 
 bishops  gathered  up  the  scattered  pieces,  and  re-united  them 
 at  Nice,  at  Constantinople,  at  Ephesus,  at  Calcedon,  at 
 Carthage,  at  Rome,  and  in  every  famous  place  of  Christen- 
 dom ;  and,  by  God's  goodness,  and  the  bishops'  industry, 
 catholic  religion  was  conserved  in  unity  and  integrity.  Well ; 
 however  it  is,  antichrist  must  come  at  last,  and  the  great 
 apostasy  foretold  must  be,  and  this  not  without  means  pro- 
 portionable to  the  production  of  so  great  declensions  of 
 Christianity.  "  When  ye  hear  of  wars,  and  rumours  of  wars, 
 be  not  afraid,"  said  our  blessed  Saviour,  "the  end  is  not  yet." 
 It  is  not  war  that  will  do  '  this  great  work  of  destruction,' 
 for  then  it  might  have  been  done  Ions  ere  now.  What  then 
 will  do  it?  We  shall  know  when  we  see  it.  In  the  mean 
 time,  when  we  shall  find  a  new  device,  of  which  indeed  the 
 platform  was  laid,  in  Aerius  and  the  Acephall,  brought  to  a 
 good  possibility  of  completing  a  thing,  that  whosoever  shall 
 hear,  his  ears  shall  tingle,  '  an  abomination  of  desolation 
 standing  whei"e  it  ought  not,  '  in  sacris,'  in  holy  persons,  and 
 places,  and  offices, — it  is  too  probable  that  this  is  the  prepara- 
 tory for  the  antichrist  and  grand  apostasy. 
 
 For  if  antichrist  shall  exalt  himself  above  all  that  is  called 
 God,  and  in  Scripture  none  but  kings  and  priests  are  such, 
 "  dii  vocati,  dii  facti,"  I  think  we  have  great  reason  to  be 
 suspicious,  that  he  that  divests  both  of  their  power,  (and  they 
 are,  if  the  king  be  Christian,  in  very  near  conjunction,)  does 
 the  work  of  antichrist  for  him;  especially  if  the  men,  whom 
 it  most  concerns,  will  but  call  to  mind,  that  the  discipline  or 
 government  which  Christ  hath  instituted,  is  that  kingdom  by 
 which  he  governs  all  Christendom  (so  themselves  have  taught 
 us);  so  that,  in  case  it  be  proved  that  episcopacy  is  that 
 government,  then  they  (to  use  their  own  expressions)  throw 
 Christ  out  of  his  kingdom ;  and  then  either  they  leave  the 
 church  without  a  head,  or  else  put  antichrist  in  substitution 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 5 
 
 We  all  wish,  that  our  fears  in  this  and  all  things  else  may 
 be  vain,  that  what  we  fear  may  not  come  upon  us;  but  yet 
 that  the  abolition  of  episcopacy  is  the  forerunner,  and  pre- 
 paratory to  the  great  apostasy,  I  have  these  reasons  to  show 
 at  least  the  probability.  First,  because  here  is  a  concoui'se  of 
 times ;  for  now,  after  these  times  have  been  called  the  last 
 times  for  1600  years  together,  our  expectation  of  the  great 
 revelation,  is  very  near  accomplishing;  and  what  a  grand 
 innovation  of  ecclesiastical  government  contrar)'  to  the  faith 
 and  practice  of  Christendom,  may  portend  now  in  these 
 times,  when  we  all  expect  antichrist  to  be  revealed,  is  wor- 
 thy of  a  jealous  man's  inquiry.  Secondly  :  episcopacy  if  we 
 consider  the  final  cause,  was  instituted  as  an  obstructive 
 to  the  diffusion  of  schism  and  heresy.  So  St.  Jerome'', 
 "  In  toto  orbe  decretum  est,  ut  unus  de  presbytei-is  electus 
 superponeretur  cteteris,  ut  schismatum  semina  tollerentur." 
 And  therefore  if  unity  and  division  be  destructive  of  each 
 other,  then  episcopacy  is  the  best  deletery  in  the  world  for 
 schism  :  and  so  much  the  rather  because  they  are  "in  eadem 
 materia:"  for  schism  is  a  division  for  things  either  personal 
 or  accidental,  which  are  mattei's  most  properly  the  subject  of 
 government,  and  there  to  be  tried,  there  to  receive  their  first 
 and  last  breath,  except  where  they  are  starved  to  death  by  a 
 desuetude  ;  and  episcopacy  is  an  unity  of  person-governing, 
 and  ordering  of  person  and  things,  accidental  and  substantial: 
 and  therefore  a  direct  confronting  of  schism,  not  only  in  the 
 intention  of  the  author  of  it,  but  in  the  nature  of  the  institu- 
 tion. Now  then,  although  schisms  always  will  be,  and  this 
 by  Divine  prediction  (which  clearly  shows  the  necessity  of 
 perpetual  episcopacy,  and  the  intention  of  its  perpetuity, 
 either  by  Christ  himself  ordaining  it,  who  made  the  prophecy, 
 or  by  the  apostles  and  apostolic  men  at  least,  who  knew  the 
 prophecy:)  yet,  to  be  sure,  these  divisions  and  dangers  shall 
 be  greater  about,  and  at  the  time  of  the  great  apostasy  ;  for 
 then,  were  not  the  hours  turned  into  minutes,  an  universal 
 ruin  should  seize  all  Christendom:  "No  flesh  should  be 
 saved,  if  those  days  were  not  shortened."  Is  it  not  next  to 
 an  evidence  of  fact,  that  this  multiplication  of  schisms  must 
 be  '  removendo  prohibens.'''  and  therefore  that  must  be  by 
 
 b  In  1.  ad  Titum. 
 
6 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 iuvalidatiijg  episcopacy,  ordained  as  the  remedy  and  obex  of" 
 schism,  either  tying  their  hands  behind  tliem,  by  taking  away 
 their  coercion,  or  by  putting  out  their  eyes,  by  denying  them 
 cognizance  of  causes  spiritual,  or  by  cutting  otF  their  heads, 
 and  so  destroying  their  order.  How  far  these  will  lead  us, 
 I  leave  to  be  considered.  This  only :  "  Percute  pastores, 
 atque  oves  dispergentur  and  I  believe  it  will  be  verified 
 at  the  coming  of  that  wicked  one;  "  I  saw  all  Israel  scattered 
 upon  the  mountains,  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd." 
 
 I  am  not  new  in  this  conception,  I  learned  it  of  St. 
 Cyprian:  "  Christi  adversarius,  et  ecclesise  ejus  inimicus  ad 
 hoc,  ecclesise  prsepositum  sua  infestatlone  persequitur,  ut 
 gubernatore  sublato,  atrocius,  atque  violentius  circa  ecclesise 
 naufragia  grassetur : "  "  The  adversary  of  Christ,  and  enemy 
 of  his  spouse,  therefore  persecutes  the  bishop,  that  having 
 taken  him  away,  he  may,  without  check,  pride  himself  in  the 
 I'uins  of  the  church."  And  a  little  after,  speaking  of  them 
 that  are  enemies  to  bishops,  he  says,  that  "  Antichrist!  jam 
 propinquantis  adventum  imitantur:"  "  Theirdeportment  is  just 
 after  the  guise  of  antichrist,  who  is  shortly  to  be  revealed." 
 
 But  be  this  conjecture  vain  or  not,  the  thing  of  itself  is  of 
 deep  consideration;  and  the  catholic  practice  of  Christen- 
 dom for  1500  years  is  so  insupportable  a  prejudice  against 
 the  enemies  of  episcopacy,  that  they  must  bring  admii'able 
 evidence  of  Scripture,  or  a  clear  revelation  proved  by  mira- 
 cles, or  a  contrary  undoubted  tradition  apostolical  for  them- 
 selves, or  else  hope  for  no  belief  against  the  prescribed 
 possession  of  so  many  ages. 
 
 But  before  I  begin,  methinks  In  this  contestation,  '  ubi 
 potior  est  conditio  possidentis,'  it  is  a  considerable  question; 
 what  will  the  adversaries  stake  against?  For  if  episcopacy 
 cannot  make  its  title  good,  they  lose  the  benefit  of  their 
 prescribed  possession.  If  it  can;  I  fear  they  will  scarce  gain 
 so  much  as  the  obedience  of  the  adverse  party  by  it,  which 
 yet  already  is  their  due.  It  is  very  unequal ;  but  so  it  is  ever, 
 when  authority  is  the  matter  of  the  question.  Authority 
 never  gains  by  it ;  for  although  the  cause  go  on  its  side,  yet 
 it  loses  costs  and  damages:  for  it  must  either  by  fair  conde- 
 scension to  gain  the  adversaries,  lose  something  of  itself,  or, 
 
 Epist.  55. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 7 
 
 if  it  asserts  itself  to  the  utmost,  it  is  but  that  seldom  or  never 
 happens  ;  for  the  veiy  questioning  of  any  authority,  hoc  ipso, 
 makes  a  great  Intrenchment  even  to  the  very  skirts  of  its 
 clothing. 
 
 But  '  hue  deventum  est.'  Now  we  are  in,  we  must  go 
 over. 
 
 SECTION  I. 
 Christ  did  institute  a  Government  in  his  Church. 
 
 First,  then,  that  we  may  build  upon  a  rock.  Christ  did 
 institute  a  government  to  order  and  rule  his  church  by  his 
 authority,  according  to  his  laws,  and  by  the  assistance  of  the 
 blessed  Spirit. 
 
 1.  If  this  were  not  true,  how  shall  the  church  be  go- 
 verned ?  For  I  hope  the  adversaries  of  episcopacy,  that  are 
 so  punctual  to  pitch  all  upon  Scripture  ground,  will  be  sure 
 to  produce  clear  Scripture  for  so  main  a  part  of  Christianity, 
 as  is  the  form  of  the  government  of  Christ's  church.  And  if 
 for  our  private  actions,  and  duties  economical,  they  Avill 
 pretend  a  text,  I  suppose  it  will  not  be  thought  possible 
 Scripture  should  make  default  in  assignation  of  the  public 
 government,  insomuch  as  all  laws  intend  the  public,  and  the 
 general  directly  ;  the  private,  and  the  particular,  by  conse- 
 quence only  and  comprehension  within  the  general. 
 
 2.  If  Christ  himself  did  not  take  order  for  a  government, 
 then  we  must  derive  it  from  human  prudence  and  emergency 
 of  conveniences,  and  concourse  of  new  circumstances,  and 
 then  the  govei'nment  must  often  be  changed,  or  else  time 
 must  stand  still,  and  things  be  ever  in  the  same  state  and 
 possibility.  Both  the  consequents  are  extremely  full  of 
 inconvenience.  For  if  it  be  left  to  human  prudence,  then 
 either  the  government  of  the  church  is  not  in  immediate 
 order  to  the  good  and  benison  of  souls,  or,  if  it  be,  that  such 
 an  institution,  in  such  immediate  order  to  eternity,  should  be 
 dependent  upon  human  prudence,  it  were  to  trust  such  a  rich 
 commodity  in  a  cock-boat,  that  no  wise  pilot  will  be  supposed 
 to  do.  But  if  there  be  often  changes  in  government  eccle- 
 siastical (which  was  the  other  consequent,)  in  the  public 
 
8 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 frame  I  mean,  and  constitution  of  it  ;  eitlier  the  certain 
 infinity  of  schisms  will  arise,  or  the  dangerous  issues  of 
 public  inconsistency  and  innovation,  which,  in  matters  of 
 religion,  is  good  for  nothing,  but  to  make  men  distrust  all ; 
 and,  come  the  best  that  can  come,  there  will  be  so  many 
 church-govei'nments,  as  there  are  human  prudences.  For  so 
 (if  I  be  not  misinformed'')  it  is  abroad  in  some  towns  that 
 have  discharged  episcopacy.  As  St.  Galles,  in  Switzerland  ; 
 there  the  ministers  and  laymen  rule  in  common,  but  a  layman 
 is  president.  But  the  consistories  of  Zurick  and  Basil  ai'e 
 wholly  consistent  of  laymen,  and  ministers  are  joined  as 
 assistants  only,  and  counsellors  ;  but  at  Schaffhausen  the 
 ministers  are  not  admitted  to  so  much,  but  in  the  Huguenot 
 churches  of  France  the  ministers  do  all. 
 
 3.  In  such  cases,  where  there  is  no  power  of  the  sword 
 for  a  compulsory,  (and  confessedly  of  all  sides  there  can  be 
 none  in  causes  and  courts  ecclesiastical,)  if  there  be  no 
 opinion  of  religion,  no  derivation  from  a  Divine  authority, 
 there  will  be  sure  to  be  no  obedience,  and  indeed  nothing 
 but  a  certain  public,  calamitous  iri'egularity.  For  Avhy  should 
 they  obey  ?  Not  for  conscience,  for  there  is  no  derivation 
 from  Divine  authority  ;  not  for  fear,  for  they  have  not  the 
 power  of  the  sword. 
 
 4.  If  there  be  such  a  thing  as  the  power  of  the  keys,  by 
 Christ  concredited  to  his  church,  for  the  binding  and  loosing 
 delinquents  and  penitents  respectively  on  earth,  then  there  is 
 clearly  a  court  erected  by  Christ  in  his  church  ;  for  here  is 
 the  delegation  of  judges,  "  Tu  Petrus,  vos  Apostoli:"  what- 
 soever ye  shall  bind  ;  here  is  a  compulsory,  "  ligaveritis:" 
 here  are  the  causes  of  which  they  take  cognizance,  "quod- 
 cunque ;"  viz.  "in  materia  scandali."  For  so  it  is  limited 
 Matt,  xvili.,  but  it  is  indefinite  Matt,  xvi.,  and  universal, 
 John  XX.,  which  yet  is  to  be  understood,  "  secundum  mate- 
 riam  subjectam,"  in  causes  which  are  emergent  from  Chris- 
 tianity, "  ut  sic,"  that  secular  jurisdictions  may  not  be  in- 
 trenched upon.  But  of  this  hereafter.  That  Christ  did  in  this 
 place  erect  a  jurisdiction,  and  establish  a  government,  (besides 
 the  evidence  of  fact)  is  generallj'  asserted  b}'  primitive  exposi- 
 tion of  the  fathers,  affirming,  that  to  St.  Peter  the  keys  wex*e 
 
 »  Simler.  de  Rep.  Helvet.  114S  et  172. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 9 
 
 given,  that  to  the  church  of  all  ages  a  power  of  iDinding  and 
 loosing  might  be  communicated.  "Has  igitur  claves  dedit 
 ecclesiae,  ut  quae  solveret  in  terru,  soluta  essent  in  coelo  ; 
 scil.  ut  quisquis  in  ecclesia  ejus  dimitti  sibi  peccata  crederet, 
 seque  ab  iis  correctus  averteret,  in  ejusdem  ecclesiaj  gremio 
 constitutus  eadem  fide  atque  correctione  sanaretur."  So  St. 
 Austin*".  And  again,  "  Omnibus  igitur  Sanctis  ad  Christi 
 corpus  inseparabiliter  pertinentibus,  propter  hujus  vitse  pro- 
 cellosissimse  gubernaculum,  ad  liganda  et  solvenda  peccata 
 claves  regni  coelorum  primus  apostolorum  Petrus  accepit; 
 quoniam  nec  ille  solus,  sed  universa  ecclesia  ligat,  solvitque 
 peccata:"  "  St.  Peter  first  received  the  government  in  the 
 power  of  binding  and  loosing:  but  not  he  alone,  but  all 
 the  church,"  to  wit,  all  succession  and  ages  of  the  church. 
 "Universa  ecclesia,"  viz.  "in  pastoribus  solis,"  as  St.  Chry- 
 sostom*^  ;  "In  episcopis  et  presbyterls,"  as  St.  Jerome*^; 
 the  whole  church,  as  it  is  represented  '  in  the  bishops  and 
 presbyters.'  The  same  is  affirmed  byTertullian'^,  St.  Cyprian', 
 St.  Chrysostom^,  St.  Hilary'',  Primasius",  and  generally  by 
 the  fathers  of  the  elder,  and  divines  of  the  middle  ages. 
 
 5.  When  our  blessed  Saviour  had  spoken  a  parable  of 
 the  sudden  coming  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  commanded  them 
 therefore  with  diligence  to  stand  upon  their  watch,  the  dis- 
 ciples asked  him,  "  Speakest  thou  this  parable  to  us,  or  even 
 to  all  ?  And  the  Lord  said,  Who  then  is  that  faithful  and  wise 
 steward,  whom  his  Lord  shall  make  ruler  over  his  household 
 to  give  them  their  portion  of  meat  in  due  season"^  ?"  As  if  he 
 had  said,  '  I  speak  to  you ;  for  to  whom  else  should  I  speak, 
 and  give  caution  for  the  looking  to  the  house  in  the  master's 
 absence  ?  You  are  by  office  and  designation  my  stewards,  to 
 feed  my  servants,  to  govern  my  house.' 
 
 6.  In  Scripture,  and  other  writers,  '  to  feed,'  and  '  to  go- 
 vern,' is  all  one,  when  the  office  is  either  political,  or  economi- 
 cal, or  ecclesiastical.  "  So  he  fed  them  with  a  faithful  and  true 
 heart,  and  ruled  them  prudently  with  all  his  power'."  And 
 
 •>  De  Doctr.  Christ,  lib.  I.e.  18.  tract.  118.  In  Johan.  vide  etiam  tract.  121. 
 et  tract.  50.  In  Joh.  de  Agon.  Christ,  cap.  30.  De  Bapt.  contr.  Donatist.  lib. 
 iii.  c.  17. 
 
 De  Sacerd.  lib.  iii.  In  Matt.  xvi.             t  Lib.  de  Piidicit. 
 
 '  Epist.  27.  s  Lib.  (luod  Christus  est  Ueus. 
 
 De  Trinit.  lib.  vi.  '  In  Apocal.  lib.  iii. 
 
 *■  Luke,  xii.  4'^.  '  I'sal.  U.^iviii. 
 
10 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 St  Peter  joins  ETn^xoTrotivTEs- and  voiixailvovTss  together,  voiixcivxrE 
 TO  £y  vix7v  TToi'/xviov  Toy  @Eov,  iTTtaxoTiovvrs^m.  So  does  St.  Paul, 
 TTpoaE^ers  ouv  exvroTs  y.xi  zydvrt  ru  TtOiiMiw,  Iv  cb  v/Jixs  to  7:v£v/j,x  to 
 aytov  eSsto  'Kvkthovjovs". — 'ILTtianoTiovs  £V  TtotiJi.vt^,  Rulers  or 
 '  Overseers  in  a  flock  ;'  Pastors.  It  is  ordinary.  Yloiixiva  Xocuv, 
 Homer  ;  i.  e.  ^a-'jCKia.  "hy^m.  Euripides  calls  the  governors 
 and  guides  of  chariots,  9roj/><,£'vay  ""oyu-i.  And  our  blessed  Saviour 
 himself  is  called  the  "  great  Shepherd  of  our  souls" ;  and 
 that  we  may  know  the  intentum  of  that  compellation,  it  is  in 
 conjunction  also  with  'ETnuxoCToy.  He  is,  therefore,  our  Shep- 
 herd, for  he  is  our  Bishop,  our  Ruler,  and  Overseer.  Since 
 then,  Christ,  hath  left  pastors  or  feeders  in  his  church,  it  is 
 also  as  certain  he  hath  left  rulers,  they  being  both  one  in 
 name,  in  person,  in  office.  But  this  is  of  a  known  truth  to 
 all  that  understand  either  law  or  languages  :  ol  Ss  Troi/xa/vovTss- 
 apyjivrctiv  ycad  r/ys//.6vwv  sy^ovrts  ^dvct-iMV,  saith  Philo"  ;  "  They  that 
 feed  have  the  power  of  princes  and  rulers :"  the  thing  is  an 
 undoubted  truth  to  most  men ;  but  because  all  are  not  of  a 
 mind,  something  was  necessary  for  confirmation  of  it. 
 
 SECTION  11. 
 
 This  Government  was  first  committed  to  the  Apostles  by 
 Christ. 
 
 This  government  was,  by  immediate  substitution,  delegated 
 to  the  apostles  by  Christ  himself,  "  in  traditione  clavium, 
 in  spiratione  Spiritiis,  in  missione  in  Pentecoste."  When 
 Christ  promised  them  the  "keys,"  he  promised  them  "  power 
 to  bind  and  loose  ;"  when  he  breathed  on  them  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  he  gave  them  that  actually,  to  which,  by  the  former 
 pronjise,  they  were  entitled  ;  and  in  the  octaves  of  the 
 passion,  he  gave  them  the  same  authority,  which  he  had 
 received  from  his  Father,  and  they  were  the  "  faithful  and 
 wise  stewards,  whom  the  Lord  made  rulers  over  his  house- 
 hold."   But  I  shall  not  labour  much  upon  this*.  Their 
 
 1  Pet.  V.  2.  "  Acts,  XX. 
 
 °  In  lib.  de  eo  quod  delerior  potior!  insidiatur. 
 a  Vide  Hilarimn  in  hunc  locum  et  pp.  communiter. 
 
KPISCOPACY  ASSERTED, 
 
 11 
 
 founding  all  the  churches  from  east  to  west,  and  so,  by- 
 being  fathers,  deriving  their  authority  from  the  nature  of  the 
 thing;  their  appointing  rulers  in  every  church  ;  their  synodal 
 decrees  "  de  suftbcato  et  sanguine,"  and  letters  missive  to  the 
 churches  of  Syria  and  Cilicia  ;  their  excommunications  of 
 Hymeneus  and  Alexander,  and  the  incestuous  Corinthian; 
 their  commanding  and  requiring  obedience  of  their  people  in 
 all  things,  as  St,  Paul  did  of  his  subjects  of  Corinth,  and  the 
 Hebrews,  by  precept  apostolical;  their  threatening  the  pas- 
 toi'al  rod ;  their  calling  synods  and  public  assemblies ;  their 
 ordering  rites  and  ceremonies;  composing  a  symbol  as  the  tes- 
 sera of  Christianity  ;  their  public  reprehension  of  delinquents; 
 and,  indeed,  the  whole  execution  of  their  apostolate,  is  one 
 continued  argument  of  their  superintendency,  and  superio- 
 rity of  jurisdiction. 
 
 SECTION  III. 
 
 With  a  Power  of  Joining  others,  and  appointing  Successors 
 in  the  Apostolate. 
 
 This  power,  so  delegated,  was  not  to  expire  with  their 
 persons;  for  when  the  great  Shepherd  had  reduced  his  wan- 
 dering sheep  into  a  fold,  he  would  not  leave  them  without 
 "  guides  to  govern"  them,  so  long  as  the  wolf  might  possibly 
 pi*ey  upon  them,  and  that  is,  till  the  last  separation  of  the 
 sheep  from  the  goats.  And  this  Christ  intimates  in  that  pro- 
 mis,  "  Ero  vobiscum  (apostolis)  usque  ad  consummationem 
 seculi."  "  Vobiscum;"  not  with  your  persons,  for  they  died 
 long  ago;  but  "  vobiscum  et  vestri  similibus,"  with  apostles 
 to  the  end  of  the  world.  And,  therefore,  that  the  aposto- 
 late might  be  successive  and  perpetual,  Christ  gave  them  a 
 power  of  ordination,  that,  by  imposing  hands  on  others, 
 they  might  impart  that  power  which  they  received  from 
 Christ.  For  in  the  apostles  there  was  something  extraor- 
 dinary, something  ordinary.  Whatsoever  was  extraordi- 
 nary, as  '  immediate  mission,  unlimited  jurisdiction,  and 
 miraculous  operations,'  that  was  not  necessaiy  to  the  per- 
 petual regiment  of  the  church,  for  then  the  church  should 
 fail,  when  these  privileges  extraordinary  did  cease.    It  was 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 not,  therefore,  in  extraordinary  powers  and  privileges  that 
 Christ  pi'omised  his  perpetual  assistance;  not  in  speaking  of 
 tongues,  not  in  doing  miracles,  whether  '  in  materia  censurae,' 
 as  delivering  to  Satan ;  or  '  in  materia  tnisericordiae,'  as 
 healing  sick  peoj^le ;  or  '  in  re  naturali,'  as  in  resisting  the 
 venom  of  vipers,  and  quenching  the  violence  of  flames;  in 
 these  Christ  did  not  promise  perpetual  assistance,  for  then  it 
 had  been  done,  and  still  these  signs  should  have  followed 
 them  that  believe.  But  we  see  they  do  not.  It  follows, 
 then,  that  in  all  the  ordinai-y  parts  of  power  and  office, 
 -Christ  did  promise  to  be  with  them  to  the  end  of  the  world, 
 and,  therefore,  there  must  remain  a  power  of  giving  faculty 
 and  capacity  to  persons  successively,  for  the  execution  of 
 that,  in  which  Christ  promised  perpetual  assistance.  For 
 since  this  perpetual  assistance  could  not  be  meant  of  abiding 
 with  their  persons,  who,  in  few  years,  were  to  forsake  the 
 world,  it  must  needs  be  understood  of  their  function,  which 
 either  it  must  be  succeeded  to,  or  else  it  was  as  temporary  as 
 their  persons.  But,  in  the  extraordinary  privileges  of  the 
 apostles,  they  had  no  successors ;  therefore,  of  necessity, 
 must  be  constituted  in  the  ordinary  office  of  apostolate. 
 Now  what  is  this  ordinary  office?  Most  certainly  since  the 
 extraordinary,  as  is  evident,  was  only  a  help  for  the  founding 
 and  beginning,  the  other  are  such  as  are  necessary  for  the 
 perpetuating  of  a  church.  Now,  in  clear  evidence  of  sense, 
 these  offices  and  powers  are  '  preaching,  baptizing,  conse- 
 crating, ordaining,  and  governing.'  For  these  were  neces- 
 sary for  the  perpetuating  of  a  church,  unless  men  could  be 
 Christians  that  wei'e  never  christened,  nourished  up  to  life 
 without  the  eucharist,  become  priests  without  calling  of  God 
 and  ordination,  have  their  sins  pardoned  without  absolution, 
 be  members,  and  jjarts,  and  sons  of  a  church,  whereof  there 
 is  no  coadunation,  no  authority,  no  governor.  These  the 
 apostles  had  without  all  question ;  and  whatsoever  they  had 
 they  had  from  Christ,  and  these  were  eternally  necessary; 
 these,  then,  were  the  offices  of  the  apostolate,  which  Christ 
 promised  to  assist  for  ever,  and  this  is  that  which  we  now 
 call  the  order  and  office  of  episcopacy. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 13 
 
 SECTION  IV. 
 
 The  Succession  into  the  ordinary  Office  of  Apostolate  is 
 made  by  Bishops. 
 
 For  although  deacons  and  priests  have  part  of  these  offices, 
 and  therefore,  though  in  a  very  limited  sense,  they  may  be 
 called  '  successores  apostolorum,'  to  wit,  in  the  power  of  bao- 
 tizing,  consecrating  the  eucharist,  and  preaching,  (an  ex- 
 cellent example  whereof,  though  we  have  none  in  Scripture, 
 yet,  if  I  mistake  him  not,  we  have  in  Ignatius,  calling  the 
 college  of  presbyters  ff:5v5sT/xov  ' ATrouToXcov,  "  a  combination 
 of  apostles;")  yet  the  apostolate  and  episcopacy,  which  did 
 communicate  in  all  the  power  and  offices  which  are  ordinary 
 and  perpetual,  are,  in  Scripture,  clearly  all  one  in  ordinary 
 ministration,  and  their  names  are  often  used  in  common,  to 
 signify  exactly  the  same  ordinary  function. 
 
 1.  The  name  was  borrowed  from  the  prophet  David,  in 
 the  prediction  of  the  apostacy  of  Judas,  and  surrogation  of 
 St.  Matthias;  Kcti  rriv  'ETncrxoTr-nv  a-vrov  XdQoi  Ersgof  "  His 
 bishoprick,"  that  is,  his  apostolate%  "  let  another  take." 
 The  same  word,  according  to  the  translation  of  the  Seventy, 
 is  used  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  in  an  evangelical  prediction, 
 K«i  ^uaco  TOtT  aqy(^o\iTa.!  aov  Iv  EigiiVTp,  xai  rolii  '"E-TnaKOTTous  aou  ev 
 hxactoavvrr  "  I  will  give  thy  princes  in  peace,  and  thy  bishops 
 in  righteousness." — "  Principes  ecclesise  vocat  futuros  epis- 
 copos,"  saith  St.  Jerome'',  herein  admiring  God's  majesty  in 
 the  destination  of  such  ministers,  whom  himself  calls  princes. 
 And  to  this  issue  it  is  cited  by  St.  Clement,  in  his  famous 
 epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  But  this  is  no  way  unusual  in 
 Scripture  :  for, 
 
 2.  St.  James,  the  brother  of  our  Lord,  is  called  *  an_ 
 apostle,' and  yet  he  was  not  in  the  number  of  the  twelve,  but 
 he  was  bishop  of  Jerusalem.  First:  That  St.  James  was 
 called  '  an  apostle,'  appears  by  the  testimony  of  St.  Paul : 
 "  But  other  apostles  saw  I  none,  save  James,  the  Lord's  bro- 
 ther       Secondly:  That  he  was  none  of  the  twelve  appears 
 
 *  For  the  apostle  and  the  bishop  are  all  one  in  name  and  person. 
 •>  In  cap.  60.    Isaiah^  v.  IT.  '  Gal.  i.  19. 
 
 VOL.  VII.  D 
 
14 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 also,  because  among  the  twelve  apostles  there  were  but  two 
 Jameses,  the  son  of  Alpheus,  and  James,  the  son  of  Zebedee, 
 the  brother  of  John.    But  neither  of  these  was  the  James, 
 whom  St.  Paul  calls  '  the  Lord's  brother.'  And  this  St.  Paul 
 intimates,  in  making  a  distinct  enumeration  of  all  the  ap- 
 pearances which  Christ  made  after  the  resurrection'' :  "  First 
 to  Cephas,  then  to  the  twelve,  then  to  the  five  hundred 
 brethren,  then  to  James,  then  to  all  the  apostles."    So  that 
 here  St.  James  is  reckoned  distinctly  from  the  twelve,  and 
 they  from  the  whole  college  of  the  apostles ;  for  there  were, 
 it  seems,  more  of  that  dignity  than  the  twelve.    But  this  will 
 also  safely  rely  upon  the  concurrent  testimony  of  Hegesippus, 
 Clement,  Eusebius,  Epiphanius,  St.  Ambrose,  and  St.  Je- 
 rome^.   Thirdly:  That  St.  James  was  bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
 and,  therefoi-e,  called  '  an  apostle,'  appears  by  the  often  com- 
 memoration of  his  presidency,  and  singular  eminency  in  holy 
 Scripture.    Priority  of  order  is  mentioned,  Gal.  ii.,  even 
 Tjefore  St.  Peter,  who  yet  was  "  primus  apostolorum,  natura 
 unus  homo,  gratiS^  unus  Christianus,  abundantiore  gratia 
 Tinus  idemque  primus  apostolus,"  as  St.  Augustin;  yet  in  his 
 own  diocese,  St-  James  had  priority  of  order  before  him, 
 vei'se  9.    And  then,  1.  James,  2.  Cephas,  and,  3.  John,  Sj-c. 
 First,  James  before  Cephas  and  St.  Peter.    St.  James,  also, 
 was  president  of  that  .synod,  which  the  apostles  convocated  at 
 Jerusalem  about  the  question  of  cii'cumcision ;  as  is  to  be 
 seen,  Acts,  xv.';  to  him  St.  Paul  made  his  address.  Acts, 
 xxi.;  to  him  the  brethren  carried  him,  where  he  was  found 
 sitting  in  his  college  of  presbyters,  there  he  was  always 
 resident,  and  his  seat  fixed ;  and  that  he  lived  bishop  of 
 Jerusalem  for  many  years  together,  is  clearly  testified  by  all 
 the  faith  of  the  primitive  fathers  and  historians.    But  of  this 
 hereafter. 
 
 3.  Epaphroditus  is  called  '  the  apostle  of  the  Philippians^.' 
 **  I  have  sent  unto  you  Epaphroditus,"  uws^yov  xxl  avyr^oiriu- 
 tw  tJ'Ov,  vij.u)i  Vi  dTToaroXov,  "  my  compeer  and  your  apostle." 
 *'  Gradum  apostolatus  recepit  Epaphroditus,"  saith  Prima- 
 
 ^  1  Cor.  XV. 
 
 •  Vide  Carol.  Bovium  in  Constit.  Apost.    Schol.  Ilieron.  de  Script.  Eccl. 
 in  Jacobe,  et  in  Galat.  i.    Epiphan.  Heeres.  78,  79.    Tract.  124  in  Johan. 
 f  Vide  Pap. 
 
 B  Phil,  ii.  25.    In  hunc  locum  uterque  et  Theod.  in  1  Tim.  iii. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 15 
 
 sius;  and  what  that  is,  we  are  told  by  Theodoret ;  "  dietus; 
 Philippensiuni  apostolus  a  S.  Paulo,  quid  hoc  aliud  nisi 
 eplscopus?"  "  Because  he  also  had  received  the  office  of 
 being  an  apostle  among  them,"  saith  St.  Jerome  upon  the 
 same  place ;  and  it  is  very  observable,  that  those  apostles,  to 
 whom  our  blessed  Saviour  gave  immediate  substitution,  are 
 called  dTroaroXoi' Inaov  X.pnjrov,  "  apostlesof  Jesus  Christ;"  but 
 those  other  men,  which  were  bishops  of  churches,  and  called 
 apostles  by  Scripture,  are  called  a7z-6(jToXoi  'KxuXnaiajv,  "apos- 
 tlesof churches,"  or  sometimes  '  apostles'  alone,  but  never  are 
 entitled  '  of  Jesus  Christ.'  "  Other  of  the  apostles  saw  I 
 none,  but  James,  the  Lord's  brother,"  Gal.  i.  There  St- 
 James,  the  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  is  called  an  '  apostle'  inde- 
 finitely. But  St.  Paul  calls  himself  often  "  the  apostle  of 
 Jesus  Christ,  not  of  man,  neither  by  man,  but  by  Jesus 
 Christ."  So  Peter,  an  'apostle  of  Jesus  Christ;'  but  St. 
 James,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Jews  of  the  dispersion,  writes  not 
 himself  '  the  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,'  but  SouXor  ©eou  x«I 
 'Iwou  Xptarov,  "  James,  the  servant  of  God,  and  of  the  Lord 
 Jesus  Christ." 
 
 Further  yet :  St.  Paul,  although  as  having  an  immediate 
 calling  from  Christ  to  the  office  of  apostolate,  at  large  calls 
 himself  the  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ ;  yet  when  he  was  sent  to 
 preach  to  the  Gentiles,  by  the  particular  direction  indeed  of 
 the  Holy  Ghost,  but  by  human  constitution,  and  imposition 
 of  hands '';  in  relation  to  that  part  of  his  office,  and  his  cure 
 of  the  unclrcumcision,  he  limits  his  apostolate  to  his  diocese, 
 and  calls  himself,  ' AvoaroXov  e9v<Zy,  *'  the  apostle  of  the  Gen- 
 tiles';" as  St.  Peter,  for  the  same  reason,  and  in  the  same 
 modification,  is  called  'AnonroKos  mqiroi/.ris,  that  is,  "  the 
 apostle  of  those  who  were  of  the  circumcision''."  And  thus 
 Epaphroditus  is  called  '  the  apostle  of  the  Philippians,'  who 
 clearly  was  their  bishop,  (as  I  shall  show  in  the  sequel,)  that 
 is,  he  had  an  apostolate  limited  to  the  diocese  of  Philippic 
 "  Paulatim  vero  tempore  procedente,  et  alii  ab  his  quos 
 Dominus  elegerat,  ordinati  sunt  apostoli,  sicut  ille  ad  Philip- 
 penses  sermo  declarat,  dicens,  Necessarium  autem  existimo 
 Epaphroditum,"  8fC.,  so  St.  Jerome';  "  In  pi'ocess  of  time. 
 
 ''  Acts,  xiii.  2,  3. 
 *  Gal.  ii.  8. 
 
 '  Rom.  xi.  13. 
 '  In  cap.  i.  Gal. 
 
 D  2 
 
16 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 others,  besides  those  whom  the  Lord  had  chosen,  were  or- 
 dained apostles :"  and  particularly  he  instances  in  Epaphro- 
 ditus,  from  the  authority  of  this  instance,  adding  also,  that 
 by  the  apostles  themselves,  Judas  and  Silas  were  called 
 •  apostles.' 
 
 4.  Thus  Titus,  and  some  other  with  him,  who  came  to 
 Jerusalem  with  the  Corinthian  benevolence,  are  called 
 'AwofTToXoi  'ExxXrmwv,  "  the  apostles  of  the  churches'" :"  Apos- 
 tles, I  say,  in  the  episcopal  sense.  They  were  none  of  the 
 twelve,  they  were  not  of  immediate  Divine  mission,  but  of 
 apostolic  ordination ;  they  were  actually  bishops,  as  I  shall 
 show  hereafter.  Titus  was  bishop  of  Crete,  and  Epaphro- 
 ditus  of  Philippi ;  and  these  were  the  apostles  ;  for  Titus 
 came  with  the  Corinthian,  Epaphroditus  with  the  Colossian 
 liberality.  Now  these  men  were  not ' ATtoaro'Koi,  called  '  mes- 
 sengers'' in  respect  of  these  chui'ches  sending  them  with  their 
 contributions.  1 .  Because  they  are  not  called  the  '  apostles 
 of  these  churches,'  to  wit,  whose  alms  they  carried,  but 
 simply  'ExxX»)ffii5v,  "  of  the  churches,"  viz.  of  their  own,  of 
 which  they  were  bishops.  For  if  the  title  of  apostle  had  re- 
 lated to  their  mission  from  these  churches,  it  is  unimaginable 
 that  there  should  be  no  term  of  relation  expressed.  2.  It  is 
 very  clear  that,  although  they  did  indeed  carry  the  benevo- 
 lence of  the  several  churches,  yet  St.  Paul,  not  those  churches, 
 sent  them;  "  And  we  have  sent  with  them  our  brother"," 
 8fC.  3.  They  are  called  '  apostles  of  the  churches,'  not  going 
 from  Corinth  with  the  money,  but  before  they  came  thither, 
 from  whence  they  were  to  be  despatched  in  legation  to  Jeru- 
 salem :  "  If  any  inquire  of  Titus,  or  the  brethren,  they  are 
 the  apostles  of  the  church,  and  the  glory  of  Christ"."  So 
 they  were  '  apostles'  before  they  went  to  Corinth,  not  for 
 their  being  employed  in  the  transportation  of  their  charity. 
 So  that  it  is  plain,  that  their  apostolate  being  not  relative  to 
 the  churches,  whose  benevolence  they  carried,  and  they 
 having  churches  of  their  own,  as  Titus  had  Crete,  Epaphro- 
 ditus had  Philippi,  their  apostolate  was  a  fixed  residence, 
 and  superintendency  of  their  several  churches. 
 
 2  Cor.  viii.  23. 
 
 ■>  Verse  22. 
 
 "  Verse  23. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 17 
 
 SECTION  V. 
 And  Office. 
 
 Bdt  in  holy  Scripture,  the  identity  of  the  ordinary  office  of 
 apostleship  and  episcopacy  is  clearer  yet.  For  when  the 
 Holy  Spirit  had  sent  seven  letters  to  the  seven  Asian  bishops, 
 the  angel  of  the  church  of  Ephesus  is  commended  for  trying 
 them,  which  say  they  are  apostles  and  are  not,  and  hath 
 found  them  liars This  angel  of  the  church  of  Ephesus,  as 
 antiquity  hath  taught  us,  was  at  that  time  Timothy,  or 
 Gaius'' ;  the  first  a  disciple,  the  other  had  been  an  entertainer 
 of  the  apostles,  and  either  of  them  knew  them  well  enough : 
 it  could  not  be,  that  any  man  should  dissemble  their  persons, 
 and  counterfeit  himself  St.  Paul  or  St.  Peter.  And  if  they 
 had,  yet  little  trying  was  needful  to  discover  their  folly  in 
 such  a  case  ;  and  whether  it  was  Timothy  or  Gaius,  he  could 
 deserve  but  small  commendations  for  the  mere  believing  of 
 his  own  eyes  and  memory.  Besides,  the  Apostles,  except  St. 
 John,  all  were  then  dead,  and  he  known  to  live  in  Patmos; 
 known  by  the  public  attestation  of  the  sentence  of  relega- 
 tion '  ad  insulam.'  These  men,  therefore,  dissembling  them- 
 selves to  be  apostles,  must  dissemble  an  ordinary  function, 
 not  an  extraordinary  person.  And,  indeed,  by  the  con- 
 course of  story,  place,  and  time,  Dioti'ephes  was  the  man 
 St.  John  chiefly  pointed  at.  For  he,  seeing  that  at  Ephesug 
 there  had  been  an  episcopal  chair  placed,  and  Tim.othy  a  long 
 while  possessed  of  it,  and  perhaps  Gaius  after  him  ,  if  we 
 may  trust  Dorotheus,  and  the  like  in  some  other  churches ; 
 and  that  St.  John  had  not  constituted  bishops  in  all  other 
 churches  of  the  lesser  Asia,  but  kept  the  jurisdiction  to  be 
 ministered  by  himself,  would  arrogantly  take  upon  him  to  be 
 a  bishop  without  apostolical  ordination,  obtruding  himself 
 upon  the  church  of  Ephesus ;  so  becoming  aXXor^io-ETr/iDcowor, 
 "  a  busy  man  in  another's  diocese."  This,  and  such  impostors 
 as  this,  the  angel  of  the  chui-ch  of  Ephesus  did  try,  and  dis- 
 cover, and  convict;  and  in  it  he  was  assisted  by  St.  John 
 
 »  Apocal.  ii.  Doroth.  Synops. 
 
 Vide  Constit-  Apost.  per  Clement,  ubi  quidem  Johannes  in  Epheso 
 Episc.  post  Titnoth.  collocatur. 
 
18 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 himself,  as  is  intimated  in  St.  John's  third  epistle,  written  to 
 his  Gaius,  (v.  9,)  "  I  wrote  unto  the  church,"  to  wit,  of  Asia, 
 "  but  Dioti-ephes,  who  lovetli  to  have  the  pre-eminence 
 among  them,  I'eceiveth  us  not."  Clearly  this  ■^eu^ocx.Tro'yToXoi 
 would  have  been  a  bishop.  It  was  a  matter  of  ambition,  a 
 quarrel  for  superintendence  and  pre-eminence,  that  troubled 
 him  ;  and  this  also  appears  further,  in  that  he  exercised  juris- 
 diction and  excommunication,  where  he  had  nothing  to  do; 
 (v.  10.)  "  He  forbids  them  that  would  receive  the  brethren, 
 and  casteth  them  out  of  the  church."  So  that  here  it  is 
 clear,  this  false  apostolate  was  his  ambitious  seeking  of 
 episcopal  pre-eminence  and  jurisdiction,  without  lawful  ordi- 
 nation. ^iKoTtpcoTiiim  AioTgs(priy,  that  was  his  design  ;  he  loved 
 to  be  the  first  in  the  church,  "  esse  apostolum,  esse  episco- 
 pum;"  "  to  be  an  apostle,  or  a  bishop." 
 
 SECTION  VI. 
 ■  Which  Christ  himself  hath  made  distinct  from  Presbyters. 
 
 But  this  office  of  the  ordinary  apostleship  or  episcopacy, 
 derives  its  fountain  from  a  rock ;  Christ's  own  distinguishing 
 the  apostolate  from  the  function  of  presbyters.  For  when 
 pur  blessed  Saviour  had  gathered  many  disciples,  who  be- 
 lieved him  at  his  first  preaching,  "  Vocavit  discipulos  suos, 
 .et  elegit  duodecim  ex  ipsis  quos  et  apostolos  nominavit%" 
 saith  St.  Luke :  "  He  called  his  disciples  and  out  of  them 
 .chose  twelve,  and  called  them  apostles."  That  was  the  first 
 -election.  "  Post  hsec  autem  designavit  Dominus  et  alios 
 septuaginta-duos."  That  was  his  second  election;  the  first 
 were  called  '  apostles,'  the  second  were  not,  and  yet  he  sent 
 them  by  two  and  two. 
 
 We  hear  but  of  one  commission  granted  them,  which 
 when  they  had  performed,  and  returned  joyful  at  their  power 
 over  devils,  we  hear  no  more  of  them  in  the  Gospel,  but  that 
 their  names  were  written  in  heaven.  We  are  likely,  there- 
 fore, to  hear  of  them  after  the  passion,  if  they  can  but  hold 
 their  own.     And  so  we  do.    For  after  the  passion,  the 
 
 *  Luke,  X. 
 
l;PISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 19 
 
 apostles  gathered  them  together,  and  joined  them  in  clerical 
 commission,  by  virtue  of  Christ's  first  ordination  of  them; 
 for  a  new  ordination  we  find  none  in  holy  Scripture  recorded, 
 before  we  find  them  doing  clerical  offices.  Ananias,  we  read, 
 baptizing  of  Saul;  Philip,  the  evangelist,  we  find  preaching 
 in  Samaria,  and  baptizing  his  converts  ;  others  also,  we  find, 
 presbyters  at  Jerusalem,  especially  at  the  first  council ;  for 
 there  was  Judas,  surnamed  Justus;  and  Silas,  and  St.  Mark; 
 and  John,  (a  presbyter,  not  an  apostle,  as  Eusebius  reports 
 him  ^ ;)  and  Simeon  Cleophas,  who  tarried  there  till  he  was 
 made  bishop  of  Jerusalem.  These,  and  divers  others,  are 
 reckoned  to  be  of  the  number  of  the  seventy-two,  by  Euse- 
 bius and  Dorotheus. 
 
 Here  are  plainly  two  offices  of  ecclesiastical  ministries, 
 apostles  and  presbyters;  so  the  Scripture  calls  them.  These 
 were  distinct,  and  not  temporary,  but  succeeded  to  ;  and  if 
 so,  then  here  is  clearly  a  Divine  institution  of  two  orders, 
 and  yet  deacons  neither  of  them.    Here  let  us  fix  awhile. 
 
 SECTION  vn. 
 
 Giving  to  Apostles  a  Power  to  do  some  Offices  perpetually 
 necessary,  which  to  others  he  gave  not. 
 
 Then,  it  is  clear  in  Scriptui-e,  that  the  apostles  did  some  acts 
 of  ministry,  which  were  necessary  to  be  done  for  ever  in  the 
 church,  and,  therefore,  to  be  committed  to  their  successors ; 
 which  acts  the  seventy  disciples  or  presbyters  could  not  dp. 
 
 qlrojs  Se  avTri  Tragi  rar  Xoivis  rx^sts  sis  K£irovpyta.v  o  S'ei'os' 
 S'effpc'k  oiTtove]ii[/.ws  ris  ^itoreqxs  Uqoupy'ixs,  salth  St.  Denis,  of 
 the  highest  order  of  the  hierarchy  ' :  "  The  law  of  God  hath 
 reserved  the  greater  and  diviner  offices  to  the  highest  order." 
 
 First :  The  apostles  imposed  hands  in  ordinations,  which 
 the  seventy-two  did  not.  The  case  is  known,  Acts,  vi.  The 
 apostles  called  the  disciples,  willing  them  to  choose  seven 
 men,  whom  they  might  constitute  in  the  ministration  and 
 oversight  of  the  poor.  They  did  so,  and  set  them  before  the 
 twelve  apostles;  so  they  are  specified  and  numbered,  verse  2, 
 
 Lib.  iii.  c.  3. 
 
 *  Eccles.  Hierarch.  c.  5.    As  of  Ordination. 
 
20 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 cum  6,  "  and  when  they  had  prayed,  they  laid  their  hands  on 
 them."  They,  not  the  disciples,  not  the  seventy-two,  who 
 were  there  actually  present,  and  seven  of  them  were  then 
 ordained  to  this  ministry;  for  they  were  not  now  ordained  to 
 be  ^ixKo-joi  (jivarnpiuv,  but  rpxTtii^uv,  as  the  council  of  Constanti- 
 nople calls  them and  that  these  were  the  number  of  the 
 seventy-two  disciples,  Epiphanius  bears  witness*^.  He  sent 
 other  seventy-two  to  preach,  uv  wxv  ol  inrii  ettI  twv  xnqa))i 
 rsray frivol,  "  of  which  number  were  those  seven  ordained  and 
 set  over  the  widows."  And  the  same  is  intimated  by  St. 
 Chrysostom,  if  I  understand  him  right;  ndbv  Sg  a§«  a^/w/xa 
 sJypv  ovrot,xxi  TTolocv  eSe'^avTO  ^(.sfpoTovi'av  avayxaTov  //.a&sTv'  a^oc  tv)v 
 Tuv  Siaxoi/wv;  xai  //.■nv  rovro  ev  raTi  stixXrislxts  oux.  £(ttiv,  dXk(x  tuv 
 n^id^vripuv  JffTJv  n  oixovo/w./a''.  What  dignity  had  these  seven 
 here  ordained  ?  Of  deacons  ?  No  ;  for  this  dispensation  is 
 made  by  priests,  not  deacons;  and  Theophylact,  more  clearly 
 repeating  the  words  of  St.  Chrysostom,  '  pro  more  suo,'  adds 
 this:  Taiv  zspsaQurtpojii  oi'/xai  to  ovopta  £<vai,  xai  to  a^iw/xx  ocvtouv' 
 a,XXa.  reus  bis  tovto  JistxoveTv  Tory  zuctoTs  rx  n^os  rw  "x^pzlxv  ty^etpo- 
 TovTjS-rjTav".  The  name  and  dignity  of  these  seven  was  no  less, 
 but  even  the  dignity  of  presbyters,  only  for  the  time  they 
 were  appointed  to  dispense  the  goods  of  the  church  for  the 
 good  of  the  faithful  people.  Presbvters  they  were,  say  St. 
 Chrysostom  and  Theophylact ;  of  the  number  of  the  seventy- 
 two,  saith  Epiphanius.  But,  however,  it  is  clear,  that  the 
 seventy-two  were  present;  for  the  whole  multitude  of  the 
 disciples  was  as  vet  there  resident;  they  were  not  yet  sent 
 abroad,  they  were  not  scattered  with  persecution,  till  the 
 martyrdom  of  St.  Stephen ;  but  the  twelve  called  the  whole 
 multitude  of  the  disciples  to  them  about  this  affair  (verse  2). 
 But  yet  themselves  only  did  ordain  them. 
 
 Secondly :  An  instance  parallel  to  this,  is  in  the  imposi- 
 tion of  hands  upon  St.  Paul  and  Barnabas,  in  the  first  ordi- 
 nation that  was  held  at  Antiocli^  "  Now  there  were  in  the 
 church  that  were  at  Antioch,  certain  prophets  and  teachers; 
 as  Barnabas,  and  Simeon,  and  Lucius,  and  Manaen,  and  Saul. 
 AeirovqyovvTuv  Ss  ayTc^v,  while  these  men  were  ministering, 
 the  Holy  Ghost  said  to  them.  Separate  me  Bai'nabas  and 
 
 •>  In  Trullo,  can.  16.  «  Hseres.  xx. 
 
 ^  Homil.  14.  in  Act.  ri,  «  In  hunc  locum.  '  Acts,  xiii. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 21 
 
 Saul."  They  did  so;  they  "  fasted,  they  prayed,  they  laid 
 their  hands  on  them,  and  sent  them  away.  So  they,  being 
 sent  forth  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  departed  into  Seleucia,"  This 
 is  the  story;  now  let  us  make  our  best  of  it.  Here,  then, 
 was  the  ordination  and  imposition  of  hands  complete ;  and 
 that  was  said  to  be  done  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  was  done 
 by  the  prophets  of  Antioch.  For  they  sent  them  away  ;  and 
 yet  the  next  words  are,  "  so  they,  being  sent  forth  by  the 
 Holy  Ghost."  So  that  here  was  the  thing  done,  and  that  by 
 the  prophets  alone,  and  that  by  the  command  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  and  said  to  be  his  act.  Well !  but  what  were  these 
 prophets.''  They  were  prophets  in  the  church  of  Antioch: 
 not  such  as  Agabus,  and  the  daughters  of  Philip  the  evan- 
 gelist, prophets  of  prediction  extraordinary,  but  prophets 
 of  ordinary  office  and  ministration  ;  ru^oipvirui,  SiSa^xizJ^oi,  xxl 
 XsiTovqyovvTEs,  '  prophets,  and  teachers,  and  ministers^.'  More 
 than  ordinary  ministers,  for  they  were  doctors  or  teachers  ; 
 and  that  is  not  all,  for  they  were  prophets  too.  This,  even 
 at  first  sight,  is  more  than  the  ordinary  office  of  the  presby- 
 tery. We  shall  see  this  clear  enough  in  St.  Paul'',  whei-e 
 the  ordinary  office  of  prophets  is  reckoned  before  pastors, 
 before  evangelists,  next  to  apostles  ;  that  is,  next  to  such 
 apostles,  ous  aurhi  e^cuxs,  as  St.  Paul  there  expresses  it;  next  to 
 those  apostles  to  whom  Christ  hath  given  immediate  mission. 
 And  these  are,  therefore,  apostles  too;  apostles  '  secundi 
 ordinis  ;'  none  of  the  twelve,  but  such  as  St.  James,  and 
 Epaphroditus,  and  Barnabas,  and  St.  Paul  himself.  To  be 
 sure  they  were  such  prophets  as  St.  Paul  and  Barnabas  ;  for 
 they  are  reckoned  in  the  number  by  St.  Luke;  for  here  it 
 was  that  St.  Paul,  although  he  had  immediate  vocation  by 
 Christ,  yet  he  had  particular  oi-dination  to  his  apostolate  or 
 ministry  of  the  Gentiles.  It  is  evident,  then,  what  prophets 
 these  were;  they  were,  at  the  least,  more  than  ordinary  pres- 
 byters, and,  therefore,  they  imposed  hands,  and  they  only. 
 And  yet,  to  make  the  business  up  complete,  St.  Mark  was 
 amongst  them,  but  he  imposed  no  hands;  he  was  there  as 
 the  deacon  and  minister,  (verse  5,)  but  he  meddled  not. 
 St.  Luke  fixes  the  whole  action  upon  the  prophets,  such  as 
 
 6  Prophetas  duplici  genere  intelligamus,  et  futura  dicentes,  et  scripturas 
 revelantes. — S.  Ambros.  in  1  Cor.  xii. 
 "  Ephes.  iv. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 St.  Paul  himself  was,  and  so  did  the  Holy  Ghost  too;  but 
 neither  did  St.  Mark,  who  was  an  evangelist  and  one  of  the 
 seventy-two  disciples,  (as  he  is  reckoned  in  the  primitive 
 catalogues  by  Eusebius  and  Dorotheus,)  nor  any  of  the  col- 
 lege of  the  Antiochian  presbyters,  that  were  less  than  pro- 
 phets, that  is,  who  were  not  more  than  mere  presbyters. 
 
 The  sum  is  this :  Imposition  of  hands  is  a  duty  and  office 
 necessary  for  the  perpetuating  of  a  church,  '  ne  gens  sit  uni- 
 us  aetatis,'  '  lest  it  expire  in  one  age.'  This  power  of  impo- 
 sition of  hands  for  ordination,  was  fixed  upon  the  apostles 
 and  apostolic  men,  and  not  communicated  to  the  seventy- 
 two  disciples  or  presbyters ;  for  the  apostles  and  apostolic 
 tnen  did  so  '  de  facto,'  and  were  commanded  to  do  so,  and 
 the  seventy-two  never  did  so.  Therefore  this  office  and 
 ministry  of  the  apostolate  is  distinct,  and  superior  to  that  of 
 presbyters ;  and  this  distinction  must  be  so  continued  to  all 
 ages  of  the  church  ;  for  the  thing  was  not  temporary,  but 
 productive  of  issue  and  succession ;  and,  therefore,  as  per- 
 petual as  the  clergy,  as  the  church  itself. 
 
 SECTION  VIII. 
 
 Ajid  Confirmaiion. 
 
 Secondly:  The  apostles  did  impose  hands  for  confirmation 
 of  baptized  people  ;  and  this  was  a  perpetual  act  of  a  power 
 to  be  succeeded  to,  and  yet  not  communicated,  nor  executed 
 by  the  seventy-two,  or  any  other  mere  presbyter.  That  the 
 apostles  did  confiiun  baptized  people,  and  others  of  the  inferior 
 clergy  could  not,  is,  beyond  all  exception,  clear,  in  the  case 
 of  the  Samaritan  Christians.  ("Acts,  viii.)  For  when  St. 
 Philip  had  converted  and  baptized  the  men  of  Samaria,  the 
 apostles  sent  Peter  and  John  to  lay  their  hands  on  them,  that 
 they  might  receive  the  Holy  Ghost.  St.  Philip  was  an  evan- 
 gelist ;  he  was  one  of  the  seventy- two  disciples*,  a  presbyter, 
 and  appointed  to  the  same  ministration  that  St.  Stephen  was, 
 about  the  poor  widows  ;  yet  he  could  not  do  this ;  the 
 apostles  must,  and  did.    This  giving  of  the  Holy  Ghost  by 
 
 *  S.  Cyprian,  ad  Jubajan. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 23 
 
 imposition  of  the  apostles'  hands,  was  not  for  a  inii'aculous 
 gift,  but  an  ordinary  grace.  For  St.  Philip  could,  and  did  do 
 miracles  enough  ;  but  this  grace  he  could  not  give,  the  grace 
 of  consigning  or  confirmation.  The  like  case  is  in  Acts,  xii. 
 where  some  people,  having  been  baptized  at  Ephesus,  St. 
 Paul  confirmed  them,  giving  them  the  Holy  Ghost  by  impo- 
 sition of  hands.  The  apostles  did  it ;  not  the  twelve  only, 
 but  apostolic  men,  the  other  apostles.  St.  Paul  did  it.  St. 
 Philip  could  not,  nor  any  of  the  seventy-two ;  or  any  other 
 mere  presbyters  ever  did  it,  that  we  find  in  holy  Scripture. 
 
 Yea,  but  this  imposition  of  hands  was  for  a  miraculous 
 issue ;  for  the  Ephesine  Christians  received  the  Holy  Ghost, 
 and  spake  with  tongues,  and  prophesied  ;  which  effect, 
 because  it  is  ceased,  certainly  the  thing  was  temporary,  and 
 long  ago  expired.  First.  Not  for  this  reason,  to  be  sure. 
 For  extraordinary  effects  may  be  temporary,  when  the  func- 
 tion which  they  attest  maybe  eternal;  and,  therefore,  are  no 
 signs  of  an  extraordinary  ministiy.  Tlie  apostles'  preaching 
 was  attended  by  miracles,  and  extraordinary  conversions  of 
 people,  ut  in  exordio,  "  Apostolos  divinorum  signorum  comita- 
 bantur  effectus  et  Spiritus  Sancti  gratia,  ita  ut  videres  una 
 alloquutione  integros  simul  populos  ad  cultum  divinae  re- 
 ligionis  adduci,  et  praedicantium  verbis  non  esse  tardiorem 
 audientium  fidem,"  as  Eusebius  tens'",  of  the  success  of  the 
 preaching  of  some  evangelists;  yet  I  hope  preaching  must 
 not  now  cease,  because  no  miracles  ai'e  done ;  or  that  to  con- 
 vert one  man  now,  would  be  the  greatest  miracle.  The 
 apostles,  when  they  cursed  and  anathematized  a  delinquent, 
 he  died  suddenly  ;  as  in  the  case  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira, 
 whom  St.  Peter  slew  with  the  word  of  his  ministry  ;  and  yet 
 now,  although  these  extraordinary  issues  cease,  it  is  not  safe 
 venturing  upon  the  curses  of  the  church.  When  the  apostles 
 did  excommunicate  a  sinner,  he  was  presently  delivered  over 
 to  Satan  to  be  buffeted,  that  is,  to  be  afflicted  with  corporal 
 punishments ;  and  now,  although  no  such  exterminating 
 angels  beat  the  bodies  of  persons  excommunicate,  yet  the 
 power  of  excommunication,  I  hope,  still  remains  in  the 
 church,  and  the  power  of  the  keys  is  not  also  gone.  So, 
 also,  in  the  power  of  confirmation*^ ;  which,  however  attended 
 
 >>  Lib.  iii.  Hist.  c.  37. 
 
 <=  Vide  August,  tract,  vi.  in  1  Epist.  Johan. 
 
24 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 by  a  visible  miraculous  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  gifts  of 
 languages  and  healing,  yet,  like  other  miracles  in  respect  of 
 the  whole  integrity  of  Christian  faith,  these  miracles  at  first 
 did  confirm  the  function  and  the  faith  for  ever. 
 
 Now  then,  that  this  right  of  imposing  hands,  for  con- 
 firming of  baptized  people,  was  not  to  expire  with  the  persons 
 of  the  apostles,  appears  from  these  considerations. 
 
 First :  Because  Christ  made  a  promise  of  sending  "  Vica- 
 rium  suum  Spiritum,"  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  his  stead  ;  and  this, 
 by  way  of  appropriation,  is  called  "  the  promise  of  the 
 Father."  This  was  pertinent  to  all  Christendom,  "  Effundam 
 de  Spiritu  meo  super  omnem  carnem  ;"  so  it  was  in  the 
 prophecy.   "  For  the  promise  is  to  you  and  to  your  children, 
 xaj  <na,ai  rois  sis  (/.ax^av,  oiovs  av  ir^oanoLKiamxt  ILvpios,  and  to  all 
 them  that  are  afar  off,  even  to  as  many  as  the  Lord  shall 
 call'*."    So  it  was  in  the  first  accomplishing.    To  all:  And 
 this  for  ever ;  "  for  I  will  send  the  Holy  Ghost  unto  you,  and 
 he  shall  abide  with  you  for  ever."    For  it  was  '  in  subsidium,' 
 to  supply  the  comforts  of  his  desired  presence ;  and  must, 
 therefore,   '  ex  vi  intentionis,'  be  remanent  till  Christ's 
 coming  again.    Now,  then,  this  promise  being  to  be  commu- 
 mcated  to  all,  and  that  for  ever,  must  either  come  to  us  by, 
 1.  Extraordinary  and  miraculous  mission  ;  or  by,    2.  An 
 ordinary  ministry.     Not  the  first  ;  for  we  might  as  well 
 expect  the  gift  of  miracles.    If  the  second,  (as  it  is  most 
 certain  so,)  then  the  main  question  is  evicted  ;  viz.,  that 
 something  perpetually  necessary  was  in  the  power  of  the 
 apostles,  which  was  not  in  the  power  of  the  inferior  ministers, 
 nor  of  any  but  themselves  and  their  colleagues  ;  to  wit, 
 'ministerium  S.  Spiritus,"'  or  the  ordinary  '  ofiice  of  giving  the 
 Holy  Ghost'  by  imposition  of  hands.    For  this  promise  was 
 performed  to  the  apostles  in  Pentecost,  to  the  rest  of  the 
 faithful  after  baptism  ;  "  Quod  enim  nunc  in  confirmandis 
 Neophytis  manus  impositio  tribuit  singulis,  hoc  tunc  Spiritus 
 Sancti  descensio,  in  credentium  populo  donavit  universis," 
 saith  Eusebius  Emissenus^.    Now  we  find  no  other  way  of 
 performing  it,  nor  any  ordinary  conveyance  of  the  Spirit  to 
 all  people,  but  this;  and  we  find  that  the  Holy  Ghost  actually 
 was  given  this  way.    Therefore  the  effect,  to  wit,  the  Holy 
 
 ^  Acts,  ii.  39. 
 
 e  Serin,  de  Pentecost. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 25 
 
 Ghost,  being  to  continue  foi-  ever,  and  the  pi'omise  of  uni- 
 versal concernment,  this  way  also  of  its  communication, 
 to  wit,  by  apostolical  imposition  of  hands,  is  also,  '  perpetuum 
 ministerium,'  to  be  succeeded  to,  and  to  abide  for  ever. 
 
 Secondly  :  This  ministry  of  imposition  of  hands,  for  con- 
 firmation of  baptized  people,  is  so  far  from  being  a  temporary 
 grace,  and  to  determine  with  the  persons  of  the  apostles,  that 
 it  is  a  fundamental  point  of  Christianity,  an  essential  ingre- 
 dient to  its  composition  ;  St.  Paul  is  my  author,  "  Therefore, 
 leaving  the  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Clirist,  let  us  go  on 
 unto  perfection,  not  laying  again  the  foundation  of  repent- 
 ance from  dead  works,  faith  towards  God,  the  doctrines  of 
 baptism,  and  of  laying  on  of  hands'',"  &c.  Here  is  im- 
 position of  hands  reckoned  as  part  of  the  foundation  and  a 
 principle  of  Christianity  in  St.  Paul's  catechism.  Now,  im- 
 position of  hands  is  used  by  name  in  Scripture  but  for  two 
 ministrations  :  first,  for  ordination ;  and  secondly,  for  this 
 whatsover  it  is.  Imposition  of  hands  for  ordination  does 
 indeed  give  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  not  as  he  is  that  promise 
 which  is  called  "  the  promise  of  the  Father."  For  the  Holy 
 Ghost  for  ordination  was  given  before  the  ascension,  John,  xx. 
 But  the  promises  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Comforter,  (the 
 Paraclete,  I  say,  not  the  Ordainer  or  Fountain  of  priestly 
 order,  that)  was  not  given  till  the  day  of  Pentecost ;  and 
 besides,  it  was  promised  to  all  Christian  people,  and  the 
 other  was  given  only  to  the  clergy. 
 
 Add  to  this,  that  St.  Paul  having  laid  this  in  the  founda- 
 tion,  makes  his  progress  from  this  to  '  perfection'  (as  he  calls 
 it,)  that  is,  to  higher  mysteries ;  and  then  his  discourse  is 
 immediately  of  the  priestliood  evangelical,  which  is  originally 
 in  Christ,  ministerially  in  the  clergy  ;  so  that,  unless  we  will 
 either  confound  the  terms  of  his  progress,  or  imagine  him  to 
 make  the  ministiy  of  the  clergy  the  foundation  of  Christ's 
 priesthood,  and  not  rather  contrary,  it  is  clear,  that  by  impo- 
 sition of  hands,  St.  Paul  means  not  ordination,  and  therefore 
 confirmation,  there  being  no  other  ordinary  ministry  of  impo- 
 sition of  hands,  but  these  two  specified  in  holy  Scripture. 
 For,  as  for  benediction,  in  which  Clu'ist  used  the  ceremony, 
 and  as  for  healing,  in  which  Ananias  and  the  apostles  used 
 
 '  Heb.  vi.  2. 
 
96 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 it;  the  first  is  clearly  no  principle  or  fundamental  point  of 
 Christianity  ;  and  the  second  is  confessedly  extraoi-dinary  ; 
 therefore  the  argument  is  still  firm  upon  its  first  principles. 
 
 3.  Lastly  :  The  primitive  church  did,  '  de  facto,'  and  be- 
 lieved themselves  to  be  tied  '  de  jure'  to  use  this  right  of  con- 
 firmation and  giving  of  the  Holy  Ghost  after  baptism. 
 
 St.  Clemens  Alexandrimis,  in  Eusebius,  tells  a  story  of  a 
 young  man  whom  St.  John  had  converted  and  committed  to 
 a  bishop  to  be  brought  up  in  the  faith  of  Christendom  : 
 Qui,"  saith  St.  Clement,  "  eum  baptismi  sacramento  illumi- 
 navit,  postea  vero  sigillo  Domini  tanquam  perfecta  et  tuta. 
 ejus  animi  custodia  obslgnavit^."  'The  bishop  first  '  baptized' 
 him,  then  '  consigned'  him.  Justin  Martyr  says,  (speaking 
 '  pro  more  ecclesiee,'  according  to  the  custom  of  the  church,) 
 that  when  the  mysteries  of  baptism  were  done,  then  the 
 faithful  are  consigned,  or  confirmed''. 
 
 St.  Cyprian  relates  to  this  story  of  St.  Philip  and  the 
 apostles,  and  gives  this  account  of  the  whole  affair :  "  Et 
 idcirco  quia  legitimum  et  ecclesiastic um  baptismum  conse- 
 quuti  fiierant,  bajitizari  eos  ultra  non  oportebat ;  sed  tantum- 
 modo  id  quod  deerat,  id  a  Petro  et  Johanne  factum  erat,  ut, 
 oratione,  pro  eis  habita  et  manu  imposita,  invocaretur  et 
 infunderetur  super  eos  Spiritus  Sanctus.  Quod  nunc  quoque 
 apud  nos  geritur,  ut  qui  in  ecclesia  baptizantur,  praepositis 
 ecclesiae  offerantur;  ut  per  nostram  orationem  ac  manus  im- 
 positionem  Spiritum  Sanctum  consequantur,  etsignaculo  Do- 
 minico  confirmentur',"  St.  Peter  and  St.  John,  by  imposing 
 their  hands  on  the  converts  of  Samaria,  praying  over  them, 
 and  giving  them  the  Holy  Ghost,  made  supply  to  them  of 
 what  was  wanting  after  baptism  :  and  this  is  to  this  day  done 
 in  the  church ;  for  new  baptized  people  are  brought  to  the 
 bishops,  and  by  imposition  of  their  hands,  obtain  the  Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 But  for  this  who  pleases  to  be  farther  satisfied  in  the 
 primitive  faith  of  Christendom,  may  see  it  in  the  decretal 
 epistles  of  Cornelius  the  martyr  to  Fabianus,  recorded  by 
 Eusebius  ;  in  the  epistle''  written  to  Julius  and  Julianus, 
 bishops,  under  the  name  of  St.  Clement ;  in  the  epistle '  of 
 
 e  Lib.  iii.  Hist.  cap.  17.  Quaest.  1.^7.  ad  Orthod. 
 
 •  Epist.  73.  ad  Jubajan.  Lib.  vi.  Hist.  cap.  33. 
 
 '  In  1.  torn.  CoDcil. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 27 
 
 Urban  P.  and  martyr;  in  Tertullianm,  in  St.  Austin",  and 
 in  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  whose  whole  third  Mystagogique 
 catechism  is  concerning  confirmation.  This  only  :  "  the  ca- 
 tholics, whose  Christian  prudence  it  was,  in  all  ti'ue  respects, 
 to  disadvantage  heretics,  lest  their  poison  should  infect  like 
 a  pest,  laid  it  in  Novatus's  dish  as  a  crime,  '  He  was  baptized 
 in  his  bed,  and  was  not  confirmed,'  Unde  nec  Spiritum 
 Sanctum  unquam  potuerit  promereri ;  Therefore  he  could 
 never  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost :"  So  Cornelius  in 
 the  foi'e  quoted  epistle.  Whence  it  is  evident,  that  then  it 
 was  the  belief  of  Christendom,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was,  by 
 no  ordinary  ministry,  given  to  faithful  people  after  baptism, 
 but  only  by  apostolical  or  episcopal  consignation  and  imposi- 
 tion of  hands. 
 
 What  also  the  faith  of  Christendom  was  concerning  the 
 minister  of  confirmation,  and  that  bishops  only  could  do  it, 
 I  shall  make  evident  in  the  descent  of  this  discourse.  Here 
 the  scene  lies  in  Scripture,  where  it  is  clear  that  St.  Philip, 
 one  of  the  seventy-two  disciples,  as  antiquity  reports  him, 
 and  an  Evangelist,  and  a  disciple,  as  Scripture  also  expresses 
 him,  could  not  impose  hands  for  application  of  the  promise 
 of  the  Father,  and  ministerial  giving  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  but 
 the  apostles  must  go  to  do  it ;  and  also  there  is  no  example  in 
 Scripture  of  any  that  ever  did  it  but  an  apostle,  and  yet  this 
 is  an  ordinary  ministry  which  '  de  jure'  ought,  and  '  de  facto' 
 always  was  continued  in  the  church.  Therefore  there  must 
 always  be  an  ordinary  office  of  apostleship  in  the  church  to 
 do  it,  that  is,  an  office  above  presbyters,  for  in  Scripture  they 
 could  never  do  it ;  and  this  is  it  which  we  call  episcopacy. 
 
 SECTION  IX. 
 
 And  Suferiority  of  Jurisdiction. 
 
 Thirdly  :  The  apostles  were  rulers  of  the  whole  church, 
 and  each  apostle  respectively  of  his  several  diocese,  when  he 
 
 "  Lib.  de  Baptismo,  c.  8. 
 
 "Lib.  ii.  contra  Lit.  Petil.  cap.  104.  et  lib.  xv.  de  Trinit.  c.  26.  Vide 
 etiam  S.  Hieron.  contra  Luciferianos.  S.  Atnbros.  lib.  ii.  c.  2-  de  Sacramentis; 
 Epist.  3.  Euseb.  P.  et  M.  ad  Episc  Tuseiee  et  Campon.  Isidor.  Hispal.  de 
 Eccles.  Offic.  lib.  ii.  c.  26. 
 
28 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 would  fix  his  cliair;  and  had  superintendency  over  the  pres- 
 byters and  the  people,  and  this  by  Christ's  donation.  The 
 charter  is  by  the  fathers  said  to  be  this:  "  Sicut  misit  me 
 Pater  sic  ego  mitto  vos ;"  "as  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even 
 so  I  send  you^."  Manifesta  enim,  est  sententia  Domini  nostri 
 Jesu  Christi  apostolos  suos  mittentis,  et  ipsis  solis  potestatem 
 a  Patre  sibi  datam  permittentis,  qulbus  nos  successimus 
 eadem  potestate  ecclesiam  Domini  gubernantes;"  said  Clarus 
 a  Muscula,  the  bishop  in  the  council  of  Carthage,  related  by 
 St.  Cyprian  and  St.  Austin^.  B\it,  however,  it  is  evident 
 in  Scripture,  that  the  apostles  had  such  superintendency  over 
 the  inferior  clergy  (presbyters  I  mean  and  deacons),  and  a 
 superiority  of  jurisdiction,  and  therefore  it  is  certain  that 
 Christ  gave  it  them,  for  none  of  the  apostles  took  this  honour, 
 but  he  that  was  called  of  God,  as  was  Aaron. 
 
 1.  Our  blessed  Saviour  gave  to  the  apostles  '  plenitudi- 
 nem  potestatis.'  It  was  "  Sicut  misit  me,  Pater,  8(C. :  "As 
 my  Father  sent,  so  I  send  you,  my  apostles,  whom  I  have 
 chosen."  This  was  not  said  to  presbyters,  for  they  had  no 
 commission  at  all  given  to  them  by  Christ,  but  at  their  first 
 mission  to  preach  repentance ;  I  say  no  commission  at  all ; 
 they  were  not  spoken  to,  they  were  not  present.  Now  then 
 consider.  Suppose  that,  as  Aerius  did  deny  the  Divine 
 institution  of  bishops  over  the  presbytei"s  '  cum  grege,' 
 another  as  confident  as  he  should  deny  the  Divine  institution 
 of  presbyters,  what  proof  were  there  in  all  the  holy  Scripture 
 to  show  the  Divine  institution  of  them  as  a  distinct  order 
 from  apostles  or  bishops  ?  Indeed  Christ  selected  seventy- 
 two  and  gave  them  commission  to  preach ;  but  that  commis- 
 sion was  temporary,  and  expired  before  the  crucifixion,  for 
 aught  appears  in  Scripture.  If  it  be  said  the  apostles  did 
 ordain  presbyters  in  every  city,  it  is  true,  but  not  sufficient, 
 for  so  they  ordained  deacons  at  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  esta- 
 blished churches,  and  j-et  this  will  not  tantamount  to  an 
 immediate  Divine  institution  for  deacons;  and  how  can  it 
 then  for  ^^resbvters?  If  we  say  a  constant  catholic  traditive 
 interpretation  of  Scripture  does  teach  us  that  Christ  did 
 institute  the  presbyterate  together  with  episcopacy,  and  made 
 
 »  John,  XX.  21. 
 
 ••Lib.  vii.  de  Baptism,  contra  Donatist.  c.  43.  Vide  etiam  S.  Cyprian  de 
 Unit.  Eccles.  et  S.  Cyril,  in  Joh.  lib.  xii.  c,  55. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 29 
 
 the  apostles  presbyters  as  well  as  bishops  ;  this  is  true.  But 
 then,  1.  We  recede  from  the  plain  words  of  Sci'ipture,  and 
 rely  upon  tradition,  which,  in  this  question  of  episcopacy, 
 will  be  of  dangerous  consequence  to  the  enemies  of  it ;  for 
 the  same  tradition,  if  that  be  admitted  for  good  probation,  is 
 for  episcopal  pre-eminence,  over  presbyters,  as  will  appear  in 
 the  sequel.  2.  Though  no  use  be  made  of  this  advantage, 
 yet  to  the  allegation  it  will  be  quickly  answered,  that  it  can 
 never  be  proved  from  Scripture,  that  Christ  made  the  apostles 
 pi'iests  first,  and  then  bishops  or  apostles,  but  only  that  Christ 
 gave  them  several  commissions,  and  parts  of  the  office  apos-. 
 tolical,  all  which  being  in  one  person,  cannot  by  force  of 
 Scripture  prove  two  orders.  Truth  is,  if  we  change  the 
 scene  of  war,  and  say  that  the  presbyterate  as  a  distinct 
 oi'der  from  the  ordinary  office  of  apostleship,  is  not  of  Divine 
 institution,  the  proof  of  it  would  be  harder  than  for  the  Di- 
 vine institution  of  episcopacy.  Especially  if  we  consider,  that, 
 in  all  the  enumerations  of  the  parts  of  clerical  offices,  there  is 
 no  enumeration  of  presbyters,  but  of  apostles  there  is  <^ ;  and 
 the  other  members  of  the  induction  are  of  gifts  of  Christianity, 
 or  parts  of  the  apostolate;  and  either  must  infer  many  more 
 orders  than  the  church  ever  yet  admitted  of,  or  none  distinct 
 from  the  apostolate  ;  insomuch  as  apostles  were  pastors,  and 
 teachers,  and  evangelists,  and  rulers,  and  had  the  gift  of 
 tongues,  of  healing,  and  of  miracles.  This  thing  is  of  great 
 consideration ;  and  this  use  I  will  make  of  it :  That  either 
 Christ  made  the  seventy-two  to  be  presbyters,  and  in  them 
 instituted  the  distinct  order  of  presbyterate,  as  the  ancient 
 church  always  did  believe,  or  else  he  gave  no  distinct  com- 
 mission for  any  such  distinct  order.  If  the  second  be  admit- 
 ted, then  the  presbyterate  is  not  of  immediate  Divine  institu- 
 tion, but  of  apostolical  only,  as  is  the  order  of  deacons;  and 
 the  whole  plenitude  of  power  is  in  the  order  apostolical  alone, 
 and  the  apostles  did  constitute  presbyters  with  a  greater 
 portion  of  their  own  power,  as  they  did  deacons  with  a  less. 
 But  if  the  first  be  said,  then  the  commission  to  the  seventy- 
 two  presbyters  being  only  of  preaching  that  we  find  in  Scrip- 
 ture, all  the  rest  of  their  power  which  now  they  have,  is  by 
 apostolical  ordinance;  and  then,  although  the  apostles  did 
 
 VOL. 
 
 vir. 
 
 ^'Eplies.  iv.  1  Cor.  xii. 
 
 E 
 
30 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 admit  them  in  partem  solicitudinls,'"  yet  they  did  not  admit 
 them  "  in  plenitudlnem  potestatis,"  for  then  they  must  have 
 made  them  apostles,  and  then  there  will  be  no  distinction  of 
 order  neither  by  Divine  nor  apostolical  institution  neither. 
 
 I  care  not  which  part  be  chosen,  one  is  certain;  but  if 
 either  of  them  be  true,  then  since  to  the  apostles  only  Christ 
 gave  a  plenitude  of  power,  it  follows,  that  either  the  presby- 
 ters have  no  power  of  jurisdiction,  as  affixed  to  a  distinct 
 order,  and  then  the  apostles  are  to  rule  them  by  virtue  of  the 
 order  and  ordinary  commission  apostolical ;  or,  if  they  have 
 jurisdiction,  they  do  derive  it  "  a  fonte  apostolorum,"  and 
 then  the  apostles  have  superiority  of  jurisdiction  over  presby- 
 ters, because  presbyters  only  have  it  by  delegation  apostolical. 
 And  that  I  say  truth  (besides  that  there  is  no  possibility  of 
 showing  the  contrary  in  Scripture,  by  the  producing  any 
 other  commission  given  to  presbyters,  than  what  I  have  spe- 
 cified,) I  will  hereafter  show  it  to  have  been  the  faith  and 
 practice  of  Christendom,  not  only  that  presbyters  were  ac- 
 tually subordinate  to  bishops  (which  I  contend  to  be  the 
 ordinary  office  of  apostleship),  but  that  presbyters  have  no 
 jurisdiction  essential  to  their  order,  but  derivative  only  from 
 apostolical  pre-eminence. 
 
 2.  Let  us  now  see  the  matter  of  fact.  They  that  can  in- 
 flict censures  upon  presbyters  have  certainly  superiority  of 
 jurisdiction  over  presbyters,  for  "  .^qualis  aequalem  coercere 
 non  potest,"  saith  the  law.  Now  it  is  evident,  in  the  case  of 
 Diotrephes,  a  presbyter,  and  a  bishop  would-be,  that,  for  his 
 peremptory  rejection  of  some  faithful  people  from  the  catholic 
 communion  without  cause,  and  without  authority,  St.  John 
 the  apostle  threatened  him  in  his  epistle  to  Gaius,  5ii  rovro 
 lav  eXSw,  Cntoi/.vriiu  a-iiTov,  SfC.  "Wherefore  when  I  come,  I  will 
 remember  him;"  and  all  that  would  have  been  to  very  little 
 purpose,  if  he  had  not  had  coercive  jurisdiction  to  have 
 punished  his  delinquencv. 
 
 3.  Presbyters  many  of  them  did  succeed  the  apostles  by 
 a  new  ordination,  as  Matthias  succeeded  Judas,  who,  before 
 his  new  ordination,  was  one  of  the  seventy-two,  as  Eusebius**, 
 Epiphanius%  and  St.  Jerome  ^  affirm,  and  in  Scripture  is 
 
 •iLib.  i.  Hist.  c.  12,  et  Lib.  ii.  c.  9.  e  Hares,  xx. 
 
 'De  Script.  Eccles.  in  Mat.  vide  Irenaeum,  lib.  iv.  c.  63.  Tertul.  de 
 Prsescript. 
 
EPISCOPACV  ASSERTED,  31 
 
 expressed  to  be  of  the  number  of  them  that  went  in  and  otft 
 with  Jesus;  St.  Clement  succeeded  St.  Peter  at  Rome;  St. 
 Simeon  Cleophas  succeeded  St.  James  at  Jerusalem ;  St.  Philip 
 succeeded  St.  Paul  at  CjBsarea  ;  and  divei-s  others  of  the 
 seventy-two  reckoned  by  Dorptheus,  Eusebius,  and  others 
 of  the  fathers,  did  govern  the  several  churches  after  the 
 apostles'  death,  which  before  they  did  not.  Now  it  is  clear 
 that  he  that  recpiyes  no  more  power  after  the  apostles,  than 
 he  had  under  them,  can  no  way  be  said  to  succeed  them  in 
 their  charge  or  churches.  It  follows  then,  since  (as  will 
 more  fully  appear  anon)  presbyters  did  succeed  the  apostles, 
 that  under  the  apostles  they  had  not  sucli  jurisdiction  as 
 afterwards  they  had.  But  the  apo§tles  had  the  same  to 
 which  the  presbyters  succeeded,  therefore  greater  than  thp 
 presbyters  had,  before  they  did  succeed.  When  I  say 
 presbyters  succeeded  the  apostles,  I  mean,  not  as  presbyters, 
 but  by  a  new  ordination  to  the  dignity  of  bishops  ;  so  they 
 succeeded,  and  so  they  prove  an  evidence  of  fact,  for  a 
 superiority  of  jurisdiction  in  the  apostolical  clergy.  Now, 
 that  this  superiority  of  jurisdiction  was  not  temporary,  but 
 to  be  succeeded  in,  appears  from  reason,  and  from  ocular 
 demonstration,  or  of  the  thing  done. 
 
 1.  If  superiority  of  jurisdiction  was  necessary  in  the  ages 
 apostolical  for  the  regiment  of  the  church,  there  is  no  ima- 
 ginable reason  why  it  should  not  be  necessary  in  succession, 
 since,  upon  the  emergency  of  schisms  and  heresies,  which 
 were  foretold  should  multiply  in  descending  ages,  government 
 and  superiority  of  jurisdiction,  unity  of  supremacy,  and  coerr 
 cion,  was  more  necessary  than  at  first,  when  extraordinary 
 gifts  might  supply,  what  now  we  expect  to  be  performed  by 
 
 ordinary  authority. 
 
 2.  Whatsoever  was  the  regiment  of  the  church  in  the 
 apostles'  times,  that  must  be  perpetual,  (not  so  as  to  have 
 '  air  that  which  was  personal  and  temporary,  but  so  as  to 
 have  'no  other,')  for  that,  and  that  only,  is  of  Divine  insti- 
 tution which  Christ  committed  to  the  apostles  ;  and  if  the 
 church  be  not  now  govei'ned  as  then,  we  can  show  no  Divine 
 authority  for  our  government ;  which  we  must  contend  to  do, 
 and  do  it  too,  or  be  called  usurpers.    For  either  the  apostles 
 
 g  Ut  puta,  viUuaium  collegium,  et  diacojiorum,  et  coenobium  fidelium,  Sfc 
 
 E  2 
 
32 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 did  govern  the  church  as  Christ  commanded  tliem,  or  not. 
 If  not,  then  they  failed  in  the  founding  of  the  church,  and 
 the  church  is  not  built  upon  a  rock.  If  they  did,  as  most 
 certainly  they  did,  then  either  the  same  disparity  of  jurisdic- 
 tion must  be  retained,  or  else  we  must  be  governed  with  an 
 unlawful  and  unwarranted  equality,  because  not  by  that 
 which  only  is  of  immediate  Divine  institution  ;  and  then  it 
 must  needs  be  a  fine  government,  where  there  is  no  authority, 
 and  where  no  man  is  superior. 
 
 3.  We  see  a  disparity  in  the  regiment  of  churches  war- 
 ranted by  Christ  himself,  and  confirmed  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
 in  fairest  intimation.  I  mean  the  seven  angel-presidents  of 
 the  seven  Asian  churches.  If  these  seven  angels  were  seven 
 bishops,  that  is,  prelates  or  governors  of  these  seven  churches, 
 in  which  it  is  evident  and  confessed  of  all  sides  there  were 
 many  presbyters, — then  it  is  certain,  that  a  superiority  of 
 jurisdiction  was  intended  by  Christ  himself,  and  given  by 
 him,  insomuch  as  he  is  the  fountain  of  all  power  derived  to 
 the  church  ;  for  Christ  writes  to  these  seven  churches,  and 
 directs  his  epistles  to  the  seven  governors  of  these  churches, 
 calling  them  angels  ;  which  it  will  hardly  be  supposed  he 
 would  have  done,  if  the  function  had  not  been  a  ray  of  the 
 Sun  of  righteousness  ;  they  had  not  else  been  angels  of  light, 
 nor  stars  held  in  Christ's  own  right  hand. 
 
 This  is  certain,  that  the  function  of  these  angels,  what- 
 soever it  be,  is  a  Divine  institution.  Let  us  then  see,  what 
 is  meant  by  these  stars  and  angels.  "  The  seven  stars  are 
 the  anorels  of  the  seven  churches,  and  the  seven  candlesticks 
 are  the  seven  churches'*." 
 
 1 .  Then  it  is  evident,  that  although  the  epistles  were 
 sent,  with  a  final  intention  for  the  edification  and  confirma- 
 tion of  the  whole  churches  or  people  of  the  diocess,  with  an 
 "  attendite  quid  Spiritus  dicit  ecclesiis;"  yet  the  personal 
 direction  was  not  to  the  whole  church,  for  the  whole  church 
 is  called  the  candlestick,  and  the  supersci-iption  of  the  epistle 
 is  not  to  the  seven  'candlesticks,'  but  to  the  seven  '  stars,' 
 which  are  the  angels  of  the  seven  churches,  viz.,  the  lights 
 shining  in  the  candlesticks.  By  the  angel,  therefore,  is  not, 
 cannot  be  meant,  the  *  whole  church.' 
 
 >"  Rev.  i,  20. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 33 
 
 2.  It  is  plain,  that  by  the  angel  is  meant  the  governor  of 
 th«  church  ;  first,  because  the  title  of  eminency,  the  angel 
 HLOLT  s^oy(^'hv,  that  is,  the  messenger,  the  legate,  the  apostle  or 
 the  church.  "AyyeXo*  exuraiv.  For  these  words,  '  angel'  of 
 *  apostle,'  although  they  signify  mission  or  legation,  yet,  in 
 Scripture,  they  often  relate  to  the  persons  to  whom  they  are 
 sent  ;  as  in  the  examples  before  specified.  "AyysXoj  exuruv : 
 "  Their  angels." — 'AttoittoXoi  'EnxXnaicDv  :  "The  apostles  of  the 
 churches." — "AyytXos  rra  'E(pa)Tix7)s-  'Ey-xXriulccs.  "  The  angel  of 
 the  church  of  Ephesus;"  and  divers  others.  Their  compel- 
 lation,  therefore,  being  a  word  of  '  office,'  in  respect  of  him 
 that  sends  them,  and  of '  eminence,'  in  relation  to  them  to 
 whom  they  are  sent,  shows  that  the  angel  was  the  ruler  of 
 each  church  respectively.  2.  Because  acts  of  jurisdiction 
 are  concredited  to  him  ;  as  not  to  suffer  false  apostles  ;  so  to 
 the  angel  of  the  church  of  Ephesus,  which  is  clearly  a  power 
 of  cognizance  and  coercion  "  in  causis  clericorum,"  to  be 
 '  watchful'  and  '  strengthen'  the  things  that  remain  ;  as  to  the 
 angel  of  the  church  in  Sardis,  ylvov  yq-nyo^Sv,  y.pcl  (jTyjgi^ov  ra 
 XoiTToi :  "  The  '  first'  is  the  office  of  rulers,  for  they  '  watch'  for 
 your  souls' ;"  and  the  second,  of  apostles  and  apostolic  men. 
 'lov^xi  Se  x«I  StXar  rous  aScXtpot/y  eTTS'TT'/i^i^av  :  "  Judas  and  Silas 
 confirmed  the  brethren  ;"  for  these  men,  although  they  were 
 but  of  the  LXXJI  at  first,  yet  by  this  time  were  made 
 apostles  and  "chief  men  among  the  brethren."  St.  Paul, 
 also,  was  joined  in  this  work,  5i-/)§5(,£to  iTriiyrnpl^uv  tols  'ExxXoj- 
 aiois:  "  He  went  up  and  down  confirming  the  churches''." 
 And  roL  "Koma.  ^ixrui^ofxai.  St.  Paul'.  To  confirm  the  churches, 
 and  to  make  supply  of  what  is  deficient  in  discipline  and 
 government,  these  were  offices  of  power  and  jurisdiction,  no 
 less  than  episcopal  or  apostolical  ;  and  besides,  the  angel 
 here  spoken  of  had  a  propriety  in  the  people  of  the  diocess ; 
 "  thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis ;"  they  were  the 
 bishop's  people,  the  angel  had  a  right  to  them.  And  good 
 reason  that  the  people  should  be  his,  for  their  faults  are 
 attributed  to  him,  as  to  the  angel  of  Pergamus,  and  divers 
 others,  and,  therefore,  they  are  deposited  in  his  custody.  He 
 is  to  be  their  ruler  and  pastor,  and  this  is  called  "  his 
 ministry."    To  the  angel  of  the  church  of  Thyatira  ofJa  aov 
 
 '  Heb.  X.  iii. 
 
 ''  Acts,  XV. 
 
 '  1  Cor.  xi. 
 
34 
 
 fePlSCOPACY  ASSCRTEl^. 
 
 TaE§y«,  xai  rm  Siaxoviav,  "  I  have  known  thy  ministry."  His 
 office,  therefore,  was  clerical,  it  was  an  angel-minister ;  and 
 this,  his  office,  must  make  him  the  guide  and  superior  to  the 
 rest,  even  all  the  whole  church,  since  he  was  charged  with 
 all. 
 
 3.  By  the  angel  is  meant  a  singular  person,  for  the  repre- 
 hensions and  the  commendations  respectively,  imply  personal 
 delinquency,  or  suppose  personal  excellencies.  Add  to  this, 
 that  the  compellation  is  singular,  and  of  determinate  number, 
 so  that  we  may  as  well  multiply  churches  as  persons ;  for  the 
 seven  churches  had  but  seven  stars,  and  these  seven  stars 
 were  the  angels  of  the  seven  churches.  And  if  by  seven 
 stars  they  may  mean  seventy  times  seven  stars,  (for  so  they 
 may,  if  they  begin  to  multiply,)  then,  by  one  star,  they  must 
 mean  many  stars  ;  and  so  they  may  multiply  churches  too, 
 for  there  were  as  many  churches  as  stars,  and  no  more 
 angels  than  churches ;  and  it  is  as  reasonable  to  multiply 
 these  seven  churches  into  seven  thousand,  as  every  star  into 
 a  constellation,  or  every  angel  into  a  legion. 
 
 But  besides  the  exigency  of  the  thing  itself,  these  seveii 
 angels  are,  by  antiquity,  called  the  seven  governors  or  bishops 
 of  the  seven  churches,  and  their  names  are  commemorated. 
 Unto  these  seven  churches,  "St.  John,"  saith  Arethas"", 
 
 reckoneth  laxplQ/xous  h(p6povs  'AyyiXous,  an  equal  number  of 
 angel-governors  ;"  and  GEcumenius,  in  his  Scholia  upon  this 
 .place,  saith  the  very  same  words,  "  Septem  igitur  angelos 
 rectox'es  septem  ecclesiarum  debemus  intelligere  eo  quod 
 ahgelus  nuntius  interpretatur,"  saith  St.  Ambrose  ;  and 
 again,  "  Angelos  episcopos  dicit,  sicut  docetur  in  apocalypsi 
 Joliannis"."    Let  the  woman  have  a  covering  on  her  head, 
 
 because  of  the  angels"  ;"  that  is,  in  reverence  and  in  sub- 
 jection to  the  bishop  of  the  church,  for  bishops  are  the  angels, 
 as  is  taught  in  the  Revelation  of  St.  John.  "  Divina  voce 
 sub  angeli  nomine  laudatur  praepositus  eccleslse,"  so  St. 
 Austin  :  "  By  the  voice  of  God,  the  bishop  of  the  church  is 
 commended  under  the  title  of  an  angel  .'*  Euseblus  names 
 some  of  these  angels,  who  were  then  presidents  and  actually 
 bishops  of  these  churches.  St.  Polycarp  was  one  to  be 
 sure,  "  apud  Smyrnam  et  episcopus  et  martyr,"  saith  Euse- 
 
 Ill  I  Apocal.  "  Ibid.  °  In  ]  Cor.xi. 
 
 V  Epist.  162,  et  in  Apocal.  lib.  v.  c.  24. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 35 
 
 bius.  He  was  the  angel  of  the  church  of  Smyrna  ;  and  he 
 had  good  authority  for  it,  for  he  reports  it  out  of  Poly- 
 crates'',  who,  a  little  after,  was  himself  an  angel  of  the  church 
 of  Ephesus  ;  and  he  also  quotes  St.  Irenseus  for  it,  arid  out  of 
 the  encyclical  epistle  of  the  church  of  Smyrna  itself ;  and, 
 besides  these  authorities,  it  is  attestfed  by  St.  Ignatius',  and 
 TertulHan*.  St.  TimothjMvas  another  angel,  to  wit,  of  the 
 church  of  Ejihesus  ;  to  be  sure  had  been,  and  most  likely 
 was  still  surviving.  Antipas  is  reckoned  by  name  in  the 
 Revelation,  and  he  had  been  the  angel  of  Pergamus  ;  but 
 before  this  book  was  written,  he  was  turned  from  an  angel 
 to  a  saint'.  Melito,  in  all  probability,  was  then  the  angel  of 
 the  church  of  Sardis.  "  Melito  quoque  Sardensis  ecclesise 
 antistes,  et  Apollinaris  apud  Hierapolim  ecclesiam  regens 
 celeberrimi  inter  caeteros  habebantur,"  saith  Eusebius". 
 These  men  were  actually  living  when  St.  John  writ  his  Reve- 
 lation; for  Melito  writ  his  book  de  Paschate,  when  Sergius 
 Paulus  was  proconsul  of  Asia,  and  writ  after  the  Revelation  ; 
 for  he  writ  a  treatise  of  it,  as  saith  Eusebius.  However,  at 
 least  some  of  these  Avere  then,  and  all  of  these  about  that 
 time,  were  bishops  of  these  churches  ;  and  the  angels  St. 
 John  speaks  of,  were  such  who  had  jurisdiction  over  their 
 whole  diocess ;  therefore  these,  or  such  as  these,  wei-e  the 
 angels  to  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  writ  hortatory  and  com- 
 mendatory letters,  such  whom  Christ  held  in  his  right  hand, 
 and  fixed  them  in  the  churches  like  lights  set  on  a  candle- 
 stick, that  they  might  give  shine  to  the  whole  house. 
 
 The  sum  of  all  is  this;  that  Christ  did  institute  apostles 
 And  jsresbyters,  or  seventy-two  disciples.  To  the  apDStles  hte 
 gave  a  plenitude  of  power  ;  for  the  whole  commission  wis 
 given  to  them  in  as  great  and  comprehensive  clauses  as  wel*e 
 imaginable ;  for,  by  virtue  of  it,  tliey  received  a  power  of  giving 
 the  Holy  Ghost  in  confirmation,  and  of  giving  his  grace  in  the 
 collation  of  holy  orders,  a  power  of  jurisdiction  and  authority 
 to  govern  the  church  :  and  this  power  was  not  '  temporary,' 
 but  '  successive'  and  '  perpetual,'  and  was  intended  as  an 
 '.ordinary'  office  in  the  church,  so  that  the  '  successors'  of  the 
 
 1  Lib.  iv.  c.  10.    Lib  iv.  c.  15. 
 '  De  Praescrip. 
 »  Lib.  iv.  c.  26. 
 
 '■  Epist.  ad  Polycarp. 
 '  Vide  Aretha  in  1  .Apor. 
 
36 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED, 
 
 apostles  had  the  same  right  and  institution  that  the  apostles 
 themselves  had  ;  and  though  the  personal  mission  was  not 
 immediate,  as  of  the  apostles  it  was,  vet  the  commission  and 
 institution  of  the  function  was  all  one.  But  to  the  seventy- 
 two  Christ  gave  no  commission  but  of  '  preaching,'  which  was 
 a  very  limited  commission.  There  was  all  the  immediate 
 Divine  institution  of  presbyterate,  as  a  distinct  order  that  can 
 be  fairly  pretended.  But  yet  farther,  these  seventy-two  the 
 apostles  did  admit  "  in  partem  solicitudinis,"  and,  by  new 
 ordination  or  delegation  apostolical,  did  give  them  power  of 
 administering  sacraments,  and  absolving  sinners,  of  governing 
 the  church  in  conjunction  and  subordination  to  the  apostles, 
 of  which  they  had  a  capacity,  by  Christ's  calling  them  at  first 
 "  in  sortem  ministerii;"  but  the  exercise,  and  the  actuating 
 of  this  capacity,  they  had  from  the  apostles.  So  that,  not 
 by  Divine  ordination,  or  immediate  commission  from  Christ, 
 but  by  derivation  from  the  apostles,  and,  therefore,  in  mino- 
 rity and  subordination  to  them,  the  presbyters  did  exercise 
 acts  of  order  and  jurisdiction  in  the  absence  of  the  apostles 
 or  bishops,  or  in  conjunction  consiliarv,  and  by  way  of  advice, 
 or  before  the  consecration  of  a  bishop  to  a  particular  church. 
 And  all  this  I  doubt  not,  but  was  done  by  the  direction  of 
 the  Holy  Ghost,  as  were  all  other  acts  of  apostolical  minis- 
 tration, and  particularly  the  institution  of  the  other  order, 
 viz.,  of  deacons.  This  is  all  that  can  be  proved  out  of  Scrip- 
 ture, concerning  the  commission  given  in  the  institution  of 
 presbyters ;  and  this  I  shall  afterwards  confirm  by  the  prac- 
 tice of  the  Catholic  church,  and  so  vindicate  the  practices  of 
 the  present  church  from  the  common  prejudices  that  disturb 
 us;  for,  by  this  account,  episcopacy  is  not  only  a  Divine  in- 
 stitution, but  the  only  order  that  derives  immediately  from 
 Christ. 
 
 For  the  present  only,  I  sum  up  this  with  that  sajang  of 
 Theodoret,  speaking  of  the  seventy-two  disciples.  "  Palmae 
 sunt  isti  qui  nutriuntur  ac  erudiuntur  ab  apostolis.  Nam 
 quanquam  Christus  hos  etiam  elegit,  erant  tamen  duodecim 
 lllis  inferiores,  et  postea  illorum  discipuli  et  sectatores 
 "  The  apostles  are  the  twelve  fountains,  and  the  LXXII  are 
 the  palms  that  are  nourished  by  the  waters  of  those  fountains. 
 For  though  Christ  also  ordained  the  LXXII,  yet  they  were 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 37 
 
 inferior  to  the  apostles,  and  afterwards  were  their  followers 
 and  disciples 
 
 I  know  no  objection  to  hinder  a  conclusion  ;  only  two  or 
 three  words  out  of  Ignatius  are  pretended  against  the  main 
 question,  viz.,  to  prove  that  he,  although  a  bishojj,  yet  had  no 
 apostolical  authority,  oly^  us  a.ito'jro'Koi  'Siocriaao^xi,  "  I  do  not 
 command  this  as  an  apostle,  (for  what  am  I,  and  what  is  my 
 father's  house,  that  I  should  compare  myself  with  them,)  but 
 as  your  fellow-soldier  and  a  monitor''."  But  this  answers 
 itself,  if  we  consider  to  whom  he  speaks  it.  Not  to  his  own 
 church  of  Antioch,  for  there  he  might  command  as  an  apostle, 
 but  to  the  Philadelphians  he  might  not,  they  were  no  part  of 
 his  diocess,  he  was  not  '  their'  apostle,  and  then  because  he 
 did  not  equal  the  apostles  in  their  commission  extraordinary, 
 in  their  personal  privileges,  and  in  their  universal  jurisdiction, 
 therefore  he  might  not  command  the  Philadelphians,  being 
 another  bishop's  charge,  but  admonish  them  with  the  freedom 
 of  a  Christian  bishop,  to  whom  the  souls  of  all  faithful  people 
 were  dear  and  pi'ecious.  So  that  still  episcopacy  and  apos- 
 tolate  may  be  all  one  in  ordinary  office  :  this  hinders  not,  and 
 I  know  nothing  else  pretended,  and  that  antiquity  is  clearly 
 on  this  side  is  the  next  business. 
 
 For  hitherto  the  discourse  hath  been  of  the  '  immediate 
 Divine  institution'  of  episcopacy,  by  arguments  derived  from 
 Scripture ;  I  shall  only  add  two  more  from  antiquity,  and  so 
 pass  on  to  tradition  apostolical. 
 
 SECTION  X. 
 
 So  that  Bishops  are  Successors  in  the  Office  of  Apostleship, 
 according  to  the  general  Tenent  of  Antiquity. 
 
 I.  The  belief  of  the  primitive  church  is,  that  bishops  are  the 
 ordinary  successors  of  the  apostles,  and  presbyters  of  the 
 seventy-two,  and,  therefore,  did  believe  that  episcopacy  is  as 
 truly  of  Divine  institution  as  the  apostolate,  for  the  ordinary 
 office  both  of  one  and  the  other  is  the  same  thing.  For 
 
 "  In  Lucam.  c.  1. 
 
 y  Epist.  ad  Philadelph. 
 
88 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED, 
 
 this  there  is  abundant  testimony.  Some  I  shall  select, 
 enough  to  give  fair  evidence  of  a  catholic  tradition. 
 
 St.  Irenaeus  is  very  frequent  and  confident  in  this  particu- 
 lar, "  Habemus  annuraerare  eos,  qui  ab  apostolis  instituti 
 sunt  eplscopi  in  ecclesiis,  et  successores  eorum  usque  ad  nos. 
 
  Etenim  si  recondita  mvsteria  scissent  apostoli,  his  vel 
 
 raaxirae  traderent  ea,  quibus  etiam  ipsas  ecclesias  commit- 
 tebant — quos  et  successores  relinquebant,  suum  ipsorum  lo- 
 cum magisterii  tradentes :"  "  We  can  name  the  men  the 
 apostles  made  bishops  in  their  several  churches,  appointing 
 them  their  successors,  and  most  certainly  those  mysterious 
 secrets  of  Christianity  which  themselves  knew,  they  would 
 deliver  to  them,  to  whom  they  committed  the  churches,  and 
 left  to  be  their  successors  in  the  same  power  and  authority 
 themselves  had"."" 
 
 Tevtullian  reckons  Corinth,  Philippi,  Thessalonica,  Ephe- 
 sus,  and  others,  to  be  churches  apostolical,  "  apud  quas  ipsaj 
 adhuc  cathedrae  apostolorum  suis  locis  praesident :"  "Aposto- 
 lical they  are  from  their  foundation,  and  by  their  succession, 
 for  the  apostles  did  found  them,  and  apostles  or  men  of 
 apostolic  authority  still  do  govern  them""." 
 
 St.  Cyprian:  "  Hoc  enim  vel  maxime,  frater, et  laboramus 
 et  laborare  debemus,  ut  uuitatem  a  Domino,  et  per  apos- 
 tolos  nobis  successoribus  traditam,  quantum  possumus  obti- 
 nere  curemus  :"  "  We  must  preserve  the  unity  commanded 
 us  by  Christ,  and  delivered  bv  his  apostles  to  us,  their  suc- 
 cessors"."" '  To  us,  Cj'prianand  Cornelius,'  for  they  only  were 
 then  in  view,  the  one  bishop  of  Rome,  the  "other  of  Carthage. 
 And  in  his  epistle  ad  Florentium  Pupianum :  "  Nec  haec 
 jacto,  sed  doleus  profero,  cum  te  judicem  Dei  constituas  et 
 Christi,  qui  dicit  ad.  apostolos,  ac  per  hoc  ad  omnes  praepo- 
 sitos,  qui  apostolis  vicaria  ordinatione  succedunt,  Qui  vos  au- 
 dit, me  audit,"  Sj-c.  "  Christ  said  to  his  apostles,  and  in  them 
 to  the  governors  or  bishops  of  his  church,  who  succeeded 
 the  apostles  as  vicars  in  their  absence,  He  that  heareth  you, 
 heareth  me''." 
 
 Famous  is  that  saying  of  Clarus  a  Muscula,  the  bishop, 
 spoken  in  the  council  of  Carthage,  and  repeated  by  St.  Aus- 
 tin:  "  Manifesta  est  senteutia  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi 
 
 a  Lib.  c  3. 
 
 '  Epist.  42.  ad  Comelium. 
 
 *>  Lib.  de  PrsEscript.  c.  36. 
 ^  Epist.  69. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 apostolos  suos  mittentis,  et  ipsis  soils  potestatem  a  patre  sibi 
 datam  permittentis  quibus  nos  successimus  eadem  potestate 
 ecclesiam  Domini  gubernantes.  Nos  successimus:"  "  We 
 succeed  the  apostles  governing  the  church  by  the  same 
 power  He  spake  it  in  full  council  in  an  assembly  of 
 bishops,  and  himself  was  a  bishop. 
 
 The  council  of  Rome  under  St.  Silvester,  speaking  of  the 
 honour  due  to  bishops,  expresses  it  thus:  "  Non  oportei-e 
 quemquam  Domini  discipulis,  id  est,  apostolorum  succes- 
 soribus  detrahere  :"  "  No  man  must  detract  from  the  disciples 
 of  our  Lord,  that  is,  from  the  apostles'  successors." 
 
 St.  Jerome,  speaking  against  the  Montanists  for  under- 
 valuing their  bishops,  shows  the  difference  of  the  catholics" 
 honouring,  and  the  heretics'  disadvantaging  that  sacred 
 order ^  "  Apud  nos,"  saith  he,  "apostolorum locum  eplscopi 
 tenent,  apud  eos  episcopus  tertius  est:"  "  Bishops  with  us 
 [Catholics]  have  the  place  or  authority  of  ajjostles,  but  with 
 them  [Montanists]  bishops  are  not  the  first  but  the  third 
 state  of  men."  And  upon  that  of  the  Psalmist,  "  Pro  patri- 
 bus  nati  sunt  tibi  filil,"  St.  Jerome,  and  divers  others  of  the 
 fathers,  make  this  gloss  ;  "  Pro  patribus  apostolis  filii  epis- 
 copi,  ut  episcopi  apostolis,  tanquam  filii  patribus,  succedant :" 
 "  The  apostles  are  fathei-s,  instead  of  whom  bishops  do  suc- 
 ceed, whom  God  hath  appointed  to  be  made  rulers  in  all 
 lands."  So  St.  Jerome,  St.  Austin,  and  Euthymius,  upon 
 the  44th  Psalm,  alias  45th. 
 
 But  St.  Austin,  for  his  own  particular,  makes  good  use  of 
 his  succeeding  the  apostles,  which  would  do  very  well  now 
 also  to  be  considered:  "  Si  solis  apostolis  dixit.  Qui  vos 
 spernit  me  spernit,  spernite  nos ;  si  autem  sermo  ejus  per- 
 venit  ad  nos,  et  vocavit  nos,  et  in  eorum  loco  constituit  nos 
 videte  ne  spernatis  nos^."  It  was  good  counsel  not  to  despise 
 bishops,  for  they  being  in  the  apostles'  places  and  offices 
 are  concerned  and  protected  by  that  saying,  "  He  that 
 despiseth  you,  despiseth  me."  I  said  it  ^vas  good  counsel, 
 especially  if,  besides  all  these,  we  will  take  also  St.  Chry- 
 sostom's  testimony.  "  Potestas  anathematizandi  ab  apostolis 
 ad  successores  eorum  nlmirum  episcopos  transit:"  "A  power 
 
 *Lib.  vii.  C.43,  de  Baptis.  cont,.  Donatisl. 
 s  De  verbis  Dom.  seriri.  24 
 
 Epist-  51. 
 
40 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 of  anathematizing  delinquents  is  derived  from  the  apostles  to 
 their  successors,  even  to  bishops." 
 
 St.  Ambrose,  upon  that  of  St.  Paul,  Ephes  iv.  "  Quos- 
 damdedit  apostolos,  apostoli  episcopi  sunt :"  "  He  hath  given 
 apostles,  that  is,  he  hath  given  some  bishops''."  That  is  down- 
 right, and  this  came  not  by  chance  from  him ;  he  doubles  his 
 assertion.  "  Caput  itaque  in  ecclesia  ajjostolis  posuit,  qui 
 legati  Christ!  sunt,  sicut  dicit  idem  apostolus,  '  pro  quo 
 legatlone  fungimur.'  Ipsi  sunt  episcopi,  firmante  istud  Pe- 
 tro  ajjostolo,  et  dicente  inter  ctetera  de  Juda,,Et  episco- 
 patum  ejus  accipiat  alter'."  And  a  third  time:  "  Numquid. 
 omnes  apostoli?  verum  est;  quia  in  ecclesia  unus  est  epis- 
 copus."  Bishop  and  apostle  was  all  one  with  St.  Ambrose, 
 when  he  spake  of  their  ordinary  offices ;  which  puts  me  in 
 mind  of  the  fragment  of  Polycrates,  of  the  martyrdom  of 
 Timothy  in  Photius,  ot»  6  ^ A'ttostoKos,  Ti/xoOeos-  vtto  tou  (/.syxXou 
 Ylccv'kov  xxl  y^itporoviiroci  rris  ''EipriTiuv  ix'^rpoTtoKeus  ETnVxtTTros-  x«i 
 ev9/!ovii^sTaj  k .  "  The  apostle  Timothy  was  ordained  bishop  in 
 the  metropolis  of  Ephesus,  by  St.  Paul,  and  there  enthroned.'' 
 To  this  purpose  are  those  compellations  and  titles  of  bishop- 
 ricks  usually  in  antiquity.  St.  Basil  calls  a  bishoprick, 
 9rf  0c5§iav  ToJv  ^ A'TtoaroKuv,  and  Trpos^plxv  ' ATroiroXiKriv .  So  Theo- 
 doret.  "  An  apostolical  presidency."  The  sum  is  the  same 
 which  St.  Peter  himself  taught  the  church,  as  St.  Clement, 
 his  scholar,  or  some  other  primitive  man  in  his  name,  reports 
 of  him.  "  Episcopos  ergo  vicem  apostolorum  gerei-e  Domi- 
 num  docuisse  dicebat,  et  reliquorum  discipulorum  vlcem 
 tenere  presbyteros  debere  insinuabat:"  "  He  [Peter]  said 
 that  our  Lord  taught,  that  bishops  were  to  succeed  in  the 
 place  of  the  apostles,  and  presbyters  in  the  place  of  the 
 disciples'."  Who  desires  to  be  farther  satisfied  concerning 
 catholic  consent,  for  bishops'  succession  to  apostles  in  their 
 order  and  ordinary  office,  he  may  see  it  in  Pacianus,  the 
 renowned  bishop  of  Barcinona™,  in  St.  Gregory",  St.  John 
 Damascen",  in  St.  Sextus  the  First,  his  second  decretal 
 epistle,  and  most  plentifully  in  St.  Coelestine  writing  to  the 
 Ephesine  council^,  in  the  epistle  of  Anacletus  de  Patriarchis 
 
 !>  In  Ephes.  iv.    In  1  Cor.  xii.  28. 
 
 Biblioth.  Phot.  n.  254. 
 "'Epist.  l.ad.  Sempron. 
 o  Oral.  2.  de  Imagin. 
 
 '  In  verse  29,  ibid. 
 '  Lib.  iv.  c.  18.  Epist.  1. 
 "  Homil-  26.  in  Evang. 
 P  Epist.  7, 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 41 
 
 et  Prlmatibus'',  S{C.  In  Isidore',  and  In  venerable  Bede". 
 His  words  are  these;  "  Sicut  duodecim  apostolos  formam 
 episcoporum  exhibere  simul  et  demonstrare  nemo  est  qui 
 dubitet:  sic  et  72  figuram  presbyterorum  gessisse  sciendum 
 est,  tametsi  primis  ecclesiae  temporibus,  ut  apostollca  Scrip- 
 tura  testis  est,  utrique  presbyteri,  et  utrique  vocabantur  epis- 
 copi,  quorum  unum  sclentiie  maturitatem,  aliud  Industriam 
 curae  pastoralis  significat.  Sunt  ergo  jui'e  Divino  episcopi  a 
 presbyteris  prselatione  distincti:"  "As  no  man  doubts  but 
 apostles  were  the  order  of  bishops ;  so  the  seventy- two  of 
 presbyters,  though  at  first  they  had  names  in  common.  There- 
 fore, bishops  by  Divine  right  are  distinct  from  presbyters, 
 and  their  prelates  or  superiors." 
 
 SECTION  XI. 
 
 And  particularly  of  St.  Peter. 
 
 To  the  same  issue  drive  all  those  testimonies  of  antiquity, 
 that  call  all  bishops,  '  ex  ajquo,'  successors  of  St.  Peter.  So 
 St.  Cyprian  :  "  Dominus  noster,  cujus  pi-aecepta  metuere  et 
 observare  debemus,  episcopi  honorem  et  ecclesiae  suae  ratio- 
 nem  disponens  in  evangeho,  loquitur  et  dicit  Petro,  Ego  tibi 
 dico,  quia  tu  est  Petrus,  SfC.  Inde  per  temporum  et  succes- 
 sionem  vices,  episcoporum  ordinatio  et  ecclesiae  ratio  decur- 
 rit,  ut  ecclesia  super  episcopos  constituatur,"  8^^c.  "When  our 
 blessed  Saviour  was  ordering  his  church,  and  instituting  epis- 
 copal dignity  he  said  to  Peter:  '  Thou  art  Peter,  and  on  this 
 rock  will  I  build  my  church.''  Hence  comes  the  order  of 
 bishops,  and  the  constitution  of  being  of  the  church,  that  the 
 church  be  founded  upon  bishops'","  S^-c. 
 
 The  same  also  St.  Jerome  intimates,  "  Non  est  facile  stare 
 loco  Pauli,  teneregradum  Petri :"  "  It  is  nota  small  thing  to 
 stand  in  the  place  of  Paul,  to  obtain  the  degi-ee  of  Peter 
 So  he,  while  he  dissuades  Heliodorus  from  taking  on  him  the 
 great  burden  of  the  episcopal  office.  "  Pasce  oves  meas," 
 said  Christ  to  Peter;  and  "  Feed  the  flock  of  God,  which  is 
 
 illahetur  Can.  in  Novo  distinct.  21. 
 'Lib.  iii.c.  15.  supet  Lueam. 
 ^  Epist.  1. 
 
 f  In  Synod.  Ilispal. 
 ■'Epis.  27.  ad  Lapsos. 
 
4-3 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED 
 
 amongst  you,"  said  St,  Peter,  to  the  bishops  of  Pontus, 
 Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bithynia.  "  Similia  enim 
 successoribus  suis  Petrus  scripsit  prajcepta,"  saith  Theodoret: 
 *'  St.  Peter  gave  the  same  precepts  to  his  successors,  Avhich 
 Christ  gave  to  him"^."  And  St.  Ephrem  speaking  of  St. 
 Basil,  the  Bishop  of  Cajsarea  Cappadocia,  "  Et  sicut  rursus 
 Petrus  Ananiam  et  Sapphiram  fraudantes  de  pretio  agri  ene- 
 cavit:  ita  et  Basilius,  locum  Petri  obtinens  ej usque  pariter 
 authoritatem  libertatemque  participans,  suam  ipsius  promis- 
 sionem  fraudantem  Valentem  redarguit,  ejusque  filium  morte 
 mulctavit :"  "  As  St.  Peter  did  to  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  so 
 Basil  did  to  Valens  and  his  son,  for  the  same  delinquency ; 
 for  he  had  the  place,  liberty,  and  authoi'ity  of  St.  Peter." 
 
 Thus  Gaudentius,  of  Brixia,  calls  St.  Ambrose  the  suc- 
 cessor of  St.  Peter ;  and  Gildas,  surnamed  the  Wise,  saith, 
 "  that  all  evil  bishops  whatsoever,  do,  with  unhallowed  and 
 unclean  feet,  usurp  the  seat  of  St.  Peter''."  But  this  thing  is 
 of  catholic  belief,  and  of  this  use.  If  the  order  and  office  of 
 the  ajDostolate  be  eternal,  and  to  be  succeeded  in,  and  this 
 office  superior  to  pi-esbyters;  and  not  only  of  Divine  insti- 
 tution, but,  indeed,  the  only  oi'der  which  can  clearly  show  an 
 immediate  Divine  commission  for  its  power  and  authority 
 (as  I  have  proved  of  the  function  apostolical) ;  then  those 
 which  do  succeed  the  apostles  in  the  ordinary  office  of  apos- 
 tolate,  have  the  same  institution  and  authority  the  apostles 
 had ;  as  much  as  the  successors  of  the  presbyters  have  with 
 the  first  presbyters,  and  perhaps  more. 
 
 For,  in  the  apostolical  ordinations,  they  did  not  proceed 
 as  the  church  since  hath  done.  Themselves  had  the  whole 
 priesthood,  the  whole  commission  of  the  ecclesiastical  power, 
 and  all  the  offices.  Now  they,  in  their  ordaining  assistant 
 ministers,  did  not  in  every  ordination  give  a  distinct  order,  as 
 the  church  hath  done  since  the  apostles.  For  they  ordained 
 some  to  distinct  offices,  some  to  particular  places ;  some  ta 
 one  part,  some  to  another  part,  of  clerical  employment;  as 
 St.  Paul,  who  was  an  apostle,  yet  was  ordained  by  imposition, 
 of  hands,  to  go  to  the  churches  of  the  uncircumcision ;  so 
 was  Barnabas,  St.  John,  and  James,  and  Cephas,  to  the  cir- 
 
 Lib.  xii.  Tlies.  cap.  IS.    Oral,  de  Laud.  Basil, 
 •i  Tract,  prima  Die  sua  Ordinal.    Bibliotli.  SS.  PP.  torn.  v.  in  Eccles.  Ord. 
 incrcpat. 
 
EPISCOPAGV  ASSERTED. 
 
 43 
 
 cumcision :  and  there  was  scarce  any  public  design  or  grand 
 employment,  but  the  apostolic  men  had  a  new  ordination  to 
 it,  a  new  imposition  of  hands  ;  as  is  evident  in  the  Acts  of 
 the  Apostles.  So  that  the  apostolical  ordinations  of  the 
 inferior  clergy,  were  only  a  giving  of  particular  commissions 
 to  particular  men,  to  officiate  such  parts  of  the  apostolical 
 calling  as  they  would  please  to  employ  them  In.  Nay,  some- 
 times their  ordinations  were  only  a  delivering  of  jurisdiction, 
 when  the  persons  ordained  had  the  order  before  ;  as  it  is 
 evident  in  the  case  of  Paul  and  Bai'nabas".  Of  the  same 
 consideration  is  the  institution  of  deacons  to  spiritual  offices; 
 and  it  is  very  pertinent  to  this  question.  For  there  is  no 
 Divine  institution  for  these  rising  higher  than  apostolical 
 ordinance  ;  and  so  much  there  is  for  presbyters,  as  they  are 
 now  authorized ;  for  such  power  the  apostles  gave  to  pres- 
 byters as  they  have  now,  and  sometimes  more,  as  to  Judas 
 and  Silas,  and  divers  others  ;  who,  therefore,  were  more  than 
 mere  presbyters,  as  the  word  is  now  used. 
 
 The  result  is  this :  The  office  and  order  of  a  presbyter  is 
 but  part  of  the  office  and  order  of  an  apostle  ;  so  is  a  deacon, 
 a  lesser  part ;  so  is  an  evangelist ;  so  is  a  prophet ;  so  is  a 
 doctor;  so  is  a  helper,  or  a  surrogate  in  government.  But 
 these  will  not  be  called  orders;  every  one  of  them  will  not,  I 
 am  sure  ;  at  least,  not  made  distinct  orders  by  Chi'ist.  For 
 it  was  in  the  apostles'  power  to  give  any  one,  or  all  these 
 powers,  to  any  one  man;  or  to  distinguish  them  into  so 
 many  men  as  there  are  offices,  or  to  unite  more  or  fewer  of 
 them.  All  these,  I  say,  clearly  make  not  distinct  orders ; 
 and  why  ai'e  not  all  of  them  of  the  same  consideration  ?  I 
 would  be  answei'ed  from  grounds  of  Scripture ;  for  there  we 
 fix,  as  yet. 
 
 Indeed  the  apostles  did  ordain  such  men,  and  scattered 
 their  power  at  first ;  for  there  was  so  much  emjjloyment  in 
 any  one  of  them,  as  to  require  one  man  for  one  office.  But 
 a  while  after,  they  united  all  the  lesser  parts  of  power  into 
 two  sorts  of  men,  whom  the  church  hath  since  distinguished 
 by  the  names  of  presbyters  and  deacons,  and  called  them  two 
 distinct  orders.  But  yet,  if  we  speak  properly  and  according 
 to  the  exigence  of  Divine  institution,  there  is  '  unum  sacer- 
 
 *  Acts,  xiii. 
 
44 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 dolium,'  '  one  priesthood'  appointed  b}'  Christ ;  and  that  was 
 the  commission  given  by  Christ  to  his  apostles,  and  to  their 
 successors  pi'ecisely  ;  and  those  other  offices  of  presbyter  and 
 deacon  are  but  members  of  the  great  priesthood  ;  and 
 although  the  power  of  it  is  all  of  Divine  institution,  as  the 
 power  to  baptize,  to  preach,  to  consecrate,  to  absolve,  to 
 minister;  yet  that  so  much  of  it  should  be  given  to  one  sort 
 of  men,  so  much  less  to  another,  that  is  only  of  apostolical 
 ordinance.  For  the  apostles  might  have  given  to  some  only 
 a  power  to  absolve,  to  some  only  to  consecrate,  to  some  only 
 to  baptize.  We  see,  that  to  deacons  they  did  so.  They  had 
 only  a  power  to  baptize  and  preach  ;  whether  all  evangelists 
 had  so  much  or  no,  Scripture  doth  not  tell  us. 
 
 But  if  to  some  men  they  had  only  given  a  power  to  use 
 the  keys,  or  made  them  officers  spiritual,  to  '  restore  such  as 
 are  overtaken  in  a  fault,'  and  not  to  consecrate  the  eucharist ; 
 (for  we  see  these  powers  are  distinct,  and  not  relative  and  of 
 necessary  conjunction,  no  more  than  baptizing  and  conse- 
 crating ;)  whether  or  no  have  those  men,  who  have  only  a 
 power  of  absolving  or  consecrating  respectively  ;  whether,  (I 
 say,)  have  they  the  order  of  a  presbyter  ?  If  yea,  then  now 
 every  priest  hath  two  orders,  besides  the  order  of  deacon  ; 
 for,  b}^  the  power  of  consecration,  he  hath  the  power  of  a 
 presbyter;  and  what  is  he,  then,  by  his  other  power  ?  But 
 if  such  a  man,  ordained  with  but  one  of  these  powers,  have 
 not  the  order  of  a  presbyter ;  then  let  any  man  show  me, 
 where  it  is  ordained  by  Christ,  or  indeed  by  the  apostles,  that 
 an  order  of  clerks  should  be  constituted  with  both  these 
 powers,  and  that  these  were  called  presbyters.  I  only  leave 
 this  to  be  considered. 
 
 But  all  the  apostolical  power  we  find  instituted  by  Christ ; 
 and  we  also  find  a  necessity,  that  all  that  power  should  be 
 succeeded  in,  and  that  all  that  power  should  be  united  in  one 
 order  ;  for  he  that  hath  the  highest,  viz.,  a  power  of  ordina- 
 tion, must  needs  have  all  the  other,  else  he  cannot  give  them 
 to  any  else  ;  but  a  power  of  ordination  I  have  proved  to  be 
 necessary  and  perpetual. 
 
 So  that  we  have  clear  evidence  of  the  Divine  institution  of 
 the  perpetual  order  of  apostleship ;  marry,  for  the  presbyte- 
 rate,  I  have  not  so  much  either  reason  or  confidence  for  it,  as 
 now  it  is  in  the  church ;  but  for  the  apostolate,  it  is  beyond 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 45 
 
 exception.  And  to  this  bishops  do  succeed.  For  that  it  is  so, 
 I  have  proved  from  Scripture  ;  and  because  "  no  Scripture  is 
 of  private  interpretation,"  I  have  attested  it  with  the  catholic 
 testimony  of  the  primitive  fathers, — calling  episcopacy,  the 
 apostolate;  and  bishops,  successoi's  of  St.  Peter  in  jDarticular; 
 and  of  all  the  apostles  in  general,  in  their  ordinary  offices,  in 
 which  they  were  superior  to  the  seventy-two,  the  antecessors 
 of  the  presbyterate. 
 
 One  objection  I  must  clear.  For  sometimes  presbyters 
 are  also  called  apostles,  and  successors  of  the  apostles  ;  as  in 
 Ignatius,  in  Irenseus,  in  St.  Jerome.    I  answer  : — 
 
 1.  They  are  not  called  "  successores  apostoloi'um,"  by 
 any  dogmatical  resolution  or  interpretation  of  Scripture,  as 
 the  bishops  are,  in  the  examples  above  alleged ;  but  by 
 allusion  and  participation,  at  the  most.  For  true  it  is,  that 
 they  succeed  the  apostles  in  the  offices  of  baptizing,  conse- 
 crating, and  absolving,  "  in  privato  foro ;"  but  this  is  but 
 part  of  the  apostolical  power,  and  no  part  of  their  office, 
 as  apostles  were  superior  to  presbyters. 
 
 2.  It  is  observable,  that  presbyters  are  never  affirmed  to 
 succeed  in  the  power  and  regiment  of  the  church,  but  in  sub- 
 ordination and  derivation  from  the  bishop  ;  and,  therefore, 
 they  are  never  said  to  succeed,  "  in  cathedris  apostolorum," 
 in  the  apostolic  sees. 
 
 3.  The  places  which  I  have  specified,  and  they  are  all  I 
 could  ever  meet  with,  are  of  peculiar  answer.  For  as  for 
 Ignatius,  in  his  ejiistle  to  the  church  of  Trallis^,  he  calls  the 
 presbytery,  or  company  of  priests,  '  the  college,'  or  '  combina- 
 tion of  apostles.'  But  here  St.  Ignatius,  as  he  lifts  ujj  the 
 presbyters  to  a  comparison  with  apostles,  so  he  also  raises  the 
 bishop  to  the  similitude  and  resemblance  with  God.  "  Epis- 
 copus  typum  Dei  Patris  omnium  gerit;  prcsbyteri  vero  sunt 
 conjunctus  apostolorum  ccetus."  So  that,  although  pres- 
 byters grow  high,  yet  they  do  not  overtake  the  bishops,  or 
 apostles;  who  also,  in  the  same  proportion,  grow  higher  than 
 their  first  station.    This,  then,  will  do  no  hurt. 
 
 As  for  St.  trenaeus,  he  indeed  does  say,  that  presbyters 
 succeed  the  apostles;  but  what  presbyters  he  means,  he  tells 
 us;  even  such  presbyters  as  were  also  bishops,  such  as  St. 
 
 '  Idem  fere  liabet  in  Epist.  ad  Magnes.  el  Smyrnens. 
 VOL.  VII.  F 
 
46 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 Peter  and  St.  John  were,  who  call  themselves  presbyters. 
 His  words  are  these  :  *'  Propterea  eis  qui  in  ecclesiS  sunt 
 presbyteris  obaudire  oportet,  liis  qui  successionem  habent  ab 
 apostolis,  qui  cum  episcopatus  successione  charisma  veritatis 
 certura  secundum  jjlacitum  Patris  acceperunt=-'."  And  a  little 
 after:  "  Tales  presbyteros  nutrit  ecclesia,  de  quibus  et  pro- 
 pheta  ait,  Et  dabo  principes  tuos  in  pace,  et  episcopos  tuos  in 
 justitia''."  So  that  he  gives  testimony  for  us,  not  against  us. 
 As  for  St.  Jerome,  the  third  man,  he,  in  the  succession  to  the 
 honour  of  the  apostolate,  joins  presbyters  with  bishops;  and 
 that  is  right  enough  ;  for  if  the  bishop  alone  does  succeed, 
 '  in  plenitudinem  potestatis  apostolicse  ordinariae ',  as  I  have 
 proved  lie  does,  then,  also,  it  is  as  true  of  the  bishop,  to- 
 gether with  his  '  consessus  presbyterorum.'  "  Episcopi  pres- 
 byteri  habeant  in  exemplum  apostolos  et  apostolicos  viros ; 
 quorum  honorem  possidentes,  habere  nitantur  et  meritum 
 these  are  his  words,  and  enforce  not  so  much  as  may  be 
 safely  granted  ;  for  '  reddendo  singula  singulis,'  bishops  suc- 
 ceed apostles,  and  presbyters  apostolic  men ;  and  such  were 
 many  that  had  not  at  first  any  power  apostolical :  and  that  is 
 all  that  can  be  inferred  from  this  place  of  St.  Jerome.  I 
 knoAV  nothing  else  to  stay  me,  or  to  hinder  our  assent  to  those 
 authorities  of  Scripture  I  have  alleged,  and  the  full  voice  of 
 traditive  interpretation. 
 
 SECTION  XII. 
 
 And  the  Institution  of  Episcopacy,  as  well  as  the  Apostolate, 
 expressed  to  be  Divine,  by  primitive  Authority. 
 
 The  second  ai-gument  from  antiquity  is  the  direct  testimony 
 of  the  fathers  for  a  '  Divine  institution.'  In  this  St.  Cyprian  is 
 most  plentiful:  "  Domlnus  noster,  episcopi  honorem  et  ec- 
 clesiae  suae  rationem  disponens  in  evangelic,  dicit  Petro",  &c. 
 Inde  per  temporum  et  successionum  vices,  episcoporum  ordi- 
 natio  et  ecclesise  ratio  decurrit,  ut  ecclesia  super  episcopos 
 constituatur,  et  oranis  actus  ecclesiae  per  eosdem  prsepositos 
 gubernetur.   Cum  hoc  itaque  DivinS.  lege  fundatum  sit,"  &c. 
 
 8  Lib-  iv.  c.  13. 
 
 !■  Chap.  xliv.  '  Epist.  13.  Epist.  27. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 47 
 
 "  Our  Lord  did  institute  in  tlie  Gospel  tlie  honour  of  a  bishop. 
 Hence  comes  the  oi'dination  of  bishops ;  and  the  church  is 
 built  upon  them,  and  every  action  of  the  church  is  to  be 
 governed  by  them ;  and  this  is  founded  upon  a  Divine  law." 
 "  Meminisse  autem  diaconi  debent  quoniam  apostolos,  i.  e. 
 episcopos,  et  praepositos  Dominus  elegit:"  "  Our  Lord  hath 
 chosen  apostles,  that  is,  bishops  and  church  governors  ^" 
 And  a  little  after:  "  Quod  si  nos  aliquid  audere  contra  Deum 
 possumus  qui  episcopos  facit,  possunt  et  contra  nos  audere 
 diaconi,  a  quibus  fiunt :"  "  We  must  not  attempt  any  thing 
 against  God,  who  hath  instituted  bishops."  The  same  father, 
 m  his  epistle  to  Magnus,  disputes  against  Novatianus's  being 
 a  bishop:  "  Novatianus  in  ecclesia  non  est,  nec  episcopus 
 computai-i  potest,  qui  evangelica  et  apostolica  traditione 
 contempts,  nemini  succedens  a  seipso  ordinatus  esf."  If 
 there  was  both  an  evangelical  and  an  apostolic  tradition,  for 
 the  successive  ordination  of  bishops  by  other  bishops,  (as  St. 
 Cyprian  affirms  tliere  is,  by  saying  '  Novatianus  contemned 
 it,')  then,  certainly,  the  same  evangelical  power  did  institute 
 that  calling,  for  the  modus  of  whose  election  it  took  such 
 particular  order. 
 
 St.  Ignatius,  long  before  him,  speaking  concerning  his  ab- 
 sent friend,  Sotion,  the  deacon,  ov  lyu  ovoclfxYiv,  on  Cirorolaasrxi 
 Tai  eTt^jiioTrcji  X.OU  tw  izpzafiurcplu'/jiqiri  ©sou,  ev  ■vofj.co' l-nnou'Kpiijrov. 
 He  wishes  for  the  good  man's  company,  because,  "  by  the 
 grace  of  God,  and  according  to  the  law  of  Jesus  Christ,  he 
 was  obedient  to  the  bishop  and  his  clergy*. — And  a  little  after: 
 ■zjpiwov  ovv  sart  kou  vf/Ms  vita.y.ovnv  ru)  siTi'jxoirCj)  v(/,uv,  xarce  pcajSev 
 avru  a,T/riKiyiiV ,  ov  yaip  roL/rovl  tov  ^7\.sTr6[/,;vov  zyXxvZ  ns,  xKK'x  Toy 
 a.opccro'ii  TuupccXoyl^srcHjTov  /xri  OLivocf/.£VO)i  zs^pi,  rivos  ZJxpxXoytiy^'^vsct. 
 TO  TotouTo,  ov  rspos  a.vbpuTtov  dWi.  ts'poy©£ov,  ej^e;  rriv  dvctpopacv. 
 It  is  home  enough.  "  Ye  ought  to  obey  your  bishop,  and  to 
 contradict  him  in  nothing."  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  contradict 
 him  ;  for  whosoever  does  so,  "  does  not  mock  a  visible  man, 
 but  the  invisible,  undeceivable  God.  For  this  contumely  re- 
 lates not  to  man,  but  to  God."  So  St.  Ignatius  ;  which  could 
 not  be  ti'ue,  were  it  a  human  constitution,  and  no  Divine 
 ordinance.  But  more  full  are  those  words  of  his,  in  his 
 epistle  to  the  Ephesians;  ^Trov^xaxTE  dyacTrriroi  vTiorayriHoti  tw 
 
 ^  Epist.  C5.  ad  Rogatian.  '  Epist.  7C.  Epist.  ad  Magnes. 
 
 F  2 
 
48 
 
 EPIf?COPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 smrmoTrcij,  xccl  rots  'Tipsts^uripon,  noci  to7s  Sisexovoif.  o  yxp  rourois 
 vvora'ynoiJ.ivos  vitoLMvn  ^piarcii  rcb  •zspoyjupiau.yL.ivu  ocvrovs.  "  He 
 that  obevs  the  bishop  and  clergy,  obeys  Christ,  who  did 
 constitute  and  ordain  them."  This  is  plain  and  dogmatical; 
 I  would  be  loath  to  have  two  men  so  famous,  so  ancient,  and 
 so  resolute,  speak  half  so  much  against  us. 
 
 But  it  is  a  general  resolve  and  no  private  opinion.  For 
 St.  Austin  is  confident  in  the  case  with  a  "  Nemo  ignorat 
 episcopos  Salvatorem  ecclesiis  instituisse.  Ipse  enim  prius- 
 quam  in  cceIos  ascenderet,  imponens  manum  apostolis,  ordi- 
 navit  eos  episcopos :"  "  No  man  is  so  ignorant  but  he  knows 
 that  our  blessed  Saviour  appointed  bishops  over  churches ; 
 for  before  his  ascension  into  heaven,  he  ordained  the  apostles 
 to  be  bishops^."    But  long  before  him, 
 
 Hegisippus,  going  to  Rome,  and  by  the  way  calling  hi  at 
 Corinth,  and  divers  other  churches,  discoursed  with  their 
 several  bishops,  and  found  them  catholic  and  holy,  and  then 
 stayed  at  Rome  three  successions  of  bishops,  Anicetus,  Soter, 
 and  Eleutherius.  "  Sed  in  omnibus  istis  ordinationibus,  vel 
 in  coeteris  quas  per  rehquas  urbes  videram,  ita  omnia  habe- 
 bantur,  sicut  lex  antiquitus  tradidit,  et  prophetse  indicaverunt, 
 '  Et  Dominus  statuit:'  "  "  All  things  in  these  ordinations  or 
 successions  were  as  our  Lord  had  apjjointed*^."  All  things, 
 therefore,  both  of  doctrine  and  disciphne,  and  therefore  the 
 ordinations  themselves  too.  Further  yet,  and  it  is  worth 
 observing,  there  was  never  any  bishop  of  Rome,  from  St. 
 Peter  to  St.  Sylvester,  that  ever  writ  a  decretal  epistle  now 
 extant  and  transmitted  to  us,  but,  either  professedly  or  acci- 
 dentally, he  said  or  intimated,  "  that  the  order  of  bishops 
 did  come  from  God." 
 
 St.  IrenjBus,  speaking  of  bishops  successors  to  the  apostles, 
 saith,  that,  with  their  order  of  bishoprick,  they  have  received 
 "  charisma  veritatis  certum,"  "  a  true,  and  certain  or  indelible 
 character  ;"  "  secundum  placitum  Patris,"  "  according  to  the 
 will  of  God  the  Father s."  And  this  also  is  the  doctrine  of 
 St.  Ambrose  :  "  Ideo  quanquam  melior  apostolus  aliquando 
 tamen  eget  prophetis;  et  quia  ab  uno  Deo  Pati-e  sunt  omnia, 
 singulos  episcopos  singulis  ecclesiis  prseesse  decrevit:"  "  God, 
 
 «  QuEest.  Vet.  et  N.  Testam.  qu.  97. 
 
 f  Euseb.  lib.  iv.  c.  29.  s  Lib.  iv.  c,  43. 
 
EPISCOrACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 49 
 
 froin  whom  all  good  things  do  come,  did  decree  that  every 
 church  should  be  governed  by  a  bishop''."  And  again: 
 "  Honor  igitur,  fratres,  et  subllmitas  episcopalis,  nullis  pote- 
 rit  comparationibus  ada?quari;  si  regum  fulgori  compares'," 
 &c.  And  a  little  after ;  "  Quid  jam  de  plebeia  dixerim  mul- 
 titudine,  cui  non  solum  praeferrl  a  Domino  meruit,  sed  ut  earn 
 quoque  jure  tueatur  patrio,  prfficeptis  imperatum  est  evan- 
 gelicis:""  "  The  honour  and  sublimity  of  the  bishop  is  an  in- 
 comparable pre-eminence,  and  is  by  God  set  over  the  people ; 
 and  it  is  commanded  by  the  precept  of  the  holy  Gospel,  that 
 he  should  guide  them  by  a  father's  right."  And  in  the  close 
 of  his  discourse:  "  Sic  certe  a  Domino  ad  B.  Petrum  dicitur, 
 '  Petre,  amas  me?' — repetitum  est  a  Domino  tertio,  '  Pasce 
 oves  meas.''  Quas  oves,  et  quem  gregem  non  solum  tunc  B. 
 suscepit  Petrus,  sed  et  cum  illo  nos  suscepimus  omnes:" 
 "  Our  blessed  Lord  committed  his  sheep  to  St.  Peter  to  be 
 fed,  and  in  him  we  (who  have  pastoral  or  episcopal  authority) 
 have  received  the  same  authority  and  commission."  Thus 
 also  divers  of  the  fathers,  speaking  of  the  ordination  of  St, 
 Timothy  to  be  bishop,  and  of  St.  Paul's  intimation,  that  it 
 was  by  prophecy,  affirm  it  to  be  done  by  order  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost.  Ti  ETTiv  aTTo  ■i;jpo'pr,relcy.s ;  a.7[o  zjvsv[/.ocros  izylov,  saith  St. 
 Chrysostom'' ;  "  He  was  ordained  by  prophecy,  that  is,  by 
 the  Holy  Ghost."   'O  ©eor  as  a^sXE'laro- 
 
 'iri(pu,  "  Thou  wert  not  made  bishop  by  human  constitution." 
 Y[\ivij.7.ros  zjpourd^si,  SO  Oecumenlus.  "  By  Divine  revelation," 
 saith  Theodoret.  "  By  the  command  of  the  Holy  Ghost," 
 so  Theophylact;  and  indeed  so  St.  Paul,  to  the  assembly  of 
 elders  and  bishops  met  at  Miletus,  "  Spiritus  Sanctus  posuit 
 vos  episcopos,"  "  The  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  bishops':''* 
 and  to  be  sure  St.  Timothy  was  amongst  them,  and  he  was 
 a  bishop,  and  so  were  divers  others  there  present;  therefore 
 the  order  itself  is  a  ray  streaming  from  the  Divine  beauty, 
 since  a  single  person  was  made  bishop  by  revelation.  I  might 
 multiply  authorities  in  this  particular,  which  are  very  fre- 
 quent and  confident  for  the  Divine  institution  of  episcopacy, 
 in  Origen  ;  in  the  council  of  Carthage,  recorded  by  St.  Cy- 
 prian; in  the  collection  of  the  Oriental  canons  by  Martinus 
 
 In  1  Cor.  xii.  '  De  Dignit.  Sacerd.  cap.  2. 
 
 ^  Homil.  4.  Graec.  5.  Lat.  in  1  Tim.  cap.  iii.    In  Tit.  i. 
 '  Acts,  XX.  «"  Horn.  32.  in  Johan. 
 
50 
 
 EPISCOPACV  A^>SERTED. 
 
 Bracarensis" ;  in  the  councils  of  Aquisgrane",  and  Toledo'', 
 and  many  more.  The  sum  is  that  which  was  taught  by  St. 
 Sextus*":  '•  Apostolorum  dispositione,  ordinante  Domino, 
 episcopi  primitus  sunt  constituli :"  "  The  Lord  did  at  first 
 ordain,  and  the  apostles  did  so  order  it,  and  so  bishops  at  first 
 had  their  original  constitution." 
 
 These,  and  all  the  former  who  affirm  bishops  to  be  suc- 
 cessors of  the  apostles,  and  by  consequence  to  have  the  same 
 institution,  drive  all  to  the  same  issue,  and  are  sufficient  to 
 make  faith,  that  it  was  the  doctrine  primitive  and  catholic 
 that  episcopacy  is  a  Divine  institution,  which  '  Christ  planted' 
 in  the  first  founding  of  Christendom,  which  the  '  Holy  Ghost 
 watered'  in  his  first  descent  on  Pentecost,  and  to  which  we 
 are  confident  that  '  God  will  give  an  increase'  by  a  never-fail- 
 ing succession,  unless  where  God  removes  the  candlestick,  or, 
 which  is  all  one,  takes  awav  the  star,  the  angel  of  light,  from 
 it,  that  it  may  be  enveloped  in  darkness,  "  usque  ad  con- 
 summationem  sseculi  et  aperturam  tenebrarum."  The  con- 
 clusion of  all,  I  subjoin  in  the  words  of  Venerable  Bede  be- 
 fore quoted :  "  Sunt  ergo  jure  Divino  episcopi  a  presbyteris 
 praelatione  distincti "Bishops  are  distinct  from  presbv- 
 ters,  and  superior  to  them  by  the  law  of  God'." 
 
 The  second  basis  of  episcopacy  is  '  apostolical  tradition.' 
 We  have  seen  Avhat  Christ  did,  now  we  shall  see  what  was 
 done  by  his  apostles.  And  since  they  knew  their  Master's 
 mind  so  well,  we  can  never  better  confide  in  any  argument 
 to  prove  Divine  institution  of  a  derivative  authority  than  the 
 practice  apostolical.  "  Apostoli  enim,  discipuli  veritatis  ex- 
 istentes,  extra  omne  mendacium  sunt  ;  non  enim  communicat 
 mendacium  veritati,  sicut  non  communicant  tenebrje  luci,  sed 
 praesentia  alterius  excludit  alterum,"  saith  St.  Iren^eus^ 
 
 =  Can.  6.  "  Can.  24. 
 
 '  Li'o  ii).  in  Lucam,  c.  J  3. 
 
 p  Ociaviiin,  can.  7.  i  Epist.  2. 
 
 5  Lib.  iii.  cap.  5. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 51 
 
 SECTION  XIII. 
 
 In 'pursuance  of  the  Divine  Institution,  the  Apostles  did 
 ordain  Bishops  in  several  Churches. 
 
 First,  then  :  the  apostles  did,  presently  after  the  ascension, 
 fix  an  apostle  or  a  bishop  in  the  chair  of  Jerusalem.  For 
 they  knew  that  Jerusalem  was  shortly  to  be  destroyed  ;  they 
 themselves  foretold  of  miseries  and  desolations  to  ensue  ; 
 ("  Petrus  et  Paulus  praedicunt  cladem  Hierosolymitanam," 
 saith  Lactantius,  lib.  iv.  Inst.)  famines  and  wars,  and  not  a 
 stone  left  upon  another,  was  the  fate  of  that  i-ebellious  city  by 
 Christ's  own  prediction,  Avhich  themselves  recorded  in  Scrip- 
 ture. And  to  say  they  understood  not  what  they  wrote,  is 
 to  make  them  enthusiasts,  and  neither  good  doctors  nor  wise 
 seers.  But  it  is  'i^ou  ^iXovs  that  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  was 
 promised  "  to  lead  them  into  all  truth,"  would  instruct  them 
 in  so  concerning  an  issue  of  public  affairs,  as  was  so  great 
 desolation  ;  and  therefore  they  began  betimes  to  establish 
 that  church,  and  to  fix  it  upon  its  perpetual  base.  Secondly: 
 the  church  of  Jerusalem  was  to  be  the  precedent  and  platform 
 for  other  churclies.  "  The  word  of  God  went  forth-  into  all 
 the  world,  beginning  first  at  Jerusalem  ;"  and  therefore  also 
 it  was  more  necessary  a  bishoj?  should  be  there  placed  be- 
 times, that  otiier  churches  might  see  their  government  from 
 whence  they  received  their  doctrine,  that  they  might  see 
 fi"om  what  stars  their  continual  flux  of  liolit  must  stream. 
 Thirdly:  the  apostles  were  actually  dispersed  by  persecution, 
 and  this,  to  be  sure,  they  looked  for,  and  therefore  (so  imply- 
 ing the  necessity  of  a  bishop  to  govern  in  their  absence  or 
 decession  any  ways)  they  ordained  St.  James  the  first  bishop 
 of  Jerusalem  ;  there  he  fixed  his  chair,  there  he  lived  bishop 
 for  thirty  years,  and  finished  his  course  with  glorious  martyr- 
 dom. If  this  be  proved,  we  are  in  a  fair  way  for  pi-actice 
 apostolical. 
 
 First :  Let  us  see  all  that  is  said  of  St.  James  in  Scriptui'e, 
 that  may  concern  this  affair.  Acts,  xv.  We  find  St.  James 
 in  the  synod  at  Jerusalem,  not  disputing,  but  giving  final 
 determination  to  that  great  question  about  circumcision. 
 
52 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 "  And  when  there  had  been  much  disputing,  Peter  rose  up 
 and  said,"  &c.  He  first  drave  the  question  to  an  issue,  and 
 told  them  what  he  believed  concerning  it,  with  a  Triarivoixev 
 (ju9r,vat,  '  we  trust  it  will  go  as  well  with  us  without  circum- 
 cision, as  with  our  forefathers  who  used  it.'  But  St.  James, 
 when  he  had  summed  up  what  had  been  said  by  St.  Peter, 
 gave  sentence  and  final  determination:  Aio  syu  uplvu,  "  Where- 
 fore I  judge  or  give  sentence."  So  he.  The  acts  of  council 
 which  the  brethren  or  presbyters  did  use,  were  delibei*ative ; 
 "  they  disputed,"  ver.  7.  St.  Peter's  act  was  declarative,  but 
 St.  James's  was  decisive  ;  which  proves  him  clearly  (if,  by 
 reasonableness  of  the  thing,  and  the  successive  practice  of 
 Christendom  in  imitation  of  this  first  council  apostolical,  we 
 may  take  our  estimate,)  that  St.  James  was  the  president  of 
 this  synod;  which,  considering  that  he  was  none  of  the  twelve, 
 (as  I  proved  formerly)  is  unimaginable,  were  it  not  for  the 
 advantage  of  the  place,  it  being  held  in  Jerusalem,  where  he 
 was  "  Hierosolymorum  episcopus,"  as  St.  Clement  calls  him  ; 
 especially  in  the  presence  of  St.  Peter,  who  was  "  primus 
 apostolus,"  and  decked  with  many  personal  privileges  and 
 prerogatives. 
 
 Add  to  this,  that  although  the  whole  council  did  consent 
 to  the  sending  of  the  decretal  epistle,  and  to  send  Judas  and 
 Silas,  yet,  because  they  were  of  the  presbytery,  and  college 
 of  Jerusalem,  St.  James's  clergy,  they  are  said,  as  by  way  of 
 appropriation,  to  come  from  St.  James,  Gal.  ii.  ver.  12.  Upon 
 which  place  St.  Austin  saith  thus  :  "  Cum  vidisset  quosdam 
 venisse  a  Jacobo,  i.  e.  a  Judaea,  nam  ecclesise  Hierosolymitanae 
 Jacobus  prcefuit."  To  this  purpose  that  of  Ignatius  is  very 
 pertinent,  calling  St.  Stephen  the  deacon  of  St.  James  %  and, 
 in  his  epistle  to  Hero,  saying  that  he  did  minister  to  St.  James 
 and  the  presbyters  of  Jerusalem ;  which  if  we  expound  ac- 
 cording to  the  known  discipline  of  the  church  in  Ignatius's 
 time,  who  Avas  "  suppar  apostolorum,"  only  not  a  contem- 
 porary bishop,  here  is  plainly  the  eminency  of  an  episcopal 
 chair,  and  Jerusalem  the  seat  of  St.  James,  and  the  clergy  his 
 own,  of  a  college  of  which  he  was  the  "praepositus  ordina- 
 rius,"  he  was  their  'ordinary.' 
 
 The  second  evidence  of  Scrijjture  is  Acts,  xxi.  "  And  when 
 
 a  Epist.  ad  Trail. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 53 
 
 we  were  come  to  Jerusalem,  the  brethren  received  us  gladly, 
 and  the  day  following  Paul  went  in  with  us  unto  James,  and 
 all  the  elders  were  present."  Why  unto  James  1  Why  not 
 rather  unto  the  presbytery,  or  college  of  elders,  if  James  did 
 not  '  eminere,' were  not  the  iyovfjisvo^,  the  '  praepositus'  or 
 '  bishop'  of  them  all  ? 
 
 Now  that  these  conjectures  are  not  vain  and  impertinent, 
 see  it  testified  by  antiquity,  to  which,  in  matter  of  fact  and 
 church-story,  he  that  will  not  give  faith  upon  current  testi- 
 monies, and  uncontradicted  by  antiquit)',  is  a  madman,  and 
 may  as  well  disbelieve  every  thing  that  he  hath  not  seen 
 himself,  and  can  no  way  prove  that  himself  was  christened  ; 
 and  to  be  sui'e,  after  sixteen  hundred  years  there  is  no  possi- 
 bility to  disprove  a  matter  of  fact,  that  was  never  questioned 
 or  doubted  of  before,  and  therefore  can  never  obtain  the 
 faith  of  any  man  to  his  conti'adictory,  it  being  impossible  to 
 prove  it. 
 
 Eusebius  reports  out  of  St.  Clement :  THrqov  ydp  (pnai  x.oil 
 ^IccKco^ov  x«\  'Ictiivvnv,  iXcTo.  rriv  a.vx'kri-^iv  rov  aurvipos ,  us  av  vtto  rou 
 J^vqlou  TSpoTerifMri/xsvovs,  (/^r,  sTri^fxa^eirS'j;!  So^nf,  aXXa'Iaxw/Sov,  tov 
 Aixcjifov,  ETTicrxoTrov  '  Is^o'JoXvfj.uv  eXea^oa^ .  "St.  Peter  and  St. 
 John,  although  they  were  honoured  of  our  Lord,  yet  they 
 would  not  themselves  be,  but  made  James,  surnamed  the  Just, 
 bishop  of  Jerusalem."  And  the  reason  is  that  which  is  given 
 by  Hegesippus  in  Eusebius  for  his  successor  Simeon  Cleophae ; 
 for  when  St.  James  was  crowned  with  martyrdom,  and  imme- 
 diately the  city  destroyed,  "  Traditur  apostolosqui  supererant, 
 in  commune  consilium  habuisse,  quem  oportere  dignum  suc- 
 cessione  Jacobi  judicare''."  It  was  concluded  for  Simeon, 
 because  he  was  the  kinsman  of  our  Lord,  as  St.  James  also, 
 his  predecessor.  The  same  concerning  St.  James  is  also 
 repeated  by  Eusebius :  "  Judaei  ergo,  cum  Paulus  provocasset 
 ad  Caesarem — in  Jacobum  fratrem  Domini,  '  cui  ab  apostolis 
 sedes  Hiei'osolymitana  delata  fuit,'  omnem  suam  malevolen- 
 tiam  convertunt''." 
 
 In  the  apostolical  constitutions  under  the  name  of  St. 
 Clement,  the  apostles  are  bi'ought  in  speaking  thus:  "  De 
 ordinatis  autem  a  nobis  episcopis  in  vita  nostra,  significamus 
 vobis  quod  hi  sunt;  Hierosolymis  ordinatus  est  Jacobus  frater 
 
 Lib.  ii.  Hist.  cap.  1.  Lib.  iii.  c.  11.  Lib.  ii.  c.  22. 
 
54 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 Domini :"  "  St.  James,  the  brother  ofour  Lord,  was  ordained 
 bishop  of  Jerusalem  by  us*^,"  apostles.  The  same  is  wit- 
 nessed by  Anacletus  :  "  Porro  et  Hierosolymitarum  primus 
 episcopus  B.  Jacobus,  cpii  Justus  dicebatur,  et  secundum 
 carnem  Domini  nuncupatus  est  frater,  a  Petro,  Jacobo,  et 
 Johanne,  apostolis,  est  ordinatus'."  And  the  same  thing  in 
 terms  is  repeated  by  Anicetus,  with  a  "  Scimus  enim  beatissi- 
 mum  Jacobum^,""  SfC.  Just  as  Anacletus  before.  St.  James 
 was  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  Peter,  James,  and  John,  were 
 his  ordainers. 
 
 But  let  us  see  the  testimony  of  one  of  St.  James's  suc- 
 cessors in  the  same  chair,  who  certainly  was  the  best  witness 
 of  his  own  church-records.  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  is  the  man. 
 "  Namde  his  nonmihi  solum,  sed  etiam  apostolis,  et  '  Jacobo 
 hujus  ecclesiai  olim  episcopo'  curse  fuit'',"  speaking  of  the 
 question  of  circumcision,  and  things  sacrificed  to  idols  ;  and 
 again,  he  calls  St.  James,  "  primum  hujus  parochiae  episco- 
 pum,"  "  the  first  bishop  of  this  diocese'." 
 
 St.  Austin  also  attests  this  story.  "  Cathedra  tibi  quid 
 fecit  ecclesiae,  in  qua  Petrus  sedit,  et  in  qua  hodie  Anastasius 
 sedet?  Vel  ecclesiae  Hierosolymitanae  '  in  qua  Jacobus  sedit,' 
 et  in  qua  hodie  Johannes  sedet  ?"  I  must  not  omit  the  testi- 
 mony of  St.  Jerome,  for  it  will  be  of  great  use  in  the  sequel : 
 "  Jacobus,"  saith  he,  "  post  passionem  Domini  statim  ab 
 apostolis  Hierosolymorum  episcopus  ordinatus ;"  and  the  same 
 also  he  repeats  out  of  Hegesippus'.  There  are  many  more 
 testimonies  to  this  purpose,  as  of  St.  Chrysostom™,  Epipha- 
 nius",  St.  Ambrose",  the  council  of  Constantinople  in  Trullo"". 
 But  Gregorius  Turonensis  rises  a  little  higher:  "Jacobus, 
 frater  Domini  vocitatus,  ab  ipso  Domino  nostro  Jesu  Christo 
 episcopus  dicitur  ordinatus :"  "  St.'James,  the  brother  ofour 
 Lord,  is  said  to  have  been  ordained  bishop  by  our  Lord  Jesus 
 Christ  himself If  by  'ordinatus'  he  means  '  designatus,' 
 he  agrees  with  St.  Chrysostom  :  but  either  of  them  both  will 
 
 Lib.  vii.  c.  46.  et  lib.  yiii.  cap.  ult.  f  Epist.  2. 
 
 s  Epist.  Detret.  Unic.  Catech.  4.  '  Catech.  16. 
 
 Lib.  ii.  cont.  Lit.  Petil.  c.  51,  et  lib.  ii.  cont.  Crescon.  c.  37. 
 '  Lib.  de  Script.  Eccles.  in  Jacobo. 
 
 Horn.  38.  in  1  Cor.  xv.  et  33.  Horn,  in  Act.  xv. 
 n  Hseres.  66.  "  In  Galat.  1.  p  Capp.  iii.  3. 
 
 1  Horn.  3.  in  Act. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED, 
 
 55 
 
 serve  the  turn  for  the  present.  But  either  in  one  sense  or 
 the  other,  it  is  true  and  attested  also  by  Epiphanius :  "  Et 
 primus  hie  accepit  cathedram  episcopatus,  cui  concredidit 
 Dominus  ihronum  suum  in  terra  primo:"  "  St.  James  had 
 first  the  episcopal  chair,  for  our  Lord  first  intrusted  his 
 earthly  throne  to  him^"  And  thus  we  ai-e  encircled  with 
 a  cloud  of  witnesses ;  to  all  which  if  we  add  what  I  before 
 observed,  that  St.  James  is  in  Scripture  called  an  apostle,  and 
 yet  he  was  none  of  the  twelve,  and  that,  in  the  sense  of 
 Scripture  and  the  catholic  church,  a  bishop  and  an  apostle  is 
 all  one, — it  follows  from  the  premises,  (and  of  them  already 
 there  is  faith  enough  made,)  that  St.  James  was,  by  Christ's 
 own  designation  and  ordination  apostolical,  made  bishop  of 
 the  church  of  Jerusalem, — that  is,  had  power  apostolical  con- 
 credited  to  him  which  presbyters  had  not ;  and  this  apostolate 
 was  limited  and  fixed,  as  his  successors'  since  have  been. 
 
 But  that  this  also  was  not  a  temporary  business,  and  to 
 expire  with  the  persons  of  St.  James  and  the  first  apostles, 
 but  a  regiment  of  ordinary  and  successive  duty  in  the  church, 
 it  appears  by  the  ordination  of  St.  Simeon,  the  son  of  Cleo- 
 phas,  to  be  his  successor.  It  is  witnessed  by  Eusebius: 
 "  Post  martyrium  Jacobi — traditur  apostolos,  &c.  habuisse 
 in  commune  consilium  quem  oporteret  dignum  successione 
 Jacobi  judicare;  omnesque  uno  consilio,  atque  uno  consensu, 
 Simeonem  Cleophae  filium  decrevisse,  ut  episcopatus  sedem 
 susciperet"."  The  same  also  he  transcribes  out  of  Hegesip- 
 pus:  "  Posteaquam  Jacobus  Martyr  effectus  est — electione 
 Divina  Simeon  Cleophae  filius  episcopus  ordinatur,  electus  ab 
 omnibus  pro  eo  quod  esset  consobrinus  Domini."  St.  Simeon 
 was  ordained  bishop  "  by  a  Divine  election*;"  and  Epipha- 
 nius, in  the  catalogue  of  the  bishojis  of  Jerusalem,  reckons 
 first  James  and  next  Simeon,  "  qui  sub  Trajano  crucifixus 
 est"." 
 
 f  Ilwres.  78. 
 'Lib.  iv.  cap.  22 
 
 '  Lib.  iii.  Hist,  c,  U. 
 "Hares.  66. 
 
56 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 SECTION  XIV. 
 
 St.  Timothy,  at  Ephesm. 
 
 The  next  bishop  we  find  ordained  by  the  apostles,  was 
 Timothy  at  Ephesus.  That  he  was  ordained  by  an  apostle 
 appears  in  Scrijoture.  For  St.  Paul  imposed  hands  on  him ; 
 that  is  certain ;  "  Excita  gratiam,  qute  in  te  est  per  impo- 
 sitionem  manuum  mearum "  By  the  laying  on  of  my 
 hands^."  That  he  was  there  a  bishop  is  also  apparent  from 
 the  power  and  offices  concredited  to  him.  First,  he  was  to 
 be  resident  at  Ephesus b.  And  although,  for  the  public 
 necessities  of  the  church,  and  for  assistance  to  St.  Paul,  he 
 might  be  called  soinetlmes  from  his  charge ;  yet  there  he 
 lived  and  died,  as  the  church-story  writes,  there  was  his 
 ordinary  residence,  and  his  avocations  were  but  temporary 
 and  occasional.  And  when  it  was,  his  cure  was  supplied  by 
 Tychicus,  whom  St.  Paul  sent  to  Ephesus  as  his  vicar,  as  I 
 shall  show  hereafter. 
 
 2.  St.  Paul,  in  his  epistles  to  him,  gave  directions  to  him 
 for  episcojDal  deportment,  as  is  plain;  "  A  bishop  must  be 
 blameless,  the  husband  of  one  wife*^,"  &c.  Thirdly,  St.  Paul 
 concredits  jurisdiction  to  St.  Timoth)'.  Over  the  people  ; 
 OTa^asyysX^.s  rxvrx  y.x\  oioxny.i.  -nTa^ayya^.Xciv  is  of  as  great  ex- 
 tent in  St.  Timothv's  commission  as  oioa:(7xeiv.  '  Commanding' 
 as  '  teaching.'  Over  presbyters  ;  but  yet  so  as  to  make  dif- 
 ference between  them  and  the  neotericks  in  Christianity, 
 "  the  one  as  fathers,  the  other  as  brethren  d."  'E7ri'r>.r,^(f  is 
 denied  to  be  used  towards  either  of  them  :  £7r/7rXr,^i<-,  li:nltjir,'jii, 
 saith  Suidas,  "  a  dishonoui-able  upbraiding  or  objurgation." 
 Nay,  it  is  more;  EOTTrXrlTTw  is  '  castigo,  plagam  infero,'  saith 
 Budaeus :  so  that  that  kind  of  rebuking  the  bishop  is  for- 
 bidden to  use,  either  toward  priest  or  deacon,  clergy  or 
 laity,  old  or  young.  "  For  a  bishop  must  be  no  striker." 
 But  nx.ca.yf.iy.ii,  that  is,  given  liim  in  commission  both  to  old 
 and  young,  presbyters  and  catechumens,  that  Is,  '  Require 
 them;  postula  provoca.'  Tioc^xy.iyJKr,(s^a.i  i\s  avij.yi.x.yia.r  Sy- 
 nesius  ;  "  To  be  provoked  to  a  duel,  to  be  challenged.""  And 
 
 a  2  Tim.  i.  6. 
 1  Tim.  iii. 
 
 ^  1  Tim.  i.  3. 
 Tim.  V.  1. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 57 
 
 •CTa^axaXiS  v^xxs  elf  -nT§ofr6t;x,7iv. — Clirysostoni:    "  Ad  precan- 
 dum  vos  provoco.""  Ua-qscxaXs'is  fjt.s  sls^xnqux. — Eurip.  "  Thou 
 makest  me  or  compellest  me  to  shed  tears."    '  Suaviter  om- 
 nia;' That  is  the  way  St.  Paul  takes  :  '  Meekly,'  but  yet  so 
 as  to  do  his  office,  to  keep  all  in  their  several  duties,  and 
 that  is  by  a  zjz^xyysXXs  txvtx,  "  Command  these  things  ;" 
 for  so  he  sums  up  the  bishop's  duty  towards  presbyters, 
 neophytes,  and  widows.    "  Give  all  these  things  in  charge"," 
 command  all  to  do  their  duty.  Command, but  not  objurgate, 
 "  Et  quid  negotii  esset  episcopo  ut  presbyterum  non  objur- 
 garet,  si  super  presbyterum  non  haberet  potestatem So 
 Epiplianius  urges  this  argument  to  advantag•e^   For,  indeed, 
 it  had  been  to  little  purpose  for  St.  Paul  to  have  given  order 
 to  Timothy,  how  he  should  exercise  his  jurisdiction  over  pres- 
 byters and  people,  if  ho  had  had  no  jurisdiction  and  coer- 
 cive authority  at  all.    Nay,  and  howsoever  St.  Paul  forbids 
 Timothy  to  use  eTnVX'/ilis-,  which  is,  i'jurii/.nais ,  yet  St.  Paul, 
 in  his  second  epistle,  bids  him  use  it,  intimating,  upon 
 great  occasion  :  "EXsy^ov,  ETrtrZ/Ariffov,  CTa^axiiXnTovs.  To  be  sure 
 zjxpccyiXmi!,  if  it  be  but  an  urging,  or  an  exhortation,  is  not 
 all,  for  St.  Paul  gives  him  coercive  jurisdiction,  as  well  as 
 directive.   Over  widows:  i/ccoreox^  os  y(^-/io<x^  TrxpxiTov.  "  Reject 
 the  younger  widows,"  viz.,"  a  colleglo  viduarum,  ab  eleemo- 
 synis  ecclesice."    Over  ])resbyters  ;  for  he  commands  him  to 
 have  sufficient  probate  in  the  accusation  of  presbyters,  of 
 which  if  he  was  not  to  take  cognizance,  it  was  to  no  purpose 
 to  number  witnesses.  Kara  -Zoqinfjuripw  •/.ccTYiyofla.v  fjL'h  z:xpa.^i- 
 ypv.  "  Receive  not  a  public  accusation  '  foro  externo'  against 
 a  priest."  "  Non  vocabis  in  jus,  nisi  in  testimonio  duorum." 
 &c.,  to  wit,  in  causes  criminal.    That  is  sufficient  intimation 
 of  the  bishop's  power  to  take  cognizance  in  causes  criminal ; 
 then  for  his  punishing  in  such  causes,  it  follows  in  the  next 
 words,  rays-  aptagTavovTar  EvwTriovOT^tvrwv  e7^ey/^s.    "  Reprehend 
 them  publicly h,"  that  is,  'disgrace  tliem.'    For  e7.:yx'h^  is 
 
 sTtovEl^itTTOf,  '  indecorous.'  'Apys7oi,  lof/.uipoi,  sKeyxiss,  ou  m 
 
 as^saQc  ; — Homer.  Iliad.  S,  242.  So  that  svcimov  Travrwv  EXeyx^ 
 in  St.  Paul,  is,  '  to  call  them  to  public  account :''  that  is  one 
 part  of  the  jurisdiction.  "Exzyy^ov  rovrov  Xcc^c7v,  is,  '  to  ex- 
 
 '•  1  Tim.v.  7. 
 e  2  Tim.  iv.  2. 
 
 f  liaTos.  75. 
 1  Tim.  V.  20. 
 
58 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 amine.'  Plato,  Epist.  JiJova*  iXsy^^ov  rov  ^lou,  *  to  give  an  ac- 
 count of  one's  life.'  Idem  in  Apolog.  And  then  also  it 
 implies  punishment  upon  conviction, 
 
 'ArjsiSij,  fU)  in  ffi,  aval,  l(i/.ou<Tty  ' A;^xm 
 
 nacrm  Ixiyx'^rsv  S-i/unzi  fiiflTnssi  pi^t>To7<n. — Horn.  6.  Iliad. 
 
 But  the  words  in  St.  Paul  will  clear  the  business.  "  Let 
 them  that  sin,  be  publicly  shamed,"  <'va  kcc\  Xoiml  (poCov  'g'xft'ffi, 
 "  that  the  rest  may  fear;"  a  punishment  most  certainly, 
 something  that  is  sv  ipoust  raiv  (poQs^wv,  '  malum  in  genere  poenae.' 
 What  else  should  they  fear?  to  sin?  Most  true.  But  why 
 upon  this  reprehension,  if  not  for  fear  of  being  punished  ? 
 
 Add  to  all  this,  that  here  is,  in  this  chapter,  the  plain 
 giving  of  a  jurisdiction,  an  erection  of  a  judicatory,  and  is  all 
 the  way  direction  for  his  proceeding  in  cases  criminal,  ap- 
 pears most  evidently,  verse  21,  "  I  charge  thee  before  God, 
 and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  elect  angels,  that  thou 
 observe  these  things,"  x'^piV  Ttpoy.p'n/.'x.ros,  "  without  prejudg- 
 ing" the  cause  of  any  man,  before  it  comes  in  open  contes- 
 tation under  public  test  of  witnesses,  /xr/Ssv  zjoioiv  xara  wpocr- 
 xXi(7(v,  "doing  nothing  for  favour  or  partiality."  Nothing  in 
 the  world  is  plainer,  for  the  erection  of  a  consistory,  than 
 these  mandates  of  St,  Paul. 
 
 Lastly:  to  make  up  his  episcopal  function  complete,  St, 
 Paul  gives  him  also  direction  concerning  giving  of  orders. 
 "  Lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man'."    "  Sub  testatione  ergo 
 
 ea  quae  ad  ordinationem  ecclesise  mandat  custodiri  Ne 
 
 facile  aliquis  acciplat  ecclesiasticam  dignitatem  peccat 
 
 enim  si  non  probet  et  sic  ordlnet.  Melior  enim  cseteris 
 debet  probari  qui  ordinandus  est.  Hsec  eplscopus  custodiens, 
 castum  se  exhibebit  religion!,  cujus  rei  in  futuro  praemium 
 consequetur."  So  St.  Ambrose  upon  the  place,  who  is  so 
 far  from  exempting  presbyters  from  being  submitted  to  the 
 bishop's  consistory,  that  he  does  appropriate  all  his  former 
 cautions  concerning  the  judicature  and  coercive  jurisdiction 
 to  causes  of  the  clergy. 
 
 Add  to  this  evidence  of  Scripture,  the  testimony  of  catho- 
 lic and  unquestioned  antiquity,  affirming  St.  Timothy  to  have 
 been  ordained  bishop  of  Ephesus  by  St.  Paul.  Euseblus, 
 
 '  1  Tim.  V.  22. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 59 
 
 speaking  of  tlie  successions  to  St.  Paul,  "  Sed  et  Lucas," 
 saith  he,  "  in  Actibus  Apostolorum  plurimos  ejus  socios 
 memorat,  sicut  Tiniothei  et  Titi,  quorum  alter  in  Epheso 
 
 episcopus  ab  eo  ordinatus  praeficitur''."    St.  Ambrose 
 
 affirms  that  St.  Paul,  having  ordained  him  bishop,  writes  his 
 first  epistle  to  him,  to  instruct  him  in  his  episcopal  office  : 
 "  Hunc  igitur  jam  creatum  episcopum  instruit  per  epistolam, 
 quomodo  deberet  ecclesiam  ordinare'."  And  that  this  epistle 
 was  written  to  instruct  St.  Timothy  for  his  own  person,  and 
 all  bishops  in  him,  for  their  deportment  in  the  office  of  a 
 bishop,  is  the  united  concurrent  testimony  of  St.  Vincentius"', 
 Tertuliian",  St.  Chrysostom",  St.  Ambrose i*,  fficumenius'', 
 Epiphanius'',  Primasius',  and  St.  Gregoi-y'.  As  for  Epi- 
 phanius,  in  the  place  now  quoted,  he  uses  it  as  an  argument 
 against  the  madness  and  stupidity  of  Aerius,  contending  a 
 bishop  and  a  presbyter  to  be  all  one  :  "  Docet  Divinus  apostoli 
 sermo,  quis  sit  episcojjus  et  quis  presbyter,  quum  dicit  ad 
 Timotheum,  qui  erat  episcopus,  Presbyterum  ne  objurges," 
 &c.  I  shall  transcribe  no  more  testimonies  for  this  particular, 
 but  that  of  the  general  council  of  Chalcedon,  in  the  case  of 
 Bassianus  and  Stephanus;  Leontius,  the  bishop  of  Magnesia, 
 spake  it  in  full  council,  xtto  rovocylw  1l  tfjio'biou  fxiy^qi  v5v  Ei'xocrt  tTSra. 
 lulanoTtoi  lys'vovTO,  nocvres  ev  'E(pE'a-w  lyj.i^orovri^'/iija.v:  "  from  St. 
 Timothy  until  now,  there  have  been  twenty-seven  bishops 
 ordained  in  Ephesus."  Who  desires  a  multitude  of  testi- 
 monies, (though  enough  already  have  deposed  in  the  cause, 
 besides  the  evidence  of  Scripture,)  may  to  these  add  that 
 saying  of  St.  Chrysostom",  that  to  Timothy  was  committed 
 fSvos-  oX6KXr)pov  Tovro  'A-r/ar :  of  Theodoret,  calling  him  "  epis- 
 copum Asianorum;"  the  subsci-iption  to  the  first  epistle  to 
 Timothy;  (which,  if  it  were  not  writ  by  St.  Paul,  yet  at  least 
 will  prove  a  primitive  record,  and  very  ancient,)  the  fragment 
 of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Timothy  in  Photius,  St.  Jerome 
 St.  Theophylact*,  Isidore%  and  Nicephorus*. 
 
 And  now  all  is  well,  if,  after  all  this,  Timothy  do  not 
 
 Lib.  iii.  c.  4.  '  Prafat.  in  1  Tim.  "'  Cont.  Hseres. 
 
 "  Cont.  Marcion.  lib.  v.    »  Horn.  10.  in  ITim.  i'  In  1  Tim.  vi. 
 
 'I  I  Tim.  iv.  5.  >•  Heeres.  75.  s  Ad  1  Tim.  iv. 
 
 '  In  Pastov.  part.  ii.  c.  11.    Acts,  xi. 
 
 "  In  Titiim  et  1  Philip  et  in  1  Tim.  iii.    Biblioth.  Photii,  n.  254. 
 
 "  De  Script.  Eccles.  v  In  Prref.  1  Tim. 
 
 »  Do  Vita  ct  Mort.  SS.  87,  88.  >Lib.  ii.  c.31.  2Tim.iv.5. 
 
GO 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 prove  an  evangelist,  for  this  one  objection  will  be  sufficient  to 
 catcli  at,  to  support  a  drowning  cause,  and  tiiough  neither 
 pertinent  nor  true,  yet  shall  be  laid  in  the  balance  against  all 
 the  evidence  of  Scripture  and  catholic  antiquity.  But  "  do 
 the  work  of  an  evangelist,"  saith  St.  Paul;  therefore  it  is 
 clear  St.  Timothy  was  no  bishop.  No,  was  not  ?  That  is 
 hard :  but  let  us  try,  however. 
 
 1 .  Triv  Jiaxovi'izv  aou  7r'>^'/iqo(p6^nuov,  those  are  the  next  words ; 
 "  fulfil  thy  deaconship.''  And,  therefore,  he  was  no  bishop? 
 As  well  this  as  the  other  ;  for  if  deaconship  do  not  exclude 
 episcopacy,  why  shall  his  being  an  evangelist  exclude  it  ? 
 Or  why  may  not  his  being  a  deacon  exclude  his  being  an 
 evangelist,  as  well  as  his  being  an  evangelist  exclude  his 
 being  a  bishop  ?  Whether  is  higher,  a  bishoprick,  or  the 
 office  of  an  evangelist?  If  a  bishop's  office  be  higher,  and, 
 therefore,  cannot  consist  with  an  evangelist,  then  a  bishop 
 cannot  be  a  j^riest,  and  a  priest  cannot  be  a  deacon,  and  an 
 evangelist  can  be  neither  :  for  that  also  is  thought  to  be 
 higher  than  they  both.  But  if  the  office  of  an  evangelist  be 
 higher,  then  as  long  as  they  are  not  disparate,  much  less 
 destructive  of  each  other,  they  may  have  leave  to  consist  in 
 subordination.  For  as  for  the  pretence  that  an  evangelist  is 
 an  office  of  a  moveable  employment,  and  a  bishoprick  of  fixed 
 residence,  that  will  be  considered  by  and  by. 
 
 2.  All  the  former  discourse  is  upon  supposition,  that  the 
 word  ^icixonla.  implies  the  '  office  of  a  deacon;'  and  so  it  may, 
 as  well  as  St.  Paul's  other  phrase  implies  St.  Timothy  to  be 
 an  evangelist,  for  if  we  mark  it  well,  it  is  'iqyov  'noi-nsov  evxy- 
 yzKiarov,  "  Do  the  work,"  not  the  "office,  of  an  evangelist." 
 And  what  is  that  ?  We  may  see  it  in  the  verses  immediately 
 going  before,  K^vtpv^ov  rov  Xoyov,  e'TriarviQi  ivnoLiqus,  axa/pa/s "  g'Xsy^ov, 
 sTTiTi/j-riiyov,  Trx^ccKscKEaov  sv  'ujxari  fjLxxqoQu!J.lcc  xxl  ^i^xy^ri.  And  if 
 this  be  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  which  St.  Paul  would  have 
 Timothy  perform,  viz.,  "  to  preach,  to  be  instant  in  season, 
 and  out  of  season,  to  reprove,  to  rebuke,  to  exhort:"  there 
 is  no  harm  done ;  a  bishop  may,  nay,  he  must  do  all  this. 
 
 3.  Consider  what  an  '  evangelist'  is,  and  thence  take  our 
 estimate  for  the  pi-esent.  1.  He  that  writes  the  story  of  the 
 Gospel  is  an  evangelist ;  so  the  Greek  scholiast  calls  him. 
 And  in  this  sense,  indeed,  St.  Timothy  was  not  an  evangelist ; 
 but  yet  if  he  had,  he  might  have  been  a  bishop ;  because  St. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 61 
 
 Mark  was  an  evangelist  to  be  sure,  and  perhaps  as  sure,  tliat 
 he  was  a  bishop ;  sure  enough;  for  they  are  both  delivered 
 to  us  by  tlic  catholic  testimony  of  the  primitive  church,  as  we 
 shall  see  hereafter,  so  far  as  concerns  our  question.  But 
 then  again ;  an  apostle  might  be  an  evangelist ;  St.  Matthew 
 Avas;  St.  John  was;  and  the  apostolical  dignity  is  as  much 
 inconsistent  with  the  office  of  an  evangelist  as  ejiiscopal  pre- 
 eminence ;  for  I  have  proved  these  two  names,  apostle  and 
 bishop,  to  signify  all  one  thing.  Secondly,  St.  Ambrose 
 gives  another  exposition  of  evangelists;  "  Evangehstse  dia- 
 coni  sunt,  sicut  fult  Philijjpus''."  St.  Philip  was  one  of  the 
 seven,  commonly  called  deacons,  and  he  was  also  a  pres- 
 byter, and  yet  an  evangelist ;  and  yet  a  presbyter,  in  its  pro- 
 portion, is  an  office  of  as  necessary  residence  as  a  bishop;  or 
 else  why  are  presbyters  cried  out  against  so  bitterly,  in  all 
 cases,  for  non-residence  ?  and  yet  nothing  hinders,  but  that 
 St.  Timothy,  as  well  as  St.  Philip,  might  have  been  a  pres- 
 byter and  an  evangelist  together  ;  and  then  why  not  a  bishop 
 too  ?  For  why  should  a  deaconship  or  a  presbyterate  consist 
 with  the  office  of  an  evangelist  more  than  a  bishoprick  ? 
 Thirdly ;  Another  acceptation  of  an  evangelist  is  also  in 
 Eusebius :  "  Sed  et  alii  plurimi  per  idem  tempus  apostolo- 
 rum  discipuli  superstites  erant — Nonnulli  ex  his  ardentiores 
 divinse  philosophia?,  animas  suas  verbo  Dei  conseci-abant ; 
 ut  si  quibus  forte  provinciis  nomen  fidei  esset  incognitum 
 praedicarent,  primaque  apud  eos  evangelii  fundamenta  col- 
 locantes,  evangelistarum  fungebantur  officio  ."  They  that 
 planted  the  Gospel  '  first'  in  any  country,  were  evange- 
 lists. St.  Timothy  might  be  such  a  one,  and  yet  be  a  bishop 
 afterwards.  And  so  were  some  of  this  sort  of  Evano-elists. 
 For  so  Eusebius :  "  Primaque  apud  eos  fundamenta  evangelii 
 coUocantes,  atque  electis  quibusque  ex  ipsis  officium  regendae 
 ecclesise,  quam  fundaverant,  committentes,  ipsi  rursum  ad 
 alias  gentes  properabant."  So  that  they  first  converted  the 
 nation,  and  then  governed  the  church ;  first  they  were  evan- 
 gelists, and  afterwards  bishops  ;  and  so  was  Austin  the 
 monk,  that  converted  England  in  the  time  of  St.  Gregory 
 and  Ethelbert ;  he  v.-as  first  our  evangelist,  and  afterwards 
 bishop  of  Dover.    Nay,  why  may  they  not,  in  tliis  sense,  be 
 
 In  Ephes.  iv. 
 VOL.  VII. 
 
 «Lib.  iii.  Hist.  c.  37. 
 
 O 
 
62 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 both  evan2;ellsts  and  bishops  at  the  same  time  ?  insomuch 
 as  many  bishops  have  first  planted  Christianity  in  divers 
 countries,  as  St.  Chrysostom  in  Scythia,  St.  Trophimus,  St. 
 Denis,  St.  Mark,  and  many  more''.  By  tlie  way  only,  ac- 
 cording to  all  these  acceptations  of  the  word  '  evangelist,' 
 this  office  does  not  imply  a  perpetual  motion.  Evangelists 
 many  of  them  did  travel,  but  they  were  never  the  more 
 evangelists  for  that ;  but  only  their  office  was  writing  cr 
 preaching  the  Gospel ;  and  thence  they  had  their  name. 
 
 4.  The  office  of  an  evangelist  was  but  temporary,  and 
 take  it  in  either  of  the  two  senses  of  Eusebius  or  CEcume- 
 nius,  which  are  the  only  true  and  genuine,  was  to  expire 
 when  Christianity  was  planted  every  where,  and  the  office  of 
 episcopacy,  if  It  was  at  all,  was  to  be  succeeded  in,  and  there- 
 fore in  no  respect  could  these  be  Inconsistent,  at  least,  not 
 always.  And  how  St.  Paul  should  intend  that  Timothy 
 should  keep  those  rules  he  gave  him,  "  to  the  coming  of  our 
 Lord  Jesus  Christ","  if  the  office,  for  the  execution  of  which 
 lie  gave  him  the  rules,  was  to  expire  long  before,  is  not  so 
 easily  imagined.  For  if  St.  Paul  did  direct  him  in  a  tempo- 
 rary and  expiring  office,  then  in  no  sense,  neither  in  person, 
 nor  in  succession,  could  those  rules  of  St.  Paul  be  kept  till 
 Christ's  coming,  to  wit,  to  judgment.  But  if  he  instructed 
 him  in  tlie  perpetual  office  of  episcopacy,  then  it  is  easy  to 
 understand  that  St.  Paul  gave  that  caution  to  Timothy,  to 
 intimate  that  those  his  directions  were  not  pei-sonal,  but  for 
 his  successors  in  that  charge,  to  which  he  had  ordained  him, 
 VIZ.,  In  the  sacred  order  and  office  of  episcopacy. 
 
 5.  Lastly  ;  After  all  this  stir,  there  are  some  of  the  fathers 
 that  will  by  no  means  admit  St.  Timothy  to  have  been  an 
 evangelist^  So  St.  Chrysostom,  so  Theophylact,  so  the 
 Greek  scholiast.  Now  though  we  have  no  need  to  make  any 
 use  of  it,  yet  if  it  be  true,  it  makes  ail  this  discourse  needless, 
 we  wei'e  safe  enough  without  it ;  if  it  be  false,  then  itself  we 
 see  is  needless,  for  the  allegation  of  St.  Timothy's  being  an 
 evangelist  is  absolutely  impertinent,  though  it  had  been  true. 
 
 But  now  I  proceed. 
 
 Lib.  X.  Tripait.  Hist.  cap.  5.  Theodoret. 
 '  1  Tim.  vi.  14.  f  In  Eplies.  iv. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 63 
 
 SECTION  XV. 
 
 St.  Titus  at  Crete. 
 
 Titus  was  also  made  a  bishop  by  tlie  apostles.  St.  Paul 
 also  was  his  ordainer.  First,  "  Reliqui  te  d'etae."  There 
 St.  Paul  fixed  his  seat  for  him  at  Crete.  Secondly  :  His 
 work  was  ra  XelTiovraczTrioto^^aj'ycct,  "to  set  in  order  things  that 
 ai'e  wanting  ;"  viz.,  to  constitute  rites  and  forms  of  public 
 liturgy,  to  erect  a  consistory  for  cognizance  of  causes  crimi- 
 nal, to  dedicate  houses  for  prayer,  by  jiublic  destination  for 
 Divine  service  ;  and,  in  a  word,  by  his  authority,  to  establish 
 such  discipline  and  rituals,  as  himself  did  judge  to  be  most 
 for  edification  and  ornament  of  the  church  of  God.  For  he 
 that  was  appointed  by  St.  Paul  to  rectify  and  set  things  in 
 order,  was,  most  certainly,  by  him  supposed  to  be  the  judge 
 of  all  the  obliquities  which  he  was  to  rectify.  2.  The  next 
 work  is  episcopal  too,  and  it  is  the  "ordaining  presbyters  in 
 every  city."  Not  pi*esbyters  collectively  in  every  city,  but 
 distributively,  jcara  otoXii/,  'city  by  city;'  that  is,  elders  in 
 several  cities;  one  in  one  city,  many  in  many.  For  by  these 
 'elders,' are  certainly  meant  'bishops.'  Of  the  identity  of 
 names  I  shall  afterwards  give  an  account  ;  but  here,  it  is 
 plain,  St.  Paul  expounds  himself  to  mean  bishops. 
 
 1.  In  terms  and  express  words:  "To  ordain  elders  in 
 every  city  ;  if  any  be  the  husband  of  one  wife,  8j-c.  For  a 
 bishop  must  be  blameless":  that  is,  '  the  elders  that  you  are 
 to  ordain  in  several  cities,  must  be  blameless ;  for  else  they 
 must  not  be  bishops.'  2.  The  word  zjpe/yiSuriqouf  cannothinder 
 this  exposition  ;  for  St.  Peter  calls  himself  auf/.irqsn^L/rsqov,  and 
 St.  John,  '  presbyter  electui  dominte,'  and  '  presbyter  di- 
 lectissimo  Gaio.'  Such  presbyters  as  these  were  apostolical ; 
 and  that  is  as  much  as  episcopal,  to  be  sure.  3.  St.  Paul 
 adds  farther,  "  A  bishop  must  be  blameless,  as  the  steward 
 of  God^"  "  Who,  then,  is  that  faithful  and  wise  jsteward, 
 whom  his  Lord  shall  make  ruler?"  St.  Paul's  bishop  is 
 '  God's  steward;'  and  '  God's  steward'  is  the  'ruler  of  his 
 household,'  says  our  blessed  Saviour  himself;  and,  therefoi-e. 
 
 ^  Tit.  ]. 
 
64 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 Jiot  a  mere  presbyter  ;  amongst  whom,  indeed,  there  is  .1 
 parity,  but  no  superintendence  of  God's  making.  4.  St.  Paul 
 does,  in  the  sequel,  still  qualify  his  elders  or  bishops,  with 
 more  proprieties  of  rulers  :  "A  bishop  must  be  no  striker  ; 
 not  given  to  wine."  They  are  exactly  the  requisites  which 
 our  blessed  Saviour  exacts,  in  his  stewards'  or  rulers'  accounts. 
 "  If  the  steward  of  the  house  will  drink  and  be  drunk,  and 
 beat  his  fellow-servants,  then  the  Lord  of  that  servant  shall 
 come,  and  divide  him  his  portion  with  unbelievers."  The 
 steward  of  the  household,  this  ruler,  must  not  be  TragDivor,  nor 
 wXrjjtrrjf  ;  no  more  must  a  bishop  ;  he  must  not  be  "  given  to 
 wine;  no  striker."  "  Neque  enim  pugilem  describit  sermo 
 apostolicus,  sed  pontificem  instituit  quid  facere  non  debeat," 
 saith  St.  Jerome**.  Still,  then,  these  are  the  rulers  of  the 
 church,  which  St.  Titus  was  to  ordain  ;  and,  therefore,  it  is 
 required  he  should  rule  well  his  own  .house  ;  for  how  else 
 shall  he  take  charge  of  the  church  of  God  ?  Implying,  that 
 this,  his  charge,  is  to  rule  the  house  of  God.  5.  The  reason 
 why  St.  Paul  appointed  him  to  ordain  these  bishops  in  cities, 
 is,  in  order  to  coercive  jurisdiction  ;  because  "  many  unruly 
 and  vain  talkers  were  crept  in,"  (verse  10,)  and  they  were  to 
 be  silenced,  ous  S^r  sTnarofj-lE^stv,  "  their  mouths  must  be 
 stopped."  Therefore  they  must  be  such  elders  as  had  supe- 
 riority of  jurisdiction  over  these  impertinent  preachers,  which 
 to  a  single  presbyter,  either  by  divine  or  aj^ostolical  institu- 
 tion, no  man  w'lW  grant;  and  to  a  college  of  presbyters,  St. 
 Paul  does  not  intend  it,  for  himself  had  given  it  singly  to  St. 
 Titus.    For  I  consider, 
 
 Titus  alone  had  coercive  jurisdiction  before  he  ordained 
 these  elders ;  be  they  bishops,  be  they  presbyters.  The  pres- 
 byters which  were  at  Crete  before  his  coming,  had  not  epis- 
 copal power,  or  coercive  jurisdiction  :  for  why,  then,  was 
 Titus  sent  f  As  for  the  presbyters  which  Titus  ordained, 
 before  his  ordaining  them,  to  be  sure  they  had  no  power  at 
 all  ;  they  were  not  presbyters.  If  they  had  a  coercive  juris- 
 diction afterwards,  to  wit,  by  their  ordination,  then  Titus  had 
 it  before  in  his  own  person  ;  (for  they  that  were  there  before 
 his  coming,  had  not,  as  I  showed;)  and,  therefore,  he  must 
 also  have  it  still,  for  he  could  not  lose  it  by  ordaining  others  ; 
 
 Advers.  Jovinian. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 65 
 
 or  if  he  had  it  not  before,  how  could  he  give  it  unto  them 
 whom  he  ordained  ?  For  '  plus  juris  in  alium  transferre  nemo 
 2-)otest,  quam  ipse  habet.' 
 
 Howsoever  it  be  then,  to  be  sure,  Titus  had  it  in  his  own 
 person  ;  and  then  it  follows  undeniably,  that  either  this  coer- 
 cive jurisdiction  was  not  neccssarv  for  the  church,  (which 
 would  be  either  to  suppose  men  impeccable,  or  the  church 
 to  be  exposed  to  all  the  inconveniences  of  schism  and  tu- 
 multuary factions,  without  possibility  of  relief ;)  or  if  it  was 
 necessary,  then,  because  it  was  in  Titus  not  as  a  personal 
 prerogative,  but  a  power  to  be  succeeded  to;  he  might  ordain 
 others,  he  had  authority  to  do  it,  with  the  same  power  he  had 
 himself;  and,  therefore,  since  he  alone  had  this  coercion  in 
 his  own  person,  so  should  his  successors ;  and  then,  because 
 a  single  presbyter  could  not  have  it  over  his  brethren,  by  the 
 confession  of  all  sides,  nor  the  college  of  j^i-esbyters,  which 
 were  there  before  his  coming,  had  it  not ;  (for  why,  then, 
 was  Titus  sent  with  a  new  commission,)  nor  those  which  he 
 was  to  ordain,  if  they  were  but  mere  presbyters,  could  not 
 have  it,  no  more  than  the  presbyters  that  were  there  before 
 his  coming; — it  follows,  that  those  elders,  which  St.  Paul 
 sent  Titus  to  ordain,  being  such  as  were  to  be  constituted  in 
 opposition  and  power  over  the  false  doctors  and  prating 
 preachers,  and  with  authority  to  silence  them,  (as  is  evident 
 in  the  first  chapter  of  that  epistle  ;)  these  elders,  (I  say,) 
 are  verily,  and,  indeed,  such  as  himself  calls  bishops,  in  the 
 proper  sense  and  acceptation  of  the  word. 
 
 6.  The  Cretan  presbyters,  who  were  there  before  St. 
 Titus's  coming,  had  not  power  to  ordain  others;  that  is,  had 
 not  that  power  that  Titus  had.  For  Titus  was  sent  thither, 
 for  that  purpose,  therefore,  to  supply  the  want  of  that  power. 
 And  now,  because  to  ordain  others  was  necessary  for  the 
 conservation  and  succession  of  the  church;  that  is,  because 
 new  generations  are  necessary  for  the  continuing  the  world ; 
 and  mere  presbyters  could  not  do  it ;  and  yet  this  must  be 
 done,  not  only  by  Titus  himself,  but  after  him ;  it  follows 
 undeniably,  that  St.  Paul  sent  Titus  to  ordain  men,  with  the 
 same  power  that  himself  had  ;  that  is,  with  more  than  his 
 first  Cretan  presbyters,  that  is,  bishops;  and  he  means  theni 
 in  the  proper  sense. 
 
 7.  That  by  '  elders  in  several  cities,'  he  means  '  bishops,' 
 
66 
 
 EPISCOl'ACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 is  also  plain,  from  the  place  where  they  were  to  be  ordained  ; 
 xara  •ZuoXfv,  not  yLxra.  KUfj-riv,  or  yixra.  TzoklyQuo-^'  "  In  populous 
 cities,  not  in  village-tov.'ns  ;"  for  no  bishops  were  ever  suf- 
 fered to  be  in  village-towns ;  as  is  to  be  seen  in  the  councils 
 of  Sardis%  of  Chalcedon'',  and  St.  Leo^;  the  cities,  there- 
 fore, do  at  least  highly  intimate,  that  the  persons  to  be 
 ordained  w^ere  not  mere  presbyters. 
 
 The  issue  of  this  discourse  is :  That  since  Titus  was  sent 
 to  Crete  to  ordain  bishops,  himself  was  a  bishop,  to  be  sure, 
 at  least.  If  he  had  ordained  only  presbyters,  it  would  have 
 proved  that.  But  this  infers  him  to  be  a  metropolitan, 
 forasmuch  as  he  was  bishop  of  Crete,  and  yet  had  many 
 suflragans  in  subordination  to  him,  of  his  own  constitution, 
 and  yet  of  proper  dioceses.  However,  if  this  discourse  con- 
 cludes nothing  peculiar,  it  frees  the  place  from  popular  pre- 
 judice and  mistakes,  upon  the  confusion  of  '  episcopus'  and 
 '  presbyter ;'  and  at  least  infers  his  being  a  bishop,  if  not  a 
 great  deal  more. 
 
 Yea;  but  did  not  St.  Titus  ordain  no  mere  presbyters? 
 Yes,  most  certainly.  But  so  he  did  deacons  too  ;  and  yet 
 neither  one  nor  the  other  are  otherwise  mentioned  in  this 
 epistle,  but  by  consequence  and  comprehension,  within  the 
 superior  order.  For  he  that  ordains  '  a  bishop,'  first  makes 
 him  '  a  deacon,'  and  then  lie  obtains  xaXov  /32^&p(,ov,  "  a  good 
 degree  and  then  '  a  presbyter,'  and  then,  '  a  bishop.'  So 
 that  these  inferior  orders  are  presupposed,  in  the  authorizing 
 the  supreme  ;  and  by  giving  direction  for  the  qualifications 
 of  bishops,  he  sufficiently  instructs  the  inferior  ordei-s  in 
 their  deportment,  insomuch  as  they  are  probations  for  ad- 
 vancement to  the  higher. 
 
 2.  Add  to  this,  that  he  that  ordains  bishops  in  cities,  sets 
 there  ra.hv  7sv>y;T(x.//v,  "  ordinem  generativum  patrum,"  as 
 Epiphanius  calls  episcopacy  ;  and,  therefore,  most  certainly 
 with  intention,  not  that  it  should  be  yr/i^  awpos,  "  manus 
 mortua,"  but  to  produce  others  ;  and,  therefoi-e,  presbyters 
 and  deacons. 
 
 3.  St.  Paul  made  no  expi'ess  provision  for  villages,  and 
 yet,  most  certainly,  did  not  intend  to  leave  them  destitute ; 
 and,  therefore,  he  took  order  that  such  ordinations  should  be 
 
 '  Cap.  6. 
 
 d  Can.  ]  7. 
 
 •■'  Epist.  87.  ad  Episc.  At'ric. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 67 
 
 made  In  cities,  which  should  be  provisionary  for  vilhiges  ; 
 and  that  is,  of  such  men  as  had  power  to  ordain,  and  power 
 to  send  j^resbyters  to  what  part  of  their  charge  they  pleased. 
 For  since  presbyters  could  not  ordain  other  presbyters,  as 
 apj^ears  by  St.  Paul's  sending  Titus  to  do  it  there,  where, 
 most  certainly,  many  presbyters  before  were  actually  resi- 
 dent; if  presbyters  had  gone  to  villages,  they  must  have  left 
 the  cities  destitute ;  or  if  they  stayed  in  cities,  the  villages 
 would  have  perished  ;  and  at  last,  when  these  men  had  died, 
 both  one  and  the  other  had  been  made  a  prev  to  the  wolf ; 
 for  there  could  be  no  shepherd,  after  the  decay  of  the  first 
 generation. 
 
 But  let  us  see  further  into  St.  Titus's  commission,  and 
 letters  of  orders,  and  institution  :  "A  man  that  is  an  hei'etic, 
 after  the  first  and  second  admonition,  reject Cognizance 
 of  heretical  pravity,  and  animadversion  against  the  heretic 
 himself,  is  most  plainly  concredited  to  St.  Titus  :  for,  first, 
 he  is  to  '  admonish  him,'  then  to  '  reject  him,'  upon  his 
 pertinacity,  from  the  catholic  comm.union.  "  Cogere  autem 
 illos  videtur,  qui  sajpe  corripit,"  saith  St.  Ambrose,  upon 
 the  establishing  a  coactive  or  coercive  jurisdiction,  over  the 
 clei'gy  and  whole  diocese. 
 
 But  I  need  not  specify  any  more  particulars;  for  St.  Paul 
 committed  to  St.  Titus,  raSffy-v  airirtKym,  "  all  authority  and 
 power*."  The  consequence  is  that,  which  St.  Ambrose  pre- 
 fixes to  the  commentarj'  on  his  epistle :  Titum  apostolus 
 cousecravit  episcopum,  et  ideo  commonet  eum  nt  sit  solicitus 
 in  ecclesiastica  ordinatione,  id  est,  ad  quosdam,  qui  simula- 
 tione  quadain  dignos  se  ostentabant  ut  sublimem  ordinem  te- 
 nei-ent,  simulque  et  luereticos  ex  circuincisionc  corripiendos." 
 
 And  now,  after  so  fair  preparatory  of  Scripture,  we  may 
 hear  the  testimonies  of  antiquity  witnessing,  that  Titus  was, 
 by  St.  Paul,  made  bishop  of  Crete.  "  Sed  et  Lucns,"  saith 
 Eusebius,  "  in  Actibus  Apostolorum,  Timothei  meminit  et 
 Titi ;  quorum  alter  in  Epheso  episcopus ;  alter  ordinandis  apud 
 Cretam  ecclesiis  ab  eo  ordinatus  prieficitur''."  That  is  it 
 which  St.  Ambrose  expresses  something  more  plainly :  "  Titum 
 apostolus  consecravit  episcopum  ;"  "  The  apostle  consecrated 
 Titus,  bishop'  ;"  and  Theodoret  calling  Titus,  "  Cretensium 
 
 'Tit.  iii.  10.        sTit.  ii.  15.  Lib.  iii.  c.  1.         '  Ubi  supra. 
 
68  EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 ei^iscopum,"  "  the  bishop  of  the  Cretans."  And  for  this 
 reason  saith,  St.  Paul  did  not  write  to  Sylvanus,  or  Silas,  or 
 Clemens,  but  to  Timothy  and  Titus'",  on  rovrois  rM  ty.x.y^rtiia.s 
 r,v  syyiiyjiiciy.dis,  "  because  to  these  he  had  already  committed 
 the  government  of  churches."  But  a  fuller  testimony  of  St. 
 Titus  being  a  bishop,  who  please  may  see,  in  St.  Jerome',  in 
 Dorotheus",  in  Isidore",  in  Vincentius",  in  TheodoretP,  in 
 St.  Gregory'',  in  Primasius'',  in  Sedulius%  Theophylact',  and 
 Nicephorus".  To  which  if  we  add  the  subscription  of  the 
 epistle,  asserted  from  all  impertinent  objections,  hy  the 
 clearer  testimony  of  St.  Athanasius",  St.  Jerome'',  the  S3'riac 
 translation,  CEcumenius%  and  Theophylact'',  no  confident 
 denial  can  ever  break  through,  or  escape  conviction. 
 
 And  now,  I  know  not  what  objection  can  fairly  be  made 
 here  ;  for  I  hope  St.  Titus  was  no  '  evangelist.'  He  is  not 
 called  so  in  Scripture,  and  all  antiquity  calls  him  '  a  bishop;' 
 and  the  nature  of  his  offices,  the  eminence  of  his  dignity,  the 
 superiority  of  jurisdiction,  the  cognizance  of  causes  criminal, 
 and  the  epistle,  jjroclaim  him  '  bishop.'  But  suppose  awhile, 
 Titus  had  been  an  evangelist,  I  would  fain  know  who  suc- 
 ceeded him  ?  or  did  all  his  office  expire  with  his  person  ?  If 
 so,  then  who  shall  reject  heretics,  when  Titus  is  dead  ?  Who 
 shall  silence  factious  preachers  ?  If  not,  then  still,  who  suc- 
 ceeded him  ?  The  presbyters  ?  How  can  that  be  ?  For  if 
 they  had  more  power  after  his  death  than  before,  and 
 governed  the  churches,  which  before  they  did  not ;  then,  to 
 be  sure,  their  government  in  common  is  not  an  apostolical 
 ordinance,  much  less  is  it  a  divine  right,  for  it  is  postnate  to 
 them  both.  But  if  they  had  no  more  power  after  Titus,  than 
 they  had  under  him,  how  then  could  they  succeed  him? 
 There  was,  indeed,  a  dereliction  of  the  authority,  but  no  suc- 
 cession. The  succession,  therefore,  both  in  the  metropolis  of 
 Crete,  and  also  in  the  other  cities,  was  made  hy  singular 
 persons,  not  by  a  college  ;  for  so  we  find  in  the  SigeJo^^aJ, 
 
 k  1  Tim.  iii.  '  De  Script.  Eccles,  in  Tiio.  In  Synops. 
 
 n  De  Vita  et  Morte  S.  Sanct.  "  Lib.  xsxviii.  c.  10. 
 
 P  Apud  OKcunien.  in  preefat.  in  Tit.  et  1  Timotli.  iii. 
 1 1n  Pastor,  part.  ii.  c.  11.  Prccfat.  in  1  Tim.  et  in  2  Tim.  i. 
 
 «  In  1  Tim.  i.  et  in  2  Tim.  i.  G.  '  In  1  Tit.  "  Lib.  ii.  c.  3 1. 
 
 X  In  Synopsis  Sacr.  Script.  >  Ad  Paulum  ct  Eustocli. 
 
 'Comment  ad  Tilum.  a  Ibid. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 69 
 
 recorded  by  Euseblus,  that  in  Giiossus,  of  Ci'ete,  Pinytus 
 was  a  most  eminent  bishop,  and  that  Philip  was  the  metro- 
 politan at  Gortyna ;  "  Sed  et  Pinytus  nobilissimus  apud 
 Cretam  in  episcopis  fuit,"  saith  Ensebius*'.  But  of  this 
 eijough. 
 
 SECTION  XVI. 
 
 St.  Mark  at  Alexandria. 
 
 My  next  instance  shall  be  of  one  that  was  an  evangelist 
 indeed,  one  that  writ  the  Gospel,  and  he  was  a  bishop  of 
 Alexandria.  In  Scripture  we  find  nothing  of  him,  but  that 
 he  was  an  evangelist  and  a  deacon ;  for  he  was  deacon  to 
 St.  Paul  and  Barnabas,  when  they  went  to  the  Gentiles, 
 by  ordination  and  special  designment,  made  at  Antioch  ; 
 (Tf//.'^5:§2i:Xa/3ovTer 'IwavvTiv  tov  eTrt'/iXn^ivroc  Mapxov.  ■'  They  had 
 John  to  be  their  minister ;  viz.  John,  whose  surname  was 
 Mark''.'  But  we  are  not  to  expect  all  the  ordinations  made 
 by  the  apostles  in  their  Acts,  written  by  St.  Luke,  which 
 end  at  St.  PauFs  first  going  to  Rome  ;  but  many  other 
 things,  their  founding  of  divers  churches,  their  ordination 
 of  bishops,  their  journeys,  their  persecutions,  their  miracles 
 and  martyrdoms,  are  recorded,  and  rely  upon  the  faith  of  the 
 primitive  church.  And  yet  the  ordination  of  St.  Mark  was 
 within  the  term  of  St.  Luke's  story ;  for  his  successor, 
 '  Anianus,  was  made  bishop  of  Alexandria  in  the  eighth  year 
 of  Nero's  reign,  five  or  six  years  before  the  death  of  St.  Paul.' 
 "  Igitur  Neronis  primo  imperii  anno,  post  Marcum  evan- 
 gelistam,  ecclesise  apud  Alexandriam  Anianus  sacerdotium 
 suscepit :"  so  the  Latin  of  Ruffinus  reads  it,  instead  of  '  oc- 
 tavo.' '  Sacerdotium,'  Xstrovpytav,  that  is,  '  the  bishoprick;' 
 for  else  there  were  many  y^slrovpyot  and  priests  in  Alexandria 
 besides  him ;  and  how  then  he  sliould  be  St.  Mark's  suc- 
 cessor, more  than  the  other  presbyters',  is  not  so  soon  to 
 be  contrived.    But  so  the  collecta  of  the  chapter  runs  ; 
 
 ^h'lh.  iv.  c.  21. 
 
 "  Acts,  xii.  and  xiii. 
 
70 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 "  Quod  -post  Marcum  primus  episcopus  Alexandrina?  ecclesiae 
 ordinatus  sit  Anianus  :"  "  Anianus  was  consecrated  the  first 
 bishop  of  Alexandria,  after  St.  Mark."  And  Philo,  the  JeM', 
 telling  the  story  of  the  Christians  in  Alexandria,  called  by 
 the  inhabitants, '  Cultores,'and  '  Cultrices,' '  the  worshippers,' 
 '•'  Addit  autem  adhuc  his,"  saitli  Eusebius  ;  "  quomodo  sa- 
 cerdotes  vel  ministri  exhibeant  officia  sua,  vel  quae  sit  supra 
 omnia  episcopalis  apicis  sedes  ;"  intimating  that,  beside  the 
 offices  of  priests  and  ministers,  there  was  an  episcopal  dignity, 
 which  was  'apex  super  omnia,'  'a  height  above  all  employ- 
 ments,' established  at  Alexandria  :  and  how  soon  that  was,  is 
 soon  computed ;  for  Philo  lived  in  our  blessed  Saviour's  time, 
 and  was  ambassador  to  the  emperor  Caius,  and  survived 
 St.  Mark  a  little. 
 
 But  St.  Jerome  will  strike  up  this  business.  "  A  Marco 
 evangelists  ad  Heraclam  usque  et  Dionysium  episcopos,  pres- 
 byteri  ^gypti  semper  unum  ex  se  electura  in  celsiori  gradu 
 collocatum  episcopum  nominabant."  And  again,  "  Marcus 
 interpres  apostoli  Petri,  et  Alexandrinae  ecclesiae  primus  epis^ 
 copus^"  The  same  is  witnessed  by  St.  Gregory  %  Nicepho- 
 rus*,  and  divers  others. 
 
 Now,  although  the  ordination  of  St.  Mark  is  not  specified 
 in  the  Acts,  as  innumerable  multitudes  of  things  more,  and 
 scarce  any  thing  at  all  of  any  of  the  twelve  but  St.  Peter, 
 nothing  of  St.  James  the  son  of  Thaddaeus,  nor  of  Alpheus, 
 but  the  martyrdom  of  one  of  them  ;  notliing  of  St.  Bartholo- 
 mew, of  St.  Thomas,  of  Simon  Zelotes,  of  St.  Jude  the  apos- 
 tle; scarce  any  of  their  names  recorded  ;  yet  no  wise  man  can 
 distrust  the  faith  of  such  records,  which  all  Christendom 
 hitherto,  so  far  as  we  know,  hath  acknowledged  as  authentic ; 
 and  these  ordinations  cannot  possibly  go  less  than  apostolical, 
 being  done  in  the  apostles'  times,  to  whom  the  care  of  all 
 the  churches  was  concredited,  thev  seeing  and  beholdino; 
 several  successions  in  several  churches  before  their  death ; 
 as  here  at  Alexandria,  first  St.  Mark,  then  Anianus,  made 
 bishop  five  or  six  years  before  the  death  of  St.  Peter  and  St. 
 Paul.  But  yet,  who  it  was  that  ordained  St.  Mark  bishop  of 
 
 Epist.  ad  Evagr.  De  Scrip.  Eccles.  el  in  prooem.  in  Mai. 
 "  Lib.  vi.  episl.  371.  <>  Lib.  siv.  c  S9. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 71 
 
 Alexandria,  (for  bishop  ho  was  most  certainly,)  is  not  ob- 
 scurely intimated  by  the  most  excellent  man,  St.  Gelasius, 
 in  the  Roman  council,  "  Marcus  a  Petro  apostolo  in  ^Egyp- 
 tum  directus,  verbum  veritatis  prssdicavit,  et  glorioseconsum- 
 mavit  martyrium*' ."  St.  Peter  sent  him  Into  Egypt  to  found 
 a  church,  and,  therefore,  would  furnish  him  with  all  things 
 requisite  for  so  great  emjiloyment ;  and  that  could  be  no  less 
 than  the  ordinary  power  apostolical. 
 
 SECTION  XVII. 
 
 St.  Linus  and  St.  Clement  at  Rome. 
 
 But  in  the  church  of  Rome,  the  ordination  of  bishops  by 
 the  apostles,  and  their  successions  during  the  times  of  the 
 apostles,  is  very  manifest,  by  a  concurrent  testimony  of  old 
 writers.  "  Fundantes  igitur,  et  instruentes  beati  apostoli' 
 ecclesiam  Lino  episcopatum  administranda>  ecclesiae  tradide- 
 runt.  Hujus  Lini  Paulus  in  his,  quae  sunt  ad  Timotheum, 
 epistolis  meminit.  Succedit  autem  ei  Anacletus,  post  eum 
 tertio  loco  ab  apostolis  episcopatum  sortitur  Clemens,  qui  et 
 vidit  ipsos  apostolos,  et  contulit  cum  eis,  cum  adhuc  inso- 
 nantem  prsedicationem  apostolorum,  et  ti'aditionem  ante  ocu- 
 los  haborct."  So  St.  Irenasus^.  "  Memoratur  autem  ex 
 comitibus  Pauli  Crescens  quidam  ad  Gallias  esse  prsefectus; 
 Linus  vero  et  Clemens  in  urbe  Roma  ecclesiae  prsefuisse 
 Many  more  testimonies  there  ai-e  of  these  men's  being  or- 
 dained bishops  of  Rome  by  the  apostles;  as  of  Tertullian'', 
 Optatus'',  St.  Augustin'',  and  St.  Jerome'.  But  I  will  not 
 cloy  my  reader  with  variety  of  one  dish,  and  be  tedious  in  a 
 thing  so  evident  and  known. 
 
 *  In  Decret.  de  Lib.  Aullient.  et  Apncryph. 
 Lib.  iii.  c.  3.  I*  Enseb.  lib.  iii.  c.  i.         De  Prescript. 
 
 Lib.  ii.  cont,  Parmen.        Epist.  165.  '  De  Script.  Eccles. 
 
72 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 SECTION  XVIII. 
 
 St.  Polycarp  at  Smyrna,  and  divers  others. 
 
 Sr.  John  ordained  St.  Polj-carp  bishop  at  Smyrna.  "  Slciit 
 Smyrnffiorum  ecclesia  liabens  Polycarpunn  ab  Johanne  collo- 
 catum  refert ;  sicut  Romanorum  Clementem  a  Petro  ordina- 
 tum  edit,  j^roinde  utique  et  ceeterae  exhibeut  quos  ab  apostolis 
 in  episcopatum  constitutos  apostolici  seminis  traduces  ha- 
 beant."  So  Tertullian''.  "  The  church  of  Smj^rna  saith  that 
 Polycarp  was  placed  there  by  St.  John,  as  the  church  of 
 Rome  saith  that  Clement  was  ordained  there  by  St.  Peter ; 
 and  other  churches  have  those  whom  the  apostles  made  to 
 be  their  bishops."  "  Polycarpus  autem  non  solum  ab  apos- 
 tolis edoctus  sed  etiam  ab  apostolis  in  Asia,  in  ea,  quae 
 
 est  Smj'rnis  ecclesia,  constitutus  episcopus  et  testimonium 
 
 his  perhibent  quae  sunt  in  Asia,  ecclesite  omnes,  et  qui  usque 
 adhuc  successerunt  Polycarpo,"  S(C.  The  same  also  is  wit- 
 nessed by  St.  Jerome,  and  Eusebius'':  "  Quoniam  autem 
 valde  longum  est  in  tali  volumine  omnium  ecclesiarum  suc- 
 cessiones  enumerare,"  to  use  St.  Irena^us's  expression.  It 
 were  an  infinite  labour  to  reckon  up  all  those  whom  the 
 apostles  made  bishops  with  their  own  hands,  as  Dionysius" 
 the  Areopaglte  at  Athens,  Caius*"  at  Thessalonica,  Archippus^ 
 at  Colosse,  Onesimus'^  at  Ephesus,  Antipas"  at  Pergamus, 
 Epaphroditus  *■  at  Philippi,  Crescens'  among  the  Gauls, 
 Evodias''  at  Antioch,  Sosipater '  at  Iconium,  Erastus  in  Ma- 
 cedonia, Trophimus  at  Aries,  Jason  at  Tarsus,  Silas  at  Co- 
 rinth, Onesiphorus  at  Coloj^hon,  Quartus  at  Berytus,  Paul, 
 the  proconsul,  at  Narbona,  besides  many  more  whose  names 
 are  not  recorded  in  Scripture,  as  these  fore-cited  are,  so 
 many  as  Eusebius™  counts  impossible  to  enumerate;  it  shall 
 
 *  De  PfcTscript.  ^  De  Script.  Eccles.  lib.  iii.  c.  35. 
 
 <■  Euseb.  lib.  iv.  c.  23,  ct  lib.  iii.  c.  4.  Oiigen.  lib.  x.  in  Rom.  x. 
 
 «  St.  Ambrose,  in  Coloss.  iv. 
 
 f  Ignatius  epist.  ad  Ephes.  et  Euseb.  lib.  iii.  c.  35. 
 ?  Arethas  iu  i.  Apocal. 
 
 >>  Epist.  ad  Philip,  et  Theodoret  ib.  et  1  Tim.  iii. 
 
 '  Euseb.  lib.  iii.  c.  4.  apud  Gallias.    So  Ruffinus  reads  it.    "  In  Galalia," 
 so  is  intimated  in  Scripture,  and  so  the  Roman  INIartYrol. 
 Ignatius  Epist.  ad  Antioch.  et  Euseb.  lib.  iii.  c.  92. 
 '  In  Martyrologio  Roman.  Lib.  iii.  c.  37. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 73 
 
 therefore  suffice  to  sum  up  this  digest  of  their  acts  and  ordi- 
 nations in  those  general  foldings  used  by  the  fathers,  saying 
 that  the  apostles  did  ordain  bishops  in  ail  churches,  that  the 
 succession  of  bishops,  down  from  the  apostles'  first  ordination 
 of  them,  was  the  only  argument  to  prove  their  churches 
 catholic,  and  their  adversaries',  who  could  not  do  so,  to  be 
 heretical.  This  also  is  very  evident,  and  of  great  considera- 
 tion in  the  first  ages,  while  their  tradition  was  clear  and 
 evident,  and  not  so  bepuddled  as  it  since  hath  been  with  the 
 mixture  of  -heretics,  striving  to  spoil  that  which  did  so  much 
 mischief  to  their  causes. 
 
 "  Edant  origines  ecclesiarum  suarum,  evolvant  ordinem 
 episcoporum  suorum  ita  per  successiones  ab  initio  decurren- 
 tem,  ut  primus  ille  episcopus  aliquem  ex  apostolis,  aut  apos- 
 tolicis  viris,  habuerit  auctorem  et  autecessorem,  hoc  mode 
 ecclesioe  apostolicae  census  suos  deferunt,"  cyc.  And  when 
 St.  Irenaeus  had  reckoned  twelve  successions  in  the  church 
 of  Rome  from  the  apostles,  '.';nunc  duodecimo  loco  ab  apos- 
 tolis episcopatum  habet  Eleutherius.  Hac  ordinatione,"  saith 
 he,  "  et  successione,  et  ea  qua?  est-  ab  apostolis  in  ecclesia 
 traditio  et  veritatis  praaconiatio  pervenit  usque  ad  nos;  et  est 
 plenissima  haec  ostensio  uiiam  et  eandem  vivatricem  fidem 
 esse,  quae  in  ecclesia  ab  apostolis  usque  nunc  sit  conservata, 
 et  tradlta  in  veritate"."  So  that  this  succession  of  bishops 
 from  the  apostles'  ordination,  must  of  itself  be  a  very  certain 
 thing,  when  the  church  made  it  a  main  probation  of  their 
 faith ;  for  the  books  of  Scripture  were  not  all  gathered  to- 
 gether, and  generally  received  as  yet.  Now  then,  since  this 
 was  a  main  pillar  of  their  Christianity,  viz.,  a  constant  recep- 
 tion of  it  from  hand  to  hand,  as  being  delivered  by  the 
 bishops  in  every  chair,  till  we  come  to  the  very  apostles  tliat 
 did  ordain  them  ;  this,  I  say,  being  their  proof,  although  it 
 could  not  ba  more  certain  than  the  thing  to  be  joroved,  which 
 in  that  case  was  a  Divine  revelation,  yet  to  them  it  was  more 
 evident,  as  being  matter  of  fact,  and  known  almost  by  evi- 
 dence of  sense,  and  as  verily  believed  by  all,  as  it  was  by  any 
 one,  that  himself  was  baptized,  both  relying  upon  the  report 
 of  others.  "  Radix  Christianae  societatis  per  sedes  apostolo- 
 rum,  et  successiones  episcoporum,  certS.  per  orbem  propaga- 
 
 "  Lib.  iii.  cap.  3. 
 
74 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 tione  diffunditur,"  saith  St.  Augustin":  "The  very  root 
 and  foundation  of  Christian  communion  is  spread  all  over  the 
 world,  by  the  successions  of  apostles  and  bishops." 
 
 And  is  it  not  now  a  m.adness  to  say  there  was  no  such 
 thing,  no  succession  of  bishops  in  the  churches  apostolical, 
 no  ordination  of  bishops  by  the  apostles,  and  so,  as  St.  Paul's 
 phrase  is,  "  overthrow  the  faith  of  some,"  even  of  the  primi- 
 tive Christians,  that  used  this  argument  as  a  great  weapon  of 
 offence  against  the  invasion  of  heretics  and  factious  people? 
 It  is  enough  for  us  that  we  can  truly  say,  with  St.  Irenaeus, 
 "  Habemus  annumerare  eos  qui  ab  apostolls  instituti  sunt 
 eplscopi  in  ecclesiis  usque  ad  nos  "  We  can  reckon  those, 
 who,  from  the  apostles  until  now,  were  made  bishops  in  the 
 churches*';"  and  of  this  we  are  sure  enough,  if  there  be  any 
 faith  In  Christians. 
 
 SECTION  XIX. 
 
 So  that  Episcopacy  is  at  least  an  Apostolical  Ordinance,  of  the 
 same  Authority  with  many  other  Points  generally  believed. 
 
 The  sum  is  this.  Although  we  had  not  proved  the  imme- 
 diate Divine  institution  of  episcopal  power  over  presbyters 
 and  the  whole  flock,  yet  episcopacy  is  not  less  than  an  apos- 
 tolical ordinance,  and  delivered  to  us  by  the  same  authority 
 that  the  observation  of  the  Lord's  day  is.  For,  for  that  in 
 the  New  Testament  we  have  no  precept,  and  nothing  but  the 
 example  of  the  primitive  disciples  meeting  in  their  Synaxes 
 upon  that  day,  and  so  also  they  did  on  the  Saturday  in  the 
 Jewish  synagogues,  but  yet  (however  that  at  Geneva  they 
 were  once  in  meditation  to  have  changed  it  into  a  Thursday 
 meeting,  to  have  shown  their  Christian  liberty)  we  should 
 think  strangely  of  those  men  that  called  the  Sunday-festival 
 less  than  an  apostolical  ordinance :  and  necessary  now  to  be 
 kept  holy  with  such  observances  as  the  church  hath  ap- 
 jjointed. 
 
 Baptism  of  infants  is  most  certainly  a  holy  and  charitable 
 ordinance,  and  of  ordinary  necessity  to  all  that  ever  cried, 
 
 0  Epist.  42. 
 
 p  Ubi  supra. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 75 
 
 and  yet  the  cliurcli  liatli  founded  this  rite  upon  the  tradition 
 of  the  apostles  ;  and  wise  men  do  easily  observe,  that  the 
 anabaptist  can,  by  the  same  probability  of  Scripture,  enforce 
 a  necessity  of  communicating  infants  upon  us,  as  we  do  of 
 baptizing  infants  upon  them,  if  we  speak  of  immediate 
 Divine  institution,  or  of  practice  apostolical  recorded  in 
 Scripture ;  and  therefore  a  great  master  of  Geneva,  in  a 
 book  he  wrote  against  the  anabajjtists,  was  forced  to  fly  to 
 apostolical  traditive  ordination,  and  therefore  the  institution 
 of  bishops  must  be  served  fii-st,  as  having  fairer  plea,  and 
 clearer  evidence  in  Scripture,  than  the  baptizing  of  infants, 
 and  yet  they  that  deny  this  are,  by  the  just  anathema  of  the 
 catholic  church,  confidently  condemned  for  heretics. 
 
 Of  the  same  consideration  are  divei-s  other  things  in  Chris- 
 tianity, as  the  presbyters  consecrating  the  eucharist ;  for  if 
 the  apostles  in  the  first  institution  did  represent  the  whole 
 church,  clergy  and  laity,  when  Christ  said  '  Hoc  facite,'  '  Do 
 this,'  then  why  may  not  every  Christian  man  there  represented 
 do  that,  which  the  apostles,  in  the  name  of  all,  were  com- 
 manded to  do  ?  If  the  apostles  did  not  represent  the  whole 
 church,  why  then  do  all  communicate  ?  Or  what  place,  or 
 intimation  of  Christ's  saying,  is  there  in  all  the  four  gospels, 
 limiting  '  hoc  facite,'  id  est,  '  benedicite'  to  the  clergy,  and  ex- 
 tending '  hoc  facite,'  id  est,  '  accipite  et  manducate,' to  the 
 laity  ?  This  also  rests  upon  the  practice  apostolical  and  tra- 
 ditive interpretation  of  holy  church,  and  yet  caimot  be  denied 
 that  so  it  ought  to  be,  by  any  man  that  would  not  have  his 
 Christendom  suspected. 
 
 To  these  I  add  the  communion  of  women,  the  distinction  of 
 books  apocryphal  from  canonical,  that  such  books  were  writ- 
 ten by  such  evangelists  and  apostles,  the  whole  tradition  of 
 Scripture  itself,  the  apostles'  creed,  the  feast  of  Easter, 
 (which,  amongst  all  them  that  cry  up  the  Sunday-festival  for  a 
 Divine  institution, must  needs  prevail  as  'caput  institutionis,' 
 it  being  that  for  which  the  Sunday  is  commemorated).  These, 
 and  divers  others  of  greater  consequence,  (which  I  dare  not 
 specify  for  fear  of  being  misunderstood,)  rely  but  upon  equal 
 faith  with  this  of  episcopacy,  (though  I  should  waive  all  the 
 arguments  for  immediate  Divine  ordinance,)  and  therefore  it 
 is  but  reasonable  it  should  be  ranked  amongst  the  '  credenda' 
 
76 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 of  Christianity,  whicli  the  church  liath  entertained  upon  tlie 
 confidence  of  that  which  we  call  '  the  faith  of  a  Christian,' 
 whose  master  is  truth  itself. 
 
 SECTION  XX. 
 
 A7ul  u-as  an  Office  of  Poirer  and  great  Authority. 
 
 What  their  power  and  eminence  was,  and  the  appropriates 
 of  their  office  so  ordained  by  the  apostles,  appears  also  by 
 the  testimonies  before  alle<Ted,  the  expressions  whereof  run 
 in  these  high  terms:  "  Episiopatus  administrandae  ecclesIjB 
 in  Lino  :"  "  Linus's  bishoprick  was  the  administration  of  the 
 whole  church."  '  Ecclesiae  prsefuisse'  was  said  of  him  and 
 Clemens  ;  they  were  both  '  prefects  of  the  church,'  or  '  pre- 
 lates;' that  is  the  church-word.  "  Ordinandis  apud  Cretam 
 ecclesiis  pi'ajficitur,"  so  Titus;  "  He  is  set  over  all  the  affairs 
 of  the  new-founded  churches  in  Crete."  "  In  celsiori  gradu 
 collocatus,"  "  placed  in  a  higher  order  or  degree ;"  so  the 
 bishop  of  Alexandria,  chosen  "  ex  presbyteris,"  "  from 
 amongst  the  presbyters."  "  Supra  omnia  episcopalis  apicis  ;"" 
 so  Philo  of  that  bishoprick  ;  "  The  seat  of  episcopal  height 
 above  all  things  in  Christianity."  These  ai-e  its  honours. 
 Its  offices  these:  ra.  XsiTrovrx  eTri^iopdw'jcci,  69ri(Trop(.((^£jv  dwirorxx- 
 Tovs,  xal  (A-araiioXoyoiii,  Sj'C.  "  To  set  in  order  whatsoever  he 
 sees  wanting,  or  amiss ;  to  silence  vain  prating  preachers, 
 that  will  not  submit  to  their  superiors,  to  ordain  elders,  to 
 rebuke  delinquents,  to  reject  heretics,"  viz.,  from  the  com- 
 munion of  the  faithful,  (for  else  why  was  the  angel  of  the 
 chu,rch  of  Pergamus  reproved  for  tolerating  the  Nicolaitan 
 heretics,  but  that  it  was  in  his  power  to  eject  them.''  And 
 the  same  is  the  case  of  the  angel  of  Thyatira  in  permitting 
 the  woman  to  teach  and  seduce  the  joeople,)  but  to  the 
 bishop  was  committed  the  cognizance  of  causes  criminal, 
 and  particularly  of  presbyters,  (so  to  Timothy  in  the  instance 
 formerly  alleged,)  nay,  -izraiya.  k'niryri,  "  all  authority,"  so  in 
 the  case  of  Titus,  and  "  officium  regendse  ecclesiae,"  "  the 
 office  of  ruling  the  church,"  so  to  them  all  whom  the  apostles 
 left  in  the  several  churches  respectively,  which  they  had  new 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 77 
 
 founded.  SoEusebius''.  For  the  bisliop  was  ot!  raSo-i  xaSeffTwy, 
 "  set  over  all,"  clergy  and  laity,  saith  St.  Clement. 
 
 This  was  given  to  bishops  by  the  apostles  themselves, 
 and  this  was  not  given  to  presbyters,  as  I  have  already 
 proved ;  and  for  the  present  it  will  sufficiently  appear  in  this, 
 that  bishops  had  power  over  presbyters,  which  cannot  be 
 supposed  they  had  over  themselves,  unless  they  could  be 
 their  own  superiors. 
 
 SECTION  XXI. 
 
 Not  lessened  by  the  Assistance  and  Counsel  of  Presbyters. 
 
 But  a  council,  or  college  of  presbyters,  might  have  jurisdic- 
 tion over  any  one,  and  such  colleges  there  were  in  the 
 apostles'  times,  and  they  did  "  in  communi  ecclesiam  regere," 
 "  govern  the  church  in  common  with  the  bishop ;"  as  saith 
 St.  Jerome,  viz.,  where  there  was  a  bishop  ;  and  where  there 
 was  none,  they  ruled  without  him.  This  indeed  will  call  us 
 to  a  new  account ;  and  it  relies  upon  the  testimony  of  St. 
 Jerome,  which  I  will  set  down  here,  that  we  may  leave  the 
 sun  without  a  clouds  St.  Jerome's  words  are  these  :  "  Idem 
 est  enim  presbyter  quod  episcopus,  et  antequam  diaboli  in- 
 stinctu  studia  in  religione  fierent,  et  diceretur  in  populis, 
 '  Ego  sum  Pauli,  Ego  Apollo,  Ego  autem  Cej^ha?,'  communi 
 presbyterorum  concilio  ecclesite  gubernabantur.  Postquam 
 vero  unusquisque  eos  quos  baptizabat,  suos  putabat  esse, 
 non  Christi,  in  toto  orbe  decretum  est,  ut  unus  de  pres- 
 byteris  electus  superponeretur  caeteris,  ut  schismatum  semina 
 tollerentur." 
 
 Then  he  brings  some  arguments  to  confirm  his  saying, 
 and  sums  them  up  thus:  "  Haec  diximus,  ut  ostenderemus 
 apud  veteres  eosdem  fuisse  presbyteros  quos  episcopos,  et  ut 
 episcopi  noverint  se  magis  ecclesiae  consuetudine  quam  Do- 
 mlnicjE  dispositlonis  veritate  presbyteris  esse  majores  :  et  in 
 communi  debere  ecclesiam  regere,"  &c. 
 
 The  thing  St.  Jerome  aims  to  prove,  is  the  identity  of 
 
 ^  Ubi  supra,  apud  Euseb.  lib.  iii,  c.  23. 
 "  Comment,  in  Ep.  ad  Titum. 
 VOL.  VII.  H 
 
78 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 bishop,  presbyter,  and  their  government  of  the  church  Irt 
 common.  For  their  identity,  it  is  clear  that  St.  Jerome  does 
 not  mean  it  in  respect  of  order,  as  if  a  bishop  and  a  presbyter 
 had  both  one  office  '  per  omnia'  one  power  ;  for  else  he  con- 
 tradicts himself  most  apertly ;  for,  in  his  epistle  ad  Eva- 
 grium  "  Quid  facit?"  saith  he  "  episcopus  accepta  ordina- 
 tione  quod  presbyter  non  facit?"  "  A  presbyter  may  not 
 ordain,  a  bishop  does  ;"  which  is  a  clear  difference  of  power, 
 and  by  St.  Jerome  is  not  expressed  in  matter  of  fact,  but  of 
 right,  "  quod  presbyter  norvfaciat,'^  not  "  non  facit ;"  that  a 
 priest  may  not,  must  not,  do  that  a  bishop  does,  viz. »  he  gives 
 holy  orders.  And  for  matter  of  fact,  St.  Jerome  knew  that 
 in  his  time  a  presbyter  did  not  govern  in  common ;  but, 
 because  he  conceived  it  was  fit  he  should  be  joined  in  the 
 common  regiment  and  care  of  the  diocess,  therefore,  he  as- 
 serted it  as  much  as  he  could ;  and  therefore,  if  St.  Jerome 
 had  thought  that  this  difference  of  the  power  of  ordination 
 had  been  only  customary,  and  by  actual  indulgence,  or  en- 
 croachment, or  positive  constitution,  and  no  matter  of  pri- 
 mitive and  original  right,  St.  Jerome  was  not  so  diffident  but 
 out  it  should  come,  what  would  have  come.  And  suppose 
 St.  Jerome,  in  this  distinct  power  of  ordination,  had  intended 
 it  only  to  be  a  difference  in  fact,  not  in  right,  (for  so  some  of 
 late  have  muttered,)  then  St.  Jerome  had  not  said  true  ac- 
 cording to  his  own  principles,  for  "  Quid  facit  episcopus 
 excepta  ordinatione  quod  presbyter  non  faciat  ?"  had  been 
 quickly  answered,  if  the  question  had  only  been  '  de  facto 
 for  the  bishop  governed  the  church  alone,  and  so  in  jurisdic- 
 tion was  greater  than  presbyters,  and  this  was  by  custom, 
 and  in  fact  at  least,  St.  Jerome  says  it,  and  the  bishop  took 
 so  much  power  to  himself  that  '  de  facto'  presbyters  were 
 not  suffered  to  do  any  thing  '  sine  Uteris  eplscopalibus,' 
 *  without  leave  of  the  bishop;'  and  this  St.  Jerome  com- 
 plained of* ;  so  that  '  de  facto'  the  power  of  ordination  was 
 not  the  only  difference.  That,  then,  (if  St.  Jerome  says  true,) 
 being  the  only  difference  between  presbyter  and  bishop,  must 
 be  meant '  de  jure,'  in  matter  of  right,  not  '  human  positive,' 
 (for  that  is  coincident  with  the  other  power  of  jurisdiction, 
 which,  '  de  facto,'  and  at  least  by  a  human  right,  the  bishop 
 
 Ad  Nepotian.  et  de  7.  Or^n.  Eccles. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 79 
 
 had  over  presbyters,)  but  '  divine;'  and  then  this  Identity  of 
 bishop  and  presbyter,  by  St.  Jerome's  own  confession,  can- 
 not be  meant  in  respect  of  order,  but  that  episcopacy  is,  by 
 Divine  right,  a  superior  order  to  the  presbyterate- 
 
 Add  to  this,  that  the  arguments  which  St.  Jerome  uses  in 
 this  discourse,  are  to  prove  that  bishops  are  sometimes  called 
 '  presbyters.'  To  this  purpose  he  urges  Acts,  xx.,  and  Phi- 
 lippians,  i.,  and  the  Epistles  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  and  some 
 others,  but  all  driving  to  the  same  issue.  To  what?  Not  to 
 prove  that  presbyters  are  sometimes  called  presbyters ;  for 
 who  doubts  that  ?  But  that  bishops  are  so,  may  be  of  some 
 consideration,  and  needs  a  proof,  and  this  he  undertook. 
 Now  that  they  are  so  called,  must  needs  infer  an  identity 
 and  a  disparity  in  several  respects.  An  identity,  at  least  of 
 names;  for  else  it  had  been  wholly  impertinent.  A  dis- 
 parity ;  or  else  his  arguments  were  to  prove  '  idem  affirmari 
 de  eodem ;'  which  were  a  business  next  to  telling  pins. 
 Now,  then,  this  disparity  must  be  either  in  order  or  juris- 
 diction. By  the  former  probation  it  is  sure  that  he  means 
 the  orders  to  be  disparate  ;  if  jurisdiction  too,  T  am  content; 
 but  the  former  is  most  certain,  if  he  stand  to  his  own 
 principles. 
 
 This  identity,  then,  which  St.  Jerome  expresses  of  epis- 
 copus  and  presbyter,  must  be  either  in  name  or  in  jurisdic- 
 tion. I  know  not  certainly  which  he  means,  for  his  arguments 
 conclude  only  for  the  identity  of  names,  but  his  conclusion  is 
 for  identity  of  jurisdiction  :  '  Et  in  communi  debei'e  ecclesiam 
 regere,'  is  tlie  intent  of  his  discourse.  If  he  means  the  first, 
 viz.,  that  of  names,  it  is  well  enough,  there  is  no  harm  done, 
 it  is  '  in  confesso  apud  omnes;'  but  concludes  nothing,  as  I 
 shall  show  hereafter;  but  because  he  intends,  so  far  as  may 
 be  guessed  by  his  words,  a  parity  and  concurrence  of  juris- 
 diction, this  must  be  considered  distinctly. 
 
 1.  Then:  In  the  first  founding  of  churches,  the  apostles 
 did  appoint  presbyters  and  inferior  ministers,  with  a  power 
 of  baptizing,  preaching,  consecrating,  and  reconciling,  '  in 
 private  foro  ;^  but  did  not  in  every  church,  at  the  fii'st 
 founding  it,  constitute  a  bishop.  This  is  evident  in  Crete, 
 in  Ephesus,  in  Corinth,  at  Rome,  at  Antioch. 
 
 2.  Where  no  bishops  were  constituted,  there  the  apostles 
 kept  the  jui-isdiction  in  their  own  hands:  "  There  comes 
 
 H  2 
 
80 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 upon  me,"  saith  St.  Paul,  "  dally  the  care  (or  snpravision) 
 of  all  the  churches."  Not  all  <  absolutely,'  for  not  all  of  the 
 circumcision,  but  all  '  of  his  charge,'  with  which  he  was  once 
 charged,  and  of  which  he  had  not  exonerated  himself  by 
 constituting  bishops  there,  for  of  these  there  is  the  same 
 reason.  And  again :  "If  any  man  obey  not  our  word,  Sia 
 TTii  litiaroXris  rovrov  afiyi.ziov's^s,  signify  him  to  me  by  an  epistle ;' 
 so  he  charges  the  Thessalonians",  and  therefore  of  this  church, 
 St.  Paul  as  yet  clearly  kept  the  power  in  his  own  hands.  So 
 that  the  church  was  ever,  in  all  the  parts  of  it,  governed  by 
 episcopal  or  apostolical  authority. 
 
 3.  For  aught  appears  in  Scripture,  the  apostles  never 
 gave  any  external  or  coercive  jurisdiction  in  public  and  cri- 
 minal causes,  nor  yet  power  to  ordain  rites  or  ceremonies, 
 or  to  inflict  censures,  to  a  college  of  mere  presbyters.  The 
 contrary  may  be  greedily  swallowed,  and  I  know  not  with 
 how  great  confidence,  and  prescribing  prejudice ;  but  there 
 is  not  in  all  Scripture  any  commission  from  Christ,  any  ordi- 
 nance or  warrant  from  the  apostles,  to  any  presbyter,  or 
 college  of  presbyters  without  a  bishop,  or  express  delegation 
 of  apostolical  authority,  '  tanquam  vicario  suo,'  as  to  his 
 '  substitute,'  in  absence  of  the  bishop  or  apostle,  to  inflict 
 any  censures,  or  take  cognizance  of  persons  and  causes  cri- 
 minal. Presbyters  might  be  '  surrogati  in  locum  episcopi 
 absentis,'  but  never  had  any  ordinary  jurisdiction  given  them 
 by  virtue  of  their  ordination,  or  any  commission  from  Christ 
 or  his  apostles. 
 
 This  we  may  best  consider  by  induction  of  particulars. 
 
 1.  There  was  a  presbytery  at  Jerusalem,  but  they  had  a 
 bishop  always,  and  the  college  of  the  ajDOstles  sometimes : 
 therefore,  whatsoever  act  they  did,  it  was  in  conjunction 
 with,  and  subordination  to,  the  bishops  and  apostles.  Now 
 it  cannot  be  denied,  both  that  the  apostles  were  superior  to 
 all  the  presbyters  in  Jerusalem,  and  also  had  power  alone  to 
 govern  the  church.  I  say  they  had  power  to  govern  alone, 
 for  they  had  the  government  of  the  church  alone  before  they 
 ordained  the  first  presbyters,  that  is,  before  there  were  any 
 of  capacity  to  join  with  them,  they  must  do  it  themselves, 
 and  then  also  they  must  retain  the  same  power,  for  they 
 
 «  2  Thess.  iii.  14. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 81 
 
 could  not  lose  it  by  giving  orders.  Now,  if  they  had  a 
 power  of  sole  jurisdiction,  then  the  presbyters,  being  in 
 some  public  acts  in  conjunction  with  the  apostles,  cannot 
 challenge  a  right  of  governing  as  affixed  to  their  order, 
 they  only  assisting  in  subordination,  and  by  dependency. 
 
 This  only  by  the  way  :  In  Jerusalem  the  presbyters  were 
 something  more  than  ordinary,  and  were  not  mere  presbyters 
 in  the  present  and  limited  sense  of  the  word.  For  Barnabas, 
 and  Judas,  and  Silas  (av^far  'hyoviJ.iwvs,  St.  Luke  calls  them*"), 
 were  of  that  presbytery.  K«i  a,vro\  zjpoifrirxi  ovra.  They  were 
 rulers,  and  prophets,  chief  men  amongst  the  brethren,  and 
 yet  called  elders  or  presbyters,  though  of  apostolical  power 
 and  authority,  on  kccI  zjpiiyjSuripcov  er^^ov  a^i'av  ol  aTioffToXoi,  saith 
 CEcumenius''.  For  truth  is,  that  divers  of  them  were  ordained 
 apostles  with  an  unlimited  jurisdiction,  not  fixed  upon  any 
 see,  that  they  also  might,  together  with  the  twelve,  '  exii'e  in 
 totum  mundum.'  So  that,  in  this  presbyteiy,  either  they 
 were  more  than  mere  presbyters,  as  Bai-nabas,  and  Judas, 
 and  Silas,  men  of  apostolical  jDOWer,  and  they  might  well  be 
 in  conjunction  with  the  twelve  ;  and  with  the  bishop,  they 
 were  of  equal  power,  not  by  virtue  of  their  presbyterate,  but 
 by  their  apostolate ;  or  if  they  were  but  mere  presbyters,  yet, 
 because  it  is  certain,  and  proved,  and  confessed,  that  the 
 apostles  had  power  to  govern  the  church  alone,  this  their 
 taking  mere  '  presbyteros  in  partem  regiminis,'  was  a  volun- 
 tary act,  and  from  this  example  was  derived  to  other  churches ; 
 and  then  it  is  most  true,  that  "  presbyteros  in  communi  eccle- 
 siam  regere,"  was  rather  "  consuetudine  ecclesise,  quam  Domi- 
 nicae  dispositionis  veritate,"  to  use  St.  Jerome's  own  expres- 
 sion ;  for  this  is  more  evident  than  that  bishops  do  '  eminere 
 cseteris,'  by  custom  rather  than  Divine  institution.  For  if 
 the  apostles  might  rule  the  chui'ch  alone,  then  that  the 
 presbyters  were  taken  into  the  number  was  a  voluntary  act 
 of  the  apostles ;  and  although  fitting  to  be  retained  where 
 the  same  reasons  do  remain,  and  circumstances  occur,  yet 
 not  necessary,  because  not  affixed  to  their  order ;  not  '  Domi- 
 nican dispositionis  veritate,^  and  not  laudable  when  those  rea- 
 sons cease,  and  there  is  an  emergency  of  contrary  causes. 
 
 2.  The  next  presbytery  we  read  of  is  at  Antioch ;  but 
 
 Acts,  XV. 
 
 «■  In  Act.  Apost, 
 
82 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 there  we  find  no  acts  either  of  concurrent  or  single  juris 
 diction,  but  of  ordination  indeed  we  do,  and  that  performed 
 by  such  men  as  St.  Paul  was,  and  Barnabas^,  for  tliey  were 
 two  of  the  prophets  reckoned  in  the  church  of  Antioch,  but 
 I  do  not  remember  them  to  be  called  '  presbyters  in  that 
 place to  be  sure  they  were  not  mere  presbyters  as  we  now 
 understand  the  word;  as  I  proved  formerly. 
 
 3.  But  in  the  church  of  Ephesus  there  was  a  college  of 
 presbyters,  and  they  were,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  called 
 bishops,  and  were  appointed  by  him  to  be  pastors  of  the 
 church  of  God.  This  must  do  it  or  nothing,  "  In  quo  Spiritus 
 Sanctus  posuit  vos  episcopos  :"  "  In  whom  the  Holy  Ghost 
 hath  made  ^ou  bishops^."  There  must  lie  the  exigence  of  the 
 argument,  and  if  we  can  find  who  is  meant  by  '  vos,'  we 
 shall,  I  hope,  gain  the  truth.  St.  Paul  sent  for  the  pres- 
 byters or  elders,  to  come  from  Ephesus  to  Miletus,  and  to 
 them  he  spoke.  It  is  true,  but  that  is  not  all  the  '  vos.' 
 For  there  were  present  at  that  sermon  Sopater,  and  Aris- 
 tarchus,  and  Secundus,  and  Gaius,  and  Timothy,  and  Ty- 
 chicus,  and  Trophimus'',  and  although  he  sent  to  Ephesus,  as 
 to  the  metropolis,  and  there  many  elders  were,  either  acci- 
 dentally or  by  ordinary  residence,  yet  those  were  not  all 
 elders  of  that  church,  but  of  all  Asia;  in  the  Scripture  sense, 
 the  Lesser  Asia.  For  so,  in  the  preface  of  his  sermon,  St. 
 Paul  intimates:  "  Ye  know  that  from  the  first  day  I  came  into 
 Asia,  after  what  manner  I  have  been  with  you  at  all  seasons'." 
 His  whole  conversation  in  Asia  was  not  confined  to  Ephesus, 
 and  yet  those  elders  who  were  present,  were  witnesses  of  it 
 all,  and,  therefore,  were  of  dispersed  habitation ;  and  so  it  is 
 more  clearly  inferred  from  verse  25  :  "  And  now  behold  I 
 know  that  ye  all,  among  v/hom  I  have  gone  preaching  the 
 kingdom  of  God,"  &c.  It  was  a  travel  to  preach  to  all  that 
 were  present,  and,  therefore,  most  certainly  they  were  inha- 
 bitants of  places  very  considerably  distant. 
 
 Now,  upon  this  ground,  I  will  raise  these  considerations. 
 
 1.  If  there  be  a  confusion  of  names  in  Scripture,  particu- 
 larly of  episcopus  and  presbyter,  as  it  is  contended  for  on 
 one  side,  and  granted  on  all  sides,  then  where  both  the 
 
 f  Acts,  xiii. 
 Acts,  xs.  4. 
 
 8  Acts,  sx. 
 Verse  18. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 83 
 
 words  are  used,  what  shall  determhie  the  signification  ?  For 
 whether  (to  instance  in  this  place)  shall  '  presbyter'  limit 
 •  episcopus,'  or  '  episcopus'  extend  '  presbyter  V  Why  may 
 not  presbyter  signify  one  that  is  verily  a  bishop,  as  episcopus 
 signify  a  mere  presbyter  ?  For  it  is  but  an  ignorant  conceit, 
 wherever  presbyter  is  named,  to  fancy  it  in  the  proper  and 
 limited  sense,  and  not  to  do  so  with  ejiiscopus  ;  and  when 
 they  are  joined  together,  rather  to  believe  it  in  the  limited 
 and  present  sense  of  presbyter,  than  in  the  proper  and 
 present  sense  of  episcopus.  So  that  as  yet  we  are  indifferent 
 upon  the  terms.  These  men  sent  for  from  Ephesus,  are 
 called  vypsT^vrspoi  rris  ex-KX-ziaixf,  '  elders'  or  '  presbyters  of  the 
 church;'  butat  Miletus, '  SpiritusSanotusposuit  vosepiscopos,' 
 there  they  are  called  '  bishops'  or  overseers.  So  that  I  may 
 as  well  say  here,  '  properlv  so  called  bishops,'  as  another  may 
 say,  '  here  were  mere  presbyters.'  And  lest  it  be  objected  in 
 prejudice  of  my  affirmative,  that  thej'^  could  not  be  bishops, 
 because  they  were  of  Ephesus,  there  never  being  but  one 
 bishop  in  one  church  ;  I  answer,  that  in  the  ajjostles'  times 
 this  was  not  true.  For  at  Jerusalem  there  were  many  at  the 
 same  time,  that  had  episcopal  and  apostolical  authority,  and 
 so  at  Antioch:  as  at  Jerusalem,  where  James,  and  Judas,  and 
 Silas,  and  the  apostles,  and  Paul  and  Barnabas  at  Antioch, 
 and  at  Rome,  at  the  same  time,  Peter,  and  Paul,  and  Linus, 
 and  Clemens  ;  but  yet  but  one  of  them  was  fixed,  and  pro- 
 perly the  bishop  of  that  place.  But  secondly ;  All  these 
 were  not  of  Ephesus,  but  the  elders  of  all  Asia,  but  some 
 from  other  countries,  as  appears  verse  4.  So  that  although 
 they  were  all  bishops,  we  might  easily  find  distinct  dioceses 
 for  them,  without  encumbering  the  church  of  Ephesus  with 
 a  multiplied  incumbency.  Thus  far  then  we  are  upon  even 
 terms ;  the  community  of  compellations  used  here,  can  no 
 more  force  us  to  believe  them  all  to  be  mere  presbyters  than 
 bishops,  in  the  proper  sense. 
 
 2.  It  is  very  certain,  that  they  were  not  all  mere  pres- 
 byters at  his  farewell  sermon  ;  for  St.  Timothy  was  there, 
 and  I  proved  him  to  be  a  bishop  by  abundant  testimony,  and 
 many  of  those  which  are  reckoned,  verse  4,  were  compa- 
 nions of  the  apostle  in  his  journey ;  and  employed,  in  mission 
 apostolical,  for  the  founding  of  churches ;  and  particularly 
 Sopater  was ,  there,  and  he  was  bishop  of  Icoiiiuin,  and 
 
84 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 Tychicus,  of  Chalcedon  in  Blthynia,  as  Dorotheus  and  Euse- 
 bius  witness'';  and  Trojjhimus,  of  Aries  in  France;  for  so  it 
 is  witnessed  by  the  suffragans  of  that  province,  in  their 
 epistle  to  St.  Leo.  But  without  all  doubt,  here  were  bishops 
 present  as  well  as  presbyters,  for,  besides  the  premises,  we 
 have  a  witness  beyond  exception,  the  ancient  St.  Irenaeus  : 
 "  In  Mileto  enim  convocatis  episcopis,  et  presbyteris  qui 
 erant  ab  Epheso,  et  a  reliquis  proximis  civitatibus,  quoniam 
 ipse  festinavit  Hierosolymis  Pentecosten  agere,"  &c.  ;  St. 
 Paul,  making  haste  to  keep  his  Pentecost  at  Jerusalem,  "  at 
 Miletus  did  call  together  the  bishops  and  presbyters  from 
 Ephesus,  and  the  neighbouring  cities'."  Now  to  all  these 
 in  conjunction,  St.  Paul  spoke,  and  to  these  indeed  the 
 Holy  Ghost  had  concredited  his  church  to  be  fed,  and 
 taught  with  pastoral  supravision  ;  but,  in  the  mean  while, 
 here  is  no  commission  of  power,  or  jurisdiction  to  presbyters 
 distinctly,  nor  supposition  of  any  such  pre-existent  power. 
 
 3.  All  that  St.  Paul  said  in  this  narration,  was  spoken  in 
 the  presence  of  them  all,  but  not  to  them  all.  For  that  of 
 verse  18,  "  Ye  know  how  I  have  been  with  you  in  Asia  in  all 
 seasons that  indeed  was  spoken  to  all  the  presbyters 
 that  came  from  Ephesus  and  the  voisinage,  viz.,  in  a  col- 
 lective sense,  not  in  a  distributive,  for  each  of  them  was  not 
 in  all  the  circuit  of  his  Asian  travels  ;  but  this  was  not 
 spoken  to  Sopater,  the  Berean,  or  to  Aristarchus,  the  Thes- 
 salonian,  but  to  Tychicus  and  Trophlmus,  who  were  Asians, 
 it  might  be  addressed.  And  for  that  of  verse  25,  "  Ye  all 
 among  whom  I  have  gone  preaching,  shall  see  my  face  no 
 more;"  this  was  directed  only  to  the  Asians,  for  he  was 
 never  more  to  come  thither ;  but  Timothy,  to  be  sure,  saw 
 him  afterwards,  for  St.  Paul  sent  for  him,  a  little  before  his 
 death,  to  Rome,  and  it  will  not  be  supposed  he  neglected  to 
 attend  him.  So  that  if  there  were  a  conjunction  of  bishops 
 and  presbyters  at  his  meeting,  as  most  certainly  there  was, 
 and  of  evangelists  and  apostolical  men  besides,  how  shall  it  be 
 known,  or  indeed  with  any  pi-obability  suspected,  that  clause 
 of  verse  28,  "  Spiritus  Sanctus  posuit  vos  episcopos  pascere 
 ecclesiam  Dei,"  does  belong  to  the  Ephesine  presbyters,  and 
 not  particularly  to  Timothy,  who  was  now  actually  bishop  of 
 
 ^  Ubi  supra. 
 
 '  Lib.  iii.  c.  Hf 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 85 
 
 Ephesus,  and  to  Gaius,  and  to  the  other  apostolical  men, 
 who  had,  at  least,  episcopal  authority,  that  is,  power  of 
 founding  and  ordering  churches  without  a  fixed  and  limited 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 4.  Either  in  this  place  is  no  jurisdiction  at  all  intimated 
 '  de  antiquo,'  or  concredited  '  de  novo,'  or  if  there  be,  it  is  in 
 the  word  litiayioTtovs  and  OTo(//,aiv£jv,  verse  28,  '  bishops'  and 
 *  feeders  ;'  and  then  it  belongs  to  the  presbyters  in  conjunc- 
 tion with,  and  subordination  to,  the  bishops  ;  for  to  the 
 mere  presbyters  it  cannot  be  proved  to  appertain,  by  any 
 intimation  of  that  place. 
 
 5.  How  and  if  these  presbyters,  which  came  from  Ephesus, 
 and  the  other  parts  of  Asia,  were  made  bishops  at  Miletus? 
 Then  also  this  way  all  difficulty  will  be  removed.  And  that 
 so  it  was,  is  more  than  probable  ;  for  to  be' sure,  Timothy 
 was  now  entering  and  fixing  upon  his  see  ;  and  it  was  conso- 
 nant to  the  practice  of  the  apostles,  and  the  exigence  of  the 
 thing  itself,  when  they  were  to  leave  a  church,  to  fix  a  bishop 
 in  it ;  for  why  else  was  a  bishop  fixed  in  Jerusalem  so  long 
 before  any  other  churches,  but  because  the  apostles  were  to 
 be  scattered  from  thence,  and  there  the  first  bloody  field  of 
 martyrdom  was  to  be  fought.  And  the  case  was  equal  here, 
 for  St.  Paul  was  never  to  see  the  churches  of  Asia  any  more  ; 
 and  foresaw  that  ravening  wolves  would  enter  into  the  folds, 
 and  he  had  actually  placed  a  bishop  in  Ephesus ;  and  it  is 
 unimaginable,  that  he  would  not  make  equal  provision  for 
 other  churches,  there  being  the  same  necessity,  from  the 
 same  danger,  in  them  all,  and  either  St.  Paul  did  it  now  or 
 never  ;  and  that  about  this  time,  the  other  six  Asian  churches 
 had  angels  or  bishops  set  in  their  candlesticks,  is  plain,  for 
 there  had  been  a  succession  in  the  church  of  Pergamus  ; 
 Antipas  was  dead,  and  St.  Timothy  had  sat  in  Ephesus,  and 
 St.  Polycarp  at  Smyrna,  many  years  before  St.  John  writ 
 his  revelation. 
 
 6.  Lastly  :  That  no  jurisdiction  was  in  the  Ephesine 
 presbyters,  except  a  delegate,  and  subordinate,  appears  be- 
 yond all  exception,  by  St.  Paul's  first  epistle  to  Timothy, 
 establishing  in  the  person  of  Timothy  power  of  coercitive 
 jurisdiction  over  presbyters,  and  ordination  in  him  alone, 
 without  the  conjunction  of  any  in  commission  with  him,  for 
 aught  appears  either  there  or  elsewhere. 
 
86 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 4.  The  same  also,  in  the  case  of  the  Cretan  presbyters, 
 is  clear.  For  what  power  had  they  of  jurisdiction?  For 
 that  is  it  we  now  speak  of.  If  they  had  none  before  St. 
 Titus  came,  we  are  Avell  enough  at  Crete.  If  they  had,  why 
 did  St.  Paul  take  it  from  them,  to  invest  Titus  with  it  ?  Or 
 if  he  did  not,  to  what  purpose  did  he  send  Titus  with  all 
 those  powers  before  mentioned  ?  For  either  the  presbvters 
 of  Crete  had  jurisdiction,  in  causes  criminal,  equal  to  Titus 
 after  his  coming,  or  they  had  not.  If  they  had  not,  then 
 either  they  had  no  jurisdiction  at  all,  or  whatsoever  it  was 
 in  subordination  to  him,  they  were  his  inferiors,  and  he  their 
 ordinary  judge  and  governor. 
 
 5.  One  thing  more  before  this  be  left,  must  be  considered 
 concerning  the  church  of  Corinth,  for  there  was  power  of 
 excommunication  in  the  presbytery  when  they  had  no  bishop, 
 for  thev  had  none  of  divers  years  after  the  founding  of  the 
 church,  and  yet  St.  Paul  reproves  them  for  not  ejecting  the 
 incestuous  person  out  of  the  church. 
 
 This  is  it  that  I  said  before,  that  the  apostles  kept  the 
 jurisdiction  in  their  hands  where  they  had  founded  a  church 
 and  placed  no  bishop,  for  in  this  case  of  the  Corinthian 
 incest,  the  apostle  did  make  himself  the  sole  judge :  "  For  I 
 verilv,  as  absent  in  body,  but  present  in  spirit,  have  judged 
 already" ;"  and  then,  secondly,  St.  Paul  gives  the  church  of 
 Corinth  commission  and  substitution  to  proceed  in  this  cause, 
 "  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  ye  are  gathered 
 together",  and  my  Spirit,"  that  is,  'my  power,  my  authority,"' 
 for  so  he  explains  himself,  "  my  spirit,  with  the  power  of  our 
 Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  deliver  him  over  to  Satan."  And 
 thirdlv,  as  all  this  power  is  delegate,  so  it  is  but  declarative 
 in  the  Corinthians ;  for  St.  Paul  had  given  sentence  before, 
 and  they  of  Corinth  were  to  publish  it.  Fourthly ;  this  was 
 a  commission  given  to  the  whole  assembly,  and  no  more 
 concerns  the  presbyters  than  the  people,  and  so  some  have 
 contended  ;  but  so  it  is ;  but  it  will  serve  neither  of  their  turns, 
 neither  for  an  independent  presbytery,  nor  a  conjunctive 
 popularity.  As  for  St.  Paul's  reproving  them,  for  not  inflict- 
 ing censures  on  the  peccant,  I  have  often  heard  it  confidently 
 averred,  but  never  could  see  ground  for  it.    The  suspicion  of 
 
 1  Cor-  V  3. 
 
 "  Verse  4. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 87 
 
 it  is  vei*se  2  :  "  And  ye  are  puffed  up,  and  have  not  rather 
 ►  mourned ;  that  he  that  hath  done  this  deed,  might  be  taken 
 away  from  among  you  :"  taken  away  :  but  by  whom  ?  that  is 
 the  question.  Not  by  them,  to  be  sure.  For  'taken  away 
 from  you'  implies  that  it  is  by  the  power  of  another,  not  by 
 their  act,  for  no  man  can  take  away  any  thing  from  himself, 
 he  may  '  put  it  away,'  not  '  take  it,'  the  expression  had  been 
 very  imperfect  if  this  had  been  his  meaning.  Well  then  ; 
 in  all  these  instances,  viz.,  of  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Ephesus, 
 Crete,  and  Corinth,  (and  these  are  all  I  can  find  in  Scripture 
 of  any  consideration  in  the  present  question,)  all  the  juris- 
 diction was  originally  in  the  apostles,  while  there  was  no 
 bishop,  or  in  the  bishop,  when  there  was  any  :  and  yet  that 
 the  presbyters  were  joined  in  the  ordering  church  affairs,  I 
 will  not  deny,  to  wit,  by  voluntary  assuming  them,  '  in  partem 
 sollicitudinis,'  and  by  delegation  of  power  apostolical,  or 
 episcopal,  and  by  way  of  assistance  in  acts  deliberative,  and 
 consiliary,  though  I  find  this  no  where  specified  but  in  the 
 church  of  Jerusalem,  where  I  proved  that  the  elders  were 
 men  of  more  power  than  mere  presbyters,  men  of  apostolical 
 authority.    But  here  lies  the  issue  and  strain  of  the  question. 
 
 Presbyters  had  no  jurisdiction  in  causes  criminal,  and 
 pertaining  to  the  public  regiment  of  the  church,  by  virtue 
 of  their  order,  or  without  particular  substitution  and  delega- 
 tion. For  there  is  not  in  all  Scripture  any  commission  given 
 by  Christ  to  mere  presbyters,  no  Divine  institution  of  any 
 power  of  regiment  in  the  presbytery  ;  no  constitution  apos- 
 tolical, that  mere  presbyters  should  either  alone,  or  in  con- 
 junction with  the  bishop,  govern  the  church  ;  no  example  in 
 all  Scripture  of  any  censure  inflicted  by  any  mere  presbyters', 
 either  upon  clergy  or  laity  ;  no  specification  of  any  power 
 that  they  had  so  to  do  ;  but  to  churches  where  colleges  of 
 presbyters  were  resident,  bishops  were  sent  by  apostolical 
 ordination  ;  not  only  with  power  of  imposition  of  hands,  but 
 of  excommunication,  of  taking  cognizance  even  of  causes  and 
 actions  of  presbyters  themselves,  as  to  Titus  and  Timothy, 
 the  angel  of  the  church  of  Ephesus ;  and  there  is  also  ex- 
 ample of  delegation  of  power  of  censures  from  the  apostle 
 to  a  church,  where  many  presbyters  were  fixed,  as  in  the 
 case  of  the  Corinthian  delinquent  before  specified,  which 
 delegation  was  needless,  if  coercitive  jurisdiction,  by  censures, 
 
88 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 had  been  by  Divine  right  in  a  presbyter,  or  a  whole  college 
 of  thera. 
 
 Now  then  return  we  to  the  consideration  of  St.  Jerome's 
 saying :  "  The  church  was  governed  '  communi  presbyte- 
 rorum  consilio,'  by  the  common  council  of  presbyters."  But, 
 
 1.  '  Quo  jure'  was  this?  That  the  bishops  are  superior 
 to  those  which  were  then  called  presbyters,  by  custom  rather 
 than  Divine  disposition,  St.  Jerome  affirms;  but  that  pres- 
 byters were  joined  with  the  apostles  and  bishops  at  first,  by 
 what  right  was  that  ?  Was  not  that  also  by  custom  and 
 condescension,  rather  than  by  Divine  disposition  ?  St. 
 Jerome  does  not  say  but  it  was.  For  he  speaks  only  of 
 matter  of  fact,  not  of  right  :  it  might  have  been  otherwise, 
 though,  *  de  facto,'  it  was  so  in  some  places. 
 
 2.  'Communi  presbyterorum  consilio'  is  true  in  the 
 church  of  Jerusalem,  where  the  elders  were  apostolical  men, 
 and  had  episcopal  authority,  and  something  superadded,  as 
 Barnabas,  and  Judas,  and  Silas,  for  they  had  the  authority 
 and  power  of  bishops,  and  an  unlimited  diocese  besides, 
 though  afterwards  Silas  was  fixed  upon  the  see  of  Corinth. 
 But  yet  even  at  Jerusalem  they  actually  had  a  bishop,  who 
 was,  in  that  place,  superior  to  them  in  jurisdiction,  and, 
 therefore,  does  clearly  evince,  that  the  common  counsel  of 
 presbyters  is  no  argument  against  the  superiority  of  a  bishop 
 ever  them. 
 
 3.  '  Communi  presbyterorum  consilio'  is  also  true,  be- 
 cause the  apostles  called  themselves  presbyters,  as  St.  Paul 
 and  St.  John,  in  their  epistles.  Now  at  the  first,  many  pro- 
 phets, many  elders,  (for  the  words  are  sometimes  used  in  com- 
 mon,) were,  for  a  while,  resident  in  particular  churches,  and 
 did  govern  in  common  ;  as  at  Antioch  were  Barnabas,  and 
 Simeon,  and  Lucius,  and  Manaen,  and  Paul,  '  communi 
 horum  presbyterorum  consilio'  the  church  of  Antioch  for  a 
 time  was  governed  ;  for  all  these  wei-e  presbyters,  in  the 
 sense  that  St.  Peter  and  St.  John  were,  and  the  elders  of  the 
 church  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 4.  Suppose  this  had  been  true  in  the  sense  that  any  body 
 please  to  imagine,  yet  this  not  being  by  any  Divine  ordi- 
 nance, that  presbyters  should  by  their  counsel,  assist  in 
 external  regiment  of  the  church,  neither  by  any  imitation  of 
 Scripture,  nox*  by  affirmation  of  St.  Jerome,  it  is  sufficient  to 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 89 
 
 stiAe  this  by  that  sayinoj  of  St.  Ambrose  ;  *'  Postquam  om- 
 nibus locis  ecclesiae  sunt  constitutee,  et  officia  ordinata,  aliter 
 composita  res  est  quam  coeperaf."  It  might  be  so  at  first 
 '  de  facto,'  and  yet  no  need  to  be  so  neither  then,  nor  after. 
 For  at  first  Ephesus  had  no  bishop  of  its  own,  nor  Crete, 
 and  there  was  no  need,  for  St.  Paul  had  the  supi-avision  of 
 them,  and  St.  John,  and  other  of  the  apostles;  but  yet 
 afterwards,  St.  Paul  did  send  bishops  thither;  for  when 
 themselves  were  to  go  away,  the  power  must  be  concredited 
 to  another;  and  if  they,  in  their  absence,  before  the  consti- 
 tuting of  a  bishop,  had  intrusted  the  care  of  the  church  with 
 pi'esbyters,  yet  it  was  but  in  dependence  on  the  apostles,  and 
 by  substitution,  not  by  any  ordinaiy  power,  and  it  ceased  at 
 the  presence  or  command  of  the  apostle,  or  the  sending  of  a 
 bishop  to  reside.  O*  zsps'j^vTs^ot  zjotiJ.civa.rs  to  ev  vf/.7v  zjclfj^viov, 
 tcos  dvocSsl'^'r)  o  ©sor  tov  /J.iXXovrx  apy^ziv  vjxccv'''.  So  St.  Ignatius, 
 being  absent  from  his  church,  upon  a  business  of  being  pei'- 
 secuted,  he  wrote  to  his  presbyters,  "  Do  you  feed  the  flock 
 amongst  you,  till  God  shall  shov/  you  who  shall  be  your 
 ruler,"  viz.,  '  ray  successor:  no  longer:  your  commission  ex- 
 pires when  a  bishop  comes.' 
 
 5.  To  the  conclusion  of  St.  Jerome's  discourse,  viz., 
 '  That  bishops  are  not  gi-eater  than  presbyters  by  the  truth 
 of  Divine  disposition  ;'  I  answer,  that  this  is  true  in  this 
 sense,  bishops  ai'e  not,  b)^  Divine  disposition,  greater  than  all 
 those  which,  in  Scripture,  are  called  presbyters,  such  as  were 
 the  elders  in  the  council  at  Jerusalem,  such  as  were  they 
 of  Antioch,  such  as  St.  Peter  and  St.  John,  aufATirpia^uTspoi  all, 
 and  yet  all  of  them  were  not  bishops  in  the  present  sense, 
 that  is,  of  a  fixed  and  particular  diocese  and  jurisdiction. 
 
 Secondly.:  St.  Jei'ome's  meaning  is  also  true  in  this  sense, 
 "  Bishops,  by  the  truth  of  the  Lord's  disposition,  are  not 
 greater  than  presbyters,"  viz.,  '  quoad  exercitium  actus,'  that 
 is,  they  are  not  tied  to  exercise  jurisdiction  solely  in  their 
 own  persons,  but  may  "  asciscere  sibi  presbytcros  in  com- 
 mune consilium,""  they  '  may  delegate  jurisdiction  to  the 
 presbyters;'  and  that  they  did  not  so,  but  kept  the  exercise 
 of  it  only  in  their  own  hands  in  St.  Jerome's  time,  this  is  it, 
 which  he  salth  is  rather  by  custom  than  by  Divine  dispen- 
 sation, for  it  was  othex-wise  at  first,  viz.,  'de  facto,'  and  might 
 "  In  Ephes.  iv.  P  Epist.  ad  Antioch. 
 
90 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 be  so  still,  there  being  no  law  of  God  against  tlie  delegation 
 of  power  episcopal.  As  for  the  last  words  in  the  objection, 
 *'  Et  in  communi  debere  ecclesiara  regere,"  it  is  an  assumen- 
 tum  of  St.  Jerome's  OM'n  ;  for  all  his  former  discourse  was  of 
 the  identity  of  names,  and  common  regiment  '  de  facto,'  not 
 '  de  jure,'  and  from  a  fact  to  conclude  with  a  '  deberet,'  is 
 a  '  non  sequitur,'  unless  this  '  debere'  be  understood  accord- 
 ing to  the  exigence  of  the  former  arguments,  that  is,  they 
 ought  not  by  God's  law,  but  in  imitation  of  the  practice 
 apostolical;  to  wit,  when  things  are  as  they  wei*e  then,  when 
 the  presbyters  are  such  as  then  they  were ;  they  ought,  for 
 many  considerations,  and  in  great  cases,  not  by  the  necessity 
 of  a  pi-ecept. 
 
 And  indeed,  to  do  him  right,  he  so  explains  himself; 
 "Et  in  communi  debere  ecclesiam  regere,  imitantes  Moysen, 
 qui  cum  haberet  in  postestate  solus  praeesse  populo  Israel, 
 septuaginta  elegit,  cum  quibus  populum  judicai*et ' :"  "  The 
 presbyters  ought  to  judge  in  common  with  the  bishop,  for 
 the  bishops  ought  to  imitate  Moses,  who  might  have  ruled 
 alone,  yet  was  content  to  take  others  to  him,  and  himself 
 only  to  rule  in  chief."  Thus  St.  Jerome  would  have  the 
 bishops  do,  but  then  he  acknowledges  the  right  of  sole  juris- 
 diction to  be  in  them,  and  therefore,  though  his  counsel 
 perhaps  might  be  good  then,  yet  it  is  necessary  at  no  time, 
 and  was  not  followed  then,  and  to  be  sure,  is  needless  now. 
 For  the  arguments  which  St.  Jerome  uses  to  prove  this  in- 
 tention, whatever  it  is,  I  have,  and  shall  elsewhere  produce, 
 for  they  yield  many  other  considerations  than  this  collection 
 of  St.  Jerome,  and  prove  nothing  less  than  the  equality  of 
 the  offices  of  episcopacy  and  presbyterate.  The  same  thing 
 is  '  per  omnia'  respondent  to  the  parallel  place  of  St.  Chry- 
 sostom  :  it  is  needless  to  repeat  either  the  objection  or  answer. 
 
 But  however,  this  saying  of  St.  Jerome,  and  the  parallel 
 of  St.  Chrysostom,  is  but  like  an  argument  against  an  evident 
 truth,  which  comes  forth  upon  a  desperate  service,  and  they 
 are  sure  to  be  killed  by  the  adverse  party,  or  to  run  upon 
 their  own  swords ;  for  either  they  are  to  be  understood  in 
 the  senses  above  explicated,  and  then  they  are  impertinent, 
 
 1  In  1  Tim.  iii.    "On  ov  ■xoy.u  ro  /AiireV  r.a)  yap  auTs'i  ii^airxuXlav  iiffiv  avaSsSej/- 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 91 
 
 or  else  they  contradict  evidence  of  Scripture  and  catliolic 
 antiquity,  and  so  are  false,  and  die  within  their  own  trenches. 
 
 I  end  this  argument  of  tradition  apostolical  with  that  say- 
 ing of  St.  Jerome  in  the  same  place  ;  "  Postquam  unusquis- 
 que  eos  quos  baptizabat  suos  putabat  esse,  non  Christi,  et 
 diceretur  in  populis,  Ego  sum  Pauli,  Ego  Apollo,  Ego  au- 
 tem  Cephse,  in  toto  orbe  decretum  est  ut  unus  de  presbyteris 
 electus  superponeretur  cteteris,  ut  schismatum  semina  tolle- 
 rentur."  That  is  *a  public  decree  issued  out  in  the  apos- 
 tles' limes,  that  In  all  churches  one  should  be  chosen  out  of 
 the  clergy,  and  set  over  them,  viz.,  to  rule  and  govern  the 
 flock  committed  to  his  charge.  This,  I  say,  was  in  the 
 apostles'  times,  even  upon  the  occasion  of  the  Corinthian 
 schism  ;  for  then  they  said,  I  am  of  Paul,  and  I  of  Apollos, 
 and  then  it  was,  that  he  that  baptized  any  catechumens,  took 
 them  for  his  own,  not  as  Christ's  disciples.'  So  that  it  was, 
 '  tempore  apostolorum ,'  that  this  decree  was  made  ;  for  '  in 
 the  time  of  the  apostles,'  St.  James  and  St.  Mark,  and  St. 
 Timothy,  and  St.  Titus,  were  made  bishops  by  St.  Jerome's 
 express  attestation.  It  was  also  'toto  orbe  decretum;'  so 
 that  if  it  had  not  been  proved  to  have  been  an  immediate 
 Divine  institution,  yet  it  could  not  have  gone  much  less,  it 
 being,  as  I  have  pi-oved,  and  as  St.  Jerome  acknowledges, 
 catholic  and  apostolic. 
 
 SECTION  XXII. 
 
 And  all  this  hath  been  the  Faith  and  Practice  of  Christendom, 
 
 "Be  ye  followers  of  me  as  I  am  of  Christ,"  is  an  apostolical 
 precept.  We  have  seen  how  the  apostles  have  followed 
 Christ,  how  their  tradition  is  consequent  of  Divine  institu- 
 tion:  next  let  us  see  how  the  church  hath  followed  the 
 apostles,  as  the  apostles  have  followed  Christ.  Catholic 
 practice  is  the  next  basis  of  the  power  and  order  of  episco- 
 pacy. And  this  shall  be  '  in  subsidium'  to  them  also  that 
 call  for  reduction  of  the  state  episcopal  to  a  primitive  con- 
 sistence, and  for  the  confirmation  of  all  those  pious  sons  of 
 holy  church,  who  have  a  venerable  estimate  of  the  public 
 and  authorized  facts  of  catholic  Christendom. 
 
92 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 For  consider  we,  is  it  imaginable,  that  all  the  world 
 should,  immediately  after  the  death  of  the  apostles,  conspire 
 together  to  seek  themselves,  and  not  '  ea  quae  sunt  Jesu 
 Christi;'  to  ei'ect  a  government  of  their  own  devising,  not 
 ordained  by  Christ,  not  delivered  by  his  apostles,  and  to 
 relinquish  a  Divine  foundation,  and  the  aj^ostolical  super- 
 structure, which,  if  it  was  at  all,  was  a  part  of  our  Master's 
 will,  which  whosoever  knew,  and  observed  not,  was  to  be 
 beaten  with  many  stripes  ?  Is  it  imaginable,  that  those 
 gallant  men,  who  could  not  be  brought  ofl'  from  the  pre- 
 scriptions of  Gentilism,  to  the  seeming  impossibilities  of 
 Chi'istianity,  without  evidence  of  miracle,  and  clai-ity  of 
 demonstration  upon  agreed  principles,  should  all,  upon  their 
 first  adhesion  to  Christianity,  make  an  universal  dereliction 
 of  so  considerable  a  part  of  their  Master's  will,  and  leave 
 Gentilism  to  destroy  Christianity;  for  he  that  erects  another 
 economy  than  what  the  Master  of  the  family  hath  ordained, 
 destroys  all  those  relations  of  mutual  dependence,  which 
 Christ  hath  made  for  the  coadunation  of  all  the  parts  of  it, 
 and  so  destroys  it  in  the  formality  of  a  Christian  congregation 
 or  family. 
 
 Is  it  imaginable,  that  all  those  glorious  martyrs,  that 
 were  so  curious  observers  of  Divine  sanctions,  and  canons 
 apostolical,  that  so  long  as  that  ordinance  of  the  apostles, 
 concerning  abstinence  from  blood,  was  of  force,  they  would 
 rather  die  than  eat  a  sti'angled  hen  or  a  pudding,  (for  so 
 Eusebius  relates  of  the  Christians,  in  the  particular  instance 
 of  Biblis  and  Blandina,)  that  they  would  be  so  sedulous  in 
 contemning  the  government,  that  Christ  left  for  his  family, 
 and  erect  another  ? 
 
 To  what  purpose  were  all  their  watchings,  their  banish- 
 ments, their  fears,  their  fastings,  their  penances,  and  formi- 
 dable austerities,  and  finally,  their  so  frequent  martyrdoms, 
 of  what  excellency  or  avail,  if,  after  all,  they  should  be  hur- 
 ried out  of  this  world,  and  all  their  fortunes  and  possessions, 
 by  untimely,  by  disgraceful,  by  dolorous  deaths,  to  be  set 
 before  a  tribunal,  to  give  account  of  their  universal  neglect, 
 and  contemning  of  Christ's  last  testament,  in  so  great  an 
 affair,  as  the  whole  government  of  his  church  ? 
 
 If  all  Christendom  should  be  guilty  of  so  open,  so  united 
 a  defiance  against  their  Master,  by  what  argument  or  con- 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 93 
 
 fidence  can  any  misbeliever  be  persuaded  to  Christianity, 
 which,  in  all  its  members  for  so  many  ages  together,  is  so 
 unlike  its  first  institution,  and  in  its  most  public  aftair,  and, 
 for  matter  of  order,  of  the  most  general  concernment,  is  so 
 contrary  to  the  first  birth? 
 
 Where  are  the  promises  of  Christ's  perpetual  assistance, 
 of  the  impregnable  permanence  of  the  church  against  the 
 gates  of  hell,  of  the  Spirit  of  Truth  to  lead  it  into  all  truth, 
 if  she  be  guilty  of  so  grand  an  error,  as  to  erect  a  throne 
 where  Christ  had  made  all  level,  or  appointed  others  to  sit  in 
 it  than  whom  he  suffers.  Either  Christ  hath  left  no  govern- 
 ment, or  most  certainly  the  church  hath  retained  that  govern- 
 ment, whatsoever  it  is;  for  the  contradictory  to  these  would 
 either  make  Christ  improvident,  or  the  catholic  church  ex- 
 tremely negligent  (to  say  no  worse)  and  incurious  of  her  '  de- 
 positum.'  But  upon  the  confidence  of  all  Christendom,  (if 
 there  were  no  more  in  it,)  I  suppose  we  may  fairly  venture  : 
 '  Sit  anima  mea  cum  Christianis.' 
 
 SECTION  XXIII. 
 
 fVko  first  distinguished  Names,  used  before  in  common. 
 
 The  first  thing  done  in  Christendom,  upon  the  death  of  the 
 apostles,  in  this  matter  of  episcopacy,  is  the  distinguishing  of 
 names,  which  before  were  common.  For  in  holy  Scripture 
 all  the  names  of  clerical  offices  wei*e  given  to  the  superior 
 order,  and  particularly  all  offices,  and  parts,  and  persons, 
 designed  in  any  employment  of  the  sacred  pi-iesthood,  were 
 signified  by  '  presbyter'  and  '  presbyterium.'  And  therefore, 
 lest  the  confusion  of  names  might  persuade  an  identity  and 
 indistinctlon  of  office,  the  wisdom  of  Holy  Church  found  it 
 necessary  to  distinguish  and  separate  orders  and  offices,  by 
 distinct  and  proper  appellations.  "  For  the  apostles  did 
 know,  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  contentions  would 
 arise,  Iti\  rov  ovoptssros-  rris  er<(TJto7r-^s-,  about  the  name  of  episco- 
 pacy," saith  St.  Clement  °;  and  so  it  did  in  the  church  of 
 
 VOL.  VII. 
 
 ^Epist.  ad  C'oiin. 
 
 I 
 
94 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 Corinth,  as  soon  as  their  apostle  had  expired  his  last  breath. 
 But  so  it  was. 
 
 1.  The  apostles,  which  I  have  proved  to  be  the  supreme 
 ordinary  office  in  the  church,  and  to  be  succeeded  in,  were 
 called  in  Scripture  zspsaQvnpoi,  '  eldeiV  or  'presbyters;' 
 zy^'.aQuriqovT  rous  sv  i5pt"v  'macqccx.aXcu  6  aufj.TTpssQvrepos,  saith  St. 
 Peter  the  apostle ;  "  The  elders  or  presbyters  that  are 
 among  you,  I  also,  who  am  an  elder  or  presbyter,  do  en- 
 treat"*."  Such  elders  St.  Peter  spoke  to,  as  he  was  himself, 
 to  wit,  those  to  whom  the  regiment  of  the  church  was  com- 
 mitted ;  the  bishops  of  Asia,  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia, 
 and  Bithynia,  that  is,  to  Timothy, to  Tychicus,  to Sosipater,  to 
 the  Angels  of  the  Asian  churches,  and  all  others,  whom  him- 
 self, in  the  next  words,  points  out,  by  the  description  of  their 
 
 office,  •CT0(/X«VStT9  TO   EV  VfMV  ZJolfJiVlOV  rOU  ®£0V,  fc7n(7XOWo5vTEf,  &C., 
 
 "  Feed  the  flock  of  God  as  bishops,"  or  '  being  bishops  and 
 overseers  over  it and  that  to  rulers  he  then  spake,  is  evi- 
 dent by  his  xxrocwpiEooMTef,  for  it  was  impertinent  to  have 
 warned  them  of  '  tyranny,'  that  had  no  rule  at  all.  The  mere 
 presbyters,  I  deny  not,  but  ai-e  included  in  this  admonition ; 
 for  as  their  office  is  involved  in  the  bishop's  office,  the  bishop 
 being  bishop  and  presbyter  too,  so  is  his  duty  also  in  the 
 bishop's;  so  that,  'pro  rata,'  the  presbyter  knows  what 
 lies  on  him,  by  proportion  and  intuition  to  the  bishop's  ad- 
 monition. But  again  :  'O  ■ospiaQvnpo^  ExXsKTrj  xvplgc,  saith  St. 
 John  the  apostle;  and  o  •apsa^vrspo;  Yccico  tw  a.ya.'nriru.  "  The 
 presbyter  to  the  elect  lady;  the  presbyter  to  Gains." 
 
 2.  If  apostles  be  called  presbyters,  no  harm  though 
 bishops  be  called  so  too ;  for  apostles  and  bishops  are  all  one 
 in  ordinary  office,  as  I  have  proved  formerly.  Thus  are  those 
 apostolical  men,  in  the  college  at  Jerusalem,  called  presby- 
 ters, whom  yet  the  Holy  Ghost  calleth  avJ^jcs-  r,yov\xiwvs, 
 '  principal  men,  ruling  men,'  and  ol  xscXws-  -z^pon^rurzs  zsozaZv- 
 Tspoi,  '  the  presbyters  that  rule  well.'  By  presbyters  are 
 meant  bishops,  to  whom  only,  according  to  the  intention  and 
 exigence  of  Divine  institution,  the  apostle  had  concredited  the 
 church  of  Ephesus,  and  the  neighbouring  cities,  "  ut  solus 
 quisque  episcopus  prosit  omnibus,"  as  appears  in  the  former 
 discourse.    The  same  also  is  Acts,  xx.    The  Holy  Ghost 
 
 >>  IPet.  V.  1. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 95 
 
 hath  made  you  bishops  ;  and  yet  the  same  men  are  called 
 zrpsaQuTspoi  rrts  eyiKXYiatxs.  The  one  place  expounds  the  other, 
 for  they  ai'e  both  '  ad  idem,'  and  speak  of  elders  of  the  same 
 church. 
 
 3.  Although  bishops  be  called  presbyters,  yet,  even  in 
 Scripture,  names  are  so  distinguished,  that  mere  presbyters 
 are  never  called  bishops,  unless  it  be  in  conjunction  with 
 bishops ;  and  then  in  the  general  address,  which,  in  all  fair 
 deportments,  is  made  to  the  more  eminent,  sometimes  pres- 
 byters are,  or  may  be,  comprehended.  This  observation,  if 
 it  prove  true,  will  clearly  show,  that  the  confusion  of  names 
 of  '  episcopus,'  and  'presbyter,'  such  as  it  is  in  Scripture,  is 
 of  no  pretence,  by  any  intimation  of  Scrijoture,  for  the  indis- 
 tinction  of  offices  ;  for  even  the  names  in  Scripture  itself  are 
 so  distinguished,  that  a  mere  jiresbyter  alone  is  never  called 
 a  bishop,  but  a  bishop  and  apostle  is  often  called  a  pi'esbyter, 
 as  in  the  instances  above.  But  we  will  consider  those  places 
 of  Scrijiture,  which  use  to  be  pretended  in  those  impertinent 
 arguings  fi-ora  the  identity  of  name,  to  confusion  of  things, 
 and  show  that  they  neither  interfere  upon  the  main  question, 
 nor  this  observation:  "  Paul  and  Timotheus  to  all  the  saints 
 which  are  in  Christ  Jesus  which  are  at  Philippi,  with  the 
 bishops  and  deacons."  I  am  more  willing  to  choose  this  in- 
 stance, because  the  place  is  of  much  consideration  in  the 
 whole  question,  and  I  shall  take  this  occasion  to  clear  it  from 
 prejudice  and  disadvantage. 
 
 By  bishops  are  here  meant  presbyters,  because  many 
 bishops  in  a  church  could  not  be,  and  yet  St.  Paul  speaks 
 plurally  of  the  bishops  of  the  church  of  Philippi,  and  there- 
 fore must  mean  mere  presbyters  ;  so  it  is  pretended. 
 
 1.  Then  :  By  '  bishoj^s'  are,  or  may  be,  meant  the  whole 
 superior  order  of  the  clergy,  '  bishops  and  2iriests ;'  and  that 
 he  speaks  plurally,  he  may,  besides  the  bishops  in  the  church, 
 comprehend  under  their  name  the  presbyters  too;  for  why 
 may  not  the  name  be  comprehended  as  well  as  the  office, 
 and  order  the  inferior  under  the  superior,  the  lesser  within 
 the  greater  ;  for,  since  the  order  of  presbyters  is  involved  in 
 the  bishops'  order,  and  is  not  only  inclusively  in  it,  but  deri- 
 vative from  it;  the  same  name  may  comprehend  both  persons, 
 because  it  does  comprehend  the  distinct  offices  and  orders  of 
 
 I  2 
 
96 
 
 EtISCOPACy  ASSERTED. 
 
 tliem  both.  And  in  this  sense  it  is,  if  it  be  at  all,  that  pres- 
 byters are  sometimes  in  Scripture  called  bishops. 
 
 2.  Why  may  not  '  bishops'  be  understood  properly  ?  For 
 thei*e  is  no  necessity  of  admitting  that  there  were  any  mere 
 presbyters  at  all,  at  the  first  founding  of  this  church.  It  can 
 neither  be  proved  from  Scripture,  nor  antiquity,  if  it  were 
 denied.  For  indeed  a  bishop,  or  a  company  of  episcopal 
 men,  as  there  were  at  Antioch,  might  do  all  that  presbyters 
 could,  and  much  more.  And  considei'ing  that  there  are  some 
 necessities  of  a  church,  which  a  pi'esbyter  cannot  supply,  and 
 a  bishop  can,  it  is  more  imaginable  that  there  was  no  pres- 
 byter, than  that  there  was  no  bishop.  And  certainly  it  is 
 most  unlikely  that  what  is  not  expressed,  to  wit,  presbyters, 
 should  be  only  meant,  and  that  which  is  expressed  should  not 
 be  at  all  intended. 
 
 3.  '  With  the  bishops'  may  be  understood  in  the  proper 
 sense,  and  yet  no  more  bishops  in  one  diocese  than  one,  of  a 
 fixed  residence  ;  for  in  that  sense  is  St.  Chrysostom  and  the 
 fathers  to  be  understood  in  their  commentaries  on  this  place, 
 affirming  that  '  one  church  could  have  but  one  bishop';  but 
 then  take  this  along,  that  it  was  not  then  unusual,  in  such 
 great  churches,  to  have  many  men  who  were  temporary 
 residentiaries,  but  of  an  apostolical  and  episcopal  authority, 
 as  in  the  churches  of  Jerusalem,  Rome,  Antioch  there  was, 
 as  I  have  proved  in  the  premises.  Nay,  in  Philippi  itself,  if 
 I  mistake  not,  an  instance  may  be  given  full  and  home  to  this 
 purpose :  "  Salutant  te  episcopi  Onesimus,  Titus,  Demas, 
 Polybius,  et  omnes  qui  sunt  Philippis  in  Christo,  unde  et 
 ha2c  vobis  scripsi,"  saith  Ignatius,  in  his  epistle  to  Hero,  his 
 deacon.  So  that  many  bishops,  we  see,  might  be  at  Philippi, 
 and  many  were  actually  there  long  after  St.  Paul's  dictate  of 
 the  epistle. 
 
 4.  Why  may  not  '  bishops'  be  meant  in  the  proper  sense  ? 
 Because  there  could  not  be  more  bishops  than  one  in  a  dio- 
 cese. No?  By  what  law  ?  If  by  a  constitution  of  the  church 
 after  the  apostles'  times,  that  hinders  not,  but  it  might  be 
 otherwise  in  the  apostles'  times.  If  by  a  law  in  the  apostles' 
 times,  then  we  have  obtained  the  main  question  by  the  shift, 
 
 *^T/TavT«  i  iMUs  wiMus  iTt'inxn^rn  riirav  c'u^i^^ius.—Chrys,  in  Phil.  i. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 97 
 
 and  the  apostles  did  ordain  that  there  should  be  one,  and  but 
 one,  bishop  in  a  chui-ch,  although  it  is  evident  they  appointed 
 many  presbyters.  And  then  let  this  objection  be  admitted 
 how  it  will,  and  do  its  worst,  we  are  safe  enough. 
 
 5.  '  With  the  bishops,'  may  be  taken  dlstributlvely ;  for 
 Philippi  was  a  metropolis,  and  had  divers  bishopricks  under 
 it ;  and  St.  Paul,  writing  to  the  church  of  Philippi,  wrote 
 also  to  all  the  daughter-churches  within  its  circuit,  and  there- 
 fore might  well  salute  many  bishops,  though  writing  to  one 
 metropolis ;  and  this  is  the  more  probable,  if  the  reading  of 
 this  place  be  accepted  according  to  Qicumenius :  for  he 
 reads  it  not  auv  sTrcrxoTroir,  but  ffyvsTrtTKOTrois-,  "  Co-episcopis, 
 ct  diaconis,"  "  Paul  and  Timothy  to  the  saints  at  Philippi, 
 and  to  our  fellow-bishops." 
 
 6.  St.  Ambrose  refers  this  clause  of  "  cum  episcopis,  et 
 diaconis,"  to  St.  Paul  and  St.  Timothy ;  intimating,  that  the 
 benediction  and  salutation  was  sent  to  the  saints  at  Philippi 
 from  St.  Paul  and  St.  Timothy  with  the  bishops  and  deacons, 
 so  that  the  reading  must  be  thus:  "  Paul  and  Timothy  with 
 the  bishops  and  deacons,  to  all  the  saints  at  Philippi,"  &c. 
 "  Cum  episcopis  et  diaconis,  hoc  est,  cum  Paulo,  et  Timo- 
 theo,  qui  utique  episcopi  erant,  simul  et  significavit  diaconos 
 qui  mlnisti'abant  ei.  Ad  plebem  enim  scribit.  Nam  si  epis- 
 copis scriberet,  et  diaconis,  ad  jiersonas  eorum  scriberet,  et 
 loci  ipsius  episcopo  scribendum  erat,  non  duobus  vel  tribus, 
 sicut  et  ad  Titum  et  Timotheum 
 
 7.  The  like  expression  to  this  is  in  the  epistle  of  St.  Cle- 
 ment to  the  Corinthians,  which  may  give  another  light  to 
 this,  sj^eaking  of  the  apostles,  xaQKjnzvovrxs  dTrccpy^aif  avruv  eU 
 a7ri(7xo7roi/f,  y.ccl  ^txKovovs  ruv  /xsXXovtwv  wicrrc^/Eiv.  "  They  de- 
 livered their  first  fruits  to  the  bishops  and  deacons  ^" 
 '  Bishops'  here  indeed  may  be  taken  dlstributlvely,  and  so 
 will  not  infer  that  many  bishops  were  collectively  in  any  one 
 church ;  but  yet  this  gives  intimation  for  another  exposition 
 of  this  clause  to  the  Philippians.  For  here  either  presbyters 
 are  meant  by  ^locxovovi,  '  ministers ;'  or  else  presbyters  are 
 not  taken  care  of  in  the  ecclesiastical  j^rovision,  which  no 
 man  imagines,  of  what  interest  soever  he  be ;  it  follows  then 
 that  '  bishops  and  deacons'  are  no  more  but  '  majores,'  and 
 
 ■iln  Phil.  i. 
 
 e  Page  54. 
 
98 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 '  minores  sacerdotes'  in  both  places ;  for  as  '  presbyter'  and 
 '  episcopus'  were  confounded,  so  also  '  presbyter'  and  '  dia- 
 conus  and  I  think  it  will  easily  be  shown  in  Scripture, 
 that  the  word  '  diaconus'  is  given  oftener  to  apostles,  and 
 bishoiJs,  and  jJresbyters,  than  to  those  ministers,  which  now, 
 by  way  of  appropriation,  we  call  deacons.  But  of  this  anon. 
 Now  again  to  the  main  observation. 
 
 Thus  also  it  was  in  the  church  of  Ephesus  ;  for  St.  Paul, 
 writing  to  their  bishop,  and  giving  order  for  the  constitution 
 and  deportment  of  the  church-orders  and  officers,  gives 
 directions  first  for  bishops,  then  for  deacons ^  Where  are 
 the  presbyters  in  the  interim  ?  Either  they  must  be  compre- 
 hended in  bishops  or  in  deacons.  They  maj^  as  well  be  in 
 one  as  the  other ;  for  '  diaconus'  is  not  in  Scripture  any 
 more  apj^ropriated  to  the  inferior  clergy,  than  '  episcopus'  to 
 the  superior,  nor  so  much  neither.  For  '  episcopus'  was 
 never  used  in  the  New  Testament  for  any,  but  such  as  had 
 the  care,  regiment,  and  supravision  of  a  church,  but  '  dia- 
 conus' was  used  generally  for  all  ministries. 
 
 But  yet  supposing  that  presbyters  were  included  under 
 the  word  '  episcopus,'  yet  it  is  not  because  the  offices  and 
 orders  are  one,  but  because  that  the  order  of  a  presbyter  is 
 comprehended  M'ithin  the  dignity  of  a  bishop.  And  then 
 indeed  the  compellation  is  of  the  more  principal,  and  the 
 presbyter  is  also  comprehended,  for  his  conjunction,  and 
 involution  in  the  superior,  which  was  the  principal  observa- 
 tion here  intended.  "  Nam  in  episcopo  omnes  ordines  sunt, 
 quia  primus  sacerdos  est,  hoc  est,  princeps  est  sacerdotum, 
 et  propheta  et  evangelista,  et  csetera  adimplenda  officia  ec- 
 clesise  in  ministerio  fidelium;"  saith  St.  Ambrose^  So  that, 
 if,  in  the  description  of  the  qualifications  of  a  bishop,  he 
 intends  to  qualify  presbyters  also,  then  it  is  principally  in- 
 tended for  a  bishop,  and  of  the  jjresbyters  only  by  way  of 
 subordination  and  comprehension.  This  only  by  the  way, 
 because  this  place  is  also  abused  to  other  issues;  to  be  sure 
 it  is  but  a  vain  dream,  that  because  presbyter  is  not  named, 
 that  therefore  it  is  all  one  with  a  bishop,  when  as  it  may  be 
 
 f  In  Tim.  iii. 
 
 B  In  Eplies.  iv.    Idem  ait  S.  Dionysius  Eccles.  Hierarch.  cap.  5.  "hSe  r?5 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 09 
 
 comprehended  under  bishop  as  a  part  in  the  whole,  or  the 
 inferior  within  the  superior,  (the  office  of  a  bishop  having  in 
 it  the  office  of  a  presbyter  and  something  more,)  or  else  it 
 may  be  as  well  intended  in  the  word  '  deacons,'  and  rather 
 than  the  word  '  bishop.'  1.  Because  '  bishop'  is  spoken  of 
 in  the  singular  number,  '  deacons'  in  the  plural,  and  so  liker 
 to  comprehend  the  multitude  of  jDresbyters.  2.  Presbyters, 
 or  else  bishops,  and  therefore  much  more  presbyters,  are 
 called  by  St.  Paul,  ^izkovoi,  "  ministers;"  '  deacons'  is  the 
 word;  ^locKovoi  Si'  u>v  sTnaTS'JsTs,  "  deacons  by  whose  ministra- 
 tion ye  believed."  And  3.  By  the  same  argument  deacons 
 may  be  as  well  one  with  the  bishop  too  ;  for,  in  the  epistle  to 
 Titus,  St.  Paul  describes  the  office  of  a  bishop,  and  says  not 
 a  word  more  either  of  presbyter  or  deacon's  office  ;  and  why, 
 I  pray,  may  not  the  office  of  presbyters  in  the  epistle  to 
 Timothy  be  omitted,  as  well  as  presbyters  and  deacons  too  in 
 that  to  Titus  ?  or  else  why  may  not  deacons  be  confounded, 
 and  be  all  one  with  bishop,  as  well  as  presbyter?  It  will, 
 it  must  be  so,  if  this  argument  were  any  thing  else  but  an 
 airy  and  impertinent  nothing. 
 
 After  all  this,  yet  it  cannot  be  shown  in  Scripture  that 
 any  one  single  and  mere  presbyter  is  called  a  bishop ;  but  it 
 may  be  often  found  that  a  bishop,  nay,  an  apostle,  is  called  a 
 presbyter,  as  in  the  instances  above ;  and  therefore  since  this 
 communication  of  names  is  only  in  descension,  by  reason  of 
 the  involution,  or  comprehension  of  presbyter  within  '  epis- 
 copus,'  but  never  in  ascension;  that  is,  an  apostle,  or  a 
 bishop,  is  often  called  presbyter,  and  deacon,  and  prophet, 
 and  pjastor,  and  doctor,  but  never  '  retro ;'  tliat  a  mere 
 deacon,  or  a  mere  presbyter,  should  be  called  either  bishop 
 or  apostle,  it  can  never  be  brought  either  to  depress  the 
 order  of  bishops  below  their  throne,  or  erect  mere  presbyters 
 above  their  stalls  in  the  quire.  For  we  may  as  well  confound 
 apostle  and  deacon,  and  with  clearer  probability,  than  epis- 
 copus  and  jiresbyter.  For  apostles  and  bishops  are  in  Scrip- 
 ture often  called  deacons.  I  gave  one  instance  of  this  before, 
 but  there  are  very  many.  EiV  Siaxon'av  raumv,  was  said  of 
 St.  Matthias,  when  he  succeeded  Judas  in  the  apostolate. 
 KxXos  eari  ^ixytows,  said  St.  Paul  to  Timothy,  bishop  of  Ephe- 
 sus''.   St.  Paul  is  called  Wxovos-  rvs  xxivris  SiaQTjxyjy,  "  a  deacon 
 
 2  Cor.  vi,  4. 
 
100 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 of  the  New  Testament;"  and  ^i^kovoi  Si'  wv  eTitstiiaxTs,  Is 
 said  of  the  first  founders  of  the  Corinthian  church  ;  "  dea- 
 cons by  whom  ye  believed'."  Paul  and  A  polios  were  the 
 men.  It  is  the  obsei'vation  of  St.  Chrysostom,  xal  Sianovor 
 ln'iay.o'Ttos  IXiyzro'  Sia  rovro  <ypa.(pm  tw  Tipto&s'w  eXeve,  Trjv  5»«xo- 
 ylxv  aov  zjXiopo(p6p7)(Tov,  ETricxowa)  ovri.  "  And  a  bishop  was 
 called  a  deacon  ;  wherefore  writing  to  Timothy,  he  saith  to 
 him,  being  a  bishop,  Fulfil  thy  deaconship''." 
 
 Add  to  this,  that  there  is  no  word,  or  designation  of  any 
 clerical  office,  but  is  given  to  bishops  and  apostles.  The 
 apostles  are  called  '  prophets,'  Acts,  xiii.  The  prophets  at 
 Antioch  were  Lucius  and  Manaen,  and  Paul  and  Bai-nabas  ; 
 and  then  they  are  called  '  pastors'  too ;  and  indeed,  '  hoc 
 3pso,'  that  they  are  bishops,  they  are  pastors :  "  Spiritus 
 Sanctus  posuit  vos  eplscopos  pascere  ecclesiam  Dei."  Where- 
 upon the  Greek  scholiast  expounds  the  word  '  pastor'  to 
 signify  bishops,  tolt  rais  sKuX-nalxs  efj^TreTnareviJiivovs  Kiysi,  olos  o 
 Ti/AO&Eos-,  oTos  0  Titos-  m.  And  ever  since  that  St.  Peter  set  us 
 a  copy  in  the  compellation  of  the  prototype,  calling  him  the 
 *'  Great  Shepherd,  and  Bishop  of  our  souls,"  it  hath  obtained 
 In  all  antiquity,  that  '  pastors  and  bishops'  are  coincident, 
 and  we  shall  very  hardly  meet  with  an  instance  to  the  con- 
 trary. 
 
 If  bishops  be  pastors,  then  they  are  doctors  also,  for  these 
 are  conjunct,  when  other  offices  which  may  in  person  be 
 united,  yet  in  themselves  are  made  disparate ;  for  "  God 
 liath  given  some  apostles,  some  prophets,  some  evangelists, 
 some  pastors  and  teachers"  :"  Ylotixivcxs  aaX  li^cx.ax.d.'Kous.  If 
 pastors,  then  also  doctors  and  teachers.  And  this  is  ob- 
 served by  St.  Austin".  "  Pastors  and  doctors  whom  you 
 would  have  me  to  distinguish,  I  think  are  one  and  the  same." 
 For  Paul  doth  not  say,  '  some  pastors,  some  doctoi-s,'  but  to 
 pastors  he  joineth  doctors,  that  pastors  might  understand  it 
 belongeth  to  their  office  to  teach.  The  same  also  is  affirmed 
 by  Sedulius  upon  this  place. 
 
 Thus  it  was  in  Scripture ;  but  after  the  churches  were 
 settled,  and  bishops  fixed  upon  their  several  sees,  then  the 
 names  also  were  made  distinct,  only  those  names  which  did 
 design  temporary  offices  did  expire,  tote  yaq  rlus  skoi-vmvovv 
 
 i  1  Cor.  iii.  5. 
 '  Eplies.  iv. 
 
 In  Phil.  i. 
 ">  Kpist.  59.  ad  Paulinum. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 101 
 
 ovopiari,  saith  St.  Chrysostom  :  "Thus  far  the  names  were 
 common,"  viz.,  in  the  sense  above  explicated,  Xoitz-ov  Se  to  IS/a^ov 
 kxdarci) acTTovct/iiJirtrxi  ovo/xa,  litinKOTtou  iiiKyy.i'TtCti,  OTggT/oL'Tg^oy  wgEtr/Sf- 
 ri^u.  "  But  immediately  the  names  were  made  proper  and 
 distinct,  and  to  every  order  its  own  name  is  left,  of  a  bishop 
 to  a  bishop,  of  a  presbyter  to  a  presbyter."  This  could  not 
 be  supposed  at  first ;  for  when  they  were  to  borrow  wordg 
 from  the  titles  of  secular  honour,  or  offices,  and  to  ti'ansplant 
 them  to  an  artificial  and  imposed  sense,  use,  which  is  the 
 master  of  language,  must  rule  us  in  this  affair,  and  use  is  not 
 contracted  but  in  some  process  and  descent  of  time.  For  at 
 first,  Christendom  itself  wanted  a  name,  and  the  disciples  of 
 the  glorious  Nazarene  were  christened  first  in  Antiocli,  for 
 they  had  their  baptism  some  years  before  they  had  their 
 name.  It  had  been  no  wonder  then,  if  'per  omnia'  it  had  so 
 happened  in  the  compellation  of  all  the  ofidces  and  orders  of 
 the  church. 
 
 SECTION  XXIV. 
 
 Appropriating  the  word  '  Episcopus'  or  Bishop  to  the 
 Supreme  Church-officer. 
 
 But  immediately  after  the  apostles,  and  still  more  in  descend- 
 ing ages,  '  episcopus'  signified  only  the  superintendent  of  the 
 church,  the  '  bishop'  in  the  present  and  vulgar  conception- 
 Some  few  examples  I  shall  give  instead  of  myriads.  In  the 
 canons  of  the  apostles,  the  word  aTrlaxoms,  or  bishop,  is  used 
 thirty-six  times  in  appropriation  to  him  that  is  the  ordinary, 
 ruler,  and  president  of  the  church  above  the  clergy  and  the 
 laity,  being  twenty-four  times  expressly  distinguished  from 
 presbyter,  and  in  the  other  fourteen  having  particular  care 
 for  government,  jurisdiction,  censures,  and  oi'dinations  com- 
 mitted to  him,  as  I  shall  show  hereafter,  and  all  this  is  within 
 the  verge  of  the  first  fifty,  which  are  received  as  authentic, 
 by  the  council  of  Nice*;  of  Antioch%  twenty-five  canons 
 whereof  are  taken  out  of  the  canons  of  the  apostles  ;  the 
 council  of  Gangra  calling  them  '  canones  ecclesiasticos,'  and 
 
 »Can.  15.  and  16, 
 
 *>C.  9.  ct.  alibi. 
 
102 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 '  apostolicas  traditiones ;'  by  the  epistle  of  the  first  council 
 of  Constantinople  to  Damascus,  which  Theodoret  hath  in- 
 serted into  his  story;  by  the  council  of  Ephesus"^;  by  Ter- 
 tullian'' ;  by  Constantine  the  Great*^ ;  and  are  sometimes,  by 
 way  of  eminency,  called  '  the  canons,'  sometimes  'the  ecclesi- 
 astical  canons  ;'  sometimes  '  the  ancient  and  received  canons 
 of  our  fathers  f  sometimes  '  the  apostolical  canons,'  roi/r  d-Tro 
 ruv  Ttph  riixwv  iyluv  kcu  fxacTiccpiMV  TTocTi^uv  ^sy(^9i-\/T£i,  xai  xv^co^ivrsf, 
 aXXsc  ixsv  nou  TmpciSoOivTcS  ril^v  ovopt-scTi  ruv  ocyloov,  xai  evJo^wv 
 imorokuM,  said  the  fathers  of  the  council  in  Trullo  ;  and 
 Damascen  jDuts  them  in  order  next  to  the  canon  of  holy 
 Scripture*^:  so  in  elfect  does  Isidore,  in  his  preface  to  the 
 work  of  the  councils,  for  he  sets  those  canons  in  front,  be- 
 cause "  Sancti  patres  eorum  sententias  auctoritate  synodal! 
 I'oborarunt,  et  inter  canonicas  posuerunt  constitutiones  :" 
 "  The  holy  fathers  have  established  these  canons  by  the 
 authority  of  councils,  and  have  put  them  amongst  the  ca- 
 nonical constitutions."  And  great  reason  ;  for,  in  pope  Ste- 
 phen's time,  they  were  translated  into  Latin  by  one  Dionysius 
 at  the  entreaty  of  Laurentlus,  because  then  the  old  Latin 
 copies  were  rude  and  barbarous^.  Now,  then,  this  second 
 translation  of  them  being  made  in  pope  Stephen's  time,  who 
 was  contemporary  v/ith  St.  L-enseus  and  St.  Cyprian,  the  old 
 copy,  older  than  this,  and  yet  after  the  original  to  be  sure, 
 shows  them  to  be  of  prime  antiquity  ;  and  they  are  mentioned 
 by  St.  Stephen  in  an  epistle  of  his  to  Bisliop  Hilarius,  where 
 he  is  severe  in  censure  of  them,  who  do  prevaricate  these 
 canons. 
 
 But,  for  farther  satisfaction,  I  refer  the  reader  to  the 
 epistle  of  Gregory  HoUoander  to  the  moderators  of  the  city 
 of  Norimberg.  I  deny  not  but  they  are  called  apocryphal  by 
 Gratian,  and  some  others,  viz.,  in  the  sense  of  the  clnirch, 
 just  as  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  or  Ecclesiasticus,  but  yet  by 
 most  believed  to  be  written  by  St.  Clement,  from  the  dictate 
 of  the  apostles,  and,  without  all  question,  are  so  far  canoni- 
 cal, as  to  be  of  undoubted  ecclesiastical  authority,  and  of 
 the  first  antiquity. 
 
 Ignatius's  testimony  is  next  in  time  and  in  authority''. 
 
 Post  adven.  Epis.  Cypri. 
 e  Lib.  iii.  c.  59.  de  Vita  Const, 
 s  Anno  Dom.  257. 
 
 Ad  vers.  Praxeam. 
 f  Can.  4.  cap.  18.  de  Orthod.  Fide. 
 Epist.  ad  Trail. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED- 
 
 103 
 
 'ILnlrsMTios  rou  T^xrqhs  oXcov  tuttos  vTrdqx^i,  "  The  bishop  bears 
 the  image  and  representment  of  the  Father  of  all."  And  a 
 little  after,  tI  yzq  lariv  iTi'iux-oTtos,  iXX'  vj  zyd/yms  a.^-/fns  xa!  I^ovs'iqc^ 
 sTTiKiivx  T^xvTuv  KpxTojv  ',  T(  Se  zjpBiyQvTs^iov ,  dW'  71  avarriij.01.  Is^ov, 
 cuf>.SovXot  xcul  avvi^pEvvoci  tov  liriayiOTtou  ;  ri  S'laxovoi,  &c.  "  What 
 is  the  bishop,  but  he  that  hath  all  authority  and  rule  ?  What 
 is  the  presbytery,  but  a  sacred  college,  counsellors  and 
 helpers,  or  assessors,  to  the  bishop  ?  What  are  deacons,"  &c. 
 So  that  here  is  the  real  and  exact  distinction  of  dignity,  the 
 appropriation  of  name,  and  intimation  of  office.  The  bishop 
 is  above  all ;  the  presbyters,  his  helpers ;  the  deacons,  his 
 ministers  ;  /xi/xnTai  rwv  ayysXixa/v  ^uvccfxsuiv,  "  Imitators  of  the 
 angels,  who  are  ministering  spirits."  But  this  is  of  so  known, 
 so  evident  a  truth,  that  it  were  but  impertinent  to  insist 
 longer  upon  it.  Himself,  In  three  of  his  epistles,  uses  it  nine 
 times  in  distinct  enumeration,  viz.,  to  the  Trallians,  to  the 
 Philadelphians,  to  the  Philippians.  And  now  I  shall  insert 
 these  considerations. 
 
 1.  Although  it  was  so  that  'episcopus'  and  'presbyter* 
 were  distinct  in  the  beginning  after  the  apostles'  death,  yet 
 sometimes  the  names  are  used  jiromiscuously  ;  which  is  an 
 evidence,  that  confusion  of  names  is  no  intimation,  much  less 
 an  argument,  for  the  parity  of  offices,  since  themselves,  who 
 sometimes,  though  indeed  very  seldom,  confound  the  names, 
 yet  distinguish  the  offices  frequentl}',  and  dogmatically. 
 MnSsv  avzv  tu/v  eTriT^coTtcijv  zypxrra'  Upeis  ydp  e'uji,  av  5e  ^iccMvos  ruv 
 kpiuvK  Where,  by  iTriTxoirwv,  he  means  the  presbyters  of  the 
 church  of  Antioch  ;  so  indeed  some  say,  and  though  there  be 
 no  necessity  of  admitting  this  meaning,  because  by  sTrtoxoTruv 
 he  may  mean  the  suffragan  bishops  of  Syria,  yet  the  other 
 may  be  fairly  admitted  ;  for  himself  their  bishop  was  absent 
 from  his  church,  and  had  delegated  to  the  presbytery  episco- 
 pal jurisdiction  to  rule  the  church,  till  he  being  dead,  another 
 bishop  should  be  chosen,  so  that  they  were  '  episcopi  vicarii,' 
 and,  by  representment  of  the  person  of  the  bishop,  and 
 execution  of  the  bishop's  power  by  delegation,  were  called 
 s'triuKomt,  and  this  was  done  lest  the  church  should  not  be 
 only  without  a  father,  but  without  a  guardian  too ;  and  yet 
 what  a  bishop  was,  and  of  what  authority,  no  man  more 
 
 '  Epist.  ad  Heron. 
 
104 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 confident  and  frequent  than  Ignatius.  Another  example  of 
 this  is  in  E\isebius,  speaking  of  the  youth  whom  St.  John 
 had  converted  and  commended  to  a  bishop.  Clemens,  whose 
 story  this  was,  proceeding  in  the  relation,  says,  o  zspzaQv- 
 TSfor,  &c.  "  But  the  presbyter  ;"  unless  by  -ojpsaQvTspos 
 here  St.  Clement  means  not  the  '  order,'  but  '  age,'  of  the 
 man;  as  it  is  like  enough  he  did,  for  a  little  after  he  calls 
 him,  0  zjpea^vTrii,  "  The  old  man;"  "  Turn  vero  presbyter  in 
 domum  suam  suscipit  adolescentem.  Redde  depositum,  O 
 episcope,"  saith  St.  John  to  him.  "  Tunc  graviter  suspirans 
 senior,"  &c.  So  St.  Clement.  But  this,  as  it  is  very  unusual, 
 so  it  is  just  as  in  Scripture,  viz.,  in  descent  and  comjorehen- 
 sion  ;  for  this  bishop  also  was  a  presbyter  as  M^ell  as  bishop, 
 or  else  in  the  delegation  of  episcopal  power,  for  so  it  is  in  the 
 allegation  of  Ignatius. 
 
 2.  That  this  name  '  ejilscopus,'  or  'bishop,'  was  chosen  to 
 be  appropriate  to  the  supreme  order  of  the  clergy,  was  done 
 with  fair  reason  and  design.  For  this  is  no  fastuous  or  pomp- 
 ous title,  the  word  is  of  no  dignity,  and  implies  none  but 
 what  is  consequent  to  the  just  and  fair  execution  of  its  offices. 
 But  presbyter  is  a  name  of  dignity  and  veneration,  "  Rise 
 up  to  the  grey  head  ;"  and  it  transplants  the  honour  and 
 reverence  of  age  to  the  office  of  the  presbyterate.  And  yet 
 this  the  bishops  left,  and  took  that  which  signifies  a  mere 
 supravision,  and  overlooking  of  his  charge  ;  so  that,  if  we 
 take  estimate  from  the  names,  '  presbyter'  is  a  name  of  dig- 
 nity, and  '  episcopus'  of  office  and  burden.  "  He  that  desires 
 the  office  of  a  bishop,  desires  a  good  work,"  zyposrxulx^  yiq 
 I'gyov  £<7T(,  saith  St.  Chrysostom.  "  Nec  dicit  si  quis  episco- 
 patum  desiderat,  bonum  desiderat  gradum,  sed  bonum  opus 
 desiderat,  quod  in  majore  ordine  constitutus  possit,  si  velit, 
 occasionem  habere  exercendarum  virtutum  ;"  so  St.  Jerome  : 
 <'  It  is  not  an  honourable  title,  but  a  good  office,  and  a  great 
 opportunity  of  the  exercise  of  excellent  virtues."  But  for 
 this  we  need  no  better  testimony  than  of  St.  Isidore:  "  Epis- 
 copatus  autem  vocabulum  inde  dictum,  quod  ille  qui  super- 
 efficitur,  superintendat,  curam  scil.  gerens  subditorum^" 
 But,  "  presbyter  Grsece  Latine  'senior'  interpretatur,  non  -pro 
 getate,  vel  decrepita  senectute,  sed  propter  honorera  et  digni- 
 
 Lib,  vii.  Elyinolog.  c.  12. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 105 
 
 tatem  quam  accejierunt."  Oh^ev  ean  TrgETbt^regov,  avn  rou 
 ov^iv  sTTi  rtfjiicirsqov,  xai  TTpsa^zvuv  to  Tiptav,  •sraga  ITXaTCi'vi,  saltll 
 Julius  Pollux. 
 
 3.  Supposing  that  episcopus  and  presbyter  had  been 
 often  confounded  in  Scripture  and  antiquity,  and  that  both 
 in  ascension  and  descension,  yet  as  priests  may  be  called 
 angels,  and  yet  the  bishop  be  the  angel  of  the  church  :  '  the 
 angel,'  for  his  excellency ;  '  of  the  church,'  for  his  appro- 
 priate pre-eminence  and  singularity;  so,  though  presbyters  had 
 been  called  bishops  in  Scripture,  (of  which  there  is  not  one 
 example  but  in  the  senses  above  explicated,  to  wit,  in  con- 
 junction and  comprehension ;)  yet  the  bishop  is  o  ETn'Txoros-, 
 by  way  of  eminence,  '  the  bishop  :'  and,  in  descent  of  time, 
 it  came  to  pass,  that  the  compellation,  which  was  always  his, 
 by  way  of  eminence,  was  made  his  by  appropriation.  And  a 
 fair  precedent  of  it  we  have  from  the  compellation  given  to 
 our  blessed  Saviour,  h  /xiyxs  zjoi/jimv  kxI  iitlumitos  -^vy^m,  "  the 
 great  Shepherd,  and  Bishop  of  our  souls."  The  name  '  bishop' 
 was  made  sacred  by  being  the  appellative  of  his  person,  and 
 by  fair  intimation  it  does  more  immediately  descend  upon 
 them,  who  had  from  Christ  more  immediate  mission,  and 
 more  ample  power,  and  thei'efore  '  episcopus'  and  '  pastor,' 
 by  way  of  eminence,  are  the  most  fit  appellatives  for  them 
 who  in  the  church  have  the  greatest  power,  office,  and 
 dignity,  as  participating  of  the  fulness  of  that  power  and 
 authority,  for  which  Christ  M'as  called  '  the  Bishop  of  our 
 souls.'  And  besides  this  so  fair  a  copy;  besides  the  using 
 of  the  word  in  the  prophecy  of  the  apostolate  of  Matthias, 
 and  in  the  prophet  Isaiah,  and  often  in  Scripture,  as  I  have 
 shown  before ;  any  one  whereof  is  abundantly  enough,  for 
 the  fixing  an  appellative  upon  a  church-officer;  this  name 
 may  also  be  intimated  as  a  distinctive  compellation  of  a 
 bishop  over  a  priest;  because  iTtK^MTtiiv  is  indeed  often  used 
 for  the  office  of  bishops,  as  in  the  instances  above,  but  anoTteXv 
 is  used  for  the  office  of  the  inferiors;  for  St.  Paul  writing  to 
 the  Romans',  who  then  had  no  bishop  fixed  in  the  chair  of 
 Rome,  does  command  them  axoTiiiv  rovs  rocs  'Siyjx^ra.ala.s  otoiouv- 
 ras :  ffxoTrsrv,  not  iTtinKoiiiiv,  this  for  the  bishop,  that  for  the 
 
 '  Rom.  xvi.  17. 
 
106 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 subordinate  clergy.  So,  then,  the  word  '  eplscopus,'  is  fixed 
 at  first,  and  that  by  derivation,  and  example  of  Scriptui-e, 
 and  fair  congruity  of  reason. 
 
 SECTION  XXV. 
 
 Calling  the  Bishop,  and  Him  only.,  the  Pastor  of  the  Church. 
 
 But  the  church  used  other  appellatives  for  bishops,  which 
 it  is  very  requisite  to  specify,  that  we  may  understand  divers 
 authorities  of  the  fathers,  using  those  words  in  appropriation 
 to  bishops,  which  of  late  have  been  given  to  presbyters,  ever 
 since  they  have  begun  to  set  j)i"esbyters  in  the  room  of 
 bishops. 
 
 And  first,  bishops  were  called  '  pastors'  in  antiquity,  in 
 imitation  of  their  being  called  so  in  Scripture,  Eusebius, 
 writing  the  story  of  St.  Ignatius,  "  Denique  cum  Smyrnam 
 venisset,  ubi  Polycarpus  erat,  scribit  inde  unam  epistolam  ad 
 Epheslos,  eorumque  pastorem,"  that  is,  Onesimus  ;  for  so 
 follows,  *'  in  qua  meminit  Oneslmi\"  Now  that  Onesimus 
 was  their  bishop,  himself  witnesses  in  the  epistle  here 
 mentioned,  rviv  z:Q\vT:i^Eia.v  ifxuiy  Iv  ovo/xstri  0£9y  arEiXr/Cp*  ev 
 ^OyiriTlfjiu  Tu>  Itt'  ar/xitt)  dotrr/riTo!,  vfj-uv  Sg  EWj^rxo^w'',  &c.  One- 
 simus was  their  bishop,  and  thei'efore  their  pastor ;  and  in  his 
 epistle  '  ad  Antiochenos,'  himself  makes  mention  of  Evodius, 
 Toy  d^ioiJ-xxxplsroLi  •ctoijm.e'voj  i^ptav,  "  your  most  blessed  and 
 worthy  pastor." 
 
 When  Paulus  Samosatenus  first  broached  his  heresy 
 against  the  Divinity  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  j^resently  a 
 council  was  called,  where  St.  Denis,  bishop  of  Alexandria, 
 could  not  be  present :  "  Caeteri  vero  ecclesiarum  pastores, 
 diversis  e  locls  et  urbibus,  convener unt  Antiochiam.  In 
 quibus  inslgnes  et  cseteris  praecellentes  erant  Firmilianus  a 
 Caesarea  Cappadociae,  Gregorius,  et  Athenodorus  fratres, 
 et  Helenus  Sardensis  ecclesiae  eplscopus :  sed  et  Maxi.T>us 
 Bostrensls  eplscopus  dlgnus  eorum  consortio  cohairebat 
 
 »  Lib.  iii.  Hist.  c.  36. 
 e  Euseb.  lib.  vii.  c.  24. 
 
 Epist.  ad  Epbes. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 107 
 
 These  blaliops,  Fii-milianus,  and  Helenus,  and  Maximus, 
 were  the  pastors  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  presbyters  were  not 
 called  pastors,  for  he  proceeds,  "  sed  et  presbyter!  quam- 
 plurimi,  et  diaconi  ad  supradictam  urbem  convenerunt." 
 So  that  these  were  not  under  the  general  appellative  of 
 pastors.  And  the  council  of  Sardis*^,  making  provision  for 
 the  manner  of  election  of  a  bishop  to  a  widow-chui'ch,  when 
 the  people  is  urgent  for  the  speedy  institution  of  a  bishop, 
 if  any  of  the  comprovinclals  be  wanting,  he  must  be  certified 
 by  the  primate,  on  d,%m  rx  z^Xri^n  zjoi/xevcc  oiinois  ^o9rjvaci,  "  that 
 the  multitude  require  a  pastor  to  be  given  unto  them."  The 
 same  expression  is  also  in  the  epistle  of  Julius,  bishop  of 
 Rome,  to  the  presbyters,  deacons,  and  people  of  Alexandria, 
 in  behalf  of  their  bishop,  Athanasius ;  "  Suscipite  itaque, 
 fratres  carissimi,  cum  omni  Divina  gratia  pastorem  vestrum 
 ac  praesulem  tanquam  vere  aSavaajov^"  And  a  little  after, 
 "  et  gaudete  fruentes  orationibus,  qui  pastorem  vestrum 
 esuritis  et  sititis,"  &c.  The  same  is  often  used  in  St.  Hilary 
 and  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  where  bishops  are  called  'jmstores 
 magni,'  ♦  great  shepherds,'  or  '  pastors.'  When  Eusebius,  the 
 bishop  of  Samosata,  was  banished,  "  universi  lachrymis  pro- 
 secuti  sunt  ereptionem  pastorlssui,"  saith  Theodoret :  "They 
 wept  for  the  loss  of  their  pastor."  And  Eulogius,  a  presbyter 
 of  Edessa,  when  he  was  arguing  with  the  prefect  in  behalf  of 
 Christianity,  "  Et  pastorem  (inquitj  habemus,  et  nutus  illius 
 sequimur ;"  "  We  have  a  pastor,"  (a  bishop  certainly,  for 
 himself  was  a  priest,)  "  and  his  commands  we  follow'^.""  But 
 I  need  not  specify  any  more  particular  instances ;  I  touched 
 upon  it  before He  that  shall  consider,  that  to  bishops  the 
 regiment  of  the  whole  church  was  concredlted  at  the  first, 
 and  the  presbyters  were  but  his  assistants  in  cities  and 
 villages,  and  were  admitted  '  in  partem  sollicltudinis',  fii-st 
 casually  and  cursorily,  and  then,  by  station  and  fixed  resi- 
 dence, when  parishes  were  divided  and  endowed,  will  easily 
 see,  that  this  word  '  pastor'  must  needs  be  appropriated  to 
 bishops,  to  whom,  according  to  the  conjunctive  expression  of 
 St.  Peter,  and  the  practice  of  infant  Christendom,  iiriano-nih 
 and  CTO(/j(.«/v£tv  was  intrusted,  first  solely,  then  in  communi- 
 cation with  others,  but  always  principally. 
 
 •1  Can.  6.  Hist.  Tripart.  lib.  iv.  c.  29- 
 
 f  Lib,  iv.  c.  H.  s  Theodoret,  lib,  iv.  c.  18. 
 
IDS 
 
 Episcopacy  asserted. 
 
 But  now  of  late,  especially  in  those  places  where  the 
 bishops  are  exauctorated,  and  no  where  else  that  I  know, 
 but  amongst  those  men  that  have  complying  designs,  the 
 word  '  pastor'  is  given  to  parish  priests,  against  the  manner 
 and  usage  of  ancient  Christendom  ;  and  though  priests  may 
 be  called  pastoi's  in  a  limited,  subordinate  sense,  and  by 
 way  of  participation  (just  as  they  may  be  called  angels, 
 when  the  bishop  is  the  angel,  and  so  pastors  when  the  bishop 
 is  the  pastor,  and  so  they  are  called  '  pastores  ovium,'  in 
 St.  Cyprian's)  but  never  are  they  called  '  jjastores'  simply, 
 or  '  pastores  ecclesiae,'  for  above  six  hundred  yeai's  in  the 
 church,  and  I  think  eight  hundred  more.  And,  therefore,  it 
 was  good  counsel  which  St.  Paul  gave,  to  avoid  '  vocum 
 novitates,'  because  there  is  never  any  affectation  of  new 
 words,  contrary  to  the  ancient  voice  of  Christendom,  but 
 there  is  some  design  in  the  thing  too,  to  make  an  innovation: 
 and  of  this  we  have  had  long  warning,  in  the  new  use  of  the 
 word  '  pastor.' 
 
 SECTION  XXVI. 
 And  Doctor. 
 
 If  bishops  were  the  pastors,  then  '  doctors'  also;  it  was 
 the  observation  which  St.  Augustin  made  out  of  Ephes.  iv., 
 as  I  quoted  him  even  now,  "  For  God  hath  given  some 
 apostles,  some  prophets — some  pastoi's  and  doctors."  So 
 the  church  hath  learned  to  speak.  In  the  Greeks'  council  of 
 Carthage  it  was  decreed,  that  places  which  never  had  a 
 bishop  of  their  own,  should  not  now  have  xa9*)y»)T-ni/  I'Jjov,  "  a 
 doctor  of  their  own  that  is,  a  bishop  ;  but  still  be  subject 
 to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  to  whom  formerly  they  gave 
 obedience  ;  and  the  title  of  the  chapter  is,  that  the  parts  of 
 the  diocese  without  the  bishop's  consent,  lTt'iax.o7toii  'irspov  ij.rt 
 ^iy^ziy^at,  "  must  not  have  another  bishop."  He  who  in  the 
 title  is  called  '  bishop,'  in  the  chapter  is  called  the  •  doctor.' 
 And  thus  also,  Epiphanius,  speaking  of  bishops,  calleth  them 
 zsscTB^ui,  xocl  ^tlaaKQcXovi,  "  fathers  and  doctors'*,"  "  Gratia 
 
 "  Epist.  11. 
 
 *  Uteres.  75. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 109 
 
 enim  eccleslse  laus  doctoris  est,"  saith  St.  Ambrose,  speaking 
 of  the  eminence  of  the  bishop  over  the  presbyters  and  sub- 
 ordinate clergy.  The  same  also  is  to  be  seen  in  St.  Austin '', 
 Sedulius,  and  divers  others.  I  deny  not  but  it  is  in  this 
 appellative  as  in  divers  of  the  rest,  that  the  presbyters  may, 
 in  subordination,  be  also  called  doctors  ;  for  every  presbyter 
 must  be  SiJaxrotos-,  "  apt  to  teach but  yet  this  is  expressed 
 as  a  requisite  in  the  particular  office  of  a  bishop,  and  no 
 where  expressly  of  a  presbyter,  that  I  can  find  in  Scripture ; 
 but  yet  because,  in  all  churches,  it  was  by  license  of  the 
 bishop,  that  presbyters  did  preach,  if  at  all,  and  in  some 
 churches  the  bishop  only  did  it,  particularly  of  Alexandria, — 
 (Movos-  6  T7JS-  zsoKzojs  BTriaaoTro!  JjSatrxEi,  saith  Sozomen**,)  there- 
 fore it  was,  that  the  presbyter,  in  the  language  of  the  church, 
 was  not,  but  the  bishop  was  often,  called  doctor  of  the 
 church. 
 
 SECTION  XXVII. 
 And  Pontifex. 
 
 The  next  word  which  the  primitive  church  did  use,  as  proper 
 to  express  the  offices  and  eminence  of  bishops,  is  '  pontifex,' 
 and  '  pontificatus'  for  '  episcopacy.'  "  Sed  ii  Domino  edocti 
 consequentiam  rerum,  episcopis  pontificatus  munera  assigna- 
 vimus,"  said  the  apostles,  as  St.  Clement  reports''.  '  Pon- 
 tificale  CTsTaXov'  St.  John  the  apostle  wore  in  his  forehead, 
 as  an  ensign  of  his  apostleship,  a  gold  plate  or  medal,  when 
 he  was  "  in  joontificalibus,"  "  in  his  pontifical  or  apostolical 
 habit,"  saith  Eusebius''.  "  De  dispensationibus  ecclesia- 
 rum  antiqua  sanctio  tenuit  et  definitio  sanctorum  patrum  in 
 Nicaea  convenientium  —  et  si  jwntifices  voluerint,  ut  cum 
 eis  vicini  propter  utilitatem  celebrent  ordinationes :"  said  the 
 fathers  of  the  council  of  Constantinople "  Qua  tempestate 
 in  urbe  Roma  Clemens  quoque,  tertius  fpost  Paulum  et  Pe- 
 trum,  pontificatum  tenebat,"  saith  Eusebius'',  according  to  the 
 translation  of  Ruffinus.  "  Apud  Antiochiam  vero  Theophilus 
 
 >>  Epist.  59.  <■  1  Tim.  viii. 
 
 »Lib.  viii.  c.  ult.  Apost.  Constitut. 
 <!  Lib.  ix.  c.  14.  Hist.  Tripait. 
 VOL.  VH. 
 
 <!  Lib.  vii.  c.  19. 
 
 Lib.  iii.  Hist.  c.  31. 
 "1  Lib.  iii.  c.  21. 
 
 K 
 
110 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 per  idem  tempus,  sextus  ab  apostolis,  ecclesiee  pontificatum 
 tenebat;"  saith  the  same  Eusebius''.  And  thei-e  is  a  famous 
 story  of  Alexander,  bishop  of  Cappadocia,  that  when  Nar- 
 cissus, bishop  of  Jerusalem,  was  invalid  and  unfit  for  govern- 
 ment, by  reason  of  his  extreme  age,  he  was  designed  by  a 
 particular  revelation  and  a  voice  from  heaven ;  "  Suscipite 
 ejDiscopum,  qui  vobis  a  Deo  destinatus  est:"  "  Receive  your 
 bishop,  whom  God  hath  appointed  for  you;"  but  it  was 
 when  Narcissus  "  jam  senio  fessus  pontificatus  ministerio 
 sufficere  non  possit,"  saith  the  story'.  Eulogius,  the  con- 
 fessor, discoursing  with  the  prefect,  that  wished  him  to 
 comply  with  the  emperor,  asked  him  :  "  Numquid  ille  una 
 cum  imperio  etiam  j'ontificatum  est  consequutus?"  "  He 
 hath  an  empire,  but  hath  he  also  a  bishoprick  ?"  '  Pontifi- 
 catus' is  the  word.  But  St.  Dionysius  is  very  exact  in  the 
 distinction  of  clerical  offices and  particularly  gives  this 
 account  of  the  present :  "  Est  igitur  pontificatus  ordc,  qui 
 praeditus  vi  perficiente  munera  hierarchiae  quse  perficiunt," 
 &c.  And  a  little  after,  "  Sacerdotum  autem  ordo  subjectus 
 pontificum  ordini,"  &c.  To  which  agrees  St.  Isidore*",  in  his 
 Etymologies:  "  Ideo  autem  et  presbyteri  sacerdotes  vocantur, 
 quia  sacrum  dant  sicut  et  episcopi,  qui  licet  sacerdotes  sint, 
 tamen  pontificatus  apicem  non  habent,  quia  nec  chrisraate 
 frontem  signant,  nec  Paracletum  Spiritum  dant,  quod  solis 
 deberi  episcopis  lectio  'Actuum  Apostolicorum'  demonstrat;" 
 and  in  the  same  chapter,  "  Pontifex  princeps  sacerdotum  est." 
 
 One  word  more  there  is  often  used  in  antiquity  for 
 bishops,  and  that  is  '  sacerdos'.'  *'  Sacerdotum  autem  bipar- 
 titus  est  ordo,"  say  St.  Clement  and  Anacletus;  for  they 
 are  '  majores'  and  '  minores.'  The  '  majores,  bishops,'  the 
 *  minores,  presbyters for  so  it  is  in  the  apostolical  consti- 
 tutions attributed  to  St.  Clement'':  "  Episcopis  quidem  as- 
 signavlmus  et  attribuimus  quae  ad  principatum  sacerdotii 
 pertinent,  presbyteris  vero  quae  ad  sacerdotium."  And  in 
 St.  Cyprian',  "  Presbyteri  cum  episcopis  sacerdotali  honore 
 eonjuncti."  But  although  in  such  distinction  and  subordi- 
 nation, and  in  concretion,  a  presbyter  is  sometimes  called 
 '  sacerdos,'  yet  in  antiquity  '  sacerdotium  ecclesiae'  does  ever- 
 
 <^  Lib.  iv.  c.  20. 
 h  Lib.  vii.  12. 
 '  Lib.  iii.  Ep.  1. 
 
 f  Euseb.  lib.  vi.  c.  9.  s  Eccles.  Hierarch. 
 
 '  And  '  sacerdos  ecclesije.'     Lib.  viii.  c  46. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 Ill 
 
 more  signify  'episcopacy,'  and  '  saceidos  ecclesiae'  the  '  bishop.' 
 "  Theotecnus  sacerdotium  ecclesiae  tenens  in  episcopatu," 
 saith  Eusebius"" :  and  "  summus  sacerdos,"  the  'bishop' 
 always  ;  "  dandi  baptismum  jus  habet  summus  sacerdos,  qui 
 est  episcopus,"  saith  Tertullian":  and,  indeed,  'sacerdos' 
 alone  is  very  seldom  used  in  any  respect  but  for  the  '  bishop,' 
 unless  when  there  is  some  distinctive  term,  and  of  higher 
 report,  given  to  the  bishop  at  the  same  time. 
 
 "  Ecclesia  est  plebs  sacerdoti  adunata,  et  grex  pastori 
 suo  adhserens,"  saith  St.  Cyprian".  And  that  we  may  know 
 by  '  sacerdos'  he  means  the  '  bishop,'  his  next  words  are, 
 "  Unde  scire  debes  episcopum  in  ecclesia  esse,  et  ecclesiam 
 in  episcopo."  And  in  the  same  epistle,  "  qui  ad  Cyprianum 
 episcopum  in  cai-cere  literas  direxerunt,  sacerdotem  Dei 
 agnoscentes,  et  contestantes."  Eusebius^,  reckoning  some 
 of  the  chief  bishops  assembled  in  the  council  of  Antioch, 
 "  In  quibus  erant  Helenus  Sardensis ecclesiae  episcopus,  et 
 Nicomas  ab  Iconio,  et  Hierosolymorum  praecipuus  sacerdos 
 Hymenaaus,  et  vicinae  huic  urbis  Cesareae  Theotecnus;"  and 
 in  the  same  place,  the  bishops  of  Pontus  are  called  "  Ponti 
 provinciae  sacerdotes.'"'  "  Abilius  apud  Alexandriam  tredecim 
 annis  sacerdotio  ministi'ato,  diem  obiit ;"  for  so  long  he  was 
 bishop;  "cui  succedit  Cerdon  tertius  in  sacerdotium." — "Et 
 Papias  similiter  apud  Hierapolim  sacerdotium  gerens  ;"  for 
 he  was  bishop  of  Hierapolis,  saith  Eusebius'' :  and  the  bishop 
 of  the  province  of  Aries  %  speaking  of  their  first  bishop, 
 Trophimus,  ordained  bishop  by  St.  Peter,  says:  "  Quod 
 prima  inter  Gallias  Arelatensis  civitas  missum  a  beatissimo 
 Petro  apostolo  sanctum  Trophimum  habere  meruit  sacerdo- 
 tem." The  bishop  also  was  ever  designed,  when  '  antistes 
 ecclesiae'  was  the  word.  "  Melito  quoque  Sardensis  ecclesiae 
 antistes,"  saith  Eusebius  out  of  Irenaeus':  zjqoKjrus  is  the 
 name  in  Greek,  and  used  for  the  bishop  by  Justin  Martyr, 
 and  is  of  the  same  authority  and  use  witli  '  praelatus'  and 
 '  praepositus  ecclesiae.'  "  Antistes  autem  sacerdos  dictus,  ab 
 eo  quod  antistat.  Primus  est  enim  in  ordine  ecclesiae:  et 
 supra  se  nullum  habet,"  saith  St.  Isidore. 
 
 ■n  Lib.  vii.  c.  28.  "  Lib.  de  Baptism.  "  Epist.  69. 
 
 P  Euseb.  lib.  iii.  c.  21.  i  Lib.  iii.  c.  35. 
 
 Epist.  Com.  Provinc.  ad  S.  Leonem.  '  Lib.  iv.  c.  26. 
 
 K  2 
 
112 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 But  In  those  things,  which  are  of  no  question,  I  need  not 
 insist.  One  title  more  I  must  specify,  to  prevent  misprision 
 upon  a  mistake  of  theirs  of  a  place  in  St.  Ambrose'.  The 
 *  bishop'  is  sometimes  called  '  primus  presbyter.' — "  Nam 
 et  Timotheum  episcopum  a  se  creatum  presbyterum  vocat : 
 quia  primi  presbyteri  episcopi  appellabantur,  ut  recedente  eo 
 sequens  ei  succederet"."  Elections  were  made  of  bishops  out 
 of  the  college  of  presbyters :  "Presbyteri  unum  ex  se  electum 
 episcopum  nominabant,"  saith  St.  Jerome ;  but  at  first  this 
 election  was  made,  not  according  to  merit,  but  according 
 to  seniority;  and,  therefore,  bishops  were  called  '  primi 
 presbyteri ;'  that  is  St.  Ambrose's  sense.  But  St.  Austin 
 gives  another,  '  primi  presbyteri,'  that  is,  '  chief  above  the 
 presbyters.' — "  Quid  est  episcopus  nisi  primus  presbyter, 
 A.  <?.  summus  sacerdos,"  saith  he".  And  St.  Ambrose  him- 
 self gives  a  better  exposition  of  his  words,  than  is  intimated 
 in  that  clause  before  :  "  Episcopi,  et  presbyteri  una  ordinatio 
 est :  uterque  enim  sacerdos  est,  sed  episcopus  primus  est;  ut 
 omnis  episcopus  presbyter  sit,  non  omnis  presbyter  episcopus. 
 Hie  enim  episcopus  est,  qui  inter  presbyteros  primus  est"." 
 The  bishop  is  '  primus  presbyter,'  that  is,  '  primus  sacerdos 
 h.  e.  princeps  est  sacerdotum,'  so  he  expounds  it;  not  '  prin- 
 ceps'  or  '  primus  inter  presbyteros,'  himself  remaining  a 
 mere  presbyter,  but  '  princeps  presbyterorum  ;'  for  '  primus 
 presbyter'  could  not  be  '  episcopus'  in  another  sense,  he  is 
 the  chief,  not  the  senior  of  the  presbyters.  Nay,  '  princeps 
 presbyterorum'  is  used  in  a  sense  lower  than  '  episcopus ;' 
 for  Theodoret,  speaking  of  St.  John  Chrysostom,  saith,  that 
 *'  having  been  the  first  presbyter  at  Antioch,  yet  he  refused 
 to  be  made  bishop  for  a  long  time;"  "  Johannes  enim,  qui 
 diutissime  princeps  fuit  presbyterorum  Antiochise,  ac  ssepe 
 electus  prsesul,  perpetuus  vitator  dignitatis  illius  de  hoc  ad- 
 luirabili  solo  pullulavit^" 
 
 The  church  also,  in  her  first  language,  when  she  spake  of 
 '  prjepositus  ecclesiae,'  meant  the  '  bishop  of  the  diocess.'  Of 
 this  there  are  innumerable  examples,  but  most  plentifully  in 
 St.  Cyprian,  in  his  epistles";  and  in  Tertullian's  book  '  ad 
 
 '  Lib.  vii-  Etymol.  c.  12. 
 
 ^  Quffist.  Vet.  et  N.  Testam.  qu.  101. 
 
 *  In  Ephes.  iv. 
 
 <•  Comment,  in  Ephes.  iv. 
 y  In  1  Tim.  iii. 
 
 a  Epist.  3,  4,  7,  1 1,  13,  15,  23,  27. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 113 
 
 martvres;'  and  iiifinito  places  more.  Of  which  this  advan- 
 tage is  to  be  made,  that  the  primitive  church  did  generally 
 understand  those  places  of  ScrijJture  which  speak  of  '  pre- 
 lates,'or  '  prsepositi,'  to  be  meant  of  'bishops;'  "  obedite 
 praepositis,"  saith  Paul^:  "  Obey  j'our  prelates,  or  them 
 that  are  set  over  you."  "  Prsepositi  autem  pastores  sunt," 
 saith  St.  Austin  :  "  Prelates  are  they  that  are  pastors."  But 
 St.  Cyprian  sums  up  many  of  them  together,  and  insinuates 
 the  several  relations,  expressed  in  the  several  compellations 
 of  bishops.  For  writing  against  Florentius  Pupianus,  "  Ac 
 nisi,"  saith  he'',  "apud  te  purgati  fuerimus,  ecce  jam  sex 
 aimis  nec  fraternitas  habuerit  episcopum,  nec  plebs  praeposi- 
 tum,  nec  grex  pastorem,  nec  ecclesia  gubernatorem,  nec 
 Christus  antistitem,  nec  Deus  sacerdotes  and  all  this  he 
 means  of  himself,  who  had  then  been  "  six  years  bishop  of 
 Carthage,  a  prelate  of  the  people,  a  governor  to  the  church, 
 a  pastor  to  the  flock,  a  priest  of  the  most  high  God,  a  mi- 
 nister of  Christ." 
 
 The  sum  is  this :  When  we  find  in  antiquity  any  thing 
 asserted  of  any  order  of  the  hierarchy,  under  the  names  of 
 '  epicopus,'  or  '  princeps  sacerdotum,'  or  '  presbyterorum 
 primus,'  or  '  pastor,'  or  '  doctor,'  or  '  pontifex,'  or  '  major,' 
 or  '  primus  sacerdos,'  or  '  sacerdotium  ecclesiae  habens,'  or 
 '  antistes  ecclesiae,'  or  '  ecclesiae  sacerdos ;'  (unless  there  be 
 a  specification  and  limiting  of  it  to  a  parochial  and  inferior 
 minister,)  it  must  be  understood  of  '  bishops'  in  its  present 
 acceptation.  For  these  words  are  all,  by  way  of  eminency, 
 and  most  of  them  by  absolute  appropriation  and  singularity, 
 the  appellations  and  distinctive  names  of  '  bishops.' 
 
 SECTION  XXVIII. 
 
 And  these  were  a  distinct  Order  from  the  rest. 
 
 But  oviiJiccrx  ruv  z:^xyyArojv  ixiiJ.-nfxxrx,  saith  the  philosopher  : 
 and  this  their  distinction  of  names  did,  amongst  the  fathers 
 of  the  primitive  church,  denote  a  distinction  of  calling,  and 
 office,  supereminent  to  the  rest. 
 
 Heb.  xiii. 
 
 ""Epist.  69. 
 
114 
 
 KPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 For,  first,  bishops  are,  by  all  antiquity,  reckoned  as  a  dis- 
 tinct office  of  clergy.    "  Si  quis  presbyter,  aut  diaconus, 
 
 aut  quilibet  de  niimero  clericorum,  pei-gat  ad  alienam 
 
 parochiam  prseter  episcopi  sui  conscientiam,"  &c.  So  it  is  in 
 the  fifteenth  canon  of  the  apostles,  and  so  It  is  there  plainly 
 distinguished  as  an  office  different  from  presbyter  and  deacon, 
 above  thirty  times  in  those  canons,  and  distinct  powers  given 
 to  the  bishop,  which  are  not  given  to  the  other,  and  to  the 
 bishop  above  the  other.  The  council  of  Ancyra  ^  inflicting 
 censures  upon  presbyters  first,  then  deacons  which  had  fallen 
 in  time  of  persecution,  gives  leave  to  the  bishop  to  mitigate 
 the  pains  as  he  sees  cause  :  "  Sed  si  ex  episcopis  aliqui  in 
 iis  vel  afflictionem  aliquam — -viderint,  in  eorum  potestate 
 id  esse."  The  canon  would  not  suppose  any  bishops  to  fall, 
 for  indeed  they  seldom  did ;  but  for  the  rest,  provision  was 
 made  for  both  their  penances,  and  indulgence  at  the  discre- 
 tion of  the  bishop.  And  yet  sometimes  they  did  fall ;  Op- 
 tatus  bewails  it,  but  withal  gives  evidence  of  their  distinction 
 of  order  :  "  Quid  commemorem  laicos,  qui  tunc  in  ecclesia 
 nulla  fuerant  dignitate  suft'ulti  ?  Quid  ministros  plurimos, 
 quid  diaconos  In  tertio,  quid  presbyteros  in  secundo  sacer- 
 dotio  constitutos  ?  Ipsi  apices,  et  principes  omnium  aliqui 
 episcopi  aliqua  instrumenta  Divinre  legis  impie  tradiderunt." 
 "  The  laity,  the  ministers,  the  deacons,  the  presbyters,  nay, 
 the  bishops  themselves,  the  princes  and  chief  of  all,  proved 
 traitors'"."  The  diversity  of  order  is  here  fairly  intimated, 
 but  dogmatically  affirmed  bv  him  in  his  second  book  adv. 
 Parmen.;  "  Quatuor  genera  capitum  sunt  in  ecclesia,  epis- 
 coporum,  presbyterorum,  diaconorum,  et  fidelium:"  "There 
 are  four  sorts  of  heads  in  the  church,  bishops,  presbyters, 
 deacons,  and  the  faithful  laity."  And  it  was  remarkable, 
 when  the  people  of  Hippo  had,  as  it  were,  by  violence  carried 
 St.  Austin  to  be  made  priest  by  their  bishop  Valerius,  some 
 seeing  the  good  man  weep  in  consideration  of  the  great 
 hazard  and  difficulty  accruing  to  him  in  his  ordination  to 
 such  an  office,  thought  he  had  wept  because  he  was  not 
 bishop;  they  pretending  comfort,  told  him,  "Quia  locus 
 presbyterii,  licet  ipse  majore  dignus  esset,  appropinquaret 
 tamen  episcopatui :"  "  The  office  of  a  presbyter,  though 
 
 'Can.  Land 2. 
 
 •"Lib.  ad  Parmen. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 115 
 
 indeed  he  deserved  a  greater,  yet  was  the  next  step  in  order 
 to  a  bishoprick."  So  Passidonlus  tells  the  story  It  was 
 the  next  step,  the  next  descent  in  subordination,  the  next 
 under  it.  So  the  council  of  Chalcedon;  'KTrluKOTtov  eU  zjocu- 
 Qvri^ou  ^cibiAov  (pipsiv  UpoavXlx  earlv  :  "  It  is  sacrilege  to  bring 
 down  a  bishop  to  the  degree  and  order  of  a  presbyter,"  d7i:o- 
 rns  zypx^scos  sTri'jKOTrris  aTro/tJvsTv  so  the  council  permits  in  case 
 of  great  delinquency,  to  suspend  him  from  the  execution  of 
 his  episcopal  order,  but  still  the  character  remains,  and  the 
 degree  of  itself  is  higher''. 
 
 "  Nos  autem  idclrco  lisec  scribimus,  fratres  carissimi,  quia 
 novimus  quam  sacrosanctum  debeat  esse  episcopale  sacer- 
 dotium,  quod  et  clero,  et  plebi  debet  esse  exemplo,"  said  the 
 fathers  of  the  council  of  Antioch,  in  Eusebius*^;  "  The  office 
 of  a  bishop  is  sacred,  and  exemplary  both  to  the  clergy,  and 
 the  people."  "  Interdixit,  per  omnia,  magna  synodus,  non 
 episcopo,  non  presbytero,  non  dlacono  licereV  &c.  And  it 
 was  a  remarkable  story,  that  Arius  troubled  the  church  for 
 missing  of  a  prelation  to  the  order  and  dignity  of  a  bishop. 
 "  Post  Achillam  enim  Alexander — ordinatur  episcopus:  hoc 
 autem  tempore  Arius  in  ordine  presbyterorum  fuit  ;"  "Alex- 
 ander was  ordained  a  bishop,  and  Arius  still  left  in  the  order 
 of  mere  presbyters."  Of  the  same  exigence  are  all  those 
 clauses  of  commemoration  of  a  bishop  and  presbyters  of  the 
 same  church.  "Julius  autem  Romanus  episcopus  propter 
 senectutem  defuit,  erantque  pro  eo  prsesentes  Vitus,  et  Vicen- 
 tius  presbyteri  ejusdem  eccleslffi:"  "  They  were  his  vicars, 
 and  deputies  for  their  bishop  in  the  Nicene  council,'"'  saith 
 Sozomen.  But  most  pertinent  is  that  of  the  Indian  perse- 
 cution, related  by  the  same  man°.  Many  of  them  were  put 
 to  death.  "  Erant  autem  horum  alii  quidem  episcopi,  alii 
 presbyteri,  alii  diversorum  ordinum  clerici."  And  this  difr 
 ference  of  order  is  clear  in  the  epistle  of  the  bishops  of 
 Illyricum  to  the  bishops  of  the  Levant:  "  Deepiscopis  autem 
 constituendis,  vel  comministris  jam  constitutis,  si  perman- 
 serint  usque  ad  fincm  sani,  bene — similiter  presbyteros  atque 
 diaconos  in  sacei-dotali  ordine  definivimus,"  &c.  And  of 
 Sabbatius  it  is  said,  "  Nolens  in  suo  ordine  manere  presbyte- 
 
 «  Do  Vita  August,  c.  4.  Can.  29. 
 
 f  Lib.  vii.  c.  26.  '  Can.  S.  Nicene  Council. 
 
 s  Lib.  ii.  c.  1.  Hiat.  Tripart.    Lib.  iii.  Tripart.  c.  'i. 
 
116 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 ratus,  deslderabat  episcopatum  "  He  would  not  stay  in  the 
 order  of  a  presbyter,  but  desired  a  bishoprick." — "  Ordo 
 episcoporum  quadripartitus  est,  in  patriarchis,  archiepiscopis, 
 metropolitanis,  et  episcopis,"  saith  St.  Isidore;  "  Omnes 
 autem  superius  designati  ordines  uno  eodemque  vocabulo 
 episcopi  nominantur But  it  were  infinite  to  reckon  au- 
 thorities, and  clauses  of  exclusion,  for  the  three  orders  of 
 bishops,  priests,  and  deacons;  we  cannot  almost  dip  in  any 
 tome  of  the  councils,  but  we  shall  find  it  recorded  :  and  all 
 the  martyr  bishops  of  Rome  did  ever  acknowledge  and 
 publish  it,  that  episcopacy  is  a  peculiar  office  and  order  in 
 the  church  of  God  ;  as  is  to  be  seen  in  their  decretal  epistles, 
 in  the  first  tome  of  the  councils.  I  only  sum  this  up  with 
 the  attestation  of  tlie  church  of  England,  in  the  preface  to 
 the  book  of  ordination  :  "  It  is  evident  to  all  men  diligently 
 reading  holy  Scripture  and  ancient  authors,  that  from  the 
 apostles'  times  there  have  been  these  orders  of  ministers  in 
 Christ's  church,  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons'."  The  same 
 thing  exactly,  that  was  said  in  the  second  council  of  Car- 
 thage*^ ;  rpeis  ^oc^^olis  rourovs,  (prifji,]  Je,  i'niayionovs,  zspsn^vripovs, 
 xxl  ^ixxivous.  But  we  shall  see  it  better,  and  by  more  real 
 probation,  for  that  bishops  were  a  distinct  order,  appears 
 by  this : 
 
 SECTION  XXIX. 
 
 To  which  the  Presbyterate  was  but  a  Degree. 
 
 I.  The  presbyterate  was  but  a  step  to  episcopacy,  as  deacon- 
 ship  to  the  presbyterate  ;  and  therefore  the  council  of  Sardis 
 decreed*,  that  no  man  should  be  ordained  bisliop,  but  he 
 that  was  fiirst  a  reader,  and  a  deacon,  and  a  presbyter,  ha. 
 
 JiaCrjvai  ^vwi^n  :  "  That  by  every  degree  he  may  pass  to  the 
 sublimity  of  episcopacy."  "E^ei  11  sxccarov  rdyixaro^  o  ^a9;Aos- 
 ova  eX(x.'x,'<yrov  ^riXoviri  xpovou  fjimos,  &C.  "  But  the  degree  of 
 every  order  must  have  the  permanence  and  trial  of  no  small 
 
 b Hist.  Tripart.  lib.  xi.  c.  5.    Etymol.  lib.  vii-  c.  12. 
 '  Per  Binium  Paris.  ^  Can.  ?.  »  Can.  10. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 117 
 
 time."  Hei'e  there  is  clearly  a  distinction  of  orders  and  ordi- 
 nations, and  assumptions  to  them  respectively,  all  of  the 
 same  distance  and  consideration ;  and  Theodoret"*,  out  of  the 
 synodical  epistle  of  the  same  council,  says,  that  they  com- 
 plained that  some  from  Arianism  were  reconciled,  and  pro- 
 moted from  deacons  to  be  presbyters,  from  presbyters  to  be 
 bishops,[callingit/xe/^ovi3£/3aQ/xov,  'agreaterdegree,'  or  'oi'der:' 
 and  St.  Gregory  Nazianz,  in  his  Encomium  of  St.  Athanasius, 
 speaking  of  his  canonical  ordination  and  election  to  a  bishop- 
 rick,  says,  that  he  was  chosen  being  d^tscyx'jros,  "  most 
 worthy,"  and  -njSiacx.v  rriv  ruiv  ^a.Q[/,wv  inokov'^loiv  Jje^sXfia'v,  "  com- 
 ing thi-ough  all  the  inferior  orders."  The  same  commendation 
 St.  Cyprian  gives  of  Cornelius'':  "  Non  iste  ad  episcopatum 
 subito  pervenit,  sed  per  omnia  ecclesiastica  officia  promotus, 
 et  in  divinis  administrationibus  Dominum  ssepe  promeritus 
 ad  sacerdotii  sublime  fastigium  cunctis  religionis  gradibus 
 ascendit ;  et  factus  est  episcopus  a  plurimis  collegis  nostris, 
 qui  tunc  in  urbe  Roma  adei-ant,  qui  ad  nos  literas  de  ejus 
 ordinatione  miserunt."  Here  is  evident,  not  only  a  promo- 
 tion, but  a  new  ordination  of  St,  Cornelius  to  be  bishop  of 
 Rome;  so  that  "  now  the  chair  is  full,"  saith  St.  Cyprian; 
 "  et  quisquis  jam  episcopus  fieri  voluerit,  foris  fiat  necesse 
 est,  nec  habeat  ecclesiasticam  ordinationem,"  &c.  .*  "No 
 man  else  can  receive  ordination  to  the  bishoprlck." 
 
 SECTION  XXX. 
 
 There  being  a  'peculiar  Manner  of  Ordination  to  a 
 Bishovrick. 
 
 2.  The  ordination  of  a  bishop  to  his  chair  was  done  '  de 
 novo,'  after  his  being  a  presbyter ;  and  not  only  so,  but  in 
 another  manner  than  he  had,  when  he  was  made  priest.  This 
 is  evident  in  the  first  ecclesiastical  canon  that  was  made 
 after  Scripture".  ^Tt'ianonos  ^siporoveln^M  dcTro  iniuY.oTictJv  ^vo  vi 
 Tpiajv'  zspzaQvnpos  'vno  Ivor  eTri^rxoTroy  ^si^orovgi'ffS'ai,  xal  Oiiyio'jo;,  y.a.\ 
 ot  XoiTToi  yXripinoi :  "  A  priest  and  deacon  must  be  ordained  of 
 one  bishop,  but  a  bishop  must  be  ordained  by  two  or  three 
 at  least."   And  that  we  may  see  it  yet  more  to  be  apostolical, 
 
 Lib.  V.  c  8.  •■  Epist.  52.  »  Can.  Apost.  1.  et  2, 
 
118 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 St.  Anacletus,  in  his  second  epistle,  reports,  "  Hierosolymi- 
 tarum  primus  episcopus  B.  Jacobus  a  Petro,  Jacobo,  et 
 Johanne  apostolis  est  ordinatus."  Three  apostles  went  to  the 
 ordaining  of  St.  James  to  be  a  bishop,  and  the  self-same 
 thing  is  in  words  affirmed  by  Anicetus'' :  "  Ut  in  ore  duorum, 
 vel  trium  stet  omnis  Veritas;"  and  St.  Cyprian  observes, 
 that  when  Cornelius  was  made  bishop  of  Rome,  there  hap- 
 pened to  be  many  of  his  fellow-bishops  there,  "  et  factus  est 
 episcopus  a  plurimis  coUegis  nostris,  qui  tunc  in  urbe  Roma 
 aderant."  These  '  collegias'  could  not  be  mere  priests  ;  for 
 then  the  ordination  of  Novatus  had  been  more  canonical 
 than  that  of  Cornelius,  and  all  Christendom  had  been  de- 
 ceived; for  not  Novatus,  who  was  ordained  by  three  bishops, 
 — but  Cornelius,  had  been  the  schismatic,  as  being  oi'dained 
 by  priests,  against  the  canon.  But  here  I  observe  it  for  the 
 word  '  plurimis,'  there  were  '  many'  of  them  at  that  ordination. 
 
 In  pursuance  of  this  apostolical  ordinance,  the  Nicene  fa- 
 thers deci'eed",  that  a  bishop  should  be  ordained  vtio  zjalvrcov 
 ruv  £v  rri  TsxpotKia,  "  by  all  the  bishops  in  the  province," 
 unless  it  be  in  case  of  necessity  ;  and  then  it  must  be  done  by 
 three  being  gathered  together,  and  the  rest  consenting  ;  so 
 the  ordination  to  be  performed.  The  same  is  ratified  in  the 
 council  of  Antloch'',  'KniaKOTrov  fJ^ri  y^eipoTove7a^a.i  Sly^x  avvodov, 
 xai  Tuxpoualxi  Toy  ev  rrj  fjiriTpoTroXei  Tr,s  iTCxpyJixv  "  A  bishop  is 
 not  to  be  ordained  without  a  synod  of  bishops,  and  the  pre- 
 sence of  the  metropolitan  of  the  province."  But  if  this 
 cannot  be  done  conveniently,  yet  however  it  is  required «, 
 jLtSTiz  Tris  ruiv  •sjXsiqvwv  T^xpoursixs,  VI  ■kJ/'j^CpOL' 71V£(t9'5£1  Kxrxarxtyiv'. 
 "  the  ordinations  must  be  performed  by  many."  The  same 
 was  decreed  in  the  council  of  Laodicea,  can.  12.,  in  the  thir- 
 teenth canon  of  the  African  code,  in  the  twenty-second  canon 
 of  the  first  council  of  Ai-les,  and  the  fifth  canon  of  the  second 
 council  of  Aries,  and  was  ever  the  practice  of  the  church ; 
 and  so  we  may  see  it  descend  through  the  bowels  of  the 
 fourth  council  of  Carthage  to  the  inferior  ages.  "  Episcopus 
 quum  ordinatur,  duo  episcopi  ponant,  et  teneant  evange- 
 liorum  codicem  super  caput,  et  cervicera  ejus,  et  uno  super 
 eum  fundente  benedictionem,  reliqui  omnes  episcopi  qui 
 adsunt,  manibus  suis  caput  ejus  tangant." 
 
 •>  Epist.  Unica. 
 
 •^Can.  4.  d  Can.  19.  «  Can.  12. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 119 
 
 Tho  thing  was  catholic  and  canonical.  It  was  "  prima, 
 et  immutabilis  constitutio  ;"  so  the  fir.st  canon  of  the  council 
 of  Ejiaunum  calls  it*^:  and,  therefore,  after  the  death  of 
 Meletius,  bishop  of  Antioch,  a  schism  was  made  about  his 
 successor,  and  Evagrius^s  ordination  condemned  =  ;  because 
 "  prseter  ecclesiasticam  regulam  fuerit  ordinatus :"  "  it  was 
 against  the  rule  of  Holy  Church.'"  Why  so?  "  Solus  enim 
 Paulinus  eum  instituerat,plurimas  regulas  praevaricatus  eccle- 
 siasticas.  Non  enim  prseciplunt  ut  per  se  quilibet  ordinare 
 possit,  sed  convocare  universos  provlnciae,  sacerdotes,  et  prag- 
 ter  per  tres  pontifices  ordinationem  penitus  fieri  interdicunt.'" 
 Which  because  it  was  Jiot  observed  in  the  ordination  of 
 Evagrius,  who  was  not  ordained  by  three  bishops,  the  ordina- 
 tion was  cassated  in  the  council  of  Rhegium.  And  we  i-ead, 
 that  when  Novatus  would  fain  be  made  a  bishop,  in  the 
 schism  against  Cornelius,  lie  did  it  "  tribus  adhibitis  episco- 
 pis,"  saith  Eusebius  :  "  he  obtained  thi-ee  bishops,"  for  per- 
 formance of  the  action''. 
 
 Now,  besides  these  apostolical  and  catholic  canons  and 
 precedents,  this  thing,  according  to  the  constant  and  united 
 interpretation  of  the  Gi'eek  fathers,  was  actually  done  in  the 
 ordination  of  St.  Timothy  to  the  bishoprlck  of  Ephesus : 
 "  Neglect  not  the  grace  that  is  in  thee  by  the  laying  on  of 
 the  hands  of  the  presbytery."  The  Latin  fathers  expound  it 
 abstractly,  viz.,  to  signify  the  office  of  priesthood,  that  is, 
 '  neglect  not  the  grace  of  priesthood,  that  is  in  thee  by  the 
 imposition  of  hands;'  and  this  Erasmus  helps,  by  making 
 '  presbyterii'  to  pertain  to  '  gratiam,'  by  a  new  interpunctiou 
 of  the  words ;  but  however,  '  presbyterii,'  with  the  Latin 
 fathers,  signifies  '  presbyteratus,'  not  '  presbyterorum  ;'  and 
 this  '  presbyteratus'  is,  in  their  sense,  used  for  '  episcopatus' 
 too.  But  the  Greek  fathers  understand  it  collectively,  and 
 zjqsa'^vrsfiou  is  put  for  zy^iaQuriouiv  not  simply  such,  but  bishops 
 too,  all  agree  in  that,  that  episcopacy  is  either  meant  in 
 office,  or  in  person.  nqzuCvripous  rws  ^Ttiax.o'novs  cpyjiriv  ;  so 
 CEcumenius:  and  St.  Chiysostom,  ov  cts^I  -apiiQuripuv  (pmiv 
 ivrccv^cc,  aXXi  z^ipi  sTricDcoTTwv :  SO  Theophylact ;  so  Theodoret. 
 The  probation  of  this  lies  ujjon  right  reason  and  catholic 
 tradition ;  for, 
 
 '  A.  D.  509.  s  Theodoret,  lib.  ix.  c.  44. 
 
 ••Cap.  1,2.    Hist.  lib.  vi.  c.  33. 
 
120 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 SECTION  XXXI. 
 
 To  which  Presbyters  never  did  assist  by  imposing  Hands. 
 
 3.  The  bishop's  ordination  was  peculiar,  in  this  respect,  above 
 the  presbyter's;  for  a  presbyter  did  never  impose  hands  on  a 
 bishop.  On  a  presbyter  they  did,  ever  since  the  fourth 
 council  of  Carthage;  but  never  on  a  bishop.  And  that 
 was  the  reason  of  the  former  exposition.  By  the  '  presby- 
 tery' St.  Paul  means  '  bishops,'  ov  7Ǥ  o'l  zypsuQurepoi  ex^'S^' 
 rovnuxv  Tov  litiay.o'jtov  :  "  presbyters  did  not  impose  hands  on  a 
 bishop,"  and,  therefore,  '  presbyterium'  is  not  a  college  of 
 mere  pi'esbyters,  for  such  could  never  ordain  St.  Timothy  to 
 be  a  bishop.  The  same  reason  is  given  by  the  Latin  fathers, 
 why  they  expound  '  presbyterium'  to  signify  '  episcopacy.' 
 For,  saith  St.  Ambrose,  "  St.  Paul  had  ordained  Timothy  to 
 be  a  bishop  ;  unde,  et  quemadmodum  episcopum  oi'dinet,  os- 
 tendit.  Neque  enim  fas  erat,  aut  licebat,  ut  inferior  ordina- 
 ret  majorem  ;"  so  he;  and  subjoins  this  reason,  "  Nemo  enim 
 tribuit  quod  non  accepit."  The  same  is  affirmed  by  St. 
 Chrysostom,  and  generally  by  the  authors  of  the  former 
 expositions,  that  is,  the  fathers  both  of  the  east  and  west. 
 For  it  was  so  general  and  catholic  a  truth,  that  priests  could 
 not,  might  not,  lay  hands  on  a  bishop,  that  there  was  never 
 any  example  of  it  in  Christendom  till  almost  six  hundred 
 years  after  Christ,  and  that  but  once,  and  that  irregular,  and 
 that  without  imitation  of  his  successors,  or  example  in  his 
 antecessors.  It  was  the  case  of  Pope  Pelagius  the  First " : 
 "  Et  dum  non  essent  episcopi,  qui  eum  ordinarent,  inventi 
 sunt  duo  episcopi,  Johannes  de  Perusio,  et  Bonus  de  Feren- 
 tino,  et  Andi'eas  presbyter  de  Ostia,  et  ordinaverunt  eum 
 pontificem.  Tunc  enim  non  erant  in  clero,  qui  eum  possent 
 promovere;"  saith  Damasus  :  "  It  was  in  case  of  necessity, 
 because  there  were  not  three  bishops,  therefore  he  procured 
 two,  and  a  priest  of  Ostia  to  supply  the  place  of  the  third," 
 that  three,  according  to  the  direction  apostolical,  and  canons 
 of  Nice,  Antioch,  and  Carthage,  make  episcopal  ordination. 
 The  church  of  Rome  is  concerned  in  the  business  to  make 
 
 » A.  D.  555. 
 
 >>  In  Libr.  Pontificali,  Vit.  Pelag,  I. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED, 
 
 121 
 
 fair  this  ordination,  and  to  reconcile  it  to  the  council  of 
 Rhegium,  and  the  others  before  mentioned,  who,  if  asked, 
 would  declare  it  to  be  invalid.  But  certainly,  as  the  canons 
 did  command  three  to  impose  hands  on  a  bishop,  so  also 
 they  commanded  that  those  three  should  be  tliree  bishops ; 
 and  Pelagius  might  as  well  not  have  had  three,  as  not  three 
 bishops  ;  and  better,  because,  so  they  were  bishops,  the  first 
 canon  of  the  apostles  approves  the  ordination  if  done  '  by 
 two,'  sTrisKOTra/v  S^o,  ^  t^iudi.  And  the  Nicene  canon  is  as  much 
 exact,  in  requiring  the  capacity  of  the  person,  as  the  number 
 of  the  ordainers.  But  let  them  answer  it.  For  my  part,  I 
 believe  that  the  imposition  of  hands  by  Andreas,  was  no 
 more  in  that  case  than  if  a  layman  had  done  it ;  it  was  xs\p 
 oiKvpos,  and  though  the  ordination  was  absolutely  uncanonical, 
 yet  it  being  in  the  exigence  of  necessity,  and  being  done  by 
 two  bishops,  according  to  the  apostolical  canon,  it  was  valid 
 '  in  natura  i-ei,'  though  not  '  in  forma  canonis,'  and  the 
 addition  of  the  priest  was  but  to  cheat  the  canon,  and  cozen 
 himself  into  an  impertinent  belief  of  a  canonical  ordination. 
 'KTrliyxoTroi  litia-MTrous  H«9«7Tav  o<^zl'Kovaiv,  saith  the  council  of 
 Sai'dis*^:  "  Bishops  must  ordain  bishops:"  it  was  never 
 heard  that  priests  did,  or,  '  de  jure,'  might. 
 
 These  premises  do  most  certainly  infer  a  real  difference 
 between  episcopacy  and  the  presbyterate.  But  whether  or 
 no  they  infer  a  difference  of  order,  or  only  of  degree ;  or 
 whether  degree  and  order  be  all  one  or  no,  is  of  great  con- 
 sideration in  the  present,  and  in  relation  to  many  other 
 questions. 
 
 .  1.  Then  it  is  evident,  that  in  antiquity,  '  ordo'  and  '  gra- 
 dus'  v/ere  used  promiscuously.  BaS-ju-oy  was  the  Greek  word, 
 and  for  it  the  Latins  used  '  ordo,'  as  is  evident  in  the  instances 
 above  mentioned  ;  to  which  add,  that  Anacletus  says'',  that 
 Christ  did  "  inslituere  duos  ordines,  episcoporum  et  sacer- 
 dotum."  And  St.  Leo  affirms^:  "  Primum  ordinem  esse 
 episcopalem,  secundum  presbyteralem,  tertium  Leviticum;" 
 and  these  among  the  Gi"eeks  are  called  rqui  ficcQixol,  '  three 
 degrees.'  So  the  order  of  deaconship  in  St.  Paul  is  called 
 xaXis-  ^(/.^iMs,  "  a  good  degree;"  and  /3aS/x,oii  exTriTrraiv,  &c.  is  a 
 censure  used  alike  in  the  censures  of  bishops,  priests,  and 
 
 Can.  9.  Concil.  Saidic. 
 
 ^  Epist.  3. 
 
 Epist.84.  C.4, 
 
h22 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED, 
 
 deacons.  They  are  all  of  the  same  name,  and  the  same  con- 
 sideration, for  order,  distance,  and  degree,  amongst  the 
 fathers  ;  gradus  and  ordo  are  equally  affirmed  of  them  all  ; 
 and  the  word  gradus  is  used  sometimes  for  that,  which  is 
 called  ordo  most  frequently.  So  Felix^  writing  to  St.  Austin, 
 "  Non  tantum  ego  possum  contra  tuam  virtutem,  quia  mira 
 virtus  est  gradus  episcopalis ;"  and  St.  Cyprian  of  Cornelius^ : 
 "  Ad  sacerdotii  sublime  fastigium  cunctis  religionis  gradibus 
 ascendit."  Degree  and  order  are  used  in  common;  for  he 
 that  speaks  most  properly,  will  call  that  an  order  in  persons, 
 which  corresponds  to  a  degree  in  qualities ;  and  neither  of 
 the  words  are  wronged  by  a  mutual  substitution. 
 
 2.  The  promotion  of  a  bishop  '  ad  munus  episcopale,' 
 was  at  first  called  '  ordinatio  episcopi.'  "  Stir  up  the  grace 
 that  is  in  thee,"  "  jnxta  ordinationem  tuam  in  episcopatum," 
 saith  Seduhus;  and  St.  Jerome*",  "  Prophetise  gratiam  habe- 
 bat  cum  ordinatione  episcopatus." — "  Neque  enim  fas  erat 
 aut  licebat,  ut  inferior  ordinaret  majorem,"  saith  St.  Ambrose, 
 proving  that  presbyters  might  not  impose  hands  on  a  bishop. 
 "  Romanorum  ecclesia  Clementem  a  Petro  ordinatum  edit," 
 saith  Tertullian ;  and  St.  Jerome  affirms',  that  "  St.  James 
 was  ordained  bishop  of  Jerusalem  immediately  after  the  pas- 
 sion of  our  Lord."  '  Ordinatus'  was  the  word  at  first,  and 
 afterwards  '  consecratus'  came  in  conjunction  with  it,  when 
 Moses,  the  monk,  was  to  be  ordained,  to  wit,  a  bishop  (for 
 that  is  the  title  of  the  story  in  Theodoret,)  and  spied  that 
 Lucius  was  there  ready  to  impose  hands  on  him:  "  Absit," 
 says  he,  "  ut  manus  tua  me  consecret**." 
 
 3.  In  all  orders,  there  is  the  impress  of  a  distinct  cha- 
 racter ;  that  is,  the  person  is  qualified  with  a  new  capacity  to 
 do  certain  offices,  which,  before  his  ordination,  he  had  no 
 power  to  do.    A  deacon  hath  an  order  or  power, 
 
  Quo  pocula  vita 
 
 Misceat,  et  latices  cum  sanguine  porrigatagni ; 
 
 as  Arator  himself,  a  deacon,  expresses  it.  A  presbyter  hath  a 
 higher  order  or  degree  in  the  office  or  ministry  of  the  church, 
 whereby  he  is  enabled,  zsfQa^spn\,  h/j.^'KsXv,  xai  KsirovpyeTv  ra 
 
 f  Lib.  i.  c.  12.  de  Actis  cum  Felice  Manich. 
 •>  In  ITim.  ill.         '  De  Prsescript.  c.  32. 
 
 g  Lib.  iv.  epist.  2. 
 ^  Lib.iv.  C.23. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 123 
 
 rSv  h^xrtxuv  Xsiroopyiuv,  as  the  council  of  Ancyra  does  inti- 
 mate'. But  a  bishop  hath  a  higlier  yet;  for  besides  all  the 
 offices  communicated  to  priests  and  deacons,  he  can  give 
 orders,  which  very  one  thing  makes  episcopacy  to  be  a 
 distinct  order.  For  '  ordo"'  is  designed  by  the  schools  to  be 
 "  traditio  potestatis  spiritualis,  et  collatio  gratiae,  ad  obeunda 
 ministeria  ecclesiastical "  "  a  giving  a  spiritual  power,  and  a 
 conferring  grace  for  the  performance  of  ecclesiastical  minis- 
 trations." Since  then  episcopacy  hath  a  new  ordination, 
 and  a  distinct  power,  as  I  shall  show  in  the  descent,  it  must 
 needs  be  a  distinct  order,  both  accoi-ding  to  the  name  given 
 it  by  antiquity,  and  according  to  the  nature  of  the  thing  in 
 the  definitions  of  the  school. 
 
 There  is  nothing  said  against  this  but  a  fancy  of  some  of 
 the  church  of  Rome,  obtruded,  indeed,  upon  no  grounds;  for 
 they  would  define  order  to  be  "  a  special  power  in  relation 
 to  the  holy  sacrament,"  which  they  call  "  corpus  Christi 
 naturale ;"  and  episcopacy  indeed  to  be  a  distinct  power,  in 
 relation  "  ad  corpus  Christi  mysticum,"  or  the  regiment  of 
 the  church,  and  ordaining  labourers  for  the  harvest,  and, 
 therefore,  not  to  be  a  distinct  order. 
 
 But  this  to  them  that  consider  things  sadly,  is  true  or 
 false,  according  as  any  man  list.  For  if  these  men  are 
 resolved  they  will  call  nothing  an  order  but  what  is  a  power 
 in  order  to  the  consecration  of  the  eucharist, — who  can  help 
 it?  Then  indeed,  in  that  sense,  episcopacy  is  not  a  distinct 
 order ;  that  is,  a  bishop  hath  no  new  power  in  the  consecra- 
 tion of  the  venerable  eucharist,  more  than  a  presbyter  hath. 
 But  then  why  these  men  should  only  call  this  power  '  an 
 order,'  no  man  can  give  a  reason.  For,  1.  In  antiquity,  the 
 distinct  power  of  a  bishop  was  ever  called  an  order,  and  I 
 think,  before  Hugo  de  S.  Victore,  and  the  Master  of  the 
 Sentences,  no  man  ever  denied  it  to  be  an  order.  2.  Ac- 
 cording to  this  rate,  I  would  fain  know  the  office  of  a  sub- 
 deacon,  and  of  an  ostiary,  and  of  an  acolouthite,  and  of  a 
 reader,  come  to  be  distinct  ordei's  ;  for  surely  the  bishop  hath 
 as  much  power  in  order  to  consecration  '  de  novo,'  as  they 
 have  '  de  integro.'  And  if  I  mistake  not,  that  the  bishop 
 hath  a  new  power  to  ordain  presbyters  who  shall  have  a 
 
 '  Cap.  1 . 
 
124 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 power  of  consecrating  the  eucharist,  is  more  a  new  power  in 
 order  to  consecration,  than  all  those  inferior  officers  put 
 together  have  in  all ;  and  yet  they  call  them  orders;  and, 
 therefore,  why  not  episcopacy  also,  I  cannot  imagine,  unless 
 because  they  will  not. 
 
 But  however,  in  the  mean  time,  the  denying  the  office 
 and  degree  of  episcopacy  to  be  a  new  and  distinct  order,  is 
 an  innovation  of  the  production  of  some  in  the  church  of 
 Rome,  without  all  reason,  and  against  all  antiquity.  This 
 only  by  the  way. 
 
 The  enemies  of  episcopacy  call  in  aid,  from  all  places, 
 for  support  of  their  ruinous  cause,  and,  therefore,  take  their 
 main  hopes  from  the  church  of  Rome,  by  advantage  of  the 
 former  discourse.  For  since,  say  they,  that  consecration  of 
 the  sacrament  is  the  greatest  work,  of  the  most  secret  mys- 
 tery, greatest  power,  and  highest  dignity,  that  is  competent  to 
 man,  and  this  a  presbyter  hath  as  well  as  a  bishop, — is  it  likely 
 that  a  bishop  should,  by  Divine  institution,  be  so  much 
 superior  to  a  presbyter,  who,  by  the  confession  of  all  sides, 
 communicates  with  a  bishop  in  that  which  is  his  highest 
 power  ?  And  shall  issues  of  a  lesser  dignity  distinguish  the 
 orders,  and  make  a  bishop  higher  to  a  presbyter,  and  not 
 rather  the  greater  raise  up  a  presbyter  to  the  counterpoise 
 of  a  bishop  ? — Upon  this  surmise,  the  men  of  the  church  of 
 Rome  would  infer  aii  identity  of  order,  though  a  disparity  of 
 degree,  but  the  men  of  the  other  world  would  infer  a  parity 
 both  of  order  and  degree  too"".  The  first  are  already 
 answered  in  the  premises ;  the  second  must  now  be  served. 
 
 1.  Then,  whether  power  be  gi-eater,  of  ordaining  pi'iests, 
 or  consecrating  the  sacrament,  is  an  impertinent  question  ; 
 possibly,  it  may  be  of  some  danger ;  because  in  comparing 
 God's  ordinances,  there  must  certainly  be  a  depression  of 
 one,  and  whether  that  lights  upon  the  right  side  or  no,  yet 
 peradventure,  it  will  not  stand  with  the  consequence  of  our 
 gi-atitude  to  God,  to  do  that,  which,  in  God's  estimate,  may 
 tantamount  to  a  direct  undervaluing  ;  but  however  it  is  un- 
 profitable, of  no  use  in  case  of  conscience,  either  in  order  to 
 faith  or  manners;  and  besides,  cannot  fix  itself  upon  any 
 
 "  S.  Hieron.  ad  Rusticum  Narbonens.  apud  Gratian.  dist.  95.  Cad.  Ecce 
 Ego  Casus,  ibid. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 125 
 
 basis,  there  being  no  way  of  proving  either  to  be  more  excel- 
 lent than  the  other. 
 
 2.  The  sacraments  and  mysteries  of  Christianity,  if  com- 
 pared among  themselves,  are  greater  and  lesser  in  several 
 respects.  For  since  they  are  all  in  order  to  several  ends, 
 that  is,  productive  of  several  effects,  and  they  all  are  excel- 
 lent,— every  rite  and  saci-ament,  in  respect  of  its  oM^n  effect, 
 is  more  excellent  than  the  other  not  ordained  to  that  effect. 
 For  example:  matrimony  is  ordained  for  a  means  to  preserve 
 chastity,  and  to  represent  the  mystical  union  of  Christ  and 
 his  church ;  and  therefore,  in  these  respects,  is  greater  than 
 baptism,  which  does  neither.  But  baptism  is  for  remission 
 of  sins and,  in  that,  is  more  excellent  than  matrimony : 
 the  same  may  be  said  for  ordination,  and  consecration  ;  the 
 one  being  in  order  to  Christ's  natural  body,  as  the  schools 
 speak ;  the  other  in  order  to  his  mystical  body,  and  so  have 
 their  sevei-al  excellencies  respectively ;  but  for  an  absolute 
 pre-eminence  of  one  above  the  other,  I  said  there  was  no 
 basis  to  fix  that  ujDon,  and  I  believe  all  men  will  find  it  so, 
 that  please  to  try.  But  in  a  relative  or  respective  excellency, 
 they  go  both  before  and  after  one  another.  Thus  wool  and 
 a  jewel  are  better  tlian  each  other ;  for  wool  is  better  for 
 warmth,  and  a  jewel  for  ornament.  A  frog  hath  more  sense 
 in  it  than  the  sun,  and  yet  the  sun  shines  brighter. 
 
 3.  Suppose  consecration  of  the  eucharist  wei-e  greater 
 than  ordaining  priests,  yet  that  cannot  hinder  but  that  the 
 power  of  ordaining  may  make  a  higher  and  distinct  order ; 
 because  the  power  of  ordaining  hath  in  it  the  power  of  con- 
 secrating and  something  more;  it  is  all  that  which  makes  the 
 priest,  and  it  is  something  more  besides  which  makes  the 
 bishop.  Indeed  if  the  bishop  had  it  not,  and  the  priest  had 
 it,  then  supposing  consecration  to  be  greater  than  ordination, 
 the  priest  would  not  only  equal  but  excel  the  bishop  ;  but 
 because  the  bishop  hath  that,  and  ordination  besides, — there- 
 fore he  is  higher  both  in  order  and  dignity. 
 
 4.  Suppose  that  consecration  were  the  greatest  clerical 
 power  in  the  world,  and  that  the  bishop  and  the  priest  were 
 equal  in  the  greatest  power,  yet  a  lesser  power  than  it, 
 superadded  to  the  bishops,  may  make  a  distinct  order  and 
 
 VOL.  VJI. 
 
 "  The  Nicene  Creed. 
 
126 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 supei'iority.  Thus  it  was  said  of  the  Son  of  Man,  '*  Con- 
 stituit  eum  paulo  minorem  angelis  :"  "  He  was  made  a  little 
 lower  than  the  angels."  It  was  but  a  little  lower,  and  yet  so 
 much  as  to  distinguish  their  natures,  for  he  took  not  upon 
 him  the  "  nature  of  angels,  but  the  seed  of  Abraham."  So 
 it  is  in  jjroportion  between  bishop  and  priest ;  for  though  a 
 priest  communicating  in  the  greatest  power  of  the  church, 
 viz.,  consecration  of  the  venei-able  eucharist,  yet  differing  in  a 
 less,  is  "  paulo  minor  angelis ;"  "  a  little  lower  than  the 
 bishop,  the  angel  of  the  church  ;"  yet  this  '  little  lower'  makes 
 a  distinct  order,  and  enough  for  a  subordination.  An  angel 
 and  a  man  communicate  in  those  great  excellencies  of  spiri- 
 tual essence ;  they  both  discourse ;  they  have  both  election 
 and  freedom  of  choice ;  they  have  will,  and  understanding, 
 and  memor}^  impresses  of  the  Divine  image, — and  loco-mo- 
 tion, and  immortality.  And  these  excellencies  are  (being  pre- 
 cisely considered)  of  more  real  and  eternal  worth,  than  the 
 angelical  manner  of  moving  so  in  an  instant,  and  those  other 
 forms  and  modalities  of  their  knowledge  and  volition;  and 
 yet  for  these  superadded  parts  of  excellency,  the  difference  is 
 no  less  than  specifical.  If  we  compare  a  bishop  and  a  priest 
 thus,  what  we  call  difference  in  nature  there,  will  be  a 
 difference  in  order  here,  and  of  the  same  consideration. 
 
 5.  Lastly,  it  is  considerable,  that  these  men  that  make 
 this  objection,  do  not  make  it  because  they  think  it  true,  but 
 because  it  will  serve  a  present  turn.  For  all  the  world  sees, 
 that  to  them  that  deny  the  real  presence,  this  can  be  no  ob- 
 jection ;  and  most  certainly  the  anti-episcopal  men  do  so,  in 
 all  senses  ;  and  then,  what  excellency  is  there  in  the  power 
 of  consecration,  more  than  in  ordination  ?  Nay,  is  there  any 
 such  thing  as  conseci'ation  at  all  ?  This  also  would  be  con- 
 sidered from  their  principles.    But  I  proceed. 
 
 One  thing  only  more  is  objected  against  the  main  question. 
 If  episcopacy  be  a  distinct  order,  why  may  not  a  man  be  a 
 bishop  that  never  was  a  priest,  as  (abstracting  from  the  laws 
 of  the  church)  a  man  may  be  a  presbyter  that  never  was  a 
 deacon ;  for  if  it  be  the  impress  of  a  distinct  character,  it 
 may  be  imprinted  '  per  saltum,'  and  independently,  as  it  is 
 in  the  order  of  a  presbyter  ? 
 
 To  this  answer.  It  is  true,  if  the  powers  and  characters 
 themselves  were  independent;  as  it  is  in  all  those  offices  of 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 127 
 
 human  constitution,  which  are  called  the  inferior  orders  :  for 
 the  office  of  an  acolouthite,  of  an  exorcist,  of  an  ostiary,  are 
 no  way  dependent  on  the  office  of  a  deacon  ;  and,  therefore,  a 
 man  may  be  deacon  that  never  was  in  any  of  those  ;  and 
 perhaps  a  pi-esbyter  too  that  never  was  a  deacon,  as  it  was  m 
 the  first  example  of  the  presbyterate  in  the  seventy-two 
 disciples.  But  a  bishop,  though  he  have  a  distinct  charac- 
 ter, yet  it  is  not  disparate  from  that  of  a  presbyter,  but  sup- 
 poses it  '  ex  vi  ordinis.'  For  shice  the  power  of  ordination 
 (if  any  thing  be)  is  the  distinct  capacity  of  a  bishop,  this 
 power  supposes  a  power  of  consecrating  the  eucharist  to  be 
 in  the  bishop;  for  how  else  can  he  ordain  a  presbyter  with  a 
 power,  that  himself  hath  not  ?  Can  he  give  what  himself 
 hath  not  received  ? 
 
 I  end  this  point  with  the  saying  of  Epiphanius  :  "  Vox  est 
 Aerii  hseretici,  Unus  est  ordo  ejiiscoporum  et  presbyterorum, 
 una  dignitas":"  "  To  say  that  bishops  are  not  a  distinct  order 
 from  presbyters,  was  a  heresy  first  broached  by  Aerius,"  and 
 hath  lately  been  (at  least  in  the  manner  of  speaking)  coun- 
 tenanced by  many  of  the  church  of  Rome. 
 
 SECTION  XXXII. 
 
 For  Bishops  had  a  Power  distinct  and  superior  to  that  of 
 Presbyters.    As  of  Ordination. 
 
 For  to  clear  the  distinction  of  order,  it  is  evident  in  anti- 
 quity, that  bishops  had  a  power  of  imposing  hands,  for  col- 
 lating of  orders,  which  presbyters  have  not.  What  was 
 done  in  this  affair  in  the  times  of  the  apostles,  I  have  already 
 explicated :  but  now  the  inquiry  is,  M'hat  the  church  did  in 
 pursuance  of  the  practice  and  tradition  apostolical.  The 
 first  and  second  canons  of  apostles  command,  that  two  or 
 three  bishops  should  ordain  a  bishop,  and  one  bishop  should 
 ordain  a  priest  and  a  deacon.  A  presbyter  is  not  authorized 
 to  ordain  ;  a  bishop  is.  St.  Dionysius  affirms,  "  Sacerdotem 
 non  posse  initiari,  nisi  per  invocationes  episcopales,"  and  ac- 
 
 "  Haeres  75. 
 
 L  2 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 knowledges  no  oi-dainer  but  a  bishop*.  No' more  did  the 
 church  ever;  insomuch  that  when  Novatus,the  fother  of  the 
 old  Puritans,  did  '  amliire  episcopatum,'  he  was  fain  to  go  to 
 the  utmost  parts  of  Italy,  and  seduce  or  enti-eat  some  bishops 
 to  impose  hands  on  him,  as  Cornelius  witnesses  in  his  epistle 
 to  Fabianus,  in  Eusebius''.  To  this  we  may  add,  as  so  many 
 witnesses,  all  those  ordinations  made  by  the  bishops  of  Rome, 
 mentioned  in  the  pontifical  book  of  Damasus  Platina,  and 
 othei's.  "  Habitis  de  more  sacris  ordinibus  Decembris  mense, 
 presbyteros  decern,  diaconos  duos,  &:c.,  creat  S.  Clemens: 
 Anacletus  presbyteros  quinque,  diaconos  tres,  episcopos  di- 
 versis  in  locis  sex  numero  creavit;"  and  so  in  descent,  for  all 
 the  bishops  of  that  succession,  for  many  ages  together. 
 
 But  let  us  see  how  this  power  of  ordination  went  in  the 
 bishop's  hand  alone,  by  law  and  constitution ;  for  particular 
 examples  are  infinite. 
 
 In  the  council  of  Ancyra  it  is  determined,  xu^eTrtiyxoTTovs 
 
 povs  zjoXsus,  yjupXi  rov  EOTTpaTT^vat  vtto  rov  It^i'SM'TiOu  i/^zra.  y§a/x- 
 fAXTcov  £v  sripac  zyxpoixix.  "  That  rural  bishops  shall  notoi'dain 
 pi'esbyters  or  deacons  in  another's  diocese,  without  letters  of 
 license  from  the  bishop.  Neither  shall  the  priests  of  the 
 city  attemptjt'."  First,  not  rural  bishops,  that  is,  bishops 
 that  are  taken  '  in  adjutorium  episcopi  principalis,'  '  vicars  to 
 the  bishop  of  the  diocese,'  they  must  not  ordain  priests  and 
 deacons.  For  it  is  Iripcc  zjxpotx.i'x,  "it  is  another's  diocese," 
 and  to  be  xXXorpioeTiiax.o'Tros  is  prohibited  by  the  canon  of  Scrip- 
 ture. But  then  they  may  with  license?  Yes;  for  they  had 
 episcopal  ordination  at  first,  but  not  episcopal  jurisdiction, 
 and  so  were  not  to  invade  the  territories  of  their  neighbour. 
 The  tenth  canon  of  the  council  of  Antioch  clears  this  part. 
 The  words  are  these,  as  they  are  rendered  by  Dionysius 
 Exiguus:  "  Qui  in  villis,  et  vicis  constituti  sunt  chorepis- 
 copi,  tametsi  manus  irapositionem  ab  episcopis  susceperunt, 
 [et  ut  episcopi  sunt  consecrati]  tamen  opoi-tet  eos  modum  pro- 
 prium  retinere,"  &c.  il  y.xl  •x^noo^snlxv  sia'j  litia-KO'naj'j  siXrjipoTEs-, 
 the  next  clause,  "  et  ut  episcopi  consecrati  sunt,"  although 
 it  be  in  very  ancient  Latin  copies,  yet  is  not  found  in  the 
 Greek,  but  is  an  '  assumentum'  for  exposition  of  the  Greek, 
 
 *  Eccles.  Hier.  e.  3. 
 
 ^  Lib.  vi.  c.  23. 
 
 <=  Can.  l.S. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 129 
 
 but  is  most  certainly  implied  in  it;  for  else,  what  description 
 could  this  be  of  '  chorepiscopi,'  above  '  presbyteri  rurales,' 
 to  say  that  they  were  x^ipoOsalxv  I'jniyy.oTrcov  £lXn(p6ris,  for  so  had 
 country  priests,  they  had  received  imposition  of  the  bishop's 
 hands.  Either  then  the  chorepiscopi  had  received  ordina- 
 tion from  three  bishops,  and  inimoiiuv  is  to  be  taken  collec- 
 tively, not  distributively,  to  wit,  that  each  country-bishop 
 had  received  ordination  from  bishops  ;  many  bishops  in  con- 
 junction, and  so  they  were  very  bishops;  or  else  they  had  no 
 more  than  village-priests,  and  then  this  caution  had  been 
 impertinent. 
 
 But  the  city-priests  were  also  included  in  this  prohibition. 
 True  it  is,  but  it  is  in  a  parenthesis,  with  an  aXKa.  ixri^l,  in  the 
 midst  of  the  canon  ;  and  there  was  some  particular  reason  for 
 the  involving  them  ;  not  that  they  ever  did  actually  ordain 
 any ;  but  that  since  it  was  prohibited  to  the  chorepiscopi  to 
 ordain,  (to  them  I  say,  who  though,  for  want  of  jurisdiction, 
 they  might  not  ordain  without  license,  it  being  '  in  aliena 
 parochia,'  yet  they  had  capacity  by  their  order  to  do  it,)  if 
 these  should  do  it,  the  city-presbyters, — who  were  often  de- 
 spatched into  the  villages  upon  the  same  employment,  by  a 
 temporary  mission,  that  the  chorepiscopi  were,  by  an  ordi 
 nary  and  fixed  residence, — might,  perhaps,  think  that  their 
 commission  might  extend  farther  than  it  did  ;  or  that  they 
 might  go  beyond  it,  as  well  as  the  chorepiscopi  ;  and  there- 
 fore their  way  was  obstructed  by  this  clause  of  aXKa.  /x*)Se 
 T^qiaQvripovs  zsoXius.  Add  to  this  ;  the  presbyters  of  the  city 
 were  of  great  honour  and  peculiar  privilege,  as  appears  in  the 
 thirteenth  canon  of  the  council  of  Neo-Caesarea,  and,  there- 
 foi-e,  might  easily  exceed,  if  the  canon  had  not  been  their 
 bridle. 
 
 The  sum  of  the  canon  is  this.  With  the  bishop's  license 
 the  chorepiscopi  might  ordain ;  for  themselves  had  episcopal 
 ordination  :  but  without  license  they  might  not ;  for  they  had 
 but  delegate  and  subordinate  jurisdiction  :  and,  therefore,  in 
 the  fourteenth  canon  of  Neo-Caesarea,  are  said  to  be  ejV  tuttov 
 tSjv  sQ^oixriKovTiz,  '  like  the  seventy  disciples,'  that  is,  inferior  to 
 bishops,  as  the  seventy  were  to  the  twelve  apostles  ;  viz.,  'in 
 hoc  particulari,'  not  in  order,  but  like  them  in  subordination 
 and  inferiority  of  jurisdiction  :  but  the  city-presbyters  might 
 not  ordain,  neither  v/ith  noj-  without  license  ;  for  they  are  in 
 
130  EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 the  canon  only  by  way  of  parenthesis,  and  the  sequence  of 
 procuring  a  faculty  from  the  bishops  to  collate  orders,  is  to 
 be  referred  to  '  chorepiscopi,'  not  to  '  presbyteri  civitatis,' 
 unless  we  should  strain  this  canon  into  a  sense  contrary  to 
 the  practice  of  the  Catholic  church.  '  Res  enim  ordinis  non 
 possunt  delegari,'  is  a  most  certain  rule  in  divinity,  and  ad- 
 mitted by  men  of  all  sides  and  most  different  interests.  How- 
 ever, we  see  here  that  they  were  prohibited  ;  and  we  never 
 find,  before  this  time,  that  any  of  them  actually  did  give 
 orders,  neither  by  ordinary  power,  nor  extraordinary  dis- 
 pensation ;  and  the  constant  tradition  of  the  church,  and 
 practice  apostolical,  is,  that  they  never  could  give  orders  ; 
 therefore  this  exposition  of  the  canon  is  liable  to  no  excep- 
 tion, but  is  clear  for  the  illegality  of  a  presbyter  giving  holy 
 orders  either  to  a  presbyter  or  a  deacon, — and  is  concluding 
 for  the  necessity  of  concurrence,  both  of  episcopal  order  and 
 jurisdiction  for  ordinations  ;  for  '  reddendo  singula  singulis,' 
 and  expounding  this  canon  according  to  the  sense  of  the 
 church  and  exigence  of  catholic  custom,  the  chorepiscopi  are 
 excluded  from  giving  orders,  for  want  of  jurisdiction, — and 
 the  priests  of  the  city,  for  M'ant  of  order  ;  the  first  may  be 
 supplied  by  a  delegate  power  '  in  Uteris  episcopalibus  ;'  the 
 second  cannot,  but  by  a  new  ordination,  that  is,  by  making 
 the  priest  a  bishop.  For  if  a  priest  of  the  city  have  not  so 
 much  power  as  a  chorepiscopus,  as  I  have  proved  he  hath 
 not,  by  showing  that  the  chorepiscopus  then  had  episcopal 
 ordination,  and  yet  the  chorepiscopus  might  not  collate  orders 
 without  a  faculty  from  the  bishop, — the  city-priests  might 
 not  do  it,  unless  more  be  added  to  them  ;  for  their  want 
 was  more.  They  not  only  want  jurisdiction,  but  something 
 besides,  and  that  must  needs  be  '  order.' 
 
 But  although  these  chorepiscopi,  at  the  first,  had  episcopal 
 ordination,  yet  it  was  quickly  taken  from  them,  for  their  en- 
 croachment upon  the  bishop's  diocese ;  and  as  they  were  but 
 '  vicarii,'  or  '  visitatores  episcoporum  in  villis,'  so  their  ordi- 
 nation was  but  to  a  mere  presbyterate.  And  this  we  find,  as 
 soon  as  ever  we  hear  that  they  had  had  episcopal  ordination. 
 For  those  who,  in  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  canon  of  An- 
 tioch,  we  find  had  been  consecrated  as  bishops,  in  the  end  of 
 the  same  canon  we  find  it  decreed  '  de  novo  :'  xi^psTriWoTrov  Sg 
 7evE<7S'ai  vTTo  rov  rris  ■z^o'kiws,  -ri  {moKurui,  liti'jy.o'Tiov .     "  The 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 131 
 
 choreplscopus,  or  country-bishop,  must  be  ordained  by 
 the  bishop  of  the  city,  in  whose  jurisdiction  he  is ;"  which 
 was  clearly  ordination  to  the  order  of  a  presbyter,  and  no 
 more.  And  ever  after  this,  all  the  ordinations  they  made, 
 were  only  to  the  inferior  ministries,  with  the  bishop's  license 
 too  ;  but  they  never  ordained  any  to  be  deacons  or  priests  ; 
 for  these  were  orders  of  the  Holy  Ghost's  appointing,  and, 
 therefore,  were  '  gratia  Spiritus  Sancti,'  and  issues  of  order  ; 
 but  the  inferior  ministries,  as  of  a  reader,  an  ostiary,  &c., 
 were  human  constitutions,  and  required  not  the  capacity  of 
 episcopal  order  to  collate  them  :  for  they  were  not  '  graces 
 of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  as  all  orders  properly  so  called  are,  but 
 might,  by  human  dispensation,  be  bestowed,  as  well  as  by 
 human  ordinance  they  had  their  first  constitution. 
 
 The  chorepiscopi  lasted  in  this  consistence,  till  they  were 
 quite  taken  away  by  the  council  of  Hispalis  :  save  only  that 
 such  men  also  were  called  chorepiscopi,  who  had  been  bishops 
 of  cities,  but  had  fallen  from  their  honour,  by  communicat- 
 ing in  Gentile  sacrifices,  and  by  being  traditors  ;  but  in  case 
 they  repented  and  were  reconciled,  they  had  not  indeed 
 restitution  to  their  see  ;  but  because  they  had  the  indelible 
 character  of  a  bishop,  they  were  allowed  the  name,  and 
 honour,  and  sometime  the  execution  of  offices  chorepiscopal. 
 Now  of  this  sort  of  chorepiscopi  no  objection  can  be  \^re- 
 tended,  if  they  had  made  ordinations  ;  and  of  the  other, 
 nothing  pertinent,  for  they  also  had  the  ordination  and  order 
 of  bishops.  The  former  was  the  case  of  Meletius,  in  the 
 Nicene  council,  as  is  to  be  seen  in  the  epislle  of  the  fathers 
 to  the  church  of  Alexandria''.  But  however,  all  this  while, 
 the  power  of  ordination  is  so  fast  held  in  the  bishop's  hand, 
 that  it  was  communicated  to  none,  though  of  the  greatest 
 privilege. 
 
 I  find  the  like  care  taken  In  the  council  of  Sardis- :  for 
 when  Musaeus  and  Eutychianus  had  ordained  some  clerks, 
 themselves  not  being  bishops, — Gaudentius  (one  of  the  mode- 
 rate men,  it  is  likely,)  for  quietness'  sake,  and  to  comply  with 
 the  times,  would  fain  have  had  those  clerks  received  into 
 clerical  communion ;  but  the  council  would  by  no  means  admit 
 that  any  should  be  received  into  the  clergy,  oi>X  Uelvovs  royr 
 
 Tripart.  Hisi.  lib,  ii.  c.  12.  ex  Theodoret.  -  Can.  19. 
 
132 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 lEjw&e'vTjJf  zioLfx  t/vwv  tt)  aXoiS-Eia  ptev  ovTii;v  E'TrtaxoTTiWv,  (as  Balsa- 
 mon  expresses  upon  that  canon  :)  "  but  such  as  were  ordained 
 by  them,  who  were  bishops  verily  and  indeed."  But  with 
 those  who  were  ordained  by  Musseus  and  Eutychianus,  us 
 'Ka.'ix.o7iavyxoivu)ir,(jofA.Bv,  "we  will  communicate  as  with  laymen:" 
 on  ov^e  OVOIJ.X  iTtiiyy.oTTw  ^vvxvtxi  ex^Dtsiv,  oi  xutou!  "viyjx  5(,Ji/;o~ovri- 
 cx-iT-cs:  "For  they  were  no  bishops,  that  imposed  hands  on 
 them:"  and,  therefore,  the  clerks  were  not  ordained  truly, 
 but  were  zjXxoiy.vjoi  yjipoTo-;ixv,  "  dissemblei's  of  ordination." 
 "  Quae  autem  de  Musaeo  et  Eutychiano  dicta  sunt,  trahe 
 etiam  ad  alios,  qui  non  ordlnati  fuerunt,"  &c.,  saith  Balsamon ; 
 intimating,  that  it  is  a  ruled  case,  and  of  public  interest. 
 
 The  same  was  the  issue  of  those  two  famous  cases,  the  one 
 of  Ischiras  ordained  of  Colluthus,  (pavrxaQivros  ettjoxott'^v, 
 '  one  that  dreamed  onl)'  he  was  a  bishop.'  Ischiras,  being 
 ordained  by  him,  could  be  no  priest,  nor  any  else  of  his 
 ordaining  ;  y.xl  -axix  y/ip  xlrov  yiyo-ucv  axvpor  and  Ischiras  him- 
 self was  reduced  into  lay-communion,  being  deposed  by  the 
 synod  of  Alexandria,  IxTrsTa'v  kkI  Tr,s-  •^sv'Sovs  v-tto'joIxs  toS  zspia- 
 Qursplov  :  "  falling  from  the  imagination  of  his  presbyterate,'' 
 say  the  priests  and  deacons  of  Mareotis' :  and  of  the  rest  that 
 were  ordained  with  Ischiras,  Xx'ixol  yeyi-vxai,  xa!  cvrco  av\xyo\rxi, 
 saith  St.  Athanasius  ;  and  this  so  known  a  business,  dis  ov^svl 
 xaGETTT/xsv  xfji.(^lQoXo'j :  "  no  man  made  scruple  of  the  nullity." 
 The  parallel  case  is  of  the  presbyters  ordained  by  Maximus, 
 who  was  another  bishop  in  the  air  too ;  all  his  ordinations 
 were  pronounced  null,  by  the  fathers  of  the  council  in  Con- 
 stantinople*. A  third  is  of  the  blind  bishop  of  Agabra  im- 
 posing hands,  while  his  presbyters  read  the  words  of  ordina- 
 tion ;  the  ordination  was  pronounced  invalid  by  the  first 
 council  of  Seyil**.  These  cases  are  so  known,  I  need  not  insist 
 on  them.    This  only, 
 
 In  divers  cases  of  transgression  of  the  canons,  clergjTnen 
 were  reduced  to  lay -communion,  either  being  suspended  or 
 deposed ;  that  Is,  from  their  place  of  honour  and  execution 
 of  their  function,  with  or  without  hope  of  restitution  respec- 
 tively ;  but  then  still  they  had  their  order,  and  the  sacra- 
 ments conferred  by  them  were  valid,  though  they  indeed 
 
 f  Apud  Athanas.  Apolog.  2.  cpist.  Presb.  et  Diacon.  Mareolic,  ad  Curiosum 
 et  Philagrium. 
 
 ?.  Cap.  4.  Cap.  5. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 133 
 
 were  prohibited  to  minister;  but  In  the  cases  of  the  present 
 instance,  the  ordinations  were  pronounced  as  null,  to  have 
 bestowed  nothing,  and  to  be  merely  imaginary. 
 
 But  so  also  it  was  in  case  that  bishops  ordained  without 
 a  title,  or  in  the  diocese  of  another  bishop  ;  as  in  the  council 
 of  Chalcedon',  and  of  Antioch"^,  •nraivTiz  ra  aKvpx.  And  may  be 
 it  was  so  in  case  of  ordination  by  a  presbyter,  it  was,  by 
 positive  constitution,  pronounced  void,  and  no  more ;  and, 
 therefore,  may  be  rescinded  by  the  countermand  of  an  equal 
 power  ;  a  council  at  most  may  do  it ;  and,  therefore,  without 
 a  council,  a  probable  necessity  will  let  us  loose.  But  to  this 
 the  answer  is  evident. 
 
 1.  The  expressions  in  the  several  cases  are  several,  and 
 of  diverse  issue ;  for  in  case  of  those  nullities,  which  are 
 merely  canonical ,  they  are  expressed  as  then  first  made ; 
 but  in  the  case  of  ordination  by  a  non-bishop,  they  are  only 
 declared  void  '  ipso  facto.'  And  therefore,  in  that  decree  of 
 Chalcedon  against  sine-titular  ordinations,  the  canon  salth : 
 
 T^v  roixurnv  j^eigoS-scn'av,  "  irritam  exlstlmari  manus  Imjjosi- 
 tionem,"  "  to  be  esteemed  as  null,"  that  is,  not  to  have 
 canonical  approbation  ;  but  is  not  declared  null,  '  in  natura 
 rei,'  as  it  is  in  the  foregoing  instances. 
 
 2.  In  the  cases  of  Antioch  and  Chalcedon,  the  degree  is 
 '  pro  futuro,'  which  makes  it  evident  that  those  nullities  are 
 such  as  are  made  by  canon ;  but  in  the  cases  of  Colluthus 
 and  Maxlmus,  there  was  declaration  of  a  past  nullity,  and 
 that  before  any  canon  was  made;  and  though  synodical  decla- 
 rations pronounced  such  ordinations  Invalid,  yet  none  decreed 
 so  for  the  future;  which  is  a  clear  evidence,  that  this  nullity, 
 viz.,  in  case  of  ordination  by  a  non-presbyter, is  not  made  by 
 canon,  but  by  canon  declared  to  be  invalid  in  the  nature  of 
 the  thing. 
 
 3.  If  to  this  be  added,  that  in  antiquity  it  was  dogma- 
 tically resolved,  that  by  nature  and  institution  of  the  order  of 
 bishops,  ordination  was  appropriate  to  them,  then  it  will  also 
 fi'om  hence  be  evident,  that  the  nullity  of  ordination  without 
 a  bishop,  is  not  dependent  upon  positive  constitution,  but  on 
 the  exigence  of  the  institution.     Now  that  the  power  of 
 
 '  Can.  6, 
 
 I"  Can.  13. 
 
134 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 ordination  was  only  in  the  bishop,  even  they  who,  to  advance 
 the  presbyters,  were  willing  enough  to  speak  less  for  epis- 
 copacy, give  testimony;  making  this  the  proper  distinctive 
 cognizance  of  a  bishop  from  a  presbyter,  that  the  bishop  hath 
 power  of  ordination,  the  presbyter  hath  not.  So  St.  Jerome  • 
 "  Quid  facit  episcopns,  excepta  ordinatione,  quod  presbyter 
 non  faciat?"  "  All  things,"  saith  he',  (to  wit,  all  things  of 
 precise  order,)  "  are  common  to  bishops  with  priests,  except 
 ordination ;"  for  that  is  proper  to  the  bishop.  And  St.  Chry- 
 sostom :  "  Sola  quippe  ordinatione  superiores  illis  sunt 
 episcopi,  atque  hoc  tantum  plusquam  presbyteri  habere 
 videnturm."  Ordination  is  the  proper  and  peculiar  function 
 of  a  bishop ;  and,  therefore,  not  given  him  by  positive  con- 
 stitution of  the  canon. 
 
 4.  No  man  was  called  an  heretic  for  breach  of  canon,  but 
 for  denying  the  power  of  ordination  to  be  proper  to  a  bishop: 
 Aerius  was,  by  Epiphanius,  Philastrius,  and  St.  Austin,  con- 
 demned and  branded  for  heresy,  and  by  the  catholic  church, 
 saith  Epiphanius.  This  power,  therefoi'e,  came  from  a  higher 
 spring,  than  positive  and  canonical  sanction.  But  now 
 proceed. 
 
 The  council  held  in  Trullo",  complaining  of  the  incursion 
 of  the  barbarous  people  upon  the  church's  inheritance,  saith 
 that  it  forced  some  bishops  from  their  residence,  and  made 
 that  they  could  not  jcara  tq  xgar^ffav  e9o!  Tar  ^eiporovixr  xal 
 zsx'urct  a.  ru  iTTiffxoTra' avi^xci  w^irrsiv  t£  y.zl  /U-ETap^si^i'^effSa;!,  "ac- 
 cording to  the  guise  of  the  church,  give  orders  and  do  such 
 things  as  did  belong  to  the  bishop :"  and  in  the  sequel  of  the 
 canon  they  are  permitted  in  such  cases,  "  ut  et  diversorum 
 clericorum  ordinationes  canonice  faciant,"  "  to  make  canon- 
 ical ordinations  of  clergymen."  Giving  of  orders  is  proper, 
 it  belongs  to  a  bishop.  So  the  council.  And,  therefore, 
 Theodoret,  expounding  that  place  of  St.  Paul,  "  by  laying 
 on  the  hands  of  the  presbytery,"  interprets  it  of  bishops  ;  for 
 this  reason,  because  presbyters  did  not  impose  hands.  There 
 is  an  imperfect  canon  in  the  Arausican  council",  that  hath  an 
 expression  very  pertinent  to  this  purpose:  "  Ea  quoa  non 
 nisi  per  episcopos  geruntur,"  "  those  things  that  are  not 
 
 '  Ad  Evagrium. 
 "  Can.  37. 
 
 "Homil.  2.  in  1  Tim.  ii. 
 •>  Can.  20. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 135 
 
 done  but  by  bishops,"  they  were  decreed  still  to  be  done  by 
 bishops,  though  he  that  was  to  do  them  regxilariy,  did  fall 
 into  any  infirmity  whatsoever,  yet  "  non  sub  pra?sentia  sua 
 presbyteros  agere  permittat,  sed  evocet  episcopum."  Here 
 are  clearly  by  this  canon,  some  things  supposed  to  be  proper 
 to  the  bishops,  to  the  action  of  which  presbyters  must,  in  no 
 case,  be  admitted.  The  particulars  what  they  are,  are  not 
 specified  in  the  canon,  but  are  named  before,  viz.,  orders  and 
 confirmation ;  for  almost  the  whole  council  was  concerning 
 them,  and  nothing  else  is  properly  the  '  agendum  episcopi,' 
 and  the  canon  else  is  not  to  be  understood.  To  the  same 
 issue  is  that  circumlocutory  description  or  name  of  a  bishojo, 
 used  by  St.  Chrysostom,  o  i/.iXkuv  x^'f^'^^i"''^£"'j  "the  man 
 that  is  to  ordain  clerks." 
 
 And  all  this  is  but  the  doctrine  of  the  catholic  church, 
 which  St.  Epijihanius  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  Aerius, 
 denying  episcopacy  to  be  a  distinct  order.  'H  /aev  yif,  (speak- 
 ing of  episcopacy)  ian  '^sxrepuv  ysvunrtxr)  raiis,  ■^jxrspacs  yaip 
 ysvvSi  rr]  ennXriTia.'  7)  CTatTs'^ay  pt'^  ^vvoi^i^-n  ysvv^v,  speaking  of 
 presbytery:  "The  order  of  bishops  begets  fathers  to  the 
 church  "of  God,  but  the  order  of  presbyters  begets  sons  in 
 baptism,  but  no  fathers  or  doctors  by  ordination."  It  is  a 
 very  remarkable  passage  related  by  Eusebius,  in  the  ordina- 
 tion of  Novatus  to  be  presbyter,  the  bishop  did  it  JiaxwXyd- 
 /xEvos-  aTTo  zsivros  rov  yXripou,  '  all  the  whole  clergy  was  against 
 it,"  yet  the  bishop  did  ordain  him,  and  then  certainly  scarce 
 any  conjunction  of  the  other  clergv  can  be  imagined ;  I  am 
 sure  none  is  either  exjjressed  or  intimated For  it  was  a  ruled 
 case,  and  attested  by  the  uniform  px-actice  of  the  church, 
 which  was  set  down  in  the  third  council  of  Carthao-p  • 
 "  Episcopus  unus  esse  potest,  per  quem  dignatlone  Divina 
 presbyteri  multi  constitui  possunt'."  This  case  I  instance 
 the  more  particularly,  because  it  is  an  exact  determination  of 
 a  bishop's  sole  power  of  ordination.  Aureliusmade  a  motion, 
 that  if  a  church  wanted  a  presbyter  to  become  her  bishop, 
 they  might  demand  one  from  any  bishop.  It  was  granted ; 
 but  Posthumianus,  the  bishop,  put  this  case:  "  Deinde  qui 
 unum  habuerit,  numquid  debet  illi  ipse  unus  jiresbyter 
 auferri  V  "  How,  if  the  bishop  have  but  one  priest,  must 
 
 I'  Hseres.  75.  q  Euseb.  lib.  vi.  c.  33. 
 
 ••  Can.  45. 
 
136 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 his  bishop  part  with  him  to  supply  the  necessity  of  the 
 neighbour  widow-church?"  Yea,  that  he  must.  But  how 
 then  shall  he  keep  ordinations,  when  he  hath  never  a  pres- 
 byter to  assist  him?  That  indeed  would  have  been  the 
 objection  now,  but  it  was  none  then ;  for  Aurelius  told 
 them  plainly,  there  was  no  inconvenience  in  it ;  for  though  a 
 bishop  have  never  a  presbyter,  no  great  matter,  he  can  him- 
 self ordain  many,  and  then  I  am  sure  there  is  a  sole  ordina- 
 tion ;  but  if  a  bishop  be  wanting  to  a  church,  he  is  not  so 
 easily  found. 
 
 Thus  it  went  ordinarily  in  the  style  of  the  church,  ordi- 
 nations were  made  by  the  bishop,  and  the  ordainer  spoken 
 of  as  a  single  person.  So  it  is  in  the  Nicene  council*,  the 
 council  of  Antiocht,  the  council  of  Chalcedon",  and  St. 
 Jerome,  who,  writing  to  Pammachius  against  the  errors  of 
 John  of  Jerusalem,  "  If  thou  speak,"  saith  he,  "  of  Pau- 
 linianus,  he  comes  now  and  then  to  visit  us,  not  as  any  of 
 your  clergy,  but  '  ejus  a  quo  oi'dinatus  est,'  that  bishop''s  who 
 ordained  him." 
 
 So  that  the  issue  of  this  argument  is  this.  The  canons 
 of  the  apostles  and  the  rules  of  the  ancient  councils  appro- 
 priate the  ordination  of  bishops  to  bishops,  of  presbyters  to 
 one  bishop,  ('for  I  never  find  a  presbyter  ordained  by  two 
 bishops  together,  but  only  Origen,  by  the  bishops  of  Jeru- 
 salem and  Caesarea,)  presbyters  are  never  mentioned  in  con- 
 junction with  bishops  at  their  ordinations,  and  if  alone  they 
 did  it,  their  ordination  was  pronounced  invalid  and  void  '  ab 
 initio.' 
 
 To  these  particulars  add  this,  that  bishops  alone  were 
 punished  if  ordinations  were  uncanonical ;  which  were  most 
 unreasonable,  if  presbyters  did  join  in  them,  and  were  causes 
 in  conjunction.  But  unless  they  did  it  alone,  we  never  read 
 that  the}'  were  punishable  ;  indeed  bishops  were  '  pro  toto, 
 et  integro,'  as  is  reported  by  Sozomen  in  the  case  of  Elpidius, 
 Eustathius,  Basihus  of  Ancyra,  and  Eleusius.  Thus  also  it 
 was  decreed  in  the  second  and  sixth  chapters  of  the  council 
 of  Chalcedon,  and  in  the  imperial  constitutions x.  Since, 
 therefore,  we  never  find  presbyters  joined  with  bishops  in 
 
 «  Cap.  19.  tCap.  9.  "  Cap.  ?.  ct  6, 
 
 ^  Novell.  Constit.  0-  et  123  c.  16, 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 137 
 
 commission,  or  practice,  or  penalty,  all  this  while  ;  I  may 
 infer,  from  the  premises,  the  same  thing  which  the  council  of 
 Hispalis  expresses  in  direct  and  full  sentence:  "  Eplscopus 
 sacerdotibus  ac  miiiistris  solus  honorem  dare  potest,  solus 
 auferre  non  potest:"  "The  bishop  alone  may  give  the 
 priestly  honour,  he  alone  is  not  suffered  to  tahe  it  away''." 
 This  council  was  held  in  the  year  657,  and  I  set  it  down  here 
 for  this  purpose,  to  show  that  t!ie  decree  of  the  fourth  council 
 of  Carthage',  which  was  the  first  that  licensed  priests  to 
 assist  bishops  in  ordinations,  yet  was  not  obligatory  in  the 
 West ;  but  for  almost  three  hundi'ed  years  after,  ordinations 
 were  made  by  bishops  alone.  But  till  this  council,  no  pre- 
 tence of  any  such  conjunction,  and  after  this  council,  sole 
 ordination  did  not  expire  in  the  West  for  above  two  hundred 
 years  together  ;  but  for  aught  I  know,  ever  since  then  it 
 hath  obtained,  that  although  presbyters  join  not  in  the  con- 
 secration of  a  bishop,  yet  of  a  presbyter  they  do  ;  but  this  is 
 only  by  a  positive  subintroduced  constitution,  first  made  in 
 a  provincial  of  Africa,  and  in  other  places  received  by  insi- 
 nuation and  conformity  of  pi*actice. 
 
 I  know  not  what  can  be  said  against  it.  I  only  find  a  piece 
 of  an  objection  out  of  St.  Cyprian,  who  was  a  man  so  com- 
 plying with  the  subjects  of  his  diocese,  that,  if  any  man,  he 
 was  like  to  furnish  us  with,  an  antinomy:  "  Hunc  igitur, 
 fratres  dilectissimi,  a  ine,  et  a  collegis  qui  pra^sentes  aderant, 
 ordinatum  sciatis''."  Here  either  by  his  'colleagues'  he 
 means  bishops  or  presbyters.  If  bishops,  then  many  bishops 
 will  be  found  in  the  ordination  of  one  to  an  inferior  order ; 
 which,  because  it  was,  as  I  observed  before,  against  the 
 practice  of  Christendom,  will  not  easily  be  admitted  to  be 
 the  sense  of  St.  Cyprian  :  but  if  he  means  presbyters  by 
 *  coUegae,'  then  sole  ordination  is  invalidated  by  this  example, 
 for  presbyters  joined  with  him  in  the  ordination  of  Aurelius. 
 
 I  answer,  that  it  matters  not  whether  by  his  colleagues  he 
 means  one  or  the  other  ;  for  Aurelius  the  confessor,  who 
 was  the  man  ordained,  was  ordained  but  to  be  a  reader  ;  and 
 that  was  no  order  of  Divine  institution,  no  gift  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  and,  therefore,  might  be  dispensed  by  one,  or  more, 
 by  bishops  or  presbyters,  and  no  way  enters  into  the  con- 
 
 y  Cap.  6. 
 
 ^  ('an.  ?.  et  3. 
 
 Epist.  33. 
 
138 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 sideratlon  of  this  question,  concerning  the  power  of  collating 
 those  orders  which  are  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of 
 Divine  ordinance  ;  and  therefore,  this,  although  I  have  seen 
 it  once  pretended,  yet  hath  no  validity  to  impugn  the  con- 
 stant practice  of  primitive  antiquity. 
 
 But  then  are  all  ordinations  invalid,  which  are  done  by 
 mere  presbyters,  without  a  bishop  ?  What  think  we  of  the 
 reformed  churches  ? 
 
 1.  For  my  part,  I  know  not  what  to  think.  The  question 
 hath  been  so  often  asked,  with  so  much  violence  and  pre- 
 judice, and  we  are  so  bound,  by  public  interest,  to  approve 
 all  that  they  do,  that  we  have  disabled  ourselves  to  justify 
 our  own.  For  we  were  glad,  at  first,  of  abettors  against  the 
 errors  of  the  Roman  church  ;  we  found  these  men  zealous  in 
 it  ;  we  thanked  God  for  it,  as  we  had  cause  ;  and  we  were 
 willing  to  make  them  recompense,  by  endeavouring  to  justify 
 their  ordinations ;  not  thinking  what  would  follow  upon 
 ourselves.  But  now  it  is  come  to  that  issue,  that  our  own 
 episcopacy  is  thought  not  necessaiy,  because  we  did  not  con- 
 demn the  ordinations  of  their  presbytery. 
 
 2.  Why  is  not  the  question  rather,  what  we  think  of 
 the  primitive  church,  than  what  we  think  of  the  reformed 
 churches  ?  Did  the  primitive  councils  and  fathers  do  well  in 
 condemning  the  ordinations  made  by  mere  presbyters  ?  If 
 they  did  well,  what  was  a  virtue  in  them,  is  no  sin  in  us.  If 
 they  did  ill,  from  what  principle  shall  we  judge  of  the  right 
 of  ordinations?  since  there  is  no  example  in  Scripture  of  any 
 ordination  made  but  by  apostles  and  bishops ;  and  the  pres- 
 byteiy  that  imposed  hands  on  Tiraothv,  is,  by  all  antiquity, 
 expounded  either  of  the  office  or  of  a  college  of  presbyters  ; 
 and  St.  Paul  expounds  it  to  be  an  ordination  made  by  his 
 own  hands,  as  appears  by  comparing  the  two  epistles  to  St. 
 Timothy  together  ;  and  may  be  so  meant  by  the  principles 
 of  all  sides  ;  for  if  the  names  be  confounded,  then  presbyter 
 may  signify  a  bishop  ;  and  that  they  of  this  presbytery  were 
 not  bishops,  they  can  never  prove  from  Scripture,  where  all 
 men  grant  that  the  names  are  confounded. 
 
 So  that  whence  will  men  take  their  estimate  for  the  rites  of 
 ordinations?  From  Scripture  ?  That  gives  it  always  to 
 apostles  and  bishops,  as  I  have  proved  ;  and  that  a  priest  did 
 ever  impose  hands  for  ordination,  can  never  be  shown  from 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 139 
 
 thence.  From  whence  then  ?  From  antiquity  ?  That  was 
 so  far  from  licensing  ordinations  made  by  presbyters  alone, 
 that  presbyters,  in  the  primitive  church,  did  never  join  with 
 bishops  in  collating  holy  orders  of  presbyter  and  deacon,  till 
 the  fourth  council  of  Carthage  ;  much  less  do  it  alone, 
 rightly,  and  with  effect.  So  that  as,  in  Scriptui-e,  there  is 
 nothing  for  presbyters'  ordaining,  so  in  antiquity  there  is 
 much  against  it ;  and  either  in  this  particular  we  must  have 
 strange  thoughts  of  Scrij^ture  and  antiquity,  or  not  so  fair 
 interpretation  of  the  ordinations  of  reformed  presbyteries. 
 But  for  my  part,  I  had  rather  speak  a  truth  in  sincerity,  than 
 err  with  a  glorious  correspondence. 
 
 But  will  not  necessity  excuse  them,  who  could  not  have 
 orders  from  orthodox  bishops  ?  Shall  we  either  sin  against 
 our  consciences,  by  subscribing  to  heretical  and  false  resolu- 
 tions '  in  materia  fidei,'  or  else  lose  the  being  of  a  church,  for 
 want  of  episcopal  ordinations  ?  Indeed  if  the  case  were  just 
 thus,  it  was  very  hard  with  good  people  of  the  transmarine 
 churches  ;  but  I  have  here  two  things  to  consider. 
 
 1.  I  am  very  willing  to  believe,  that  they  would  not  have 
 done  any  thing,  either  of  error  or  suspicion,  but  in  cases  of 
 necessity.  But  then  I  consider  that  M.  Du  Plessls,  a  man  of 
 honour  and  great  learning,  does  attest"^,  that  at  the  first 
 reformation,  there  were  many  archbishops  and  cardinals  in 
 Germany,  England,  France,  and  Italy,  that  joined  in  the 
 reformation,  whom  they  might,  but  did  not,  employ  in  their 
 ordinations;  and  what  necessity  then  can  be  pretended  in 
 this  case,  I  would  fain  learn,  that  I  might  make  their  de- 
 fence. But,  which  is  of  more  and  deeper  consideration,  for 
 this  might  have  been  done  by  inconslderation  and  irresolu- 
 tion, as  often  happens  in  the  beginning  of  great  changes  ; 
 but  it  is  their  constant  and  resolved  practice,  at  least  in 
 France,  that  if  any  returns  to  them,  they  will  re-ordain  him 
 by  their  presbytery,  though  he  had,  before,  episcopal  ordina- 
 tion, as  both  their  friends  and  their  enemies  bear  witness*^. 
 
 2.  I  consider  that  necessity  may  excuse  a  personal  delin- 
 quency ;  but  I  never  heard  that  necessity  did  build  a  church , 
 Indeed  no  man  is  forced,  for  his  own  particular,  to  commit  a 
 
 De  Eccles.  c.  11. 
 
 <=  Daneeus,  parti  2.  Isagog.  lib.  ii.  c,  22.  Perron.  Repl.  fol.  92.  impres. 
 1605. 
 
140 
 
 EPISCOPACV  ASSERTED. 
 
 sill ;  for  if  it  be  absolutely  a  case  of  necessity,  the  action 
 ceaseth  to  be  a  sin  ;  but  indeed  if  God  means  to  build  a 
 church  in  any  place,  he  will  do  it  by  means  proportionable  to 
 that  end  ;  that  is,  by  putting  them  into  a  possibility  of  doing 
 and  acquiring  those  things,  which  himself  hath  required,  of 
 necessity,  to  the  constitution  of  a  church.  So  that,  suppos- 
 ing that  ordination  by  a  bishop  is  necessary  for  the  vocation 
 of  priests  and  deacons,  as  I  have  proved  it  is,  and,  therefore, 
 for  the  founding  or  perj^etuating  of  a  church,  either  God 
 hath  given  to  all  churches  opportunity  and  possibility  of  such 
 ordinations,  and  then,  necessity  of  the  contrary  is  but  pre- 
 tence and  mockery;  or  if  he  hath  not  given  such  possibility, 
 then  there  is  no  church  there  to  be  either  built  or  continued, 
 but  the  candlestick  is  presently  removed. 
 
 There  are  divers  stories  in  Ruffinus  to  this  purpose^. 
 When  iEdesius  and  Frumentius  were  surprised  by  the  bar- 
 barous Indians,  they  preached  Christianity,  and  baptized 
 many;  but  themselves,  being  but  lavmen,  could  make  no 
 ordinations,  and  so  not  fix  a  church.  What  then  was  to  be 
 done  in  the  case  ?  "  Frumentius  Alexandriam  pergit :  et  rem 
 omnem,  ut  gesta  est,  narrat  episcopo,  ac  monet,  ut  provideat 
 virum  aliquem  dignum,  quem  congregatis  jam  plurimis 
 Christianis  in  barbarico  solo  episcopum  mittat."  '  Frumen- 
 tius comes  to  Alexandria  to  get  a  bishop.'  Athanasius, 
 being  then  patriarch,  ordained  Frumentius  their  bishop  ; 
 "et  tradito  ei  sacerdotio,  redire  eum  cum  Domini  gratia 
 unde  venerat  jubet :  ex  quo,"  saith  Ruffinus,  "in  ludiae 
 partibus,  et  populi  Christianorum  et  ecclesiae  factse  sunt,  et 
 sacerdotium  coepit^." 
 
 The  same  happened  in  the  case  of  the  Iberians,  converted 
 by  a  captive  woman  :  "Postea  vero  quam  ecclesia  magnifice 
 constructa  est,  et  populi  fidem  Dei  majore  ardore  sitiebant, 
 captivse  monitis  ad  imperatorem  Constantinum  totius  gentis 
 legatio  mittitur:  res  gesta  exponitur  :  sacerdotes  mittere 
 oratur,  qui  coeptum  erga  se  Dei  munus  implerent."  The 
 work  of  Christianity  could  not  be  completed,  nor  a  church 
 founded,  without  the  ministry  of  bishops.  Thus  the  case  is 
 evident,  that  the  want  of  a  bishop  will  not  excuse  us  from 
 
 Eccles.  Hist.  lib.  x.  c.  9.  per  Ruffiniini. 
 '  Ibid,  c  iO.  et  apud  Theodoret.  lib.  i. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 141 
 
 our  endeavours  of  acquiring  one;  and  where  God  means  to 
 found  a  church,  there  he  will  supply  them  with  those  means 
 and  ministers,  which  himself  hath  made  of  ordinary  and  ab- 
 solute necessity.  And,  therefore,  if  it  happens  that  those 
 bishops,  which  are  of  ordinary  ministration  amongst  us, 
 prove  heretical,  still  God's  church  is  catholic ;  and  though 
 with  trouble,  yet  orthodox  bishops  may  be  acquired.  For 
 just  so  it  happened  when  Mauvia,  queen  of  the  Saracens, 
 was  so  earnest  to  have  Moses,  the  hermit,  made  the  bishop 
 of  her  nation,  and  offered  peace  to  the  catholics  upon  that 
 condition  ;  Lucius,  an  Ai'ian,  troubled  the  affair  by  his  intei*- 
 posing  and  offering  to  ordain  Moses  :  the  hermit  discovered 
 his  vileness,  "  et  ita  majore  decore  deformatus  compulsus  est 
 acquiescere^"  Moses  refused  to  be  ordained  by  him  that 
 was  an  Arian.  So  did  the  reformed  churches  refuse  ordi- 
 nations by  the  bishops  of  the  Roman  communion.  But 
 what  then  might  they  have  done  ?  Even  the  same  that 
 Moses  did  in  that  necessity:  "  Compulsus  est  ab  episcopis, 
 quos  in  exilium  truserat  (Lucius),  sacerdotium  sumere." 
 Those  good  people  might  have  had  order  from  the  bishops 
 of  England,  or  the  Lutheran  churches,  if  at  least  they  thought 
 our  churches  catholic  and  Christian. 
 
 If  an  ordinary  necessity  will  not  excuse  this,  will  not  an 
 extraordinary  calling  justify  it  ?  yea,  most  certainly,  could 
 we  but  see  an  ordinary  proof  for  an  extraordinary  calling, 
 viz.,  an  evident  prophecy,  demonstration  of  miracles,  cer- 
 tainty of  reason,  clarity  of  sense,  or  any  thing  that  might 
 make  faith  of  an  extraordinary  mission. 
 
 But  shall  we  then  condemn  those  few  of  the  reformed 
 churches,  whose  ordinations  always  have  been  without 
 bishops  ?  No,  indeed :  that  must  not  be  :  they  stand  or 
 fall  to  their  own  master.  And  though  I  cannot  justify  their 
 ordinations,  yet  what  degree  their  necessity  is  of,  what  their 
 desire  of  episcopal  ordinations  may  do  for  their  personal 
 excuse,  and  how  far  a  good  life  and  a  catholic  belief  may 
 lead  a  man  in  the  way  to  heaven,  although  the  forms 
 of  external  communion  be  not  observed,  I  cannot  determine. 
 For  aught  I  know,  their  condition  is  the  same  with  that  of 
 the  church  of  Pergamus:  "  I  know  thy  woi'ks,  and  where 
 
 '  Eccles.  Hist.  lib.  xi.  c  6.  per  Ruffinum. 
 VOL.  vir.  M 
 
142 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 thou  dwellest,  even  where  Satan's  seat  is ;  and  thou  heldest 
 fast  my  faith,  and  hast  not  denied  my  name :"  "  Nihilominus 
 habeo  adversus  te  pauca;"  "  some  few  things  I  have  against 
 thee;"  and  yet  of  them,  the  want  of  canonical  ordinations 
 is  a  defect,  which,  I  trust,  themselves  desire  toTae  remedied  ; 
 but  if  it  cannot  be  done,  their  sin  indeed  is  the  less,  but  their 
 misery  tlie  greater.  I  am  sure  I  have  said  sooth,  but  whe- 
 ther or  no  it  will  be  thought  so,  I  cannot  tell ;  and  yet  why 
 it  may  not,  I  cannot  guess,  unless  they  only  be  impeccable ; 
 which,  I  suppose,  will  not  so  easily  be  thought  of  them,  who 
 themselves  think,  that  all  the  church  possibly  may  fail. 
 But  this  I  would  not  have  declared  so  freely,  had  not  the 
 necessity  of  our  own  churches  required  it,  and  the  first  pre- 
 tence of  the  legality  and  validity  of  their  ordinations  been 
 buoyed  up  to  the  height  of  an  absolute  necessity ;  for  else 
 why  shall  it  be  called  tyranny  in  us,  to  call  on  them  to  con- 
 form to  us,  and  to  the  practice  of  the  catholic  church,  and 
 yet  in  them  be  called  a  good  and  a  holy  zeal  to  exact  our 
 conformity  to  them  ;  but  I  hope  it  will  so  happen  to  us,  that 
 it  will  be  verified  here,  what  was  once  said  of  the  catholics, 
 under  the  fury  of  Justina  :  "  Sed  tanta  fuit  perseverantla 
 fidelium  populorum,  ut  animas  prius  amittere,  quam  epis- 
 copum  mallent ;"  if  it  wei'e  put  to  our  choice,  rather  to  die, 
 (to  wit,  the  death  of  martyrs,  not  rebels,)  than  lose  the 
 sacred  order  and  offices  of  episcopacy,  without  which  no 
 priest,  no  ordination,  no  consecration  of  the  sacrament,  no 
 absolution,  no  rite,  or  sacrament,  legitimately  can  be  per- 
 formed, in  order  to  eternity. 
 
 The  sum  is  this.  If  the  canons  and  sanctions  apostolical ; 
 if  the  decrees  of  eight  famous  councils  in  Christendom,  of 
 Ancyra,  of  Antioch,  of  Sardis,  of  Alexandria,  two  of  Con- 
 stantinople, the  Arausican  council,  and  that  of  Hispalis;  if 
 the  constant  successive  acts  of  the  famous  martyr-bishops  of 
 Rome  making  ordinations ;  if  the  testimony  of  the  whole 
 pontifical  book ;  if  the  dogmatical  resolution  of  so  many 
 fathers,  St.  Denis,  St.  Cornelius,  St.  Athanasius,  St.  Jerome, 
 St.  Chi-ysostom,  St.  Epiphanius,  St.  Austin,  and  divers 
 others,  all  appropriating  ordinations  to  the  bishop's  hand  ; 
 if  the  constant  voice  of  Christendom,  declaring  ordination 
 made  by  presbyters  to  be  null  and  void  in  the  nature  of  the 
 thing;  and  never  any  act  of  ordination  by  a  non-bishop 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 143 
 
 approved  by  any  council,  decretal,  or  single  suffrage  of  any 
 famous  man  in  Christendom  ;  if  that  ordinations  of  bishops 
 were  always  made,  and  they  ever  done  by  bishops,  and  no 
 pretence  of  priests  joining  with  them  in  their  consecrations, 
 and  after  all  this  it  was  declared  heresy  to  communicate  the 
 power  of  giving  orders  to  presbyters,  either  alone  or  in  con- 
 junction with  bishops,  as  it  was  in  the  case  of  Aerius;  if  all 
 this,  that  is,  if  whatsoever  can  be  imagined,  be  sufficient  to 
 make  faith  in  this  particular,' — then  it  is  evident  that  the  power 
 and  order  of  bishops  is  greater  than  the  power  and  oi'der  of 
 presbyters,  to  wit,  in  this  great  particular  of  ordination,  and 
 that  by  this  loud  voice  and  united  vote  of  Christendom, 
 
 SECTION  XXXIII. 
 
 And  Confirmation. 
 
 But  this  was  but  the  first  part  of  the  power,  which  catholic 
 antiquity  affixed  to  the  order  of  episcopacy.  The  next  is  of 
 confirmation  of  baptized  people.  And  here  the  rule  was  this, 
 which  was  thus  expressed  by  Damascen  :  "  Apostolorum  et 
 successorura  eorum  est,  per  manus  impositionem  donum 
 Spiritus  Sancti  tradere;"  "  It  belongs  to  the  apostles  and 
 their  successors,  to  give  the  Holy  Ghost  by  imposition  of 
 hands^."    But  see  this  in  particular  instance. 
 
 The  council  of  Eliberis,  giving  permission  to  faithful 
 jjeople  of  the  laity  to  baptize  catechumens  in  the  cases  of 
 necessity,  and  exigence  of  journey :  "  Ita  tamen  ut  si  super- 
 vixerit  baptizatus,  ad  episcopum  eum  perducat,  ut  per  manus 
 impositionem  proficere  possit :"  "  Let  him  be  carried  to  the 
 bishop,  to  be  improved  by  imposition  of  the  bishop's  hands." 
 This  was  law. 
 
 It  was  also  a  custom,  saith  St.  Cyprian,  "  Quod  nunc 
 quoque  apud  nos  geritur,  ut  qui  in  ecclesia  baptizantur,  per 
 praepositos  ecclesiae  offerantur,  et  per  nostram  orationem,  et 
 manus  impositionem,  Spiritum  Sanctum  consequantur,  et 
 signaculo  Doralnico  consummentur^ ;"  and  this  custom  was 
 catholic  too,  and  the  law  was  of  universal  concernment. 
 
 *  Epist.  de  Chorepisc, 
 
 ^  Epist.  ad  Jubaian. 
 M  2 
 
144 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 *'  Omnes  fideles,  pei*  manuum  impositionem  episcoporum, 
 Spiritiim  Sanctum  post  baptismum  accipere  debent,  ut  pleni 
 Christiani  accipere  debent."  So  St.  Urban,  in  his  decretal 
 epistle";  and,  "  Omnibus  festinandum  est  sine  mora  renasci, 
 et  demum  consignari  ab  episcopo,  et  septifoi'mem  Spiritus 
 Sancti  gratiana  recipere  ;"  so  saith  the  old  author  of  the 
 fourth  epistle  under  the  name  of  St.  Clement:  "  All  faith- 
 ful baptized  people  must  go  to  the  bishop  to  be  consigned, 
 and  so  by  imposition  of  the  bishop's  hands,  to  obtain  the 
 sevenfold  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
 
 Meltiades,  in  his  epistle  to  the  bishops  of  Spain,  affirms 
 confirmation  in  this  to  have  a  special  excellency  besides 
 baptism  :  "  Quod  solum  a  summis  sacerdotibus  confertur  ;" 
 *'  because  bishops  only  can  give  confirmation ;"  and  the 
 same  is  said  and  proved  by  St.  Eusebius,  in  his  third  epistle, 
 enjoining  great  veneration  to  this  holy  mystery:  "  Quod  ab 
 aliis  perfici  non  potest  nisi  a  summis  sacerdotibus :"  "  It 
 cannot,  it  may  not,  be  performed  by  any  but  by  the  bishops." 
 
 Thus  St.  Chrysostom,  speaking  of  St.  Philip  converting 
 the  Samaritans"^,  ^lo  xxl  ^xnri^^m,  YIkvixo,  roXs  ^xTrri^oixivois' 
 ouK  IS/^oy.  O^Jg  yaq  sl'X/v  e^ovalacv.  ToDto  ya.^  to  ScSpov  fAovcov  ruv 
 SclSExa  h.  "  Philip,  baptizing  the  men  of  Samaria,  gave  not 
 the  Holy  Ghost  to  them  whom  he  had  baptized.  For  he  had 
 not  power.  Fo«  this  gift  was  only  of  the  twelve  apostles." 
 And  a  little  after,  "  This 
 
 was  peculiar  to  the  apostles."  "09sv  xxl  rous  x.o^u(pcitovs,  odx. 
 aXKovs  rivals  Eariv  I^sTv  rovro  zsoiovvra-s'  "  whence  it  comes  to 
 pass,  that  the  principal  and  chief  of  the  church  do  it,  and 
 none  else."  And  George  Pachymeres'^,  the  paraphrast  of 
 St.  Dionysius,  X^hi«  rov  a.f%tiqioiJs  sara.1  sh  to  y^^Xaai  tw  /xi/gw 
 Tov  /SaTTTKT&s'vTa'  avrrt  yd^  m  ri  ifyjjCta.  auvrtQeitx-'  "It  is  re- 
 quired that  a  bishop  should  consign  faithful  people  baptized : 
 for  this  was  the  ancient  practice." 
 
 I  shall  not  need  to  instance  in  too  many  particulars ;  for 
 that  the  ministry  of  confirmation  was,  by  catholic  custom, 
 appropriate  to  bishops  in  all  ages  of  the  primitive  church, 
 is  to  be  seen  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  councils 
 and  fathers,  particularly  of  St.  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  in 
 
 Apud  Sev.  Binium,  in  1  torn.  Concil. 
 '  In  c.  5.  de  Eccles.  Hierarch. 
 
 <i  Homil.  18.  in  Act. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 145 
 
 Eusebius*",  Tertullianf^,  St.  Iiinocentius  the  First  ""j  Damasus', 
 St.  Leo'',  in  John  the  Third',  in  St.  Gregory'",  Amphilochius, 
 in  the  life  of  St.  Basil,  telling  the  stoi'y  of  bishop  Maximinus 
 confirming  Basilius  and  Eubulus,  the  council  of  Orleans", 
 and  of  Melda°,  and,  lastly,  of  Sevill",  which  affirms,  "  Non 
 licere  presbytei'is,  per  impositionem  manus  fidelibus  bapti- 
 zandis  Pai-acletum  Spiritura  tradere:"  "  It  is  not  lawful  for 
 presbyters  to  give  confirmation,  for  it  is  properly  an  act  of 
 episcopal  power:" — "  Chrismate  Spiritus  Sanctus  super  in- 
 funditur.  Utraque  vero  ista  nianu  et  ore  antistitis  impe- 
 tramus."  These  are  enough  for  authority  and  dogmatical 
 resolution,  from  antiquity.  For  truth  is,  the  first  that  ever 
 did  communicate  the  power  of  confirming  to  presbyters,  was 
 Photius,  the  first  author  of  that  unhappy  and  long-lasting 
 schism  between  the  Latin  and  Greek  churches,  and  it  was 
 upon  this  occasion  too.  For  when  the  Bulgarians  were  first 
 converted,  the  Greeks  sent  presbyters  to  baptize  and  to 
 confirm  them.  But  the  Latins  sent  again  to  have  them  re- 
 confirmed ;  both  because  (as  they  pretended)  the  Greeks  had 
 no  jurisdiction  in  Bulgaria,  nor  the  presbyters  a  capacity  of 
 order  to  give  confirmation "i. 
 
 The  matters  of  fact  and  acts  episcopal,  of  confirmation, 
 are  innumerable ;  but  most  famous  are  those  confirmations 
 made  by  St.  Rembert,  bishop  of  Brema,  and  of  St.  Malchus, 
 attested  by  St.  Bernard,  because  they  were  ratified  by  a  mi- 
 racle, saith  the  ancient  story''.  I  end  this  with  the  saying  of 
 St.  Jerome :  "  Exigis  ubi  scriptum  sit?  In  Actibus  Apos- 
 tolorum.  Sed  etiamsi  Scripturae  auctoritas  non  subesset, 
 totius  orbis  in  hanc  partem  consensus  instar  praecepti  obti- 
 neret;"  "  If  you  ask  whei-e  it  is  written,""  (viz.,  that  bishops 
 alone  should  confirm,)  "  it  is  written  in  the  Acts  of  the 
 Apostles"  (meaning,  by  j^recedent,  though  not  express  pre- 
 cept) ;  "  but  if  there  were  no  authority  of  Scripture  for  it, 
 yet  the  consent  of  all  the  world  upon  this  particular  is  instead 
 
 f  Lib.  iii.Hist.  c.  17.  e  De  Baptism.  Epist.  1.  c.  3.  Ad  Decent. 
 '  Epist.  4.  Epist.  88.  '  Epist.  ad  Episc.  German, 
 
 •"Lib.  iii.Ep.  9. 
 
 "  Apud  Gratian.  de  Consecrat.  dist.  5.  can.  ut  .Jejuni. 
 °  Ibid.  can.  ut  Episcopi.  n  Concil.  llespal.  can.  7. 
 
 n  Vide  Anast.  1.  Biblioth.  Prrefat.  in  can.  8.  Synodi. 
 Vide  Optatum,  lib.  ii.  S.  Bernard,  in  Vita  S.  Malachiie  .  Surium.  torn.  i. 
 in  Febr.  Dial.  adv.  LuciRr. 
 
146 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 of  a  command."  It  was  fortunate  that  St.  Jerome  hath  ex- 
 pressed himself  so  confidently  in  this  affair,  for  by  this  we 
 are  arm.ed  against  an  objection  from  his  own  words ;  for  in 
 the  same  dialogue,  speaking  of  some  acts  of  episcopal  privi- 
 lege and  peculiar  ministration,  particularly  of  confirmation, 
 he  says,  it  was  "  ad  honorcm  potius  sacerdotii  quam  ad  legis 
 necessitatem  :"  "  for  the  honour  of  the  priesthood,  rather 
 than  for  the  necessity  of  a  law." 
 
 To  this  the  answer  is  evident  from  his  own  M'ords  :  '  That 
 bishops  should  give  the  Holy  Ghost  in  confirmation,  is 
 written  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles and  now  that  this  is 
 reserved,  rather  'for  the  honour  of  episcopacy,  than  a  simple 
 necessity  in  the  nature  of  tlie  thing,'  makes  no  matter.  ^  For 
 the  question  here,  that  is  only  of  concernment,  is  not  to  what 
 end  this  power  is  reserved  to  the  bishop,  but  by  whom  it 
 was  reserved  ?  Now  St.  Jerome  says  it  was  done  '  apud 
 acta,'  '  in  the  Scripture;'  therefore,  by  God's  Holy  Spirit; 
 and  the  end  he  also  specifies,  viz.,  '  for  the  honour  of  that  sa- 
 cred order,"'  "  non  propter  legis  necessitatem,"  "  not  that  there 
 is  any  necessity  of  law,"  that  confirmation  should  be  adminis- 
 tered by  the  bishop.  Not  that  a  priest  may  do  it,  but  that, 
 as  St.  Jerome  himself  there  argues,  the  Holy  Ghost  being 
 already  given  in  baptism,  if  it  happens  that  bishops  may  not 
 be  had,  (for  he  puts  the  case  concerning  persons  in  bondage, 
 and  places  remote  and  destitute  of  bishops,)  then,  in  that 
 case,  there  is  not  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  law,  that  confir- 
 mation should  be  had  at  all :  a  man  does  not  perish  if  he 
 have  It  not ;  for  that  this  thing  was  reserved  to  a  bishop's 
 peculiar  ministration,  was  indeed  an  honour  to  the  function, 
 but  it  was  not  for  the  necessity  of  the  law  tying  people,  in  all 
 cases,  actually  to  acquire  it.  So  that  this  '  non  necessarium' 
 is  not  to  be  referred  to  the  bishop's  ministration,  as  if  it  were 
 not  necessai'y  for  him  to  do  it  when  it  is  to  be  done,  nor  that 
 a  priest  may  do  it  if  a  bishop  may  not  be  had  ;  but  this  non- 
 necessity is  to  be  referred  to  confirmation  itself;  so  that  if  a 
 bishop  cannot  be  had,  confirmation,  though  with  much  loss, 
 yet  with  no  danger,  may  be  omitted.  This  is  the  sum  of  St. 
 Jerome's  discourse,  this  reconciles  him  to  himself,  this  makes 
 him  speak  conformably  to  his  first  assertions,  and,  conse- 
 quently, to  his  arguments  ;  and  to  be  sure,  no  exposition  can 
 make  these  words  to  intend,  that  this  reservation  of  the 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 147 
 
 power  of  confirmation  to  bishops  is  not  done  by  the  Spirit 
 of  God,  and  then  let  the  sense  of  tlie  words  be  what  they 
 will,  they  can  do  no  hurt  to  the  cause;  and  as  easily  may  we 
 escape  from  those  words  of  his,  to  Rusticus,  bishop  of  Nar- 
 bona :  "  Sed  quia  scriptura  est,  presbyteri  duplici  honore 
 honorentur ;  praedicare  eos  decet,  utile  est  benedicere,  con- 
 gi'uum  confirmare,"  &c.  It  is  quoted  by  Gratian,  dist.  95. 
 can.  '  Ecce  Ego.'  But  the  gloss  upon  the  place  expounds  him 
 thus,  i.  e.,  '  in  fide,'  '  the  presbyters  may  preach,  they  may 
 confirm  their  auditors,  not  by  consignation  of  chrism.,  but  by 
 confirmation  of  faith  and  for  this  quotes  a  parallel  place  for 
 the  use  of  the  word  '  confirmare,'  by  authority  of  St.  Gre- 
 gory, who  sent  Zachary,  his  legate,  into  Germany,  fi'om  the 
 see  of  Rome,  "  Ut  orthodoxos  episcopos,  presbyteros,  vel 
 quoscunque  reperire  potuisset  in  verbo  exhortationis  per- 
 fectos,  amplius  confirmaret'."  Certainly  St.  Gregory  did 
 not  intend  that  his  legate,  Zachary,  should  confirm  bishops 
 and  priests  in  any  other  sense  but  this  of  St.  Jerome  in  the 
 present,  to  wit,  in  faith  and  doctrine,  not  in  rite  and  mystery ; 
 and  neither  could  St.  Jerome  himself  intend,  that  presbyters 
 should  do  it  at  all  but  in  the  sense  of  St.  Gregory  ;  for  else 
 he  becomes  an  antistrephon,  and  his  own  opposite. 
 
 Yea,  but  there  is  a  worse  matter  than  this.  St.  Ambrose 
 tells  of  the  Egyptian  priests,  '  that  they,  in  the  absence  of 
 the  bishop,  do  confirm.'  "  Denique  apud  ^gyptum  presby- 
 teri consignant,  si  praesens  non  sit  episcopus'."  But, 
 
 1.  The  passage  is  suspicious,  for  it  interrupts  a  discourse 
 of  St.  Ambrose  concerning  the  primitive  order  of  election 
 to  the  blshoprick,  and  is  no  way  pertinent  to  the  discourse, 
 but  is  encircled  with  a  story  of  a  far  different  consequence, 
 which  is  not  easily  thought  to  have  been  done  by  any  con- 
 sidering and  intelligent  author. 
 
 2.  But  suppose  the  clause  be  not  surreptitious,  but  natural 
 to  the  discourse,  and  born  with  it,  yet  it  is  matter  of  fact, 
 not  of  right ;  for  St.  Ambrose  neither  approves  nor  disproves 
 it,  and  so  it  must  go  for  a  singular  act  against  the  catholic 
 practice  and  laws  of  Christendom. 
 
 3.  If  the  whole  clause  be  not  surreptitious,  yet  the  word 
 'consignant'  is;  for  St.  Austin,  who  hath  the  same  discourse 
 
 «Caus.  11. q.  3.  can.  Quod  Preedecessor.  'In  Ephes.  iv. 
 
148 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 of  the  same  thing,  viz.,  of  the  dignity  of  presbyters,  tells  this 
 story  of  the  act  and  honour  of  presbyters  in  Alexandria  and 
 all  Egypt,  almost  in  the  other  words  of  his  master,  St.  Am- 
 brose ;  but  he  tells  it  thus  :  "  Nam  et  in  Alexandria  et  per 
 totam  iEgyptum  si  deslt  episcopus,  consecrat  presbyter"." 
 So  that  it  should  not  be  '  consignat,'  but  '  consecrat ;'  for  no 
 story  tells  of  any  confirmations  done  iu  Egypt  by  presbyters, 
 but  of  consecrating  the  eucharist  in  cases  of  episcopal  ab- 
 sence or  commission-  I  shall  give  account,  in  the  question 
 of  jurisdiction,  that  that  was  indeed  permitted  in  Egypt  and 
 some  other  places,  but  confirmation  never,  that  we  can  find 
 elsewhere  ;  and  this  is  too  improbable  to  bear  weight  against 
 evidence  and  practice  apostolical,  and  four  councils,  and 
 sixteen  ancient  catholic  fathers,  testifying  that  it  was  a  prac- 
 tice and  a  law  of  Christendom,  that  bishops  only  should  con- 
 firm, and  not  priests ;  so  that  if  there  be  no  other  scruple, 
 this  question  is  quickly  at  an  end. 
 
 But  St.  Gregory  is  also  pretended  in  objection  ;  for  he 
 gave  dispensation  to  the  priests  of  Sardinia,  "  ut  baptizatos 
 unguant,"  "  to  aneal  baptized  people"."  Now  anointing  the 
 forehead  of  the  baptized  person  was  one  of  the  solemnities  of 
 confirmation,  so  that  this  indulgence  does  arise  to  a  power  of 
 confirming  ;  for  '  unclio'  and  '  chrismatio,'  in  the  first  Arau- 
 sican  council,  and  since  that  time  '  sacramentum  chrismatis,' 
 hath  been  the  usual  word  for  confirmation.  But  this  will 
 not  much  trouble  the  business. 
 
 Because  it  is  evident  that  he  means  it  not  of  confirmation, 
 but  of  the  chrism  in  those  times,  by  the  rites  of  the  church 
 used  in  baptism.  For,  in  his  ninth  epistle,  he  forbids  priests 
 to  anoint  baptized  people  ;  now  here  is  precept  against  pre- 
 cept ;  therefore,  it  must  be  understood  of  several  anoint- 
 ings, and  so  St.  Gregory  expounds  himself  in  this  ninth 
 epistle :  "  Presbyteri  baptizatos  infantes  signare  bis  in  fronte 
 chrismate  non  prsesumant:"  "  Presbyters  may  not  anoint 
 baptized  people  twice,"  once  they  might ;  now  that  this  per- 
 mission of  anointing  was  that  which  was  a  ceremony  of 
 baptism,  not  an  act  of  confirmation, — we  shall  see  by  com- 
 paring it  with  other  canons.  In  the  collection  of  the  Oi*i- 
 ental  canons,  by  Martinus  Bracarensis,  it  is  decreed  thus : 
 
 «  Quaest.  101.  Vet.  et  N.  Testam.  Basileae. 
 
 "  Lib.  iii.  Epi£t.26. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 149 
 
 *'  Presbyter,  praesente  episcopo,  non  signet  infantes,  nisi  forte 
 ab  episcopo  fuerit  illi  praeceptum' :"  "  A  priest  must  not 
 sign  infants  without  leave  of  the  bishop,  if  he  be  present."— 
 '  Must  not  sign  them;''  that  is,  with  chrism  in  their  fore- 
 heads, and  that  in  baptism;  for  the  circumstant  canons  do 
 expressly  explicate  and  determine  it ;  for  they  are  concern- 
 ing the  rites  of  baptism,  and  this  in  the  midst  of  them.  And 
 by  the  way,  this  may  answer  St.  Ambrose's  'presbyteri  con- 
 signant,  absente  episcopo,'  in  case  it  be  so  to  be  read;  for 
 here  we  see  a  consignation  permitted  to  the  presbyters  in  the 
 Eastern  churches  to  be  used  in  baptism,  in  the  absence  of 
 the  bishop,  and  this  an  act  of  indulgence  and  favour,  and, 
 therefore,  extraordinaiy,  and  of  use  to  St.  Ambrose's  purpose 
 of  advancing  the  presbyters,  but  yet  of  no  objection  in  case 
 of  confirmation.  And  indeed  '  consignari'  is  used  in  anti- 
 quity for  any  signing  with  the  cross,  and  anealing.  Thus  it 
 is  used  in  the  first  Arausican  council  for  extreme  unction  % 
 which  is  there,  in  case  of  extreme  necessity,  permitted  to 
 presbyters:  "  Hsereticos  in  mortis  discrimine  positos,  si 
 catholici  esse  desiderent,  si  desit  episcopus,  a  presbyteris  cum 
 chrismate  et  benedictlone  consignari  placet."  '  Consigned' 
 is  the  word,  and  it  was  clearly  in  extreme  unction;  for  that 
 rite  was  not  then  ceased,  and  it  was  in  anealing  a  dying  body, 
 and  a  part  of  reconciliation,  and  so  limited  by  the  sequent 
 canon,  and  not  to  be  fancied  of  any  other  consignation. — But 
 I  return.  The  first  council  of  Toledo  prohibits  any  from 
 making  chrism  but  bishops  only%  and  takes  order,  "  ut  de 
 singulis  ecclesiis  ad  episcopum,  ante  diem  paschse,  diaconi 
 destinentur,  ut  confectum  chrisma  ab  episcopo  destinatum  ad 
 diem  paschae  possit  occurrere:"  "  that  the  chrism  be  fetched 
 by  the  deacons  from  the  bishop,  to  be  used  in  all  churches." 
 But  for  what  use?  Why,  it  was  'destinatum  ad  diem  pas- 
 chae,' says  the  canon,  '  against  the  holy  time  of  Easter;'  and 
 then,  at  Easter,  was  the  solemnity  of  public  baptisms,  so  that 
 it  was  to  be  used  in  baptism.  And  this  sense  being  pre- 
 mised, the  canon  permits  to  presbyters  to  sign  with  chrism, 
 the  same  thing  that  St.  Gregory  did  to  the  priests  of  Sardinia. 
 "  Statutum  vero  est,  diaconum  non  chrismare,  sed  presby- 
 
 y  Can.  52. 
 
 »  Can.  2. 
 
 »  Can.  20. 
 
150 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 terum,  absente  episcopo;  prsesente  vero,  si  ab  ipso  fuerit 
 prseceptum."  Now  although  this  be  evident  enough,  yet  it 
 is  something  clearer  in  the  first  Arausican  council'':  "  Nullus 
 ministrorum,  qui  baptizandi  recipit  officium,  sine  chrismate 
 usquam  debet  progredi,  quia  inter  nos  placuit  semel  in  bap- 
 tismate  chrismari."  The  case  is  evident,  that  chrismation  or 
 consigning  with  ointment  was  used  in  baptism ;  and  it  is  as 
 evident  that  this  chrismation  was  it  which  St.  Gregory  per- 
 mitted to  the  presbyters;  not  the  other,  for  he  expressly 
 foi'bade  the  other;  and  the  exigence  of  the  canons,  and 
 practice  of  the  church,  expound  it  so;  and  it  is  the  same 
 which  St.  Innocent  the  First  decreed  in  more  express  and 
 distinctive  terms'^:  "  Presbyteris  chrismate  baptizatos  ungere 
 licet,  sed  quod  ab  episcopo  fuerit  consecratum;"  there  is  a 
 clear  permission  of  consigning  with  chrism  in  baptism ;  but 
 he  subjoins  a  prohibition  to  priests,  for  doing  it  in  con- 
 firmation :  "  Non  tamen  frontem  eodem  oleo  signare,  quod 
 solis  debetur  episcopis,  ciim  tradunt  Spiritum  Sanctum  Para- 
 cletum." 
 
 By  the  Avay ;  some,  that  they  might  the  more  clearly 
 determine  St,  Gregory's  dispensation  to  be  only  in  baptismal 
 chrism,  read  it,  '  Ut  baptizandos  ungant,'  not  '  baptizatos  ;' 
 so  Gratian,  so  St.  Thomas;  but  it  is  needless  to  be  troubled 
 with  that ;  for  Innocentius,  in  the  decretal  now  quoted,  useth 
 the  word  '  baptizatos,'  and  yet  clearly  distinguishes  this 
 power  from  the  giving  the  chrism  in  confirmation. 
 
 I  know  no  other  objection,  and  these,  we  see,  hinder  not, 
 but  that  having  such  evidence  of  fact  in  Scripture,  of  con- 
 firmations done  only  by  apostles,  and  this  evidence  urged  by 
 the  fathers  for  the  practice  of  the  church,  and  the  power  of 
 confirmation,  by  many  councils  and  fathers,  appropriated  to 
 bishops,  and  denied  to  presbyters,  and  in  this  they  are  not 
 only  doctors,  teaching  their  own  opinion,  but  witnesses  of  a 
 catholic  pi'actice,  and  do  actually  attest  it  as  done  by  a 
 catholic  consent;  and  no  one  example,  in  all  antiquity,  ever 
 produced  of  any  priest,  that  did,  no  law  that  a  priest  might, 
 impose  hands  for  confirmation; — we  may  conclude  it  to  be  a 
 power  apostolical  in  the  original,  episcopal  in  the  succession. 
 
 b  Can.  1. 
 
 <^  Epist.  1 .  ad  Decent,  c.  3. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 151 
 
 and  that,  in  this  power,  the  order  of  a  bishop  is  higher  than 
 that  of  a  presbyter,  and  so  declared  by  this  instance  of 
 catholic  jiractice. 
 
 SECTION  XXXIV. 
 
 And  Jurisdiction.    Which  they  expressed  in  Attributes  of 
 Authority  and  great  Power. 
 
 Thus  far  I  hope  we  are  right.  But  I  call  to  mind,  that 
 in  the  nosotrophium  of  the  old  philosopher,  that  undertook 
 to  cure  all  calentui'es  by  bathing  his  patients  in  water;  some 
 were  up  to  the  chin,  some  to  the  middle,  some  to  the  knees ; 
 so  it  is  amongst  the  enemies  of  the  sacred  order  of  episco- 
 pacy; some  endure  not  the  name,  and  they,  indeed,  deserve 
 to  be  over  head  and  eai's;  some  will  have  them  all  one  in 
 office  with  presbyters,  as  at  first  they  were  in  name;  and 
 they  had  need  bathe  up  to  the  chin ;  but  some  stand  shal- 
 lower, and  grant  a  little  distinction,  a  precedency  perhaps  for 
 order's  sake,  but  no  pre-eminence  in  reglement,  no  superiority 
 of  jurisdiction  :  others  by  all  means  would  be  thought  to  be 
 quite  through  in  behalf  of  bishojDs'  order  and  power,  such 
 as  it  is,  but  call  for  a  reduction  to  the  primitive  state,  and 
 would  have  all  bishops  like  the  primitive  ;  but  because  by  this 
 means  they  think  to  impair  their  power,  they  may  well  endure 
 to  be  up  to  the  ancles;  their  error  indeed  is  less,  and  their 
 pretence  fairer,  but  the  use  they  make  of  it,  of  very  ill 
 consequence.  But  curing  the  mistake  will  quickly  cure  this 
 distemper.  That  then  shall  be  the  present  issue,  that  in  the 
 primitive  church  bishops  had  more  power,  and  greater 
 exercise  of  absolute  jurisdiction,  than  now  men  will  endure 
 to  be  granted,  or  than  themselves  are  very  forward  to 
 challenge. 
 
 1.  Then:  the  primitive  church  expressing  the  calling  and 
 offices  of  a  bishop,  did  it  in  terms  of  presidency  and  aiithority. 
 "  Episcopus  typum  Dei  Patris  omnium  gerit,"  saith  St.  Igna- 
 tius": "the  bishop  carries  the  representment  of  God  the 
 Father,"  that  is,  in  power  and  authority  to  be  sure,  (for 
 
 »  Epist.  ad  Trail. 
 
152 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 how  else?)  so  as  to  be  the  supreme  '  in  suo  ordlne,'  in  offices 
 ecclesiastical.  And  again,  "  Quid  enim  aliud  est  episcopus 
 quam  is,  qui  omni  principatu  et  potestate  superior  est?" 
 Here  his  sujoeriority  and  advantage  is  expressed  to  be  in  his 
 'power:'  a  bishop  is  greater  and  higher  than  all  other  in 
 power,  viz.,  '  in  materia,''  or  '  gradu  religionis.'  And  in  his 
 epistle  to  the  Magnesians :  "  Hortor  ut  hoc  sit  omnibus 
 studium  in  Dei  concordia,  omnia  agere,  episcopo  prsesidente 
 loco  Dei  :"  "  Do  all  things  in  unity,  the  bishop  being  pre- 
 sident in  the  place  of  God."  '  President'  in  all  things.  And 
 with  a  fuller  tide  yet,  in  his  epistle  to  the  church  of  Smyrna: 
 "  Honora  episcopum,  ut  principem  sacerdotum  imaginem  Dei 
 referentem,  Dei  quidem  propter  principatum,  Christi  vero 
 propter  sacerdotium."  It  is  full  of  fine  expression  both  for 
 eminencyof  order  and  jurisdiction.  The  bishop  is  'the  prince 
 of  the  priests,  bearing  the  image  of  God  for  his  principality,' 
 that  is  his  jurisdiction  and  power  :  but  '  of  Christ  himself  for 
 his  priesthood;'  that  is  his  order,  St.  Ignatius  hath  spoken 
 fairly ;  and  if  we  consider  that  he  was  so  primitive  a  man 
 that  himself  saw  Christ  in  the  flesh,  and  lived  a  man  of 
 exemplary  sanctity,  and  died  a  martyr,  and  hath  been  ho- 
 noured as  a  holy  catholic  by  all  posterity, — certainly  these 
 testimonies  must  needs  be  of  gi-eat  pressure,  being  '  sententise 
 repetiti  dogmatis,'  not  casually  slipped  from  him,  and  by  in- 
 cogitancy,  but  resolutely  and  frequently. 
 
 But  this  is  attested  by  the  general  expressions  of  after- 
 ages.  "  Fungaris  circa  eum  potestate  honoris  tui,"  saith 
 St.  Cyprian  to  bishop  Rogatianus'':  "  Execute  the  power  of 
 thy  dignity"  upon  the  refractory  deacon  ;  and  '  vigor  episco- 
 palis,'  and  '  auctoritas  cathedrse'  are  the  words  expressive  of 
 that  power,  whatsoever  it  be,  which  St.  Cyprian  calls  upon 
 him  to  assert  in  the  same  epistle.  This  is  high  enough.  So 
 is  that  which  he  presently  subjoins,  calling  the  bishop's 
 power  "  ecclesiee  gubernandae  sublimem  ac  divinam  potes- 
 tatem,"  "  a  high  and  a  divine  power  and  authority  in  regiment 
 of  the  church."  "  Locus  magisterii  traditus  ab  apostolis," 
 so  St.  Irenseus  calls  episcopacy*^;  "  a  place  of  mastership 
 or  authority  delivered  by  the  apostles  to  the  bishops  their 
 successors."      Eusebius  speaking  of  Dionysius,  who  suc- 
 
 •>  Lib.  3.  Epist.  9. 
 
 Lib.  4.  cap.  6S, 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 153 
 
 ceeded  Heraclas,  he  received, (salth  he,)  rris  zs^oarxclas  rm  xar' 
 'AXs^av^gEiav  i-nyXriaiu)!  rr^v  sTriay.o'rrriv'^,  "  the  bishoprick  of  the 
 presidency  over  the  churches  of  Alexandria:"  eU  v/tv  dy^l^m 
 TTis  iTnnx.oTiris ,  saith  the  council  of  Sardis  ;  "  to  the  top  or 
 height  of  episcopacy."  Apices  et  principes  omnium,"  so 
 Optatus  calls  bishops  ;  "  the  chief  and  head  of  all;" — and 
 St.  Denis,  of  Alexandria",  "  scribit  ad  Fabianum,  urbis  Romse 
 episcopum,  et  ad  alios  quam  plurimos  ecclesiarum  principes 
 de  fide  catholica  sua,"  saith  Eusebius.  And  Origen  calls  the 
 bishop,  "  eum  qui  totius  ecclesiae  arcem  obtinet;'"  "  he  that 
 hath  obtained  the  tower  or  height  of  the  chui-ch^" 
 
 The  fathers  of  the  council  of  Constantinople  in  Trullo,  or- 
 dained that  the  bishops, — dispossessed  of  their  churches  by 
 encroachments  of  barbarous  people  upon  the  churches'  pale, 
 so  as  the  bishop  had  in  effect  no  diocese, — yet  they  should 
 enjoy  rri  rrts  zj^os^plxs  svQevTlx  xaTct  Tov  'i'S(ov  ogov,  "  the  autho- 
 rity of  their  presidency  according  to  their  proper  state ;" 
 their  appropriate  presidency.  And  the  same  council  calls 
 the  bishop  tov  t-/js-  tzoXscus  ct^osJ^ov,  "  the  prelate  or  prefect 
 of  the  chui-ch;"  I  know  not  how  to  expound  it  better.  But 
 it  is  something  more  full  in  the  Greeks'  council  of  Carthage 
 commanding  that  the  convert  Donatists  should  be  received 
 according  to  the  will  and  pleasure  of  the  bishop,  rov  ev  ru 
 aliTu  ro'jrcfi  nuQe^vuvros  stcxX-nalav,  "  that  governs  the  church  in 
 that  place."  And  in  the  council  of  Antioch,  airlanoTrov  s'xsiv 
 ruv  rr,s  6xxV/)Ti«y  z;qa.yixxru)i  e^oi/Ti'scv '',  "  the  bishop  hath  power 
 over  the  affairs  of  the  church."  "  Hoc  quidem  tempore 
 Romanae  ecclesiae  Sylvester  retinacula  gubernabat:"  "  St. 
 Sylvester  (the  bishop)  held  the  reins  or  the  stern  of  the 
 Roman  church;"  saith  Theodoret'. 
 
 But  the  instances  of  this  kind  are  infinite  ;  two  may  be  as 
 good  as  twenty,  and  these  they  are.  The  first  is  of  St.  Am- 
 brose'': "  Honor  et  sublimltas  episcopalis  nullis  poterit  com- 
 parationibus  adsequari:"  "  The  honour  and  sublimity  of 
 episcopal  order  is  beyond  all  comparison  great."  And  their 
 commission  he  specifies  to  be  in  '  pasce  oves  meas;'  "  unde 
 regeiidaj  sacerdotlbus  contraduntur,  merito  rectoribus  suis 
 subdi  dicuntur,"  &c.  :  "  The  sheep  are  delivered  to  bishops 
 
 <*  Lib.  vi.  Hist.  c.  26.  tan.  10. 
 '  Lib.  vi.  Hist.  c.  26.  Homil.  7.  in  Jerem. 
 Can.  25.       '  Hist.  Tiipart.  lib.  i.  cap.  12. 
 
 ^  Lib.  ii.  adv.  Parmen. 
 B  Can.  69. 
 
 ^  De  Dignit.  Sacerdot.  c.  2. 
 
154 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 as  to  rulers,  and  are  made  their  subjects:"  and  in  the  next 
 chapter':  *'  Haec  vero  cuncta,  fratres,  ideo  nos  praemislsse 
 cognoscere  debetis,  ut  ostenderemus  nihil  esse  in  hoc  sajculo 
 excellentius  sacerdotibus,  nihil  sublimius  episcopis  reperiri: 
 ut  cum  dignitatem  episcopatus  episcoporum  oraculls  demon- 
 sti'amus,  et  digne  noscamus  quid  sumus,  actione  potius 
 quam  nomine  demonstremus :"  "  These  things  I  have  said, 
 that  you  may  knoM'  nothing  is  higher,  nothing  more  excel- 
 lent, than  the  dignity  and  eminence  of  a  bishop,"  &c.  The 
 other  is  of  St.  Jerome:  "  Cura  totius  ecclesiaa  ad  episcopum 
 pertinet:"  "  The  care  of  the  whole  church  appertains  to  the 
 bishop."  But  more  confidently  spoken  is  that  in  his  dia- 
 logue '  adversus  Luciferianos :'  "  Ecclesiae  salus  in  summi 
 sacei'dotis  dignitate  pendet ;  cui  si  non  exsoi's  qusedam  et  ab 
 omnibus  eminens  detur  potestas,  tot  in  ecclesiis  efficientur 
 schismata  quot  sacerdotes:"  "  The  safety  of  the  church  con- 
 sists in  the  dignity  of  a  bishop,  to  whom  unless  an  eminent 
 and  unparalleled  power  be  given  by  all,  there  will  be  as  many 
 schisms  as  priests™." 
 
 Here  is  dignity,  and  authority,  and  power  enough  ex- 
 pressed ;  and  if  words  be  expressive  of  things,  (and  thei'e  is 
 no  other  use  of  them,)  then  the  bishop  is  superior  in  a  peer- 
 less and  incomparable  authority  ;  and  all  the  whole  diocese 
 are  his  subjects,  viz.^'  in  regimine  spii-ituali.* 
 
 SECTION  XXXV. 
 
 Requiring  Universal  Obedience  to  be  given  to  Bishops  by 
 Clergy  and  Laity. 
 
 But  from  words  let  us  pass  to  things.  For  the  faith  and 
 practice  of  Christendom  require  obedience,  universal  obedi- 
 ence, to  be  given  to  bishops.  I  will  begin  again  with  Igna- 
 tius, that  these  men,  who  call  for  reduction  of  episcopacy  to 
 primitive  consistence,  may  see  what  they  gain  by  it ;  for  the 
 more  primitive  the  testimonies  are,  the  greater  exaction  of 
 obedience  to  bishops ;  for  it  happened  in  this,  as  in  all  other 
 
 '  Cap.  3. 
 
 Cap.  4. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 155 
 
 things:  at  first,  Christians  were  more  devout,  more  pur- 
 suing of  their  duties,  more  zealous  in  attestation  of  eveiy 
 particle  of  their  faith ;  and  that  episcopacy  is  now  come  to 
 so  low  an  ebb,  it  is  nothing;  but  that,  it  being  a  great  part 
 of  Christianity  to  honour  and  obey  them,  it  hath  the  fate  of 
 all  other  parts  of  our  religion,  and  particularly  of  charity, 
 come  to  so  low  a  declension,  as  it  can  scarce  stand  alone;  and 
 faith,  which  shall  scarce  be  found  upon  earth  at  the  coming 
 of  the  Son  of  Man. 
 But  to  our  business, 
 
 St.  Ignatius,  in  his  epistle  to  the  church  of  Trallis,  "  Ne- 
 cesse  itaque  est,"  saith  he,  "quicquid  facitis,  ut  sine  episcopo 
 nihil  tentetis."  So  the  Latin  of  Vedelius,  which  I  the  rather 
 choose,  because  I  am  willing  to  give  all  the  advantage  I  can. 
 "  It  is  necessary,"  saith  the  good  martyr,  "  that  whatsoever 
 ye  do,  you  should  attempt  nothing  without  your  bishop." 
 And  to  the  Magnesians,  "  Decet  itaque  vos  obedire  episcopo, 
 et  in  nullo  illi  refragari  :"  "  It  is  fitting  that  ye  should  obey 
 your  bishop,  and  in  nothing  to  be  refractory  to  him."  Here 
 is  both  a  '  decet'  and  a  '  necesse  est,'  already.  '  It  is  very 
 fitting,  it  is  necessary,'  But  if  it  be  possible,  we  have  a 
 fuller  expression  yet,  in  the  same  epistle :  "  Quemadmodum 
 enim  Dominus  sine  Patre  nihil  facit,  '  Nec  enim  possum  facere 
 a  meipso  quicquam:'  sic  et  vos  sine  episcopo,  nec  diaconus, 
 nec  laiconus,  nee  laicus;  nec  quicquam  videatur  vobis  con- 
 sentaneum  quod  sit  prater  illius  judicium ;  quod  enim  tale 
 est,  et  Deo  inimicum."  Here  is  obedience  universal,  both  in 
 respect  of  things  and  persons ;  and  all  this  no  less  than  abso- 
 lutely necessary.  "For  as  Christ  obeyed  his  Father  in  all 
 things,  saying,  '  Of  myself  I  can  do  nothing ;'  so  nor  you 
 without  your  bishop,  whoever  you  be,  whether  priest,  or 
 deacon,  or  layman  :  let  nothing  please  you,  which  the  bishop 
 dislikes;  for  all  such  things  are  wicked,  and  in  enmity  with 
 God."  But  it  seems  St,  Ignatius  was  mightily  in  love  with 
 this  precept,  for  he  gives  it  to  almost  all  the  churches  he 
 writes  to.  We  have  already  reckoned  the  Trallians  and  the 
 Magnesians,  But  the  same  he  gives  to  the  priests  of  Tarsus, 
 ol  zsqsaQursqoi  vit'^ra.aairuaa.v  6WiT)to7r&».  "  Ye  presbyters,  be 
 subject  to  your  bishop."  The  same  to  the  Philadelphians  : 
 "  Sine  episcopo  nihil  facite  :"  "  Do  nothing  without  your 
 bishop."    But  this  is  better  explicated  in  his  epistle  to  the 
 
156 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 church  of  Smyrna :  "  Sine  episcopo  nemo  quicquam  faciat 
 eorum,  quae  ad  ecclesiam  spectant  "  No  man  may  do  any- 
 thing, without  the  bisho]),""  viz.,  "  of  those  things  which  be- 
 long to  the  church."  So  that  this  saying  expounds  all  the 
 rest;  for  this  universal  obedience  is  to  be  understood  according 
 to  the  sense  of  the  church,  viz.,  to  be  in  all  things  of  ecclesias- 
 tical cognizance,  all  church-affairs.  And,  therefore,  he  gives 
 a  charge  to  St.  Polycarp,  their  bishop,  that  he  also  look  to  it, 
 that  nothing  be  done  without  his  leave.  "  Nihil  sine  tuo 
 arbltrio  agatur,  nec  item  tu  quicquam  prseter  Dei  facies  volun- 
 tatem:"  "  As  thou  must  do  nothing  against  God''s  will,  so 
 let  nothing  (in  the  church)  be  done  without  thine."  By  the 
 way,  observe,  he  says  not,  that  as  the  presbyter}'  must  do 
 nothing  without  the  bishop,  so  the  bishop  nothing  without 
 them  ; — but,  so  the  bishop  nothing  without  God.  But  so  it  is. 
 "  Nothing  must  be  done  without  the  bishop  and  therefore, 
 although  he  encourages  them  that  can,  to  remain  in  vir- 
 ginity ;  yet  this,  if  it  be  either  done  with  pride  or  without 
 the  bishop,  it  is  spoiled.  For,  "  Si  gloriatus  fuerit,  periit, 
 et  si  id  ipsum  statuatur  sine  episcopo,  corruptum  est."  His 
 last  dictate  in  this  epistle  to  St.  Polycarp,  is  with  an  "  Epis- 
 copo attendite,  sicut  et  Deus  vobis:"  "  The  way  to  have 
 God  to  take  care  of  us,  is  to  observe  our  bishop."'  "  Hinc 
 et  vos  decet  accedere  sententise  episcopi,  qui  secundum  Deum 
 vos  pacit ;  quemadmodum  et  facitis,  edocti  a  Spiritu :' 
 "  You  must,  therefore,  conform  to  the  sentence  of  the  bishop; 
 as  indeed  ye  do  already,  being  taught  so  to  do  by  God's 
 Holy  Spiri't^" 
 
 There  needs  no  more  to  be  said  in  this  cause,  if  the 
 authority  of  so  great  a  man  will  bear  so  great  a  burden. 
 What  the  man  was,  I  said  before;  what  these  epistles  are, 
 and  of  what  authority,  let  it  rest  upon  Vedelius^  a  man  who 
 is  nowise  to  be  suspected  as  a  party  for  episcopacy;  or 
 rather  upon  the  credit  of  Eusebius%  St.  Jerome'^,  and  Ruf- 
 finus%  who  reckon  the  first  seven,  out  of  which  I  have  taken 
 these  escerpta,  for  natural  and  genuine.  And  now  I  will 
 make  this  use  of  it;  Those  men  that  call  for  reduction  of 
 episcopacv  to  the  primitive  state,  should  do  well  to  stand 
 
 »  Ep.  ad  Ephes.  •>  Apoloiia  pro  Ignatio.  Lib.  iii.  Hist.  c.  30. 
 
 De  Script.  Eccles.     '  .\pud  Euseb.  quern  Latine  reddidit. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 157 
 
 close  to  their  principles,  and  count  that  the  best  episcopacy 
 which  is  first  ;  and  then  consider  but  what  St.  Ignatius  hath 
 told  us  for  direction  in  this  affair,  and  see  what  is  gotten  in 
 the  bargain.  For  my  part,  since  they  that  call  for  such  a 
 reduction,  hope  to  gain  by  it,  and  then  would  most  certainly 
 have  abidden  by  it,  I  think  it  not  reasonable  to  abate  any 
 thing  of  Ignatius's  height,  but  except  such  subordination  and 
 conformity  to  the  biir^hop,  as  he  then  knew  to  be  a  law  of 
 Christianity.  But  let  this  be  remembered  all  along,  in  the 
 specification  of  the  parts  of  their  jurisdiction.  But,  as  yet,  I 
 am  in  the  general  demonstration  of  obedience. 
 
 The  council  of  Laodicea^  having  specified  some  particular 
 instances  of  subordination  and  dependence  to  the  bishop, 
 sums  them  up  thus  :  wGctiiruis  xat  royr  zsQzcZvri^rtvs,  /x^jSev 
 •wgarrsiv  avsy  -/vuixns  rov  £7ii<yxo7rov  "  So  likewise  the  pres- 
 byters, let  them  do  nothing  without  the  precept  and  counsel 
 of  the  bishop" ;"  so  is  the  translation  of  Isidore,  '  ad  verbum*^.' 
 This  council  is  ancient  enough,  for  it  was  before  the  first 
 Nicene.  So  also  was  that  of  Aries,  commanding  the  same 
 thing  exactly  :  "  Ut  presbyterl,  sine  conscientia  episcopo- 
 rum,  nihil  faciant.  Sed  nec  presbyteris  clvltatis  sine  episcopi 
 praecepto  amplius  aliquid  imperare,  vel  sine  auctoritate 
 litei-arum  ejus  in  unaquaque  parochia  aliquid  agere,"  says 
 the  thirteenth  canon  of  the  Ancyran  council,  according  to  the 
 Latin  of  Isidore'.  The  same  thing  is  in  the  first  council  of 
 Toledo,  the  very  same  words  for  which  I  cited  the  first 
 council  of  Aries  ;  viz.,  "  That  presbyters  do  nothing  without 
 the  knowledge  or  pei-mission  of  the  bishop.  "  Esto  subjec- 
 tU3  pontifici  tuo,  et  quasi  anlmte  parentem  suscipe."  It  is 
 the  counsel  of  St.  Jerome:  "  Be  subject  to  thy  bishop,  and 
 receive  him  as  the  father  of  thy  soul'''." 
 
 I  shall  not  need  to  derive  hither  any  more  particular  in- 
 stances of  the  duty  and  obedience  owing  from  the  laity  to 
 the  bishop  ;  for  this  account  will  certainly  be  admitted  by  all 
 considering  men.  God  hath  intrusted  the  souls  of  the  laity 
 to  the  care  of  the  ecclesiastical  orders ;  they,  therefore,  are 
 to  submit  to  the  government  of  the  clergy,  in  matters  spiritual, 
 with  which  they  are  intrusted.     For  either  there  is  no  go- 
 
 f  Can.  56.  s  Idem  videre  est  apud  Damasum,  Ep.  de  Chorepiscopis. 
 
 Can.  19.         '  Can.  20.  Epist.  ad  Nepotian. 
 
 VOL.  VII. 
 
 N 
 
158 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 vernment  at  all,  oi"  the  laity  must  govern  the  church,  or  else 
 the  clergy  must.  To  say  there  is  no  government,  is  to  leave 
 the  church  in  worse  condition  than  a  tyranny.  To  say  that 
 the  laity  should  govern  the  church,  when  all  ecclesiastical 
 ministeries  are  committed  to  the  clergy,  is  to  say.  Scripture 
 means  not  what  it  says  ;  for  it  is  to  say,  that  the  clergy  must 
 be  «  prsepositi,'  and  ■^^y^osaTuns,  and  '  prselati  ;'  and  yet  the 
 prelation,  and  presidency,  and  rule,  is  in  them  who  are  not 
 ever,  by  God's  Spirit,  called  presidents  or  prelates,  and  that 
 it  is  not  in  them  who  are  so  called.  In  the  meantime,  if 
 the  laity,  in  matters  spiritual,  are  inferior  to  the  clergy,  and 
 must,  in  things  pertaining  to  the  soul,  be  ruled  by  them, 
 with  whom  their  souls  are  intrusted ;  then  also,  much  rather 
 they  must  obey  those  of  the  clergy,  to  whom  all  the  other 
 clergy  themselves  are  bound  to  be  obedient.  Now  since, 
 by  the  frequent  precept  of  so  many  councils  and  fathers, 
 the  deacons  and  presbyters  must  submit,  in  all  things,  to 
 the  bishop,  much  more  must  the  laity  ;  and  since  the  bishop 
 must  rule  in  chief,  and  the  presbyters,  at  the  most,  can  but 
 rule  in  conjunction  and  assistance,  but  ever  in  subordina- 
 tion to  the  bishop,  the  laity  must  obey  '  de  integro.'  For 
 that  is  to  keej?  them  in  that  state,  in  which  God  hath  placed 
 them. 
 
 But  for  the  main  :  St.  Clement,  in  his  epistle  to  St.  James, 
 translated  by  Ruffinus,  saith  it  was  the  doctrine  of  Peter,  ac- 
 cording to  the  institution  of  Christ,  "  That  presbyters  should 
 be  obedient  to  their  bishop  in  all  things ;"  and  in  his  third 
 epistle,  "That  presbyters  and  deacons,  and  others  of  the 
 clergy,  must  take  heed,  that  they  do  nothing  without  the 
 license  of  the  bishop."  And  to  make  this  business  up  com- 
 plete, all  these  authorities  of  great  antiquity  were  not  the 
 prime  constitutions  in  those  several  churches  respectively, 
 but  mere  derivations  from  tradition  apostolical ;  for  not  only 
 the  thing,  but  the  words  so  often  mentioned,  are  in  the 
 fortieth  canon  of  the  apostles.  O'l  zyq^nQurs^ot  xa!  ^la'xovoi 
 a.)icu  '•/MuiiJ.ris  rov  e7ri<yy.6-7rov  ptioSsv  iTriTiXs/Tft/ffav,  (the  same  is  re- 
 peated in  the  twenty-fourth  canon  of  the  council  of  Antioch,) 
 al/TOS  ya.0  ectjv  5  OTETriffTEfptc'voy  tov  Xkov  rov  K.vpiov,  xat  Toy  vTrep 
 ruv  \}/t/5(,a/v  avruv  >.oyov  d'TrociTYS'/iaofjisvos'  "  Presbyters  and 
 deacons  must  do  nothing  without  leave  of  the  bishop  ;  for  to 
 him  the  Lord's  people  is  committed,  and  he  must  give  an 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 159 
 
 account  for  their  souls."  And  if  a  presbyter  shall  contemn 
 his  own  bishop,  making  conventions  apart,  and  erecting 
 another  altar,  he  is  to  be  deposed,  us  (plha-pxas ,  saith  the 
 thirty-second  canon,  "as  a  lover  of  principality  ;"  intimating, 
 that  he  arrogates  episcopal  dignity,  and  so  is  ambitious  of  a 
 principality.  The  issue  then  is  this.  The  presbyters,  and 
 clergy,  and  laity  must  obey ;  therefore,  the  bishop  must 
 govern  and  give  them  laws.  It  was  particularly  instanced  in 
 the  case  of  St.  Chrysostom,  xat  r-ziv  Yiovnaw  rouron  xocTsx-osfxei 
 ro7i  voiMois,  saith  Theodoret;  "He  adorned  and  instructed 
 Pontus  with  these  laws ;"  so  he,  reckoning  up  the  extent  of 
 his  jurisdiction'. 
 
 But  now  descend  we  to  a  specification  of  the  power  and 
 jurisdiction  of  bishops. 
 
 SECTION  XXXVI. 
 
 Appointing  them  to  be  Judges  of  the  Clergy,  and  Spiritual 
 Causes  of  the  Laity. 
 
 The  bishops  were  ecclesiastical  judges  over  the  presbyters, 
 the  inferior  clergy,  and  laity.  What  they  were  in  Scripture 
 who  were  constituted  in  presidency  over  causes  spiritual,  I 
 have  already  twice  explicated  ;  and  from  hence  it  descended, 
 by  a  close  succession,  that  they  who  watched  for  souls,  they 
 had  the  rule  over  them,  and  because  no  regiment  can  be 
 without  coercion,  therefore  there  was  inherent  in  them  a 
 power  of  cognition  of  causes,  and  coercion  of  persons.  The 
 canons  of  the  apostles,  appointing  censures  to  be  inflicted  on 
 delinquent  persons,  make  the  bishop's  hand  to  do  it.  Ei'  rir 
 zs^zsQvriqos,  V)  ^tdycovos,  d-ith  eTriaxonou  yevr,Txi  d(pco^iaix£vos,  rovTOV 
 (/.ri  e^eivoci  Z7x^'  Iripov  ^ey^ia^ui,  aXTC  rj  zjxpci  dipo^i'jxvTOi  ocvrov,  si  fxri 
 av  >ixrx  avyyivpiccv  reXevrri'ysi  o  difoplaxs  aurov  s7!l<jx.o7ros.  "  If  any 
 presbyter  or  deacon  be  excommunicated  by  the  bishop,  he 
 must  not  be  received  by  any  else,  but  by  him  that  did  so 
 censure  him,  unless  the  bishop  that  censured  him  be  dead*." 
 The  same  is  repeated  in  the  Nicene  council ;  only  it  is  per- 
 
 '  Lib.  V.  c.  28. 
 
 »  Can.  33. 
 
 N  2 
 
160 
 
 EPiSCOPACi"  ASSERTED. 
 
 mltted  that  any  one  may  appeal  to  a  synod  of  bishops  :  "  Si 
 forte  aliqua  indignatione,  aut  contentione,  aut  qualibet  com- 
 motione  episcopi  sui,  excomraunicati  sint,"  if  he  thinks  him- 
 self wronged  by  prejudice  or  passion ;  and  when  the  synod  is 
 met,  "  hujusmodi  examinent  quaestiones^."  But  by  the  way, 
 it  must  be  '  synodus  episcoporum  so  the  canon  :  "  Ut  ita 
 denium  hi,  qui,  ob  culpas  suas,  episcoporum  suorum  offensas 
 merito  contraxerunt,  digne  etiam  a  cseteris  excommunicati 
 habeantur,  quousque  incommuni,  vel  ipsi  episcopo  suo  visum 
 fuerit  huraaniorem  circa  eos  ferre  sententiam  :"  "  The  synod 
 of  bishops  must  ratify  the  excommunication  of  all  those,  who, 
 for  their  delinquencies,  have  justly  incurred  the  displeasure 
 of  their  bishop,  and  this  censure  to  stick  upon  them,  till 
 either  the  synod  or  their  own  bishop  shall  give  a  more  gentle 
 sentence."  This  canon,  we  see,  relates  to  the  canon  of  the 
 apostles,  and  affixes  the  judicature  of  priests  and  deacons  to 
 the  bishops  ;  commanding  their  censures  to  be  held  as  firm 
 and  valid  ;  only  as  the  apostles'  canon  names  presbyters  and 
 deacons  particularly  ;  so  the  Nicene  canon  speaks  indefinitely, 
 and  so  comprehends  all  of  the  diocese  and  jurisdiction. 
 
 The  fourth  council  of  Carthage  gives,  in  express  terms,  the 
 cognizance  of  clergy-causes  to  the  bishop,  calling  aid  from  a 
 synod  in  case  a  clergyman  prove  refractory  and  disobedient. 
 "  Discordantes  clericos  episcopus  vel  ratioue  vel  potestate 
 ad  concordiam  trahat,  inobedientes  synodus  per  audientiam 
 damnet :"  "If  the  bishop's  reason  will  not  end  the  contro- 
 versies of  clergymen,  his  power  must*^  ;"  but  if  any  man 
 list  to  be  contentious,  intimating  (as  I  suppose,  out  of  the 
 Nicene  council,)  with  frivolous  appeals,  and  impertinent  pro- 
 traction, "the  synod  (of bishops)  must  condemn  him,"  viz., 
 for  his  disobeying  his  bishop's  sentence.  The  council  of 
 Antioch  is  yet  more  particular  in  its  sanction  for  this  afiair, 
 intimating  a  clear  distinction  of  proceeding  in  the  cause  of  a 
 bishop,  and  the  other  of  the  priests  and  deacons.  El'  tu 
 £7n'(7xawor  v7:o  avvoSou  xa&ai^eQctf,  ^  ■oj^s'j^vtc^os,  v  ^ixx.ot/os  vtio  tov 
 JJi'oy  eTZKjuomu,  &c.  "If  a  bishop  shall  be  deposed  by  a 
 synod,"  (viz.,  of  bishops,  according  to  the  exigence  of  the 
 Nicene  canon "^j)  "  or  a  priest,  or  deacon  by  his  own  bishop, 
 if  Jie  meddles  with  any  sacred  offices,  he  shall  be  hopeless  of 
 
 "  Can.  5. 
 
 «  Can.  59. 
 
 ^Can.  4. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 161 
 
 absolution."  But  here  we  see  that  the  ordinary  judge  of  a 
 bishop  is  a  synod  of  bishops;  but  of  priests  and  deacons  the 
 bishop  alone:  and  the  sentence  of  the  bishop  is  made  firm 
 '  omni  modo'  in  the  next  canon :  "  Si  quis  presbyter  vel 
 diaconus,  proprio  contempto  episcopo,  privatim  congrega- 
 tionem  effecerit,  et  altare  erexerit,  et  episcopo  accersenti  non 
 obedierit,  nec  velit  ei  pai-ere,  nec  morem  gerere  primo  et 
 secundo  vocanti,  hie  damnetur  omni  modo.  Quod  si  eccle- 
 siam  conturbare,  et  solicitare  jDersistat  tanquam  seditiosus, 
 per  potestates  exteras  opprimatur :"  "  What  presbyter  soever 
 refuses  to  obey  his  bishop,  and  will  not  appear  at  his  first  or 
 second  summons,  let  him  be  deposed,  and  if  he  shall  persist 
 to  disturb  the  church,  let  him  be  given  over  to  the  secular 
 powei's."  Add  to  this  the  first  canon  of  the  same  council, 
 K\'  Tis  v7i:o  rov  ISi'oy  sTTianoTiou  duoinaivriros  ysyovsii,  &c.  "  If  any  one 
 be  excommunicate  by  his  own  bishop,"  &c.,  as  it  is  in  the 
 foregoing  canons  of  Nice  and  the  apostles.  The  result  of 
 these  sanctions  is  this.  The  bishop  is  the  judge ;  the  bishop 
 is  to  inflict  censures;  the  presbyters  and  deacons  are  either 
 to  obey,  or  to  be  deposed  :  no  greater  evidence  in  the  world 
 of  a  superior  jurisdiction,  and  this  established  by  all  the 
 power  they  had ;  and  this  did  extend,  not  only  to  the  clergy, 
 but  to  the  laity ;  for  that  is  the  close  of  the  canon,  'O  ccutos 
 
 opo!  £7:1  Xcciyiuv,  xal  znpsaQuripcov,  ncu  JiaxtJvaiv,  nqu  zsivruv  toov 
 h  Tw  jtosvovr  "  This  constitution  is  concerning  the  laity,  and 
 the  presbyters,  and  the  deacons,  and  all  that  are  within  the 
 rule,  viz.,  that  if  their  bishop  have  sequestered  them  from 
 the  holy  communion,  they  must  not  be  suffered  to  communi- 
 cate elsewhere." 
 
 But  the  '  audientia  episcopalis,'  '  the  bishops'  audience- 
 court,'  is  of  larger  power  in  the  council  of  Chalcedon :  Et' 
 Tir  yXfipiKos  Zjpos  xXmpixov  zapdyixoc  6X°'>  f^''^  xxrtzXtij.7racviT0j  rov 
 oikeTov  67n'(TH0770v,  xai  sTrt  Koffpoota  ^txa.ar'npix  )iacrxTpey(^irco.  "  If 
 any  clergyman  have  any  cause  against  a  clergyman,  let  him 
 by  no  means  leave  his  own  bishop,  and  run  to  secular 
 courts :"  dK\x  zjporepov  r-nv  vvoOesiv  yvixvac^iru  zsocpoc  ru  l^tcj 
 iTCKSKOTtii),  ^  youv  yvctifX'rt  avrov  rov  ItiIgho'TIOv  zsa^  ois  av  ra.  d/j.(po- 
 repx  iMip'fi  jSovXeTcci,  ra.  rris  ^Ixris  avynporEiuQu.  "  But  first  let 
 the  cause  be  examined  before  their  own  bishop,  or,  by  the 
 bishop's  leave,  before  such  persons  as  the  contesting  parties 
 shall  desire."    Et     ns  ravrx  zjoir^sn,  kxmo-vixoTs  unoxsiuOu 
 
162 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 ETTirifjiiois'  "  Whosoever  does  otherwise,  let  him  suffer  under 
 the  censures  of  the  churcli''."  Here  is  not  only  a  subordina- 
 tion of  the  clei'gy  in  matters  criminal,  but  also  the  civil 
 causes  of  the  clergy  must  be  submitted  to  the  bishop,  under 
 pain  of  the  canon.  I  end  this  with  the  attestation  of  the 
 council  of  Sardis,  exactly  of  the  same  spirit,  the  same  in- 
 junction, and  almost  the  same  words,  with  the  former 
 canons.  Hosius,  the  president,  said:  "  If  any  deacon,  or 
 priest,  or  of  the  inferior  clergy,  being  excommunicated, 
 shall  go  to  another  bishop,"  7ivwcr;tovT«  aTroxsxiv^iffSat  avrov  rris 
 xotvwvi'fics-  zyapa  rov  l^lov  iTnaniitov,  "  knowing  him  to  be  excom- 
 municated by  his  own  bishop,  that  other  bishop  must  by  no 
 means  receive  him  into  his  communion ^" 
 
 Thus  far  we  have  matter  of  public  right  and  authority, 
 declaring  the  bishop  to  be  the  ordinary  judge  of  the  causes 
 and  persons  of  clergymen,  and  have  power  of  inflicting 
 censures,  both  upon  the  clergy  and  the  laity.  And  if  there 
 be  any  weight  in  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  apostolical 
 canons,  of  the  general  councils  of  Nice,  and  of  Chalcedon,  of 
 the  councils  of  Antioch,  of  Sardis,  of  Carthage ;  then  it  is 
 evident,  that  the  bishop  is  the  ordinary  judge  in  all  matters 
 of  spiritual  cognizance,  and  hath  power  of  censures,  and, 
 therefore,  a  superiority  of  jurisdiction. 
 
 This  thing  only  by  the  way :  in  all  these  canons  there  is 
 no  mention  made  of  any  presbyters  assistant  with  the  bishop 
 in  his  courts.  For  though  I  doubt  not  but  the  presbyters 
 were  in  some  churches,  and  in  some  times  cjmi^pzvroci  and 
 aufxQouXoi  ruv  sTriffxoTTwv,  as  St.  Ignatius  calls  them,  "  coun- 
 sellors and  assessors  with  the  bishop  ;"  yet  the  power  and 
 the  right  of  inflicting  censures  is  only  expressed  to  be  in  the 
 bishop,  and  no  concurrent  jurisdiction  mentioned  in  the 
 presbytery  :  but  of  this  hereafter  more  particularly. 
 
 Now,  we  may  see  these  canons  attested  by  practice  and 
 dogmatical  resolution.  St.  Cyprian  is  the  man  whom  I 
 would  choose,  in  all  the  world,  to  depose  in  this  cause  ; 
 bacause  he,  if  any  man,  hath  given  all  dues  to  the  college  of 
 presbyters ;  and  yet  if  he  reserves  the  superiority  of  juris- 
 diction to  the  bishop,  and  that  absolutely,  and  independently 
 of  conjunction  with  the  presbytery,  we  are  all  well  enough, 
 
 ^  Can.  9. 
 
 f  Can.  13.  et  14. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 163 
 
 and  without  suspicion.  "  Diii  patientiam  meam  tenui,  fratres 
 carissimi,"  saitli  he,  writing  to  the  presbyters  and  deacons 
 of  his  church^.  He  was  angry  with  them  for  admitting 
 the  '  ]apsi'  without  his  consent;  and  though  he  was  as 
 willing  as  any  man  to  comply,  both  with  the  clergy  and 
 people  of  his  diocese,  yet  he  also  must  assert  his  own  privi- 
 leges and  peculiar.  "  Quod  enim  non  periculum  metuere 
 debemus  de  oftensa  Domini,  quando  aliqui  de  presbyteris,  nec 
 evangelii  nec  loci  sui  memores,  sed  neque  futurum  Domini 
 judicium,  neque  nunc  praepositum  sibi  episcopum  cogitantes, 
 quod  nunquam  omnino  sub  antecessoribus  factum  est,  cum 
 contumelia  et  contemptu  praepositi  totum  sibi  vindicent." 
 The  matter  was,  that  certain  presbyters  had  reconciled  them 
 that  fell  in  persecution,  without  the  performance  of  penance, 
 according  to  the  severity  of  the  canon  ;  and  this  was  done 
 without  the  bishop's  leave,  by  the  presbytei-s,  "  forgetting 
 their  own  place,  and  the  Gospel,  and  their  bishop  set  over 
 them,  a  thing  that  was  never  heard  of  till  that  time,"  "  totum 
 sibi  vindicabant,"  "  they  that  might  do  nothing  without  the 
 bishop's  leave,  yet  did  this  whole  affair  of  their  own  heads." 
 Well !  Upon  this  St.  Cyprian  himself,  by  his  own  authority 
 alone,  suspends  them  till  his  return,  and  so  shows  that  his 
 autliority  was  independent,  theirs  was  not,  and  then  promises 
 '  they  shall  have  a  fair  hearing  before  him,  in  the  presence  of 
 the  confessors  and  all  the  people."  "  Utar  ea  admonitione 
 qua  me  uti  Dominus  jubet,  ut  interim  prohibeantur  offerre, 
 acturi  et  apud  nos,  et  apud  confessores  ipsos,  et  apud  plebem 
 universam,  causam  suam."  Here  it  is  plain  that  St.  Cyprian 
 suspended  these  presbyters  by  his  own  authority,  in  absence 
 from  his  church,  and  reserved  the  further  hearing  of  the 
 cause,  till  it  should  please  God  to  restore  him  to  his  see. 
 
 But  this  fault  of  the  presbyters,  St.  Cyprian,  in  the  two 
 next  epistles,  does  still  more  exaggerate;  saying,  they  ought 
 to  have  asked  the  bishop's  leave,  "  Sicut  in  prseteritum 
 semper  sub  antecessoribus  factum  est,"  for  so  was  the 
 catholic  custom  ever,  that  nothing  should  be  done  without 
 the  bishop's  leave  ;  but  now,  by  doing  otherwise,  they  did 
 prevaricate  the  Divine  commandment,  and  dishonour  the 
 bishop''.    Yea,  but  the  confessors  interceded  for  the  '  lapsi,' 
 
 ?Epist.  10. 
 
 ^  Epist.  1 1 . 
 
16-1 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 and  they  seldom  were  discountenanced  in  their  requests. 
 What  should  the  presbyters  do  in  this  case  ?  St.  Cvprian 
 tells  them,  writing  to  the  confessors:  "  Pelitiones  itaque  et 
 desideria  vestra  episcopo  servent :"  "  Let  them  keep  your 
 petitions  for  the  bishop  to  consider  of'."  But  thev  did 
 not ;  therefore  he  suspended  them,  because  thev  did  not 
 "  reservare  episcopo  honorem  sacerdotii  sui  et  cathedrae  f 
 "  preserve  the  honour  of  the  bishop's  chair,  and  the  epis- 
 copal authority,"  in  presuming  to  reconcile  the  penitents 
 without  the  bishop's  leave- 
 
 The  same  St.  Cyprian,  in  his  epistle  to  Rogatianus,  re- 
 solves this  affair ;  for  when  a  contemptuous  bold  deacon  had 
 abused  his  bishop,  he  complained  to  St.  Cvprian,  who  was  an 
 archbishop,  and  indeed  St.  Cvprian  tells  him,  he  did  honour 
 him  in  the  business  that  he  would  complain  to  him,  "  Cum 
 pro  episcopatus  vigore,  et  cathedrae  auctoritate  haberes  potes- 
 tatem,  qua  posses  de  illo  statim  vindicare "  When  as  he 
 had  power  episcopal  and  sufficient  authority  himself,  to  have 
 punished  the  deacon  for  his  petulancv''."  The  whole  epistle 
 is  very  pertinent  to  this  question,  and  is  clear  evidence  for 
 the  great  authority  of  episcopal  jurisdiction,  the  sum  whereof 
 is,  in  this  encouragement,  given  to  Rogatianus  by  St.  Cv- 
 prian:  "  Fungaris  circa  eum  potestate  honoris  tui,  ut  eum 
 vel  deponas  vel  abstineas  :"  "  Exercise  the  power  of  your 
 honour  upon  him,  and  either  suspend  him  or  depose  him." 
 And,  therefore,  he  commends  Cornelius,  the  bishop  of  Rome, 
 for  driving  Felicissimus,  the  schismatic,  from  the  church, 
 *'  vigore  pleno,  quo  episcopum  agere  oportet,"  with  full 
 authority,  as  becomes  a  bishop'." 
 
 Socrates,  telling  of  the  promotion  and  qualities  of  St. 
 John  Chrvsostom,  says,  "  That  in  reforming  the  lives  of  the 
 clergy,  he  was  too  fastuous  and  severe."  "  Mox  igitur  in 
 ipso  initio  quum  clericis  asper  videretur  ecclesise,  erat  plurimis 
 exosus,  et  veluti  furiosum  universi  declinabant :  "  He  was 
 so  rigid  in  animadversions  against  the  clergy,  that  he  was 
 hated  by  them°;"  which  clearly  shows  that  the  bishop  had 
 jurisdiction  and  authority  over  them ;  for  tyranny  is  the 
 excess  of  power,  and  authority  is  the  subject  matter  of  rigour 
 
 '  Epist.  12. 
 •  Epist.  55. 
 
 Epist.  65. 
 "  Tripart.  Hist.  lib.  x.  c.  3. 
 
EPISCOPACV  ASSERTED. 
 
 165 
 
 and  austerity.  But  this  power  was  intimated  in  that  bold 
 speech  of  his  deacon,  Serapio  :  "  Nunquam  poteris,  6  epis- 
 cope,  hos  corrigere,  nisi  uno  baculo  percusseris  univei-sos :" 
 "  Thou  canst  not  amend  the  clergy,  unless  thou  strlkest  them 
 all  with  thy  pastoral  rod."  St.  John  Chrysostom  did  not 
 indeed  do  so;  but  "  non  multum  post  temporis  plurimos 
 clericorum  pro  dive^-sis  exemit  causis,"  "  he  deprived  and 
 suspended  most  of  the  clergymen  for  divers  causes;"  and  for 
 this  his  severity  he  wanted  no  slanders  against  him ;  for  the 
 delinquent  ministers  set  the  people  on  work  against  him. 
 But  here  we  see  that  the  power  of  censures  was  clearly  and 
 only  in  the  bishop,  for  he  was  incited  to  have  punished  all 
 his  clergy,  '  uni versos  ;'  and  he  did  actually  suspend  most  of 
 them,  '  plui'imos ;'  and  I  think  it  will  not  be  believed  the 
 presbytery  of  his  church  should  join  with  their  bishop  to 
 suspend  themselves.  Add  to  this,  that  Theodoret  also  affirms 
 that  Chrysostom  entreated  the  priests  to  live  canonically, 
 according  to  the  sanctions  of  the  church:  "  Quas  quicunque 
 praevaricari  prsesumerent,  eos  ad  templum  proliibebat  acce- 
 dere  ;"  "  All  them  that  transgressed  the  canons,  he  forbade 
 them  entrance  into  the  church"." 
 
 Thus  St.  Jerome  to  Riparius :  "  Miror  sanctum  epis- 
 copum,  in  cujus  parochia  esse  presbyter  dicitur,  acquiescei-e 
 furori  ejus,  et  non  virga  apostolica,  virgaque  ferrea  con- 
 fringere  vas  inutile,  et  tradere  in  interitum  carnis,  ut  spiritus 
 salvus  fiat:"  "  I  wonder,"  saith  he,  "  that  the  holy  bishop 
 is  not  moved  at  the  fury  of  Vigilantius,  and  does  not  break 
 him  with  his  apostolical  rod,  that,  by  this  temporary  punish- 
 ment, his  soul  might  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord"." 
 Hitherto  the  bishop's  pastoi'al  staff"  is  of  fair  power  and 
 coercion. 
 
 The  council  of  Aquileia,  convoked  against  the  Arians,  is 
 full  and  mighty  in  asserting  the  bishop's  power  over  the 
 laity,  and  did  actually  exercise  censures  upon  the  clergy, 
 where  St.  Ambrose  was  the  man,  that  gave  sentence  against 
 Palladius,  the  Arian.  Palladlus  would  have  declined  the 
 judgment  of  the  bishops,  for  he  saw  he  should  certainly 
 be  condemned,  and  would  fain  have  been  judged  by  seme 
 honourable  personages  of  the  laity.    But  St.  Ambrose  said, 
 
 "  Tripart.  Hist.  lib.  x.  c.  4. 
 
 Advers.  Vigilant.  Epist.  53. 
 
166 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 "  Sacerdotes  de  laicis  judicare  debent,  ncn  laici  de  sacer- 
 dotibus:"  "  Bishops  must  judge  of  the  laity,  not  the  laity  of 
 the  bishops."  That  is  for  the  '  jus;'  and  for  the  '  factum,' 
 it  was  the  shutting  up  of  the  council ;  St.  Ambrose,  bishop 
 of  Milan,  gave  sentence,  "  Pronuncic  ilium  indignum  sacer- 
 dotio,  et  cavendum,  et  in  loco  ejus  catholicus  ordinetur." 
 The  same  also  was  the  case  of  Marcellus,  bishop  of  Ancyra 
 in  Galatia,  whom,  for  heresy,  the  bishops  at  Constantinople 
 deposed,  Eusebius  giving  sentence,  and  chose  Basilius  in  his 
 room  P. 
 
 But  their  grandfather  was  served  no  better.  Alexander, 
 bishop  of  Alexandria,  served  him  neither  better  nor  worse. 
 So  Theodoret.  "  Alexander  autem,  apostolicorumdogmatum 
 praedicator,  prius  quidem  revocare  eum  admonitionibus  et 
 consiliis  nitebatur.  Cum  vero  eum  superbire  vidisset,  et 
 aperte  impietatis  facinora  prsedicare,  ex  ordine  sacerdotali 
 removit:"  "  The  bishop  first  admonished  the  heretic;  but 
 when  to  his  false  doctrine  he  added  pertinacy,  he  deprived 
 him  of  the  execution  of  his  priestly  function''." 
 
 This  crime,  indeed,  deserved  it  highly.  It  was  for  a  less 
 matter  that  Triferius,  the  bishop,  excommunicated  Exupe- 
 rantius,  a  presbyter,  viz.,  for  a  personal  misdemeanor;  and 
 yet  this  censure  was  ratified  by  the  council  of  Taurinum,  and 
 his  restitution  was  left  '  arbitrio  episcopi,'  '  to  the  good  will 
 and  pleasure  of  the  bishop,'  who  had  censured  him.  "  Statuit 
 quoque  de  Exuperantio  presbytero  sancta  synodus,  qui  ad 
 injuriam  sancti  episcopi  sui  Triferii  gravia  et  multa  conges- 
 serat,  et  frequentibus  eum  contumeliis  provocaverat ;  propter 
 quam  causam  ab  eo  fuerat  Dominica  communione  privatus, 
 ut  in  ejus  sit  arbitrio  restitutio  ipsius,  in  cujus  potestate  ejus 
 fuit  abjectio'.""  His  restitution  was,  therefore,  left  in  his 
 power,  because  originally  his  censure  was.  The  like  was  in 
 the  case  of  Palladius,  a  laic  in  the  same  council:  "  Qui  a 
 Triferio  sacerdote  fuerat  mulctatus :""  "  Who  was  punished 
 by  Triferius  the  bishop;"  "  Hoc  ei  humanitate  concilii 
 reservato,  ut  ipse  Triferius  in  potestate  liabeat,  quando 
 voluerit  ei  relaxare." 
 
 Here  is  the  bishop  censuring  Palladius  the  laic,  and 
 
 V  Tripart.  Hist.  lib.  iii.  c.  9.  'i  Tripart.  Hist.  lib.  i.  c.  12. 
 
 f  Can.  4.  Ann.  Dom.  397. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 167 
 
 excommunicating  Exuperantius  the  priest,  and  this  having 
 been  done  by  his  own  sole  authority,  was  ratified  by  the 
 council,  and  the  absolution  reserved  to  the  bishop  too,  which 
 indeed  was  an  act  of  favour  ;  for  they  having  complained  to 
 the  council,  by  the  council  might  have  been  absolved  ;  but 
 they  were  pleased  to  reserve  to  the  bishop  his  own  power. 
 
 These  are  particular  instances,  and  made  public  by  acts 
 conciliary  intervening. 
 
 But  it  was  the  general  canon  and  law  of  Holy  Church. 
 
 Thus  we  have  it  expressed  in  the  council  of  Agatho : 
 "  Contumaces  vero  clerici,  prout  dignitatis  ordo  promiserit, 
 ab  episcopis  corrigantur :"  "Refractory  clerks  must  be 
 punished  by  their  bishops,  according  as  the  order  of  their 
 dignity  allows"."  I  end  this  particular  with  some  canons, 
 commanding  clerks  to  submit  to  the  judgment  and  censures 
 of  their  bishop,  under  a  canonical  penalty ;  and  so  go  on 
 '  ad  alia.' 
 
 In  the  second  council  of  Carthage:  "  Alypius  episcopus 
 dixit,  nec  illud  prsetermittendum  est,  ut  si  quis  forte  presbyter, 
 ab  episcopo  suo  con-eptus,  aut  excommunicatus,  rumore  vel 
 superbia  inflatus  putaverit  separatim  Deo  sacrificia  offerenda, 
 vel  aliud  erigendum  altare  contra  ecclesiasticam  fidem  disci- 
 plinamcpie  crediderit,  non  exeat  impunitus'."  And  the  same 
 is  repeated  in  the  Greek  code  of  the  African  canon:  "  If 
 any  presbyter,  being  excommunicated,  or  otherwise  punished 
 by  his  bishop,  shall  not  desist,  but  contest  with  his  bishop, 
 let  him  by  no  means  go  unpunished"."  The  like  is  in  the 
 council  of  Chalcedon " ;  the  words  are  the  same  that  I  before 
 cited  out  of  the  canons  of  the  council  of  Antioch,  and  of  the 
 apostles.  But  Carosus,  the  archimandrite,  spake  home  in 
 that  action  :  K.xquaos  h  suXxQiaTtzTos  a.p%if/.ac.\tplrns  sJ'jre'  Triv  ruv 
 rgtoLHoalun  ^cK.a.ox.ru  twv  iv  Nixsti'a  yavoptc'vwv  zyarBfcov  Tnlartv,  sv  y)  kolX 
 iCaTrri'ff^'/jv,  oiJsc.  'E'B'sl  gyw  aXKriv  -CT/^riv  o^x  o/Ja.  'K7rl(T)i07roi  slat, 
 KXi  s^ovaiccv  B'x^oviii,  y.ou  x(popl'7cci,  v.ol\  y.x^ocip'7i<7xi.  Kjci  si' ri  ^iXuaiv^ 
 .si'iw  rocvr'fiS  eyu  xXkriv  ouk  oi^x.  "  The  faith 
 of  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen  fathers  of  the  council  of 
 Nice,  into  which  I  was  baptized,  I  know;  other  faith  I  know 
 not.  They  are  bishops ;  they  have  power  to  excomnmnicate 
 and  condemn,  and  they  have  power  to  do  what  they  please: 
 
 •  Cap.  2.  '  Can.  8.  "  Can.  10.  "  Act.  iv.  can.  83. 
 
168 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 Other  faith  than  this  I  know  none'."  This  is  to  purpose, 
 and  it  was  in  one  of  the  four  great  councils  of  Christendom, 
 M'hicli  all  ages  since  have  received,  with  all  veneration  and 
 devout  estimate. 
 
 Another  of  them  was  that  of  Ephesus,  convened  against 
 Nestorius,  and  this  I'atifies  those  acts  of  condemnation,  which 
 the  bishops  had  passed  upon  delinquent  clerks.  "Oirot  Sg  stiI 
 a-TOTtois  •asqi^'c'ji  xarsx^i'Sr/'rav  vita  rrisaylocs  auvo^ou,  rt  vTio  ruv  olxsi'wv 
 hiti'jy.'jTroj-j,  &c.  "  They  who  are,  for  their  unworthy  practices, 
 condemned  by  the  synod,  or  by  their  own  bishops^ ;"  al- 
 though Nestorius  did  endeavour  to  restore  them,  yet  their 
 condemnation  sliould  still  remain  vigrorous  and  confirmed. 
 Upon  which  canon  Balsamon  makes  this  observation,  which 
 indeed,  of  itself,  is  clear  enough  in  the  canon.  "EpcaSss-  otj 
 fxriT^oTtoKiTzi  xcti  iTrl'jKOTroi  S^vstvTari  xcivsjv  tovs  xkripixovi  xuraj'j,  xocl 
 dtpoqt'j/j.cii  ri  Kai  xci^xipsTsi  earlv  'in  y.x^vjtoQik'Ksiv'  *'  Hence  you 
 have  learned  that  metropolitans  and  bishops  can  judge  their 
 clergy,  and  suspend  them,  and  sometimes  depose  them." 
 Nay,  they  are  bound  to  it:  "  Pastoralis  tamen  necessitas 
 habet  (ne  per  plures  ser^iant  dira  contagia)  separare  ab  ovibus 
 sanis  morbidam  :"  "  It  is  necessary  that  the  bishop  should 
 separate  the  scabbed  sheep  from  the  sound,  lest  their  infec- 
 tion scatter;"  So  St.  Austin.  And,  therefore,  the  fourth 
 council  of  Carthage  commands',  "  Ut  episcopus  accusatores 
 fratrum  excommunicet ;"  "  That  the  bishop  excommunicate 
 the  accuser  of  their  brethren^,"  (viz.,  such  as  bring  clergy- 
 causes  and  catholic  doctrine  to  be  punished  in  secular 
 tribunals;)  for  excommunication  is  called,  by  the  fathers, 
 '  mucro  episcopalis,''  the  '  bishop's  sword,'  to  cut  offenders 
 off  from  the  catholic  communion.  I  add  no  more  but  that 
 excellent  saying  of  St.  Austin,  which  doth  freely  attest  both 
 the  preceptive  and  vindictive  power  of  the  bishop  over  his 
 whole  diocese  :  "  Ergo  prtecipiant  tantummodo  nobis  quid 
 facere  debeamus,  qui  nobis  praesunt,  et  faciamus  orent  pro 
 nobis,  non  autem  nos  corripiant,  et  arguant,  si  non  fecerimus. 
 Imo  omnia  fiant,  quoniam  doctores  ecclesiarum  apostoli 
 omnia  faciebant,  et  prsecipiebant  qusefierent,  et  corripiebant 
 
 J  Post  Epist.  Archimandritan.m  ad  Concilium  pro  Dioscori  Rehabili- 
 tatione. 
 
 ^  C'oncil.  Ephes.  c.  5.  *  Cap.  15.  de  Corrept.  el  Gratia. 
 
 Can.  55, 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 169 
 
 si  non  fierent*^,"  &c.  And  again:  "  Corripiantur  itaque  a 
 prjepositis  suis  subditi  correjjtionibus  de  caritate  venientibus, 
 pro  culparum  diversitate  diversis,  vel  minoribus,  vel  ampli- 
 oribus,  quia  et  ipsa,  quae  damnatio  nominatui*,  qnam  facit 
 episcopale  judicium,  qua.  poena,  in  ecclesia  nulla  major  est, 
 potest,  si  Deus  voluerit,  in  correptionem  saluberrimam  cedere, 
 atque  proficere"'."  Here  the  bishoj^s  have  a  power  acknow- 
 ledged in  them,  to  command  their  diocese,  and  to  punish  the 
 disobedient,  and  of  excommunication  by  way  of  proper  mi- 
 nistry, "damnatio  quam  facit  episcopale  judicium,"  "  a  con- 
 demnation of  the  bishop's  infliction." 
 
 Thus  it  is  evident,  by  the  constant  practice  of  primitive 
 Christendom,  by  the  canons  of  the  three  general  councils,  and 
 divers  other  provincial,  which  are  made  catholic  by  adoption, 
 and  in  inserting  them  into  the  code  of  the  catholic  church, 
 that  the  bishop  was  judge  of  his  clergy,  and  of  the  lay-people 
 of  his  diocese ;  that  he  had  power  to  inflict  censures  upon 
 them,  in  case  of  delinquency;  that  his  censures  were  firm  and 
 valid ;  and  as  yet,  we  find  no  presbyters  joining  either  in 
 commission  or  fact,  in  power  or  exercise  ;  but  excommunica- 
 tion and  censures  to  be  appropriated  to  bishops,  and  to  be 
 only  despatched  by  them,  either  in  full  council,  if  it  was  a 
 bishop's  cause,  or  in  his  own  consistory,  if  it  was  the  cause  of 
 a  priest,  or  the  inferior  clergy,  or  a  laic,  unless  in  cases  of 
 appeal,  and  then  it  was  '  in  pleno  concilio  episcoporum,'  '  in 
 a  synod  of  bishops ;'  and  all  tliis  was  confirmed  by  secular 
 authority,  as  ajipears  in  the  imperial  constitutions. 
 
 For  the  making  up  this  paragraph  complete,  I  must  insert 
 two  considerations. 
 
 First,  concerning  universality  of  causes  within  the  bishop's 
 cognizance.    And,  secondly,  of  persons*. 
 
 The  ancient  canons,  asserting  the  bishop's  power,  '  in 
 cognitione  causarum,'  speak  in  most  large  and  comprehensive 
 terms.  Kai  sI'ti  ^iXuaiv,  t£ou(!iuv  ey^outji'  "  They  have  power 
 to  do  what  they  list."  Their  power  is  as  large  as  their  will. 
 So  the  council  of  Chalcedon,  before  cited.  It  was  no  larger, 
 though,  than  St.  Paul's  expression:  "For  to  this  end  also 
 did  I  write,  that  1  might  know  the  proof  of  you,  whether  ye 
 
 Ubi  supra,  c.  3.         Cap.  15.  ibid.       «  Novel.  Constit.  123.  c.  II. 
 
170 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 be  obedient  to  all  things'."  A  large  extent  of  power,  when 
 the  apostles  expected  an  universal  obedience.  'Ev  z^oisi.  And 
 so  the  style  of  the  church  runs  In  descension,  avsy  rov  eTriaxoTrou 
 /xriSsv -ST^aTTtiv  i3/xay  So  Ignatius:  "  Ye  must  do  nothing  with- 
 out your  bishop  xxl  xxtoc  /xrjSsv  xdro)  dvriXiystv,  "  to  contradict 
 him  in  nothing"."  The  expression  is  frequent  in  him,  xal  /ixsra 
 xptasojs  £Kx<yTx  ^iccXoc/j-Qhsi'j,  "  to  comprehend  all  things  in  his 
 iudgment  or  cognizance      so  the  council  of  Antioch''. 
 
 But  these  universal  expressions  must  be  understood,  *  se- 
 cundum materiam  subjectam  ;'  so  St.  Ignatius  expresses  him- 
 self. Ye  must  without  your  bishop  do  nothing ;  nothing 
 run  avTixovTwv  iKKKYfjlocv ,  "  of  things  pertaining  to  the 
 
 church."  So  also  the  council  of  Antioch,  ri  rr,!  ex-aXwias, 
 "  the  things  of  the  church,"  are  rod  Imaxonov  rov  zsemarsviJiivou 
 zsiyrx  Tov  Xaov,  "  committed  to  the  bishop  to  whom  all  the 
 people  Is  intrusted."  They  are  ecclesiastical  persons,  It  is  an 
 ecclesiastical  power  they  are  endowed  with,  it  is  for  a 
 spiritual  end,  viz.,  the  regiment  of  the  church,  and  the  good 
 of  souls,  and,  therefore,  only  those  tilings  which  are  in  this 
 order,  are  of  episcopal  cognizance.  And  what  are  those 
 things  ? 
 
 1.  Then  it  is  certain,  that  since  Christ  hath  professed  his 
 kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,  that  government  which  he  hath 
 constituted  '  de  novo,'  does,  no  way  in  the  world,  make  any 
 entrenchment  upon  the  royalty. 
 
 Hostis  Herodes  impie, 
 Christum  venire  quid  times  ? 
 Non  eripit  mortaliaj 
 Qui  regna  dat  coelestia. 
 
 So  the  church  used  to  sing.  Whatsoever,  therefore,  the  secu- 
 lar tribunal  did  take  cognizance  of,  before  it  was  Christian, 
 the  same  it  takes  notice  of,  after  it  is  christened.  And  these 
 are  all  actions  civil,  all  public  violations  of  justice,  all 
 breach  of  municipal  laws.  These  the  church  hath  nothing  to 
 do  with,  unless,  by  the  favour  of  princes  and  commonwealths, 
 it  be  indulged  to  them  '  in  honorem  Dei  et  S.  Matris  eccle- 
 slae  ;'  but  then  when  it  is  once  indulged,  that  act  which  does 
 annul  such  pious  vows,  is  just  contrary  to  that  religion  which 
 
 f  2  Cor.  ii.  9. 
 
 8  Ubi  Buprd. 
 
 hCan.  9. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 171 
 
 which  first  gave  them ;  and  tlien  unless  tliere  was  sin  in  the 
 donative,  the  ablation  of  it  is  'contra  honorem  Dei  et  S, 
 Matris  ecclesise.'    But  this,  it  may  be,  is  impertinent. 
 
 2.  The  '  bishop's  all '  comes  in  after  this ;  and  he  is  judge 
 of  all  those  causes  which  Christianity  hath  brought  in  upon 
 a  new  stock,  by  its  new  distinctive  principles.  I  say  by  its 
 '  new  princijiles  ;'  for  there  were  it  extends  justice,  and 
 pursues  the  laws  of  nature,  there  the  secular  tribunal  is  also 
 extended,  if  it  be  Christian  ;  the  bishop  gets  nothing  of  that : 
 but  those  things  which  Christianity,  as  it  j^rescinds  from  the 
 interest  of  the  republic,  hath  introduced,  all  them,  and  all 
 the  causes  emergent  from  them,  the  bishop  is  judge  of. 
 Such  are  causes  of  faith,  ministration  of  sacraments,  and 
 sacramentals,  subordination  of  inferior  clergy  to  their  supe- 
 rior, censures,  irregularities,  orders  hierarchical,  rites  and 
 ceremonies,  liturgies,  and  public  forms  of  prayer,  (as  is 
 famous  in  the  ancient  story  of  Ignatius  teaching  his  church 
 the  first  use  of  antiphonas  and  doxologies,  and  thence  was 
 derived  to  all  churches  of  Christendom',)  and  all  such  things 
 as  are  in  immediate  dependence  of  these,  as  dispensation  of 
 chui'ch-vessels,  and  ornaments,  and  goods,  receiving  and  dis- 
 posing the  patrimony  of  the  church,  and  whatsoever  is  of  the 
 same  consideration,  according  to  the  forty-first  canon  of  the 
 apostles:  "  Prtecipimus  ut  in  potestate  sua  episcopus  ecclesise 
 res  habeat :"  "  Let  the  bishop  have  the  disposing  the  goods 
 of  the  church  ;"  adding  this  reason  :  "  Si  enim  animse  homi- 
 num  pretioste  illi  sint  creditse,  multo  magis  eum  oportet 
 curam  pecuniarum  gerere :"  "  He  that  is  intrusted  with  our 
 precious  souls,  may,  much  more,  be  intrusted  with  the  offer- 
 tories of  faithful  people." 
 
 3.  There  are  some  things  of  a  mixed  nature,  and  something 
 of  the  secular  interest,  and  something  of  the  ecclesiastical 
 concur  to  their  constitution,  and  these  are  of  double  cogni- 
 zance ;  the  secular  power  and  the  ecclesiastical  do  both,  in 
 their  several  capacities,  take  knowledge  of  them.  Such  are 
 the  delinquencies  of  clergymen,  who  are  both  clergy  and 
 subjects  too  ;  '  clerus  Domini,'  and  '  regis  subditi ;'  and  for 
 their  delinquencies,  which  are  '  in  materia  justitise,'  the  secular 
 tribunal  punishes,  as  being  a  violation  of  that  right  which  the 
 
 '  Tripart.  Hist.  lib.  x.  c.  9. 
 
172 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 state  must  defend,  but  because  done  by  a  person  who  is  a 
 member  of  the  sacred  hierarchy,  and  hath  also  an  obligation 
 of  special  duty  to  his  bishop,  therefore  the  bishop  also  may 
 punish  him ;  and  when  the  commonwealth  hath  inflicted  a 
 penalty,  the  bishop  also  may  impose  a  censure,  for  every  sin 
 of  a  clergyman  is  two.  But  of  this  nature  also  are  the  con- 
 vening of  synods,  the  power  whei'eof  is  in  the  king,  and  in 
 the  bishop  severally,  insomuch  as  both  the  church  and  the 
 commonwealth  in  their  several  respects  have  peculiar  inte- 
 rest ;  the  commonwealth  for  preservation  of  peace  and  cha- 
 rity, in  which  religion  hath  the  deepest  interest;  and  the 
 church,  for  the  maintenance  of  faith.  And  therefore  both 
 prince  and  bishop  have  indicted  synods  in  several  ages,  upon 
 the  exigence  of  several  occasions,  and  have  several  powers 
 for  the  engagement  of  clerical  obedience,  and  attendance 
 upon  such  solemnities. 
 
 4.  Because  Christianity  Is  after  the  commonwealth,  and  is 
 a  capacity  superadded  to  it,  therefore  those  things  which  are 
 of  mixed  cognizance,  are  chiefly  in  the  king  ;  the  supremacy 
 here  is  his,  and  so  it  is  in  all  things  of  this  nature,  which 
 are  called  ecclesiastical  ;  because  they  are  '  in  materia  eccle- 
 siae,  ad  finem  religionis :'  but  they  are  of  a  different  nature 
 and  use  from  things  spiritual,  because  they  are  not  issues 
 of  those  things  which  Christianity  hath  introduced  '  de 
 integro/  and  are  separate  from  the  interest  of  the  common- 
 wealth in  its  particular  capacity,  for  such  things  only  are 
 pi'operly  spiritual. 
 
 5.  The  bishop's  jurisdiction  hath  a  compulsory  derived 
 from  Christ  only,  viz.,  infliction  of  censures  by  excommunica- 
 tions, or  other  '  minores  plagae,'  which  are  in  order  to  it. 
 But  yet  this  internal  compulsory,  through  the  duty  of  good 
 princes  to  God,  and  their  favour  to  the  church,  is  assisted  by 
 the  secular  arm,  either  superadding  a  temporal  penalty  in 
 case  of  contumacy,  or  some  other  way  abetting  the  censures 
 of  the  church,  and  it  ever  was  so  since  commonwealths  were 
 Christian.  So  that  ever  since  then  episcopal  jurisdiction  hath 
 a  double  part ;  an  external,  and  an  internal ;  this  is  derived 
 from  Christ,  that  from  the  king;  which  because  it  is  concur- 
 rent in  all  acts  of  jurisdiction,  therefore  it  is  that  the  king  is 
 supreme  of  the  jurisdiction,  viz.,  that  part  of  it  which  is  the 
 external  compulsory. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 173 
 
 And  for  this  cause  we  shall  sometimes  see  the  emperor,  or 
 his  prefect,  or  any  man  of  consular  dignity,  sit  judge  when 
 the  question  is  of  faith  ;  not  that  the  prefect  was  to  judge  of 
 that,  or  that  the  bishops  were  not  ;  but  in  case  of  the  pervi- 
 cacy  of  a  peevish  heretic,  who  would  not  submit  to  the  power 
 of  the  church,  but  flew  to  the  secular  power  for  assistance 
 hoping-,  by  taking  sanctuary  there,  to  engage  the  favour  or 
 the  prince.  In  this  case  the  bishops  also  appealed  thither, 
 not  for  resolution,  but  assistance  and  sustentation  of  the 
 church's  power.  It  was  so  in  the  case  of  .^tius  the  Arian, 
 and  Honoratus  the  prefect,  Constantius  being  empei-or''.  For 
 all  that  the  prefect  did,  or  the  emporor  in  this  case,  was  by 
 the  prevalency  of  his  intervening  authority  to  reconcile  the 
 disagreeing  parties,  and  to  encourage  the  catholics  ;  but  the 
 precise  act  of  judicature,  even  in  this  case,  was  in  the  bishops; 
 for  they  deposed  iEtius  for  his  heresy,  for  all  his  confident 
 appeal;  and  Macedonius,  Eleusius,  Basilius,  Ortasius,  and 
 Dracontius,  for  personal  delinquencies.  And  all  this  is  but 
 to  reconcile  this  act  to  the  resolution  and  assertion  of  St. 
 Ambrose,  who  refused  to  be  tried  in  a  cause  of  faith  by  lay 
 judges,  though  delegates  of  the  emperor.  "Quando  audisti, 
 clementissime  imperator,  in  causa  fidei  laicos  de  episcopo 
 judicasse?  "  When  was  it  ever  known  that  laymen,  in  a 
 cause  of  faith  did  judge  a  bishop'?"  To  be  sure,  it  was  not 
 in  the  case  of  Honoratus  the  prefect ;  for  if  they  had  ap- 
 pealed to  him,  or  to  his  master  Constantius,  for  judgment  of 
 the  article,  and  not  for  encouragement  and  secular  assistance, 
 St.  Ambrose  in  his  confident  question  of  '  Quando  audisti  ?' 
 had  quickly  been  answered,  even  with  saying,  '  Presently 
 after  the  council  of  Ariminum,  in  the  case  of  iEtius  and 
 Honoratus.'  Nay,  it  was  one  of  the  causes  why  St.  Ambrose 
 deposed  Palladius  in  the  council  of  Aquileia,  because  he 
 refused  to  answer,  except  it  were  before  some  honourable 
 personages  of  the  laity.  And  it  is  observable  that  the  Arians 
 were  the  first  (and  indeed  they  offered  at  it  often)  that  did 
 desire  princes  to  judge  matters  of  faith ;  for  they,  despairing 
 of  their  cause  in  a  conciliary  trial,  hoped  to  engage  the 
 emperor  on  their  party,  by  making  him  umpii-e.  But  the 
 catholic  bishops  made  humble  and  fair  remonstrance  of  the 
 
 ^  Tripart.  Hist.  lib.  v.  c.  35.  '  St.  Ambrose,  Epist.  lib.  ii.  epist.  13. 
 
 VOL.  VII.  O 
 
174 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 distinction  of  powers  and  junsdlctions;  and  as  they  might  not 
 entrench  upon  the  royalty,  so  neither  betray  that  right,  which 
 Christ  concredited  to  them,  to  the  encroachment  of  an  exterior 
 jurisdiction  and  poAver,    It  is  a  good  story  that  Suidas  tells 
 of  Leontius"',  bishop  of  Trijaolis,  in  Lydia,  a  man  so  famous 
 and  exemplary,  that  he  was  called  o  xavwv  rris  s>i>iXnaUs,  "  the 
 ^rule  of  the  church," — that  when  Constantius  the  emperovdid 
 preside  amongst  the  bishops,  and  undertook  to  determine  causes 
 of  mere  spiritual  cognizance,  instead  of  a  'placet,'  he  gave 
 this  answer,  "©aw/xa^w  (s^t))  oTr&^r  ETs^a  Sietteiv  rocy^^sU,  Iripois 
 ^itiyjiipiis'  arpocrMTiytuv  ptsv  kx\  CToXiTixiiv  zypayfj-xTc^iv  z^poeaTrtawi, 
 iHidKO'TCois      OTep  rai]i  e  \s  (movov^  liriayioTtovs  rtMvruv  ^laraTToptE- 
 vos"."    Tov  Se  (2tx.a^Xe(Z  xccrxi^eahivrx  Tzaiiacctshou.  r-hs  ev  roTf  Toi- 
 oj/Toif  r^fi  '^My.zXi.vacoos.    "  I  wonder  that  thou,  being  set  over 
 things  of  a  different  nature,  meddlest  with  those  things  that 
 only  appertain  to  bishops :  the  militia  and  the  politia  are  thine, 
 but  matters  of  faith  and  spirit  are  of  episcopal  cognizance." 
 ToioSroy  w  o  Kzhtnos  eXzv9ipios'  "  Such  was  the  freedom  of  the 
 ingenuous  Leontius."   Answerable  to  which  was  that  Chris- 
 tian and  fair   acknov/ledgment  of  Valentinian,  when  the 
 Arian  bishops  of  Bithynia  and  the  Hellespont  sent  Hypatia- 
 pus,  their  legate,  to  desire  him,  "  Ut  dignaretur  ad  emenda- 
 tionem  dogmatis  interesse,"  "  That  he  would  be  pleased  to 
 mend  the  article."  "  Respondens  Valentinianus,  ait,  '  Milii 
 quidem,  quum  unus  de  populo  sim,  fas  non  est  talia  perscru- 
 tari :  verum  sacerdotes  apud  seipsos  congregentur  ubi  volu- 
 erint.'  CCimque  haec  respondisset  princeps,in  Lampsacum  con- 
 venerunt  episcopi."    So  Sozomen  reports  the  story".  The 
 emperor  would  not  meddle  with  matters  of  faith,  but  i-eferred 
 the  deliberation  and  decision  of  them  to  the  bishops,  to 
 whom  by  God's  law  they  did  appertain ;  upon  which  inti- 
 mation given,  the  bishops  convened  in  Lampsacum.'  And 
 thus    double  power  met  in  the  bishops.    A  divine  right  to 
 decide  the  article.  "  Mihi  fas  non  est,"  saith  the  emperor;  "  It 
 is  not  lawful  for  me  to  meddle."    And  then  a  right  from  the 
 emperor  to  assemble,  for  he  gave  them  leave  to  call  a  council. 
 These  are  two  distinct  powers,  one  froni  Christ,  the  other 
 from  the  prince. 
 
 And  now,  upon  this  occasion,  I  have  fair  opportunity  to 
 
 I'  In  verbo  Aiovrios. 
 
 »  Tripart.Hist.  lib.  vii.  cap.  12. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTEP. 
 
 175 
 
 insert  a  consideration.  The  blsliojis  liave  power  over  all 
 causes  emergent  In  their  dioceses  ;  all  I  mean  in  the  sense 
 above  explicated;  they  have  jDower  to  Inflict  censures  ;  ex- 
 communication is  the  highest,  the  rest  are  parts  of  it,  and 
 in  order  to  it.  Whether  or  no  must  church-censures  be  used 
 in  all  such  causes  as  they  take  cognizance  of,  or  may  not  the 
 secular  power  find  out  some  external  compulsory  instead  of 
 it,  and  forbid  the  church  to  use  excommunication  in  certain 
 cases? 
 
 1 .  To  this  I  answer,  that  }f  they  be  suph  pases  in  which 
 by  the  law  of  Christ  they  may,  or  such  in  which  they  myst 
 use  excommunication,  then  in  these  cases  no  power  can  for- 
 bid them.  For  what  power  Christ  hath  given  them,  no  man 
 can  take  away. 
 
 2.  As  no  human  power  can  disrobe  the  church  of  the 
 power  of  excommunication,  so  no  human  power  can  invest 
 the  church  with  a  lay-compulsory.  For  if  the  church  be 
 not  capable  of  a  'jus  gladii,'  as  most  certainly  she  is  not,  the 
 church  cannot  receive  power  to  put  men  to  death,  or  to  in- 
 flict lesser  pains  in  order  to  it,  or  any  thing  above  a  salutary 
 penance,  I  mean  in  the  formality  of  a  church-tribunal,  then 
 they  give  the  church  what  they  must  not,  cannot  take.  I  deny 
 not  but  clergymen  are  as  capable  of  the  power  of  life  and 
 death  as  any  men ;  but  not  in  the  formality  of  clergymen. 
 A  court  of  life  and  death  cannot  be  an  ecclesiastical  tri- 
 bunal ;  and  then  if  any  man,  or  company  of  men,  should  per- 
 suade the  church  not  to  inflict  her  censures  upon  delinquents, 
 in  some  cases  in  which  she  might  lawfully  inflict  them,  and 
 pretend  to  give  her  another  compulsoiy;  they  take  away 
 the  church-consistory,  and  erect  a  very  secular  court,  de- 
 pendent on  themselves,  and  by  consequence  to  be  appealed 
 to  from  themselves,  and  so  also  to  be  prohibited  as  the 
 lay-superior  shall  see  cause  for.  Whoever,  therefore,  should 
 be  consenting  to  any  such  permutation  of  power,  is  "  Tra- 
 ditor  potestatis  quam  S.  Mater  ecclesia  a  Sjjonso  suo  acce- 
 perat;"  •'  He  betrays  the  individual  and  insepai-able  right 
 of  Holy  Church."  For  her  censure  she  may  inflict  upon  her 
 delinquent  children  without  asking  leave.  Christ  is  her 
 aiJQevTia!  for  that,  he  is  her  '  warrant  and  security.'  The  other 
 is  begged  or  borrowed,  none  of  her  own,  nor  of  a  fit  edge  to 
 be  used  in  her  abscissions  and  coercions.    I  end  this  consi- 
 
 o  2 
 
176 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 deration  with  that  memorable  canon  of  the  apostles,  of  so 
 frequent  use  in  this  question.  YImtuv  tc^v  eJotXr/zriaffTixaJv  Tspocy- 
 •jrxruv  0  sTiiaKoTCos  t%iraj  rm  (ppovrloa.'  "  Let  the  bishop  have  the 
 care  of  provision  for  all  affairs  of  the  church,  and  let  him 
 dispense  them  '  velut  Deo  contemjjlante,'  '  as  in  the  sight  of 
 God,'  to  whom  he  must  be  responsive  for  all  his  diocese". 
 
 The  next  consideration  concerning  the  bishop's  jurisdiction, 
 is  of  what  persons  he  is  judge  ?  and  because  our  scene  lies 
 here  in  church-practice,  I  shall  only  set  down  the  doctrine  of 
 the  primitive  church  in  this  afiair,  and  leave  it  under  that  re- 
 presentation. 
 
 Presbyters,  and  deacons,  and  inferior  clerks,  and  the 
 laity,  are  already  involved  in  the  precedent  canons  ;  no  man 
 there  was  exempted,  of  whose  soul  any  bishop  had  charge. 
 And  all  Christ's  sheep  hear  his  voice,  and  the  call  of  his 
 shepherd-ministers.  Theodoret  tells  a  story,  that  when  the 
 bishops  of  the  province  were  assembled  by  the  command  of 
 Valentinian,  the  emperor,  for  the  choice  of  a  successor  to 
 Auxentius,  in  the  see  of  Milan, — the  emperor  wished  them 
 to  be  careful  in  the  choice  of  a  bishop  in  these  words  : 
 TotoyTov  Sg  ovv  Koi  vvv  toIV  dpy^^ispxTixots  synscOi^pviyacre  S'wxojr, 
 oTTwy  xcti  rtfjisTs  oi  Tr,v  ^xaikelxv  JSjJvovTsy  e'l'Kixpivw^  acvru  ras  ^^/xete- 
 pxs  vTroxXi-iiufAsv  xe(fix\ais'  "  Set  such  an  one  in  the  archiepis- 
 copal  throne,  that  we,  who  rule  the  kingdom,  may  sincerely 
 submit  our  head  unto  himp,""  viz.,  in  matters  of  spiritual  im- 
 port. And  since  all  power  is  derived  from  Christ,  who  is  a 
 King  and  a  Priest,  and  a  Prophet,  Christian  Kings  are 
 '  Christi  domini,'  and  vicars  in  his  regal  power,  but  bishops  in 
 his  sacerdotal  and  prophetical.  So  that  the  king  hath  a  su- 
 preme regal  power  in  causes  of  the  church,  ever  since  his  king- 
 dom became  Christian,  and  it  consists  in  all  things,  in  which 
 the  priestly  office  is  not  precisely  by  God's  law,  employed 
 for  regiment,  and  cure  of  souls,  and  in  these,  also,  all  the 
 external  compulsory  and  jurisdiction  is  his  own.  For  when 
 his  subjects  became  Christian  subjects,  himself  also,  upon 
 the  same  terms,  becomes  a  Christian  ruler,  and  in  both 
 capacities  he  is  to  rule,  viz.,  both  as  subjects  and  as  Christian 
 subjects,  except  only  in  the  precise  issues  of  sacerdotal 
 authority.    And,  therefore,  the  kingdom  and  the  priesthood 
 
 •  Can.  39. 
 
 p  Theodoret.  lib.  iv.  c.  5, 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 177 
 
 are  excelled  by  each  other  in  their  several  capacities.  For 
 superiority  is  usually  expressed  in  three  woi'ds,  vTtipoyJh  oLf/jht 
 and  i^wala.,  '  excellency,  impery,  and  power.'  The  king  is 
 supreme  to  the  bishop  in  impery  ;  the  bishop  hath  an  excel- 
 lency, viz.,  of  spiritual  ministration,  which  Christ  hath  not 
 concredited  to  the  king ;  but  in  power,  both  king  and  bishop 
 have  it  distinctly  in  several  capacities;  the  king  '  in  potentia. 
 gladii,'  the  bishop  «  in  potestate  clavium.'  The  sword  and 
 the  keys  are  the  emblems  of  their  distinct  power.  Some- 
 thing like  this  is  in  the  third  epistle  of  St.  Clement,  trans- 
 lated by  RufEnus  :  "  Quid  enim  in  prsesenti  sseculo  propheta, 
 gloriosius,  pontifice  clarius,  rege  sublimius?"  'king,  and 
 priest,  and  prophet,  are,  in  their  several  excellencies,  the 
 highest  powers  under  Heaven.'  In  this  sense,  it  is  easy  to 
 understand  those  expressions  often  used  in  antiquity,  which 
 might  seem  to  make  entrenchment  upon  the  sacredness  of 
 royal  prerogatives ;  were  not  both  the  piety  and  sense  of  the 
 church  sufficiently  clear  in  the  issues  of  her  humblest  obe- 
 dience. And  this  is  the  sense  of  St.  Ignatius,  that  holy 
 martyr  and  disciple  of  the  apostles :  "  Diaconi,  et  reliquus 
 clerus,  una  cum  populo  universo,  militibus,  principibus,  et 
 Csesare,  ipsi  episcopo  pareant :"  "  Let  the  deacons  and  all 
 the  clergy,  and  all  the  people,  the  soldiers,  the  princes,  and 
 Caesar  himself,  obey  the  bishop")."  This  is  it  which  St. 
 Ambrose  said :  "  Sublimitas  episcopalis  nullis  poterit  com- 
 parationibus  adaequari.  Si  regum  fulgorl  compares,  et  prin- 
 cipum  diademati,  erit  infei'ius &c.  This  also  was  acknow- 
 ledged by  the  great  Constantine,  that  most  blessed  prince : 
 "  Deus  vos  constituit  sacerdotes,  et  potestatem  vobis  dedit, 
 de  nobis  quoque  judicandi,  et  ideo  nos  a  vobis  recte  judica- 
 mur.  Vos  autem  non  potestis  ab  hominibus  judicari,"  viz., 
 *  saecularibus,''  and  '  in  causis  simplicis  religionis.'  So  that 
 good  emperor,  in  his  oration  to  the  Nicene  fathers. 
 
 It  was  a  famous  contestation  that  St.  Ambrose  had  with 
 Auxentius,  the  Arian,  pretending  the  emperor's  command  to 
 him,  to  deliver  up  some  certain  churches  in  his  diocese  to 
 the  Arians.  His  answer  was,  that  palaces  belonged  to  the 
 emperor,  but  churches  to  the  bishop' ;  and  so  they  did  by  all 
 
 1  Epist.  ad  Philadelph.  ■■  Lib.  de  Dignit.  Sacerd.  c  2. 
 
 »  Lib.  X.  Eccles.  Hist.  c.  2. 
 
178 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 the  laws  of  Christendom.  The  like  was  in  the  case  of  St. 
 Athanasius  and  Constantius  the  eittperor,  exactly  the  same 
 '  per  omnia,'  as  it  is  related  by  Ruffinus'.  St.  Ambrose, 
 sending  his  deacon  to  the  emperor,  to  desire  him  to  go  forth 
 of  the  cancelli,  in  his  church  at  Milan, — shows  that  then  the 
 powers  were  so  distinct,  that  they  made  no  entrenchment 
 upon  each  other.  It  was  no  greater  power,  but  a  more 
 considerable  act,  and  higher  exercise,  the  forbidding  the 
 communion  to  Theodosius,  till  he  had,  by  repentaiice,  washed 
 out  the  blood  that  stuck  upon  him  ever  since  the  massacre  at 
 Thessalonica".  It  was  a  wonderful  concurrence  of  piety  in 
 the  emperor,  and  resolution  and  authority  in  the  bishop. 
 But  he  was  not  the  first  that  did  it ;  for  Philip,  the  emperor, 
 ■rt'as  also  guided  by  the  pastoral  rod,  and  the  severity  of  the 
 bishop.  "  De  hoc  traditum  est  nobis,  quod  Christianus 
 fuerit,  et  in  die  paschae,  i.  e.,  in  ipsis  vigiliis,  cufn  interesse 
 voluerit,  et  communicare  mysteriis,  ab  episcopo  loci  non 
 prius  esse  permissum,  nisi  confiteretur  peccata,  et  inter 
 pognitentes  stareft,  nec  ullo  modo  sibi  copiara  mystefiorum 
 futuram  nisi,  priiis  per  pcenitentiam  culpas,  quae  de  eo  fere- 
 bantur  plurima?,  deluisset :"  "  The  bishop  of  the  place  would 
 liot  let  hitti  Cdiiimunicate,  till  he  had  Washed  away  his  sins  by 
 tepentance."  And  the  emperor  did  so.  Feriint  igitur 
 Hbenter  eum  quod  a  sacerdote  imperatum  fuerat,  suscepisse:" 
 "  He  did  it  willingly,  undertaking  the  ittiposltioris  laid  upon 
 him  by  the  bishop"." 
 
 I  doubt  not  but  all  the  world  belietes  the  dispensatiofi  of 
 the  sacraments  entirely  to  belong  to  ecclesiastical  ministry. 
 
 It  was  St.  Chrysostom's  command  to  his  presbyters,  to 
 reject  all  wicked  persons  from  the  holy  communion.  "  If  he 
 be  a  captain,  a  consul,  or  a  crowned  king,  that  cometh  un- 
 worthily, forbid  him,  and  keep  him  off;  thy  power  is  greater 
 tlian  his.  If  thou  darest  not  remove  him,  tell  if  me,  I  will 
 not  suffer  it',"  &c.  And  had  there  never  been  more  error 
 in  the  managing  church-censures  than  in  the  foregoing  in- 
 stances,  the  church  might  have  exercised  censures,  and  all 
 the  parts  of  power  that  Christ  gave  her,  without  either 
 scandal  or  danger  to  herself  or  her  j^enitents.    But  when  in 
 
 '  Lib.  X.  Eccles.  Hist.  c.  19- 
 Euseb.  lib,  vi.  c.  26. 
 
 "  Theodor.  lib.  v.  c.  18. 
 "  Homil.  83.  in  Matt,  xxvi. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 179 
 
 the  very  censui'e  of  excommunication,  there  is  a  new  ingre- 
 dient put,  a  great  proportion  of  secular  inconveniences  and 
 human  interest,  when  excommunications,  as  in  the  apostle's 
 times  they  were  delivei-ings  over  to  Satan,  so  now  shall  be 
 deliverings  over  to  a  foreign  enemy  or  the  people's  rage  ;  as 
 then  to  be  buffeted,  so  now  to  be  deposed,  or  disinterested  in 
 the  allegiance  of  subjects ;  in  these  cases,  excommunication 
 being  nothing  like  that  which  Christ  authorized,  and  no  way 
 co-operating  toward  the  end  of  its  institution,  but  to  an  end 
 of  2Ji'ivate  designs  and  rebellious  interest,  bishops  have  no 
 power  of  such  censures,  nor  is  it  lawful  to  inflict  them,  things 
 remaining  in  that  consistence  and  capacit3^  And  thus  is 
 that  famous  saying  to  be  understood,  reported,  by  St.  Tho- 
 mas, to  be  St.  Austin's^  but  is  indeed  found  in  the  ordinary 
 gloss  upon  Matt.  xiii.  "  Pi-inceps  et  multitudo  non  est  ex- 
 communicanda :"  "  A  prince  or  a  commonwealth  are  not  to 
 be  excommunicate 
 
 Thus  I  have  given  a  short  account  of  the  persons  and 
 causes,  of  which  bishops,  according  to  catholic  practice,  did 
 and  might  take  cognizance.  This  use  only  I  make  of  it. 
 Although  Christ  hath  given  great  authority  to  his  church,  in 
 order  to  the  regiment  of  souls,  such  a  power,  "  quae  nullis 
 poterit  comparationibus  adeequari,"  yet  it  hath  its  limits,  and 
 a  pi'oper  cognizance,  viz.,  things  spiritual,  and  the  emergen- 
 cies, and  consequents  from  those  things  which  Christianity 
 hath  introduced  '  de  novo,'  and  superadded,  as  things  totally 
 disparate  from  the  precise  interest  of  the  commonwealth  ; 
 and  this  I  the  rather  noted,  to  show  how  those  men  would 
 mend  themselves  that  cry  down  the  tyranny,  as  they  list  to 
 call  it,  of  episcopacy,  and  yet  call  for  the  presbytery.  "  For 
 the  presbytery  does  challenge  cognizance  of  all  causes  what- 
 soever, which  are  either  sins  directly  or  by  reduction  :  all 
 crimes  which,  by  the  law  of  God,  deserve  death"."  There 
 they  bring  in  murders,  treasons,  witchcrafts,  felonies.  Then 
 the  minor  faults  they  bring  in  under  the  title  of  '  scandalous 
 and  offensive.'    Nay,  '  quodvis  peccatum,'  saith  Snecanus, 
 
 ^  In  3.  Partis  Siipplemen.  q.  22.  a.  5. 
 
 Vide  Aug.  Ep.  75.  et  Gratian.  Dist.  24.  q.  2.  c.  Si  habet,  sed  ibi  '  piin- 
 ceps'  non  inseritur,  sed  tantiim  in  glossa  oidinaria. 
 
 ^  Vide  the  book  of  Order  of  Excommun.  in  Scotland,  and  the  Hist,  of 
 Scotland.    Admonit.  2.  p.  46.    KnoK's  Exhortation  to  England. 
 
ISO 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 to  which  jf  we  add  this  consideration,  that  they  believe 
 '  every  action  of  any  man  to  have  in  it  the  malignity  of  a 
 damnable  sin,'  there  is  nothing  in  the  world,  good  or  bad, 
 vicious  or  suspicious,  scandalous  or  criminal,  true  or  ima- 
 ginary, real  actions  or  personal;  in  all  which,  and  in  all 
 contestations  and  complaints,  one  party  is  delinquent,  either 
 by  false  accusation  or  real  injury  ;  but  they  comprehend  in 
 their  vast  eripe,  and  then  they  have  power  to  nullify,  all 
 courts  and  judicatories,  besides  their  own ;  and  being,  for 
 this  their  cognizance  they  pretend  Divine  institution,  there 
 shall  be  no  causes  imperfect  in  their  consistory,  no  appeal 
 from  them,  but  they  shall  hear  and  determine  with  final 
 resolution,  and  it  will  be  sin,  and  therefore  punishable,  to 
 complain  of  injustice  and  illegality.    If  this  be  confronted 
 but  with  the  pretences  of  episcopacy,  and  the  modesty  of 
 their  several  demands,  and  the  reasonableness  and  divinity 
 of  each  vindication  examined,  I  suppose  were  there  nothing 
 but  prudential  motives  to  be  put  into  the  balance,  to  weigh- 
 down  this  question,  the  cause  would  soon  be  determined;  and 
 the  little  finger  of  presbytery,  not  only  in  its  exemplary  and 
 tried  practices,  but  in  its  dogmatical  pretensions,  is  heavier 
 than  the  loins,  nay,  than  the  whole  body  of  episcopacy  ;  but 
 it  seldom  happens  otherwise,  but  that  they  who  usurp  a 
 power  prove  tyrants  in  the  execution,  whereas  the  issues  of 
 a  lawful  power  are  fair  and  moderate. 
 
 SECTION  XXXVII. 
 
 Forbidding  Presbyters  to  officiate  without  Episcopal  License. 
 
 But  I  must  proceed  to  the  more  particular  instances  of 
 episcopal  jurisdiction.  The  whole  power  of  ministration, 
 both  of  the  word  and  sacraments,  was  in  the  bishop  by  prime 
 authority,  and  in  the  presbyters  by  commission  and  delega- 
 tion, insomuch  that  they  might  not  exercise  any  ordinary 
 ministration  without  license  from  the  bishop.  They  had 
 power  and  capacity  by  their  order  to  preach,  to  minister,  to 
 oSTer,  to  reconcile,  and  to  baptize.  They  were,  indeed,  acts 
 of  order,  but  that  they  might  not,  by  the  law  of  the  church, 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 181 
 
 exercise  any  of  these  acts  without  license  from  the  bishop, 
 that  is  an  act  or  issue  of  jurisdiction,  and  shows  the  supe- 
 riority of  the  bishop  over  his  presbyters,  by  the  practice  of 
 Christendom. 
 
 St.  Ignatius  hath  done  very  good  offices  in  all  the  parts 
 of  this  question,  and  here  also  he  brings  in  succour.  Ode 
 i^iv  Ban  yjofis  tou  inin-noirou  outs  /SaTrrii^siv,  ours  zs^oa^^ipziv,  outs 
 ^Lisiav  ■cj^oo'jto/xi^Ejv,  ovTE  Soj^,^  1/  eiriTEXsiv'  "  It  is  not  lawful  with- 
 out the  bishop,"  viz.,  without  his  leave,  "  either  to  baptize,  or 
 to  oflfer  sacrifice,  or  to  make  oblation,  or  to  keep  feasts  of 
 charity'':"  and  a  little  before,  speaking  of  the  blessed  eucha- 
 rist,  and  its  ministration,  and  having  premised  a  general 
 interdict  for  doing  any  thing  without  the  bishop's  consent, 
 E)C£(v»  /SeCai'a  zv-zjupiarlcc  riyslaOu,  'h  v7ro  rov  sTrlanoTzov  oiiaa.,  t) 
 (b  &v  achros  g7r(T§e'\J/r)'  "  But  let  that  eucharist,"  saith  he,  "  be 
 held  valid,  which  is  celebrated  under  the  bishop,  or  under 
 him  to  whom  the  bishop  shall  permit." 
 
 I  do  not  here  dispute  the  matter  of  right,  and  whether  or 
 no  the  presbyters  might  '  de  jure'  do  any  offices  without 
 episcopal  license,  but  whether  or  no  '  de  facto, it  was  per- 
 mitted them  in  the  primitive  church  ?  This  is  sufficient  to 
 show  to  what  issue  the  reduction  of  episcopacy  to  a  primitive 
 consistence  will  drive;  and  if  I  mistake  not,  it  is  at  least  a 
 very  probable  determination  of  the  question  of  right  too. 
 For  who  will  imagine  that  bishops  should  at  the  first,  in 
 the  calenture  of  their  infant  devotion,  in  the  new  spring  of 
 Chi'istianity,  in  the  times  of  persecution,  in  all  the  public 
 disadvantages  of  state  and  fortune,  when  they  anchored  only 
 upon  the  shore  of  a  holy  conscience,  that  then  they  should 
 have  thoughts  ambitious,  encroaching,  of  usurpation  and 
 advantages,  of  purpose  to  divest  their  brethren  of  an  autho- 
 rity intrusted  them  by  Christ ;  and  then,  too,  when  all  the 
 advantage  of  their  honour  did  only  set  them  upon  a  hill,  to 
 feel  a  stronger  blast  of  persecution,  and  was  not,  as  since  it 
 hath  been,  attested  with  secular  assistance  and  fair  arguments 
 of  honour,  but  was  only  in  a  mere  spiritual  estimate,  and  ten 
 thousand  real  disadvantages.  This  will  not  be  supposed 
 either  of  wise  or  holy  men.  But  however,  '  valeat  quantum 
 valere  potest.'    The  question  is  now  of  matter  of  fact;  and  if 
 
 »  Epist.  ad  Smyrn. 
 
182 
 
 EPISCOPACV  ASSERTED. 
 
 the  cliTirch  of  martyrs,  and  the  church  of  saints,  and  doctors, 
 and  confessors,  now  regnant  in  heaven,  be  fair  precedents 
 for  practices  of  Christianity,  we  build  upon  a  rock,  thoue;h 
 we  had  digged  no  deeper  than  this  foundation  of  catholic 
 practice. 
 
 Upon  the  hopes  of  these  advantages,  I  proceed.  Ei'riy 
 
 ^vaiacarriqm  zjri^si,  y.x9aipela9co-  "  If  any  presbyter,  disrespect- 
 ing his  own  bishop,  shall  make  conventions  apart,  or  erect 
 an  altar,"  (viz.,  without  the  bishop's  license,)  "  let  him  be 
 deposed"*;"  clearly  intimating  that  "  potestas  faciendi  con- 
 cionem,"  "the  power  of  making  of  church-meetings  and 
 assemblies,"  for  preaching  or  other  offices,  is  derived  from 
 the  bishop;  and   therefore  the  canon  adds,  xacQxtpBiaScj  as 
 <p'iX(x.p%os'    Tv^xvvos  yx^  sarr    "  He  is  a  lover  of  rule,  he  is  a 
 tyrant;"  that  is,  an  usurper  of  that  power  and  government 
 which  belongs  to  the  bishop.    The  same  thing  is  also  decreed 
 in  the  council  of  Antioch,  and  in  the  council  of  Chalcedon : 
 riavTsy  ol  svXxduTxroi  iTt'iaKOTioi  iQoriaxv,  ovros  J/xaior  xavwv,  outos 
 0  xavuv  Tuv  ayluv  zjxriquv    "  All  the  most  reverend  bishops 
 cried  out,  This  is  a  righteous  law,  this  is  the  canon  of  the 
 holy  fathers^"  '  This,'  viz.,  the  canon  apostolical,  now  cited. 
 Tertullian  is  something  more  particular,  and  instances  in 
 baptism  :  "  Dandi  baptismum  jus  habet  summus  sacerdos, 
 qui  est  episcopus.    Dehinc  presbyteri  et  diaconi,  non  tamen 
 sine   episcopi  auctoritate,  propter  honorem  ecclesiae,  quo 
 salvo  salva  pax  est;  alioquin  etiam  laicis  jus  est"*."  The 
 place  is  of  great  consideration,  and  carries  in  it  its  own 
 objection  and  its  answer.    "  The  bishop  hath  the  right  of 
 giving  baptism.    Then  after  him,  presbyters  and  deacons, 
 but  not  without  the  authority  of  the  bishop;"  (so  far  the 
 testimony  is  clear ;)  "and  this  is  for  the  honour  of  the  church." 
 But  does  not  this  intimate  it  was  only  by  positive  constitu- 
 tion, and  neither  by  Divine  noi'  apostolical  ordinance?  No, 
 indeed,  it  does  not.    For  it  might  be  so  ordained  by  Christ 
 or  his  apostles,  'propter  honorem  ecclesiae;'  and  no  harm 
 done.    For  it  is  honourable  for  the  chui-ch,  that  her  minis- 
 trations should  be  most  ordinate ;  and  so  they  are  when  they 
 descend  from  the  superior  to  the  subordinate.    But  the  next 
 
 I'Can.  Apost.32.  <^Can.5.    Acts,  iv.         <>  De  Baptism. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 183 
 
 words  do  of  themselves  make  ahswcr,  "  otherwise  laymen 
 have  right  to  baptize;"  that  is  'without  the  consent  of 
 the  bishop,  laymen  can  do  it  as  much  as  presbyters  and 
 deacons.'  For,  indeed,  baptisnn  conferred  by  laymen  is  valid, 
 and  not  to  be  repeated;  butyet  they  ought  not  to  administer 
 itj  so  neither  ought  presbyters  without  the  bishop's  license; 
 so  says  Tertullian ;  let  him  answer  it.  Only  the  difference 
 is  this,  laymen  cannot  'jure  ordinario'  receive  a  leave  or 
 commission,  to  make  it  lawful  in  them  to  baptize  any  ;  pres- 
 byters and  deacons  may ;  for  their  order  is  a  capacity  of 
 possibility.  But  besides  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  Tertul- 
 lian affirms  the  same  of  the  venerable  eucharist:  "  Eucha- 
 ristise  sacramentum  nonde  aliorum  manuquam  praesidentium 
 sumimus''."  The  former  place  will  expound  this,  if  there 
 be  any  scruple  in  'praesidentium;'  for  clearly  the  Christians 
 receive  the  sacrament  of  the  eucharist  from  none  but  bishops. 
 I  suppose  he  means  '  without  episcopal  license.'  Whatsoever 
 his  meaning  is,  these  are  his  words. 
 
 The  council  of  Gangra,  forbidding  conventicles,  expresses 
 it  with  this  intimation  of  episcopal  authority  :  "  If  any 
 man  shall  make  assemblies  privately,  and  out  of  the  church, 
 so  despising  the  church,  or  shall  do  any  church  offices," 
 /Lty)  avviovros  rov  zjpsaQurspou  x.octx  yvaif/.r,v  sTriiJKOTrov,  avaSeptiz  eTTw" 
 "  without  the  presence  of  a  priest,  by  the  decree  of  a  bishop, 
 let  him  be  anathema  ."  The  priest  is  not  to  be  assistant  at 
 any  meeting  for  private  offices,  without  the  bishop's  license. 
 If  they  will  celebrate  synaxes  privately,  it  must  be  bv  a 
 priest ;  and  he  must  be  there  by  leave  of  the  bishop ;  and 
 then  the  assembly  is  lawful.  And  this  thing  was  so  known, 
 that  the  fathers  of  the  second  council  of  Carthage  call  it 
 ignorance  or  hypocrisy  in  priests,  to  do  their  offices  without 
 a  license  from  the  bishop.  "  Numidius  episcopus  Massily- 
 tanus  dixit.  In  quibusdam  locis  sunt  presbyteri  qui,  aut 
 ignorantes  simpliciter,  aut  dissimulantes  audacter,  praesente 
 et  inconsulto  episcopo,  complurimis  in  domiciliis  agunt  agenda, 
 quod  disciplinae  incongruum  cognoscit  esse  sanctitas  vesti-a:" 
 "  In  some  places  there  are  priests  that  in  private  houses  do 
 
 <■  De  Corona  Milit.  c.  3.  Vide  S.  Clirysost.  Horn,  ]1.  in  1  Tim.  et  S, 
 Hieron.  Dial.  adv.  Lucif. 
 
 f  Can.  6. 
 
184 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 offices,"  (houseling  of  people  is  the  office  meant,  communi- 
 cating them  at  home,)  "  without  the  consent  or  leave  of  the 
 bishop,  being  either  simjily  ignorant  or  boldly  dissembling^;" 
 imjilying  that  they  could  not  else  but  know  their  duties  to 
 be,  to  procure  episcopal  license  for  their  ministrations.  "  Ab 
 universis  episcopis  dictum  est,  Quisquis  presbyter  inconsulto 
 episcopo  agenda  in  quolibet  loco  voluerit  celebrare,  ipse 
 honori  suo  contrarius  existit:"  "All  the  bishops  said.  If 
 any  priest,  without  leave  of  his  bishop,  shall  celebrate  the 
 mysteries,  be  the  place  what  it  will  be,  he  is  an  enemy  to  the 
 bishop's  dignity." 
 
 After  this  in  time,  but  before  in  authority,  is  the  great 
 council  of  Chalcedon :  Ol  xKyi^ixoI  vno  rwv  ev  Ixaarr)  zjoKn  lm<j~ 
 v-OTCcov  rnny  e^oviylocv,  Y.xr%  rrjV  to/v  a.ytuv  zsocripojn  zjapoi^oaiv,  ^ix/j.s- 
 vETwtTav  "  Let  the  clergy,  according  to  the  tradition  of  the 
 fathers,  remain  under  the  power  of  the  bishops  of  the  city*"." 
 So  that  they  are,  for  their  offices,  in  dependence  of  the 
 authority  of  the  bishop.  The  canon  instances  particularly 
 to  priests  officiating  in  monasteries  and  hospitals,  but  ex- 
 tends itself  to  an  indefinite  expression,  xai  fM-h  xoiTzu^zoix^scrOxi, 
 '/]  x(pmtxv  rov  i^iov  liti'yy.oTcov  They  must  not  dissent  or  differ 
 from  their  bishop;"  ol  Ss  ToXpta/vTsr  dvocrpiTrsiv  rvv  roixvrm  Jiac- 
 ruTTuatv  ohv  ^r,7roTi  rponov,  &c.  "  All  they  that  transgress 
 this  constitution,  in  any  way,  not  submitting  to  their  bishop, 
 let  them  be  punished  canonically."  So  that  now  these  gene- 
 ral expressions  of  obedience  and  subornation  to  the  bishop, 
 being  to  be  understood  according  to  the  exigence  of  the 
 matter,  to  wit,  the  ministeries  of  the  clergy  in  their  several 
 offices, — the  canon  extends  its  prohibition  to  all  ministrations, 
 without  the  bishop's  authority. 
 
 But  it  was  more  clearly  and  evidently  law  and  practice 
 in  the  Roman  church  ;  we  have  good  witness  for  it ;  St.  Leo, 
 the  bishop  of  that  church,  is  my  author :  Sed  neque  coram 
 episcopo  licet  presbyteris  in  baptisterium  Introire,  nec  prse- 
 sente  antistite  infantem  tingere,  aut  signare,  nec  pcenitentem 
 sine  praeceptione  episcopi  sui  reconciliare,  nec  eo  praesente, 
 nisi  illo  yibente,  sacramentum  corporis  et  sanguinis  Christi 
 conficere,  nec  eo  coram  posito  populum  docere,  vel  bene- 
 dicere,"  &c.    "It  is  not  lawful  for  the  presbyters  to  enter 
 
 s  Can.  9. 
 
 Can  8.  part  2.    Act.  xiv. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 185 
 
 into  the  baptistery,  nor  to  baptize  any  catechumens,  nor  to 
 consecrate  the  sacrament  of  Christ's  body  and  blood,  in  the 
 presence  of  the  bishop,  without  his  command'."  From  this 
 place  of  St.  Leo,  if  it  be  set  in  conjunction  with  the  prece- 
 dent, we  have  fair  evidence  of  this  whole  particular.  It  is 
 not  lawful  to  do  any  offices  without  the  bishop's  leave  ;  so 
 St.  Ignatius  ;  so  the  canons  of  the  apostles;  so  Tertullian  ; 
 so  the  councils  of  Antloch  and  Chalcedon.  It  is  not  lawful  to 
 do  any  offices  in  the  bishop''s  presence  without  leave  ;  so  St. 
 Leo.  The  council  of  Carthage  joins  them  both  together, 
 '  neither  in  his  presence,  nor  without  his  leave  in  any  place.' 
 
 Now,  against  this  practice  of  the  church,  if  any  man 
 should  discourse  as  St,  Jerome  is  pretended  to  do  by  Gra- 
 tian,  "  Qui  non  vult  presbyteros  facere  quae  jubentur  a  Deo, 
 dicat  quis  major  est  Christo:"  "  He  that  will  not  let  presby- 
 ters do  what  they  are  commanded  to  do  by  God,  let  him 
 tell  us  if  any  man  be  greater  than  Christ'';"  viz.,  whose  com- 
 mand it  is  that  presbyters  should  preach.  Why  then  did 
 the  church  i-equire  the  bishop's  leave  ?  Might  not  presbyters 
 do  their  duty  without  a  license  ?  This  is  it  which  the  prac- 
 tice of  the  chui'ch  is  abundantly  sufficient  to  answer.  For 
 to  the  bishop  is  committed  the  care  of  the  whole  diocese  ; 
 he  it  is  that  must  give  the  highest  account  for  the  whole 
 charge;  he  it  is  who  is  appointed,  by  peculiar  designation, 
 to  feed  the  flock;  so  the  canon  of  the  apostles';  so  Igna- 
 tius"; so  the  council  of  Antloch;  so  everywhere,  the  pres- 
 byters are  admitted  '  in  partem  sollcltudinls ;'  but  still  the 
 jurisdiction  of  the  whole  diocese  Is  in  the  bishop  ;  and  with- 
 out the  bishop's  admission  to  a  pai't  of  it  '  per  traditionem 
 subdltorum,'  although  the  presbyter  by  his  ordination  have 
 a  capacity  of  preaching  and  administering  sacraments,  yet 
 he  cannot  exercise  this  without  designation  of  a  particular 
 charge,  either  temporary  or  fixed.  And,  therefore,  it  is 
 that  a  presbyter  may  not  do  these  acts  without  the  bishop's 
 leave,  because  they  are  actions  of  relation,  and  suppose  a 
 congregation  to  whom  they  must  be  administered,  or  some 
 particular  person ;  for  a  priest  must  not  preach  to  the 
 stones,  as  some  say  venerable  Bede  did ;  nor  communicate 
 
 '  Epist.  86.  Dist.  95.  cap.  Ecce  ego.  '  Can.  40. 
 
 "  Epist,  act  Ephes.  iii.  c.  24, 
 
186 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 alone:  the  word  is  destructive  of  the  thing;  nor  baptize, 
 unless  he  have  a  chrysome  child,  or  a  catechumen.  So  that 
 all  of  the  diocese  being  the  bishop's  charge,  the  bishop  must 
 either  authorize  the  priest,  or  the  priest  must  not  meddle, 
 lest  he  be  (what  St.  Peter  blamed)  scX/.a-cjEzritrxoroj,  "  a 
 bishop  m  another's  diocese  :'  not  that  the  bishop  did  license 
 the  acts  precisely  of  baptizing,  of  consecrating,  &c. ;  for 
 these  he  had  by  his  ordination  :  but  that  in  giving  license, 
 he  did  give  hira  a  subject  to  whom  he  might  apply  these 
 relative  actions,  and  did  '  quoad  hoc'  take  him  '  in  partem 
 solicitudinis,'  and  concredit  some  part  of  his  diocese  to  his 
 administration  'cum  cura  animarum.' 
 
 But  then  on  the  other  side,  because  the  whole  cure  of 
 the  diocese  is  in  the  bishop,  he  cannot  exonerate  himself 
 of  it,  for  it  is  a  burden  of  Christ's  Imposing,  or  it  is  not 
 imposed  at  all ;  therefore,  this  taking  of  presbyters  into 
 part  of  the  regiment  and  care  does  not  divest  him  of  his 
 own  power,  or  anv  part  of  it,  nor  yet  ease  him  of  his  care ; 
 but  that  as  he  must  still  E^risTtoarjTv,  '  visit'  and  '  see  to  his 
 diocese,'  so  he  hath  authority  still  in  all  parts  of  his  diocese; 
 and  this  appears  in  these  places  now  quoted ;  insomuch  as 
 when  the  bishop  came  to  any  place,  there  the  '  vicaria'  of 
 the  presbvters  did  cease :  '  In  praesentia  majoris  cessat 
 potestas  minoris.'  And  though,  because  the  bishop  could 
 not  do  all  the  minor  and  daily  offices  of  the  priesthood,  in 
 every  congregation  of  his  diocese,  therefore  he  appointed 
 priests,  severally  to  officiate,  himself  looking  to  the  metro- 
 polis, and  the  daughter-churches,  by  a  general  supravision  ; 
 yet  when  the  bishop  came  into  any  place  of  his  diocese, 
 there  he,  being  present,  might  do  any  office,  because  it  was 
 in  his  own  charge ;  which  he  might  concredit  to  another, 
 but  not  exonerate" himself  of  it;  and,  therefore,  '  praesente 
 episcopo,'  (say  the  council  of  Carthage  and  St.  Leo,)  '  if 
 the  bishop  be  present,'  the  presbyter,  without  leave,  might 
 not  officiate  ;  for  he  had  no  subjects  of  his  own,  but  by  trust 
 and  delegation ;  and  this  delegation  was  given  him  to  sup- 
 ply the  bishop's  absence,  who  could  not  '  simul  omnibus 
 interesse;'  but  then,  where  he  was  present,  the  cause  of 
 delegation  ceasing,  the  jurisdiction  also  ceased,  or  was  at 
 least  absorbed  in  the  greater,  and  so,  without  leave,  might 
 not  be  exercised ;  like  the  stars,  which  in  the  noon-day  have 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 187 
 
 their  own  natural  light,  as  much  as  in  the  night,  but  appear 
 not,  shine  not,  in  the  presence  of  the  sun. 
 
 This,  perhaps,  will  seem  uncouth  in  those  presbyters, 
 who,  (as  the  council  of  Carthage's  expression  is,)  are  '  con- 
 trarii  honori  episcopali;'  but  yet,  if  we  keep  ourselves  in 
 our  own  form,  where  God  hath  placed  us,  and  where  we 
 were  in  the  jDrimitive  church,  we  shall  find  all  this  to  be 
 sooth,  and  full  of  order.  For  consider:  the  elder  the 
 prohibition  was,  the  more  absolute  and  indefinite  it  runs : 
 "  Without  the  bishop  it  is  not  lawful  to  baptize,  to  con- 
 secrate," &c.  So  Ignatius.  The  prohibition  is  without 
 limit :  but  in  descent  of  the  church  it  runs,  '  praesente  epis- 
 copo,'  '  the  bishop  being  present,'  they  must  not  without 
 leave.  The  thing  is  all  one,  and  a  derivation  from  the  same 
 original,  to  wit,  the  '  universality  of  the  bishop's  jurisdiction;' 
 but  the  reason  of  the  difference  of  expression  is  this  :  at 
 first  presbyters  were  in  cities  with  the  bishoji,  and  no 
 parishes  at  all  concredited  to  them.  The  bishops  lived  in 
 cities;  the  pi'esbyters  preached,  and  offered  xxr'  oTxov, 
 '  from  house  to  house,'  according  as  the  bishop  directed 
 them.  Here  they  had  no  ordinary  charge,  and,  therefore, 
 the  first  prohibitions  run  indefinitely  ;  they  must  not  do  any 
 clerical  offices  '  sine  episcopo,'  *  unless  the  bishop  sends 
 them.'  But  then  afterwards,  when  the  parishes  were  distinct, 
 and  the  presbyters  fixed  upon  ordinary  charges,  then  it  was 
 only  '  pi-aesente  episcopo,'  '  if  the  bishop  was  present,'  they 
 might  not  officiate  without  leave.  For,  in  his  absence,  they 
 might  do  it,  I  do  not  say  without  leave,  but  I  say  they  had 
 leave  given  them,  when  the  bishop  sent  them  to  officiate  in 
 a  village  with  ordinary  or  temporary  residence,  as  it  is  to 
 this  day ;  when  the  bishop  institutes  to  a  particular  charge, 
 he  also  gives  power  '  hoc  ipso,'  of  officiating  in  that  place. 
 So  that  at  first,  when  they  did  officiate  in  places  by  tem- 
 porary missions,  then  they  were  to  have  leave,  but  this 
 license  was  also  temporary;  but  when  they  were  fixed  upon 
 ordinai'y  charges,  they  might  not  officiate  without  leave,  but 
 then  they  had  an  ordinary  leave  given,  '  in  traditione  subdi- 
 torum,'  and  that  was  done  '  in  subsidium  muneris  episcopa- 
 lis,'  because  it  was  that  part  of  the  bishop's  charge  which  he 
 could  not  personally  attend,  for  execution  of  the  minor  offices, 
 and,  therefore,  concredited  it  to  a  presbyter;  but  if  he  was 
 
188 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 present,  a  new  leave  was  necessary;  because  as  the  power 
 always  was  in  the  bishop,  so  now  the  execution  also  did  re- 
 turn to  him  when  he  was  there  in  person ;  himself,  if  he 
 listed,  might  officiate. 
 
 All  this  is  excellently  attested  in  the  example  of  St.  Austin, 
 of  whom  Possidonius,  in  his  life,  reports,  that  being  but  a 
 presbyter,  Valerius,  the  bishop,  being  a  Greek  born,  and  not 
 well  spoken  in  the  Latin  tongue,  and  so  unfit  for  public  ora- 
 tions: "  Eidem  presbytero,"  (viz.,  to  Austin,)  "  potestatem 
 dedit  coram  se  in  ecclesia  evangelium  praedicandi,  ac  fre- 
 quentissime  tractandi  contra  usum  quidem,  et  consuetudinem 
 Africanarum  ecclesiarum  :"  "  He  gave  leave  to  Austin,  then 
 but  presbyter,  to  preach  in  the  church,  even  while  himself 
 was  present  ;  indeed  against  the  use  and  custom  of  the  Afri- 
 can churches."  And  for  this  act  of  his  he  suffered  soundly 
 in  his  report,  for  the  case  was  thus:  in  all  Africa,  ever 
 since  the  first  spring  of  the  Arian  heresy,  the  church  had 
 then  suffered  so  much  by  the  preaching  of  Arius,  the  pres- 
 byter, that  they  made  a  law  not  to  suffer  any  presbyter 
 to  preach  at  all,  at  least  in  the  mother  church,  and  in  the 
 bishop's  presence :  Tovro  ipy^riv  sXxSsv  ov"  Apaos  r-hv  BKxXriiylocv 
 srocpoch,  saith  Socrates  ;  "  Thence  came  this  custom  in  the 
 African  churches"."  But  because  Valerius  saw  St.  Austin 
 so  able,  and  himself,  for  want  of  Latin,  so  unfit, — he  gave 
 leave  to  Austin  to  preach  before  him,  against  the  custom  of 
 the  African  churches ;  but  he  adds  this  reason  for  his  excuse 
 too ;  it  w^as  not,  indeed,  the  custom  of  Africa,  but  it  was  of 
 the  Oriental  churches.  For  so  Possidonius  proceeds:  "  Sed 
 et  ille  vir  venerabilis,  ac  providus  in  Orientalibus  ecclesiis  id 
 ex  more  fieri  sciens;"  in  the  Levant  it  was  usual  for  bishops 
 to  give  presbyters  leave  to  preach;  "  Dummodo  factitaretur 
 a  presbytero  quod  a  se  episcopo  impleri  minime  posse  cerne- 
 bat,"  which  determines  us  fully  in  the  business.  For  this 
 leave  to  do  offices  was  but  there  to  be  given  '  where  the  bishop 
 himself  could  not  fulfil  the  offices ;'  which  shows  the  presby- 
 ters, in  their  several  charges,  whether  of  temporary  mission, 
 or  fixed  residence,  to  be  but  delegates  and  vicars  of  the 
 bishop,  admitted  '  in  partem  solicitudinis ;'  to  assist  the 
 bishop  in  his  great  charge  of  the  whole  diocese. 
 
 n  Lib.  V.  c.  22. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 189 
 
 Against  tliis  it  is  objectecl,  out  of  St.  Jerome,  and  it 
 is  recorded  by  Gratian,  "  Ecce  ego  dico  praesentibus  epis- 
 copis  suis,  atque  adstantibus  in  altari,  presbyteros  posse 
 sacranienta  conficere  ;"  "  Behold,  I  say  that  presbyters  may 
 minister  sacraments  in  presence  of  the  bishop:"  so  Gratian 
 quotes  it,  indeed'';  but  St.  Jerome  says  the  express  con- 
 trary, unless  we  all  have  false  copies.  For  in  St.  Jerome  it 
 Is  not  '  ecce  ego  dico,'  but  '  nec  ego  dico.'  He  does  not  say 
 it  is  lawful  for  presbyters  to  officiate  in  the  presence  of 
 their  bishop.  Indeed  St,  Jerome  is  angry  at  Rusticus, 
 bishop  of  Narbona,  because  he  would  not  give  leave  to  pres- 
 byters to  preach,  nor  to  bless,  &c.  This  perhaps,  was  not 
 well  done,  but  it  makes  not  against  the  former  discourse  ; 
 for  though  it  may  be  fit  for  the  bishop  to  give  leave, 
 the  church  requiring  it  still  more  and  more  in  descent  of 
 ages,  and  multiplication  of  Christians  and  parishes, — yet  it 
 is  clear  that  this  is  not  to  be  done  without  the  bishop's 
 leave  ;  for  it  is  for  this  verv  thing  that  St.  Jerome  disputes 
 against  Rusticus,  to  show  he  did  amiss,  because  he  would 
 not  give  his  presbyters  license.  And  this  he  also  reprehends 
 in  his  epistle,  '  ad  Nepotianum:'  "  Pessimse  consuetudinis 
 est  in  quibusdam  ecclesiis  tacere  jDresbyteros,  et  praesentibus 
 episcopis  non  loqui:"  "  That  presbyters  might  not  be  suffered 
 to  preach  in  presence  of  the  bishop,  that  was  an  ill  custom;" 
 to  wit,  as  things  then  stood:  and  it  was  mended  presently 
 after,  for  presbyters  did  preach  in  the  bishop's  presence,  but 
 it  was  by  license  from  their  ordinary.  For  so  Possidonius 
 relates,  that  upon  this  act  of  Valerius,  before  mentioned, 
 "  Postea  currente  et  volante  hujusmodi  fama,  bono  prae- 
 cedente  exemplo,  accepta  ab  episcopis  potestate,  presbyteri 
 nonnulli,  coram  episcopis,  populis  tractare  coepsrunt  verbum 
 Dei:"  "  By  occasion  of  this  precedent  it  came  to  pass,  that 
 some  presbyters  did  preach  to  the  people  in  the  bishop's 
 presence,  having  first  obtained  faculty  from  the  bishop  so  to 
 do."  And  a  little  after  it  became  a  custom,  from  a  general 
 faculty  and  dispensation  indulged  to  them  in  the  second 
 council  of  Vase''.  Now,  if  this  evidence  of  church-practice 
 be  not  sufficient  to  reconcile  us  to  St.  Jerome,  let  him  then 
 first  be  reconciled  to  himself  and  then  we  are  sure  to  be 
 
 P  Ad  Rustic.  Narbon.  dist.  95.  can.  Ecce  ego. 
 VOL.  VI t. 
 
 1  Can.  19. 
 P 
 
190 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 helped :  for,  in  his  dialogue  against  the  Luclferians,  his 
 words  are  these  :  "  Ciii  si  non  exsors  qusedatn  et  ab  omnibus 
 eminens  detur  potestas,  tot  efficientur  schismata  quot  sunt 
 sacerdotes.  Inde  venit  ut  sine  episcopi  missione  neque  pres- 
 byter neque  diaconus  jus  habeat  baptizandi:"  "  Because  the 
 bishop  hath  an  eminent  power,  and  this  power  is  necessary  ; 
 tlience  it  comes  that  neither  presbyter  nor  deacon  may  so 
 much  as  baptize  without  the  bishop's  leave." 
 
 This  whole  discourse  shows  clearly,  not  only  the  bishops 
 to  be  superior  in  jurisdiction,  but  that  they  have  sole  juris- 
 diction, and  the  presbyters  only  in  substitution  and  vicarage. 
 
 SECTION  XXXVIII. 
 
 Reserving  Church-Goods  to  Episcopal  Dispensation. 
 
 Divers  other  acts  there  are  to  attest  the  superiority  of  the 
 bishop's  jurisdiction  over  priests  and  deacons,  as  that  all 
 the  goods  of  the  church  were  in  the  bisho^i's  sole  disposing ; 
 and  as  at  first  they  were  laid  at  the  apostles'  feet,  so  after- 
 wai'ds  at  the  bishops.'  So  it  is  in  the  forty-first  canon  of  the 
 apostles ;  so  it  is  the  council  of  Gangra  :  and  all  the  world 
 are  excluded  from  intervening  in  the  dispensation,  without 
 express  delegation  from  the  bishop,  as  appears  in  the  seventh 
 and  eighth  canons,  and  that  under  pain  of  an  anathema 
 by  the  holy  council.  And,  therefore,  when,  in  success  of 
 time,  some  patrons,  that  had  founded  churches  and  endowed 
 them,  thought  that  the  dispensation  of  those  lands  did  not 
 belong  to  the  bishop :  of  this  the  third  council  of  Toledo 
 complains,  and  makes  remedy,  commanding,  "  ut  omnia, 
 secundum  constitutionem  antiquam,  ad  episcopi  ordinationem 
 et  potestatem  pertineant"."  The  same  is  renewed  in  the 
 fourth  council  of  Toledo:  "  Noverint  autem  conditores  basi- 
 iicarura,  in  rebus  quas  eisdem  ecclesiis  conferunt,  nullam 
 se  potestatem  habere,  sed  juxta  canonum  instituta,  sicut 
 ecclesiam,  ita  et  dotem  ejus  ad  ordinationem  episcopi  per- 
 tinere''."    These  councils  I  produce,  not  as  judges,  but  as 
 
 »  An  Don.  589. 
 
 ''Cap.  .?2. 
 
EPISCOPACV  ASSERTED. 
 
 191 
 
 witnesses  in  the  business ;  for  thev  give  concurrent  testi- 
 mony, that  '  as  the  church  itself,  so  the  dowry  of  it  too,  did 
 belong  to  the  bishop's  disposition  by  the  ancient  canons".' 
 For  so  the  third  council  of  Toledo  calls  it,  "  antiquam  con- 
 stitutionem,"  and  itself  is  almost  1 100  years  old  ;  so  that  still 
 I  am  precisely  within  the  bounds  of  the  primitive  church, 
 though  it  be  taken  in  a  narrow  sense.  For  so  it  was  deter- 
 mined in  the  great  council  of  Chalcedon,  commanding  that 
 the  goods  of  the  churcli  should  be  dispensed  by  a  clergy 
 steward,  ;t«T«  y^u^j.rtv  rov  \llov  liriax.oitov,  "  according  to  the 
 pleasure  or  sentence  of  the  bishop." 
 
 SECTION  XXXIX. 
 
 Forbidding  Presbyters  to  leave  their  own  Diocese,  or  to 
 travel,  without  Leave  of  the  Bishop. 
 
 Add  to  this,  that  without  the  bishop's  dimissory  letters, 
 presbyters  might  not  go  to  another  diocese.  So  it  is  decreed 
 in  the  fifteentli  canon  of  the  apostles,  under  pain  of  '  sus- 
 pension or  deposition  ;'  (jt-min  Ksirou^yi'iM  is  the  censure  ;  and 
 that  especially,  el,  ■ss^ooicx'kovf/.iv'iv  auTov  rov  sitfyyioTrou  ocvrov, 
 ■  svocvz>.Qs7v  ovx.  vTrriy-ovasv,  "  if  he  would  not  return,  when  his 
 bishop  calls  him."  The  same  is  renewed  in  the  council 
 of  Antioch,  cap.  3,  and  in  the  council  of  Constantinople, 
 in  Trullo,  cap.  17. ;  the  censure  there  is,  x.a.Qxipi-'ia^u  acul  aCro;, 
 "  Let  him  be  deposed  that  shall,  without  dimissory  letters 
 from  the  bishop,"  Iv  eripa.  xscrardrrEiyOcti  e)cxXrj<n'a,  "  fix  him- 
 self in  the  diocese  of  another  bishop;"  but  with  license  of 
 his  bishop  he  may  :  "  Sacerdotes,  vel  alii  clerici,  concessione 
 suorum  episcoporum,  possunt  ad  alias  ecclesias  ti'ansmigrare*." 
 But  this  is  frequently  renewed  in  many  other  synodal  de- 
 crees ;  these  may  suffice  for  this  instance. 
 
 But  this  not  leaving  the  diocese,  is  not  only  meant  of  pro- 
 motion in  another  church ;  but  clergymen  might  not  travel 
 from  city  to  city  without  the  bishop's  license;  which  is 
 not  only  an  ai'gument  of  his  regiment,  '  in  genere  politico,' 
 
 Can.  26.  Vide  Zonaram  in  hunc  canonem.  Videatur  Concil.  Carlhag. 
 Grsec.  can.  36,  38,  et  41.  et  Balsam,  ibid,  et  Apologia  2.  Jiistini  Marlyiis. 
 Vide  Concil.  Epaun.  c.5.  et  Venet.  c.  JO. 
 
 V  2 
 
192 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 but  extends  it  almost  to  a  despotic ;  but  so  strict  was  the 
 primitive  church  in  preserving  the  strict  tie  of  duty  and 
 clerical  subordination  to  their  bishop.  The  council  of  Lao- 
 dicea  commands  a  priest  or  clergyman,  avsy  xavovixoJv  v^a/x- 
 [MXTejv  fi.ri  oBivnv,  "  not  to  travel  without  canonical  or  dimissory 
 letters  ."  And  who  are  to  grant  these  letters  is  expressed  in 
 the  next  canon,  which  repeats  the  same  prohibition,  on  ou  JsT 
 .IffaTixov  V  n'kDqiy.ov  gcvsu  xeXsvosus  iniOKO'nov  oBiveiv,  "  a  priest  or 
 a  clerk  must  not  travel  without  the  command  of  his  bishop ^;" 
 and  this  prohibition  is  inserted  into  the  body  of  the  law, 
 '  De  Consecrat.  dist.  5.  can.  Non  oportet,'  which  puts  in  the 
 clause  of"  Neque  etiam  laicum;"  but  this  was  beyond  the 
 council.  The  same  is  in  the  council  of  Agatho**.  The  council 
 of  Venice  adds  a  censure*,  that  those  clerks  should  be  like 
 persons  excommunicate  in  all  those  places,  whither  they 
 went,  without  letters  of  license  from  their  bishop.  The  same 
 penalty  is  inflicted  by  the  council  of  Epaunum,  "  Presby- 
 tero,  vel  diacono,  sine  antlstltis  sui  epistoHs  ambulanti,  com- 
 munionem  nullus  impendat^"  The  first  council  of  Touraine, 
 in  France,  and  the  third  council  of  Orleans,  attest  the  self- 
 same power  in  the  bishop,  and  duty  in  all  his  clergy. 
 
 SECTION  XL. 
 
 And  the  Bishop  had  Power  to  prefer  which  of  his  Clerks 
 he  pleased. 
 
 But  a  coercitive  authority  makes  not  a  complete  jurisdiction, 
 unless  it  be  also  remunerative ;  and  "  the  princes  of  the 
 nations  are  called  evBqysrxi,  benefactors  for  it  is  but  half  a 
 tie  to  endear  obedience,  when  the  subject  only  fears  "  quod 
 prodesse  non  poterit,"  "  that  which  cannot  profit."  And, 
 therefore,  the  primitive  church,  to  make  the  episcopal  juris- 
 diction up  entire,  gave  power  to  the  bishop  to  present  the 
 clerks  of  his  diocese  to  the  higher  orders  and  nearer  degrees 
 of  approximation  to  himself ;  and  the  clerks  might  not  refuse 
 
 "  Can.  4 1 . 
 <•  Can.  5. 
 
 Can.  42. 
 f  Can.  n. 
 
 Can.  38. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 193 
 
 to  be  so  promoted.  "  Item  pl;icuit,  ut  qviicunque  clerici  vel 
 diaconi,  pro  necessitatibus  ecclesiarum,  iion  obtemperaverhit 
 episcopis  suis,  volentibus  eos  ad  honoi'em  ampliorem  in  sua 
 ecclesia  jjromovere,  nec  illic  miiiistrent  in  gradu  suo,  unde 
 recedere  noluerunt."  So  it  is  decreed  in  the  African  code : 
 "  They  that  will  not,  by  their  bishop,  be  promoted  to  a 
 greater  honour  in  the  church,  must  not  enjoy  what  they  have 
 already  ^" 
 
 But  it  is  a  question  of  great  consideration,  and  worth  a 
 strict  inquiry,  in  whom  the  right  and  power  of  electing  clerks 
 was  resident  in  the  primitive  church :  for  the  right  and  the 
 power  did  not  always  go  together,  and  also  several  orders 
 had  several  manners  of  election  ;  presbyters  and  inferior 
 clergy  were  chosen  by  the  bishop  alone;  the  bishop  by  a 
 synod  of  bishops,  or  by  their  chapter  ;  and  lastly,  because,  of 
 late,  strong  outcries  are  made  upon  several  pretensions, 
 amongst  which  the  people  make  the  biggest  noise,  though  of 
 all,  their  title  to  election  of  clerks  be  most  empty  ;  therefore 
 let  us  consider  it  upon  all  its  grounds. 
 
 1.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which  are  most  certainly 
 the  best  precedents  for  all  acts  of  Holy  Church,  we  find  that 
 "  Paul  and  Barnabas  ordained  elders  in  evei'y  church,"  and 
 "  they  passed  through  Lystra,  Iconium,  Antioch,  and  Derbe," 
 y^siporo'iiri'ja.MTis  aiiroXs  ziqeaQvriqous,  "  appointing  them  elders." 
 St.  Paul  chose  Timothy  bishop  of  Ephesus,  and  he  saj-s  of 
 himself  and  Titus,  "  For  this  cause  I  sent  thee  to  Crete,"  7va 
 xxTa.<srifia'r)s  xxra.  tuoXiv  Zj^^a^VTiqovs,  "  that  thou  shouldest 
 appoint  presbyters  or  bishops"  (be  they  which  they  will,) 
 "  in  every  city."  The  word  xxTocyrri'jrif  signifies  that  the 
 Avhole  action  was  his.  For  that  he  ordained  them,  no  man 
 questions;  but  he  also  appointed  them,  and  that  was,  saith 
 St.  Paul,  cDf  eyci  aot  JieTa^a'ptr,-;,  "  as  I  commanded  thee''."  It 
 was,  therefore,  an  apostolical  ordinance,  that  the  bishop 
 should  appoint  presbyters.  Let  there  be  half  so  much  shown 
 for  the  people,  and  I  will  also  endeavour  to  promote  their 
 interest.  There  is  only  one  pretence  of  a  popular  election  in 
 Scripture  ;  it  is  of  the  seven  that  were  set  over  the  widows. 
 But  first,  this  was  no  part  of  the  hierarchy  :  this  was  no 
 cure  of  souls  :  this  was  no  Divine  institution  :  it  was  in  the 
 
 » Can.  31. 
 
 "  1  Tit.  V.  5. 
 
 4 
 
194 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 dispensation  of  moneys  :  it  was  by  command  of  the  apostles 
 the  election  was  made,  and  they  might  recede  from  their  own 
 right  :  it  was  to  satisfy  the  multitude  :  it  was  to  avoid 
 scandal,  which,  in  the  dispensation  of  moneys,  might  easily 
 arise :  it  was  in  a  temporary  office  :  it  was  with  such  limita- 
 tions and  conditions  as  the  apostles  prescribed  them  :  it  was 
 out  of  the  number  of  the  seventy  that  the  election  was  made, 
 if  we  may  believe  St.  Epiphanius,  so  that  they  were  pres- 
 b3-ters  before  this  choice  :  and  lastlv,  it  was  onlv  a  nomina- 
 tion of  seven  men  ;  the  determination  of  the  business,  and 
 the  authority  of  rejection  was  still  in  the  apostles,  and  indeed 
 the  whole  power  "  whom  we  mav  appoint  over  this  business:" 
 and  after  all  this,  there  can  be  no  hurt  done  by  the  objection, 
 especially  since  clearly  and  indubiously  the  election  of  bishops 
 and  presbyters  was  in  the  apostles'  own  persons :  6  •sr^ii/Tor 
 Iviyi't^iij^ri  zsafi  tiJv  sc^O'S'ToXa/v  -rrjv  vfj^zrsfOLV  z^qoira'^'ia.-ii,  saith 
 St.  Ignatius  of  Evodias:  "  Evodias  was  first  appointed  to  be 
 your  governor  or  bishop  by  the  apostles" ;"  and  themselves 
 did  commit  it  to  others  that  were  bishops,  as  in  the  instances 
 before  reckoned.    Thus  the  case  stood  in  Scripture. 
 
 2.  In  the  practice  of  the  church  it  went  according  to  the 
 same  law  and  practice  apostolical.  The  people  did  not, 
 might  not,  choose  the  ministers  of  Holy  Church.  So  the 
 council  of  Laodicea  :  Ile^l  rou  ixr,  rohs  ox^voi/.f  iTtirpi'SBv  ta.i 
 ly.\oya,s  ■usonta^a.i  rui\i  jXiWo'^ruv  y.x9l<7rxaQxi  sis  lEgaTciov*  *'  The 
 people  must  not  choose  those,  that  are  to  be  promoted  to  the 
 pi-iesthood**."  The  prohibition  extends  to  their  non-election 
 of  all  the  superior  clerg}',  bishops,  and  presbyters.  But  who 
 then  must  elect  them  ?  The  council  of  Nice  determines  that ; 
 for  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  canons,  the  council  forbids 
 any  promotion  of  clerks  to  be  made,  but  by  the  bishop  of 
 that  church  where  they  are  first  ordained :  which  clearly 
 reserves  to  the  bishop  the  power  of  retaining  or  promoting 
 all  his  clergy. 
 
 3.  All  ordinations  were  made  by  bishops  alone,  as  I  have 
 already  proved.  Now  let  this  be  confronted  with  the  prac- 
 tice of  primitive  Christendom,  that  no  presbyter  might  be 
 ordained  '  sine  titulo,'  without  a  particular  charge,  which  was 
 always  custom,  and  at  last  grew  to  be  a  law  in  the  council  of 
 
 Epist.  ad  Antioch. 
 
 ■"Can.  It. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED, 
 
 195 
 
 Chalcedou  :  and  we  shall  perceive  that  the  ordalner  was  the 
 only  chooser  ;  for  then  to  ordain  a  presbyter  was  also  to  give 
 him  a  charge  ;  and  the  pati'onage  of  a  church  was  not  a  lay- 
 inheritance,  but  part  of  the  bishop's  cure,  for  he  had  <ppo\ri^x 
 Ttov  IxxXyjffialv  sv  otoXej,  xxl  Xcipx,  "  the  care  of  the  churches  in 
 all  the  diocese;"  as  I  have  already  shown.  And,  therefore, 
 when  St.  Jerome,  according  to  the  custom  of  Christendom, 
 had  specified  some  particular  ordinations  or  election  of  pres" 
 bj'ters  by  bishops,  as  how  himself  was  made  priest  by  Pau- 
 linus,  and  Paulinus  by  Epiphanius  of  Cyprus,  "  Gaudeat 
 episcopus  judicio  suo,  dim  tales  Christo  elegerit  sacerdotes:" 
 "  Let  the  bishop  rejoice  in  his  own  act,  having  chosteh  such 
 worthy  priests  for  the  service  of  Christ ^'" 
 
 Thus  St.  Ambrose  gives  intimation,  that  the  dispensing  all 
 the  offices  in  the  clergy  was  solely  in  the  bishop:  "  Hsec 
 spectet  sacerdos,  et  quod  quiqiie  congruat,  id  officii  deputet 
 "  Let  the  bishop  observe  these  rules,  and  appoint  every  one 
 his  office,  as  is  best  answerable  to  his  condition  and  capa- 
 city^"  And  Theodoret  reports  of  Leontius,  the  bishop  of 
 Antioch,  how,  being  an  Arian,  "  Adversarios  recti  dogmatis 
 suscipiens,  licet  turpem  habentes  vitam,  ad  presbyteratQs 
 tanien  ordinem  et  diaconatus  evexit.  Eos  autem  qui  uni- 
 versis  virtutibus  ornabantur  et  apostolica  dogmata  defende- 
 bant,  absque  honore  deseruit^."  '  He  advanced  his  own 
 faction,  but  would  not  promote  any  man  that  was  catholic 
 and  pious.'  So  he  did.  The  power,  therefore,  of  clerical 
 promotion  was  in  his  own  hands.  This  thing  is  evident  and 
 notorious ;  and  there  is  scarce  any  example  in  antiquity  of 
 either  presbyters  or  people  choosing  any  priest,  but  only  in 
 the  case  of  St.  Austin,  whom  the  people's  haste  snatched, 
 and  carried  him  to  their  bishop,  Valerius,  entreating  him  to 
 ordain  him  priest.  This,  indeed,  is  true,  that  the  testimony 
 of  the  people,  for  the  life  of  them  that  were  to  be  ordained, 
 was  by  St.  Cyprian  ordinarily  required:  "In  ordinandis 
 clerlcis,  fratres  carissimi,  solemus  vos  ante  consulere,  et 
 mores  ac  merita  singulorum  communi  consilio  ponderare." 
 •  It  was  his  custom  to  advise  with  his  people  concerning  the 
 public  fame  of  clerks  to  be  ordained  ;'  it  was  usual,  I  say, 
 
 e  Epist.  61 ,  et  62.  Hieron.  ad  Nepotian.  '  Lib.  i.  OfQc.  c.  41. 
 
 e  Tripait.  Hist.  lib.  v.  c.  32. 
 
196 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 •vvith  him,  but  .lOt  perpetual  ;  for  it  was  otherwise  in  the  case 
 of  Celerinus,  and  divers  others,  as  I  showed  elsewhere. 
 
 4.  In  election  of  bishops,  though  not  of  priests,  the  clergy 
 and  the  people  had  a  greater  actual  interest,  and  did  often 
 intervene  with  their  silent  consenting  suffrages  or  public  ac- 
 clamations. But  first  ;  this  was  not  necessary.  It  was  other- 
 wise among  the  apostles,  and  in  the  case  of  Timothy,  of 
 Titus,  of  St.  James,  of  St.  Mark,  and  all  the  successors, 
 whom  they  did  constitute  in  the  several  charges.  2.  This 
 was  not  by  law,  or  right,  but  in  fact  only.  It  was  against 
 the  canon  of  the  Laodicean  council,  and  the  thirty-first  canon 
 of  the  apostles,  which,  uTider  pain  of  deposition,  commands 
 that  a  bishop  be  not  promoted  to  his  church,  by  the  inter- 
 vening of  any  lay  power''. 
 
 Against  this  discourse,  St.  Cyprian  is  strongly  pretended  : 
 "  Quando  ipsa  [plebs]  maxime  habeat  potestatem  vel  eligendi 
 dignos  sacerdotes,  vel  indignos  recusandi  :  quod  et  ipsum 
 videmus  de  Divina  auctoritate  descendere,"  &c.  Thus  he  is 
 usually  cited  :  "  The  people  have  power  to  choose  or  to 
 refuse  their  bishops,  and  this  comes  to  them  from  Divine 
 authority."  No  such  matter.  The  following  words  expound 
 him  better :  "  Quod  et  ipsum  videmus  de  Divina  auctoritate 
 descendere,  ut  sacerdos,  plebe  praesente,  sub  omnium  oculis 
 deligatur,  et  dignus  atque  idoneus  pubhco  judicio  ac  testi- 
 monio  comprobetur :"  "That  the  bishop  is  chosen  publicly, 
 in  the  presence  of  the  people,  and  he  only  be  thought  fit  who 
 is  approved  by  public  judgment  and  testimony  ;"  or,  as  St. 
 Paul's  phrase  is,  "  He  must  have  a  good  report  of  all  men 
 that  is  indeed  a  Divine  institution  :  and  that  to  this  purpose, 
 and  for  the  public  attestation  of  the  act  of  election  and  ordi- 
 nation, the  people's  presence  was  required,  appears  clearly 
 by  St.  Cyprian's  discourse  in  this  epistle.  For  what  is  the 
 Divine  authority  that  he  mentions  ?  It  is  only  the  example 
 of  Moses,  whom  God  commanded  to  take  the  son  of  Eleazar, 
 and  clothe  him  with  his  father's  robes,  '  coram  omni  syna- 
 goga,'  '  before  all  the  congregation.'  The  people  chose  not ; 
 God  chose  Eleazar,  and  Moses  consecrated  him,  and  the 
 people  stood  and  looked  on  :  that  is  all  this  argument  can 
 supply.    Just  thus  bishops  are  and  ever  were  ordained : 
 
 Epist.  68. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 197 
 
 "  Non  nisi  sub  populi  assistentis  couscientia :  "  In  the  sight 
 of  the  people  standing  by  :"  but  to  what  end  ?  "  Ut,  plebe 
 praesente,  detegantur  malorum  crimina,  vel  bonorum  merita 
 praedicentur."  All  this  while  the  election  is  not  in  the 
 people,  nothing  but  the  public  testimony  and  examination ; 
 for  so  it  follows,  "  Et  sit  ordinatio  justa  et  legitima,  quae 
 omnium  suflragio  et  judicio  fuerit  examinata." 
 
 But  St.  Cyprian  hath  two  more  proofs  whence  we  may 
 learn  either  the  sense  or  the  truth  of  his  assertion.  The  one 
 is  of  the  apostle's  ordaining  the  seven  deacons  :  but  this  we 
 have  already  examined;  the  other  of  St.  Peter  choosing  St. 
 Matthias  into  the  apostolate ;  it  was  indeed  done  in  the  pre- 
 sence of  the  people.  But  here  it  is  considerable,  that  at 
 this  surrogation  of  St.  Matthias,  the  number  of  the  persons 
 present  was  but  one  hundred  and  twenty,  of  which  eleven 
 were  apostles,  and  seventy-two  were  disciples  and  presbvters; 
 they  make  up  eighty-three,  and  then  there  remains  but  thirty- 
 seven  of  the  laity,  of  which  many  were  women,  which  I  know 
 not  yet  whether  any  man  Avould  admit  to  the  election  of  an 
 apostle,  and  whether  they  do  or  do  not,  the  laity  is  a  veiy 
 inconsiderable  number,  if  the  matter  had  been  to  be  carried 
 by  plurality  of  voices ;  so  that  let  the  woi'st  come  that  is 
 imaginable,  the  whole  business  was,  in  effect,  carried  by  the 
 clergy,  whom  in  this  case  we  have  no  reason  to  suspect  to  be 
 divided,  and  of  a  distinct  or  disagreeing  interest.  Let  this 
 discourse  be  of  what  validity  it  will,  yet  all  this  whole 
 business  M'as  miraculous  and  extraordinary ;  for  though  the 
 apostles  named  two  candidates,  yet  the  Holy  Ghost  chose 
 them  by  particular  revelation.  And  yet  for  all  this,  it  was 
 lawful  for  St.  Peter  alone  to  have  done  it  without  casting 
 lots.  "  An  non  licebat  ipsi  [Petro]  eligere?  Licebat,  etqui- 
 dem  maxime  ;  verum  id  non  facit,necui  videretur  gratificari. 
 Quanquam  alioqui  non  erat  particeps  Spiritus."  For  all  '  he 
 had  not  as  yet  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  yet  he  had  power 
 himself  to  have  completed  the  election.'  So  St.  Chrysostom'. 
 
 So  that  now,  if  St.  Cyprian  means  more  than  the  presence  of 
 the  people  for  suff'rage  of  public  testimony,  and  extends  it  to 
 a  suffrage  of  formal  choice,  his  proofs  of  the  Divine  authority 
 
 'Homil.  3.  in  Act, 
 
198 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 are  invalid;  there  is  no  such  thing  can  be  deduced  from 
 thence  ;  and  then  this  his  complying  so  much  with  the  people, 
 which  hath  been  the  fault  of  many  a  good  man,  may  be 
 reckoned  together  with  his  rebaptization.  But  truth  is,  he 
 means  no  more  than  suffrage  of  testimony,  viz.,  that  he  who 
 is  to  be  chosen  bishop  be,  for  his  good  life,  a  man  of  good 
 fame,  and  approved  of  before  God  and  all  the  people  ;  and  this 
 is  all  the  share  they  have  in  their  election.  And  so  indeed 
 himself  sums  up  the  whole  business,  and  tells  of  another 
 '  jus  Divinum'  too  :  "  Propter  quod  diligenter  de  traditione 
 Divina,  et  apostolica  observatione,  observandum  est  et  te- 
 nendum, quod  apud  nos  quoque,  et  fere  apud  provincias  uhi- 
 versas,  tenetur,  ut  ad  ordinationes  rite  celebrandas  ad  earn 
 plebem  cui  praepositus  ordinatur,  episcopi  ejusdem  provinciae 
 proximi  quinque  conveniant,  et  episcopus  deligatur  plebe 
 praesente,  quae  singulorum  vitam  plenissime  novit :"  "  It  is 
 most  diligently  to  be  observed,  for  there  is  a  Divine  tradition 
 and  an  apostolical  ordinance  for  it,  and  it  is  used  by  us,  and 
 almost  by  all  chui'ches,  that  all  the  bishops  of  the  province 
 assembled  to  the  making  of  right  ordinations,  and  that  a 
 bishop  be  chosen  in  the  face  of  the  people,  who  best  knoW 
 their  life  and  conversation."  So  that  the  bishops  were  to 
 make  the  formal  election,  the  people  to  give  their  judgment 
 of  approbation  in  this  particular,  and  so  much  as  concerned 
 the  exmplary  piety  and  good  life  of  him  that  was  to  be  their 
 bishop.  Here  we  see  in  St.  Cyprian  is  a  '  jus  Divinum'  for 
 the  bishop's  choosing  a  colleague  or  a  brother-bishop,  as 
 much  as  for  the  presence  of  the  people,  and  yet  the  pre- 
 sence was  all.  And  howsoever  the  people  were  present 
 to  give  this  testimony,  yet  the  election  was  clearly  in  the 
 bishops,  and  that  by  Divine  tradition  and  apostolical  obser* 
 vation,  saith  St.  Cyprian ;  and  thus  it  was  in  all  churches 
 almost. 
 
 In  Africa  this  was,  and  so  it  continued  till  after  St. 
 Austin's  time,  particularly  in  the  choice  of  Eradius,  his  suc- 
 cessor. It  was  so  in  the  Greek  church,  as  St.  Chi'ysostom 
 tells  us''.  It  was  so  in  Spain  as  St.  Isidore  tells  us ' ;  and 
 in  many  other  places,  that  the  people  should  be  present,  and 
 
 Epist.  120.  lib.  iii.  de  Saeerd. 
 
 'Lib,  ii.  de  Offic. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 199 
 
 give  acclamation  and  tumultuary  aj^probation ;  but  to  the 
 formal  election  of  the  clergy,  made  by  enumeration  of  votes 
 and  subscription,  the  people  never  were  admitted. 
 
 5.  Although  that  in  times  of  persecution,  at  first,  and  to 
 comply  with  the  people,  who  were,  in  all  respects,  to  be 
 sweetened,  to  make  them,  with  easier  appetite,  swallow  the 
 bitter  pill  of  persecution,  and  also  to  make  them  more  obe- 
 dient to  their  bishop,  if  they  did,  though  but  in  a  tumult  and 
 noise,  cry  him  up  in  his  ordination :  "  Ne  plebs  in  vita  epis- 
 copum  non  optatum,  aut  contemnat,  aut  oderit,  et  fiat  minus 
 religiosa  quam  convenit,  cui  non  licuerit  habere  quem  voluit," 
 for  so  St.  Leo  expresses  the  cause":  yet  the  formality  and 
 right  of  proper  election  was  in  the  clergy,  and  often  so  prac- 
 tised without  any  consent  at  all,  or  intervening  act  of  the 
 people.  The  right,  I  say,  was  in  the  bishops  ;  so  it  Avas 
 decreed  in  the  Nicene  council :  'E7ri(7xo7rov  zy^oa-nnsi  txaXiarot, 
 tXfh  viro  tsivruv  ruv  sv  rri  litxp^ix  xx^laTxiy^xf  "  The  bishop 
 must  be  appointed  or  constituted  by  all  the  bishops  of  the  pro- 
 vince:" To  Kupoi  rc?v  yivofxt'vwv  Si'SotSczi  xa9'  knoiarw  ina^yjcLv 
 ru  iJ.r)r^om'Klrr)'  "  It  must  be  confirmed  and  established  by 
 the  metropolitan""  No  presbyters  here  all  this  while,  no 
 people.  But  the  exercise  of  this  power  is  more  clearly  seen 
 in  the  acts  of  some  councils,  where  the  fathers  degraded 
 some  bishops,  and  themselves  appointed  others  in  their 
 rooms.  The  bishops  in  the  council  of  Constantinople  deposed 
 Marcellus  :  "  In  cujus  locum  Basilium  in  Ancyram  miserunt;" 
 "  They  sent  Basilius  bishop  in  his  room,"  saith  Sozomen„. 
 "  Ostendat  Bassianus  si  per  synodum  reverendissimorum 
 episcoporum,  et  consueta  lege  episcopus  Ephesiorum  metro- 
 polis est  constitutus,"  said  the  fathers  of  the  council  of 
 ChalcedonP;  "  Let  Bassianus  show  that  he  was  made  bishop 
 of  Ephesus  by  a  synod  of  bishops,  and  according  to  the 
 accustomed  law."  The  law  I  showed  before,  even  the  Nicene 
 canon  :  the  fathers  of  which  council  sent  a  synodal  epistle  to 
 the  church  of  Alexandria,  to  tell  them  they  had  deposed 
 Melitius  from  the  office  of  a  bishop,  only  left  him  the  name, 
 but  '  took  from  him  all  power:'  "  Nullam  vero  omnimodd 
 habere  potestatem,  neque  eligendi,  neque  ordinandi i,"  &c. 
 
 Epist.  St.  c.  5. 
 P  Act.  ii. 
 
 "  Can.  4.  "  Tripart.  Hist.  lib.  iii.c.  9. 
 
 iTripart,  Hist.  lib.  ii.  c.  12. 
 
200 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 Neither  suflferiiig  him  to  'clioose'  nor  '  to  ordain  clerks.'  It 
 seems,  then,  that  was  part  of  the  episcojial  office  in  ordinary, 
 '  placitos  sibi  eligere,'  as  the  epistle  expresses  it  in  the  sequel, 
 '  to  choose  whom  they  listed.'  But  the  council  deposed 
 Melitius  and  sent  Alexander,  their  bishop  and  patriarch,  to 
 rule  the  church  again.  And  particularly  to  come  home  to 
 the  case  of  the  present  question,  when  Auxeutius,  bishop 
 of  Milan,  was  dead,  and  the  bishops  of  the  province,  and  the 
 clergy  of  the  church,  and  the  people  of  the  city,  were  as- 
 sembled at  the  clioosing  of  another, — the  emperor  makes  a 
 speech  to  the  bishops  only,  that  they  should  be  careful  in 
 their  choice.  So  that  although  the  people  were  present, 
 "  quibus  pro  fide  et  religione  etiam  honor  deferendus  est,'' 
 as  St.  Cyprian's  phrase  is'';  "to  whom  resjject  is  to  be  had, 
 and  fair  comjDlyings  to  be  used,  so  long  as  they  are  pious» 
 catholic,  and  obedient;"  yet  both  the  right  of  electing  and 
 solemnity  of  ordaining  was  in  the  bishops;  the  people's  in- 
 terest did  not  arrive  to  one  half  of  this. 
 
 6.  There  ai*e,  in  antiquity,  divers  precedents  of  bishops 
 who  choose  their  own  successors  ;  it  will  not  be  imagined  the 
 people  will  choose  a  bishop  over  his  head,  and  j^roclaim  that 
 they  were  v/eary  of  him.  In  tliose  days  they  had  more 
 piety.  Agelius  did  so,  he  chose  Sisinnius  ;  and  that  it  may 
 appear  it  was  without  the  people,  they  came  about  him,  and 
 entreated  liim  to  choose  Mai-cian,  to  whom  they  had  been 
 beholden  in  the  time  of  Valens  the  emperor ;  he  complied 
 with  them  and  appointed  Marcian  to  be  his  successor,  and 
 Sisinnius,  whom  he  had  first  chosen,  to  succeed  Marcian*. 
 Thus  did  Valerius  choose  his  successor,  St.  Austin ;  for 
 though  the  peoj^le  named  him  for  their  priest,  and  carried 
 him  to  Valerius  to  take  orders,  yet  Valerius  chose  him  bishop. 
 And  this  was  usual  ;  us  aqci  a.\  aXKcci  zsoKus,  as  Epiphanius 
 expresses  this  case  ;  it  was  ordinary  to  do  so  in  many 
 churches. 
 
 7.  The  manner  of  election  in  many  churches  was  various; 
 for  although  indeed  the  church  had  commanded  it,  and 
 given  power  to  the  bishops  to  make  the  election,  yet  in  some 
 times  and  in  some  chui'ches,  the  presbyters  or  the  chapter 
 chose  one  out  of  themselves.    St.  Jerome  says  they  always 
 
 Tlieodor.  lib.  iv.  c.  3. 
 
 »  Socrat.  lib.  v.  c.  21. 
 
EPISCOPACV  ASSERTED. 
 
 201 
 
 did  so  in  Alexandria,  from  St.  Mark's  time  to  Heraclas  and 
 Dionj'sius.  St.  Ambrose  says,  that  at  the  first  the  bishop 
 was  not,  by  a  formal  new  election,  promoted,  but  "  recedente 
 uno,  sequens  ei  succedebat :"  "  as  one  died,  so  the  next 
 senior  did  succeed  him'."  In  both  these  cases  no  mixture 
 of  the  people's  votes. 
 
 8.  In  the  church  of  England,  the  people  were  never 
 admitted  to  the  choice  of  a  bishop,  from  its  first  becoming 
 Christian  to  this  very  day:  and,  therefore,  to  take  it  from  the 
 clergy,  in  whom  it  always  was  by  permission  of  princes,  and 
 to  interest  the  people  in  it,  is  to  recede  '  a  traditionibus 
 majorum,'  '  from  the  religion  of  our  forefathers,'  and  to 
 innovate  in  a  high  proportion. 
 
 9.  In  those  churches  where  the  people's  suffrage  (by  way 
 of  testimony,  I  mean,  and  approbation)  did  concur  with  the 
 synod  of  bishops  in  the  choice  of  a  bishop,  the  people  at 
 last,  according  to  their  usual  guise,  grew  hot,  angiy,  and 
 tumultuous  ;  and  then  Avere  engaged,  by  divisions  in  religion, 
 to  name  a  bishop  of  their  own  sect,  and  to  disgrace  one 
 another  by  public  scandal  and  contestation,  and  often  grew 
 up  to  sedition  and  murder;  and,  thei-efoi-e,  although  they 
 were  never  admitted  (unless  where  themselves  usurped,) 
 farther  than  I  have  declared,  yet  even  this  was  taken  from 
 them;  especially  since  in  tumultuary  assemblies  they  were  apt 
 to  carry  all  before  them,  they  knew  not  how  to  distinguish 
 between  power  and  right,  they  had  not  well  learned  to  take 
 denial ;  but  began  to  obtrude  whom  they  listed, — to  swell 
 higher,  like  a  torrent,  when  they  were  checked ;  and  the 
 soleship  of  clectio;i,  which,  by  the  ancient  canons,  was  in 
 the  bishops,  they  would  have  asserted  wholly  to  themselves, 
 both  in  right  and  execution. 
 
 I  end  this  with  the  annotation  of  Zonoras  upon  the 
 twelfth  canon  of  the  Laodicean  council :  "  Populi  suffragiis 
 olim  episcopi  eligebantur,"  (understand  him  in  the  senses 
 above  explicated;)  "  sod  cum  multae  inde  seditiones  existerent, 
 hinc  factum  est  ut  episcoporum  uniuscujusque  provincise 
 auctorltate  eligi  episcopum  quemque  ojjortere  decreverint 
 p:itres  :"  "  Of  old  time,  bishops  were  chosen,  not  without 
 the  suffrage  of  the  people,"'  (for  they  concurred  by  way  of 
 
 '  In  Kjihes.  iv. 
 
202 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 testimony  and  acclamation,)  "  but  when  this  occasioned  many 
 seditions  and  tumults,  the  fathers  decreed  that  a  bishop 
 should  be  chosen  by  the  authority  of  the  bishops  of  the 
 province."  And  he  adds,  that  in  the  election  of  Damasus, 
 one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  men  were  slain,  and  that  six 
 hundred  examples  more  of  that  nature  were  producible. 
 
 Truth  is,  the  nomination  of  bishops  in  Scripture  was  in 
 the  apostles  alone  ;  and  though  the  kindred  of  our  blessed 
 Saviour  were  admitted  to  the  choice  of  Simeon  Cleophse,  the 
 successor  of  St.  James,  to  the  bishoprick  of  Jerusalem,  as 
 Eusebius  witnesses" ;  it  was  '  propter  singularem  honorem,' 
 *  an  honoi'ary  and  extraordinary  privilege,'  indulged  to  them 
 for  their  vicinity  and  relation  to  our  blessed  Lord,  the  Foun- 
 tain of  all  benison  to  us ;  and  for  that  very  reason  Simeon 
 himself  was  chosen  bishop  too.  Yet  this  was  '  prjeter  regulam 
 apostolicam.'  The  rule  of  the  apostles  and  their  precedents 
 were  for  the  sole  right  of  the  bishops,  to  choose  their  col- 
 leagues in  that  sacred  order.  And  then  in  descent,  even 
 before  the  Nicene  council,  the  people  were  forbidden  to 
 meddle  in  election,  for  they  had  no  authority  by  Scripture  to 
 choose  ;  by  the  necessity  of  times,  and  for  the  reasons  before 
 asserted,  they  were  admitted  to  such  a  share  of  the  choice  as 
 is  now  folded  up  in  a  piece  of  paper,  even  to  a  testimonial ; 
 and  yet  I  deny  not  but  they  did  often  take  more,  as  in  the 
 case  of  Nilammon,  '  quern  cives  elegerunt,'  saith  the  story 
 out  of  Sozomen";  they  chose  him  alone,  (though  God  took 
 away  his  life,  before  himself  would  accept  of  their  choice;) 
 and  then  they  behaved  themselves  oftentimes  with  so  much 
 insolence,  partiality,  faction,  sedition,  cruelty,  and  pagan 
 baseness,  that  they  were  quite  interdicted  it,  above  one 
 thousand  two  hundred  yeai-s  ago.  So  that  they  had  their 
 little  in  possession  but  a  little  while,  and  never  had  any  due; 
 and  therefore,  now  their  request  for  it  is  no  petition  of  right, 
 but  a  popular  ambition,  and  a  snatching  at  a  sword  to  hew 
 the  church  in  pieces''. 
 
 But  I  think  I  need  not  have  troubled  myself  half  so  far ; 
 for  they  that  strive  to  introduce  a  popular  election,  would  as 
 fain  have  episcopacy  out  as  popularity  of  election  let  in.  So 
 
 "  Lib.  iii.  Hist-  c.  11.  Tripart.  Hist.  lib.  xc.  14. 
 
 >  Vide  Dist.  63.  per  tot.  Gratian. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 203 
 
 that  all  this  of  popular  election  of  bishops  may  seem  super- 
 fluous. For  I  consider,  that  if  the  people's  power  of  choosing 
 bishops  be  founded  upon  God's  law,  as  some  men  pretend 
 from  St.  Cyprian,  (not  proving  the  thing  from  God's  law,  but 
 God's  law  from  St.  Cyprian,)  then  bishops  themselves  must 
 be  by  God's  law ;  for  surely  God  never  gave  them  power  to 
 choose  any  man  into  that  office,  which  himself  hath  no  way 
 instituted.  And,  therefore,  I  suppose  these  men  will  desist 
 from  their  pretence  of  Divine  right  of  popular  election,  if 
 the  church  will  recede  from  her  Divine  right  of  episcopacy. 
 But  for  all  their  blundering  and  confounding,  their  bold 
 pretences  have  made  this  discourse  necessary. 
 
 SECTION  XU. 
 
 Bishops  only  did  vote  in  Councils^  and  neither  Presbyters 
 nor  People. 
 
 If  we  add  to  all  these  foregoing  particulars  the  power  of 
 making  laws  to  be  in  bishops,  nothing  else  can  be  required  to 
 the  making  up  of  a  spiritual  principality.  Now,  as  1  have 
 shown  that  the  bishop  of  every  diocese  did  give  laws  to  his 
 own  church  for  particulars,  so  it  is  evident  that  the  laws  of 
 provinces,  and  of  the  catholic  church,  were  made  by  con- 
 ventions of  bishops,  without  the  intervening  or  concurrence 
 of  presbyters,  or  any  else,  for  sentence  and  decision. 
 
 The  instances  of  this  are  just  so  many  as  there  are  of 
 councils.  St.  Athanasius,  repi'ehending  Constantius  the 
 Arian,  for  interposing  in  the  conciliary  determinations  of 
 faith,  "  Si  judicium  episcoporum  est,"  saith  he,  "  quid  cum 
 eo  commune  habet  imperator  ?"  "  It  is  a  judgment  to  be 
 passed  by  bishops,"  (meaning  the  determination  of  the  article,) 
 *'  and  not  proper  for  the  emperor \"  And  when  Hosius  of 
 Corduba  reproved  him  for  sitting  president  in  a  council, 
 "  Quis  enim  vldens  eum  in  decernendo  principem  se  facere 
 episcoporum,  non  merito  dicat  ilium  earn  ipsam  abomina- 
 tionem  desolationis?"  "  He  that  sits  president,  makes  himself 
 chief  of  the  bishops,"  &c.,  intimating  bishops  only  to  preside 
 
 »  Epist.  ad  Solitar. 
 
204 
 
 r.PISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 in  councils,  and  to  make  decision.  And,  therefore,  '  con- 
 ventus  episcoporum''  and  '  concilium  episcoporum'  are  the 
 words  for  general  and  provincial  councils.  "  Bis  in  anno 
 ejiiscoporum  concilia  celebrentur,"  said  the  thirty-eighth 
 canon  of  the  apostles ;  and  '  congi-egatio  episcopalis,^  the 
 council  of  Sardis  is  called  by  Theodoret^  And  when  the 
 question  was  started,  in  the  time  of  pope  Victor,  about  the 
 celebration  of  Easter,  "  Ob  quam  causam,"  saith  Eusebius, 
 "  conventus  episcoporum,  et  concilia  per  singulas  quasque 
 provincias  convocantur^."  Where,  by  the  way,  it  is  observ- 
 able, that  at  first,  even  provincial  synods  were  only  held  by 
 bishops,  and  presbyters  had  no  interest  in  the  decision ; 
 however,  we  have  of  late  sat  so  near  bishops  in  provincial 
 assemblies,  that  we  have  sat  upon  the  bishop's  skirts.  But 
 my  lords  the  bishops  have  a  concerning  interest  in  this.  To 
 them  I  leave  it ;  and  because  the  four  general  councils  are 
 the  precedents  and  chief  of  all  the  rest,  I  shall  only  instance 
 in  them  for  this  particular. 
 
 I.  The  title  of  the  Nicene  council  runs  thus:  Kocvivss 
 rouv  Tf  lasxoTictiv  JsxstOKrai  ccylu\i  Zjuriputi  rwv  sv  Nixai'o:  auviX^ovrcuv' 
 "  The  canons  of  the  three  hundi-ed  and  eighteen  fathers  met 
 in  Nice."  These  fathers  were  all  that  gave  suffrage  to  the 
 canons;  for  if  they  had  been  more,  the  title  could  not 
 have  appropriated  the  sanction  to  three  hundred  and  eigh- 
 teen. And  that  there  were  no  more  St.  Ambrose  gives 
 testimony,  in  that  he  makes  it  to  be  a  mystical  number ; 
 *'  Nam  et  Abraham  ti-ecentos  decem  et  octo  duxit  ad  bellum: 
 de  conciliis  id  potissimum  sequor,  quod  trecenti  decem  et 
 octo  sacerdotes  velut  tropseum  extulerunt,  ut  mihi  videatur 
 hoc  esse  Divinum,  quod  eodem  numei'o,  in  conciliis,  fidei 
 habemus  oraculum,  quo,  in  historia,  pietatis  exemplum*." 
 Well !  thi-ee  hundred  and  eighteen  was  the  number  of  the 
 judges,  the  Nicene  fathers  ;  and  they  were  all  bishops,  for  so 
 is  the  title  of  the  subscriptions.  "  Subscripserunt  trecenti 
 decem  et  octo  episcopi,  qui  in  eodem  concilio  convenerunt ;" 
 tliirteen  whereof  were  choreplscopi,  but  not  one  presbyter ; 
 save  only  that  Vitus  and  Vincentius  subscribed  as  legates  of 
 the  bishop  of  Rome,  but  not  by  their  own  authority. 
 
 2.  The  great  council  of  Constantinojile  was  celebrated  by 
 
 Lib.  ii.  c.  7. 
 
 Lib.  V.  c.  23. 
 
 Proem,  in  lib.  tie  Fide. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 205 
 
 one  hundred  and  fifty  bishops :  Kavove^  toJv  Ixsctov  ctsvttokovto; 
 ay/wv  zjccrspcov,  raiv  ev  K^vaTavTivoywoXei  evvsXQovrwv'  that  is  tlie 
 title  of  the  canons.  "  The  canons  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
 holy  fathers  who  noet  in  Constantinople  :"  and  that  these  were 
 all  bishops  appears  by  the  title  of  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen's 
 oration  in  the  beginning  of  the  council.  Tov  ayloD  Tpnyo^lou 
 Tov  tixS^iu-ii^vvov  (TvvTcc)iTr)pios  eU  rriv  rcov  sxasTov  '^^Evrwovrtx.  ETritTJic- 
 TTuv  zjxpovalxr  "  The  oration  of  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  in 
 the  presence  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  bishops."  And  of  this 
 council  it  was  that  Socrates  speaking,  "  Imperator,"  saith 
 he,  "  nulla  mora  interposita,  concilium  episcoporum  con- 
 vocat^"  Here,  indeed,  some  few  bishops  appeared  by  proxy, 
 as  Montanus,  bishop  of  Claudiopolis,  by  Paulus,  a  presby- 
 ter,— and  Atarbius,  bishop  of  Pontus,  by  Cylus,  a  reader, — 
 and  about  some  four  or  five  more.  This  only,  amongst  the 
 subscriptions  I  find  Tyrannus,  Auxanon,  Helladius,  and 
 Elpidius,  calling  themselves  presbyters.  But  their  modesty 
 hinders  not  the  truth  of  the  former  testimonies  ;  they  were 
 bishops,  saith  the  title  of  the  council,  and  the  oration,  and 
 the  canons,  and  Socrates;  and  lest  there  be  scruple  concern- 
 ing Auxanon,  '  presbyter  Apamese,'  because,  before  Johan- 
 nes, Apameensis  subscribed,  which  seems  to  intimate  that  one 
 of  them  was  the  bishop,  and  the  other  but  a  presbyter  indeed, 
 without  a  subterfuge  of  modesty,  the  titles  distinguish  thera. 
 For  John  Avas  bishop  in  the  province  of  Cselo-Syria, — and. 
 Auxanon,  of  Apamea  in  Pisidia. 
 
 3.  The  third  was  the  council  of  Ephesus,  "  episcoporum 
 plurium  quam  ducentorum,"  as  it  is  often  said  in  the  acts  of 
 the  council ;  "of  above  two  hundred  bishops,"  but  no  pres- 
 byters ;  for,  "  Cum  episcopi  supra  ducentos  extiterint  qui 
 Nestorium  deposuerunt,  horum  subscriptionibus  content! 
 fuimus:"  "We  were  content  with  the  subscription  of  the 
 two  hundred  and  odd  bishoj^s,"  saith  the  council:  and 
 Theodosius  junior,  in  his  epistle  to  the  synod,  "  Illicitum 
 est,"  saith  he,  "  eum,  qui  non  sit  in  ordine  sanctissiraorum 
 episcoporum,  ecclesiasticis  immisceri  tractatibus  :"  "  It  is 
 unlawful  for  any  but  them  who  are  in  the  order  of  the  most 
 holy  bishops,  to  be  interested  in  ecclesiastical  assemblies." 
 
 e  Lib.  V.  c.  8. 
 
 f  Epist.  Synod,  ad  Clerum.  C.  Planum,  part.  2.  act.  H.  part.  1.  c.  32.  Vide 
 sect.  S6.  de  Simil.  fere  Qusestione,  in  fine. 
 
 VOL.VH.  Q, 
 
206 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 4.  The  last  of  tlie  four  great  conventions  of  Christendom 
 was  "  sexcentorum  triginta  episcoporum,"  "  of  six  hundred 
 and  thirty  bishops,  at  Chalcedon,  in  Bithynia."  But  in  all 
 these  assemblies,  no  mere  presbyter  gave  suffrage,  except 
 by  legation  from  his  bishop  and  delegation  of  authority. 
 And,  therefore,  when  in  this  council  some  laics  and  some 
 monks,  and  some  clergymen,  not  bishops  would  interest 
 themselves,  Pulcheria,  the  empress,  sent  letters  to  Consu- 
 larius,  to  repel  them  by  force,  "  Si  prseter  nostram  evo- 
 cationem,  aut  permissionem  suorum  episcoporum,  ibidem 
 commorantur  :"  "  Who  come  without  command  of  the 
 empress,  or  the  bishops'  permission."  Where  it  is  observable 
 that  the  bishops  might  bring  clerks  with  them  to  assist,  to 
 dispute,  and  to  be  jjresent  in  all  the  action  ;  and  thus  they 
 often  did  suffer  abbots  or  archimandrites  to  be  there,  and  to 
 subscribe  too;  but  that  was  '  prseter  regulam,'  and  by  indul- 
 gence only  and  condescension ;  for  when  Martinus,  the 
 abbot,  was  requested  to  subscribe,  he  answered,  "  Non  suum 
 esse,  sed  episcoporum  tantum  subscribere :"  "  It  belonged 
 only  to  bishops  to  subscribe  to  councils^."  For  this  reason, 
 the  fathers  themselves  often  called  out  in  the  council,  "  Mitte 
 foras  superfluos;  concilium  episcoporum  est." 
 
 But  I  need  not  more  particular  arguments;  for  till  the 
 council  of  Basil  the  church  never  admitted  presbyters,  as  in 
 their  own  right,  to  voice  in  councils ;  and  that  council  we 
 know,  savoured  too  much  of  the  schismatic;  but  before  this 
 council,  no  example,  no  precedent  of  subscriptions  of  the 
 presbyters,  either  to  oecumenical  or  provincial  synods.  In- 
 deed, to  a  diocesan  synod,  viz.,  that  of  Auxerre,  in  Burgundy, 
 I  find  thirty-two  presbyters  subscribing.  This  synod  was 
 neither  oecumenical  nor  provincial,  but  merely  the  convoca- 
 tion of  a  diocese :  for  here  was  but  one  bishop,  and  some 
 few  abbots,  and  thirty-two  presbyters.  It  was,  indeed,  no 
 more  than  a  visitation,  or  the  calling  of  a  chapter  ;  for  of  this 
 we  receive  intimation  in  the  seventh  canon  of  that  assembly  : 
 *'  Ut,  in  medio  Maio,  omnes  presbyteri  ad  synodum  venirent;"" 
 that  was  their  summons;  "  et,  in  Novembri,  omnes  abbates  ad 
 concilium'':"  so  that  here  is  intimation  of  a  yearly  synod 
 besides  the  first  convention,  the  greatest  of  them  but  diocesan, 
 
 s  Actiou.  !•  Concil.  Chalced. 
 
 ['  Concil,  Antisiodor.  can.  7. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 207 
 
 and,  therefore,  the  lesser  but  '  conventus  capjtularis;'  or, 
 however,  not  enough  to  give  evidence  of  a  subscription  of 
 presbyters  to  so  much  as  a  provincial  council ;  for  the  guise 
 of  Chi-istendom  was  always  otherwise,  and,  therefore,  it  was 
 the  best  argument  that  the  bishops,  in  the  Arian  hurry,  used 
 to  acquit  themselves  from  the  suspicion  of  heresy:  "  Neque 
 nos  sumus  Arii  sectatores  ;  qui  namque  fieri  potest,  ut  cum 
 simus  episcopi,  Ario  presbytero  auscultemus'?"  Bishops 
 never  receive  determination  of  any  article  from  priests  but 
 priests  do  from  bishops  :  "  Nam  vestrum  est  eos  instruere," 
 saith  St.  Clement,  speaking  of  the  bishop's  office  and  power 
 over  priests  and  all  the  clergy,  and  all  the  diocese  ;  "  eorum 
 est  vobis  obedire,  ut  Deo,  cujus  legatione  fungimini''."  And, 
 a  little  after :  "  Audire  ergo  eum  attentius  oportet,  et  ab 
 ipso  suscipere  doctrinam  fidei,  monita  autem  vitae  a  presby- 
 teris  inquirere:"  "  Of  the  priests  we  must  inquire  for  rules  of 
 good  life  ;  but  of  the  bishop  I'eceive  positions  and  determina- 
 tions of  faith." 
 
 Against  this  if  it  be  objected,  "  Quod  omnes  tangit,  ab 
 omnibus  tractari  debet ;  "  That  which  is  of  general  concern- 
 ment, must  also  be  of  general  scrutiny:"  I  answer,  it  is  true, 
 unless  where  God  himself  hath  intrusted  the  care  of  others 
 in  a  body,  as  he  hath  in  the  bishops,  and  will  require  the 
 souls  of  his  diocese  at  his  hand,  and  commanded  us  to  require 
 the  law  at  their  mouths,  and  to  follow  their  faith',  whom  he 
 hath  set  over  us.  And,  therefore,  the  determination  of  coun- 
 cils pertains  to  all,  and  is  handled  by  all,  not  in  diflfusion, 
 but  in  representation.  For,  "  Rcclesia  est  in  episcopo,  et 
 episcopus  in  ecclesia,"  saith  St.  Cyprian  :  "  The  church  is 
 in  the  bishop,"  viz.,  by  representment,  "  and  the  bishop  is 
 in  the  church"","  viz.,  as  a  pilot  in  a  ship,  or  a  master  in  a 
 family,  or  rather  as  a  steward  and  guardian,  to  rule  in  his 
 master's  absence ;  and  for  this  reason  the  synod  of  the  Nicene 
 bishops  is  called,  in  Eusebius,  '  conventus  orbis  terrarum",' 
 and,  by  St.  Austin,  '  consensus  totius  ecclesiae;'  not  that  the 
 whole  church  was  there  present,  in  their  several  persons, 
 
 '  Socrat.  lib.  ii.  c.  7.  "  Epist.  3.  per  Ruffimim. 
 
 '  Heb.  xiii.  7.and  17.    1  Pet.  v.  2.    Acts,  sx.  ">  Epist.  G9. 
 
 n  Lib.  iii.  de  Vita  Constant,  lib.  de  Baptis.  cap.  18. 
 
 Q  2 
 
208 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 but  vras  there  represented  by  the  catholic  bishojis ;  and, 
 if  this  representment  be  not  suflBicient  for  obligation  to  all,  I 
 see  no  reason  but  the  ladies,  too,  may  vote  in  councils  ;  for  I 
 doubt  not  but  they  have  souls  too. 
 
 But,  however,  if  this  argument  were  concluding  in  itself, 
 yet  it  loses  its  force  in  England,  where  the  clergv  are  bound 
 by  laws  of  Parliament,  and  yet,  in  the  capacity  of  clergymen, 
 are  allowed  to  choose  neither  procurators,  to  represent  us 
 as  clergy,  nor  knights  of  the  shire,  to  represent  us  as  com- 
 mons. In  conclusion  of  this,  I  sav  to  the  presbyters,  as 
 St.  Ambrose  said  of  the  lay -judges,  whom  the  Arians  would 
 have  brought  to  judge  in  council  (it  was  an  old  heretical 
 trick)  :  "  Veniant  plane,  si  qui  sunt,  ad  ecclesiam,  audiant 
 cum  populo,  non  utquisquam  judex  resideat,  sed  unusquisque 
 de  suo  adectu  habeat  examen,  et  eligat  quem  sequatur 
 "So  may  presbyters  be  present ;  so  they  may  judge,  not 
 for  others,  but  for  themselves"."  And  so  may  the  people  be 
 present,  and  anciently  were,  so  ;  and,  therefore  councils  were 
 always  kept  in  open  churches,  *  ubi  populus  judical,'  not 
 for  others,  but  for  themselves  :  not  by  external  sentence,  but 
 internal  conviction;  so  St.  Ambrose  ex]3ounds  himself  in  the 
 forecited  allegation. 
 
 There  is  no  considerable  objection  against  this  discourse, 
 but  that  of  the  first  council  of  Jerusalem,  where  the  apostles 
 and  elders  did  meet  together,  to  determine  of  the  question  of 
 circumcision;  for,  although  in  the  storv  of  celebration  of  it, 
 we  find  no  man  giving  sentence  but  Peter  and  James,  yet,  in 
 Acts,  xvi.  they  are  called  oir/u^xrx  v.iy.:iu.i:3.  Jrs  r&/v  arijTi^fc-v 
 Kx\  riv  T^;:3-?:.re;iv,  "decrees  judged  by  the  apostles  and 
 elders."  But  first,  in  this  the  difficulty  is  the  less,  because 
 '  presbyter'  was  a  general  word  for  all  that  were  not  of 
 the  number  of  the  twelve,  prophets,  evangelists,  pastors, 
 and  doctors.  And  then,  secondly,  it  is  none  at  all,  because 
 Paul  and  Barnabas  are  signally  and  bv  name,  reckoned 
 as  present  in  the  synod,  and  one  of  them  prolocutor, 
 or  else  both  :  so  that  such  presbyters  may  well  define  in 
 such  conventual  assemblies.  3.  If  yet  there  were  any  dif- 
 ficulty latent  in  the  stor}',  yet  the  catholic  practice  of 
 
 "Epist.  3i. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 209 
 
 God's  chui'ch  is  certainly  the  best  expositor  of  such  places, 
 where  there  either  is  any  difficulty,  or  where  any  is  pre- 
 tended ;  and  of  this  I  have  already  given  account. 
 
 I  remember,  also,  that  this  place  is  pretended  for  the 
 people's  power  of  voicing  in  councils.  It  is  a  pretty  pageant, 
 only  that  it  is  against  the  catholic  practice  of  the  church, 
 against  the  exigence  of  Scripture,  which  bids  us  require  the 
 law  at  the  mouth  of  our  spiritual  rulers,  against  the  gravity 
 of  such  assemblies,  for  it  would  force  them  to  be  tumultuous, 
 and,  at  the  best,  are  the  worst  of  sanctions,  as  being  issues  of 
 populai'ity ;  and,  to  sum  up  all,  it  is  no  way  authorized  by 
 this  first  cojjy  of  Christian  councils.    The  pretence  is  in  the 
 synodal  letter  p,  written  in  the  name  of  '  the  apostles,  and. 
 elders,  and  brethren ;'  that  is,  says  Geta,  the  apostles,  and 
 presbytei-s,  and  people.     But  why  not  brethren,   that  is, 
 all  the  deacons,  and  evangelists,  and  helpers  in  govern- 
 ment, and  ministers  of  the  churches.''     There  is  nothing, 
 either  in  words  or  circumstances,  to  contradict  this.    If  it 
 be  asked,  who  then  are  meant  by  elders,  if  by  '  brethren' 
 St.  Luke  understands  these  church  officers  ?    I  answer,  that 
 here  is  such  variety,  that  although  I  am  not  certain  which 
 officers  he  precisely  comprehends  under  the  distinct  titles  of 
 elders  and  brethren,  yet  here  are  enough  to  furnish  both 
 with  variety ;  and  yet  neither  to  admit  mere  presbyters,  in 
 the  present  acceptation  of  the  word,  nor  yet  the  laity,  to  a 
 decision  of  the  question,  nor  authorizing  the  decretal  ;  for, 
 besides  the   twelve  apostles,  there  were  apostolical  men 
 which  were  presbyters,  and  something  more,  as  Paul,  and 
 Barnabas,  and  Silas,  and  evangelists,  and  pastors  besides, 
 which  might  furnish  out  the  last  appellative  sufficiently.  , 
 But,  however,  without  any  further  trouble,  it  is  evident  that 
 this  word  ♦  brethren'  does  not  distinguish  the  laity  from 
 the  clergy :  "  Now,  when  they  heard  this,  they  were  pricked 
 in  their  hearts,  and  said  unto  Peter  and  to  the  rest  of  the 
 apostles,  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do?"    Judas  and 
 Silas,  who  were  apostolical  men,  are  called  in  Scripture, 
 chief  men  among  the  brethren :  but  this  is  too  known  to  need 
 a  contestation. 
 
 I  only  insert  the  saying  of  Basilius,  the  empei'or,  in  the 
 
 P  Acts,  XV.  25. 
 
210 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 eighth  s3'nod  :  "  De  vobis  autem  laicis,  tarn  qui  in  dignita- 
 tibus,  quam  qui  absolute  versamini,  quid  amplius  dicam  non 
 habeo,  quam  quod  nullo  modo  vobis  licet  de  ecclesiasticis 
 causis  sermonem  movere,  neque  penitus  resistere  integritati 
 ecclesiae,  et  universali  synodo  adversari :"  "Laymen,"  says 
 the  emperor,  "  must  by  no  means  meddle  with  causes  eccle- 
 siastical, nor  oppose  themselves  to  the  catholic  church,  or 
 councils  oecumenical,"  They  must  not  meddle,  for  these 
 things  appertain  to  the  cognizance  of  bishops  and  their  deci- 
 sion. And  now,  after  all  this,  what  authority  is  equal  to  this 
 legislative  of  the  bishops  ?  MseXiffra  SI,  wr  awXws-  siiteTv,  a^xas 
 XsxTg'ov  ra.6r«.s,  osais  xTioSi^orxt  fiovXevaocjQoil  re  zjspl  rtveov,  kou 
 xpTvxi  t(.x\  Imra^xi,  xxi  (/.xXtryrx  rovro'  to  yxp  BTtiTxrretv  a^j^ixci/- 
 repov,  saith  Aristotle  i;  "  They  are  all  evidences  of  power  and 
 authority,  to  deliberate,  to  determine,  or  judge,  to  make  laws  : 
 but  to  make  laws  is  the  greatest  power  that  is  imaginable." 
 The  first  may  belong  fairly  enough  to  presbyters;  but  I  have 
 proved  the  two  latter  to  be  appropriate  to  bishops. 
 
 SECTION  XLII. 
 
 And  the  Bishop  had  a  Propriety  in  the  Persons  of  his  Clerks. 
 
 Lastly,  as  if  all  the  acts  of  jurisdiction,  and  every  imagi- 
 nable part  of  power,  were  in  the  bishop,  over  the  presbyters 
 and  subordinate  clergy,  the  presbyters  are  said  to  be  '  epis- 
 coporum  presbyteri,'  the  '  bishops'  presbyters,'  as  having  a 
 propriety  in  them,  and  therefore  a  superiority  over  them  ; 
 and  as  the  bishop  was  a  dispenser  of  those  tilings,  which 
 were  '  in  bonis  ecclesiae,'  so  he  was  of  the  persons,  too,  a 
 ruler  in  propriety.  St.  Hilary,  in  the  book  which  himself 
 delivered  to  Constantine,  "  Ecclesiae  adhuc,"  saith  he,  "  per 
 presbyteros  meos  communionem  distribuens :"  "  I  still  give 
 the  holy  communion  to  the  faithful  people  by  my  presbyters." 
 And,  therefore,  in  the  third  council  of  Carthage,  a  great 
 deliberation  was  had  about  requiring  a  clerk  of  his  bishop  to 
 be  promoted  in  another  church:  "  Denique  qui  uuum  ha- 
 
 T  Lib.  iv.  Polit.  c.  15. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 •211 
 
 bnerlt,  numquid  dobel  illi  ipse  unus  presbyter  auferri saith 
 Posthutnianus":  "  If  the  bishop  have  but  one  presbyter, 
 must  one  be  taken  from  him?"  "  Id  sequor,"  saith  Aurelius, 
 "  ut  conveniam  episcopum  ejus,  atque  ei  inculcem  quod  ejus 
 clericus  a  qualibet  ecclesia  postuletur."  And  it  was  re- 
 solved, "  ut  clericum  alienum,  nisi  concedente  ejus  episcopo;" 
 *'  No  man  shall  retain  another's  clerk,  without  the  consent  of 
 the  bishop,  whose  clerk  he  is." 
 
 When  Athanasius  v/as  abused  by  the  calumny  of  the 
 heretics,  his  adversaries,  and  entered  to  purge  himself, 
 "  Athanasius  ingreditur  cum  Timotheo  presbytero  suo ;"  "  He 
 comes  in  with  Timothy  his  presbyter'' ;"  and  Arsenius,  "  cujus 
 brachium  dicebatur  excisum,  lector  aliquando  fuerat  Atha- 
 nasii ;"  "  Arsenius  was  Athanasius's  reader."  "  Ubi  autem 
 ventum  est  ad  rumores  de  poculo  fracto  a  Macario  presbytero 
 Athanasii &c. ;  "  Macarius  was  another  of  Athanasius's 
 priests."  So  Theodoret:  Peter  and  Irenaeus  were  two  more 
 of  his  presbyters,  as  himself  witnesses.  '  Paulinianus  some- 
 times to  visit  us,'  saith  St.  Jei'ome  to  Pammachius,  '  but  not 
 as  your  clerk:'  "  sed  ejus  a  quo  ordinatur;"  '■^  his  clerk, 
 who  did  ordain''."  But  these  things  are  too  known  to  need 
 a  multiplication  of  instances. 
 
 The  sum  is  this  ;  the  question  was.  Whether  or  no,  and 
 how  far  the  bishops  had  superiority  over  presbyters  in  the 
 primitive  church  ?  Their  doctrine  and  practice  have  furnished 
 us  with  these  particulars :  the  power  of  church-goods,  and 
 the  sole  dispensation  of  them,  and  a  propriety  of  persons, 
 was  reserved  to  the  bishop ;  for  the  clergy  and  chui*ch-pos- 
 sessions  were  in  his  power,  in  his  administration  ;  the  clergy 
 might  not  travel  without  the  bishop's  leave;  they  might  not 
 be  preferred  in  another  diocese,  without  license  of  their  own 
 bishop :  in  their  own  churches  the  bishop  had  sole  power  to 
 prefer  them ;  and  they  must  undertake  the  burden  of  any 
 promotion,  if  he  calls  them  to  it ;  without  him  they  might  not 
 baptize,  not  consecrate  the  eucharist,  not  communicate,  not 
 reconcile  penitents,  not  preach ;  not  only  not  without  his 
 ordination,  but  not  without  a  special  faculty,  besides  the 
 capacity  of  their  order.    The  presbytei's  were  bound  to  obey 
 
 »  Can.  45.  Concil.  Cartliaj.  3.  Eccles.  Hist.  lib.  x.  cap  17, 
 
 Lib.  ii.  cap.  8.  Atlianas.  Episc.  ad  Vitatn  Solitar.  agenles, 
 
212 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 their  bisliops  In  their  sanctions  and  canonical  impositions, 
 even  by  the  decree  of  the  apostles  themselves,  and  the  doc- 
 trine of  Ignatius,  and  the  constitution  of  St.  Clement,  of  the 
 fathers  in  the  council  of  Aries,  Ancyra,  and  Toledo,  and 
 many  others:  the  bishops  were  declared  to  be  judges  in 
 ordinary  of  the  clergy  and  people  of  their  diocese,  by  the 
 concurrent  suffrages  of  almost  two  thousand  holy  fathers, 
 assembled  in  Nice,  Ephesus,  Chalcedon,  in  Carthage,  An- 
 tioch,  Sardis,  Aquileia,  Taurinum,  Agatho,  and  by  the  em- 
 peror, and  by  the  apostles  ;  and  all  this  attested  by  the 
 constant  practice  of  the  bishops  of  the  primitive  church  in- 
 flicting censures  upon  delinquents,  and  absolving  them  as 
 they  saw  cause,  and  by  the  dogmatical  resolution  of  the  old 
 catholics,  declaring  in  their  attributes  and  appellatives  of  the 
 episcopal  function,  that  they  have  supreme  and  universal 
 spiritual  power,  (viz.,  in  the  sense  above  explicated,)  over 
 all  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  diocese  ;  as,  "  That  they  are 
 higher  than  all  power,  the  image  of  God,  the  figure  of  Christ, 
 Christ's  vicar,  president  of  the  church,  prince  of  priests,  of 
 authority  incomparable,  unparalleled  power,"  and  many  more. 
 If  all  this  be  witness  enough  of  the  superiority  of  episcopal 
 jurisdiction,  we  have  their  depositions,  we  may  proceed  as  we 
 see  cause  for,  and  reduce  our  episcopacy  to  the  primitive 
 state,  for  that  is  truly  a  reformation,  "  Id  Dominicum  quod 
 primum,  id  haereticum  quod  posterius ;"  and  then  we  shall 
 be  sure  ejDiscopacy  will  lose  nothing  by  these  unfortunate 
 contestations. 
 
 SECTION  XLIIi; 
 
 Their  Jurisdiction  was  over  many  Congregations,  or 
 Parishes. 
 
 But  against  the  cause  it  is  objected  '  super  totam  materiam;'' 
 that  bishops  were  not  diocesan,  but  parochial;  and  therefore 
 of  so  confined  a  jurisdiction,  that  perhaps  our  village  or  city- 
 priests  shall  advance  their  pulpit,  as  high  as  the  bishop's 
 throne. 
 
 Well !  Put  case  they  were  not  diocesan  but  parish -bishops. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 213 
 
 wliat  tlien  ?  yet  they  were  such  bishops  as  liad  presbyters 
 and  deacons  in  suboi'dination  to  them,  in  all  the  particular 
 advantages  of  the  former  instances. 
 
 2.  If  the  bishops  had  the  parishes,  what  cure  had  the 
 preists  ?  so  that  this  will  debase  the  priests  as  much  as  the 
 bishops ;  and  if  it  will  confine  a  bishop  to  a  parish,  it  will 
 make  that  no  presbyter  can  be  so  much  as  a  parish-priest. 
 If  it  brings  a  bishop  lower  than  a  diocese,  it  will  bring  the 
 priest  lower  than  a  parish.  For  set  a  bishop  where  you  will, 
 either  in  a  diocese  or  a  parish,  a  presbyter  shall  still  keep 
 the  same  duty  and  subordination,  the  same  distance  still.  So 
 that  this  objection,  upon  supposition  of  the  former  discourse, 
 will  no  way  mend  the  matter  for  any  side,  but  make  it  far 
 worse;  it  will  not  advance  the  presbytery,  but  it  will  depress 
 the  whole  hiei-archy,  and  all  the  orders  of  Holy  Church. 
 
 But  because  this  trifle  is  so  much  used  amongst  the 
 enemies  of  episcopacy,  I  will  consider  it  in  little ;  and  besides 
 that  it  does  no  body  any  good  advantage,  I  v/ill  I'epresent  it 
 in  its  fucus,  and  show  the  falsehood  of  it. 
 
 1 .  Then  it  is  evident  that  there  were  bishops  before  there 
 were  any  distinct  parishes  :  for  the  first  division  of  parishes 
 in  the  West  was  by  Evaristus,  who  lived  almost  one  hundred 
 years  after  Christ,  and  divided  Rome  into  seven  parishes, 
 assigning  to  every  one  a  presbyter.  So  Damasus  reports  of 
 him  in  the  pontifical  book  :  "  Hie  titulos  in  urbe  RomS, 
 divisit  presbyteris,  et  septem  diaconos  ordinavit,  qui  custo- 
 dirent  episcopum  prsedicantem  propter  stylum  veritatis :" 
 "  He  divided  the  parishes  or  titles  in  the  city  of  Rome  to 
 presbyters."  The  same  also  is,  by  Damasus,  reported  of 
 Dionysius,  in  his  life :  "  Hie  presbyteris  ecclesias  divisit,  et 
 coemiteria,  parochiasque,  et  dioeceses  constituit."  Marcellus 
 increased  the  number  in  the  year  305.  "  Hie  fecit  ccemite- 
 rlum  via  Salaria,  et  viginti-quinque  titulos  in  urbe  Roma, 
 constituit  quasi  dioeceses  propter  baptismum,  et  poenitentiam 
 multorum  qui  convertebantur  ex  paganis,  et  propter  sepul- 
 turas  martyrum:"  "  He  made  a  sepulture  or  cemetery  for 
 the  burial  of  martyrs,  and  appointed  twenty-five  titles  or 
 parishes:"  but  he  adds,  '  quasi  dioeceses,'  '  as  it  had  been 
 dioceses,'  that  is,  distinct  and  limited  to  presbyters,  as 
 dioceses  were  to  bishops ;  and  the  use  of  parishes,  which  he 
 subjoins,  clears  the  business ;  for  he  appointed  them  only 
 
214 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 "  propter  baptismiim,  et  poenitentiam  multorum  et  sepul- 
 turas,"  "  for  baptism,  and  penance,  and  burial ;"  for  as  yet 
 tliere  was  no  preaching  in  parishes,  but  in  the  mother  church. 
 Thus  it  was  in  the  West. 
 
 But  in  Egypt  we  find  parishes  divided  something  sooner 
 than  the  earliest  of  these  ;  for  Eusebius  rejiorts  out  of  Philo, 
 that  the  Christians  in  St.  Mark's  time  had  several  churches 
 in  Alexandria.  "  Etiam  de  ecclesiis  quae  apud  eos  sunt, 
 ita  dicit.  Est  autem  in  singulis  locis  consecrata  oration! 
 domus%"  &c.  But  even  before  this  there  were  bishops ; 
 for  in  Rome  there  were  four  bishops,  before  any  division  of 
 parishes,  though  St.  Peter  be  reckoned  for  none.  And  be- 
 fore parishes  were  divided  in  Alexandria,  St.  Mark  him- 
 self, who  did  it,  was  the  bishop,  and  before  that  time  St. 
 James  was  bishop  of  Jerusalem;  and  In  divers  other  places 
 where  bishops  were,  there  were  no  distinct  parishes  of  a 
 while  after  Evaristus's  time  ;  for  when  Dionysius  had  as- 
 signed presbyters  to  several  parishes,  he  writes  of  it  to 
 Severus,  bishop  of  Corduba,  and  desires  him  to  do  so  too  in 
 his  diocese,  as  aj^pears  in  his  epistle  to  him. 
 
 For  indeed  necessity  required  it,  when  the  Christians 
 multiplied  and  grew  to  be  ixiyiaros  x.«i  ivx^l^ix-nros  Xaby,  as 
 Cornelius  called  the  Roman  Christians,  *  a  great  and  an 
 innumerable  people'' ;'  and  did  '  implere  omnia,'  as  Tertul- 
 lian's  phrase  is,  '  filled  all  places:'  and  pubhc  and  great 
 assemblies  drew  danger  upon  themselves,  and  increased 
 jealousies  in  others,  and  their  public  offices  could  not  be 
 performed  with  so  diffused  and  particular  advantage, — then 
 they  were  forced  to  divide  congregations,  and  assigned 
 several  presbyters  to  their  cure,  in  subordination  to  the 
 bishop,  and  so  we  see  the  elder  Christianity  grew,  the  more 
 parishes  there  were.  At  first,  in  Rome  there  were  none, 
 Evaristus  made  seven,  Dionysius  made  some  more,  and 
 Marcellus  added  twenty-five,  and  in  Optatus's  time  there 
 were  forty  . 
 
 Well,  then  !  the  case  is  thus  :  Parishes  were  not  divided 
 at  first  ;  therefore,  to  be  sure,  they  were  not  of  Di\  ine 
 institution.     Therefore,  it  is  no  Divine  institution  that  a 
 
 a  Lib.  ii.  Hist.  c.  IT. 
 
 •>  Apud  Binium,  lorn.  i.  Concil.    Euseb.  lib.  vi.  c.  43.    Apolog.  c.  37. 
 ^  Lib.ii,  contra  Parmeniam. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 215 
 
 presbyter  should  be  fixed  upon  a  parish  ;  therefore,  also,  a 
 parish  is  not,  by  Christ's  ordinance,  an  independent  body  ; 
 for,  by  Christ's  ordinance,  there  was  no  such  thing  at  all, 
 neither  absolute  nor  in  dependence  neither ;  and  then  for 
 the  main  issue,  since  bishops  were  before  parishes,  in  the 
 present  sense,  the  bishops,  in  that  sense,  could  not  be 
 parochial. 
 
 But  which  was  first  a  private  congregation  or  a  diocese  ? 
 If  a  private  congregation,  then  a  bishop  was  at  first  fixed 
 in  a  private  congregation,  and  so  was  a  parochial  bishop. 
 If  a  diocese  was  first,  then  the  question  will  be,  how  a 
 diocese  could  be  without  parishes,  for  what  is  a  diocese 
 but  a  jurisdiction  over  many  parishes  ? 
 
 I  answer,  it  is  true  that  diocese  and  parish  are  words 
 used  now  in  contradiction  ;  and  now  a  diocese  is  nothing  but 
 the  multiplication  of  many  parishes:  "  Sed  non  fuit  sic  ab 
 initio  ;"  for  at  first,  a  diocese  was  '  the  city  and  the  regio 
 suburbicaria,'  '  the  neighbouring  towns in  which  there 
 was  no  distinction  of  parishes :  that  which  was  a  diocese  in 
 the  secular  sense,  that  is,  a  particular  province  or  division  of 
 secular  prefecture,  that  was  the  assignation  of  a  bishop's 
 charge.  Ephesus,  Smyrna,  Pergamus,  Laodicea,  were  Ks(p<x.- 
 >/£t  SioixTjjEws-,  "  heads  of  the  diocese,"  saith  Pliny'',  meaning 
 in  respect  of  secular  jurisdiction  ;  so  they  were  in  eccle- 
 siastical regiment.  And  it  was  so  upon  great  reason,  for 
 when  the  regiment  of  the  church  was  extended  just  so  as  the 
 regiment  of  the  commonwealth,  it  was  of  less  suspicion  to 
 the  secular  power,  while  the  church-regiment  was  just  fixed 
 together  with  the  political,  as  if  of  purpose  to  show  their 
 mutual  consistence,  and  its  own  subordination.  And  besides 
 this,  there  was  in  it  a  necessity  ;  for  the  subjects  of  another 
 province  or  diocese  could  not,  either  safely  or  conveniently, 
 meet  where  the  duty  of  the  commonwealth  did  not  engage 
 them ;  but  being  all  of  one  prefecture  and  diocese,  the 
 necessity  of  public  meetings,  in  order  to  the  commonwealth, 
 would  be  fair  opportunity  for  the  advancement  of  their 
 Christendom.  And  this,  which  at  first  was  a  necessity  in 
 this  case,  grew  to  be  a  law  in  all,  by  the  sanction  of  the 
 
 <>  Lib.  V.  c.  29.  et  30.  Vide  Baron.  A.  D.  39.'  n.  10.  et  B.  Rhenan.  in 
 TS'otit.  Provinc.    Imperial  in  Descripl.  lllyrici. 
 
216 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED, 
 
 council  of  Chalcedon*,  and  of  Constantinople  in  Trullo',  ToXs 
 TOoXfTiHorr  XXI  5y)/xo(3-»o»s'  ru'TToi^  nod  rciv  imiXvxjixartytwv  ■aqxyfjuiruv 
 ■h  Ta^iy  a>coXoi/9siTW  "  Let  the  order  of  the  cliurch  follow 
 the  order  and  guise  of  the  commonwealth  ;"  viz.,  in  her  regi- 
 ment and  prefecture. 
 
 But  in  the  modern  sense  of  this  division,  a  bishop's 
 charge  was  neither  a  parish  nor  a  diocese,  as  they  are  taken 
 in  relation ;  but  a  bishop  had  tlie  supreme  care  of  all  the 
 Christians,  which  he  by  himself  or  his  presbyters  had  con- 
 verted, and  he  also  had  the  charge  of  endeavouring  the 
 conversion  of  all  the  country.  So  that  although  he  had  not 
 all  the  diocese  actually  in  communion  and  subjection,  yet 
 his  charge,  his  diocese,  was  so  much.  Just  as  it  was  with 
 the  apostles,  to  whom  Christ  gave  all  the  world  for  a  diocese ; 
 yet  at  first  they  had  but  a  small  congregation,  that  did  ac- 
 tually obey  them. 
 
 And  now  to  the  question :  Which  was  first,  a  particular 
 congregation  or  a  diocese  ?  I  answer,  that  a  diocese  was 
 first ;  that  is,  the  apostles  had  a  charge,  before  they  had  a 
 congregation  of  converts;  and  St.  Mark  was  sent  bishop 
 to  Alexandria  by  St.  Peter,  before  any  were  converted. 
 But,  ordinarily,  the  apostles,  when  they  had  converted  a  city 
 or  nation,  then  fixed  bishops  upon  their  charge,  and  there, 
 indeed,  the  particular  congregation  was  before  the  bishop's 
 taking  of  the  diocese  ;  but,  then,  this  city  or  nation,  although 
 it  was  not  the  bishop's  diocese  before  it  was  a  particular 
 congregation,  yet  it  was  part  of  the  apostles'  diocese,  and 
 this  they  concredlted  to  the  bishops  respectively. 
 
 St.  Paul  was  ordained,  by  the  prophets  at  Antioch,  apostle 
 of  the  uncircumcision ;  all  the  Gentiles  was  his  diocese,  and 
 even  of  those  places  he  then  received  jjower,  which,  as  yet, 
 he  had  not  converted.  So  that,  absolutely,  a  diocese  was 
 before  a  particular  congregation.  But  if  a  diocese  be  taken 
 collectively,  as  now  it  is,  for  a  multitude  of  parishes  united 
 under  one  bishop,  then  one  must  needs  be  before  twenty, 
 and  a  particular  congregation  before  a  diocese ;  but  then  that 
 particular  congregation  was  not  a  parish,  in  the  present 
 sense,  for  it  was  not  a  part  of  a  diocese,  taking  a  diocese  for 
 a  collection  of  parishes  ;  but  that  particular  congregation  was 
 
 f  Can.  17. 
 
 Can.  38. 
 
F.PISCOPACY  ASSFRTF.D. 
 
 217 
 
 the  first-fruits  of  his  diocese,  and  like  a  grain  of  mustard- 
 seed,  that  in  time  might,  and  did,  grow  up  to  a  considerable 
 height,  even  to  a  necessity  of  distinguishing  titles  and  parts 
 of  the  diocese,  assigning  several  parts  to  several  priests. 
 
 2.  We  see  that  the  primitive  bishops,  before  the  division 
 of  parishes,  had  the  city  and  country  ;  and  after  the  division 
 of  parishes,  had  them  all  under' their  jurisdiction,  and  ever, 
 even  before  the  apostles'  times,  had  several  provinces  (some 
 of  them  I  mean)  within  their  limits  and  charges.  The  thirty- 
 fifth  canon  of  the  apostles  gives  power  to  the  bishop  to 
 dispose  only  of  those  things  b'trst  rv  avrov  zjaqoDtlx  sTriQdXkst 
 xai  rxis  vTio  a.i/rriii  x^^oli?,  "  which  are  under  his  diocese,  and 
 the  neighbour- villages  ;"  and  the  same  thing  is  repeated  in 
 the  ninth  and  tenth  canons  of  the  council  of  Antioch,  calling 
 it  a^j^aTbv  runi  zyocri^ccv  rz/xuv  xavova,  "  the  ancient  canon  of  our 
 forefathers  ;"  and  yet  itself  is  older  than  three  of  the  general 
 councils  ;  and  if  then  it  was  an  ancient  canon  of  the  fathers, 
 that  the  city  and  villages  should  be  subject  to  the  bishop, 
 surely  a  primitive  bishop  was  a  diocesan. 
 
 But  a  little  before  this  was  the  Nicene  council",  and 
 there  I  am  sure,  we  have  a  bishop  that  is  at  least  a  diocesan  ; 
 Ta  i.D-)^aiy.  sSn  y.pa.r£i(yQu-  "  Let  the  old  customs  be  kept." 
 What  are  those?  Ti  ev  AlyvTrru,  kxI  Ai^u-n,  xcci  ngvraTroXEi] 
 
 Let  the  bishop  of  Alexandria  have  power  over  all  Egypt, 
 Libya,  and  Pentapolis it  was  a  good  large  parish  ;  and 
 yet  this  parish,  if  wo  have  a  mind  to  call  it  so,  was  Kara 
 TO  d^-)^a.\'ov  £^o.r,  "  according  to  the  old  custom  of  their  fore- 
 fathers," and  yet  that  was  so  early  that  St.  Anthony  was 
 then  alive,  who  was  born  in  St.  Irenseus's  time,  who  was 
 himself  but  second  from  the  apostles. 
 
 It  was  also  a  good  large  parish  that  Ignatius  was  bishop 
 of,  even  all  Syria,  Coelosyria,  Mesopotamia,  and  both  the 
 Ciliciae.  'ETrtuzoTror  'Lv^lx^,  "  the  bishop  of  Syria,"  he  calls 
 himself  in  his  epistle  to  the  Romans'';  and  rciv  nar  avxroXriv 
 iTncrxorwv  riyovfjisvoi,  SO  Theodoret' :  and  besides  all  these, 
 his  successors,  in  the  council  of  Chalcedon,  had  the  two 
 Fhoeniciae  and  Arabia  yielded  to  tliem  by  composition.  These 
 alone   would  have  made  two  or  three  reasonably  good 
 
 s  Can.  G. 
 
 I'  Lib.  v.c.  23, 
 
 '  Act.  7. 
 
218 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSEliTED. 
 
 parishes,  and  would  liave  taken  np  linfie  enough  to  peram- 
 bulate, had  that  been  then  the  guise  of  Christendom.  But 
 examples  of  this  kind  are  infinite.  Theodorus,  bishop  of 
 Cyrus,  was  pastor  over  eight  hundi-ed  parishes;  Athanasius 
 was  bishop  of  Alexandria,  Egypt,  Thebais,  Mareotis,  Libya, 
 Ammoniaca,  and  Pentapolis,  saith  St.  Epiphanius'^ ;  and  his 
 predecessor,  Julinianus,  successor  of  Agrippinus,  was  bishop 
 ruv  xxT  ' AXe^dv^qsiocv  sxuXwicov,  "  of  the  churches  about 
 Alexandria'."  Either  it  was  a  diocese,  or  at  least  a  plurality. 
 St.  Chrysostom  had  Pontus,  Asia,  and  all  Thrace,  in  his 
 parish,  even  as  much  as  came  to  sixteen  prefectures'";  a  fair 
 bounds  surely  ;  and  so  it  was  with  all  the  bishops:  a  greater 
 or  a  lesser  diocese  they  had  ;  but  all  were  diocesan  ;  for  they 
 had  several  parishes  :  "  Singuli  eccleslarum  episcopi  habent 
 sub  se  ecclesias,"  saith  Epiphanius  in  his  epistle  to  John  of 
 Jerusalem",  and  in  his  book  "contra  haereses:  "  Quotquot 
 enim  in  Alexandria  catholicse  ecclesise  sunt,  sub  uno  archi- 
 episcopo  sunt,  privatimque  ad  has  destinati  sunt  presbyteri 
 propter  ecclesiasticas  necessitates,  ita  ut  habitatores  vicini 
 sint  uniuscujusque  ecclesise."  All  Italy  was  the  parish  of 
 Liberius,  saith  Socrates".  Africa  was  St.  Cyprian's  parish, 
 saith  St.  Gregory  NazianzenP;  and  St.  Basil  the  Great  was 
 parish-priest  to  all  Cappadociai;  But  I  rather  believe,  if  we 
 examine  their  several  stories,  they  will  rather  prove  metro- 
 politans than  mere  parochians ' . 
 
 Thirdly :  The  ancient  canons  forbade  a  bishop  to  be  or- 
 dained in  a  village,  castle,  or  tovm.  It  was  so  decreed  in 
 the  council  of  Laodicea,  before  the  first  Nicene,  "On  od  ev 
 T«Tf  xci/jLxi^  xxl  ev  rtxis  yjLfons  xx^iTrxaQai  litiGHoTiovs  .  "In  the 
 villages  or  countries,  bishops  must  not  be  constituted."  And 
 this  was  renewed  in  the  council  of  Sardis  :  M';^  l%eivxi  air'kSjs 
 KxbiaTxv  sv'KJx-omv  ev  nuif/^ri  rivt  sv  /3§a%8i^  ttoXsi  •yjTivt  )tai  sis"  /xovoi 
 zs^saQin&pos  v'nxp'/jii'  "It  is  not  lawful  to  ordain  bishops  in 
 villages  or  little  towns,  to  which  one  presbyter  is  sufficient ;" 
 aX\'  lit  1 0101101  Iv  rxvrxis  rxis  zsoKsai  xaS'turav  sitiaKoirous  6<pilXoviyi, 
 EvS^a  Kxi  ■OTgoTs^ov  srvyy/xvov  yeyovores  s'niaxo'not,  "  but  bishops 
 
 Epist.  ad  Leon.  1.  Episc.  Rom.  Hseres.  86. 
 '  Concil.'Chalced.  act.  16.  "Theodoret.  lib.  v.  c.  28. 
 
 n  Apud  S.  Hieion.  Ilperes.  69.  "  Lib.  iv.  c.  12.  p  Encom.  Cyprian. 
 1  Sozom.  lib.  v.  c.  18.  Vide  apudEuseb,  lib.v.  c.  22. 
 
 Can.  56. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSF.RTED. 
 
 219 
 
 must  ordain  bisliops  in  tliose  cities,  where  bisliops  formerly 
 have  been So  that  this  canon  does  not  make  a  new  con- 
 stitution, but  perpetuates  the  old  sanction.  Bishops,  '  ab 
 antiquo,'  were  only  ordained  in  great  cities,  and  presbyters 
 in  little  villages.  Who,  then,  was  the  parish-curate  ?  the 
 bishop,  or  the  priest  ?  The  case  is  too  ajiparent. 
 
 Only  here  it  is  objected,  that  some  bishops  were  of  small 
 towns,  and,  therefore,  these  canons  were  not  observed,  and 
 bishops  might  be,  and  were,  parochial,  as  St.  Gregoi*y,  of 
 Nazianzum, — Zoticus,  of  Comana, — Maris,  in  Dolicha.  The 
 one  of  these  is  called  y.d)ixn,  by  Eusebius" ;  and  another 
 ■ajoXi'x.vy),  by  Theodoret",  '  a  little  town.'  This  is  all  is  pre- 
 tended for  this  great  scarecrow  of  parochial  bishops. 
 
 But,  first,  supjDose  these  had  been  parishes,  and  these 
 three,  parochial  bishops — it  follows  not  that  all  were  ;  not 
 those  to  be  sure,  which  I  have  proved  to  have  been  bishops 
 of  provinces  and  kingdoms.  Secondly :  It  is  a  clear  case, 
 that  Nazianzum,  though  a  small  city,  yet  was  the  seat  of  a 
 bishop's  throne ;  so  it  is  reckoned  in  the  ^locrvirusis,  made  by 
 Leo,  the  emperor  %  where  it  is  accounted  "  inter  thronos 
 ecclesiarum  patriarchse  Constantinopolitano  subjectarum," 
 and  is  in  the  same  account  with  Ctesarea,  with  Ephesus,  with 
 Crete,  with  Philippi,  and  almost  fourscore  more.  As  for 
 Zoticus,  he  indeed  came  from  Comana,  a  village^own,  for 
 there  he  was  born^;  but  he  was  "  episcopus  Otrenus," 
 "bishop  of  Otrea,  in  Armenia,"  saith  Nicephorus\  And 
 for  Maris,  the  bishop  of  Dolicha,  it  was  indeed  such  a  small 
 city,  as  Nazianzum  was,  but  that  proves  not  but  his  diocese 
 and  territory  was  large  enough.  Thus  was  Asclepius  '  vici 
 non  grandis,'  but  yet  he  was  '  Vagensis  territorii  episcopus^' 
 His  seat  might  usually  be  in  a  little  city,  if  it  was  one  of 
 those  towns  in  which,  according  to  the  exigence  of  the  canons, 
 EvS'a  Koci  CT§oT£§ov  ETvyp^avov  ysyovoTsr  lir'Kjuo'noi^  "  in  which 
 bishops  anciently  were  ordained,"  and  yet  the  appurtenances 
 of  his  diocese  large,  and  extended,  and  too  great  for  a  hun- 
 dred parish-priests. 
 
 Fourthly :  The  institution  of  chorepiscopi  proves  most 
 
 '  Can.  6.  «  Lib.  v.  c.  16.  x  Lib.  v.  c.  4. 
 
 y  Jus  Grseco.  Rom.  p.  89.   '  Vide  Baron.  An.  Doin.  205.  n.  27. 
 »  Lib.  iv.  c.  25. 
 
 Gennad.  apud  Ilieron.   Johan.  de  Tdttenhcim     Script.  Ecclei. 
 
220 
 
 KPISOOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 evidently  that  the  primitive  bishops  were  diocesan,  not  paro- 
 chial ;  for  they  were  instituted  to  assist  the  bishop  in  part  of 
 his  country-charge,  and  were  T^sqio^surxl,  '  visiters,'  as  the 
 council  of  Laodicea  calls  them.  But  what  need  of  such  suffra- 
 gans,-such  coadjutors,  to  the  managing  of  a  parish?  Indeed 
 they  might  possibly  have  been  needful,  for  the  managing  of 
 a  city-priest,  especially  if  a  whole  city  was  a  parish,  as  these 
 objectors  must  pretend,  or  not  say  primitive  bishops  were 
 parochial.  But  being  these  chorepiscopi  were  suffragans  to  the 
 bishop,  and  did  their  offices  in  the  country,  while  the  bishop 
 was  resident  in  the  city,  either  the  bishop's  parish  extended 
 itself  from  city  to  country,  and  then  it  is  all  one  with  a  dio- 
 cese, or  else  we  can  find  no  employment  for  a  chorepiscopus, 
 or  visiter.  The  tenth  canon  of  the  council  of  Antioch  de- 
 scribes their  use  and  power  :  "  Qui  in  villis  et  vicis  constituti 
 sunt  chorepiscopi,  placuit  sanctse  synodo,  ut  modum  pro- 
 prium  recognoscant,  ut  gubernent  sibi  subjectas  ecclesias:'* 
 "  They  were  to  govern  the  churches  delegated  to  their 
 charge."  It  seems  they  had  many  churches  under  their  provi- 
 sion, and  yet  they  were  but  the  bishop's  vicars,  for  so  it  fol- 
 lows in  the  canon  ;  he  must  not  ordain  any  presbyters  and 
 deacons,  "absque  urbis  episcoiDO,cuiipse  subjicitur  et  regio :" 
 "  without  leave  of  the  bishop  of  the  city,  to  whom  both  him- 
 self and  all  the  country  is  suboi'dinate." 
 
 5.  The  bishop  was  one  in  a  city  wherein  were  many 
 presbyters.  "'Ev  i^uaitxarvpiov  zydori  rri  iy.yXnniot  xai  ils  ivlawnos 
 apoa  zj^eaQuTE^lu  kxI  tok  ^ixx-ivon,  saith  St.  Ignatius'^ : 
 "  There  is  one  altar  in  every  church,  and  one  bishop,  toge- 
 ther with  the  presbytery  and  the  deacons."  Either  then  a 
 whole  city,  such  as  Rome  or  Jerusalem,  (which,  as  Josephus 
 reports,  had  four  hundred  synagogues,)  must  be  but  one 
 parish,  and  then  they  had  as  good  call  a  bishop's  charge  a 
 diocese  as  a  parish  in  that  latitude ;  or  if  there  were  many 
 parishes  in  a  city,  and  the  bishop  could  have  but  one  of  them, 
 why,  what  hindered  but  that  there  might  in  a  city,  be  as 
 many  bishops  as  presbyter's?  for  if  a  bishop  can  have  but  one 
 parish,  why  may  not  every  parish  have  a  bishop  ?  But  by  the 
 ancient  canons,  a  city,  though  never  so  great,  could  have  but 
 one  for  itself  and  all  the  country  ;  therefore,  every  parish- 
 priest  was  not  a  bishop,  nor  the  bishop  a  mere  parish-priest. 
 
 I-"  Epist.  ad  Philadelph. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 221 
 
 "  Ne  in  una  civitate  duo  slnt  episcopi,"  was  the  consti- 
 tution of  the  Nicene  fathers,  as  saith  Uuffinus^;  and  long 
 before  this,  it  was  so  known  a  business,  that  one  city  should 
 have  but  one  bishop,  that  Coriielius  exprobrates  to  Novatus 
 his  ignorance^:  "  Is  ergo  qui  evangelium  vindicabat,  nes- 
 ciebat  in  ecclesia  catholica  unum  episcopum  esse  debere, 
 ubi  videbat  esse  presbyteros  quadraginta  et  sex  :"  "  Novatus, 
 (the  father  of  the  old  Puritans,)  was  a  goodly  gospeller,  that 
 did  not  know,  that,  in  a  catholic  church,  thei-e  should  be  but 
 one  bishop,  wherein  there  were  forty-six  presbyters ;"  inti- 
 mating clearly,  that  a  church  that  had  two  bishops,  is  not 
 catholic,  but  schismatic  at  least,  if  both  be  pretended  to  be  of 
 a  fixed  residence;  what  then  is  he  that  would  make  as  many 
 bishops  in  a  church  as  presbyters  ?  He  is  ^s6ixx-x,os,  '  he  fights 
 against  God,'  if  St.  Ambrose  say  true*^,  "  Deus  enim  singulis 
 ecclesiis  singulos  episcopos  praeesse  decrevit:"  "God  hatk 
 decreed  that  one  bishop  should  rule  in  one  church;"  and  of 
 what  extent  this  one  church  was,  may  easily  be  guessed  by 
 himself,  who  was  the  ruler  and  bishop  of  the  great  city 
 and  province  of  Milan.  And,  therefore,  when  Valerius,  as 
 it  was  then  sometimes  used  in  several  churches,  had  ordained 
 St.  Austin  to  be  bishop  of  Hippo,  whereof  Valerius  was  also 
 bishop  at  the  same  time,  St.  Austin  was  troubled  at  it,  as  an. 
 act  most  uncanonical,  and  yet  he  was  not  ordained  to  rule 
 in  common  with  Valerius,  but  to  rule  in  succession  and  after 
 the  consummation  of  Valerius^.  It  was  the  same  case  i« 
 Angelius,  a  Novatian  bishop,  ordaining  Marcian  to  be  his 
 successor,  and  Sisinnius  to  succeed  him:  the  acts  were  indeed 
 irregular  ;  but  yet  there  was  no  harm  in  it  to  this  cause,  they 
 were  ordained  to  succeed,  not  in  conjunction.  Aix'^volccs  ffi/ptCa- 
 X6v  euTi,  xocl  ejtxX-ri'Jioc'jrix.ov  ^z^ixov  dWorpiov,  saith  Sozomen''; 
 "  It  is  a  note  of  schism,  and  against  the  rule  of  Holy  Church, 
 to  have  two  bishops  in  one  chair."  "Secundus  episcopus  nul- 
 lus  est,"  saith  St.  Cyprian';  and  as  Cornelius  reports  it,  in 
 his  epistle  to  St.  Cyprian,  it  was  the  voice  of  the  confessors 
 that  had  been  the  instruments  and  occasions  of  the  Novatian 
 schism,  by  erecting  another  bishop:  "  Nec  non  ignoramus 
 
 ■1  Lib.  X.  Eccl.  Hist.        «  Apud  Euseb.  lib.  vi.  c.  33.         '  In  1  Cor.  xii. 
 s'cis  xai  aXXai  Taku;.    Epiphan.  Ileeres.  C6.  n.  6.  Possidon.  in  Vita  S.Aug-, 
 c  H.    Socrat.  lib.  v.  c.  21. 
 
 ''  Lib.  iv.  c.  1.5.  '  Lib.  iv.  Epist.  2. 
 
 VOL.  Vll,  R 
 
222 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 unum  Deum  esse,  unum  Christum  esse  Domhium,  quern  con- 
 fess! sumus,  unum  Spiritum  Sanctum,  unum  episcopum  in 
 catholica  ecclesla  esse  debere."  And  these  very  words  the 
 people  also  used  in  the  contestation  about  Liberius  and  Felix. 
 For  when  the  emperor  was  willing  that  Liberius  should  re- 
 turn to  his  see,  on  condition  that  Felix,  the  Arian,  might  be 
 bishop  there  too,  they  derided  the  suggestion,  crying  out, 
 "  One  God,  one  Christ,  one  bishop."  So  Theodoret,  re- 
 ports'*. But  who  lists  to  see  more  of  this  may  be  satisfied, 
 if  plenty  will  do  it,  in  St.  Chrysostom,  Theodoret,  St.  Jerome, 
 CEcumenius',  Optatus"",  St.  Ambrose",  and  if  he  please  he 
 may  read  a  whole  book  of  it  written  by  St.  Cyprian,  '  de 
 Unitate  Ecclesiae,  sive  de  Singularitate  Prselatorum.' 
 
 6.  Suppose  the  ordinary  dioceses  had  been  parishes,  yet 
 what  were  the  metropolitans  and  the  primates?  were  they 
 also  parish-bishops?  Surely  if  bishops  were  parochial,  then 
 these  were  at  least  diocesan  by  their  own  argument,  for  to 
 be  sure  they  had  many  bishops  under  them.  But  there  were 
 none  such  in  the  primitive  church?  Yes,  most  certainly. 
 The  thirty-fifth  canon  of  the  apostles  tells  us  so  most  plainly, 
 and,  at  the  worst,  they  were  a  very  primitive  record.  "  Epis- 
 copos  gentium  singularum  scire  convenit,  quis  inter  eos 
 primus  habeatur,  quem  velut  caput  existiment,  et  nihil  am- 
 plius  prseter  ejus  conscientiam  gerant,  quam  ea  sola  quae 
 parochise  propi'iae,  et  villis  quae  sub  ea  sunt,  competunt 
 "  The  bishops  of  every  nation  must  know  who  is  their  pri- 
 mate, and  esteem  him  as  their  head,  and  do  nothing  with- 
 out his  consent,  but  those  things  that  aispertain  to  their  own 
 diocese.  And  from  hence  the  fathers  of  the  council  of  An- 
 tioch  derived  their  sanction":  "  Per  singulas  regiones  epis- 
 copos  convenit  nosse,  metropolitanum  episcopum  sollicitu- 
 dinem  totius  provincise  gerere,"  &c.  "  The  bishops  of  eveiy 
 province  must  know,  that  their  metropolitan-bishop  does  take 
 cure  of  all  the  province."  For  this  was  an  apostolical  con- 
 stitution, saith  St.  Clement'',  that  in  the  conversion  of  Gen- 
 tile cities  in  place  of  the  archflamines,  archbishops,  primates, 
 or  patriarchs,  should  be  placed,  "  qui  reliquorum  episcopo- 
 rum  judicia,  et  majora  (quoties  necesse  foret)  negotia  in  fide 
 
 Lib.  ii.  c.  11.  '  In  1  Philip.  Lib.  ii.  conlra  Parmen. 
 
 n  In  1  Tim.  iii.  et  in  1  Phil.  "  Concil.  Antioch.  c.  9. 
 
 P  Epist.  I.  ad  Jacobiim  Fratrem  Domini. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 223 
 
 agitarent,  et  secundum  Dei  voluntatem,  sicut  constltuerunt 
 sancti  apostoli,  definirent."  Alexandria  was  a  metropolitical 
 see  long  before  the  Nicene  council,  as  appears  in  the  sixth 
 canon,  before  cited'' ;  nay,  Dioscorus,  the  bishop  of  that 
 church,  was  required  to  bring  ten  of  the  metropolitans  that 
 he  had  under  him,  to  the  council  of  Ephesus,  by  Theodosius 
 and  Valentinian,  emperors;  so  that  it  was  a  patriarchate. 
 
 These  are  enough  to  show,  that  in  the  primitive  church 
 there  were  metropolitan  bishops.  Now,  then,  either  bishops 
 were  parochial  or  no  :  if  no,  then  they  were  diocesan ;  if  yea, 
 then  at  least  many  of  them  were  diocesan  ;  for  they  had, 
 according  to  this  rate,  many  parochial  bishops  under  them. 
 But  I  have  stood  too  long  upon  this  Impertinent  trifle  ;  but 
 as  now-a-days  it  is  made,  the  consideration  of  it  is  material 
 to  the  main  question.  Only  this  I  add,  that  if  any  man 
 should  trouble  the  world  with  any  other  fancj^  of  his  own, 
 and  say  that  our  bishops  are  nothing  like  the  primitive, 
 because  all  the  bishops  of  the  primitive  church  had  only  two 
 towns  in  their  charge,  and  no  more,  and  each  of  these  towns 
 had  in  them  one  hundred  and  seventy  families,  and  were 
 bound  to  have  no  more,  how  should  this  man  be  confuted  ? 
 It  was  just  such  a  device  as  this  in  them,  that  first  meant  to 
 disturb  this  question,  by  pretending  that  the  bishops  were 
 only  parochial,  not  diocesan,  and  that  there  was  no  other 
 bishop  but  the  parish-priest.  Most  certainly,  themselves 
 could  not  believe  the  allegation,  only  they  knew  it  would 
 raise  a  dust.  But,  by  God's  providence,  there  is  water 
 enough  in  the  primitive  fountains  to  allay  it. 
 
 SECTION  XLIV. 
 And  was  aided  by  Presbyters,  but  not  impaired. 
 
 Another  consideration  must  here  be  interposed,  concerning 
 the  intervening  of  presbyters  in  the  regiment  of  the  several 
 churches.  For  though  I  have  twice  already  shown,  that 
 they  could  not  challenge  it  of  right,  either  by  Divine  in- 
 
 •>  Vide  Concil,  Chalced,  Act,  1 .  in  Epist. 
 
 R  2 
 
224 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 stitution  or  apostolical  ordinance ;  yet  here  also  it  must  be 
 considered  how  it  was  in  the  practice  of  the  primitive  church  ; 
 for  those  men  that  call  the  bishop  a  pope,  are  themselves 
 desirous  to  make  a  conclave  'of  cardinals  too,  and  to  make 
 every  diocese  a  Roman  consistory. 
 
 1.  Then  the  first  thing  we  hear  of  presbyters,  (after 
 Scripture,  I  mean,  for  of  it  I  have  already  given  account,) 
 is  from  the  testimony  of  St.  Jerome^ :  "  Antequam  studia  in 
 religione  fierent,  et  diceretur  in  populis,  Ego  sum  Pauli,  &c. 
 communi  presbyterorum  consilio  ecclesiae  gubernabantur  :" 
 "  Before  factions  arose  in  the  church,  the  church  was 
 governed  by  the  common  council  of  presbyters."  Here  St. 
 Jerome  either  means  it  of  the  time  before  bishops  were  con- 
 stituted in  particular  churches,  or  after  bishops  were  ap- 
 pointed. If  '  before  bishops  were  appointed,'  no  hurt  done, 
 the  presbyters  might  well  rule  in  common,  before  themselves 
 had  a  ruler  appointed  to  govern  both  them  and  all  the  diocese 
 beside.  For  so  St.  Ignatius writing  to  the  church  of 
 Antioch  exhorts  the  presbyters  to  feed  the  flock  until  God 
 should  declare  tov  ixiyXvjrx  cipx^rj  vy-m,  "  whom  he  would 
 make  their  ruler."  And  St.  Cyprian,  speaking  of  Etecusa, 
 and  some  other  women  that  had  made  defailance  in  time  of 
 persecution,  and  so  were  put  to  penance,  "  prseceperunt  eas 
 praepositi  tantisper  sic  esse,  donee  episcopus  constituatur 
 The  presbyters,  whom  '  sede  vacante'  he,  '  praeter  morem 
 Buum,'  calls  '  prsepositos,'  they  gave  order  that  "they  should 
 so  remain  till  the  consecration  of  a  bishop."  But  if  St. 
 Jerome  means  this  saying  of  his  '  after  bishops  were  fixed,' 
 then  his  expression  answers  the  allegation,  for  it  was  but 
 "  communi  consilio  presbyterorum,"  the  judicium  might  be 
 solely  in  the  bishop ;  he  was  the  judge,  though  the  pres- 
 bvters  were  the  counsellors.  For  so  himself  adds,  that 
 "  upon  occasion  of  those  first  schisms  in  Corinth,  it  was 
 decreed  in  all  the  world,  '  ut  omnis  ecclesise  cura  ad  unum 
 pertlnerct,'  all  the  care  of  the  diocese  was  in  the  bishop," 
 and,  therefore,  all  the  power;  for  it  was  unimaginable  that 
 the  burden  should  be  laid  on  the  bishop,  and  the  strength 
 put  into  the  hands  of  the  presbyters.  And  so  St.  Ignatius 
 styles  them  aCix'oovXoi,  xjcJ  avvi^pevrxl  rou  eTnaKOTrou,  "  assessors 
 
 "  In  Epist.  ad  Titam.  c.  i 
 
 ^  Epist.  ad  ,\ntioch.  Epist.  21. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 •225 
 
 and  counsellors  to  the  bishop."  But  yet  if  we  take  our 
 estimate  from  Ignatius,  "the  bishop  is  the  ruler;  without 
 him,  though  all  concurred,  yet  nothing  could  be  done,  no- 
 thing attempted  ;  the  bishop  was  superior  in  all  power  and 
 authority ;  he  was  to  be  obeyed  in  all  things,  and  contra- 
 dicted in  nothing  ;  the  bishop's  judgment  was  to  sway,  and 
 nothing  must  seem  pleasing  to  the  presbj^ters  that  M'as  cross 
 to  the  bishop's  sentence  :"  this,  and  a  great  deal  more,  which 
 I  have  formerly  made  use  of,  is  in  Ignatius'^  ;  and  now  let 
 their  assistance  and  counsel  extend  as  far  as  it  will,  the  bishop's 
 authority  is  invulnerable.  But  I  have  already  enough 
 discussed  this  instance  of  St.  Jerome's  section ;  thither  I 
 refer  the  reader. 
 
 2.  But  St.  Cyprian  must  do  this  business  for  us,  if  any 
 man  ;  for  of  all  the  bishops,  he  did  acts  of  the  greatest  con- 
 descension and  seeming  declination  of  episcopal  authority. 
 But  let  us  see  the  worst.  "  Ad  id  vero,  quod  scripserunt 
 mihi  compresbyteri  nostri,  solus  rescribere  nihil  potui,  quando 
 a  primordio  episcopates  mei  statuerim  nihil,  sine  consilio 
 vestro  et  sine  consensu  plebis  mese,  privata  sententia  gerere"*." 
 And  again,  "  Quamvismihi  videantur  debere  pacem  accipere, 
 tamen  ad  consultum  vestrum  eos  dimisi,  ne  videar  aliquid 
 temere  prsesumere'."  And  a  third  time,  "Quae  res  cum 
 omnium  nostrum  consilium  et  sententiam  spectat,  praejudi- 
 care  ego  et  soli  mihi  rem  communem  vindicare  non  audeo^" 
 These  are  the  greatest  steps  of  episcopal  humility  that  I  find 
 '  in  materia  juridica  ;'  the  sum  whereof  is  this,  that  St.  Cy- 
 prian did  consult  his  pi-esbyters  and  clergy  in  matters  of 
 consequence,  and  resolved  to  do  nothing  without  their  advice. 
 But  then,  consider  also  it  was  "  statui  apud  me,"  "  I  have 
 resolved  with  myself,"  to  do  nothing  without  your  counsel. 
 It  was  no  necessity  '  ab  extra,'  no  duty,  no  sanction  of  Holy 
 Church,  that  bound  him  to  such  a  modesty;  it  was  his  own 
 voluntary  act.  2.  It  was  as  well  '  diaconorum,'  as  '  presby- 
 terorum  consilium,'  that  he  would  have  in  conjunction,  as 
 appears  by  the  titles  of  the  sixth  and  eighteenth  epistles  : 
 "  Cyprianus  presbyteris,  ac  diaconis  fratribus  salutem:"  so 
 that  here  the  ,  presbyters  can  no  more  challenge  a  power 
 
 Ad  Trallian.  Ad  Magnes. 
 e  Epist.  19. 
 
 <"  Epist.  6. 
 '  Epist.  18. 
 
226 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 of  regiment  in  common,  than  the  deacons,  by  any  divine  law 
 or  catholic  practice.  3.  St.  Cyprian,  also,  would  actually 
 have  the  consent  of  the  people,  too;  and  that  will  as  well 
 disturb  the  '  jus  Divinum'  of  an  independent  presbytery,  as 
 of  an  independent  episcopacy. 
 
 But,  indeed,  neither  of  them  both  need  to  be  much  troubled, 
 for  all  this  was  voluntary  in  St.  Cyprian,  like  Moses,  "  qui 
 cum  in  potestate  sua  habuit,  ut  solus  possit  prseesse  populo, 
 seniores  elegit,"  (to  use  St.  Jerome's^  expression,)  "  who, 
 when  it  was  in  his  power  alone  to  rule  the  people,  yet  chose 
 seventy  eldei-s  for  assistants:"  for,  as  for  St.  Cyprian,  this 
 very  epistle  clears  it,  that  no  part  of  his  episcopal  authority 
 was  impaired  ;  for  he  shows  what  himself  alone  could  do  : 
 
 Fretus  igitur  dilectione  vestra,  et  religione,  quam  satis 
 novi,  his  Uteris  et  hortor  et  mando,  &c.;"  "  I  entreat  and 
 command  you  :"  "  Vice  mea  fungamini  circa  gerenda  ea, 
 quse  administratio  religiosa  deposcit ;"  "  Be  my  substitutes 
 in  the  administration  of  church-affairs."  He  entreats  them, 
 '  pro  dilectione,'  '  because  they  loved  him  ;'  he  commands 
 them,  'pro  religione,'  '  by  their  religion;'  for  it  was  a  piece 
 of  their  religion  to  obey  him,  and  in  him  was  the  government 
 of  his  church;  else  how  could  he  have  put  the  presbyters 
 and  deacons  in  substitution  ? 
 
 Add  to  this,  it  was  the  custom  of  the  church,  that  although 
 the  bishop  did  only  impose  hands  in  the  ordination  of  clerks, 
 -yet  the  clergy  did  approve  and  examine  the  persons  to  be 
 ordained  ;  and  it  being  a  thing  of  public  interest  it  was  then 
 not  thought  fit  to  be  a  personal  action,  both  in  preparation 
 and  niinistration  too;  and  for  this  St.  Chrysostom  was 
 accused,.'  in  concilio  nefario,'  as  the  title  of  the  edition  of  it 
 expresses  it"',  that  he  made  ordinations  «vey  aws^plou  xxl  ■sja.^aL 
 yvcci/.riv  rov  vXripw  yet  when  St.  Cyprian  saw  occasion  for  it, 
 he  did  ordain  without  the  consent  of  the  clergy  of  his  church ; 
 for  so  he  ordained  Celerlnus  ;  so  he  ordained  Optatus  and 
 Saturnus,  when  himself  was  from  his  church,  and  in  great 
 want  of  clergymen  to  assist  in  the  ministration  of  the  daily 
 offices.  He  did  as  much  in  jurisdiction,  too,  and  censures; 
 •for  himself  did  excommunicate  Felicissimus  and  Augendus, 
 and  Repostus,  and  Irene,  and  Paula,  as  appears  in  his  thirty- 
 
 ?  In  1.  ad.  Till! 111. 
 
 I'  Jus  Gi'ceco-Rom.  p.  556. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 227 
 
 eighth  and  thirty-ninth  epistles,  and  tells  Rogatianus'  that  he 
 might  have  done  as  much  to  the  j^etulant  deacon  that  abused 
 him,  by  virtue  of  his  episcopal  authority:  and  the  same  power, 
 singly  and  solely,  he  exercised  in  his  acts  of  favour  and  abso- 
 lution :  "  Unus  atque  alius,  obnitente  plebe  et  contradicente, 
 mea  tamen  facilitate  suscepti  sunt*^."  Indeed  here  is  no 
 contradiction  of  the  clergy  expressed,  but  yet  the  absolution, 
 said  to  be  his  own  act,  against  the  people,  and  without  the 
 clergy;  for  he  alone  was  the  judge,  insomuch  that  he  declared 
 it  was  the  cause  of  schism  and  hei'esy,  that  the  bishop  was 
 not  obeyed  :  "  Nec  unus  in  ecclesia  ad  tempus  sacerdos,  et 
 ad  tempus  judex,  vice  Christi,  cogitatur,"  "  and  that  one 
 high-priest  in  a  church,  and  judge,  instead  of  Christ,  is  not 
 admitted'."  So  that  the  bishop  must  be  one,  and  that  one 
 must  be  judge, — and  to  acknowledge  more,  in  St.  Cyprian's 
 Lexicon,  is  called  schism  and  heresy.  Farther  yet,  this 
 judicatory  of  the  bishop  is  independent,  and  responsive  to 
 none  but  Christ :  "  Actum  suum  disponit,  et  dirigit  unusquis- 
 que  episcopus,  rationem  propositi  sui  Domino  redditurns  :" 
 and  again,  "  Habet  in  ccclesiae  administi'atione  voluntatis 
 suae  arbitrium  liberum  unusquisque  praspositus,  rationem 
 actus  sui  Domino  redditurus  ;"  "  The  bishop  is  lord  of  his 
 own  actions,  and  may  do  what  seems  good  in  his  own  eyes, 
 and  for  his  actions  he  is  to  account  to  Christ"." 
 
 This  general  account  is  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  allegations 
 out  of  the  sixth  and  eighth  epistles,  and  indeed,  the  whole 
 question.  But  for  the  eighteenth  epistle,  there  is  something 
 of  peculiar  answer  ;  for  first,  it  was  a  case  of  public  concern- 
 ment, and,  therefore,  he  would  so  comply  with  the  public 
 interest,  as  to  do  it  by  public  council.  Secondly,  *'  It  was  a 
 necessity  of  times,"  that  made  this  case  peculiar:  "  Neces- 
 sitas  temporum  facit,  ut  non  temere  pacem  demus  :"  they 
 are  the  first  words  of  the  next  epistle,  which  is  of  the  same 
 matter,  for  if  the  '  lapsi'  had  been  easily,  and  without  a 
 public  and  solemn  trial,  reconciled,  it  would  have  made 
 Gentile  sacrifices  frequent,  and  martyrdom  but  seldom. 
 Thirdly,  the  common  council,  which  St.  Cyprian  here  said 
 he  would  expect,  was  the  council  of  the  confessors,  to  whom, 
 
 'Epist.  65.  ><  Epi&t.  35.  'Ibidem. 
 
 Epist,  52.  "  Epist.  7?. 
 
228 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 for  a  peculiar  honour,  it  was  indulged,  that  they  should  be 
 interested  in  the  public  assoiling  of  such  penitents,  who  were 
 overcome  witli  those  fears  which  the  confessors  had  overcome: 
 so  that  this  is  evidently  an  act  of  positive  and  temporary  disci- 
 pline ;  and  as  it  is  no  disadvantage  to  the  power  of  the  bishop, 
 so,  to  be  sure,  no  advantage  to  the  presbyter.  But  the  clause 
 of  objection,  from  the  nineteenth  epistle,  is  yet  unanswered, 
 and  that  runs  something  higher,  "  tamen  ad  consultum 
 vestrum  eos  dimisi,  ne  videar  aliquid  temere  prsesumere."  It 
 is  called  '  presumption'  to  reconcile  the  penitents  without  the 
 advice  of  those  to  whom  he  Avrit ;  but  from  this  we  are  fairly 
 delivered  by  the  title  :  "  Cypriano,  et  compresbyteris  Car- 
 thagine  consistentibus  ;  Caldonius  salutem."  It  was  not  the 
 epistle  of  Cyprian  to  his  presbyters,  but  of  Caldonius,  one  of 
 the  suflfragan  bishops  of  Numidia,  to  his  metropolitan;  and 
 now,  what  wonder  if  he  call  it  presumption  to  do  an  act  of  so 
 public  consequence,  without  the  advice  of  his  metropolitan. 
 He  was  bound  to  consult  him  by  the  canons  apostolical,  and 
 so  he  did,  and  no  harm  done  to  the  present  question,  of  the 
 bishop's  sole  and  independent  power,  and  unmixed  with  the 
 conjunct  interest  of  the  presbytery,  who  had  nothing  to  do 
 beyond  ministery,  counsel,  and  assistance. 
 
 3.  In  all  churches  where  a  bishop's  seat  was,  there  were 
 not  always  a  college  of  presbyters,  but  only  in  the  greatest 
 churches ;  for  some  time  in  the  lesser  cities  there  were  but 
 two  :  "  Esse  oportet,  et  aliquantos  presbyteros,  ut  bini  sint 
 per  ecclesias,  et  unus  in  civitateeplscopus  ;"  so  St.  Ambrose": 
 *'  sometimes  there  was  but  one  in  a  church."  Posthumianus, 
 in  the  third  council  of  Carthage,  put  the  case  :  "  Deinde 
 qui  unum  presbyterum  habuerit,  numquid  debet  illi  ipse 
 unus  presbyter  auferri  ?"  The  church  of  Hippo  had  but 
 one  ;  Valerius  was  the  bishop,  and  Austin  was  the  priest; 
 and,  after  him,  Austin  was  the  bishop,  and  Eradius  the  priest. 
 Sometimes  not  one,  as  in  the  case  Aurelius,  put  in  the  same 
 council  now  cited,  of  a  church  that  hath  never  a  presbyter  to 
 be  consecrated  bishop,  in  the  place  of  him  that  died;  and 
 once,  at  Hippo,  they  had  none,  even  then  when  the  people 
 snatched  St.  Austin,  and  carried  him  to  Valerius  to  be 
 ordained :  in  these  cases  I  hope  it  will  not  be  denied  but  the 
 
 "In  I  Tim.  iii. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 229 
 
 bishop  was  judge  alone;  I  am  sure  he  had  but  little  com- 
 pany, sometimes  none  at  all. 
 
 4.  But  suppose  it  had  been  always  done,  that  presbyters 
 were  consulted  in  matters  of  great  difficulty  and  possibility 
 of  scandal,  for  so  St.  Ambrose intimates,  "  Ecclesia  seniores 
 habuit,  sine  quorum  consilio  nihil  gerebatur  in  ecclesia,"  un- 
 derstand in  these  churches  where  presbyters  wei-e  fixed ;  yet 
 this  might  be  necessary,  and  was  so,  indeed,  in  some  degree 
 at  first,  which  in  succession,  as  it  proved  troublesome  to  the 
 presbyters,  so  unnecessary  and  impertinent  to  the  bishops. 
 At  first,  I  say,  it  might  be  necessary,  for  they  were  times  of 
 persecutions  and  temptation ;  and  if  both  the  clergy  and 
 people,  too,  were  not  complied  withal  in  such  exigence  of  time, 
 and  agonies  of  spirit,  it  was  the  way  to  make  them  relapse 
 to  gentilism  ;  for  a  discontented  spirit  will  hide  itself,  and 
 take  sanctuary  in  the  reeds  and  mud  of  Nilus,  rather  than  not 
 take  complacence  in  an  imaginary  security  and  revenge. 
 Secondly:  As  yet  there  had  been  scarce  any  synods  to  deter- 
 mine cases  of  public  difficulty ;  and  what  they  could  not 
 receive  from  public  decision,  it  was  fitting  they  should  supply 
 by  the  maturity  of  a  conciliary  assistance  and  deliberation : 
 for  although,  by  the  canons  of  the  apostles,  bishops  were 
 bound  twice  a  year  to  celebrate  synods,  yet,  persecution 
 intervening,  they  were  rather  tvvice  a  year  a  ^maTiopa.  than 
 avmVos,  "  a  dispersion  than  a  synod."  Thirdly  :  Although 
 synods  had  been  as  frequently  convened  as  was  intended 
 by  the  apostles,  yet  it  must  be  length  of  time,  and  a  successive 
 experience,  that  must  give  opportunity  and  ability  to  give 
 general  rules  for  the  emergency  of  all  particulars;  and, 
 therefore,  till  the  church  grew  of  some  considerable  age,  a 
 fixed  standing  college  of  presbyters  was  more  requisite  than 
 since  it  hath  been,  when  the  frequency  of  general  councils, 
 and  provincial  synods,  and  the  peace  of  the  church,  and  the 
 innumerable  volumes  of  the  fathers,  and  decretals  of  bishops, 
 and  a  digest  of  ecclesiastical  constitutions,  hath  made  the 
 personal  assistance  of  presbyters  unnecessary.  4.  When  ne- 
 cessity required  not  their  presence  and  counsel,  their  own 
 necessity  required  that  they  should  attend  their  several  cures; 
 For  let  it  be  considered,  they  that  would  now  have  a  college 
 
 P  ]  Tim.  i. 
 
230 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 of  presbyters  assist  the  bishop,  whether  they  think  of  what 
 follows ;  for  either  they  must  have  presbyters  ordained 
 without  a  title,  which  I  am  sure  they  have  complained  of 
 these  threescore  years,  or  else  they  must  be  forced  to  non- 
 residence  ;  for  how  else  can  they  assist  the  bishop  in  the 
 ordinary  and  daily  occurrences  of  the  church,  unless  either 
 they  have  no  cure  of  their  own,  or  else  neglect  it?  And  as  for 
 the  exti'aordinary,  either  the  bishop  is  to  consult  his  metro- 
 politan, or  he  may  be  assisted  by  a  synod,  if  the  canons 
 already  constituted  do  not  aid  him  ;  but  in  all  these  cases  the 
 presbyter  is  impertinent. 
 
 5.  As  this  assistance  of  presbyters  was  at  first  for  necessity, 
 and  after  by  custom  it  grew  a  law  ;  so  now,  '  retro,"  first 
 the  necessity  failed,  and  then  the  desuetude  abrogated  the 
 law,  which  before  custom  had  established  :  "  Quod  quaneg- 
 ligentia  obsoleverit  nescio,"  salth  St.  Ambrose ""r  "  he  knew 
 not  how  it  came  to  be  obsolete,"  "  but  so  it  was ;  it  had  expired 
 before  his  time :  not  but  that  presbyters  were  still  in  mother 
 churches,  (I  mean  in  great  ones;^  "  In  ecclesia  enim  habemus 
 senatum  nostrum,  actum  presbyterorum  ;"  "  We  have  still," 
 saith  St.  Jerome'',  "  in  the  chui-ch,  our  senate,  a  college,  or 
 chapter  of  pi'esbyters;  "  he  was  then  at  Rome  or  Jerusalem: 
 but  they  were  not  consulted  in  church-affairs,  and  matter 
 of  jurisdiction  ;  that  was  it  that  St.  Ambrose  wondered  how 
 it  came  to  pass  :  and  thus  it  is  to  this  day.  In  our  mother 
 churches  we  have  a  chapter,  too,  but  the  bishop  consults 
 them  not  in  matters  of  ordinary  jurisdiction ;  just  so  it 
 was  in  St.  Ambrose's  time ;  and,  therefore,  our  bishops  have 
 altered  no  custom  in  this  particular ;  the  alteration  was  preg- 
 nant, even  before  the  end  of  the  four  general  councils,  and, 
 therefore,  is  no  violation  of  a  Divine  right;  for  then,  most 
 certainly,  a  contrary  provision  would  have  been  made  in  those 
 conventions,  wherein  so  much  sanctity,  and  authority,  and 
 Catholicism,  and  severe  discipline,  were  conjunct;  and  then, 
 besides,  it  is  no  innovation  in  practice  which  pretends  so  fair 
 antiquity  ;  but,  liowever,  it  was  never  othervfise  than  vo- 
 luntary in  the  bishops,  and  positive  discipline  in  the  church, 
 and  conveniency  in  the  thing  for  that  present,  and  counsel  in 
 the  presbyters,  and  a  trouble  to  the  presbyters'  persons,  and 
 
 1  Ubi  supra. 
 
 111  Isai.  iii. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED, 
 
 231 
 
 a  disturbance  of  their  duties,  when  they  came  to  be  fixed 
 upon  a  particular  charge. 
 
 One  thing  more  before  I  leave  :  I  find  a  canon  of  the 
 council  of  Hispalis'  objected :  "  Episcopus  presbyteris  solus 
 honorem  dare  potest,  solus  autem  auferre  non  potest:"  "  A 
 bishop  may  alone  ordain  a  priest ;  a  bishop  may  not  alone 
 depose  a  priest."  Therefore,  in  censures  there  was  in  the 
 primitive  church  a  necessity  of  conjunction  of  presbyters 
 with  the  bishop  in  imposition  of  censures. 
 
 To  this  I  answer,  first,  it  is  evident  that  he  that  can  give 
 an  honour,  can  also  take  it  away,  if  any  body  can  ;  for  there 
 is  in  the  nature  of  the  thing  no  greater  difficulty  in  pulling 
 down  than  in  raising  up.  It  was  wont  always  to  be  accounted 
 easier  ;  therefore  this  canon,  requiring  a  conjunct  power  in 
 deposing  presbyters,  is  a  positive  constitution  of  the  church, 
 founded,  indeed,  upon  good  institution,  but  built  upon  no 
 deeper  foundation,  neither  of  nature  or  higher  institution, 
 than  its  own  present  authority. 
 
 But  that  is  enough,  for  we  are  not  now  in  question  of 
 Divine  right,  but  of  catholic  and  primitive  practice.  To  it, 
 therefofe,  I  answer,  that  the  conjunct  hand — required  to  pull 
 down  a  presbyter — »was  not  the  chapter,  or  college  of  pres- 
 byters; but  a  company  of  bishops,  a  synodal  sentence,  and 
 determination  ;  for  so  the  canon  runs,  "  qui  profecto  nec  ab 
 uno  damnari  nec  uno  judicante  poterunt  honoris  sui  privi- 
 legiis  exui :  sed  prj<?sentati  synodali  judicio,  quod  canon  de 
 illis  prseceperit  definiri."  And  the  same  thing  was  deter- 
 mined in  the  Gi-eeks'  council  of  Carthage'.  "  If  a  presbyter 
 or  a  deacon  be  accused,  their  own  bishop  shall  judge  them, 
 not  alone,  but  with  the  assistance  of  six  bishops  more,  in 
 the  case  of  a  presbyter  ;  three  of  a  deacon ;  t<Zv  Sg  Xoi7!w\  yikn- 
 
 but  the  causes  of  the  other  clergy,  the  bishop  of  the  place 
 must  alone  "  hear  and  determine  them."  So  that  by  this 
 canon,  in  some  things,  the  bishop  might  not  be  alone,  but 
 then  his  assistants  were  bishops,  not  presbyters :  in  other 
 things  he  alone  was  judge,  without  either,  and  yet  his 
 sentences  must  not  be  clancular,  but  in  open  court,  in  the 
 full  chapter,  for  his  prebyters  must  be  present ;  and  so  it  is 
 
 « Can.  6. 
 
 '  Can.  20. 
 
232 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 determined  for  Africa,  in  the  fourth  council  of  Carthage": 
 "  Ut  episcopus  nullius  causam  audiat  absque  praesentia, 
 clericorum  suorum  :  alioquin  irrita  erit  sententia  episcopi 
 nisi  praesentia  clericorum  confirmetur."  Here  is,  indeed,  a 
 necessity  of  the  presence  of  the  clergy  of  his  church,  where 
 his  consistory  was  kept,  lest  the  sentence  should  be  clandes- 
 tine, and  so  illegal;  but  it  is  nothing  but  "  praesentia  cleri. 
 coram,"  for  it  is,  "  sententia  episcopi,"  "  the  bishop's  sen- 
 tence," and  the  clerks'  presence  onlv ;  for  poovor  o  hroTzios 
 ETj-iVxoTroy,  "  the  bishops  alone  might  give  sentence,"  in  the 
 causes  of  the  inferior  clergy-,  even  by  this  canon  itself,  which 
 is  used  for  objection  against  the  bishop's  sole  jurisdiction. 
 
 I  know  nothing  now  to  hinder  our  process  ;  for  the  bishop's 
 jurisdiction  is  clearly  left  in  his  own  hand,  and  the  presbyters 
 had  no  share  in  it,  but  by  delegation  and  voluntary  as- 
 sumption.   Now  I  proceed  in  the  main  question. 
 
 SECTION  XLV. 
 
 So  that  the  Governmerit  of  the  Church  by  Bishops  was 
 believed  necessary. 
 
 We  have  seen  what  episcopacy  is  in  itself ;  now,  from  the 
 same  principles  let  us  see  M'hat  it  is  to  us  ;  and,  first,  anti- 
 quity taught  us  it  was  simply  necessary,  even  to  the  being 
 and  constitution  of  a  church :  that  runs  high,  but  we  must 
 follow  our  leaders.  St.  Ignatius*,  is  express  in  this  question : 
 "  Qui  intra  altare  est,  mundus  est,  quare  et  obtemperat 
 episcopo  et  sacerdotibus.  Qui  vero  foris  est,  hie  is  est, 
 qui  sine  episcopo,  sacerdote,  et  diacono,  quicquam  agit,  et 
 ejusmodi  inquinatam  habet  conscientiam,  et  infideli  deterior 
 est :"'  "  He  that  is  within  the  altar,  that  is,  within  the  com- 
 munion of  the  church,  he  is  pure,  for  he  obeys  the  bishop 
 and  the  priests.  But  he  that  is  without,  that  is,  does  any 
 thing  without  his  bishop  and  the  clergy,  he  hath  a  filthy  con- 
 science, and  is  worse  than  an  infidel."  "  Necesse  itaque  est, 
 quicquid  facilis^  utsine  episcopo  nihil  faciatis  :"  "  It  is  neces- 
 sary, that  whatever  ye  do,  ye  be  sure  to  do  nothing  without 
 
 "  Can.  23. 
 
 *  Epist.  ad  Tra!. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 233 
 
 the  bishop."    "  Quid  enim  aliud  est  episcopus,"  &c.    "  For 
 what  else  is  a  bishop  but  he  that  is  greater  than  all  power  ?" 
 So  that  the  obeying  the  bishop  is  the  necessary  condition  of 
 a  Christian  and  catholic  communion  ;  he  that  does  not,  is 
 worse  than  an  infidel.    The  same  also  he  affirms  again ''; 
 "  Quotquot  enim  Christi,  sunt  partium  episcopi ;  qnivero  ab 
 illo  declinant,  et  cum  maledictis  communionem  amplectuntur, 
 hi  cum  illis  excidentur  :"  "  All  they  that  are  on  Christ's  side, 
 are  on  the  bishop's  side  ;  but  they  that  communicate  with 
 accursed  schismatics,  shall  be  cut  oft"  with  them."    If,  then, 
 we  will  be  Christ's  servants,  we  must  be  obedient  and  sub- 
 ordinate to  the  bishop.    It  is  the  condition  of  Christianity. 
 We  are  not  Christians  else.    So  is  the  intimation  of  St. 
 Ignatiusc.  As  full  and  pertinent  is  the  peremptory  resolution 
 of  St.  Cyprian,  in  that  admirable  epistle  of  his  'ad  Lapsos  ;' 
 where,  after  he  had  spoken  how  Christ  instituted  the  honour 
 of  episcopacy,  in  concrediting  the  keys  to  St.  Peter  and  the 
 other  apostles,  "  Inde,"  saith  he,  "per  temporum  et  suc- 
 cessionum  vices   episcoporum   ordinatio,  et  ecclesiae  ratio 
 decurrit,  ut  ecclesia  super  episcopos  constituatur,  et  omnis 
 actus  ecclesise  per  eosdem  prjepositos  gubernetur:"  "  Hence 
 is  it,  that  by  several  successions  of  bishops  the  church  is 
 continued,  so  that  the  church  hath  its  being  or  constitution 
 by  bishops,  and  every  act  of  ecclesiastical  regiment  is  to  be 
 disposed  by  them."    "  Cum  hoc  itaque  Divina  lege  funda- 
 tum  sit,  miror,"  &c.   "  Since,  therefore,  this  is  so  established 
 by  the  law  of  God,  I  wonder  any  man  should  question  it,"  &c. 
 And,  therefore,  as  in  all  buildings,  the  foundation  being 
 gone,  the  fabric  falls,  so  "if  ye  take  away  bishojjs,  the 
 church  must  ask  a  writing  of  divorce  from  God,  for  it  can  no 
 longer  be  called  a  church."    This  account  we  have  from  St. 
 Cyprian,  and  he  reinforces  again  upon  the  same  charge,  in 
 his  epistle  'ad  Florentium  Pupianum'',' where  he  makes  a 
 bishop  to  be  ingredient  into  the  definition  of  a  church  : 
 "  Ecclesia  est  plebs  saccrdoti  adunata,  et  pastor!  suo  grex 
 adhajrens:"  "The  church  is  a  flock  adhering  to  its  pastor, 
 and  a  people  united  to  their  bishop:"  for  tliat  so  he  means 
 by  '  sacerdos,'  appears  in  the  words  subjoined  :  "  Unde  et 
 scire  debes,  episcopum  in  ecclesia  esse,  et  ecclesiara  in  epis- 
 
 Kpist,  ad  Philadeli>li.  Epist.  27.  et  alibi.  J  Epist.  69. 
 
234 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 copo,  et  si  qui  cum  episcopo  non  sit,  in  ecclesia  non  esse,  et 
 frustra  sibi  blandiri  eos,  qui  pacem  cum  sacerdotibus  Dei  non 
 habentes  obrepunt,  et  latenter  apud  quosdam  communicare 
 se  credunt,"  &c.  "  As  a  bishop  is  in  the  church,  so  the 
 church  is  in  the  bishop  ;  and  he  that  does  not  communicate 
 with  the  bishop,  is  not  in  tlie  church  :  and,  therefore,  they 
 vainly  flatter  themselves,  that  think  their  case  fair  and  good, 
 if  they  communicate  in  conventicles,  and  forsake  their 
 bishop." 
 
 And  for  this  cause,  the  holy  primitives  were  so  confident 
 and  zealous  for  a  bishop,  that  they  would  rather  expose 
 themselves  and  all  their  tribes  to  a  persecution,  than  to  the 
 greater  misery,  the  want  of  bishops.     Fulgentius  tells  an 
 excellent  story  to  this  purpose  ^    When  Frasamund,  king  of 
 Byzac,  in  Africa,  had  made  an  edict  that  no  more  bishops 
 should  be  consecrate,  to  this  purpose,  that  the  catholic  faith 
 might  expire,  (so  he  was  sure  it  would,  if  this  device  were 
 perfected,)  "  ut  are.scentibus  truncis  absque  palmitibus  omnes 
 ecclesiae  desolarentur,"  the  good  bishops  of  the  province  met 
 together  in  a  council,  and  having  considered  of  the  command 
 of  the  tyrant,  "  Sacra  turba  pontificum  qui  remanserant, 
 communicato  inter  se  consilio,  definieruntadversusprieceptum 
 regis  in  omnibus  locis  celebrare  ordinationes  pontificum, 
 cogitantes  aut  regis  iracundiam,  si  qua  forsan  exlsteret,  miti- 
 gandam,  quo  facilius  ordinati  in  suis  plebibus  viverent,  aut  si 
 persecutionis  violentia  nasceretur,  coi'onandos  etiam  fidei  con- 
 fessione,  quos  dignos  inveniebant  jjromotione."    It  was  full 
 of  bravery  and  Christian  sprite.   "  The  bishops  resolved,  for 
 all  the  edict  against  new  ordination  of  bishops,  to  obey  God 
 rather  than  man,  and  to  consecrate  bishops  in  all  places, 
 hoping  the  king  would  be  apjjeased  ;  or  if  not,  yet  those 
 whom  they  thought  worthy  of  a  mitre,  were  in  a  fair  disjoo- 
 sition  to  receive  a  crown  of  martyrdom."    They  did  so. 
 "  Fit  repente  communis  assumptio,"  and  they  all  strove  who 
 should  be  first,  and  thought  a  blessing  would  outstrip  the 
 hindmost.    They  were  sure  they  might  go  to  heaven,  though 
 persecuted,  under  the  conduct  of  a  bishop  ;  they  knew  with- 
 out him,  the  ordinary  passage  was  obstructed. 
 
 <=  VideConcil.  Byzacenum,  An,  Dom,  504,  et  Surianijdie  1  Januar.  et  Baron, 
 in  A.  D.  504. 
 
Episcopacy  asserted. 
 
 235 
 
 Pius  the  First,  bishop  of  Rome  and  martyr,  speaking  of 
 them  that  calumniate  and  disgrace  their  bishops ^  endeavour- 
 ing to  make  them  infamous,  "  They  add,"  saith  he,  "  evil  to 
 evil,  and  grow  worse,"  "  non  intelligentes  quod  ecclesia  Dei 
 in  sacerdotibus  consistit,  et  crescit  In  templum  Dei;"  "  not 
 considering  that  the  chui'ch  of  God  doth  consist  or  is  esta- 
 blished in  bishops,  and  grows  up  to  a  holy  temple."  To  him 
 I  am  most  willing  to  add  St.  Jerome because  he  is  often 
 obtruded  in  defiance  of  the  cause  :  "  Ecclesise  salus  in  summi 
 sacerdotis  dlgnitate  pendet :"  "  The  safety  of  the  church 
 depends  upon  the  bishop's  dignity." 
 
 SECTION  XLVI. 
 
 For  they  are  Schismatics,  that  separate  from  their  Bishop. 
 
 The  reason  which  St.  Jerome  gives,  presses  this  business  to 
 a  further  particular.  "  For  if  an  eminent  dignity,  and  an 
 unmatchable  power,  be  not  given  to  him,"  "  tot  efficlentur 
 schismata,  quot  sacerdotes."  So  that  he  makes  bishops 
 therefore  necessary,  because  without  them  '  the  unity  of  a 
 church  cannot  be  preserved  ;'  and  we  know  that  unity,  and 
 being,  are  of  equal  extent ;  and  if  the  unity  of  the  chuxxh 
 depends  upon  the  bishop,  then  whei-e  there  is  no  bishop,  no 
 pretence  to  a  church ;  and  therefore  to  separate  from  the 
 bishop  makes  a  man  at  least  a  schismatic.  For  unity,  which 
 the  fathers  press  so  often,  they  make  to  be  dependent  on  the 
 bishop.  "  Nihil  sit  in  vobis  quod  possit  vos  dirimere,  sed 
 unimini  eplscojjo,  subjecti  Deo  per  ilium  in  Christo,"  saith 
 St.  Ignatius^  :  "  Let  nothing  divide  you,  but  be  united  to 
 your  bishop,  being  subject  to  God  in  Christ  through  your 
 bishop."  And  It  is  his  conge  to  the  people  of  Smyrna,  to 
 whom  he  writ  in  his  epistle  to  Polycarpus'',  "Opto  vos 
 semper  valere  in  Deo  nostro  Jesu  Christo,  in  quo  manete  per 
 unitatem  Dei  et  episcojii :"  "  Farewell  in  Christ  Jesus,  in 
 whom  remain  by  the  unity  of  God  and  of  the  bishop." 
 "  Quanto  vos  beatiores  judico,  qui  dependetis  ab  illo  (epls- 
 
 '  Epist.  2.  e  Advers.  Lucifer,  cap.  4. 
 
 »  Epist,  ad  Magues.  Ad  Ephes. 
 
236 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 copo),  ut  ecclesla  a  Domino  Jesu  et,  Dominus  a  Patre  suo,  ut 
 omnia  per  unitatem  consentiant :"  "  Blessed  people  are  ye 
 that  depend  upon  vour  bisiiop,  as  the  church  on  Christ,  and 
 Christ  on  God,  that  all  things  may  consent  in  unity." 
 
 "  Neque  enim  aliunde  haereses  obortae  sunt,  aut  nata  sunt 
 schlsmata,  quam  inde  quod  sacerdoti  Dei  non  obtemperatur, 
 nee  unus  in  ecclesia  ad  tempus  sacerdos,  et  ad  tempus  judex 
 vice  Christi  cogitatur:"  "  Hence  come  schisms,  hence  spi'ing 
 heresies,  that  the  bishop  is  not  obeyed,  and  admitted  alone  to 
 be  the  high-priest,  alone  to  be  the  judge^"  The  same  St. 
 Cyprian  repeats  again :  and  by  it  we  may  see  his  meaning 
 clearer:  "Qui  vos  audit,  me  audit,"  &c.  "Inde  enim 
 haereses  et  schismata  oborta  sunt  et  oriuntur,  dum  episcopus, 
 qui  unus  est  et  ecclesiae  prasest,  superba  quorundam  prae- 
 sumptioue  contemnitur,  et  homo  dignatione  Dei  honoratus, 
 iudignus  hominibus  judicatur."'  The  pride  and  peevish 
 haughtiness  of  some  factious  people  that  contemn  their 
 bishops,  is  the  cause  of  all  heresy  and  schism.  And,  there- 
 fore, it  was  so  strictly  forbidden,  by  the  ancient  canons,  that 
 any  man  should  have  any  meetings,  or  erect  an  altar,  out  of 
 the  communion  of  his  bishop, — that  if  any  man  proved  de- 
 linquent in  this  particular,  he  was  punished  with  the  highest 
 censures,  as  appears  in  the  thirty-second  canon  of  the 
 apostles,  in  the  sixth  canon  of  the  council  of  Gangra,  the 
 fifth  canon  of  the  council  of  Antioch,  and  the  great  council 
 of  Chalcedon",  all  which  I  have  before  cited.  The  sum  is 
 this:  The  bishop  is  the  band  and  ligature  of  the  church's 
 unity  ;  and  separation  from  the  bishop  is  'Sixowlxs  avfA.Qo'koy, 
 as  Theodoret's  expression  is  ;  "a  symbol  of  faction  and  he 
 that  separates,  is  a  schismatic. 
 
 But  how  if  the  bishop  himself  be  a  heretic  or  schismatic  1 
 May  we  not  then  separate:  Yes,  if  he  be  judged  so  by  a 
 synod  of  bishops ;  but  then  he  is  sure  to  be  deposed  too  ; 
 and  then  in  these  cases  uo  separation  from  a  bishop.  For  till 
 he  be  declared  so,  his  communion  is  not  to  be  forsaken  by  the 
 subjects  of  his  diocese,  lest  they,  by  so  doing,  become  tlieir 
 judge's  judge ;  and  when  he  is  declared  so,  no  need  of 
 withdrawing  from  obedience  to  the  bishop,  for  the  heretic  or 
 schismatic  must  be  no  longer  bishop.    But  let  the  case  be 
 
 <•  St.  Cyprian.  Ep.  55. 
 
 •lEpist.  69. 
 
 «  Acl.  iv. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 237 
 
 wliat  it  will  be,  no  separation  from  a  bishop,  '  ut  sic,'  can  be 
 lawful ;  and  yet  if  there  were  a  thousand  cases,  in  which  it 
 were  lawful  to  separate  from  a  bishop,  yet  in  no  case  is  it 
 lawful  to  sei^arate  from  episcopacy;  that  is  the  quintessence 
 and  spirit  of  schism,  and  a  direct  overthrow  to  Christianity, 
 and  a  confronting  of  a  divine  institution. 
 
 SECTION  XLVII. 
 And  Heretics. 
 
 But  is  it  not  also  heresy  ?  Aerius  was  condemned  for  heresy 
 by  the  catholic  church.  The  heresy  from  whence  the  Aerians 
 were  denominated  was,  "  sermo  furiosus  magis  quam  humanae 
 condltionis,'  etdicebat,  '  Quid  est  episcopus  ad  presbyterum  i* 
 nihil  differt  hie  ab  illo" ;'"  "  A  mad  and  unmanly  heresy  to 
 say,  that  a  bishop  and  a  priest  are  all  one."  So  Epiphanius : 
 "  Assumpsit  autem  ecclesia,  et  in  toto  mundo  assensus  factus 
 est,  antequam  esset  Aerius,  et  qui  ab  ipso  appellantur 
 Aeriani."  And  the  good  catholic  father  is  so  angry  at  the 
 heretic  Aerius,  that  he  thinks  his  name  was  given  him  by 
 Providence,  and  he  is  called  Aerius,  '  aeriis  spiritibus  pravi- 
 tatis  ;'  for  he  was  possessed  with  an  unclean  spirit  :  he  could, 
 never  have  else  been  the  inventor  of  such  heretical  pravity, 
 St.  Austin,  also,  reckons  him  in  the  accursed  roll  of  heretics, 
 and  adds,  at  the  conclusion  of  his  catalogue,  '  that  he  is  no 
 catholic  Christian  that  assents  to  any  of  the  foregoing  doc- 
 trines ;'  amongst  which  this  is  one  of  the  principal.  Philas- 
 trius  does  as  much  for  him. 
 
 But  against  this  it  will  be  objected,  first,  that  heresies,  in. 
 the  primitive  catalogues,  are  of  a  lai'ge  extent ;  and  every  dis- 
 sent from  a  public  opinion  was  esteemed  heresy.  Secondly,, 
 Aerius  was  called  heretic,  for  denying  prayer  for  the  dead. 
 And  why  may  he  not  be  as  blameless  in  equalling  a  bishop 
 and  a  presbyter,  as  in  that  other,  for  which  he  also  is  con- 
 demned by  Epiphanius  and  St.  Austin.  Thirdly,  he  was 
 never  condemned  by  any  council ;  and  how,  then,  can  he  be 
 called  heretic  1 
 
 VOL.  VII. 
 
 llwres.  75. 
 
 S 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 1  answer, — Tliat  dissent  from  a  public  or  a  received  opinion 
 was  never  called  heresy,  unless  tlie  contrary  truth  was  Indeed 
 a  part  of  catholic  doctrine.  For  the  fathers,  many  of  them, 
 did  so ;  as  St.  Austin  from  the  millenary  opinion  ;  yet  none 
 ever  reckoned  them  in  the  catalogues  of  heretics ;  but  such 
 things  only  set  them  down  there,  which  were  either  directly 
 opposite  to  catholic  belief,  though  '  in  minorlbus  artlculls,'' 
 or  to  a  holy  life. — Secondly  ; — It  is  true  that  Eplphanlus  and 
 St.  Austin  reckon  his  denying  prayer  for  the  dead  to  be  one 
 of  his  own  opinions,  and  heretical.  But  I  cannot  help  it,  if 
 they  did ;  let  him  and  them  agree  it ;  they  are  able  to  answer 
 for  themselves.  But  yet  they  accused  him  also  of  Arlanlsm  ; 
 and  shall  we  therefore  say,  that  Arlanlsm  was  no  heresy, 
 because  the  fathers  called  him  heretic  in  one  particular,  upon 
 one  principle !  We  may  as  well  say  this  as  deny  the  other. 
 Thirdly  ;  He  was  not  condemned  by  any  council.  No  :  for 
 his  heresy  was  ridiculous,  and  a  scorn  to  all  wise  men,  as 
 Eplphanlus  observes ;  and  it  made  no  long  continuance  ; 
 neither  had  It  any  considerable  party.  But  yet  this  is 
 certain,  that  Eplphanlus,  and  Phllastrius,  and  St.  Austin, 
 called  this  opinion  of  Aerius  a  heresy,  and  against  the 
 catholic  belief.  And  themselves  affirm  that  the  church  did 
 so  ;  and  then  it  would  be  considered,  that  it  is  but  a  sad  em- 
 ployment to  revive  old  heresies,  and  make  them  a  piece  of 
 the  new  religion. 
 
 And  yet  after  all  this,  if  I  mistake  not,  although  Aerius 
 himself  was  so  inconsiderable  as  not  to  be  worthy  noting  in  a 
 council,  yet  certainly  the  one-half  of  his  error  Is  condemned 
 for  heresy  in  one  of  the  four  general  councils,  viz.,  the  first 
 council  of  Constantinople''.  A'lpirf/.'jvs  os  Xsyopt^v,  tovs  te  WXai 
 TVS  ly.yLkrtal(x.9  osTioy.vipv/pivra.s ,  xa.i  rohs  f/.sroc  raX/rx  vip'  vfJiwv 
 d-vx^Elxa.Tis^i'i/ra.s'  *'  We  call  all  them  heretics,  whom  the 
 ancient  church  hath  condemned,  and  whom  we  shall  anathe- 
 matize." Will  not  Aerius  come  under  one  of  these  titles  for  a 
 condemned  heretic?  Then  see  forward.  Tl^os^l  rourois  xal  rou^ 
 rr/v  uStartv  jW,EV  r-hv  vyv'n  ro^offTrojoy/xevoys'  optoXoysIV,  ^n'ia•/[Zp■^Ta.s  SI 
 xai  avTKTyvayovrar  rnxs  xavovixorr  riy^Siv  ittinKomois .  Here  is  enough 
 for  Aerius  and  all  his  hyperaspists,  new  and  old;  for  the  holy 
 council  condemns  them  '  for  heretics,  who  do  indeed  confess 
 
 ^  Can.  c. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 239 
 
 tlie  true  faitli,  but  separate  from  their  bishops,  and  make 
 conventicles  apart  from  his  communion.'  Now  this  I  the 
 rather  urge,  because  an  act  of  parliament,  made  tenth  of 
 Elizabeth,  does  make  this  council,  and  the  other  three  of 
 Nice,  Ephesus,  and  Chalcedon,  the  rule  of  judging  heresies. 
 
 I  end  this  particular  with  the  saying  of  the  council  of  Paris 
 against  the  Acephalia  (who  were  the  branch  of  a  crab-stock, 
 and  something  like  Aerius),  cited  by  Burchard*^  :  "  Nulla 
 ratione  clerici  aut  sacerdotes  habendi  sunt,  qui  sub  nullius 
 episcopi  disciplina  et  providentiu  gubernantur.  Tales  enim 
 Acephalos,  id  est,  sine  capite,  priscse  ecclesise  consuetude 
 nuncujmvit:"  "They  are,  by  no  means,  to  be  accounted 
 clergymen,  or  priests,  that  will  not  be  governed  by  a  bishop. 
 For  such  men  the  primitive  church  called  axs(paXoyy,  that  is, 
 '  headless,'  witless  people." 
 
 This  only.  Acephali  was  the  title  of  a  sect,  a  formal 
 heresy,  and  condemned  by  tlie  ancient  church,  say  the  fathers 
 of  the  council  of  Paris.  Now  if  we  can  learn  exactly  what 
 they  were,  it  may,  perhaps,  be  another  conviction  for  the 
 necessity  of  episcopal  regiment.  Nicephorus"^  can  best  inform 
 us.  "  Eodem  tempore,  et  Acephali,  quorum  dux  Severus 
 Antiochenus  fuit,"  &c.  "  Severus  of  Antioch  was  the  first 
 broacher  of  this  heresy."  But  why  were  they  called  '  Ace- 
 phali ?'  "id  est,  sine  capite,  quem  sequuntur  hoeretici ;  nul- 
 lus  enim  eorum  veperitur  auctor,  a  quo  exoi'ti  sunt,"  saith 
 Isidore.  But  this  cannot  be,  for  their  head  is  known  ;  Seve- 
 rus was  their  heresiarcli.  But  then  why  are  they  called 
 '  Acephali  V  Nicephorus*"  gives  this  reason,  and,  withal,  a  very 
 particular  account  of  their  heresy  :  "  Acephali  autem  ob  earn 
 causam  dicti  sunt,  quod  sub  episcopis  non  fuerunt :"  "  They 
 refused  to  live  under  bishops."  Thence  they  had  their  name; 
 what  was  their  heresy  ?  They  denied  the  distinction  of 
 natures  in  Christ.  That  was  one  of  their  heresies  ;  but  they 
 had  more  ;  for  they  were  "  trium  capitulorum  in  Chalce- 
 done  impugnatores,"  saith  Isidore i  ;  'they  opposed  three 
 canons  of  the  council  of  Chalcedon.'  One  we  have  heard; 
 what  their  other  heresies  were,  we  do  not  so  well  know  ;  but 
 by  the  canon  of  the  council  of  Paris,  and  the  intimation  of 
 
 ^  Deevet.  lib.  ii.  c.  22G. 
 Etymol.  lib.  viii. 
 
 Eccles.  Hist  lib.  xviii.  c.  45. 
 '  Ut  supra. 
 
 S  2 
 
240 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 their  name,  we  are  guided  to  the  knowledge  of  a  second  :  they 
 refused  to  live  under  tlie  government  of  a  bishop.  And  this 
 also  was  "  impugnatio  unius  articuli  in  Chalcedone ;"  for  the 
 eighth  canon  of  the  council  of  Chalcedon  commands,  that  the 
 clergy  should  be  under  episcopal  government.  But  these 
 Acephali  would  not,  they  were  anti-episcopal  men  ;  and, 
 therefore,  they  were  condemned  heretics  ;  condemned  in  the 
 councils  of  Paris,  of  Seville,  and  of  Chalcedon. 
 
 But  the  more  particular  account  that  Nicephorus  gives  of 
 them,  I  will  now  insert,  because  it  is  of  great  use.  "  Proinde 
 episcopis,  et  sacerdotibus  apud  eos  defunctis,  neque  baptismus 
 juxta  solennem  atque  receptum  ecclesiae  morem  apud  eos  ad- 
 ministratur,  neque  oblatio,  aut  res  aliqua  divina  facta,  minis- 
 teriumve  ecclesiasticum,  sicuti  mos  est,  celebratum  est. 
 Communionem  vero  illi,  a  plurimo  tempore  asservatam 
 habentes,  feriis  Paschalibus,  in  minutissimas  incisam  partes 
 convenientibus  ad  se  hominlbus  dederunt.  Quo  tempore 
 quam  quisque  voluisset  placitam  sibi  sumebat  potestatem. 
 Et  propterea  quod  quilibet,  quodcunque  visum  esset,  fidei 
 insertum  volebat,  quamplnrima  defectorum,  atque  hseretico- 
 rum  turba  exorta  est."  It  is  a  story  worthy  of  observation. 
 '  When  any  bishop  died,  they  would  have  no  other  conse- 
 crated in  succession ;  and,  therefore,  could  have  no  more 
 priests,  when  any  of  them  died.'  But  how  then  did  they  to 
 baptize  their  children  ?  Why,  they  were  fain  to  make  shift, 
 and  do  it  without  any  church-solemnity.  But  how  did  they 
 for  the  holy  sacrament  ? — for  that  could  not  be  consecrated 
 without  a  priest,  and  he  not  ordained  without  a  bishop. 
 True  :  but  therefore  '  they,  while  they  had  a  bishop,  got  a 
 great  deal  of  bread  consecrated,  and  kept  a  long  time  ;  and 
 when  Easter  came,  cut  it  into  small  bits,  or  crumbs  rather, 
 to  make  it  go  the  further,  and  gave  it  their  people.'  And 
 must  we  do  so  too?  God  forbid.  But  how  did  they  when  all 
 that  was  gone  ?  for  crumbs  would  not  last  always.  The  story 
 specifies  it  not,  but  yet  I  suppose  they  then  got  a  bishop  for 
 their  necessity,  to  help  them  to  some  more  priests,  and 
 some  more  crumbs  ;  for  I  find,  in  the  council  of  Seville  =,  the 
 fathers  saying,  "  Ingressus  est  ad  nos  quidam  ex  haeresi 
 Acephalorum  episcopus  ;"  they  had  then,  it  seems  got  a 
 
 b'  Can.  12. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 241 
 
 bis-hop,  but  this  they  would  selcloin  have — and  never,  but 
 when  their  necessity  drove  them  to  it.  But  was  this  all  the 
 iiicojivenience  of  the  want  of  bishops?  No:  "for  every 
 man,"  saith  Nicephorus,  "  might  do  what  he  list,  and  if  he 
 had  a  mind  to  it,  might  put  his  fancy  into  the  creed,  and 
 thence  came  innumerable  troops  of  schismatics  and  heretics." 
 So  that  this  device  was  one  simple  heresy  in  the  root,  but  it 
 was  forty  heresies  in  the  fruit  and  branches  ;  clearly  proving, 
 that  want  of  bishops  is  the  cause  of  all  schism  and,  recreant 
 opinions  that  are  imaginable. 
 
 I  sum  this  up  with  the  saying  of  St.  Clement'',  the  disciple 
 of  St.  Peter,  "  Si  autem  vobisepiscopisnon  obedierint  omnes 
 jiresbyteri,  &c.,  trlbus,  et  linguae  non  obtemperaverint,  non 
 solum  infames,  sed  extoi-res  a  regno  Dei,  et  consortio  fidelium, 
 ac  il  limitibus  sancti  Dei,  ecclesiae  alieni  erunt "All  priests, 
 and  clergymen,  and  people,  and  nations,  and  languages,  that 
 do  not  obey  their  bishop,  shall  be  shut  forth  of  the  commu- 
 nion of  holy  churcli  here,  and  of  heaven  hereafter."  It  runs 
 high,  but  I  cannot  help  it ;  I  do  but  translate  Ruffinus,  as  he 
 before  translated  St.  Clemeijt. 
 
 SECTION  XLVIII. 
 
 And  Buhops  were  always,  in  the  Church,  Men  of  great 
 
 Honour. 
 
 It  seems,  then,  we  must  have  bishops.  But  must  we  have 
 lord  bishops  too?  That  is  the  question  now,  but  such  an 
 one  as  the  primitive  piety  could  never  have  imagined.  For, 
 could  they,  to  whom  bishops  were  placed  in  a  right  and  a 
 true  light, — they  who  believed,  and  saw  them  to  be  the  fa- 
 thers of  their  souls,  the  guardian  of  their  life  and  manners, 
 (as  king  Edgar  called  St.  Dunstan)  the  guide  of  their  con- 
 sciences, the  instruments  and  conveyances  of  all  the  blessings 
 Heaven  uses  to  pour  upon  us  by  the  ministration  of  the  holy 
 Gospel;  would  they,  that  thought  their  lives  a  cheap  exchange 
 for  a  free  and  open  communion  with  a  catholic  bishop,  would 
 they  have  contested  upon  an  airy  title,  and  the  imaginary  pri- 
 vilege of  an  honour,  which  is  far  less  than  their  spiritual 
 
 h  Epist.  2. 
 
242 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 dignity  but  Infinitely  less  than  the  burden  and  charge  of  the 
 souls  of  all  their  diocese?  Charity  thinks  nothing  too  much, 
 and  that  love  is  but  little  that  grudges  at  the  good  words  a 
 bishoprick  cari'les  with  it. 
 
 However,  let  us  see  whether  titles  of  honour  be  either 
 unfit  in  themselves  to  be  given  to  bishops ;  or  what  the  guise 
 of  Christendom  hath  been  in  her  spiritual  heraldry. 
 
 1.  St.  Ignatius,  in  his  epistle  to  the  church  of  Smyrna, 
 gives  them  this  command  :  "  Honoi'a  episcopum  ut  princi- 
 pem  sacerdotum,  imaginem  Dei  referentem:"  "  Honour  the 
 bishop  as  the  image  of  God,  as  the  prince  of  priests."  Now 
 since  honour  and  excellency  are  terms  of  mutual  relation,  and 
 all  excellency  that  is  in  men  and  things,  is  but  a  ray  of  Divine 
 excellency  ;  so  far  as  they  participate  of  God,  so  far  they  are 
 honourable.  Since,  then,  the  bishop  carries  the  impress  of 
 God  upon  his  forehead,  and  bears  God's  image,  certainly  this 
 participation  of  such  perfection  makes  him  very  honourable. 
 And  since  '  honor  est  in  honorante,'  it  is  not  enough  that  the 
 bishop  is  honourable  in  himself,  but  it  tells  us  our  duty,  we 
 must  honour  him,  we  must  do  him  honour  ;  and,  of  all  the 
 honours  in  the  world,  that  of  words  is  the  cheapest  and  the 
 least. 
 
 St.  Paul,  speaking  of  the  honour  due  to  the  prelates  of  the 
 church,  ol  jcaXwy  zjqosaruiTss  w^sd'ourspoi  ^mXris  niJ-riS  d^^iuaOcociccv' 
 "  Let  them  be  accounted  worthy  of  double  honour."  And 
 one  of  the  honours  that  he  there  means,  is  a  costly  one,  aji 
 honour  of  maintenance  ;  the  other  must  certainly  be  an 
 honour  of  estimate,  and  that  is  cheapest.  The  council  of 
 Sardls,  speaking  of  the  several  steps  and  capacities  of  pro- 
 motion to  the  height  of  episcopacy,  uses  this  expi'ession  :  K7.I 
 
 TifAris''.  "  He  that  shall  be  found  worthy  of  so  Divine  a 
 priesthood,  let  him  be  advanced  to  the  highest  honour." 
 "  Ego  procidens  ad  pedes  ejus  rogabam,  excusans  me,  et 
 declinans  honorem  cathedrae  et  potestatem'',"  saith  St.  Cle- 
 ment, when  St.  Peter  would  have  advanced  him  to  the  honour 
 and  power  of  the  bishop's  chair.  But  in  the  third  epistle, 
 speaking  of  the  dignity  of  Aaron,  the  high-priest,  and,  then 
 by  analogy,  of  the  bishop,  who,  although  lie  be  a  minister  in 
 
 ■>  Can.  10,  Gia-c. 
 
 Epist.  1.  ad  Jacobum. 
 
EPISCOl'ACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 243 
 
 the  order  of  Melchisedecli,  yet  he  halh  also  the  honour  of 
 Aaron  ;  "  Omnis  enim  pontifex  sacro  chrismate  perunctiis,  et 
 in  civitate  coiistitutus,  et  in  Scripturis  sacris  conditus,  earns 
 et  pretiosus  homnibus  oppido  esse  debet:"  "  Every  high- 
 priest  ordained  in  the  city  (viz.,  a  bishop^,  ought  forthwith 
 to  be  dear  and  precious  in  the  eves  of  men." — "  Quern  quasi 
 Christi  locum  tenentem,  honorare  omnes  debent,  eique  servii'e, 
 et  obedientes  ad  salutera  suam  fideliter  existere^  scientes 
 quod  sive  honor,  sive  injuria  qute  ei  defertur,  in  Christum 
 redundat,  et  a  Christo  in  Deum  :"  "  The  bishop  is  Christ's 
 vicegerent,  and  therefore  he  is  to  be  obeyed,  knowing  that 
 whether  it  be  honour  or  injury  that  is  done  to  the  bishop,  it 
 is  done  to  Christ,  and  so  to  God."  And,  ii.deed,  what  is  the 
 saying  of  our  blessed  Saviour  himself  ?  "  He  that  despiseth 
 you,  despiseth  me."  If  bishops  be  God's  ministers,  and  in 
 higher  order  than  the  rest,  then,  although  all  discountenance 
 and  disgrace  done  to  the  clergy  reflect  upon  Christ,  yet  Avhat 
 is  done  to  the  bishop  is  far  more,  and  then  there  is  the  same 
 reason  of  the  honour.  And  if  so,  then  the  question  will 
 prove  but  an  odd  one  ;  even  this,  whether  Christ  be  to  be 
 honoured  or  no,  or  depressed  to  the  common  estimate  of 
 vulgar  people?  for  if  the  bishops  be,  then  he  is.  This  is  the 
 condition  of  the  question. 
 
 2.  Consider  we,  that  all  religions,  and  particularly  all 
 Christianity,  did  give  titles  of  honour  to  their  high-priests 
 and  bishops  respectively.  I  shall  not  need  to  instance  in 
 the  great  honour  of  the  priestly  tribe  among  the  Jews,  and 
 how  highly  honourable  Aaron  was  in  proportion.  Prophets 
 were  called  '  lords,'  in  holy  Scripture.  "  Art  not  thou  '  my 
 lord'  Elijah?"  said  Obadiah,  to  the  prophet.  *' Knowest 
 thou  not,  that  God  will  take  '  thy  lord'  from  thy  head  this 
 day?"  said  the  children  in  the  prophet's  schools.  So  it  was 
 then.  And  in  the  New  Testament,  v/e  find  a  prophet  honoured 
 everywhere  but  in  his  own  country.  And  to  the  apostles 
 and  presidents  of  churches,  greater  titles  of  honour  given, 
 than  was  ever  given  to  man  by  secular  complacency  and 
 insinuation  : — Angels,  and  governors,  and  fathers  of  our  faith, 
 -and  stars,  lights  of  the  world,  the  crown  of  the  church, 
 apostles  of  Jesus  Christ,  nay,  God's*^,  viz.,  to  whom  the  word 
 
 ■^^Apocal.  I.    1  Coi.  iv.    Jolm,.  x. 
 
244 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 of  God  camo ;  and  of  the  compellation  of  apostles,  par- 
 ticularly St.  Jerome  saith,  that  when  St.  Paul  called  himself 
 the  "  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,"  it  was  as  magnifically  spoken, 
 as  if  he  had  said,  "  Prajfectus  prtetorio  August!  Csesaris, 
 magister  exercitus  Tiberii  Imperatoris'' ;"  and  yet  bishops 
 are  apostles,  and  so  called  in  Scripture.  I  have  pi'oved  that 
 already. 
 
 Indeed,  our  blessed  Saviour  in  the  case  of  the  two  sons  of 
 Zebedee,  forbad  them  to  expect  by  virtue  of  their  aposto- 
 late,   any  princely  titles,  in  order  to  a  kingdom,  and  an 
 earthly  principality.    For  that  was  it  which  the  ambitious 
 woman  sought  for  her  sons,  viz.,  fair  honour  and  dignity  in 
 an  earthl)^  kingdom ;  for  such  a  kingdom  they  expected  with 
 their  Messias.    To  this  their  expectation,  our  Saviour's  an- 
 swer is  a  direct  antithesis;  and  that  made  the  apostles  to  be 
 angry  at  the  two  petitioners,  as  if  they  had  meant  to  sup- 
 plant the  rest,  and  get  the  best  preferment  from  them,  to 
 wit,  in  a  temporal  kingdom.  '  No,'  saith  our  blessed  Saviour, 
 '  ye  are  all  deceived.'    "  The  kings  of  the  nations,  indeed, 
 do  exercise  authority,  and  are  called  ehs^yirxt,  benefactors 
 so  the  words  signifies,  '  gracious  lords'  so  we  read  it;  "  but 
 it  shall  not  be  so  with  you^"    What  shall  not  be  so  with 
 them?  shall  not  they  exercise  authority?  "  Who  then  is  that 
 faithful  and  wise  steward,  whom  his  Lord  made  ruler  over 
 his  household?"    Surely  the  apostles,  or  nobody.  Had 
 Christ  authority?  Most  certainly.   Then  so  had  the  apostles, 
 for  Christ  gave  them  his,  with  a  '  sicut  mislt  me  Pater,'  &c. 
 Well!  the  apostles  might,  and  we  know  they  did  exercise 
 authority.    What  then  '  shall  not  be  so  with  them?'  Shall- 
 not  they  be  called  svEqyira.i'i  Indeed,  if  St.  Mark  had  taken 
 that  title  upon  him  in  Alexandria,  the  Ptolomies,  whose 
 honorary  appellative  that  was,  would  have  questioned  him 
 highly  for  it.    But  if  we  go  to  the  sense  of  the  word,  the 
 apostles  might  be  '  benefactors,"'  and,  therefore,  might  be 
 called  so.     But  what  then  ?     Might  they  not  be  called 
 '  gracious  lords?'  The  word  would  have  done  no  hurt,  if  it 
 had  not  been  an  ensign  of  a  secular  principality. 
 
 For  as  for  the  word  '  lord,'  I  know  no  more  prohibition 
 for  that,  than  for  being  called  rabbi,  or  master,  or  doctor,  or 
 
 In  Tltum.  <■  MatUi.  xs.  25.    Mark,  x.  43.    Luke,  xxii.  25. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 245 
 
 father'.  Wliat  shall  we  think  now '.'  May  we  not  be  called 
 doctors?  "  God  hath  constituted  in  his  church,  pastors  and 
 doctora,"  saith  St.  Paul*^.  Therefore,  we  may  be  called  so. 
 But  what  of  the  other,  the  prohibition  runs  alike  for  all,  as  is 
 evident  in  the  several  places  of  the  Gospels;  and  may  no  man 
 be  called  master,  or  father?  Let  an  ansAver  be  thought  on  for 
 these,  and  the  same  will  serve  for  the  other  also  without  any 
 sensible  ei-ror.  It  is  not  the  word,  it  is  the  ambitious  seeking 
 of  a  temporal  principality,  as  the  issue  of  Christianity,  and 
 an  affix  of  the  apostolate  that  Christ  interdicted  his  apostles. 
 And  if  we  mark  it,  our  blessed  Saviour  points  it  out  himself. 
 
 The  princes  of  the  nations"  y-ocrccKvpievouaiM,  "  exercise  autho- 
 rity over  them,  and  are  called  benefactors ;"  ov^  ovrws  "sarai 
 Iv  ypolv:  "  It  shall  not  be  so  with  you."  Not  so  ?  how?  Not 
 as  the  princes  of  the  Gentiles,  for  theirs  is  a  temporal  regi- 
 ment, your  apostolate  must  be  spiritual.  They  rule  as  kings, 
 you  as  fellow  servants ;  xai  os  iav  hiKrt  sv  uptiV  ehoci  ■a^uiros, 
 BrjTcxj  vfjiMv  ^ovKos'  "  Hc  that  will  be  first  amongst  you,  let  him 
 be  your  minister,  or  servant ;"  it  seems  then  among  Christ''s 
 disciples  there  may  be  a  superiority,  when  there  is  a  minister 
 or  servant?  But  it  must  be  ev  tw  oixxovav  that  this  greatness 
 doth  consist,  it  must  be  in  '  doing  the  greatest  service  and 
 ministration  that  the  superiority  consists.'  But  more  par- 
 ticularly, it  must  be  utjutp  6  v'lhs  rov  ocv^puTtov.  It  must  not  be 
 '  as  the  princes  of  the  Gentiles,'  but  it  must  be  '  as  the  son 
 of  man;'  so  Christ  says  expi'essly''.  And  how  was  that? 
 why,  '  he  came  to  minister  and  to  serve,'  and  yet  in  the 
 lowest  act  of  his  humility,  the  washing  his  disciples'  feet,  he 
 told  them,  "  Ye  call  me  Lord,  and  Master,  and  ye  say  well, 
 for  so  I  am'."  It  may  be  '  so  with  you.'  Nay,  it  must  be 
 '  as  the  son  of  man ;'  but  then,  the  being  called  rabbi,  or 
 lord,  nay,  the  being  lord  '  in  spiritual!  magisterio  et  regimine,' 
 '  in  a  spiritual  superintendency,'  and  wa-n&^  h  v?os  rov  dv^guTrou, 
 may  stand  with  the  humility  of  the  Gospel,  and  office  of 
 ministration. 
 
 So  that  now  I  shall  not  need  to  take  advantage  of  the 
 word''  x«Ta)tf§»6yoy(Tiv,  which  signifies  to  rule  with  more  than  a 
 political  regiment,  even  with  an  absolute  and  despotic,  and  is 
 
 I'MaUli.  xxiii.  8,9,  10. 
 '  Jolin,  xiii. 
 
 B  Ephcs.  iv.  ''  Luke,  xx.Kii. 
 
 ^  In  locis  ubi  supra. 
 
246 
 
 KPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 SO  used  in  holy  Scripture,  viz.  '  in  sequiorem  partem.'  God 
 gave  authority  to  man  over  the  creatures;  xarxxo^icy^aiTc  is 
 the  word  in  the  Septuagint';  and  we  know  the  power  that 
 man  hath  over  beasts,  is  to  kill,  and  to  keep  alive.  And 
 thus  to  our  blessed  Saviour,  the  poM^er  that  God  "gave  him 
 over  his  enemies,  is  expressed  by  jcajraxi/^icz/siv  xxraxv^icuc  h 
 ixhco  Twv  ^yjifuv  rsov'^.  And  this  we  know  how  it  must  be 
 exercised,  h  pxQ^co  m^vi^x  with  a  rod  of  iron,  ws-  (txeSoj  xspxiJiius 
 <Ti/vT|i-4/c(y  a-vTous.  He  shall  break  them  in  pieces  like  a  pot- 
 ter's vessel".  That  is  xxray.voisvciy ,  but  '  it  shall  not  be  so 
 Avith  j'ou.' 
 
 But  let  this  be  as  true  as  it  will.  The  answer  needs  no 
 way  to  rely  upon  a  criticism.  It  is  clear,  that  the  form  of 
 regiment  only  is  distinguished,  not  all  regiment  and  authority 
 taken  away.  O^x  ^vru<:,  but  u-tttzo  h  yloc,  '  Not  as  the  kings 
 of  the  Gentiles,  but  as  the  son  of  man  so  must  your  regi- 
 ment be,  for  '  sicut  misit  me  pater,'  &c.  "  As  my  Father 
 hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you."  It  must  be  a  govern- 
 ment, not  for  your  impery,  but  for  the  service  of  the  church. 
 So  that  it  is  not  for  your  advancement,  but  the  public  minis- 
 try that  you  are  put  to  rule  over  the  household.  And  thus 
 the  fathers  express  the  authority  and  regiment  of  bishops. 
 "  Qui  vocatur  ad  episcopatum,  non  ad  principatum  vocatur, 
 sed  ad  servitutem  totius  ecclesiae,"  saith  Origen".  And 
 St.  Jerome  ;  "  Episcopi  sacei'dotes  se  esse  noverint,  non  do- 
 minos ;"  and  yet  St.  Jerome  himself,  writing  to  St.  Austin, 
 calls  him,  "  Domine  vere  sancte,  et  suspiciende  papa." 
 
 Forma  apostolica  hsc  est,  dominatio  interdicitur,  indicitur 
 ministratio'\"  It  is  no  principality  that  the  apostles  have, 
 but  it  is  a  ministry ;  a  ministry  in  chief,  the  officers  of 
 which  ministration  must  govern,  and  we  must  obey.  They 
 must  govern,  not  in  a  temporal  regiment  by  virtue  of  their 
 episcopacy,  but  in  a  spiritual ;  not  for  honour  to  the  rulers, 
 so  much  as  for  benefit  and  service  to  the  subject.  So  St. 
 Austin,  "  Nomen  est  operis,  non  honoris,  ut  intelligat  se  non 
 esse  episcopum,  qui  pra?esse  dilexerit,  non  prodesse""."  And 
 in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  the  same  book,  "  Qui  imperant 
 serviunt  iis  rebus,  quibus  videntur  imperare.  Non  enim  domi- 
 
 '  Gen.  i.  "  Psalm  ex. 
 
 P  S.  Bein.  lib.  10.  de  Considerat, 
 
 "  Psalm  ii.  »  Homil.  6.  in  Isai. 
 
 T  Lib.  19.  de  Civit.  Dei,  c.  19. 
 
tPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 247 
 
 naiidi  cupicUiie  impcrant,  seel  officio  consulendi ;  nec  princi- 
 pandi  superbia,  sed  provideiidi  niisericordia."  And  all  this 
 is  intimated  in  the  prophetical  visions,  where  the  regiment  of 
 Christ  is  designed  by  the  face  of  a  man  ;  and  the  empire  of 
 the  world  by  beasts.  The  first  is  the  regiment  of  a  father, 
 the  second  of  a  king'.  The  first  spiritual,  the  other  secular. 
 And  of  the  fatherly  authority  it  is  tliat  the  prophet  says, 
 '  Instead  of  fathers  thou  shalt  have  children,  whom  thou 
 mayest  make  princes  in  all  lands.'  Tliis,  say  the  fathei's,  is 
 spoken  of  the  apostles  and  their  successors  the  bishops,  who 
 may  be  ap-/pyrss  'ExKXrjo-iiSv,  "  Princes  or  rulers  of  churches,"" 
 not  princes  of  kingdoms,  by  virtue  or  challenge  of  their 
 apostolate.  But  if  this  ecclesiastical  rule  or  chiefty  be  inter- 
 dicted, I  wonder  how  the  presidents  of  the  presbyters,  the 
 zs^osTrurss  in  the  reformed  churches  will  acquit  themselves  ? 
 How  will  their  superiority  be  reconciled  to  the  place,  though 
 it  be  but  temporary  ?  For  is  it  a  sin  if  it  continues,  and  no 
 sin  if  it  lasts,  but  for  a  week?  Or  is  it  lawful  to  sin,  and 
 domineer,  and  lord  it  over  their  brethren  for  a  week  together  ? 
 But  suppose  it  were,  what  will  they  say  that  are  perpetual 
 dictators  ?  Calvin  was  perpetual  president, — and  Beza,  till 
 Danseus  came  to  Geneva,  even  for  many  years  together.  But 
 beyond  all  this  how  can  the  presbytery,  which  is  a  fixed 
 lasting  body,  rule  and  govern  in  causes  spiritual  and  consis- 
 torlal,  and  that  over  all  princes,  and  ministers,  and  people, 
 and  that  for  ever  ?  For  is  it  a  sin  in  episcopacy  to  do  so,  and 
 not  in  the  presbytery  ?  If  it  be  lawful  here,  then  Christ  did 
 not  interdict  it  to  the  apostles;  for  who  will  think  that  a 
 presbytery  shall  have  leave  to  domineer,  and  (as  they  call  it 
 now-a-days)  to  lord  it  over  their  brethren,  when  a  college  of 
 apostles  shall  not  be  suffered  to  gover7i  ?  But  if  the  apostles 
 may  govern,  then  we  are  brought  to  a  right  understanding  of 
 our  Saviour's  saying  to  the  sons  of  Zebedee, — and  then  also, 
 their  successors,  the  bishops  may  do  the  same. 
 
 If  I  had  any  further  need  of  answer  or  escape,  it  were 
 easy  to  pretend  that  this  being  a  particular  directory  to  the 
 apostles,  was  to  expire  with  their  persons.  So  St.  Cyprian 
 intimates.  "  Apostoll  pari  fuere  consortlo  prsediti  et  honoris, 
 et  dignitatis' ;"  and  indeed  this  may  be  concluding  against 
 
 >•  De  Unitat.  Eccles. 
 
248 
 
 EPISCOrACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 the  supremacy  of  St.  Peter''s  successors,  l)ut  will  be  no  wavs 
 pertinent-  to  impugn  episcopal  authority.  For,  '  inter  se,' 
 they  might  be  equal,  and  vet  superior  to  the  presbyters  and 
 the  people. 
 
 Lastly;  "  It  shall  not  be  so  witli  you:""  so  Christ  said, 
 '  Non  designando  officium/  but '  sortem,'  '  not  their  dutv,  but 
 their  lot ;'  intiraatincr  that  their  future  condition  should  not 
 be  honorary,  but  full  of  trouble,  not  advanced,  but  persecuted. 
 But  I  had  rather  insist  on  the  first  answer;  in  which  I  desire 
 it  be  remembered,  that  I  said,  seeking  temporal  principality 
 to  be  forbidden  the  apostles,  as  an  appendix  to  the  office  of  an 
 apostle.  For,  in  other  capacities,  bishops  are  as  receptive  of 
 honour  and  temporal  principalities  as  other  men.  Bishops, 
 *  ut  sic,'  are  not  secular  princes,  must  not  seek  for  it ;  but 
 some  secular  princes  may  be  bishops,  as  in  Germany  and  in 
 other  places,  to  this  day,  they  are.  For  it  is  as  unlawful  for 
 a  bishop  to  have  any  land,  as  to  have  a  country,  and  a  single 
 acre  is  no  more  due  to  the  order  than  a  province ;  but  both 
 these  may  be  conjunct  in  the  same  person,  though  still,  by 
 virtue  of  Christ's  prccejDt,  the  functions  and  capacities  must 
 be  distinguished ;  according  to  the  saying  of  Synesius,  2vvas9r- 
 
 To 
 
 confound  and  intermix  the  kingdom  and  the  priesthood,  is  to 
 join  things  incompossible  and  inconsistent;""  inconsistent,  I 
 say,  not  in  person,  but  absolutely  discrepant  in  function. 
 
 3.  Consider  we,  that  St.  Peter,  when  he  speaks  of  the 
 duteous  subordination  of  Sarah,  to  her  husband,  Abraham, 
 he  propounds  her  as  an  example  to  all  married  women,  in 
 these  words,  "  She  obeyed  Abraham,  and  called  him  lord :" 
 why  was  this  spoken  to  Christian  women,  but  that  they 
 should  do  so  too  ?  And  is  it  imaginable  that  such  an  honour- 
 able compellation  as  Christ  allows  every  woman  to  give  her 
 husband,  a  mechanic,  a  hard-handed  artisan,  he  would  forbid 
 to  those  eminent  pillars  of  his  church,  those  lights  of  Christ- 
 endom, whom  he  really  endued  with  a  plenitude  of  power  for 
 the  regiment  of  the  catholic  church.    '  Credat  Apella.' 
 
 4.  Pastor  and  father  are  as  honourable  titles  as  any. 
 They  are  honourable  in  Scripture.  "  Honour  thy  father," 
 &c.  Thy  father,  in  all  senses.  They  are  also  made  sacred 
 by  being  the  appellatives  of  kings  and  bishops,  and  that  not 
 only  in  secular  addresses,  but  even  in  holy  Scrijiture,  as  is 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 249 
 
 known.  Add  to  tliis,  -J-r/ov/j-svoi,  Tz^oiarun-s,  and  zs^diiyra^smi, 
 are  used  in  Scripture  for  the  prelates  of  the  churcli",  and  I 
 am  certain,  that  duke  and  captain,  rulers  and  commanders, 
 are  but  just  the  same  in  English  that  the  other  are  in  Greek, 
 and  the  least  of  these  is  as  much  as  yivqios,  or  lord.  And  then 
 if  we  consider  that  since  Christ  erected  a  spiritual  regiment, 
 and  used  words  of  secular  honour  to  express  it,  as  in  the 
 instances  above,  although  Christ  did  interdict  a  secular  prin- 
 cipality, yet  he  forbad  not  a  secular  title ;  he  used  many 
 himself. 
 
 5.  The  voice  of  the  spouse,  the  holy  church,  hath  always 
 expressed  their  honourable  estimate,  in  reverential  compila- 
 tions and  epithets  of  honour,  to  their  bishops,  and  have  taught 
 us  so  to  do.  Bishops  were  called  '  principes  ecclesiarum, ' 
 '  princes  of  the  churches.'  I  had  occasion  to  instance  it,  in 
 the  question  of  jurisdiction.  Indeed  the  third  council  of 
 Carthage  forbad  the  bishop  of  Carthage  to  be  called  '  prin- 
 ceps  sacerdotum,'  or  '  summus  sacerdos,'  or  'aliquid  hujus- 
 modi,'  but  only  '  primas  sedis  episcojous.'  I  know  not  what 
 their  meaning  was,  unless  they  would  dictate  a  lesson  of  hu- 
 mility to  their  primate,  that  he  might  remember  the  princi- 
 pality not  to  be  so  much  in  his  person  as  in  the  see,  for  he 
 might  be  '  called  bishop  of  the  prime  see.'  But  whatsoever 
 fancy  they  had  at  Carthage,  I  am  sure  it  was  a  guise  of 
 Christendom,  not  to  speak  of  bishops  'sine  praefatione  ho- 
 noris,' '  but  with  honourable  mention.'  Tw  Kvplai  fji.ccy.xpiorxToj, 
 '  To  our  most  blessed  Lord  :'  so  the  letters  were  supersci'ibed 
 to  Julius,  bishop  of  Rome,  from  some  of  his  brethren  ;  in 
 Sozomen'.  Let  no  man  speak  untruths  of  me  //.ws  rwv  nuplajv 
 Twv  smanoncuv,  '  Nor  of  my  lords  the  bishops,'  said  St.  Gregory 
 Nazianzen".  The  synodical  book  of  the  council  of  Constan- 
 tinople is  inscribed,  '  Dominis  reverendissimis  ac  piissimis 
 fratribus  ac  collegis,  Damaso,  Ambrosio,'  &c.  'To  our  most 
 reverend  lords,  and  holy  brethi*en,'  &c.''  And  the  council  of 
 Illyricum,  sending  their  synodal  letters  to  the  bishops  of 
 Asia, by  bishopElpidius,  "  Hsec  plurlbus,"  say  they,  "  persequi 
 non  est  visum,  quod  miserimus  unum  ex  omnibus,  Domlnum, 
 et  collegam  nostrum  Elpidium,  qui  cognosceret,  esset  nesicut 
 
 '  Acts,  Nv.  UoiTi.  sii.  lUbr-  xiii. 
 "  Epist.  ad  Gres'.  Nyssen. 
 
 t  Lib.  iii.  c.  23. 
 Tlifoiloret.  lib.  v.  c.  9. 
 
250 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 dictum fnerat  a  Domino, et  collega  noslro  Eustatlno^':"  "Our 
 lord  and  brollier  Elpidius."  "Our  lord  and  brotlier  Eusta- 
 thius."  The  oration  in  the  council  of  Epaunum  begins  thus : 
 "  Quod  prsecipientibus  tantis  Dominis  rneis  ministerium  pro- 
 ferendi  sermonis  assumo,"  &c.  "The  prolocutor  took  that 
 office  on  him,  at  the  command  of  so  many  great  lords  the 
 bishops."  When  the  church  of  Spain  became  catholic,  and 
 abjured  the  Arian  heresy,  king  Recaredus,  in  the  third  council 
 of  Toledo,  made  a  speech  to  the  bishops,  "  Non  incognitum 
 reor  esse  vobis,  reverendissimi  sacerdotes,"  &c.  "  Non  credi- 
 mus  vestram  latere  sanctitatem,"  &c.  "  Vestra  cognovit 
 beatitudo,"  &c.  "  Venei-andi  patres,"  &c.  And  these  often 
 '  Your  holiness,'  '  your  blessedness,'  '  most  reverend,'  '  vene- 
 rable fathers:'  those  were  the  addresses  the  king  made  to  the 
 fathers  of  the  synod.  Thus  it  was  when  Spain  grew  catholic, 
 but  not  such  a  speech  to  be  found  in  all  the  Arian  records. 
 They  amongst  them  used  but  little  reverence  to  their  bishops. 
 But  the  instances  of  this  kind  are  innumerable".  Nothing 
 more  ordinary  in  antiquity,  than  to  speak  of  bishops  witli 
 the  titles  of  xC^iot  ruMiurxroi,  ^io(piki'jra.roi,  dytorxrot,  "  Domine 
 vere  sancte,  et  suspiciende  papa."  So  St.  Jerome,  a  presbyter, 
 to  St.  Austin,  a  bishop'.  "  Secundum  enim  honorum  vocabula, 
 quae  jam  ecclesiaj  usus  obtinuit,  episcopatus  presbyteria  major 
 est,"  saith  St.  Austin*^,  "  Episcojjacy  is  greater  than  the  office 
 and  dignity  of  a  presbj'ter,  according  to  the  titles  of  honour 
 which  the  custom  of  the  church  hath  introduced."  But  I 
 shall  sum  up  these  particulars  in  a  total,  which  is  thus  ex- 
 pressed by  St.  Chiysostom  ;  "  Hoeretici  a  diabolo  honorum 
 vocabula  episcopis  non  dare  didicerunt  :"  "  Heretics  have 
 learned  of  the  devil  not  to  give  due  titles  of  honour  to 
 bishops'^."  The  good  patriarch  was  surely  angry  when  he  said 
 so.  For  my  own  part,  I  ani  confident  that  my  lords  the  bishops 
 do  so  undervalue  any  fastuous,  or  pompous  title,  that  were 
 not  the  duty  of  their  people  in  it,  they  would  as  easily  reject 
 them,  as  it  is  our  duty  piously  to  use  them.  But  if  they  still 
 desire  appellatives  of  honour,  we  must  give  them ;  they  are 
 their  due  ;  if  they  desire  them  not,  they  deserve  them  mucli 
 more.  So  that  either  for  their  humility,  or,  however,  for  their 
 
 >  Theodoret.  lib.  iv.  c.  9.  ^  Theodoret.  lib.  i.  c.  4.  et  c.  5. 
 
 =  Aihanas.  Apolog.  2.  Epist.  IT,  18,  19.  apud  S.  Augustin. 
 
 In  Ps.tI.  xiii.  apud  Karon.  An.  Dora,  58.  n.  2. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTF.D. 
 
 251 
 
 works'  sake,  we  must  "  liiglily  honour  them  that  have  llie 
 rule  over  us;"  it  is  the  precept  of  St.  Paul'';  and  St. 
 Cyprian,  observing  how  curious  our  blessed  Saviour  was, 
 that  he  might  give  honour  to  the  priests  of  tlie  Jews,  even 
 then  when  they  were  reeking  in  their  malice,  hot  as  the  fire 
 of  hell ;  he  did  it  to  teach  us  a  duty.  "  Docuit  enim  sacer- 
 dotes  veros  legitime  et  plene  honorari,  dum  circa  falsos  sacer- 
 dotes  ipse  talis  extitit*^."  It  is  the  argument  he  uses  to  pro- 
 cure a  full  honour  to  the  bishop. 
 
 To  these  I  add  ;  if  sitting  in  a  throne  even  above  the  seat 
 of  elders  be  a  title  of  a  great  dignity,  then  Ave  have  it  con- 
 firmed by  the  voice  of  all  antiquity,  calling  the  bishop's  chair 
 a  throne,  and  the  investitui-e  of  a  bishop,  in  his  church,  an 
 enthronization.  "  Quando  inthronizantur  propter  communem 
 utilitatem  episcopi,"  &c.  saith  pope  Anterus,  in  his  deci'etal 
 epistle  to  the  bishops  of  Bcetica  and  Toledo.  '  Enthroning' 
 is  the  primitive  word  for  '  the  consecration''  of  a  bishop. 
 
 Sedes  in  episcoporum  ecclesiis  excelsae  constitutae  et  praj- 
 paratae,  ut  thronus  speculationem  et  potestatem  judicandi  a 
 Domino  sibi  datam  materiam  docent,"  saith  Urban  ^  And 
 St.  Ignatius  to  his  deacon  Hero,  zyiarsvcij  yxp  sir  tov  zjari^x  rou 
 K.vpiov  'Ir,aov  X^kttoD — 'in  Se/^si  /xoi  o  ©sor  "H§wva  eiil  rov  S'govoy 
 ptoy,  "  I  trust  that  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will 
 show  to  me  Hero,  sitting  upon  my  throne^." 
 
 The  sum  of  all  is  this.  Bishops,  if  they  must  be  at  all, 
 most  certainly  must  be  beloved ;  it  is  our  duties,  and  their 
 work  deserves  it.  St.  Paul  was  as  dear  to  the  Galatians  as 
 their  eyes,  and  it  is  true  eternally,  "  Formosi  pedes  evangeli- 
 zantium,"  "  the  feet  of  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel  are 
 beauteous,"  and  then  much  more  of  the  chief.  "  Ideo  ilta 
 praetulimus,  carissimi,  ut  intelligatis  potestatem  episcoporum 
 vestrorum,  in  eisque  Deum  veneremini,  et  eos  ut  animas  vestras 
 diligatis,  ut  quibus  illi  non  communicant,  non  communicetis''," 
 &c.  Now,  love  to  our  superiors  is  ever  honourable ;  for  it  is 
 more  than  '  amicitia'  that  is  amongst  peers ;  but  love  to  our 
 betters,  is  reverence,  obedience,  and  high  estimate.  And  if  we 
 have  the  one,  the  dispute  about  the  other  would  be  a  mere 
 impertinence.    I  end  this  with  the  saying  of  St.  Ignatius ; 
 
 Tliess.  V.  13.  >^  Episl.  C5. 
 
 s  Epist.  acl  Heron. 
 
 '  Epist.  decret. 
 nrban.  ibitl. 
 
252 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 "  Et  vos  decet  iion  contemnere  aetatem  episcopl,  sed  juxta 
 Dei  Patris  arbitrinm  omneni  illi  impertiri  revereiitiam' :" 
 "It  is  the  will  of  God  the  Father,  that  vre  should  give  all 
 reverence,  honour,  or  veneration  to  our  bishops." 
 
 SECTION  XLIX. 
 
 And  trusted  with  Affairs  of  Secular  Intei-est. 
 
 Well  !  However  things  are  now,  it  was  otherwise  in  the  old 
 relio  ion  ;  for  no  honour  was  thought  too  srreat  for  them, 
 whom  God  had  honoured  with  so  great  degrees  of  approxi- 
 mation to  himself  in  power  and  authority.  But  then  also  they 
 went  further.  For  they  thought  whom  God  had  instrusted 
 with  their  souls,  they  might,  with  an  equal  confidence,  trust 
 with  their  personal  actions  and  employments  of  greatest  trust. 
 
 For  it  was  great  consideration,  that  they  who  were  '  an- 
 tistites  religionis,'  the  doctors,  and  great  dictators  of  faith 
 and  conscience,  should  be  the  composers  of  those  affairs,  in 
 whose  determination,  a  Divine  wisdom,  and  the  interests  of 
 conscience,  and  the  authority  of  religion,  were  the  best  in- 
 gredients. 
 
 But  it  is  worth  observing  how  the  church  and  the  com- 
 monwealth did  actions  contrary  to  each  other,  in  pursuance 
 of  their  several  interests.  The  commonwealth  still  enabled 
 bishops  to  take  cognizance  of  causes,  and  the  confidence  of 
 their  own  people  would  be  sure  to  carry  them  thither,  where 
 they  hoped  for  fair  issue,  upon  such  good  grounds  as  they 
 might  fairly  expect  from  the  bishops'  abilities,  authority,  and 
 religion :  but,  on  the  other  side,  the  church  did  as  much  de- 
 cline them  as  she  could,  and  made  sanctions  against  it,  so  far 
 as  she  might,  without  taking  fi-om  themselves  all  opportuni- 
 ties both  of  doing  good  to  their  people,  and  engaging  the 
 secular  arm  to  their  own  assistance.  But  this  we  shall  see, 
 by  consideration  of  particulars. 
 
 .  1.  It  was  not,  'in  natura  rei,'  unlawful  for  bishops  to  re- 
 ceive an  office  of  secular  employment.  St.  Paul's  tent-making 
 was  as  much  against  the  calling  of  an  apostle,  as  sitting  in  a 
 
 '  Epist.  ad  Magnes. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 253 
 
 secular  tribunal  is  against  the  office  of  a  bishop.  And  it  is 
 hard,  if  we  will  not  allow  that  to  the  conveniences  of  a 
 republic,  which  must  be  indulged  to  a  private,  personal  ne- 
 cessity. But  we  have  not  St.  Paul's  example  only,  but  his  rule 
 too,  according  to  primitive  exposition.  "  Dare  any  of  you 
 having  a  matter  before  another,  go  to  law  before  the  unjust, 
 and  not  before  the  saints?  If  then  ye  have  judgment  of 
 things  pertaining  to  this  life,  set  them  to  judge  who  are  least 
 esteemed  in  the  church^." — Who  are  they?  The  clergy,  I  am 
 sure,  now  a  days.  But  St.  Ambrose  also  thought  that  to  be 
 his  meaning  seriously :  "  Let  the  ministers  of  the  church  be 
 the  judges'"."  For  by  '  least  esteemed'  he  could  not  mean 
 the  most  ignorant  of  the  laity ;  they  would  most  certainly 
 have  done  very  strange  justice,  especially  in  such  causes 
 which  they  understand  not.  No,  but  set  them  to  judge,  who 
 by  their  office  are  servants,  and  ministers  of  all ;  but  those  are 
 the  clergy,  who,  as  St.  Paul's  expression  is,  "  Preach  not 
 themselves,  but  Jesus  to  be  the  Lord,  and  themselves  your 
 servants,  for  Jesu's  sake."  "  Melius  dicit,  apud  Dei  ministros 
 agere  causam."  Yea,  but  St.  Paul's  expression  seems  to  ex- 
 clude the  governors  of  the  church  from  intermeddling.  Is 
 there  not  one  wise  man  among  you,  that  is  able  to  judge 
 between  his  brethren  ?  Why  brethren^  f  bishops  and  priests 
 were  to  be  the  judges ;  they  are  fathers.  The  objection  is 
 not  worth  the  noting,  but  only  for  St.  Ambrose's  answer  to 
 it.  "  Ideo  autem  fratrem  judicem  eligendum  dicit,  qui  ad- 
 huc  rector  ecclesise  illorum  non  erat  ordinatus."  "  St. 
 Paul  used  the  word  '  brethren,'  for  as  yet  a  bishop  was  not 
 ordained  amongst  them  of  that  church;"  intimating  that 
 the  bishop  was  to  be  the  man,  though  till  then,  '  in  subsidium' 
 a  prudent  Christian  man  might  be  employed". 
 
 2.  The  church  did  always  forbid  to  clergymen  a  voluntaiy 
 assumption  of  engagements  in  '  rebus  sseculi.'  So  the  sixth 
 canon  of  the  apostles,  litlaKOTtoi,  ^  zjpeaQvrspos,  >j  otstxavor  xo(T/>ti- 
 xaf  (pgovTi5«f  fJir)  a.iictKa.iM,Za.\ircii'  £i  Sg  )ta9«i|£(f79c<;.     "  A  bishop, 
 
 and  a  priest,  and  a  deacon,  must  not  assume,  or  take  on 
 himself  worldly  cares:  if  he  does,  let  him  be  deposed''." 
 
 *  1  Cor.  vi.  In  hunc  locum. 
 
 «  Vide  etiam  August,  de  Opere  Monacli.  ca.  29. 
 ^  Can.  7.  Latin.   Vide  Zonar.  in  Can  Apostol. 
 
 VOL.  VII.  T 
 
254 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 Here  the  prohibition  is  general,  '  No  worldly  cares.'  Not 
 domestic.  But  how,  if  they  come  on  him  by  divine  irapo. 
 sition,  or  accident  1  That  is  nothing,  if  he  does  not  assume 
 them;  that  is,  by  his  voluntary  act  acquire  his  own  trouble. 
 So  that  if  his  secular  employment  be  an  act  of  obedience, 
 indeed  it  is  trouble  to  him,  but  no  sin.  But  if  he  seeks  it 
 for  himself,  it  is  ambition.  In  this  sense,  also,  must  the 
 following  canon  be  understood  •  KXn^tJtor  eyyvixs  JtSooy 
 ptia^u.  "  A  clerk  must  not  be  a  tutor  or  guardian,"  viz.,  of 
 secular  trust,  that  is,  must  not  seek  a  diversion  from  his  em- 
 ployment by  voluntary  tutorship. 
 
 3.  The  church,  also,  forbade  all  secular  negotiation  for 
 base  ends,  not  precisely  the  employment  itself,  but  the  illness 
 of  the  intention ;  and  this,  indeed,  she  expressly  forbids  in 
 her  canons.  "  Pervenit  ad  sanctam  synodum,  quod  quidam 
 qui  in  clero  sunt  allecti,  propter  lucra  turpia,  conductores 
 alienarum  possessionum  fiant,  et  ssecularia  negotia  sub  cur  a 
 su§,  suscipiunt,  Dei  quidem  ministerium  parvipendentes,  saecu- 
 larium  vero  discurrentes  domos,  et,  propter  avaritiam,  patri- 
 moniorum  sollicitudinem  sumentes*"."  Clergymen  were  far- 
 mers of  lands,  and  did  take  upon  them  secular  employment 
 for  covetous  designs,  and  with  neglect  of  the  church.  These 
 are  the  things  the  council  complained  of,  and,  therefore,  ac- 
 cording to  this  exigence,  the  following  sanction  is  to  be  un- 
 derstood. "  Decrevit  itaque  hoc  sanctum  magnumque  conci- 
 lium, nullum  deinceps,  non  episcopum,  non  clericum,  vel 
 monachum,  aut  possessiones  conducere,  aut  negotiis  seculari- 
 bus  se  immiscere;"  "  No  bishop,  no  clergyman,  no  monk, 
 must  farm  grounds,  nor  engage  himself  in  secular  business." 
 What,  in  none?  No,  none.  "  Prseter  pupillorum,  si  forte 
 leges  imponant  inexcusabilem  curam,  aut  civitatis  episcopus 
 ecclesiasticarum  rerum  soUicitudinem  habere  praecipiat,  aut 
 orphanorum,  et  viduarum  earum  quae  sine  ulla  defensione 
 sunt,  ac  personarum  quae  maxime  ecclesiastico  indigent  adju- 
 torio,  et  propter  timorem  Domini  causa  deposcat."  This 
 canon  will  do  right  to  the  question. 
 
 All  secular  affairs  and  bargains,  either  for  covetousness, 
 or  with  considerable  disturbances  of  church  offices,  are  to  be 
 avoided.    For  a  clergyman  must  not  be  covetous,  much  less 
 
 «  CoJicil.Chalced.  Act.  15.  can.  3. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 255 
 
 for  covetise  must  he  neglect  his  cure.    To  this  purpose  is 
 that  of  the  second  council  of  Aries,  "  Clericus,  turpls  lucri 
 gratis,  aliquod  genus  negotiationis  non  exerceaf^."  But  not 
 here  nor  at  Chalcedon  is  the  prohibition  absolute,  nor  decla- 
 ratory of  an  inconsistence  and  incapacity ;  for,  for  all  this, 
 the  bishop  or  clerk  may  do  any  office  that  is  *  in  pia  curia.* 
 He  may  undertake  '  the  supra-vision  of  widows  and  orphans.* 
 And,  although  he  be  forbid  by  the  canon  of  the  apostles  to  be 
 '  a  guardian  of  pupils,'  yet  it  is  expounded  here,  by  this  canon 
 of  Chalcedon,  for  a  voluntary  seeking  ;  it  is  forbidden  by  the 
 apostles,  but  here  it  is  permitted  only  with  '  si  forte  leges 
 imponant,'  '  if  the  law  or  authority  commands  him,'  then  he 
 may  undertake  it.    That  is,  if  either  the  emperor  commands 
 him,  or  if  the  bishop  permits  him,  then  it  is  lawful.  But  with- 
 out such  command  or  license,  it  was  against  the  canon  of  the 
 apostles.    And,  therefore,  St.  Cyprian  did  himself  severely 
 punish  Geminius  Faustinus,  one  of  the  priests  of  Carthage, 
 for  undertaking  the  executoi'shlpof  the  testament  of  Geminius 
 Victor  g:  he  had  no  leave  of  his  bishop  so  to  do,  and  for  him, 
 of  his  own  head,  to  undertake  that  which  would  be  an 
 avocation  of  him  from  his  office,  did  in  St.  Cyprian's  con- 
 sistory deserve  a  censure.    3.  By  this  canon  of  Chalcedon, 
 any  clerk  may  be  the  ceconomus,  or  steward  of  a  church,  and 
 dispense  her  revenue,  if  the  bishop  command  him.    4.  He 
 may  undertake  the  patronage  or  assistance  of  any  distressed 
 person  that  needs  the  chui-ch's  aid.   From  hence  it  is  evident, 
 that  all  secular  employment  did  not  '  hoc  ipso'  avocate  a 
 clergyman  from  his  necessary  office  and  duty ;   for  some 
 secular  employments  are  permitted  him  ;  '  All  causes  of  piety, 
 of  charity,  all  occurrences  concerning  the  revenues  of  the 
 church,  and  nothing  for  covetousness,   but  any  thing  in 
 obedience,'  any  thing,  I  mean,  of  the  forenamed  instances. 
 Nay,  the  affairs  of  church  revenues,  and  dispensation  of 
 ecclesiastical  patrimony  was  imposed  on  the  bishop  by  the 
 canons  apostolical'',  and  then  considering  how  many  pos- 
 sessions were  deposited  first  at  the  apostles'  feet,  and  after- 
 wards in  the  bishop's  hands,  we  may  quickly  perceive  that 
 a  case  may  occur,  in  which  something  else  may  be  done  by 
 
 f  Can.  14.  s  Epist.  66. 
 
 •>  Vide  Synod.  Roman,  sub,  Sylvestr.  c.  4.  Concil.  Chalced,  c.  26.  et 
 Zonar.  ibid. 
 
 T  2 
 
256 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 the  bishop  and  his  clergy  besides  prayer  and  preaching.  AI 
 yjnpoci  (x.ri  aptsXEjff&wffav'  ptsra  tov  Y^vpiov  av  auTwv  (ppovrtiyrris  saru, 
 saith  Ignatius  to  St.  Polycarp  of  Smyrna.  "  Let  not  the 
 widows  be  neglected;  after  God,  do  thou  take  care  of  them." 
 — "  Qui  locupletes  sunt,  et  volunt,  pro  arbitrio  quisque  suo 
 quod  libitum  est,  contribuit ;  et  quod  collectum  est  apud  prjB- 
 sidem  deponitur,  atque  is  inde  opitulatur  orphan  is,  et  viduis, 
 iisque  qui  vel  raorbo  vel  alia  de  causa  egent :  turn  lis  qui  vincti 
 sunt,  et  peregre  advenientibus  hospitibus :  et,  ut  uno  verbo 
 dicam,  omnium  indigentium  curator  est :"  "  All  the  collects 
 and  oflFerings  of  faithful  people  are  deposited  with  the  bishop, 
 and  thence  he  dispenses  for  the  relief  of  the  widows  and 
 orphans,  thence  he  provides  for  travellers,  and,  in  one  word, 
 he  takes  care  of  all  indigent  and  necessitous  people'."  So  it 
 was  in  Justin  Martyr's  time,  and  all  this,  a  man  would 
 think,  required  a  considerable  portion  of  his  time,  besides 
 his  studies,  and  prayer,  and  preaching. 
 
 This  was  also  done  even  in  the  apostles'  times,  for  first 
 they  had  the  provision  of  all  the  goods  and  persons  of  the 
 coenobium  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem.  This  they  themselves 
 administered,  till  a  complaint  arose  which  might  have  proved 
 a  scandal :  then  they  chose  seven  men,  men  full  of  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  men  that  were  priests,  for  they  were  of  the  seventy 
 disciples,  saith  Epiphanius ;  and  such  men  as  preached  and 
 baptized,  so  St.  Stephen  and  St.  Philip ;  therefore,  to  be  sure, 
 they  were  clergymen,  and  yet  they  left  their  preaching  for  a 
 time,  at  least  abated  of  the  height  of  the  employment ;  for 
 therefore  the  apostles  appointed  them,  that '  themselves  might 
 not  leave  the  word  of  God  and  serve  tables ;'  plainly  implying 
 that  such  men  who  were  to  serve  these  tables,  must  leave  the 
 ministry  of  the  word  in  some  sense  or  degree  ;  and  yet  they 
 chose  presbyters,  and  no  harm  neither,  and  for  a  while  them- 
 selves had  the  employment,  I  say  there  was  no  harm  done 
 by  this  temporary  office  to  their  priestly  function  and  employ- 
 ment :  for  to  me  it  is  considerable.  If  the  calling  of  a  pres- 
 byter does  not  take  up  the  whole  man,  then  what  inconve- 
 nience, though  his  employment  be  mixed  with  secular  allay  ? 
 But  if  it  does  take  up  the  whole  man,  then  it  is  not  safe  for 
 any  presbyter  ever  to  become  a  bishop,  which  is  a  dignity  of 
 
 '  Justin.  Martyr.  Apolog.  2. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 257 
 
 a  far  greater  burden,  and  requires  more  than  a  man's  all,  if 
 all  was  required  to  tlie  function  of  a  presbyter.  But  I 
 proceed. 
 
 4.  The  church  prohibiting  secular  employment  to  bishops 
 and  clerks,  do  prohibit  it  only  '  in  gradu  impediment!  officii  * 
 clericalis ;'  and  therefore  when  the  offices  are  supplied  by 
 any  of  the  order,  it  is  never  prohibited,  but  that  the  personal 
 abilities  of  any  man  may  be  employed  for  the  fairest  advan- 
 tages either  of  church  or  commonwealth.  And,  therefore,  it 
 is  observable  that  the  canons  provide  that  the  church  be  not 
 destitute,  not  that  such  a  particular  clerk  should  there  offi- 
 ciate. Thus  the  council  of  Aries  decreed,  "  Ut  presbyteri, 
 sicut  hactenus  factum  est,  indiscrete  per  diversa  non  mittan- 
 tur  loca;  ne  forte  propter  eorum  absentiam,  et  animarum 
 pericula,  et  ecclesiarum,  in  quibus  constituti  sunt,  negligan- 
 tur  officia""."  So  that  here  we  see,  1.  That  it  had  been  usual 
 to  send  priests  on  embassies,  '  sicut  hactenus  factum  est.' 
 2.  The  canon  forbids  the  indiscreet  or  promiscuous  doing  of 
 it ;  not  that  men  of  great  ability  and  choice  be  not  employed, 
 but  that  there  be  discretion  or  discerning  in  the  choice  of  the 
 men,  viz.,  that  such  men  be  chosen  whose  particular  worth 
 did,  by  advancing  the  legation,  make  compensation  for  ab- 
 sence from  their  churches ;  and  then  I  am  sure  there  was  no 
 indiscretion  in  the  embassy,  '  quoad  hoc'  at  least ;  for  the 
 ordinary  offices  of  the  church  might  be  dispensed  by  men  of 
 even  abilities,  but  the  extraordinary  affairs  of  both  states 
 require  men  of  an  heightened  apprehension.  3.  The  canon 
 only  took  care,  that  '  the  cure  of  the  souls  of  a  parish  be  not 
 relinquished ;'  for  so  is  the  title  of  the  canon,  "  Ne  presby- 
 teri causa  legationis  per  diversa  mittantur  loca,  cura  anima- 
 rum relicta."  But  then  if  the  cure  be  supplied  by  delega- 
 tion, the  fears  of  the  canon  are  prevented. 
 
 In  pursuance  of  this  consideration,  the  church  forbade 
 clergymen  to  receive  honour,  or  secular  preferment ;  and  so 
 it  is  expressed  where  the  prohibition  is  made.  It  is  in  the 
 council  of  Chalcedon'.  "  Qui  semel  in  clero  deputati  sunt, 
 aut  monachorum  vitam  expetiverunt,  statuimus  neque  ad 
 militiam,  neque  ad  dignitatem  aliquam  venire  mundanam." 
 That  is  the  inhibition  ;  but  the  canon  subjoins  a  temper ; 
 
 ^  Apud  Burchard.  lib.  2.  decret.  cap.  99.  '  Part.  Act.  15.  Can.  7, 
 
258 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 "  Aut  hoc  tentantes  et  noii  agentes  poenitentiam,  quo  minus 
 redeant  ad  hoc,  quod  propter  Deum  primitus  elegerunt,  aiia- 
 thematizari  "  they  must  not  turn  soldiers,  or  enter  upon 
 any  worldly  dignity  to  make  them  leave  their  function,  which, 
 for  the  honour  of  God,  they  have  first  chosen :"  for  then,  it 
 seems,  he  that  took  on  him  military  honours,  or  secular  pre- 
 fectures, or  consular  dignity,  could  not  officiate  in  holy 
 orders,  but  must  renounce  them  to  assume  the  other :  it  was 
 in  obstruction  of  this  abuse,  that  the  canon  directed  its 
 prohibition,  viz.,  in  this  sense  clearly,  that  a  clerk  must  not 
 so  take  on  him  secular  offices,  as  to  make  liira  '  redire  in 
 saeculum,'  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plough,  to  look  back, 
 to  change  his  profession,  or  to  relinquish  the  church,  and 
 make  her  become  a  widow.  The  case  of  St.  Matthew  and 
 St.  Peter  distinguish  and  clear  this  business.  "  Ecce  reli- 
 quimus  omnia,"  was  the  profession  of  their  clerical  office. 
 St.  Matthew  could  not  return  to  his  trade  of  publican  at 
 all,  for  that  would  have  taken  him  from  his  apostolate. 
 But  St.  Peter  might,  and  did  return  to  his  nets,  for  all  his 
 "  reliqui  omnia."  Plainly  telling  us,  that  a  secular  calling, 
 a  continued  fixed  attendance  on  a  business  of  the  world,  is 
 an  impediment  to  the  clerical  office  and  ministration,  but 
 not  a  temporary  employment  or  secession. 
 
 5.  The  canons  of  the  church  do  as  much  forbid  the  cares 
 of  household,  as  the  cares  of  public  employment  to  bishops. 
 So  the  fourth  council  of  Carthage  decrees.  "  Ut  episcopus 
 nullam  rei  familiaris  curam  ad  se  revocet,  sed  lectioni,  et 
 orationi,  et  verbi  Dei  praedicationi  tantummodo  vacet"." 
 Now  if  this  canon  be  confronted  with  that  savinsr  of  Saint 
 Paul,  "  He  that  provides  not  for  them  of  his  own  house- 
 hold, is  worse  than  an  infidel,"  it  will  easily  Inform  us  of 
 the  church's  intention.  For  they  must  provide,  saith  St. 
 Paul,  but  yet  so  provide,  as  not  to  hinder  their  emploj-ment, 
 or  else  they  transgress  the  canon  of  the  council ;  but  this 
 caveat  may  be  as  well  entered,  and  observed  in  things  poli- 
 tical as  economical. 
 
 Thus  far  we  have  seen  what  the  church  hath  done  in 
 pursuance  of  her  own  interest ;  and  that  was,  that  she  might 
 with  sanctity,  and  without  distraction,  tend  her  grand  era- 
 
 »>  Can.  20. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 259 
 
 ployment ;  but  j'et  many  cases  did  occur  in  which  she  did 
 canonically  permit  an  alienation  of  employment,  and  revoca- 
 tion of  some  persons  from  an  assiduity  of  ecclesiastical  at- 
 tendance, as  in  the  case  of  the  seven  set  over  the  widows, 
 and  of  St.  Peter,  and  St.  Paul,  and  all  the  apostles,  and  the 
 danon  of  Chalcedon. 
 
 Now,  let  us  see  how  the  commonwealth  also  pursued  her 
 interest ;  and,  because  she  found  bishops  men  of  religion  and 
 great  trust,  and  confident  abilities,  there  was  no  reason  that 
 the  commonwealth  should  be  disserved  in  the  promotion 
 of  able  men  to  a  bishop's  throne.  Who  would  have  made 
 recompense  to  the  emperor  for  depriving  him  of  Ambrose 
 his  prefect,  if  episcopal  promotion  had  made  him  incapable 
 of  serving  his  prince  in  any  great  negotiation  ?    It  was  a 
 
 remarkable  passage  in  Ignatius,  tov  ouv  siriaKOTiov  oilrov  tov 
 
 Ki/^mv  SeT  CTgoirfXsTTEiv,  tw  Kt/piw  Ttrgos^T&Jra'  hqxri)iov  Se  at^qoc  xoct 
 oi,uv  rots  epyots  ^otat'Kiviyi  ^iTzso(psaTxvxt,  xai  jxri  uxpesrixvai  dvQqcitroif 
 vuB^oTs".  "  As  our  Lord  is  to  be  observed,  so  also  must  we 
 observe  the  bishop,  because  he  assists  and  serves  the  Lord. 
 And  wise  men,  and  of  great  understanding,  must  serve  kings, 
 for  he  must  not  be  served  with  men  of  small  parts."  Here 
 either  Ignatius  commends  bishops  to  the  service  of  kings,  of 
 else  propounds  them  as  the  fittest  men  in  the  world  to  do 
 them  service.  For,  if  only  men  of  great  abilities  are  fit  to 
 serve  kings,  surely  as  great  abilities  are  required  to  enable  a. 
 man  for  the  service  of  God  in  so  peculiar  manner  of  ap- 
 proximation. He,  then,  that  is  fit  to  be  a  bishop,  is  most 
 certainly  fit  for  the  service  of  his  king.  This  is  the  sense 
 of  Ignatius's  discourse. 
 
 For,  consider ;  Christianity  might  be  suspected  for  a 
 design  ;  and,  if  the  church  should  choose  the  best,  and  most 
 pregnant  understandings  for  her  employment,  and  then  these 
 men  become  incapable  of  aiding  the  republic,  the  promotion 
 of  these  men  would  be  an  injury  to  those  princes,  whose 
 affairs  would  need  support.  The  interest  of  the  subjects  also 
 is  considerable.  For  we  find  by  experience,  that  no  authority 
 is  so  full  of  regiment,  and  will  so  finely  foixe  obedience,  as 
 that  which  is  seated  in  the  conscience ;  and,  therefore,  Numa 
 Pompilius  Bfiade  his  laws,  and  imposed  them  with  a  face 
 
 °  Epi&t.  ad  Ephes. 
 
260 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 of  religious  solemnity.  For  the  people  are  stronger  than 
 any  one  governor,  and  were  they  not  awed  by  religion,  would 
 quickly  '  miscere  sacra  profanis,'  jumble  heaven  and  earth 
 into  a  miscellany  ;  and,  therefore,  not  only  in  the  sanction  of 
 laws,  but  in  the  execution  of  them,  the  '  Antistites  Religionis' 
 are  the  most  competent  instruments ;  and  this  was  not  only 
 in  all  religions  that  ever  were,  and  in  ours,  ever  till  now,  but 
 even  now  we  should  quickly  find  it,  were  but  our  bishops  in 
 that  veneration  and  esteem  that  by  the  law  of  God  they 
 ought,  and  that  actual Iv  they  were  in  the  calenture  of  pri- 
 mitive devotion,  and  that  the  doctors  of  religion  were  ever 
 even  amongst  the  most  barbarous  and  untaught  pagans. 
 
 Upon  the  confidence  of  these  advantages,  both  the  empe- 
 rors themselves,  when  they  first  became  Christian,  allowed 
 appeals  from  secular  tribunals  to  the  bishop's  consistory", 
 even  in  causes  of  secular  interest,  and  the  people  would 
 choose  to  have  their  difficulties  there  ended,  whence  they 
 expected  the  issues  of  justice  and  religion ;  I  say,  this  was 
 done  as  soon  as  ever  the  emperors  were  Christian.  Before 
 this  time,  bishops  and  priests,  to  be  sure,  could  not  be 
 employed  in  state  affairs,  they  were  odious  for  their  Chris- 
 tianity ;  and  then,  no  wonder  if  the  church  forbade  secular 
 employment  in  meaner  offices,  the  attendance  on  which  could 
 by  no  means  make  recompense  for  the  least  avocation  of 
 them  from  their  church  employment.  So  that  it  was  not 
 only  the  avocation,  but  the  sordidness  of  the  employment, 
 that  was  prohibited  the  clergy  in  the  constitutions  of  holy 
 church.  But  as  soon  as  ever  their  employment  might  be 
 such  as  to  make  compensation  for  a  temporary  secession, 
 neither  church  nor  state  did  then  prohibit  it ;  and  that  was 
 as  soon  as  ever  the  princes  were  Christian,  for  then  immedi- 
 ately the  bishops  were  employed  in  honorary  negotiations. 
 It  was  evident  in  the  case  of  St.  Ambrose  ;  for  the  church  of 
 Milan  had  him  for  their  bishop,  and  the  emperor  had  him 
 one  of  his  prefects,  and  the  people  their  judge  in  causes  of 
 secular  cognizance.  For  when  he  was  chosen  bishop,  the 
 emperor,  who  was  present  at  the  election,  cried  out,  "  Gra- 
 tias  tibi  ago,  Domine,  quoniam  huic  viro  ego  quidem  com- 
 misi  corpora ;  tu  autem  animas,  et  meam  electionem  osten- 
 
 °  Sezoin.  lib.  i,  tap. 9. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 261 
 
 disti  tuje  justitlae  convenire So  that  he  was  bishop  and 
 governor  of  Milan  at  the  same  time;  and  therefore,  by  reason 
 of  both  these  offices,  St.  Austin  was  forced  to  attend  a  good 
 while  before  he  could  find  him  at  leisure.  "  Non  enim  quaj- 
 rere  ab  eopoteram  quod  vole  bam  sicut  volebam,  secludentibus 
 me  ab  ejus  aure  atque  ore  catervis  negotiosorum  hominum, 
 quorum  infirraitatibus  serviebaf."  And  it  was  his  own  con- 
 dition too,  when  he  came  to  sit  in  the  chair  of  Hippo,  "  Non 
 permittor  ad  quod  volo  vacare,  ante  meridiem  ;  post  meri- 
 diem, occupationibus  hominum  teneor''."  And  again;  "  Et 
 homines  quidam  causas  suas  saeculares  apud  nos  finire  cupi- 
 entes,  quando  eis  necessarii  fuerimus,  sic  nos  sanctos,  et  Dei 
 servos  appellant,  ut  negotia  terx'se  sua;  peragant.  Aliquando 
 et  agamus  negotium  salutis  nostrae  et  salutis  ipsorum,  non 
 de  auro,  non  de  argento,  non  de  fundis,  et  pecoribus,  pro 
 quibus  rebus  quotidie  submisso  capite  salutamur,  ut  dissen- 
 eiones  hominum  terminemus'."  '  It  was  almost  the  business 
 of  every  day  to  him,  to  judge  causes  concerning  gold  and 
 silver,  cattle  and  glebe,  and  all  appurtenances  of  this  life.' 
 This  St.  Austin  would  not  have  done,  if  it  had  not  been  law- 
 ful, so  we  are  to  suppose  in  charity  ;  but  yet  this  we  are 
 sure  of,  St.  Austin  thought  it  not  only  lawful,  but  a  part  of 
 his  duty  ;  "  quibus  nos  molestiis  idem  affixit  apostolus*:"  and 
 that  by  the  authority,  not  of  himself,  but  of  him  that  spake 
 within  him,  even  the  Holy  Ghost.    So  he. 
 
 Thus  also  it  was  usual  for  princes,  in  the  primitive  church, 
 to  send  bishops  their  ambassadors.  Constans,  the  emperor, 
 sent  two  bishops  chosen  out  of  the  council  of  Sai'dis,  toge- 
 ther with  Salianus  the  great  master  of  his  army,  to  Constan- 
 tius.  St.  Chrysostom  was  sent  ambassador  to  Gainas". 
 Maruthus,  the  bishop  of  Mesopotamia,  was  sent  ambassador 
 from  the  emperor  to  Isdigerdes,  the  king  of  Persia''.  St.  Am- 
 brose, from  Valentinian  the  younger,  to  the  tyrant  Maximus''. 
 Dorotheus  was  a  bishop  and  a  chamberlain  to  the  emperor^. 
 Many  more  examples  there  are  of  the  concurrence  of  the 
 
 P  Tripart.  Hist.  lib.  vii.  c.  8.  q  S.  August,  lib.  vi.  Confess,  c.  4. 
 
 Epist.  110.  "Epist.  117. 
 
 ,  De  Opere  Monach.  cap.  29-  Tripart.  Hist.  lib.  iv.  cap.  25. 
 
 »  Ibid,  lib,  X.  cap.  6.  Ibid.  lib.  xi.  c.  8. 
 
 ^  Epist.  Ainbros.  lib.  v.  c.  33. 
 
26-2 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED, 
 
 episcopal  office,  and  a  secular  dignitj'  or  employment  , 
 Now  then  consider  :  the  church  did  not,  might  not  challenge 
 any  secular  honour  or  employment,  by  virtue  of  her  ecclesi- 
 astical dignity  precisely.  2.  The  church  might  not  be  am- 
 bitious, or  indagative  of  such  employment.  3.  The  church's 
 interest,  abstractedly  considered,  was  not  promoted  by  such 
 employment ;  but  where  there  was  no  greater  way  of  com- 
 pensation, was  interrupted  and  depressed.  4.  The  church, 
 though  in  some  cases  she  was  allowed  to  make  secession,  yet 
 might  not  relinquish  her  own  charge  to  intervene  in  another's 
 aid.  5,  The  church  did  by  no  means  suflFer  her  clerks  to 
 undertake  any  low  secular  employment,  much  more  did  she 
 forbid  all  sordid  ends  and  covetous  designs.  6.  The  bishop 
 or  his  clerks  might  ever  do  any  action  of  piety,  though  of 
 secular  burden.  Clerks  were  never  forbidden  to  read  gram- 
 mar or  philosophy  to  youth,  to  be  masters  of  schools,  or 
 hospitals  ;  they  might  reconcile  their  neighbours  that  were 
 fallen  out  about  a  personal  ti*espass  or  real  action;  and  yet, 
 since  now-a-days  a  clergyman's  employment  and  capacity  is 
 bounded  within  his  pulpit  or  reading-desk,  or  his  study  of 
 divinity  at  most,  these  that  I  have  reckoned,  are  as  verily 
 secular  as  any  thing,  and  yet  no  law  of  Christendom  ever 
 prohibited  any  of  these,  or  any  of  the  like  nature,  to  the 
 clergj' ;  nor  any  thing  that  is  ingenuous,  that  is  fit  for  a 
 scholar,  that  requires  either  fineness  of  parts,  or  great  learn- 
 ing, or  over-ruling  authority,  or  exemplary  piety.  7.  Clergy- 
 men might  do  any  thing  that  was  imposed  on  them  by  their 
 superiors.  8.  The  bishops  and  priests  were  men  of  great 
 ability  and  surest  confidence  for  determinations  of  justice,  in 
 which  religion  was  ever  the  strongest  binder.  And  therefore 
 the  princes  and  people  sometimes  forced  the  bishops  from 
 their  own  Interest  to  serve  the  commonwealth,  and  in  it 
 they  served  themselves  directly,  and  by  consequence  too ; 
 the  church  had  not  only  a  sustentatlon  from  the  secular  arm, 
 but  an  addition  of  honour  and  secular  advantages  ;  and  all 
 this  warranted  by  precedent  of  Scripture,  and  the  practice 
 of  the  primitive  church,  and  particularly  of  men  whom  all 
 succeeding  ages  have  put  into  the  calendar  of  saints.  So 
 that  it  would  be  considered,  that  all^this  while  it  Is  the  king^s 
 
 a  Euseb.  lib.  viji.  c.  1 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 ■263 
 
 interest  and  the  people's  that  is  pleaded,  when  we  afesert  a 
 capacity  to  the  bishops  to  undertai^e  charges  of  public  trust. 
 It  is  no  addition  to  the  calling  of  bishops.  It  serves  the  king, 
 it  assists  the  republic  ;  and,  in  such  a  plethory  and  almost  a 
 surfeit  of  clergymen,  as  this  age  is  supplied  with,  it  can  be 
 no  disservice  to  the  church,  whose  daily  offices  may  be  plen- 
 tifully supplied  by  vicai's;  and  for  the  temporary  avocation 
 of  some  few,  abundant  recompense  is  made  to  the  church, 
 which  is  not  at  all  injured  by  becoming  an  occasion  of  endear- 
 ing the  church  to  those  whose  aid  she  is. 
 
 There  is  an  admirable  epistle  written  by  Petrus  Blesen- 
 sis*",  in  the  name  of  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  to  pope 
 Alexander  III.,  in  the  defence  of  the  bishops  of  Ely,  Win- 
 chester, and  Norwich,  that  attended  the  court  upon  service 
 of  the  king.  "  Non  est  novum,"  saith  he,  "  quod  regum 
 consiliis  intersint  episcopi.  Sicut  enim  honestate,  et  sapi- 
 entia  caeteros  antecedunt,  sic  expeditiores  et  efficaciores  in 
 reipublicae  administratione  censentur.  Quia,  sicut  scriptum 
 est,  'minus  salubriter  disponitur  regnum,  quod  non  regitur 
 consilio  sapientum.'  In  quo  notatur,  eos  consiliis  regum  de- 
 bere  assistere,  qui  sciant  et  velint,  et  possint  patientibus  com- 
 pati,  paci  terrae  ac  populi  saluti  prospicere,  erudire  ad  justi- 
 tiam  reges,  imminentibus  occursare  periculis,  vitaeque  matu- 
 rioi'is  exemplis  informare  subditos  et  quadam  auctoritate  po- 
 testatlva  praesumptionem  malignantium  coliibere :"  "  It  is  no 
 new  thing  for  bishops  to  be  counsellors  to  princes,"  saith  he; 
 "  their  wisdom  and  piety,  that  enables  them  for  a  bishopric, 
 proclaims  them  fit  instruments  to  promote  the  public  tran- 
 quillity of  the  commonwealth.  They  know  how  to  comply 
 with  oppressed  people,  to  advance  designs  of  peace  and  public 
 security:  it  is  their  office  to  instruct  the  king  to  i-ighteous- 
 ness,  by  their  sanctity  to  be  a  rule  to  the  court,  and  to  diffuse 
 their  exemplary  piety  over  the  body  of  the  kingdom,  to  mix 
 influences  of  religion  with  designs  of  state,  to  make  them 
 have  as  much  of  the  dove  as  of  the  serpent,  and,  by  the  ad- 
 vantage of  their  religious  authority,  to  restrain  the  malignity 
 of  accursed  people,  in  whom  any  image  of  a  God  or  of  religion 
 is  remaining."  He  proceeds  in  the  discourse,  and  brings  the 
 examples  of  Samuel,  Isaiah,  Elisha,  Jehoiada,  Zacharias,  who 
 
 ^  Epist.  81. 
 
264 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 were  priests  and  prophets  respectively,  and  yet  employed  in 
 princes'  courts   and  councils   of  kings ;    and  adds   this : 
 "  Unum  noveritis,  quia  nisi  familiares,  et  consiliarii  regis 
 essent  episcopi,  supra  dorsum  ecclesise  hodie  fabricarent  pec- 
 catores,  et  immaniter  ac  ijitolerabiliter  opprimeret  clerum 
 prsesumptio  laicalis."  That  is  most  true  :  if  the  church  had 
 not  the  advantage  of  additional  honorary  employments,  "  the 
 ploughers  would  plough  upon  the  church's  back,  and  make 
 long  furrows."    The  whole  epistle  is  worth  transcribing,  but 
 I  shall  content  myself  with  this  summary  of  the  advantages, 
 which  are  acquired  both  to  policy  and  religion  by  the  employ- 
 ment of  bishops  in  princes'  courts  :  "  Istis  mediantibus,  man- 
 suescit  circa  simplices  judiciarius  rigor,  admittitur  clamor 
 pauperum,  ecclesiarum  dignitas  erigitur,  relevatur  pauperum 
 indigentia,  firmatur  in  clero  libertas,  pax  in  populis,  in  mo- 
 nasteriis  quies,  justitia  libere  exercetur,  superbia  opprimitur, 
 augetur  laicorumdevotio,  religio  fovetur,  diriguntur  judicia," 
 &c.:  "  When  pious  bishops  are  employed  in  princes'  coun- 
 cils, then  the  rigour  of  the  laws  is  abated,  equity  introduced, 
 the  cry  of  the  poor  is  heard,  their  necessities  are  made  known, 
 the  liberties  of  the  church  are  conserved,  the  peace  of  king- 
 doms laboured  for,  pride  is  depressed,  religion  increaseth, 
 the  devotion  of  the  laity  multiplies,  and  tribunals  are  made 
 just,  and  incorrupt,  and  merciful."    Thus  far  Petrus  Bles- 
 ensis.    These  are  the  effects,  which  though  perhaps  they  do 
 not  always  fall  out,  yet  these  things  may  in  expectation  of 
 reason  be  looked  for  from  the  clergy  ;  their  principles  and 
 calling  promise  all  this.    "  Etquia  in  ecclesia  magis  lex  est, 
 ubi  Dominus  legis  timetur,  melius  dicit  apud  Dei  ministros 
 agere  causam.    Faciliiis  enim  Dei  timore  sententiam  legis 
 veram  promunt;"  saith  St.  Ambrose*^;  and,  therefore,  cer- 
 tainly the  fairest  reason  in  the  world  that  they  be  employed. 
 But  if  jDersonal  defailance  be  thought  reasonable  to  disem- 
 ploy  the  whole  calling,  then  neither  clergy  nor  laity  should 
 ever  serve  a  prince. 
 
 And  now  we  are  easily  driven  into  an  understanding  of 
 that  saying  of  St.  Paul,  "  No  man  that  warreth,  entangleth 
 himself  with  the  affairs  of  this  life  For  although  this  be 
 spoken  of  all  Christian  people,  and  concerns  the  laity  in 
 
 <■  In  1  Cor.  vi. 
 
 ^  2  Tim.  ii.  4. 
 
EPISCOPACV  ASSERTED. 
 
 265 
 
 their  proportion,  as  much  as  tlie  clerg}',  yet,  nor  one  nor  llie 
 other  is  interdicted  any  thing  that  is  not  a  direct  liinderance 
 to  tlieir  own  precise  duty  of  Cliristianity.  And  such  things 
 must  be  pared  away  from  the  fringes  of  the  laity,  as  well  as 
 the  long  robe  of  the  clergy.  But  if  we  should  consider  how 
 little  we  have  now  left  for  the  employment  of  a  bishop,  I  am 
 afraid  a  bishop  would  scarce  seem  to  be  a  necessary  function, 
 so  far  would  it  be  from  being  hindered  by  the  collateral  in- 
 tervening of  a  lay  judicature.  I  need  not  instance  in  any 
 particulars  ;  for  if  the  judging  matters  and  questions  of  re- 
 ligion be  not  left  alone  to  them,  they  may  well  be  put  into  a 
 temporal  employment,  to  preserve  them  from  suspicion  of 
 doing  nothinof. 
 
 I  have  now  done  with  this  ;  only  entreating  this  to  be  con- 
 sidered :  Is  not  the  king  '  fons  utriusque  jurisdictionis  V  In 
 all  the  senses  of  common  law,  and  external  compulsory,  he 
 is.  But  if  so,  then  why  may  not  the  king  as  well  make 
 clergy -judges,  as  lay-delegates?  For,  to  be  sure,  if  tliere  be 
 an  incapacity  in  the  clergy  of  meddling  with  secular  aftaii-s, 
 there  is  the  same  at  least  in  the  laity  of  meddling  with  church 
 affairs.  For  if  the  clergy  be  above  the  affairs  of  the  world, 
 then  the  laity  are  under  the  affairs  of  the  church ;  or  else,  if 
 the  clergy  be  incapable  of  lay-business  because  it  is  of  a  dif- 
 fei-ent  and  disparate  nature  from  the  church,  does  not  the 
 same  argument  exclude  the  laity  from  intervening  in  church 
 affairs  ?  For  the  church  differs  no  more  from  the  common- 
 wealth, than  the  commonwealth  differs  from  the  church. 
 And  now,  after  all  this,  suppose  a  king  should  command  a 
 bishop  to  go  on  embassy  to  a  foreign  prince,  to  be  a  commis- 
 sioner in  a  treaty  of  pacification,  if  the  bishop  refuse,  did  he 
 do  the  duty  of  a  subject  ?  If  yea,  I  wonder  what  subjection 
 that  is  which  a  bishop  owes  to  his  prince,  when  he  shall  not 
 be  bound  to  obey  him  in  any  thing  but  the  saying  and  doing 
 of  his  office,  to  which  he  is  obliged,  whether  the  prince  com- 
 mands him  yea  or  no.  But  if  no,  then  the  bishop  was  tied 
 to  go,  and  then  the  calling  makes  him  no  way  incapable  of 
 such  employment,  for  no  man  can  be  bound  to  do  a  sin. 
 
266 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 SECTION  L. 
 
 And  therefore  were  enforced  to  delegate  the  Power,  and  put 
 others  in  Substitution. 
 
 But  then  did  not  this  emplojinent,  when  the  occasions  were 
 great  and  extraordinary,  force  the  bishops  to  a  temporary 
 absence  ?  And  what  remedy  was  there  for  that  /  For  the 
 church  is  not  to  be  left  destitute,  that  is  agreed  on  by  all  the 
 canons.  They  must  not  be  like  the  Sicilian  bishops  whom 
 Petrus  Blesensis  complains  of,  that  attended  the  court,  and 
 never  visited  their  churches,  or  took  care  either  of  the  cure 
 of  souls,  or  of  the  church  possessions.  What  then  must  be 
 done  ?  The  bishops,  in  such  cases,  may  give  delegation  of 
 their  power  and  offices  to  others,  though  now-a-days  they  are 
 complained  of  for  their  care :  I  say,  for  their  care  ;  for  if  they 
 may  intervene  in  secular  aflfairs,  they  may  sometimes  be  ab- 
 sent, and  then  they  must  delegate  their  power,  or  leave  the 
 church  without  a  curate.  But  for  this  matter  the  account 
 need  not  be  long.  For  since  I  have  proved  that  the  whole 
 diocese  is  *  in  cura  episcopali,'  and  for  all  of  it  he  is  respon- 
 sive to  God  Almighty,  and  yet  that  instant  necessity  and  the 
 public  act  of  Christendom  hath  ratified  it,  that  bishops  have 
 delegated  to  presbyters  so  many  parts  of  the  bishop's  charge, 
 as  there  are  parishes  in  his  diocese,  a^Qevr/a,  which  is  pre- 
 tended for  delegation  of  episcopal  charge,  is  no  less  than  the 
 act  of  all  Christendom.  For  it  is  evident,  at  first,  presbyters 
 had  no  distinct  cure  at  all,  but  were,  in  common,  assistant  to 
 the  bishop,  and  were  his  emissaries  for  the  gaining  souls  in 
 city  or  suburbs:  but  when  the  bishops  divided  parishes,  and 
 fixed  the  presbyters  upon  a  cure,  so  many  parishes  as  they 
 distinguished,  so  many  delegations  they  made  ;  and  these  we 
 all  believe  to  be  good  both  in  law  and  conscience  :  for  the 
 bishop  "  per  omnes  divinos  ordines  propriae  hierarchiae  ex- 
 ercet  raysterla,"  saith  St.  Denis^ ;"  he  does  not  do  the  offices 
 of  his  order  by  himself  only,  but  by  others  also,  for  all  the 
 inferior  orders  do  so  operate,  as  by  them  he  does  his  proper 
 offices. 
 
 *  Eccles.  Hierar.  c.  5. 
 
EPISeOPACV  ASSERTED. 
 
 267 
 
 But  besides  this  grand  act  of  the  bishops  first,  and  tlien  of 
 all  Christendom  in  consent,  we  have  fair  precedent  in  St. 
 Paul  ;  for  he  made  delegation  of  a  power  to  the  church  of 
 Corinth  to  excommunicate  the  Incestuous  person.  It  was  a 
 plain  delegation,  for  he  commanded  them  to  do  it,  and  gave 
 them  his  '  own  spirit,'  that  is,  his  '  own  authority  ;'  and  in- 
 deed, without  it,  I  scarce  find  how  the  delinquent  should 
 have  been  delivered  over  to  Satan  in  the  sense  of  the  apos- 
 tolic church ;  that  is,  'to  be  buffeted,'  for  that  was  a  mii-a- 
 culous  appendix  of  power  apostolic. 
 
 When  St.  Paul  sent  for  Timothy  from  Ephesus,  he  sent 
 Tychicus  to  be  his  vicar.  "Do  thy  diligence  to  come  unto 
 me  shortly,  for  Demas  hath  forsaken  me,  &c.,  and  Tychicus 
 have  I  sent  to  Ephesus Here  was  an  express  delegation 
 of  the  power  of  jurisdiction  to  Tychicus,  who  for  the  time 
 was  curate  to  St.  Timothy.  Epaphroditus  for  a  while  at- 
 tended on  St.  Paul,  although  he  was  then  bishop  of  Philippi; 
 and  either  St.  Paul  or  Epaphroditus  appointed  one  in  substi- 
 tution, or  the  church  was  relinquished,  for  he  was  most  cer- 
 tainly non-resident 
 
 Thus  also  we  find  that  St.  Ignatius  did  delegate  his  power 
 to  the  presbyters,  in  his  voyage  to  his  martyrdom :  "  Pres- 
 byteri,  pascite  gregem  qui  inter  vos  est,  donee  Deus  desig- 
 uaverit  eum,  qui  principatum  in  vobis  habiturus  est :"  "  Ye 
 presbyters,  do  you  feed  the  flock  till  God  shall  design  you  a 
 bishop"*."  Till  then,  therefore,  it  was  but  a  delegate  power  ; 
 it  could  not  else  have  expired  in  the  presence  of  a  superior. 
 To  this  purpose  is  that  of  the  Laodicean  council :  "  Non 
 oportet  presbyteros  ante  ingressum  episcopi  ingredi,  et  sedere 
 in  tribulanibus,  nisi  forte  aut  segrotet  episcopus,  aut  in  pere- 
 grinis  eum  esse  constitei'it "  Presbyters  must  not  sit  in 
 consistoiy  without  the  bishop,  unless  the  bishop  be  sick  or 
 absent^"  So  that  it  seems,  what  the  bishop  does  when  he  is 
 in  his  church,  that  may  be  committed  to  others  in  his  absence. 
 And  to  this  purpose  St.  Cyprian  sent  a  plain  commission  to 
 his  presbyters  :  "  Fretus  ergo  dilectione  et  religione  vestra, 
 his  Uteris  hortor  et  mando,  ut  vos,  vice  mea,  fungamini 
 circa  gerenda  ea,  quse  adrainistratio  religiosa  deposcit:"  "  I 
 
 b  2  Tim.  iv.  9,  12. 
 ^  Epist.  ad  Antioch. 
 
 Phil.  ii.  25,  26. 
 « Can.  56. 
 
268 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 entreat  and  command  you,  that  you  do  my  office  In  the  ad- 
 mhiistration  of  the  affairs  of  the  church'."  And  another 
 time  he  put  Herculanus  and  Caldonius,  two  of  his  suffragans, 
 together  with  Rogatianus  and  Numidicus,  two  priests,  in 
 substitution  for  the  excommunicating  Fcelicissimus  and  four 
 more,  "cum  ego  vos  pro  me  vicarios  miserims."  So  it  was 
 just  in  the  case  of  Hierocles,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  and  Me- 
 Htius,  his  surrogate,  in  Epiphanius  ;  "  Videbatur  autem  et 
 Melitius  praemenire,&c.,  ut  qui  secundum  locum  habebat  post 
 Petrum  in  archiepiscopatu,  velut  adjuvandi  ejus  gratia  sub 
 ipso  existens,  et  sub  ipso  ecclesiastica  curans :"  "He  did 
 chui'ch  offices  under,  and  for  Hierocles''."  And  I  could  never 
 find  any  canon  or  personal  declamatory  clause,  in  any  council 
 or  primitive  father,  against  a  bishop's  giving  more  or  less  of 
 his  jurisdiction  by  way  of  delegation. 
 
 Hitherto  also  may  be  referred,  that  when  the  goods  of  all 
 the  church,  which  then  were  of  a  perplexed  and  busy  dispen- 
 sation, were  all  in  the  bishop's  hand,  as  part  of  the  episcopal 
 function,  yet  that  part  of  the  bishop's  office,  the  bishop,  by 
 order  of  the  council  of  Chalcedon,  might  delegate  to  a  stew- 
 ard, provided  he  were  a  clergyman.  And  upon  this  intima- 
 tion and  decree  of  Chalcedon,  the  fathers  in  the  council  of 
 Seville,  forbade  any  laymen  to  be  stewards  for  the  church  : 
 "  Elegimus  ut  unusquisque  nostrum,  secundum  Chalcedonen- 
 sium  patrum  decreta,  ex  proprio  clero  oeconomum  sibi  con- 
 stituat'."  But  the  reason  extends  the  canon  further :  "In- 
 decorum est  enim  laicum  vicarium  esse  episcopi,  et  sa^culares 
 in  ecclesia  judicare."  Vicars  of  bishops  the  canon  allows,  only 
 foi-bids  laymen  to  be  vicars.  "  In  uno  enlm  eodemque  officio 
 non  decet  dispar  professio,  quod  etiam  in  divina  lege  prohl- 
 betur,"  &c. :  "  In  one  and  the  same  office,  the  law  of  God 
 forbids  to  join  men  of  desperate  capacities."  Then  this 
 would  be  considered.  For  the  canon  pretends  Scripture, 
 precepts  of  fathers,  and  tradition  of  antiquity,  for  its  sanc- 
 tion. 
 
 fEpist.  9.  s  Epist.  31.  &  39. 
 
 Hseres.  68.  '  Concil.  Hispal.  cap.  6, 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 269 
 
 SECTION  LI. 
 
 But  they  were  ever  Clergymen,  for  there  neiier  were  any  Lay^ 
 Elders  in  any  Church-office  heard  of  in  the  Church. 
 
 For  although  antiquity  approves  of  episcopal  delegations  of 
 their  power  to  their  vicars,  yet  these  vicars  and  delegates 
 must  be  priests,  at  least.  Melitius  was  a  bishop,  and  yet 
 the  chancellor  of  Hierocles,  patriarch  of  Alexandria;  so  were 
 Herculanus  and  Caldonius  to  St.  Cyprian.  But  they  never 
 delegated  to  any  layman  any  part  of  their  episcopal  power 
 precisely.  Of  their  lay  power,  or  the  cognizance  of  secular 
 causes  of  the  people,  I  find  one  delegation  made  to  some 
 gentleman  of  the  laity,  by  Sylvanus,  bishop  of  Troas":  when 
 his  clerks  grew  covetous,  he  cured  their  itch  of  gold  by  trust- 
 ing men  of  another  profession,  so  to  shame  them  into  justice 
 and  contempt  of  money.  "  Si  quis  autem  episcopus  post- 
 hac  ecclesiasticam  rem  laicali  procuratione  administrandam 
 elegerit,  non  solum  a  Christo  de  rebus  pauperum  judicatur 
 reus,  sed  etiam  et  concilio  manebit  obnoxius  :"  "If  any 
 bishop  shall  hereafter  concredit  any  church-affairs  to  lay 
 administration,  he  shall  be  responsible  to  Christ,  and  in  dan- 
 ger of  the  council''."  But  the  thing  was  of  more  ancient  con- 
 stitution ;  for  in  that  epistle  which  goes  under  the  name  of 
 St.  Clement,  which  is  most  certainly  very  ancient,  whoever 
 was  the  author  of  it,  it  is  decreed,  "  Si  qui  ex  fratribus  ne- 
 gotia  habent  inter  se,  apud  cognitores  saeculi  non  judicentur, 
 sed  apud  presbyteros  ecclesise,  quicquid  illud  est,  dirimatur:" 
 "  If  Christian  people  have  causes  of  difference  and  judicial 
 contestation,  let  it  be  ended  before  the  priests."  For  so 
 St.  Clement  expounds  '  presbyteros  '  in  the  same  epistle, 
 reckoning  it  as  a  part  of  the  sacred  hierarchy To  this  or 
 some  parallel  constitution  St.  Jerome  relates,  saying  that 
 "  priests  from  the  beginning  were  appointed  judges  of 
 causes."  He  expounds  his  meaning  to  be  of  such  priests 
 as  were  also  bishops ;  and  they  were  judges  '  ab  initio,' 
 *  from  the  beginning,'  saith  St,  Jerome     So  that  the  saying 
 
 *  Socrat.  lili.  vii.  cap.  37. 
 Epist.  ad  Jacob.  Fiiilr.  Dom. 
 VOL.  VII. 
 
 Concil.  Hispan.  ubi  supra. 
 Dc  7  Ordin.  Eccles. 
 
 U 
 
270 
 
 EPISCOPACY  a^«;f.rted. 
 
 of  ihe  folher  may  no  way  prejudge  the  bishop's  authority, 
 but  it  excludes  the  assistance  of  laymen  from  their  consisto- 
 ries. '  Presbyter'  and  '  episcopus'  were  instead  of  one  word 
 to  St.  Jerome,  but  they  are  always  clergy  with  him  and  all 
 men  else. 
 
 But  for  the  main  question,  St.  Ambrose  did  represent  it 
 to  Valentinian,  the  emperor,  with  confidence  and  humility, 
 "  In  causa  fidei,  ecclesiastici  alicujus  ordinis  eum  judicare 
 debere,  qui  nec  munere  impar  sit,  nee  jure  dissimilis*^."  The 
 whole  epistle  is  admirable  to  this  purpose  ;  "  Sacerdotes  de 
 sacerdotibus  judicare,"  "  that  clei-gj'men  only  must  judge 
 of  clergy  causes ;"  and  this  St.  Ambrose  there  calls  "judi- 
 cium episcopale,"  "  the  bishop's  judicature."  "  Si  tractan- 
 dum  est,  tractare  in  ecclesia  didici,  quod  majores  fecerunt 
 mei.  Si  conferendum  de  fide,  sacerdotum  debet  esse  ista 
 collatio,  sicut  factum  est  sub  Constantino,  augustae  memorise 
 principe."  So  that  both  "  matters  of  faith  and  of  ecclesi- 
 astical order  are  to  be  handled  in  the  church,  and  that  by 
 bishops,"  and  that  '  sub  imperatore,'  by  permission  and 
 authority  of  the  prince:  for  so  it  Avas  in  Nice,  under  Con- 
 stantine.    Thus  far  St.  Ambrose. 
 
 St.  Athanasius  reports,  that  Hosius,  bishop  of  Corduba, 
 president  in  the  Nicene  council,  said  it  was  the  abomination 
 of  desolation  that  a  layman  shall  be  judge  '  in  eccleslastlcis 
 judiciis,'  '  in  church  causes'.'  And  Leontius  calls  church 
 affairs,  "  res  alienas  a  laicis,"  "  things  of  another  court,  of 
 a  distinct  cognizance  from  the  laity".''  To  these  add  the 
 council  of  Venice,  for  it  is  very  considerable  in  this  question  : 
 "  Clerico,  nisi  ex  permissu  eplscopl  sui,  servorum  suorum  ste- 
 cularia  judicla  adlre  non  liceat.  Sed  si  fortasse  eplscopl  sui 
 judicium  coeperit  habere  suspectum,  aut  ipsl  de  proprietate 
 aliqua  adversus  ipsum  episcopum  fuerit  nata  contentlo,  alio- 
 rum  episcojiorum  audientiam,  non  saecularlum  potestatum 
 debebit  amblre.  Allter,  a  communlone  habeatur  alienus :" 
 *'  Clergymen,  without  delegation  from  their  bishop,  may  not 
 hear  the  causes  of  their  servants,  but  the  bishop,  unless  the 
 bishop  be  appealed  from;  then  the  other  bishops  must  hear 
 the  cause,  but  no  lav  judges  by  any  means''." 
 
 e  Epist.  13.  ad  Valent. 
 g  Suidas  in  Vitu  Lconlii. 
 
 f  Epist.  ad  Solitar. 
 Can.  is.  A.  D.  453. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 271 
 
 These  sanctions  of  holy  church  it  pleased  the  emperor  to 
 ratify  by  an  imperial  edict,  for  so  Justinian  commanded,  that 
 in  causes  ecclesiastical,  secular  judges  should  have  no  inte- 
 rest :  "  Sed  sanctissiraus  episcopus  secundum  sacras  regulas 
 causae  finem  imponat:'"  "  The  bishop  according  to  the  sacred 
 canons  must  be  the  sole  judge  of  church  matters'."  I  end 
 this  with  the  decretal  of  St.  Gregory,  one  of  the  four  doctors 
 of  the  church  :  "  Cavendum  est  a  fraternitate  vestra,  ne  sae- 
 cularibus  viris,  atque  non  sub  regula  nostra  degentibus,  res 
 ecclesiasticae  committantur :"  "  Heed  must  be  taken,  that 
 matters  ecclesiastical  be  not  any  ways  concredited  to  secular 
 persons^."  But  of  this  I  have  twice  spoken  already.— 
 (Sect.  36.  and  Sect.  41.) 
 
 The  thing  is  so  evident,  that  it  is  next  to  impudence  to 
 say,  that,  in  antiquity,  laymen  were  parties  and  assessors  in 
 the  consistory  of  the  church.  It  was  against  their  faith,  it 
 was  against  their  practice;  and  those  few  pigmy  objections 
 out  of  Tertullian',  St.  Ambrose"',  and  St.  Austin",  using 
 the  word  '  seniores,'  or  elders,  sometimes  for  priests,  as  being 
 the  Latin  for  the  Greek  z^yqeaQvreqoi,  sometimes  for  a  secular 
 magistrate  or  alderman,  (for  I  think  St.  Austin  did  so  in  his 
 third  book  against  Cresconius,)  are  but  like  sophisms  to 
 prove  that  two  and  two  are  not  four ;  for  to  pretend  such 
 slight,  aii-y  imaginations,  against  the  constant,  known,  open 
 Catholic  practice  and  doctrine  of  the  church,  and  history  of 
 all  ages,  is  as  if  a  man  should  go  to  fight  an  imperial  army 
 with  a  single  bulrush.  They  are  not  worth  further  con- 
 sidering. 
 
 But  this  is :  that  in  this  question  of  lay  elders,  the  modern 
 Arians  and  Acephali  do  wholly  mistake  their  own  advan- 
 tages :  for  whatsoever  they  object,  out  of  antiquity,  for  the 
 white  and  watery  colours  of  lay-elders,  is  either  a  very  mis- 
 prision of  their  allegations,  or  else  clearly  abused  in  the  use 
 of  them.  For  now-a-days  they  are  only  used  to  exclude  and 
 drive  forth  episcopacy  ;  but  then  they  misallege  antiquity ; 
 for  the  men  with  whose  heifers  they  would  fain  plough  in 
 this  question,  wei'e  themselves  bishops  for  the  most  part,  and 
 he  that  was  not,  would  fain  have  heen ;  it  is  known  so  of 
 
 'Novel.  Constit.  123.        >*  Lib.  vii.  Epist.  G6.        '  Tertul.  Apol.  c.  33. 
 S.  Amb.  in  1  Tim.  v.  1. ;  et  lib.  i.  de  Oflic.  c.  20. 
 "  S.  August,  lib.  iii.  contra  Crescgn.;  et  Epist.  137. 
 
 U  2 
 
272 
 
 EPISCOPACY  Af5SERTED. 
 
 Tertulllan  ;  and,  tliei'ef'ore,  most  certainly,  if  they  had  spoken 
 of  lay -judges  in  church-matters  (which  they  never  dreamed 
 of,)  yet  meant  them  not  so  as  to  exclude  episcopacy,  and  if 
 not,  then  the  pretended  allegations  can  do  no  service  in  the 
 present  question. 
 
 I  am  only  to  clear  this  pretence  from  a  place  of  Scripture 
 totally  misunderstood,  and  then  it  cannot  have  any  colour 
 from  any  avQsvrix,  either  Divine  or  human,  but  that  lay- 
 judges  of  causes  ecclesiastical,  as  they  are  unheard  of  in 
 antiquity,  so  they  are  neither  named  in  Scripture,  nor  receive 
 from  thence  any  instructions  for  their  deportment  in  their 
 imaginary  office ;  and,  therefore,  may  be  remanded  to  the 
 place  from  whence  they  came,  even  the  lake  of  Gehenna,  and 
 so  to  the  place  of  the  nearest  denomination.  The  objection  is 
 from  St.  Paul,  ol  y.a.'Kws  zsQpzarurzs  zypeaQvnpoi,  &c.  "  Let  the 
 elders  that  rule  well,  be  accounted  worthy  of  double  honour, 
 especially  th6y  that  labour  in  the  word  and  doctrine  :"  '  espe- 
 cially they",' — therefore,  all  elders  do  not  so.  Here  are  two 
 sorts  of  elders,  preaching  ministers,  and  elders  not  preachers. 
 Therefore  lay-elders,  and  yet  all  are  governors. 
 
 But  why,  therefore,  lay-elders?  Why  may  there  not  be 
 divers  church-officers,  and  yet  but  one  or  two  of  them  the 
 preacher  ?  "  Christ  sent  me  not  to  baptize,  but  to  preach," 
 saith  St.  Paul;  and  yet  the  commission  of  '  baptizate'  was  as 
 large  as  '  prsedicate,'  and  why,  then,  might  not  another  say, 
 '  Christ  sent  me  not  to  preach,  but  to  baptize  ?'  that  is,  in  St. 
 Paul's  sense,  not  so  much  to  do  one  as  to  do  the  other,  and 
 if  he  left  the  ordinary  ministration  of  baptism,  and  betook 
 himself  to  the  ordinary  office  of  preaching,  then,  to  be  sure, 
 some  minister  must  be  the  ordinary  baptizer,  and  so  not  the 
 preacher:  for  if  he  might  be  both  ordinarily,  why  was  not 
 St.  Paul  both  ?  For  though  their  power  was  common  to  all 
 of  the  same  oi'der,  yet  the  execution  and  dispensation  of  the 
 ministries  was  according  to  several  gifts,  and  that  of  prophecy 
 or  preaching  was  not  dispensed  to  all  in  so  considerable  a 
 measure,  but  that  some  of  them  might  be  destined  to  the 
 ordinai-y  execution  of  other  offices,  and  yet  because  the  gift 
 of  prophecy  was  the  greatest,  so  also  was  the  office  ;  and, 
 therefore,  tlie  sense  of  the  words  is  this,  '  That  all  presbyters 
 must  be  honoured,  but  especially  they  that  prophesy,  doing 
 
 °  1  Tim.  V.  17. 
 
EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 273 
 
 that  office  with  an  ordinary  execution  and  ministry.'  So  no 
 lay-elders  yet.  Add  to  this,  that  it  is  also  plain,  that  all  the 
 clergy  did  not  preach.  Valerius,  bishop  of  Hippo,  could  not 
 well  skill  of  the  Latin  tongue,  being  a  Greek  born,  and  yet 
 a  godly  bishop;  and  St.  Austin,  his  presbyter,  preached  for 
 him.  The  same  case  might  occur  in  the  apostles'  times. 
 For  then  was  a  concourse  of  all  nations  to  the  Christian 
 synaxes,  especially  in  all  great  imperial  cities  and  metropo- 
 litans, as  Rome,  Antioch,  Jerusalem,  Caesarea,  and  the  like. 
 Now  all  could  not  speak  with  tongues,  neither  could  all 
 pi'ophesy,  they  were  particular  gifts,  given  severally,  to 
 several  men,  appointed  to  minister  in  church  offices.  Some 
 prophesied,  some  interpreted  ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  an  igno- 
 rant fancy  to  think  that  he  must  needs  be  a  laic,  whosoever, 
 in  the  ages  apostolical,  was  not  a  preacher. 
 
 2.  None  of  the  fathers  ever  expounded  this  place  of  lay- 
 elders,  so  that  we  have  a  traditive  interpretation  of  it  in  pre- 
 judice to  the  pretence  of  our  new  office. 
 
 3.  The  word  presbyter  is  never  used,  in  the  New  Testa- 
 ment, for  a  lay-man  if  a  church-officer  be  intended.  If  it  be 
 said,  it  is  used  so  here,  that  is  the  question,  and  must  not  be 
 brought  to  prove  itself. 
 
 4.  The  presbyter  that  is  here  spoken  of,  must  be  main- 
 tained by  ecclesiastical  revenue,  for  so  St.  Paul  expounds 
 '  honoui-'  in  the  next  verse.  "  Presbyters  that  rule  well, 
 must  be  honoured,"  &c.  "  For  it  is  written,  thou  shalt  not 
 muzzle  the  mouth  of  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn." 
 But  now  the  patrons  of  this  new  devise  are  not  so  greedy  of 
 their  lay-bishops  as  to  be  at  charges  with  them,  they  will 
 rather  let  them  stand  alone  on  their  own  rotten  legs,  and  so 
 perish,  than  fix  him  upon  this  place  with  their  hands  in  their 
 purses.  But  it  had  been  most  fitting  for  them  to  have  kept 
 him,  being  he  is  of  their  own  begetting. 
 
 5.  This  place  speaks  not  of  divers  persons,  but  divers 
 parts  of  the  pastoral  office,  Tupoiarcca^ai,  and  kotimv  h  Xiyco'  '  To 
 rule  and  to  labour  in  the  word.'  Just  as  if  the  expression  had. 
 been  '  in  materia  politica.'  All  good  counsellors  of  state  are 
 worthy  of  double  honour,  especially  them  that,  disregarding 
 their  own  private,  aim  at  the  public  good.  This  implies  not 
 two  sorts  of  counsellors,  but  two  parts  of  a  counsellor's  worth 
 and  quality.  Judges  that  do  righteousness  are  worthy  of 
 double  honour,  especially  if  they  right  the  cause  of  orphans 
 
274 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 and  widows  ;  and  yet  there  are  no  righteous  judges  that  re- 
 fuse to  do  both. 
 
 6.  All  ministers  of  holy  church  did  not  preach,  at  least 
 not  frequently.  The  seven  that  were  ml  twv  x'^qcov  rerxyixivoi, 
 '  set  over  the  widows,'  were  presbyters,  but  yet  they  were 
 forced  to  leave  the  constant  ministration  of  the  word  to  attend 
 that  employment,  as  I  showed  formerly'';  and  thus  it  was  in 
 descent  too,  for  o  T^pznQvrcpos  ev  ^ A\i%a.v8pzigc^ou  TupoeroixiXsi,  said 
 Socrates 'I ;  "  A  presbyter  does  not  preach  in  Alexandria,  the 
 bishop  only  did  it."  And  then  the  allegation  is  easily  under- 
 stood. For  '  labouring  in  the  word'  does  not  signify  only 
 making  homilies  or  exhortations  to  the  people,  but  whether 
 it  be  by  word,  or  writing,  or  travelling  from  place  to  place, 
 still,  the  greater  the  sedulity  of  the  pei'son  is,  and  difficulty  of 
 the  labour,  the  greater  increment  of  honour  is  to  be  given 
 him.  So  that  here  are  no  lay-elders ;  for  all  the  presbyters 
 St.  Paul  speaks  of,  are  to  be  honoured,  but  especially  those 
 who  take  extraordinary  pains  in  propagating  the  Gospel. 
 For  though  all  preach  (suppose  that,)  yet  all  do  not  kottixv, 
 take  such  great  pains  in  it  as  is  intimated  in  Komwvrss,  For 
 xoTTiav  is  "to  take  bodily  labour  and  travel,  '  usque  ad  lassi- 
 tudinem,'"  so  Budseus  renders  it.  And  so,  it  is  likely,  St. 
 Paul  here  means.  Honour  the  good  pi-esbyters,  but  especially 
 them  that  travel  for  disseminating  the  Gospel.  And  the 
 word  is  often  so  used  in  Scripture.  St.  Paul,a\Xa  z^spiaaorz^ov 
 n^i-jTuv  EnoTrlaaoi-  "  I  have  travelled  in  the  word  more  than  they 
 all."  Not  that  St.  Paul  preached  more  than  all  the  apostles, 
 fol",  most  certainly,  they  made  it  their  business  as  well  as  he. 
 But  he  travelled  further  and  more  than  they  all,  for  the 
 spreading  it.  And  thus  it  is  said  of  the  good  women  that 
 travelled  with  the  apostles,  for  supply  of  the  necessities  of 
 their  diet  and  household  offices,  "  they  laboured  much  in  the 
 Lord'."  KoTTixv  is  the  word  for  them  too.  So  it  is  said  of 
 Persis,  of  Mary,  of  Tryplijena,  of  Tryphosa.  And  since  those 
 women  were  xoTnusxt  ev  Ky§iw,  that  travelled  with  the  apos- 
 tolical men  and  evangelists,  the  men  also  travelled  too,  and 
 preached,  and,  therefore.  Were  xoTncSvres-  evXoyw  that  is,  "  tra- 
 vellers in  the  word."  "We  ought,  therefore,  to  receive  such," 
 saith  St.  John%  intimating  a  particular  reception  of  them,  as 
 being  towards  us  of  a  peculiar  merit.  So  that  the  sense  of  St_ 
 
 I'  Sec.  48.  n  Lib.  v.  c.  22. 
 
 J  Rom,  xvi  s  Epist.  c,  3. 
 
EPlSCOl'ACY  ASSEUTKD. 
 
 275 
 
 Paul  may  bo  this  also,  all  the  i-ulers  of  the  churcli,  that  is,  all 
 bishops,  apostles,  and  apostolic  men,  are  to  be  lionoilred,  but 
 especially  them,  who,  besides  the  former  ruling,  are  also 
 '  travellers  in  the  word,'  or  evangelists. 
 
 7.  We  are  furnished  with  answer  enough  to  infatuate  this 
 pretence  for  lay-elders,  from  the  common  draught  of  the  new 
 discipline.  For  they  have  some  that  preach  only,  and  some 
 that  rule  and  jireach  too,  and  yet  neither  of  them  the  lay- 
 elders,  viz.,  their  pastors  and  doctors. 
 
 8.  Since  it  is  pretended  by  themselves,  in  the  question  of 
 episcopacy, tliat  'presbyter 'and  'episcopus'  is  all  one, and  this 
 very  thing  confidently  obtruded,  in  defiance  of  episcopacy, 
 why  may  not  '  presbyteri,'  in  this  place,  signify  '  bishops  r' 
 And  then  either  this  must  be  lay-bishops,  as  well  as  lay-pres- 
 byters, or  else  this  place  is  to  none  of  their  purposes. 
 
 9.  If  both  these  offices  of  ruling  and  preaching  may  be 
 conjunct  in  one  person,  then  there  is  no  necessity  of  dis- 
 tinguishing the  officers  by  the  several  employments,  since 
 one  man  may  do  both.  But  if  these  offices  cannot  be  con- 
 junct, then  no  bishops  must  preach,  nor  no  preachers  be  of 
 the  consistory,  (take  which  government  you  list,)  for  if  they 
 be,  then  the  officer  being  united  in  one  person,  the  inference 
 of  the  distinct  officer,  the  lay-elder,  is  impertinent.  For  the 
 meaning  of  St.  Paul  would  be  nothing  but  this: — All  church- 
 rulers  must  be  honoured,  especially  for  their  preaching. — For 
 if  the  offices  may  be  united  in  one  person,  (as  it  is  evident 
 they  may),  then  this  may  be  comprehended  within  the  other, 
 and  only  be  a  vital  part,  and  of  peculiar  excellency.  And, 
 indeed,  so  it  is,  according  to  the  exposition  of  St.  Chry- 
 sostom  and  Primasius :  Tovro  hrt  to  wXus  zj^ofjrdvxi  /xr/Jsvos- 
 (pEt^effSxj  rrjs  ruv  zjqoQxra/v  xvj^s.aov/as'  evcxsv"  "  They  rule  well, 
 that  spare  nothing  for  the  care  of  the  flock."  So  that  this  is 
 the  general  charge,  and  preaching  is  the  particular.  For 
 the  work,  in  general,  they  are  to  receive  double  honour,  but 
 this  of  preaching,  as  then  preaching  was,  had  a  particular 
 excellency,  and  a  plastic  pov/er  to  form  men  into  Christianity, 
 especially  it  being  then  attested  with  miracles. 
 
 But  the  new  office  of  a  lay-elder,  I  confess,  I  cannot  com- 
 prehend in  any  reasonable  proportion,  his  person,  his  cpiality, 
 his  office,  his  authority,  his  subordination,  his  comraissiou 
 hath   made   so  many  divisions  and  new  emergent  quesj- 
 
276 
 
 EPISCOPACY  ASSERTED. 
 
 tions ;  and  they  none  of  them  all,  asserted,  either  by  Scrip- 
 ture or  antiquity,  that  if  I  had  a  mind  to  leave  the  way  of 
 God,  and  of  the  catholic  church,  and  run  in  pursuit  of  this 
 meteor,  I  might  quickly  be  amused  ;  but  should  find  nothing 
 certain,  but  a  certainty  of  being  misguided.  Therefore,  if 
 not  for  conscience'  sake,  yet  for  prudence,  '  bonum  est  esse 
 hic,'  it  is  good  to  remain  in  the  fold  of  Christ,  under  the 
 guard  and  supravision  of  those  shepherds  Christ  hath  ap- 
 pointed, and  which  his  sheep  have  always  followed. 
 
 For  I  consider  this  one  thing  to  be  enough  to  determine 
 the  question.  "  My  sheep,"  saith  our  blessed  Saviour,  "  hear 
 my  voice ;  if  a  stranger  or  a  thief  come,  him  they  will  not 
 hear."  Clearly  thus.  That  Christ's  sheep  hear  not  the 
 voice  of  a  stranger,  nor  will  they  follow  him,  and,  therefore, 
 those  shepherds  whom  the  church  hath  followed  in  all  ages, 
 are  no  strangers  but  shepherds  or  pastors  of  Christ's  ap- 
 pointing, or  else  Christ  hath  had  no  sheep ;  for  if  he  hath, 
 then  bishops  are  the  Shepherds,  for  them  they  have  ever 
 followed.  I  end  with  that  golden  rule  of  Vincentius  Liri- 
 nensis;  "  Magnopere  curandum  est  ut  id  teneamus,  quod 
 ubique,  quod  semper,  quod  ab  omnibus  creditum  est.  Hoc 
 est  enim  vere,  proprieque  catholicum'."  For,  certainly,  the 
 catholic  belief  of  the  church  against  Arius,  Eunomius,  Mace- 
 donius,  Apollinaris,  and,  the  worst  of  heretics,  the  Cata- 
 phrygians,  was  nevermore  truly  received'  of  all  and  always, 
 and  everywhere,'  than  is  the  government  of  the  church  by 
 bishops.  "  Annunciare  ergo  Christianis  catholicis,  praeter  id 
 quod  acceperunt,  nunquam  licuit,  nunquam  licet,  nunquam 
 licebit  :"  "It never  was,  is,  nor  ever  shall  be,  lawful  to  teach 
 Christian  people  any  new  thing  than  what  they  have  received" 
 from  a  primitive  fountain,  and  is  descended  in  the  stream  of 
 catholic  uninterrupted  succession". 
 
 I  only  add,  that  the  church  hath  insinuated  it  to  be  the 
 duty  of  all  good  catholic  Christians  to  pray  for  bishops,  and 
 as  the  case  now  stands,  for  episcopacy  itself :  for  there  was 
 never  any  church-liturgy  but  said  litanies  for  their  king,  and 
 for  their  bishop. 
 
 Cap.  3.  adv.  Haereses. 
 
 "  Cap.  14. 
 
APOLOGY 
 
 FOR 
 
 AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS 
 
 OF 
 
 LITURGY, 
 
 AGAINST 
 
 THE  PRETENCE  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 
 
 1.  FOR  EXTEMPORE  PRAYER, 
 
 AND 
 
 2.  FORMS  OF  PRIVATE  COMPOSITION. 
 
TO  HIS 
 
 MOST  SACRED  MAJESTY, 
 
 It  is  now  two  years,  since  part  of  these  ensuing 
 papers,  like  the  public  issue  of  the  people,  imper- 
 fect and  undressed,  were  exposed,  without  a  parent 
 to  protect  them,  or  any  hand  to  nourish  them.  But 
 since  your  most  sacred  Majesty  was  pleased  gra- 
 ciously to  look  upon  them,  they  are  grown  into  a 
 tract,  and  have  an  ambition  (like  the  gourd  of  Jonas) 
 to  dwell  in  the  eye  of  the  sun,  from  whence  they 
 received  life  and  increment.  And  although  because 
 some  violence  hath  been  done  to  the  profession  of 
 the  doctrine  of  this  treatise,  it  may  seem  to  be  '  ver- 
 bum  in  tempore  non  suo,'  and  like  the  offering  cy- 
 press to  a  conqueror,  or  palms  to  a  broken  army ; 
 yet  I  hope  I  shall  the  less  need  an  apology,  because 
 it  is  certain,  he  does  really  disserve  no  just  and 
 noble  interest,  that  serves  that  of  the  Spirit,  and 
 religion.  And  because  the  sufferings  of  a  king  and 
 a  confessor  are  the  great  demonstration  to  all  the 
 
CCIXXX  THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 world,  that  truth  is  as  dear  to  your  Majesty,  as  the 
 jewels  oFyour  diadem,  and  that  your  conscience  is 
 tender  as  a  pricked  eye  ;  I  shall  pretend  this  only 
 to  alleviate  the  inconvenience  of  an  unseasonable 
 address,  that  I  present  your  Majesty  with  a  humble 
 persecuted  truth,  of  the  same  constitution  with  that 
 condition  whereby  you  are  become  most  dear  to 
 God,  as  having  upon  you  the  characterism  of  the 
 sons  of  God,  bearing  in  your  sacred  person  the 
 marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  is  your  elder  brother, 
 the  King  of  sufferings,  and  the  Prince  of  the  catholic 
 church.  But  I  consider  that  kings,  and  their  great 
 councils,  and  rulers  ecclesiastical,  have  a  special 
 obligation  for  the  defence  of  liturgies  ;  because  they 
 having  the  greatest  offices,  have  the  greatest  needs 
 of  auxiliaries  from  heaven,  which  are  best  procured 
 by  the  public  spirit,  the  spirit  of  government  and 
 supplication.  And  since  the  first,  the  best,  and  most 
 solemn  liturgies  and  set  forms  of  prayer,  were  made 
 by  the  best  and  greatest  princes,  by  Moses,  by 
 David,  and  the  son  of  David ;  your  Majesty  may  be 
 pleased  to  observe  such  a  proportion  of  circumstan- 
 ces in  my  laying  this  *  Apology  for  Liturgy'  at  your 
 feet,  that  possibly  I  may  the  easier  obtain  a  pardon 
 for  my  great  boldness  ;  which  if  I  shall  hope  for,  in 
 all  other  contingencies  I  shall  represent  myself  a  per- 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY.  Cclxxxi 
 
 son  indifferent  whether  I  live  or  die,  so  I  may  by 
 either,  serve  God,  and  God's  church,  and  God's  vice- 
 gerent, in  the  capacity  of. 
 
 Great  Sir, 
 Your  Majesty's  most  liumble. 
 
 And  most  obedient  subject  and  servant, 
 
 JER.  TAYLOR. 
 
THE 
 
 AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE  APOLOGY 
 
 FOR 
 
 AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 When  judges  M'ere  instead  of  kings,  and  Hophni  and 
 Phinehas  were  among  the  priests,  every  man  did  what  was 
 right  in  his  own  eyes,  but  few  did  what  was  pleasing  in 
 the  eyes  of  the  Lord  ;  and  the  event  was  this,  God  put  on  his 
 fierce  anger  against  them,  and  stirred  up  and  armed  the 
 enemies  of  their  country  and  religion,  and  they  jjrevailed 
 very  far,  against  the  expectation  and  confidence  of  them, 
 who  thought  the  goodness  of  their  cause  would  liave  borne 
 out  the  iniquity  of  their  persons,  and  that  the  impiety  of 
 their  adversaries  would  have  disabled  them  even  from  being 
 made  God's  scourges  and  instruments  of  punishing  his  own 
 people  :  the  sadness  of  the  event,  proved  the  vanity  of  their 
 hopes ;  for  that  which  was  the  instrument  of  their  worship, 
 the  determination  of  their  religious  addresses,  the  place 
 where  God  did  meet  his  people,  from  which  the  priests  spake 
 to  God,  and  God  gave  his  oracles,  that  they  dishonourably 
 and  miserably  lost:  the  ark  of  the  Lord  was  taken,  the 
 impious  priests,  who  made  the  sacrifice  of  the  Lord  to 
 become  an  abomination  to  the  people,  were  slain  with  the 
 sword  of  the  Philistines ;  old  Eli  lost  his  life,  and  the  wife 
 of  Phinehas  died  with  sorrow  and  the  miscarriages  of  child  - 
 birth, crying  out,  "  That  the  glory  was  departed  from  Israel, 
 because  the  ark  of  God  was  taken." 
 
284 
 
 THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  APOLOGY  PGR 
 
 2.  In  tliese  tilings  we  also  have  been  but  too  like  the  sons 
 of  Israel;  for  when  we  have  sinned  as  greatly,  we  also  have 
 groaned  under  as  great  and  sad  a  calamity.  For  we  have 
 not  only  felt  the  evils  of  an  intestine  war,  but  God  hath 
 smitten  us  in  our  spirit,  and  laid  the  scene  of  his  judgments 
 especially  in  religion  ;  he  hath  snuffed  our  lamp  so  near,  that 
 it  is  almost  extinguished,  and  the  sacred  fire  was  put  into  a 
 liole  of  the  earth,  even  then  when  we  were  forced  to  light 
 those  tapers  that  stood  upon  our  altars,  that  by  this  sad 
 truth  better  than  by  the  old  ceremony  we  might  prove  our 
 succession  to  those  holy  men,  who  were  constrained  to  sing 
 hymns  to  Christ,  in  dark  places  and  retirements. 
 
 3.  But  I  delight  not  to  observe  the  correspondencies  of 
 such  sad  accidents,  which  as  they  may  liappen  upon  divers 
 causes,  or  may  be  forced  violently  upon  the  strength  of 
 fancy,  or  driven  on  by  jealousy,  and  the  too  fond  openings 
 of  troubled  hearts,  and  afflicted  spirits  ;  so  they  do  but  help 
 to  vex  the  oflPending  part,  and  relieve  the  afflicted  but  with  a 
 fantastic  and  groundless  comfort :  I  will,  therefore,  deny 
 leave  to  my  own  affections  to  ease  themselves  by  complaining 
 of  others :  I  shall  only  crave  leave  that  I  may  remember 
 Jerusalem,  and  call  to  mind  the  pleasures  of  the  temple,  the 
 order  of  her  services,  the  beauty  of  her  buildings,  the  sweet- 
 ness of  her  songs,  the  decency  of  her  ministrations,  the 
 assiduity  and  economy  of  her  priests  and  Levites,  the  daily 
 sacrifice,  and  that  eternal  fire  of  devotion  that  went  not  out 
 by  day  nor  by  night ;  these  were  the  pleasures  of  our  peace, 
 and  there  is  a  remanent  felicity  in  the  very  memory  of  those 
 spiritual  delights  which  we  then  enjoyed,  as  ante  pasts  of 
 heaven,  and  consignations  to  an  immortality  of  joys.  And  it 
 may  be  so  again,  when  it  shall  please  God  who  hath  the 
 hearts  of  all  princes  in  his  hand,  and  turneth  them  as  the 
 rivers  of  waters ;  and  when  men  will  consider  the  invaluable 
 loss  that  is  consequent,  and  the  danger  of  sin  that  is  ap- 
 pendant to  the  destroying  forms  of  such  discipline  and  devo- 
 tion in  which  God  was  purely  worshipped  and  the  church 
 was  edified,  and  the  people  instructed  to  great  degrees  of 
 piety,  knowledge,  and  devotion. 
 
 4.  And  such  is  the  liturgy  of  the  church  of  England. 
 I  shall  not  need  to  enumerate  the  advantages  of  liturgy  in 
 genei'al,  though  it  be  certain  that  some  liturgy  or  other  is 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SF.T   FORMS  OF  LITTTROY,  285 
 
 most  necessary  in  public  ackli-esses,  that  so  we  may  imitate 
 the  perpetual  practice  of  all  settled  churches  since  Christi- 
 anity, or  ever  since  Moses' law,  or  the  Jewish  church  came  to 
 have  a  settled  foot,  and  any  rest  in  the  land  of  Canaan. 
 2.  That  we  may  follow  the  example,  and  obey  the  precept  of 
 our  blessed  Saviour,  who  appointed  a  set  form  of  devotion; 
 and  certainly  they  that  profess  enmity  against  all  liturgy,  can 
 in  no  sense  obey  the  precept  given  by  him,  who  gave  com- 
 mand, "  When  ye  pray,  say,  Our  Father."  3.  That  all  that 
 come  may  know  the  condition  of  public  communion,  their 
 religion,  and  manner  of  address  to  God  Almighty.  4.  That 
 the  truth  of  the  proposition,  the  piety  of  the  desires,  and  the 
 honesty  of  the  petitions,  the  simplicity  of  our  purposes,  and 
 the  justice  of  our  designs  may  be  secured  beforehand ; 
 because  whatsoever  is  not  of  faith,  is  sin,  and  it  is  impossible 
 that  we  should  pray  to  God  in  the  extempore  prayers  of  the 
 priest,  by  any  faith,  but  unreasonable,  unwarranted,  insecure, 
 and  implicit.  5.  That  there  may  be  union  of  hearts,  and 
 spirits,  and  tongues.  G.  That  there  may  be  a  public  symbol 
 of  communion  in  our  prayers,  which  are  the  best  instruments 
 of  endearing  us  to  God,  and   to  one  another;  Kal.acvrr)  n 
 
 "  Private  prayer,  not  assisted  with  the  concord  and  unity  of  a 
 public  spirit,  is  weaker  and  less  effectual,"  salth  St.  Basil. 
 7.  That  the  ministers  less  learned,  may  have  provisions  of 
 devotions  made  for  them.  8.  That  the  more  learned  may 
 have  no  occasion  of  ostentation  ministered  to  them,  lest  their 
 best  actions,  their  prayers,  be  turned  into  sin.  9.  That  ex- 
 travagant levities,  and  secret  impieties,  be  prevented.  10. 
 That  the  offices  ecclesiastical  may  the  better  secure  the  articles 
 of  religion.  11.  That  they  may  edify  the  people,  by  being 
 repositories  of  holy  and  necessary  truths  ready  formed  out 
 of  their  needs,  and  described  in  their  books  of  daily  use  ;  for 
 that  was  one  of  the  advices  of  the  apostle^,  <  teaching  and  ad- 
 monishing one  another  in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and  spiritual 
 songs.'  12.  That  men  by  the  intervening  of  authority,  may 
 be  engaged  to  certain  devotions.  13.  That  not  only  the 
 duty,  but  the  very  form  of  its  ministration  may  be  honoured 
 by  the  countenance  of  authority,  and  not  be  exjDOsed  to  con- 
 
 voL.  vn. 
 
 Colos,  ill. 
 
 X 
 
THE  PREr.ACC  TO  TTIE    APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 tempt,  by  reason  of  the  insufficiency  of  its  external  warrant. 
 14.  That  the  assignation  of  such  offices,  and  appropriating 
 them  to  the  ministry  of  certain  persons,  may  be  a  cancel  to 
 secure  the  enclosures  of  the  clerical  orders  from  the  usurpings 
 and  invasions  of  pretending  and  unhallowed  spirits.  15.  That 
 indetermination  of  the  office  may  not  introduce  indifFerency, 
 nor  indifferency  lead  in  a  freer  liberty,  or  liberty  degenerate 
 into  licentiousness,  or  licentiousness  into  folly,  and  vanity  ; 
 and  these  come  sometimes  attended  with  secular  designs, 
 lest  these  be  cursed  with  the  immission  of  a  peevish  spirit 
 upon  our  pi-iests,  and  that  spirit  be  a  teacher  of  lies,  and 
 these  lies  become  the  basis  of  impious  theorems,  which  are 
 certainly  attended  with  ungodly  lives  ;  and  then  either 
 atheism  or  antichristianism  may  come,  according  as  shall 
 happen  in  the  conjunction  of  time  and  other  circumstances ; 
 for  this  would  be  a  sad  climax,  a  ladder  upon  which  are  no 
 angels  ascending  or  descending,  because  the  degrees  lead  to 
 darkness  and  misery. 
 
 5.  But  that  which  is  of  special  concernment  is  this,  that 
 the  liturgy  of  the  church  of  England  hath  advantages  so  many 
 and  so  considerable,  as  not  only  to  raise  itself  above  the  de- 
 votions of  other  churches,  but  to  endear  the  affections  of  good 
 people  to  be  in  love  with  liturgy  in  general. 
 
 6.  For  to  the  churches  of  the  Roman  communion  we  can 
 say,  that  ours  is  reformed  ;  to  tlie  reformed  churches  we  can 
 say,  that  ours  is  orderly  and  decent;  for  we  were  freed  from 
 the  impositions  and  lasting  errors  of  a  tyrannical  spirit,  and 
 yet  fi-om  the  extravagancies  of  a  popular  spirit  too :  our  re- 
 formation was  done  without  tumult,  and  yet  we  saw  it  neces- 
 sary to  reform ;  we  were  zealous  to  cast  away  the  old  errors, 
 but  our  zeal  was  balanced  with  the  consideration  and  the  re- 
 sults of  authority :  not  like  women  or  children  when  they  are 
 affrighted  with  fire  in  their  clothes ;  we  shaked  off  the  coal 
 indeed,  but  not  our  garments,  lest  we  should  have  exposed 
 our  churches  to  that  nakedness,  which  the  excellent  men  of 
 our  sister-churches  complained  to  be  among  themselves. 
 
 7.  And,  indeed,  it  is  no  small  advantage  to  our  liturgy, 
 that  it  was  the  offspring  of  all  that  authority,  which  was  to 
 prescribe  in  matters  of  religion.  The  king  and  the  priest, 
 which  are  '  the  antistites  I'eligionis,'  and  the  preservers  of  both 
 the  tables  joined  in  this  work,  and  the  j^eople,  as  it  was  repre- 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SKT  FORMS  OV  LITURGY,  287 
 
 sented  in  parliament,  were  advised  withal,  in  authorizing  the 
 form  after  much  deliberation  ;  for  the  rule,  '  Quod  spectat  ad 
 omnes,  ab  omnibus  tractari  debet,'  was  here  observed  with 
 strictness,  and  then,  as  it  had  the  advantages  of  discourse,  so 
 also  of  authorities, — its  reason  from  one,  and  its  sanction  from 
 the  other,  that  it  might  be  both  reasonable,  and  sacred,  and 
 free,  not  only  from  the  indiscretions,  but  (which  is  very  con- 
 siderable) from  the  scandal  of  popularity. 
 
 8.  And  in  this,  I  cannot  but  observe  the  great  wisdom  and 
 mercy  of  God  in  directing  the  contrivers  of  the  liturgy,  with 
 the  spirit  of  zeal  and  prudence,  to  allay  the  furies  and  heats 
 of  the  first  afFrightment,  For  when  men  are  in  danger  of 
 burning,  so  they  leap  from  the  flames,  they  consider  not 
 whither,  but  whence  :  and  the  first  reflections  of  a  crooked 
 tree  are  not  to  straightness,  but  to  a  contrary  incurvation  : 
 yet  it  pleased  the  spirit  of  God  so  to  temper  and  direct  their 
 spirits,  that  in  the  first  liturgy  of  King  Edward,  they  did 
 rather  retain  something  that  needed  further  consideration, 
 than  reject  any  thing  that  was  certainly  pious  and  holy  ; 
 and  in  the  second  liturgy,  that  they  might  also  thoroughly 
 reform,  they  did  rather  cast  out  something  that  might, 
 with  good  profit,  have  remained,  than  not  satisfy  the  world 
 of  their  zeal  to  reform,  of  their  charitj'  in  declining  every 
 thing  that  was  offensive,  and  the  clearness  of  their  light  in 
 discerning  every  semblance  of  error  or  suspicion  in  the  Roman 
 church. 
 
 9.  The  truth  is,  although  they  fi*amed  the  litui'gy  with 
 the  greatest  consideration  that  could  be,  by  all  the  united 
 wisdom  of  this  church  and  state  ;  yet,  as  if  prophetically  to 
 avoid  their  being  charged  in  after  ages  with  a  '  crepusculum' 
 of  religion,  a  dark,  '  twilight,'  imperfect  reformation,  they 
 joined  to  their  own  star  all  the  shining  tapers  of  the  other  re- 
 formed churches,  calling  for  the  advice  of  the  most  eminently 
 learned  and  zealous  reformers  in  other  kingdoms,  that  the 
 light  of  all  together  might  show  them  a  clear  path  to  walk  in. 
 And  this  their  care  produced  some  change ;  for,  upon  the 
 consultation,  the  first  form  of  king  Edward's  service  book  was 
 approved  with  the  exception  of  a  very  few  clauses,  which 
 upon  that  occasion  were  reviewed  and  expunged,  till  it  came 
 to  that  second  form  and  modest  beauty  it  was  in  the  edition 
 
 X  2 
 
28S 
 
 THE 
 
 PREFACE  TO   THE   APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 of  MDLII.,  and  whicli  Gilbertus,  a  German,  approved  of  as 
 a  transcript  of  the  ancient  and  primitive  forms. 
 
 10.  It  was  necessary  for  them  to  stay  somewhere.  Chris- 
 tendom was  not  only  reformed,  but  divided  too,  and  every 
 division  would,  to  all  ages,  have  called  for  some  alteration,  or 
 else  have  disliked  it  publicly ;  and  since  all  that  cast  off  the 
 Roman  yoke,  thought  they  had  title  enough  to  be  called 
 reformed,  it  was  hard  to  have  pleased  all  the  private  interests 
 and  peevishness  of  men  that  called  themselves  friends,  and, 
 therefore,  that  only  in  which  the  church  of  Rome  had  pre- 
 varicated against  the  word  of  God,  or  innovated  against 
 apostolical  tradition,  all  that  was  pared  away.  But  at  last 
 she  fixed,  and  strove  no  further  to  please  the  people,  who 
 never  could  be  satisfied. 
 
 1 1 .  The  painter  that  exposed  his  work  to  the  censure  of 
 the  common  passengers,  resolving  to  mend  it  as  long  as  any 
 man  could  find  fault,  at  last  had  brought  the  eyes  to  the 
 ears,  and  the  ears  to  the  neck,  and  for  his  excuse  subscribed, 
 '  Hanc  populus  fecit :'  but  his  '  hanc  ego,'  that  which  he 
 made  by  the  rules  of  his  art,  and  the  advice  of  men  skilled 
 in  the  same  mystery,  was  the  better  piece.  The  church  of 
 England  should  have  pared  away  all  the  canon  of  the  com- 
 munion, if  she  had  mended  her  piece  at  the  prescription 
 of  the  Zuinglians  ;  and  all  her  office  of  baptism,  if  she  had 
 mended  by  the  rules  of  the  Anabaptists ;  and  kept  up  altai's 
 still  by  the  example  of  the  Lutherans ;  and  not  have  retained 
 decency  by  the  good  will  of  the  Calvinists  ;  and  now  another 
 new  light  is  sprung  up,  she  should  have  no  liturgy  at  all,  but 
 the  worship  of  God  be  left  tu  the  managing  of  chance,  and 
 indeliberation,  and  a  petulant  fancy. 
 
 12.  It  began  early  to  discover  its  inconvenience  ;  for 
 when  certain  zealous  persons  fled  to  Frankfort,  to  avoid  the 
 funeral  piles  kindled  by  the  Roman  bishops  in  Queen  Mary's 
 time,  as  if  they  had  not  enemies  enough  abroad,  they  fell 
 foul  with  one  another,  and  the  quarrel  was  about  the 
 common  prayer-book  ;  and  some  of  them  made  their  ap- 
 (oeal  to  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Calvin,  whom  they  prepos- 
 •jessod  with  strange  representmcnts,  and  troubled  phantasms 
 concerning  it  ;  and  yet  the  worst  he  said  upon  the  provo- 
 ctition  of  those  prejudices  was,  that  even  its  vanities  were 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SET   EOUMS  OF  LITURGY.  289 
 
 tolerable.  '  Tolei-abiles  ineptias'  was  the  unhandsome  epithet 
 he  gave  to  some  things,  which  he  was  forced  to  dislike  by 
 his  over  earnest  complying  with  the  brethren  of  Frankfort. 
 
 13.  Well!  upon  this,  the  wisdom  of  this  church  and  state 
 saw  it  necessary  to  fix,  where,  with  advice,  she  had  begun, — 
 and  with  counsel,  she  had  once  mended.  And  to  have  al- 
 tered in  things  inconsiderable,  upon  a  new  design  or  sullen 
 mislike,  had  been  extreme  levity,  and  ajit  to  have  made  the 
 men  contemptible,  their  authority  slighted,  and  the  thing 
 ridiculous,  especially  before  adversaries,  that  watched  all  op- 
 portunity and  appearances  to  have  disgraced  the  reformation. 
 Here,  therefore,  it  became  a  law,  was  established  by  an  act 
 of  parliament,  was  made  solemn  by  an  appendant  penalty 
 against  all,  that,  on  either  hand,  did  prevaricate  a  sanction 
 of  so  long  and  so  prudent  consideration. 
 
 14.  But  the  common  prayer-book  had  the  fate  of  St.  Paul ; 
 for  when  it  had  scaped  the  storms  of  the  Roman  sea,  yet  a 
 viper  sprung  out  of  Queen  Mary's  fires,  which  at  Frankfort 
 first  leaped  upon  the  hand  of  the  church;  but  since  that 
 time,  it  hath  gnawn  the  bowels  of  its  own  mother,  and  given 
 itself  life  by  the  death  of  its  parent  and  nurse. 
 
 15.  For  as  for  the  adversaries  from  the  Roman  party, 
 they  were  so  convinced  by  the  piety  and  innocence  of  the 
 common  prayer-book,  that  they  could  accuse  it  of  no  defor- 
 mity ;  but  of  imperfection,  of  a  want  of  some  things  which 
 they  judged  convenient,  because  the  error  had  a  wrinkle  on 
 it,  and  the  face  of  antiquity.  And,  therefore,  for  ten  or 
 eleven  years  they  came  to  our  churches,  joined  in  our  devo- 
 tions, and  communicated  without  scruple,  till  a  temporal 
 intei'est  of  the  church  of  Rome  rent  the  schism  wider,  and 
 made  it  gape  like  the  jaws  of  the  grave. 
 
 And  let  me  say,  it  adds  no  small  degree  to  my  confidence 
 and  opinion  of  the  English  common  jirayei'-book,  that, 
 amongst  the  numerous  armies  sent  from  the  Roman  semi- 
 iiaries  (who  were  curious  enough  to  inquire,  able  enough  to 
 find  out,  and  wanted  no  anger  to  have  made  them  charge 
 home  any  error  in  our  liturgy,  if  the  matter  had  not  been  un- 
 blameable,  and  the  composition  excellent),  thei'c  was  never  any 
 impiety  or  heresy  charged  upon  the  liturgy  of  the  church :  for 
 I  reckon  not  the  calumnies  of  Harding,  for  they  were  only  in 
 general,  calling  it  '  darkness,'  &c.,  from  which  aspei'sion  it 
 
290  THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 was  worthily  vindicated  by  M.  Deeving.  The  truth  of  it  is, 
 the  compilers  took  that  course  which  was  sufficient  to  have 
 secured  it  against  the  malice  of  a  Spanish  inquisitor,  or  the 
 scrutiny  of  a  more  inquisitive  presbytery ;  for  they  put 
 nothing  of  controversy  into  their  prayers,  nothing  that  was 
 then  matter  of  question ;  only  because  they  could  not  pro- 
 phesy, they  put  in  some  things  which,  since  then,  have  been 
 called  to  question  by  persons,  whose  interest  was  highly  con- 
 cerned to  find  fault  M'ith  something.  But  that  also  hath  been 
 the  fate  of  the  penmen  of  holy  Scripture,  some  of  which 
 could  prophesy,  and  vet  could  not  prevent  this.  But  I  do 
 not  remember  that  any  man  was  ever  put  to  it  to  justify  the 
 common  prayer  against  any  positive,  public,  and  professed 
 charge  by  a  Roman  adversary  :  nay,  it  is  transmitted  to  us 
 by  the  testimony  of  persons  greater  than  all  exceptions,  that 
 Paulus  Quartus,  in  his  private  intercourses  and  letters  to 
 queen  Elizabeth,  did  oflFer  to  confirm  the  English  common 
 prayer-book,  if  she  would  acknowledge  his  primacy  and 
 authorit}'^,  and  the  reformation  derivative  from  him''.  And 
 this  lenity  was  pursued  by  his  successor,  Pius  Quartus', 
 with  an  '  omnia  de  nobis  tibi  polliceare:'  he  assured  her  she 
 should  have  any  thing  from  him,  not  only  things  pertaining 
 to  her  soul,  but  what  might  conduce  to  the  establishment 
 and  confii'mation  of  her  royal  dignity ;  amongst  which,  that 
 the  liturgy,  new  established  by  her  authority,  should  not 
 be  rescinded  by  the  pope's  power,  was  not  the  least  con- 
 siderable. 
 
 16.  And  possibly  this  hath  cast  a  cloud  upon  it  in  the 
 eyes  of  such  persons  who  never  will  keep  charity,  or  so 
 much  as  civility,  but  with  those,  with  whom  they  have  made 
 a  league  offensive  and  defensive  against  all  the  world.  This 
 hath  made  it  to  be  suspected  of  too  much  compliance  with 
 that  church,  and  her  offices  of  devotion,  and  that  it  is  a  very 
 cento  composed  out  of  the  Mass-book,  Pontifical,  Breviaries, 
 Manuals,  and  Portuises  of  the  Roman  church. 
 
 17.  I  cannot  say  but  many  of  our  prayers  are  also  in  the 
 Roman  offices.  But  so  they  are  also  in  the  Scripture,  so  also 
 is  the  Lord's  prayer ;  and  if  they  were  not,  yet  the  allegation 
 is  very  inartificial,  and  the  charge  peevish  and  unreasonable, 
 
 "Toilma  Torti,  p.  142. 
 
 <^  Camb.  Annal,  A.  D.  1560. 
 
AUTIIOUIZED  AND  SET   FOltMS  OF  LITURGV.  291 
 
 unless  there  were  iiotliing  good  in  the  Roman  books,  or  that 
 it  were  unlawful  to  pray  a  good  prayer,  whicli  ihey  had 
 once  stained  with  red  letters.  The  objection  hath  not  sense 
 enough  to  procure  an  answer  upon  its  own  stock,  but  by 
 reflection  from  a  direct  truth,  which  uses  to  be  like  light 
 manifesting  itself,  and  discovering  darkness. 
 
 18.  It  was  first  perfected  in  king  Edward  VI. 's  time,  but 
 it  was,  by  and  by,  impugned,  through  the  obstinate  and  dis- 
 sembling malice  of  many  ;  they  are  the  Avords  of  Mr.  Fox,  iu 
 his  book  of  martyrs.  Then  it  was  reviewed  and  published 
 with  so  much  approbation,  that  it  was  accounted  the  work  of 
 God  ;  but  yet,  not  long  after,  there  were  some  persons,  '  qui 
 divisionis  occasionem  arripiebant,'  saith  Alseius,  '  vocabuhi 
 et  pene  syllabas  expendendo ;'  '  they  tried  it  by  points  and 
 syllables,  and  weighed  every  word,'  and  sought  occasions  to 
 quarrel :  which  being  observed  bv  archbishop  Cranmer,  he 
 caused  it  to  be  translated  into  Latin,  and  sent  it  to  Bucer, 
 requiring  his  judgment  of  it,  who  returned  this  answer  ; 
 "  That  although  there  are  in  it  some  things  '  quae  rapi  pos- 
 sunt  ab  inquietis  ad  materiam  contentlonis,'  '  which,  by  peevish 
 men  may  be  cavilled  at,'  yet  there  was  nothing  in  it  but 
 what  was  taken  out  of  the  Scriptures,  or  agreeable  to  it,  if 
 rightly  understood  ;  that  is,  if  handled  and  read  by  wise  and 
 good  men."  The  zeal  wliich  archbishop  Grindal,  bishop 
 Ridley,  Dr.  Taylor,  and  other  the  holy  martyrs  and  confes- 
 sors in  queen  Mary's  time,  expressed  for  this  excellent  liturgy, 
 before  and  at  the  time  of  their  death,  defending  it  by  their 
 disputations,  adorning  it  by  their  practice,  and  sealing  it  with 
 their  bloods,  are  arguments  which  ought  to  recommend  it  to 
 all  the  sons  of  the  church  of  England  for  ever,  infinitely  to 
 be  valued  beyond  all  the  little  whispers  and  murmurs  of 
 argument  pretended  against  it :  and  when  it  came  out  of  the 
 flame,  and  was  purified  in  the  martyr's  fires,  it  became  a 
 vessel  of  honour,  and  used  in  the  house  of  God  in  all  the 
 days  of  that  long  peace,  which  was  the  effect  of  God's 
 blessing,  and  the  reward,  as  we  humbly  hope,  of  a  holy 
 religion ;  and  when  it  was  laid  aside,  in  the  days  of  queen 
 Mary,  it  was  '  to  the  great  decay  of  the  due  honour  of  God, 
 and  discomfort  to  the  professors  of  the  truth  of  Christ's  reli- 
 gion :'  they  are  the  words  of  queen  Elizabeth,  and  her  grave 
 and  wise  parliament. 
 
292  THE   PREFACE  TO  THE  APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 19.  Archbishop  Cranmer,  in  his  purgation,  A.  D.  1553, 
 made  an  ofier,  if  the  queen  would  give  him  leave,  to  prove 
 all  that  is  contained  in  the  common  prayer-book,  to  be  con- 
 formable to  that  order  which  our  blessed  Saviour,  Christ, 
 did  both  observe  and  command  to  be  observed.  And  a 
 little  after,  he  offers  to  join  issue  upon  this  point  that  the 
 order  of  the  church  of  England,  set  out  by  authority  of  the 
 innocent  and  godly  prince  Edward  VI.,  in  his  high  court 
 of  parliament,  is  the  same  that  was  used  in  the  church  fifteen 
 hundred  years  past. 
 
 20.  And  I  shall  go  near  to  make  his  words  good.  For 
 very  much  of  our  liturgy  is  the  very  words  of  Scripture. 
 The  psalms  and  lessons,  and  all  the  hymns,  save  one,  are 
 nothing  else  but  Scripture,  and  owe  nothing  to  the  Roman 
 breviaries  for  their  production  or  authority.  So  that  the 
 matter  of  them  is,  out  of  question,  holy  and  true :  as  for 
 the  form,  none  ever  disliked  it,  but  they  that  will  admit  no 
 form ;  for  all  admit  this  that  admit  any.  But  that  these 
 should  be  parts  of  liturgy,  needs  not  to  be  a  question,  when 
 we  remember,  that  Hezekiah  and  the  princes  made  it  a  law 
 to  their  church,  to  sing  praises  to  the  Lord  "  with  the  words 
 of  David,  and  of  Asaph,  the  seer'',"  and  that  Christ  himself 
 did  so,  and  his  apostles,  after  the  manner  of  the  Jews,  in  the 
 feast  of  Passover,  sung  their  hymns  and  portions  of  the 
 great  Allelujah  in  the  words  of  David,  and  Asaph,  the  seer", 
 too,  and  that  there  was  a  song  in  heaven  made  up  of  the 
 words  of  Moses,  and  David,  and  Jeremy,  the  seer,  and  that 
 the  apostles  and  the  church  of  God  always  chose  to  do  so, 
 according  to  the  commandment  of  the  apostle,  that  we  sing 
 psalms  and  hymns  to  God.  I  know  not  where  we  can  have 
 better  than  the  Psalms  of  David  and  Asaph,  and  these  were 
 ready  at  hand  for  the  use  of  the  church,  insomuch,  that  in  the 
 Christian  synaxes,  particularly  in  the  churches  of  Corinth, 
 St.  Paul  observed  that  "  every  man  had  a  psalm;"  it  was 
 then  the  common  devotion  and  liturgy  of  all  the  faithful,  and 
 so  for  ever  ;  and  the  fathers  of  the  fourth  council  of  Toledo 
 justified  the  practice  of  the  church,  in  recitation  of  the  psalms 
 and  hymns,  by  the  example  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  who, 
 after  supper,  sung  a  paslm  ;  and  the  church  did  also  make 
 
 <1  2  C'luon.  Nxix. 
 
 <•  Apoc.  sv.  Exod.  XV.   Psal.  cxlv.    Jer.  x.  6,  7. 
 
I. 
 
 AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  EOUMS  OF  LITURGY.  293 
 
 hymns  of  her  own,  in  tlie  lionour  of  Clirist,  and  sung  iheni : 
 such  as  was  the  '  Te  Deum,'  made  by  St.  Ambrose  and  St. 
 Austin,  and  they  stood  her  in  great  stead,  not  only  as  acts  of 
 direct  worship  to  Clirist,  but  as  conservators  of  the  articles 
 of  Christ's  divinity,  of  which  the  fathers  made  use  against 
 the  hei'etic  Artemon,  as  appears  in  Eusebius,  lib.  v.  c.  28. 
 Eccles.  Hist. 
 
 21.  That  reading  the  Scripture  was  part  of  the  liturgy  of 
 the  apostolical  ages,  we  find  it  in  the  tenth  canon  of  the 
 apostles,  in  Albinus  Flaccus,  Rabanus  Maurus,  and  in  the 
 liturgy  attributed  to  St.  James.  "  Deinde  leguntur  fusissime 
 oracula  sacra  veteris  Testament!  et  prophetarum,  et  Filii  Dei 
 incarnatio  demonstratur,  passio,  resurrectio  ex  mortuis,  as- 
 census  in  coelura,  secundus  item  adventus  ejus  cum  gloria. 
 Atque  id  fit  singulis  diebus,"  &c. 
 
 22.  So  that  since  thus  far  the  matter  of  our  devotions  is 
 warranted  by  God's  Spirit,  and  the  form  by  the  j^recedents 
 of  Scripture  too,  and  the  ages  apostolical,  above  half  of  the 
 English  liturgy  is  as  Divine  as  ScrijDture  itself,  and  the  choice 
 of  it  for  practice  is  no  less  than  apostolical. 
 
 23.  Of  the  same  consideration  is  the  Lord's  prayer,  com- 
 manded by  our  blessed  Saviour  in  two  evangelists:  the 
 '  introit'  is  the  Psal.  xcv.,  and  the  responsories  of  morning  and 
 evening  prayer,  ejaculations  taken  from  the  words  of  David 
 and  Hezekiah ;  the  decalogue  recited  in  the  communion  is  the 
 ten  words  of  Moses,  and  without  peradventure,  was  not  taken 
 into  the  office  in  imitation  of  the  Roman;  for  although  it 
 was  done  upon  great  reason,  and  considering  the  great  igno- 
 rance of  the  people  they  were  to  inform,  yet  I  think  it  was 
 never  in  any  church-office  before,  but  in  manuals  and  cate- 
 chisms only:  yet  they  are  made  liturgic  by  the  sufFi'ages  at 
 the  end  of  every  commandment,  and  need  no  other  warrant 
 from  antiquity  but  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Exodus.  There 
 are  not  many  parts  beside,  and  they  which  are,  derive  them- 
 selves from  an  elder  house  than  the  Roman  offices ;  the 
 Gloria  Patri  was  composed  by  the  Nicene  council,  the  latter 
 versicle  by  St.  Jerome,  though  some  eminently  learned, 
 and,  in  particular,  Baronius,  is  of  opinion  that  it  was  much 
 more  ancient.  It  was,  at  first,  a  confession  of  faith,  and  used 
 by  a  newly-baptized  convert  and  the  slanders  by;  and  then  it 
 came  to  be  a  hymn,  and  very  early  annexed  to  the  anliphons. 
 
294  THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  APOLOGV  FOR 
 
 and  aftei'wards  to  the  Psalms  and  hymns,  all  except  that  of 
 St.  Ambrose  beginning  with  '  Te  Deum,'  because  that  of 
 itself  is  a  great  doxology.  It  is  seven  times  used  in  the 
 Greek  office  of  baptism,  and  in  the  recitation  of  it  the  priest 
 and  people  stood  all  up  and  turned  to  the  east ;  and  this 
 custom  ever  continued  in  the  chui'ch,  and  is  still  retained  in 
 the  church  of  England,  in  conformity  to  the  ancient  and 
 primitive  custom,  save  only  that  in  the  litany  we  kneel,  which 
 is  a  more  humble  posture,  but  not  so  ancient, — the  litanies 
 having  usually  been  said  walking,  not  kneeling  or  standing. 
 But  in  this  the  variety  is  an  ornament  to  the  church's  gar 
 ment.  St.  Gregoiy  added  this  doxology  to  the  responsory 
 at  the  beginning  of  prayer,  after  "  O  Lord,  make  haste  to 
 help  us :"  that  was  the  last,  and  yet  above  a  thousand  years 
 old,  and  much  older  than  the  body  of  popery.  And  as  for 
 the  latter  part  of  the  doxology,  I  am  clearly  of  opinion,  that 
 though  it  might,  by  St.  Jerome,  be  brought  into  the  Latin 
 church,  yet  it  was  in  the  Greek  chui'ch  before  him  ;  witness 
 that  most  ancient  hymn  or  doxology,  K«/  mi  rv,v  J6|av  a.-iOL7it^ji.- 
 TTOfASv,  TO)  zjxrqi  xcil  tSj  via)  xsei  tw  ayiw  zsvEoiMctrt,  vvv  x.xi  txn  xcxl 
 sis  Tols  aiuvxs  ruv  a.\ujcuv.  'Af/.riv.  However,  as  to  the  matter  of 
 the  doxology,  it  is  no  other  than  the  confession  of  the  three 
 most  blessed  persons  of  the  Trinity,  which  Christ  com- 
 manded, and  which,  with  greatest  solemnity,  we  declare  in 
 baptism ;  and  certainly  we  can  no  ways  better,  or  more 
 solemnly  and  ritually,  give  glory  to  the  holy  Trinity,  than 
 by  being  baptized  into  the  profession  and  service  of  it.  The 
 trisagion  was  taught  to  the  Greek  church  by  angels ;  but 
 certain  it  is,  it  sprang  not  fi'om  a  Roman  fountain  ;  and  that 
 the  canon  of  our  communion  is  the  same  with  the  old  canon 
 of  the  church,  many  hundred  years  before  popery  had  in- 
 vaded the  simplicity  of  Christian  religion,  is  evident,  if  we 
 compare  the  particulars  recited  by  St.  Basil  \  Innocentius's  ^ 
 epistle  to  John,  archbishop  of  Lyons, — Honorius'',  the  priest, 
 Alculnns',  and  Walafridus  Strabo^;  and  if  we  will,  We  may 
 add  the  liturgy  said  to  be  St.  James's,  and  the  constitu- 
 tion of  St.  Clement'  (for  whoever  was  the  author  of  these. 
 
 '  De  Spir.  Sanct.  c.  27.  «  De  Celebratione  Missaium,  c.  cum  Mattli. 
 ^  In  Gemma  Animi.  lib.  i.  c.  86.  'De  Divin.  Oliic. 
 
 Super  Act.  20.  Una  autem  Sabbali.  'Lib.  viii.  c.  17 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY.  295 
 
 certalnly'^they  were  ancient),  Radulphus  Tongrensls ;  and  llie 
 later  ritualists,  Cassander,  Pamelius,  Hittorpius,  Jacobus 
 Goar,  and  the  rest. 
 
 24.  And  that  we  maybe  yet  more  particular,  the  very  prayer 
 for  Christ's  catholic  church,  in  the  office  of  communion,, 
 beside  that  it  is  nothing  but  a  plain  execution  of  an  aposto- 
 lical precept,  set  down  in  the  preface  of  the  prayer,  it  was 
 also  used  in  all  times,  and  in  all  liturgies  of  the  ancient 
 church.  And  we  find  this  attested  by  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem "' ; 
 "  Deinde  postquam  confectum  est  illud  spirituale  sacrificium, 
 obsecramus  Deum  pro  communi  ecclesiarum  pace,  pro  tran- 
 quillitate  mundi,  pro  regibus,"  &c.  To  the  same  purpose  also 
 there  is  a  testimony  in  St.  Chrysostom,  which  because  it 
 serves  not  only  here,  but  also  to  other  uses,  it  will  not  be 
 amiss  here  to  note  it :  "  Quid  autem  sibi  vult  primum.  om- 
 nium? In  obsequio  scilicet  quotidiano,  perpetuoque  divinae 
 religionis  ritu.  Atque  id  noverunt  fideles,  quomodo  diebus 
 singulis,  mane  et  vespere,  orationes  fundantur  ad  Dominum  ; 
 quomodo  pro  omni  mundo  et  regibus,  et  omnibus  qui  in 
 sublimitate  positi  sunt,  obsecrationes  in  ecclesia  fiant.  Sed 
 forte  quis  dixerit,  pro  om7iibus  quod  ait,  tantum  fideles  intel- 
 ligi  voluisse.  At  id  verum  non  esse  quae  sequixntur,  ostendunt. 
 Denique  ait,  pro  regibi(>i;  neque  enim  tunc  reges  Deum  cole- 
 bant."  It  is  evident  by  this,  that  the  custom  of  the  church 
 was,  not  only  in  the  celebration  of  the  holy  communion,  but 
 in  all  her  other  offices,  to  say  this  prayer,  not  only  for 
 Christ's  catholic  church,  but  for  all  the  world. 
 
 25.  And  that  the  charity  of  the  church  might  not  be  mis- 
 construed, he  produces  his  wari'ant.  St.  Paul  not  only  ex- 
 pressly commands  us  to  pray  '  for  all  men,'  but  adds,  by 
 way  of  instance,  '  for  kings,'  who  then  were  unchristian,  and 
 heathen  in  all  the  world.  But  this  form  of  prayer  is  almost 
 word  for  word  in  St.  Ambrose.  "  Haec  regula  ecclesiastica 
 est  tridita  a  magistro  gentium,  qua  utuntuv  sacerdotes  nostri, 
 ut  pro  omnibus  supplicent — deprecantes  pro  regibus — oran- 
 tes  pro  iis  quibus  subliinis  potestas  credita  est,  ut  in  justitia 
 et  veritate  gubernent — postulantes  pro  iis  qui  in  necessitate 
 varia  sunt,  ut  eruti  et  liberati  Deum  collaudent  incolumitatis 
 autorem"."    So  far  goes  our  form  of  prayer.    But  St.  Am- 
 
 ■»  Mystagog.  Calechis.  5.  "  Horn.  6,  in  1  Epist.  ad  Tim. 
 
 "  In  Comment. 
 
296 
 
 THE  PllEFACE  TO  TUE  APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 broseadds,  "  Referentes  quoqiie  gratiarum  actiones."  And  so 
 it  was  Avitli  us  in  the  first  servic;c-books  of  king  Edward,  and 
 tJie  jireface  to  the  praj'er  engages  us  to  a  thanksgiving  ;  but 
 I  know  not  how  it  was  stolen  out,  the  jjreface  still  remaining, 
 to  chide  their  unwarinesa  that  took  down  that  part  of  the 
 building,  and  yet  left  the  gate  standing.  But  if  the  reader 
 please  to  be  satisfied  concerning  this  prayer,  which,  indeed, 
 is  the  longest  in  our  service-book,  and  of  greatest  considera- 
 tion, he  may  see  it  taken  up  from  the  universal  custom  of  the 
 church,  and  almost  in  all  the  woixls  of  the  old  liturgies,  if  he 
 will  observe  the  liturgies  themselves,  of  St.  Basil,  St.  Chry- 
 sostom,  and  the  concurrent  testimonies  of  Tertullian  St. 
 Austin'',  Celestine',  Gennadius%  Prosper',  and  Theophylact". 
 
 26.  I  shall  not  need  to  make  any  excuses  for  the  church's 
 reading  those  portions  of  Scripture,  which  we  call  epistles 
 and  gospels,  before  the  communion.  They  are  Scriptures  of 
 the  choicest  and  most  profitable  ti'ansaction.  And  let  me 
 observe  this  thing,  that  they  are  not  onlj'  declarations  of  all 
 the  mysteries  of  our  redemption,  and  rules  of  good  life,  but 
 this  choice  is  of  the  greatest  compliance  with  the  necessities 
 of  the  Christian  church  that  can  be  imagined.  For  if  we 
 deny  to  the  people  a  liberty  of  reading  Scriptures,  may  they 
 not  complain,  as  Isaac  did  against  the  inhabitants  of  the 
 land,  that  the  Philistines  had  spoiled  his  well,  and  the  foun- 
 tains of  living  Avater?  if  a  free  use  to  all  of  them,  and  of 
 all  Scriptures,  were  permitted,  should  not  the  church  herself 
 have  more  cause  to  complain  of  the  infinite  licentiousness 
 and  looseness  of  interpretations,  and  of  the  commencement 
 of  ten  thousand  errors,  which  would  certainly  be  consequent 
 to  such  permission Reason  and  religion  will  chide  us  in 
 the  first,  reason  and  experience  in  the  latter.  And  can  the 
 wit  of  man  conceive  a  better  temper  and  expedient,  than 
 that  such  Scriptures  only  or  principally  should  be  laid  before 
 them  all  in  daily  offices,  which  contain  in  them  all  the 
 mysteries  of  our  redemption,  and  all  the  rules  of  good 
 life  ?  which  two  things  are  done  by  the  gospels,  and  epistles 
 respectively  :  the  first  being  a  record  of  the  life  and  death 
 
 I' Apologet.  c.  14.  1  Ep.  59.  ad  Paulin.  '  Ep.  1. 
 
 *  Dc  Doj;mat.  Eccles.  cap.  KO.  '  L.  1.  de  Vocat.  Gent.  c.  4. 
 
 "  In  Comment. 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  EOUMS  OF  LITURGY.  297 
 
 of  our  blessed  Saviour  ;  the  latter,  instructions  for  the  edifi- 
 cation of  the  Church,  in  pious  and  Christian  conversation  ; 
 and  all  this  was  done  with  so  much  choice,  that  as  obscure 
 places  are  avoided  by  design,  as  much  as  could  be,  so  the 
 very  assignation  of  them  to  certain  festivals,  the  appropria- 
 tion of  them  to  solemn  and  particular  days,  does  entertain 
 the  understandings  of  the  people  with  notions  proper  to  the 
 mystery,  and  distinct  from  impertinent  and  vexatious  ques- 
 tions. And  were  this  design  made  something  more  minute, 
 and  applicable  to  the  various  necessities  of  times,  and  such 
 choice  Scriptures  permitted  indifferently,  which  might  be 
 matter  of  necessity  and  great  edification,  the  people  of  the 
 church  would  have  no  reason  to  complain,  that  the  fountains  of 
 our  Saviour  were  stopped  from  them, — nor  the  rulers  of  the 
 church,  that  the  mysteriousness  of  Scripture  were  abused  by 
 the  petulancy  of  the  people  to  consequents  harsh,  impious, 
 and  unreasonable,  in  despite  of  government,  in  exauctora- 
 tion  of  the  power  of  superiors,  or  for  the  commencement  of 
 schisms  and  heresies.  The  church,  with  great  wisdom,  hatli 
 first  held  this  torch  out  ;  and,  though,  for  great  reasons 
 intervening  and  hindering,  it  cannot  be  reduced  to  practice, 
 yet  tile  church  hath  shown  her  desire  to  avoid  the  evil  tliat 
 is  on  both  hands,  and  she  hath  shown  the  way  also,  if  it 
 could  have  been  insisted  in.  But,  however,  this  choice  of 
 the  more  remarkable  portions  of  Scripture  is  so  reasonable 
 and  proportionable  to  the  nature  of  the  thing,  that,  because 
 the  gospels  and  epistles  bear  their  several  shares  of  the 
 design,  (the  gospel  representing  the  foundation,  and  prime 
 necessities  of  Christianity,  and  the  mysterious  parts  of  our 
 redemption,  the  sum,  the  faith,  and  the  hopes  of  Christianity) 
 therefore  it  is  attested  by  a  ceremony  of  standing  up,  it 
 being  a  part  of  the  confession  of  faith  :  but  the  epistles 
 containing  superstructures  upon  that  foundation,  are  read 
 with  religious  care,  but  not  made  formal  or  solemn  by  any 
 other  circumstance.  The  matter  contains  in  it  sufficient 
 of  reason  and  of  proportion,  but  nothing  of  necessity,  except 
 it  be  by  accident,  and  as  authority  does  intervene  by  way  of 
 sanction. 
 
 27.  But  that  this  reading  of  epistles  and  gospels  before 
 the  communion,  was  one  of  the  earliest  customs  of  the 
 
298  THE  PREFACK  TO  THE  APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 church,  I  find  it  affirmed  by  Rabanus  Maurus''.  "  Sed  enim 
 initio  mos  iste  cantandi  non  erat,  qui  nunc  in  ecclesia  ante 
 sacrificium  celebratur :  sed  tamen  epistolae  Pauli  recitabantur, 
 et  sanctum  evangelium  :"  "  The  custom  of  reading  St.  Paul's 
 epistles,  and  the  holy  gospel  before  the  sacrament,  was  from 
 the  beginning."  Some  other  portions  of  Scripture  were  read, 
 upon  emergent  occasions,  instead  of  the  epistle,  which  still 
 retain  the  name  of  epistle  ;  but  it  is  so  seldom,  that  it  happens 
 upon  two  Sundays  only  in  the  year :  upon  Trinity  Sunday, 
 and  the  twenty-fifth  Sunday  after  :  upon  Saints'  days  it 
 happens  oftener,  because  the  story  requires  a  particular  re- 
 memoration,  and,  therefore,  is  very  often  taken  out  of  the 
 Acts  of  the  Apostles  ;  but  being  in  substitution  only  of  the 
 ordinary  portion  of  the  epistle  of  St.  Paul,  or  other  the 
 apostles,  it  keeps  the  name  of  the  first  design,  though  the 
 change  be  upon  good  reason,  and  much  propriety. 
 
 28.  There  remains  now  nothing  but  the  litany  and  collects 
 to  be  accounted  for  :  for  the  matter  of  which,  I  shall  need  to 
 say  nothing,  because  the  objections  whatsoever  have  been 
 against  them,  are  extremely  low,  and  rather  like  the  intem- 
 perate talk  of  an  angry  child,  than  pressures  of  reason  or 
 probability,  excepting  where  they  are  charged  with  their 
 virtues,  for  their  charity  in  praying  for  all  men,  for  their 
 humility  in  acknowledging  such  a  worthlessness  in  ourselves, 
 as  not  to  dare  to  ask  our  petitions  upon  our  own  confidences. 
 These  things  fall  like  water  against  a  rock,  or  like  the  accu- 
 sations against  our  blessed  Saviour  ;  the  unreasonableness  of 
 them  splits  themselves. 
 
 29.  But  for  the  form,  I  think  themselves  will  make  answer, 
 Avhen  they  consider  that  they  are  nothing  but  a  pursuit  of 
 that  apostolical  precept,  which,  next  to  the  Lord's  prayer, 
 was  the  first  Scripture  pattern,  whence  the  church  framed 
 her  liturgies.  "  First  of  all,  let  there  be  made  intercessions, 
 and  prayers,  and  supplications,  and  giving  of  thanks,  for  all 
 men''."  In  which  words,  if  there  be  not  an  imjiertinent  re- 
 petition of  divers  words  to  the  same  sense,  then  needs  must 
 ^Ey)!Tets-,  zypoasvx^h  evTs6isi^,  be  as  much  distinct  from  each 
 other  in  their  form,  as  they  are  all  from  Evxa-pi(yTlxt. 
 
 s  Instilut.  Cleric.  1.  i.  c.  32. 
 
 •*  1  Tim.  ii. 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SF.T  FORMS  OP  LITURGY.  299 
 
 30.  St.  Austin  expounds  CT^offsyx'**''  '  pi'ayevs  made  in  and 
 about  the  blessed  euchai'ist.'  "  Ideo  in  hujus  sanctificatione 
 et  distributionis  prseparatione  existimo  apostolum  jussisse 
 proprie  fieri  zsopi^zvyjis,  id  est,  oi'ationes.  Interpellationes 
 autem  vel  postulationes  fiunt,  cum  populous  benedicitur^" 
 
 31.  But  St.  Austin,  if  he  were  not  deceived  in  his  criti- 
 cism, saj'^s,  that  besides  the  general  name  of  prayer,  which 
 is  signified  by  all  those  words,  iuy^r^  in  Scripture  signifies 
 '  votum'  or  desire,  such  surely  as  we  express  by  sudden  and 
 short  emissions,  and  then  pooiv/jh  is  but  a  prayer,  zsphs 
 Eiy^-^v,  that  is,  but  an  expression  of  short  and  ejaculatory 
 desires,  and  may  be  better  applied  to  such  forms  of  prayer 
 as  are  our  collects,  rather  than  the  longer  and  more  solemn 
 parts  of  the  canon  of  communion.  '¥.vrs.v'izis ,  though  it 
 signifies  an  address  to  God,  yet  it  may  with  propriety 
 enough  be  applied  to  our  interlocutoiy  prayers  where  the 
 people  bear  a  share;  for  hnu^zis  signifies  'congressum'  or 
 '  colloquium,'  rar  svrsv^sis  (xri  zuvkvocs  zsoiov  rois  ccvroHs,  Isocra- 
 tes  :  "  Make  no  frequent  societies  or  confederations  with 
 them."  However,  although  grammarians  may  differ  in  as- 
 signing these  several  words  to  their  proper,  minute,  and 
 incommunicable  signification,  yet  it  is  most  clear,  that  they 
 mean  not  prayers  distinct,  and  made  several  by  the  variety 
 of  matter,  but  several  addresses  differing  only  in  '  modo 
 orandi,'  and,  therefore,  by  these  are  intended  the  several 
 forms  of  prayer  and  supplication :  and  the  church  hath  at 
 all  times  used  prayers  of  all  variety,  long  and  short,  ejacu- 
 latory, determined,  and  solemn.  And  the  church  of  Eng- 
 land understood  it  in  this  variety,  calling  the  short  ejacu- 
 latory prayers  and  responsories  by  the  names  of  litanies, 
 or  suffrages,  which  I  should  render  in  the  phrase  of  St. 
 Austin  to  be  '  postulationes,'  or  ^masts ;  but  the  longer 
 collects  he  calls  '  prayers,'  which  is  the  true  rendering  of 
 
 podivy^a.^ ,  I  suppose,  and  therefore  twice  in  the  litany,  after 
 the  short  responsories,  the  priest  says,  '  let  us  pray,"  by  that, 
 minding  the  people  of  the  apostles'  pi'ecept,  that  '  prayer' 
 as  well  as  '  supplications'  be  made.  For  the  litanies  it  is 
 certain,  the  form  is  of  great  antiquity  ;  Mamercus,  bishop  of 
 Vienna,  made  solemn  litanies,  four  hundred  years  after  Christ, 
 
 ^  Epist.  59.  ad  Paulin.  q.  5. 
 
300 
 
 THE  PREFACF.  TO  THE  APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 and  lie  and  all  his  diocese  repeated  them  togethei* :  and, 
 therefore,  I  know  not  what  matter  of  doubt  there  can  be 
 reasonable  in  the  form,  since,  besides  that  we  have  the 
 wisdom  of  so  many  ages,  and  holy  and  prudent  persons  to 
 confirm  them,  the  form  is  made  with  design  to  represent  all 
 the  needs  of  the  catholic  church,  and  to  make  the  prayer 
 Itself  fitted  for  an  active  and  an  intense  devotion  ;  and  that 
 it  co-operates  rarely  well  to  these  ends,  is  so  true,  that  of 
 the  first,  every  man  is  judge, — of  the  second,  every  man  may 
 be  judge,  that  will,  without  prejudice,  and  with  pious  pi"e- 
 dispositions,  use  the  form  ;  for,  if  they  help  my  devotion  in- 
 finitely, they  may  do  as  much  to  another,  if  he  be  disposed 
 as  I  am ;  and  he  that  says  they  do  no  advantage,  or  singular 
 relish  to  my  spirit,  may  as  well  tell  me  the  meat  I  eat  does 
 not  please  me,  because  he  loves  it  not ;  but  the  exceptions 
 which  are  against  it,  are  so  fantastic,  and  by  chance,  that, 
 unless  it  be  against  a  single  adversary,  and  by  personal  en- 
 gagement, they  cannot  be  noted  in  a  series  of  a  positive  dis- 
 course. Sometimes  they  are  too  long,  and  sometimes  they 
 are  too  short,  and  yet  the  objectors  will  make  longer  and 
 shorter  when  they  please  ;  and,  because  no  law  of  God  hath 
 prescribed  to  ns  in  such  circumstances,  if  the  church  leaves 
 the  same  liberty  to  their  private  devotions,  it  is  not  reason- 
 able they  should  prescribe  to  her  in  public,  and  in  such 
 minutes,  in  which  the  ordinary  prudence  of  one  wise  man  is 
 abundantly  sufficient  to  give  him  laws  and  directions,  and  in 
 matters  of  greater  difficulty. 
 
 32.  Of  the  same  consideration  is  the  form  of  our  church 
 collects,  which  are  made  pleasant  by  their  variety  of  matter, — 
 are  made  energetical  and  potent  by  that  great  endearment  of 
 '  per  Jesum  Christum  Dominum  nostrum,' — are  cleared  from 
 a  neighbourhood  of  tediousness  by  their  so  quick  intercision 
 and  breakings  off, — and  have  for  their  precedent  the  forms 
 of  prayer  used  by  the  religious  of  Palestine  mentioned  by 
 Cassian  ;  "  Et  hte  fuerunt  monachorum  jaculatoriaj  orationes, 
 ut  frequentius  Dominum  deprecantes  jugiter  eidem  cohaerere 
 possimus,  et  ut  insidiantis  diaboli  jacula,  quas  infligere  nobis 
 tum  prtecipue  insistit  cum  oi'amus,  succincta  vitemus  brevi- 
 tate\"  In  all  these  forms  of  prayer  thex-e  is  no  difference  but 
 
 ^  De  Instit.  Cleric,  lib.  i.  c.  32. 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY.  301 
 
 what  is  circumstantial ;  and  thei-efore,  although  these  circum- 
 stances be  of  great  efficacy  for  the  procuring  of  accidental 
 advantages  to  our  spirits,  which  are  often  swayed,  moved, 
 and  determined  by  a  manner,  as  much  as  by  an  essence,  yet 
 there  is  in  it  nothing  of  duty  and  obligation  ;  and,  therefore, 
 it  is  the  most  unreasonable  thing  in  the  world  to  make  any  of 
 these  things  to  be  a  question  of  religion. 
 
 33.  I  shall  therefore  press  these  things  no  further,  but 
 note,  that  since  all  liturgy  is,  and  ever  was,  either  prose  or 
 verse, — or  both,  and  the  liturgy  of  the  church  of  England,  as 
 well  as  most  others,  is  of  the  last  sort, — I  consider  that  what- 
 soever is  in  her  devotions  besides  the  lessons,  epistles,  and 
 gospels,  ( the  body  of  which  is  no  other  thing,  than  was  the 
 famous  '  lectionarium'  of  St.  Jerome)  is  a  compliance  with 
 these  two  dictates  of  the  apostle  for  litur-ry :  the  which,  one 
 for  verse,  the  other  for  prose,  '  in  psalms  and  hymns  and 
 spiritual  songs,'  for  verse ;  for  prose,  '  deprecations,  and 
 prayers,  and  intercessions  and  giving  of  thanks,' — will  war- 
 rant and  commend,  as  so  many  parts  of  duty,  all  the  portions 
 of  the  English  liturgy. 
 
 34.  If  it  were  worth  the  pains,  it  were  very  easy  to  enu- 
 merate the  authors,  and  especially  the  occasions  and  time 
 when  the  most  minute  passages,  such  I  mean  as  are  known 
 by  distinct  appellatives,  came  into  the  church  ;  that  so  it  may 
 appear,  our  liturgy  is  as  ancient  and  primitive  in  every  part, 
 as  it  is  pious  and  unblamable,  and  long  before  the  church 
 got  such  a  beam  in  one  of  her  eyes,  which  was  endeavoured 
 to  be  cast  out  at  the  reformation.  But  it  will  not  be  amiss 
 to  observe,  that  very  many  of  them  were  inserted  as  anti- 
 dotes and  deletories  to  the  worst  of  heresies,  as  I  have  dis- 
 coursed already  :  and  such  was  that  clause,  "  Through  Jesus 
 Christ  our  Lord,  who  liveth  and  reigneth  with  thee,  in  the 
 unity  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  ever  one  God ;"  and  some  other 
 phrases  parallel  were  put  in,  in  defiance  of  the  Macedonians, 
 and  all  the  species  of  the  Anti-trinitarians,  and  used  by  St. 
 Ambrose  in  Milan,  St.  Austin  in  Africa,  and  Idacius  Clarus 
 in  Spain  ;  and  in  imitation  of  so  pious  precedents,  the  church 
 of  England  hath  inserted  divers  clauses  into  her  offices. 
 
 35.  There  was  a  great  instance  in  the  administration  of 
 the  blessed  sacrament.  For  upon  the  change  of  certain 
 clauses  in  the  liturgy,  upon  the  instance  of  Martin  Luther, 
 
 VOL.  VII.  Y 
 
302 
 
 THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  APOLOGY  PGR 
 
 instead  of  '  the  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  was 
 given  for  you,  preserve  your  body  and  soul  unto  everlasting- 
 life,'  was  substituted  this,  'take  and  eat  this  in  remembrance,' 
 &c.  ;  and  it  was  done  lest  the  people,  accustomed  to  the 
 opinion  of  transubstantiation  and  the  appendant  practices, 
 should  retain  the  same  doctrine  upon  intimation  of  the  first 
 clause.  But  in  the  beginning  of  queen  Elizabeth's  reign, 
 when  certain  persons  of  the  Zuinglian  opinion  would  have 
 abused  the  church  with  sacramentary  doctrine,  and  pretended 
 the  church  of  England  had  declared  for  it  in  the  second 
 clause  of  1552,  the  wisdom  of  the  church  thought  it  expe- 
 dient to  join  both  the  clauses  ;  the  first,  lest  the  church  should 
 be  suspected  to  be  of  the  sacramentary  opinion ;  the  latter, 
 lest  she  should  be  mistaken  as  a  patroness  of  transubstantia- 
 tion :  and  both  these  with  so  much  temper  and  sweetness, 
 that  by  her  care  she  rather  prevented  all  mistakes,  than  by 
 any  positive  declaration  in  her  prayers,  engaged  herself  upon 
 either  side,  that  she  might  pray  to  God  without  strife  and 
 contention  with  her  brethren.  For  the  church  of  England 
 had  never  known  how  to  follow  the  names  of  men,  but  to 
 call  Christ  only,  '  her  Lord  and  Master.' 
 
 36.  But  from  the  inserting  of  these  and  the  like  clauses, 
 which  hath  been  done  in  all  ages,  according  to  several  oppor- 
 tunities and  necessities,  I  shall  observe  this  advantage,  which 
 is  in  many,  but  is  also  very  signally  in  the  English  liturgy  ; 
 we  are  thereby  enabled  and  advantaged  in  the  meditation  of 
 those  mysteries,  "  de  quibus  festivatur  in  sacris,'  as  the  casu- 
 ists love  to  speak  ; — which,  upon  solemn  days,  we  are  bound 
 to  meditate,  and  make  to  be  the  matter  and  occasion  of  our 
 address  to  God  ;  for  the  offices  are  so  ordered,  that  the  most 
 Indifferent  and  careless  cannot  but  be  reminded  of  the  mys- 
 tery in  every  anniversary,  which,  if  they  be  summed  up,  will 
 make  an  excellent  creed :  and  then  let  any  man  consider 
 what  a  rare  advantage  it  will  be  to  the  belief  of  such  pro- 
 positions, when  the  very  design  of  the  holiday  teaches  the 
 hard-handed  artisan  the  name  and  meaning  of  an  article,  and 
 yet  the  most  forward  and  religious  cannot  be  abused  with 
 any  semblances  of  superstition.  The  life  and  death  of  the 
 saints,  which  is  very  precious  in  the  eyes  of  God,  is  so  re- 
 membered by  his  humble  and  afflicted  handmaid,  the  church 
 of  England,  that  by  giving  him  thanks  and  praise,  God  may 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY.  303 
 
 be  honoured,  the  church  instructed  by  the  proposition  of  their 
 example,  and  we  give  testimony  of  the  honour  and  love  we 
 owe  and  pay  unto  religion,  by  the  pious  veneration  and  esteem 
 of  those  holy  and  beatified  persons. 
 
 37.  Certain  it  is  that  there  is  no  part  of  religion,  as  it  is 
 a  distinct  virtue,  and  is  to  be  exercised  by  interior  acts  and 
 forms  of  worship,  but  is  in  the  offices  of  the  church  of  Eng- 
 land. For  if  the  soul  desires  to  be  humbled,  she  hath  pro- 
 vided forms  of  confession  to  God  before  his  church ;  if  she 
 will  rejoice  and  give  God  thanks  for  particular  blessings, 
 there  are  forms  of  thanksgiving  described  and  added,  by  the 
 king's  authority,  upon  the  conference  at  Hampton-court, 
 which  are  all  the  public,  solemn,  and  foreseen  occasions,  for 
 which,  by  law  and  order,  provision  could  be  made.  If  she 
 will  commend  to  God  the  public  and  private  necessities  of 
 the  church,  and  single  persons,  the  whole  body  of  collects 
 and  devotions  supplies  that  abundantly  :  if  her  devotion  be 
 high  and  pregnant,  and  prepared  to  fervency  and  importunity 
 of  congress  with  God,  the  litanies  are  an  admirable  pattern 
 of  devotion,  full  of  circumstances  proportionable  for  a  quick 
 and  an  earnest  spirit :  when  the  revolution  of  the  anniversary 
 calls  on  us  to  perform  our  duty  of  sjjecial  meditation,  and 
 thankfulness  to  God  for  the  glorious  benefits  of  Christ's  in- 
 carnation, nativity,  passion,  resurrection,  and  ascension 
 (blessings,  which  do  as  well  deserve  a  day  of  thanksgiving 
 as  any  other  temporal  advantage,  though  it  be  the  pleasure 
 of  a  victory),  then  we  have  the  offices  of  Christmas,  the  An- 
 nunciation, Easter,  and  Ascension :  if  we  delight  to  remem- 
 ber those  holy  persons,  whose  bodies  rest  in  the  bed  of  peace, 
 and  whose  souls  are  deposited  in  the  hands  of  Christ  till  the 
 day  of  restitution  of  all  things,  we  may,  by  the  collects  and 
 days  of  anniversary-festivity,  not  only  remember,  but  also 
 imitate  them  too  in  our  lives,  if  we  will  make  that  use  of  the 
 proportions  of  Scripture  allotted  for  the  festival  which  the 
 church  intends :  to  which  if  we  add  the  advantages  of  the 
 whole  psalter,  which  is  an  entire  body  of  devotion  by  itself, 
 and  hath  in  it  forms  to  exercise  all  graces  by  way  of  internal 
 act  and  spiritual  intention,  there  is  not  any  ghostly  advan- 
 tage which  the  most  religious  can  either  need  or  fancy,  but 
 the  English  liturgy  in  its  entire  constitution  will  furnish  us 
 withal.   And  certainly  it  was  a  very  great  wisdom,  and  a 
 
 y  2 
 
304  THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 very  prudent  and  religious  constitution,  so  to  order  that  part 
 of  the  liturgy,  which  the  ancients  called  the  '  lectionarium,' 
 that  the  psalter  should  be  read  over  twelve  times  in  the  year, 
 the  Old  Testament  once,  and  the  New  Testament  thrice, 
 besides  the  epistles  and  gospels,  which  renew  with  a  more 
 frequent  repetition,  such  choice  places  as  represent  the  entire 
 body  of  faith  and  good  life.  There  is  a  defalcation  of  some 
 few  chapters  from  the  entire  body  of  the  order  ;  but  that  also 
 was  part  of  the  wisdom  of  the  church,  not  to  expose  to  pub- 
 lic ears  and  common  judgments  some  of  the  secret  rites  of 
 Moses'  law,  or  the  more  mysterious  prophecies  of  the  New 
 Testament,  whose  sense  and  meaning  the  event  will  declare, 
 if  we,  by  mistaken  and  anticipated  interpretations,  do  not 
 obstruct  our  own  capacities,  and  hinder  us  from  believing 
 the  true  events,  because  they  answer  not  those  expectations, 
 with  which  our  own  mistakes  have  prepared  our  understand- 
 ings ;  as  it  happened  to  the  Jews  in  the  case  of  Antiochus,  and 
 to  the  Christians  in  the  person  of  Antichrist. 
 
 38.  Well :  thus  as  it  was  framed  in  the  body  of  its  first 
 constitution  and  second  alteration,  those  excellent  men 
 whom  God  chose  as  instruments  of  his  honour  and  service 
 in  the  reformation,  to  whom  also  he  did  show  what  great 
 things  they  were  to  suffer  for  his  name's  sake,  approved  of  it 
 with  high  testimony,  promoted  it  by  their  own  use  and  zeal, 
 and  at  last  sealed  it  with  their  blood. 
 
 39.  That  they  had  a  great  opinion  of  the  piety  and  un- 
 blamable composure  of  the  common  prayer-book,  appears, 
 1.  in  the  challenge  made  in  its  behalf  by  the  archbishop 
 Cranmer,  to  defend  it  against  all  the  woi'ld  of  enemies ;  2.  by 
 the  daily  using  it  in  time  of  persecution  and  imprisonment ; 
 for  so  did  bishop  Ridley,  and  doctor  Taylor,  who  also  recom- 
 mended it  to  his  wife  for  a  legacy;  3.  by  their  preaching  in 
 behalf  of  it,  as  many  did  ;  4.  by  Hulliers'  hugging  it  in  his 
 flames,  with  a  posture  of  great  love  and  forwardness  of  enter- 
 tainment; 5.  besides  the  direct  testimony  which  the  most 
 eminent  learned  amongst  the  queen-Mary  martyrs  have  given 
 of  it.  Amongst  which,  that  of  the  learned  rector  of  Hadley, 
 doctor  Rowland  Taylor,  is  most  considerable  :  his  words  are 
 these  in  a  letter  of  his  to  a  friend  :  "  But  there  was  after 
 that,  by  the  most  innocent  king  Edward,  (for  whom  God  be 
 praised  everlastingly !)  the  whole  church-service,  with  great 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY.  305 
 
 deliberation,  and  the  advice  of  the  best  learned  men  of  the 
 realm,  and  authorized  by  the  whole  parliament,  and  received 
 and  published  gladly  by  the  whole  realm ;  which  book  was 
 never  reformed  but  once,  and  yet,  by  that  one  reformation, 
 it  was  so  fully  perfected,  according  to  the  rules  of  our  Chris- 
 tian religion,  in  every  behalf,  that  no  Christian  conscience 
 could  be  offended  with  any  thing  therein  contained :  I  mean 
 of  that  book  reformed 
 
 40.  I  desire  the  words  may  be  considered  and  confronted 
 against  some  other  words  lately  published,  which  charge 
 these  holy  and  learned  men  but  with  a  half-faced  light,  a 
 darkness  in  the  confines  of  Egypt  and  the  suburbs  of  Goshen. 
 And  because  there  is  no  such  thing  proved  of  these  blessed 
 men  and  martyrs,  and  that  it  is  easy  to  say  such  words  of 
 any  man  that  is  not  fully  of  our  mind,  I  suppose  the  advan- 
 tage and  the  out-weighing  authority  will  lie  on  our  part,  in 
 behalf  of  the  common-prayer-book,  especially  since  this  man, 
 and  divers  others,  died  with  it  and  for  it,  according  as  it 
 happened  by  the  circumstance  of  their  charges  and  articles, 
 upon  which  they  died ;  for  so  it  was  in  the  cases  of  John 
 Rough,  John  Philpot,  Cuthbert  Simson,  and  seven  others, 
 burnt  in  Smithfield"^;  upon  whom  it  was  charged  in  their 
 indictments,  that  they  used,  allowed,  preached  for,  and  main- 
 tained respectively,  the  service-book  of  king  Edward.  To 
 which  articles  they  answered  affirmatively,  and  confessed 
 them  to  be  true  in  every  part,  and  died  accordingly. 
 
 41.  I  shall  press  this  argument  to  issue,  in  the  words  of 
 St.  Ambrose,  cited  to  the  like  purpose  by  Vincentius  Liri- 
 nensis:  "  Librum  sacerdotalem  quis  nostrum  resignare  au- 
 deat,  signatum  a  confessoribus,  et  multorum  jam  martyrio 
 consecratum?  Quomodo  fidem  eorum  possumus  denegare, 
 quorum  victoriam  praedicamus''  ?"  '  Who  shall  dare  to  vio- 
 late this  priestly  book,  which  so  many  confessors  have  con- 
 signed, and  so  many  martyrs  have  hallowed  with  their  blood  ? 
 How  shall  we  call  them  martyrs,  if  we  deny  their  faith  ?  how 
 shall  we  celebrate  their  victory,  if  we  dislike  their  cause  ? 
 If  we  believe  them  to  be  crowned,  why  shall  we  deny  but 
 that  they  "  strove  lawfully?"  So  that  if  they,  dying  in  attes- 
 
 *>  Acts  and  Monuments,  p.  1385,  1608, 1665,  1840,  1844,  et  alibi. 
 <=  P.  18 18,  1649,  1840.  <>  Contra.  H*res.  c.  7. 
 
306 
 
 THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 tation  of  this  book,  were  martyrs,  why  do  we  condemn  the 
 book  for  which  they  died  ?  If  we  will  not  call  them  martyrs, 
 it  is  clear  we  have  changed  our  religion  since  then.  And 
 then  it  would  be  considered  whether  we  are  fallen ;  for  the 
 reformers  in  king  Edward's  time  died  for  it,  in  queen  Eliza- 
 beth's time  they  avowed  it  under  the  protection  of  an  excel- 
 lent princess;  but,  in  that  sad  interval  of  queen  Mary's  reign, 
 it  suffered  persecution  :  and  if  it  shall  do  so  again,  it  is  but 
 an  unhandsome  compliance  for  reformers  to  be  unlike  their 
 brethren,  and  to  be  like  their  enemies,  to  do  as  do  the  papists, 
 and  only  to  speak  great  words  against  them  ;  and  it  will  be 
 sad  for  a  zealous  protestant  to  live  in  an  age  that  should 
 disavow  king  Edward's  and  queen  Elizabeth's  I'eligion  and 
 manner  of  worshipping  God,  and  in  an  age  that  shall  do  as 
 did  queen  Mary's  bishops,  persecute  the  book  of  common- 
 prayer,  and  the  religion  contained  in  it.  God  help  the  poor 
 protestants  in  such  times  ;  but  let  it  do  its  worst ;  if  God 
 please  to  give  his  grace,  the  worst  that  can  come  is  but  a 
 crown,  and  that  was  never  denied  to  martyrs. 
 
 42.  In  the  mean  time  I  can  but  with  joy  and  eucharist 
 consider  with  what  advantages  and  blessings  the  pious  pro- 
 testant is  entertained,  and  blessed,  and  armed  against  all  his 
 needs,  bv  the  constant  and  religious  usage  of  the  common- 
 prayer-book :  for  besides  the  direct  advantages  of  the  prayers 
 and  devotions,  some  whereof  are  already  instanced, — and  the 
 experience  of  holy  persons  will  furnish  them  M'ith  more, — 
 there  are  also  forms  of  solemn  benediction  and  absolution  in 
 the  offices  ;  and  if  they  be  not  highly  considerable,  there 
 is  nothing  sacred  in  the  evangelical  ministry,  but  all  is  a 
 vast  plain,  and  the  altars  themselves  are  made  of  unhallowed 
 turf. 
 
 43.  Concerning  benediction  (of  which  there  ai'e  four  more 
 solemn  forms  in  the  whole  office,  two  in  the  canon  of  the 
 communion,  one  in  confirmation,  one  in  the  office  of  mar- 
 riage) I  shall  give  this  short  account,  that  "  without  all 
 question,  the  less  is  blessed  of  the  greater,"  and  it  being  an 
 issue  spiritual,  is  rather  to  be  verified  in  spiritual  relation 
 than  in  natural  or  political.  And,  therefore,  if  there  be  any 
 such  thing  as  '  regeneration'  by  the  ministry  of  the  word,  and 
 '  begetting  in  Christ,'  and  fathers,  and  sons  after  the  common 
 faith  (as  the  expressions  of  the  apostles  make  us  to  believe). 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS  OK  LITURGY.  307 
 
 cei'tain  it  is,  the  blessings  of  religion  do  descend  most  pro- 
 perly from  our  spiritual  fathers,  and  with  most  plentiful  ema- 
 nation. And  this  hath  been  the  religion  of  all  the  world,  to 
 derive  very  much  of  their  blessings  by  the  priest's  particular 
 and  signal  ministration  :  Melchisedech  blessed  Abraliam, 
 Isaac  blessed  Jacob,  and  Moses  and  Aaron  blessed  the  peo- 
 ple. So  that  here  is  benediction  from  a  prince,  from  a  father, 
 from  the  Aaronical  priest,  from  Melchisedech,  of  whose  order 
 is  the  Christian,  in  whose  law  it  is  a  sanction,  that,  in  great 
 needs  especially,  "  the  elders  of  the  church  be  sent  for,  and 
 let  them  pray  over  him  that  is  distressed."  That  is  the 
 *  great  remedy'  for  the  '  great  necessity.'  And  it  was  ever 
 much  valued  in  the  church,  insomuch  that  Nectarius  would, 
 by  no  means,  take  investiture  of  his  patriai'chal  see,  until  he 
 had  obtained  the  benediction  of  Diodorus,  the  bishop  of 
 Cilicia.  Eudoxia,  the  empress,  brought  her  son  Theodosius 
 to  St.  Chrysostom,  for  his  blessing;  and  St.  Austin  and  all 
 his  company  received  it  of  Innocentius,  bishop  of  Carthage. 
 It  was  so  solemn  in  all  marriages,  that  the  marrying  of  per- 
 sons was  called  '  benediction.'  So  it  was  in  the  fourth  council 
 of  Carthage  ;  "  Sponsus  et  sponsa  cum  benedicendi  sunt  a 
 sacerdote,"  &c.  benedicendi  for  married.  And  in  all  church 
 offices  it  was  so  Goleran,  that,  by  a  decree  of  the  council  of 
 Agatlio,  A.  D.  380,  it  was  decreed,  "  Ante  benedictionem 
 sacerdotis  populus  egredi  non  preesumat."  By  the  way  only, 
 here  is  aoQsvTia  for  two  parts  of  the  English  liturgy  :  for  the 
 benediction  in  the  office  of  marriage,  by  the  authority  of  the 
 council  of  Carthage;  and  for  concluding  the  office  of  com- 
 munion with  the  priest's  or  bishop's  benediction,  by  warrant 
 of  the  council  of  Agatho  ;  which  decrees,  having  been  de- 
 rived into  the  practice  of  the  universal  church  for  very  many 
 ages,  is  in  no  hand  to  be  undervalued,  lest  we  become  like 
 Esau,  and  we  miss  it  when  we  most  need  it.  For  my  own 
 particular,  I  shall  still  jjress  on  to  receive  the  benediction  of 
 holy  church,  till  at  last  I  shall  hear  a  "  Venite,  benedicti," 
 and  that  I  be  reckoned  amongst  those  blessed  souls,  who  come 
 to  God  by  the  ministries  of  his  own  appointment,  and  will 
 not  venture  upon  that  neglect,  against  which  the  piety  and 
 wisdom  of  all  religions  in  the  world  infinitely  do  prescribe. 
 
 44.  Now  the  advantages  of  confidence,  which  I  have  upon 
 the  forms  of  benediction  in  the  common-prayer-book,  are 
 
308 
 
 THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 therefore  considerable,  because  God  himself  prescribed  a  set 
 form  of  blessing  the  people,  appointing  it  to  be  done,  not  in 
 the  priest's  extempore,  but  in  an  established  form  of  words*; 
 and  because,  as  the  authority  of  a  prescript  form  is  from 
 God,  so  that  this  form  may  be  also  highly  wan-anted,  the 
 solemn  blessing,  at  the  end  of  the  communion,  is  in  the  very 
 words  of  St.  Paul. 
 
 45.  For  the  forms  of  absolution  in  the  liturgy,  though  I 
 shall  not  enter  into  consideration  of  the  question  concerning 
 the  quality  of  the  priest's  power,  which  is  certainly  a  very 
 great  ministry  ;  yet  I  shall  observe  the  rare  temper  and  pro- 
 portion, which  the  church  of  England  uses  in  commensurat- 
 ing  the  forms  of  absolution  to  the  degrees  of  preparation  and 
 necessity.  At  the  beginning  of  the  morning  and  evening 
 prayer,  after  a  general  confession,  usually  recited  before  the 
 devotion  is  high  and  pregnant,  whose  parts  like  fire  enkindle 
 one  another, — there  is  a  form  of  absolution  in  general,  decla- 
 rative, and  by  way  of  proposition.  In  the  office  of  the  com- 
 munion, because  there  are  more  acts  of  piety  and  repentance 
 previous  and  presupposed,  there  the  church's  form  of  abso- 
 lution is  optative  and  by  way  of  intercession.  But  in  the 
 visitation  of  the  sick,  when  it  is  supposed  and  enjoined  that 
 the  penitent  shall  disburden  himself  of  all  the  clamorous 
 loads  upon  his  conscience,  the  church  prescribes  a  medicinal 
 foi'm  by  way  of  delegate  authority,  that  the  parts  of  justifica- 
 tion may  answer  to  the  parts  of  good  life.  For  as  the  peni- 
 tent proceeds,  so  doesr  the  church ;  pardon  and  repentance 
 being  terms  of  relation,  they  grow  up  together  till  they  be 
 complete  :  this  the  church,  with  the  greatest  wisdom,  sup- 
 poses to  be  at  the  end  of  our  life,  grace  by  that  time  having 
 all  its  growth  that  it  will  have  here ;  and,  therefore,  then 
 also  the  pardon  of  sins  is  of  another  nature  than  it  ever  was 
 before,  it  being  now  more  actual  and  complete ;  whereas,  be- 
 fore, it  was  '  in  fieri,'  in  the  beginnings  and  smaller  increases, 
 and  upon  more  accidents  apt  to  be  made  imperfect  and  re- 
 vocable. So  that  the  church  of  England,  in  these  manners 
 of  dispensing  the  power  of  the  keys,  does  cut  off  all  disput- 
 ings  and  impertinent  wranglings,  whether  the  priest's  power 
 were  judicial  or  declarative ;  for  possibly  it  is  both,  and  it  is 
 
 e  Num.  vi.  2S. 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY.  309 
 
 optative  too;  and  something  else  yet,  for  it  is  an  emanation 
 from  all  the  parts  of  his  ministry,  and  he  never  absolves,  but 
 he  jjreaches  or  prays,  or  administers  a  sacrament ;  for  this 
 power  of  remission  is  a  transcendent,  passing  through  all  the 
 parts  of  the  priestly  offices  ;  for  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of 
 heaven  are  the  promises  and  the  threatenings  of  the  Scrip- 
 ture, and  the  prayers  of  the  church,  and  the  word,  and  the 
 sacraments,  and  all  these  are  to  be  dispensed  by  the  priest, 
 and  these  keys  are  committed  to  his  ministry, — and  by  the 
 operation  of  them  all,  he  opens  and  shuts  heaven's  gates 
 ministerially;  and,  therefore,  St.  Paul  calls  it  'verbum  re- 
 conciliationis,'  and  says  it  is  dispensed  by  ministers,  as  by 
 '  ambassadors'  or  delegates :  and,  therefore,  it  is  an  excellent 
 temper  of  the  church,  so  to  prescribe  her  foi'ms  of  absolution, 
 as  to  show  them  to  be  results  of  the  whole  priestly  office,  of 
 preaching,  of  dispensating  sacraments,  of  spiritual  cure,  and 
 authoritative  deprecation.  And  the  benefit  which  pious  and 
 well  disposed  persons  receive  by  these  public  ministries,  as  it 
 lies  ready  formed  in  our  blessed  Saviour's  promise  '  erit  solu- 
 tum  in  coelis,'  so  men  will  then  truly  understand,  when  tliey 
 are  taught  to  value,  every  instrument  of  grace  or  comfort  by 
 the  exigence  of  a  present  need,  as  in  a  sadness  of  spirit,  in  an 
 unquiet  conscience,  in  the  arrest  of  death. 
 
 46.  I  shall  not  need  to  procure  advantages  to  the  repu- 
 tation of  the  common-prayer,  by  considering  the  impei- 
 fections  of  whatsoever  hath  been  offered  in  its  stead  :  but 
 yet^,  1.  A  form  of  worshijD,  composed  to  the  dishonour  of 
 the  reformation,  accusing  it  of  darkness,  and  intolerable  in- 
 convenience :  2.  A  direction  without  a  rule  :  3.  A  rule 
 without  resti'aint :  4.  A  prescription  leaving  an  indifferency 
 to  a  possibility  of  licentiousness:  5.  An  office  without  any 
 injunction  of  external  acts  of  worship,  not  prescribing  so 
 much  as  kneeling:  6.  An  office  that  only  once  names  rever- 
 ence, but  forbids  it  in  the  ordinary  instance,  and  enjoins  it 
 in  no  particular :  7.  An  office  that  leaves  the  form  of  minis- 
 tration of  sacraments  so  indifferently,  that  if  there  be  any 
 form  of  words  essential,  the  sacrament  is  in  much  danger 
 to  become  invalid,  for  want  of  provision  of  due  forms  of 
 ministration :  8.  An  office  that  complies  with  no  precedent 
 
 '  Directory. 
 
310 
 
 THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 of  Scripture,  nor  of  any  ancient  church  :    9.  That  must  of 
 necessity  either  want  authority,  or  it  must  prefer  novelty 
 before  antiquity  :  10.  That  accuses  all  the  primitive  church 
 of  indiscretion,  at  the  least:    11.  That  may  be  abused  by 
 the  indiscretion,  or  ignorance,  or  malice  of  any  man  that 
 uses  it:    12.  Into  which,  heresy  or  blasphemy  may  creep 
 without  possibility  of  prevention:  13.  That  hath  no  extei-nal 
 forms  to  entertain  the  fancy  of  the  more  common  spirits  : 
 14.  Nor  any  allurement  to  persuade  and  entice  its  adver- 
 saries:    15.  Nor  any  means  of  adunation  and  uniformity 
 amongst  its  confidents  :    16.  An  office  that  still  permits  chil- 
 dren, in  many  cases  of  necessity,  to  be  unbaptized,  making 
 no  provision  for  them  in  sudden  cases:     17.  That  will  not 
 suffer  them  to  be  confirmed  at  all,  '  Ut  utroque  sacramento 
 renascantur,'  as  St.  Cyprian's  phrase  is,  '  that  they  may  be 
 advantaged  by  a  double  rite  :'    18.  That  joins  in  marriage  as 
 Cacus  did  his  oxen,  in  rude,  inform,  and  unhallowed  yokes  : 
 19.  That  will  not  do  piety  to  the  dead,  nor  comfort  to  the 
 living,  by  solemn  and  honorary  offices  of  funeral:    20.  That 
 hath  no  forms  of  blessing  the  people,  any  more  21.  than 
 described  forms  of  blessing  God,  which  are  just  none  at  all : 
 22.  An  office  that  never  thinks  of  absolving  penitents,  or 
 exercising  the  power  of  the  keys,  after  the  custom  and  rites 
 of  priests:    23.  A  litui-gy  that  recites  no  creed,  no  con- 
 fession of  faith,  so,  not  declaring,  either  to  angels  or  man, 
 according  to  what  religion  they  worship  God ;  but  enter- 
 taining, though  indeed  without  a   symbol,  Arians,  Mace- 
 donians, J^estorians,  Manichees,  or  any  other  sect,  for  ought 
 there  appears  to  the  contrary  :    24.  That  consigns  no  public 
 canon  of  communion,  but  leaves  that  as  casual  and  fantastic 
 as  any  of  the  lesser  offices :  25.  An  office  that  takes  no  more 
 care  than  chance  does,  for  the  reading  the  holy  Scriptures  : 
 26.  That  never  commemorates  a  departed  saint :    27.  That 
 hath  no  communion  with  the  church  triumphant,  any  more 
 than  with  the  other  parts  of  the  militant :    28.  That  never 
 thanks  God  for  the  redemption  of  the  world  by  the  nativity, 
 and  passion,   resurrection,  and  ascension,  of  our  blessed 
 Saviour  Jesus  ;   but  condemns  the  memorial  even  of  the 
 Scripture-saints,  and  the  memorial  of  the  miraculous  blessings 
 of  redemption  of  mankind  by  Christ  himself ;  with  the  same 
 accusation  it  condemns  the  legends  and  portentous  stories  of 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY.  311 
 
 the  most  suspected  part  of  tlie  Roman  calendar:  29.  An 
 office  that,  out  of  zeal  againtst  Judaism,  condemns  all  distinc- 
 tion of  days,  unless  they  themselves  distinguish  them :  that 
 leaves  no  signature  of  piety  upon  the  Lord's  day,  and  yet 
 the  compilers  do  enjoin  it  to  a  Judaical  supei-stition  :  30.  An 
 office  that  does  by  implication  undervalue  the  Lord's  prayer, 
 for  it  never  enjoins  it,  and  does  but  once  permit  it:  31.  An 
 office  that  is  new  without  authority,  and  never  made  up  into 
 a  sanction  by  an  act  of  parliament :  an  order  or  directory  of 
 devotion,  that  hath  all  these  ingredients  and  capacities  (and 
 such  a  one  there  is  in  the  world),  I  suppose  is  no  equal  match 
 to  contest  with  and  be  put  in  balance  against  the  liturgy  of 
 the  church  of  England,  which  was  with  so  great  deliberation 
 compiled  out  of  Scriptures,  the  most  of  it ;  all  the  rest 
 agreeing  with  Scriptures,  and  drawn  from  the  liturgies  of 
 the  ancient  church,  and  made  by  men  famous  in  their  gene- 
 rations, whose  reputation  and  glory  of  martyrdom  hath  made 
 it  immodest  for  the  best  of  men  now  to  compare  themselves 
 with  them;  and  after  its  composition,  considei'ed  by  advices 
 from  abroad,  and  so  trimmed  and  adorned,  that  no  excre- 
 scency  did  remain ;  the  rubrics  of  which  book  was  writ  in 
 the  blood  of  many  of  the  compilers,  which  hath  had  a  testi- 
 mony from  God's  blessing  in  the  daily  use  of  it,  accompany- 
 ing it  with  the  peace  of  an  age,  established  and  confii'med 
 by  six  acts  of  parliament  directly  and  collaterally,  and  is 
 of  so  admirable  a  composure,  that  the  most  industrious  wits 
 of  its  enemies  could  never  find  out  an  objection  of  value 
 enough  to  make  a  doubt,  or  scarce  a  scruple,  in  a  wise  spirit. 
 But  that  I  shall  not  need  to  set  a  night-piece  by  so  excellent 
 a  beauty,  to  set  it  off  the  better,- — its  own  excellencies  are 
 orators  prevalent  enough,  that  it  shall  not  need  any  advan- 
 tages accidental. 
 
 47.  And  yet  this  excellent  book  hath  had  the  fate  to  be 
 cut  in  pieces  with  a  pen-knife,  and  thrown  into  the  fire,  but 
 it  is  not  consumed  ;  at  first  it  was  sown  in  tears,  and  is  now 
 watered  with  tears,  yet  never  Avas  any  holy  thing  drowned 
 and  extinguished  with  tears.  It  began  with  the  martyrdom 
 of  the  compilers,  and  the  church  hath  been  vexed  ever  since 
 by  angry  spirits,  and  she  was  forced  to  defend  it  with  much 
 trouble  and  unquietness ;  but  it  is  to  be  hoped,  that  all  these 
 
312 
 
 THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  APOLOGY  FOR 
 
 storms  are  sent  but  to  increase  the  zeal  and  confidence  of 
 the  pious  sons  of  the  church  of  England.  Indeed,  the 
 greatest  danger  that  ever  the  common-prayer-book  had,  was 
 the  indifferency  and  indevotion  of  them  that  used  it  but  as 
 a  common  blessing ;  and  they  who  thought  it  fit  for  the 
 meanest  of  the  clergy  to  read  prayers,  and  for  themselves 
 only  to  preach, — though  they  might  innocently  intend  it,  yet 
 did  not,  in  that  action,  consult  the  honour  of  our  liturgy, 
 except  where  charity  or  necessity  did  interpose.  But  when 
 excellent  things  go  away,  and  then  look  back  upon  us,  as  our 
 blessed  Saviour  did  upon  St.  Peter,  we  are  more  moved  than 
 by  the  nearer  embraces  of  a  full  and  an  actual  possession.  I 
 pray  God  it  may  prove  so  in  our  case,  and  that  we  may  not 
 be  too  willing  to  be  discouraged ;  at  least,  that  we  may  not 
 cease  to  love  and  to  desire  what  is  not  publicly  pei'mitted  to 
 our  practice  and  jirofession. 
 
 *  48.  But  because  things  are  otherwise  in  this  affair  than 
 we  had  hoped,  and  that,  in  very  many  churches,  instead  of 
 the  common-prayer  which  they  use  not,  every  man  uses 
 what  he  pleases,  and  all  men  do  not  choose  well ;  and  where 
 there  are  so  many  choosers,  there  is  nothing  regular,  and  the 
 sacraments  themselves  are  not  so  solemnly  ministered  as  the 
 sacredness  and  solemnity  of  the  mysteries  do  require,  and  in 
 very  many  places,  where  the  old  excellent  forms  are  not  per- 
 mitted, there  is  scarce  any  thing  at  all,  but  something  to 
 show  there  was  a  shipwreck,  a  plank  or  a  cable,  a  chapter  or 
 a  psalm :  some  who  were  troubled  to  see  it  so,  and  fain 
 would  see  it  otherwise,  did  think  it  might  not  be  amiss  that 
 some  of  the  ancient  forms  of  other  churches,  and  of  the 
 prayers  of  Scripture,  should  be  drawn  together,  and  laid 
 before  them  that  need ;  as  supposing  that  these  or  the  like 
 materials  would  make  better  fuel  for  the  fires  of  devotion, 
 than  the  straw  and  the  stubble  which  some  men  did  sud- 
 denly or  weakly  rake  together,  whenever  they  were  to  dress 
 their  sacrifice.    Now,  although  these  prayers  have  no  autho- 
 
 *  This  Preface  being,  in  every  respect,  tlie  same  as  that  wliich  is  prefixed 
 to  the  "  Collection  of  Offices,"  with  the  exception  of  this  and  the  following 
 paragraph,  they  have  been  added  here,  to  supersede  the  necessity  of  reprinting 
 the  whole  with  the  "  Collection  of  Offices," 
 
AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITIJROY.  313 
 
 rity  to  give  them  power,  yet  tliey  are  liumbly  and  charitably 
 intended,  and  that  may  get  them  love,  and  they  have  been 
 (as  to  the  matter  of  them)  approved  by  persons  of  great 
 learning,  and  great  piety  ;  and  that  may  sufficiently  recom- 
 mend them  to  the  use  of  those  who  have  no  other,  or  no 
 better,  and  they  no  way  do  violence  to  authority,  and,  there- 
 fore, the  use  of  them  cannot  be  insecure  ;  and  they  contain 
 in  them  no  matter  of  question  or  dispute,  and,  therefore, 
 cannot  be  justly  suspected  of  interest  or  partiality  :  and  they 
 are  (especially  in  the  chiefest  offices)  collected  out  of  the  de- 
 votions of  the  Greek  church,  with  some  mixture  of  the  Moza- 
 rabic  and  iEthiopic,  and  other  liturgies,  and  perfected  out  of 
 the  fountains  of  Scripture,  and,  therefore,  for  the  material 
 part,  have  great  warrant  and  great  authority :  and,  there- 
 fore, if  they  be  used  with  submission  to  authority,  it  is  hoped 
 they  may  do  good  ;  and  if  they  be  not  used,  no  man  will  be 
 offended. 
 
 49.  I  hope  there  will  be  no  need  of  an  apology,  or  an  ex- 
 cuse for  doing  an  act  of  charity  ;  if  no  man  will  confess  that 
 he  needs  any  of  these,  they  can  be  let  alone,  for  they  are  in- 
 tended only  for  them  that  do ;  but  if  there  be  a  need,  these 
 prayers  may  help  to  obtain  of  God  to  take  that  need  away, 
 and  to  supply  it  in  the  mean  while.  But  there  is  nothing 
 else  Intended  in  this  design,  but  that  we  may  see  what  ex- 
 cellent forms  of  prayer  were  used  in  the  ancient  church, 
 what  a  rare  repository  of  devotion  the  Scripture  is  ;  how  it 
 was  the  same  spirit  of  prayer  that  assisted  the  church  of 
 England,  and  other  churches  of  God  ;  how  much  better  the 
 curates  of  souls  may  help  themselves  with  these  or  the  like 
 offices,  than  with  their  own  extempore ;  how  their  present 
 needs  may  be  supplied,  and  their  devotion  enlarged,  and  a 
 day  of  religion  entirely  spent,  and  a  provision  made  for  some 
 necessities,  in  which  our  calamities  and  our  experience  of 
 late  have  too  well  instructed  us.  For  which  and  for  other 
 great  reasons,  all  churches  have  admitted  variety  of  offices. 
 In  the  Greek  church,  it  is  notorious,  they  have  three  public 
 books,  and  very  many  added  afterwards  by  their  patriarchs, 
 their  bishops,  and  their  priests  ;  some  are  said  often,  and 
 others  sometimes  :  and  in  Spain,  the  Mozarabic  office  was 
 used  until  the  time  of  Alphonso  VI.,  and  to  this  very  day, 
 
314 
 
 THE  PREFACE  TO  THE  APOLOGY,  &C. 
 
 in  six  parishes  in  Toledo,  and  in  the  cathedral  church  itself, 
 in  the  chapel  of  Friar  Francis  Ximenes  ;  and  at  Salamanca, 
 upon  certain  days,  in  the  chapel  of  Doctor  Talabricensis. 
 And  after  all,  these  may  be  admitted  into  the  use  and  minis- 
 try of  families,  for  all  the  necessities  of  which,  here  is  some- 
 thing provided. 
 
 JER.  TAYLOR. 
 
A  LETTER  FROM  JEREMY  TAYLOR,  D.  D. 
 
 ADDRESSED  TO 
 
 BISHOP  LESLIE; 
 
 AND  PREFIXED  BY  HIM  TO  HIS  DISCOURSE  ON  PRAYING  WITH  THE 
 SPIRIT  AND  UNDERSTANDING. 
 
 My  Lord, 
 
 I  AM  well  pleased  your  Lordship  hath  consented  to  publish 
 your  excellent  sermons  concerning  "  extempore  prayer." 
 You  preached  them  in  a  family,  in  which  the  public  liturgy 
 of  the  church  is  greatly  valued,  and  diligently  used  ;  but  in 
 a  country,  where  most  of  the  inhabitants  are  sti-angers  to  the 
 thing,  and  enemies  to  the  name  ;  for  so  they  are  taught  to  be, 
 having  no  other  reason  for  that  enmity,  than  because  their 
 preachers  have  blasted  it  with  the  breath  of  their  displeasure. 
 But,  instead  of  this,  they  are  fed  with  indeliberate,  unstudied, 
 sudden  conceptions,  begotten  and  born  in  the  same  minute, 
 and,  therefore,  not  likely  to  be  better  than  all  those  other 
 productions  of  the  world,  which,  by  being  sudden  and  hasty, 
 have  an  inevitable  fate  to  be  useless  and  good  for  nothing. 
 
 My  Lord,  I  have  often  considered  concerning  the  preten- 
 sions of  those  persons,  who  think  no  prayer  is  good  if  it  be 
 studied,  and  none  spiritual  unless  it  be  '  ex  tempore,' and  that 
 only  such  are  made  by  the  spirit :  and  perceiving  them  to 
 I'ely  upon  the  expression  of  St.  Paul,  "  I  will  pray  with  the 
 spirit,"  I  have  thought  that  they  as  little  study  what  they 
 teach  to  men,  as  what  they  say  to  God ;  for  if  they  did  not 
 understand  with  the  spirit,  in  the  same  sense  as  they  pray 
 with  the  spirit,  that  is,  without  all  study  and  consideration. 
 
316 
 
 ON  PRAYING  WITH  THE  SPIRIT. 
 
 I  am  verily  persuaded  they  would  not  have  fallen  upon  this 
 new  and  unheard-of  practice:  I  say,  '  unheard-of ;'  for  it  is 
 a  new  thing,  both  to  heathens,  to  Jews,  and  to  Christians  ; 
 and  indeed,  must  be  so,  since,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  thing 
 itself,  it  appears  to  be  infinitely  unreasonable. 
 
 For  what  greater  disparagement  in  the  world  can  there 
 be  to  him  that  speaks,  or  the  thing  spoken,  than  to  say  it  was 
 spoken  rashly  and  inconsiderately  ?  And,  therefore,  it  was 
 an  excellent  saying  of  one:  "  Oratio  viri  philosophi,  sicut 
 vita,  debet  esse  composita  :"  "  every  wise  man's  words  should 
 be  composed  and  orderly  as  his  life:"  /xsri  zsoWov  <7xe'\J/ewj 
 x«j  wovow,  "  with  labour  and  consideration."  And  certain  it 
 is,  if  any  man  intends  to  speak  well  and  wisely,  he  does  not 
 vomit  out  his  answers,  as  a  fool  does  secrets  ;  he  is  sick  till 
 they  are  out,  and  when  tliey  are,  they  are  loathsome.  Of 
 this  I  need  say  no  more  ;  but  it  is  evident  all  such  extempore 
 prayers  are  likely  to  be  less  wise ;  and  to  use  such  ways  of 
 prayer,  is  against  reason. 
 
 2.  To  do  so  is  against  the  virtue  of  i*eligion  :  it  is  doing 
 the  work  of  the  Lord  negligently,  and,  therefore,  unplea- 
 santly ;  and  to  this  is  to  be  imputed  all  those  unhandsome 
 issues  of  a  sudden  tongue,  which  so  ill  become  religion,  that 
 they  very  often  minister  ofi'ence  to  wise  and  godly  persons  of 
 all  persuasions. 
 
 3.  Hasty  and  unstudied  prayers  are  against  Scripture  ; 
 expressly,  I  say,  against  the  word  of  God,  whose  Spirit  hath 
 commanded  thus :  Be  not  rash  with  thy  mouth,  and  be  not 
 hasty  to  utter  any  thing  before  God*."  Now  this  command- 
 ment is  plain  and  easy,  and,  therefore,  not  to  be  evacuated 
 by  any  obscure  and  difficult  pretences,  from  which  no  certain 
 argument  can  arise.  To  which  if  we  add,  that  St.  Paul 
 amongst  the  characters  of  these  of  whom  he  prophesies  evil 
 things,  reckons  ■sj^oTtiriis,  "  the  hasty  and  heady  people ;" 
 I  humbly  conceive  that  these  are  the  persons,  in  the  New 
 Testament,  who  break  the  commandment  in  the  Old,  and 
 that  they  must  have  something  else  to  defend  them,  than 
 what  hath  yet  appeared. 
 
 But,  therefore,  these  our  brethren  pretend  that  the  Spirit 
 of  God  supplies  all  this ;  and,  what  is  wanting  in  nature,  is 
 
 Eccl.  V.2. 
 
 •<  2  Tim.  iii. 
 
ON  PRAYING  WITH  THE  SPIRIT.  317 
 
 supplied  by  grace.  To  tlils  I  need  to  make  no  new  replies, 
 but  only  consider,  that  where  there  is  an  unavoidable  neces- 
 sity, we  have  reason  to  suppose  we  shall  be  helped  :  but  we 
 have  no  such  need;  we  are  taught  in  Scripture,  by  the  Holy 
 Spirit,  what  to  pray,  and  how  to  pray,  and  beyond  this  as- 
 sistance, we  need  nothing,  save  only  that  he  be  pleased  to  stir 
 us  up  to  pray ;  and  for  that  also  we  have  arguments  and  invi- 
 tations sufficient  in  the  divine  Scripture  ;  and  I  humbly  con- 
 ceive, it  is  one  sort  of  tempting  God,  to  call  for  extraor- 
 dinary aids,  when  we  are  sufficiently  provided  for  in  ordi- 
 nary ;  and  I  appeal  to  the  piety  and  consciences  of  all  Chris- 
 tian ministers,  whether  the  Spirit  of  God  hath  not  sufficiently 
 enabled  us  in  all  the  parts  and  necessities  of  prayer,  by  the 
 treasures  of  holy  Scripture  ?  and,  2.  whether,  by  reading  and 
 meditating  in  the  Scriptures,  we  cannot  obtain  all  the  aid  we 
 need?  and,  3.  whether  or  no,  do  not  those  ministers  that 
 are  supposed  to  pray  best  amongst  them,  most  of  all  use 
 the  phrases  and  expressions  of  Scripture  ?  and,  4.  whether  or 
 no,  are  not  such  prayers  undeniably  the  best  which  are  taken; 
 thence  ? 
 
 4.  But,  that  I  need  no  further  argument  in  this  question, 
 I  appeal  to  the  experience  of  this  last  age,  in  which  extem- 
 pore prayers  have  been  born  and  bred,  whether  it  can  be 
 reasonable  to  allow  such  sudden  prayers  to  be  productions  of 
 the  Spirit,  when  we  have  heard  many  spiritual  crimes  ex- 
 pressed and  promoted  by  such  prayers,  and  by  those  that 
 pretended  to  such  gifts?  the  consequence  of  which  is  cer^ 
 tainly  this ;  that  to  prove  a  man  to  pray  with  the  spirit^ 
 something  else  is  required  besides  speaking  extempore ;  and 
 that  this  is  not,  therefore,  it ;  because  many  do  this,  who 
 do  like  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  •kl^gi^ffairS'aj  rl  Hyiov  zyvsv[j:.oc, 
 '  belie,  or  falsely  pretend  the  Spirit,'  who  cannot  dictate  false, 
 heretical,  rebellious,  blasphemous,  or  ignorant  propositions : 
 and  yet  it  is  certain,  if  these  men  who  pray  extempore,  did 
 pray  with  the  spirit ;  that  is,  if  the  sjjirit  of  God  did  dictate 
 those  words ;  those  prayers  would  be  as  good  canonical  Scrip- 
 ture, when  they  are  witten  by  the  short-hand  writers,  as  any 
 of  the  psalms  of  David,  or  the  words  of  the  apostles :  whicli 
 because  it  is  intolerable  to  affirm,  it  follows,  that  praying* 
 with  the  spirit  means  not  extempore  prayers. 
 
 5.  I  add  but  one  thing  more,  and  that  is,  that  Dideclavius, 
 VOL.  vn.  z 
 
318 
 
 ON  PRAYING  WltH  TUP.  SPIRIT. 
 
 the  great  patron  of  our  dissenting  brethren,  said,  in  hla 
 "  Altare  Damascene,"  that  the  master  of  a  family  could  not, 
 without  indecency,  pray  with  such  sudden  conception  before 
 a  family ;  and  as  wise  a  man  as  he,  said,  "  Nihil  ordinatum 
 est  quod  prsecipitatur ;  properari  sine  indecoro  nou  potest*^;" 
 *'  There  can  be  no  order  in  sudden  conception."  Since, 
 therefore  it  is  indecent  and  unorderly,  let  it  be  considered 
 how  such  persons  can  observe  the  precept  of  the  apostle : 
 "  Let  all  things,"  in  the  church,  "  be  done  decently  and  in 
 order." 
 
 If  it  be  asked  by  any  man.  Whether  it  be  unfit  to  use,  in 
 private,  forms  of  our  own  composing  ?  I  answer,  '  it  may  be 
 very  fit;'  but  this  is  because  this  rule  of  the  apostle,  which 
 wholly  relates  to  the  public,  is  not  a  provision  for  the  private, 
 for  decency  is  a  relative  term,  and  so  is  order  ;  and  in  pinvate 
 we  may  deliberate  upon  our  knees,  but,  in  public,  we  cannot; 
 and  although  we  must,  neither  in  public  nor  in  private,  speak 
 hastily,  rashly,  or  without  sufficient  deliberation,  yet  we  may 
 do  that  in  private  which,  in  public,  we  may  not;  and  there 
 we  are  only  to  avoid  rashness  and  hastiness ;  but  in  public 
 we  must  take  cai-e  of  order  also,  and  of  decency,  and  of 
 edification  of  others,  all  which  by  extempore  prayers,  cannot 
 be  well  provided  for  ;  but  my  Lord,  I  forget  the  purpose  of 
 my  letter,  which  is  to  pay  to  your  Lordship  that  just  acknow- 
 ledgment of  your  care  of  the  church's  good,  and  the  instruc- 
 tion of  souls,  which  you  have  expressed  in  this  material, 
 plain,  easy,  and  religious  discourse,  which  I  pray  God,  may 
 prove  as  profitable  as  it  is  rational,  as  useful  as  it  is  pious. 
 
 My  Lord,  I  am 
 
 Your  Lordship's 
 Most  affectionate  brother  and  servant, 
 
 J.  T. 
 
 <^  Seneca. 
 
AN 
 
 APOLOGY 
 
 FOR 
 
 AUTHORIZED  AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 "Kco^sTv  yxp  dviyxv)  to  o/aoiov  -uspos  to  ofxatov'  oOsv  xxl  /xovof  U^si/s  a 
 ao^os  KsysTxi,  fJi.6vos  ^£o(pi\w,  M0N02  EIAfiS  ETSA2- 
 ©AI*  ixovos  yoiq  oTJe  TiptSv,  o  rriv  d^tocv  /xri  avyyJiWi)  ruv  Tifjiu- 
 fxivuv,  xal  0  zj^onyovfjiivui  'tsqsTov  eacvTov  w^ouceywv.— Hierocl, 
 in  Pyth.  Needham,  p.  24. 
 
 I  HAVE  read  over  this  book,  which  the  assembly  of  divines 
 is  pleased  to  call, '  the  directory  for  prayer.'  I  confess  I  came 
 to  it  with  much  expectation,  and  was  in  some  measure  con- 
 fident I  should  have  found  it  an  exact  and  unblamable  mo- 
 del of  devotion,  free  from  all  those  objections  which  men 
 of  their  own  persuasion  had  obtruded  against  the  public 
 liturgy  of  the  church  of  England ;  or,  at  least,  it  should  have 
 been  composed  with  so  much  artifice  and  fineness,  that  it 
 might  have  been  to  all  the  world,  an  argument  of  their 
 learning  and  excellency  of  spirit,  if  not  of  the  goodness  and 
 integrity  of  their  religion  and  purposes.  I  shall  give  no  other 
 character  of  the  whole,  but  that  the  public  disrelish  which  I 
 find  amongst  persons  of  great  piety,  of  all  qualities,  not  only 
 of  great  but  even  of  ordinary  understandings,  is  to  me  some 
 argument  that  it  lies  so  open  to  the  objections  even  of  com- 
 mon spirits,  that  the  compilers  of  it  did  intend  more  to  pre- 
 vail by  the  success  of  their  armies,  than  the  strength  of 
 reason,  and  the  proper  grounds  of  persuasion,  which  yet 
 most  wise  and  good  men  believe  to  be  the  moi-e  Christian 
 way  of  the  two.    But  because  the  judgment  I  made  of  it 
 from  an  ai-gument  so  extrinsical  to  the  nature  of  the  thing, 
 could  not  reasonably  enable  me  to  satisfy  those  many  persons, 
 who,  in  their  behalf,  desired  me  to  consider  it,  I  resolved  to 
 
 z  2 
 
320 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 look  upon  it  nearer,  and  to  take  its  account  from  something 
 that  was  ingredient  to  its  constitution,  '  that  I  might  be  able 
 both  to  exhort  and  convince  the  gainsayers,'  who  refuse  to 
 hold  fast  zjtarov  Xoyov  xccrai  rr,-j  li^xyriv,  that  '  faithful  word 
 which  they  had  been  taught'  by  their  mother,  the  church  of 
 England. 
 
 2.  I  shall  decline  to  speak  of  the  efficient  cause  of  this 
 directory,  and  not  quarrel  at  it,  that  it  was  composed  against 
 the  laws  both  of  England  and  all  Christendom.  If  the  thing 
 were  good  and  pious,  and  did  not,  directly  or  accidentally, 
 invade  the  rights  of  a  just  superior,  I  would  learn  to  submit 
 to  the  imposition,  and  never  quarrel  at  the  incompetency 
 of  his  authority,  that  engaged  me  to  do  pious  and  holy 
 things.  And  it  may  be,  when  I  am  a  little  more  used  to  it, 
 I  shall  not  wonder  at  a  synod,  in  which  not  one  bishop,  sits, 
 in  the  capacity  of  a  bishop,  though  I  am  most  certain  this  is 
 the  first  example  in  England,  since  it  was  first  christened. 
 But,  for  the  present,  it  seems  something  hard  to  digest  it, 
 because  I  know  so  well  that  all  assemblies  of  the  church 
 have  admitted  priests  to  consultation  and  dispute,  but  never 
 to  authority  and  decision,  till  the  pope  enlarging  the  phy- 
 lacteries of  the  archimandrites  and  abbots,  did  sometimes, 
 by  way  of  privilege  and  dispensation,  give  to  some  of  them, 
 decisive  voices  in  public  councils ;  but  this  was  one  of  the 
 things  in  which  he  did  innovate  and  invade  against  the  public 
 resolutions  of  Christendom,  though  he  durst  not  do  it  often, 
 and  yet  when  he  did  it,  it  was  in  very  small  and  inconsider- 
 able numbers. 
 
 3.  I  said  I  would  not  meddle  with  the  efficient,  and 
 I  cannot  meddle  with  the  final  cause,  nor  guess  at  any 
 other  ends  and  purposes  of  theirs,  than  at  what  they  publicly 
 profess  which  is  the  abolition  and  destruction  of  the  book  of 
 common-prayer ;  which  great  change,  because  they  are 
 pleased  to  call  reformation,  1  am  content,  in  charity,  to  be- 
 lieve they  think  it  so,  and  that  they  have  '  zelum  Dei,'  but 
 whether  'secundum  scientiam,'  '  according  to  knowledge'  or 
 no,  must  be  judged  by  them  who  consider  the  matter  and  the 
 form. 
 
 4.  But  because  the  matter  is  of  so  great  variety  and 
 minute  consideration,  every  part  whereof  would  require 
 as  much  scrutiny  as  I  purpose  to  bestow  upon  the  whole,  I 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY.  321 
 
 have,  foi*  the  present,  chosen  to  consider  only  the  form  of  It ; 
 concerning  which,  I  shall  give  my  judgment  without  any 
 sharpeness  or  bitterness  of  spirit ;  for  I  am  i*esolved  not  to  be 
 angry  with  any  men  of  another  persuasion,  as  knowing  that 
 I  differ  just  as  much  from  them  as  they  do  from  me. 
 
 5.  The  directory  takes  away  that  form  of  prayer  which, 
 by  the  authority  and  consent  of  all  the  obliging  power 
 of  the  kingdom,  hath  been  used  and  enjoined  ever  since  the 
 reformation.  But  this  was  done  by  men  of  differing  spirits, 
 and  of  disagreeing  interests :  some  of  them  consented  to  it, 
 that  they  might  take  away  all  set  forms  of  prayer,  and  give 
 way  to  every  man's  spirit ;  the  other,  that  they  might  take 
 away  this  form,  and  give  way  and  countenance  to  their  own. 
 The  first  is  an  enemy  to  all  deliberation :  the  second,  to  all 
 authority.  They  will  have  no  man  to  deliberate ;  these 
 would  have  none  but  themselves.  The  former  are  unwise 
 and  rash ;  the  latter  are  pleased  with  themselves,  and  are 
 full  of  opinion.  They  must  be  considered  apart,  for  they 
 have  rent  the  question  in  pieces,  and  with  the  fragment  in 
 his  hand,  every  man  hath  run  his  own  way. 
 
 QUESTION  I. 
 
 7.  And  here  I  consider  that  the  true  state  of  the  question 
 is  only  this.  Whether  it  is  better  to  pray  to  God  with  con- 
 sideration, or  without?  Whether  is  the  wiser  man  of  the 
 two,  he  who  thinks  and  deliberates  what  to  say,  or  he  that 
 uttei's  his  mind  as  fast  as  it  comes  ?  Whether  is  the  better 
 man,  he  who,  out  of  reverence  to  God,  is  most  careful  and 
 curious  that  he  offend  not  in  his  tongue,  and,  therefore,  he 
 himself  deliberates,  and  takes  the  best  guides  he  can ;  or 
 he  who,  out  of  the  confidence  of  his  own  abilities,  or  other 
 exterior  assistances,  o/xows-  oiv  zhoci  ^o^mif^i  rots  i\y.ri,  y-oii  (poprota/j-, 
 xflti  %v^m, — 0,  Ti  av  litiX^Ti,  XEyoyfffv^;  speaks  whatever  comes 
 uppermost. 
 
 8.  And  here  I  wave  the  advice  and  counsel  of  a  very 
 wise  man,  no  less  than  Solomon,  "  Be  not  rash  with  thy 
 mouth,  and  let  not  thy  heart  be  hasty  to  utter  any  thing 
 
 *  Isociat.  in  Panatheu.  Lapge,  p.  395, 
 
322 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 before  God;  for  God  is  in  heaven  and  thou  upon  earth ;  there- 
 fore, let  thy  words  be  few''."  The  consideration  of  the  vast 
 distance  between  God  and  us,  heaven  and  earth,  should 
 create  such  apprehensions  in  us,  that  the  very  best  and 
 choicest  of  our  offertories  are  not  acceptable  but  by  God's 
 gracious  vouchsafing  and  condescension:  and,  therefore,  since 
 we  are  so  much  indebted  to  God  for  accepting  our  best,  it 
 is  not  safe  ventured  to  present  him  with  a  dough-baked 
 sacrifice,  and  put  him  off  with  that,  which,  in  nature  and 
 human  consideration,  is  absolutely  the  worst;  for  such  is 
 all  the  crude  and  imperfect  utterance  of  our  more  imperfect 
 conceptions  :  "  Hoc  non  probo  in  philosopho,  cujus  oratio, 
 sicut  vita,  debet  esse  composita,"  said  Seneca  ;  "  A  wise 
 man's  speech  should  be  like  his  life  and  actions,  composed, 
 studied,  and  considered."  And  if  ever  inconsideration  be 
 the  cause  of  sin  and  vanity,  it  is  in  our  words,  and,  there- 
 fore, is,  with  greatest  care,  to  be  avoided  in  our  prayers,  we 
 being  most  of  all,  concerned  that  God  may  have  no  quarrel 
 against  them,  for  folly  or  impiety. 
 
 9.  But,  abstracting  from  the  reason,  let  us  consider 
 who  keeps  the  precept  best,  he  that  deliberates,  or  he  that 
 considers  not  when  he  speaks  ?  What  man  in  the  world 
 is  hasty  to  offer  any  thing  unto  God ;  if  he  be  not,  who 
 prays  extempore  ?  And  then  add  to  it  but  the  weight  of 
 Solomon's  reason,  and  let  any  man  answer  me,  if  he  thinks 
 it  can  well  stand  with  that  reverence  we  owe  to  the  im- 
 mense, the  infinite,  and  to  the  eternal  God,  the  God  of  wis- 
 dom, to  offer  him  a  sacrifice,  which  we  durst  not  present  to 
 a  prince  or  a  prudent  governor,  '  in  re  seria,'  such  as  our 
 prayers  ought  to  be. 
 
 10.  And  that  this  may  not  be  dashed  with  a  pretence 
 it  is  carnal  reasoning,  I  desire  it  may  be  remembered,  that 
 it  is  the  argument  God  himself  uses  against  lame,  maimed, 
 and  imperfect  saci-ifices,  '  Go  and  offer  this  to  thy  prince,' 
 see  if  he  will  accept  it ;  implying,  that  the  best  person  is 
 to  have  the  best  present ;  and  what  the  prince  will  slight 
 as  truly  unworthy  of  him,  much  more  is  it  unfit  for  God. 
 For  God  accepts  not  of  any  thing  we  give  or  do,  as  if  he  were 
 bettered  by  it  ;  for,  therefore,  its  estimate  is  not  taken  by  its 
 
 Eccles.  V.  2. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 323 
 
 relation  or  natural  complacency  to  him,  for,  in  itself,  it  is  to 
 him  as  nothing :  but  God  accepts  it  by  its  proportion  and 
 commensuration  to  us.  That  which  we  call  our  best,  and  is 
 truly  so  in  human  estimate,  that  pleases  God  ;  for  it  declares, 
 that  if  we  had  better,  we  would  give  it  him.  But  to  reserve 
 the  best,  says  too  plainl)'^,  that  we  think  any  thing  is  good 
 enough  for  him.  And  therefore  God,  in  the  law,  would  not 
 be  served  by  that  which  was  imperfect  '  in  genere  naturae:' 
 so  neither  now  nor  ever,  will  that  please  him  which  is  im- 
 perfect '  in  genere  morum,'  or  '  materia  intellectuali,'  when 
 we  can  give  a  better. 
 
 11.  And,  therefore,  the  wisest  nations,  and  the  most 
 sober  persons,  prepared  their  verses  and  prayers  in  set  forms 
 with  as  much  religion  as  they  dressed  their  sacrifices,  and 
 observed  the  rites  of  festivals  and  burials.  Amongst  the 
 Romans,  it  belonged  to  the  care  of  the  priests  to  worship  in 
 prescribed  and  determined  words.  "  In  omni  precatione  qui 
 vota  effundit  sacerdos,  Vestam  et  Janum  aliosque  deos  prse- 
 scriptis  verbis  et  composito  carmine  advocare  solef^."  The 
 Greeks  did  so  too,  receiving  their  prayers  by  dictate,  word 
 for  word.  "  Itaque  sua  carmina  suseque  precationes  singulis 
 diis  institutse  sunt ;  quas  plerumque,  nequid  prsepostere 
 dicatur,  aliquis  ex  praescripto  praeire  et  ad  verbum  referre 
 solebaf* :"  "  Their  hymns  and  prayers  were  ordained  peculiar 
 to  every  god,  which,  lest  any  thing  should  be  said  prepos- 
 terously, were  usually  pronounced,  word  for  word,  after  the 
 priest,  and  out  of  written  copies ;  and  the  magi  among  the 
 Persians  were  as  considerate  in  their  devotions;  "  Magos 
 et  Persas  primo  semper  diluculo  canere  diis  hymnos  et  laudes, 
 meditato  et  solenni  precationis  carmine*;"  "  The  Persians 
 sang  hymns  to  their  gods  by  the  morning  twilight,  in  a  pre 
 meditate,  solemn,  and  metrical  form  of  pi-ayer,"  saith  the 
 same  author.  For,  since  in  all  the  actions  and  discourses  of 
 men,  that  which  is  the  least  considered  is  likely  to  be  the 
 worst,  and  is  certainly  of  the  greatest  disrejiutation,  it  were  a 
 strange  cheapness  of  opinion,  towards  God  and  religion,  to  be 
 the  most  incurious  of  what  we  say  to  him;  and  in  our  religious 
 offices,  it  is  strange  that  every  thing  should  be  considered  but 
 our  prayers.    It  is  spoken  by  Eunapius,  to  the  honour  of 
 
 Alex,  ab  Ales.  lib.  ii.  c.  14.  Idem,  lib.  iv.  c,  17.         « Ibid. 
 
324  AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 Pro3ereslus''s  scholars,  that  when  the  proconsul  asked  their 
 judgments  in  a  question  of  philosophy,  they  were  wgougvEvxovTEf 
 TO. '  AqtuTEi^ov  /xsTcc  Z7o7Jkris  (TKg'\J/EWf  xai  TOovoy,  us  ouK  elal  rSv  e/xovv- 
 rwv,  oiXKei  roov  dKptQovvroun',  "  they,  with  much  consideration 
 and  care,  gave,  in  answer,  those  words  of  Aristides,  '  that 
 they  were  not  of  the  number  of  those  that  used  to  vomit  out 
 answers,  but  of  those  that  considered  every  word  they  were 
 to  speak.' "  "  Nihil  enim  ordinatum  est  quod  prsecipitatur  et 
 properat,"  said  Seneca ;  "  Nothing  can  be  regular  and  orderly 
 that  is  hasty  and  precipitate ;"  and,  therefore,  unless  religion 
 be  the  most  imprudent,  trifling,  and  inconsiderable  thing, 
 and  that  the  work  of  the  Lord  is  done  well  enough,  when  it 
 is  done  negligently,  or  that  the  sanctuary  hath  the  greatest 
 beauty,  when  it  hath  the  least  order,  it  will  concei-n  us  highly 
 to  think  our  prayers  and  religious  offices  are  actions  fit  for 
 wise  men,  and,  therefore,  to  be  done  as  the  actions  of  wise 
 men  use  to  be,  that  is,  deliberately,  prudently,  and  with 
 greatest  consideration. 
 
 12.  Well  then,  in  the  nature  of  the  thing,  extempore 
 forms  have  much  the  worse  of  it.  But  it  is  pretended 
 that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  gift  of  prayer,  a  praying 
 with  the  spirit ;  "  Et  nescit  tarda  molimina  Spiritus  sancti 
 gratia,"  God's  Spirit,  if  he  pleases,  can  do  his  work  as 
 well  in  an  instant  as  in  long  premeditation.  And  to  this  pur- 
 pose are  pretended  those  places  of  Scripture,  which  speak 
 of  assistance  of  God's  Spirit  in  our  prayers:  "  And  I  will 
 pour  upon  the  house  of  David,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
 salem, the  Spirit  of  grace  and  supplication^."  But  especially 
 Rom.  viii.  26.,  "  Likewise  the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  in- 
 firmities, for  we  know  not  what  we  should  pray  for  as  we 
 ought,  but  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  intercession  for  us  with 
 groaning  that  cannot  be  uttered,"  &c.  From  whence  the 
 conclusion  that  is  inferred  is,  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul, 
 "  that  we  must  pray  with  the  Spirit,"  therefore,  not  with 
 set  forms,  therefore  extempore. 
 
 13.  The  collection  is  somewhat  wild,  for  there  is  great 
 independency  in  the  several  parts  ;  and  much  more  is  in 
 the  conclusion  than  was  virtually  in  the  premises.  But  such 
 as  it  is,  the  authors  of  it,  I  suppose,  will  own  it.  And, 
 
 f  In  Vita  Proaeiesii. 
 
 E  Zech.  xii.  10. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY.  325 
 
 therefoi'e,  we  will  examine  the  main  design  of  It,  and  then 
 consider  the  particular  means  of  its  persuasion,  quoted  in  the 
 objection. 
 
 14.  It  is  one  of  the  privileges  of  the  Gospel,  and  the 
 benefits  of  Christ's  ascension,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  given 
 unto  the  church,  and  is  become  to  us  the  fountain  of  gifts 
 and  graces.  But  these  gifts  and  graces  are  improvements 
 and  helps  of  our  natural  faculties,  of  our  art  and  industry, 
 not  extraordinary,  miraculous,  and  immediate  infusions  of 
 habits  and  gifts.  That  without  God's  spirit  we  cannot  pray 
 aright,  that  our  infirmities  need  his  help,  that  we  know  not 
 what  to  ask,  of  ourselves,  is  most  true  ;  and  if  ever  any 
 heretic  was  more  confident  of  his  own  naturals,  or  did  ever 
 more  undervalue  God's  grace,  than  the  Pelagian  did,  yet 
 he  denies  not  this  :  but  what  then  ?  therefore  without  study, 
 without  art,  without  premeditation,  without  learning,  the 
 Spirit  gives  the  gift  of  prayer,  and  is  it  his  grace  that, 
 without  any  natural  or  artificial  help,  makes  us  pray  ex- 
 tempore ?  No  such  thing  :  the  objection  proves  nothing  of 
 this. 
 
 15.  Here,  therefore,  we  will  join  issue,  whether  the  gifts 
 and  helps  of  the  Spirit  be  immediate  infusions  of  the  faculties, 
 and  powers,  and  perfect  abilities  ?  Or  that  he  doth  assist  us 
 only  by  his  aids,  external  and  internal,  in  the  use  of  such 
 means  which  God  and  nature  have  given  to  man,  to  ennoble 
 his  soul,  better  his  faculties,  and  to  improve  his  understand- 
 ing ?  That  the  aids  of  the  Holy  Ghost  are  only  assistances 
 to  us,  in  the  use  of  natural  and  artificial  means,  I  will  un- 
 dertake to  prove  ;  and  from  thence  it  will  evidently  follow, 
 that  labour,  and  hard  study,  and  premeditation,  will  soonest 
 purchase  the  gift  of  prayer,  and  ascertain  us  of  the  assistance 
 of  the  Spirit ;  and,  therefore,  set  forms  of  prayer,  studied 
 and  considered  of,  are  in  a  true  and  proper  sense,  and  with- 
 out enthusiasm,  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit. 
 
 16.  First ;  God's  Spirit  did  assist  the  apostles  by  ways  ex- 
 traordinary, and  fit  for  the  first  institution  of  Christianity  ; 
 but  doth  assist  us  now  by  the  expresses  of  those  first  assistances 
 which  he  gave  to  them  immediately. 
 
 17.  Thus  the  Holy  Ghost  brought  to  their  memory  all 
 things  which  Jesus  spake  and  did,  and,  by  that  means,  we 
 come  to  know  all  that  the  Spirit  knew  to  be  necessary  for  us, 
 
326  AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 the  Holy  Ghost  being  author  of  our  knowledge,  by  being  the 
 fountain  of  the  I'evelation;  and  we  are,  therefore,  ^ea^l^acxroi, 
 *  taught  by  God,'  because  the  Spirit  of  God  revealed  the 
 articles  of  our  religion,  that  they  might  be  known  to  all  ages 
 of  the  church ;  and  this  is  testified  by  St.  Paul :  '*  He  gave 
 some  apostles,  and  some  prophets,"  &c.  "  for  the  perfecting 
 of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of 
 the  body  of  Christ,  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith, 
 and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God  unto  a  perfect  man," 
 &c.  This  was  the  effect  of  Christ's  ascension ,  when  he  '  gave 
 gifts  unto  men,'  that  is,  when  he  sent  the  Spirit,  the  verifi- 
 cation of  the  promise  of  the  Father.  The  effect  of  this  im- 
 raission  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  to  fill  all  things,  and  that  for 
 ever ;  to  build  up  the  church  of  God  until  the  day  of  consum- 
 mation ;  so  that  the  Holy  Ghost  abides  with  the  church  for 
 ever,  by  transmitting  those  revelations,  which  he  taught  the 
 apostles,  to  all  Christians  in  succession.  Now  as  the  Holy 
 Ghost  taught  the  apostles,  and,  by  them,  still  teaches  us 
 what  to  believe ;  so  it  is  certain  he  taught  the  apostles  how 
 and  what  to  pray ;  and  because  it  is  certain  that  all  the  rules 
 concerning  our  duty  in  prayer,  and  all  those  gi-aces  which 
 we  are  to  pray  for,  are  transmitted  to  us  by  derivation  from 
 the  apostles,  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  did  teach  even  to  that 
 very  purpose  also,  that  they  should  teach  us  ;  it  follows 
 evidently,  that  the  gift  of  prayer  is  a  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ; 
 and  yet  to  verify  this  proposition,  we  need  no  other  imme- 
 diate inspiration  or  extraordinary  assistance,  than  that  we 
 derive  from  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  the  conveyance  of  the  apos- 
 tolical sermons  and  writings. 
 
 18.  The  reason  is  the  same  in  faith  and  prayer;  and  if 
 there  wei'e  any  difference  in  the  acquisition  or  reception, 
 faith  certainly  needs  a  more  immediate  infusion,  as  being  of 
 greatest  necessity,  and  yet  a  grace  to  which  we  least  co- 
 operate, it  being  the  first  of  graces,  and  less  of  the  will  in  it 
 than  any  other.  But  yet  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  author  of  our 
 faith,  and  "  we  believe  with  the  Spirit"  (it  is  St.  Paul's  ex- 
 pression) ;  and  yet  our  '  belief  coines  by  hearing  and  reading' 
 the  holy  Scriptures,  and  their  interpretations.  Now  recon- 
 cile these  two  together, '  Faith  comes  by  hearing'','  and  yet  '  is 
 
 h  Ephes.  ii.  3.    1  Cor.  jjii.  9. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OV  LITURGY. 
 
 327 
 
 the  gift  of  the  Spirit,'  and  it  says  that  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit 
 are  not  ecstasies  and  immediate  infusions  of  habits,  but  helps 
 from  God,  to  enable  us,  upon  the  use  of  the  means  of  his  own 
 appointment,  to  believe,  to  speak,  to  understand,  to  prophesy, 
 and  to  pray. 
 
 19.  But  whosoever  shall  look  for  any  other  gifts  of  the 
 Spirit,  besides  the  parts  of  nature  helped  by  industry  and 
 God's  blessing  upon  it,  and  the  revelations  or  the  supplies  of 
 matter  in  holy  Scripture,  will  be  very  far  to  seek,  having 
 neither  reason,  promise,  nor  experience,  of  his  side.  For  why 
 should  the  spirit  of  prayer  be  any  other  than  as  the  gift  and 
 'spirit  of  faith,'  as  St.  Paul  calls  it',  acquired  by  human 
 means,  using  Divine  aids?  that  is,  by  our  endeavours  in 
 hearing,  reading,  catechizing,  desires  to  obey,  and  all  this 
 blessed  and  promoted  by  God,  this  produces  faith.  Nay,  it 
 is  true  of  us  what  Christ  told  his  apostles,  "  sine  me  nihil 
 potestis  facere  ;"  not  'nihil  magnum  aut  difficile,'  but  '  om- 
 nino  nihil,'  as  St.  Austin  observes.  '  Without  me  ye  can  do 
 nothing  :'  and  yet  we  were  not  capable  of  a  law,  or  of  reward 
 or  punishment,  if  neither  with  him,  nor  without  him,  we  were 
 able  to  do  any  thing.  And,  therefoi-e,  although  in  the  midst 
 of  all  our  co-operation  we  may  say  to  God,  in  the  words  of 
 the  prophet,  "  Domine,  omnia  opera  operatus  es  in  nobis," 
 "  O  Lord,  thou  hast  wrought  all  our  works  in  us,"  yet  they 
 are  '  opera  nostra'  still ;  God  works,  and  we  work  :  first  is 
 the  x*?'^  (pEfoptEvn,  God's  grace  is  brought  to  us,  he  helps  and 
 gives  us  abilities,  and  then  expects  our  duty.  And  if  the 
 spirit  of  prayer  be  of  greater  consequence  than  all  the  works 
 God  hath  wrought  in  us  besides,  and  hath  the  promise  of  a 
 special  pi-erogative,  let  the  first  be  proved,  and  the  second  be  . 
 shown  in  any  good  record,  and  then  I  will  confess  the  dif- 
 ference. 
 
 20.  The  parallel  of  this  argument  I  the  rather  urge,  be- 
 cause I  find  praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost  joined  with  graces, 
 which  are  as  much  God's  gifts  and  productions  of  the  Spirit, 
 as  any  thing  in  the  world,  and  yet  which  the  apostle  presses- 
 upon  us  as  duties,  and  things  put  into  our  power,  to  be  im- 
 proved by  our  industry,  and  those  are  faith  (in  which  I  be- 
 fore instanced)  and  charity.    "  But  ye,  beloved,  building 
 
 '  2  Cor.  iv.  13. 
 
328 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 up  yourselves  on  your  most  holy  faith,  praying  in  the  Holy 
 Ghost,  keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God"".""  All  of  the 
 same  consideration,  faith,  and  prayer,  and  charity,  all  gifts 
 of  the  Spirit,  and  yet  "  build  up  yourselves  in  faith,  and 
 keep  yourselves  in  love,"  and  therefore,  by  a  parity  of  reason, 
 improve  yourselves  in  the  spirit  of  prayer  ;  that  is,  God,  by 
 his  Spirit,  having  supplied  us  vf'ith.  matter,  let  our  Industry 
 and  co-operations,  '  per  modum  naturae,'  improve  these  gifts, 
 and  build  upon  this  foundation. 
 
 21.  Thus  the  Spirit  of  God  Is  called  "  the  Spirit  of  adop- 
 tion, the  Spirit  of  counsel,  the  Spirit  of  grace,  the  Spirit  of 
 meekness,  the  Spirit  of  wisdom."  And,  vpithout  doubt,  he 
 is  the  Fountain  of  all  these  to  us  all,  and  that  for  ever,  and 
 yet  it  cannot  reasonably  be  supj^osed,  but  that  we  must  stir 
 up  the  graces  of  God  in  us,  co-operate  with  his  assistances, 
 study  in  order  to  counsel,  labour  and  consider  in  order  to 
 wisdom,  give  all  diligence  to  make  our  calling  and  election 
 sure,  in  order  to  our  adoption,  in  which  we  are  sealed  by 
 the  Spirit.  Now  these  instances  are  of  gifts,  as  Avell  as 
 graces ;  and  since  the  days  of  wonder  and  need  of  miracles  is 
 expired,  there  is  no  more  reason  to  expect  inspiration  of  gifts, 
 than  of  graces,  without  our  endeavours.  It  concerns  the 
 church  rather  to  have  these  secured  than  those,  and  yet  the 
 Spirit  of  God  j^uts  it  upon  the  condition  of  our  co-operation  : 
 for,  according  to  the  proverb  of  the  old  moralists,  "  Deus 
 habet  slnum  facilem,  non  perforatum,"  "  God's  bosom  is 
 apt  and  easy"  to  the  emission  of  graces  and  assistances,  but 
 it  is  not  loose  and  ungirt  ;  something  must  be  done  on  our 
 part,  we  must  Improve  the  talents  and  swell  the  bank  ; 
 for  if  either  we  lay  them  up  in  a  napkin  or  spend  them, 
 suppress  the  Spirit  or  extinguish  it,  we  shall  dearly  account 
 for  it. 
 
 22.  In  the  mean  time,  if  we  may  lose  the  gifts  by  our 
 own  fault,  we  may  purchase  them  by  our  diligence  ;  if  we 
 may  lessen  them  by  our  incuriousness,  we  may  increase 
 them  by  study  ;  if  we  may  quench  the  Spirit,  then  also  we 
 mav  re-enkindle  it  :  all  which  are  evident  probation  that  the 
 Holy  Ghost  gives  us  assistances  to  Improve  our  natural 
 powers,  and  to  promote  our  acquisite,  and  his  aids  are  not 
 
 ^  Epist.  Jud.  ver.  20. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 329 
 
 inspirations  of  the  habit,  or  infusions  of  a  perfect  gift,  but  a 
 subliming  of  what  God  gave  us  in  the  stock  of  nature  and 
 art  to  make  it  in  a  sufficient  order  to  an  end  supernatural 
 and  divine. 
 
 23.  The  same  doctrine  we  are  taught  by  St.  Paul's  ex- 
 hortation to  Timothy:  "  Neglect  not  the  gift  that  is  in  thee, 
 which  was  given  thee  by  prophecy,  with  the  laying  on  of  the 
 hands  of  the  presbytery'."  And  again,  "  Stir  up  the  gift  of 
 God  which  is  in  thee  by  the  laying  on  of  my  hands'"."  If 
 there  be  any  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  spiritual  influ- 
 ences, dispensed  without  our  co-operation,  and  by  inspiration 
 of  the  entire  power,  it  is  in  ordination  ;  and  the  persons  so 
 ordained  are  most  likely  to  receive  the  gift  of  prayer,  if  any 
 such  thing  be  for  the  edification  of  the  church,  they  being 
 the  men  appointed  to  intercede,  and  to  stand  between  God 
 and  the  people  ;  and  yet  this  gift  of  God,  even  in  those  times 
 when  they  were  dispensed  with  miracle  and  assistances  extra- 
 ordinary, were  given,  as  all  things  now  are  given,  by  the 
 means  also  of  our  endeavour,  and  was  capable  of  improve- 
 ment by  industry,  and  of  defallance  by  neglect ;  and  there- 
 fore much  rather  is  it  so  now,  in  the  days  of  ordinai'y  minis- 
 tration and  common  assistances. 
 
 24.  And  indeed  this  argument,  beside  the  efficacy  of  its 
 persuasion,  must  needs  conclude  against  the  men  to  whom 
 these  'adversaria'  are  addressed,  because  themselves  call 
 upon  their  disciples,  to  exercise  the  gift  of  prayer",  and  offer 
 it  to  consideration,  that  such  exercising  it  is  the  way  to  better 
 it ;  and  if  natural  endowments,  and  artificial  endeavours  are 
 the  way  to  purchase  new  degrees  of  it,  it  were  not  amiss 
 they  did  consider  a  little  before  they  begin,  and  did  improve 
 their  first  and  smallest  capacities  before  they  ventured  any 
 thing  in  public,  by  way  of  address  to  almighty  God.  For  the 
 first  beginnings  ai*e  certainly  as  improveable  as  the  next  de- 
 grees, and  it  is  certain  they  have  more  need  of  it,  as  being 
 more  imperfect  andrud  e.  Therefore,  whenever  God's  Spirit 
 hath  given  us  any  capacities  or  assistances,  any  documents, 
 
 •  1  Tim.  iv.  14.  "'2  Tim.  i.  6. 
 
 n  "  So  as  that  hereby  they  become  not  slothful  and  negligent  in  stirring 
 up  the  gifts  of  Christ  in  them.  But  that  each  one,  by  meditation,  by  taking 
 heed,  &c.,  rnay  be  careful  to  furnish  his  heart  and  tongue  witli  further  or  other 
 materials."  &c. — Preface  to  the  Directory. 
 
330 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 motions,  desires,  or  any  aids  whatsoever,  they  are,  therefore, 
 given  us  with  a  purpose  we  should,  by  our  industry,  skill, 
 and  labour,  improve  them,  because  without  such  co-opera- 
 tion, the  intention  is  made  void,  and  the  work  imperfect. 
 
 25.  And  this  is  exactly  the  doctrine  I  plainly  gather  from 
 the  objected  words  of  St.  Paul,  "  The  Spirit  helpeth  our 
 infirmities,"  ffyvavTiXa/xCavsTai,  it  is,  in  the  Greek,  "  collabo- 
 rantem  adjuvat."  It  is  an  ingeminate  expression  of  our 
 labours.  And  that  supposes  us  to  have  faculties  capable  of 
 improvement  and  an  obligation  to  labour,  and  that  the  eflfect 
 of  having  the  gift  of  prayer  depends  upon  the  mutual  course, 
 that  is,  upon  God  blessing  our  powers  and  our  endeavours. 
 And  if  this  way  the  Spirit  performs  his  promise  sufficiently, 
 and  does  all  that  we  need,  and  all  that  he  ties  himself  to  ; 
 he  that  will  multiply  his  hopes  further  than  what  is  sufficient, 
 or  what  is  promised,  may  possibly  deceive  himself,  but  never 
 deceive  God,  and  make  him  multiply  and  continue  miracles 
 to  justify  his  fancy. 
 
 26.  Better  it  is  to  follow  the  Scriptures  for  our  guide,  as 
 in  all  things  else,  so  in  this  particular.  "  Take  the  sword  of 
 the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God,  praying  always  with 
 all  prayer  and  supplication  in  the  Spirit"."  '  The  word  of 
 God'  is  '  the  sword  of  the  Spirit;'  '  praying  in  the  Spirit'  is 
 one  way  of  using  it,  indeed  the  only  way  that  he  here  specifies. 
 •  Praying  in  the  Spirit,'  then,  being  the  using  of  this  sword, 
 and  this  sword  being  the  word  of  God,  it  follows  evidently, 
 that  praying  in  the  Spirit  is  praying  in,  or  accoi'ding  to,  the 
 word  of  God,  that  is,  in  the  directions,  rules,  and  expresses 
 of  the  word  of  God,  that  is,  of  the  holy  Scriptures.  For  we 
 have  many  infirmities,  and  we  need  the  Spirit  to  help ;  as 
 doubting,  coldness,  weariness,  disrelish  of  heavenly  things, 
 indifferency  ;  and  these  are  enough  to  interpret  the  place 
 quoted  in  the  objection,  without  tying  him  to  make  words  for 
 us,  to  no  great  religious  purposes,  when  God  hath  done  that 
 for  us,  in  other  manner  than  what  we  dream  of. 
 
 27.  So  that,  in  effect,  praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  or 
 with  the  Spirit,  is  nothing  but  prayer  for  such  things,  and 
 in  such  manner  which  God,  by  his  Spirit,  hath  taught  us  in 
 holy  Scripture.  Holy  prayers, '  spiritual  songs,'  so  the  apostle 
 
 "  Eccles.  vi,  17, 1  8. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 331 
 
 calls  one  part  of  prayer,  viz., '  eucharistical  or  thanksgiving,' 
 that  is,  prayers  or  songs  which  are  spiritual  '  in  materia.' 
 And  if  they  be  called  spiritual  for  the  efficient  cause  too,  the 
 Holy  Ghost  being  the  author  of  them,  it  comes  all  to  one ; 
 for  therefore  he  is  the  cause  and  giver  of  them,  because  he 
 hath,  in  his  word,  revealed  what  things  we  are  to  pray  for, 
 and  there,  also,  hath  taught  us  the  manner. 
 
 28.  And  this  I  plainly  prove  from  the  words  of  St.  Paul 
 before  quoted,  "  The  Spirit  helpeth  our  infirmities,  for  we 
 know  not  what  we  should  pray  for  as  we  ought^."  In  this 
 we  are  infirm,  that  we  know  not  our  own  needs,  nor  our 
 own  advantages  :  when  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  taught  us  what 
 to  ask,  and  to  ask  that  as  we  ought,  then  he  hath  healed  our 
 infirmities,  and  our  ignorances  in  the  matter  and  the  manner; 
 then  we  know  what  to  pray  for  as  we  ought,  then  we  have 
 the  grace  of  prayer,  and  the  spirit  of  supplication.  And, 
 therefore,  in  the  instance  before  mentioned,  concerning  spi- 
 ritual songs,  when  the  apostle  had  twice  enjoined  the  use 
 of  them  in  order  to  prayer  and  preaching,  to  instruction 
 and  to  eucharist,  and  those  to  be  done  by  the  aid  of  Christ, 
 and  Christ's  spirit;  what  in  one  place  he  calls,  "  being 
 filled  with  the  Spiriti,"  in  the  other  he  calls,  "  the  dwell- 
 ing of  the  word  of  Christ  in  us  richly';"  plainly  intimating 
 to  us  that  when  we  are  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  full  of 
 the  word  of  Christ,  then  we  are  filled  with  the  Spirit, 
 because  the  Spirit  is  the  gi'eat  dictator  of  them  to  us, 
 and  the  remembrancer;  and  when,  by  such  helps  of  Sci-ip- 
 ture,  we  sing  hymns  to  God's  honour,  and  our  mutual 
 comfort,  then  we  sing  and  give  thanks  in  the  Spirit.  And 
 this  is  evident,  if  you  consult  the  places,  and  compai-e 
 them. 
 
 29.  And  that  this  is  for  this  reason  called  a  '  gift  and 
 grace,'  or  issue  of  the  Spirit,  is  so  evident  and  notorious, 
 that  the  speaking  of  an  ordinary  revealed  truth,  is  called 
 in  Scripture,  "  a  speaking  by  the  Spirit'."  "  No  man  can 
 say  that  Jesus  is  the  Lord  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost'."  For, 
 though  the  world  could  not  acknowledge  Jesus  for  the 
 Lord,  without  a  revelation,  yet  now  that  we  are  taught 
 
 I'  Rom.  viii.  26.        i  Eph.  v.  18,  19.  ■•  Col.  iii.  1(5. 
 
 '  1  Cor.  xii.  8.         •  Vid.  Acts,xix.  21,  and  xvi.  7—10. 
 
332  AS  APOLOGY  rOR  AUTHORIZEt) 
 
 this  truth  by  Scripture,  and  by  the  preachiu2  of  the  apostles 
 to  which  they  were  enabled  bv  the  Holv  Ghost,  we  need 
 no  revelation  or  enthusiasm  to  confess  this  truth,  which  we 
 are  taught  in  our  creeds  and  catechisms :  and  as  this  light 
 sprang  fii^t  from  the  emission  of  a  ray  from  God's  Spirit, 
 we  must  for  ever  acknowledge  him  the  fountain  of  our  light. 
 Though  we  cool  our  thirst  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  vet 
 we  owe  for  our  draughts  to  the  springs  and  fountains  from 
 whence  the  waters  first  came,  though  derived  to  us  bv  the 
 succession  of  a  long  current.  If  the  Holy  Ghost  supplies  us 
 with  materials  and  fundamentals  for  our  building,  it  is  then 
 enough  to  denominate  the  whole  edifice  to  be  of  him,  al- 
 though the  labour  and  the  workmanship  be  ours  upon  ano- 
 ther stock.  And  this  is  it  which  the  apostle  speaks,  "  Which 
 things  also  we  speak,  not  in  the  words  which  man's  wis- 
 dom teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth,  com- 
 paring spiritual  things  with  spiritual"."  '  The  Holv  Ghost 
 teaches,'  yet  it  is  upon  our  co-operation,  our  study  and  en- 
 deavour ;  '  while  we  compare  spiritual  things  with  spiritual,' 
 the  Holv  Ghost  is  said  to  teach  us,  because  these  spirituals 
 were  of  his  suggestion  and  revelation. 
 
 30.  For  it  is  a  rule  of  the  school,  and  there  is  much  reason 
 in  it,  '  Habitus  infusi  infunduntur  per  modum  acquisito- 
 rum,'  '  whatsoever  is  infused  into  us  is  in  the  same  manner 
 infused  as  other  things  are  acquired,'  that  is,  step  by  step,  by 
 human  means  and  co-operation ;  and  grace  does  not  give  us 
 new  faculties,  and  create  another  nature,  but  meliorates  and 
 improves  our  own.  And  therefore,  what  the  Greeks  called 
 '  habits,'  the  Christians  used  to  call  ou7bis  and  oa/^rlaxra, 
 '  gifts,'  because  we  derive  assistances  from  above  to  heighten 
 the  habits,  and  iacilitate  the  actions,  in  order  to  a  more 
 noble  and  supernatural  end.  And  what  St.  Paul  said  in 
 the  resurrection,  is  also  true  in  this  question,  '  that  is  not 
 first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that  which  is  natural, — and  then 
 that  which  is  spiritual.'  The  graces  and  gifts  of  the  Spirit 
 are  postnate,  and  are  additions  to  art  and  nature.  God 
 directs  our  counsels,  opens  our  understandings,  regulates 
 our  will,  orders  our  affections,  supplies  us  with  objects  and 
 arguments,  and  opportunities,  and  revelations  '  in  scriptis,' 
 
 "  1  Cor.  ii.  13. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 333 
 
 and  tlien  most  when  we  most  employ  our  own  endeavoui-s, 
 God  loving  to  bless  all  the  means  and  instruments  of  his  ser- 
 vice, whether  they  be  natural  or  acquisite. 
 
 31.  So  that  now  I  demand,  whether,  since  the  expiration 
 of  the  age  of  miracles,  God's  Spirit  does  not  most  assist  us, 
 when  we  most  endeavour  and  most  use  the  means  ?  He  that 
 says  '  no,'  discourages  all  men  from  reading  the  Scriptures, 
 from  industry,  from  meditation,  from  conference,  from 
 human  arts  and  sciences,  and  from  whatsoever  else  God  and 
 good  laws  provoke  us  to  by  proposition  of  rewards.  But  if, 
 •  yea,'  (as  most  certainly  God  will  best  crown  the  best  en- 
 deavours) then  the  spirit  of  prayer  is  greatest  in  him,  who 
 (supposing  the  like  capacities  and  opportunities)  studies 
 hardest,  reads  most,  practises  most  religiously,  deliberates 
 most  prudently ;  and  then,  by  how  much  want  of  means  is 
 worse  than  the  use  of  means,  by  so  much  extempore  prayers 
 are  worse  than  deliberate  and  studied.  Excellent,  therefore, 
 is  the  counsel  of  St.  Peter.  "  If  any  man  speak,  let  him 
 speak  as  the  oracles  of  God  :"  not  lightly  then  and  incon- 
 siderately. "  If  any  man  minister,  let  him  do  it  as  of  the 
 ability  which  God  giveth" :"  great  reason  then  to  put  all  his 
 abilities  and  faculties  to  it :  and,  whether  of  the  two  does 
 most  likely  do  that,  he  that  takes  pains,  and  considers  and 
 discusses,  and  so  approves  and  practises  a  form, — or  he  that 
 never  considers  what  he  says,  till  he  says  it, — needs  not  much 
 deliberation  to  pass  a  sentence.  Only,  methinks  it  is  most 
 unreasonable,  that  we  should  be  bound  to  prepare  ourselves 
 with  due  requisites,  to  hear  what  they  shall  speak  in  public, 
 and  that  they  should  not  prepare  what  to  speak ;  as  if  to 
 speak  were  of  easier,  or  of  less  consideration,  than  to  hear 
 what  is  spoken  ;  or  if  they  do  prepare  what  to  speak  to  the 
 people,  it  were  also  very  fit  they  prepared  their  prayers,  and 
 considered  beforehand  of  the  fitness  of  the  offertory  they  pre- 
 sent to  God. 
 
 32.  Lastly  ;  did  not  the  penmen  of  the  Scripture  write  the 
 epistles  and  gospels  respectively  all  by  the  Spirit  ?  Most 
 certainly,  "holy  men  of  God  spoke  as  they  were  moved  by 
 the  Holy  Ghost,"  saith  St.  Peter.  And  certainly  they  were 
 moved  by  a  more  immediate  motion,  and  a  motion  nearer  to 
 
 ^  1  Epist.  iv.  n. 
 VOL.  VII.  2  A 
 
334 
 
 AN  APOLOGY   FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 an  enUiusiasm,  than  now-a-days  in  'the  gift  and  spirit  of 
 prayer.'    And  yet,  in  the  midst  of  those  great  assistances 
 and  motions  they  did  use  study,  art,  industry,  and  human 
 abihties'  .  This  is  more  than  probable  in  the  different  styles  of 
 the  several  books,  some  being  of  admirable  art,  others  lower 
 and  plain.    The  words  were  their  own  ;  at  least,  sometimes, 
 not  the  Holy  Ghost's.     And  if  Origen,  St.  Jerome,  and 
 especially  the  Greek  fathers,  scholiasts  and  grammarians, 
 were  not  deceived  by  false  copies,  but  that  they  truly  did 
 observe,  sometimes  to  be  impropriety  of  an  expression  in  the 
 language,  sometimes  not  true  Greek,  who  will  think  those 
 errors  or  imperfections  in  grammar  were  (in  respect  of  the 
 words,  I  say,  precisely)  immediate  inspirations  and  dictates 
 of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  not  rather  their  own  productions  of 
 industry  and  humanity  ?    But,  clearly,  some  of  their  words 
 were  the  words  of  Aratus,  some  of  Epiraenides  :  some  of 
 Menander,  some  of  St.  Paul,  "This  speak  I,  not  the  Lord^" 
 Some  were  the  words  of  Moses,  even  all  that  part  of  the 
 Levitical  law  which  concerned  divorces,  and  concerning  which 
 our  blessed  Saviour  affirms,  that  '  Moses  permitted  it,  be- 
 cause of  the  hardness  of  their  hearts,  but  from  the  beginning 
 it  was  not  so  :'  and  divers  others  of  the  same  nature,  collected 
 and  observed  to  this  purpose,  by  Origen^,  St.  Basil'',  St. 
 Ambrose*^ ;  and  particularly  that  promise  which  St.  Paul 
 made  '  of  calling  upon  the  Corinthians  as  he  passed  into 
 Macedonia,'  which  certainly,  in  all  reason,  is  to  be  presumed 
 to  have  been  spoken  '  humanitus,'  and  not  by  immediate  in- 
 spiration and  infusion,  because  St.  Paul  was  so  hindered  that 
 he  could  not  be  as  good  as  his  word,  and  yet  the  Holy  Ghost 
 could  have  foreseen  it,  and  might  better  have  excused  it, 
 if  St.  Paul  had  laid  it  upon  his  score  ;  but  he  did  not, 
 and  it  is  reasonable  enough  to  believe  there  was  no  cause 
 he  should ;  and  yet,  because  the  Holy  Ghost  renewed  their 
 
 >■  Etlam  veteres  prophetae  disposuerunt  se  ad  respondendum  prophetice,  et 
 vaticinia^  admoto  plectro,  aut  hausto  calice,  dederunt- — Gen.  sliv.  5.  '  Scy- 
 pljus,  quern  furati  estis,  ipse  est,  in  quo  Dorainus  nieus  bibit,  et  in  quo  augxi- 
 rari  solet,'  dixit  oeconomus  Joseplii.  '  Et  efferte  psalteriunij'  disit  Eliseus,  2 
 Reg.  iii.  15.  Dominum  interrogaturus. 
 
 Vid.  Eras.  Epist.  ad  Jo.  Eckium,  Ep.  lib.  20. 
 
 ^  1  Cor.  vii.  6.  ^  Homil.  16,  in  Numer. 
 
 Lib.  V.  cent.  Eunom.  c.  penult.  ^'  Lib.  viii.  in  Lucara,  c.  16. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITtlRGV. 
 
 335 
 
 memory,  improved  tlieir  understanding,  supplied  to  some 
 their  want  of  human  learning,  and  so  assisted  them,  that  they 
 should  not  commit  an  error  in  fact  or  opinion,  neither  in  the 
 narrative  nor  dogmatical  parts,  therefoi'e  they  wrote  '  by  the 
 Spirit.'  Since  that,  we  cannot  pretend,  upon  any  grounds 
 of  probability,  to  an  inspiration  so  immediate  as  theirs,  and 
 yet  their  assistances  which  they  had  from  the  Spirit,  did  not 
 exclude  human  arts  and  industry,  but  that  the  ablest  scholar 
 did  write  the  best,  much  rather  is  this  true  in  the  gifts  and 
 assistances  we  receive,  and  particularly  in  '  the  gift  of  jDi'ayer 
 it  is  not  an  extempore  and  an  inspired  faculty,  but  the 
 faculties  of  nature,  and  the  abilities  of  art  and  industry 
 are  improved  and  ennobled  by  tlie  supervening  assistances 
 of  the  Spirit.  And  if  these  who  pray  extempore,  say  that 
 the  assistance  they  I'eceive  from  the  Spirit,  is  the  inspiration 
 of  words  and  powers  without  the  operations  of  art  and 
 natural  abilities,  and  human  industry,  then  besides  that  it  is 
 more  than  the  penmen  of  Scripture  sometimes  had  (because 
 they  needed  no  extraordinary  assistances  to  what  they  could, 
 of  themselves,  do  upon  the  stock  of  other  abilities,)  besides 
 this,  I  say,  it  must  follow  that  such  prayers,  so  inspired,  if 
 they  were  committed  to  writing,  would  prove  as  good  canon- 
 ical Scripture  as  any  is  in  St.  Paul's  epistles  ;  the  impudence 
 of  which  pretension  is  sufficient  to  prove  the  extreme  vanity 
 of  the  challenge. 
 
 33.  The  sum  is  this  :  Whatsoever  this  gift  is,  or  this 
 spirit  of  prayer,  it  is  to  be  acquired  by  human  industry,  by 
 learning  of  the  Scriptures,  by  reading,  by  conference,  and 
 by  whatsoever  else  faculties  are  improved,  and  habits  en- 
 larged. God's  Spirit  hath  done  his  work  sufficiently  this 
 way,  and  he  loves  not,  either  in  nature  or  grace,  which  are 
 his  two  great  sanctions,  to  multiply  miracles  when  there  is 
 no  need. 
 
 34.  And  now  let  us  take  a  man  that  pretends  he  hath  the 
 '  gift  of  prayer,'  and  loves  to  pray  extempore, — I  suppose 
 his  thoughts  go  a  little  before  his  tongue  ;  I  demand,  then, 
 whether  cannot  this  man,  when  it  is  once  come  into  his  head, 
 hold  his  tongue,  and  write  down  what  he  hath  conceived  ? 
 If  his  first  conceptions  were  of  God,  and  God's  Spirit,  then 
 they  are  so  still,  even  when  they  are  written.  Or  is  the 
 Spirit  departed  from  him,  upon  the  sight  of  a  pen  and  ink- 
 
 2  A  2 
 
336 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 horn  ?  It  did  use  to  be  otherwise  among  the  old  and  new 
 prophets,  whether  they  were  prophets  of  prediction,  or  of 
 ordinary  ministi'y.  But  if  his  conception  may  be  written, 
 and  being  written,  is  still  a  production  of  the  Spirit ;  then  it 
 follows,  that '  set  forms  of  prayer,'  deliberate,  and  described, 
 may  as  well  be  a  praying  with  the  spirit,  as  sudden  forms 
 and  extempore  outlets. 
 
 35.  Now  the  case  being  thus  put,  I  would  fain  know  what 
 the  difference  is  between  deliberate  and  extempore  prayex-s, 
 save  only  that  in  these  there  is  less  consideration  and  pru- 
 dence ;  for  that  the  other  are  (at  least  as  much  as  these)  the 
 productions  of  the  Spirit,  is  evident  in  the  very  case  put  in 
 this  argument :  and  whether  to  consider  and  to  weigh  them  be 
 any  disadvantage  to  our  devotions,  I  leave  it  to  all  wise  men 
 to  determine  ;  so  that  in  effect,  since,  after  the  pretended  as- 
 sistance of  the  Spirit  in  our  prayers,  we  may  write  them 
 down,  consider  them,  try  the  spirits,  and  ponder  the  matter, 
 the  reason  and  the  religion  of  the  address ;  let  the  world 
 judge  whether  this  sudden  utterance  and  extempore  forms, 
 be  any  thing  else  but  a  direct  resolution  not  to  consider 
 beforehand  what  we  speak.  "  Sic  itaque  habe,  ut  istam 
 vim  dicendi  rapidam  aptiorem  esse  circulanti  judices,  quam 
 agenti  rem  magnam  et  seriam,  docentique."  They  are  the 
 words  of  Seneca,  and  express  what  naturally  flows  from  the 
 premises.  The  pretence  of  the  spirit,  and  the  gift  of  prayer, 
 is  not  sufficient  to  justify  the  dishonour  they  do  to  religion, 
 in  serving  it  in  the  lowest  and  most  indeliberate  manner,  nor 
 quit  such  men  from  unreasonableness  and  folly,  who  will  dare 
 to  speak  to  God  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  and  in  their 
 behalf,  without  deliberation,  or  learning,  or  study.  Nothing 
 is  a  greater  disreputation  to  the  prudence  of  a  discourse,  than 
 to  say  it  was  a  thing  made  up  in  haste,  that  is,  without  due 
 considei'ing. 
 
 36.  But  here  I  consider,  and  I  wish  they  whom  it  concerns 
 most,  would  do  so  too  :  that  to  pretend  the  Spirit,  in  so  un- 
 reasonable a  manner,  to  so  ill  purposes,  and  without  reason, 
 or  promise,  or  probability  for  doing  it,  is  a  very  great  crime, 
 and  of  dangerous  consequence.  It  was  the  greatest  aggra- 
 vation of  the  sin  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  if/s^aauSai  to  aytov 
 TO  -sjvEu/xa,  that  they  did  falsely  pretend  and  '  belie  the 
 Holy  Spirit which  crime,  besides  that  it  dishonours  the  Holy 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 337 
 
 Ghost,  to  make  him  th«  president  of  imperfect  and  illiterate 
 rites,  the  author  of  confusion,  and  Indeliberate  discourses, 
 and  the  parent  of  such  productions,  which  a  wise  person 
 would  blush  to  own :  it  also  entitles  him  to  all  those  doc- 
 trines which  either  chance  or  design  shall  expose  to  the  peo- 
 ple, in  such  prayers  to  which  they  entitle  the  Holy  Spirit  as 
 the  author  and  immediate  dictator.  So  that  if  they  please, 
 he  must  not  only  own  their  follies,  but  their  impieties  too ;  and 
 how  great  disreputation  this  is  to  the  Spirit  of  wisdom,  of 
 counsel,  and  of  holiness,  I  wish  they  may  rather  understand 
 by  discourse  than  by  experiment. 
 
 37.  But  let  us  look  a  little  further  into  the  mystery,  and 
 see  what  is  meant  in  Scripture,  by  '  praying  with  the  spirit.' 
 In  what  sense  the  Holy  Ghost  is  called  the  '  Spirit  of  prayer,' 
 I  have  already  shown;  viz.,  by  the  same  reason  as  he  is  the 
 '  Sjiirit  of  faith,  of  prudence,  of  knowledge,  of  understand- 
 ing,' and  the  like,  because  he  gives  us  assistances  for  the  ac- 
 quiring of  these  graces,  and  furnishes  us  with  revelation 
 by  way  of  object  and  Instruction.  But  '  praying  with  the 
 Spirit'  hath  besides  this  other  senses  also  in  Scripture.  I 
 find  in  one  place,  that  we  then  pray  with  the  spirit,  when 
 the  Holy  Ghost  does  actually  excite  us  to  desires  and  earnest 
 tendencies  to  the  obtaining  our  holy  purpose,  when  he  pre- 
 pares our  hearts  to  pi'ay,  when  he  enkindles  our  desires, 
 gives  us  zeal  and  devotion,  charity  and  fervoui*,  spiritual 
 violence  and  holy  opportunity.  This  sense  is  also  in  the 
 latter  part  of  the  objected  words  of  St.  PauP,  "  The  Spirit 
 itself  maketh  intercession  for  us  with  groanings."  And  in- 
 deed, this  is  truly  a  praying  with  the  Spirit;  but  this  vAll 
 do  our  reverend  brethren  of  the  assembly  little  advantage  as 
 to  the  present  question.  For  this  Spirit  is  not  a  spirit  of 
 utterance,  not  at  all  clamorous  in  the  ears  of  the  people ; 
 but  cries  aloud  in  the  ears  of  God,  with  '  groans  unutterable,' 
 so  it  follows,  and  only  "  He  that  searcheth  the  heart,  he  un- 
 derstandeth  the  meaning  of  the  Spirit*^."  This  is  the  Spirit 
 of  the  Son,  which  '  God  hath  sent  into  our  hearts,'  (not  into 
 
 <"  Rom.  viii.  26. 
 
 *■  Sunt  ne  mei  ?  sunt  ne  tui  ?  imh  sunt  gemitus  ccclesise,  aliquando  in  nie, 
 aliquando  in  te.  August,  eodeni  niodo  quo  S.  August,  dixit  Duo,  Conqueror 
 tibi,  Doniine,  lachryniis  Jesu  Cliristi,  de  quo  dictum  est,  Ileb.  v.  7,  liyi<ni$  ts 
 xu)  'ixiTfif  'ias  j«tT»  x^auyn;  ir^v^eis  net)  %tt,K^iei»>  I'^iK/iiii'yxi 
 
338  AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 our  tongues),  '  whereby  we  cry,  Abba  Father  ^'  And  this  is 
 the  great  aldevT'ia.  for  mental  prayer,  which  is  properly  and 
 truly  praying  by  the  Spirit. 
 
 38.  Another  praying  Math  the  Spirit  I  find  in  that  place 
 of  St.  Paul,  from  whence  this  expression  is  taken,  and  com- 
 monly used,  "I  will  pray  with  the  spirit,  and  I  will  pray 
 with  the  understanding  also."  It  is  generally  supposed  that 
 St.  Paul  relates  here  to  a  special  and  extraordinary  gift  of 
 prayer,  which  was  indulged  to  the  primitive  bishops  and 
 priests,  the  apostles  and  rulers  of  churches,  and  to  some 
 other  persons  extraordinarily,  of  being  able  to  compose 
 prayers,  pious  in  the  matter,  prudent  in  the  composure,  de- 
 vout in  the  foi-ms,  expressive  in  the  language;  and,  in  short, 
 useful  to  the  church,  and  very  apt  for  devotion,  and  serving 
 to  her  religion  and  necessities.  I  believe  that  such  a  gift 
 there  was,  and  this  indulged,  as  other  issues  of  the  Spirit,  to 
 some  persons  upon  special  necessities,  by  singular  dispensa- 
 tion, as  the  Spirit  knew  to  be  most  expedient  for  the  present 
 need,  and  the  future  instruction.  This  I  believe,  not  because 
 I  find  sufficient  testimony  that  it  was  so,  or  any  evidence 
 from  the  words  now  alleged ;  but  because  it  was  reason- 
 able it  should  be  so,  and  agreeable  to  the  other  proceedings 
 of  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  although  we  account  it  an  easv 
 matter  to  make  prayers,  and  we  have  gi-eat  reason  to  give 
 thanks  to  the  Holy  Ghost  for  it,  who  hath  descended  so  plen- 
 tifully upon  the  church,  hath  made  plentiful  revelation  of  all 
 the  public  and  private  necessities  of  the  world,  hath  taught 
 us  how  to  pray,  given  rules  for  the  manner  of  address, 
 taught  us  how  to  distinguish  spiritual  from  carnal  things, 
 hath  represented  the  vanity  of  woi-ldly  desires,  the  unsatis- 
 fyingness  of  earthly  possessions,  the  blessing  of  being  denied 
 our  impertinent,  secular,  and  indiscreet  requests,  and  hath 
 done  all  this  at  the  beginning  of  Christianity,  and  hath  ac- 
 tually stirred  up  the  apostles  and  apostolical  men  to  make 
 so  many  excellent  forms  of  prayer,  which  their  successors 
 did  in  part  retain,  and  in  part  imitate,  till  the  conjunct  wis- 
 dom of  the  church  saw  her  offices  complete,  regular,  and  suffi- 
 cient. So  that  now  every  man  is  able  to  make  something 
 of  forms  of  prayer  (for  which  ability  they  should  do  well  to 
 
 <  Gal.  iv.  6. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 339 
 
 their  eucharist  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  not  abuse  the  gift  to 
 vanity  or  schism);  yet  at  the  first  beginning  of  Christianity, 
 till  the  Holy  Spirit  did  fill  all  things,  they  found  no  such 
 plenty  of  forms  of  prayer ;  and  it  was  accounted  a  matter  of 
 so  great  consideration  to  make  a  form  of  prayer,  that  it  was 
 thought  a  fit  work  for  a  prophet,  or  the  founder  of  an  insti- 
 tution. And,  therefore,  the  disciples  of  John  asked  of  him, 
 "  to  teach  them  how  to  pray;"  and  the  disciples  of  Christ 
 did  so  too.  For  the  law  of  Moses  had  no  rules  to  instruct 
 the  sjniagogue  how  to  pray;  and  but  that  Moses,  and  David, 
 and  Asaph,  and  some  few  of  the  prophets  more,  left '  forms  of 
 prayer'  which  the  Spirit  of  God  inspired  them  withal,  upon 
 great  necessities,  and  great  mercy  to  that  people,  they  had 
 not  known  how  to  have  composed  an  office  for  the  daily  ser- 
 vice of  the  temple,  without  danger  of  asking  things  needless, 
 vain  or  impious;  such  as  were  the  prayers  in  the  Roman 
 closets,  that  he  was  a  good  man  that  would  not  own  them ; 
 
 Et  nihil  arcano  qui  loget  oie  Deos. — Mart.  1.  40. 
 
  Pulchra  Laverna 
 
 Da  mihi  fallere,  da  justo,  sancloque  videri; 
 
 Noctem  peccatis,  et  fraiidibiis  objice  nubem. — Hor.  cp.  I.  16.  fiO. 
 
 But  when  the  Holy  Ghost  came  down  in  a  full  breath  and  a 
 mighty  wind,  he  filled  the  breasts  and  tongues  of  men,  and 
 fui-nished  the  fii-st  Christians,  not  only  with  abilities  enough 
 to  frame  excellent  devotions  for  their  present  offices,  but 
 also  to  become  precedents  for  liturgy  to  all  ages  of  the 
 church,  the  first  being  imitated  by  the  second,  and  the  se- 
 cond by  the  third,  till  the  church  being  settled  in  peace,  and 
 the  records  transmitted  with  greater  care,  and  preserved  with 
 kss  hazard,  the  church  chose  such  forms,  whose  copies  we 
 retain  at  this  day. 
 
 39.  Now  since  it  was  certain  that  all  ages  of  the 
 church  would  look  upon  the  first  fathers  in  Christ,  and 
 founders  of  churches,  as  precedents,  or  tutors,  and  guides, 
 in  all  the  parts  of  their  religion,  and  that  '  prayer,'  with  its 
 several  parts  and  instances,  is  a  great  portion  of  the  religion 
 (the  sacraments  themselves  being  instruments  of  grace,  and 
 effectual  in  '  genere  orationis'),  it  is  very  reasonable  to 
 think  that  the  apostolical  men  had  not  only  the  '  first-fruits,' 
 but  the  '  elder  brother's  share,' a  double  portion  of  the  spirit ; 
 because  they  were  not  only  to  serve  their  own  needs,  to 
 
340 
 
 AN  APOLOGY   FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 which  a  single  and  an  ordinary  portion  would  have  been 
 then,  as  now,  abundantly  sufficient,  but  also  to  serve  the 
 necessity  of  the  succession,  and  to  instruct  the  church  for 
 ever  after. 
 
 40.  But  then,  that  this  assistance  was  an  ability  to  pray 
 extempore,  I  find  it  nowhere  affirmed  by  sufficient  authentic 
 testimony ;  and  if  they  could  have  done  it,  it  is  very  likely 
 they  would  have  been  wary  and  restrained  in  the  pub- 
 lic use  of  it.  I  doubt  not  but  there  might  then  be  some 
 sudden  necessities  of  the  church,  for  which  the  church,  being 
 in  her  infancy,  had  not  as  yet  provided  any  public  forms ; 
 concerning  which  cases  I  may  say,  as  Quintilian  of  an  orator 
 in  the  great  and  sudden  needs  of  the  commonwealth  :  "  Qua- 
 rum  si  qua,  non  dico  cuicunque  innocentium  civium,  sed  ami- 
 corum  ac  propinquorum  alicui  evenerit,  stabitne  rautus,  et 
 salutarem  petentibus  vocem,  statim,  si  non  succurratur,  peri- 
 turis,  moras  et  secessum  et  silentium  quaeret,  dum  ilia  verba 
 fabricentur,  et  memorise  insidant,  et  vox  ac  latus  prsepare- 
 tur^?"  I  do  not  think  that  they  were  '  oratores  imparati  ad 
 casus,'  but  that  an  ability  of  praying  on  a  sudden  was  in- 
 dulged to  them,  by  a  special  aid  of  the  Spirit,  to  contest 
 against  sudden  dangers,  and  the  violence  of  new  accidents  ; 
 to  which  also  possibly  a  new  inspiration  was  but  for  a  very 
 little  while  necessary,  even  till  they  understood  the  mysteries 
 of  Christianity,  and  the  revelations  of  the  Spirit  by  propor- 
 tion and  analogy  to  which  they  were  sufficiently  instructed, 
 to  make  their  sudden  prayers  when  sudden  occasions  did 
 require. 
 
 41.  This  I  speak  by  way  of  concession  and  proba- 
 bllit)':  for  no  man  can  prove  thus  much,  as  I  am  willing 
 (relying  upon  the  reasonableness  of  the  conjecture)  to  sup- 
 pose :  but  that  praying  with  the  Spirit,  in  this  place,  is 
 praying  without  study,  art,  or  deliberation,  is  not  so  much 
 as  intimated. 
 
 42.  For,  first,  it  is  here  implied  that  they  did  pre- 
 pare some  of  those  devotions  to  which  they  were  helped  by 
 the  Spirit :  orav  avvip^eaQs,  iKxaros  vfj^uv  xpaX/ixov  "  when 
 you  come  together,  each  of  you,  peradventure,  hath  a 
 psalm:"  e'xs'j  not  zsoiii,  not  every  one  makes,  but  when  you 
 
 g  De  Eslemporali  Dicendi  Facultale.  x.  7. 2,  Spalding. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LlTUnCY. 
 
 341 
 
 meet,  every  one  hath,  viz.,  already,  which  supposes  they  had 
 it  prepared  against  the  meeting.  For  the  Spirit  could  help 
 as  well  at  home  in  their  meditation,  as  in  the  public  upon  a 
 sudden;  and  thougti  it  is  certain  the  Holy  Spirit  loves  to 
 bless  the  public  meetings,  the  communion  of  saints,  with 
 special  benedictions,  yet  I  suppose  my  adversaries  are  not 
 willing  to  acknowledge  any  thing  that  should  do  much  repu- 
 tation to  the  church,  and  the  public  authorized  conventions, 
 at  least  not  to  confine  the  Spirit  to  such  holy  and  blessed 
 meetings:  they  will,  I  suppose,  rather  grant  the  words  do 
 probably  intimate,  '  they  came  pi'epared  with  a  hymn;'  and, 
 therefore,  there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  the  thing,  but 
 that  so  also  might  their  other  forms  of  pi*ayer ;  the  assist- 
 ance of  the  Spirit  (which  is  the  thing  in  question)  hinders 
 not,  but  that  they  also  might  have  made  them  by  premedi- 
 tation. 
 
 43.  Secondly,  in  this  place,  praying  with  the  Spirit  sig- 
 nifies no  other  extraordinary  assistance,  but  that  the  Spirit 
 helped  them  to  speak  their  prayer  in  an  unknown  tongue : 
 E(2V  yap  zsQnszvyjtJiXiai  yXwffcTTi,  to  CTvst}/>oa  Tsqamv'/j.rai,  "  If  I 
 pi*ay  in  a  tongue,  my  spirit  prayeth,  but  my  understanding 
 is  without  fruit:"  what  then?  "  I  will  pray  with  the  spirit, 
 and  I  will  pray  with  the  understanding  also."  Plainly  here, 
 pi'aying  in  the  spirit,  which  is  opposed  to  praying  in  under- 
 standing, is  praying  in  an  unknown  tongue ;  where,  by  the 
 way,  observe,  that  praying  with  the  spirit,  even  in  the  sense 
 of  Scripture,  is  not  always  most  to  edification  of  the  people  ; 
 not  always  with  understanding.  And  when  these  tvvo  are 
 separated,  St.  Paul  prefers  five  words  with  understanding, 
 before  ten  thousand  in  the  spirit.  For  this  praying  with  the 
 spirit  was  indeed  then  a  gift  extraoi'dinary  and  miraculous, 
 like  as  prophesying  with  the  spirit,  and  expired  with  it. 
 But  while  it  did  last,  it  was  the  lowest  of  gifts,  "  inter  dona 
 linguarum,"  it  was  but  a  gift  of  the  tongue,  and  not  to  the 
 benefit  of  the  church  directly  or  immediately. 
 
 44.  This  also  observe  in  passing  by  :  if  St.  Paul  did 
 so  undervalue  the  praying  with  the  spirit,  that  he  pre- 
 ferred edifying  the  church  a  thousand  degrees  beyond  it;  I 
 suppose  he  would  have  been  of  the  same  mind,  if  the  ques- 
 tion had  been  between  praying  with  the  spirit  and  obeying 
 our  superiors,  as  he  was  when  it  was  between  praying  with 
 
342 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 the  spirit  and  edification  of  the  church  ;  because,  if  I  be  not 
 mistaken,  it  is  matter  of  great  concernment  towards  the 
 edification  of  the  cliurch,  to  obey  our  superiors,  not  to  inno- 
 vate in  public  forms  of  worship,  especially  with  the  scandal 
 and  offence  of  very  wise  and  learned  men,  and  to  the  dis- 
 grace of  the  dead  martyrs,  who  sealed  our  liturgy  with  their 
 blood. 
 
 45.  But  to  return.  In  this  place,  praying  with  the 
 spirit,  beside  the  assistance  given  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
 speak  in  a  strange  tongue,  is  no  more  than  "  my  spirit  pray- 
 ing;" that  is,  it  implies  my  co-operation  with  the  assistance 
 of  the  Spirit  of  God,  insomuch  that  the  whole  action  may 
 truly  be  denominated  mine,  and  is  called  "  of  the  spirit," 
 only  by  reason  of  that  collateral  assistance.  For  so  St.  Paul 
 joins  them,  as  terms  identical,  and  expressive  of  one  another's 
 meaning,  as  you  may  please  to  read  1  Cor.  xiv.  14,  15.,  "  T 
 will  i^ray  with  the  spirit,  and  ray  spirit  truly  prayeth."  It 
 is  the  act  of  our  inner  man,  praying  holy  and  spiritual 
 prayers.  But  then,  indeed,  at  that  time,  there  was  some- 
 thing extraordintiry  adjoined,  for  it  was  in  an  unknown 
 tongue,  the  practice  of  which  St.  Paul  there  dislikes.  This 
 also  will  be  to  none  of  their  purposes :  for  whether  it  were 
 extempore,  or  by  premeditation,  is  not  here  expressed ;  or  if 
 it  had,  yet  that  assistance  extraordinary  in  prayer,  if  there 
 was  any  beside  the  "  gift  of  tongues,"  which  is  not  here  or 
 any  where  else  expressed,  is  no  more  transmitted  to  us,  than 
 the  speaking  tongues  in  the  spirit,  or  prophesying  extempore 
 and  by  the  spirit, 
 
 46.  But  I  would  add  also  one  experiment,  which  St. 
 Paul  also  there  adds,  by  way  of  instance.  If  praying  with 
 the  spirit,  in  this  place,  be  praying  extempore,  then  so  is 
 singing  too  ;  for  they  are  expressed  in  the  same  place,  in 
 the  same  manner,  to  the  same  end,  and  I  know  no  reason 
 why  there  should  be  differing  senses  put  upon  them  to  serve 
 purposes.  And  now  let  us  have  some  church  music  too, 
 though  the  organs  be  pulled  down ;  and  let  any  the  best 
 psalmist  of  them  all  compose  a  hymn  in  metrical  form  (as 
 Antipater  Sidonius  in  Quintilian,  and  Liciiiius  Archias  in 
 Cicero,  could  do  in  their  verses),  and  sing  it  to  a  new  tune 
 with  perfect  and  true  music,  and  all  this  extempore  ;  for  all 
 this  the  Holy  Ghost  can  do  if  be  pleases.    But  if  it  be  said. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 343 
 
 that  the  Corinthian  Christians  composed  their  songs  and 
 hymns  according  to  art  and  rules  of  music,  by  study  and 
 industry,  and  that  to  this  they  were  assisted  by  the  spirit  ; 
 and  that  this,  together  with  the  devotion  of  their  spirit,  was 
 singing  with  the  spirit :  then  say  I,  so  composing  set  forms 
 of  liturgy  by  skill,  and  prudence,  and  human  industry,  may 
 be  as  much  praj'ing  with  the  spirit,  as  the  other  is  singing 
 with  the  spirit;  plainly  enough.  In  all  the  senses  of  praying 
 with  the  spirit,  and  in  all  its  acceptations  in  Scripture,  to 
 pray  or  sing  with  the  spirit,  neither  of  them  of  necessity  im- 
 plies extempore. 
 
 47.  The  sum  or  coUecta  of  the  premises  is  this:  pray- 
 ing with  the  spirit  is  either,  first,  when  the  spirit  stirs  up 
 our  desires  to  pray,  "  per  motionem  actualis  auxilii  or, 
 secondly,  when  the  spirit  teaches  us  what  or  how  to  pray, 
 telling  us  the  matter  and  manner  of  our  prayers :  thli-dly,  or 
 lastly,  dictating  the  very  words  of  our  prayers.  There  is  no 
 other  way  in  the  world  to  pray  with  the  spirit,  or  in  the 
 Holy  Ghost,  that  is  pertinent  to  this  question.  And  of  this 
 last  manner  the  Scripture  determines  nothing,  nor  speaks 
 any  thing  expressly  of  it;  and  yet  suppose  it  had,  we  are 
 certain  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  supj^lied  us  with  all  these ;  and 
 3^et,  in  set  forms  of  prayer,  best  of  all,  I  mean  there,  where 
 a  difference  can  be;  for,  1.  as  for  the  desires  and  actual 
 motions  or  incitements  to  pray,  they  are  indifferent  to  one  or 
 the  other,  to  set  forms  or  to  extempore. 
 
 48.  Secondly :  but  as  to  the  matter  or  manner  of  prayer, 
 it  is  clearly  contained  in  the  express  and  set  forms  of  Scrip- 
 tures, and  there  it  is  supplied  to  us  by  the  Spirit,  for  he  is 
 the  great  dictator  of  it. 
 
 49.  Thirdly.  Now  then  for  the  very  words.  No  man 
 can  assure  me  that  the  words  of  his  '  extempore'  prayer 
 are  the  words  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  neither  reason  nor 
 modesty  to  expect  such  immediate  assistances  to  so  little 
 purpose,  he  having  supplied  us  with  abilities  more  than 
 enough  to  express  our  desires  '  aliunde,'  otherwise  than  by 
 immediate  dictate.  But  if  we  will  take  David's  psalter,  or 
 the  other  hymns  of  holy  Scripture,  or  any  of  the  prayers 
 which  are  respersed  over  the  Bible,  we  are  sure  enough  that 
 they  are  the  words  of  God's  Spirit,  mediately  or  imme- 
 diately, by  way  of  infusion,  or  ecstasy,  by  vision,  or  at  least 
 
344 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 by  ordinary  assistance.  And  now,  then,  what  greater  con- 
 fidence can  any  man  have  for  the  excellency  of  his  prayers, 
 and  the  probability  of  their  being  accepted,  than  when  he 
 prays  his  psalter,  or  the  Lord's  prayer,  or  any  other  office 
 which  he  finds  consigned  in  Scripture  ?  When  God's  Spirit 
 stirs  us  up  to  an  actual  devotion,  and  then  we  use  the  matter 
 he  hath  described  and  taught,  and  the  very  words  which 
 Christ,  and  Christ's  Spirit,  and  the  apostles  and  other  per- 
 sons full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  did  use;  if  in  the  world  there 
 be  any  praying  with  the  spirit,  I  mean,  in  vocal  prayer,  this 
 is  it. 
 
 50.  And  thus  I  have  examined  the  entire  and  full 
 scope  of  this  first  question,  and  rifled  their  objection,  which 
 was  the  only  colour  to  hide  the  appearance  of  its  natural 
 deformity  at  the  first  sight.  The  result  is  this:  "  Scriben- 
 dum,  ergo,  quoties  licebit :  si  id  non  dabitur,  cogitandum  : 
 ab  utroque  exclusi,  debent  tamen  adniti,  ut  neque  depre- 
 hensus  orator,  neque  litigator  destitutus  esse  videatur"^:" 
 "  In  making  our  orations  and  public  advocations,  we  must 
 write  what  we  mean  to  speak,  as  often  as  we  can  ;  when  we 
 cannot,  yet  we  must  deliberate  and  study  ;  and  when  the 
 suddenness  of  the  accident  prevents  both  these,  we  must  use 
 all  the  powers  of  art  and  care,  that  we  have  a  present  mind, 
 and  call  in  all  our  first  provisions,  that  we  be  not  destitute  of 
 matter  and  words  apt  for  the  employment."  This  was  Quin- 
 tilian's  rule  for  the  matter  of  prudence,  and  in  secular  occa- 
 sions ;  but  when  the  instance  is  in  religion,  and  especially  in 
 our  prayers,  it  will  concern  us  nearer  to  be  curious  and  deli- 
 berate what  we  speak  in  the  audience  of  the  eternal  God, 
 when  our  lives  and  our  souls,  and  the  honour  of  God,  and 
 the  reputation  of  religion,  are  concerned,  and  whatsoever  is 
 greatest  in  itself,  or  dearest  to  us. 
 
 QUESTION  II. 
 
 51.  The  second  question  hath  in  it  something  more  of 
 difficulty ;  for  the  men  that  own  it  will  give  leave  that  '  set 
 forms'  may  be  used,  so  you  give  leave  to  them  to  make  them; 
 
 Quintil^s.  7.  29.  Spalding. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITHRGV. 
 
 345 
 
 but  if  authority  shall  interpose,  and  prescribe  a  liturg)', 
 every  word  shall  breed  a  quarrel ;  and  if  the  matter  be  inno- 
 cent, yet  the  very  injunction  is  tyranin',  a  restraining  of  the 
 gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  leaves  the  spirit  of  a  man  steril 
 and  unprofitable,  it  is  not  for  edification  of  the  church,  and 
 is  as  destitute  of  comfort  as  it  is  of  profit.    For  God  hath 
 not  restrained  his  spirit  to  those  few  that  rule  the  church  in 
 prelation  above  others,  but  if  he  hath  given  to  them  the  spirit 
 of  government,  he  hath  given  to  others  the  spirit  of  prayer, 
 and  the  spirit  of  prophecy.    "  Now  the  manifestation  of  the 
 spirit  is  given  to  every  man  to  profit  withal ;  for  to  one  is 
 given,  by  the  Spirit,  the  word  of  wisdom  ;  to  another,  the 
 word  of  knowledge,  by  the  same  Spirit."    And  these,  and 
 many  other  gifts  are  given  to  several  members,  that  they  may 
 supply  one  another,  and  all  join  to  the  edification  of  the 
 body.    And,  therefore,  that  must  needs  be  an  imprudent 
 sanction,  that  so  determines  the  offices  of  the  church,  that 
 she  cannot  be  edified  by  that  variety  of  gifts  which  the  Holy 
 Spirit  hath  given  to  several  men  to  that  purpose  ;  just  as  if 
 there  should  be  a  canon,  that  but  one  sermon  should  be 
 preached  in  all  churches  for  ever.   Besides,  it  must  needs  be, 
 that  the  devotion  of  the  suppliants  must  be  much  retarded 
 by  the  perpetuity  and  unalterable  reiteration  of  the  same 
 form  ;  for  since  our  affections  will  certainly  vary,  and  suffer 
 great  altei-ation  of  degrees  and  inclinations,  it  is  easier  to 
 frame  words  apt  to  comply  with  our  affections,  than  to  con- 
 form our  affections,  in  all  varieties,  to  the  same  words.  When 
 the  forms  are  daily  changed,  it  is  probable  that  every  man 
 shall  find  something  pi'oportionable  to  his  fancy,  which  is  the 
 great  instrument  of  devotion,  than  to  suppose  that  any  one 
 form  should  be  like  manna,  fitted  to  every  taste  ;  and,  thei-e- 
 fore,  in  prayers,  as  the  affections  must  be  natural,  sweet,  and 
 proper,  so  also  should  the  words  expressing  the  affections, 
 issue  forth  by  way  of  natural  emanation.  "  Sed  extemporalis 
 audaci*  atque  ipsius  temeritatis  vel  prfecipua  jucunditas  est. 
 Nam  ingenio  quoque,  sicut  in  agro,  quanquam  alia  diu 
 serantur  atque  elaborentur,  gratiora  tamen,  quai  sua  sponte 
 nascuntur'."  And  a  garment  may  as  well  be  made  to  fit  the 
 moon,  as  that  one  form  of  prayer  should  be  made  apt  and 
 proportionable  to  all  men.  or  to  any  man,  at  all  times. 
 '  Quinlil.  Dial,  de  Oratoiib.  c.  vii,    Seebcde,  p.  7, 
 
34G 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  ATTTHORIZED 
 
 52.  This  discourse  relies  wholly  upon  these  two  grounds  ; 
 a  liberty  to  use  variety  of  forms  for  prayer,  is  more  for  the 
 edification  of  the  church.  Secondly:  it  is  part  of  that  liberty 
 which  the  church  hath,  and  part  of  the  duty  of  the  church, 
 to  preserve  the  liberty  of  the  Spirit  in  various  forms. 
 
 53.  Before  I  descend  to  consideration  of  the  particulars,  I 
 must  premise  this,  that  the  gift  or  ability  of  prayer,  given  to 
 the  church,  is  used  either  in  public  or  in  private,  and  that 
 which  is  fit  enough  for  one,  is  inconvenient  in  the  other  ;  and 
 although  a  liberty  in  private  may  be  for  edification  of  good 
 people,  when  it  is  piously  and  discreetly  used,  yet,  in  the 
 public,  if  it  were  indiflTerently  permitted,  it  would  bring 
 infinite  inconvenience,  and  become  intolerable,  as  a  sad  ex- 
 perience doth  too  much  verify. 
 
 54.  But  now  then,  this  distinction  evacuates  all  the  former 
 discourse,  and  since  it  is  permitted  that  every  man,  in  private, 
 use  what  forms  he  please,  the  Spirit  hath  all  that  liberty 
 that  is  necessary,  and  so  much  as  can  be  convenient ;  the 
 church  may  be  edified  by  every  man's  gift,  the  affections  of 
 all  men  may  be  complied  withal,  words  may  be  fitted  to  their 
 fancies,  their  devotions  quickened,  their  wariness  helped  and 
 supported,  and  whatsoever  benefit  may  be  fancied  by  variety 
 and  liberty,  all  that  may  be  enjoyed,  and  every  reasonable 
 desire,  or  weaker  fancy,  be  fully  satisfied. 
 
 55.  But  since  these  advantages  to  devotion  are  accidental, 
 and  do  consult  with  weakness  and  infirmity,  and  depend 
 upon  irregular  variety,  for  which  no  antecedent  rule  can 
 make  particular  provision  ;  it  is  not  to  be  expected,  the 
 public  constitution  and  prescribed  forms,  which  are  regular, 
 orderly,  and  determined,  can  make  provision  for  particulars, 
 for  chances,  and  for  infinite  varieties.  And  if  this  were  any 
 objection  against  public  forms,  it  would  also  conclude  against 
 all  human  laws,  that  they  did  not  make  provision  for  all  par- 
 ticular accidents  and  circumstances  that  might  possibh*  occur. 
 All  public  sanctions  must  be  of  a  public  spirit  and  design, 
 and  secure  all  those  excellent  things  which  have  influence 
 upon  societies  and  communities  of  men,  and  public  obliga- 
 tions. 
 
 56.  Thus,  if  public  forms  of  prayer  be  described,  whose 
 matter  is  pious  and  holy,  whose  design  is  of  universal  extent, 
 and  provisionary  for  all  public,  probable,  feared,  or  foreseen 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 347 
 
 events,  whose  frame  and  composure  Is  prudent,  and  by 
 authority  competent  and  high,  and  whose  use  and  exercise  is 
 instrumental  to  peace  and  public  charity,  and  all  these 
 hallowed  by  intention,  and  care  of  doing  glory  to  God,  and 
 advantages  to  religion,  expressed  in  observation  of  all  such 
 rules  and  pi'ecedents,  as  are  most  likely  to  teach  us  best,  and 
 guide  us  surest,  such  as  are  Scriptures,  apostolical  tradition, 
 primitive  practice,  and  precedents  of  saints  and  holy  persons, 
 the  public  can  do  no  more  ;  all  the  duty  is  performed,  and  all 
 the  care  is  taken. 
 
 57.  Now,  after  all  this  there  are  personal  necessities  and 
 private  conveniences  or  inconveniences,  which,  if  men  are  not 
 so  wise  as  themselves  to  provide  for,  by  casting  off  all  pre- 
 judice, and  endeavouring  to  grow  strong  in  Christianity, 
 men  in  Christ,  and  not  for  ever  to  be  babes  in  religion,  but 
 frame  themselves  to  a  capacity  of  receiving  the  benefit  of 
 the  public,  without  needing  other  provisions,  than  what 
 will  fit  the  church  in  her  public  capacity  ;  the  Spirit  of  God, 
 and  the  church  taught  by  him,  hath  permitted  us  to  com- 
 ply with  their  own  infirmities,  while  they  are  innocent,  and 
 to  pray,  in  private,  in  any  form  of  words,  which  shall  be 
 most  instrumental  to  our  devotion  in  the  present  capacity. 
 "  Neque  hoc  ego  ago  ut  ex  tempore  dicere  malit,  sed  ut 
 possit''," 
 
 58.  And,  indeed,  sometimes  an  exuberant  and  an  active 
 affection,  and  overflowing  of  devotion,  may  descend  like 
 anointing  from  above,  and  our  cup  run  over,  and  is  not  to  be 
 contained  within  the  margent  of  prescribed  forms ;  and 
 though  this  be  not  of  so  great  consideration  as  if  it  should 
 happen  to  a  man  in  public,  that  it  is  then  fit  for  him,  or  to  be 
 permitted  to  express  it  in  forms  unlimited  and  undetermined. 
 For  there  was  a  case  in  the  days  of  the  inundation  of  the 
 Spirit,  when  a  man,  full  of  the  Spirit,  was  commanded  "  to 
 keep  silence  in  the  church,  and  to  speak  to  himself  and  to 
 Godi ;"  yet  when  this  grace  is  given  him  in  private,  he  may 
 compose  his  own  liturgy  ;"  "  Pectus  est  enim,  quod  disertos 
 facit,  et  vis  mentis,  Ideoque  imperitis  quoque,  si  modo  sunt 
 allquo  affectu  concitati,  vei-ba  non  desunt'"."  Only  when, 
 in  private  devotion,  we  use  forms  of  our  own  making  or 
 
 Quintil.  .  '  1  Cor.  xiv.  28.  ■»  Quintil.  x.  7.  15.  Spalding. 
 
348 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 clioosing,  we  are  concerned  to  see,  that  the  matter  be  pious, 
 apt  for  edification  and  the  present  necessity,  and  without 
 contempt  of  jiublic  prescrijations,  or  irreverence  to  God,  and 
 in  all  the  rest  we  are  at  liberty"  ;  only  in  the  Lord,  that  is, 
 according  to  the  rule  of  faith,  and  the  analogy  of  Christian 
 religion.  For  supj^osing  that  our  devotion  be  fervent,  our 
 intention  pious,  and  the  petition  xa6'  o  ^s7,  '  according  to  the 
 will  of  God.'  Whatsoever  our  expressions  are,  God  reads 
 the  petition  in  the  character  of  the  spirit,  though  the  words 
 be  '  brevia,  concisa,  et  singultantium  modo  ejecta.'  But  then 
 these  accidental  advantages  and  circumstances  of  profit, 
 which  may  be  provided  for  in  private  ;  as  they  cannot  be 
 taken  care  of  in  public,  so  neither  is  it  necessary  they  should  ; 
 for  those  pleasures  of  sensible  devotion  are  so  far  from  being 
 necessary  to  the  acceptation  of  prayer,  that  they  are  but 
 compliances  with  our  infirmities,  and  suppose  a  great  weak- 
 ness in  him  that  needs  them,  say  the  masters  of  spiritual  life  ; 
 and  in  the  strongest  prayers  and  most  effectual  devotions, 
 are  seldomest  found  ;  such  as  was  Moses'  prayer  when  he 
 spake  nothing, — and  Hannah's, — and  our  blessed  Saviour's, 
 when  he  called  upon  liis  Fatlier  tigocvyzT^  Isxi^^xTi,  '  with 
 strong  cries,'  in  that  great  desertion  of  spirit  when  he  prayed 
 in  the  garden  ;  in  these  prayers,  the  spirit  was  bound  up  with 
 the  strictness  and  violence  of  intention,  but  could  not  ease 
 itself  with  a  flood  of  language  and  various  expression.  A 
 great  devotion  is  like  a  great  grief,  not  so  expressive  as  a 
 moderate  passion  ;  tears  spend  the  grief,  and  variety  of 
 language  breathes  out  the  devotion  ;  and,  therefore,  Christ 
 went  thrice,  and  said  the  same  words ;  he  could  just  speak 
 his  sense  in  a  plain  expression,  but  the  greatness  of  his 
 agony  was  too  big  for  the  pleasure  of  a  st\'eet  and  sensible 
 expression  of  devotion. 
 
 59.  So  that,  let  the  devotion  be  ever  so  great,  set 
 forms  of  prayer  will  be  expressive  enough  of  any  desire, 
 
 "  Quale  est  illud  apud  Tertul.  de  privatis  Christianorura  precibus,  non  qui- 
 dem  ab  alio  dictatis,  sed  a  Scripturarum  fontibus  derivatis.  llliic  suspicientes 
 Chrisliani,  nianibus  expansis,  quia  innocuij  capita  nudo,  quia  non  erubesci- 
 mus ;  donique,  sine  inooilore,  quia  de  pectore  oramus  pro  omnibus  imperato- 
 ribus;  vitam  illis  prolixam,  iraperium  securum,  dumuni  tutam,  exercitus 
 fortes,  senatum  fldelem,  populum  probum,  orbem  quietum,  et  qustcunque 
 liomiuis  et  Csesaria  voia  sunt. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 349 
 
 though  impoi'tunate  as  exti-eniity  itself ;  but  when  the  spirit 
 is  weak,  and  the  devotion  imperfect,  and  the  affections  dry, 
 though  in  respect  of  the  precise  duty  on  our  part,  and  the 
 acceptation  on  God's  part,  no  advantage  is  got  by  a  liberty 
 of  an  indifferent,  unlimited,  and  chosen  form;  and,  therefore, 
 in  all  cases,  the  whole  duty  of  prayer  is  secured  by  public 
 forms  ;  yet  other  circumstantial  and  accidental  advantages 
 may  be  obtained  by  it,  and,  therefoi*e,  let  such  persons  feast 
 themselves  in  private  with  sweetmeats,  and  less  nourishing 
 delicacies,  weak  stomachs  must  be  cared  for ;  yet  they  must 
 be  confessed  to  have  stronger  stomachs,  and  better  health, 
 that  can  feed  upon  the  wholesome  food  prepared  in  the 
 common  refectories. 
 
 60.  So  that  public  forms,  it  is  true,  cannot  be  fitted  to 
 every  man's  fancy  and  affections,  especially  in  an  age  wherein 
 all  public  constitutions  are  protested  against ;  but  yet  they 
 may  be  fitted  to  all  necessities,  and  to  every  man's  duty,  and 
 for  the  pleasing  the  affections  and  fancies  of  men ;  that  may 
 be  sometimes  convenient,  but  it  is  never  necessary ;  and  God 
 that  suff'ers  dr3^ness  of  affections  many  times  in  his  dearest 
 servants,  and  in  their  greatest  troubles,  and  most  excellent 
 devotions,  hath,  by  that  sufferance  of  his,  given  demonstra- 
 tion, that  it  is  not  necessary  such  affections  should  be  com* 
 plied  withal ;  for  then  he  would  never  suffer  those  sterilities, 
 but  himself,  by  a  cup  of  sensible  devotion,  would  water  and 
 refresh  those  drynesses;  and  if  God  himself  does  not,  it  is  not 
 to  be  expected  the  church  should. 
 
 61.  And  this  also  is  the  case  of  Scripture,  for  the 
 many  discourses  of  excellent  orators  and  preachers  have  all 
 those  advantages  of  meeting  with  the  various  aff'ections  and 
 dispositions  of  the  hearers,  and  may  cause  a  tear,  when  all 
 St.  Paul's  epistles  would  not ;  and  yet  certainly  there  is  no 
 comparison  between  them,  but  one  chapter  of  St.  Paul  is 
 more  excellent,  and  of  better  use  to  the  substantial  part  of 
 religion,  than  all  the  sermons  of  St.  Chrysostom;  and  yet 
 there  are  some  circumstances  of  advantage  which  human 
 eloquence  may  have,  which  are  not  observed  to  be  in  those 
 other  more  excellent  emanations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And, 
 therefore,  if  the  objection  should  be  true,  and  that  conceived 
 forms  of  prayer,  in  their  great  variety,  might  do  some  acci- 
 dental advantages  to  weaker  persons,  and  stronger  fancies, 
 
 VOL.   vn.  2  B 
 
350 
 
 AN'  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 and  more  imperfect  judgments,  yet,  this  instance  of  Scripture 
 is  a  demonstration  that  set  and  composed  devotions  may  be 
 better;  and  this  reason  does  not  prove  the  contrary,  because 
 the  sermons  in  Scripture  are  infinitely  to  be  preferred  before 
 those  discourses  and  orations,  which  do  more  comply  with 
 the  fancies  of  the  people.  Nay,  we  see  by  experience,  that 
 the  change  of  our  prayers,  or  our  books,  or  our  company,  is 
 so  delightful  to  most  persons,  that  though  the  change  be  for 
 the  worse,  it  more  complies  with  their  affections  than  the 
 peremptory  and  unaltered  retaining  of  the  better  ;  but  yet 
 this  is  no  good  argument  to  prove  that  change  to  be  for  the 
 better. 
 
 62.  But  yet  if  such  compliance  with  fancies  aiwi  affections 
 were  necessary,  what  are  we  the  nearer  if  every  minister 
 were  permitted  to  pray  his  own  forms  ?  How  can  his  form 
 comply  with  the  great  variety  of  affections  which  are  amongst 
 his  auditors,  any  more  than  the  public  forms  described  by 
 authority?  It  may  hit  casually,  and,  by  accident,  be  com- 
 mensurate to  the  present  fancy  of  some  of  his  congregation, 
 with  which,  at  that  time,  possibly  the  public  form  would 
 not :  this  may  be  thus,  and  it  may  be  otherwise,  and  at  the 
 same  time,  in  which  some  feel  a  gust  and  relish  in  his  prayer, 
 others  might  feel  a  greater  sweetness  in  recitation  of  the  pub- 
 lic forms.  This  thing  is  so  by  chance,  so  irregular  and  un- 
 certain, that  no  wise  man,  nor  no  providence  Iqss  than  Divine, 
 can  make  any  provisions  for  it. 
 
 63.  And,  after  all,  it  is  nothing  but  the  fantastic  and 
 imaginative  part  that  is  pleased,  which,  for  aught  appears, 
 may  be  disturbed  with  curiosity,  peevishness,  pride,  spirit  of 
 novelty,  lightness,  and  impertinency ;  and  that  to  satisfy 
 such  spirits,  and  fantastic  persons,  may  be  as  dangerous  and 
 useless  to  them,  as  it  is  troublesome  in  itself.  But  then,  for 
 the  matter  of  edification,  that  is  considerable  upon  another 
 stock;  for,  now-a-days,  men  are  never  edified,  unless  they  be 
 pleased,  and  if  they  dislike  the  person,  or  have  taken  up  a 
 quarrel  against  any  form  or  institution,  presently  they  cry 
 out,  '  they  are  not  edified,'  that  is,,  they  are  displeased  ;  and 
 the  ground  of  their  disjDleasure  is  nothing  from  the  thing 
 itself,  but  from  themselves  only:  they  are  wanton  with  their 
 meat,  and  long  for  variety,  and  then  they  cry  out  that  manna 
 will  not  nourish  them,  but  prefer  the  onions  of  Egypt  before 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 351 
 
 the  food  of  angels  :  the  way  to  cure  this  inconvenience  is  to 
 alter  the  men,  not  to  change  the  institution ;  for  it  is  very- 
 certain  that  wholesome  meat  is,  of  itself,  nutritive,  if  the  body 
 be  disposed  to  its  i*eception  and  entertainment.  But  it  is  not 
 certain  that  what  a  sick  man  fancies,  out  of  the  weakness  of 
 his  spirit,  the  distemper  of  his  appetite,  and  wildness  of  his 
 fancy,  that  it  will  become  to  him  either  good,  or  good  physic. 
 Now,  in  the  entertainments  of  religion  and  spiritual  repasts, 
 that  is  wholesome,  nutritive,  and  apt  to  edify,  which  is  pious 
 in  itself,  of  advantage  to  the  honour  of  God,  whatsoever  is 
 good  doctrine,  or  good  prayers,  especially  when  it  is  prepared 
 by  a  public  hand,  and  designed  for  public  use,  by  all*  the 
 wisdom  of  those  men,  who,  in  all  reason,  are  to  be  supposed 
 to  have  received  from  God  all  those  assistances,  which  are 
 effects  of  the  spirit  of  government;  and,  therefore,  it  is  but 
 weakness  of  spirit,  or  strength  of  passion,  impotency  in  some 
 sense  or  other,  certainly,  that  first  dislikes  the  public  provi- 
 sions, and  then  say  they  are  not  wholesome. 
 
 64.  For  I  demand  concerning  the  public  liturgies  of  a 
 church,  whose  constitution  is  principally  of  the  parts  and 
 choicest  extracts  of  Scripture,  lessons  and  j^salms,  and  some 
 few  hymns  and  symbols,  made  by  the  most  excellent  persons 
 in  the  primitive  church,  and  all  this  in  nothing  disagreeing 
 from  the  rules  of  liturgy  given  in  Scripture,  but  that  the 
 same  things  are  desired,  and  the  same  persons  prayed  for, 
 and  to  the  same  end,  and  by  the  same  great  instrument  of 
 address  and  acceptation,  '  by  Jesus  Christ,'  and  which  gives 
 all  the  glory  that  is  due  to  God,  and  gives  nothing  of  this  to 
 a  creature,  and  hath  in  it  many  admirable  documents  ;  whether 
 there  be  any  thing  wanting,  in  such  a  liturgy,  towards  edifi- 
 cation ?  What  is  there  in  prayers  that  can  edify,  that  is  not 
 in  such  a  liturgy,  so  constituted  ?  or  what  can  there  be  more 
 in  the  private  forms  of  any  minister,  than  is  in  such  a  public 
 composition  ? 
 
 65.  By  this  time,  I  suppose,  the  objection,  with  all  its 
 parts,  is  disbanded  so  far  as  it  relates  to  edification,  profit, 
 and  compliance  with  the  auditors  :  as  for  the  matter  of 
 liberty,  and  restraint  of  the  spirit,  I  shall  consider  that  part. 
 In  the  mean  time,  I  shall  set  down  those  grounds  of  religion 
 and  reason  upon  which  public  liturgy  relies,  and  by  the 
 
 2  B  2 
 
352 
 
 AN'  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 strength  of  which  it  is  to  be  justified,  against  all  opposition 
 and  pretences. 
 
 66.  I.  The  church  hath  a  power  given  to  her  by  the 
 Spirit  of  God,  and  a  command  to  describe  public  forms  of 
 liturgy.  For  I  consider  that  the  church  is  a  family,  Jesus 
 Christ  is  the  Master  of  the  family,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the 
 great  dispensator  of  all  such  graces  the  family  needs,  and  are, 
 in  order  to  the  performance  of  their  duty  ;  the  apostles  and 
 their  successors,  the  rulers  of  the  church,  are  '  stewards  of 
 the  manifold  graces  of  God,'  whose  office  is  to  provide  every 
 man's  portion,  and  to  dispense  the  graces  and  issues  evan- 
 gelitfal,  by  way  of  ministry.  "  Who  is  that  faithful  and  wise 
 steward,  whom  his  Lord  shall  make  ruler  of  his  household  ?" 
 It  was  our  blessed  Saviour's  question,  and  St.  Paul  answered 
 it :  "  Let  a  man  so  account  of  us,  as  of  the  ministers  of 
 Chi'ist,  and  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God"."  Now  the 
 gi'eatest  ministry  of  the  Gospel  is  by  way  of  prayer,  most 
 of  the  graces  of  the  Spirit  being  obtained  by  prayer,  and 
 such  offices  which  operate  by  wav  of  impetration,  and  bene- 
 diction, and  consecration,  which  are  but  the  sevei'al  instances 
 of  prayer  ;  prayer,  certainly,  is  the  most  effectual  and  mys- 
 terious ministry ;  and,  therefore,  since  the  Holy  Ghost  hath 
 made  the  rulers  of  the  church  '  stewards  ^of  the  mysteries,' 
 they  are,  by  virtue  of  their  stewardship,  presidents  of  prayer 
 and  public  offices. 
 
 67.  2.  Which  also  is  certain,  because  the  priest  is  to 
 stand  between  God  and  the  people,  and  to  represent  all 
 their  needs  to  the  throne  of  grace:  "  He  is  a  prophet  and 
 shall  pray  for  thee,"  said  God,  concerning  Abraham,  to 
 Abimelech.  And,  therefore,  the  apostles  appointed  inferior 
 officers  in  the  church,  that  they  might  not  be  hindered  in 
 their  great  work  ;  "  but  we  will  give  ourselves  to  the  word  of 
 God  and  to  prayer;"  and,  therefore,  in  our  greatest  need,  in 
 our  sickness  and  last  scene  of  our  lives,  we  are  directed  to 
 "  send  for  the  elders  of  the  church,  that  they  may  pray  over 
 us;"  and  God  hath  promised  to  hear  them  :  and  if  prayer  be 
 of  any  concernment  towards  the  final  condition  of  our  souls, 
 certainly  it  is  to  be  ordered,  guided,  and  disposed,  by  tliem 
 
 "  1  Cor.  iv.  I. 
 
AND  SET  FOUMS  OF  LITUHGY. 
 
 353 
 
 who  vvatcli  for  our  souls,"  uis  Xdyov  omn^Mm-^ins,  "as  they 
 that  must  give  account  to  God  for  them. 
 
 08.  3.  Now,  if  the  rulers  of  the  church  are  presidents 
 of  the  rites  of  religion,  and,  by  consequence  of  prayer, 
 either  they  are  to  order  public  prayers,  or  private.  For 
 private,  I  suppose,  most  men  will  be  so  desirous  of  their 
 liberty,  as  to  preserve  that  in  private,  where  they  have  no 
 concernments  but  their  own,  for  the  matter  of  order  or 
 scandal:  but  for  public,  if  there  be  any  such  thing  as  govern- 
 ment, and  that  prayers  may  be  spoiled  by  disorder,  or  made 
 ineffectual  by  confusion,  or,  by  any  accident,  may  become 
 occasion  of  a  scandal,  it  is  certain  that  they  must  be  ordered 
 as  all  other  things  are,  in  which  the  public  is  certainly  con- 
 cerned, that  is,  by  the  rulers  of  the  church,  who  ai'e  answer- 
 able if  there  be  any  miscarriage  in  the  public.  Thus  far,  I 
 suppose,  there  will  not  be  much  question  with  those  who 
 allow  set  forms,  but  would  have  themselves  be  the  composers ; 
 they  would  have  the  ministers  pray  for  the  people,  but  the 
 ministers  shall  not  be  prescribed  to ;  the  rulers  of  the  church 
 shall  be  the  presidents  of  religious  rites,  but  then  they  will 
 be  the  rulei's  ;  therefoi'e,  we  must  proceed  fui'ther;  and  be- 
 cause I  will  not  now  enter  into  the  question,  who  are  left  by 
 Christ  to  govern  his  church,  I  will  proceed  upon  such  grounds 
 which,  I  hope,  may  be  sufficient  to  determine  this  question, 
 and  yet  decline  the  other.  Therefore, 
 
 69.  Since  the  Spirit  of  God  is  the  Spirit  of  supplication, 
 they  to.  whom  the  gi'eatest  portion  of  the  Spirit  is  promised, 
 are  most  competent  persons  to  pray  for  the  people,  and  to 
 prescribe  forms  of  prayer.  But  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  is 
 made  to  the  church  in  general,  to  her  in  her  united  capacity, 
 to  the  whole  church  first,  then  to  particular  churches,  then 
 in  the  lowest  seat  of  the  category  to  single  persons;  and  we 
 have  title  to  the  promises  by  being  members  of  the  church, 
 and  in  the  communion  of  saints ;  which  beside  the  '  stylus 
 curiae,'  the  form  of  all  the  great  promises,  being  in  general 
 and  comprehensive  terms,  appears  in  this,  that  when  any 
 single  person  is  out  of  this  communion,  he  hath  also  no  title 
 to  the  promises;  which  yet  he  might,  if  he  had  any  upon 
 his  own  stock,  not  derivative  from  the  church.  Now,  then, 
 I  infer,  if  any  single  persons  will  have  us  to  believe  without 
 possibility  of  proof  (for  so  it  must  be),  that  they  pray  with 
 
354  AN  APOLOGY   FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 the  Spirit  (for  how  shall  they  be  able  to  prove  the  Spirit 
 actually  to  abide  in  those  single  persons?),  then  much  rather 
 must  we  believe  it  of  the  church,  M'liich,  by  how  much  the 
 more  general  it  is,  so  much  the  more  of  the  Spirit  she  is 
 likely  to  have ;  and  then,  if  there  be  no  errors  in  the  matter, 
 the  church  hath  the  advantage  and  probability  on  her  side ; 
 and  if  there  be  an  error  in  matter  in  either  of  them,  neither 
 of  them  have  the  Spirit,  or  they  make  not  the  true  use  of 
 it.  But  the  public  Spirit,  in  all  reason,  is  to  be  trusted  be- 
 fore the  private,  when  there  is  a  contestation,  the  church 
 being  '  prior  et  potior  in  promissis,*  she  hath  a  greater  and 
 prior  title  to  the  Spirit.  And  why  the  church  hath  not  the 
 spirit  of  prayer  in  her  compositions  as  well  as  any  of  her 
 children,  I  desire,  once  for  all,  to  be  satisfied  upon  true 
 grounds  either  of  reason  or  revelation.  And  if  she  have, 
 whether  she  have  not  as  much  as  any  single  person  ?  if  she 
 have  but  as  much,  then  there  is  as  much  reason  in  respect  of 
 the  Divine  assistance,  that  the  church  should  make  the 
 forms,  as  that  any  single  minister  should,  and  m.ore  reason  in 
 respect  of  order  and  public  influence,  and  care,  and  chai'ge  of 
 souls:  but  if  she  have  a  greater  portion  of  the  Spirit  than  a 
 single  person,  that  is,  if  the  whole  be  greater  than  the  part, 
 or  the  public  better  than  the  private,  then  it  is  evident,  that 
 the  Spirit  of  the  church  in  respect  of  the  Divine  assistance, 
 is  chiefly,  and  in  respect  of  order,  is  only  to  be  relied  upon 
 for  public  provisions  and  forms  of  prayer. 
 
 70.  But  now  if  the  church,  in  her  united  capacit}'",  makes 
 prayers  for  the  jDeople,  they  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  other 
 than  limited  and  determined  forms  ;  for  it  is  not  practicable, 
 or,  indeed,  imaginable,  that  a  synod  of  church  governors, 
 be  they  who  they  will,  so  they  be  of  Christ's  appointment, 
 should  meet  in  every  church,  and  pray  as  every  man  list ; 
 their  counsels  are  united,  and  their  results  are  conclusions 
 and  final  determinations,  which,  like  general  propositions,  are 
 applicable  to  particular  instances ;  so  that,  fii'st,  since  the 
 Spirit  be  the  great  dictator  of  holy  prayers  ;  and,  secondly, 
 the  Spirit  is  promised  to  the  church  in  her  united  capacity ; 
 and,  thirdly,  in  proportion  to  the  assembled,  '  caeteris  pari- 
 bus,' so  are  measures  of  the  Spirit  poured  out;  and,  fourthly, 
 when  the  church  is  assembled,  the  prayers  which  they  teach 
 the  people,  are  limited  and  prescribed  forms  ;  it  follows,  that 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 355 
 
 limited  and  prescribed  forms  are,  in  all  reason,  emanations 
 from  the  greatest  portion  of  the  Spirit,  warranted  by  special 
 promises,  which  are  made  to  every  man  there  present,  that 
 does  his  duty  as  a  private  member  of  the  Christian  church, 
 and  ai'e  due  to  him  as  a  ruler  of  the  church,  and  yet  more 
 especially,  and  in  a  further  degree,  to  all  them  met  together ; 
 where,  if  ever,  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  such  helps  and  graces 
 which  relate  to  the  public  government,  and  have  influence 
 upon  the  communities  of  Christians,  that  is,  will  bless  their 
 meeting,  and  give  them  such  assistances  as  will  enable  them 
 to  do  the  work  for  which  they  convene. 
 
 71.  But  yet  if  any  man  shall  say,  '  what  need  the  church 
 meet  in  public  synods,  to  make  forms  of  prayer,  when  pri- 
 vate ministei's  are  able  to  do  it  in  their  several  parishes  ?'  I 
 answer,  *  it  is  true,  many  can,  but  they  cannot  do  it  better 
 than  a  council ;'  and  I  think  no  man  is  so  imjjudent  as 
 to  say  he  can  do  it  so  v/ell ;  however,  '  quod  spectat  ad 
 omnes,  ab  omnibus  tractari  debet,'  '  the  matter  is  of  public 
 concernment,  and  therefore  should  be  of  public  consulta- 
 tion,' and  the  advantages  of  publicly  described  forms  I  shall 
 afterwards  specify.    In  the  mean  time, 
 
 72.  Fifthly,  And  the  church,  I  mean  the  rulers  of  the 
 church,  are  appointed  presidents  of  religious  rites,  and  as 
 the  rulers,  in  conjunction,  are  enabled  to  do  it  best  by  the 
 advantages  of  special  promises,  and  double  portions  of  the 
 Spirit  ;  so  she  always  did  practise  this,  either  in  conjunction 
 or  by  single  dictate,  by  public  persons  or  united  authority ; 
 but  in  all  times,  as  necessity  required,  they  prescribed  set 
 forms  of  prayer. 
 
 73.  If  I  should  descend  to  minutes  and  particulars,  I  could 
 instance,  in  the  behalf  of  set  forms,  that,  First,  God  pre- 
 scribed to  Moses  a  set  form  of  prayer  and  benediction  to  be 
 nsed  when  he  did  bless  the  people.  Secondly,  That  Moses 
 composed  a  song  or  hymn,  for  the  children  of  Israel,  to  use, 
 to  all  their  generations.  Thirdly,  That  David  composed 
 many  for  the  service  of  the  tabernacle,  and  every  company 
 of  singers  was  tied  to  certain  psalms,  as  the  very  titles  inti- 
 mate; and  the  psalms  were  such  limited  and  determinate 
 prescriptions,  that  in  some,  God's  Spirit  did  not  bind  them 
 to  the  very  number  of  the  letters,  and  order  of  the  alphabet. 
 Foui'thly,That  Solomon,  and  the  holy  kings  of  Judah,  brought 
 
356  AN  APOLOGY   FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 them  in  anicontinued  them,  in  the  ministration  of  the  temple. 
 Fifthly,  That  in  the  reformation  by  Hezekiah,  the  priests  and 
 Levites  were  commanded  to  praise  the  Lord,  'in  the  words  of 
 David  and  Asaph''.'  Sixthly,  That  'all  Scripture  is  written 
 for  our  learning;'  and  since  all  these,  and  many  more  set 
 forms  of  pi-ayer,  are  left  there  upon  record  ;  it  is  more  than 
 probable,  that  they  were  left  there  for  our  use  and  devotion ; 
 and  certainly,  it  is  as  lawful,  and  as  prudent,  to  pray  Scrip- 
 tures, as  to  read  Scriptures  ;  and  it  were  well,  if  we  would 
 use  ourselves  to  the  expression  of  Scripture,  and  that  the 
 language  of  God  were  familiar  to  us,  that  we  spake  the  words 
 of  Canaan,  not  the  speech  of  Ashdod  ;  and  time  was,  when 
 it  was  thought  the  greatest  ornament  of  a  spiritual  person, 
 and  instrument  of  a  religious  conversation  ;  but  then  the 
 consequents  would  be,  that  these  prayers  were  the  best  forms 
 which  were  in  the  words  of  Scripture,  and  those  psalms  and 
 prayers  there  recorded,  were  the  best  devotions,  but  these 
 are  set  forms.  7.  To  this  purpose,  I  could  instance,  in  the 
 example  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  who  taught  his  disciples  a 
 form  of  prayer ;  and  that  Christ's  disciples  begged  the  same 
 favour,  and  it  was  granted  as  they  desired  it. 
 
 74.  And  here  I  mean  to  fix  a  little,  for  this  ground  cannot 
 fail  us.  I  say,  Christ  prescribed  a  set  form  of  prayer  to  be 
 used  by  all  his  disciples,  as  a  breviary  of  prayer,  as  a  rule  of 
 their  devotions,  as  a  repository  of  their  need,  and  as  a  direct 
 address  to  God.  For  in  this  prayer  God  did  not  only  com- 
 mand us  to  make  our  prayers,  as  Mcses  was  bid  to  make  the 
 tabernacle,  after  the  pattern  which  God  shewed  him  in  the 
 mount,  and  Christ  shewed  his  apostles'';  but  he  hath  given 
 us  the  very  tables  written  with  his  own  hand,  that  we  should 
 use  them  as  they  are  so  delivered  ;  this  prayer  was  not  only 
 a  precedent  and  pattern,  but  an  instance  of  address,  a  per- 
 fect form  for  our  practice,  as  well  as  imitation.  For, 
 
 75.  First,  When  Christ  was  upon  the  mount,  he  gave  it 
 for  a  pattern  ovrus  ovv  z7^o<jsvxs(T^e  vfj-us.  '  So  pray  ye,'  or 
 after  this  manner ;  which  we  expound  only  to  the  sense  of 
 becoming  a  pattern,  or  a  directory,  it  is  observable,  that  it  is 
 not  only  directory  for  the  matter,  but  for  the  manner  too  ; 
 and  if  we  must  pray  with  that  matter,  and  in  that  manner, 
 
 P  2  Chron.  xxis.  30.  i  Matt.  v.  1.  and  vi.  9. 
 
AND  SET   I'ORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 357 
 
 what  does  that  difter  from  praying  with  that  form?  how- 
 ever, it  is  well  enough,  that  it  becomes  a  precedent  to  us,  in 
 any  sense,  and  the  church  may  vary  her  forms,  according  as 
 she  judges  best  for  edification. 
 
 76.  Secondly,  When  the  apostles,  upon  occasion  of  the 
 form  which  the  Baptist  taught  his  disciples,  begged  of  their 
 Master  to  teach  them  one,  he  again  taught  them  this,  and 
 added  a  precept  to  use  these  very  words'";  ot«v  tffgoffEt/xJt^Se, 
 Xiyixs,  "  when  ye  pray,  say,  Our  Father,"  gJei  ya^  ixnlh  I'Jiov 
 ccuTous  Xsye'v :  when  they  spake  to  God,  it  was  fit  they  should 
 speak  in  his  words,  in  whose  name  also  their  prayers  only 
 could  be  acceptable'. 
 
 77.  Thirdly,  For  if  we  must  speak  this  sense,  why  also 
 are  not  the  very  words  to  be  retained  ?  Is  there  any  error 
 or  imperfection  in  the  words  1  Was  not  Christ  master  of 
 his  language  ?  And  wei-e  not  his  words  sufficiently  expres- 
 sive of  his  sense  ?  Will  not  the  prayer  do  well  also  in  our 
 tongues,  which  as  a  duty  we  are  obliged  to  deposit  in  our 
 hearts,  and  preserve  in  our  memories,  without  which  it  is  in 
 all  senses  useless,  whether  it  be  only  a  pattern,  or  a  reposi- 
 tory of  matter  ? 
 
 78.  Fourtlhy,  And  it  is  observable,  that  our  blessed  Sa- 
 viour doth  not  say,  '  Fray  that  the  name  of  your  heavenly 
 Father  may  be  sanctified,  or  that  your  sins  may  be  forgiven,' 
 but  say,  "  Hallowed  be  thy  name,"  &c.,  so  that  he  prescribes 
 this  prayer,  not  in  '  massa  materiae,'  but  in  '  forma  verborum,' 
 not  '  in  a  confused  heap  of  matter,'  but  in  '  an  exact  com- 
 posure of  words,'  it  makes  it  evident  he  intended  it  not  only 
 '  pro  regula  petendorum,'  '  for  a  direction  of  what  things  we 
 are  to  ask,'  but  also  '  pro  forma  orationis,'  '  for  a  set  form  of 
 prayer.'  Now  it  is  considerable  that  no  man  ever  had  the  ful- 
 ness of  the  Spirit,  but  only  the  holy  Jesus,  and,  therefore,  it 
 is  also  certain,  that  no  man  had  the  spirit  of  prayer  like  to 
 him  ;  and  then,  if  we  pray  this  prayer  devoutly,  and  with 
 pious  and  actual  intention,  do  we  not  pray  in  the  Spirit  of 
 Christ,  as  much  as  if  we  prayed  any  other  form  of  words 
 pretended  to  be  taught  us  by  the  Spirit  ?  We  are  sure  that 
 Christ  and  Christ's  Spirit  taught  us  this  prayer ;  they  only 
 gather  by  conjectures  and  opinions,  that  in  their  extempore 
 
 '  Luke,  xi.  2. 
 
 "  ProKres.  ap.  Eunapiura. 
 
358 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 or  conceived  forms,  the  Spirit  of  Christ  teacheth  them.  So 
 much  then  as  certainties  are  better  than  uncertainties,  and 
 God's  word  better  than  man's,  so  much  is  this  set  form,  be- 
 sides the  infinite  advantages  in  the  matter,  better  than  their 
 extempore  and  conceived  forms,  in  the  form  itself.  And  if 
 ever  any  prayer  was,  or  could  be,  a  part  of  that  '  doctrine  of 
 faith'  by  which  '  we  received  the  Spirit','  it  must  needs  be  this 
 praj'er,  which  was  the  only  form  our  blessed  Master  taught 
 the  Christian  church  immediately,  was  a  part  of  his  great 
 and  glorious  sermon  in  the  mount,  in  which  all  the  needs  of 
 the  world  are  sealed  up  as  in  a  treasure-house,  and  intimated 
 by  several  petitions,  as  diseases  are,  by  their  proper  and  pro- 
 portioned remedies,  and  which  Christ  published,  as  the  first 
 emanation  of  his  Sj^irit,  the  first  perfume  of  that  heavenly 
 anointing,  which  descended  on  his  sacred  head,  when  he  went 
 down  into  the  waters  of  baptism. 
 
 79.  This  we  are  certain  of,  that  there  is  nothing  want- 
 ing, nothing  superfluous  and  impertinent,  nothing  carnal  or 
 imperfect  in  this  prayer,  but  as  it  supplies  all  needs,  so  it 
 iserves  all  persons,  is  fitted  for  all  estates,  it  meets  with  all 
 accidents,  and  no  necessity  can  surprise  any  man,  but  if  God 
 heai*s  him  praying  that  prayer,  he  is  provided  for  in  that 
 necessity :  and  yet,  if  any  single  person  paraphrases  it,  it  is 
 not  certain  but  the  whole  sense  of  a  petition  may  be  altered 
 by  the  intervention  of  one  improper  word,  and  there  can  be 
 no  security  given  against  this,  but  qualified  and  limited,  and 
 just  in  such  a  proportion  as  we  can  be  assured  of  the  wisdom 
 and  honesty  of  the  person,  and  the  actual  assistance  of  the 
 Holy  Spirit. 
 
 80.  Now  then  I  demand,  whether  the  prayer  of  Ma- 
 nasses  be  so  good  a  prayer  as  the  Lord's  Prayer  ?  or  is  the 
 prayer  of  Judith,  or  of  Tobias,  or  of  Judas  Maccabeus,  or 
 of  the  son  of  Sirach,  is  any  of  these  so  good?  Certainly  no 
 man  will  saj'  they  are ;  and  the  reason  is,  because  we  are  not 
 sure  they  are  inspired  by  the  holy  Spirit  of  God  ;  prudent, 
 and  pious,  and  conformable  to  religion  they  may  be,  but  not 
 penned  by  so  excellent  a  spirit  as  this  prayer.  And  what 
 assurance  can  be  given,  that  any  minister's  prayer  is  better 
 than  the  prayers  of  the  son  of  Sirach,  who  was  a  very  wise. 
 
 '  Gal.  iii.  2. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 359 
 
 and  a  very  good  man,  as  all  the  world  acknowledges;  I  know 
 not  any  one  of  them  that  has  so  large  a  testimony,  or  is  ot 
 so  great  reputation.  But  suppose  they  can  make  as  good 
 prayers,  yet  surely  they  are  apocryphal  at  least,  and  for  the 
 same  reason  that  the  apocryphal  prayers  are  not  so  excellent 
 as  the  Lord's  prayer,  by  the  same  reason  must  the  best  they 
 can  be  imagined  to  compose,  fall  short  of  this  excellent  pat- 
 tern, by  how  much  they  partake  of  a  smaller  portion  of  the 
 spirit,  as  a  drop  of  water  is  less  than  all  the  waters  under  or 
 above  the  firmament. 
 
 81.  Secondly,  I  would  also  willingly  know,  whether  if 
 any  man  uses  the  form  which  Christ  taught,  supposing  he 
 did  not  tie  us  to  the  very  prescript  words,  can  there  be 
 any  hurt  in  it  ?    Is  it  imaginable,  that  any  commandment 
 should  be  broken,  or  any  affront  done  to  the  honour  of  God, 
 or  any  act  of  imprudence,  or  irreligion  in  it,  or  any  negli- 
 gence of  any  insinuation  of  the  Divine  pleasure  ?  I  cannot  yet 
 think  of  any  thing  to  frame  for  answer,  so  much  as  by  way 
 of  an  antinomy  or  objection.   But  then  supposing  Christ  did 
 tie  us  to  use  this  prayer,  '  pro  loco  et  tempore,'  according  to 
 the  nature  and  obligation  of  all  affirmative  precepts,  as  it  is 
 certain  he  did,  in  the  preceptive  words  recorded  by  St.  Luke, 
 "  When  ye  pray,  say,  Our  Father,"  then  it  is  to  be  considered 
 that  a  Divine  commandment  is  bi'oken  by  its  rejection  ;  and 
 therefore,  if  there  were  any  doubt  remaining,  whether  it  be 
 a  command  or  no ;  yet  since,  on  one  side,  there  is  danger  of 
 a  negligence,  and  a  contempt,  and  that  on  the  other  side,  the 
 observation  and  conformity  cannot  be  criminal  or  imprudent; 
 it  will  follow,  that  the  retaining  of  this  prayer  in  practice, 
 and  suffering  it  to  do  all  its  intentions,  and  particularly  be- 
 coming the  great  ay^svria,  or  '  authority'  for  set  forms  of 
 prayer,  is  the  safest,  most  prudent,  most  Christian  under- 
 standing of  those  words  of  Christ,  propounding  the  Lord's 
 prayer  to  the  Christian  church.   And  because  it  is  impossible 
 that  all  particulars  should  be  expressed  in  any  form  of  prayer, 
 because  particulars  are  not  only  casual  and  accidental,  but 
 also  infinite  ;  Christ,  according  to  that  wisdom  he  had  with- 
 out measure,  framed  a  prayer,  which,  by  a  general  compre- 
 hension, should  include  all  particulars,  eminently  and  virtu- 
 ally ;  so  that  there  should  be  no  defect  in  it, — and  yet  so  short, 
 that  the  most  imperfect  memories  might  retain,  and  use  it. 
 
360 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOK  AUTHORIZED 
 
 82.  And  it  is  not  amiss  to  observe,  that  our  blessed 
 Saviour  first  taught  this  prayer  to  be  a  remedy,  and  a  re- 
 proof of  the  vain  repetition  of  the  Pliarisees  ;  and  besides 
 that  it  was  so  '  a  priori,'  we  also,  in  the  event,  see  the  excel- 
 leut  spirit  and  wisdom  in  the  constitution  ;  for  those  persons 
 who  have  laid  aside  the  Lord's  prayer,  have  been  noted  by 
 common  observation,  to  be  very  long  in  their  forms,  and 
 troublesome,  and  vain  enough  in  their  repetitions ;  they  have 
 laid  aside  the  medicine,  and  the  old  wound  bleeds  afresh ; 
 the  Pharisees  did  so  of  old. 
 
 83.  And  after  all  this,  it  is  strange  employment,  that  any 
 man  should  be  put  to  justify  the  wisdom  and  prudence  of 
 any  of  Christ's  institutions ;  as  if  any  of  his  servants,  who 
 are  wise  upon  his  stock,  instructed  by  his  wisdom,  made 
 knowing  by  his  revelations,  and  whose  all  that  is  good,  is  but 
 a  weak  I'ay  of  the  glorious  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness, 
 should  dare  to  think  that  the  derivative  should  be  before 
 the  primitive,  the  current  above  the  fountain  ;  and  that  we 
 should  derive  all  our  excellency  from  him,  and  yet  have  some 
 beyond  him,  that  is,  some  which  he  never  had,  or  which  he 
 was  not  pleased  to  manifest ;  or  that  we  should  have  a  spirit 
 of  prayer,  able  to  make  productions  beyond  his  prayer,  who 
 received  the  Spirit  without  measure.  But  this  is  not  the 
 first  time  man  hath  disputed  against  God. 
 
 84.  And  now  let  us  consider,  with  sobriety,  not  only  of 
 this  excellent  prayer,  but  of  all  that  ai-e  deposited  in  the  pri- 
 mitive records  of  our  religion.  Are  not  those  prayers  and 
 hymns  in  holy  Scripture,  excellent  compositions,  admirable 
 instruments  of  devotion,  full  of  piety,  rare  and  incomparable 
 addresses  to  God?  Dare  any  man,  with  his  gift  of  prayer, 
 pretend  that  he  can  extempore,  or  by  study,  make  better? 
 Who  dares  pretend,  that  he  hath  a  better  spirit  than  David 
 had?  or  than  the  apostles  and  prophets,  and  other  holy 
 persons  in  Scripture,  whose  prayers  and  psalms  are,  by 
 God's  Spirit,  consigned  to  the  use  of  the  church  for  ever  ? 
 Or  will  it  be  denied,  but  that  they  also  are  excellent  direc- 
 tories and  patterns  for  pi-ayer?  And  if  patterns,  the  nearer 
 we  draw  to  our  example,  are  not  the  imitations  and  represent- 
 ments  the  better  ?  And  what  then,  if  we  took  the  samplers 
 themselves  ?  Is  there  any  imperfection  in  them,  and  can  we 
 mend  them,  and  correct  '  the  Magnificat  V   The  vei*y  mattei;' 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY, 
 
 861 
 
 of  these,  and  tlie  author,  no  less  than  Divine,  cannot  but 
 justify  the  forms,  though  set,  determined  and  prescribed. 
 
 85.  In  a  just  proportion  and  commensuration,  I  argue  so 
 concerning  the  primitive  and  ancient  forms  of  church-service, 
 which  are  composed  according  to  those  so  excellent  patterns, 
 which  if  they  had  remained  pure,  as  in  the  first  institution, 
 or  had  always  been  as  they  had  been  reformed  by  the  church 
 of  England,  they  woidd,  against  all  defiance,  put  in  for  the 
 next  place  to  those  forms  of  litui'gy,  which,  '  mutatis  mutan- 
 dis,' are  nothing  but  the  words  of  Scripture.  But  I  am  re- 
 solved, at  this  present,  not  to  enter  into  question  concerning 
 the  matter  of  prayei's. 
 
 86.  Next,  we  must  inquire  what  the  apostles  did  in  obe- 
 dience to  the  precept  of  Christ,  and  what  the  church  did, 
 in  imitation  of  the  apostles.  That  the  apostles  did  use  the 
 prayer  their  Lord  taught  them,  I  think  need  not  much  be 
 questioned  ;  they  could  have  no  other  end  of  their  desire,  and 
 it  had  been  a  strange  boldness  to  ask  for  a  form  which  they 
 intended  not  to  use,  or  a  strange  levity  not  to  do  what  they 
 intended.  But  I  consider  they  had  a  double  capacity,  they 
 were  of  the  Jewish  religion  by  education,  and  now  Christians 
 by  a  new  institution ;  in  the  first  cajjacity,  they  used  those 
 set  forms  of  prayer,  which  their  nation  used  in  their  devo- 
 tions. Christ  and  his  apostles  sang  a  hymn,  part  of  the  great 
 allelujah  ,  which  was  usually  sung  at  the  end  of  the  paschal 
 supper:  "After  the  supper  they  sang  a  hymn,"  says  the 
 evangelist.  The  Jews  also  used,  every  sabbath,  to  sing  the 
 92d  psalm,  which  is  therefore  entitled,  '  A  song  or  psalm 
 for  the  sabbath  ;'  and  they  who  observed  the  hours  of  prayer, 
 and  vows,  according  to  the  rites  of  the  temple,  need  not  be 
 suspected  to  have  omitted  the  Jewish  forms  of  prayer.  And 
 as  they  complied  with  the  religious  customs  of  the  nation, 
 woi'shipping  according  to  the  Jewish  manner,  it  is  also  in 
 reason  to  be  presumed,  they  were  worshippers  according  to 
 the  new  Christian  institution,  and  used  that  form  their  Lord 
 taught  them. 
 
 87.  Now,  that  they  tied  themselves  to  recitation  of  the 
 very  words  of  Christ's  prayer  '  pro  loco  et  tempore,'  I  am 
 therefore  easy  to  believe,  because  I  find  they  were  strict,  to 
 
 "  Vid.  Scalig.  de  emend,  temper,  de  Judeor,  mag.  Allelujali. 
 
362 
 
 AN  APOLOGY   FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 a  scruple,  in  retaining  the  sacramental  words  which  Christ 
 spake,  when  he  instituted  the  blessed  sacrament,  insomuch 
 that  not  only  three  evangelists,  hnt  St.  Paul  also,  not  only 
 making  a  narrative  of  the  institution,  but  teaching  the  Corin- 
 thians the  manner  of  its  celebration,  to  a  tittle  he  recites  the 
 words  of  Christ.  Now  the  action  of  the  consecrator  is  not 
 a  theatrical  representment  of  the  action  of  Christ,  but  a 
 sacred,  solemn,  and  sacramental  prayer",  in  which,  since 
 the  apostles  at  first,  and  the  church  ever  after  did,  with 
 reverence,  and  fear,  retain  the  very  words,  it  is  not  only 
 a  probation  of  the  question  in  general,  in  behalf  of  set 
 forms  ;  but  also  a  high  probability  that  they  retained  the 
 Lord's  prayer,  and  used  it  to  an  lura,,  in  the  very  form  of 
 words. 
 
 88.  And  I  the  rather  make  the  inference  from  the  preced- 
 ing argument,  because  of  the  cognation  one  hath  with  the 
 other  ;  for  the  apostle  did  also,  in  the  consecration  of  the 
 eucharist,  use  the  Lord's  prayer;  and  that, together  with  the 
 words  of  institution,  was  the  only  form  of  consecration,  saith 
 St.  Gregory''  ;  and  St.  Jerome  affirms,  that  the  apostles,  by 
 the  command  of  their  Lord,  used  this  prayer'  in  the  benedic- 
 tion of  the  elements. 
 
 89.  But  besides  this,  when  the  apostles  had  received  great 
 measures  of  the  Spirit,  and,  by  their  gift  of  prayer,  com- 
 posed more  forms  for  the  help  and  comfort  of  the  church, 
 and  contrary  to  the  order  in  the  first  creation,  the  light  which 
 was  in  the  body  of  the  sun,  was  now  diffused  over  the  face 
 of  the  new  heavens,  and  the  new  earth  ;  it  became  a  precept 
 evangelical,  that  we  should  praise  '  God  in  hymns  and  psalms, 
 
 Imb  totus  canon  consecrationis  tarn  similis  est  et  ferfi  idem  in  verbis  apud 
 Grsecos,  Latinos,  Arabas,  Armenios,  Syros,  ^gyptios,  ^thiopes,  ut  nisi  a 
 communi  fonte,  qui  nisi  apostolorum  non  est,  manare  non  potuerit.  LTnde 
 intelligi  datur  (quia  multum  eiat,  ut  in  epistola,  notum  ilium  agendi  ordinem 
 insinuaret,  quem  universa  per  orbem  servat  ecclesla)  ab  ipso  ordinatum  esse, 
 quod  nulla  morum  diversitate  variatur.  S.  Aug.  ep.  1 18. 
 s  Greg.  1.  7.  ep.  63.    Hier.  lib.  contr.  Pelag. 
 
 ^  Eligo  in  his  verbis  hoc  intelligere,  quod  omnis,  vel  pene  omnis  frequentat 
 ecclesia,  ut  precationes  accipiamus  dictas,  quas  facimus  in  celebratione  sa- 
 cramentorum,  antequam  illud,  quod  est  in  Domini  mensa,  incipiat  benedici  j 
 orationes  cum  benedicitur,  et  ad  distribuendum  comminuitur  :  quam  totam 
 orationem,  pene  omnis  ecclesia  Dominica  oratione  concludit.  S.  Aug.  ep.  59. 
 q.  5.  ad  illud  Pauli, '  obsecro  prvmum  omnium  fieri  obsecrationes.' 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 363 
 
 and  spiritual  songs'",'  which  is  so  certain,  that  they  were  com- 
 positions of  industry  and  delibei-ation,  and  yet  wei'e  sung  in 
 the  spirit,  that  he,  who  denies  the  last,  speaks  against  Scrip- 
 tures,— he  who  denies  the  first,  speaks  against  reason,  and 
 would  best  confute  himself,  if  in  the  highest  of  his  pretence 
 of  the  Spirit,  he  would  venture  at  some  extempore  hymns. 
 And  of  this,  we  have  the  express  testimony  of  St.  Austin ; 
 "  de  hymnis  et  psalmis  canendis  haberi  Domini  et  apostolo- 
 rum  documenta,  et  utilia  prsecepta"*."  And  the  church 
 obeyed  them ;  for  as  an  ancient  author,  under  the  name  of 
 Dionysius  Areopagita,  relates,  the  chief  of  the  clerical  and 
 ministering  order,  offer  bread  upon  the  altar,  "  Cum  eccle- 
 siastlci  omnes  laudem  hymnumque  generalem  Deo  tribuerunt, 
 cum  quibus  pontifex  sacras  preces  rite  perficit,"&c,  "  They 
 all  sing  one  hymn  to  God,  and  the  bishop  prays  '  rite,'  ac- 
 cording to  the  ritual  or  constitution," — which  in  no  sense  of 
 the  church,  or  of  grammar,  can  be  understood  without  a 
 solemn  and  determined  form  ;  vfjinsTv,  says  Casaubon,  is, 
 '  cantare,  idem  ssepius  dicere,  apud  Graecos  zjccXiWoylx" ; 
 they  were  forms  of  praising  God,  used  constantly,  periodi- 
 cally, and  in  the  daily  offices.  And  the  fathers  of  the  council 
 of  Antiocli  complain  against  Paulus  Samosatenus,  "  Quod 
 psalmos  et  cantus,  qui  ad  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi  hono- 
 I'em  decantari  solent,  tanquam  recentioi'es,  et  a  viris  recen- 
 tioris  memoriae  editos  exploserit :"  "  The  quarrel  was,  that 
 he  said  the  church  had  used  to  say  hymns  which  were  made 
 by  new  men,  and  not  derived  from  the  ancients'^;"  which, 
 if  we  consider  that  the  council  of  Antioch  was  in  the  twelfth 
 year  of  Gallienus,  the  emperor,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
 three  years  after  Christ's  ascension,  will  fairly  prove,  that 
 the  use  of  prescribed  forms  of  prayer,  hymns,  and  forms  of 
 worshipping,  were  very  early  in  the  church ;  and  it  is  un- 
 imaginable it  should  be  otherwise,  when  we  remember  the 
 apostolical  precept  before  mentioned.  And  if  we  fancy  a 
 higher  precedent,  than  what  was  manifested  upon  earth,  we 
 may  please  to  see  one  observed  to  have  been  made  in  heaven  ; 
 for  a  set  form  of  worship,  and  address  to  God,  was  recorded 
 by  St.  John*,  and  sung  in  heaven  ;  and  it  was  composed  out  of 
 
 »  Col.  iii.  16.  Epist.  119.  c.  18.  ^  !„  Theophrast.  charact. 
 
 Ap.  Euseb.  1.  7.  c.  24.    Et  Walast.  Strabo.  c.  25.  de  reb,  Eccles. 
 «  Apoc.  15.  S. 
 
364 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 the  songs  of  Moses',  of  David and  of  Jeremy'*,  which  cer- 
 tainly is  a  very  good  pi-ecedent  for  us  to  imitate,  although 
 but  revealed  by  St.  John,  by  way  of  vision  and  ecstasy,  that 
 we  may  see,  if  we  would  speak  with  the  tongue  of  men  and 
 angels,  we  could  not  praise  God  in  better  forms,  than  what 
 are  recoi-ded  in  holy  Scripture. 
 
 90.  But  besides  the  metrical  part,  the  apostle  hath  de- 
 scribed other  parts  of  liturgy  in  Scripture,  whose  composi- 
 tion, though  it  be  in  determined  forms  of  words,  yet  not  so 
 bound  up  with  numbers,  as  hymns :  and  these  St.  Paul  calls 
 '  supplications,  prayers,  intercessions,  and  giving  of  thanks,' 
 which  are  several  manners  of  address  distinguished  by  their 
 subject  matter,  by  their  form  and  manner  of  address.  As 
 appears  plainly  by  '  intercessions  and  giving  of  thanks  ;'  the 
 other  are  also  by  all  men  distinguished,  though  in  the  parti- 
 cular assignment  they  differ  ;  but  the  distinction  of  the  words 
 implies  the  distinction  of  offices,  which  together  with  the 
 
 aTToptvy/jM-ovEt/poaTa  to/v  'z^qoipnraiv,  the  '  lectionarium'  of  the 
 church,  the  books  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  spoken  of  by 
 Justin  Martyr,  and  said  to  be  used  in  the  Christian  congre- 
 gations, are  the  constituent  parts  of  litui-gy  ;  and  the  expo- 
 sition of  the  words  we  best  learn  from  the  practice  of  the 
 chui-ch,  who  in  all  ages,  of  whose  public  offices  any  record  is 
 left  to  us,  took  their  pattei'n  from  these  places  of  Scripture, 
 the  one  for  prose,  the  other  for  verse ;  and  if  we  take  liturgy 
 into  its  several  parts,  or  members,  we  cannot  want  something 
 to  apply  to  every  one  of  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  in  these  pre- 
 sent allegations'. 
 
 91.  For  the  offices  of  prose  we  find  but  small  mention 
 of  them  in  the  very  first  time,  save  only  in  general  terms, 
 and  that  such  there  were,  and  that  St.  James,  St.  Mark, 
 St.  Peter,  and  others  of  the  apostles  and  apostolical  men, 
 made  liturgies  ;  and  if  these  which  we  have  at  this  day,  were 
 not  theirs,  yet  they  make  probation  that  these  apostles  left 
 others,  or  else  they  were  impudent  people  that  prefixed  their 
 names  so  early,  and  the  churches  were  very  incurious 
 
 f  Exod.  XV.  s  Psalm  cxlv.  Chap,  x-  6,  7. 
 
 ct;  It;  iKh'tKyiffiv.     Y-vxiff^^h  ixBrfjetv,  xav^siO'^atj  ailx-tv,  Xiyay.    ^Ixiry.ffic;  o  i'r)  ruv 
 
 Ixirut  Ztiis,  n  0  rov;  ixiras  Ixiav.  Hesych,  vide  S.  August,  ep,  59.  q.  5.  in  hunc 
 locum  :  descripsi  verba  ad  sect.  86. 
 
AND  SET  PORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 365 
 
 to  swallow  sucli  a  bole,  if  no  pretension  could  liave  been 
 reasonably  made  for  their  justification.  But  concerning 
 church  hymns,  we  have  clearer  testimony  in  particular,  both 
 because  there  were  many  of  them,  and  because  they  were 
 dispersed  more,  soon  got  by  heart,  passed  also  among  the 
 people,  and  were  pious  arts  of  the  Spirit,  whereby  holy 
 things  were  instilled  into  their  souls  by  the  help  of  fancy, 
 and  a  more  easy  memory.  The  first  civilizing  of  the  people 
 used  to  be  by  poetry,  and  their  divinity  was  conveyed  by 
 songs  and  verses'' ;  and  the  apostle  exhorted  the  Christians, 
 '  To  exhort  one  another  in  psalms  and  hymns,'  for  he  knew 
 the  excellent  advantages  were  likely  to  accrue  to  religion  by 
 such  an  insinuation  of  the  mysteries.  Thus  St.  Hilary  and 
 St.  Ambrose  composed  hymns  for  the  use  of  the  church,  and 
 St.  Austin  made  a  hymn  against  the  schism  of  Donatus ; 
 which  hymns,  when  they  were  publicly  allowed  of,  were  used 
 in  public  offices  ;  not  till  then ;  for  Paulus  Samosatenus  had 
 brought  women  into  church  to  sing  vain  and  trifling  songs, 
 and  some  bishops  took  to  themselves  too  great  and  incuri- 
 ous a  license,  and  brought  hj'mns  into  the  church,  whose 
 gravity  and  piety  was  not  very  remarkable  ;  upon  occasion 
 of  which,  the  fathers  of  the  council  of  Laodicea  ordained, 
 on  oil  ^ei 'i^iajriy-ous  ■^ockij.ovs  Xiysadoci  h  iKyXrialoc,  "  No  psalms 
 of  private  composition  must  be  brought  into  the  church;" 
 so  Gentian  Harvet  renders  it ;  Isidore  translates  it  "  Psalmos 
 ab  idiotis  composites,"  "  Psalms  made  by  common  persons." 
 "  Psalms  usually  sung  abroad:"  so  Dionysius  Exiguus  calls 
 them,  "  Psalmos  plebeios:"  but  I  suppose  by  the  following 
 words  is  meant,  that  none  but  Scripture  psalms  shall  be 
 read  there  ;  for  so  the  canon  adds,  aXki.  ^j^ivoi,  ra.  xavoviita  rrs- 
 OT«X«iaer  xa«  Kxivris  5i«9yj>£y)s-,  "  Nothing  to  be  read  in  the 
 chui'ch  but  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament." — And 
 this  interpretation  agrees  well  enough  with  the  occasion  of 
 the  canon  which  I  now  mentioned. 
 
 92.  This  only  by  the  way,  the  reddition  of  ■^xk(/.ous  \'^iuri- 
 y.ovs  by  Isidore,  to  be  '  psalms  made  by  common  persons,' 
 whom  the  Scripture  calls  'iZiuras,  '  ignoi'ant  or  unlearned,'  is 
 agreeable  enough  with  that  of  St.  Paul,  who  intimates,  that 
 
 I*  Ut  quisque  de  Scriptur'is  Sanctis,  vel  de  proprio  ingenio  potest,  provoca- 
 tur  in  medium  Deo  canere,  Tertul.  Apolog'. 
 
 VOL.  VII,  2  C 
 
36G 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 prayei's,  and  forms  of  liturgies,  are  to  be  composed  '  for 
 them,  not  by  them they  were  never  thought  of  to  be 
 persons  competent  to  make  forms  of  prayers  themselves :  for 
 St.  Paul'  speaks  of  such  an  one  as  of  a  person  coming 
 into  the  church  to  hear  the  prophets  pray,  and  sing,  and 
 interpret,  and  prophesy,  and  hxiy%ira.i  vtto  vsivrm,  dvxxpiverxi 
 vtio  zaivruv,  "  He  is  reproved  of  all,  and  judged  of  all;"  and, 
 therefore,  the  most  unfit  person  in  the  world  to  bring  any 
 thing  that  requires  great  ability,  and  great  authority,  to 
 obtrude  it  upon  the  church,  his  rulers,  and  his  judges.  And 
 this  was  not  unhandsomely  intimated  by  the  word  sometimes 
 used  by  the  Ev-x^oX6yiov  of  the  Greek  church,  calling  the  pub- 
 lic liturgy  HovTaxiov,  which  signifies  "  prayers,  made  for  the 
 use  of  the  '  idiotae,'  or  private  persons,"  as  the  word  is  con- 
 tradistinguished from  the  rulers  of  the  church.  Kovror  sig- 
 nifies '  contum,'  and  xovtw  zj\e7v,  is  as  much  as  zspounnovru 
 ^T5v,  '  to  five  in  the  condition  of  a  private  person,'  and  in  the 
 vulgar  Greek,  says  Arcadius,  xovror  and  xovraxr/voy  av^puiros 
 signify  '  a  little  man,  of  a  low  stature,'  from  which  two  sig- 
 nifications xovTKKiov  may  well  enough  design  *  a  short  form 
 of  prayer,  made  for  the  use  of  private  persons.'  And  this 
 was  reasonable,  and  part  of  the  religion  even  of  the  heathen, 
 as  well  as  Christians;  the  presidents  of  their  religion  were  to 
 find  prayers  for  the  people,  and  teach  them  forms  of  address 
 to  their  gods. 
 
 Castis  cum  pueris  ignara  puella  maiiti 
 Disceret  unde  pieces,  vatem  ni  Musa  dedisset? 
 Poscit  opem  chorus,  et  praesentia  numina  sentit  j 
 Coelestes  iinplorat  aquas,  docta  prece  blandus; 
 Carmine  Di  superi  placantur,  carmine  Manes'". 
 
 But  this  by  the  way. 
 
 93  But,  because  I  am  casually  fallen  upon  mention  of 
 the  Laodicean  council,  and  that  it  was  very  ancient,  before 
 the  Nicene,  and  of  very  great  reputation,  both  in  the  east, 
 and  in  the  west,  it  will  not  be  a  contemptible  addition  to 
 the  reputation  of  set  forms  of  liturgy,  that  we  find  them, 
 so  early  in  the  church,  reduced  to  a  very  regular  and  com- 
 posed manner.  The  fifteenth  canon  suffers  none  to  sing  in 
 the  church,  but  the  d.7!:o  ^t<f)Qipai  ^^aiKkovrss,  x«i  etz-j  tov  d(/,Qu)i» 
 
 '  1  Cor,  xiv. 
 
 Ilor.  ep.  2.  1.  132. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 367 
 
 dva^aclvovm,  '  they  that  sing  by  book,  and  go  up  into  the 
 pulpit;'  they  were  the  same  persons,  and  the  manner  of 
 doing  their  office  was  their  appellative,  which  shows  plainly, 
 that  the  known  custom  of  the  church  was  for  them  who  were 
 in  the  dixQuv,  '  in  the  pulpit,'  to  read  their  offices,  and  devo- 
 tions. They  read  them  cLt:q  JupSe'iar,  that  is  the  word  in  the 
 canon.  Those  things  which  signify  the  greatest,  or  first  anti- 
 quity, are  said  to  be  sv  liip^ipa.  yqtx(p6iJi.£vx'  'Ap^o^toriqix  ^np^epxs 
 XaXsTf,  was  spoken  proverbially,  to  signify  '  ancient  things 
 and  Zsyf  xxTeT$e  Kpovwr  e'tf  ris  ^t^'^ipa.s:  so  that  if  these  fathers 
 chose  these  words  as  grammarians,  '  the  singers  diro  St(p^epixs,' 
 were  '  such  as  sung  ancient  hymns  of  primitive  antiquity ;' 
 which  also  is  the  more  credible,  because  the  persons  were 
 noted  and  distinguished  by  their  employment,  as  a  thing 
 known  by  so  long  an  use,  till  it  came  to  be  their  appellative. 
 The  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  canons  command,  that  les- 
 sons and  psalms  should  be  said  interchangeably  x«i  t^v  ocvrriv 
 XEirovpylxv  ruv  eby^wv  "aivrore,  kolI  iv  rxTs  ivviroLis  xai  ev  rxHi 
 saTrepccis  oipeiXsiv  ylveaQa.1,  "and  the  same  liturgy  (that  is  the 
 word)  or  office  of  jDrayers,  to  be  said  always  at  nones  and 
 vespers." — This  shows  the  manner  of  executing  their  office  of 
 psalmists,  and  readers ;  they  did  not  sing  or  say  extempore, 
 but  they  read  prayers  and  psalms,  and  sung  them  out  of  a 
 book  ;  neither  were  they  brought  in  fresh  and  new  at  every 
 meeting,  but  it  was  avrr)  Keirovpylx  TicivTore,  '  still  the  same 
 form  of  prayers,'  without  variation. 
 
 94.  But  then  if  we  remember  how  ancient  this  office  was 
 in  the  church,  and  that  the  dvayvcoTTCit  and  -^xKrui,  '  the 
 readers  and  singers'  were  clerical  offices,  deputed  for  public 
 ministry  about  prayers  and  devotions  in  the  church  :  for  so 
 we  are  told  by  Simeon  Thessalonicensis,  in  particular,  con- 
 cerning the  a.va.y\ojaTVis,  xai  rohs  ^elous  Zjpokiyii  roTs  iJ/a'XXoyffiv 
 vfjLvovf,  riroi  y.ix,wiiocpy/i,  '  He  does  dictate  the  hymns  to  the 
 singers  ;'  (and  then  of  the  singers  there  is  no  question)  : — and 
 that  these  two  offices  were  so  ancient  in  the  church,  that 
 they  were  mentioned  by  St.  Ignatius",  who  was  contempo- 
 rary with  the  latter  times  of  the  apostles  ;  we  may  well  be- 
 lieve that  set  and  described  forms  of  liturgy  were  as  early  as 
 the  days  of  the  apostles,  and  continued  in  the  continuation 
 
 "  Episti  sid  Antiochen. :  memoiantur  «liam  in  25°.  Canone  Apoiiolorum. 
 
 2  c  2 
 
3G8 
 
 AN  ArOLOGY   FOR  AUTIIORIJ^ED 
 
 of  those  and  the  like  offices,  in  all  descending  ages.  Of  the 
 same  design  and  intimation  were  those  known  offices  in  the 
 Greek  church,  of  the  Kavovapj^vir  and  the  '  Y-TraQoXevs,  which 
 Socrates  speaks  of,  as  of  an  office  in  the  church  of  Alexandria, 
 £V  Tr)  auTri  'A\e^(xv^pelx  diixyvuarxi  xai  vTraQoXeiis  ^iai(popoi,  sire 
 xccTYiy^^ovfjisvoi  slatv  el're  ■zyiurol,  &c.  Their  office  was  the  same 
 with  the  reader  ;  they  did  '  ex  prsescripto  prseire,  et  ad  ver- 
 bum  referre,'  the  same  which  ab  Alexandro  notes  to  have 
 been  done  in  the  religious  rites  of  heathen  Greece;  the  first 
 read  out  of  a  book  the  appointed  prayex's,  and  the  others 
 rehearse  them  after.  Now  it  is  unimaginable  that  constant 
 officers  should  be  appointed  to  say  an  office,  and  no  public 
 office  be  described. 
 
 95.  I  shall  add  but  this  one  thing  more,  and  pass  on 
 •  ad  alia.'  And  that  is,  that  I  never  yet  saw  any  instance, 
 example,  or  pretence  of  precedent  of  any  bishop,  priest,  or 
 lay-person,  that  ever  prayed  extempore  in  the  church  ;  and 
 although  in  some  places,  single  bishops,  or,  peradventure, 
 other  persons  of  less  authority  did  oftentimes  bring  prayers 
 of  their  own"  into  the  church;  yet  ever  they  were  com- 
 positions, and  premeditations,  and  were  brought  thither, 
 there  to  be  repeated  often,  and  added  to  the  liturgy;  and 
 although  the  liturgies,  while  they  were  less  full  than  since 
 they  have  been,  were  apt  to  receive  the  additions  of  pious 
 and  excellent  persons,  yet  the  inconvenience  grew  so  great, 
 by  permitting  any  forms  but  what  were  approved  by  a  public 
 spirit,  that  the  church,  as  she  always  had  forms  of  a  public 
 prescription,  so  she  resolved  to  permit  no  mixture  of  any 
 thing  but  what  was  warranted  by  an  equal  power,  that  the 
 spirits  of  the  prophets  might  be  subject  to  the  prophets,  and 
 such  spirits,  when  they  are  once  tried,  whether  they  be  of 
 God  or  no,  tried  by  a  lawful  superior,  and  a  competent  judge, 
 may  then  venture  into  the  open  air.  And  it  were  a  strange 
 imprudence,  choosingly  to  entertain  those  inconveniences 
 "which  our  wiser  forefathers  felt,  and  declared,  and  remedied. 
 For  why  should  we  be  in  love  with  that  evil,  against  which 
 they  so  carefully  armed  their  churches,  by  the  provision  and 
 defence  of  laws?  For  this  produced  that  canon  of  the  council 
 of  Milevis,  in  Africa;  "  Flacuit  ut  preces  quae  probatae  fue- 
 
 °  De  proprio  ingenio,  de  pectore  sine  monitore,  we  find  once  in  Tertullian. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 369 
 
 rint  in  concilio,  ab  omnibus  celebrentur,  nec  allee  omniiio 
 dicantur  in  ecclesia,  nisi  qure  a  prudentioribus  factae  fuerint 
 in  Synodo."  That  is  the  resti'aint  and  prohibition  ;  "  public 
 prayers  must  be  such  as  are  publicly  appointed  and  pre- 
 scribed by  our  superiors,  and  no  private  forms  of  our  con- 
 ceiving must  be  used  in  the  church."  The  reason  follows: 
 "  Ne  forte  aliquid  contra  fidem,  vel  per  ignorantiam,  vel  per 
 minus  studium  sit  compositum  :"  "  Lest  through  ignorance, 
 or  want  of  deliberation,  any  thing  be  spoken  in  our  prayers 
 against  faith,"  and  good  manners.  Their  reason  is  good, 
 and  they  are  witnesses  of  it,  who  hear  the  variety  of  prayers, 
 before  and  after  sermons,  there,  where  the  Directory  is  pi'ac- 
 tised, — where  to  sjieak  most  modestly,  not  only  their  private 
 opinions,  but  also  human  interests,  and  their  own  personal 
 concernments,  and  wild  fancies,  born  pex'haps  not  two  days 
 before,  are  made  the  objects  of  the  people's  hopes,  of  their 
 desires  and  their  prayers ;  and  all  in  the  mean  time  pretend 
 to  the  Holy  Spirit. 
 
 96.  Thus  far  we  are  gone.  The  church  hath,  1.  power 
 and  authority;  and,  2.  command;  3.  and  ability,  or  pro- 
 mise of  assistances,  to  make  public  forms  of  liturgy;  and 
 4.  the  church  always  did  so,  in  all  descents  from  Moses  to 
 Christ,  from  Christ  to  the  apostles,  from  them  all,  to  all 
 descending  ages;  for  I  have  instanced  till  St.  Austin's  time; 
 and  since,  there  is  no  question,  the  people  were  dvrly^aipix, 
 sy(pvres  ruv  cvvrSco-j  ccytuv  e^j^o/v  a.TToi^xKktxy.Tix.ai  iJ.£T(x.ypcc(pivrx  ex 
 Kovrxxluv,  as  Balsamon  says  of  those  of  the  Greek  communion; 
 "  they  used  unalterable  forms  of  prayers,  described  out  of 
 the  books  of  public  liturgy."  It  remains  only,  that  I  con- 
 sider upon  what  reason,  and  grounds  of  prudence  and  reli- 
 gion, the  church  did  so ;  and  whether  she  did  well  or  no.  In 
 order  to  which,  I  consider, — 
 
 97.  First,  every  man  hath  personal  needs  of  his  own,  and 
 he  that  understands  his  own  condition,  and  hath  studied  the 
 state  of  his  soul,  in  order  to  eternity, — his  temporal  estate, 
 in  order  to  justice  and  charity, — and  the  constitution  and 
 necessities  of  his  body.  In  order  to  health, — and  his  health, 
 in  oi'der  to  the  service  of  God,  as  every  wise  and  good  man 
 does,  will  find  that  no  man  can  make  such  provision  for  his 
 necessities  as  he  can  do  for  his  own ;  '  caeteris  paribus,'  no 
 
370  AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 man  '  knows  the  tilings  of  a  man  but  the  spirit  of  the  man 
 and,  therefore,  If  he  have  proportionable  abilities,  it  is 
 allowed  to  him,  and  it  is  necessary  for  him,  to  represent  his 
 own  conditions  to  God ;  and  he  can  best  express  his  own 
 sense,  or  at  least  best  sigh  forth  his  own  meaning;  and  if  he 
 be  a  good  man,  the  spirit  will  make  intercession  for  him 
 with  those  'unutterable  groans.'  Besides  this,  every  family 
 hath  needs  proper  to  it,  in  the  capacity  of  a  family,  and  those 
 are  to  be  represented  by  the  master  of  the  family ;  whom 
 men  of  the  other  persuasion  are  apt  to  confess  to  be  a  priest 
 in  his  own  family,  and  a  king  ;  and  "  sacrorum  omnium  po- 
 testas  sub  regibus  esto,"  they  are  willing  in  this  sense  to 
 acknowledge  ;  and  they  call  upon  him  to  perform  family 
 duties,  that  is,  all  the  public  devotions  of  the  family  are  to 
 be  ordered  by  him. 
 
 98.  Now,  that  this  is  to  be  done  by  a  set  form  of  words, 
 is  acknowledged  by  Didoclavius :  "Nam  licet  in  conclavi 
 pater  familias  verbis  exprlmere  animi  aifectus,  pro  arbitrio 
 potest,  quia  Dominus  cor  intuetur  et  affectus,  tamen  publice 
 coram  tota  familia  idem  absque  indecoro  non  potest  If 
 he  pra}"^  extempore,  without  a  set  form  of  prayer,  he  may 
 commit  many  an  indecency ;  a  set  and  described  form  of 
 prayer  is  most  convenient  in  a  family,  that  children  and  ser- 
 vants may  be  enabled  to  remember,  and  tacitly  recite  the 
 prayer  together  with  the  '  major  domo.'  But  I  rely  not 
 upon  this,  but  proceed  upon  this  consideration: — 
 
 99.  As  private  persons  and  as  families,  so  also  have 
 churches  their  special  necessities,  in  a  distinct  capacity;  and, 
 therefore,  God  hath  provided  for  them  *  rulers  and  feeders,' 
 priests  and  presidents  of  religion,  who  are  to  represent  all 
 their  needs  to  God,  and  to  make  provisions.  Now,  because 
 the  church  cannot  all  meet  in  one  place,  but,  the  harvest  be- 
 ing great,  it  is  bound  up  in  several  bundles,  and  divided  into 
 many  congregations,  for  all  which  the  rulers  and  stewards 
 of  this  great  family  are  to  pi-ovide,  and  yet,  cannot  be  pre- 
 sent in  those  particular  societies,  it  is  necessary  that  they 
 should  have  influence  upon  them  by  a. general  provision,  and, 
 therefore,  that  they  should  take  care  that  their  common 
 needs  should  be  represented  to  God  by  set  forms  of  prayer, 
 
 P  Altare  Damascenum. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 371 
 
 for  they  only  can  be  provided  by  rulers,  and  used  by  their 
 ministers  and  deputies;  such  as  must  be  one  in  the  '  principe,' 
 and  diffused  in  the  execution  ;  and  it  is  a  better  expression 
 of  their  care  and  duty,  for  the  rulei-s  to  provide  the  bread 
 and  bless  it,  and  then  give  it  to  them,  who  must  minister 
 it  in  small  portions,  and  to  particular  companies  (for  so 
 Christ  did),  than  to  leave  them,— who  are  not,  in  the  same 
 degree,  answerable  for  the  churches  ^s  the  rulers  are, — to 
 provide  their  food,  and  break  it,  and  minister  it  too.  The 
 veiy  economy  of  Christ's  family  requires,  that  the  dispensa-i- 
 tions  be  made  according  to  every  man's  capacity.  The  ge- 
 neral stewai-ds  are  to  divide  to  every  man  his  portion  of  work, 
 and  to  give  them  their  food  in  due  season,  and  the  under 
 servants  ai'e  to  do  that  work  which  is  appointed  them  :  so 
 Christ  appointed  in  the  Gospel,  and  so  the  church  hath  prac- 
 tised in  all  ages  ;  "  Inde  enim  per  temporum  et  successionum 
 vices,  episcoporum  ordinatio  et  ecclesiae  ratio  decurrit,  ut 
 ecclesia  supra  episcopos  constituatur.  et  omnis  actus  ecclesiaj 
 per  eosdem  prtepositos  gubernetur When  the  rulei's  are 
 few  (for  the  ecclesiastical  regiment  is  not  democratical), 
 and  the  under  offices  many,  and  "the  companies  numerous, 
 for  all  which  those  few  rulers  are  bound  to  provide,  and 
 prayer  and  offices  of  devotion  are  one  of  the  greatest  in- 
 stances of  provision,  it  is  impossible  there  should  be  any 
 sufficient  care  taken,  or  caution  used,  by  those  rulers,  in  the 
 matter  of  prayers,  but  for  them  1o  make  such  prescript 
 forms,  which  may  be  used  by  all  companies  under  their 
 charge  ;  that  since  they  are  to  represent  all  the  needs  of  all 
 their  jjeople,  because  they  cannot  be  present  by  their  persons 
 in  all  societies,  they  may  be  present  by  their  cai-e  and  pro- 
 visions, which  is  then  done  best  when  they  nuke  prescript 
 forms  of  prayer,  and  provide  pious  ministers  to  dispense  it. 
 
 100.  Secondly,  it  is  in  the  very  nature  of  public  prayer, 
 that  it  be  made  by  a  public  spirit,  and  performed  by  a  public 
 consent.  For  public,  and  private  prayer,  are  certainly  two 
 distinct  duties  ;  but  they  are  least  of  all  distinguished  by  the 
 place,  but  most  of  all  by  the  spirit  that  dictates  the  prayer, 
 and  the  consent  in  the  recitation;  and  it  is  a  private  prayer, 
 which  either  one  man  makes,  though  spoken  in  public,  as  the 
 
 1  S.  Cyprian,  ep.  27. 
 
372  AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 Laodicean  council  calls  -^olK^ous  ISwtixous-,  '  private  psalms,' 
 oi'  which  is  not  attested  by  public  consent  of  minds  ;  and  it 
 is  a  public  prayer  which  is  made  by  the  public  spirit,  and 
 consented  toby  a  general  acceptation;  and,  therefore,  the 
 *  Lord's  prayer,'  though  spoken  in  private,  is  a  public  form, 
 and,  therefore,  represented  plurally.  And  the  place  is  very 
 extrinsical  to  the  nature  of  prayer  :  "I  will  that  men  pray 
 everywhere,  lifting  up  pure  hands  "^j"  and  retiring  into  a 
 closet  is  only  advised  for  the  avoiding  of  hypocrisy,  not  for 
 the  greater  excellency  of  the  duty.  So  that  if  public  prayer 
 have  advantages  beyond  private  prayer,  or  upon  its  own 
 Btock,  besides  it, — the  more  public  influences  it  i*eceives,  the 
 more  excellent  it  is.  And  hence  I  conclude,  that  set  forms 
 of  prayer  composed  and  used  by  the  church  ;  I  mean  by  the 
 rulers  in  conjunction  and  union,  of  heads  and  councils,  and 
 used  by  the  church ;  I  mean  the  people  in  union  and  society 
 of  hearts  and  spirits  :  hath  two  very  great  advantages  which 
 other  prayers  have  not. 
 
 101.  For,  first,  it  is  more  truly  public,  and  hath  the 
 benefit  of  those  helps  which  God,  who  never  is  deficient  to 
 supply  any  of  our  needs,  gives  to  public  persons  in  order 
 to  public  necessities,  by  which  I  mean  its  emanation  from  a 
 public,  and,  therefore,  a  more  excellent  spirit.  And,  secondly, 
 it  is  the  greatest  instance  of  union  in  the  world ;  for  since 
 God  hath  made  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  the  ligaments  of  the 
 communion  of  saints, — and  common  prayer,  which  not  only 
 all  the  governments  have  propounded,  as  most  fit,  but  in 
 which  all  the  people  are  united,  is  a  great  testimony  of  the 
 same  faith,  and  a  common  hope,  and  mutual  charity, — because 
 they  confess  the  same  God  whom  they  worship,  and  the  same 
 articles  which  they  recite,  and  labour  towards  the  same  hope, 
 '  the  mighty  price  of  their  high  calling,'  and  by  praying  for 
 each  other  in  the  same  sense,  and  to  the  same  purpose,  doing 
 the  same  to  them  that  I  desire  they  should  do  for  me,  do 
 testify,  and  preserve,  and  increase  their  charity ; — it  follows  , 
 that  common  and  described  prayers  are  the  most  excellent 
 instrument,  and  act  and  ligament  of  the  communion  of  saints, 
 and  the  great  common  term  of  the  church,  in  its  degrees  of 
 catholic  capacity.  And,  therefore,  saith  St.  Ignatius,  zsiyns 
 
 >•  1  Tim.  ii.  8. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 373 
 
 6911  TO  ayro  ev  rrt  zyqoaeuy^-T)  a/xx  avvipy^za^i,  "  All  meet  together, 
 and  join  to  common  prayers  :"  /x/a  SeV/s-ij,  eir  vow  e'jTw,  "  Let 
 there  be  one  mind,  and  let  there  be  one  prayer."  That  is 
 the  true  communion  of  Christians. 
 
 102.  And  in  pursuance  of  this,  I  consider,  that  If  all 
 Christian  churches  had  one  common  liturgy,  there  were  not 
 a  greater  symbol  to  testify,  nor  a  greater  instrument  to  pre- 
 serve, the  catholic  communion  ;  and  whenever  a  schism  was 
 commenced,  and  that  they  called  one  another  heretic,  they 
 not  only  forsook  to  pray  Avith  one  another,  but  they  also 
 altered  their  forms,  by  interposition  of  new  clauses,  hymns, 
 and  collects,  and  new  rites  and  ceremonies.     Only  those 
 parts  that  combined,  kept  the  same  liturgy :  and  indeed,  the 
 same  forms  of  prayer  were  so  much  the  instrument  of  union, 
 that  it  was  the  only  ligament  of  their  society ;  for  their  creeds 
 I  reckon  as  part  of  their  liturgy,  for  so  they  ever  were.  So 
 that  this  may  teach  us  a  little  to  guess,  I  will  not  say  into 
 how  many  churches,  but  into  how  many  innumerable  atoms 
 and  minutes  of  churches,  those  Christians  must  needs  be 
 scattered,  who  alter  their  forms  according  to  the  number  of 
 persons,  and  the  number  of  their  meetings,  every  company 
 having  a  new  form  of  prayer  at  every  convention.    And  this 
 consideration  will  not  be  vain,  if  we  remember  how  great  a 
 blessing  unity  in  churches  is,  and  how  hard  to  be  kept  with 
 all  the  arts  in  the  world,  and  how  every  thing  is  powerful 
 enough  for  its  dissolution.   But  that  a  public  form  of  liturgy 
 was  the  great  instrument  of  communion  in  the  primitive 
 church,  appears  in  this,  that  the  xa^xl^iais,  or  '  excommuni- 
 cation,' was  an  exclusion,  "  a  communicatione  orationis,  et 
 conventus,  et  omnis  sanctl  commercii,"  '  from  the  participa- 
 tion of  the  pubhc  meeting  and  prayers;'  and,  therefore,  the 
 more  united  the  prayer  is,  still  it  is  the  greater  instrument 
 of  union:  the  authority  and  consent,  the  public  spirit,  and 
 common  acceptation,  are  so  many  degrees  of  a  more  firm 
 and  indissoluble  communion. 
 
 103.  Thirdly ;  to  this  I  add,  that  without  prescribed 
 forms.  Issues  of  the  public  spirit  and  authority,  public  com- 
 munion cannot  be  regular  and  certain,  as  may  appear  in  one 
 or  two  plain  Instances.  It  is  a  practice  prevailing  among 
 those  of  our  brethren  that  are  zealous  for  extempore,  or  not 
 enjoined  prayers,  to  pray  their  sermons  over,  to  reduce  their 
 
374 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 doctrine  into  devotion  and  liturgy.  I  misllke  it  not  for  the 
 thing  itself,  if  it  were  regularly,  for  the  manner  and  the 
 matter  always  pious  and  true.  But  who  shall  assure  rae, 
 when  the  preacher  hath  disputed,  or  rather  dogmatically 
 decreed,  a  point  of  predestination  or  of  prescience  of  con- 
 tingency or  of  liberty,  or  any  of  the  most  mystex'ious  parts 
 of  divinity,  and  then  j^rays  his  sermon  over,  that  he  then 
 prays  with  the  spirit  ?  Unless  I  be  sure  that  he  also 
 preached  with  the  spirit,  I  cannot  be  sure  that  he  prays  with 
 the  spirit,  for  all  he  prays  extempore.  Nay,  if  I  hear  3 
 protestant  preach  in  the  morning,  and  an  anabaptist  in  the 
 afternoon,  to-day  a  presbyterian,  to-morrow  an  independent, 
 am  I  not  most  sure  that  when  they  have  preached  contra- 
 dictories, and  all  of  them  pray  their  sermons  over,  that  they 
 do  not  all  pray  with  the  spirit More  than  one  in  this  case 
 cannot  pray  with  the  spirit ;  possibly  all  may  pray  against 
 him. 
 
 104.  Fourthly ;  from  whence  I  thus  argue  in  behalf  of 
 *  set  forms  of  prayer,'  that  in  the  case  above  put,  how  shall 
 I,  or  any  man  else,  say  '  amen'  to  their  prayers,  that  preach 
 and  pray  contradictories?  At  least,  I  am  much  hindered  in 
 my  devotion.  For  besides  that  it  derives  our  opinions  into 
 our  devotions,  makes  every  school-point  become  our  religion, 
 and  makes  God  a  party,  so  far  as  we  can,  entitling  him  to 
 our  impertinent  wi-anglings ;  besides,  this  I  say,  while  we 
 should  attend  to  our  addresses  towards  God,  we  are  to  con- 
 sider whether  the  point  be  true,  or  no  ;  and  by  that  time  we 
 have  tacitly  discoursed  it,  we  are  upon  another  point,  which 
 also  perhaps  is  as  questionable  as  the  former ;  and  by  this 
 time  our  spirit  of  devotion  is  a  little  discomposed,  and  some- 
 thing out  of  countenance,  there  is  so  much  other  employ- 
 ment for  "  the  spirit,  the  spirit  of  discerning  and  judging." 
 All  which  inconveniences  are  avoided  in  set  forms  of  liturgy  : 
 For  we  know  beforehand  the  conditions  of  our  communion, 
 and  to  what  we  are  to  say  '  amen,'  to  which,  if  we  like  it,  we 
 may  repair  ;  if  not,  there  is  no  harm  done,  your  devotion 
 shall  not  be  surprised,  nor  your  communion  invaded,  as  it 
 may  be  often  in  your  '  extempore  prayers,'  and  unlimited 
 devotions. 
 
 105.  Fifthly ;  and  this  thing  hath  another  collateral  in- 
 convenience, which  is  of  great  consideration ;  for  upon  what 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 375 
 
 confidence  can  we  solicit  any  recusants  to  come  to  our  church, 
 where  we  cannot  promise  them,  that  the  devotions,  there  to 
 be  used,  shall  be  innocent,  nor  can  we  put  him  into  a  con- 
 dition to  judge  for  himself"?  If  he  will  venture,  he  may, 
 but  we  can  use  no  argument  to  make  him  choose  oui* 
 churches,  though  he  would  quit  his  own. 
 
 106.  Sixthly;  So  that  either  the  people  must  have  an 
 implicit  faith  in  the  priest,  and  then  may  most  easily  be 
 abused  ;  or  if  they  have  not,  they  cannot  join  in  the  prayer, 
 it  cannot  become  to  them  an  instrument  of  communion,  but 
 by  chance,  and  irregularly ;  and  '  ex  post  facto,'  when  the 
 prayer  is  approved  of,  and  after  the  devotion  is  spent,  for 
 till  then  they  cannot  judge ;  and  before  they  do,  they  cannot 
 say  '  amen ;'  and  till  •  amen'  be  said,  there  is  no  benefit  of 
 the  prayer,  nor  any  union  of  hearts  and  desires,  and  there- 
 fore, as  yet,  no  communion. 
 
 107.  Seventhly  ;  Public  forms  of  prayer  are  great  advan- 
 tages to  convey  an  article  of  faith  into  the  most  secret  re- 
 tirements of  the  Spirit,  and  to  establish  it  with  a  most  firm 
 persuasion,  and  endear  it  to  us  with  the  greatest  afl'ection. 
 For,  since  our  prayers  are  the  greatest  instruments  and  con- 
 veyances of  blessing  and  mercy  to  us,  that, — which  minglevS 
 with  our  hopes,  which  we  owe  to  God,  which  is  sent  of  an 
 errand  to  fetch  a  mercy  for  us, — in  all  reason,  will  become 
 the  dearer  to  us  for  all  these  advantages.  And  just  so  is  an 
 article  of  belief  inserted  into  our  devotions,  and  made  a  part 
 of  prayer;  it  is  extremely  confirmed  by  that  confidence  and 
 ■zsX7tqo(poqlx,  '  fulness  of  persuasion,'  that  must  exclude  all 
 doubting  from  our  prayers  ;  and  it  insinuates  itself  into  our 
 aftection,  by  being  mingled  with  our  desires ;  and  we  gi-ow 
 bold  in  it,  by  having  offered  it  to  God,  and  made  so  often 
 acknowledgment  of  it  to  him,  who  '  is  not  to  be  mocked.' 
 
 108.  And,  certainly,  it  were  a  very  strange  liturgy  in 
 which  there  were  no  public  confession  of  faith,  for  as  it  were 
 deficient  in  one  act  of  God's  worship,  which  is  offering  the 
 understanding  up  to  God,  bringing  it  in  subjection  to  Christ, 
 and  making  public  profession  of  it,  it  also  loses  a  very  great 
 advantage,  which  might  accrue  to  faith,  by  making  it  a 
 part  of  our  liturgic  devotions  ;  and  this  was  so  apprehended 
 by  the  ancients  in  the  church,  our  fathers  in  Christ,  that 
 commonly  they  used  to  oppose  a  hymn,  or  a  collect,  or  a 
 
376 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 doxology,  in  defiance  of  a  new-sprung  heresy.  The  fathers 
 of  Nice  framed  the  '  Gloria  Patri,'  against  the  Arians.  St. 
 Austin  composed  a  hymn  against  the  Douatists.  St.  Jerome 
 added  the  '  sicut  erat  in  principio,'  against  the  Macedonians. 
 St.  Ambrose  framed  the  '  Te  Deum'  upon  occasion  of  St. 
 Austin's  baptism,  but  took  care  to  make  the  hymn  to  be  of 
 most  solemn  adoration,  and  yet  of  prudent  institution  and 
 public  confession,  that,  according  to  the  advice  of  St.  Paul, 
 we  might  '  sing  with  grace  in  our  hearts  to  the  Lord,'  and,  at 
 the  same  time,  '  teach  and  admonish  one  another,'  too :  now 
 this  cannot  be  done  but  in  set  forms  of  prayer ;  for,  in  new 
 devotions  and  uncertain  forms,  we  may  also  have  an  ambu- 
 latory faith,  and  new  articles  inay  be  oilered  before  every 
 sermon,  and  at  every  convention  ;  the  church  can  have  no 
 security  to  the  contrarv,  nor  the  article  any  stable  foundation 
 of  advantageous  insinuation  either  into  judgment  or  memory 
 of  the  persons  to  be  informed  or  persuaded  ;  but,  like  Abra- 
 ham's sacrifice,  as  soon  as  his  back  is  turned,  the  birds  shall 
 eat  it  up.  "  Quid,  quod  hsec  oratio,  qme  sanandis  mentibus 
 adhibetur,  descendere  in  nos  debet  ?  Remedia  non  prosunt, 
 nisi  immorentur'."  A  cursory  prayer  shall  have  a  transient 
 effect ;  when  the  hand  is  off,  the  impression  also  is  gone. 
 
 109.  Eighthly ;  Without  the  description  of  public  forms 
 of  prayer,  there  can  be  no  security  given  in  the  matter  of 
 our  prayers,  but  we  may  burn  assafcetida  for  incense,  and 
 the  marrow  of  a  man's  bones  instead  of  the  fat  of  rams ;  and 
 of  all  things  in  the  world,  we  should  be  most  curious  that 
 our  prayers  be  not  turned  into  sin  ;  and  "yet,  if  they  be  not 
 prescribed  and  preconsidered,  nothing  can  secure  them  an- 
 tecedently ;  the  people  shall  go  to  church,  but  without  con- 
 fidence that  they  shall  return  with  a  blessing, — for  they  know 
 not  whether  God  shall  have  a  present  made  of  a  holy  obla- 
 tion, or  else  M'hether  the  minister  will  stand  in  the  gap,  or 
 make  the  gap  wider.    But  this  I  touched  upon  before. 
 
 110.  Ninthly;  They  preserve  the  authority  and  sacred- 
 ness  of  government,  and,  possibly,  they  are  therefore  decried, 
 that  the  reputation  of  authority  may  decline  together.  For 
 as  God  hath  made  it  the  great  cancel  between  the  clergy 
 and  the  people,  that  they  are  deputed  to  speak  to  God  for 
 
 *  Seneca,  ep.  40.    5.  Ruhkopf.  vol.  ii.  p.  173. 
 
AND  SET  PORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 ST7 
 
 them,  so  is  it  the  great  distinction  of  the  persons  in  that 
 order,  that  the  rulers  shall  judge  between  the  ministers  and 
 the  people,  in  relation  to  God,  with  what  addresses  they  shall 
 come  before  God,  and  intercede  for  the  people  :  for  so  St. 
 Paul  enjoins,  that  '  the  spirits  of  the  prophets  should  be  sub- 
 mitted to  the  prophets,'  viz.,  to  be  discerned  and  judged  by 
 them;  which  thing  is  not  practicable  in  permissions  of  every 
 minister  to  pray  what  forms  he  pleases,  every  day. 
 
 111.  Tenthly  ;  Pubhc  forms  of  hturgy  are  also  the  great 
 securities  and  basis  to  the  religion  and  piety  of  the  people ; 
 for  circumstances  govern  them  most,  and  the  very  determina- 
 tion of  a  public  office,  and  the  appointment  of  that  office  at 
 certain  times,  engages  their  spirits,  the  first  to  an  habitual, 
 the  latter  to  an  actual  devotion.  It  is  all  that  the  ol  otoXXoi, 
 *  many  men'  know  of  their  religion  ;  and  they  cannot,  any 
 way,  know  it  better,  than  by  those  forms  of  prayer  which 
 publish  their  faith,  and  their  devotion  to  God,  and  all  the 
 world,  and  which,  by  an  admirable  expedient,  reduces  their 
 faith  into  practice,  and  places  their  religion  in  their  under- 
 standing and  affections.  And,  therefore,  St.  Paul,  when  he 
 was  to  give  an  account  of  his  religion,  he  did  it,  not  by  a  mere 
 recitation  of  the  articles,  but  by  giving  account  of  his  liturgy, 
 and  the  manner  of  his  worship.  "  After  that  way  which  they 
 call  heresy,  so  worship  I  the  God  of  my  fathers." — And  the 
 best  worship  is  the  best  religion,  and,  therefore,  I  am  not  to 
 trust  any  man  to  make  my  manner  of  worshipping,  unless  I 
 durst  trust  him  to  be  the  dictator  of  my  religion  ;  and  a  form 
 of  prayer  made  by  a  private  man,  is  also  my  religion  made  by 
 a  private  man.  So  that  we  must  say  "  after  the  manner  that 
 G.,  the  minister  of  B.,  shall  conceive  and  speak,  '  so  worship 
 I  the  God  of  my  fathers ;"'  and  if  that  be  reasonable  or  pious, 
 let  all  the  world  judge. 
 
 112.  Eleventhly  ;  But  when  authority  shall  consider  and 
 determine  upon  a  form  of  liturgy,  and  this  be  used  and  prac- 
 tised in  a  church,  there  is  an  admirable  conjunction  in  the 
 rehgion,  and  great  co-operation  towards  the  glory  of  God. 
 The  authority  of  the  injunction  adds  great  reputation  to  the 
 devotion,  and  takes  off  the  contempt,  which,  from  the  no- 
 authority  of  single  and  private  persons,  must  be  consequent 
 to  their  conceived  prayers  ;  and  the  public  practice  of  it,  and 
 union  of  spirits  in  the  devotion,  satisfies  the  world  in  the 
 nature  of  it,  and  tlie  religion  of  the  church. 
 
37S 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 1 13.  Twelfth!)' ;  But  nothing  can  ansAver  for  the  great 
 scandal,  which  all  wise  persons,  and  all  good  persons  in  the 
 world,  must  needs  receive,  when  there  is  no  public  testimony 
 consigned,  that  such  a  whole  nation,  or  a  church,  hath  any 
 thing  that  can  be  called  religion,  and  those  little  umbrages 
 that  are,  are  casual  as  chance  itself,  alterable  as  time  ;  and 
 shall  be  good  when  those  infinite  numbers  of  men,  that  are 
 trusted  with  it,  shall  please  to  be  honest,  or  shall  have  the 
 good  luck  not  to  be  mistaken. 
 
 114.  Thirteenthly  ;  I  will  not  now  instance  in  the  vain- 
 glory that  is  appendant  to  these  new  made,  every-day  forms 
 of  prayer,  and  that  some  have  been  so  vain,  like  the  orators 
 Quintilian  speaks  of,  '  ut  verbum  petant  quo  incipiant,'  that 
 they  have  published  their  extempore  faculty  upon  experi- 
 ment, and  scenical  bravery,  you  shall  name  the  instance,  and 
 they  shall  compose  the  form  :  amongst  whom,  also,  the  gift 
 of  the  man  is  more  than  the  devotion  of  the  man ;  nor  will  I 
 consider  that  then  this  gift  is  esteemed  best,  when  his  prayer 
 is  longest  ;  and  if  he  takes  a  complacency  in  his  gift,  (as  who 
 is  not  apt  to  do  it?^  he  will  be  sure  to  extend  his  prayer  till 
 a  suspicious  and  scrupulous  man  would  be  apt  to  say,  "  his 
 prayer  pressed  hard  upon  that  which  our  blessed  Saviour 
 reprehended  in  the  Pharisees,  '  who  thought  to  be  heard  for 
 their  much  babbling.'"  I  know  it  was  observed  by  a  very 
 wise  man,  that  the  vanity  of  spirit  and  popular  opinion  that 
 grows  great,  and  talks  loudly  of  his  abilities  that  can  speak 
 extempore,  may  not  only  be  the  incentive,  but  a  helper  of  the 
 faculty,  and  make  a  man  not  only  to  love  it,  but  to  be  the 
 more  able  to  do  it.  "  Ad  dicendum  etiam  pudor  stimulos 
 habet  et  dicendorum  expectata  laus  ;  mirumque  videri  potest, 
 quod,  cum  stilus  secreto  gaudeat,  atque  omnes  arbitros  refor- 
 midet,  extemporalis  actio  auditorum  frequentia,  ut  miles 
 congestu  signorum,  excitatur.  Namque  et  difficiliorem  cogi- 
 tationem  exprimit  et  expellit  dicendi  necessitas,  et  secundos 
 impetus  auget  placendi  cupido.  Adeo  praemium  omnia 
 spectant,  ut  eloquentia  quoque,  quanquam  plurimum  habeat 
 in  se  voluptatis,  maxime  tamen  prsesenti  fructu  laudis  opi- 
 nionisque  ducatun."  It  may  so  happen  that  the  opinion  of 
 the  people,  as  it  is  apt  to  actuate  the  faculty,  so  also  may 
 encourage  the  practice,  and  spoil  the  devotion.    But  these 
 
 t  Qttintil,  X.  7,  16.  Spalding,  vol.  iv.  p.205. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 379 
 
 things  are  accidental  to  the  nature  of  the  thing,  and,  there- 
 fore, though  they  are  too  certainly  consequent  to  the  person, 
 yet  I  will  not  be  too  severe,  but  preserve  myself  on  the  surer 
 side  of  a  charitable  construction,  which  truly  I  desire  to  keep, 
 not  only  to  their  persons  whom  I  much  reverence,  but  also  to 
 their  actions.  But  yet  1  durst  not  do  the  same  thing,  even 
 for  these  last  reasons,  though  I  had  no  other. 
 
 115.  In  the  next  place,  we  must  consider  the  next  great 
 objection,  that  is,  with  much  clamour,  pretended,  viz.,  that 
 in  set  forms  of  prayer,  we  restrain  and  confine  the  blessed 
 Spirit, — and  in  conceived  forms,  when  every  man  is  left  to  his 
 liberty,  then  the  Spirit  is  fi-ee,  unlimited,  and  unconstrained. 
 
 lib.  I  answer,  either  their  conceived  forms  (I  use  their 
 own  woi'ds,  though  Indeed  the  expression  is  very  inartificial,) 
 are  premeditate  and  described,  or  they  are  extempore.  If 
 they  be  premeditate  and  described,  then  the  Spirit  is  as  much 
 limited  in  their  conceived  forms,  as  in  the  church's  conceived 
 forms.  For  as  to  this  particular,  it  is  all  one  who  describes 
 and  limits  the  form,  whether  the  church  or  a  single  man  does 
 it,  still  the  Spirit  is  in  constraint  and  limit.  So  that  in  this 
 case  they  are  not  angry  at  set  forms  of  prayer,  but  that  they 
 do  not  make  them.  And  if  it  be  replied,  that  if  a  single  per- 
 son composes  a  set  form,  he  may  alter  it  if  he  please,  and  so 
 his  spirit  is  at  liberty  ;  I  answer,  so  may  the  church,  if  she 
 see  cause  for  it ;  and  unless  there  be  cause,  the  single  person 
 will  not  alter  it,  unless  he  do  things  unseasonable,  and  without 
 cause.  So  that  it  will  be  an  unequal  challenge,  and  a  peevish 
 quarrel  to  allow  of  set  forms  of  prayer  made  by  private  per- 
 sons, and  not  of  set  forms  made  by  the  public  spirit  of  the 
 church.  It  is  evident  that  the  Spirit  is  limited  in  both  alike. 
 
 117.  But  if,  by  'conceived  forms'  in  this  objection,  they 
 mean  extempore  prayers  (for  so  they  would  be  thought  most 
 generally  to  practise  it),  and  that  in  the  use  of  these,  the 
 liberty  of  the  Spirit  is  best  preserved  ;  to  this  I  answer,  that 
 the  being  extempore,  or  premeditate,  will  be  wholly  imperti- 
 nent to  this  question  of  limiting  the  Spirit.  For  there  may 
 be  great  liberty  in  set  forms,  even  when  there  is  much  variety ; 
 and  there  may  be  great  restraint  in  extempore  pi-ayers,  even 
 then  when  it  shall  be  called  unlawful  to  use  set  forms.  That 
 the  Spirit  is  z'estrained,  or  that  it  is  free  in  either,  is  accidental 
 
380 
 
 AN  APOLOCxY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 to  tliem  both  ;  for  It  may  be  either  free,  or  not  free,  in  both, 
 as  it  may  happen. 
 
 118.  But  the  restraint  is  this,  that  every  one  is  not  left  to 
 his  liberty  to  pray  how  he  list  (with  premeditation  or  without, 
 it  makes  not  much  matter,)  but  that  he  is  prescribed  unto  by 
 the  spirit  of  another.  But  if  it  be  a  fault  thus  to  restrain  the 
 Spirit,  I  would  fain  know,  is  not  the  Spirit  restrained  when 
 the  whole  congregation  shall  be  confined  to  the  form  of  this 
 one  man's  composing  ?  Or  shall  it  be  unlawful,  or  at  least  a 
 disgrace  and  disparagement,  to  use  any  set  forms,  especially 
 of  the  church's  composition  ?    More  plainly  thus  : — 
 
 119.  Secondly  ;  Doth  not  the  minister  confine  and  restrain 
 the  spirit  of  the  Lord's  people,  when  they  are  tied  to  his 
 form  ?  It  would  sound  of  more  liberty  to  their  spirits,  that 
 every  one  might  make  a  prayer  of  his  own,  and  all  pray 
 together,  and  not  be  forced  or  confined  to  the  minister's 
 single  dictate  and  private  spiint.  It  is  true,  it  would  breed 
 confusions,  and,  therefore,  they  might  pray  silently  till  the 
 sermon  began,  and  not  for  the  avoiding  one  inconvenience 
 run  into  a  greater,  and  to  avoid  the  disorder  of  a  popular 
 noise  restrain  the  blessed  Spirit ;  for  even  in  this  case  as  well 
 in  the  other,  where  the  Spirit  of  God  is,  there  must  be 
 liberty. 
 
 120.  Thirdly  ;  If  the  spirit  must  be  at  liberty,  who  shall 
 assure  us  this  liberty  must  be  in  forms  of  prayer  ?  And  if  so, 
 whether  also  It  must  be  in  public  prayer,  and  will  it  not  suf- 
 fice that  it  be  in  private  ?  and  if  in  public  prayers,  is  not  the 
 liberty  of  the  spirit  sufficiently  preserved,  that  the  public 
 spirit  is  free  ?  That  is,  the  church  hath  power,  upon  occasion, 
 to  alter  and  increase  her  litanies.  By  what  argument  shall 
 any  man  make  it  so  much  as  probable,  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
 is  injured,  if  every  private  minister's  private  spirit  shall  be 
 guided  (and,  therefore,  by  necessary  consequence,  limited), 
 by  the  authority  of  the  church's  public  spirit  ? 
 
 121.  Fourthly;  does  not  the  Directory  that  thing,  which 
 is  here  called  restraining  of  the  Spirit, — does  it  not  appoint 
 every  thing  but  the  words  ?  And  after  this,  is  it  not  a  goodly 
 palladium  that  is  contended  for,  and  a  princely  liberty  they 
 leave  unto  the  Spirit,  to  be  free  only  in  the  supplying  the 
 place  of  a  vocabulary,  and  a  '  copia  vei'borum  V    For  as  for 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGV. 
 
 381 
 
 the  matter,  it  is  all  there  described  and  appointed ;  and  to 
 those  determined  senses  the  Spirit  must  assist,  or  not  at  all, 
 only  for  the  words  he  shall  take  his  choice.  Now  I  desire 
 it  may  be  considered  sadly  and  seriously,  is  it  not  as  much 
 injuiy  to  the  Spirit  to  restrain  his  matter,  as  to  appoint  his 
 words?  Which  is  the  more  considerable  of  the  two,  sense  or 
 language,  matter  or  words  ?  I  mean  when  they  are  taken 
 singly,  and  separately.  For  so  they  may  very  well  be,  for  as, 
 if  men  prescribe  the  matter  only,  the  Spirit  may  cover  it 
 with  several  words  and  expressions  ;  so  if  the  Spirit  prescribe 
 the  words,  .1  may  still  abound  in  variety  of  sense,  and  pre- 
 serve the  liberty  of  my  meaning;  we  see  that  true,  in  the 
 various  interpretations  of  the  same  woi"ds  of  Scripture.  So 
 that,  in  the  greater  of  the  two,  the  Spirit  is  restrained  when 
 his  matter  is  appointed ;  and  to  make  him  amends,  for  not 
 trusting  him  with  matter  without  our  directions  and  limita- 
 tions, we  trust  him  to  say  what  he  pleases,  so  it  be  to  our 
 sense,  to  our  purposes.    A  goodly  compensation  surely. 
 
 122.  Fifthly ;  Did  not  Christ  restrain  the  spirit  of  hig 
 apostles,  when  he  taught  them  to  pray  the  Lord's  prayer, 
 whether  his  precept  to  his  disciples  concerning  it  was,  '  Pray 
 this,'  or  '  Pray  thus ;'  '  Pray  these  words,'  or  '  Pray  after 
 this  manner?'  Or  though  it  had  been  less  than  either,  and 
 been  only  a  directory  for  the  matter,  still  it  is  a  thing  which 
 our  brethren,  in  all  other  cases  of  the  same  nature,  are  re- 
 solved perpetually  to  call  a  restraint.  Certainly  then,  this 
 pretended  restraint  is  no  such  formidable  thing.  These  men 
 themselves  do  it  by  directing  all  of  the  matter,  and  much  of 
 the  manner,  and  Christ  himself  did  it,  by  prescribing  both 
 the  matter,  and  the  woi'ds  too. 
 
 123.  Sixthly ;  These  restraints,  as  they  are  called,  or  deter- 
 minations of  the  spirit,  are  made  by  the  Spirit  himself.  For 
 I  demand,  when  any  assembly  of  divines  appoint  the  matter 
 of  prayers  to  all  particular  ministers,  as  this  hath  done,  is 
 that  appointment  by  the  Spirit  or  no  ?  if  no,  then  for  aught 
 appears,  this  directory,  not  being  made  by  God's  Spirit,  may- 
 be an  enemy  to  it.  But  if  this  appointment  be  by  the  Spirit, 
 then  the  determination  and  limitation  of  the  spirit  is  by  the 
 Spirit  himself ;  and  such  indeed  is  every  pious  and  prudent 
 constitution  of  the  church,  in  matters  spiritual.  Such  as  was 
 that  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  when  he  prescribed 
 
 VOL.  VII.  2  D 
 
389 
 
 AX  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 orders  for  public  prophesying,  and  interpretation,  and  speak- 
 ing with  tongues.  The  spirit  of  some  he  so  restrained,  that 
 he  bound  them  to  hold  their  jjeace  ;  he  permitted  but  two 
 or  three  to  speak  at  one  meeting,  the  rest  were  to  keep  silence, 
 though  possibly  six  or  seven  might,  at  that  time,  have  the 
 spirit. 
 
 124.  Seventhly  ;  Is  it  not  a  restraint  of  the  spirit  to  sing 
 a  psalm  in  metre,  by  appointment?  Clearly,  as  much  as 
 appointing  forms  of  prayer,  or  eucharist ;  and  yet  that  we  see 
 done  daily,  and  no  scruple  made.  Is  not  this  to  be  partial 
 in  judgment,  and  inconsiderate  of  what  we  do  ? 
 
 125.  Eighthly  ;  And  now  after  all  this  sti-ife,  what  harm 
 is  there  in  restraining  the  spirit  in  the  present  sense  ?  What 
 prohibition  ?  What  law  ?  What  reason  or  revelation  is  against 
 it  ?  What  Inconvenience  in  the  nature  of  the  thing  ?  For,  can 
 any  man  be  so  weak  as  to  Imagine  a  despite  is  done  to  the 
 Spirit  of  grace,  when  the  gifts  given  to  his  church  are  used 
 regularly,  and  by  order  ?  As  if  prudence  was  no  gift  of 
 God's  Spirit,  as  if  helps  in  government,  and  the  ordering 
 spiritual  matters,  were  none  of  those  graces,  which  Christ, 
 when  '  he  ascended  up  on  high,'  gave  unto  men.  But  this 
 whole  matter  Is  wholly  a  stranger  to  reason,  and  never  seen 
 in  Scripture. 
 
 126.  For,  Divinity  never  knew  any  other  vicious  restrain- 
 ing the  spirit,  but  either  suppressing  those  holy  incitements 
 to -virtue  and  good  life,  which  God's  Spirit  ministers  to  us 
 externally,  or  internally,  or  else  a  forbidding  by  public  au- 
 thority the  ministers  of  the  word  and  sacraments,  to  speak 
 such  truths  as  God  hath  commanded,  and  so  taking  away  the 
 liberty  of  prophesying.  The  first  Is  directly  vicious  '  in  ma- 
 teria speclall :'  the  second  is  tyrannical  and  antichristian. 
 And  to  it  persecution  of  true  religion  is  to  be  reduced.  But 
 as  for  this  pretended  limiting  or  restraining  the  spirit,  viz, 
 by  appointing  a  regular  form  of  prayer,  it  is  so  very  a  '  chi- 
 mEera,'  that  it  hath  no  footing  or  foundation  upon  any  ground, 
 where  a  wise  man  may  build  his  confidence. 
 
 127.  Ninthly;  But  lastly,  how  If  the  spirit  must  be  re- 
 strained, and  that  by  precept  apostolical?  That  calls  us  to  a 
 new  account.  But  if  it  be  not  true,  what  means  St.  Paul  by 
 saving,  "The  spirits  of  the  prophets  must  be  subject  to 
 the  prophets?"  What  greater  restraint  than  subjection?  If 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OP  LITURGY. 
 
 383 
 
 subjected,  then  they  must  be  ruled  ;  if  ruled,  then  limited  ; 
 prescribed  unto,  and  as  much  under  restraint  as  the  spirits  of 
 the  superior  prophets  shall  judge  convenient.  I  suppose  by 
 this  time,  this  objection  will  trouble  us  no  more.  But  per- 
 haps another  will. 
 
 128.  For,  Why  are  not  the  ministers  to  be  left  as  well  to 
 their  liberty  in  making  their  prayers,  as  their  sermons?  I 
 answer,  the  church  may  if  she  will,  but  whether  she  doth 
 well  or  no,  let  her  consider.  This  I  am  sure,  there  is  not  the 
 same  reason,  and  I  fear  the  experience  the  world  hath  already 
 had  of  it,  will  make  demonstration  enough  of  the  inconve- 
 nience.   But,  however,  the  dilFerences  are  many. 
 
 129.  First;  Our  prayers  offered  up  by  the  minister,  are 
 in  behalf,  and  in  the  name  of  the  people  ;  and,  therefore, 
 great  reason  they  should  know  beforehand,  what  is  to  be 
 presented,  that  if  they  like  not  the  message  they  may 
 refuse  to  communicate,  especially  since  people  are  so  di- 
 vided in  their  opinions,  in  their  hopes,  and  in  their  faiths ; 
 it  being  a  duty  to  refuse  communion  with  those  prayers, 
 which  they  think  to  have  in  them  the  matter  of  sin  or 
 doubting.  Which  reason,  on  the  other  part,  ceases.  For 
 the  minister  being  to  speak  from  God  to  the  people,  if  he 
 speaks  what  he  ought  not,  God  can  I'ight  himself,  however, 
 is  not  a  partner  of  the  sin, — as  in  the  other  case,  the  people 
 possibly  may  be. 
 
 130.  Secondly;  It  is  more  fit,  a  liberty  be  left  in  preaching 
 than  praying,  because  the  address  of  our  discourses  and  ex- 
 hortations is  to  be  made  according  to  the  understanding  and 
 capacity  of  the  audience,  their  prejudices  are  to  be  removed, 
 all  advantages  to  be  taken,  and  they  are  to  be  surprised  that 
 way  they  lie  most  open  ;  "  But  being  crafty,  I  caught  you," 
 saith  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians.  And  discourses  and 
 arguments  '  ad  hominem,'  upon  their  particular  principles 
 and  practices,  may  more  move  them  than  the  most  polite 
 and  accui'ate  that  do  not  comply,  and  wind  about  their 
 fancies  and  affections.  St.  Paul,  from  the  absurd  practice 
 of  being  baptized  for  the  dead,  made  an  excellent  argument 
 to  convince  the  Corinthians  of  the  resurrection.  But  this 
 reason  also  ceases  in  our  prayers.  For  God  understandeth 
 what  we  say  sure  enough ;  he  hath  no  prejudices  to  be  re- 
 moved, no  infirmities  to  be  wrought  upon,  and  a  fine  figure 
 
 2  D  2 
 
384 
 
 AN  APOLOGY  FOR  AUTHORISED 
 
 of  rhetoric,  a  pleasant  cadence  and  a  curious  expression  move 
 not  him  at  all  :  no  other  twinings  and  compliances  stir  him, 
 hut  charity,  and  humility,  and  zeal,  and  importunity,  which 
 all  are  things  internal  and  spiritual.  It  was  observed  by 
 Pliny,  "  Deos  ipsos,  non  tam  accuratis  adorantium  precibus, 
 quam  innocentia,  et  sanctitate  laetari :  gratioreraque  existi- 
 mari,  qui  delubris  eorum  puram  castamque  mentem,  quam 
 qui  meditatum  carmen  intulerit"."  And,  therefore,  of  neces- 
 sity, there  is  to  be  great  variety  of  discourses  to  the  people, 
 and  permissions  accordingly,  but  not  so  to  God,' — with  w^hom 
 a  '  Deus  miserere'  prevails,  as  soon  as  the  great  office  of 
 forty  hours,  not  long  since  invented  in  the  church  of  Rome, 
 or  any  other  prayers  spun  out  to  a  length  beyond  the  exten- 
 sion of  the  office  of  a  pharisee. 
 
 131.  Thirdly  ;  I  fear  it  cannot  stand  with  our  reverence  to 
 God,  to  permit  to  every  spirit  a  liberty  of  public  address  to 
 him,  in  behalf  of  the  people.  Indeed,  he  that  is  not  fit  to 
 pray,  is  not  always  fit  to  preach ;  but  it  is  more  safe  to  be 
 bold  with  the  people,  than  with  God,  if  the  pei'sons  be  not 
 so  fit.  In  that  there  may  be  indiscretion,  but  there  may  be 
 impiety  and  irreligion  in  this.  The  people  may  better  excuse 
 and  pardon  an  indiscretion,  or  a  rudeness,  if  any  such  should 
 happen,  than  we  may  venture  to  offer  it  to  God. 
 
 132.  Fourthly;  There  is  a  latitude  of  theology,  much 
 whereof  is  left  to  us,  without  precise  and  clear  determina- 
 tion ;  so  that  without  breach  either  of  faith  or  charity,  men 
 may  diff"er  in  opinion  :  and  if  they  may  not  be  permitted  to 
 abound  in  their  own  sense,  they  will  be  apt  to  complain  of 
 tyranny  over  consciences,  and  that  men  lord  it  over  their 
 faith.  In  prayer  this  thing  is  so  different,  that  it  is  im- 
 jarudent,  and  full  of  inconvenience,  to  derive  such  things  into 
 our  prayers,  which  may  with  good  profit  be  matter  of  ser- 
 mons. Therefore,  here  a  liberty  may  well  enough  be  granted, 
 "when  there  it  may  better  be  denied. 
 
 133.  Fifthly ;  But  indeed,  if  I  may  freely  declare  my 
 opinion,  I  think  it  were  not  amiss,  if  the  liberty  of  making 
 sermons  were  something  more  restrained  than  it  is,  and  that 
 either  such  persons  only  were  intrusted  with  the  liberty,  for 
 whom  the  church  herself  may  safely  be  responsive,  that  is. 
 
 Panegyr.  2.  5.  Gierig. 
 
AND  SET  FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 385 
 
 to  men  learned  and  pious,  and  that  the  other  part  the  '  vul- 
 gus  cleri'  should  instruct  the  people  out  of  the  fountains  of 
 the  church,  and  the  public  stock,  till  by  so  long  exercise  and 
 discipline  in  the  schools  of  the  prophets,  they  may  also  be 
 intrusted  to  minister  of  their  own  unto  the  people.  This,  I 
 am  sure,  was  the  practice  of  the  primitive  chui-ch  ;  when 
 preaching  was  as  ably  and  religiously  performed  as  now  it  is  ; 
 but  in  this,  I  jjrescribe  nothing.  But  truly  I  think  the  re- 
 verend divines  of  the  assembly  are  many  of  them  of  my  mind 
 in  this  particular,  and  that  they  observe  a  liberty  indulged 
 to  some  persons  to  preach,  which,  I  think,  they  had  rather 
 should  hold  their  peace,  and  yet  think  the  church  better 
 edified  in  their  silence,  than  their  sermons. 
 
 134.  Sixthly  ;  But  yet  methinks  the  argument  objected 
 so  far  as  the  extempore  men  make  use  of  it,  if  it  were  turned 
 with  the  edge  the  other  way,  would  have  more  reason  in  it  ; 
 and  instead  of  arguing,  '  Why  should  not  the  same  liberty  be 
 allowed  to  their  spirit  in  praying  as  in  preaching  ?'  it  were 
 better  to  substitute  this  :  '  If  they  can  pray  with  the  Spirit, 
 why  do  they  not  also  preach  with  the  Spirit?'  And,  it  may 
 be,  there  may  be  in  reason,  or  exjjerience,  something  moi'e 
 for  preaching  and  making  orations  by  the  excellency  of  a 
 man's  spirit  and  learning,  than  for  the  other,  which,  in  the 
 greatest  abilities,  it  may  be  unfit  to  venture  to  God,  without 
 public  approbation  :  but  for  sermons,  they  may  be  fortunate 
 and  safe,  if  made  extempore.  "  Si  calor  ac  spiritus  tulit,  fre- 
 quenter accidit,  ut  successum  extemporalem  consequi  cura 
 non  possit ;  Deum  tunc  adfuisse,  cum  id  evenisset,  veteres 
 oratores,  '  ut  Cicero  ait,'  dictitabanf."  Now  let  them  make 
 demonstration  of  their  spirit,  by  making  excellent  sermons 
 extempore  :  that  it  may  become  an  experiment  of  their  other 
 faculty,  that  after  they  are  tried  and  approved  in  this,  they 
 may  be  considered  for  the  other  :  and  if  praying  with  the 
 Spirit  be  praying  extempore,  why  shall  not  they  preach  ex- 
 tempore too,  or  else  confess  they  preach  without  the  Spirit, 
 or  that  they  have  not  the  gift  of  preaching  ?  For  to  say  that 
 the  gift  of  prayer  is  a  gift  extempore,  but  the  gift  of  preach- 
 ing is  with  study  and  deliberation,  is  to  become  vain  and  im- 
 pertinent, '  Quis  enim  discrevit  r'  '  Who  hath  made  them  of 
 
 "  Quintilian.  10.  7.  U. 
 
386 
 
 AN  APOLOGY   FOR  AUTHORIZED 
 
 a  different  consideration  ?'  I  mean  as  to  this  particular,  as  to 
 their  efficient  cause  ?  nor  reason,  nor  revelation,  nor  God, 
 nor  man. 
 
 135.  To  sum  up  all.  If  any  man  hath  a  mind  to  exercise 
 his  gift  of  pi'ayer,  let  him  set  himself  to  work,  and  compose 
 books  of  devotion  (we  have  need  of  them  in  the  church  of 
 England,  so  apparent  need,  that  some  of  the  church  of  Rome 
 have  made  it  an  objection  against  us) :  and  this  his  gift  of 
 prayer  will  be  to  edification.  But,  otherwise,  I  understand 
 it  is  more  fit  for  ostentation,  than  any  spiritual  advantage. 
 For  God  hears  tis  not  the  sooner  for  our  extempore,  long,  or 
 conceived  prayers,  possibly  they  may  become  a  hinderance, 
 as  in  the  cases  before  instanced.  And  I  am  sure,  if  the 
 people  be  intelligent,  and  can  discern,  they  are  hindered  in 
 their  devotion  ;  for  they  dare  not  say  *  Amen,'  till  they  have 
 considered,  and  many  such  cases  will  occur  in  extempore,  or 
 unlicensed  prayers,  that  need  much  considering,  before  we 
 attest  them.  But  if  the  people  be  not  intelligent,  they  are 
 apt  to  swallow  all  the  inconveniences  which  may  multiply 
 in  so  great  a  license  :  and  therefore  it  were  well  that  the 
 governors  of  the  church,  who  are  to  answer  for  their  souls, 
 should  judge  for  them,  before  they  say  '  Amen  which  judg- 
 ment cannot  be  without  set  forms  of  liturgy.  My  sentence 
 therefore  is,  "va  ixivuij.£v  uaitc^  iay-h,  "let  us  be  as  we  are  al- 
 ready ;"  few  changes  are  for  the  better. 
 
 136.  For  if  it  be  pretended,  that  in  the  liturgy  of  ths 
 chui'chof  England, — which  was  composed  with  much  art  and 
 judgment,  by  a  church  that  hath  as  much  reason  to  be  con- 
 fident,— she  hath  the  spirit  and  gift  of  prayer,  as  any  single 
 person  hath  ;  and  each  learned  man,  that  was  at  its  first  com- 
 position, can  as  much  prove  that  he  had  the  Spirit,  as  the 
 objectors  now-a-days  (and  he  that  boasts  most,  certainly  hath 
 the  least) :  If,  I  say,  it  be  pretended,  that  there  are  many 
 errors  and  inconveniences,  both  in  the  order  and  in  the  matter 
 of  the  Common  Prayer-Book,  made  by  such  men,  with  so 
 much  industry :  how  much  more,  and  with  how  much  greater 
 reason,  may  we  all  dread  the  inconveniences  and  disorders  of 
 extempore  and  conceived  prayers  ?  Where  i-espectively  there 
 is  neither  conjunction  of  heads,  nor  premeditation,  nor  in- 
 dustry, nor  method,  nor  art,  nor  any  of  those  things,  or  at 
 least,  not  in  the  same  degree,  which  were  likely  to  have 
 
AND  SET   FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 387 
 
 exempted  the  Common  Prayer-Book  from  errors  and  dis- 
 orders. '  If  these  things  be  done  in  the  green  tree,  what  will 
 be  done  in  the  dry  V 
 
 137.  But  if  it  be  said,  the  extempore  and  conceived 
 prayers  will  be  secured  from  error  by  the  Directory,  because 
 that  chalks  them  out  the  matter;  I  answer,  it  is  not  suffi- 
 cient, because,  if  when  men  study  both  the  matter  and  the 
 words  too,  they  may  be,  and,  it  is  pretended,  are  actually, 
 deceived,— much  more  may  they,  when  the  matter  is  left 
 much  more  at  liberty,  and  the  words  under  no  restraint  at 
 all.  And  no  man  can  avoid  the  pressure  and  weight  of  this, 
 unless  the  compilers  of  the  Directory  were  infallible,  and  that 
 all  their  followers  are  so  too,  of  the  certainty  of  which  I  am 
 not  yet  fully  satisfied. 
 
 138.  And  after  this,  I  would  fain  know,  what  benefit  and 
 advantages  the  church  of  England,  in  her  united  capacit)', 
 receives  by  this  new  device?  For  the  public,  it  is  clear,  that 
 whether  the  ministers  pray  before  they  stud}',  or  study  before 
 they  pray,  there  must  needs  be  infinite  deformity  in  the 
 public  worship,  and  all  the  benefits  which  before  were  the 
 consequents  of  conformity  and  unity,  will  be  lost ;  and  if 
 they  be  not  valuable,  I  leave  it  to  all  them  to  consider,  who 
 know  the  inconveniences  of  public  disunion,  and  the  public 
 disunion  that  is  certainly  consequent  to  them,  who  do  not 
 communicate  in  any  common  forms  of  worship  ;  and  to  think 
 that  the  Directory  will  bring  conformity,  is  as  if  one  should 
 say,  that  all  who  are  under  the  snme  atmoapliere,  are  joined 
 '  in  communi  patrid,'  and  will  love  like  countrymen.  For 
 under  the  Directory  there  will  be  as  different  I'eligions,  and 
 as  different  desires,  and  as  differing  forms,  as  there  are  seve- 
 ral varieties  of  men  and  manners  under  the  one  half  of  heaven, 
 who  yet  breathe  under  the  same  half  of  the  globe. 
 
 139.  But  ask  again,  what  benefit  can  the  public  receive 
 by  this  form,  or  this  no  form  ?  For  I  know  not  whether  to 
 call  it.  Shall  the  matter  of  prayers  be  better  in  all  churches? 
 shall  God  be  better  served?  shall  the  word  of  God,  and  the 
 best  patterns  of  prayers,  be  always  exactly  followed?  It  is 
 well  if  it  be.  But  there  is  no  security  given  us  by  the  Direc- 
 tory ;  for  the  particulars,  and  special  instances  of  the  matter, 
 are  left  at  every  man's  dispose  for  all  that,  and  we  must  de- 
 pend upon  the  honesty  of  every  particular  for  it :  and  if  any 
 
388 
 
 AN  APOLOGY   FOIl  AUTHORIZED 
 
 man  pi'oves  an  heretic,  or  a  knave,  then  he  may  introduce 
 what  impiety  he  please  into  the  public  forms  of  God's  wor- 
 ship: and  there  is  no  law  made  to  jirevent  it,  and  it  must  be 
 cui-ed  afterward,  if  it  can,  but  beforehand  it  is  not  prevented 
 at  all  by  the  Directory,  which  trusts  every  man. 
 
 140.  But  I  observe  that  all  the  benefit  which  is  pretended, 
 is,  that  it  will  make  an  able  ministry.  "  Maximus  vero  stu- 
 diorum  fructus  est,  et  velut  prsemium  quoddam  amplissimum 
 longi  laboris,  extemfore  dicendi  facultas,''  said  an  excellent 
 person ^  And  it  is  veiy  true;  to  be  able  to  speak  excellent 
 things,  without  long  considering,  is  an  effect  of  a  long  in- 
 dustry, and  greatest  learning ;  but,  certainly,  is  the  greatest 
 enemy  in  the  world  to  its  production :  much  learning,  and 
 long  use  of  speaking,  may  enable  a  man  to  speak  upon 
 sudden  occasions,  but  speaking  without  consideration  will 
 never  make  much  learning.  "  Nec  quisquam  tantum  fidat 
 ingenio,  ut  id  sibi  speret  incipienti  statim  posse  contingere, 
 sed,  sicut  in  cogitatione  praecipimus,  ita  facilitatem  extem- 
 poralem  a  parvis  initiis  paulatim  perducemus  adsummum^:" 
 And  to  offer  that,  as  a  means  of  getting  learning,  which  can- 
 not be  done  at  all  as  it  ought,  but  after  learning  is  already 
 gotten,  in  a  very  great  degree,  is  highest  mistaking.  I  con- 
 fess I  am  very  much  from  believing  the  allegation,  and  so 
 will  every  man  be,  that  considers  what  kind  of  men  they  are 
 that  have  been  most  zealous  for  that  way  of  conceived  prayer. 
 I  am  sure  that  very  few  of  the  learnedest,  very  many  ignorants, 
 most  of  those  who  have  the  least  abode  in  the  schools  of  the 
 prophets.  And  that  I  may  disgrace  no  man's  person,  we  see 
 tradesmen  of  the  most  illiberal  arts,  and  women,  pretend  to 
 it,  and  do  it  with  as  many  words  (and  that  is  the  main  thing), 
 with  as  much  confidence,  and  speciousness  of  spirit,  as  the 
 best  among  them*. — "  Nec  fortuiti  sermonis  contextum  mi- 
 rabor  unquam,  quem  jurgantibus  etiam  mulierculis  superfluere 
 video;"  said  Quintilian''.  And  it  is  but  a  small  portion  of 
 learning  that  will  serve  a  man  to  make  conceived  forms  of 
 
 y  Quint.  1.  10.  c.  7;  ^  Idem,  Spalding,  10.  7.  18. 
 
 ri/./iav  xai  ava!/ir;(;uvT<'«v.  Ss,  ri  tviuxtiav,  n  fiir^iirriTa,  n  i^v6r;//,a,  o'ixoi  avoXivi- 
 
 (ixxa  fj,w  x«i  jim  oTi  fityiTTriv,  x.  r.  X.  Lucian.  Rhet.  Preec.  15.  Bipont.  vol,  vii. 
 p.  231. 
 
 "  X.  7.  12. 
 
AND  SET   FORMS  OF  LITURGY. 
 
 889 
 
 prayer,  which  they  may  have  easily  upon  the  stock  of  other 
 men,  or  upon  their  own  fancy,  or  upon  any  thing  in  which 
 no  learning  is  required.  He  that  knows  not  this,  knows 
 nothing  of  the  craft  that  may  be  in  the  preacher's  trade. 
 But  what  ?  Is  God  better  served  ?  I  would  fain  see  any 
 authority,  or  any  reason,  or  any  probability  for  that.  I  am 
 sure,  ignorant  men  oft'er  him  none  of  the  best  sacrifices 
 extempore,  and  learned  men  will  be  sure  to  deliberate  and 
 know,  God  is  then  better  served  when  he  is  served  by  a 
 public,  than  when  by  a  private  spirit.  I  cannot  imagine 
 what  accruements  will  hence  come  to  the  public  :  it  may  be 
 some  advantages  may  be  to  the  private  interests  of  men. 
 For  there  are  a  sort  of  men,  whom  our  blessed  Saviour 
 noted,  "  Who  devour  widows'  houses,  and  for  a  pretence 
 make  long  prayers." — They  '  make  prayers,'  and  they  '  make 
 them  long ;'  by  this  means  they  receive  double  advantages, 
 for  they  get  reputation  to  their  ability,  and  to  their  piety. 
 And  although  the  Common  Prayer-Book,  in  the  Preface  to 
 the  Directory,  be  charged  with  unnecessary  length,  yet  we 
 see  that  most  of  these  men,  they  that  are  most  eminent,  or 
 would  be  thought  so,  make  their  jjrayers  longer,  and  will 
 not  lose  the  benefits  which  their  credit  gets,  and  they,  by 
 their  credit,  for  making  their  prayers. 
 
 141.  Add  this,  that  there  is  no  promise  in  Scripture,  that 
 he  who  prays  extempore  shall  be  heard  the  better,  or  that  he 
 shall  be  assisted  at  all  to  such  purposes ;  and,  therefore,  to 
 innovate  in  so  high  a  matter,  without  a  warrant  to  command 
 us,  or  a  promise  to  wan-ant  us,  is  no  better  than  vanity  in  the 
 thing,  and  presumption  in  the  person.  He,  therefore,  that 
 considers  that  this  way  of  pi-ayer  is  without  all  manner  of 
 precedent  in  the  primitive  church,  against  the  example  of  all 
 famous  churches  in  all  Christendom,  in  the  whole  descent  of 
 fifteen  ages,  without  all  command  or  warrant  of  Scripture ; 
 that  it  is  unreasonable  in  the  nature  of  the  thing,  against 
 prudence  and  the  best  wisdom  of  humanity,  because  it  is 
 without  deliberation  ;  that  it  is  innovation  in  a  high  degree, 
 without  that  authority  which  is  truly,  and  by  inherent  and 
 ancient  right,  to  command  and  prescribe  to  us  in  external 
 forms  of  worship ;  that  it  is  much  to  the  disgrace  of  the  first 
 reformers  of  our  religion  ;  that  it  gives  encouragement  to  the 
 church  of  Rome  to  quarrel,  with  some  reason,  and  more 
 
390 
 
 AN  APOLOGY,  Ac. 
 
 pretence  against  our  reformation,  as  being  by  the  Directory 
 confessed  to  have  been  done  in  much  blindness,  and,  there- 
 fore, might  err  in  the  excess  as  well  as  in  the  defect,  throw- 
 ing out  too  much,  as  casting  off  too  little  (which  is  the  more 
 likely,  because  they  wanted  no  zeal  to  carry  them  far  enough) : 
 he  that  considers  the  universal  deformity  of  public  worship, 
 and  the  no  means  of  union,  no  symbol  of  public  communion 
 being  publicly  consigned ;  that  all  heresies  may,  with  the 
 same  authority,  be  brought  into  our  prayers,  and  offered  to 
 God  in  the  behalf  of  the  people,  with  the  same  authority 
 that  any  truth  may,  all  the  particular  matters  of  our  prayers 
 being  left  to  the  choice  of  all  men  of  all  persuasions, — and 
 then  obsei*ves,  that  actually  there  are  in  many  places  heresy, 
 and  blasphemy,  and  impertinency,  and  illiterate  rudenesses 
 put  into  the  devotion  of  the  most  solemn  days,  and  the  most 
 public  meetings  ;  and  then,  lastly,  that  there  are  divers  parts 
 of  liturgy  for  which  no  provision  at  all  is  made  in  the  Direc- 
 tory, and  the  very  administration  of  the  sacraments  left  so 
 loosely,  that  if  there  be  any  thing  essential  in  the  forms  of 
 sacraments,  the  sacrament  may  become  ineffectual  for  want 
 of  due  words,  and  due  administration  ; — I  say,  he  that  con- 
 siders all  these  things  (and  many  more  he  may  consider)  will 
 find  that  particular  men  are  not  fit  to  be  intrusted  to  offer  in 
 public  with  their  private  spirit  to  God,  for  the  people,  in 
 such  solemnities,  in  matters  of  so  great  a  concernment,  where 
 the  honour  of  God, — the  benefit  of  the  people, — the  interest 
 of  kingdoms, — the  being  of  a  church, — the  unity  of  minds, — 
 the  conformity  of  practice, — the  truth  of  persuasion, — and 
 the  salvation  of  souls, — are  so  much  concerned  as  they  are 
 in  the  public  prayers  of  a  whole  national  church.  An  un- 
 learned man  is  not  to  be  trusted,  and  a  wise  man  dare  not 
 trust  himself:  he  that  is  ignorant  cannot,  he  that  is  knowing 
 will  not. 
 
0EOAOriA  EKAEKTIKH, 
 
 OR, 
 
 A  DISCOURSE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE  LIBERTY  OF  PROPHESYING, 
 
 WITH 
 
 ITS  JUST  LIMITS  AND  TEMPER: 
 
 SHOWING 
 
 THE  UNUEASONABLENESS  OF  PRESCRIBING  TO  OTHER  MEN  S  FAITH,  AND  THE 
 INIQUITY  OF  PERSECUTING  DIFFERING  OPINIONS. 
 
TO 
 
 THE  RIGHT  HONOURABLE 
 
 CHRISTOPHER  LORD  HATTON, 
 
 BARON  HATTON  OF  KIRBY,  COMPTROLLER  OF  HIS  MAJESTY'S  HOUSEHOLD,  AND  ONE 
 OP  HIS  MAJESTY-S  MOST  HONOURABLE  PRIVY  COUNCIL, 
 
 MY  LORD, 
 
 In  this  great  storm,  which  hath  dashed  the  vessel 
 of  the  church  all  to  pieces,  I  have  been  cast  upon 
 the  coast  of  Wales,  and,  in  a  little  boat,  thought 
 to  have  enjoyed  that  rest  and  quietness,  which, 
 in  England,  in  a  greater,  I  could  not  hope  for. 
 Here  I  cast  anchor,  and  thinking  to  ride  safely,  the 
 storm  followed  me  with  so  impetuous  violence,  that 
 it  broke  a  cable,  and  I  lost  my  anchor ;  and  here 
 again  I  was  exposed  to  the  mercy  of  the  sea,  and 
 the  gentleness  of  an  element  that  could  neither  dis- 
 tinguish things  nor  persons.  And  but  that  he  who 
 stilleth  the  raging  of  the  sea,  and  the  noise  of  his 
 waves,  and  the  madness  of  his  people,  had  provided 
 a  plank  for  me,  I  had  been  lost  to  all  the  opportunities 
 of  content  or  study.  But  I  know  not  whether  I  have 
 been  more  preserved  by  the  courtesies  of  my  friends, 
 or  the  gentleness  and  mercies  of  a  noble  enemy : 
 01  yap  3ap§apo<  T^apsl^ov  ou  rrjv  Tu^ov(rav  <p<Xai/9-paj- 
 Tciav  7\ixiv'  ava-ifiavTsg  yap  ■nrupav,  TS-pocrsXdSovTo  riravrag 
 rfxag,    ^la  rov  usrov  rov  £(ps(rT(joTaj  hu)  8<a  to  •v}/yp^o^. 
 
cccxciv 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 And  now  since  I  have  come  ashore,  I  have  been 
 gathering-  a  few  sticks  to  warm  me,  a  few  books  to 
 entertain  my  thoughts,  and  divert  them  from  the 
 perpetual  meditation  of  my  private  troubles  and  the 
 public  dyscrasy :  but  those  which  I  could  obtain 
 were  so  few,  and  so  impertinent,  and  unuseful  to 
 any  great  purposes,  that  I  began  to  be  sad  upon  a 
 new  stock,  and  full  of  apprehension  that  I  should 
 live  unprofitably,  and  die  obscurely,  and  be  forgot- 
 ten, and  my  bones  thrown  into  some  common  char- 
 nel-house, without  any  name  or  note  to  distinguish 
 me  from  those  who  only  served  their  generation,  by 
 filling  the  number  of  citizens,  and  who  could  pre- 
 tend to  no  thanks  or  reward  from  the  public,  beyond 
 'jus  trium  liberorum.'  While  I  was  troubled  with 
 these  thoughts,  and  busy  to  find  an  opportunity  of 
 doing  some  good,  in  my  small  proportion,  still  the 
 cares  of  the  public  did  so  intervene,  that  it  was  im- 
 possible to  separate  my  design  from  relating  to  the 
 present,  as  to  exempt  myself  from  the  participation 
 of  the  common  calamity ;  still  half  ray  thoughts  was, 
 in  despite  of  all  my  diversions  and  arts  of  avocations, 
 fixed  upon,  and  mingled  with,  the  present  concern- 
 ments ;  so  that  besides  them  I  could  not  go.  Now 
 because  the  great  question  is  concerning  religion,  and 
 in  that  also  my  scene  lies,  I  resolved  here  to  fix  my 
 considerations;  especially  when  I  observed  the 
 ways  of  promoting  the  several  opinions,  which  now 
 are  busy,  to  be  such,  as  besides  that  they  were  most 
 troublesome  to  me,  and  such  as  I  could,  by  no 
 means,  be  friends  withal,  they  were  also  such  as,  to 
 my  understanding,  did  the  most  apparently  disserve 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 CCCXCV 
 
 their  ends,  whose  design  in  advancing  their  own 
 opinions  was  pretended  for  religion.  For  as  con- 
 trary as  cruelty  is  to  mercy,  as  tyranny  to  charity, 
 so  is  war  and  bloodshed  to  the  meekness  and  gentle- 
 ness of  Christian  religion.  And  however  that  there 
 are  some  exterminating  spirits,  who  think  God  to 
 delight  in  human  sacrifices,  as  if  that  oracle — Ka) 
 X£<pa7^ag  aor]  xcti  riS  T^arq)  cts/attsts  (^wra  had  come 
 from  the  Father  of  spirits  :  yet  if  they  were  capable 
 of  cool  and  tame  homilies,  or  would  hear  men  of 
 other  opinions  give  a  quiet  account,  without  invin- 
 cible resolutions  never  to  alter  their  persuasions,  I 
 am  very  much  persuaded  it  would  not  be  very  hard 
 to  dispute  such  men  into  mercies,  and  compliances, 
 and  tolerations  mutual,  such,  I  say,  who  are  zealous 
 for  Jesus  Christ,  than  whose  doctrine  never  was  any 
 thing  more  merciful  and  humane,  whose  lessons 
 were  softer  than  nard  or  the  juice  of  the  Candian 
 olive.  Upon  the  first  apprehension,  I  designed  a 
 discourse  to  this  purpose,  with  as  much  greediness 
 as  if  I  had  thought  it  possible,  with  my  arguments, 
 to  have  persuaded  the  rough  and  hard-handed  sol- 
 diers to  have  disbanded  presently :  for  I  had  often 
 thought  of  the  prophecy  that  in  the  Gospel  "  our 
 swords  should  be  turned  into  plow-shares,  and 
 our  spears  into  pruning-hooks ;"  I  knew  that  no 
 tittle  spoken  by  God's  Spirit  could  return  unper- 
 formed and  ineffectual ;  and  I  was  certain  that  such 
 was  the  excellency  of  Christ's  doctrine,  that  if  men 
 could  obey  it.  Christians  should  never  war  one 
 against  another :  in  the  mean  time,  I  considered  not 
 that  it  was  *  prsedictio  consilii,  non  eventus,'  till  I 
 
CCCXCVi  THE  F.PISTLP.  DEDICATORY. 
 
 saw  what  men  were  now  doing,  and  ever  had  done, 
 since  the  heats  and  primitive  fervours  did  cool,  and 
 the  love  of  interests  swelled  higher  than  the  love  of 
 Christianity  :  but  then,  on  the  other  side,  I  began  to 
 fear,  that  whatever  I  could  say  would  be  as  ineffec- 
 tual as  it  could  be  reasonable.  For  if  those  excel- 
 lent words  which  our  blessed  Master  spake,  could 
 not  charm  the  tumult  of  our  spirits,  I  had  little  rea- 
 son to  hope  that  one  of  the  meanest  and  most  igno- 
 rant of  his  servants  could  advance  the  end  of  that 
 which  he  calls  his  great,  and  his  old,  and  his  new 
 commandment,  so  well  as  the  excellency  of  his 
 own  Spirit  and  discourses  could.  And  yet  since  he 
 who  knew  every  event  of  things,  and  the  success 
 and  efficacy  of  every  doctrine,  and  that  very  much 
 of  it  to  most  men,  and  all  of  it  to  some  men,  would 
 be  ineffectual,  yet  was  pleased  to  consign  our  duty, 
 that  it  might  be  a  direction  to  them  that  would,  and 
 a  conviction  and  a  testimony  against  them  that 
 would  not  obey  ;  I  thought  it  might  not  misbecome 
 my  duty  and  endeavours  to  plead  for  peace  and 
 charity,  and  forgiveness  and  permissions  mutual : 
 although  I  had  reason  to  believe,  that  such  is  the 
 iniquity  of  men,  and  they  so  indisposed  to  receive 
 such  impresses,  that  I  had  as  good  plow  the  sands, 
 or  till  the  air,  as  persuade  such  doctrines,  which 
 destroy  men's  interests,  and  serve  no  end  but  the 
 great  end  of  a  happy  eternity,  and  what  is  in  order 
 to  it.  But  because  the  events  of  things  are  in  God's 
 disposition,  and  I  knew  them  not, — and  because  if 
 I  had  known  my  good  purposes  would  be  totally 
 ineffectual  as  to  others,  yet  my  own  designation  and 
 
THE   EPISTLE   DEDICATORY,  CCCXCVii 
 
 purposes  would  be  of  advantage  to  myself,  who 
 might,  from  God's  mercy,  expect  the  retribution 
 which  he  is  pleased  to  promise  to  all  pious  intend- 
 ments ;  I  resolved  to  encounter  with  all  objections, 
 and  to  do  something  to  which  I  should  be  deter- 
 mined by  the  consideration  of  the  present  distempe- 
 ratures  and  necessities,  by  my  own  thoughts,  by 
 the  questions  and  scruples,  the  sects  and  names,  the 
 interests  and  animosities,  which  at  this  day,  and 
 for  some  years  past,  have  exercised  and  disquieted 
 Christendom. 
 
 Thus  far  I  discourse  myself  into  employment, 
 and  having  come  thus  far,  I  knew  not  how  to  get 
 further;  for  I  had  heard  of  a  great  experience,  how 
 difficult  it  was  to  make  brick  without  straw:  and 
 here  I  had  even  seen  my  design  blasted  in  the  bud, 
 and  I  despaired,  in  the  calends,  of  doing  what  I 
 purposed  in  the  ides  before.  For  I  had  no  books  of 
 my  own  here,  nor  any  in  the  voisinage ;  and  but 
 that  I  remembered  the  result  of  some  of  those  ex- 
 cellent discourses  I  had  heard  your  Lordship  make, 
 when  I  was  so  happy  as,  in  private,  to  gather  up 
 what  your  temperance  and  modesty  forbids  to  be 
 public,  I  had  come  '  in  preelia  inermis,'  and,  like 
 enough,  might  have  fared  accordingly.  I  had  this 
 only  advantage  besides,  that  I  have  chosen  a  subject, 
 in  which,  if  my  own  reason  does  not  abuse  me,  I 
 needed  no  other  books  or  aids  than  what  a  man 
 carries  with  him  on  horseback,  I  mean,  the  common 
 principles  of  Christianity,  and  those  a^icofxaTa,  which 
 men  use  in  the  transactions  of  the  ordinary  occur- 
 rences of  civil  society:  and  upon  the  strength  of 
 
 VOL.  VII.  2  E 
 
cccxcvia 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 them,  and  some  other  collateral  assistances,  I  have 
 run  through  it  '  utcunque ;'  and  the  sum  of  the  fol- 
 lowing discourses  is  nothing  but  the  sense  of  these 
 words  of  Scripture,  that  since  "  we  know  in  part, 
 and  prophesy  in  part,  and  that  now  we  see  through 
 a  glass  darkly  %"  we  would  not  despise  or  contemn 
 persons  not  so  knowing  as  ourselves,  but  "  him  that 
 is  weak  in  the  faith,  we  should  receive,  but  not  to 
 doubtful  disputations'';"  therefore,  certainly  to  cha- 
 rity, and  not  to  vexations,  not  to  those  which  are 
 the  idle  effects  of  impertinent  wranglings.  And 
 provided  they  keep  close  to  the  foundation,  which 
 is  faith  and  obedience,  let  them  build  upon  this 
 foundation  matter  more  or  less  precious,  yet  if  the 
 foundation  be  entire,  they  shall  be  saved  with  or 
 without  loss.  And  since  we  profess  ourselves  ser- 
 vants of  so  meek  a  Master,  and  disciples  of  so  cha- 
 ritable an  institute,  "  Let  us  walk  worthy  of  the 
 vocation  wherewith  we  are  called,  with  all  lowliness 
 and  meekness,  with  long-suffering,  forbearing  one 
 another  in  love";"  for  this  is  the  best  endeavouring 
 to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit,  when  it  is  fast  tied 
 in  the  bond  of  peace.  And  although  it  be  a  duty  of 
 Christianity,  that  "  we  all  speak  the  same  thing, 
 that  there  be  no  divisions  among  us,  but  that  we 
 be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the  same  mind,  and 
 in  the  same  judgment'' ;"  yet  this  unity  is  to  be  es- 
 timated according  to  the  unity  of  faith,  in  things 
 necessary,  in  matters  of  creed,  and  articles  funda- 
 
 '  1  Cor.  xiii. 
 c  Ephes.  iv.  2,  3, 
 
 ''  Rom.  xiv. 
 '  1  Cor.  i.  10. 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY.  CCCXCix 
 
 mental :  for  as  for  other  things,  it  is  more  to  be 
 wished  than  to  be  hoped  for.  There  are  some 
 "doubtful  disputations and  in  such  *  the  scribe, 
 the  wise,  the  disputer  of  this  world,'  are,  most  com- 
 monly, very  far  from  certainty,  and  many  times, 
 from  truth.  There  are  diversity  of  persuasions  in 
 matters  adiaphorous,  as  meats,  and  drinks,  and  holy 
 days,  &c.  and  both  parties,  the  affirmative  and  the 
 negative,  affirm  and  deny  with  innocence  enough ; 
 for  the  observer,  and  he  that  observes  not,  intend 
 both  to  God ;  and  God  is  our  common  Master,  we 
 are  all  fellow-servants,  and  not  the  judge  of  each 
 other  in  matters  of  conscience  or  doubtful  disputa- 
 tion ;  and  every  man  that  '  hath  faith,  must  have  it 
 to  himself  before  God,'  but  no  man  must,  in  such 
 matters  either  'judge  his  brother  or  set  him  at 
 nought:'  but  'let  us  follow  after  the  things  which 
 make  for  peace,  and  things  wherewith  one  may 
 edify  another.'  And  the  way  to  do  that  is  not  by 
 knowledge,  but  by  charity;  for  "knowledge  pufteth 
 up,  but  charity  edifieth^"  And  since  there  is  not 
 in  "  every  man  the  same  knowledge,  but  the  con- 
 sciences of  some  are  weak^ ;'  as  "  my  liberty  must 
 not  be  judged  of  another  man's  weak  conscience''," 
 so  must  not  I  please  myself  so  much  in  my  right 
 opinion,  but  I  must  also  take  order  that  his  '  weak 
 conscience  be  not  offended  or  despised  :'  for  no  man 
 must  '  seek  his  own,  but  every  man  another's 
 wealth And  although  we  must  contend  earnestly 
 
 e  Rom.  xiv.  f  1  Cor.  viii.  1.  g  Ver.  7. 
 
 "  1  Cor.  X.  29.  '  Ibid.  ver.  33. 
 
 2  E  2 
 
cccc 
 
 THE  EPI3TLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 for  the  faith,'  yet,  'above  f>U  thhigs,  we  must  put 
 on  charity,  which  is  the  bond  of  perfectness.'  And, 
 therefore,  this  contention  must  be  with  arms  fit  for 
 the  Christian  warfare,  "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
 and  the  shield  of  faith,  and  preparation  of  the  Gospel 
 of  peace,  instead  of  shoes,  and  a  helmet  of  salva- 
 tion \"    But  not  with  other  arms;  for  a  churchman 
 must  not  be  T^^rjXTixog,  '  a  striker  ;'  for  "  the  weapons 
 of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal,  but  spiritual,"  and  the 
 persons  that  use  them,  ought  to  be  '  gentle,  and  easy 
 to  be  entreated  ;'  and  we  '  must  give  an  account  of 
 our  faith  to  them  that  ask  us,  with  meekness  and 
 humility,  for  so  is  the  will  of  God,  that  with  well- 
 doing ye  may  put  to  silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish 
 men.'    These,  and  thousands  more  to  the  same  pur- 
 pose, are  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  whose  sense 
 and  intendment  I  have  prosecuted  in  the  following 
 discourse,  being  very  much  displeased  that  so  many 
 opinions  and  new  doctrines  are  commenced  among 
 us;  but  more  troubled,  that  every  man  that  hath  an 
 opinion,  thinks  his  own  and  other  men's  salvation  is 
 concerned  in  its  maintenance  ;  but  most  of  all,  that 
 men  should  be  persecuted  and  afflicted  for  disagree- 
 ing in  such  opinions,  which  they  cannot,  with  suffi- 
 cient grounds,  obtrude  upon  others  necessarily,  be- 
 cause they  cannot  propound  them  infallibly,  and 
 because  they  have  no  warrant  from  Scripture  so  to 
 do.    For  if  I  shall  tie  other  men  to  believe  my 
 opinion,  because  I  think  I  have  a  place  of  Scripture, 
 which  seems  to  warrant  it  to  my  understanding, 
 
 k  Colos.  iii.  14. 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 cccci 
 
 why  may  not  he  serve  up  another  dish  to  me  in  the 
 same  dress,  and  exact  the  same  task  of  me  to  believe 
 the  contradictory-  And  then,  since  all  the  heretics 
 in  the  w^orld  have  offered  to  prove  their  articles  by 
 the  same  means,  by  which  true  believers  propound 
 theirs,  it  is  necessary  that  some  separation,  either  of 
 doctrine  or  of  persons,  be  clearly  made,  and  that 
 all  pretences  may' not  be  admitted,  nor  any  just 
 allegations  be  rejected  ;  and  yet,  that  in  some  other 
 questions,  whether  they  be  truly  or  falsely  pre- 
 tended, if  not  evidently  or  demonstratively,  there 
 may  be  considerations  had  to  the  persons  of  men, 
 and  to  the  laws  of  charity,  more  than  to  the  triumph- 
 ing in  any  opinion  or  doctrine  not  simply  necessary. 
 Now,  because  some  doctrines  are  clearly  not  neces- 
 sary, and  some  are  absolutely  necessary,  why  may 
 not  the  first  separation  be  made  upon  this  difference, 
 and  articles  necessary  be  only  urged  as  necessary, 
 and  the  rest  left  to  men  indifferently,  as  they  were 
 by  the  Scripture  indeterminately  ?  And  it  were 
 well  if  men  would  as  much  consider  themselves  as 
 the  doctrines,  and  think  that  they  may  as  well  be 
 deceived  by  their  own  weakness,  as  persuaded  by 
 the  arguments  of  a  doctrine,  which  other  men,  as 
 wise,  call  inevident.  For  it  is  a  hard  case  that  we 
 should  think  all  papists,  and  anabaptists,  and  sacra- 
 mentaries,  to  be  fools  and  wicked  persons:  cer- 
 tainly, among  all  these  sects,  there  are  very  many 
 wise  men  and  good  men,  as  well  as  erring.  And 
 although  some  zeals  are  so  hot,  and  their  eyes  so 
 inflamed  with  their  ardours,  that  they  do  not  think 
 their  adversaries  look  like  other  men  ;  yet  certainly 
 
ccccii 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 we  find  by  the  results  of  their  discourses,  and  the 
 transactions  of  their  affairs  of  civil  society,  that  they 
 are  men  that  speak  and  make  syllogisms,  and  use 
 reason,  and  read  Scripture:  and  although  they  do  no 
 more  understand  all  of  it  than  we  do,  yet  they  endea- 
 vour to  understand  as  much  as  concerns  them,  even 
 all  that  they  can,  even  all  that  concerns  repentance 
 from  dead  works,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
 And,  therefore,  methinks  this  also  should  be  another 
 consideration  distinguishing  the  persons :  for,  if  the 
 persons  be  Christians  in  their  lives,  and  Christians 
 in  their  profession,  if  they  acknowledge  the  eternal 
 Son  of  God  for  their  Master  and  their  Lord,  and 
 live  in  all  relations  as  becomes  persons  making  such 
 professions,  why  then  should  I  hate  such  persons 
 whom  God  loves,  and  who  love  God,  who  are  par- 
 takers of  Christ,  and  Christ  hath  a  title  to  them, 
 who  dwell  in  Christ,  and  Christ  in  them,  because 
 their  understandings  have  not  been  brought  up  like 
 mine,  have  not  had  the  same  masters,  they  have  not 
 met  with  the  same  books,  nor  the  same  company, 
 or  have  not  the  same  interest,  or  are  not  so  wise,  or 
 else  are  wiser ;  that  is,  for  some  reason  or  other, 
 which  I  neither  do  understand  nor  ought  to  blame, — 
 have  not  the  same  opinions  that  I  have,  and  do  not 
 determine  their  school-questions  to  the  sense  of  my 
 sect  or  interest? 
 
 But  now,  I  know  beforehand,  that  those  men 
 who  will  endure  none  but  their  own  sect,  will  make 
 all  manner  of  attempts  against  these  purposes  of 
 charity  and  compliance,  and,  say  I  or  do  I  what  I 
 can,  will  tell  all  their  proselytes  that  I  preach  indif- 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 cccciii 
 
 ferency  of  religion ;  that  I  say  it  is  no  matter  how 
 we  believe,  nor  what  they  profess,  but  that  they 
 may  comply  with  all  sects,  and  do  violence  to  their 
 own  consciences ;  that  they  may  be  saved  in  all 
 religions,  and  so  make  way  for  a  '  colluvies'  of 
 heresies,  and  by  consequence,  destroy  all  religion. 
 Nay,  they  will  say  worse  than  all  this ;  and,  but 
 that  I  am  not  used  to  their  phrases  and  forms  of 
 declamation,  I  am  persuaded  I  might  represent  fine 
 tragedies  beforehand.  And  this  will  be  such  an 
 objection,  that  although  I  am  most  confident  I  shall 
 make  it  apparent  to  be  as  false  and  scandalous  as 
 the  objectors  themselves  are  zealous  and  impatient; 
 yet,  besides  that  I  believe  the  objection  will  come 
 where  my  answers  will  not  come,  or  not  be  under- 
 stood, I  am  also  confident,  that,  in  defiance  and  in- 
 curiousness  of  all  that  I  shall  say,  some  men  will 
 persist  pertinaciously  in  the  accusation,  and  deny 
 my  conclusion  in  despite  of  me.  Well,  but  how- 
 ever, I  will  try. 
 
 And,  first,  I  answer,  that  whatsoever  is  against 
 the  foundation  of  faith,  or  contrary  to  good  life  and 
 the  laws  of  obedience,  or  destructive  to  human 
 society,  and  the  public  and  just  interests  of  bodies 
 politic,  is  out  of  the  limits  of  my  question,  and  does 
 not  pretend  to  compliance  or  toleration :  so  that  I 
 allow  no  indifferency,  nor  any  countenance  to  those 
 religions  whose  principles  destroy  government,  nor 
 to  those  religions  (if  there  be  any  such)  that  teach 
 ill  life;  nor  do  I  think  that  any  thing  will  now 
 excuse  from  belief  of  a  fundamental  article,  except 
 stupidity  or  sottishness,  and  natural  inability.  This 
 
cccciv 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 alone  is  sufficient  answer  to  this  vanity ;  but  1  have 
 much  more  to  say. 
 
 Secondly;  the  intendment  of  my  discourse  is, 
 that  permissions  should  be  in  questions  speculative, 
 indeterminable,  curious,  and  unnecessary  ;  and  that 
 men  would  not  make  more  necessities  than  God 
 made,  which  indeed  are  not  many.  The  fault  I  find, 
 and  seek  to  remedy,  is,  that  men  are  so  dogmatical 
 and  resolute  in  their  opinions,  and  impatient  of 
 others  disagreeing,  in  those  things  wherein  is  no  suf- 
 ficient means  of  union  and  determination ;  but  that 
 men  should  let  opinions  and  problems  keep  their 
 own  forms,  and  not  be  obtruded  as  axioms,  nor 
 questions  in  the  vast  collection  of  the  system  of 
 divinity  be  adopted  into  the  family  of  faith.  And, 
 I  think,  I  have  reason  to  desire  this. 
 
 Thirdly ;  it  is  hard  to  say  that  he  who  would  not 
 have  men  put  to  death,  or  punished  corporally,  for 
 such  things  for  which  no  human  authority  is  suffi- 
 cient, either  for  cognizance  or  determination,  or 
 competent  for  infliction,  that  he  persuades  to  an 
 indifFerency,  when  he  refers  to  another  judicatory, 
 which  is  competent,  sufficient,  infallible,  just,  and 
 highly  severe.  No  man,  or  company  of  men,  can 
 judge  or  punish  our  thoughts  or  secret  purposes, 
 whilst  they  so  remain.  And  yet  it  will  be  unequal  to 
 say,  that  he  who  owns  this  doctrine,  preaches  it  law- 
 ful for  men  to  think  or  purpose  what  they  will.  And 
 so  it  is  in  matters  of  doubtful  disputation,  such  as 
 are  the  distinguishing  articles  of  most  of  the  sects 
 of  Christendom ;  so  it  is  in  matters  intellectual, 
 which  are  not  cognizable  by  a  secular  power;  in 
 
THE  EPJSTLE   DEDICATOUV.  CCCCV 
 
 matters  spiritual,  which  are  to  be  discerned  by  spi- 
 ritual authority,  which  cannot  make  corporal  inflic- 
 tions ;  and  in  questions  indeterminate,  which  are 
 doubtfully  propounded,  or  obscurely,  and,  therefore, 
 may  be,  '  in  utramque  partem,'  disputed  or  believed. 
 For  God  alone  must  be  Judge  of  these  matters,  who 
 alone  is  Master  of  our  souls,  and  hath  a  dominion 
 over  human  understanding ;  and  he  that  says  this, 
 does  not  say  that  indifterency  is  persuaded,  because 
 God  alone  is  Judge  of  erring  persons. 
 
 Fourthly  :  no  part  of  this  discourse  teaches  or 
 encourages  variety  of  sects,  and  contradiction  in 
 opinions,  but  supposes  them  already  in  being :  and, 
 therefore,  since  there  are,  and  ever  were,  and  ever 
 will  be,  variety  of  opinions,  because  there  is  variety 
 of  human  understandings,  and  uncertainty  in  things, 
 no  man  should  be  too  forward  in  determining  all 
 questions,  nor  so  forward  in  prescribing  to  others, 
 nor  invade  that  liberty  which  God  hath  left  to  us 
 entire,  by  propounding  many  things  obscurely,  and 
 by  exempting  our  souls  and  understandings  from  all 
 power  externally  compulsory.  So  that  the  restraint 
 is  laid  upon  men's  tyranny,  but  no  license  given  to 
 men's  opinions ;  they  are  not  considered  in  any  of 
 the  conclusions,  but  in  the  premises  only,  as  an 
 argument  to  exhort  to  charity.  So  that  if  I  per- 
 suade a  license  of  discrediting  any  thing  which  God 
 hath  commanded  us  to  believe,  and  allow  a  liberty 
 where  God  hath  not  allowed  it,  let  it  be  shown,  and 
 let  the  objection  press  as  hard  as  it  can  :  but  to  say 
 that  men  are  too  forward  in  condemning,  where 
 
CCCCvi  THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 God  hath  declared  no  sentence,  nor  prescribed  any 
 rule,  is  to  dissuade  from  tyranny,  not  to  encourage 
 licentiousness  ;  is  to  take  away  a  license  of  judging, 
 not  to  give  a  license  of  dogmatizing  what  every  one 
 please,  or  as  may  best  serve  his  turn.  And  for  the 
 other  part  of  the  objection  ; 
 
 Fifthly  ;  this  discourse  is  so  far  from  giving  leave 
 to  men  to  profess  any  thing,  though  they  believe  the 
 contrary,  that  it  takes  order  that  no  man  shall  be 
 put  to  it :  for  I  earnestly  contend  that  another  man's 
 opinion  shall  be  no  rule  to  mine,  and  that  my  opinion 
 shall  be  no  snare  and  prejudice  to  myself ;  that  men 
 use  one  another  so  charitably  and  so  gently,  that  no 
 error  or  violence  tempt  men  to  hypocrisy  ;  this  very 
 thing  being  one  of  the  arguments  I  use  to  persuade 
 permissions,  lest  compulsion  introduce  hypocrisy, 
 and  make  sincerity  troublesome  and  unsafe. 
 
 Sixthly ;  if  men  would  not  call  all  opinions  by 
 the  name  of  religion,  and  superstructures  by  the 
 name  of  fundamental  articles,  and  all  fancies  by  the 
 glorious  appellative  of  faith,  this  objection  would 
 have  no  pretence  or  footing :  so  that  it  is  the  disease 
 of  the  men,  not  any  cause  that  is  ministered  by  such 
 precepts  of  charity,  that  makes  them  perpetually 
 clamorous.  And  it  would  be  hard  to  say  that  such 
 physicians  are  incurious  of  their  patients,  and  neg- 
 lectful of  their  health,  who  speak  against  the  unrea- 
 sonableness of  such  empirics,  that  would  cut  off  a 
 man's  head,  if  they  see  but  a  wart  upon  his  cheek, 
 or  a  dimple  upon  his  chin,  or  any  lines  in  his  face  to 
 distinguish  him  from  another  man :  the  case  is  alto- 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY.  CCCCVii 
 
 gether  the  same,  and  we  may  as  well  decree  a  wart 
 to  be  mortal,  as  a  various  opinion,  'in  re  alioqui  non 
 necessaria,'  to  be  capital  and  damnable. 
 
 For  I  consider  that  there  are  but  few  doctrines 
 of  Christianity  that  were  ordered  to  be  preached 
 to  all  the  world,  to  every  single  person,  and  made 
 a  necessary  article  of  his  explicit  belief.  Other  doc- 
 trines, which  are  all  of  them  not  simply  necessary, 
 are  either  such  as  are  not  clearly  revealed,  or  such 
 as  are.  If  they  be  clearly  revealed,  and  that  I  know 
 so  too,  or  may,  but  for  my  own  fault, — I  am  not  to 
 be  excused  :  but  for  this  I  am  to  be  left  to  God's 
 judgment,  unless  my  fault  be  externally  such  as  to 
 be  cognizable  and  punishable  in  human  judicatory. 
 But,  then,  if  it  be  not  so  revealed,  but  that  wise 
 men  and  good  men  differ  in  their  opinions,  it  is  a 
 clear  case  it  is  not  '  inter  dogmata  necessaria  sim- 
 pliciter  ;'  and  then  it  is  certain  I  may,  therefore, 
 safely  disbelieve  it,  because  I  may  be  safely  ignorant 
 of  it.  For  if  I  may,  with  innocence,  be  ignorant, 
 then  to  know  it,  or  believe  it,  is  not  simply  obliga- 
 tory: ignorance  is  absolutely  inconsistent  with  such 
 an  obligation,  because  it  is  destructive  and  a  plain 
 negative  to  its  performance  ;  and  if  I  do  my  honest 
 endeavour  to  understand  it,  and  yet  do  not  attain  it, 
 it  is  certain  that  it  is  not  obligatory  to  me  so  much 
 as  by  accident ;  for  no  obligation  can  press  the  per- 
 son of  a  man,  if  it  be  impossible  ;  no  man  is  bound 
 to  do  more  than  his  best,  no  man  is  bound  to  have 
 an  excellent  understanding,  or  to  be  infallible,  or  to 
 be  wiser  than  he  can  ;  for  these  are  things  that  are 
 not  in  his  choice,  and  therefore  not  a  matter  of  law, 
 
ccccviii 
 
 THE   EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 nor  subject  to  reward  and  punishment.  So  that 
 where  ignorance  of  the  article  is  not  a  sin,  there, 
 disbelieving  it  in  the  right  sense,  or  believing  it  in 
 the  wrong,  is  not  a  breach  of  any  duty  essentially 
 or  accidentally  necessary,  either  in  the  thing  itself, 
 or  to  the  person ;  that  is,  he  is  neither  bound  to 
 the  article,  nor  to  any  endeavours  or  antecedent 
 acts  of  volition  and  choice  ;  and  that  man  who  may 
 safely  be  ignorant  of  the  proposition,  is  not  tied  at 
 all  to  search  it  out  ;  and  if  not  at  all  to  search  it, 
 then  certainly  not  to  find  it.  All  the  obligation  we 
 are  capable  of  is,  not  to  be  malicious  or  voluntarily 
 criminal  in  any  kind  :  and,  then,  if  by  accident  we 
 find  out  a  truth,  we  are  obliged  to  believe  it ;  and 
 so  will  every  wise  or  good  man  do  ;  indeed  he  can- 
 not do  otherwise.  But  if  he  disbelieves  an  article, 
 without  malice  or  design,  or  involuntarily  or  un- 
 knowingly, it  is  a  contradiction  to  say  it  is  a  sin  to 
 him,  who  might  totally  have  been  ignorant  of  it :  for, 
 that  he  believes  it  in  the  wrong  sense,  it  is  his  igno- 
 rance ;  and  it  is  impossible  that  where  he  hath 
 heartily  endeavoured  to  find  out  a  truth,  that  his 
 endeavour  should  make  him  guilty  of  a  sin,  which 
 would  never  have  been  laid  to  his  charge,  if  he  had 
 taken  no  pains  at  all.  His  ignorance,  in  this  case,  is 
 not  a  fault  at  all ;  possibly  it  might,  if  there  had 
 been  no  endeavour  to  have  cured  it. 
 
 So  that  there  is  wholly  a  mistake  in  this  propo- 
 sition. For  true  it  is,  there  are  some  propositions, 
 which  if  a  man  never  hear  of,  they  will  not  be 
 required  by  him  ;  and  they  who  cannot  read,  might 
 safely  be  ignorant  that  Mclchisedec  was  king  of 
 
THE   EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 ccccix 
 
 Salem :  but  he  who  reads  it  m  the  Scripture,  may 
 not  safely  contradict  it,  although  before  that  know- 
 ledge did  arrive  to  him,  he  might  safely  have  been 
 ignorant  of  it.  But  this,  although  it  be  true,  is  not 
 pertinent  to  our  question  :  for,''  in  sensu  diviso,'  this 
 is  true,  that  which,  at  one  time,  a  man  may  be  igno- 
 rant of,  at  some  other  time  he  may  not  disbelieve  ; 
 but,  '  in  sensu  conjuncto,'  it  is  false  ;  for,  at  what, 
 and  in  what  circumstance  soever,  it  is  no  sin  to  be 
 ignorant, — at  that  time,  and  in  that  conjuncture,  it  is 
 no  sin  to  disbelieve.  And  such  is  the  nature  of  all 
 questions  disputable,  which  are,  therefore,  not  re- 
 quired of  us  to  be  believed,  in  any  one  particular 
 sense,  because  the  nature  of  the  thing  is  such  as  not 
 to  be  necessary  to  be  known  at  all,  simply  and  ab- 
 solutely; and  such  is  the  ambiguity  and  cloud  of  its 
 face  and  representment,  as  not  to  be  necessary,  so 
 much  as  by  accident,  and,  therefore,  not  to  the  par- 
 ticular sense  of  any  one  person. 
 
 And  yet,  such  is  the  iniquity  of  men,  that  they 
 suck  in  opinions  as  wild  asses  do  the  wind,  without 
 distinguishing  the  wholesome  from  the  corrupted 
 air,  and  then  live  upon  it  at  a  venture;  and  when  all 
 their  confidence  is  built  upon  zeal  and  mistake,  yet, 
 therefore,  because  they  are  zealous  and  mistaken, 
 they  are  impatient  of  contradiction. 
 
 But,  besides  that  against  this  I  have  laid  preju- 
 dice enough,  from  the  dictates  of  Holy  Scripture,  it 
 is  observable  that  this,  with  its  appendant  degreet^, 
 I  mean  restraint  of  prophesying,  imposing  upon 
 other  men's  understanding,  being  masters  of  their 
 consciences,  and  lording  it  over  their  faitii,  came  in 
 
CCCCX  THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 with  the  retmue  and  train  of  Antichrist ;  that  is, 
 they  came  as  other  abuses  and  corruptions  of  the 
 church  did,  by  reason  of  the  iniquity  of  times,  and 
 the  cooling  of  the  first  heats  of  Christianity,  and  the 
 increase  of  interest,  and  the  abatements  of  Christian 
 simplicity  when  the  church's  fortune  grew  better, 
 and  her  sons  grew  worse,  and  some  of  her  fathers 
 worst  of  all.  For,  in  the  first  three  hundred  years, 
 there  was  no  sign  of  persecuting  any  man  for  his 
 opinion,  though,  at  that  time,  there  were  very  horrid 
 opinions  commenced,  and  such  which  were  exem- 
 plary and  parallel  enough  to  determine  this  ques- 
 tion ;  for  they  then  were  assaulted  by  new  sects, 
 which  destroyed  the  common  principles  of  nature, 
 of  Christianity,  of  innocence,  and  public  society ; 
 and  they  who  used  all  the  means.  Christian  and 
 spiritual  for  their  disimprovement  and  conviction, 
 thought  not  of  using  corporal  force,  otherwise  than 
 by  blaming  such  proceedings.  And,  therefore,  I  do 
 not  only  urge  their  not  doing  it,  as  an  argument  of 
 the  unlawfulness  of  such  proceeding,  but  their  defy- 
 ing it  and  speaking  against  such  practices,  as  unrea- 
 sonable, and  destructive  of  Christianity.  For  so 
 Tertullian'is  express:  "  Humani  juris  et  naturalis 
 potestatis,  unicuique  quod  putaverit,  colere;  sed  nec 
 religionis  est  cogere  religionem,  quae  suscipi  debet 
 sponte,  non  vi."  The  same  is  the  doctrine  of  St. 
 Cyprian,  Lactantius,  St,  Hilary,  Minutius  Felix, 
 Sulpitius  Severus,  St.  Chrysostom,  St.  Jerome,  St. 
 Austin,    Damascen,  Theophylact,  Socrates  Scho- 
 
 'Ad  Scapul. 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 ccccxi 
 
 lasticus,  and  St,  Bernard,  as  they  are  severally  re- 
 ferred to  and  urged,  upon  occasion,  in  the  following- 
 discourse. 
 
 To  which  I  add,  that  all  wise  princes,  till  they 
 were  overborne  with  faction,  or  solicited  by  peevish 
 persons,  gave  toleration  to  differing  sects,  whose 
 opinions  did  not  disturb  the  public  interest.  But, 
 at  first,  there  were  some  heretical  persons  that  were 
 also  impatient  of  an  adversary,  and  they  were  the 
 men,  who  at  first  entreated  the  emperors  to  per- 
 secute the  catholics :  but  till  four  hundred  years 
 after  Christ,  no  catholic  persons  or  very  few,  did 
 provoke  the  secular  arm,  or  implore  its  aid  against 
 the  heretics,  save  only  that  Arius  behaved  himself 
 so  seditiously  and  tumultuarily,  that  the  Nicene 
 fathers  procured  a  temporary  decree  for  his  relega- 
 tion ;  but  it  was  soon  taken  off,  and  God  left  to  be 
 his  judge  ;  who  indeed  did  it  to  some  purpose,  when 
 he  was  trusted  with  it,  and  the  matter  wholly  left  to 
 him. 
 
 But  as  the  ages  grew  worse,  so  men  grew  more 
 cruel  and  unchristian:  and  in  the  Greek  church, 
 Atticus,  and  Nestorius  of  Constantinople,  Theodo- 
 sius  of  Synada,  and  some  few  others,  who  had  for- 
 gotten the  mercies  of  their  great  Master,  and  their 
 own  duty,  grew  implacable,  and  furious,  and  im- 
 patient of  contradiction.  It  was  a  bold  and  an  ar- 
 rogant speech,  which  Nestorius  made  in  a  sermon 
 before  Theodosius  the  younger,  "  Da  mihi,  O  im- 
 perator,  terram  ab  heereticis  repurgatam,  et  ego  tibi 
 vicissim  ccelum  dabo :  Disperde  mecum  hsereticos, 
 et  ego  tecum   disperdam   Persas." — It   was  as 
 
CCCCXll 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY, 
 
 groundless  and  unwarrantable,  as  it  was  bloody  and 
 inhuman. 
 
 And  we  see  the  contrary  events  prove  truer  than 
 this  groundless  and  unlearned  promise  :  for  Theo- 
 dosius  and  Valentinian  were  prosperous  princes,  and 
 have,  to  all  ages,  a  precious  memory,  and  the  repu- 
 tation of  a  great  piety ;  but  they  were  so  far  from 
 doing  what  Nestorius  had  suggested,  that  they  re- 
 strained him  from  his  violence  and  immanity  ;  and 
 Theodosius  did  highly  commend  the  good  bishop 
 Proclus,  for  his  sweetness  of  deportment  towards 
 erring  persons,  far  above  the  cruelty  of  his  prede- 
 cessor Atticus.  And  the  experience  which  Chris- 
 tendom hath  had  in  this  last  age,  is  argument 
 enough  that  toleration  of  different  opinions  is  so  far 
 from  disturbing  the  public  peace,  or  destroying  the 
 interest  of  princes  and  commonwealths,  that  it  does 
 advantage  to  the  public,  it  secures  peace,  because 
 there  is  not  so  much  as  the  pretence  of  religion  left 
 to  such  persons  to  contend  for  it,  being  already 
 indulged  to  them.  When  France  fought  against  the 
 Huguenots,  the  spilling  of  her  own  blood  was  argu- 
 ment enough  of  the  imprudence  of  that  way  of  pro- 
 moting religion  ;  but  since  she  hath  given  permis- 
 sion to  them,  the  world  is  witness  how  prosperous 
 she  hath  been  ever  since.  But  the  great  instance 
 is  in  the  differing  temper,  government,  and  suc- 
 cess, which  Margaret  of  Parma  and  the  duke  of 
 Alva  had.  The  clemency  of  the  first  had  almost 
 extinguished  the  flame  :  but  when  she  was  removed, 
 D'Alva  succeeded,  and  managed  the  matter  of  re- 
 ligion with  fire  and  sword  ;  he  made  the  flame  so 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY.  CCCCXiii 
 
 great,  that  his  religion  and  his  prince  too  have  both 
 been  almost  quite  turned  out  of  the  country.  "Tolii 
 e  medio  sapientiam,  quoties  vi  geritur  res,"  said  En- 
 nius :  and  therefore  the  best  of  men,  and  the  most 
 glorious  of  princes,  were  always  ready  to  give  tole- 
 ration, but  never  to  make  executions  for  matters  dis- 
 putable. Eusebius,  in  his  second  book  of  the  life  of 
 Constantine,  reports  these  words  of  the  emperor, 
 "  Parem  cum  fidelibus,  ii  qui  errant,  pacis  et  quietis 
 fruitionem  gaudentes  accipiant :  ipsa  siquidem  com- 
 municationis  et  societatis  restitutio  ad  rectam  etiam 
 veritatis  viam  perducere  potest.  Nemo  cuiquam 
 molestus  sit  ;  quisque  quod  animo  destinat,  hoc 
 etiam  faciat." 
 
 And  indeed  there  is  great  reason  for  princes  to- 
 give  toleration  to  disagreeing  persons,  whose  opi- 
 nions, by  fair  means,  cannot  be  altered.  For  if  the 
 persons  be  confident,  they  will  serve  God  according 
 to  their  persuasions  ;  and  if  they  be  publicly  pro- 
 hibited, they  will  privately  convene :  and  then  all 
 these  inconveniences  and  mischiefs,  which  are  argu- 
 ments against  the  permission  of  conventicles,  are 
 arguments  for  the  public  permissions  of  differing' 
 religions,  because  the  denying  of  the  public  worship 
 will  certainly  produce  private  conventicles,  against 
 which  all  wise  princes  and  commonwealths  have, 
 upon  great  reasons,  made  edicts  and  severe  sanc- 
 tions. "  Quicquid  enim  agitur,  absente  rege,  in 
 caput  ejus  plerumque  redundat,"  say  the  politics. 
 For  the  face  of  a  king  is  as  the  face  of  a  lion,  and 
 scatters  all  base  machinations,  which  breathe  not  but 
 in  the  dark.    It  is  a  proverbial  saying,  'Qu6d  nimia 
 
 VOL.  VII.  2  F 
 
CCCCxiv  THE  EPISTLF.  DEDICATORY. 
 
 familiaritas  servorum  est  conspiratio  adversus  Domi- 
 num  :'  and  they  who,  for  their  security,  run  into 
 grots,  and  cellars,  and  retirements,  think  that,  they 
 being  upon  the  defensive,  those  princes  and  those 
 laws  that  drive  them  to  it,  are  their  enemies,  and, 
 therefore,  they  cannot  be  secure,  unless  the  power 
 of  one,  and  the  obligation  of  the  other,  be  lessened 
 and  rescinded ;  and  then,  the  being  restrained,  and 
 made  miserable,  endears  the  discontented  persons 
 mutually,  and  makes  more  hearty  and  dangerous 
 confederations.  King  James,  of  blessed  memory, 
 in  his  letters  to  the  States  of  the  United  Provinces, 
 dated  6th  March,  1613,  thus  wrote, — "  Magis  autem 
 e  re  fore,  si  sopiantur  autoritate  publica,  ita  ut  pro- 
 hibeatis  ministros  vestros,  ne  eas  disputationes  in 
 suggestum  aut  ad  plebem  ferant ;  ac  districte  im- 
 peretis  ut  pacem  colant,  se  invicem  tolerando  in  ista 
 opinionum  ac  sententiarum  discrepantia. — E6que 
 justius  videmur  vobis  hoc  ipsum  suadere  debere, 
 quod  neutram  comperimus  aded  deviam,  ut  non 
 possit,  et  cum  fidei  Christianee  veritate,  et  cum 
 animarum  salute,  consistere,  &c."  The  like  counsel, 
 in  the  divisions  of  Germany,  at  the  first  reformation, 
 was  thought  reasonable  by  the  emperor  Ferdinand, 
 and  his  excellent  son  Maximilian.  For  they  had 
 observed,  that  violence  did  exasperate,  was  un- 
 blessed, unsuccessful,  and  unreasonable  ;  and,  there- 
 fore, they  made  decrees  of  toleration,  and  ap- 
 pointed tempers  and  expedients  to  be  drawn  up  by 
 discreet  persons ;  and  George  Cassander  was  de- 
 signed to  this  great  work,  and  did  something  to- 
 wards it.    And  Emanuel  Philibert,  duke  of  Savoy, 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 CCCCXV 
 
 repenting  of  his  war,  undertaken  for  religion,  against 
 the  Pedemontans,  promised  them  toleration,  and 
 was  as  good  as  his  word.  As  much  is  done  by  the 
 nobility  of  Polonia.  So  that  the  best  princes  and  the 
 best  bishops,  gave  toleration  and  impunities  :  but  it 
 is  known,  that  the  first  persecutions  of  disagreeing 
 persons  were,  by  the  Arians,  by  the  Circumcellians 
 and  Donatists  ;  and  from  them  they  of  the  church 
 took  examples,  who,  in  small  numbers,  did  some, 
 times  persuade  it,  sometimes  practice  it.  And 
 among  the  Greeks,  it  became  a  public  and  authorized 
 practice,  till  the  question  of  images  grew  hot  and 
 high :  for  then  the  worshippers  of  images,  having 
 taken  their  example  from  the  empress  Irene,  who 
 put  her  son's  eyes  out  for  making  an  edict  against 
 images,  began  to  be  as  cruel  as  they  were  deceived  ; 
 especially  being  encouraged  by  the  popes  of  Rome, 
 who  then  blew  the  coals  to  some  purpose. 
 
 And  that  I  may,  upon  this  occasion,  give  account 
 of  this  affair  in  the  church  of  Rome,  it  is  remark- 
 able, that,  till  the  time  of  Justinian  the  emperor, 
 A.  D.  525,  the  Catholics  and  Novatians  had  churches, 
 indifferently  permitted,  even  in  Rome  itself ;  but 
 the  bishops  of  Rome,  Avhose  interest  was  much  con- 
 cerned in  it,  spoke  much  against  it,  and  laboured 
 the  eradication  of  the  Novatians,  and  at  last,  when 
 they  got  power  into  their  hands,  they  served  them 
 accordingly  :  but  it  is  observed  by  Socrates,  that 
 when  the  first  persecution  was  made  against  them 
 at  Rome,  by  pope  Innocent  I.,  at  the  same  instant 
 the  Goths  invaded  Italy,  and  became  lords  of  all ; 
 it  being  just  in  God  to  bring  a  persecution  upon 
 
 2  F  2 
 
ccccxvi 
 
 THE   EPISTLE  DEDICATORY, 
 
 them  for  true  belief,  who,  with  an  incompetent 
 authority  and  insufficient  grounds,  do  persecute  an 
 error  less  material  in  persons  agreeing  with  them,  in 
 the  profession  of  the  same  common  faith.  And  I 
 have  heard  it  observed,  as  a  blessing  upon  St. 
 Austin  (who  was  so  merciful  to  erring  persons,  as, 
 the  greatest  part  of  his  life,  in  all  senses,  even 
 when  he  had  twice  changed  his  mind,  yet  to  tolerate 
 them,  and  never  to  endure  they  should  be  given  over 
 to  the  secular  power  to  be  killed),  that  the  very 
 night  the  Vandals  set  down  before  his  city  of  Hippo, 
 to  besiege  it,  he  died  and  went  to  God,  being  as  a 
 reward  of  his  merciful  doctrine,  taken  from  the 
 miseries  to  come.  And  yet  that  very  thing  was  also 
 a  particular  issue  of  the  Divine  Providence  upon 
 that  city,  who,  not  long  before,  had  altered  their 
 profession  into  truth  by  force,  and  now  were  falling 
 into  their  power,  who  afterward,  by  a  greater  force, 
 turned  them  to  be  Arians. 
 
 But,  in  the  church  of  Rome,  the  popes  were  the 
 first  preachers  of  force  and  violence,  in  matters  of 
 opinion,  and  that  so  zealously,  that  pope  Vigilius 
 suffered  himself  to  be  imprisoned  and  handled 
 roughly  by  the  emperor  Justinian,  rather  than  he 
 would  consent  to  the  restitution  and  peace  of  cer- 
 tain disagreeing  persons.  But  as  yet  it  came  not 
 so  far  as  death.  The  first  that  preached  that  doc- 
 trine was  Dominic,  the  founder  of  the  begging- 
 orders  of  friars,  the  friar-preachers  ;  in  memory  of 
 which  the  inquisition  is  intrusted  only  to  the  friars 
 of  his  order.  And  if  there  be  any  force  in  dreams, 
 or  truth  in  legends,  (as  there  is  not  much  in  either) 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 CCCCXVll 
 
 this  very  thing  might  be  signified  by  his  mother's 
 dream,  who,  the  night  before  Dominic  was  born, 
 dreamed  she  was  brought  to  bed  of  a  huge  dog, 
 with  a  fire-brand  in  his  mouth.  Sure  enough,  how- 
 ever, his  disciples  expound  the  dream,  it  was  a 
 better  sign  that  he  should  prove  a  rabid,  furious 
 incendiary  than  any  thing  else :  whatever  he  might 
 be  in  the  other  parts  of  his  life,  in  his  doctrine  he 
 was  not  much  better,  as  appears  in  his  deportment  to- 
 wards the  Albigenses,  against  whom  he  so  preached, 
 "  adeo  quidem  ut  centum  haereticorum  millia  ab  octo 
 millibus  catholicorum  fusa  et  interfecta  fuisse  per- 
 hibeantur,"  saith  one  of  him  ;  and  of  those  who  were 
 taken,  one  hundred  and  eighty  were  burnt  to  death^ 
 because  they  would  not  abjure  their  doctrine This 
 was  the  first  example  of  putting  erring  persons  to 
 death  that  I  find  in  the  Roman  church.  For  about 
 one  hundred  and  seventy  years  before,  Berengarius 
 fell  into  opinion,  concerning  the  blessed  sacrament, 
 which  they  called  heresy,  and  recanted,  and  re- 
 lapsed, and  recanted  again,  and  fell  again  two  or 
 three  times,  saith  Gerson,  writing  against,  '  Romant 
 of  the  Rose,'  and  yet  he  died  *  sicca  morte,'  his 
 own  natural  death,'  and  with  hope  of  heaven,  and 
 yet  Hildebrand  was  once  his  judge:  which  shows 
 that,  at  that  time,  Rome  was  not  come  to  so  great 
 heights  of  bloodshed.  In  England,  although  the 
 pope  had  as  great  power  here  as  anywhere,  yet 
 there  were  no  executions  for  matter  of  opinion 
 
 Bruno  Bereginos  e  sua  dioecesi  expulit,  non  niorti  aut  sup-< 
 pliciis  corporalibus  tradidit. 
 
ccccxviii 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 known  till  the  time  of  Henry  IV,,  who,  because  he 
 usurped  the  crown,  was  willing,  by  all  means  to 
 endear  the  clergy  by  destroying  their  enemies,  that 
 so  he  might  be  sure  of  them,  to  all  his  purposes. 
 And  indeed,  it  may  become  them  well  enough,  who 
 are  wiser  in  their  generations  than  the  children  of 
 light, — it  may  possibly  serve  the  policies  of  evil 
 persons,  but  never  the  pure  and  chaste  designs  of 
 Christianity,  which  admits  no  blood  but  Christ's, 
 and  the  imitating  blood  of  martyrs,  but  knows 
 nothing  how  to  serve  her  ends  by  persecuting  any 
 of  her  erring  children. 
 
 By  this  time,  I  hope  it  will  not  be  thought  rea- 
 sonable to  say,  he  that  teaches  mercy  to  erring 
 persons  teaches  indifferency  in  religion ;  unless  so 
 many  fathers,  and  so  many  churches,  and  the  best 
 of  emperors,  and  all  the  world  (till  they  were 
 abused  by  tyranny,  popery,  and  faction)  did  teach 
 indifferency.  For  I  have  shown  that  Christianity 
 does  not  punish  corporally  persons  erring  spiritu- 
 ally, but  indeed  popery  does  ;  the  Donatists,  and 
 Circumcellians  and  Arians,  and  the  Itaciani,  they  of 
 old  did:  in  the  middle  ages  the  patrons  of  images 
 did,  and  the  papists  at  this  day  do,  and  have  done, 
 ever  since  they  were  taught  it  by  their  St.  Do- 
 minic. 
 
 Seventhly;  And  yet  after  all  this,  I  have  some- 
 thing more  to  exempt  myself  from  the  clamour  of 
 this  objection.  For  let  all  errors  be  as  mach  and 
 as  zealously  suppressed  as  may  be  (the  doctrine  of 
 the  following  discourse  contradicts  not  that) ;  but  let 
 it  be  done  by  such  means  as  are  proper  instruments 
 
THE  EPISTLE   DEDICATORY.  CCCCXix 
 
 of  their  suppression,  by  preaching  and  disputation 
 (so  that  neither  of  them  breed  disturbance,)  by  cha- 
 rity and  sweetness,  by  holiness  of  life,  assiduity  of 
 exhortation,  by  the  word  of  God  and  prayer. 
 
 For  these  ways  are  most  natural,  most  prudent, 
 most  peaceable  and  effectual.  Only  let  not  men 
 be  hasty  in  calling  every  disliked  opinion  by  the 
 name  of  heresy  ;  and  when  they  have  resolved  that 
 they  will  call  it  so,  let  them  use  the  erring  person 
 like  a  brother,  not  beat  him  like  a  dog,  or  convince 
 him  with  a  gibbet,  or  vex  him  out  of  his  under- 
 standing and  persuasions. 
 
 And  now  if  men  will  still  say,  '  I  persuade  to 
 indifferency,'  there  is  no  help  for  me,  for  I  have 
 given  reasons  against  it ;  I  must  bear  it  as  well  as  I 
 can ;  I  am  not  yet  without  remedy,  as  they  are ;  for 
 patience  will  help  me,  and  reason  will  not  cure 
 them,  let  them  take  their  course,  and  I  will  take 
 mine. 
 
 Only  I  will  take  leave  to  consider  this,  and  they 
 would  do  well  to  do  so  too,  that  unless  faith  be 
 kept  within  its  own  latitude,  and  not  called  out  to 
 patrocinate  every  less  necessary  opinion,  and  the 
 interest  of  every  sect  or  peevish  person ;  and  if 
 damnation  be  pronounced  against  Christians  be- 
 lieving the  creed,  and  living  good  lives,  because 
 they  are  deceived,  or  are  said  to  be  deceived,  in 
 some  opinions  less  necessary ;  there  is  no  way  in 
 the  world  to  satisfy  unlearned  persons,  in  the  choice 
 of  their  religion,  or  to  appease  the  unquietness  of  a 
 scrupulous  conscience.  For  suppose  an  honest  citi- 
 zen, whose  employment  and  parts  will  not  enable 
 
ccccxx 
 
 THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 him  to  judge  the  disputes  and  arguings  of  great 
 clerks,  sees  factions  commenced  and  managed,  with 
 much  bitterness,  by  persons,  who  might,  on  either 
 hand,  be  fit  enough  to  guide  him ;  when  if  he 
 follows  either,  he  is  disquieted,  and  pronounced 
 damned  by  the  other,  (who  also,  if  he  be  the  most 
 unreasonable  in  his  opinion,  will  perhaps  be  the 
 more  furious  in  his  sentence)  what  shall  this  man 
 do?  where  shall  he  rest  the  sole  of  his  foot?  Upon 
 the  doctrine  of  the  church  where  he  lives  ?  Well, 
 but  that  he  hears  declaimed  against  perpetually, 
 and  other  churches  claim  highly  and  pretend  fairly 
 for  truth,  and  condemn  his  church.  If  I  tell  him 
 that  he  must  live  a  good  life,  and  believe  the  creed, 
 and  not  trouble  himself  with  their  disputes,  or  in- 
 terest himself  in  sects  and  factions,  I  speak  reason  ; 
 because  no  law  of  God  ties  him  to  believe  more 
 than  what  is  of  essential  necessity,  and  whatsoever 
 he  shall  come  to  know  to  be  revealed  by  God :  Now 
 if  he  believes  his  creed,  he  believes  all  that  is  neces- 
 sary to  all,  or  of  itself;  and  if  he  does  his  moral  en- 
 deavour beside,  he  can  do  no  more  toward  finding 
 out  all  the  rest,  and  then  he  is  secured.  But  then, 
 if  this  will  secure  him,  why  do  men  press  further, 
 and  pretend  every  opinion  as  necessary,  and  that 
 in  so  high  a  degree,  that  if  they  all  said  true,  or 
 any  two  indeed  of  them,  in  five  hundred  sects 
 which  are  in  the  world,  (and  for  aught  I  know 
 there  may  be  five  thousand)  it  is  five  hundred  to 
 one  but  that  every  man  is  damned ;  for  every  sect 
 damns  all  but  itself,  and  that  is  damned  of  four  hun- 
 dred and  ninety-nine,  and  it  is  excellent  fortune 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 ccccxxi 
 
 then  if  that  escape.  And  there  is  the  same  reason 
 in  every  one  of  them,  that  is,  it  is  extreme  unreason- 
 ableness, in  all  of  them,  to  pronounce  damnation 
 against  such  persons,  against  whom  clearly  and  dog- 
 matically holy  Scripture  hath  not.  "  In  odiosis, 
 quod  minimum  est  sequimur ;  in  favoribus,  quod  est 
 maximum,"  saith  the  law  ;  and  therefore  we  should 
 say  any  thing,  or  make  any  excuse,  that  is  in  any  de- 
 gree reasonable,  rather  than  condemn  all  the  world 
 to  hell;  especially  if  we  consider  these  two  things, — 
 that  we  ourselves  are  apt  to  be  deceived,  as  any 
 are  ;  and  that  they  who  are  deceived,  when  they 
 used  their  moral  industry,  that  they  might  not  be 
 deceived,  if  they  perish  for  this,  they  perish  for 
 what  they  could  not  help. 
 
 But,  however,  if  the  best  security  in  the  world  be 
 not  in  neglecting  all  sects  and  subdivisions  of  men, 
 and  fixing  ourselves  on  points  necessary  and  plain, 
 and  on  honest  and  pious  endeavours  according  to 
 our  several  capacities  and  opportunities  for  all  the 
 rest, — if,  I  say,  all  this  be  not,  through  the  mercies 
 of  God,  the  best  security  to  all  unlearned  persons, 
 and  learned  too,  where  shall  we  fix  ?  where  shall  we 
 either  have  peace  or  security  ?  If  you  bid  me  follow 
 your  doctrine,  you  must  tell  me  why ;  and  perhaps 
 when  you  have,  I  am  not  able  to  judge ;  or  if  I  be 
 as  able  as  other  people  are,  yet,  when  I  have  judged, 
 I  may  be  deceived  too,  and  so  may  you,  or  any  man 
 else  you  bid  me  follow  ;  so  that  I  am  not  the  whit 
 the  nearer  truth  or  peace. 
 
 A  nd  then,  if  we  look  abroad,  and  consider  how 
 there  is  scarce  any  church  but  is  highly  charged  by 
 
CCCCXXii  THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 many  adversaries  in  many  things,  possibly  we  may 
 see  a  reason  to  charge  every  one  of  them,  in  some 
 things  ;  and  what  shall  we  do  then  ?  The  church  of 
 Rome  hath  spots  enough,  and  all  the  world  is  inqui- 
 sitive enough  to  find  out  more,  and  to  represent  these 
 to  her  greatest  disadvantage.  The  Greek  churches 
 deny  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  the 
 Son.  If  that  be  false  doctrine,  she  is  highly  to 
 blame;  if  it  be  not,  then  all  the  western  churches 
 are  to  blame  for  saying  the  contrary.  And  there  is 
 no  church  that  is  in  prosperity,  but  alters  her  doc- 
 trine every  age,  either  by  bringing  in  new  doctrines, 
 or  by  contradicting  her  old ;  which  shews  that  none 
 are  satisfied  with  themselves,  or  with  their  own  con- 
 fessions. And  since  all  churches  believe  themselves 
 fallible,  that  only  excepted,  which  all  other  churches 
 say  is  most  of  all  deceived, — it  were  strange  if,  in  so 
 many  articles,  which  make  up  their  several  bodies 
 of  confessions,  they  had  not  mistaken,  every  one  of 
 them,  in  some  thing  or  other.  The  Lutheran  churches 
 maintain  consubstantiation,  the  Zuinglians  are  sacra- 
 mentaries,  the  Calvanists  are  fierce  in  the  matters 
 of  absolute  predetermination,  and  all  these  reject 
 episcopacy  ;  which  the  primitive  church  would  have 
 made  no  doubt  to  have  called  heresy.  The  Soci- 
 nians  profess  a  portentous  number  of  strange  opi- 
 nions ;  they  deny  the  holy  Trinity,  and  the  satis- 
 faction of  our  blessed  Saviour.  The  Anabaptists 
 laugh  at  Paedo-baptism:  the  Ethiopian  churches  are 
 Nestorian.  Where  then  shall  we  fix  our  confidence, 
 or  join  communion  ?  To  pitch  upon  any  one  of 
 these  is  to  throw  the  dice,  if  salvation  be  to  be  had 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY.  CCCCXXlil 
 
 only  in  one  of  them,  and  that  every  error  that  by 
 chance  hath  made  a  sect,  and  is  distinguished  by  a 
 name,  be  damnable. 
 
 If  this  consideration  does  not  deceive  me,  we 
 have  no  other  help  in  the  midst  of  these  distractions 
 and  disunions,  but  all  of  us  to  be  united  in  that 
 common  term,  which  as  it  does  constitute  the  church 
 in  its  being  such,  so  it  is  the  medium  of  the  commu- 
 nion of  saints  ;  and  that  is  the  creed  of  the  apostles  ; 
 and,  in  all  other  things  an  honest  endeavour  to  find 
 out  what  truths  we  can and  a  charitable  and  mu- 
 tual permission  to  others  that  disagree  from  us  and 
 our  opinions.  I  am  sure  this  may  satisfy  us,  for  it 
 will  secure  us  ;  but  I  know  not  any  thing  else  that 
 will ;  and  no  man  can  be  reasonably  persuaded  or 
 satisfied  in  any  thing  else,  unless  he  throws  himself 
 upon  chance,  or  absolute  predestination,  or  his  own 
 confidence ;  in  every  one  of  which  it  is  two  to  one, 
 at  least,  but  he  may  miscarry. 
 
 Thus  far,  1  thought  I  had  reason  on  my  side,  and 
 I  suppose  I  have  made  it  good,  upon  its  proper 
 grounds,  in  the  pages  following.  But  then,  if  the 
 result  be,  that  men  must  be  permitted  in  their 
 opinions,  and  that  Christians  must  not  persecute 
 Christians,  I  have  also  as  much  reason  to  reprove 
 all  those  oblique  arts  which  are  not  direct  per- 
 secutions of  men's  persons,  but  they  are  indirect 
 
 "Clem.  Alex,  stromal.  1.  ait  philosophiara  liberam  esse  prse- 
 stantissimam,  qujB  scilicet  versatur  in  perspicacitcr  seligendis  dog- 
 matis  omnium  sectarum.  Polemo  Alexandrinus  philosophatus  est, 
 ut  ait  Laertius  in  prooemio,  unde  cognominatus  est  ExXe^a/Asvor, 
 scilicet,  T«  apiiya'/Tcc     ixaaTTir  rwv  cxlphsuv. 
 
CCCCXXiv  THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 proceedings,  ungentle  and  unchristian,  servants  of 
 faction  and  interest,  provocations  to  zeal  and  ani- 
 mosities, and  destructive  of  learning  and  ingenuity. 
 And  these  are,  suppressing  all  the  monuments  of 
 their  adversaries,  forcing  them  to  recant,  and  burn- 
 ing their  books. 
 
 For  it  is  a  strange  industry,  and  an  importune 
 diligence  that  was  used  by  our  forefathers ;  of  all 
 those  heresies  which  gave  them  battle  and  employ- 
 ment, we  have  absolutely  no  record  or  monument, 
 but  what  themselves,  who  are  adversaries,  have  trans- 
 mitted to  us ;  and  we  know  that  adversaries,  espe- 
 cially such  who  observed  all  opportunities  to  dis- 
 credit both  the  persons  and  doctrines  of  the  enemy, 
 are  not  always  the  best  records  or  witnesses  of  such 
 transactions.  We  see  it  now  in  this  very  age,  in 
 the  present  distemperatures,  that  parties  are  no 
 good  registers  of  the  actions  of  the  adverse  side : 
 and  if  we  cannot  be  confident  of  the  truth  of  a  story 
 now,  now  I  say  that  it  is  possible  for  any  man, 
 and  likely  that  the  interested  adversary  will  discover 
 the  imposture,  it  is  far  more  unlikely  that  after  ages 
 should  know  any  other  truth,  but  such  as  serves  the 
 ends  of  the  representers.  I  am  sure  such  things 
 were  never  taught  us  by  Christ,  and  his  apostles : 
 and  if  we  were  sure  that  ourselves  spoke  the  truth, 
 or  that  truth  were  able  to  justify  herself,  it  were 
 better  if,  to  preserve  a  doctrine,  we  did  not  destroy 
 a  commandment,  and  out  of  zeal,  pretending  to 
 Christian  religion,  lose  the  glories  and  rewards  of 
 ingenuity  and  Christian  simplicity. 
 
 Of  the  same  consideration  is  mending  of  authors. 
 
THE  EPISITLE  DEDICATORY.  CCCCXXV 
 
 not  to  their  own  mind,  but  to  ours,  that  is,  to  mend 
 them  so  as  to  spoil  them  ;  forbidding  the  publica- 
 tion of  books  in  which  there  is  nothing  impious  or 
 against  the  pubhc  interest,  leaving  out  clauses  in 
 translations,  disgracing  men's  persons,  charging  dis- 
 avowed doctrines  upon  men,  and  the  persons  of  the 
 men  with  the  consequents  of  their  doctrine,  which 
 they  deny  either  to  be  true  or  to  be  consequent ; 
 false  reporting  of  disputations  and  conferences, 
 burning  books  by  the  hand  of  the  hangman,  and 
 all  such  arts,  which  show  that  we  either  distrust 
 God  for  the  maintenance  of  his  truth,  or  that  we 
 distrust  the  cause,  or  distrust  ourselves  and  our 
 abilities.  I  will  say  no  more  of  these,  but  only  con- 
 cerning the  last  I  shall  transcribe  a  passage  out  of 
 Tacitus,  in  the  life  of  Julius  Agricola,  who  gives 
 this  account  of  it :  "  Veniam  non  petissem,  ni  incu- 
 saturus  tam  sseva  et  infesta  virtutibus  terapora.  Legi- 
 mus,  cum  Aruleno  Ruslico  Psstus  Thrasea,  Herennio 
 Senecioni  Prisons  Helvidius  laudati  essent,  capitale 
 fuisse :  neque  in  ipsos  modo  autores,  sed  in  libros 
 quoque  eorum  ssevitum,  delegato  Triumviris  minis- 
 terio,  ut  monumenta  clarissimoruni  ingeniorum  in 
 comitio  ac  foro  urerentur.  Scilicet,  illo  igne  vocem 
 populi  Romani,  et  libertatem  senatus,  et  conscien- 
 tiam  generis  humani  aboleri  arbitrabantur,  expulsis 
 insuper  sapientise  professoribus,  atque  omni  bona 
 arte  in  exsilium  acta,  ne  quid  usquam  honestum 
 occurreret"." — It  is  but  an  illiterate  policy  to  think 
 that  such  indirect  and  uningenuous  proceedings, 
 
 '  Oberlin.  c.  2. 
 
cxiccxxvi       THE  epistle  dedicatory. 
 
 can,  among  wise  and  free  men,  disgrace  the  authors, 
 and  disrepute  their  discourses.  And  I  have  seen 
 that  the  price  hath  been  trebled  upon  a  forbidden, 
 or  a  condemned  book  ;  and  some  men  in  policy  have 
 got  a  prohibition,  that  their  impression  might  be 
 the  more  certainly  vendible,  and  the  author  himself 
 thought  considerable. 
 
 The  best  way  is  to  leave  tricks  and  devices,  and 
 to  fall  upon  that  way  which  the  best  ages  of  the 
 church  did  use.  With  the  strength  of  argument, 
 and  allegations  of  Scripture,  and  modesty  of  de- 
 portment, and  meekness  and  charity  to  the  persons 
 of  men,  they  converted  misbelievers,  stopped  the 
 mouths  of  adversaries,  asserted  truth,  and  discoun- 
 tenanced error;  and  those  other  stratagems  and 
 arts  of  support  and  maintenance  to  doctrines,  were 
 the  issues  of  heretical  brains.  The  old  catholics 
 had  nothing  to  secure  themselves  but  the  Iv  joteyaof 
 truth  and  plain  dealing. 
 
 Fidem  minutis  dissecant  ambagibus, 
 
 Ut  quisque  lingua  est  nequior. 
 Solvunt  liganlque  qusestionum  vincula 
 
 Per  syllogismos  plectiles. 
 Vse  captiosis  sycophantarum  strophis, 
 
 Vae  versipelli  astutise. 
 Nodos  tenaces  recta  rumpit  regula, 
 
 Infesta  disceitantibus: 
 Idcirco  mundi  stulta  deligit  Deus, 
 
 Ut  concidant  sopbistica. 
 
 And,  to  my  understanding,  it  is  a  plain  art  and 
 design  of  the  devil,  to  make  us  so  in  love  with 
 our  own  opinions,  as  to  call  them  faith  and  religion. 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY.  CCCCXXVil 
 
 that  we  may  be  proud  in  our  understanding :  and 
 besides  that,  by  our  zeal  in  our  opinions,  we  grow 
 cool  in  our  piety  and  practical  duties ;  he  also  by 
 this  earnest  contention,  does  directly  destroy  good 
 life,  by  engagement  of  zealots  to  do  any  thing 
 rather  than  be  overcome,  and  lose  their  beloved 
 propositions.  But  I  would  fain  know,  why  is  not 
 any  vicious  habit  as  bad,  or  worse  than  a  false 
 opinion  ?  Why  are  we  so  zealous  against  those  we 
 call  heretics,  and  yet  great  friends  with  drunkards, 
 fornicators,  and  swearers,  and  intemperate  and 
 idle  persons  !  Is  it  because  we  are  commanded 
 by  the  apostle  to  '  reject  a  heretic  after  two  admo- 
 nitions, and  not  bid  such  a  one  God-speed  ?'  It  is 
 good  reason  why  we  should  be  zealous  against  such 
 persons,  provided  we  mistake  them  not.  For  those 
 of  whom  these  apostles  speak,  are  such  as  deny 
 Christ  to  be  come  in  the  flesh,  such  as  deny  an 
 article  of  creed ;  and  in  such  odious  things,  it  is 
 not  safe,  nor  charitable,  to  extend  the  gravamen  and 
 punishment  beyond  the  instances  the  apostles  make, 
 or  their  exact  parallels.  But  then  also  it  would  be 
 remembered  that  the  apostles  speak  as  fiercely 
 against  communion  with  fornicators,  and  all  dis- 
 orders practical,  as  against  communion  with  here- 
 tics :  "  If  any  man  that  is  called  a  brother,  be  a 
 fornicator,  or  covetous,  or  an  idolater,  or  a  railer, 
 or  a  drunkard,  or  an  extortioner,  with  such  a  one 
 no  not  to  eat."  I  am  certain  that  a  drunkard  is 
 as  contrary  to  God,  and  lives  as  contrary  to  the 
 laws  of  Christianity,  as  a  heretic ;  and  I  am  also 
 sure  that  I  know  what  drunkenness  is:  but  I  am 
 
ccccxxviii      the  epistle  dedicatory. 
 
 not  sure  that  such  an  opinion  is  heresy ;  neither 
 would  other  men  be  so  sure  as  they  think  for,  if  they 
 did  consider  it  aright,  and  observe  the  infinite  de- 
 ceptions, and  causes  of  deceptions,  in  wise  men, 
 and  in  most  things,  and  in  all  doubtful  questions, 
 and  that  they  did  not  mistake  confidence  for  cer- 
 tainty. 
 
 But,  indeed,  I  could  not  but  smile  at  those  jolly 
 friars  ;  two  Franciscans  offered  themselves  to  the 
 fire,  to  prove  Savonarola  to  be  a  heretic ;  but  a 
 certain  jacobine^  offered  himself  to  the  fire  to  prove 
 that  Savonarola  had  true  revelations,  and  was  no 
 heretic  :  in  the  mean  time  Savonarola  preached, 
 but  made  no  such  confident  offer,  nor  durst  he 
 venture  at  that  new  kind  of  fire-ordeal.  And,  put 
 case  all  four  had  passed  through  the  fire,  and  died 
 in  the  flames,  what  would  that  have  proved  ?  Had 
 he  been  a  heretic  or  no  heretic,  the  more  or  less, 
 for  the  confidence  of  these  zealous  idiots  ?  If  we 
 mark  it,  a  great  many  arguments  whereon  many 
 sects  rely,  are  no  better  probation  than  this  comes 
 to.  Confidence  is  the  first,  and  the  second,  and 
 the  third  part,  of  a  very  great  many  of  their  propo- 
 sitions. 
 
 But  now  if  men  would  a  little  turn  the  tables, 
 and  be  as  zealous  for  a  good  life,  and  all  the 
 strictest  precepts  of  Christianity  (which  is  a  re- 
 ligion the  most  holy,  the  most  reasonable,  and  the 
 most  consummate  that  ever  was  taught  to  man), 
 as  they  are  for  such  propositions  in  which  neither 
 
 Commin.  1.  viii.  c.  19. 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 ccccxxix 
 
 the  life  nor  the  ornament  of  Christianity  is  con- 
 cerned, we  should  find  that,  as  a  consequent  of 
 this  piety,  men  would  be  as  careful  as  they  could 
 to  find  out  all  truths,  and  the  sense  of  all  revelations 
 which  may  concern  their  duty  ;  and  M^here  men 
 were  miserable  and  could  not,  yet  others  that  lived 
 good  lives  too,  would  also  be  so  charitable,  as  not  to 
 add  affliction  to  this  misery :  and  both  of  them  are 
 parts  of  good  life.  To  be  compassionate,  and  to 
 help  to  bear  one  another's  burdens,  not  to  destroy 
 the  weak,  but  to  entertain  him  meekly,  that  is  a  pre- 
 cept of  charity  ;  and  to  endeavour  to  find  out  the 
 whole  will  of  God,  that  also  is  a  part  of  the  obe- 
 dience, the  choice  and  the  excellency  of  faith  : 
 and  he  lives  not  a  good  life  that  does  not  do  both 
 these. 
 
 But  men  think  they  have  more  reason  to  be  zea- 
 lous against  heresy,  than  against  a  vice  in  manners  ; 
 because  heresy  is  infectious  and  dangerous,  and 
 the  principle  of  much  evil.  Indeed,  if  by  an  heresy 
 we  mean  that  which  is  against  an  article  of  creed, 
 and  breaks  part  of  the  covenant  made  between 
 God  and  man,  by  the  meditation  of  Jesus  Christ, 
 I  grant  it  to  be  a  very  grievous  crime,  a  calling- 
 God's  veracity  into  question,  and  a  destruction  also 
 of  good  life  ;  because,  upon  the  articles  of  creed, 
 obedience  is  built,  and  it  lives,  or  dies,  as  the  effect 
 does,  by  its  proper  cause, — for  faith  is  the  moral 
 cause  of  obedience.  But  then  heresy,  that  is  such 
 as  this,  is  also  a  vice,  and  the  person  criminal, 
 and  so  the  sin  is  to  be  esteemed  in  its  degrees  of 
 
 VOL.  VII.  2  G 
 
CCGCXXX  TIIK  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 malignity  ;  and  let  men  be  as  zealous  against  it  as 
 they  can,  and  employ  the  whole  arsenal  of  the 
 spiritual  armour  against  it :  such  as  this  is  worse 
 than  adultery  or  murder,  inasmuch  as  the  soul  is 
 more  noble  than  the  body,  and  a  false  doctrine 
 is  of  greater  dissemination  and  extent  than  a  single 
 act  of  violence  or  impurity.  Adultery  or  murder 
 is  a  duel ;  but  heresy  (truly  and  indeed  such)  is 
 an  unlawful  war, — it  slays  thousands.  The  losing 
 of  faith  is  like  digging  down  a  foundation ;  all  the 
 superstructures  of  hope,  and  patience,  and  charity, 
 fall  with  it.  And  besides  this,  heresy  of  all  crimes 
 is  the  most  inexcusable,  and  of  least  temptation  : 
 for  true  faith  is  most  commonly  kept  with  the  least 
 trouble  of  any  grace  in  the  world  ;  and  heresy  of 
 itself  hath  not  only  no  pleasure  in  it,  but  is  a  very 
 punishment ;  because  faith,  as  it  opposes  heretical 
 or  false  opinions,  and  distinguishes  from  charity, 
 consists  in  mere  acts  of  believing  ;  which,  because 
 they  are  of  true  propositions,  are  natural  and  pro- 
 portionable to  the  understanding,  and  more  honour- 
 able than  false.  But  then,  concerning  those  things 
 which  men  now-a-days  call  heresy,  they  cannot  be 
 so  formidable  as  they  are  represented ;  and  if  we 
 consider  that  drunkenness  is  certainly  a  damnable 
 sin,  and  that  there  are  more  drunkards  than  heretics, 
 and  that  drunkenness  is  parent  of  a  thousand  vices,  it 
 may  better  be  said  of  this  vice  than  of  most  of  those 
 opinions  which  we  call  heresies,  '  it  is  infectious  and 
 dangerous,  and  the  principle  of  much  evil;'  and, 
 therefore,  as  fit  an  object  for  a  pious  zeal  to  contest 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY.  CCCCXXxi 
 
 against,  as  is  any  of  those  opinions  which  trouble 
 men's  ease  or  reputation,  for  that  is  the  greatest  of 
 their  malignity. 
 
 But  if  we  consider  that  sects  are  made,  and 
 opinions  are  called  heresies  upon  interest,  and  the 
 grounds  of  emolument,  we  shall  see  that  a  good 
 life  would  cure  much  of  this  mischief.  For  first, 
 the  church  of  Rome,  which  is  the  great  dictatrix  of 
 dogmatical  resolutions,  and  the  declarer  of  heresy, 
 and  calls  heretic  more  than  all  the  world  besides, 
 hath  made  that  the  rule  of  heresy,  which  is  the  con- 
 servatory of  interest,  and  the  ends  of  men.  For,  to 
 recede  from  the  doctrine  of  the  church,  with  them, 
 makes  heresy  ;  that  is,  to  disrepute  their  authority, 
 and  not  to  obey  them,  not  to  be  their  subjects,  not 
 to  give  them  the  empire  of  our  conscience,  is  the 
 great  xpiri^^iov  of  heresy. 
 
 So  that,  with  them,  heresy  is  to  be  esteemed 
 clearly  by  human  ends,  not  by  Divine  rules  ;  that 
 is  formal  heresy,  which  does  materially  disserve 
 them.  And  it  would  make  a  suspicious  man  a  little 
 inquisitive  into  their  particular  doctrines  :  and  when 
 he  finds  that  indulgeiicies,  and  jubilees,  and  pur- 
 gatories, and  masses,  and  offices  for  the  dead,  are 
 very  profitable, — that  the  doctrine  of  primacy,  of 
 infallibility,  of  superiority  over  councils,  of  indirect 
 power  in  temporals,  are  great  instruments  of  secular 
 honour;  he  would  be  apt  enough  to  think  that  if 
 the  church  of  Rome  would  learn  to  lay  her  honour 
 at  the  feet  of  the  crucifix,  and  despise  the  world, 
 and  prefer  Jerusalem  before  Rome,  and  heaven 
 
 2  G  2 
 
CCCCXXXii         THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 above  the  Latemn,  that  these  opinions  would  not 
 have  in  them  any  native  strength  to  support  them 
 against  the  perpetual  assaults  of  their  adversaries, 
 that  speak  so  much  reason  and  Scripture  against 
 them,  I  have  instanced  in  the  Roman  religion,  but 
 I  wish  it  may  be  considered  also,  how  far  men's 
 doctrines,  in  other  sects,  serve  men's  temporal 
 ends ;  so  far  that  it  would  not  be  unreasonable  or 
 unnecessary  to  attempt  to  cure  some  of  their  dis- 
 temperatures  or  mispersuasions,  by  the  salutary 
 precepts  of  sanctity  and  holy  life.  Sure  enough,  if 
 it  did  not  more  concern  their  reputation,  and  their 
 lasting  interest,  to  be  counted  true  believers  rather 
 than  good  livers,  they  would  rather  endeavour  to 
 live  well,  than  to  be  accounted  of  a  right  opinion  in 
 things  beside  the  creed. 
 
 For  my  own  particular,  I  cannot  but  expect 
 that  God,  in  his  justice,  should  enlarge  the  bounds 
 of  the  Turkish  empire,  or  some  other  way  punish 
 Christians,  by  reason  of  their  pertinacious  disputing 
 about  things  unnecessary,  undeterminable,  and  un- 
 profitable, and  for  their  hating  and  persecuting  their 
 brethren,  which  should  be  as  dear  to  them  as  their 
 own  lives,  for  not  consenting  to  one  another's  follies 
 and  senseless  vanities.  How  many  volumes  have 
 been  written  about  angels,  about  immaculate  con- 
 ception, about  original  sin,  when  that  all  that  is  solid 
 reason  or  clear  revelation,  in  all  these  three  articles, 
 may  be  reasonably  enough  comprised  in  forty  lines? 
 And  in  these  trifles  and  impertinencies  men  are 
 curiously  busy,  while  they  neglect  those  glorious 
 
THE   EHlSTLi:   orDlCATORY.  CCCCXXXiii 
 
 precepts  of  Christianity  and  holy  lite,  which  are  the 
 glories  of  our  religion,  and  would  enable  us  to  a 
 happy  eternity. 
 
 My  Lord,  thus  far  my  thoughts  have  carried  me, 
 and  then  I  thought  I  had  reason  to  go  further,  and 
 to  examine  the  proper  grounds  upon  which  these 
 persuasions  might  rely  and  stand  firm,  in  case  any 
 body  should  contest  against  them.  For,  possibly, 
 men  may  be  angry  at  me,  and  my  design :  for  I  do 
 all  them  great  displeasure,  who  think  no  end  is  then 
 well  served,  when  their  interest  is  disserved ;  and 
 but  that  I  have  written  so  untowardly  and  heavily, 
 that  I  am  not  worth  a  consideration,  possibly  some 
 or  other  might  be  writing  against  me.  But  then  I 
 must  tell  them,  I  am  prepared  for  an  answer  before- 
 hand :  for  I  think  I  have  spoken  reason  in  my  book, 
 and  examined  it  with  all  the  severity  I  have ;  and  if 
 after  all  this  I  be  deceived,  this  confirms  me  in  my 
 first  opinion,  and  becomes  a  new  argument  to  me 
 that  I  have  spoken  reason ;  for  it  furnishes  me  with 
 a  new  instance  that  it  is  necessary  there  should  be  a 
 mutual  compliance  and  toleration,  because  even  then 
 when  a  man  thinks  he  hath  most  reason  to  be  confi- 
 dent, he  may  easily  be  deceived. 
 
 For  I  am  sure  I  have  no  other  design  but  the 
 prosecution  and  advantage  of  truth,  and  I  may  truly 
 use  the  words  of  Gregory  Nazianzen,  "  Non  stude- 
 mus  paci  in  detrimentum  vera;  doctrinse, — ut  faci- 
 litatis  et  mansuetudinis  famam  colligamus:"  but  I 
 have  written  this,  because  I  thought  it  was  necessary, 
 and  seasonable,  and  charitable,  and  agreeable  to  the 
 great  precepts  and  design  of  Christianity,  consonant 
 
CCCCXXXiv         THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 
 
 to  the  practice  of  the  apostles,  and  the  best  ages 
 of  the  church,  most  agreeable  to  Scripture  and 
 reason,  to  revelation  and  the  nature  of  the  thing ; 
 and  it  is  such  a  doctrine,  that,  if  there  be  variety  in 
 human  affairs,  if  the  event  of  things  be  not  settled 
 in  a  durable  consistence,  but  is  changeable,  every 
 one  of  us  all  may  have  need  of  it.  I  shall  only, 
 therefore,  desire  that  they  who  will  read  it,  may 
 come  to  the  reading  it  with  as  much  simplicity  of 
 purposes  and  unmixed  desires  of  truth,  as  I  did  to 
 the  writing  it ;  and  that  no  man  trouble  himself  witn 
 me  or  my  discourse,  that  thinks  beforehand  that  his 
 opinion  cannot  be  reasonably  altered.  If  he  thinks 
 me  to  be  mistaken  before  he  tries,  let  him  also  think 
 that  he  may  be  mistaken  too, — and  that  he  who 
 judges  before  he  hears,  is  mistaken,  though  he  gives 
 a  right  sentence. 
 
 was  good  counsel.  But  at  a  venture,  I  shall  leave 
 this  sentence  of  Solomon  to  his  consideration,  "  A 
 wise  man  feareth,  and  departeth  from  evil ;  but  a 
 fool  rageth,  and  is  confident." — Tlavra  slUvai  oUa-^ai 
 xa)  S*i(r;^yf/^£o-6ia<  '  is  a  trick  of  boys,  and  bold  young 
 fellows,'  says  Aristotle;  but  they  who  either  know 
 themselves,  or  things,  or  persons,  zirqoa-riSiaa-iv  as)  to 
 'la-cos,  «ai  to  Taya.  Peradventure  yea,  peradventure 
 no,  is  very  often  the  wisest  determination  of  a  ques- 
 tion. For  there  are  [xw^ou  xai  a.7rai^soT0i  ^vjTTjVe/^,  as 
 the  apostle  notes,  "Foolish  and  unlearned  questions':'' 
 
 I  Aristopli.  in  Pluto.  477,  Brunck. 
 
 r  2  Tim.  ii. 
 
THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATOUY,  CCCCXXXV 
 
 and  it  were  better  to  stop  the  current  of  such  fop- 
 peries by  silence,  than,  by  disputing  them,  convey 
 them  to  posterity.  And  many  things  there  are  of 
 more  profit,  which  yet  are  of  no  more  certainty ;  and, 
 therefore,  boldness  of  assertion  (except  it  be  in  mat- 
 ters of  faith  and  clearest  revelation)  is  an  argument 
 of  the  vanity  of  the  man,  never  of  the  truth  of  the 
 proposition:  for,  to  such  matters,  the  saying  of 
 Xenophanes,  in  Varro,  is  pertinent  and  applicable, 
 "  Hominis  est  haec  opinari,  Dei  scire  ;"  "  God  only 
 knows  them,  and  we  conjecture." 
 
 MizvTfy  ocpiaros  'irsris  sixa^fi  y.ocKus, 
 
 And  although  I  be  as  desirous  to  know  what  I 
 should,  and  what  I  should  not,  as  any  of  my  bre- 
 thren, the  sons  of  Adam ;  yet  I  find  that  the  more  I 
 search,  the  further  I  am  from  being  satisfied,  and 
 make  but  few  discoveries,  save  of  my  own  igno- 
 rance ;  and,  therefore,  I  am  desirous  to  follow  the 
 example  of  a  very  wise  personage,  Julius  Agricola, 
 of  whom  Tacitus  gave  this  testimony,  "  Retinuitque 
 (quod  est  difficillimum)  ex  scientia  raodum  :"  or, 
 that  I  may  take  my  precedent  from  within  the  pale 
 of  the  church,  it  was  the  saying  of  St.  Austin, 
 "  Mallem  quidem  eorum,  qute  a  me  quoBsivisti,  ha- 
 bere scientiam  quam  ignorantiam ;  sed  quia  id  non- 
 dum  potui,  magis  eligo  cautam  ignorantiam  confi- 
 teri,  quam  falsam  scientiam  profiteri."  And  these 
 words  do  very  much  express  my  sense.  But  if 
 there  be  any  man  so  confident  as  Luther  sometimes 
 was,  who  said  that  he  could  expound  all  Scripture  ; 
 
CCCCXXXvi  THE  EPISTLE  DEDICATORY, 
 
 or  so  vain  as  Eckius,  who,  in  his  Chvysopassus,  ven- 
 tured upon  the  highest  and  most  mysterious  ques- 
 tion of  predestination,  "  ut  in  ea  juveniles  possit 
 calores  exercere ;''  such  persons  as  these,  or  any 
 that  is  furious  in  his  opinion,  will  scorn  me  and  my 
 discourse  ;  but  I  shall  not  be  much  moved  at  it,  only 
 I  shall  wish  that  I  had  as  much  knowledge  as  they 
 think  me  to  want,  and  they  as  much  as  they  believe 
 themselves  to  have.  In  the  mean  time,  modesty 
 were  better  for  us  both,  and  indeed  for  all  men. 
 For  when  men  indeed  are  knowino-,  amongst  other 
 things  they  are  able  to  separate  certainties  from  un- 
 certainties :  if  they  be  not  knowing,  it  is  pity  that 
 their  ignorance  should  be  triumphant,  or  discompose 
 the  public  peace,  or  private  confidence. 
 
 And  now,  my  Lord,  that  I  have  inscribed  this 
 book  to  your  Lordship,  although  it  be  a  design  of 
 doing  honour  to  myself,  that  I  have  marked  it  with 
 so  honoured  and  beloved  a  name,  might  possibly 
 need  as  much  excuse  as  it  does  pardon,  but  that 
 your  Lordship  knows  your  own;  for  out  of  your 
 mines  I  have  digged  the  mineral ;  only  I  have 
 stamped  it  with  my  own  image,  as  you  may  per- 
 ceive by  the  deformities  which  are  in  it.  But  your 
 great  name  in  letters  will  add  so  much  value  to  it, 
 as  to  make  it  obtain  its  pardon  amongst  all  thera 
 that  know  how  to  value  you,  and  all  your  relatives 
 and  dependents,  by  the  proportion  of  relation.  For 
 others  I  shall  be  incurious,  because  the  number  of 
 them  that  honour  you,  is  the  same  with  them  that 
 honour  learning  and  piety,  and  they  are  the  best 
 
THE   EPISTLE   DEDICATORY.  CCCCXXXVU 
 
 theatre,  and  the  best  judges;  amongst  which  the 
 world  must  needs  take  notice  of  my  ambition,  to  be 
 ascribed  by  my  public  pretence  to  be  what  I  am  ia 
 all  heartiness  of  devotion,  and  for  all  the  reason  of 
 the  world, 
 
 My  honoured  Lord, 
 
 Your  Lordship's  most  faithful, 
 And  most  affectionate  servant. 
 
 JER.  TAYLOR. 
 
©EOAOriA  EKAEKTIKH, 
 
 OR, 
 
 A  DISCOURSE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE  LIBERTY  OF  PROPHESYING, 
 
 WITH 
 
 ITS  JUST  LIMITS  AND  TEMPER. 
 
 T  HE  infinite  variety  of  opinions,  in  matters  of  religion,  as 
 they  have  troubled  Christendom  with  interests,  factions,  and 
 partialities,  so  have  they  caused  great  divisions  of  the  heart, 
 and  variety  of  thoughts  and  designs  amongst  jDious  and  pru- 
 dent men.  For  they  all,  seeing  the  inconveniences  which 
 the  disunion  of  persuasions  and  opinions  have  produced, 
 directly  or  accidentally,  have  thought  themselves  obliged  to 
 stop  this  inundation  of  mischiefs,  and  have  made  attempts 
 accordingly.  But  it  hath  happened  to  most  of  them,  as  to 
 a  mistaken  physician,  who  gives  excellent  physic,  but  mis- 
 applies it,  and  so  misses  of  his  cure:  so  have  these  men  ;  their 
 attempts  have,  therefore,  been  ineft'ectual :  for  they  put  their 
 help  to  a  wi'ong  part,  or  they  have  endeavoured  to  cure  the 
 symptoms,  and  have  let  the  disease  alone  till  it  seemed  in- 
 curable. Some  have  endeavoured  to  reunite  these  fractions, 
 by  propounding  such  a  guide  which  they  were  all  bound  to 
 follow  ;  hoping  that  the  unity  of  a  guide  would  have  per- 
 suaded unity  of  minds ;  but  who  this  guide  should  be,  at 
 last,  became  such  a  question,  that  it  was  made  part  of  the 
 fire  that  was  to  be  quenched,  so  far  was  it  from  extinguish- 
 ing any  part  of  the  flame.  Others  thought  of  a  rule,  and 
 this  must  be  the  means  of  union,  or  nothing  could  do  it.  But 
 supposing  all  the  world  had  been  agreed  of  this  rule,  yet 
 the  interpretation  of  it  was  so  full  of  variety,  that  this  also 
 
440 
 
 THE  LIBERTY  OP  PROPHESYING. 
 
 became  part  of  tlie  disease  for  wliicli  the  cure  was  pretended. 
 All  men  resolved  upon  this,  that,  though  they  yet  had  not  hit 
 upon  the  right,  yet  some  way  must  be  thought  upon  to  re- 
 concile differences  in  opinion,  thinking,  so  long  as  this  variety 
 should  last,  Christ's  kingdom  was  not  advanced,  and  the 
 work  of  the  Gospel  went  on  but  slowly.  Few  men,  in  the 
 mean  time  considered,  that  so  long  as  men  had  such  variety 
 of  principles,  such  several  constitutions,  educations,  tempers, 
 and  distempers,  hopes,  interests,  and  weaknesses,  degrees  of 
 light  and  degrees  of  understanding,  it  was  impossible  all 
 should  be  of  one  mind.  And  what  is  impossible  to  be 
 done,  is  not  necessary  it  should  be  done.  And,  therefore, 
 although  variety  of  opinions  was  impossible  to  be  cured  (and 
 they  who  attempted  it  did  like  him  who  claps  his  shoulder  to 
 the  ground  to  stop  an  earthquake) ;  yet  the  inconveniences 
 arising  from  it,  might  possibly  be  cui-ed,  not  by  uniting  their 
 beliefs, — that  was  to  be  despaired  of,  but  by  curing  that 
 which  caused  these  mischiefs,  and  accidental  inconveniences  of 
 their  disagreeings.  For  although  these  inconveniences  which 
 every  man  sees  and  feels,  were  consequent  to  this  diversity  of 
 persuasions,  yet  it  was  but  accidentally  and  by  chance ;  inas- 
 much as  we  see  that  in  many  things,  and  they  of  great  con- 
 cernment, men  allow  to  themselves  and  to  each  other,  a 
 liberty  of  disagreeing,  and  no  hurt  neither.  And,  certainly, 
 if  diversity  of  opinions  were,  of  itself,  the  cause  of  mischiefs, 
 it  would  be  so  ever,  that  is,  regularly  and  universally  :  but 
 that  we  see  It  is  not.  For  there  are  disputes  in  Christendom 
 concerning  matters  of  greater  concernment  than  most  of 
 those  opinions,  that  distinguish  sects  and  make  factions  ;  and 
 yet,  because  men  are  pei'mitted  to  differ  in  those  great 
 matters,  such  evils  are  not  consequent  to  such  differences,  as 
 are  to  the  uncharitable  managing  of  smaller  and  more  incon- 
 siderable questions.  It  is  of  greater  consequence  to  be- 
 lieve right,  in  the  question  of  the  validity  or  Invalidity  of  a 
 death-bed  rejientance,  than  to  believe  aright  in  the  question 
 of  purgatory ;  and  the  consequences  of  the  doctrine  of  pre- 
 determination are  of  deeper  and  more  material  consideration, 
 than  the  products  of  the  belief  of  the  lawfulness  or  unlawful- 
 ness of  private  masses :  and  yet  these  great  concernments, 
 where  a  liberty  of  prophesying  in  these  questions  hath  been 
 permitted,  have  made  no  distinct  communion,  no  sects  of 
 
THE  LIRERTV   OF  PROPHESYING. 
 
 441 
 
 Christians,  and  the  others  liave  ;  and  so  have  these  too,  in 
 those  places  where  they  have  peremptorily  been  determined 
 on  either  side.  Since,  then,  if  men  are  quiet  and  charitable 
 in  some  disagreeings,  that  then,  and  there  the  inconvenience 
 ceases;  if  they  were  so  in  all  others,  where  lawfully  they 
 might  (and  they  may  in  most),  Christendom  should  be  no 
 longer  I'ent  in  pieces,  but  would  be  redintegrated  in  a  new 
 pentecost.  And  although  the  Spirit  of  God  did  rest  upon 
 us  in  divided  tongues,  yet,  so  long  as  those  tongues  were  of 
 fire,  not  to  kindle  strife,  but  to  warm  our  affections  and  in- 
 flame our  charities,  we  should  find  that  this  variety  of  opi- 
 nions, in  several  persons,  would  be  looked  upon  as  an  argu- 
 ment only  of  diversity  of  operations,  while  the  Spirit  is  the 
 same :  and  that  another  man  believes  not  so  well  as  I,  is 
 only  an  argument  that  I  have  a  better  and  a  clearer  illumi- 
 nation than  he,  that  I  have  a  better  gift  than  he,  received  a 
 special  gi-ace  and  favour,  and  excel  him  in  this,  and  am, 
 perhaps,  excelled  by  him  in  many  more.  And  if  we  all  im- 
 partially endeavour  to  find  a  truth,  since  this  endeavour  and 
 search  only  is  in  our  power,  that  we  shall  find  it  being  '  ab 
 extra,'  a  gift  and  an  assistance  extrinsical,  I  can  see  no  rea- 
 son why  this  pious  endeavour  to  find  out  truth  shall  not  be 
 of  more  force  to  unite  us  in  the  bonds  of  charity,  than  the 
 misery  in  missing  it  shall  be  to  disunite  us.  So  that  since  an 
 union  of  persuasion  is  impossible  to  be  attained,  if  we  would 
 attempt  the  cure  by  such  remedies  as  are  apt  to  enkindle 
 and  increase  charity,  I  am  confident  we  might  see  a  blessed 
 peace  would  be  the  reward  and  crown  of  such  endeavours. 
 
 But  men  are  now-a-days,  and,  indeed,  always  have  been, 
 since  the  expiration  of  the  first  blessed  ages  of  Christianitv, 
 so  in  love  with  their  own  fancies  and  opinions,  as  to  think 
 faith  and  all  Christendom  is  concerned  in  their  support  and 
 maintenance ;  and  whoever  is  not  so  fond,  and  does  not  dan- 
 dle them  like  themselves,  it  grows  up  to  a  quarrel  which, 
 because  it  is  in  '  materia  theologire,'  is  made  a  quarrel  in 
 religion,  and  God  is  entitled  to  it ;  and  tlien  if  you  are  once 
 thought  an  enemy  to  God,  it  is  our  duty  to  persecute  you 
 even  to  death' — we  do  God  good  service  in  it :  when,  if  we 
 should  examine  the  matter  rightly,  the  question  is  either  in 
 '  materia  non  revelata,' or  'minus  evidenti,  or  ' non  neces- 
 saria,'  cither  it  is  not  revealed,  or  not  so  clearly,  but  that 
 
442 
 
 THE  LIBERTY  OP  PROPHESYING. 
 
 wise  and  honest  men  may  be  of  different  minds ;  or  else  it  is 
 not  of  the  foundation  of  faith,  but  a  remote  superstructure  ; 
 or  else  of  mere  speculations  ;  or  perhaps,  when  all  comes  to 
 all,  it  is  a  false  opinion,  or  a  matter  of  human  interest,  that 
 we  have  so  zealously  contended  for  ;  for  to  one  of  these 
 heads  most  of  the  disputes  of  Christendom  may  be  reduced ; 
 so  that  I  believe  the  present  fractions,  or  the  most,  are  from 
 the  same  cause  which  St.  Paul  observed  in  the  Corinthian 
 schism  :  "  When  there  are  divisions  among  you,  are  ye  not 
 carnal?"  It  is  not  the  differing  opinions  that  is  the  cause  of 
 the  present  ruptures,  but  want  of  charity;  it  is  not  the 
 variety  of  understandings,  but  the  disunion  of  wills  and  affec- 
 tions ;  it  is  not  the  several  principles,  but  the  several  ends, 
 that  cause  our  miseries;  our  opinions  commence,  and  are 
 upheld,  according  as  our  turns  ai-e  served,  and  our  interests 
 are  preserved,  and  there  is  no  cure  for  us  but  piety  and 
 charity.  A  holy  life  will  make  our  belief  holy,  if  we  consult 
 not  humanity,  and  its  imperfections,  in  the  choice  of  our 
 religion,  but  search  for  truth  without  designs,  save  only  of 
 acquiring  heaven,  and  then  be  as  careful  to  preserve  charity, 
 as  we  were  to  get  a  point  of  faith  ;  I  am  as  much  persuaded 
 we  shall  find  out  more  truths  by  this  means ;  or  however, 
 "which  is  the  main  of  all,  we  shall  be  secured  though  we  miss 
 them ;  and  then  we  are  well  enough. 
 
 For  if  it  be  evinced,  that  one  heaven  shall  hold  men  of 
 several  opinions,  if  the  unity  of  faith  be  not  destroyed  by  that 
 which  men  call  differing  religions,  and  if  an  unity  of  charity 
 be  the  duty  of  us  all,  even  towards  persons  that  are  not 
 persuaded  of  every  proposition  we  believe,  then  I  would  fain 
 know  to  what  purpose  are  all  those  stirs  and  great  noises  in 
 Christendom ;  those  names  of  faction,  the  several  names  of 
 churches  not  distinguished  by  the  division  of  kingdoms,  '  ut 
 ecclesia  sequatur  imperium,' which  was  the  primitive  rule  and 
 canon*,  but  distinguished  by  names  of  sects  and  men;  these 
 are  all  become  instruments  of  hatred ;  thence  come  schisms 
 and  parting  of  communions,  and  then  persecutions,  and  then 
 wars  and  rebellion,  and  then  the  dissolutions  of  all  friendships 
 and  societies.  All  these  mischiefs  proceed  not  fi'om  this, 
 that  all  men  are  not  of  one  mind,  for  that  is  neither  neces- 
 
 Optat.  lib.  iii. 
 
THE  NATURE  OF  FAITH. 
 
 443 
 
 sary  nof  possible, — but  that  every  opinion  is  made  an  article 
 of  faith,  every  article  is  a  ground  of  a  quarrel,  every  quarrel 
 makes  a  faction,  every  faction  is  zealous,  and  all  zeal  pre- 
 tends for  God,  and  whatsoever  is  for  God  cannot  be  too 
 much  ;  We,  by  this  time,  are  come  to  that  pass,  we  think  We 
 love  not  God  except  we  hate  our  brother,  and  we  have  not 
 the  virtue  of  religion,  unless  we  persecute  all  religions  but 
 our  own  ;  for  lukewarmness  is  so  odious  to  God  and  man, 
 that  we,  proceeding  furiously  upon  these  mistakes,  by  sup- 
 posing we  preserve  the  body,  we  destroy  the  soul  of  religion, 
 or,  by  being  zealous  for  faith,  or,  which  is  all  one,  for  that 
 which  we  mistake  for  faith,  we  are  cold  in  charity,  and  so 
 lose  the  reward  of  both. 
 
 All  these  errors  and  mischiefs  must  be  discovered  and 
 cured,  and  that  is  the  purpose  of  this  discourse. 
 
 SECTION  I. 
 
 Of  the  Nature  of  Faith,  and  that  its  Duty  is  completed  in 
 believing  the  Articles  of  the  Apostles'  Creed. 
 
 1.  First,  then,  it  is  of  great  concernment  to  know  the 
 nature  and  integrity  of  faith,  for  there  begins  our  first  and 
 great  mistake  ;  for  faith,  although  it  be  of  great  excellency, 
 yet,  when  it  is  taken  for  a  habit  intellectual,  it  hath  so  little 
 rootn,  and  so  narrow  a  capacity,  that  it  cannot  lodge  thou- 
 sands of  those  opinions  which  pretend  to  be  of  her  family. 
 
 2.  For  although  it  be  necessary  for  us  to  believe  whatso- 
 ever we  know  to  be  revealed  of  God,  and  so  every  man  does, 
 that  believes  there  is  a  God  ;  yet  it  is  not  necessary,  concern- 
 ing many  things,  to  know  that  God  hath  revealed  them  ; 
 that  is,  we  may  be  ignorant  of,  or  doubt  concerning  the  pro- 
 positions, and  indifferently  maintain  either  part,  when  the 
 question  is  not  concerning  God's  veracity,  but  whether  God 
 hath  said  so  or  no  :  that  which  is  of  the  foundation  of  faith, 
 that  only  is  necessary  ;  and  the  knowing  or  not  knowing  of 
 that,  the  believing  or  disbelieving  it,  is  that  only  which,  in 
 '  genere  credendorum,'  is  in  immediate  and  necessary  order  to 
 salvation  or  damnation. 
 
444 
 
 THE  NATURE  OF  FAITH. 
 
 3.  Now,  all  the  reason  and  demonsti-alion  of  the  world 
 convinces  us,  that  tliis  foundation  of  faith,  or  the  great  ade- 
 quate object  of  the  faith  that  saves  us,  is  that  great  mysteri- 
 ousness  of  Christianity  which  Christ  taught  with  so  much 
 diligence, — for  the  credibility  of  which  he  wrought  so  many 
 miracles, — for  the  testimony  of  which  the  apostles  endured 
 persecutions, — that  which  was  a  folly  to  the  Gentiles,  and  a 
 scandal  to  the  Jews ;  this  is  that  which  is  the  object  of  a 
 Christian's  faith  :  all  other  things  are  implicitly  in  the  belief 
 of  the  articles  of  God's  veracity,  and  are  not  necessary,  in 
 I'espect  of  the  constitution  of  faith,  to  be  drawn  out,  but  may 
 there  lie  in  the  bowels  of  the  great  articles,  without  danger 
 to  any  thing  or  any  person,  unless  some  other  accident  or  cir- 
 cumstance makes  them  necessary.  Now,  the  great  object 
 which  I  speak  of,  is  "  Jesus  Christ  crucified  ;"  "  Constitui 
 enim  apud  vos  nihil  scire  praeter  Jesum  Christum  et  hunc 
 crucifixum  ;"  so  said  St.  Paul  to  the  church  of  Corinth. 
 This  is  the  article,  upon  the  confession  of  which  Christ  built 
 his  church,  viz.,  only  upon  St.  Peter's  creed,  which  was  no 
 more  but  this  simple  enunciation,  "  We  believe,  and  are 
 sure,  that  thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God":"  and 
 to  this,  salvation  particularly  is  promised,  as  in  the  case  of 
 Martha's  creed ^  To  this  the  Scripture  gives  the  greatest 
 testimony,  and  to  all  them  that  confess  it ;  "  For  every  spirit 
 that  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh,  is  of 
 God :  and  whoever  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son 
 of  God,  God  dwelleth  in  him,  and  he  in  God''."  The  be- 
 lieving this  article  is  the  end  of  writing  the  four  Gospels : 
 "  For  all  these  things  are  written,  that  ye  might  believe,  that 
 Jesus  is  the  Christ  the  Son  of  God ;"  and  then  that  this  is 
 sufficient  follows,  and  that  "believing,"  viz.,  this  article,  for 
 this  was  only  instanced  in,  "ye  might  have  life  through  his 
 name''."  This  is  that  great  article  which,  in  '  genere  creden- 
 dorum,'  is  sufficient  disposition  to  prepare  a  catechumen  to 
 baptism,  as  appears  in  the  case  of  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,  whose 
 creed  was  only  this,  "I  believe  t'nat  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son 
 of  God  and  upon  this  confession,  saith  the  story,  they  both 
 went  into  the  water,  and  the  Ethiop  was  washed,  and  became 
 as  white  as  snow. 
 
 »MaU.  xvi.  16.     h  John,  xi.  27.        1  John,  iv.  2,  15.        John,  xx.  XI 
 
THE  NATURE  OV  FAITH. 
 
 445 
 
 4.  In  these  particular  instances  there  is  no  variety  of  arti- 
 cles, save  only  that  in  the  annexes  of  the  several  expressions, 
 such  things  ai-e  exj^ressed,  as  besides  that  Christ  is  come,  they 
 tell  from  whence,  and  to  what  purpose  ;  and  whatsoever  is 
 expressed,  or  is,  to  these  purposes,  implied,  is  made  articu- 
 late and  explicate  in  the  short  and  admirable  mysterious  creed 
 of  St.  Paul  :  "  This  is  the  word  of  faith  which  we  preach, 
 that  if  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
 shalt  believe,  in  thine  heart,  that  God  hath  raised  him  from 
 the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved This  is  the  great  and 
 entire  complexion  of  a  Christian's  faith,  and  since  salvation 
 is  promised  to  the  belief  of  this  creed,  either  a  snare  is  laid 
 for  us,  with  a  purpose  to  deceive  us,  or  else  nothing  is  of 
 prime  and  original  necessity  to  be  believed,  but  this  '  Jesus 
 Christ,  our  Redeemer  ;'  and  all  that  which  is  the  necessary 
 parts,  means,  or  main  actions,  of  working  this  redemption 
 for  us,  and  the  honour  for  him,  is  in  the  bowels  and  fold  of 
 the  great  article,  and  claims  an  explicit  belief,  by  the  same 
 reason  that  binds  us  to  the  belief  of  its  first  complexion,  with- 
 out which  neither  the  thing  could  be  acted,  nor  the  proposi- 
 tion understood. 
 
 5.  For  the  act  of  believing  propositions  is  not  for  itself^ 
 but  in  order  to  certain  ends  ;  as  sermons  are  to  good  life  and 
 obedience  ;  for  (excepting  that  it  acknowledges  God's  vera- 
 city, and  so  is  a  direct  act  of  religion)  believing  a  revealed 
 proposition  hath  no  excellency  in  itself,  but  in  order  to  that 
 end  for  which  we  are  instructed  in  such  revelations.  Now 
 God's  great  purpose  being  to  bring  us  to  him  by  Jesus 
 Christ,  Christ  is  our  medium  to  God, — obedience  is  the 
 medium  to  Christ, — and  faith  the  medium  to  obedience,  and, 
 therefore,  is  to  have  its  estimate  in  proportion  to  its  proper 
 end ;  and  those  things  are  necessary  which  necessarily  pro- 
 mote the  end,  without  which  obedience  cannot  be  encouraged, 
 or  prudently  enjoined  :  so  that  those  articles  are  necessary, 
 that  is,  those  are  fundamental  points,  upon  which  we  build 
 our  obedience ;  and  as  the  influence  of  the  article  is  to  the 
 persuasion  or  engagement  of  obedience,  so  they  have  their 
 degrees  of  necessity.  Now  all  that  Christ,  when  he  preached, 
 taught  us  to  believe,  and  all  that  the  apostles,  in  their  ser- 
 
 vo j..  VI 1. 
 
 e  Rom.  X.  1. 
 
44G 
 
 THE  NATURE  OP  FAITH. 
 
 mons,  propound,  all  aim  at  this, — that  we  should  acknow- 
 ledge Christ  for  our  Lawgiver  and  our  Saviour  ;  so  that 
 nothing  can  be  necessary,  by  a  prime  necessity,  to  be  believed 
 explicitly,  but  such  things  which  are,  therefore,  parts  of  the 
 great  article,  because  they  either  encourage  our  services,  or 
 oblige  them, — such  as  declare  Christ's  greatness  in  himself, 
 or  his  goodness  to  us:  so  that,  although  we  must  neither 
 deny,  nor  doubt  of  any  thing,  which  we  know  our  great 
 Master  hath  taught  us,  yet  salvation  is,  in  special  and  by 
 name,  annexed  to  the  belief  of  those  articles  only,  which 
 have  in  them  the  endearments  of  our  services,  or  the  support 
 of  onr  confidence,  or  the  satisfaction  of  our  hopes  ;  such  as 
 are,  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  the  crucifixion 
 and  resurrection  of  Jesus,  forgiveness  of  sins  by  his  blood, 
 resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  life  eternal ;  because  these  pro- 
 positions qualify  Christ  for  our  Saviour  and  our  Lawgiver, 
 the  one  to  engage  our  services,  the  other  to  endear  them;  for 
 so  much  is  iiecessaiy  as  will  make  us  to  be  his  servants  and 
 his  disciples  ;  and  what  can  be  i-equired  more  ?  This  only  : — 
 Salvation  is  promised  to  the  explicit  belief  of  those  articles, 
 and,  therefore,  those  only  are  necessary,  and  those  are  suf- 
 ficient ;  but  thus,  to  us,  in  the  formality  of  Christians,  Avhich 
 is  a  formality  superadded  to  a  former  capacity,  we,  before 
 we  are  Christians,  are  reasonable  creatures,  and  capable  of  a 
 blessed  eternity  ;  and  there  is  a  creed,  which  is  the  Gentiles' 
 creed,  which  is  so  supposed  in  the  Christian's  creed,  as  it  is 
 supposed  in  a  Christian  to  be  a  man,  and  that  is,  "  oportet 
 accedentem  ad  Deum  credere  Deum  esse,  et  esse  remunera- 
 torem  quserentium  eum." 
 
 6.  If  any  man  will  urge  further,  that  whatsoever  is  dedu- 
 clble  fi'om  these  articles  by  necessary  consequence,  is  neces- 
 sary to  be  believed  explicitly, — I  answer  :  It  is  true,  if  he 
 sees  the  deduction  and  coherence  of  the  parts ;  but  it  is  not 
 certain  that  eveiy  man  shall  be  able  to  deduce  whatsoever  is 
 either  immediately  or  certainly  deducible  from  these  pre- 
 mises ;  and  then,  since  salvation  is  promised  to  the  explicit 
 belief  of  these,  I  see  not  how  any  man  can  justify  the  making 
 the  way  to  heaven  narrower  than  Jesus  Christ  hath  made  it, 
 it  being  already  so  narrow,  that  there  are  few  that  find  it. 
 
 7.  In  the  pursuance  of  this  great  truth,  the  apostles,  or 
 the  holy  men,  their  contemporaries  and  disciples,  composed 
 
THE  NATURE  OP  FAITH. 
 
 447 
 
 a  creed,  to  be  a  rule  of  faith  to  all  Christians,  as  appears  in 
 Irenaeus,  Tertullian^  St.  Cyprian  ^  St.  Austin Ruffiuus', 
 and  divers  others'" ;  which  creed,  unless  it  had  contained  all 
 the  entire  object  of  faith,  and  the  foundation  of  religion,  it 
 cannot  be  imagined  to  what  purpose  it  should  serve ;  and 
 that  it  was  so  esteemed  by  the  whole  church  of  God,  in  all 
 ages,  appears  in  this, — that  since  faith  is  a  necessary  predis- 
 position to  baptism  in  all  persons  cajmble  of  the  use  of  reason, 
 all  catechumens  in  the  Latin  church,  coming  to  baptism, 
 were  interrogated  concerning  their  faith,  and  gave  satisfac- 
 tion in  the  recitation  of  this  creed.  And  in  the  east  they  pro- 
 fessed exactly  the  same  faith,  something  diflfering  in  words, 
 but  of  the  same  matter,  reason,  design,  and  consequence ; 
 and  so  they  did  at  Jerusalem,  so  at  Aquileia.  This  was 
 that  o^^ri  x«t  df/,c!>iJ.rjTOi  zslsris,  tjvsjc^  x.ripvmi  ri  ocylot  row  ©soy 
 Ko.ho'Kiy.-n  nxi  tzTro(7roktx.ri  eimXvi(Tlcc,  xxt  ou^tvoc  rpoirov  xocivKy/M-j 
 Ss^a/xsvo).  These  articles  were  rx  ruv  a-yiuv  duoaroXcov,  axl  ruiy 
 (/.ST  ixe/vwy  ^tccTpi-^^dvTcoy  ev  rxTf  xylxis@Bov  liixXri'slan ,  JiSaSyptasTat'. 
 Now  since  the  apostles,  and  apostolical  men,  and  churches, 
 in  these  their  symbols,  did  recite  particular  articles  to  a  con- 
 siderable number,  and  were  so  minute  in  their  recitation,  as 
 to  descend  to  circumstances,  it  is  more  than  probable  that 
 they  omitted  nothing  of  necessity  ;  and  that  these  articles  are 
 not  general  principles,  in  the  bosom  of  which  many  more 
 articles,  equally  necessary  to  be  believed  explicitly,  and  more 
 particular,  are  enfolded ;  but  that  it  is  as  minute  an  explica- 
 tion of  those  '  prima  credibilia'  I  before  reckoned,  as  is  neces- 
 sary to  salvation. 
 
 8.  And,  therefore,  TertuUian  calls  the  creed  "  Regulam 
 fidei,  qua  salva,  et  forma  ejus  manente  in  suo  ordine,  possit 
 in  ScrijJtura  tractari  et  inquiri  si  quid  videtur,  vel  ambigui- 
 tate  pendei'e,  vel  obscuritate  obumbrari."" — "  Cordis  signacu- 
 lum,  et  nostrae  militiae  sacramentum,"  St.  Ambrose  calls 
 it"";  "  Comprehensio  fidei  nosti-ae  atque  perfectio," — by  St. 
 
 f  Apol.  contr.  Gent.  c.  47.  de  Veland.  Virg.  c.  1. 
 S  In  exposit.  Symbol.  Serm,  v.  de  Tempore,  c.  2. 
 
 '  In  Symbol,  apud  Cyprian. 
 Omnes  Orthodoxi  Patres  affirmant  Symbolum  ab  ipsis  Aposlolis  condi- 
 tum,  Sext.  Senensis,  lib.  ii .  bibl.  5.    Vide  Genebr.  lib.  iii.  de  Trin. 
 '  Cod.  de  S.  Trinit.  ad  Fid.  Cath.  cum  Recta,  lib.  v. 
 in  De  Velandis  Virgin,  lib.  iii. 
 
 2  H  2 
 
448 
 
 THE  NATURE  OF  FAITH. 
 
 Austin  n;  "  Confessio,  expositio,  regula  fidei,"  generally  by 
 the  ancients.  The  profession  of  this  creed  was  the  exposi- 
 tion of  that  saying  of  St.  Peter,  SuvgiSriTswr  ayaSr/r  izjepair-nixoc 
 sU  0£ov,  "  The  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God." 
 For  of  the  recitation  and  profession  of  this  creed  in  baptism, 
 it  is  that  Tertullian  says",  "  Anima  non  lotione,  sed  respon- 
 sione  sancitur." — And  of  this  was  the  prayer  of  Hilary 
 "  Conserva  hanc  couscientise  mese  vocem,  ut  quod  in  regene- 
 rationis  mese  symbolo,  baptizatus  in  Patre,  Filio,  Spiritu 
 Sancto,  professus  sum,  semper  obtineam."  And  according 
 to  the  rule  and  reason  of  this  discourse  (that  it  may  appear 
 that  the  creed  hath  in  it  all  articles  '  primo  et  per  se,'  primely 
 and  universally  necessary),  the  creed  is  just  such  an  expli- 
 cation of  that  faith  which  the  apostles  preached,  viz.,  the 
 ci'eed  which  St.  Paul  recites,  as  contains  in  it  all  those 
 things  which  entitle  Christ  to  us,  in  the  capacities  of  our 
 Lawgiver  and  our  Saviour,  such  as  enable  him  to  the  great 
 work  of  redemption,  according  to  the  predictions  concerning 
 him,  and  such  as  engage  and  encourage  our  services.  For, 
 taking  out  the  article  of  Christ''s  descent  into  hell,  (which 
 was  not  in  the  old  creed,  as  appears  in  some  of  the  copies  I 
 before  i-eferred  to,  in  Tertullian,  Ruffinus,  and  Irenaeus; 
 and,  indeed,  was  omitted  in  all  the  confessions  of  the  eastern 
 churches,  in  the  church  of  Rome,  and  in  the  Nicene  creed, 
 which,  by  adoption,  came  to  be  the  creed  of  the  Catholic 
 church),  by  other  articles  are  such  as  directly  constitute  the 
 parts  and  work  of  our  redemption,  such  as  clearly  derive  the 
 honour  to  Christ,  and  enable  him  with  the  capacities  of  our 
 Saviour  and  Lord.  The  rest  engage  our  services  by  pro- 
 position of  such  articles,  which  are  rather  promises  than 
 propositions ;  and  the  whole  creed,  take  it  in  any  of  the  old 
 forms,  is  but  an  analysis  of  that  which  St.  Paul  calls  '  the 
 word  of  Salvation,  whereby  we  shall  be  saved,'  viz.  that  '  we 
 confess  Jesus  to  be  Lord,  and  that  God  raised  him  from  the 
 dead;'  by  the  first  whereof  he  became  our  Lawgiver  and  our 
 Guardian ;  by  the  second  he  was  our  Saviour  :  the  other 
 things  are  but  parts  and  main  actions  of  those  two.  Now 
 what  reason  there  is  in  the  world  that  can  inwrap  any  thing 
 else  within  the  foundation,  that  is,  in  the  whole  body  of 
 
 "  Serm.  cxv.  "  De  Re^ur.  Cainis.  p  De  Tiinit.  lib  xii. 
 
THE   NATUHE   OK  FAITH. 
 
 449 
 
 articles,  simj^ly  and  inseparably  necessary,  or  in  the  prime 
 original  necessity  of  faith,  I  cannot  possibly  imagine.  These 
 do  the  work;  and,  therefore,  nothing  can,  upon  the  true 
 grounds  of  reason,  enlarge  the  necessity  to  the  enclosure  of 
 other  articles. 
 
 9.  Now  if  more  were  necessary  than  the  articles  of  the 
 creed,  I  demand  why  was  it  made  the  characteristic  note 
 of  a  Christian  from  a  heretic,  or  a  Jew,  or  an  infidel?  or  to 
 what  purpose  was  it  composed  ?  or  if  this  was  intended  as 
 sufficient,  did  the  apostles,  or  those  churches  which  they 
 founded,  know  any  thing  else  to  be  necessary?  If  they  did 
 not,  then  either  nothing  more  is  necessary  (I  speak  of  mat- 
 ters of  mere  belief),  or  they  did  not  know  all  the  will  of  the 
 Lord,  and  so  were  unfit  dispensers  of  the  mysteries  of  the 
 kingdom ;  or  if  they  did  know  more  was  necessary,  and  yet 
 would  not  insert  it,  they  did  an  act  of  public  notice,  and 
 consigned  it  to  all  ages  of  the  church,  to  no  purpose,  unless 
 to  beguile  credulous  people,  by  making  them  believe  their 
 faith  was  sufficient,  having  tried  it  by  that  touchstone  apos- 
 tolical, when  there  was  no  such  matter. 
 
 JO.  But,  if  this  was  sufficient  to  bring  men  to  heaven 
 then,  why  not  now  ?  If  the  apostles  admitted  all  to  their 
 communion  that  believed  this  creed,  why  shall  we  exclude 
 any  that  preserve  the  same  entire Why  is  not  our  faith  of 
 these  articles  of  as  much  efficacy  for  bringing  us  to  heaven, 
 as  it  was  in  the  churches  apostolical,  who  had  guides  more 
 infallible,  that  might,  without  error,  have  taught  them  super- 
 structures enough,  if  they  had  been  necessary  And  so  they 
 did;  but  that  they  did  not  insert  them  into  the  creed,  when 
 they  might  have  done  it  with  as  much  certainty  as  these 
 articles,  makes  it  clear  to  my  understanding,  that  other 
 things  were  not  necessary,  but  these  were;  that  whatever 
 profit  and  advantages  might  come  from  other  articles,  yet 
 these  were  sufficient,  and  however  certain  persons  might 
 accidentally  be  obliged  to  believe  much  more,  yet  this  was 
 the  one  and  only  foundation  of  faith,  upon  which  all  persons 
 were  to  build  their  hopes  of  heaven ;  this  was,  therefore, 
 necessary  to  be  taught  to  all,  because  of  necessity  to  be 
 believed  by  all :  so  that,  although  other  persons  might  com- 
 
 1  Vide  Isidor.  de  Eccl.  Offic.  lib.  i.  cap.  20.  Suidan.  Turnebiim.  lib.  ii.  c. 
 SO.  advers.  Venant.    For.  in  Exag.  Syrab.    Fev^rdent.  in  lien.  lib.  i.  c.  2. 
 
450 
 
 THE  NATURE  OF  FAITH. 
 
 mit  a  delinquency  '  in  genere  morum,'  if  they  did  not  know, 
 or  did  not  believe  much  more,  because  thev  were  obliged  to 
 further  disquisitions  in  order  to  other  ends,  vet  none  of  these 
 who  held  the  creed  entire,  could  perish  for  want  of  necessary 
 faith,  though  possibly  he  might  for  supine  negligence  or 
 affected  ignorance,  or  some  other  fault  which  had  influence 
 upon  his  opinions,  and  his  understanding,  he  having  a  new 
 supervening  obligation,  '  ex  accidente,'  to  know  and  believe 
 more. 
 
 11.  Neither  are  we  obliged  to  make  these  articles  more 
 particular  and  minute  than  the  creed.  For  since  the  apostles, 
 and,  indeed,  our  blessed  Lord  himself,  promised  heaven  to 
 them  who  believed  him  to  be  the  Christ  that  was  to  come 
 into  the  world,  and  that  he  who  believes  in  him  should  be 
 partaker  of  the  resurrection  and  life  eternal,  he  will  be  as 
 good  as  his  %vord.  Yet,  because  this  article  was  verv  general, 
 and  a  complexion  rather  than  a  single  proposition,  the  apos- 
 tles and  others,  our  fathers  in  Christ,  did  make  it  more  ex- 
 plicit ;  and  though  they  have  said  no  more  than  what  lay 
 entire,  and  readv  formed  in  the  bosom  of  the  great  article,  vet 
 the}'  made  their  extracts  to  great  purpose,  and  absolute  suf- 
 ficiencv  ;  and,  therefore,  thei-e  needs  no  more  deductions,  or 
 remoter  consequences,  from  the  first  great  article,  than  the 
 creed  of  the  apostles.    For  although  whatsoever  is  certainly 
 deduced  from  any  of  these  articles,  made  already  so  explicit, 
 is  as  certainly  true,  and  as  much  to  be  believed,  as  the  article 
 itself,  because  '  ex  veris  possunt  nil  nisi  vera  sequi:'  vet 
 because  it  is  not  certain  that  our  deductions  from  them  are 
 certain,  and  what  one  calls  evident  is  so  obscure  to  another, 
 that  he  believes  it  is  false,  it  is  the  best  and  only  safe  course 
 to  rest  in  that  explication  the  apostles  have  made  :  because, 
 if  anv  of  these  apostolical  deductions  were  not  demonstrable, 
 evidently  to  follow  from  that  great  article  to  which  salvation 
 is  promised, — >yet  the  authority  of  them  who  compiled  the 
 svinbol,  the  plain  description  of  the  articles  from  the  words 
 of  Scriptures,  the  evidence  of  reason,  demonstrating  these  to 
 be  the  whole  foundation,  are  sufficient  upon  great  grounds 
 of  reason  to  ascertain  us  :  but  if  we  go  further,  besides  the 
 easiness  of  being  deceived,  we  relying  upon  our  own  dis- 
 courses,— which  though  they  may  be  true,  and  then  bind  us 
 to  follow  them,  but  yet  no  more  than  when  they  only  seem 
 
THE  NATURE  OF  FAITH. 
 
 451 
 
 truest, — yet  they  cannot  make  the  thing  certain  to  another, 
 much  less  necessary  in  itself.  And  since  God  would  not 
 bind  us,  upon  pain  of  sin  and  punishment,  to  make  deduc- 
 tions ourselves,  much  less  would  he  bind  us  to  follow  another 
 man's  logic  as  an  article  of  our  faith  ;  I  say,  much  less 
 another  man's,  for  our  own  integrity  (for  we  will  certainly 
 be  true  to  ourselves,  and  do  our  own  business  heartily)  is  as 
 fit  and  proper  to  be  employed  as  another  man's  ability :  he 
 cannot  secui'e  me  that  his  ability  is  absolute  and  the  greatest, 
 but  I  can  be  more  certain  that  my  own  purposes  and  fidelity 
 to  myself  are  such.  And  since  it  is  necessaiy  to  rest  some- 
 where, lest  we  should  run  to  an  infinity,  it  is  best  to  rest 
 there,  where  the  apostles  and  the  churches  apostolical  rested  ; 
 when,  not  only  they  who  are  able  to  judge,  but  others  who 
 are  not,  ai-e  equally  ascertained  of  the  certainty  and  of  the 
 suflSiciency  of  that  explication. 
 
 12.  This,  I  say,  not  that  I  believe  it  unlawful  or  unsafe  for 
 the  church,  or  any  of  the  '  antistites  religionis,'  or  any  wise 
 man,  to  extend  his  own  creed  to  any  thing  which  may  certainly 
 follow  from  any  one  of  the  articles ;  but  I  say  that  no  such 
 deduction  is  fit  to  be  pressed  on  others  as  an  article  of  faith ; 
 and  that  every  deduction  which  is  so  made,  unless  it  be  such 
 a  thing  as  is  at  first  evident  to  all,  is  but  sufficient  to  make 
 a  human  faith  ;  nor  can  it  amount  to  a  Divine,  much  less  can 
 be  obligatory  to  bind  a  person  of  a  differing  persuasion  to 
 subscribe,  under  pain  of  losing  his  faith,  or  being  a  heretic. 
 For  it  is  a  demonstration,  that  nothing  can  be  necessary  to 
 be  believed,  under  pain  of  damnation,  but  such  propositions 
 of  which  it  is  certain  that  God  hath  spoken  and  taught  them 
 to  us,  and  of  which  it  is  certain  that  this  is  their  sense  and 
 purpose ;  for  if  the  sense  be  uncertain,  we  can  no  more  be 
 obliged  to  believe  it  in  a  certain  sense,  than  we  are  to  believe 
 it  at  all,  if  it  were  not  certain  that  God  delivered  it.    But  if 
 it  be  only  certain  that  God  spake  it,  and  not  certain  to  what 
 sense,  our  faith  of  it  is  to  be  as  indeterminate  as  its  sense ; 
 and  it  can  be  no  other  in  the  nature  of  the  thing,  nor  is  it 
 consonant  to  God's  justice  to  believe  of  him  that  he  can  or 
 will  require  more.    And  this  is  of  the  nature  of  those  propo- 
 sitions which  Aristotle  calls  Reacts,  to  which,  without  any 
 further  probation,  all  wise  men  will  give  assent  at  its  first 
 publication.    And,  therefore,  deductions,  inevident  from  the 
 
452 
 
 THE  NATURE  OF  FAITH, 
 
 evident  and  plain  letter  of  faith,  are  as  great  I'ecessions  from 
 the  obligation,  as  they  are  from  the  simplicity  and  certainty 
 of  the  article.  And  this  I  also  affirm,  although  the  church 
 of  any  one  denomination,  or  represented  in  a  council,  shall 
 make  the  deduction  or  declaration.  For  unless  Christ  had 
 promised  his  Spirit  to  protect  evei*y  particular  church  from 
 all  errors  less  material,  unless  he  had  promised  an  absolute 
 universal  infallibility  '  etiam  in  minutioribus,'  unless  super- 
 structures be  of  the  same  necessity  with  the  foundation,  and 
 that  God's  Spirit  doth  not  only  preserve  his  church  in  the 
 being  of  a  church,  but  in  a  certainty  of  not  saying  any  thing 
 that  is  less  certain ;  and  that  too,  whether  they  will  or  no, 
 we  may  be  bound  to  peace  and  obedience,  to  silence  and  to 
 charity,  but  have  not  a  new  article  of  faith  made  ;  and  a  new 
 proposition,  though  consequent  (as  it  is  said)  from  an  article 
 of  faith,  becomes  not,  therefore,  a  part  of  the  faith,  nor  of 
 absolute  necessity.  "  Quid  unquam  aliud  ecclesia  concl- 
 liorum  decretis  enisa  est,  nisi  ut  quod  antea  simpliciter 
 credebatur,  hoc  idem  postea  diligentius  crederetur,"  said 
 Vincentius  Lirinensis'' :  whatsoever  was  of  necessary  belief, 
 is  so  still,  and  hath  a  new  decree,  added  by  reason,  of  a  new 
 light,  or  a  clear  explication  ;  but  no  propositions  can  be 
 adopted  into  the  foundation.  The  church  hath  power  to 
 intend  our  faith,  but  not  to  extend  it ;  to  make  our  belief 
 more  evident,  but  not  more  large  and  comprehensive.  For 
 Christ  and  his  apostles  concealed  nothing  that  was  necessary 
 to  the  integrity  of  Christian  faith,  or  salvation  of  our  souls : 
 Christ  declared  all  the  will  of  his  Father,  and  the  apostles 
 were  stewards  and  dispensers  of  the  same  mysteries,  and 
 were  faithful  in  all  the  house,  and  therefore  concealed  nothing, 
 but  taught  the  whole  doctrine  of  Christ ;  so  they  said  them- 
 selves. And  indeed,  if  they  did  not  teach  all  the  doctrine  of 
 faith,  an  angel  or  a  man  might  have  taught  us  other  things 
 than  what  they  taught,  without  deserving  an  anathema,  but 
 not  without  deserving  a  blessing,  for  making  up  that  faith 
 entire  which  the  apostles  left  imperfect.  Now,  if  they  taught 
 all  the  whole  body  of  faith,  either  the  church,  in  the  following 
 ages,  lost  part  of  the  faith; — and  then,  where  was  their  infalli- 
 bility, and  the  effect  of  those  glorious  promises  to  which  she 
 
 >■  Contra  Hseres.  cap.  32. 
 
THE  NATURE  OF  FAITH. 
 
 453 
 
 pretends,  and  hath  certain  title?  for  she  may  as  well  introduce 
 a  falsehood  as  lose  a  truth,  it  being  as  much  promised  to  her 
 that  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  lead  her  into  all  truth,  as  that  she 
 shall  be  preserved  from  all  errors ;  as  appears,  John,  xvi.  13. : 
 or,  if  she  retained  all  the  faith  which  Christ  and  his  apostles 
 consigned  and  taught,  then  no  age  can,  by  declaring  any 
 point,  make  that  be  an  article  of  faith,  which  was  not  so 
 in  all  ages  of  Christianity  before  such  declaration.    And,  in- 
 deed, if  the  church",  by  declaring  an  article  can  make  that 
 to  be  necessary,  which  before  was  not  necessary,  I  do  not 
 see  how  it  can  stand  with  the  charity  of  the  church  so  to  do, 
 especially  after  so  long  experience  she  hath  had,  that  all  men 
 will  not  believe  every  such  decision  or  explication ;  for,  by 
 so  doing,  she  makes  the  narrow  way  to  heaven  narrower, 
 and  chalks  out  one  path  more  to  the  devil  than  he  had  be- 
 fore, and  yet  the  way  was  broad  enough,  when  it  was  at  the 
 narrowest.    For,  before,  differing  persons  might  be  saved 
 in  diversity  of  persuasions ;  and  now,  after  this  declaration, 
 if  they  cannot,  there  is  no  other  alteration  made,  but  that 
 some  shall  be  damned,  who  before,  even  in  the  same  dispo- 
 sitions and  belief,  should  have  been  beatified  persons.  For, 
 therefore,  it  is  well  for  the  fathers  of  the  primitive  church, 
 that  their  errors  were  not  discovered  ;  for  if  they  had  been 
 contested  (for  that  would  have  been  called  discovery  enough,) 
 "  vel  erroi'es  emendassent,  vel  ab  ecclesia  ejecti  fulssent'." 
 But  it  is  better  as  it  was  ;  they  went  to  heaven  by  that  good 
 fortune,  whereas  otherwise  they  might  have  gone  to  the 
 devil.    And  yet  there  were  some  errors  ;  particularly  that 
 of  Cyprian,  that  was  discovered;  and  he  went  to  heaven, 
 it  is  thought :  possibly  they  might  so  too,  for  all  this  pre- 
 tence.   But  suppose  it  true,  yet,  whether  that  declaration 
 of  an  article,  of  which,  with  safety,  we  either  might  have 
 doubted,  or  been  ignorant,  does  more  good  than  the  damn- 
 ing of  those  many  souls  occasionally,  but  yet  certainly  and 
 foreknowingly,  does  hurt,  I  leave  it  to  all  wise  and  good 
 men  to  determine.    And  yet,  besides  this,  it  cannot  enter 
 into  my  thoughts,  that  it  can  possibly  consist  with  God's 
 
 •  Vide  Jacob.  Almain.  in  3.  Sent.  d.  25.  Q.  Unic.  Dub.  3.  Patet  ergo, 
 quod  nulla  veiitas  est  catbolica  ex  approbatione  ccclesise  vel  papse.  Gabr. 
 Biei.  in  3.  Sent.  Dist.  25.  q.  Unic.  ai  t.  3.  Dub.  3.  ad  finem. 
 
 '  Bellar.  de  I^aicis,  1.  iii.  c.  20.  sect,  ad  Primam  Confirmationem. 
 
454 
 
 THE  NATURE  OF  FAITH. 
 
 goodness,  to  put  it  into  the  power  of  man  so  palpably  and 
 openly  to  alter  the  paths  and  inlets  to  heaven,  and  to  straiten 
 his  mercies,  unless  he  had  furnished  these  men  with  an  in- 
 fallible judgment,  and  an  infallible  prudence,  and  a  never- 
 failing  charity,  that  they  should  never  do  it  but  with  great 
 necessity,  and  with  great  truth,  and  without  human  ends  and 
 designs;  of  which  I  think  no  arguments  can  make  us  certain, 
 what  the  primitive  church  hath  done  in  this  case.  I  shall 
 afterwards  consider,  and  give  an  account  of  it ;  but,  for  the 
 present,  there  is  no  insecurity  in  ending  there  where  the 
 apostles  ended,  in  building  where  they  built,  in  resting  where 
 they  left  us,  unless  the  same  infallibility  which  they  had, 
 had  still  continued,  which,  I  think,  I  shall  hereafter  make 
 evident  it  did  not.  And,  therefore,  those  extensions  of 
 creed,  which  were  made  in  the  first  ages  of  the  church,  al- 
 though, for  the  matter,  they  were  most  true,  yet  because  it 
 was  not  certain  that  they  should  be  so,  and  they  might  have 
 been  otherwise, — therefore,  they  could  not  be  in  the  same 
 order  of  faith,  nor  in  the  same  degrees  of  necessity  to  be  be- 
 lieved with  the  articles  apostolical ;  and,  therefoi-e,  whether 
 they  did  well,  or  no,  in  laying  the  same  weight  upon  them, 
 or  whether  they  did  lay  the  same  weight  or  no,  we  will  aftex'- 
 wards  consider. 
 
 13.  But  to  return.  I  consider  that  a  foundation  of  faith 
 cannot  alter;  unless  a  new  building  be  to  be  made,  the  foun- 
 dation is  the  same  still ;  and  this  foundation  is  no  other  but 
 that  which  Christ  and  his  apostles  laid,  which  doctrine  is 
 like  himself,  yesterday  and  to-day,  and  the  same  for  ever. 
 So  that  the  articles  of  necessary  belief  to  all  (which  are  the 
 only  foundation),  they  cannot  be  several  in  several  ages,  and 
 to  several  persons.  Nay,  the  sentence  and  declaration  of  the 
 church  cannot  lay  this  foundation,  or  make  any  thing  of  the 
 foundation,  because  the  church  cannot  lay  her  own  founda- 
 tion ;  we  must  suppose  her  to  be  a  building,  and  that  she 
 relies  upon  the  foundation,  which  is,  therefore,  supposed  to 
 be  laid  before,  because  she  is  built  upon  it ;  or,  to  make  it 
 more  explicit,  because  a  cloud  may  arise  from  the  allegory  of 
 building  and  foundation,  it  is  plainly  thus:  the  church  being 
 a  company  of  men  obliged  to  the  duties  of  faith  and  obe- 
 dience, the  duty  and  obligation,  being  of  the  faculties  of  will 
 and  understanding  to  adhere  to  such  an  object,  must  pre- 
 
THE  NATURE  OP  PAITII. 
 
 455 
 
 suppose  the  object  made  ready  for  them  ;  for  as  the  object  is 
 before  the  act,  in  the  order  of  nature,  and,  therefore,  not  to 
 be  produced  or  increased  by  the  faculty,  which  being  recep- 
 tive, cannot  be  active  upon  its  proper  object ;  so  the  object 
 of  the  church's  faith  is,  in  order  of  nature,  before  the  church, 
 or  before  tlie  act  and  habit  of  faith,  and,  therefore  cannot  be 
 enlarged  by  the  church,  any  more  than  the  act  of  the  visive 
 faculty  can  add  visibility  to  the  object.  So  that  if  we  have 
 found  out  what  foundation  Christ  and  his  apostles  did  lay, 
 that  is,  what  body  and  system  of  articles  simply  necessary 
 they  taught  and  required  of  us  to  believe,  we  need  not,  we 
 cannot  go  any  farther  for  foundation,  we  cannot  enlarge  that 
 system  or  collection.  Now  then,  although  all  that  they  said 
 is  true,  and  nothing  of  it  to  be  doubted  or  disbelieved,  yet,  as 
 all  that  they  said  is  neither  written  or  delivered  (because  all 
 was  not  necessary),  so  we  know  that  of  those  things  which 
 ai'e  written,  some  things  are  as  far  off  from  the  foundation  as 
 those  things  which  were  omitted  ;  and,  therefoi'e,  although 
 now  accidentally  they  must  be  believed  by  all  that  know 
 thera,  yet  it  is  not  necessary  all  should  know  them  ;  and  that 
 all  should  know  them  in  the  same  sense  and  interpretation, 
 is  neither  probable  nor  obligatory  ;  but,  thei"efore,  since  these 
 things  are  to  be  distinguished  by  some  difference  of  neces- 
 sary and  not  necessary, — whether  or  no,  is  not  the  declaration 
 of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  affixing  salvation  to  the  belief  of 
 some  great  comprehensive  articles,  and  the  act  of  the  apostles 
 I'endering  them  as  explicit  as  they  thought  convenient,  and 
 consigning  that  creed,  made  so  explicit,  as  a  tessera  of  a 
 Christian,  as  a  comprehension  of  the  articles  of  his  belief,  as 
 a  sufficient  disposition  and  an  express  of  the  faith  of  a  '  cate- 
 chumen,' in  order  to  baptism  :  whether  or  no,  I  say,  all 
 this  be  not  sufficient  probation  that  these  only  are  of  absolute 
 necessity,  that  this  is  sufficient  for  mere  belief  in  order  to 
 heaven,  and  that,  therefore,  whosoever  believes  these  articles 
 heartily  and  explicitly,  ©soj  /xe'vsi  iv  ccCru,  as  St.  John's  expres- 
 sion is,  "  God  dwelleth  in  him," — I  leave  it  to  be  considered 
 and  judged  of  from  the  premises.  Only  this  :  if  the  old 
 doctors  had  been  made  judges  in  these  questions,  they  would 
 have  passed  their  affirmative  ;  for  to  instance  in  one  for  all, — ■ 
 of  this  it  was  said  by  Tertullian",  "  Regula  quidem  fidei  una 
 1  Lib.  de  Veland.  Virg. 
 
456 
 
 OF  HERESY;  THE  NATURE 
 
 omnino  est  sola  iminobllis  et  irreformabalis,"  &c.  "  Hac  lege 
 fidei  manente,  caetera  jam  disciplinse  et  conversationis  admit- 
 tunt  novitatein  correctionis,  operante  scilicet,  et  proficiente 
 usque  in  finem  gratia  Dei :"  '  This  symbol  is  the  one  suffi- 
 cient, immovable,  unalterable,  and  unchangeable  rule  of 
 faith,  that  admits  no  increment  or  deci*ement ;  but  if  the 
 integrity  and  unity  of  this  be  preserved,  in  all  other  things 
 men  may  take  a  liberty  of  enlarging  their  knovrledges  and 
 prophesyings,  according  as  they  are  assisted  by  the  grace  of 
 God,' 
 
 SECTION  II. 
 
 Of  Heresy,  and  the  Nature  of  it ;  and  that  it  is  to  be  ac- 
 counted according  to  the  strict  Capacity  of  Christian  Faith, 
 and  not  in  opinions  speculative,  nor  ever  to  pious  Persons. 
 
 1.  And  thus  I  have  represented  a  short  draught  of  the  object 
 of  faith,  and  its  foundation.  The  next  considei'ation,  in  or- 
 der to  our  main  design,  is  to  consider  what  was,  and  what 
 ought  to  be,  the  judgment  of  the  apostles  concerning  heresy: 
 for  although  there  are  more  kinds  of  vices  than  there  are  of 
 virtues,  yet  the  number  of  them  is  to  be  taken  by  ac- 
 counting the  transgressions  of  their  virtues,  and  by  the  limits 
 of  faith  :  we  may  also  reckon  the  analogy  and  proportions 
 of  heresy,  that  as  we  have  seen  who  were  called  faithful  by 
 the  apostolical  men,  we  may  also  perceive  who  were  listed 
 by  them  in  the  catalogue  of  heretics,  that  we,  in  our  judg- 
 ments, may  proceed  accordingly. 
 
 2.  And,  first,  the  word  heresy  is  used  in  Sci'ipture  indif- 
 ferently;  in  a  good  sense,  for  a  sect  or  division  of  opinion, 
 and  men  following  it  ;  or  sometimes  in  a  bad  sense,  for  a 
 false  opinion,  signally  condemned  :  but  these  kind  of  people 
 were  then  called  Antichrists  and  false  prophets,  more  fre- 
 quently than  heretics,  and  then  there  were  many  of  them  in 
 the  world.  But  it  is  observable  that  no  heresies  are  noted 
 '  signanter'  in  Scripture,  but  such  as  are  great  errors  practi- 
 cal, '  in  materia  pietatis,'  such  whose  doctrines  taught  im- 
 piety, or  such  who  denied  the  coming  of  Christ  directly  or  by 
 consequence,  not  remote  or  withdrawn,  but  prime  and  imme- 
 
AND  MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 457 
 
 dlate ;  and,  therefore,  in  the  code  '  de  Sancta  Trinitate  et 
 Fide  Catholica,'  heresy  is  called  acrsQy  So^a,  >t«i  iSEpnTOf 
 xocXtx,  "  a  wicked  opinion,  and  an  ungodly  doctrine." 
 
 3.  The  first  false  doctrine  we  find  condemned  by  the  apos- 
 tles, was  the  opinion  of  Simon  Magus,  who  thought  the 
 Holy  Ghost  was  to  be  bought  with  money  :  he  thought  very 
 dishonourably  to  the  Blessed  Spirit ;  but  yet  his  followers  are 
 rather  noted  of  a  vice,  neither  resting  in  the  understanding, 
 nor  derived  from  it,  but  wholly  practical ;  it  is  simony,  not 
 heresy  ;  though  in  Simon  it  was  a  false  opinion,  proceeding 
 from  a  low  account  of  God,  and  promoted  by  his  own  ends  of 
 pride  and  covetousness.    The  gi-eat  heresy  that  troubled 
 them,  was  the  doctrine  of  the  necessity  of  keeping  the  law 
 of  Moses,  the  necessity  of  circumcision;  against  which  doc- 
 trine they  were  thei'efore  zealous,  because  it  was  a  direct 
 overthrow  to  the  very  end  and  excellency  of  Christ's  coming. 
 And  this  was  an  opinion  most  pertinaciously  and  obstinately 
 maintained  by  the  Jews,  and  had  made  a  sect  among  the  Ga- 
 latians  :  and  this  was,  indeed,  wholly  in  opinion  ;  and  against 
 it  the  apostles  opposed  two  articles  of  the  creed,  which  served, 
 at  several  times,  according  as  the  Jews  changed  their  opinion, 
 and  left  some  degrees  of  their  error  ;  "  I  believe  in  Jesus 
 Christ,  and  I  believe  the  holy  catholic  church :"  for  they 
 thei'efore,  pressed  the  necessity  of  Moses'  law,  because  they 
 were  unwilling  to  forego  the  glorious  appellative  of  being 
 God's  own  peculiar  people ;  and  that  salvation  was  of  the 
 Jews,  and  that  the  rest  of  the  world  were  capable  of  that 
 grace  no  otherwise  but  by  adoption  into  their  religion,  and 
 becoming  proselytes.    But  this  was  so  ill  a  doctrine,  as  that 
 it  overthrew  the  great  benefits  of  Christ's  coming ;  for,  "  if 
 they  were  circumcised,  Christ  profited  them  nothing:"  mean- 
 ing this,  that  Christ  will  not  be  a  Saviour  to  them,  who  do 
 not  acknowledge  him  for  their  Lawgiver ;  and  they  neither 
 confess  him  their  Lawgiver,  nor  their  Saviour,  that  look  to 
 be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses,  and  observation  of  legal 
 rites  :  so  that  this  doctrine  was  a  direct  enemy  to  the  founda- 
 tion, and,  thei'efore,  the  apostles  were  so  zealous  against  it. 
 Now  then,  that  other  opinion,  which  the  apostles  met  at 
 Jerusalem  to  resolve,  was  but  a  piece  of  that  opinion ;  for  the 
 Jews  and  proselytes  were  drawn  off  from  their  lees  and  sedi- 
 ment by  degrees,  step  by  step.    At  first,  they  would  not  en- 
 
458 
 
 OK  IIERKSY  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 dure  any  should  be  saved  but  themselves  and  their  proselytes. 
 Being  wrought  off  from  this  height  by  miracles,  and  preach- 
 ing of  the  apostles,  they  admitted  the  Gentiles  to  a  possibility 
 of  salvation,  but  yet  so  as  to  hope  for  it  by  Moses'  law.  From 
 which  foolery  when  they  were,  with  much  ado,  persuaded, 
 and  told  that  salvation  was  by  faith  in  Christ,  not  by  works 
 of  the  law,  yet  they  resolved  to  plough  with  an  ox  and  an  ass 
 still,  and  join  Moses  with  Christ ;  not  as  shadow  and  sub- 
 stance, but  in  an  equal  confederation,  Christ  should  save  the 
 Gentiles,  if  he  was  helped  by  Moses, — but,  alone,  Christi- 
 anity could  not  do  it.  Against  this  the  apostles  assembled  at 
 Jerusalem,  and  made  a  decision  of  the  question,  tying  some 
 of  the  Gentiles  (such  only  who  were  blended  by  the  Jews 
 '  in  communi  patria,')  to  observation  of  such  rites,  which  the 
 Jews  had  derived  by  tradition,  from  Noah,  intending,  by 
 this,  to  satisfy  the  Jews,  as  far  as  might  be,  with  a  reason- 
 able compliance  and  condescension ;  the  other  Gentiles  who 
 were  unmixed,  in  the  meanwhile  remaining  free,  as  appeal's 
 in  the  liberty  St.  Paul  gave  the  church  of  Corinth  of  eating 
 idol  sacrifices  (expressly  against  the  decree  at  Jerusalem),  so 
 it  were  without  scandal.  And  yet,  for  all  this  care  and 
 curious  discretion,  a  little  of  the  leaven  still  remained :  all 
 this  they  thought  did  so  concern  the  Gentiles,  that  it  was 
 totally  impertinent  to  the  Jews ;  still  they  had  a  distinction 
 to  satisfy  the  letter  of  the  apostles'  decree,  and  yet  to  persist 
 in  their  old  opinion;  and  this  so  continued,  that  fifteen 
 Christian  bishops  in  succession  were  circumcised,  even  until 
 the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  under  Adrian,  as  Eusebius 
 reports^. 
 
 4.  First,  by  tlie  way,  let  me  observe,  that  never  any 
 matter  of  question  in  the  Christian  church  was  determined 
 with  greater  solemnity,  or  more  full  authority  of  the  church, 
 than  this  question  concerning  circumcision :  no  less  than  the 
 whole  college  of  the  apostles,  and  elders  at  Jerusalem,  and 
 that  with  a  decree  of  the  highest  sanction,  "  Visum  est 
 Spiritui  Sancto  et  nobis."  Secondly;  Either  the  case  of  the 
 Hebrews,  in  particular,  was  omitted,  and  no  determination 
 concerning  them,  whether  it  were  necessary  or  lawful  for 
 them  to  be  circumcised,  or  else  it  was  involved  in  the  decree, 
 
 •>Eccles.  Hist.  lib.  iv,  c,  v. 
 
AND  MEASURES  OP  IT. 
 
 459 
 
 and  intended  to  oblige  the  Jews.  If  it  was  omitted  since  the 
 question  was  '  de  re  necessaria,'  (for  "  dico  vobis,"  "  I,  Paul, 
 say  unto  you,  if  ye  be  circumcised,  Christ  shall  pi'ofit  you 
 nothing,")  it  is  very  remarkable,  how  the  apostles,  to  gain 
 the  Jews,  and  to  comply  with  their  violent  prejudice  in  behalf 
 of  Moses'  law,  did,  for  a  time,  tolerate  their  dissent  '  etiam 
 in  re  alioquia  necessai-ia,'  which,  I  doubt  not,  but  was  in- 
 tended as  a  precedent  for  the  church  to  imitate  for  ever  after : 
 but  if  it  was  not  omitted,  either  all  the  multitude  of  the  Jews 
 (which  St.  James,  then  their  bishop,  expressed  by  oto(t«» 
 ixvptx^ss'  "  Thou  seest  how  many  myriads  of  Jews  that  believe, 
 and  yet  are  zealots  for  the  law'' '.—and  Eusebius%  speaking 
 of  Justus,  says,  he  was  one  '  ex  infinita  multitudine  eorum, 
 qui  ex  circumcisione  in  Jesum  credebant,')  1  say  all  these  did 
 perish,  and  their  believing  in  Christ  served  them  to  no  other 
 ends,  but,  in  the  infinity  of  their  torments,  to  upbraid  them 
 with  hypocrisy  and  heresy  ;  or  if  they  were  saved,  it  is  appa- 
 rent how  merciful  God  was,  and  pitiful,  to  human  infirmities, 
 that,  in  a  point  of  so  great  concernment,  did  pity  their  weak 
 ness,  and  pardon  their  erroi-s,  and  love  their  good  mind  ; 
 since  their  prejudice  was  little  less  than  insuperable,  and  had 
 fair  pi'obabilities,  at  least,  and  was  such  as  might  abuse  a 
 wise  and  good  man  (and  so  it  did  many),  they  did  '  bono 
 animo  errare.'  And,  if  I  mistake  not,  this  consideration  St. 
 Paul  urged  as  a  reason  why  God  forgave  him,  who  was  a  per- 
 secutor of  the  saints,  because  he  did  it  "  Ignorantly  in  un- 
 beliefthat  is,  he  was  not  convinced  in  his  understanding 
 of  the  truth  of  the  way  which  he  persecuted,  he,  in  the  mean 
 while,  remaining  in  that  incredulity,  not  out  of  malice  or  ill 
 ends,  but  the  mistakes  of  humanity  and  a  pious  zeal ;  there- 
 fore "  God  had  mercy  on  him :"  and  so  it  was  in  this  great 
 question  of  circumcision  ;  here  only  was  the  difference,  the 
 invincibility  of  St.  Paul's  error,  and  the  honesty  of  his  heart, 
 caused  God  so  to  pardon  him,  as  to  bring  him  to  the  know- 
 ledge of  Christ,  which  God  therefore  did  because  it  was 
 necessary,  '  necessitate  medii  ;'  no  salvation  was  consistent 
 with  the  actual  remanency  of  that  error  ;  but  in  the  question 
 of  circumcision,  although  they,  by  consequence,  did  over- 
 throw the  end  of  Christ's  coming :  yet,  because  it  was  such 
 
 ^  Acts.  xxi.  20.  <:  Eccles.  Hist,  lib.  iii.  c.  32.  <•  1  Tim.  i. 
 
460 
 
 op  HERESY  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 a  consequence,  which  they,  being  hindered  by  a  prejudice 
 non-impious,  did  not  perceive,  God  tolerated  them  in  their 
 error,  till  time,  and  a  continual  dropping  of  the  lessons  and 
 dictates  apostolical  did  wear  it  out,  and  then  the  doctrine 
 put  on  its  apparel,  and  became  clothed  with  necessity  ;  they, 
 in  the  mean  time,  so  kept  to  the  foundation,  that  is,  Jesus 
 Christ  crucified  and  risen  again,  that  although  they  did  make 
 a  violent  concussion  of  it,  yet  they  held  fast  with  their  heart 
 what  they  ignorantly  destroyed  with  their  tongue, — which 
 Saul,  before  his  conversion,  did  not, — that  God  upon  other 
 titles,  than  an  actual  dereliction  of  their  error,  did  bring 
 them  to  salvation. 
 
 5.  And  in  the  descent  of  so  many  years,  I  find  not  any  one 
 anathema  past,  by  the  apostles  or  their  successors,  upon  any 
 of  the  bishops  of  Jerusalem,  or  the  believers  of  the  circum- 
 cision, and  yet  it  was  a  point  as  clearly  detei'mined,  and  of 
 as  great  necessity,  as  any  of  those  questions  that,  at  this  day, 
 vex  and  crucify  Christendom. 
 
 6.  Besides  this  question,  and  that  of  the  resurrection,  com- 
 menced in  the  church  of  Corinth,  and  promoted  with  some 
 variety  of  sense,  by  Hymenaeus  and  Philetus,  in  Asia,  who 
 said  that  the  resurrection  was  past  already,  I  do  not  remem- 
 ber any  other  heresy  named  in  Scripture,  but  such  as  were 
 errors  of  impiety,  '  seductiones  in  materia  practica  ;'  such  as 
 was,  particularly,  forbidding  to  marry, — and  the  heresy  of  the 
 Nicolaitans,  a  doctrine  that  taught  the  necessity  of  lust  and 
 frequent  foi'nication. 
 
 7.  But  in  all  the  animadversions  against  errors  made  by 
 the  apostles  in  the  New  Testament,  no  pious  person  was  con- 
 demned, no  man  that  did  invincibly  err,  or  '  bona  mente  ;' 
 but  something  that  was  amiss  '  in  genere  morum,'  was  that 
 which  the  apostles  did  redargue.  And  it  is  vei-y  considerable, 
 that  even  they  of  the  circumcision,  who,  in  so  great  numbers, 
 did  heartily  believe  in  Christ,  and  yet  most  violently  retain 
 circumcision,  and,  without  question,  went  to  heaven  in  great 
 numbers  ; — yet,  of  the  number  of  these  very  men,  they  came 
 deeply  under  censure,  when,  to  their  error,  they  added  im- 
 piety:  so  long  as  it  stood  with  charity,  and  witliout  human 
 ends  and  secular  interests,  so  long  it  was  either  innocent  or 
 connived  at  ;  but  M'hen  they  grew  covetous,  and  for  filthy 
 lucre's  sake,  taught  the  same  doctrine  which  others  did  in 
 
AND  MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 461 
 
 the  siinpliclty  of  their  hearts,  then  they  turned  heretics, — 
 then  they  were  termed  seducers  ;  and  Titus  was  commanded 
 to  look  to  them,  and  to  silence  them  ;  "  For  there  are  many 
 that  are  intractable  and  vain  babblers,  seducers  of  minds, 
 especially  they  of  the  circumcision,  who  seduce  whole  houses, 
 teaching  things  that  they  ought  not,  for  filthy  lucre's  sake." 
 These,  indeed,  were  not  to  be  endured ;  but  to  be  silenced 
 by  the  conviction  of  sound  doctrine,  and  to  be  rebuked 
 sharply,  and  avoided. 
 
 8.  For  heresy  is  not  an  error  of  the  understanding,  but  an 
 error  of  the  will.  And  this  is  clearly  insinuated  in  the  Scrip- 
 ture, in  the  style  whereof  faith  and  a  good  life  are  made  one 
 duty,  and  vice  is  called  opposite  to  faith,  and  heresy  opposed 
 to  holiness  and  sanctity.  So  in  St.  Paul  :  "  For,"  saith  he,. 
 "  the  end  of  the  commandment  is  charity  out  of  a  pure  heart, 
 and  a  good  conscience,  and  faith  unfeigned  ;"  '  a  quibus  quod 
 aberrarunt  quidam,'  '  from  which  charity,  and  purity,  and 
 goodness,  and  sincerity,  because  some  have  wandered,'  *  de- 
 flexerunt  ad  vaniloquium*.'  And  immediately  after,  he 
 reckons  the  oppositions  to  faith  and  sound  doctrine ;  and 
 instances  only  in  vices  that  stain  the  lives  of  Christians,  "  the 
 unjust,  the  unclean,  the  uncharitable,  the  liar,  the  perjured 
 person,  '  et  si  quis  alius  qui  sanse  doctrinae  adversatur ;'  '* 
 these  are  the  enemies  of  the  true  doctrine.  And,  thei-efore, 
 St.  Peter,  having  given  in  chai-ge,  '  to  add  to  our  virtue, 
 patience,  temperance,  charity,  and  the  like,'  gives  this  for  a 
 reason, — for  "  if  these  things  be  in  you,  and  abound,  ye  shall 
 be  fruitful  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." — Sa 
 that  knowledge  and  faith  is  '  inter  praecepta  morum,'  is  part 
 of  a  good  life^  And  St.  Paul  calls  faith,  or  the  form  of  sound 
 words,  x«t'  sdae^eixv  ^t'Sa.axocKtxv,  '  the  doctrine  that  is  accord- 
 ing to  godliness^.'  And  Weritati  credere,'  and  '  in  injustitiS, 
 sibi  complacere,'  are,  by  the  same  apostle,  opposed**,  and 
 intimate  that  piety  and  faith  is  all  one  thing  ;  faith  must 
 be  vytvs  xctl  aptw/x-or,  '  entire  and  holy  too,'  or  it  is  not 
 
 e  1  Tim.  1. 
 
 f  Quid  igitur  credulitas  vel  fides?  Opinor,  fidellter  liominem  Chrtsto  cre- 
 dere, id  est,  fidelem  Deo  esse,  hoc  est,  fideliter  Dei  mandata  servare.  So 
 Salvian. 
 
 e  1  Tim.  vi.  3. 
 
 Euo-tSiis  Tuv  X^ifTtcit/av  ^^'Asy.i'ia.    That  is  our  religion,  or  faith,  the  whole 
 manner  of  serving  God.    C.  de  Sancta  Trinit.  et  Fide  C'athol. 
 VOL.  VII.  2  I 
 
462 
 
 OF  HEREsV  ;  THE  NAt URE 
 
 right.  It  was  the  heresy  of  the  Gnostics,  that  it  was  no 
 matter  how  men  lived,  so  they  did  but  believe  aright;  which 
 wicked  doctrine  Tatianus,  a  learned  Christian,  did  so  detest, 
 that  he  fell  into  a  quite  contrary,  '  Non  est  curaiidum  quod 
 quisque  credat ;  id  tantum  curanduni  est,  quod  quisque 
 faciat ;'  and  thence  came  the  sect  Encratites:  both  these  here- 
 sies sprang  from  the  too  nice  distinguishing  the  faith  from  the 
 piety  and  good  life  of  a  Christian :  they  are  both  but  one 
 duty.  However  they  may  be  distinguished,  if  wfe  speak  like 
 philosophers, — they  cannot  be  distinguished,  when  we  speak 
 like  Christians.  For  to  believe  what  God  hath  commanded, 
 is  in  order  to  a  good  life ;  and  to  live  well  is  the  product 
 of  that  believing,  and  as  proper  emanation  from  it,  as  from 
 its  pi'oper  principle,  and  as  heat  is  from  the  fire.  And  there- 
 fore, in  Sci'iptui'e,  they  are  used  promiscuously  in  sense,  and 
 in  expression,  as  not  only  being  subjected  in  the  same  person, 
 but  also  in  the  same  faculty  ;  faith  is  as  truly  seated  in  the 
 will  as  in  the  understanding,  and  a  good  life  as  merely  derives 
 from  the  understanding  as  the  will.  Both  of  them  are  mat- 
 ters of  choice  and  of  election, — neither  of  them  an  effect 
 natural  and  invincible,  or  necessary  antecedently  ;  '  neces- 
 safia  ut  fiant,  non  necessario  facta.'  And,  indeed,  if  we  re- 
 member that  St.  Paul  reckons  heresy  amongst  the  works  of 
 the  flesh,  and  ranks  it  with  all  manner  of  practical  impieties, 
 we  shall  easily  perceive,  that  if  a  man  mingles  not  a  vice  with 
 his  opinion,  if  he  be  innocent  in  his  life,  though  deceived  in 
 his  doctrine, — his  error  is  his  misery,  not  his  crime  ;  it  makes 
 him  an  argument  of  weakness,  and  an  object  of  pity,  but  not 
 a  person  sealed  up  to  ruin  and  reprobation. 
 
 9.  For  as  the  nature  of  faith  is,  so  is  the  nature  of  heresy, 
 contraries  having  the  same  proportion  and  commensuration. 
 Now  faith,  if  it  be  taken  for  an  act  of  the  understanding 
 rriei'ely,  is  so  far  from  being  that  excellent  grace  that  justifies 
 us,  that  it  is  not  good  at  allj  in  any  kind  but  '  in  genere 
 naturae,'  and  makes  the  understanding  better  in  itself,  or 
 pleasing  to  God,  just  as  strength  doth  the  arm,  or  beauty  the 
 face,  or  health  the  body  ;  these  are  natural  perfections  in- 
 deed, and  so  knowledge  and  a  true  belief  is  to  the  under- 
 standing. But  this  makes  us  not  at  all  more  acceptable  to 
 God ;  for  then  the  unlearned  were  certainly  in  a  damnable 
 condition,  and  all  good  scholars  should  be  saved ;  whereas, 
 
AND  MEASURES  OP,  IT. 
 
 463 
 
 I  am  afraid,  too  much  of  the  contrary  is  true.    But  unless 
 faith  be  made  moral  by  the  mixtures  of  the  choice,  and 
 charity,  it  is  nothing  but  a  natural  perfection,  not  a  grace  or 
 a  virtue  ;  and  this  is  demonstrably  proved  in  this, — that  by 
 the  confession  of  all  men,  of  all  interests  and  persuasions,  in 
 matters  of  mere  belief,  invincible  ignorance  is  our  excuse  if 
 we  be  deceived ;  which  could  not  be,  but  that  neither  to 
 believe  aright  is  commendable,  nor  to  believe  amiss  is  reprov- 
 able ;  but  where  both  one  and  the  other  is  voluntary,  and 
 chosen  antecedently  or  consequentl)%  by  prime  election,  or 
 *  ex  post  facto,'  and  so  comes  to  be  considered  in  morality, 
 and  is  part  of  a  good  life  or  a  bad  life  i-espectively.    Just  so 
 it  is  in  heresy ;  if  it  be  a  design  of  ambition,  and  making  of 
 a  sect  (so  Erasmus  expounds  St.  Paul,  alperixov  x-vdpumv, 
 '  sectarum  autorum"),  if  it  be  for  filthy  lucre's  sake,  as  it 
 was  in  some  that  were  of  the  circumcision ;  if  it  be  of  pride 
 and  '  love  of  pre-eminence,'  as  it  was  in  Dioti'ephes,  o  ifiXo- 
 -TTpuTEvcov;  or  out  of  peevishness  and  indocibleness  of  dispo- 
 sition, or  of  a  contentious  spirit,  that  is,  that  their  feet  are  not 
 shod  with  the  preparation  of  the  Gospel  of  peace  ; — in  all 
 these  cases,  the  ei-ror  is  just  so  damnable,  as  is  its  principle ; 
 but,  therefore,  damnable  not  of  itself,  but  by  reason  of  its 
 adherency.    And  if  any  shall  say  any  otherwise,  it  is  to  say 
 that  some  men  shall  be  damned,  when  they  cannot  help  it, 
 perish  without  their  own  fault,  and  be  miserable  for  ever, 
 because  of  their  unhappiness  to  be  deceived,  through  their 
 own  simplicity,  and  natural  or  accidental,  but  inculpable 
 infirmity. 
 
 8.  For  it  cannot  stand  with  the  goodness  of  God,  who 
 does  so  know  our  infirmities,  that  he  pai-dons  many  things 
 in  which  our  wills  indeed  have  the  least  share,  (but  some 
 they  have,)  but  are  overborne  with  the  violence  of  an  impe- 
 tuous temptation  ;  I  say,  it  is  inconsistent  with  his  goodness 
 to  condemn  those  who  err,  where  the  error  hath  nothing  of 
 the  will  in  it ;  who,  therefore,  cannot  repent  of  their  error, 
 because  they  believe  it  is  true  ;  who,  therefore,  cannot  make 
 compensation,  because  they  know  not  that  they  are  tied  to 
 dereliction  of  it.  And  although  all  heretics  are  in  this  con- 
 dition, that  is,  they  believe  their  errors  to  be  true;  yet  there 
 
 'Alieni  sunt  a  veriiate,  qui  se  obarment  multitudine. — Chrys. 
 
 2  12 
 
464 
 
 OP  HERESY  ;  THE  NATIVE 
 
 is  a  vast  difference  between  them  who  believe  so  out  of  sim- 
 plicity, and  them  who  are  given  over  to  believe  a  lie,  as  a 
 punishment,  or  an  effect  of  some  other  wickedness  or  impiety. 
 For  all  have  a  concomitant  assent  to  the  truth  of  what  they 
 believe  ;  and  no  man  can,  at  the  same  time,  believe  what  he 
 does  not  believe;  but  this  assent  of  the  understanding  in 
 heretics  is  caused,  not  by  force  of  argument,  but  the  argu- 
 ment is  made  forcible  by  something  that  is  amiss  in  his  will ; 
 and  although  a  heretic  may,  peradventure,  have  a  stronger 
 argument  for  his  error,  than  some  true  believer  for  his  right 
 persuasion,  yet  it  is  not  considerable  how  strong  his  argu- 
 ment is  (because,  in  a  weak  understanding,  a  small  motive 
 "will  produce  a  great  persuasion,  like  gentle  physic  in  a  weak 
 body),  but  that  which  here  is  considerable,  is,  what  it  is  that 
 made  his  argument  forcible.  If  his  invincible  and  harmless 
 prejudice,  if  his  weakness,  if  his  education,  if  his  mistaking 
 piety,  if  any  thing  that  hath  no  venom  nor  a  sting  in  it, 
 there  the  heartiness  of  his  persuasion  is  no  sin,  but  his  misery 
 and  his  excuse :  but  if  any  thing  that  is  evil  '  in  genere 
 morum,'  did  incline  his  understanding;  if  his  opinion  did 
 commence  upon  pride,  or  is  nourished  by  covetousness,  or 
 continues  through  stupid  carelessness,  or  increases  by  per- 
 tinacy,  or  is  confirmed  by  obstinacy, — then  the  innocency  of 
 the  error  is  disbanded,  his  misery  is  changed  into  a  crime, 
 and  begins  its  own  punishment.  But,  by  the  way,  I  must 
 observe,  that  when  I  reckoned  '  obstinacy'  amongst  those 
 things,  which  make  a  false  opinion  criminal,  it  is  to  be  undei-- 
 stood  with  some  discretion  and  distinction.  For  there  is  an 
 obstinacy  of  will,  which  is,  indeed,  highly  guilty  of  misde- 
 meanour; and  when  the  school  makes  pertinacy  or  obstinacy 
 to  be  the  formality  of  heresy,  they  say  not  true  at  all,  unless 
 it  be  meant  the  obstinacy  of  the  will  and  choice  ;  and  if  they 
 do,  they  speak  imperfectly  and  inartificially,  this  being  but 
 one  of  the  causes  that  makes  error  become  heresy ;  the  ade- 
 quate and  perfect  formality  of  heresy  is  w^hatsoever  makes 
 the  error  voluntary  and  vicious,  as  is  clear  in  Scripture, 
 reckoning  covetousness,  and  pride,  and  lust,  and  whatsoever 
 is  vicious,  to  be  its  causes: — and  in  habits,  or  moral  changes 
 and  productions,  whatever  alters  the  essence  of  a  habit,  or 
 gives  it  a  new  formality,  is  not  to  be  reckoned  the  efficient, 
 but  the  form:— but  there  is  also  an  obstinacy  you  may  call 
 
AND  MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 465 
 
 it,  but,  indeed,  it  is  nothing  but  a  resolution  and  confirmation 
 of  understanding,  which  is  not  in  a  man's  power  honestly  to 
 alter,  and  it  is  not  all  the  commands  of  humanity,  that  can 
 be  argument  sufficient  to  make  a  man  leave  believing  that 
 for  which  he  thinks  he  hath  reason,  and  for  which  he  hath 
 such  arguments  as  heartily  convince  him.  Now,  the  persist- 
 ing in  an  opinion  finally,  and  against  all  the  confidence  and 
 im^ieriousness  of  human  commands,  that  makes  not  this 
 criminal  obstinacy,  if  the  erring  person  have  so  much  humility 
 of  will  as  to  submit  to  whatsoever  God  says,  and  that  no  vice 
 in  his  will  hinders  him  from  believing  it.  So  that  we  must 
 carefully  distinguish  continuance  in  opinion  from  obstinacy, 
 confidence  of  understanding  from  peevishness  of  affection,  a 
 not  being  convinced  from  a  resolution  never  to  be  convinced, 
 upon  human  ends  and  vicious  principles  :  "  Sciraus  quosdam, 
 quod  semel  imbiberint,  nolle  deponere,  nec  propositum  suum 
 facile  mutare ;  sed,  salvo  inter  collegas  pacis  et  concordiae 
 vinculo,  quaedam  jiropria,  quae  apud  se  semel  sint  usurpata, 
 retinere;  qua  in  re  nec  nos  vim  cuiquam  facimus,  aut  legem 
 daraus,"  saith  St.  Cyprian And  he  himself  was  such  a 
 one ;  for  he  persisted  in  his  opinion  of  rebaptization,  until 
 death;  and  yet  his  obstinacy  was  not  called  criminal,  or  his 
 error  turned  to  heresy.    But  to  return. 
 
 11.  In  this  sense  it  is  that  a  heretic  is  ayroxaratx^iTor, 
 '  self-condemned,'  not  by  an  immediate  express  sentence  of 
 understanding,  but  by  his  own  act  or  fault,  bi'ought  into 
 condemnation.  As  it  is  in  the  canon  law,  '  Notorius  per- 
 cussor  clerici'  is  '  ipso  jure'  excommunicate,  not  '  per  sen- 
 tentiam  latam  ab  homine,'  but  '  a  jure.'  No  man  hath  passed 
 sentence  '  pro  tribunali,'  but  law  hath  decreed  it  '  pro 
 edicto  :'  so  it  is  in  the  case  of  a  heretic.  The  understanding, 
 Avhich  is  judge,  condemns  him  not  by  an  express  sentence ; 
 for  he  errs  with  as  much  simplicity  in  the  result,  as  he  had 
 malice  in  the  principle:  but  there  is  '  sententia  lata  a  jure  ;' 
 his  will,  which  is  his  law,  that  hath  condemned  him.  And 
 this  is  gathered  from  that  saying  of  St.  Paul,  "  But  evil 
 men  and  seducers  shall  wax  worse  and  worse,  deceiving  and 
 being  deceived!."  First,  they  are  evil  men;  malice  and 
 peevishness  is  in  their  wills ;  then  they  turn  heretics,  and 
 
 *  ppist.  lib.  ii,  I, 
 
 '  ?  Tim.  iii.  13. 
 
466 
 
 OF  HERESY  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 seduce  others ;  and  while  they  grow  worse  and  worse,  the 
 error  is  master  of  their  understanding,  they  are  deceived 
 themselves,  '  given  over  to  believe  a  lie,'  saith  the  apostle : 
 they  first  play  the  knave,  and  then  play  the  fool ;  they  first 
 sell  themselves  to  the  purchase  of  vain  glory  or  ill  ends  ;  and 
 then  they  become  possessed  with  a  lying  spirit,  and  believe 
 those  things  heartily,  which,  if  they  were  honest,  they  should, 
 with  God's  grace,  discover  and  disclaim.  So  that  now  we 
 see  that  '  bona  fides  in  falso  articulo,'  '  a  hearty  persuasion  in 
 a  false  article,'  does  not  always  make  the  error  to  be  esteemed 
 involuntary,  but  then  only  when  it  is  as  innocent  in  the 
 principle,  as  it  is  confident  in  the  present  persuasion.  And 
 such  persons,  who,  by  their  ill  lives  and  vicious  actions,  or 
 manifest  designs  (for  '  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them'),  - 
 give  testimonv  of  such  criminal  indispositions,  so  as  compe- 
 tent judges,  by  human  and  prudent  estimate,  may  so  judge 
 them,  then  they  are  to  be  declared  heretics,  and  avoided. 
 And  if  this  were  not  true,  it  were  vain  that  the  apostle  com- 
 mands us  to  avoid  a  heretic  :  for  no  external  act  can  pass 
 upon  a  man  for  a  crime  that  is  not  cognoscible. 
 
 12.  Now  every  man  that  errs,  though  in  matter  of  con- 
 sequence, so  long  as  the  foundation  is  entire,  cannot  be 
 suspected  justly  guilty  of  a  crime  to  give  his  error  a  for- 
 mality of  heresy  ;  for  we  see  manv  a  good  man  miserably 
 deceived,  as  we  shall  make  it  appear  afterwards;  and  he 
 that  is  the  best  amongst  men,  certainly  hath  so  much 
 humility  to  think  he  may  be  easily  deceived,  and,  twenty 
 to  one,  but  he  is  in  some  things  or  other  ;  yet,  if  his  error 
 be  not  voluntary,  and  part  of  an  ill  life,  then,  because  he 
 lives  a  good  life,  he  is  a  good  man,  and,  therefore,  no 
 heretic :  no  man  is  a  heretic  against  his  will.  And  if  it  be 
 pretended  that  every  man  that  is  deceived,  is  therefore 
 proud,  because  he  does  not  submit  his  understanding  to  the 
 authority  of  God  or  man  respectively,  and  so  his  error  be- 
 comes an  heresy  ; — to  this  I  answer,  that  there  is  no  Christian 
 man  but  will  submit  his  understanding  to  God,  and  believes 
 whatsoever  he  hath  said  ;  but  always,  provided  he  knows  that 
 God  hath  said  so,  else  he  must  do  his  duty  by  a  readiness  to 
 obey  when  he  shall  know  it.  But  for  obedience  or  humility 
 of  the  understanding  towards  men,  that  is  a  thing  of  another 
 consideration,  and  it  must  first  be  made  evident  that  his 
 
AND  MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 467 
 
 understanding  must  be  submitted  to  men  ;  and  who  those 
 are,  must  also  be  certain,  before  it  Avill  be  adjudged  a  sin  not 
 to  submit.  But  if  I  mistake  not  Christ's  saying, — •"  Call  no 
 man  master  upon  earth," — is  so  great  a  prejudice  against  this 
 pretence,  as  I  doubt  it  will  go  near  wholly  to  make  it  invalid. 
 So  that,  as  the  woi'shipping  of  angels  is  a  humility  indeed, 
 but  it  is  voluntary  and  a  will- worship  to  un  ill  sense,  not  to 
 be  excused  by  the  excellency  of  humility,  nor  the  virtue  of 
 religion : — so  is  the  relying  upon  the  judgment  of  man  a 
 humility  too,  but  such  as  comes  not  under  that  i^s-cwtoi^ 
 CTJUTews-,  that  '  obedience  of  faith,'  which  is  the  duty  of  every 
 Christian  ;  but  intrenches  upon  that  duty,  which  we  owe  to 
 Christ  as  an  acknowledgment  that  he  is  our  great  Master, 
 and  the  Prince  of  the  catholic  church.  But  whether  it  be  or 
 be  not,  if  that  be  the  question,  whether  the  disagreeing  per- 
 son be  to  be  determined  by  the  dictates  of  men,  I  am  sure  the 
 dictates  of  men  must  not  detei'mine  him  in  that  question,  but 
 it  must  be  settled  by  some  higher  principle ;  so  that  if  of 
 that  question  the  disagi-eeing  person  does  opine,  or  believe, 
 or  err  '  bona  fide, — he  is  not  therefore  to  be  judged  a  here- 
 tic, because  he  submits  not  his  understanding;  because,  till 
 it  be  sufficiently  made  certain  to  him,  that  he  is  bound  to 
 submit,  he  may  innocently  and  piously  disagree  :  and  this  not 
 submitting  is,  therefore,  not  a  crime,  and  so  cannot  make  a 
 heresy,  because,  without  a  crime,  he  may  lawfully  doubt, 
 whether  he  be  bound  to  submit  or  no  ; — for  that  is  the 
 question.  And  if  in  such  questions,  which  have  influence 
 upon  a  whole  system  of  theology,  a  man  may  doubt  lawfully, 
 if  he  doubts  heartily,  because  the  authority  of  men  being  the 
 thing  in  question,  cannot  be  the  judge  of  this  question,  and, 
 therefore,  being  rejected,  or,  which  is  all  one,  being  ques- 
 tioned, that  is,  not  believed,  cannot  render  the  doubting 
 person  guilty  of  pride,  and,  by  consequence,  not  of  heresy  ;— 
 much  more  may  particular  questions  be  doubted  of,  and  the 
 authority  of  men  examined,  and  yet  the  doubting  person  be 
 humble  enough,  and,  therefore,  no  heretic  for  all  this  pre- 
 tence. And  it  would  be  considered  that  humility  is  a  duty 
 in  great  ones  as  well  as  in  idiots.  And  as  inferiors  must  not 
 disagree  without  reason,  so  neither  must  sujieriors  subscribe 
 to  others  without  sufficient  authority,  evidence,  and  necessity 
 too :  and  if  rebellion  be  pride,  so  is  tyranny ;  and  it  being 
 
468 
 
 OF  HERESY  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 *  in  materia  intellectuali,'  both  may  be  guilty  of  pride  of  un- 
 derstanding,— sometimes  the  one  in  imposing,  sometimes  the 
 other  in  a  causeless  disagreeing  ;  but  in  the  inferiors,  it  is 
 then  only  the  want  of  humility,  when  the  guides  impose  or 
 prescribe  what  God  hath  also  taught ;  and  then  it  is  the  dis- 
 obeying God's  dictates,  not  man's,  that  makes  the  sin.  But 
 then  this  consideration  will  also  intervene  :  that  as  no  dictate 
 of  God  obliges  men  to  believe  it,  unless  I  know  it  to  be  such ; 
 so  neither  will  any  of  the  dictates  of  my  superiors  engage  my 
 faith,  unless  I  also  know,  or  have  no  reason  to  disbelieve,  but 
 that  they  are  warranted  to  teach  them  to  me  ;  therefore,  be- 
 cause God  hath  taught  the  same  to  them,  which  if  I  once 
 know,  or  have  no  reason  to  think  the  contrary,  if  I  disagree, 
 my  sin  is  not  in  resisting  human  authority,  but  Divine.  And, 
 therefore,  the  whole  business  of  submitting  our  understand- 
 ing to  human  authority,  comes  to  nothing  ;  for  either  it  re- 
 solves into  the  direct  duty  of  submitting  to  God,  or,  if  it  be 
 spoken  of  abstractedly,  it  is  no  duty  at  all. 
 
 13.  But  this  pretence  of  a  necessity  of  humbling  the  un- 
 derstanding, is  none  of  the  meanest  arts  whereby  some  per- 
 sons have  invaded,  and  have  usurped  a  power  over  men's 
 faith  and  consciences,  and,  therefore,  we  shall  examine  the 
 pretence  afterwards,  and  try  if  God  hath  invested  any  man, 
 or  company  of  men,  with  such  a  power.  In  the  mean  time, 
 he  that  submits  his  understanding  to  all  that  he  knows  God 
 hath  said,  and  is  ready  to  submit  to  all  that  he  hath  said,  if 
 he  but  know  it,  denying  his  own  affections,  and  ends,  and 
 interests,  and  human  persuasions,  laying  them  all  down  at 
 the  foot  of  his  great  Master,  Jesus  Christ, — that  man  hath 
 brought  his  understanding  into  subjection,  and  every  proud 
 thought  unto  the  obedience  of  Christ,  and  this  is  uTraxori 
 TrtfTTewr,  '  the  obedience  of  faith,*  which  is  the  duty  of  a 
 Christian. 
 
 14.  But  to  proceed  :  Besides  these  heresies  noted  in 
 Scripture,  the  age  of  the  apostles,  and  that  which  followed, 
 was  infested  with  other  heresies  ;  but  such  as  had  the  same 
 formality  and  malignity  with  the  precedent,  all  of  them, 
 either  such  as  taught  practical  impieties,  or  denied  an  article 
 of  the  creed.  Hegesippus,  in  Eusebius,  reckons  seven  only 
 prime  hei'esies,  that  sought  to  deflower  the  purity  of  the 
 church:  that  of  Simon, — that  of  Thebutes, — of  Cleobius,— 
 
AND  MEASURES  Oli"  IT. 
 
 469 
 
 of  Dositheus,^ — of  Gortheus, — of  Masbotlieus  ;  I  suppose 
 Cerinthus  to  have  been  the  seventh  man,  though  he  express 
 him  not :  but  of  these,  except  the  last,  we  know  no  particu- 
 lars ;  but  that  Hegeslppus  says,  they  wei'e  false  Christs,  and 
 that  their  doctrine  was  directly  against  God  and  his  blessed 
 Son.  Menander  also  was  the  fii-st  of  a  sect,  but  he  bewitched 
 the  people  with  his  sorceries.  Cerinthus's  doctrine  pretended 
 enthusiasm,  or  a  new  revelation,  and  ended  in  lust  and  im- 
 pious theorems,  in  matter  of  uncleanness.  The  Ebionites"" 
 denied  Christ  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  affirmed  him  xJ/iXov 
 xv^pwjrov,  begot  by  natural  generation,  (by  occasion  of  which, 
 and  the  importunity  of  the  Asian  bishops,  St.  John  wrote  his 
 Gospel)  and  taught  the  observation  of  Moses'  law.  Basi- 
 lides  taught  it  lawful  to  renounce  the  faith,  and  take  false 
 oaths,  in  time  of  persecution.  Carpocrates  was  a  very  bed- 
 lam, half-witch,  and  quite  madman ;  and  practised  lust, 
 which  he  called  the  secret  operations  to  overcome  the  poten- 
 tates ofthe  world.  Some  more  there  were,  but  of  the  same 
 nature  and  pest,  not  of  a  nicety  in  dispute,  not  a  question  of 
 secret  philosophy,  not  of  atoms,  and  undiscernible  proposi- 
 tions, but  open  defiances  of  all  faith,  of  all  sobriety,  and  of 
 all  sanctity,  except  only  the  doctrine  of  the  millenaries, 
 which,  in  the  best  ages,  was  esteemed  no  heresy,  but  true 
 catholic  doctrine,  though  it  since  hath  justice  done  to  it,  and 
 hath  suffered  a  just  condemnation. 
 
 15.  Hitherto,  and  in  these  instances,  the  church  did  esteem 
 and  judge  of  hei-esies,  in  proportion  to  the  rules  and  chai'ac- 
 ters  of  faith.  For  faith  being  a  doctrine  of  piety  as  well  as 
 truth,  that  which  was  either  destructive  of  fundamental 
 verity,  or  of  Christian  sanctity,  was  against  faith,  and  if  it 
 made  a  sect,  was  heresy  ;  if  not,  it  ended  in  personal  impiety, 
 and  went  no  further.  But  those,  who,  as  St.  Paul  says,  '  not 
 only  did  such  things,  but  had  pleasure  in  them  that  do  them,' 
 and,  therefore,  taught  others  to  do  what  they  impiously  did 
 dogmatize, — they  were  heretics,  both  in  matter  and  foi'm,  in 
 doctrine  and  deportment,  towards  God,  and  towards  man, 
 and  judicable  in  both  tribunals. 
 
 16.  But  the  Scripture  and  apostolical  sermons,  having  ex- 
 pressed most  high  indignation  against  these  masters  of  im- 
 
 ■"  Vid.  Hilar,  lib.  i.  cle  Trin. 
 
470 
 
 OF  HERESY  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 pious  sects,  leaving  them  under  prodigious  characters  and 
 horrid  representments,  as  calling  them  '  men  of  corrupt 
 minds, — reprobates  concerning  the  faith, — given  over  to 
 strong  delusions  to  the  belief  of  a  lie, — false  apostles, — -false 
 prophets, — men  already  condemned,  and  that  by  themselves, 
 — antichrists, — enemies  to  God  — ^and  heresy  itself,  '  a  work 
 of  the  flesh,  excluding  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven  left 
 such  impressions  in  the  minds  of  all  their  successors,  and  so 
 much  zeal  against  such  sects,  that  if  any  opinion  commenced 
 in  the  church,  not  heard  of  before,  it  oftentimes  had  this  ill 
 luck  to  run  the  same  fortune  with  an  old  heresy.  For  be- 
 cause the  heretics  did  bring  in  new  opinions  in  matters  of 
 great  concernment,  every  opinion,  'de  novo,'  brought  in,  was 
 liable  to  the  same  exception ;  and  because  the  degree  of 
 malignity,  in  every  error,  was  oftentimes  undiscernible,  and 
 most  commonly  indemonstrable,  their  zeal  was  alike  against 
 all ;  and  those  ages,  being  full  of  piety,  wei-e  fitted  to  be 
 abused  with  an  over  active  zeal,  as  wise  persons  and  learned 
 are,  with  a  too  much  indiffei-ency. 
 
 17.  But  it  came  to  pass,  that  the  further  the  succession 
 went  from  the  apostles,  the  more  forward  men  were  in  num- 
 bering heresies,  and  that  upon  slighter  and  more  uncertain 
 grounds.  Some  footsteps  of  this  we  shall  find,  if  we  consider 
 the  sects  that  are  said  to  have  sprung  in  the  first  three  hun- 
 dred years,  and  they  were  pretty  and  quick  in  their  springs 
 and  falls  ;  fourscore  and  seven  of  them  are  reckoned.  They 
 were  indeed  reckoned  afterward;  and  though,  when  they  were 
 alive,  they  were  not  condemned  with  as  much  forwardness 
 as  after  tliey  were  dead,  yet,  even  then,  confidence  began  to 
 mingle  with  opinions  less  necessary, — and  mistakes  in  judg- 
 ment were  oftener,  and  more  public,  than  they  should  have 
 been.  But  if  they  were  forward  in  their  censures  (as  some- 
 times some  of  them  were),  it  is  no  great  wonder  the)'  were 
 deceived.  For  what  principle  or  xptrripm  had  they  then  to 
 judge  of  heresies,  or  condemn  them,  besides  the  single  dic- 
 tates or  decretals  of  private  bishops  ?  for  Scripture  was  indif- 
 ferently pretended  by  all ;  and  concerning  the  meaning  of  it, 
 was  the  question  :  now  there  was  no  general  council  all  that 
 while,  no  opportunity  for  the  church  to  convene  ;  and  if  we 
 search  the  communicatory  letters  of  the  bishops  and  martyrs, 
 in  those  days,  we  shall  find  but  few  sentences  decretory, 
 
AND  MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 471 
 
 concerning  any  question  of  faith,  or  new  sprung  opinion. 
 And  in  those  that  did,  for  aught  appears,  the  persons  were 
 inisreported,  or  their  opinions  mistaken,  or  at  most,  the  sen- 
 tence of  condemnation  was  no  more  than  this  ;  such  a  bishop 
 who  hath  had  the  good  fortune,  by  posterity,  to  be  reputed 
 a  catholic,  did  condemn  such  a  man  of  such  an  opinion,  and 
 j'et  himself  erred  in  as  considerable  matters ;  but  meeting 
 with  better  neighbours  in  his  life-time,  and  a  more  charitable 
 posterity,  hath  his  memory  preserved  in  honour.  It  appears 
 plain  enough,  in  the  case  of  Nicholas,  the  deacon  of  Antiocli, 
 upon  a  mistake  of  his  words,  whereby  he  taught  ■zsa^a.y^pviaQa.t 
 rri  uxpul,  '  to  abuse  the  flesh,'  viz.,  by  acts  of  austerity  and 
 self-denial,  and  mortification  ;  some  wicked  people  that  were 
 glad  to  be  mistaken  and  abused  into  a  pleasing  crime,  pre- 
 tended that  he  taught  them  to  abuse  the  flesh  by  filthy  com- 
 mixtures and  pollutions:  This  mistake  was  transmitted  to 
 posterity  with  a  full  cry,  and  acts  afterwards  found  out,  to 
 justify  an  ill  opinion  of  him.  For  by  St.  Jerome's  time  it 
 grew  out  of  question,  but  that  he  was  the  vilest  of  men,  and 
 the  worst  of  heretics;  '  Nicolaus,  Antiochenus,  omnium  im^- 
 munditiarum  conditor  choros  duxit  foemineos".'  And  again 
 '  Iste  Nicolaus  diaconus  ita  immundus  exstitit,  ut  etiam  in 
 praesepi  Domini  nefas  perpetrarit":'  Accusations  that,  while 
 the  good  man  lived,  were  never  thought  of ;  for  his  daughters 
 were  virgins,  and  his  sons  lived  in  holy  celibate  all  their  lives, 
 and  himself  lived  in  chaste  wedlock  ;  and  yet  his  memory 
 had  rotted  in  perpetual  infamy,  had  not  God  (in  whose  sight, 
 the  memory  of  the  saints  is  precious)  preserved  it,  by  the  tes^ 
 timony  of  Clemens  Alexandrinus  p,  and,  from  him,  of  Eusebius 
 and  Nicephorus**.  But  in  the  catalogue  of  heretics,  made 
 by  Philastrius,  he  stands  marked  with  a  black  character,  as 
 guilty  of  many  heresies  :  by  which  one  testimony  we  may 
 guess  what  trust  is  to  be  given  to  those  catalogues.  Well, 
 this  good  man  had  ill  luck  to  fall  into  unskilful  hands,  at 
 first ;  but  Irenaeus,  Justin  Martyr,  Lactantius, — to  name  no 
 more,  had  better  fortune ;  for  it  being  still  extant  in  their 
 writings  that  they  were  of  the  millenary  opinion,  Papius  be- 
 fore, and  Nepos  after,  were  censured  hardly,  and  the  opinion 
 
 »  Ad  Ctesipli. 
 
 p  Lib.  jv,  Stromat. 
 
 "  Epist.  de  Fabiano  lapso. 
 1  Lib.  iii.  c.  26.  Hist. 
 
472 
 
 OF  HERESY  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 put  into  the  catalogue  of  heresies  ;  and  yet  these  men  wei-e 
 never  suspected  as  guilt}^  but  like  the  children  of  the  cap- 
 tivity? walked  in  the  midst  of  the  flame,  and  not  so  much  as 
 the  smell  of  fire  passed  on  them.  But  the  uncertainty  of 
 these  things  is  very  memorable,  in  the  story  of  Eustathius, 
 bishop  of  Antioch,  contesting  with  Eusebius  Pamphilus : 
 Eustathius  accused  Eusebius  for  going  about  to  corrupt  the 
 Nicene  Creed,  '  of  which  slander  he  then  acquitted  himself,' 
 saith  Socrates  "■;  and  yet  he  is  not  cleai-ed  by  posterity,  for 
 still  he  is  suspected,  and  his  fame  not  clear :  however  Eu- 
 sebius then  scaped  well,  but  to  be  quit  with  his  adversary, 
 he  recriminates  and  accuses  him  to  be  '  a  favourer  of  Sabel- 
 lius,  rather  than  of  the  Nicene  canons ;  an  imperfect  accusa- 
 tion, God  knows,  when  the  crime  was  a  suspicion,  provable 
 only  by  actions  capable  of  divers  constructions,  and  at  the 
 most,  made  but  some  degrees  of  probability;  and  the  fact 
 itself  did  not  consist '  in  indivisibility,'  and,  therefore,  was  to 
 stand  or  fall,  to  be  improved  or  lessened,  according  to  the 
 will  of  the  judges,  whom  in  this  cause,  Eustathius,  by  his  ill 
 fortune  and  a  potent  adversary,  found  harsh  towards  him,  in- 
 somuch that  he  was,  for  heresy,  deposed  in  the  synod  of 
 Antioch ;  and  though  this  was  laid  open  in  the  eye  of  the 
 world,  as  being  most  ready  at  hand,  with  the  greatest  ease 
 charged  upon  every  man,  and  with  greatest  difficulty  ac- 
 quitted by  any  man ;  yet  there  were  other  suspicions  raised 
 upon  him  privately,  or,  at  least,  talked  of  '  ex  post  facto,' and 
 pretended  as  causes  of  his  deprivation,  lest  the  sentence 
 should  seem  too  hard  for  the  first  offence.  And  yet,  what 
 they  were,  no  man  could  tell,  saith  the  story.  But  it  is  ob- 
 servable what  Socrates  saith  %  as  an  excuse  for  such  pro- 
 ceedings, TouTO  Se  e'TTi  zjaivruv  elu^atat  rcuv  xxQactpovixivuv  zsoteTv  oi 
 sTt'iGy.oTtoi,  Kocrriyopovvrei  pt-av  xai  daeSr)  Xiyovrs^,  ra.s  airlcts  ttis 
 ccusSeiac^  ou  Xiyovaf  "It  is  the  manner  among  the  bishops, 
 when  they  accuse  them  that  are  deposed,  they  call  them 
 M'icked,  but  they  publish  not  the  actions  of  their  impiety." — 
 It  might  possibly  be  that  the  bishops  did  it  in  tenderness  of 
 their  reputation,  but  yet  hardly  ;  for  to  punish  a  jierson  pub- 
 licly and  highly,  is  a  certain  declaring  the  person  punished 
 guilty  of  a  high  crime,  and  then  to  conceal  the  fault,  upon 
 
 •  L.  i.e.  23. 
 
 •  L.  i.  c.  24. 
 
AND  MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 473 
 
 pretence  to  jireserve  his  reputation,  leaves  every  man  at 
 liberty  to  conjecture  what  he  pleaseth;  who  possibly  will 
 believe  it  worse  than  it  is,  inasmuch  as  they  think  his  judges 
 so  charitable  as  therefore  to  conceal  the  fault,  lest  the  pub- 
 lishing of  it  should  be  his  greatest  punishment,  and  the  scan- 
 dal greater  than  his  deprivation.  However  this  course if  it 
 were  just  in  any,  was  unsafe  in  all ;  for  it  might  undo  more 
 than  it  could  preserve,  and,  therefore,  is  of  more  danger, 
 than  it  can  be  of  charity.  It  is,  therefore,  too  probable  that 
 the  matter  was  not  very  fair ;  for,  in  public  sentences,  the  acts 
 ought  to  be  public,  but  that  they  rather  pretend  heresy  to 
 bring  their  ends  about,  shows  how  easy  it  is  to  impute  that 
 crime,  and  how  forward  they  were  to  do  it :  and  that  they 
 might,  and  did  then,  as  easily  call  heretic  as  afterwai-d,  when 
 Vigilius  was  condemned  of  heresy,  for  saying  there  were 
 antipodes;  or  as  the  friars  of  late  did,  who  suspected  Greek 
 and  Hebrew  of  heresy,  and  called  their  professors  heretics, 
 and  had  like  to  have  put  Terence  and  Demosthenes  into  the 
 '  Index  Expurgatorius ;'  sure  enough  they  railed  at  them 
 '  pro  concione,'  therefore  because  they  undei'stood  them  not, 
 and  had  reason  to  believe  they  would  accidentally  be  enemies 
 to  their  reputation  among  the  people. 
 
 18.  By  this  instance,  which  was  a  while  after  the  Nicene 
 council,  where  the  acts  of  the  church  were  regular,  judicial, 
 and  orderly,  we  may  guess  at  tlie  sentences  passed  upon 
 heresy,  at  such  times  and  in  such  cases,  when  their  process 
 was  more  private,  and  their  acts  more  tumultuary,  their  in- 
 formation less  certain,  and,  therefore,  their  mistakes  more  easy 
 and  frequent.  And  it  is  i-emarkable,  in  the  case  of  the 
 heresy  of  Montanus,  the  scene  of  whose  heresy  lay  within  the 
 first  three  hundred  years,  though  it  was  represented  in  the 
 catalogues  afterwards,  and  possibly  the  mistake  concerning 
 it,  is  to  be  put  upon  the  score  of  Epiphanius,  by  whom  Mon- 
 tanus and  his  followers  were  put  into  the  catalogue  of  here- 
 tics, for  commanding  abstinence  from  meats,  as  if  they  were 
 unclean,  and  of  themselves  unlawful.  Now  the  truth  was, 
 Montanus  said  no  such  thing;  but  commanded  frequent  ab- 
 stinence, enjoined  dry  diet,  and  an  ascetic  table,  not  for  con- 
 
 t  Simpliciter  pateat  vitiuni  foilasse  pusilluin  ; 
 Quod  tpgitur,  majus  creditur  esse  malum.       Jllaii.  iii.  42. 
 
474 
 
 OP  HERESY  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 science'  sake,  but  for  discipline;  and  yet  because  he  did  this 
 with  too  much  rigour  and  strictness  of  mandate,  the  primi- 
 tive church  misliked  it  in  him,  as  being  too  near  their  error, 
 who,  by  a  Judaical  superstition,  abstained  from  meats  as 
 from  uncleamiess.  This,  by  the  way,  will  much  concern  them, 
 who  place  too  much  sanctity  in  such  rites  and  acts  of  disci- 
 pline; for  it  is  an  eternal  rule,  and  of  never-failing  truth,  that 
 such  abstinencies,  if  they  be  obtruded  as  acts  of  original  im- 
 mediate duty  and  sanctity,  are  unlawful  and  superstitious  :  if 
 they  be  for  discipline,  they  may  be  good,  but  of  no  great  pro- 
 fit ;  it  is  that  d^ei^lx  tov  oaifAxro^,  which,  St.  Paul  savs,  pro- 
 fited but  little ;  and  just  in  the  same  degree,  the  primitive 
 church  esteemed  them  ;  for  they  therefore  reprehended  Mon- 
 tanus,  for  urging  such  abstinences  with  too  much  earnestnesa, 
 though  but  in  the  way  of  discipline ;  for  that  it  was  no  more, 
 Tertullian,  who  was  himself  a  Montanist,  and  knew  the  best 
 opinions  of  his  own  sect,  testifies  ;  and  yet  Epiphanius,  re- 
 porting the  errors  of  Montanus,  commends  that  which  Mon- 
 tanus  truly  and  really  taught,  and  which  the  primitive  church 
 condemned  in  him ;  and,  therefore,  represents  that  heresy  to 
 another  sense,  and  affixes  that  to  Montanus,  which  Epiphanius 
 believed  a  heresy,  and  yet,  which  Montanus  did  not  teach. 
 And  this  also,  among  many  other  things,  lessens  m}'  opinion 
 very  much  of  the  integrity  or  discretion  of  the  old  catalogues 
 of  heretics,  and  much  abates  my  confidence  towards  them. 
 
 19.  And  now  that  I  have  mentioned  them  casually,  in 
 passing  by,  I  shall  give  a  short  account  of  them ;  for  men  are 
 much  mistaken  ;  some  in  their  opinions  concerning  the  truth 
 of  them,  as  believing  them  to  be  all  true  ;  some  concerning 
 their  purpose,  as  thinking  them  sufficient,  not  only  to  con- 
 demn all  those  opinions,  there  called  heretical,  but  to  be  a 
 precedent  to  all  ages  of  the  church,  to  be  free  and  forward 
 in  calling  heretic.  But  he  that  considers  the  catalogues  them- 
 selves, as  they  are  collected  by  Epiphanius,  Philastrius,  and 
 St.  Austin,  shall  find  that  many  are  reckoned  for  heretics, 
 for  opinions  in  matters  disputable,  and  undetermined,  and  of 
 no  consequence  ;  and  in  these  catalogues  of  heretics,  there 
 are  men  numbered  for  heretics,  which,  by  every  side  respect- 
 ivelv,  are  acquitted  ;  so  that  there  is  no  company  of  men  in 
 the  world  that  admit  these  catalogues  as  good  records,  or 
 sufficient  sentences  of  condemnation.    For  the  churches  of 
 
AND  MEASURES  OP  it. 
 
 475 
 
 the  reformation,  T  am  certain,  they  acquit  Aerius,  for  deny- 
 ing prayer  for  the  dead, — and  the  Eustathians,  for  denying 
 invocation  of  saints.    And  I  am  partly  of  opinion,  that  the 
 church  of  Rome  is  not  willing  to  call  the  Collyridians  he- 
 retics, for  offering  a  cake  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  unless  she  also 
 will  run  the  hazard  of  the  same  sentence,  for  offering  candles 
 to  her  :  and  that  they  will  be  glad,  with  St.  Austin,  (1.  vi.  de 
 Hseres.  c.  86.)  to  excuse  the  Tertullianists",  for  picturing 
 God  in  a  visible  corporeal  representment.    And  yet  these 
 sects  are  put  in  the  black  book  by  Epiphanius,  and  St.  Austin, 
 and  Isidore  respectively.    I  remember  also,  that  the  Osseni 
 are  called  heretics,  because  they  refused  to  worship  towards 
 the  east ;  and  yet,  in  that  dissent,  I  find  not  the  malignity  of 
 a  heresy,  nor  any  thing  against  an  article  of  faith  or  good 
 mannei's;  and  it  being  only  in  circumstance,  it  were  hard,  if 
 they  were  otherwise  pious  men  and  true  believers,  to  send 
 them  to  hell  for  such  a  trifle.    The  Parermeneutae  refused  to 
 follow  other  men's  dictates  like  sheep,  but  would  expound 
 Scripture  according  to  the  best  evidence  themselves  could 
 find,  and  yet  were  called  heretics,  whether  they  expounded 
 true  or  no.   The  Pauliciani",  for  being  offended  at  crosses, — 
 the  ProcHans,  for  saying,  in  a  regenerate  man  all  his  sing 
 were  not  quite  dead,  but  only  curbed  and  assuaged, — were 
 called  heretics,  and  so  condemned,  for  aught  I  know,  for 
 affirming  that  which  all  pious  men  feel,  in  themselves,  to  be 
 too  true.   And  he  that  will  consider  how  numerous  the  cata- 
 logues are,  and  to  what  a  volume  they  are  come  in  their  last 
 collections,  to  no  less  than  five  hundred  and  twenty  (for  so 
 many  heresies  and  heretics  are  reckoned  by  Prateolus),  may 
 think,  that  if  a  retrenchment  were  justly  made  of  truths,  and 
 all  impertinencies,  and  all  opinions,  either  still  disputable,  or 
 less  considerable,  the  number  would  much  decrease ;  and, 
 therefore,  that  the  catalogues  are  much  amiss,  and  the  name 
 heretic  is  made  a  '  terriculamentum'  to  affright  people  from 
 their  belief,  or  to  discountenance  the  persons  of  men,  and 
 disrepute  them,  that  their  schools  may  be  empty,  and  their 
 disciples  few. 
 
 20.  So  that  I  shall  not  need  to  instance  how  that  some  men 
 
 "  D.  Thorn.  1.  contra  Gent.  c.  21. 
 "  Euthym.  part.i,  tit.  21.  Epiph.  Hseres.  64. 
 
476 
 
 OF  HERESY  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 were  called  heretics  by  Philastrius,  for  rejecting  the  traus- 
 lation  of  the  Seventy,  and  following  the  bible  of  Aquila, 
 wherein  the  great  faults  mentioned  hy  Philastrius,  are  that 
 he  translates  X^nzh  ©sov,  not  Christum,'  but  «  unctum  Dei,' 
 and  instead  of  '  Emanuel,'  writes  '  Deus  nobiscum.'  But  this 
 most  concerns  them  of  the  primitive  church,  with  whom  the 
 translation  of  Aquila  was  in  great  reputation,  "  is  enim  veluti 
 
 plus  a  quibusdam  intellexisselaudatur "  It  was  supposed 
 
 he  was  a  great  clerk,  and  understood  more  than  ordinary ;"  it 
 may  be  he  did.  But  whether  vea  or  no,  vet,  since  the  other 
 translators,  by  the  confession  of  Philastrius,  "  quaedam  prae- 
 termisisse  necessitate  urgente  cogerentur,"  if  some  wise  men, 
 or  unwise,  did  follow  a  translation  who  understood  the  ori- 
 ginal well  (for  so  Aquila  had  learnt  amongst  the  Jews),  it 
 was  hard  to  call  men  heretics  for  following  his  translation, 
 especially  since  the  other  bibles  (which  were  thought  to  have 
 in  them  contradictories,  and,  it  was  confessed,  had  omitted 
 some  things)  were  excused  by  necessity, — and  the  other's 
 necessity  of  following  Aquila,  when  they  had  no  better,  was 
 not  at  all  considered,  nor  a  less  crime  than  heresv  laid  upon 
 their  score?.  Such  another  was  the  heresy  of  the  Quarto- 
 decimani ;  for  the  Easterlings  were  all  proclaimed  heretics, 
 for  keeping  Easter  after  the  manner  of  the  East ;  and  as  So- 
 crates and  Xicephorus  report,  the  bishop  of  Rome  was  very 
 forward  to  excommunicate  all  the  bishops  of  the  Lesser  Asia, 
 for  observing  the  feast  according  to  the  tradition  of  their 
 ancestors,  thousjh  they  did  it  modestly,  quietly,  and  without 
 faction  ;  and  although  they  pretended,  and  were  as  well  able 
 to  prove  their  tradition  from  St.  John,  of  so  observing  it,  as 
 the  western  church  could  prove  the  tradition  derivative  from 
 St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  If  such  things  as  these  make  up  the 
 catalogues  of  heretics  (as  we  see  they  did),  their  accounts 
 differ  from  the  precedents  they  ought  to  have  followed, — that 
 is,  the  censures  apostolical, — and,  therefore,  are  imsafe  pre- 
 cedents for  us;  and  unless  they  took  the  liberty  of  using  the 
 word  heresy,  in  a  lower  sense  than  the  world  now  doth, 
 since  the  councils  have  been  forward  in  pronouncing  ana- 
 thema, and  took  it  only  for  a  distinct  sense,  and  a  differing 
 
 J  Pbilast.  99.  eos  inter  bsereticos  nunierat,  qui  '  spiraculum  vilss"  in  libro 
 Gt-nes.  interpre-antur  •'  animam  raticnalem/  et  non  potiiis  '  gratiam  Spiritus 
 Sancli.' 
 
AND  MEASURES  OP  IT. 
 
 477 
 
 persuasion  in  matters  of  opinion  and  minute  articles,  we 
 cannot  excuse  the  persons  of  the  men:  but  if  they  intended 
 the  crime  of  heresy  against  those  opinions,  as  they  laid  them 
 down  in  their  catalogues,  that  crime,  I  say,  which  is  a  work 
 of  the  flesh,  which  excludes  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
 all  that  I  shall  say  against  them,  is,  that  the  causeless  curse 
 shall  return  empty ;  and  no  man  is  damned  the  sooner,  be- 
 cause his  enemy  cries  2i  xara'^ssTs,  and  they  that  were  the 
 judges  and  accusers,  might  err  as  well  as  the  persons  accused, 
 and  might  need  as  charitable  construction  of  their  opinions 
 and  practices  as  the  other.  And  of  this  we  are  sure,  they 
 had  no  warrant  from  any  rule  of  Scripture,  or  practice  apos- 
 tolical, for  driving  so  furiously  and  hastily,  in  such  decretory 
 sentences.  But  I  am  willing  rather  to  believe  their  sense  of 
 the  word  '  heresy'  was  more  gentle  than  with  us  it  is  ;  and  for 
 that  they  might  have  warrant  from  Scripture. 
 
 21.  But  by  the  way,  I  observe,  that  although  these  cata- 
 logues are  a  great  instance  to  show,  that  they  whose  age 
 and  spirits  were  far  distant  from  the  apostles,  had  also  other 
 judgments  concerning  faith  and  heresy,  than  the  apostles  had, 
 and  the  ages  apostolical ;  yet,  these  catalogues,  although, 
 they  are  reports  of  heresies,  in  the  second  and  third  ages, 
 are  not  to  be  put  upon  the  account  of  those  ages,  not  to  be 
 reckoned  as  an  instance  of  their  judgment,  which,  although 
 it  was  in  some  degi-ees,  more  culpable  than  that  of  their  pre- 
 decessors, yet  in  respect  of  the  following  ages,  it  was  in- 
 nocent and  modest.  But  these  catalogues  I  speak  of,  were 
 set  down  according  to  the  sense  of  the  then  present  ages, 
 in  which  as  they,  in  all  probability,  did  differ  from  the  appre- 
 hensions of  the  former  centuries,  so  it  is  certain,  there  were 
 differing  learnings,  other  fancies,  divers  representments  and 
 judgments  of  men  depending  upon  circumstances,  which  the 
 first  ages  knew,  and  the  following  ages  did  not ;  and,  there- 
 fore, the  catalogues  were  drawn  with  some  truth,  but  less 
 certainty,  as  appears  in  their  differing  about  the  authors  of 
 some  heresies;  several  opinions  imputed  to  the  same,  and 
 some  put  in  the  roll  of  heretics  by  one,  which  the  other  left 
 out ;  which,  to  me,  is  an  argument,  that  the  collectors  were 
 determined,  not  by  the  sense  and  sentence  of  the  three  first 
 ages,  but  by  themselves,  and  some  circumstances  about  them, 
 which  to  reckon  for  heretics,  which  not.    And  that  they 
 
 VOL.  VI 1.  2  K 
 
478 
 
 OF  HERESY  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 themselves  were  the  prime  judges,  or  perhaps  some  In  their 
 own  age,  together  with  them  ;  but  there  was  not  any  suffi- 
 cient external  judicatory  competent  to  declare  heresy,  that, 
 by  any  public  or  sufficient  sentence  or  acts  of  coui't,  had  fur- 
 nished them  with  warrant  for  their  catalogues.  And,  there- 
 fore, they  are  no  argument  sufficient,  that  the  first  ages  of  the 
 church,  which  certainly  were  the  best,  did  much  recede  from 
 that  which  I  showed  to  be  the  sense  of  the  Scripture,  and  the 
 practice  of  the  apostles  :  they  all  contented  themselves  with 
 the  apostles'  creed,  as  the  rule  of  the  faith ;  and,  therefore, 
 were  not  forward  to  judge  of  heresy,  but  by  analogy  to  their 
 rule  of  faith.  And  those  catalogues,  made  after  these  ages, 
 are  not  sufficient  arguments  that  they  did  otherwise ;  but 
 rather  of  the  weakness  of  some  persons,  or  of  the  spirit  and 
 genius  of  the  age  in  which  the  coiinpilers  lived  ;  in  which 
 the  device  of  calling  all  diOijring  opinions  by  the  name  of 
 hei'esies,  might  giwv  to  be  a  design  to  serve  ends,  and  to 
 promote  interests,  as  often  as  an  act  of  zeal  and  just  indig- 
 nation against  evil  persons,  destroyers  of  the  faith,  and  cor- 
 rupters of  manners. 
 
 22.  For  whatever  private  men's  opinions  were,  yet,  till 
 the  Nicene  council,  the  rule  of  faith  was  entire  in  the  apostles' 
 creed;  and  provided  they  I'etained  that,  they  easily  broke 
 not  the  unity  of  faith,  however  differing  opinions  might  pos- 
 sibly commence  in  such  things,  in  which  a  liberty  were  better 
 suffered,  than  prohibited  with  a  breach  of  charity.   And  this 
 appears  exactly  in  the  question  between  St.  Cyprian,  of 
 Carthage, — and  Stephen,  bishop  of  Rome  ;  in  which  one  in- 
 stance it  is  easy  to  see,  what  was  lawful  and  safe  for  a  wise 
 and  good  man  ;  and  yet  how  others  began,  even  then,  to  be 
 abused  by  that  temptation,  which  since  hath  invaded  all 
 Christendom.    St.  Cyprian  rebaptized  heretics,  and  thought 
 he  was  bound  so  to  do;  calls  a  synod  in  Africa,  as  being 
 metropolitan,  and  confirms  his  opinion  by  the  consent  of  his 
 suff'ragans  and  brethren,  but  still  with  so  much  modesty,  that 
 if  any  man  was  of  another  opinion,  he  judged  him  not,  but 
 gave  him  that  liberty  that  he  desired  himself.  Stephen, 
 bishop  of  Rome,  grows  angry,  excommunicates  the  bishops 
 of  Asia  and  Africa,  that  in  divers  synods  had  consented  to 
 rebaptizatlon, — and  without  peace,  and  without  charity,  con- 
 demns them  for  heretics.    Indeed,  here  was  the  rarest  mix- 
 
AND   MEASURES  OP  tT. 
 
 479 
 
 lure  and  conjunction  of  unlikelihoods  that  I  have  observed. 
 Here  was  error  of  opinion,  with  much  modesty  and  sweet- 
 ness of  temper,  on  one  side  ;  and  on  the  other,  an  over  active 
 and  impetuous  zeal  to  attest  a  truth.  It  uses  not  to  be  so ; 
 for  error  usually  is  supported  with  confidence,  and  truth  sup- 
 pressed and  discountenanced  by  indifferency.  But  that  it 
 might  appear  that  the  error  was  not  the  sin,  but  the  uncha- 
 ritableness,  Stephen  was  accounted  a  zealous  and  furious 
 person;  and  St.  Cyprian,  though  deceived,  yet  a  very  good 
 man,  and  of  great  sanctity^.  For  although  eveiy  error  is  to 
 be  opposed,  yet,  according  to  the  variety  of  errors,  so  is  there 
 variety  of  proceedings.  If  it  be  against  faith,  that  is,  a 
 destruction  of  any  part  of  the  foundation,  it  is  with  zeal  to 
 be  resisted  ;  and  we  have  for  it  an  apostolical  warrant,  '  con- 
 tend earnestly  for  the  faith  but  then,  as  these  things  recede 
 further  from  the  foundation,  our  certainty  is  the  less,  and 
 their  necessity  not  so  much ;  and,  therefore,  it  was  very  fit 
 that  our  confidence  should  be  accoi'ding  to  our  evidence, 
 and  our  zeal  according  to  our  confidence,  and  our  confidence 
 should  then  be  the  rule  of  our  communion,  and  the  lightness 
 of  an  article  should  be  considered  with  the  weight  of  a  pre- 
 cept of  charity.  And,  therefore,  there  are  some  errors  to 
 be  reproved,  rather  by  a  private  friend  than  a  public  censure, 
 and  the  persons  of  the  men  not  avoided,  but  admonished; 
 and  their  doctrine  rejected,  not  their  communion.  Few  opi- 
 nions are  of  that  malignity  which  are  to  be  rejected  with  the 
 same  exterminating  spirit,  and  confidence  of  aversation,  witli 
 which  the  first  teachers  of  Christianity  condemned  Ebion, 
 Manes,  and  Cerinthus;  and  in  the  condemnation  of  heretics, 
 the  personal  inquiry  is  more  considerable  than  the  obliquity 
 of  the  doctrine,  not  for  the  i-ejection  of  llie  article,  but  for 
 censuring  the  persons ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  the  piety  of  the 
 man  that  excused  St.  Cyprian;  which  is  a  certain  argument 
 that  it  is  not  the  opinion,  but  the  impiety,  that  condemns 
 and  makes  the  heretic.  And  this  was  it  which  Vincentius 
 Lirinensis  said,  in  this  very  case  of  St.  Cyprian  :  "  Unius  et 
 ejusdem  opinionis  (mirum  videri  potest)  judicamus  autores 
 catholicos,  et  sequaces  haereticos.  Excusamus  magistros, 
 et  condemnamus  scholasticos.     Qui  scripserunt  libros  sunt 
 
 '  Vide  S.  Aug.  lib  ii.  c.  6.  de  Bapt,  contra  Donat. 
 
 2  K  2 
 
480 
 
 OF  HERF.SV  ;  THF  NATURE 
 
 haeredes  cceli,  quorum  librornm  defensores  detruduntur  ad  iu- 
 fernum^."    Which  saying,  if  we  confront  against  the  saying 
 ofSalvian,  condemning  the  first  authors  of  the  Arian  sect, 
 and  acquitting  the  followers, — we  are  taught  by  these  two 
 ■wise  men,  that  an  error  is  not  it  that  sends  a  man  to  hell ; 
 but  he  that  begins  the  heresy,  and  is  the  author  of  the  sect, 
 he  is  the  man  marked  out  to  ruin  ;  and  his  followers  escaped, 
 when  the  heresiarch  commenced  the  error  upon  pride  and 
 ambition,  and  his  followers  went  after  him  in  simplicity  of 
 their  heart.    And  so  it  was  most  commonly:  but,  on  the 
 contrary,  when  the  first  man  in  the  opinion  was  honestly  aad 
 invincibly  deceived,  as  St.  Cyrian  was,  and  that  his  scholars, 
 to  maintain  their  credit  or  their  ends,  maintained  the  opinion, 
 not  for  the  excellency  of  the  reason  persuading,  but  for  the 
 benefit  and  accruements,  or  peevishness,  as  did  the  Dona- 
 tists,  '  qui  de  Cypriani  autoritate  sibi  carnaliter  blandiun- 
 lur,'  as  St.  Austin  said  of  them;  then  the  scholars  are  the 
 heretics,  and  the  master  is  a  catholic ;  for  his  eiTor  is  not 
 the  heresy  formerly,  and  an  erring  person  may  be  a  catholic. 
 A  wicked  person,  in  his  error,  becomes  heretic,  when  the  good 
 man,  in  the  same  error,  shall  have  all  the  I'ewards  of  faith. 
 For  whatever  an  ill  man  believes,  if  he  therefore  believe  it 
 because  it  serves  his  own  ends,  be  his  belief  true  or  false, 
 the  man  hath  an  heretical  mind,  for,  to  serve  his  own  ends, 
 his  mind  is  prepared  to  believe  a  lie.    But  a  good  man  that 
 believes  what,  according  to  his  light,  and  upon  the  use  of  his 
 moral  industry,  he  thinks  true,  whether  he  hits  upon  the 
 right  or  no, — because  he  hath  a  mind  desirous  of  truth,  and 
 prepared  to  believe  every  truth,  is  therefore  acceptable  to 
 God,  because  nothing  hindered  him  from  it,  but  what  he 
 could  not  help,  his  misery  and  his  weakness,  which  being 
 imperfections  merely  natural,  which  God  never  punishes, — 
 he  stands  fair  for  a  blessing  of  his  morality,  which  God 
 always  accepts.    So  that  now,  if  Stephen  had  followed  the 
 example  of  God  Almighty,  or  retained  but  the  same  peace- 
 able spirit  which  his  brother  of  Carthage  did, — he  might, 
 with  more  advantage  to  truth,  and  reputation  both  of  wisdom 
 and  piety,  have  done  his  duty  in  attesting  what  he  believed 
 to  be  true ;  for  we  are  as  much  bound  to  be  zealous  pursuers 
 
 »  Adv.  Haeres.  c.  1 1, 
 
AND   MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 481 
 
 of  peace,  as  earnest  contenders  for  the  faith.  I  am  sure, 
 more  earnest  we  ought  to  be  for  the  peace  of  the  chui'ch, 
 than  for  an  article  which  is  not  of  the  faith, — as  this  ques- 
 tion of  rebaptization  was  not ;  for  St.  Cyprian  died  in  belief 
 against  it,  and  yet  was  a  catholic,  and  a  martyr  for  the 
 Christian  faith. 
 
 23.  The  sum  is  this:  St.  Cyprian  did  right  in  a  wrong 
 cause,  as  it  hath  been  since  judged ;  and  Stephen  did  ill  in 
 a  good  cause.  As  far  tlien  as  piety  and  charity  is  to  be  pre- 
 ferred before  a  true  opinion,  so  far  is  St.  C3'prian's  practice 
 a  better  precedent  for  us,  and  an  example  of  primitive  sanc- 
 tity, than  the  zeal  and  indiscretion  of  Stephen.  St.  Cyprian 
 had  not  learned  to  forbid  to  any  one  a  liberty  of  prophesying 
 or  interpretation,  if  he  transgressed  not  the  foundation  of 
 faith,  and  the  creed  of  the  apostles. 
 
 24.  Well,  thus  it  was,  and  thus  it  ought  to  be,  in  the  first 
 ages:  the  faith  of  Christendom  rested  still  upon  the  same 
 foundation,  and  the  judgments  of  heresies  were  accordingly, 
 or  were  amiss.  But  the  first  gi'eat  violation  of  this  truth 
 was,  when  general  councils  came  in,  and  the  symbols  were 
 enlarged,  and  new  articles  were  made  as  much  of  necessity 
 to  be  believed  as  the  creed  of  the  apostles,  and  damnation 
 threatened  to  them  that  did  dissent ;  and  at  last  the  creeds 
 multiplied  in  number  and  in  articles,  and  the  liberty  of  pro- 
 pliesying  began  to  be  something  restrained. 
 
 25.  And  this  was  of  so  much  the  more  force  and  eflficacy, 
 because  it  began  upon  great  reason,  and,  in  the  first  instance, 
 with  success  good  enough.  For  I  am  much  pleased  with 
 the  enlarging  of  the  creed,  which  the  council  of  Nice  made, 
 because  they  enlarged  it  to  my  sense  :  but  I  am  not  sure  that 
 others  are  satisfied  with  it.  While  we  look  upon  the  articles 
 they  did  determine,  we  see  all  things  well  enough ;  but  there 
 are  some  wise  personages  who  consider  it  in  all  circumstances, 
 and  think  the  church  had  been  more  happy,  if  she  had  not 
 been,  in  some  sense,  constrained  to  alter  the  simplicity  of 
 her  faith,  and  make  it  more  curious  and  articulate,  so  much 
 that  he  had  need  be  a  subtle  man  to  understand  the  very 
 words  of  the  new  determinations. 
 
 25.  For  the  first  Alexander,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  in  the 
 presence  of  his  clergy,  entreats somewhat  more  curiously 
 ^  Socrat.  lib.  i.  c.  8. 
 
4S-2 
 
 OF  HERESY  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 of  the  secret  of  the  mysterious  Trinity  and  Unity ;  so  curi- 
 ously that  Arius  (who  was  a  sophister  too  subtle,  as  it  after- 
 wards appeared)  misunderstood  him,  and  thought  he  intended 
 to  bring  in  the  heresy  of  Sabellius.    For  while  he  taught  the 
 unity  of  the  Trinity,  either  he  did  it  so  inartificially,  or  so 
 intricately,  that  Arius  thought  he  did  not  distinguish  the 
 j^ersons,  when  the  bishop  intended  only  the  unity  of  nature. 
 Against  this  Arius  furiously  drives;  and,  to  confute  Sabellius, 
 and  in  him  (as  he  thought)  the  bishop,  distinguishes  the 
 natures  too,  and  so,  to  secure  the  article  of  the  Trinity,  de- 
 stroys the  unity.    It  was  the  first  time  the  question  was  dis- 
 puted in  the  world,  and  in  such  mysterious  niceties,  possibly 
 every  wise  man  may  understand  something,  but  few  can 
 understand  all, — and,  therefore,  suspect  what  they  under- 
 stand not,  and  are  furiously  zealous  for  that  part  of  it  which 
 they  do  perceive.    Well,  it  happened  in  these  as  always  in 
 such  cases,  in  things  men  understand  not,  they  are  most 
 impetuous  ;  and  because  suspicion  is  a  thing  infinite  in  de- 
 grees, for  it  hath  nothing  to   determine  it, — a  suspicious 
 person  is  ever  most  violent ;  for  his  fears  are  worse  than 
 the  thing  feared,  because  the  thing  is  limited,  but  his  fears 
 are  not ;  so  that  upon  this  grew  contentions  on  both  sides, 
 and  tumultuous  railing  and  reviling  each  other  ;  and  then  the 
 laity  were  drawn  into  parts,  and  the  Meletians  abetted  the 
 wrong  part ;  and  the  right  part,  fearing  to  be  overborne,  did 
 any  thing  that  was  next  at  hand  to  secure  itself'^.    Now  then, 
 they  that  lived  in  that  age,  that  understood  the  men,  that 
 saw  how  quiet  the  church  was  before  this  stir,  how  miserably 
 rent  now,  what  little  benefit  from  the  question,  what  schism 
 about  it, — gave  other  censures  of  the  business  than  we  since 
 have  done,  who  only  look  upon  the  article  determined  with 
 truth  and  approbation  of  the  church  generally,  since  that 
 time.     But  the  epistle'^  of  Constantine  to  Alexander  and 
 Arius,  tells  the  truth,  and  chides  them  both  for  commen- 
 cing the  question,  Alexander  for  broaching  it,  Arius  for 
 taking  it  up.    And  although  this  be  true,  that  it  had  been 
 better  for  the  church  it  never  had  begun,  yet  being  begun, 
 what  is  to  be  done  in  it  ?    Of  this  also,  in  that  admirable 
 epistle,  we  have  the  emperor's  judgment,  (I  suppose  not 
 
 <■  Lib.  i.  c.  6. 
 
 <•  Cap.  7. 
 
AND  MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 483 
 
 without  the  advice  and  privity  of  Hosius,  bishop  of  Corduba, 
 whom  the  emperor  loved  and  trusted  much,  and  erajiloyed  in 
 the  delivery  of  the  letters)  :  for,  first,  he  calls  it  "  a  certain 
 vain  piece  of  a  question,  ill  begun,  and  more  unadvisedly 
 published  ;  a  question  which  no  law  or  ecclesiastical  canon 
 defineth  ;  a  fruitless  contention,  the  product  of  idle  brains  ; 
 a  matter  so  nice,  so  obscure,  so  intricate,  that  it  was  neither 
 to  be  explicated  by  the  clergy,  nor  understood  by  the  people; 
 a  dispute  of  words,  a  doctrine  inexplicable,  but  most  dan- 
 gerous when  taught,  lest  it  introduce  discord  or  blasphemy  ; 
 and,  therefore,  the  objector  was  rash,  and  the  answer  unad- 
 vised ;  for  it  concerned  not  the  substance  of  faith,  or  the 
 worship  of  God,  nor  any  chief  commandment  of  Scripture  ; 
 and,  therefore,  why  should  it  be  the  matter  of  discord  ?  for 
 though  the  matter  be  grave,  yet,  because  neither  necessary 
 nor  explicable,  the  contention  is  trifling  and  toyish.  And, 
 therefore,  as  the  philosophers  of  the  same  sect,  though  dif- 
 fering in  explication  of  an  opinion,  yet  more  love  the  unity 
 of  their  profession,  than  disagree  for  the  difference  of  opinion  ; 
 so  should  Christians,  believing  in  the  same  God,  retaining 
 the  same  faith,  having  the  same  hopes,  opposed  by  the  same 
 enemies,  not  fall  at  variance  upon  such  disputes,  considering 
 our  understandings  are  not  all  alike,  and,  therefore,  neither 
 can  our  opinions  in  such  mysterious  articles.  So  that  the 
 matter  being  of  no  great  importance,  but  vain,  and  a  toy  in 
 respect  of  the  excellent  blessings  of  peace  and  charity,  it 
 were  good  that  Alexander  and  Arius  should  leave  contend- 
 ing, keep  their  opinions  to  themselves,  ask  each  other  for- 
 giveness, and  give  mutual  toleration."  This  is  the  substance 
 of  Constantine's  letter  ;  and  it  contains  in  it  much  reason,  if 
 he  did  not  undervalue  the  question  ;  but  it  seems  it  was  not 
 then  thought  a  question  of  faith,  but  of  nicety  of  dispute; 
 they  both  did  believe  one  God,  and  the  Holy  Trinity.  Now, 
 then,  that  he  afterwards  called  the  Nicene  council,  it  was 
 upon  occasion  of  the  vileness  of  the  men  of  the  Arian  part, 
 their  eternal  discord  and  pertinacious  wrangling,  and  to 
 bring  peace  into  the  church:  that  was  the  necessity,  and  in 
 order  to  it  was  the  determination  of  the  article.  But,  for 
 the  article  itself,  the  letter  declares  what  opinion  he  had  of 
 that ;  and  this  letter  was  hy  Socrates  called  '  a  wonderful 
 exhortation,  full  of  grave  and  sober  counsels,"  and  such  as 
 
484 
 
 OF  HERESY ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 Hosius  himself,  who  was  the  messengei-,  pressed  with  all 
 earnestness,  with  all  the  skill  and  authority  he  had. 
 
 27.  I  know  the  ojjinion  the  world  had  of  the  article,  after- 
 wards, is  quite  differing  from  this  censure  given  of  it  before ; 
 and,  therefore,  they  have  put  it  into  the  creed,  I  suppose,  to 
 bring  the  world  to  unity,  and  to  prevent  sedition  in  this 
 question,  and  the  accidental  blasphemies  which  were  occa- 
 sioned by  their  curious  talkings  of  such  secret  mysteries,  and 
 by  their  illiterate  resolutions.  But,  although  the  article  was 
 determined  with  an  excellent  spirit,  and  we  all,  with  much 
 reason,  profess  to  believe  it,  yet  it  is  another  consideration, 
 whether  or  no  it  might  not  have  been  better  determined,  if 
 with  more  simplicity ;  and  another  yet,  whether  or  no,  since 
 many  of  the  bishops  who  did  believe  this  thing,  yet  did  not 
 like  the  nicety  and  curiosity  of  expressing  it,  it  had  not  been 
 more  agreeable  to  the  practice  of  the  apostles,  to  have  made 
 a  determination  of  the  article  by  way  of  exposition  of  the 
 apostles'  creed,  and  to  have  left  this  in  a  rescript,  for  record 
 to  all  posterity,  and  not  to  have  enlarged  the  creed  with  it ; 
 for  since  it  was  an  explication  of  an  article  of  the  creed  of  the 
 apostles,  as  sermons  are  of  places  of  Scripture,  it  was  thought 
 by  some  that  Scripture  might,  with  good  profit  and  great 
 truth,  be  expounded,  and  yet  the  expositions  not  put  into 
 the  canon,  or  go  for  Scripture,  but  that  left  still  in  the  naked 
 original  simplicity ;  and  so  much  the  rather,  since  that  expli- 
 cation was  further  from  the  foundation :  and,  though  most 
 certainty  true,  yet  not  penned  by  so  infallible  a  spirit  as  was 
 that  of  the  apostles,  and,  therefore,  not  with  so  much  evi- 
 dence as  certainty.  And  if  they  had  pleased,  they  might 
 have  made  use  of  an  admirable  precedent,  to  this  and  many 
 other  great  and  good  purposes,  no  less  than  of  the  blessed 
 apostles,  whose  symbol  they  might  have  imitated,  with  as 
 much  simplicity  as  they  did  the  expressions  of  Scripture, 
 when  they  first  composed  it.  For  it  is  most  considerable, 
 that  although,  in  reason,  every  clause  in  the  creed  should  be 
 clear,  and  so  inopportune  and  unapt  to  variety  of  interpre- 
 tation, that  there  might  be  no  place  left  for  several  senses, 
 or  varity  of  expositions  :  yet,  when  they  thought  fit  to  insert 
 some  mysteries  into  the  creed,  which,  in  Scripture,  were 
 expressed  in  so  mysterious  words,  that  the  last  and  most 
 explicit  sense  would  still  be  latent ;  yet,  they  who  (if  ever 
 
AND  MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 485 
 
 any  did)  understood  all  the  senses  and  secrets  of  it,  thought 
 it  not  fit  to  use  any  words  but  the  words  of  Scripture,  pai'ti- 
 cularly  in  the  articles  of  '  Christ's  descending  into  hell,'  and 
 'sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God,'  to  show  us,  that  those 
 creeds  are  best,  which  keep  the  very  words  of  Scripture  ; 
 and  that  faith  is  best,  which  hath  greatest  simplicity  ;  and 
 that  it  is  better,  in  all  cases,  humbly  to  submit,  than  curi- 
 ously to  inquire,  and  pry  into  the  mystei'y  under  the  cloud ; 
 and  to  hazard  our  faith,  by  improving  our  knowledge.  If 
 the  Nicene  fathers  had  done  so  too,  possibly  the  church  would 
 never  have  repented  it. 
 
 28.  And,  indeed,  the  experience  the  church  had  afterwards, 
 showed  that  the  bishops  and  priests  were  not  satisfied  in  all 
 circumstances,  nor  the  schism  appeased,  nor  the  persons 
 agreed,  nor  the  canons  accepted,  nor  the  article  understood, 
 nor  any  thing  right,  but  M'hen  they  were  overborne  with 
 authority ;  which  authority,  when  the  scales  turned,  did  the 
 same  service  and  proinotion  to  the  contrary. 
 
 29.  But  it  is  considerable,  that  it  was  not  the  article,  or 
 the  thing  itself,  that  troubled  the  disagreeing  persons,  but 
 the  manner  of  representing  it.  For  the  five  dissenters,  Euse- 
 bius  of  Nicomedia,  Theognis,  Maris,  Theonas,  and  Secundus, 
 believed  Christ  to  be  the  very  God  of  very  God  ;  but  the 
 clause  of  oi/.oovnios  they  derided,  as  being  persuaded  by  their 
 logic,  that  he  was  neither  *  of  the  substance  of  the  Father,' 
 by  division,  as  a  piece  of  a  lump  ;  nor  derivation,  as  children 
 from  their  parents  ;  nor  by  production,  as  buds  fi-om  trees ; 
 and  nobody  could  tell  them  any  other  way  at  that  time,  and 
 that  made  the  fire  to  burn  still.  And  that  was  it  I  said  ;  if 
 the  article  had  been  with  more  simplicity,  and  less  nicety, 
 determined,  charity  would  have  gained  more,  and  faith  would 
 have  lost  nothing.  And  we  shall  find  the  wisest  of  them  all, 
 for  so  Eusebius  Pamphilus"  was  esteemed,  published  a  creed 
 or  confession  in  the  synod  ;  and  though  he,  and  all  the  rest, 
 believed  that  great  mystery  of  godliness,  '  God  manifested 
 in  the  flesh,'  yet  he  was  not  fully  satisfied,  nor  so  soon,  of 
 the  clause  of  '  one  substance,'  till  he  had  done  a  little  vio- 
 lence to  his  own  understanding ;  for  even  when  he  had  sub- 
 scribed to  the  clause  of  '  one  substance,'  he  does  It  with  a 
 
 ?  Vide  Sozofnen.  lib.  ii,  c.  18. 
 
486 
 
 OF  HERESY  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 protestation,  that  'heretofore  he  never  had  been  acquainted, 
 nor  accustomed  himself  to  such  speeches.'  And  the  sense  of 
 the  word*^  was  either  so  ambiguous,  or  their  meaning  so  un- 
 certain, that  Andreus  Fricius  does,  with  some  probability, 
 dispute  that  the  Nicene  fathers,  by  hfMoovTios,  did  mean  '  Patris 
 similitudlnem,  non  essentije  unitatems.'  And  it  was  so  well 
 understood  by  personages  disinterested,  that  when  Arius  and 
 Euzoius  had  confessed  Christ  to  be  '  Deus  verbum,'  without 
 inserting  the  clause  of  'one  substance,'  the  emperor,  by  his 
 letter,  approved  of  his  faith,  and  restored  him  to  his  country 
 and  office,  and  the  communion  of  the  church.  And  a  long 
 time  after,  although  the  article  was  believed  with  nicety 
 enough'',  yet  when  they  added  more  words  still  to  the 
 mystery,  and  brought  in  the  woi'd  yTrdaraTis-,  saying  there 
 were  three  '  hypostaces'  in  the  Holy  Trinity ;  it  was  so  long 
 before  it  could  be  undei-stood,  that  it  was  believed  therefore, 
 because  they  would  not  oppose  their  superiors,  or  disturb  the 
 peace  of  the  church,  in  things  which  they  thought  could  not 
 be  understood:  insomuch,  that  St.  Jerome  wrote  to  Damas- 
 cus in  these  woi'ds:  "  Decerne,  si  placet,  obsecro,  non  timebo 
 tres  hypostases  dicere,  si  jubetis:"  and  again,  "  Obtestor 
 beatitudinem  tuam  per  Crucifixum,  mundi  salutem,  per 
 oixooL/aiov  Trinitatem,  ut  mihi  epistolis  tuis,  sive  tacendarum, 
 sive  dicendarum  hypostaseon  detur  autoritas." 
 
 30.  But,  without  all  question,  the  fathers  determined  the 
 question  with  much  truth  ;  though  I  cannot  say  the  argu- 
 ments, upon  which  they  built  their  decrees,  were  so  good,  as 
 thet  conclusion  itself  was  certain.  But  that  which  in  this 
 case  is  considerable,  is,  whether  or  no  they  did  well  in  put- 
 ting a  curse  to  the  foot  of  their  decree,  and  the  decree  itself 
 into  the  symbol,  as  if  it  had  been  of  the  same  necessity  ? 
 For  the  curse,  Eusebius  Pamphilus  could  hardly  find  in  his 
 heart  to  subscribe, — at  last  he  did,  but  with  this  clause, — 
 that  he  subscribed  it,  because  the  former  curse  did  only 
 '  forbid  men  to  acquaint  themselves  with  foreign  speeches, 
 and  unwritten  languages,'  whereby  confusion  anddiscoi'd  are 
 brought  into  the  church.     So  that  it  was  not  so  much  a 
 
 f  Socrates,  lib.  i.  c.  2G.  s  Sylv.  iv.  c.  1 . 
 
 ^  Non  imprudenter  dixit,  qui  curiosee  explicationi  hujus  mysteiii  dictum 
 Aristonis  philosoplii  applicuit.  Helleborus  nijrer,  si  crassiiJs  sumatur,  purgat 
 et  sanat:  quutn  autem  teritur  et  comminuitur,  suflfocat. 
 
AND   MEASURES  OF  IT, 
 
 487 
 
 magisterial  high  assertion  of  the  article,  as  an  endeavour  to 
 ssecure  the  peace  of  the  church.  And  to  the  same  purpose, 
 for  aught  I  know,  the  fathers  composed  a  form  of  confession, 
 not  as  a  prescript  rule  of  faith  to  build  the  hopes  of  our  sal- 
 vation on,  but  as  a  '  tessera'  of  that  communion,  which,  by 
 public  authority,  was  therefore  established  upon  those  articles, 
 because  the  articles  were  true,  though  not  of  prime  neces- 
 sity; and  because  that  unity  of  confession  was  judged,  as 
 things  then  stood,  the  best  preserver  of  the  unity  of  minds. 
 
 31.  But  I  shall  observe  this,  that  although  the  Nicen 
 fathers,  in  that  case,  at  that  time,  and  in  ht   conjuncture  of 
 circumstances,  did  well  (and  yet  their  approbation  is  made, 
 by  after  ages,  '  ex  post  facto'):  yet  if  this  precedent  had  been 
 followed  by  all  councils  (and  certainly  the)'  had  equal  power, 
 if  they  thought  it  equally  reasonable),  and  that  they  had  put 
 all  their  decrees  into  the  ci-eed,  as  some  have  done  since,  to 
 what  a  volume  had  the  creed  by  this  time  swelled  ?  and  all 
 the  house  had  run  into  foundation,  nothing  left  for  superstruc- 
 tures.   But  that  they  did  not,  it  appears,  1.  That  since  they 
 thought  all  their  decrees  true,  yet  thej'  did  not  think  them 
 all  necessary,  at  least  not  in  that  degree,  and  that  they  pub- 
 lished such  decrees,  they  did  it  'declarando,'  not '  imperando,' 
 as  doctors  in  their  chairs,  not  masters  of  other  men's  faith  and 
 consciences.    2.  And  yet  there  is  some  more  modesty,  or 
 wariness,  or  necessity  (what  shall  I  call  it  ?)  then  this  comes 
 to:  for  why  are  not  all  controversies  determined?    But  even 
 when  general  assemblies  of  pi-elates  have  been,  some  contro- 
 versies, that  have  been  very  vexatious,  have  been  preter- 
 mitted, and  others  of  less  consequence,  have  been  deter- 
 mined.   Why  did  never  any  general  council  condemn,  in 
 express  sentence,  the  Pelagian  heresy,  that  great  pest,  that 
 subtle  infection  of  Christendom  ?  and  yet  divers  general 
 councils  did  assemble,  while  the  heresy  was  in  the  world. 
 Both  these  cases,  in  several  degrees,  leave  men  in  their  liberty 
 of  believing  and  prophesying.    The  latter  proclaims  that  all 
 controversies  cannot  be  determined  to  sufficient  purposes; 
 and  the  first  declares,  that  those  that  are,  are  not  all  of  them 
 matters  of  faith;  and  themselves  are  not  so  secure,  but  they 
 may  be  deceived ;  and,  therefore,  jDossibly,  it  were  better  it 
 were  let  alone ;  for  if  the  latter  leaves  them  divided  in  their 
 opinions,  yet  their  communions,  and,  therefore,  probablv, 
 
488 
 
 OF  HERESV  ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 their  charities  are  not  divided;  but  the  former  divides  their 
 communions,  and  hinders  their  interest ; — and  yet  for  aught 
 is  certain,  tlie  accused  person  is  the  better  catholic.  And 
 yet,  after  all  this,  it  is  not  safety  enough  to  say,  '  Let  the  coun- 
 cil or  prelates  determine  articles  warily,  seldom,  with  great 
 caution,  and  with  much  sweetness  and  modesty.'  For  though 
 this  be  better  than  to  do  it  rashly,  frequently,  and  furiously  ; 
 yet  if  we  once  transgress  the  bounds  set  us  by  the  apostles  in 
 their  creed,  and  not  only  preach  other  truths,  but  determine 
 them  '  Y>TO  tribunali'  as  well  as  '  pro  cathedi-a,'  although 
 there  be  no  error  in  the  subject  matter,  as  in  Nice  there  was 
 none;  yet,  if  the  next  ages  say  they  will  determine  another 
 article  with  as  much  care  and  caution,  and  pretend  as  great 
 a  necessity,  there  is  no  hindering  them,  but  by  giving  rea- 
 sons against  it;  and  so  like  enough  they  might  have  done 
 against  the  decreeing  the  article  at  Nice  ;  yet  that  this  is  not 
 sufficient;  for  since  the  authority  of  the  Nicene  council  hath 
 grown  to  the  height  of  a  mountainous  prejudice  against  him 
 that  should  say  it  was  ill  done,  the  same  reason  and  the  same 
 necessity  may  be  pretended,  by  any  age,  and  in  any  council; 
 and  they  think  themselves  warranted  by  the  great  prece- 
 dent at  Nice,  to  proceed  as  peremptorily  as  they  did ;  but 
 then  if  any  other  assembly  of  learned  men  may  j^ossibly  be 
 deceived,  were  it  not  better  they  should  spare  the  labour,  than 
 that  they  should,  with  so  great  pomp  and  solemnities,  engage 
 men's  persuasions,  and  determine  an  article  which  after-ages 
 must  rescind  ;  for,  therefore,  most  certainly,  in  their  own  age, 
 the  point  with  safety  of  faith  and  salvation,  might  have  been 
 disputed  and  disbelieved  :  and  that  many  men's  faiths  have 
 been  tied  up  by  acts  and  decrees  of  councils,  for  those  ar- 
 ticles, in  which  the  next  age  did  see  a  liberty  had  better 
 been  preserved,  because  an  error  was  determined, — we  shall 
 afterwards  receive  a  more  certain  account. 
 
 32.  And,  therefore,  the  council  of  Nice  did  well,  and 
 Constantinople  did  well,  so  did  Ephesus  and  Chalcedon  ;  but 
 it  is  because  the  articles  were  truly  determined  (for  that  is 
 part  of  my  belief);  but  Avho  is  sure  it  should  be  so,  before- 
 hand? and  whether  the  points  there  determined,  were  neces- 
 sary or  no  to  be  believed  or  to  be  determined,  if  peace  had 
 been  concerned  in  it  through  the  faction  and  division  of  the 
 parties,  I  suppose  the  judgment  of  Constantine  the  emperor, 
 
AND   MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 489 
 
 and  the  famous  Hosins,  of  Corduba,  is  sufficient  to  instruct 
 us,  whose  authority  I  i-ather  urge  than  reasons,  because  it  is 
 a  prejudice,  and  not  a  i-eason  I  am  to  contend  against  it. 
 
 33.  So  that  such  determinations  and  pubhshing  of  confes- 
 sions with  authority  of  prince  and  bishop,  are  sometimes  of 
 very  good  use  for  the  peace  of  the  church;  and  they  are  good 
 also  to  determine  the  judgment  of  indifferent  jaersons,  whose 
 reasons,  of  either  side,  are  not  too  great  to  weigh  down  the 
 probability  of  that  authoritj' :  but  for  persons  of  confident 
 and  imperious  understandings,  they  on  whose  side  the  deter- 
 mination is,  are  armed  with  a  prejudice  against  the  other, 
 and  with  a  weapon  to  affront  them,  but  with  no  more  to  con- 
 vince them  ;  and  they  against  whom  the  decision  is,  do  the 
 more  readily  betake  themselves  to  the  defensive,  and  are  en- 
 gaged upon  contestation  and  public  enmities,  for  such  arti- 
 cles, which  either  might  safely  have  been  unknown,  or  with 
 much  charity  disputed.  Therefore,  the  Nicene  council,  al- 
 though it  have  the  advantage  of  an  acq^uired  and  prescribing 
 authority,  yet  it  must  not  become  a  precedent  to  others : 
 lest  the  Inconveniences  of  multiplying  more  articles  upon  a 
 great  pretence  of  reason  as  then,  make  the  act  of  the  Ni- 
 cene fathers  in  straitening  prophesying,  and  enlarging  the 
 creed,  become  accidentally  an  inconvenience.  The  first  re- 
 straint, although  it  had  been  complained  of,  might  possibly 
 have  been  better  considered  of ;  yet  the  inconvenience  is 
 not  visible,  till  it  comes  by  way  of  precedent  to  usher  in 
 more.  It  is  like  an  arbitrary  power,  which,  although  by  the 
 same  reason  it  take  sixpence  from  the  subject,  it  may  take  a 
 hundred  pounds,  and  then  a  thousand,  and  then  all,  yet  so 
 long  as  it  is  within  the  first  bounds,  the  inconvenience  is  not 
 so  great  ;  but  when  it  comes  to  be  a  precedent  or  argument 
 for  more,  then  the  first  may  justly  be  complained  of,  as 
 having  in  it  that  reason  In  the  principle,  which  brought  the 
 inconvenience  in  tiie  secpiel  ;  and  we  have  seen  very  ill  con- 
 sequences from  innocent  beginnings. 
 
 34.  And  the  inconveniences  which  might  possibly  arise 
 from  this  precedent,  those  wise  personages  also  did  foresee; 
 and,  therefore,  although  they  took  liberty  in  Nice,  to  add 
 some  articles,  or  at  least  more  explicitly  to  declare  the  first 
 creed,  yet  they  then  would  have  all  tlie  world  to  i*est  upon 
 that,  and  go  no  further,  as  believing  that  to  be  sufficient. 
 
490 
 
 OF  HERESY  ;   THE  NATURE 
 
 St.  Athanasius  declares  their  opinion,  'H  yi^  Iv  avrf,,  ■ax^x 
 run  Tza.rifui'j  y.xri  rxs  ^clxs  -/fx^xs,  hu.'i\'y/r!h€i'jx  z:1'Jti^,  xvTxf- 
 x%s  E5-TJ  zsf,r>s  iyxrfo%r,y  zyxryr,?  xdiQztx^,  itv'jTXTdi  os  rr,s  Ei/as- 
 CeiW  ev  Xfi'7TU!  -aiiriusK  "  That  faith  which  the  fathers 
 there  confessed,  was  sufficient  for  the  refutation  of  all  impiety, 
 and  the  establishment  of  all  faith  in  Christ  and  true  religion." 
 And,  therefore,  there  was  a  famous  epistle  written  by  Zeno 
 the  emperor*",  called  the '  Evwrujov,  or  the  '  epistle  of  recon- 
 ciliation,' in  which  all  disagreeins  interests  are  entreated  to 
 agree  in  the  Xicene  symbol,  and  a  promise  made  upon  that 
 condition  to  communicate  with  all  other  sects, — adding 
 withal,  that  the  church  should  never  receive  any  other  sym- 
 bol, than  that  which  was  composed  by  the  Nicene  fathers. 
 And,  however  Honorius  was  condemned  for  a  monothelite ; 
 yet,  in  one  of  the  epistles  which  the  sixth  svnod  alleged 
 against  him,  viz.,  the  second,  he  gave  them  counsel  that 
 would  have  done  the  church  as  much  service  as  the  determi- 
 nation of  the  article  did  ;  for  he  advised  them  not  to  be 
 curious  in  their  disputings,  nor  dogmatical  in  their  determi- 
 nations about  that  question  ;  and  because  the  church  was 
 not  used  to  dispute  in  that  question,  it  were  better  to  pre- 
 serve the  simplicity  of  faith,  than  to  ensnare  men's  con- 
 sciences, by  a  new  article.  And  when  the  emperor  Constan- 
 tius  was,  by  his  faction,  engaged  in  a  contrary  practice,  the 
 inconvenience  and  unreasonableness  was  so  great,  that  a  pru- 
 dent heathen  observed  and  noted  it  in  this  character  of  Con- 
 gtantius :  '•'  Christianam  religionem  absolutam  et  simplicem 
 anili  superstit'ione  confudit.  In  qua  scrutanda  perplexius 
 quam  in  componenda  gratius,  excitavit  dissidia,  qu«  pro- 
 gressa  fusius,  aluit  concertatione  verborum,  dum  ritum  om- 
 nem  adsuum  trahere  conatur  arbitrium." 
 
 35.  And  yet  men  are  more  led  by  example,  than  either 
 bv  reason  or  by  precept ;  for  in  the  council  of  Constanti- 
 nople, one  article  '  de  novo  et  integro'  was  added,  viz.,  *'  I 
 believe  one  baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins  ;"  and  then 
 again  they  were  so  confident  that  that  confession  of  faith  was 
 so  absolutely  entire,  and  that  no  man  ever  after  should 
 need  to  add  any  thing  to  the  integrity  of  faith,  that  the 
 fathers  of  the  council  of  Ephesus  pronounced  anathema  to 
 
 'Epiit.  ad.  Epict. 
 
 Eva^.  lib.  iii,  c.  14. 
 
AND  MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 all  those,  that  should  add  any  thing  to  the  creed  of  Constan- 
 tinople. And  yet  for  all  this,  the  church  of  Rome  in  a  synod 
 at  Gentilly,  added  the  clause  of  "  Filioque,"  to  the  article 
 of  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  what  they  have 
 done  since,  all  the  world  knows,  "  Exempla  non  consistunt, 
 sed  quamvis  in  tenuem  recepta  tramitem,  latissime  evagandi 
 sibi  faciunt  potestatem.  All  men  were  persuaded  that  it 
 was  most  reasonable  the  limits  of  faith  should  be  no  more 
 enlarged  ;  but  yet  they  enlarged  it  themselves,  and  bound 
 others  from  doing  it  like  an  intemperate  father,  who,  because 
 he  knows  he  does  ill  himself,  enjoins  temperance  to  his  son, 
 but  continues  to  be  intemperate  himself. 
 
 36,  But  now  if  I  should  be  questioned  concerning  the 
 symbol  of  Athanasius  (for  we  see  the  Nicene  symbol  was  the 
 father  of  many  moi*e,  some  twelve  or  thirteen  symbols  in  the 
 space  of  an  hundred  years),  I  confess  I  cannot  see  that 
 modei'ate  sentence  and  gentleness  of  charity  in  his  preface 
 and  conclusion,  as  there  was  in  the  Nicene  creed.  Nothing 
 there  but  damnation  and  perishing  everlastingly,  unless  the 
 article  of  the  Trinity  be  believed,  as  it  is  there  with  curiosity 
 and  minute  particularities  explained.  Indeed,  Athanasius 
 had  been  soundly  vexed  on  one  side,  and  much  cried  up 
 on  the  other ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  not  so  much  wonder  for 
 him  to  be  so  decretory  and  sevei'e  in  his  censure;  for  nothing 
 could  more  ascertain  his  friends  to  him,  and  disrepute  his 
 enemies,  than  the  belief  of  that  damnatory  appendix;  but 
 that  does  not  justify  the  thing.  For  the  articles  themselves, 
 I  am  most  heartily  persuaded  of  the  truth  of  them,  and  yet 
 I  dare  not  say  all  that  are  not  so,  are  irrevocably  damned  ; 
 because  '  citra  hoc  symbolum,'  the  faith  of  the  apostle's  creed 
 is  entire;  and  '  he  that  believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be 
 saved,'  that  is,  he  that  believeth  such  a  belief  as  is  suffi- 
 cient disposition  to  be  baptized,  that  faith  with  the  sacra- 
 ment is  sufficient  for  heaven.  Now  the  apostles'  creed  does 
 one  ;  why,  therefore,  do  not  both  entitle  us  to  the  promise? 
 Besides,  if  it  were  considered  concerning  Athanasius's  creed, 
 how  many  people  understand  it  not,  how  contrary  to  na- 
 tui'al  reason  it  seems,  how  little  the  Scripture'  says  of  those 
 
 '  Vide  Hosium  de  Autor.  S.  Script,  lib.  iii.  p.  53,  et  Gordon  Huntlwum, 
 tomi  i.  controv.  1.  de  Verbo  Dei,  c.  19, 
 
492 
 
 OP  HERESY ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 curiosities  of  explication,  and  how  tradition  was  not  clear 
 on  his  side  for  the  article  itself,  much  less  for  those  forms 
 and  minutes,  how  (himself  is  put  to  make  an  answer,  and 
 excuse  for  the  fathers"'  speaking  in  excuse  of  the  Arians,  at 
 least  so  seemingly,  that  the  Arians  appealed  to  them  for 
 trial,  and  the  offer  was  declined) :  and  after  all  this,  that  the 
 Nicene  creed  itself  went  not  so  far,  neither  in  article,  nor 
 anathema,  nor  explication,  it  had  not  been  amiss  if  the  final 
 judgment  had  been  left  to  Jesus  Christ ;  for  he  is  appointed 
 Judge  of  all  the  world,  and  he  shall  judge  the  people  righte- 
 ously ;  for  he  knows  every  truth,  the  decree  of  every  neces- 
 sity, and  all  excuses  that  do  lessen,  or  take  away  the  nature 
 or  malice  of  a  crime  ;  all  which  I  think,  Athanasius,  though 
 a  very  good  man,  did  not  know  so  well  as  to  warrant  such 
 a  sentence ;  and  put  case,  the  heresy  there  condemned  be 
 damnable  (as  it  is  damnable  enough),  yet  a  man  may  main- 
 tain an  opinion  that  is  in  itself  damnable,  and  yet  he,  not 
 knowing  it  so,  and  being  invincibly  led  into  it,  may  go  to 
 heaven;  his  opinion  shall  burn,  and  himself  be  saved.  But, 
 however,  I  find  no  opinion  in  Scripture  called  damnable,  but 
 what  are  impious  '  in  materia  practica,'  or  directly  destruc- 
 tive of  the  faith,  or  the  body  of  Christianity  ;  such  of  which 
 St.  Peter  speaks:  "  Bringing  in  damnable  heresies,  even  deny- 
 ing the  Loi'd  that  bought  them,  these  are  the  false  prophets, 
 who,  out  of  covetousness,  make  merchandise  of  you  through 
 cozening  words"."  Such  as  these  are  truly  heresies,  and 
 such  as  these  are  certainly  damnable.  But  because  there 
 are  no  degrees  either  of  truth  or  falsehood,  every  true  pro- 
 position being  alike  true ;  that  an  error  is  more  or  less 
 damnable,  is  not  told  us  in  Scripture,  but  is  determined  by 
 the  man  and  his  manners,  by  circumstances  and  accidents ; 
 and,  therefore,  the  censure  in  the  preface  and  end,  are  argu- 
 ments of  his  zeal  and  strength  of  his  j^ersuasion  ;  but  they 
 are  extrinsical  and  accidental  to  the  articles,  and  might  as 
 
 Vide  GrelsiT.  et  Tanner  in  Colloq.  Ratisboa.  Eusebium  I'uisse  Arianum 
 ait  Perron,  lib.  iii.  cap.  2.  contra  le  Roi  Jacques.  Idem  ait  Origenem  ne- 
 gasse  divinilatem  Filii  et  Spir.  S.  lib.  ii.  cap.  7.  de  Euchar.  contra  Duplessis ; 
 idem,  cap.  5.  obser.  4.  ait,  Irenseum  talia  dixisse,  quae  qui  hodie  diceret,  pro 
 Ariano  reputaretur.  Vide  etiam  Fisher  in  Rcsp.  ad  9.  Qusest.  Jacobi  Reg.  et 
 Epiphan.  in  hseres.  fi9. 
 "  2  Pet.  ii.  1 . 
 
AND  MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 493 
 
 well  have  been  spared.  And,  indeed,  to  me  It  seems  very 
 hard  to  put  uncharitableness  into  the  creed,  and  so  to  make 
 it  become  as  an  article  of  faith,  though  perhaps  this  very 
 thing  was  no  faith  of  Athanasius  ;  who,  if  vre  may  believe 
 Aquinas",  made  this  manifestation  of  faith,  "  Non  per  mo- 
 dum  svmboli,  sed  per  modum  doctrinse,"  that  is,  if  I  under- 
 stand him  right,  '  not  with  a  purpose  to  impose  it  upon 
 others,  but  with  confidence  to  declare  his  own  belief and 
 that  it  was  prescribed  to  others  as  a  creed,  was  the  act  of 
 the  bishops  of  Rome ;  so  he  said,  nay,  possibly  it  was  none 
 of  his :  so  said  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  Meletius, 
 about  one  hundi'ed  and  thirty  years  since,  i-n  his  epistle  to 
 John  Douza,  "  Athanasio  falso  adscriptum  symbolum,  cum 
 Pontificum  Romanorum  appendice  ilia  adulteratum,  luce  luci- 
 dius  contestamur."  And  it  is  more  than  probable  that  he 
 said  true,  because  this  creed  was  written  originally  in  Latin, 
 which  in  all  reason  Athanasius  did  not,  and  it  was  translated 
 into  Greek,  it  being  apparent  that  the  Latin  copy  is  but  one; 
 but  the  Greek  is  various,  there  being  three  editions  or  trans- 
 lations rather,  expressed  by  Genebrard,  '  lib.  iii.  de  Trinit.* 
 But  in  this  particular,  who  list,  may  better  satisfy  himself  in 
 a  disputation  '  de  symbolo  Athanasii,'  printed  at  Wertzburg, 
 1590,  supposed  to  be  written  by  Serrarius  or  Clencherus. 
 
 37.  And  yet  I  must  observe,  that  this  symbol  of  Athana- 
 sius, and  that  other  of  Nice,  offer  not  at  any  new  articles ; 
 they  only  pretend  to  a  further  explication  of  the  articles 
 apostolical,  which  is  a  certain  confirmation,  that  they  did 
 not  believe  more  articles  to  be  of  belief  necessary  to  sal- 
 vation ;  if  they  intended  these  further  explanations  to  be  as 
 necessary  as  the  dogmatical  articles  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  I 
 know  not  how  to  answer  all  that  may  be  objected  against 
 that;  but  the  advantage  that.  I  shall  gather  from  their  not 
 proceeding  to  new  matters,  is  laid  out  ready  for  me  in  the 
 words  of  Athanasius,  saying  of  this  creed,  "  This  is  the 
 catholic  faith:"  and  if  his  authority  be  good,  or  his  saying' 
 true,  or  he  the  author,  then  no  man  can  say  of  any  other 
 article,  that  it  is  a  part  of  the  catholic  faith,  or  that  the 
 catholic  faith  can  be  enlarged  beyond  the  contents  of  that 
 symbol;  and,  therefoi'e,  it  is  a  strange  boldness  in  the  church 
 
 »  D.  Tho.  22.  q.  1.  aitic.  1.  ad  Sum. 
 vol.,   VII.  2  L 
 
494 
 
 OP  HERESY ;  THE  NATURE 
 
 of  RomeP,  first  to  add  twelve  new  articles,  and  then  to  add 
 the  appendix  of  Athanasius  to  the  end  of  them,  "  This  is  the 
 catholic  faith,  without  which  no  man  can  be  saved." 
 
 38.  But  so  great  an  example  of  so  excellent  a  man  hath 
 been  either  mistaken  or  followed  with  too  much  gi-eediness, — 
 all  the  world  in  factions,  all  damning  one  another,  each  party 
 damned  by  all  the  rest ;  and  there  is  no  disagreeing  in  opi- 
 nion from  any  man  that  is  in  love  with  his  own  opinion,  but 
 damnation  presently  to  all  that  disagree.  A  ceremony  and 
 a  rite  hath  caused  several  churches  to  excommunicate  each 
 other,  as  in  the  matter  of  the  Saturday-fast,  and  keeping 
 Easter.  But  what  the  spirits  of  men  are,  when  they  are  ex- 
 asperated, in  a  question  and  difference  of  religion,  as  they 
 call  it,  though  the  thing  itself  may  be  most  inconsiderable,  is 
 very  evident  in  that  request  of  pope  Innocent  III.  desiring 
 of  the  Greeks  but  (reasonably  a  man  would  think)  that  they 
 vvould  not  so  much  hate  the  Roman  manner  of  consecrating 
 m  unleavened  bread,  as  to  wash,  and  scrape,  and  pare  the 
 altars  after  a  Roman  priest  had  consecrated.  Nothing  more 
 furious  than  a  mistaken  zeal,  and  the  actions  of  a  scrupulous 
 and  abused  conscience.  When  men  think  every  thing  to  be 
 their  faith  and  their  religion,  commonly  they  are  so  busy  in 
 trifles  and  such  impertinencies,  in  which  the  scene  of  their 
 mistake  lies,  that  they  neglect  the  greater  things  of  the  law, 
 charity,  and  compliances,  and  the  gentleness  of  Christian 
 communion ;  for  this  is  the  great  principle  of  mischief,  and 
 yet  is  not  more  pernicious  than  unreasonable. 
 
 39.  For  t  demand  :  Can  any  man  say  and  justify  that  the 
 apostles  did  deny  communion  to  any  man,  that  believed  the 
 Apostles'  Creed,  and  lived  a  good  life?  And  dare  any  man 
 tax  that  proceeding  of  remissness,  and  indifferency  in  reli- 
 gion? And  since  our  blessed  Saviour  promised  salvation 
 *  to  him  that  believeth'  (and  the  a2wstles  when  they  gave  this 
 word  the  greatest  extent,  enlarged  it  not  beyond  the  boi'ders 
 of  the  creed),  how  can  any  man  warrant  the  condemning  of 
 any  man  to  the  flames  of  hell,  that  is  ready  to  die  in  attesta- 
 tion of  this  faith,  so  expounded  and  made  explicit  by  the 
 apostles,  and  lives  accordingly  ?    And  to  this  purpose  it  was 
 
 P  Bulla  Pii  qu.nrti  supra  forma  juramenti  professionis  fldei,  in  fin.  Con. 
 
AND  MEASURES  OF  IT. 
 
 495 
 
 excellently  said  by  a  wise  and  a  pious  prelate,  St.  Hilary, 
 "  Non  per  difficiles  nos  Deus  ad  beatam  vitam  qufestiones 
 vocat,  &c.  In  absolute  nobis  et  facili  est  seternitas  ;  Jesurn 
 suscitatum  a  mortuis  per  Deum  credere,  et  ipsum  esse  Do- 
 minum  confiteri'',"  &c.  These  are  the  articles  which  we 
 naust  believe,  which  are  the  sufficient  and  adequate  object  of 
 the  faith,  which  is  required  of  us  in  order  to  salvation.  And 
 therefore  it  was,  that  when  the  bishops  of  Istria  deserted  the 
 communion  of  pope  Pelagius,  '  in  causa  trium  capitulorum%' 
 he  gives  them  an  account  of  his  faith,  by  recitation  of  the 
 creed,  and  by  attesting  the  four  general  councils;  and  is 
 confident  upon  this,  that  '  de  fidei  firmitate  nulla  poterit  esse 
 quaestio,  vel  suspicio  genei'ari ;'  let  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
 especially  so  explicated,  be  but  secured,  and  all  faith  is 
 secured  ;  and  yet  that  explication  too  was  less  necessary  than 
 the  articles  themselves ;  for  the  explication  was  but  acciden- 
 tal, but  the  articles,  even  before  the  explication,  were  ac- 
 counted a  sufficient  inlet  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
 
 40.  And  that  there  was  security  enough  in  the  simple 
 believing  the  first  articles,  is  very  certain  amongst  them,  and 
 by  their  principles,  who  allow  of  an  implicit  faith  to  serve 
 most  persons  to  the  greatest  purposes :  for,  if  the  ci'eed  did 
 contain  in  it  the  whole  faith,  and  that  other  articles  were  in 
 it  implicitly  (for  such  is  the  doctrine  of  the  school,  and  parti- 
 cularly of  Aquinas''),  then  he  that  explicitly  believes  all  the 
 creed,  does  implicitly  believe  all  the  articles  contained  in  it ; 
 and  then  it  is  better  the  implication  should  still  continue, 
 than  that  by  any  explication,  which  is  simply  unnecessary, 
 the  church  should  be  troubled  with  questions  and  uncertain 
 determinations,  and  factions  enkindled,  and  animosities  set 
 on  foot,  and  men's  souls  endangered,  who  before  were  se- 
 cured by  the  explicit  belief  of  all  that  the  apostles  required 
 as  necessary;  which  belief  also  did  secure  them  from  all  the 
 rest,  because  it  implied  the  belief  of  whatsoever  was  virtu- 
 ally in  the  first  articles,  if  such  belief  should  by  chance  be 
 necessary. 
 
 41.  The  sum  of  this  discourse  is  this;  if  we  take  an 
 estimate  of  the  nature  of  faith  from  the  dictates  and  promises 
 
 1  L.  X.  de  Trin.  ad  finem.  '  Concil.  torn.  iv.  Ed.  Paris,  p.  473. 
 
 s  8.  2sc.  q.  la.  10.  cap. 
 
 »  L  8 
 
496 
 
 THE   SCRIPTURE  DIFFICULT 
 
 evangelical,  and  from  the  practice  apostolical,  the  nature  of 
 faith  and  its  integrity  consist  in  such  propositions  which 
 make  the  foundation  of  hope  and  charity,  that  which  is  suf- 
 ficient to  make  us  to  do  honour  to  Christ,  and  to  obey  him, 
 and  to  encourage  us  in  both ;  and  this  is  completed  in  the 
 Apostles'  Creed.  And  since  contraries  are  of  the  same  ex- 
 tent, heresy  is  to  be  judged  by  its  proportion  and  analogy 
 to  faith  ;  and  that  is  heresy  only,  which  is  against  faith. 
 Now,  because  faith  is  not  only  a  pi-ecept  of  doctrines,  but  of 
 manners  and  holy  life,  whatsoever  is  either  opposite  to  an 
 article  of  creed,  or  teaches  ill  life,  that  is  heresy  ;  but  all 
 those  propositions,  which  are  extrinsical  to  these  two  con- 
 siderations, be  they  true  or  be  they  false,  make  not  heresy, 
 nor  the  man  an  heretic  ;  and,  therefore,  however  he  may  be 
 an  erring  person,  yet  he  is  to  be  used  accordingly,  pitied  and 
 instructed,  not  condemned  or  excommunicated  ;  and  this  is 
 the  result  of  the  first  ground,  the  consideration  of  the  nature 
 of  faith  and  heresy. 
 
 SECTION  III. 
 
 Of  the  Difficulty  and  Uncertainty  of  Arguments  from  Scrip- 
 ture, in  Questions  not  simply  necessary,  not  literally 
 determi?ied. 
 
 1.  God,  who  disposes  of  all  things  sweetly,  and  according  to 
 the  nature  and  capacity  of  things  and  persons,  had  made 
 those  only  necessary,  which  he  had  taken  care  should  be 
 sufficiently  propounded  to  all  persons,  of  whom  he  required 
 the  explicit  belief.  And,  therefore,  all  the  articles  of  faith 
 are  clearly  and  plainly  set  down  in  Scripture;  and  the  Gospel 
 is  not  hid  '  nisi  pereuntibus,'  saith  St.  Paul ;  Ylxans  yag 
 d^zTYii  zsxpxKkrian ,  xxl  xaxiar  xTrdaris  TpoTiw  sv  rxvrxii  svpiaKOfJiev, 
 saith  Damascen^;  and  that  so  manifestly  that  no  man  can  be 
 ignorant  of  the  foundation  of  faith,  without  liis  own  appa- 
 rent fault.  And  this  is  acknowledged  by  all  wise  and  good 
 men,  and  is  evident,  besides  the  reasonableness  of  the  thing,  in 
 the  testimonies  of  St.  Austin'',  Jerome'',  Chrysostom Ful- 
 
 a  Orthod.  Fidei.  lib.  iv.  c.  18.        ">  Super  Psal.  88.  et  de  Util.  Cred.  c.6. 
 «  Super  Isa.  c.  19.  et  in  Psal.  86.       <i  Homil.  3.  in  Thes.  ep.  2. 
 
IN  UNNECESSARY  POINTS. 
 
 497 
 
 gentius'",  Hugo  cle  Sancto  Victore*^,  Theodoret  Lactantius 
 Theophilus  Antiochenus ',  Aquinas  and  the  later  school- 
 men. And  God  hath  done  more ;  for  many  things,  which 
 are  only  profitable,  are  also  set  down  so  plainly,  that,  as 
 St.  Austin  says,  "  Nemo  inde  haurire  non  possit,  si  modo 
 ad  hauriendum  devote  ac  pie  accedat':"  but  of  such  things 
 there  is  no  question  commenced  in  Christendom ;  and  if 
 there  were,  it  cannot  but  be  a  crime  and  human  interest,  that 
 are  the  authors  of  such  disputes  ;  and,  therefore,  these  can- 
 not be  simple  errors,  but  always  heresies,  because  the  prin- 
 ciple of  them  is  a  personal  sin. 
 
 2.  But  besides  these  things,  which  are  so  plainly  set 
 down,  '  some  for  doctrine,'  as  St.  Paul  says,  that  is,  for 
 articles  and  foundation  of  faith ;  some  for  instruction,  some 
 for  reproof,  some  for  comfort,  that  is,  in  matters  practical  and 
 speculative,  of  several  tempers  and  constitutions; — there  are 
 innumerable  places,  containing  in  them  great  mysteries,  but 
 yet  either  so  inwrapped  with  a  cloud,  or  so  darkened  with 
 umbrages,  or  heightened  with  expressions,  or  so  covered  with 
 allegories  and  garments  of  I'hetoric,  so  profound  in  the 
 matter,  or  so  altered  or  made  intricate  in  the  manner,  in 
 the  clothing,  and  in  the  dressing,  that  God  may  seem  to  have 
 left  them  as  trials  of  our  industry,  and  arguments  of  our  im- 
 perfections, and  incentives  to  the  longings  after  heaven,  and 
 the  clearest  revelations  of  eternity,  and  as  occasions  and  op- 
 portunities of  our  mutual  charity  and  toleration  to  each  other, 
 and  humility  in  ourselves,  rather  than  the  repositories  of 
 faith,  and  furniture  of  creeds,  and  ai'ticles  of  belief. 
 
 3.  For  wherever  the  word  of  God  is  kept,  whether  in 
 Scripture  alone,  or  also  in  tradition,  he  that  considers  that  the 
 meaning  of  the  one,  and  the  truth  or  certainty  of  the  other, 
 are  things  of  great  question,  will  see  a  necessity  in  these 
 things,  which  are  the  subject  matter  of  most  of  the  questions 
 of  Christendom,  that  men  should  hope  to  be  excused  by  an 
 implicit  faith  in  God  Almighty.  For  when  there  are,  in  the 
 explications  of  Scripture,  so  many  commentaries,  so  many 
 senses  and  interpretations,  so  many  volumes  in  all  ages,  and 
 
 «  Serm.  de  Confess.  f  Miscel.  2.  lib.  i.  tit.  ''6. 
 
 S  In  Gen.  ap.  Slnich.  p.  8T.  ''C.  6.c.  21. 
 
 '  Ad  Antioch.  lib.  ii.  p.  918.  ^  I'ar.  1.  q.  art. 
 
 '  Ubi  siipia  dc  litil.  Cied.  c.  C. 
 
498 
 
 THE  SCRIPTURE  DIFFICULT 
 
 all,  like  men's  faces,  exactly  none  like  another,  either  this  dif- 
 ference and  inconvenience  is  absolutely  no  fault  at  all,  or,  if 
 it  be,  it  is  excusable,  by  a  mind  prepared  to  consent  in  that 
 truth,  which  God  intended.  And  this  I  call  an  implicit  faith 
 in  God;  which  is,  certainly,  of  as  great  excellency,  as  an  im- 
 plicit faith  in  any  man,  or  company  of  men.  Because  they 
 who  do  require  an  implicit  faith  in  the  church,  for  articles 
 less  necessary,  and  excuse  the  want  of  explicit  faith  by  the 
 implicit, — do  require  an  implicit  faith  in  the  church,  because 
 they  believe  that  God  hath  required  of  them  to  have  a  mind 
 prepared  to  believe  whatever  the  church  says ;  which,  be- 
 cause it  is  a  proposition  of  no  absolute  certainty,  whosoever 
 does,  in  readiness  of  mind,  believe  all  that  God  spake,  does 
 also  believe  that  sufficiently,  if  it  be  fitting  to  be  believed, 
 that  is,  if  it  be  true,  and  if  God  hath  said  so ;  for  he  hath 
 the  same  obedience  of  understanding  in  this  as  in  the  other. 
 But  because  it  is  not  so  certain,  that  God  hath  tied  him,  in 
 all  things,  to  believe  that  which  is  called  the  church  ;  and 
 that  it  is  certain  we  must  believe  God  in  all  things,  and  yet 
 neither  know  all  that  either  God  hath  revealed  or  the  church 
 taught,  it  is  better  to  take  the  certain  than  the  uncertain,  to 
 believe  God  rather  than  man ;  especiallj'  since  if  God  liath 
 bound  us  to  believe  men,  our  absolute  submission  to  God  does 
 involve  that,  and  there  is  no  inconvenience  in  the  world  this 
 way,  but  that  we  implicitly  believe  one  article  more,  viz.,  the 
 church's  authority  or  infallibilitv  ;  which  may  well  be  par- 
 doned, because  it  secures  our  belief  of  all  the  rest;  and  we 
 are  sure  if  we  believe  all  that  God  said  explicitlj'^,  or  implicitly, 
 we  also  believe  the  church  implicitly  in  case  we  are  bound  to 
 it;  but  we  are  not  certain,  that  if  we  believe  any  company  of 
 men  whom  we  call  the  church,  that  we  therefore  obey  God, 
 and  believe  what  he  hath  said.  But,  however,  if  this  will  not 
 help  us,  there  is  no  help  for  us,  but  good  fortune  or  absolute 
 predestination ;  for  by  choice  and  industry,  no  man  can 
 secure  himself,  that,  in  all  the  mysteries  of  religion  taught  in 
 Scripture,  he  shall  certainly  understand,  and  explicitly  be- 
 lieve, that  sense  that  God  intended.  For  to  this  purpose 
 there  are  many  considerations. 
 
 4.  First ;  There  are  so  many  thousands  of  copies,  that 
 were  written  by  persons  of  several  interests  and  persuasions, — 
 such  different  understandings  and  tempers, — such  distinct 
 
IN  UNNECESSARY  POINTS. 
 
 499 
 
 abilities  and  weaknesses, — that  it  is  no  wonder  there  is  so 
 great  variety  of  readings  both  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  in 
 the  New.  In  the  Old  Testament,  the  Jews  pretend  that  the 
 Christians  have  corrupted  many  places,  on  purpose  to  make 
 symphony  between  both  the  Testaments.  On  the  other 
 side,  the  Christians  have  had  so  much  reason  to  suspect  the 
 Jews,  that  when  Aquila  had  translated  the  Bible  in  their 
 schools,  and  had  been  taught  by  them,  they  rejected  the 
 edition,  many  of  them,  and  some  of  them  called  it  heresy  to 
 follow  it.  And  Justin  Martyr  justified  it  to  Tryphon,  that 
 the  Jews  had  defalked  many  sayings  from  the  books  of  the 
 old  prophets,  and,  aniougist  the  rest,  he  instances  in  that  of 
 the  psalm,  "  Dicite  in  nationibus,  quia  Dominus  regnavit  a 
 ligno."  The  last  words  they  have  cut  off,  and  prevailed  so 
 far  in  it,  that  to  this  day,  none  of  our  Bibles  have  it;  but  if 
 they  ought  not  to  have  it,  then  Justin  Martyr's  Bible  had 
 more  in  it  than  it  should  have,  for  there  it  was ;  so  that  a 
 fault  there  was,  either  under  or  over.  But,  however,  there 
 are  infinite  readings  in  the  New  Testament,  (for  in  that  I  M'ill 
 instance)  some  whole  verses  in  one  part  that  are  not  in 
 another ;  and  there  was,  in  some  copies  of  St.  Mark's  Gos- 
 pel, in  the  last  chapter,  a  whole  verse,  a  chapter  it  was  an- 
 ciently called,  that  is  not  found  in  our  Bibles,  as  St.  Jerome, 
 '  ad  Hedibiam,  q.  3.,'  notes.  The  words  he  repeats,  '  Contv. 
 Polygamos,  lib.  li.'  "  Et  illi  satis  faciebant  dicentes,  saecu- 
 lum  istud  iniquitatis  et  incredulitatis  substantia  est,  quai  noa 
 sinit  per  immundos  spiritus  veram  Dei  apprehendi  virtutem, 
 idcirco,  jam  nunc  revela  justitiam  tuam." — These  woi'ds  are 
 thought  by  some  to  favour  of  Manichaism  ;  and,  for  aught  I 
 can  find,  were  therefore  rejected  out  of  many  Greek  copies, 
 and  at  last  out  of  the  Latin.  Now  sujipose  that  a  Manichee, 
 in  disputation,  should  urge  this  place,  having  found  it  in  his 
 Bible,  if  a  catholic  should  answer  him,  by  saying,  it  is 
 apocryphal,  and  not  found  in  divers  Greek  copies,  might  not 
 the  Manichee  ask  how  it  came  in,  if  it  was  not  the  word  of 
 God, — and  if  it  was,  how  came  it  out  ?  and  at  last  take  the 
 same  liberty  of  rejecting  any  other  authority  which  shall  be 
 alleged  against  him ;  if  he  can  find  any  copy  that  may  favour 
 him,  however  that  favour  be  procured  ;  and  did  not  the 
 Ebionites  i-eject  all  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul,  upon  pretence  he 
 
500 
 
 THE  SCRIPTURE  DIFFICULT 
 
 ivas  an  enemy  to  the  law  of  Moses?  Indeed  It  was  boldly  and 
 most  unreasonably  done;  but  if  one  tittle,  or  one  chapter 
 of  St.  Mark  be  called  apocryphal,  for  being  suspected  of 
 Manichaism,  it  is  a  plea  that  will  too  much  justify  others,  in 
 their  taking  and  choosing  what  they  list.  But  I  will  not 
 urge  it  so  far;  but  is  not  there  as  much  reason  for  the  fierce 
 Luthei'ans  to  reject  the  epistle  of  St.  James,  for  favouring 
 justification  by  works,  or  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  upon 
 pretence  that  the  sixth  and  tenth  chapters  do  favour  Nova- 
 tianism;  especially  since  it  was,  by  some  famous  churches,  at 
 first  not  accepted,  even  by  the  church  of  Rome  herself? 
 The  parable  of  the  woman  taken  in  adultery,  which  is  now 
 in  John,  viii.,  Eusebius  says  was  not  in  any  Gospel,  but  the 
 Gospel,  '  secundum  Hebraeos  ;'  and  St.  Jerome  makes  it 
 doubtful ;  and  so  does  St.  Chrysostom  and  Euthymius,  the 
 first  not  vouchsafing  to  explicate  it  in  his  homilies  upon  St. 
 John,  the  other  affirming  it  not  to  be  found  in  the  exacter 
 copies.  1  shall  not  need  to  urge,  that  there  are  some  words 
 so  near  in  sound,  that  the  Scribes  might  easily  mistake:  there 
 is  one  famous  one  of  Kv^lco  ^ouXevovres,  which  yet  some  copies 
 read  xaclpoj  SoyXE^Jovrsr,  the  sense  is  very  unlikely,  though  the 
 words  be  near,  and  there  needs  some  little  luxation  to  strain 
 this  latter  reading  to  a  good  sense  :  that  famous  pi'ecept  of 
 St.  Paul,  that  '  the  women  must  pray  with  a  covering  on 
 their  head'  Sii  roia  dyyiXovs,  '  because  of  the  angels,'  hath 
 brought  into  the  church  an  opinion  that  angels  are  present  in 
 churches,  and  are  spectators  of  our  devotion  and  deportment. 
 Such  an  opinion,  if  it  should  meet  with  peevish  opposites  on 
 the  one  side,  and  confident  hyperaspists  on  the  other,  might 
 possibly  make  a  sect ;  and  here  were  a  clear  ground  for  the 
 affirmative,  and  yet  who  knows  but  that  it  might  have  been 
 a  mistake  of  the  transcribers  ;  for  if  it  were  read  as  Gotho- 
 frid,  and  some  others,  would  have  it,  Jia  rovf  dyiXous,  or  ra- 
 ther, Jia  Tar  ayg'Xar,  or,  Tovf  dysXxlovi,  that  the  sense  be,  "wo- 
 men, in  public  assemblies,  must  wear  a  veil,  by  reason  of  the 
 '  companies  of  young  men'  there  present,"  it  would  be  no  ill 
 exchange  for  the  little  change  of  some  letters  in  a  word,  to 
 make  so  probable,  so  clear  a  sense  of  the  place.  But  the 
 instances  in  this  kind  are  too  manv,  as  appears  in  the  variety 
 of  readings  in  several  copies  proceeding  from  the  negligence 
 
IN  UNNECESSARY  POINTS. 
 
 501 
 
 or  ignorance  of  the  transcribers,  or  the  malicious  endeavour 
 of  heretics™,  or  the  inserting  marginal  notes  into  the  text,  or 
 the  nearness  of  several  words.  Indeed  there  is  so  much  evi- 
 dence of  this  particular,  that  it  hath  encouraged  the  servants 
 of  the  vulgar  translation,  for  so  some  are  now-a-days,  to 
 prefer  that  translation  before  the  original ;  for  although  they 
 have  attempted  that  proposition  with  very  ill  success,  yet 
 that  they  could  think  it  possible  to  be  proved,  is  an  argu- 
 ment there  is  much  variety  and  alterations  in  divers  texts ; 
 for  if  there  were  not,  it  were  impudence  to  pretend  a  trans- 
 lation, and  that  none  of  the  best  should  bo  better  than  the 
 original.  But  so  it  is  that  this  variety  of  reading  is  not  of 
 slight  consideration ;  for  although  it  be  demonstrably  true, 
 that  all  things  necessary  to  faith  and  good  manners  are  pre- 
 served from  alteration  and  corruption,  because  they  are  of 
 things  necessary,  and  they  could  not  be  necessary,  unless  they 
 were  delivered  to  us,  God,  in  his  goodness  and  his  justice, 
 having  obliged  himself  to  preserve  that  which  he  hath  bound 
 us  to  observe  and  keep  ;  yet,  in  other  things  which  God 
 hath  not  obliged  himself  so  punctually  to  preserve,  in  these 
 things,  since  variety  of  reading  is  crept  in,  every  reading 
 takes  away  a  degree  of  certainty  from  any  proposition  deri- 
 vative from  those  places  so  read:  and  if  some  copies,  espe- 
 cially if  they  be  public  and  notable,  omit  a  verse  or  a  tittle, 
 every  argument  from  such  a  tittle  or  verse  loses  much  of  its 
 strength  and  reputation;  and  we  find  it  in  a  great  instance. 
 For  when,  in  probation  of  the  mystery  of  the  glorious  unity 
 in  Trinity,  we  allege  that  saying  of  St.  John, '•  there  are 
 three  which  bear  witness  in  heaven,  the  Father,  the  Word, 
 and  the  Spirit,  and  these  three  are  one,"  the  antitrinitarians 
 think  they  have  answered  the  argument  by  saying  the  Syrian 
 translation,  and  divers  Greek  copies  have  not  that  verse  in 
 them,  and,  thei-efore,  being  of  doubtful  authority,  cannot 
 conclude  with  certainty,  in  a  question  of  faith.  And  there 
 is  an  instance  on  the  catholic  part.  For  when  the  Arians  urge 
 the  saying  of  our  Saviour,  "  No  man  knows  that  day  and 
 liour,"  viz.,  of  judgment,  "  no,  not  the  Son,  but  the  Father 
 only," — to  prove  that  the  Son  knows  not  all  things,  and, 
 
 Gracci  coirupeninl  Novum  Teslamentuin,  ut  lestantviv  Tevtul.  lib.  v.  adv. 
 Marcion.  Euseb.  lib.  v.  Hist.  c.  nil.  Irena-.  lib.  i.  c.  29.  adv.  Ihcres.  Basil,  lib. 
 ii.  contr.  Eimoniium. 
 
502 
 
 THE  SCRIPTURE  DIFFICULT 
 
 therefore,  cannot  be  God  in  the  proper  sense, — St.  Ambrose 
 thinks  he  hath  answered  the  argument,  by  saying  those  words, 
 "  no,  not  the  Son,"  were  thrust  into  the  text  by  the  fraud  of 
 the  Arians.  So  that  here  we  have  one  objection,  which 
 must  first  be  cleared  and  made  infallible,  before  we  can  be 
 ascertained  in  any  such  question  as  to  call  them  heretics  that 
 dissent. 
 
 5.  Secondly,  I  consider  that  there  are  very  many  senses 
 and  designs  of  expounding  Scripture,  and  when  the  gram- 
 matical sense  is  found  out,  we  are  many  times  never  the 
 nearer  ;  it  is  not  that  which  was  intended  ;  for  there  is,  in 
 very  many  Scriptures,  a  double  sense,  a  literal  and  a  spiritual 
 (for  the  Scripture  is  '  a  book  written  within  and  without"'); 
 and  both  these  senses  are  subdivided.  For  the  literal  sense 
 is  either  natural  or  figxirative  :  and  the  spiritual  is  sometimes 
 allegorical,  sometimes  anagogetical ;  nay,  sometimes  there  are 
 divers  literal  senses  in  the  same  sentence,  as  St.  Austin  ex- 
 cellently proves  in  divers  places";  and  it  appears-  in  divers 
 quotations  in  the  New  Testament,  where  the  apostles  and 
 Divine  writers  bring  the  same  testimony  to  divers  purposes  ; 
 and  particularly,  St.  Paul's  making  that  saying  of  the  psalm, 
 "  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee,"  to  be  an 
 argument  of  Christ's  resurrection,  and  a  designation  or  or- 
 dination to  his  pontificate,  is  an  instance  very  famous  in  his 
 first  and  fifth  chapters  to  the  Hebrews.  But  now  there  being 
 such  variety  of  senses  in  Scripture,  and  but  few  places  so 
 marked  out,  as  not  to  be  capable  of  divers  senses,  if  men  will 
 write  commentaries,  as  Herod  made  orations  ptera  tJoXX-^y 
 (pccvrxalxs,  what  infallible  y.^irriptov  will  be  left  whereby  to 
 judge  of  the  certain  dogmatical,  resolute  sense  of  such  places, 
 which  have  been  the  matter  of  question.  For  put  case  a 
 question  were  commenced  concerning  the  degrees  of  glory 
 in  heaven,  as  there  is  in  the  schools  a  noted  one, — to  show 
 an  inequality  of  reward,  Christ's  parable  is  brought  of  the 
 reward  of  ten  cities,  and  of  five  according  to  the  divers  im- 
 pi'ovement  of  the  talents  ;  this  sense  is  mj'stical,  and  yet 
 very  probable,  and  understood  by  men,  for  aught  I  know, 
 to  this  very  sense.    And  the  result  of  the  argument  is  made 
 
 °  Apoc.  V. 
 
 '  Lib.  xii.  Confess,  cap.  26.  Lib.  xi.  de  Civit.  Dei,  c.  19,  Lib.  iii.  de  Doc- 
 trina  Christ,  cap.  2T. 
 
IN  UNNECESSARY  POINTS. 
 
 503 
 
 good  by  St.  Paul,  '  as  one  star  differeth  from  another  in 
 glory  ;'  so  shall  it  be  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  Now 
 suppose  another  should  take  the  same  liberty  of  expounding 
 another  parable  to  a  mystical  sense  and  interj^retation,  as  all 
 parables  must  be  expounded,  then  the  parable  of  the  labourei'S 
 in  the  vineyard,  and  though  differing  in  laboir,  yet  having 
 an  equal  reward,  to  any  man's  understanding  may  seem  very 
 strongly  to  prove  the  contrary ;  and,  as  if  it  were  of  purpose, 
 and  that  it  were  *  primum  intentum'  of  the  parable,  the  Loi-d  of 
 the  vineyard  determined  the  point  resolutely  upon  the  mutiny 
 and  repining  of  them,  that  had  borne  the  burden  and  heat  of 
 the  day,  '  I  will  give  unto  this  last  even  as  to  thee ;'  which,  to 
 my  sense,  seems  to  determine  the  question  of  degrees ;  they 
 that  work  but  little,  and  they  that  work  long,  shall  not  be 
 distinguished  in  the  reward,  though  accidentally  they  were  in 
 the  work :  and  if  this  opinion  could  but  answer  St.  Paul's 
 words,  it  stands  as  fair,  and  perhaps  fairer  than  the  other. 
 Now  if  we  look  well  upon  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  we  shall 
 find  he  speaks  nothing  at  all  of  diversity  of  degrees  of  glory 
 in  beatified  bodies,  but  the  differences  of  glory  in  bodies 
 heavenly  and  earthly.  "There  are,'"  says  he,  "  bodies  earthly, 
 and  there  are  heavenly  bodies :  and  one  is  the  glory  of  the 
 earthly,  another  the  glory  of  the  heavenly ;  one  glory  of  the 
 sun,  another  of  the  moon,  &:c.  So  shall  it  be  in  the  resur- 
 rection; for  it  is  sown  in  corruption,  it  is  I'aised  in  incor- 
 ruption."  Plainly  thus,  our  bodies  in  the  resurrection  shall 
 differ  as  much  from  our  bodies  here,  in  the  state  of  corrup- 
 tion, as  one  star  does  from  another.  And  now  suppose  a 
 sect  should  be  commenced  upon  this  question  (upon  lighter 
 and  vainer  many  have  been),  either  side  must  resolve  to  an- 
 swer the  other's  argument,  whether  they  can  or  no,  and  to 
 deny  to  each  other  a  liberty  of  expounding  the  parable  to 
 such  a  sense,  and  yet  themselves  must  use  it,  or  want  an 
 argument.  But  men  use  to  be  unjust  in  their  own  cases  ; 
 and  were  it  not  better  to  leave  each  other  to  their  liberty, 
 and  seek  to  preserve  their  own  charity  ;  for  when  the  words 
 are  capable  of  a  mystical  or  a  diverse  sense,  I  know  not  why 
 men's  fancies  or  understandings  should  be  more  bound  to  be 
 like  one  another  than  their  faces:  and  either,  in  all  such 
 places  of  Scripture,  a  liberty  must  be  indulged  to  every  ho- 
 nest and  peaceable  wise  man,  or  else  all  argument  from  such 
 
504 
 
 THE  SCRIPTURE  DIFFICULT 
 
 places  must  be  wholly  declined.  Now,  although  I  instanced 
 in  a  question,  which,  by  good  fortune,  nevei-  came  to  open 
 defiance,  yet  there  have  been  sects  framed  upon  lighter 
 grounds,  more  inconsiderable  questions,  which  have  been  dis- 
 puted, on  either  side,  by  arguments  less  material  and  less 
 pertinent.  St.  Austin  laughed  at  the  Donatists,  for  bring- 
 ing that  saying  of  the  spouse  in  the  Canticles  to  prove  their 
 schism,  "  Indica  mihi,  ubi  pascas ;  ubi  cubes  in  meridie." 
 For  from  thence  they  concluded  the  residence  of  the  church 
 was  only  in  the  south  part  of  the  world,  only  in  Africa.  It 
 was  but  a  weak  way  of  argument ;  yet,  the  fathers  were  free 
 enough  to  use  such  mediums,  to  prove  mysteries  of  great 
 concernment^ ;  but  yet  again,  when  they  speak  either  against 
 an  adversary,  or  with  consideration,  they  deny  that  such 
 mystical  senses  can  sufficiently  confirm  a  question  of  faith. 
 But  I  shall  instance,  in  the  great  question  of  rebaptizatlon 
 of  heretics,  which  many  saints,  and  martyrs,  and  confes- 
 sors, and  divers  councils,  and  almost  all  Asia  and  Africa,  did 
 once  believe  and  practise.  Their  grounds  for  the  invalidity 
 of  the  baptism  by  a  heretic,  were  such  mystical  words  as 
 these,  "  Oleum  peccatoris  non  impinguet  caput  meum""." — 
 And  "  Qui  baptizatur  a  mortuo.  quid  proficit  lavatio  ejus"'?" — 
 And  "  Ab  aqua  aliena  abstlnete%" — And  "  Deus  peccatores 
 non  exaudit'." — And  "  he  that  is  not  with  me,  is  against 
 me"." — I  am  not  sure  the  other  part  had  arguments  so  good. 
 For  the  great  one  of  '  una  fides,  unum  baptisma,'  did  not 
 conclude  it  to  their  understandings  who  were  of  the  other 
 opinion,  and  men  famous  in  their  generations ;  for  it  was  no 
 argument  that  they  who  had  been  baptized  by  John's  bap- 
 tism, should  not  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  because 
 '  unus  Deus,  unum  baptisma  ;'  and  as  it  is  still  one  faith  which 
 a  man  confesseth  several  times,  and  one  sacrament  of  the 
 eucharist,  though  a  man  often  communicates;  so  it  might 
 be  one  baptism,  though  often  ministered.  And  the  unity  of 
 baptism  might  not  be  derived  from  the  unity  of  the  ministra- 
 tion, but  from  the  unity  of  the  religion  into  which  they  are 
 baptized,  though  baptized  a  thousand  times  ;  yet,  because  it 
 was  still  in  the  name  of  the  holy  Trinity,  still  into  the  death 
 
 V  Ilieron.  in  Matt.  xiii. 
 *  Prov.  V. 
 
 n  Ps.  cxl. 
 '  John,  is 
 
 Ecclus.  xxxiv, 
 Liilie.  xi. 
 
IN   UNNECESSARY  POINTS. 
 
 505 
 
 of  Christ,  it  might  be  '  unum  baptisma.'  Whether  Sts.  Cy- 
 prian, Firmllian,  and  their  colleagues,  had  this  discourse,  or 
 no,  I  know  not ;  I  am  sure  they  might  have  had  much  better 
 to  have  evacuated  the  force  of  that  argument,  although  I 
 believe  they  had  the  wrong  cause  in  hand.  But  this  is  it 
 that  I  say,  that  when  a  question  is  so  undetermined  in  Scrip- 
 ture, that  the  arguments  rely  only  upon  such  mystical  places, 
 whence  the  best  fancies  can  draw  the  greatest  variety,  and 
 such  which  perhaps  were  never  intended  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
 — it  were  good  the  rivers  did  not  swell  higher  than  the  foun- 
 tain, and  the  confidence  higher  than  the  argument  and  evi- 
 dence ;  for,  in  this  case,  there  could  not  any  thing  be  so 
 certainly  proved,  as  that  the  disagreeing  party  should  de- 
 serve to  be  condemned,  by  a  sentence  of  excommunication, 
 for  disbelieving  it ;  and  yet  they  were ;  which  I  wonder  at  so 
 much  the  more,  because  they  who,  as  it  was  since  judged, 
 had  the  right  cause,  had  not  any  sufficient  argument  from 
 Scripture,  not  so  much  as  such  mystical  arguments,  but  did 
 fly  to  the  tradition  of  tlie  church ;  in  which  also,  I  shall 
 afterwards  show,  they  had  nothing  that  was  absolutely  cer- 
 tain. 
 
 3.  I  consider  that  there  are  divers  places  of  Scripture 
 containing  in  them  mysteries  and  questions  of  gi-eat  concern- 
 ment, and  yet  the  fabric  and  constitution  is  such,  that  there 
 is  no  certain  mark  to  determine,  whether  the  sense  of  them 
 should  be  literal  or  figurative ;  I  speak  not  here  concerning 
 exti'insical  means  of  determination,  as  traductive  interpreta- 
 tions, councils,  fathers,  popes,  and  the  like ;  I  shall  consider 
 them  afterwards  in  their  several  places  ;  but  here  the  subject 
 matter  being  concerning  Sci'ipture  in  its  own  capacity,  I  say 
 there  is  nothing:  in  the  nature  of  the  tiling-  to  determine  the 
 sense  and  meaning,  but  it  must  be  gotten  out  as  it  can  ;  and 
 that  therefore  it  is  unreasonable,  that  what  of  itself  is  am- 
 biguous, should  be  understoood  in  its  own  prime  sense  and 
 intention,  under  the  pain  of  either  a  sin,  or  an  anathema;  I 
 instance,  in  that  famous  place  from  whence  hath  sjjrung  tliat 
 question  of  transubstantation,  '  Hoc  est  corpus  meum.'  The 
 words  are  plain  and  clear,  apt  to  be  understood  in  the  literal 
 sense  ;  and  yet  this  sense  is  so  hard,  as  it  does  violence  to 
 reason,  and,  thei-efore,  it  is  the  question,  whether  or  no  it  be 
 not  a  figurative  speech.    But  here  what  shall  we  have  to  de- 
 
506 
 
 THE  SCRIPTURE  DIFFICULT 
 
 termine  It  ?  What  mean  soever  we  take,  and  to  what  sense 
 you  will  expound  it,  j'ou  shall  be  put  to  give  an  account, 
 why  you  expound  other  places  of  Scripture,  in  the  same  case, 
 to  quite  contrary  senses.  For  if  you  expound  it  literally, 
 then,  besides  that  it  seems  to  intrench  upon  the  words  of 
 our  blessed  Saviour,  '  The  words  that  I  speak  they  are  spirit, 
 and  they  are  life,'  that  is  to  be  spiritually  understood  (and  it 
 is  a  miserable  thing  to  see  what  wretched  shifts  are  used  to 
 reconcile  the  literal  sense  to  these  words,  and  yet  to  distin- 
 guish it  from  the  Capernaitical  fancy) :  but,  besides  this,  why 
 are  not  those  other  sayings  of  Christ  expounded  literally ; 
 '  I  am  a  vine,'  '  I  am  the  door,'  I  am  a  rock  ?'  Why  do  we 
 fly  to  a  figure  in  those  parallel  words,  '  This  is  the  covenant 
 which  I  make  between  me  and  you  V  and  yet  that  covenant 
 was  but  the  sign  of  the  covenant :  and  why  do  we  fly  to  a 
 figure,  in  a  precept,  as  well  as  in  mystery,  and  a  proposition  ? 
 '  If  thy  right  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off;'  and  yet  we  have 
 figures  enough  to  save  a  limb.  If  it  be  said,  because  reason 
 tells  us  these  are  not  to  be  expounded  according  to  the 
 letter;  this  will  be  no  plea  for  them,  who  retain  the  literal 
 exposition  of  the  other  instance,  against  all  reason,  against 
 all  philosophy,  against  all  sense,  and  against  two  or  three 
 sciences.  But  if  you  expound  these  words  figuratively,  be- 
 sides that  you  are  to  contest  against  a  world  of  pi-ejudices, 
 you  give  yourself  the  liberty,  which  if  others  will  use,  when 
 either  they  have  reason  or  a  necessity  so  to  do,  they  may, 
 perhaps,  turn  all  into  allegory,  and  so  may  evacuate  any 
 precept,  and  elude  any  argument.  Well,  so  it  is  that  very 
 wise  men  have  expounded  things  allegoricallys,  when  they 
 should  have  expounded  them  literally.  So  did  the  famous 
 Origen,  who,  as  St.  Jerome  reports  of  him,  turned  paradise 
 into  an  allegory,  that  he  took  away  quite  the  truth  of  the 
 story  ;  and  not  only  Adam  was  turned  out  of  the  garden,  but 
 the  garden  itself  out  of  paradise.  Others  expound  things 
 literally,  when  they  should  understand  them  in  allegory :  so 
 did  the  ancient  Papias  understand  Christ's  millenary  reign 
 
 "  Sic  Hieron.  In  adolescentin,  piovocatus  ardore  et  studio  Scriptiirarum, 
 allegoric^  inteipretatus  sum  Abdiam  prophelam,  cujus  liistoriam  nesciebam. 
 De  Sensu  Allegorico  S.  Script,  dixit  Basilius;  a;  x'.xiu'^iufiUev  fiU  riv  >.lyn 
 areh^e/ii^a,  aXtiSJ  l\  dim  th  ttutu  lusifnf  L.  XX,  de  Civ.  Dei,  c.  7.  praefat. 
 L,  xis.  in  Isai.  et  in  c.  SG.  Ezek. 
 
IN  UNNECESSARY  POINTS. 
 
 5cn 
 
 upon  earth',  and  so  depressed  the  hopes  of  Christianity,  and 
 their  desires  to  the  longing  and  expectation  of  teinporal  plea- 
 sures and  satisfactions  :  and  he  was  followed  by  Justin  Mar- 
 tyr, Irenaeus,  Tertullian,  Lactantius,  and,  indeed,  the  whole 
 church  generally,  till  St.  Austin  and  St.  Jerome's  time,  who, 
 first  of  any  whose  works  are  extant,  did  reprove  the  error. 
 If  such  great  spirits  be  deceived  in  finding  out  what  kind  of 
 senses  be  to  be  given  to  Scriptures,  it  may  well  be  endured, 
 that  we,  who  sit  at  their  feet,  may  also  tread  in  the  steps  of 
 them,  whose  feet  could  not  always  tread  aright. 
 
 7.  Fourthly,  I  consider  that  there  are  some  places  of 
 Scripture  that  have  the  self  same  expressions,  the  same  pre- 
 ceptive woi'ds,  the  same  reason  and  account,  in  all  appear- 
 ance ;  and  yet,  either  must  be  expounded  to  quite  diflferent 
 senses,  or  else  we  must  renounce  the  communion,  and  the 
 charities  of  a  great  part  of  Christendom.  And  yet  there  is 
 absolutely  nothing  in  the  thing,  or  in  its  circumstances,  or  in 
 its  adjuncts,  that  can  determine  it  to  difterent  purposes.  I 
 instance  in  those  great  exclusive  negatives  for  the  necessity 
 of  both  sacraments :  "  Nisi  quis  renatus  fuerit  ex  aqua,"  &c. 
 "  Nisi  manducaveritis  carnem  filii  hominis,"  &c.,  a  *  non  in- 
 troibit  in  regnum  coelorum,'  for  both  these.  Now  then,  the 
 first  is  urged  for  the  absolute  indispensable  necessity  of  bap- 
 tism, even  in  infants,  insomuch  that  infants  go  to  part  of  hell, 
 if,  inculpably,  both  on  their  own  and  their  parents'  part, 
 they  miss  of  baptism  ;  for  that  is  the  doctrine  of  the  church 
 of  Rome,  which  they  learned  from  St.  Austin  ;  and  others 
 also  do  from  hence  baptize  infants,  though  with  a  less  opinion 
 of  its  absolute  necessity.  And  yet  the  same  manner  of  pre- 
 cept, in  the  same  form  of  words,  in  the  same  manner  of 
 threatening,  by  an  exclusive  negative,  shall  not  enjoin  us  to 
 communicate  infants,  though  damnation,  at  least  in  form  of 
 words,  be  exactly,  and  '  per  omnia,'  alike  appendant  to  the 
 neglect  of  holy  baptism,  and  the  venerable  eucharist.  If 
 '  nisi  quis  renatus'  shall  conclude  against  the  anabaptist,  for 
 necessity  of  baptizing  infants  (as  sure  enough  we  say  it  does), 
 why  shall  not  an  equal '  nisi  comederitis,'  bring  infants  to  the 
 holy  communion  ?  The  primitive  church,  for  some  two 
 whole  ages,  did  follow  their  own  principles,  wherever  they 
 
 y  Apocal.  XX. 
 
508 
 
 THE  SCRIPTURE  DIFFICULT 
 
 led  them  ;  and  seeing  that,  upon  the  same  ground,  equal 
 results  must  follow,  they  did  communicate  infants  as  soon  as 
 they  had  baptized  them.  And  why  the  church  of  Rome 
 should  not  do  so  too,  being  she  expounds  '  nisi  comederitis,' 
 of  oral  manducation,  I  cannot  yet  learn  a  reason.  And  for 
 others,  that  expound  it  of  a  spiritual  manducation,  why  they 
 shall  not  allow  the  disagreeing  part  the  same  liberty  of  ex- 
 pounding '  nisi  quis  renatus,'  too,  I  by  no  means  can  under- 
 stand. And,  in  these  cases,  no  external  determiner  can  be 
 pretended  in  answer.  For  whatsoever  is  extrinsical  to  the 
 words,  as  councils,  traditions,  church  authority,  and  fathers, 
 either  have  said  nothing  at  all,  or  have  concluded,  by  tlieir 
 practice,  contrary  to  the  present  opinion,  as  is  plain  by  their 
 communicating  infants  by  virtue  of  '  nisi  comederitis.' 
 
 8.  Fifthly;  I  shall  not  need  to  urge  the  mysteriousness  of 
 some  points  in  Scripture,  which  '  ex  natura  rei,'  are  hard  to 
 be  understood,  though  very  plainly  represented.  For  there 
 are  some  '  secreta  theologise,'  which  are  only  to  be  under- 
 stood by  persons  very  holy  and  spiritual ;  which  are  rather 
 to  be  felt  than  discoursed  of ;  and,  therefore,  if  peradven- 
 ture,  they  be  offered  to  public  consideration,  they  will  there- 
 fore be  opposed,  because  they  run  the  same  fortune  with 
 many  other  questions  ;  that  is,  not  to  be  understood,  and  so 
 much  the  rather  because  their  understanding,  that  is,  the 
 feeling,  such  secrets  of  the  kingdom,  are  not  the  results  of 
 logic  and  philosophy,  nor  yet  of  public  I'evelation,  but  of  the 
 public  spirit  privately  working  ;  and  in  no  man  is  a  duty, 
 but  in  all  that  have  it,  is  a  reward, — and  is  not  necessary  for 
 all,  but  given  to  some ;  producing  its  operations,  not  regu- 
 larly, but  upon  occasions,  personal  necessities,  and  new 
 emergencies.  Of  this  nature  are  the  spirit  of  obsignation, 
 belief  of  particular  salvation,  special  influences,  and  comforts 
 coming  from  a  sense  of  the  spirit  of  adoption,  actual  fervours, 
 and  great  complacencies  in  devotion,  spiritual  joys, — which 
 are  little  drawings  aside  of  the  curtains  of  peace  and  eternity, 
 and  antepasts  of  immortality.  But  the  not  understanding 
 the  perfect  constitution  and  temper  of  these  mysteries  (and 
 it  is  hard  for  any  man  so  to  understand,  as  to  make  others 
 do  so  too  that  feel  them  not),  is  cause,  that,  in  many  ques- 
 tions of  secret  theology,  by  being  very  apt  and  easy  to 
 be  mistaken,  there  is  a  necessity  in  forbearing  one  another  ; 
 
IN  UNNECESSARY  POINTS. 
 
 509 
 
 and  this  considei-ation  would  have  boen  of  good  use  in  the 
 question  between  Soto  and  Catharinus,  both  for  the  preser- 
 vation of  their  charity,  and  explication  of  the  mystery. 
 
 9.  Sixthly  ;  But  here  it  will  not  be  unseasonable  to  con- 
 sider, that  all  systems  and  principles  of  science  are  expressed, 
 so  that,  either  by  reason  of  the  universality  of  the  terms  and 
 subject  matter,  or  the  infinite  variety  of  human  understand- 
 ings, and  these,  peradventure,  swayed  by  interest,  or  deter- 
 mined by  things  accidental  and  extrinsical, — they  seem  to 
 divers  men,  nay,  to  the  same  men  upon  divers  occasions,  to 
 speak  things  extremely  desperate,  and  sometimes  contrary, 
 but  very  often  of  great  variety.  And  this  very  thing  hap- 
 pens also  in  Scripture,  that  if  it  were  not  in  '  re  sacra  et 
 seria,'  it  were  excellent  sport  to  observe  how  the  same  place 
 of  Scripture  serves  several  turns  upon  occasion  ;  and  they  at 
 that  time  believe  the  words  sound  nothing  else  ;  whereas  in. 
 the  liberty  of  their  judgment  and  abstracting  from  that  oc- 
 casion, their  commentaries  understand  them  wholly  to  a  dif- 
 fei-ing  sense.  It  is  a  wonder  of  what  excellent  use  to  the 
 church  of  Rome,  is  '  tibi  dabo  claves:'  it  was  spoken  to 
 Peter,  and  none  else  (sometimes) ;  and,  therefore,  it  concerns 
 him  and  his  successors  only  ;  the  rest  are  to  derive  from 
 him.  And  yet,  if  you  question  them  for  their  sacrament  of 
 penance,  and  priestly  absolution,  then  '  tibi  dabo  claves' 
 comes  in,  and  that  was  spoken  to  St.  Peter,  and,  in  him,  to 
 the  whole  college  of  the  apostles,  and,  in  them,  to  the  whole 
 hierarchy.  If  you  question  why  the  pope  pretends  to  free 
 souls  from  purgatory,  '  tibi  dabo  claves'  is  his  warrant; 
 but  if  you  tell  him  the  keys  ai"e  only  for  binding  and  loosing 
 on  earth  directly,  and  in  heaven  consequently  ;  and  that  pur- 
 gatory is  a  part  of  hell,  or  rather  neither  earth,  nor  heaven, 
 nor  hell,  and  so  the  keys  seem  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  it, 
 then  his  commission  is  to  be  enlarged  by  a  suppletory  of  rea- 
 son and  consequences,  and  his  keys  shall  unlock  this  diffi- 
 culty, for  it  is  '  clavis  scientiae,''  as  well  as  '  autoritatis.' 
 And  these  keys  shall  enable  him  to  expound  Scriptures  in- 
 fallibly, to  determine  questions,  to  preside  in  councils,  to 
 dictate  to  all  the  world  magisterially,  to  rule  the  church,  to 
 dispense  with  oaths,  to  abrogate  laws  :  and  if  his  key  of 
 knowledge  will  not,  the  key  of  authority  shall,  and  '  tibi 
 
 vol..  VII.  2  M 
 
510 
 
 THE  SCRIPTURE  DIFFICULT 
 
 dabo  claves'  shall  answer  for  all.  We  have  an  instance  in  the 
 single  fancy  of  one  man,  what  rare  variety  of  matter  is  af- 
 forded from  those  plain  words  of  '  Oravi  pro  te,  Petre^;' 
 for  that  place  (says  Bellarmine ")  is  otherwise  to  be  under- 
 stood of  Peter,  otherwise  of  the  popes,  and  otherwise  of  the 
 Church  of  Rome.    And  '  pro  te'  signifies,  that  Christ  prayed 
 that  Peter  might  neither  err  personally  nor  judicially  ;  and 
 that  Peter's  successors,  if  they  did  err  personally,  might  not 
 err  judicially  ;  and  that  the  Roman  church  might  not  err 
 personally.    All  this  variety  of  sense  is  pretended  by  the 
 fancy  of  one  man,  to  be  in  a  few  words,  -which  are  as  plain 
 and  simple  as  are  any  words  in  Scripture.    And  what  then 
 in  those  thousands  that  are  intricate?   So  is  done  with  'pasce 
 eves,'  which  a  man  would  think  were  a  commission  as  inno- 
 cent and  guiltless  of  designs,  as  the  sheep  in  the  folds  are. 
 But  if  it  be  asked,  why  the  bishop  of  Rome  calls  himself  uni- 
 versal bishop  ?    '  Pasce  oves'  is  his  warrant. — Why  he  pre- 
 tends to  a  power  of  deposing  princes  ?    '  Pasce  oves,'  said 
 Christ  to  Peter,  the  second  time. — If  it  be  demanded  why 
 also  he  pretends  to  a  power  of  authorizing  his  subjects  to 
 kill  him  ?    '  Pasce  agnos,'  said  Christ  the  third  time  : — And 
 •pasce'  is  '  doce,'  and  'pasce'  is  'impera;'  and  'pasce'  is 
 '  occide.'    Now  if  others  should  take  the  same  unreasonable- 
 ness I  will  not  say,  but  the  same  liberty,  in  expounding 
 Scripture  ;  or  if  it  be  not  license  taken,  but  that  the  Scrip- 
 ture itself  is  so  full  and  redundant  in  senses  quite  contrary, 
 what  man  soever,  or  what  company  of  men  soever,  shall 
 use  this  principle,  will  certainly  find  such  rare  productions 
 from  several  places,  that  either  the  unreasonableness  of  the 
 thing  will  discover  the  error  of  the  proceeding,  or  else 
 there  will  be  a  necessity  of  permitting  a  great  liberty  of 
 judgment,  where  is  so  infinite  variety,  without  limit  or 
 mark  of  necessary  determination.    If  the  first,  then,  be- 
 cause an  error  is  so  obvious  and  ready  to  ourselves,  it  wiU 
 be  great  imprudence  or  tyranny  to  be  hasty  in  judging 
 others ;  but  if  the  latter,  it  is  that  I  contend  for :  for  it 
 is  most  unreasonable,  when  either  the  thing  itself  ministers 
 
 '  Luke,  sxii. 
 
 »  Bellar.  lib.  v,  de  Pontif.  cap.  3.  Sect.  Respondeo  primo. 
 
IN  UNNECESSARY  POINTS. 
 
 511 
 
 variety,  or  that  we  take  license  to  ourselves  in  variety  of  in- 
 terpretations, or  proclaim  to  all  the  world  our  great  weak- 
 ness, by  our  actually  being  deceived,  that  we  should  either 
 prescribe  to  others  magisterially,  when  we  are  in  error,  or 
 limit  their  understandings,  when  the  thing  itself  affords 
 liberty  and  variety. 
 
 END  OF  THE  SEVENTH  VOLUME, 
 
LONDON: 
 Printed  by  William  Clo 
 NorthumbcrJand-conrti 
 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Libraries 
 
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