IF we ſhould in this particular take the ſame courſe, which ſome Writers of the Church of Rome make uſe of againſt the Holy Scriptures, it would be a very eaſie matter to bring in queſtion, and render very doubtful, and ſuſpected, all the Writings of the Fathers. For, when any one alledgeth the Old or New Teſtament, theſe Gentlemen preſently demand, How, or by what means they know, that any ſuch Books were truly written by thoſe Prophets, and Apoſtles, under whoſe Names they go. If therefore, in like manner, when theſe Men urge Juſtin, Irenaeus, Ambroſe, Auguſtine, and the like, one ſhould take them ſhort, and demand of them, How, and by what means they are aſſured, that theſe Fathers were the Authors of thoſe Writings, which at this day go under their Names, it is very much to be doubted but that they would find a harder Task of it, than their Adverſaries, in juſtifying the Inſcriptions of the Books of Holy Writ; the Truth whereof is much more eaſie to be demonſtrated, than of any Humane Writings whatſoever. But I paſs by this too-artificial way of Proceeding, and onely ſay, That it is no very eaſie matter to find out, by the Writings of the Fathers, what hath really beeen their Opinion, in any of thoſe Controverſies which are now in debate, betwixt the Proteſtant and the Church of Rome. The Conſiderations which render the knowledge of this ſo difficult, are many: I ſhall therefore in this Firſt Part handle ſome of them onely, referring the reſt to the Later, examining them one after another.

The firſt Reaſon, therefore, which I ſhall lay down for the proving of this Difficulty, is, The little we have extant of the Writings of the Ancient Fathers, eſpecially of the Firſt, Second, and Third Centuries; which are thoſe we are moſt eſpecially to regard. For, ſeeing that one of the principal Reaſons that moveth the Church of Rome to alledge the Writings of the Fathers, is to ſhew the Truth of their Tenets, by the Antiquity, which they reckon as a Mark of it; it is moſt evident, that the moſt Ancient ought to be the moſt taken notice of. And indeed, there is no queſtion to be made, but that the Chriſtian Religion was more pure, and without mixture, in its beginnings and Infancy, than it was afterwards, in its Growth and Progreſs: it being the ordinary courſe of Things, to contract Corruptions, more or leſs, according as they are more or leſs removed from their firſt Inſtitution: As we ſee by experience in States, Laws, Arts, and Languages; the Natural Propriety of all which is continually declining, after they have once paſſed the Point of their Vigour, and, as it were, the Flower and Prime of their Strength and Perfection. Now I cannot believe, that any faithful Chriſtian will deny, but that Chriſtianity was in its Height and Perfection in the time of the Bleſſed Apoſtles: And indeed it would be the greateſt injury that could be offered them, to ſay, that any of their Succeſſors have either had a greater deſire, or more Abilities, to advance Chriſtianity, than they had. It will hence follow then, That thoſe Times which were neareſt to the Apoſtles, were neceſſarily the pureſt, and leſs ſubject to ſuſpicion of Corruptions, either in Doctrine, or in Manners, and Chriſtian Diſcipline: it being but reaſonable to believe, that if there be any Corruptions crept into the Church, they came in by little and little, and by degrees; as it happens in all other things. If any one ſhall here object, That even the very next Age immediately after the times of the Apoſtles was not without its Errours, if we may believe Hegeſippus; who, as he is cited by Euſebius, Euſeb. Hiſt. Eccleſ lib. 3. cap. 29. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . witneſſeth, that the Church continued a Virgin till the Emperour Trajan's time; but, that after the death of the Apoſtles, the Conſpiracy of Errour began to diſcover it ſelf with open fce. I ſhall not oppoſe any thing againſt this teſtimony; but ſhall only ſay, that if the Enemy, immediately upon the ſetting of theſe Stars of the Church, their Preſence and Light being ſcarcely ſhut in, had yet the boldneſs preſently to fall to ſowing his evil ſeed; how much more had he opportunity to do this in thoſe. Ages which were further removed from their Times; when as the Sanctity and Simplicity of theſe great Teachers of the World having now by little and little vaniſhed out of the memories of Men, Humane Inventions, and new Fancies began to take place. So that we may however conclude, That ſuppoſing that Chriſtianity, even in the Firſt Ages, hath not been altogether exempt from alteration in Doctrine; yet are they much more free from it, than the ſucceeding Ages can pretend to be; and are therefore conſequently to be preferred before them in all reſpects: it being here ſomething like what the Poets have fancied of the Four Ages of the World, where the ſucceeding Age always came ſhort of the former.Caſſand. Conſult. Ferdinan. p 894. Perron. Epiſt. to Caſaub. For, as for the Opinion of thoſe Men, who think the beſt way to find out the true Senſe of the Ancient Church, will be, to ſearch the Writings of thoſe of the Fathers chiefly who lived betwixt the time of Conſtantine the Great, till Pope Leo, or till Pope Gregory's time; that is to ſay, from the end of the Third Century, till the beginning of the Seventh: I take this as a Confeſſion onely of the ſmall number of Books that are left us of thoſe Ages before Conſtantine; and not that theſe Men allow, that the Authority of theſe Three later Ages, ought to be preferred to that of the Three former. If we had but as much Light, and as clear Evidences of the Belief of the one, as we have of the other, I make no queſtion but they would prefer the Former. But if they mean otherwiſe, and are indeed of a perſwaſion, that the Church was really more pure after Conſtantine's time, than before; they muſt excuſe me, if I think that they by this means confeſs the diſtruſt they have of their own Cauſe, ſeeing they endeavour to get off as far as they can from the Light of the Primitive times; retreating back to thoſe Ages wherein it is moſt evident there was both leſs Perfection, and Light, than before: running clean contrary to that excellent Rule which S. Cypr. ep. 74. p. 195. Cyprian hath given us; That we ſhould have recourſe to the Fountain, whenever the Channel and Stream of Doctrine, and Eccleſiaſtical Tradition is found to be any whit corrupted. But however, let their meaning be what it will, their Words, in my judgment, do not a little advantage the Proteſtants Cauſe; it being a very clear confeſſion, That thoſe Opinions about which they conteſt with them, do not at all appear clearly in any of the Books that were written during the Three Firſt Centuries. For, if they were found clearly in the ſame, what Policy were it then in them to appeal to the Writers of the Three following Centuries, to which they very well know, that their Adverſaries attribute leſs, than to the Former? But beſides this tacite Confeſſion of theirs, the thing is evident; namely, That there is left us at this day very little of the Writings of the Fathers of the Three Firſt Centuries of Chriſtianity, for the deciding of our Differences. The bleſſed Chriſtians of thoſe times contented themſelves, for the greateſt part of them, with writing the Chriſtian Faith in the hearts of Men, by the beams of their Sanctity, and holy Life, and by their Blood ſhed in Martyrdom, without much troubling themſelves with the writing of Books: Whether it were,Orig▪ Praef Operis contra Celſ. p. 1, 2. becauſe, as Learned Origen elegantly gives the Reaſon, they were of opinion that the Chriſtian Religion was to be defended by the Innocency of Life, and honeſty of Converſation, rather than by Sophiſtry, and the Artifice of Words: or whether, becauſe their continual Sufferings gave them not leiſure to take Pen in hand, and to write Books; or elſe, whether it were for ſome other Reaſon perhaps, which we know not. But this we are very well aſſured of, that except the Writings of the Apoſtles, there was very little written by others in theſe Primitive times: which was the cauſe of ſo much trouble to Euſebius in the beginning of his Hiſtory,Euſeb. Hiſt Eccleſ. l. 1. c. 1. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . having little or no light to guide him in his Undertaking, and treading, as himſelf ſaith, in a new path, unbeaten by any that had gone before him. Beſides, the greateſt part of thoſe few Books which were written by the Chriſtians of thoſe Times, have not come down to our hands, but were loſt, either through the injury of Time, that conſumeth all things, or elſe have been made away by the malice of Men, who have made bold to ſuppreſs and ſmother whatſoever they met with, that was not wholly to their guſt. Of this ſort were thoſe five Books of Papias Biſhop of Hierapolis, the Apology of Quadratus Athenienſis, and that other of Ariſtides, the Writings of Caſtor Agrippa, againſt the XXIV Books of the Heretick Baſilides, the five Books of Hegeſippus, the Works of Melito Biſhop of Sardis, Dionyſius Biſhop of Corinth, Apollinaris Biſhop of Hierapolis, the Epiſtle of Pinytus Cretenſis, the Writings of Philippus, Muſanus, Modeſtus, Bardeſanes, Pantaenus, Rhodon, Miltiades, Apollonius, Serapion, Bacchylus, Polycrates Biſhop of Epheſus, Heraclius, Maximus, Hammonius, Tryphon, Hippolytus, Julius, Africanus, Dionyſius Alexandrinus, and others of whom we have no more left, ſave onely their Names, and the Titles of their Books, which are preſerved in Euſebius, Hieron l. de Scriptor. &c. Euſeb. in hiſt. paſſim. Tertul. aliquorum meminit. S. Hierome, and others. All that we have left us of theſe Times, which is certainly known to be theirs, and that no Man doubts of, is, ſome certain Diſcourſes of S. Juſtin the Philoſopher and Martyr, who wrote his ſecond Apology a hundred and fifty years after the Nativity of our Saviour Chriſt; the Five Books of S. Irenaeus, who wrote not long after him; Three excellent and learned Pieces of Clemens Alexandrinus, who lived toward the end of the ſecond Century; divers Books of Tertullian, who was famous about the ſame time: the Epiſtles and other Treatiſes of S. Cyprian Biſhop of Carthage, who ſuffered Martyrdom about the year of our Saviour CCLXI, the Writings of Arnobius, and of Lactantius his Scholar, and ſome few others. For, as for Origen, S. Cyprian's Contemporary, who alone, had we but all his Writings entire, would be able perhaps to give us more light and ſatisfaction in the Buſineſs we are now upon, than all the reſt; we have but very little of him left us, and the greateſt part of that too moſt miſerably abuſed, and corrupted; the moſt learned, and almoſt innumerable Writings of this great and incomparable Perſon, not being able to withſtand the violence of Time, nor the envy and malice of Men, who have dealt much worſe with him, than ſo many Ages, and Centuries of Years that have paſſed, from his time down to us. And thus have I given you an account of well-nigh all that we have left us, which is certainly known to have been written by the Fathers of the Three Firſt Centuries. For, as for thoſe other Pieces which are pretended to have been written in the ſame times, but are indeed either confeſſed to be ſuppoſititious by the Romaniſts themſelves, or are rejected by their Adverſaries, and that upon very good and probable grounds; theſe are not to have any place at all, or account here, in clearing the Controverſie we have now in hand.

The Writings of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries have, I confeſs, out-gone the Former for number, and good fortune too; the greateſt part of them having come down ſafe to our Hands: but they come much ſhort of the other in Weight and Authority; eſpecially in the Judgment of the Proteſtants, who maintain, and that upon very probable Grounds too, That the Chriſtian Religion hath from the beginning had its declinings by little and little, loſing in every Age ſome certain degree of its Primitive and Native Purity. And beſides, we have good cauſe perhaps to fear, leſt the multitude of Writers of theſe two Ages trouble us as much, as the paucity of them in the three preceding; and that, as before we ſuffered under ſcarcity, we now be overwhelmed with their multitude. For, the multitude of Words, and of Books, ſerves as much ſometimes to the ſuppreſſing of the Senſe and Opinion of any Publick Body, as Silence it ſelf; our Minds being then extremely confounded, and perplexed, while it labours to apprehend what is the True and Common Opinion of the Whole, amidſt ſo many differently-biaſſed Particulars, whereof each endeavours to expreſs the ſame: it being moſt certain, that amongſt ſo great and almoſt infinite variety of Spirits, and Tongues, you ſhall very hardly meet with two Perſons, that ſhall deliver to you one and the ſame Opinion, (eſpecially in Matters of ſo high a nature, as the Controverſies in Religion are) after the ſame form and way of repreſentation, how unanimous ſoever their Conſent may otherwiſe be in the ſame Opinion. And this Variety, although it be but in the Circumſtances of the thing, makes notwithſtanding the Foundation it ſelf to appear different alſo.

I Come now to more important Conſiderations; theſe two former, though they are not in themſelves to be deſpiſed, or neglected, being yet but trivial ones in reſpect of thoſe which follow. For there is ſo great a confuſion in the moſt part of theſe Books whereof we ſpeak, that it is a very hard thing truly to find out who were their Authors, and what the Meaning and Senſe of them is. The firſt Difficulty proceeds from the infinite number of Forged Books, which are falſly attributed to the Ancient Fathers: The like having hapned alſo in all ſorts of Learning and Sciences; inſomuch that the Criticks at this day are ſufficiently troubled in diſcovering, both in Philoſophy, and Humanity, which are forged and ſuppoſititious Pieces, and which are true and legitimate. But this Abuſe hath not reigned any where more groſly, and taken to it ſelf more liberty, than toward the Eccleſiaſtical Writers. All Men complain on this, both on the one ſide, and on the other, and labour all they can to deliver us from theſe Confuſions, though oftentimes with little ſucceſs, by reaſon of the eagerneſs of their Paſſion, by which they are carried away, ordinarily judging of Books according to their own Intereſt, rather than the Truth, and rejecting all thoſe that any whit contradict them; but defending thoſe which ſpeak of their ſide, how good or bad ſoever they otherwiſe chance to be. So that, to ſay the truth, they judge not of their own Opinions by the Writings of the Fathers, but of the Writings of the Fathers by their own Opinions. If they ſpeak with Us, it is then Cyprian and Chryſoſtome; if not, it is ſome Ignorant Modern Fellow, or elſe ſome Malicious Perſon, who would fain cover his own filthineſs under the rich Garment of theſe excellent Perſons. Now if it were Paſſion onely that rendered the Buſineſs obſcure, we ſhould be able eaſily to quit our hands of it, by ſtripping it, and laying it open to the World▪ and all moderate Men would find enough to reſt ſatisfied with. But the worſt of it is, that this Obſcurity oftentimes falls out to be in the things themſelves; ſo that it is a very hard, and ſometimes an impoſſible thing, to clear them; whether it be by reaſon of the Antiquity of the Errour, or elſe by reaſon of the near reſemblance of the • alſe to the True. For theſe Forgeries are not new, and of yeſteryeſterday; but the Abuſe hath been on foot above fourteen hundred years. It is the complaint of the greateſt part of the Fathers, That the Hereticks, to gain their own Dreams the greater Authority,Hegeſippus apud Euſeb. l. 4. c. 22. vented them under the Names of ſome of the moſt eminent Writers in the Church, and even of the Apoſtles themſelves. Amphilochius Biſhop of Iconium, who was ſo much eſteemed by the great S.Concil. 7. Act. 5. Tom. 3 p. 552. Baſil, Archbiſhop of Caeſarea, wrote a particular Tract on this Subject, alledged by the Fathers of the Seventh Council, againſt a certain Paſſage produced by the Iconoclaſts out of I know not what idle Treatiſe, entituled, The Travels of the Apoſtles. And I would to God that Tract of this Learned Prelate were now extant! if it were, it would perhaps do us good ſervice in diſcovering the Vanity of very many ridiculous Pieces, which now paſs up and down the World under the Names of the Primitive and moſt Ancient Chriſtians. S.Hier. l de ſcrip. Eccleſ Tom. 1. p. 346 B. & 350. C. Hierome rejecteth divers Apocryphal Books, which are publiſhed under the Names of the Apoſtles, and of their firſt Diſciples; as namely, of S. Peter, of Barnabas, and others. The Goſpel of S. Thomas, and the Epiſtle to the Laodiceans, Concil 7. Act 6. are put in the ſame rank by the Seventh Council. Now if theſe wretched Knaves have been thus ſawcy with the Apoſtles, as to make uſe of Their Names, how much more likely is it, that they would not ſtick to make as bold with the Fathers? And indeed this kind of Impoſture hath always been very ordinary. Thus we read,Concil. 5. Collat. 6. That the Neſtorians ſometime publiſhed an Epiſtle under the Name of S. Cyril of Alexandria, in the defence of Theodorus Biſhop of Mopſueſtia, who was the Author and firſt Broacher of their Hereſie:Marian. ep ad. Mon. Alex. ad calcem Concil. • halc. T. 2. p. 450. E. Leont. lib. extat. Bibl. SS. PP. T 4 part. 2. and likewiſe that the Eutychiſts alſo vented certain Books of Apollinaris, under the Title of The Orthodox Doctors, onely to abuſe the ſimple People. Leontius hath written an expreſs Tract on this Subject; wherein he ſhews, That theſe Men abuſed particularly the Names of S. Gregory of Neocaeſarea, of Julius Biſhop of Rome, and of Athanaſius, Biſhop of Alexandria: and he alſo ſaith particularly, That the Book entituled, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , A particular Expoſition of the Faith, which is delivered unto us by Turrianus the Jeſuite,Greg. Thaumat. op. Par. ann. 1622. pag. 97. ubi vide Voſſ. Gerardus Voſſius, and the laſt Edition of Gregorius Neocaeſarienſis, for a true and legitimate Piece of the ſaid S. Gregory, is not truly his, but the Baſtard Iſſue of the Heretick Apollinaris. And the like Judgment do the Publiſhers of the Bibliotheca Patrum give of the XII Anathema's, Bibl. SS. PP. T. 1. Gr. Lat. which are commonly attributed to the ſame S. Gregory. The Monothelites alſo, taking the ſame courſe, forged an Oration under the Name of Menas Patriarch of Conſtantinople, Concil. 6. Act. 3. & Act. 14. T. 3. Concil. and directed to Vigilius Biſhop of Rome: and two other Books under the Name of the ſame Vigilius, directed to Juſtinian and Theodora; wherein their Hereſie is in expreſs terms delivered: and theſe three Pieces were afterward inſerted into the Body of the Fifth Council, and kept in the Library of the Patriarch's Palace in Conſtantinople. Concil. 6. Act. 3. & Act. 14. T. 3. Concil. But this Impoſture was diſcovered, and convinced in the VI Council: for otherwiſe, who would not have been deceived by it, ſeeing theſe falſe Pieces in ſo Authentick a Copy? I bring but theſe few Examples, to give the Reader but a taſte onely of what the Hereticks not onely dared, but were able alſo to do, in this particular: and all theſe things were done before the end of the Seventh Century, that is to ſay, above nine hundred years ago. Since which time, in all the Diſputes about the Images in Churches,Concil. 7. Act. 6. Refut. Iconoclaſt. Tom. 5. and in the differences betwixt the Greek and Latine Churches, and indeed in the moſt part of all other Eccleſiaſtical Conteſtations, you ſhall find nothing more frequent, than the mutual Reproaches that the ſeveral Parties caſt at each other,Concil. Florent. Seſſ. 20. T. 4. accuſing each other of forging the Pieces of Authors which they produced each of them in defence of their own Cauſe. Judge you therefore, whether or not the Hereticks, uſing the ſame Artifice, and the ſame Diligence▪ now for the ſpace of ſo many Centuries ſince, though in different Cauſes, may not in all probability have furniſhed us with a ſufficient ſtock of ſpurious Pieces, ſent abroad under the Names of the Ancient Fathers, by their profeſſed Enemies? And do but think whether or no we may not chance to converſe with an Heretick ſometimes, when we think we have a Father before us; and a profeſſed Enemy, diſguiſed under the mask of a Friend? So that it will hence follow, That it may juſtly be feared, that we ſometimes receive and deliver for Maxims and Opinions of the Ancient Church, no better than the very Dreams of the Ancient Hereticks. For we muſt conceive, that they were not ſo fooliſh, as to diſcover their Venom at the firſt daſh, in the height of their Heretical Poſitions; but rather, that they onely cunningly caſt in here and there ſome ſprinklings of it, laying the foundation of their Hereſie as it were afar off onely; which makes the Knavery the more hard to be diſcovered, and ſo conſequently the more dangerous. But ſuppoſing that this Jugling Trick of the Hereticks may have very much corrupted the Old Books; yet notwithſtanding, had we no other ſpurious Pieces than what had been forged by them, it would be no very hard matter to diſtinguiſh the True from the Falſe. But that which renders the Evil almoſt uncurable, is, that even in the Church it ſelf this kind of Forgery hath been both very Ordinary, and very Ancient. I impute a great part of the cauſe of this Miſchief to thoſe Men, who before the Invention of Printing, were the Tranſcribers and Copiers out of Manuſcripts: of whoſe negligence and boldneſs in corrupting of Books, S. Hierome very much complained even in his time:Hier. Ep. 28. ad Lucin. Tom. 1. Scribunt (ſaith he) non quod inveniunt, ſed quod intelligunt; & dum alienos errores emendare nituntur, oſtendunt ſuos: That is, They write, not what they find, but what they underſtand; and whilſt they endeavour to correct other Mens Errors, they ſhew their own. We may very well preſume, that what liberty theſe Men took in corrupting, they took the ſame in forging Books too: eſpecially ſince this laſt courſe was beneficial to them, which the other was not. For by altering or corrupting the Books they wrote, they could not make any advantage to themſelves: whereas in forging new Books, and venting them under great and eminent Names, they put them off both faſter and dearer. So likewiſe if there came to their hands any Book, that had either no Authors Name; or having any, it was but an obſcure, or a tainted one: to the end that theſe evil Marks might not prejudice the venting of it, they would raſe it out without any more ado, and inſcribe it preſently with ſome one of the moſt Eminent and Venerable Names that was in the Church; that ſo the Reputation and Favour that That Name had found in the World, might be a means of the better putting off their falſe Wares. As for example: The Name of Novatianus, who was the Head of a Schiſm againſt the Roman Church, became juſtly to be odious to Chriſtian ears; as that of Tertullian was the more eſteemed, both for the Age, Wit, and Learning of the Perſon. Now the Tranſcriber conſidering this with himſelf, without any other deſign, or end, than onely of his own private Gain, hath, in my judgment, made an exchange, attributing to Tertullian that Book of the Trinity, which is indeed Novatianus his; as we are given to underſtand alſo by S.Hier. Apol. 2. contr. Ruff. Hierome. And I am of opinion, that both the birth and fortune of that other Piece De Poenitentia hath been, if not the very ſame, yet at leaſt not much unlike that of the other. So likewiſe that Book which beareth Title, De Operibus Cardinalibus Chriſti, Auctor operis, De Operibus Card. Chriſti, inter Cyprian. oper. p. 444. which was compoſed and ſent by the Author of it to one of the Popes, without ſetting down his Name, as himſelf there teſtifies, hath been vented abroad under the Name of S. Cyprian, onely becauſe by this means it is the more profitable to the Manuſcript-monger; and it hath formerly always paſſed, and doth ſtill paſs for his; notwithſtanding that, in my judgment, it is clear enough, that it cannot be his, as is ingenuouſly confeſſed byEraſmus in edit. Cypr. ſuâ Sixtus Senenſ. Biblioth. lib. 4. Bellar. de Euchar. l 2. cap. 9. De amiſſ. grat. l. 6. c. 2. P • ſſevin. in Apparat. Scult. Medulla Patr. Andr. Rivet. l. 2. c. 15. Crit. Sacr. Aubert. de Euchar. l. 2. c. 8. very many of the Learned, both of the one, and of the other ſide. Ruffinus had ſome Name in the Church; though nothing near ſo great a one as Cyprian had: and this is the reaſon why the afore-named Merchants have inſcribed with S. Cyprian's Name that Treatiſe upon the Apoſtles Creed, which was written by Ruffinus. Beſides the Avarice of theſe Librarii, their own Ignorance, or at leaſt of thoſe whom they conſulted, hath in like manner produced no ſmall number of theſe ſpurious Pieces. For when either the likeneſs of the Name, or of the Stile, or of the Subject treated of, or any other ſeeming Reaſon, gave them occaſion to believe, that ſuch an Anonymous Book was the Work of ſuch or ſuch an ancient Author, they preſently copied it out under the ſaid Author's Name; and thus it came from thenceforth to be received by the World for ſuch, and by them to be delivered for ſuch, over to Poſterity. But all the blame is not to be laid upon the Tranſcribers onely, in this particular: the Authors themſelves have contributed very much to the promoting of this kind of Impoſture. For there have been found in all Ages ſome that have been ſo ſottiſhly ambitious, and ſo deſirous, at what rate ſoever, to have their Conceptions publiſhed to the World, as that finding they ſhould never be able to pleaſe, and get applauſe abroad of themſelves, they have vented them under the Name of ſome of the Fathers; chuſing rather to ſee them received, and honoured, under this falſe Habit, than diſdained, and ſlighted, under their own true one. Theſe Men, according as their ſeveral Abilities have been, have imitated the Stile and Fancy of the Fathers, either more or leſs happily; and have boldly preſented theſe Iſſues of their own Brain to the World, under their Names. The World, the greateſt part whereof hath always been the leaſt ſubtile, hath very readily collected, preſerved, and cheriſhed theſe falſe Births, and hath by degrees filled all their Libraries with them. Others have been moved to uſe the ſame Artifice, not out of Ambition but ſome other irregular Fancy, as thoſe Men have done, who, having had a particular affection either to ſuch a Perſon, or to ſuch an Opinion, have faln to write of the ſame, under the Name of ſome Author of good Eſteem and Reputation with the World, to make it paſs the more currantly abroad: Juſt as that Prieſt did, who publiſhed a Book entituled,Hier. de ſcript. Eccl. Tom. 1. p. 350. Ex Tertul. li. de Baptiſmo, cap. 17. The Acts of S. Paul, and of Tecla; and being convinced of being the Author of it, in the preſence of S. John, he plainly confeſſed, that the love that he bare to S. Paul was the onely cauſe that moved him to do it. Such was the boldneſs alſo of Ruffinus, Hier. l. 2. Apol. contr. Ruffin. Tom. 2. p. 334. & Ep. 69. T. 2. & Apol. contr. Ruff. ad Pammach. et Marc. Tom. 2. a Prieſt of Aquileia, (whom S. Hierome juſtly reprehendeth ſo ſharply, and in ſo many places) who to vindicate Origen's Honour, wrote an Apology for him, under the Name of Pamphilus, a holy and renowned Martyr; although the truth of it is, he had taken it partly out of the Firſt and Sixth Books that Euſebius had written upon the ſame Subject, and partly made uſe of his own Invention in it. Some ſuch like Fancy it was, that moved him alſo to put forth the Life of one Sextus, a Pythagorean Philoſopher,Hier. in Jerem. com. 4. tom. 4. under the Name of S. Sixtus the Martyr, to the end that the Work might be received the more favourably. What can you ſay to this? namely, That in the very ſame Age there was a Perſonage of greater Note than the former, who, diſliking that Hierome had tranſlated the Old Teſtament out of the Hebrew, framed an Epiſtle under his Name, wherein he maketh him repent himſelf of having done it; which Epiſtle, even in S. Hierome's Life-time, though without his knowledge, was publiſhed by the ſaid Author, both at Rome, and in Africk? Who could believe the truth of this bold attempt,Hier. l. 2. Apol. contra Ruffin. Tom. 2. had not S. Hierome himſelf related the Story, and made complaint of the Injury done him therein? I muſt impute alſo to a Fancy of the ſame kind, though certainly more innocent than the other, the ſpreading abroad of ſo many Predictions of our Saviour Jeſus Chriſt, and his Kingdom, under the Names of the Sibylls; which was done by ſome of the firſt Chriſtians, onely to prepare the Pagans to reliſh this Doctrine the better;Orig contra Celſ. lib. 7. as it is objected againſt them by Celſus, in Origen. But, that which is of greater conſequence yet, is, that even the Fathers themſelves have ſometimes made uſe of this Artifice, to promote the Intereſt either of their own Opinions, or their Paſſions. We have a notable Example hereof, which was objected againſt the Latins by the Greeks, Concil. Flor. Seſſ. 2. p 457. above two hundred years ſince, of two Biſhops of Rome, Zozimus and Boniface; who to authorize the Title which they pretended to have of being Univerſal Biſhops, and Heads of the whole Chriſtian Church, and particularly of the African, forged, about the beginning of the Fifth Century, certain Canons in the Council of Nice, and alledged them for ſuch divers times,Concil. Afric. 6. cap. 3. in the Councils in Africa; which notwithſtanding, after a long and diligent ſearch, could never yet be found in any of the Authentick Copies of the ſaid Council of Nice, although the African Biſhops had taken the pains to ſend as far as Conſtantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch, to get the beſt and trueſt Copies that they could. Neither indeed have the Canons and Acts of the Council of Nice at this day, though it hath ſince that time paſſed through ſo many ſeveral hands, any ſuch thing in it • no, not in the Editions of thoſe very Men who are the moſt intereſted in the Honour of the Popes; as that of Dionyſius Exiguus, who publiſhed his Latin Collection of them about the year of our Saviour Chriſt 525. nor in any other either Ancient or Modern. For at for that Authentick Copy of the Council of Nice, which one Frier John, Concil. Flor. Seſſ 20. at the Council of Florence, pretended to have been the onely Copy that had eſcaped the Corruptions of the Arrians, and had for this cauſe been always kept under Lock and Key at Rome, with all the ſafety and care that might be; out of which Copy they had tranſcribed the ſaid Canons: I confeſs, this Copy muſt needs have been kept up very cloſe, under Locks and Seals, ſeeing that three of their Popes, namely, Zozimus, Boniface, and Celeſtine, could never be able to produce it, for the juſtification of their pretended Title, againſt the African Fathers, though in a caſe of ſo great Importance. And it is a wonderful ſtrange thing to me, that this Man, who came a thouſand years after, ſhould now at laſt make uſe of it in this cauſe; whereas thoſe very Perſons who had it in their cuſtody, never ſo much as mentioned one Syllable of it: which is an evident Argument, that the Seals of this rare Book were never opened, ſave onely in the Brains of this Doctor, where onely it was both framed and ſealed up, brought forth and vaniſhed, all at the ſame inſtant; the greateſt part of thoſe Men that have come after him, having laid aſide this Chimerical Invention, being aſhamed to make uſe of it any longer. And to ſay truth, that which theſe Men anſwer, by way of excuſing the ſaid Popes, is not any whit more probable; namely, That they took the Council of Nice, and that of Sardica, in which thoſe Canons they alledge are really found, for one and the ſame Council. For whom will theſe Men ever be able to perſwade, That two Eccleſiaſtical Aſſemblies, betwixt which there paſſed near twenty two whole years, called by two ſeveral Emperors, and for Matters of a far different nature; the one of them for the Explanation of the Chriſtian Faith, and the other for the Re-eſtabliſhing of two Biſhops in their Thrones; and in Places very far diſtant from each other: the one at Nicaea in Bithynia, the other at Sardica, a City of Illyricum: the Canons of which two Councils are very different, both in ſubſtance, number, and authority; the one of them having always been received generally by the whole Church; but the other having never been acknowledged by the Eaſtern Church; ſhould yet notwithſtanding be but one and the ſame Council? How can they themſelves endure this, who are ſo fierce againſt the Greeks, for having offered to attribute (which they do notwithſtanding with more appearance of truth) to the Sixth Council, thoſe CII Canons which were agreed upon ten years after at Conſtantinople, in an Aſſembly wherein one party of the Fathers of the Sixth Council met? How came it to paſs that they gave any credit to the Ancient Church, ſeeing that in the Greek Collection of her Ancient Canons, thoſe of the Council of Sardica are quite left out; and in the Latin Collection of Dionyſius Exiguus, made at Rome eleven hundred years ſince, they are placed, not with thoſe of the Council of Nice, nor yet immediately after them, as if they all made up but one Body betwixt them:Codex Can. Ec. Ʋn. Dionyſ. Exig. p. 99. but are put in a place a great way behind, after the Canons of all the General Councils that had been held till that very time he lived in? And how comes it to paſs, that theſe Ancient Popes, who alledged theſe Canons, if they believed theſe Councils to be both one, did not ſay ſo? The African Biſhops had diverſe and ſundry times declared, That theſe Canons, which were by them alledged, were not at all to be found in their Copies. Certainly therefore, if thoſe who had cited them, had thought the Council of Nice, and that of Sardica to have been both but one Council, they would no doubt have made anſwer, That 〈◊〉 Canons were to be found in this pretended Second Part of the Council of Nice, among thoſe which had been agreed upon at Sardica; eſpecially when they ſaw that theſe careful Fathers, for the clearing of the Controverſie betwixt them, had reſolved to ſend to this purpoſe as far as Conſtantinople, and Alexandria. And yet for all this, there is not the leaſt Syllable, tending this way, ſaid by them. And certainly if the Canons of the Council of Sardica had been in thoſe days reputed as a part of the Council of Nice, it is a very ſtrange thing, that ſo many Learned and Religious Prelates as there were at that time in Africk, as namely▪ Aurelius, Alypius, and even S. Auguſtine, that glorious Light, not of the African onely, but of the whole Ancient Church, ſhould have been ſo ignorant in this particular. But it is a wonder beyond all belief, that three Popes, and their Legates, ſhould leave their Party in an Ignorance ſo groſs, and ſo prejudicial to their own Intereſt; it being in their power to have relieved them in two words. We may ſafely then conclude, That theſe Popes, Zozimus, and Boniface, had no other Copies of the Council of Nice, than what we have: and alſo, that they did not believe that the Canons of the Council of Sardica were a part of the Council of Nice; but that they rather purpoſely alledged ſome of the Canons of Sardica, under the name of the Canons of the Council of Nice. And this they did according to that Maxim which was in force with thoſe of former times, and is not utterly laid aſide even in our own; namely, That for the advancing of a Good and Godly Cauſe, it is lawful ſometimes to uſe a little Deceit, and to have recourſe to your Piae Fraudes. They therefore firmly believing as they did, That the Supremacy of their See, over all other Churches, was a Buſineſs of great importance, and would be very profitable to all Chriſtendom; we are not to wonder, if for the eſtabliſhing this right on themſelvs, they made uſe of a little Legerdemain, alledging Sardica for Nice: reckoning with themſelves, that if they brought their Deſign about, this ſmall Failing of theirs would in proceſs of time be abundantly ſatisfied for, by the benefit and excellency of the thing it ſelf. Yet notwithſtanding this Oppoſition made by the African Fathers againſt the Church of Rome, Pope Leo, not many years after,Leo in ep. ad Theodoſ. Imp. Tom. 2. Concil. writing to the Emperour Theodoſius, did not forbear to make uſe of the old Forgery, citing one of the Canons of the Council of Sardica, for a Legitimate Canon of the Council of Nice: which was the cauſe that the Emperour Valentinian alſo,Valentin. in ep. ad Theod. Tom. 2. Concil Galla Placid. in ep. ad Theodoſ. Tom. 2. and his Empreſs Galla Placidia, writing in the behalf of the ſaid Pope Leo to the Emperour Theodoſius, affirmed to him for a certain Truth, That both all Antiquity, and the Canons of the Council of Nice alſo, had aſſigned to the Pope of Rome the Power of judging of Points of Faith; and of the Prelates of the Church; Leo having before poſſeſſed them, That this Canons of the Council of Sardica was one of the Canons of Nice. And thus, by a ſtrong perſeverance in this Pious Fraud, they have at length ſo fully perſwaded a great part of Chriſtendom, that the Council of Nice had eſtabliſhed this Supremacy upon the Pope of Rome, that it is now generally urged by all of them, whenever this Point is controverted. I muſt crave pardon of the Reader, for having ſo long inſiſted on this Particular, and perhaps longer ſomewhat than my Deſign required: yet, in my judgment, it may be of no ſmall importance to the Buſineſs in hand. For (will the Proteſtants here ſay) ſeeing that two Popes Biſhops, and Princes, which all Chriſtians have approved, have notwithſtanding thus foiſted in falſe Wares; what ought we to expect from the reſt of the Biſhops and Doctors? Since theſe Men have done this in the beginning of the Fifth Century, an Age of ſo high repute for its Faith and Doctrine, what have they not dared to do in the ſucceeding Ages? If they have not forborn ſo foully to abuſe the ſacred Name of the Council of Nice, the moſt Illuſtrious and Venerable Monument of Chriſtianity, next to the Holy Scriptures; what other Authors can we imagine they would ſpare? And if in the face of ſo Renowned an Aſſembly, and in the preſence of whatever Africk could ſhew of Eminency, both for Sanctity and Learning; and even under the eye of the great S. Auguſtine too, they made no conſcience at all to make uſe of ſo groſs a piece of Forgery; what have they not ſince, in theſe later Times, while the whole World for ſo many Ages lay covered with ſo thick darkneſs, dared to do? But as for my part, I ſhall neither accuſe nor excuſe at preſent theſe Mens Proceedings; but ſhall onely conclude; That ſeeing that the Writings of the Fathers, before they came to us, have paſſed through the hands of thoſe who have ſometimes been found to uſe theſe jugling Tricks; it is not ſo eaſie a matter as People may imagine, to diſcover out of thoſe Writings which now paſs under the Names of the Fathers, what their Opinions were. The like Inclinations produced the very ſame Effects in the Fifth Council;Concil. 5 Act. 5. Tom. 2. Concil. where a Letter forged under the Name of Theodoret, touching the Death of S. Cyril, was both read, and by a general ſilence approved by the whole Aſſembly; which yet notwithſtanding was ſo evidently falſe, that thoſe very Men who cauſed the Body of the General Councils to be Printed at Rome, have convinced it of falſhood, and branded it as ſpurious. Such another precious Piece is that fooliſh Story of a Miracle wrought by an Image of our Saviour Chriſt in the City Berytus, which is related in very ample manner,Concil. 7. Act. 4. Tom. 3. Concil. in the VII Council, and goes forſooth, under the Name of S. Athanaſius, but is indeed ſo taſteleſs a Piece, and ſo unworthy the Gallantry and clearneſs of that great Wit, that he muſt not be thought to have common ſenſe, that can find in his heart to attribute it to him. And therefore we ſee, that notwithſtanding the Authority of this Council,Nannius in edit. op. Athan. Bellar de imag. l. 2 c. 10. & lib. de ſcript. Eccleſ. in Athan Poſſevin. in appar. in Athan. both Nannius, Bellarmine, and Poſſevine, have plainly confeſſed, that it was not written by Athanaſius. I ſhall place in this Rank the ſo much cried up Deed of the Donation of Conſtantine, which hath for ſo long a time been accounted as a moſt Valid and moſt Authentick Evidence, and hath alſo been inſerted into the Decrees, and ſo ſtifly maintained by the Biſhops of Agobio, D. 96. C. Conſtantino noſtro. 14. Auguſti. Steuchius de Dona. Constant. Baron. in annal. Melchior Canus locor. Theolog. l. 11. p. 511. againſt the Oppoſitions of Laurentius Valla. Certainly thoſe very Men who at this day maintain the Donation, do notwithſtanding diſclaim this Evidence, as a piece of Forgery. Of the ſame nature are the Epiſtles attributed to the firſt Popes, as Clemens, Anacletus, Euariſtus, Alexander, Sixtus, Teleſphorus, Hyginus, Pius, Anicetus, and others, down to the times of Siricius; that is to ſay, to the year of our Saviour Chriſt CCCLXXXV. which the World read under theſe Venerable Titles at the leaſt for eight hundred years together; and by which have been decided, to the advantage of the Church of Rome, very many Controverſies, and eſpecially the moſt important of all the reſt, namely, that of the Pope's Monarchy; which ſheweth plain enough the Inclination, (ſhall I call it • ) or rather the purpoſed Deſign of the Merchant that firſt vented them abroad. The greateſt part of theſe notwithſtanding, are accounted forged even by many of the Learned of their own Party;Hen. Kaltheiſ. ap. Magdeb. cent. 2. Nic. Cuſan. Conc. Cath. l. 2. c. 34. Jo. de Turrecr. de Eccl. lib. 2. c. 101. Jo. Driedo de dogm. & ſcrip. Eccl. l. 1. c. 2. Cl. Eſpenſ. de Contin. l. 1. c 2. G. Caſſand. defenſ. lib. de officio pii viri, p. 843. Sim. Vig. ex reſponſ. Syn. Baſil. &c. en la lettre contr. Durand. Baron. Annal. T. 2. an. 102. & an. 865. Eraſm. praefat. in Hieron. as namely, Henricus K • ltheiſen, Nicolas Cuſanus, Jo. de Turrecremata, both Cardinals; Eraſmus, Jo. Driedo, Claudius Eſpenſaeus, Caſſander, Simon Vigor, Baronius, and others: as indeed their Forgery appears plain enough, by the barbarouſneſs of their Stile, the Errors that you meet with every foot in computing the Times, and in Hiſtory; the Pieces that they are patched up of, ſtollen here and there out of ſeveral Authors, whoſe Books we have at this day to ſhew: and alſo by the general ſilence of all the Writers of the Eight firſt Centuries, among whom there is not one word mentioned of them. Now I ſhall not here meddle at all with the Six or Seven laſt Centuries; where, in regard of diverſe Articles of Faith, moſt eagerly by them preſſed and eſtabliſhed, there hath been more need than ever of the Aſſiſtance of the Ancients; and where, in reſpect of the dark Ignorance of thoſe Times, and the ſcarcity of Oppoſers, they had much better opportunity than before to forge what Books they pleaſed. This Abuſe the World was never free from, till the Times of the Light breaking forth in the Laſt Century; at what time Eraſmus by name, gives us an account, how he himſelf had diſcovered one of theſe wretched Knaves, whoſe ordinary practice it was to lay his own Eggs in another Man's Neſt, putting his own Fooleries on S. Hierome particularly, and on S. Auguſtine, and S. Ambroſe. And who knows what thoſe many Books be, that are daily iſſued out of the ſelfſame Shops, that of old were wont to furniſh the World with theſe kind of Knacks? Is it not very probable, that both the Will, and the Dexterity, in forging and venting theſe falſe Wares, will rather in theſe days increaſe, than abate, in the Profeſſors of this Trade? So that, if beſides what the Malice of the Hereticks, the Avarice and Ignorance of Tranſcribers of Manuſcripts, and the ambition and affection of Men hath brought forth of this kind, there have yet ſo many others bent their endeavours this way, and that in a manner all along, for the ſpace of the laſt Fourteen hundred years, although they had their ſeveral ends; we are not to wonder at all, if now in this laſt Age we ſee ſuch a monſtrous number of Writings falſly Fathered upon the Ancients: which, if they were all put together, would make little leſs than a Fourth or a Fifth part of the Works of the Fathers. I am not ignorant, that the Learned have noted a great number of them, and do ordinarily caſt them into the later Tomes of Editions; and that ſome have written whole Books upon this very Subject; as namely, Ant. Poſſevine's Apparatus, Bellarmine's Catalogue, Scultetus his Medulla Patrum, Rivet's Critick, and the like, both of the one and the other Religion. But who can aſſure us that they have not forgotten any thing they ſhould have noted? Beſides, that it is a new Labour, and almoſt equal to the former, to read ſo many Books of the Moderns as there are. And when all is done, we are not preſently to ſit down upon their Judgments neither, without a due examination had of them. For each of them having been prepoſſeſt with the Prejudices of the Party in which they were brought up before they took this Work in hand, who ſhall warrant us, that they have not delivered any thing in this caſe, in favour of their own particular Intereſt, as hath been touched before? The juſtneſs of this ſuſpicion is ſo clear, that I preſume that no Man that is but any whit verſed in theſe matters, will deſire me to prove my Aſſertion. Neither ſhall I need to give any other reaſon of it, than the Conflict; and Diſagreements in Judgments which we may obſerve in theſe Men: the one of them oftentimes letting paſs for pure Metal, what the other perhaps will throw by for Droſs: Which Differences are found not onely betwixt thoſe that are of quite oppoſite Religions; but, which is more, even betwixt thoſe that are of the ſelf ſame Perſwaſion. Thoſe whom we named not long before, who were all of the Roman Church, cry down (as we have ſaid) the greateſt part of the Decretals of the firſt Popes. Franciſcus Turrianus, a Jeſuite, receives them, and defends them all, in a Tract written by him to that purpoſe.Baron. Annal. Tom. 1. an. 51. Baronius calls the Recognitions which are attributed to Clemens Romanus, A Gulf of Filth and Ʋncleanneſs; full of prodigious Lies, and frantick Fooleries. Bellar. de lib. arbit. T. 5. c. 25. NOs fatemur librum eſſe corruptum, &c. Sed tamen vel eſſe Clementis Romani, vel alterius aequè docti, ac antiqui. Bellarmine ſays, That this Book was written either by Clemens, or elſe by ſome other Author as Learned and as Ancient as he. Some of them hold thoſe Fragments, publiſhed by Nicol. Faber, under the Name of S. Hilary, for good and legitimate Pieces; and ſome others again reject them. Eraſmus, Sixtus Senenſis, Melchior Canus, and Baronius, are of opinion, That the Book Of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, is falſly attributed to S. Hierome: Chriſtophorus à Caſtro, a Spaniſh Jeſuite, maintains the contrary. Cardinal Cajetan, Laurentius Valla, Eraſmus, and ſome others, hold the Books of Dionyſius the Areopagite for ſuſpected, and ſpurious: Baronius, and almoſt all the reſt of their Writers, maintain that they are true and legitimate. Turrianus, Bovin, and ſome others, commend unto us the Conſtitutions of the Apoſtles, for a legitimate Piece: But Baronius, Poſſevine, Petavius, and a great many others, ſpeak doubtfully of them. And a Man ſhall find in the Writings of thoſe of the Church of Rome, infinite variety of divided Judgments, in ſuch Caſes as theſe. He that hath a mind to furniſh himſelf with Examples of this Nature, may have recourſe to their Books, and particularly to the Writings of the late Cardinal Perron, who differs as much from the reſt, in this Point of Criticiſm, as he doth for the moſt part in the Method he obſerves in his Diſputations. Now I would willingly be informed, what a, Man ſhould do, amidſt theſe diverſities of Judgment; and what Path he ſhould take, where he meeteth with ſo diſagreeing Guides. But yet ſuppoſe that theſe Authors have done their utmoſt endeavour in this Deſign, without any particular affection, or partiality; how, notwithſtanding, ſhall we be ſatisfied concerning their ſufficiency for the performance of their Undertaking? Is it a light Buſineſs, think you, to bring the whole ſtock of Antiquity to the Cruzet, and there to purifie and refine it, and to ſeparate all the Droſs from it, which hath ſo deeply, and for the ſpace of ſo many Ages, been not only as it were tied, and faſtned on to it, but even throughly mixed, united, and incorporated with it? This Work requireth the moſt clear and refined Judgment that can be imagined, an exquiſite Wit, a quick piercing Eye, a perfect Ear, a moſt exact knowledge in all Hiſtory, both Ancient and Modern, both Eccleſiaſtical and Secular; a perfect knowledge of the Ancient Tongues, and a long and continued Converſation with all ſorts of Writers, both Ancient, of the middle Ages, and Modern; to be able to judge of their Inclinations, and which way their Pulſe beat; to underſtand rightly the manner of their Expreſſion, Invention, and Method in Writing; each Age, each Nation, and each Author, having their own peculiar ways in all theſe. Now ſuch a Man as this, is hardly produced in a whole age. As for thoſe Men who in our Times have taken upon them this part of Criticiſm, who knows not, who ſees not, that but reads them, how many of theſe forenamed Qualities are wanting in them? But yet ſuppoſe that ſuch a Man were to be found, and that he ſhould take in hand this Diſcovery; I do verily believe that he would be able very eaſily to find out the Impoſture of a bungling Fool, that had ill counterfeited the Stamp, Colour, and Weight, in the Piece which he would father upon ſome other Man; or that ſhould, for example, endeavour to repreſent either S. Hierome, or S. Chryſoſtome, with a ſtammering Tongue, and ſhould make them ſpeak barbarous Language, bad Latin, and bad Greek; or elſe perhaps ſhould make uſe of ſuch Terms, Things, or Authors, as were not known to the World till a long time after theſe Men; or ſhould make them treat of Matters far removed from the Age they lived in, and maintain Opinions which they never thought of, or reject thoſe which they are notoriouſly known to have held: And of this ſort, for the moſt part, are thoſe Pieces which our Criticks have decried, and noted unto us as ſpurious. But if a Man ſhould chance to bring him a Piece of ſome able Maſter, that ſhould have fully and exactly learnt both the Languages, Hiſtory, Manners, Alliances, and Quarrels of the Family he hath boldly thruſt himſelf into, and ſhould be able to make happy uſe of all theſe, aſſure your ſelf, that our Ariſtarchus would be here as much puzled to diſcover this Jugler, as they were once in France, to convince the Impoſtures of Martin Guerre. Now how can we imagine, but that among ſo many ſeveral Perſons, that have for their ſeveral Purpoſes employed their utmoſt Endeavours in theſe kinds of Forgeries, there muſt needs have been, in ſo many Centuries of years, very many able Men, who have had the skill ſo artificially to imitate the Fancy and Stile of the Perſons whom they act, as that it is impoſſible to diſcover them? Eſpecially, if they made choice of ſuch a Name as was the onely thing remaining in the World of that Author, ſo that there is no mark left us either of his Stile, Diſcourſe, or Opinions, to guide us in our Examination. And therefore, in my judgment, he was a very cunning Fellow, and made a right choice, that undertook to write under the Name of Dionyſius the Areopagite: for we having not left us any true Legitimate Piece of this Author, by which we may examine this Cheat, the Diſcovery muſt needs be difficult; and it would have proved ſo much the more hard, if he had but uſed a more modeſt and leſs ſwelling manner of Expreſſion: Whereas for thoſe others, who in the Ages following made bold with the Names of S. Hierome, S. Cyprian, S. Auguſtine, and the like; of whoſe legitimate Writings we have very many Pieces left us: a Man may know them at the firſt ſight, meerly by the Stile; thoſe Gothick and rude Spirits being no more able to counterfeit the Graces and Elegancies of theſe great Authors, than an Aſs is to imitate the Warblings of the Nightingale. I confeſs, there is another Help, which, in my judgment, may ſtand us in more ſtead, in this Particular, than all the reſt; namely, the Light and Direction of the Ancients themſelves, who oftentimes make mention of other Writers of the Church which lived either before, or in their own Times: S. Hierome among the Latins, having taken the pains to make a Catalogue of all thoſe whoſe Names and Writings he knew of, down from the Apoſtles time to his own; which was afterward continued by Gennadius. To this we may alſo add that incomparable Work of the Patriarch Photius, which he calls his Bibliotheca, and is now publiſhed in this our Age; where this great Perſon hath given us his Judgment of moſt of the Authors of the Greek Church. Now this Help we may make uſe of two manner of ways: The one is, in juſtifying a Book, if it be found mentioned by theſe Authors: The other is, in rejecting it, if they ſay nothing of it. As for the firſt of theſe, it concludes onely according to the Quality of the Authors who make mention of a ſuſpected Book. For, ſome of the Fathers themſelves have made uſe of theſe kind of Forgeries, as we have formerly ſaid; others have favoured them, becauſe they ſerved their turn; ſome have not been able to diſcover them; and ſome others have not been willing to do ſo, whatſoever their Reaſon hath been. I ſhall not here repeat the Names of any of thoſe that have done theſe things themſelves: And as for thoſe that have favoured them, there are good ſtore of examples, as Juſtin Martyr, Theophilus, and others, who alledge the Sibylls Verſes, as Oracles; which are notwithſtanding the greateſt part of them forged.Hier. ep. 84. ad Magn. Tom. 2. Clemens Alexandrinus, the moſt Learned, and moſt Polite of all the Fathers, in S. Hierome's judgment, how often doth he make uſe of thoſe Apocryphal Pieces which go under the Names of the Apoſtles and Diſciples, to whom they were moſt falſly attributed; citing under the Name of Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 2. Barnabas, and ofId. Strom. l. 1. & l. 2. & alibi paſſim. Hermes, ſuch Writings as have been forged under their Names? And did not the VII Council in like manner make uſe of a ſuppoſititious Piece, attributed to Athanaſius, as we have ſhewed before; and likewiſe of divers others which are of the ſame ſtamp? That even the Fathers themſelves therefore have not been able always to make a true diſcovery of theſe falſe Wares, no Man can doubt; conſidering that of thoſe many neceſſary Qualifications which we reckoned up before, as requiſite in this Particular, they may oftentimes have failed in ſome. S. Hierome himſelf, the moſt knowing Man among all the Latin Fathers, eſpecially in Matters of this nature, ſometimes lets them paſs without examination; as there, where he ſpeaks of a certain Tract againſt Mathematicians, Hier. ep. 84. ad Magn. Tom. 2. attributed to Minutius Foelix, If at leaſt (ſaith he) the Inſcription repreſent unto us the right Author of the Book. And in another place, whatſoever his reaſon was,Id. in Catal. Tom. 1. he delivers to us for Legitimate Pieces, the Epiſtles that go about under the Name of S. Paul to Seneca, and of Seneca to S. Paul; which, notwithſtanding,Baron. Annal. Tom. 1. an 66. Cardinal Baronius holds for ſuſpect •• and ſpurious, as doubtleſs they are. But even thoſe Men who have been able to diſcover theſe falſe Pieces, have not ſometimes been willing to do it; either being unwilling to offend the Authors of them, or elſe not daring to caſt any diſrepute upon thoſe Books, which having many good things in them, had not in their judgment any falſe or dangerous Poſitions in them. And this is the reaſon why they made choice to let ſuch things paſs, rather than out of a little tenderneſs of conſcience to oppoſe them; there being, in their apprehenſion, no danger at all in the one, and much trouble and envy in the other. And therefore I am of opinion, That S. Hierome, for example, would never have taken the pains, nor have undergone the envy, in laying open the Forgeries of Ruffinus, if the miſunderſtanding that hapned to be betwixt them, had not engaged him to it. Neither do I believe that the African Fathers would ever have troubled themſelves in convincing the falſe Allegation of Zozimus, but for their own Intereſt, which was thereby called in queſtion. For wiſe and ſober Men never uſe to fall at variance with any Body, till they needs muſt; neither do they quickly take notice of any Injury or Abuſe offered them, unleſs it be a very great one; and ſuch as hath evident danger in it: which was not at all perceived or taken notice of at firſt, in theſe Forgeries; which nevertheleſs have at length, by little and little, in a manner born down all the good and true Books. Theſe Conſiderations, in my opinion, make it clearly appear, That the Title of a Book is not ſufficiently juſtified by a Paſſage or two being cited out of it by ſome of the Ancients, and under the ſame Name. As for the other way, which rendreth the Authority of a Book doubtful, by the Ancients not having made any mention of it, I confeſs it is no more demonſtrative than the other: foraſmuch as it is not impoſſible, that any one, or divers of the Fathers, may not have met with ſuch a certain Wri •• r that was then extant; or elſe perhaps that they might omit ſome one of thoſe very Authors which they knew. Yet notwithſtanding is this the much ſurer way of the two; there being leſs danger, in this caſe, in rejecting a True Piece, than in receiving a Forged one; the want of the Truth of the one, being doubtleſs much leſs prejudicial, than the receiving the oppoſite Falſhood of the other. For as it is a leſs ſin to omit the Good, than to commit the Evil that is oppoſite to it, in like manner is it a leſs Errour not to believe a Truth, than to believe the Falſhood which is contrary to it. And thus we ſee what confuſion there is in the Books of the Ancients, and what defect in the Means which is requiſite for the diſtinguiſhing the Falſe from the True: inſomuch that, as it often falls out, it is much eaſier to judge what we ought to reject, than to reſolve upon what we may ſafely receive. Let the Reader therefore now judge, whether or no theſe Writings having come down along through ſo many Ages, and paſſed through ſo many Hands, which are either known to have been notoriouſly guilty, or at leaſt ſtrongly ſuſpected of Forgery, the Truth in the mean time having made on its part but very weak reſiſtance againſt theſe Impoſtures; it be not a very hard matter to diſcover, amidſt the infinite number of Books that are now extant, and go under the Names of the Fathers, which are thoſe that truly belong to them; and which again are thoſe that are falſly impoſed upon them. And if it be ſo hard a matter to diſcover in groſs onely which are the Writings of the Fathers; how much more difficult a Buſineſs will it be to find out what their Opinions are touching the ſeveral Controverſies now in agitation. For we are not to imagine, that it is no great matter from which of the Fathers ſuch an Opinion hath ſprung, ſo that it came from any one of them: for there is altogether as much difference amongſt theſe Ancient Doctors, both in reſpect of Authority, Learning, and Goodneſs, as among the Modern. Beſides, that an Ages being higher or lower; either raiſeth or leſſeneth the Repute of theſe Writings, in the eſteem both of the one Party, and of the other, as it were, ſo many grains, as years: And certainly not altogether without good reaſon; it being moſt evident to any one that hath been but the leaſt verſed in the reading of theſe Books, That Time hath by degrees introduced very great Alterations, as well in the Doctrine and Diſcipline of the Ancients, as in all other things. Our Concluſion therefore ſhall be, That whoſoever ſhall deſire to know what the Senſe and Judgment of the Primitive Church hath been, touching our preſent Controverſies; it will be firſt in a manner as neceſſary for him, as it is difficult, exactly to find out both the Name and the Age of each of theſe ſeveral Authors.

BUt, put the caſe now here, that you had by your long and judicious Endeavours ſevered the True and Genuine Writings of the Fathers, from the Spurious and Forged: there would yet lie upon you a ſecond Task, whoſe event is like to prove much more doubtful, and fuller of difficulty than the former. For it would concern you in the next place, in reading over thoſe Authors which you acknowledge for Legitimate, to diſtinguiſh what is the Author's own, and what hath been ſoiſted in by another Hand; and alſo to reſtore to your Author, whatſoever either by Time or Fraud hath been taken away; and to take out of him whatſoever hath been added by either of theſe two. Otherwiſe you will never be able to aſſure your ſelf, that you have diſcovered out of theſe Books, what the true and proper meaning and ſenſe of your Author hath been; conſidering the great Alterations that by ſeveral ways they may have ſuffered, in ſeveral Times. I ſhall not here ſpeak of thoſe Errours which have been produced by the Ignorance of the Tranſcribers;Hier. ep. 28. ad Lucin. Tom. 1. Who write (as Hierome hath complained of them) not what they find, but what themſelves underſtand: Nor yet of thoſe Faults which neceſſarily have grown up out of the very Tranſcribing; it being an impoſſible thing, that Books which have been copied out an infinite number of times, during the ſpace of ten or twelve Centuries of years, by Men of ſo different Cap •• cities▪ and Hands, ſhould all this while retain exactly, and in every Particular, the ſelf-ſame Juyce, the ſame Form and Body that they had when they firſt came forth from the Author's own hand. Neither ſhall I here ſay any thing of the ſufferings of theſe Books, by Moths, and a thouſand other Injuries of Time, by which they have been corrupted; while all kind of Learning, for ſo many Ages together, lay buried, as it were, in the Grave; the Worms on one ſide feeding on the Books of the Learned, and on the other the Duſt defacing them; ſo that it is impoſſible now to reſtore them to their firſt integrity. And this is the ſad Fate that all ſorts of Books have lain under; whence hath ſprung up ſo great variety of Readings as are found almoſt in all Authors. I ſhall not here make any advantage of this; though there are ſome Doctors in the World, that have ſhewed us the way to do it, taking advantage from this Conſideration to leſſen the Authority that the Holy Scriptures of themſelves ought to have in the eſteem of all Men, under this colour, That even in theſe Sacred Writings there are ſometimes found varieties of Reading, which yet are of very little or no Importance, as to the Ground-work. If we would tread in theſe Mens ſteps, and apply to the Writings of the Fathers, what they ſpeak and conclude of the Scriptures, we could do it upon much better terms than they; there being no reaſon in the Earth to imagine, but that the Books of the Ancient Writers have ſuffered very much more than the Scriptures have; which have always been preſerved in the Church, with much greater care than any other Books have been whatſoever, and which have been learnt by all Nations, and tranſlated into all Languages; which all Sects have retained, both Orthodox and Hereticks, Catholicks and Schiſmaticks, Greeks and Latins, Moſcovites and Ethiopians; obſerving diligently the Eye, and the Hand, one of the other: ſo that there could not poſſibly happen any remarkable Alteration in them, but that preſently the whole World, as it were, would have exclaimed againſt it, and have made their Complaints to have reſounded throughout the Univerſe. Whereas, on the contrary, the Writings of the Fathers have been kept, tranſcribed, and read in as careleſs a manner as could be; and that too but by very few, and in few Places, being but rarely underſtood by any, ſave thoſe of the ſame Language; which is the cauſe that ſo many Faults have both the more eaſily crept into them, and likewiſe are the more hard to be diſcovered. Beſides, that the particular Stile and Obſcurity of ſome of them, renders the Errours the more important. As for example: Take me a Tertullian, and you ſhall find, that one little Word added, or taken away, or altered never ſo little, or a Full-point or Comma but out of its place, will ſo confound the Senſe, that you will not be able to find what he would have. Whereas in Books of an eaſie, ſmooth, clear Style, as the Scriptures for the moſt part are, theſe Faults are much leſs prejudicial, ſeeing they cannot in any wiſe ſo darken the Senſe, but that it will be ſtill eaſie enough to apprehend it. But I ſhall paſs by all theſe minute Punctilioes, as more ſuitable to the Enquiries of the Pyrrhonians and Academicks, whoſe Buſineſs it is to queſtion all things; than of Chriſtians, who onely ſeek, in ſimplicity and ſincerity of heart, whereon to build their Faith. I ſhall onely here take notice of ſuch alterations as have been knowingly and voluntarily made in the Writings of the Fathers, purpoſely by our holding our peace, to diſguiſe their S • nſe, or elſe to make them ſpeak more than they meant. And this Forgery is of two ſorts: The one hath been made uſe of with a good intention; the other out of malice: Again, The one hath been committed in Times long ſince paſt, the other in this laſt Age, in our own days, and the days of our Fathers. Laſtly, the one is in the Additions made to Authors, to make them ſpeak more than they meant; the other in ſubtracting from the Author, to eclipſe and darken what he would be underſtood to ſay. Neither ought we to wonder, that even thoſe of the honeſt, innocent, primitive Times alſo made uſe of theſe Deceits, ſeeing that, for a good end, they made no great ſcruple to forge whole Books, taking a much ſtranger and bolder courſe, in my opinion, than the other. For without all doubt it is a greater Crime to coin falſe Money, than to clip, or a little alter the true. This Opinion hath always been in the World, That to ſettle a certain and aſſured eſtimation upon that which is good and true (that is to ſay, upon what we account to be ſuch) it is neceſſary that we remove out of the way, whatſoever may be a hinderance to it; and that there can be no great danger either in putting in, or at leaſt in leaving any thing in, that may yield aſſiſtance to it, whatſoever the iſſue of either of theſe may in the end prove to be. And hence hath it come to paſs, that we have ſo many ancient Forgeries, and alſo ſo many ſtrange ſtories of Miracles, and of Viſions; many taking a delight in feigning (as S.Hier. ep. 4. ad Ruſtic. Tom. 1. Daemonum contra ſe pugnantium p • rtenta co • fingunt. Hierome ſays) great Combats which they have had with Devils in Deſarts: all which things are meerly fabulous in themſelves, and acknowledged too to be ſo by the moſt intelligent of them; yet notwithſtanding are tolerated, and ſometimes alſo recommended to them, foraſmuch as they account them uſeful, for the ſetling or encreaſing either of the Faith or Devotion of the People. What will you ſay, if at this day there are ſome, even of thoſe Men who make profeſſion of being the greateſt haters in the world of theſe ſubtilties, who cannot nevertheleſs put forth any Book, but they muſt needs be lopping off, or falſifying whatſoever doth not wholly agree with the Doctrine they hold for true; fearing, as themſelves ſay, leſt ſuch things coming to the eye of the ſimple Common People, might infect them, and poſſeſs their Heads with new Fancies? So firmly hath this Opinion been of old rooted in the Nature of Man. Now I will not here diſpute, whether this proceeding of theirs be lawful, or not: I ſhall only ſay by the way, That in my judgment it is a very great ſhame for the Truth, to be eſtabliſhed or defended by ſuch falſifications and ſhifts; as if it had not ſufficient Weapons, both defenſive and offenſive, of its own, but that it muſt be fain to borrow of its Adverſary: and it is beſides a very dangerous courſe too; becauſe that the diſcovery of any one Cheat, oftentimes renders their Cauſe, who practiſed it, wholly ſuſpected; inſomuch that, by making uſe of ſuch ſlights as theſe in Chriſtian Religion, either for the gaining to you, or confirming the faith of ſome of the ſimpler People, it is to be feared, that you may give diſtaſte to the more underſtanding ſort; and ſo by this means at length may chance to loſe the Affections of the ſimpler ſort too. But whatſoever this courſe of Cheating be, either in it ſelf, or in its Conſequences; it is ſufficient for my purpoſe, that it hath been a long time practiſed in the Church, in matters of Religion; for proof whereof, I ſhall here produce ſome Inſtances. The Hereticks have always been accuſed of uſing this Artifice: but I ſhall not here ſet down what Alterations have been made by the Ancienteſt of them, even in the Scriptures themſelves. If you would have a Taſte of this Practice of theirs, go but to Tertullian and Epiphanius, and you ſhall there ſee, how Marcion had clipped and altered the Goſpel of S. Luke, and thoſe Epiſtles of S. Paul, which he allowed to be ſuch. Neither have thoſe other of the Ages following been any whit more conſcientious in this Particular, as may appear by thoſe Complaints made by Ruffinus Ruffin. in Expoſ. Symbol. & lit. de adult. ſcript. Origen., in his Expoſition upon the Apoſtle's Creed; and in another Treatiſe written by him purpoſely on this Subject: which is indeed contradicted byHier. ep. 65. Tom. 2. & Apol. 2. contr. Ruff. S. Hierome, but onely in his Hypotheſis, as to what concerned Origen; but not abſolutely in his Theſis: and by the like Complaints of Cyril. ep. ad Ich. Antioch. in Act. Conc. Eph. S. Cyril, and divers others of the Ancients: and among the Moderns, by thoſe very Perſons alſo who have put forth the General Councils at Rome, who inform us, in the Preface to the Firſt Volume,In Praefat. in Tom. 1. Concil. Gen. That Time, and the Fraud of the Hereticks, have been the cauſe that the Acts of the ſaid Councils have not come to our hands, neither entire, nor pure and ſincere, that which hath remained of them: and before, they grievouſly bewail, that we ſhould be thus deprived of ſo great and ſo precious a Treaſure. Now this Teſtimony of theirs, to me, is worth a thouſand others; ſeeing it comes from ſuch who in my opinion are evidently intereſted to ſpeak quite otherwiſe. For if the Church of Rome, who is the pretended Miſtreſs and Truſtee of the Faith, hath ſuffered any part of the Councils to periſh and be loſt, which is eſteemed by them as the Code of the Church; what then may the reſt have ſuffered alſo? And what may not the Hereticks and Schiſmaticks have been able to do? And if all theſe Evidences have been altered by their Fraud, how ſhall we be able by them to come to the knowledge of the Senſe and Judgment of the Ancients? I confeſs I am very much ama • ed, to ſee theſe Men make ſo much reckoning of the Acts of the Councils, and to make ſuch grievous Complaints againſt the Hereticks, for having ſuppreſſed ſome of them. For if theſe things are of ſuch uſe, why then do they themſelves keep from us the Acts of the Council of Trent, which is the moſt conſiderable Council, both for them, and their Party, that hath been held in the Chriſtian Church theſe eight hundred years? If it be a Crime in the Hereticks, to have kept from us theſe precious Jewels; why are not they afraid, leſt the blame which they lay on others, may chance to return upon themſelves? But doubtleſs there is ſomething in the Buſineſs, that renders theſe Caſes different: and I confeſs I wonder they publiſh it not; the ſimpler ſort; for want of being otherwiſe informed, thinking perhaps, (though, it may be, without cauſe) that the reaſon why the Acts of this laſt Council are kept ſo cloſe from them is, becauſe they know that the publiſhing of them would be either prejudicial, or at leaſt unprofitable, to the Greatneſs of the Church of Rome: And they alſo again, on the other ſide, conceive, that in thoſe other Acts, which they ſay have been ſuppreſſed by the Hereticks, there were wonderful Matters to be found, for the greater advancing and ſupporting of the Church of Rome. Whatſoever the Reaſon be, I cannot but commend the Ingenuity of theſe Men, who, notwithſtanding their Intereſt, which ſeemeth to engage them to the contrary, have yet nevertheleſs confeſſed, That the Councils which we have at this day are neither entire, nor uncorrupted. But let us now examine, whether or no even the Orthodox Party themſelves have not alſo contributed ſomething to this Alteration of the Writings of the Primitive Church,Epiphanius in Anchor. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Epiphanius reports, That in the true and moſt correct Copies of S. Luke it was written, that Jeſus Chriſt wept▪ and that this paſſage had been alledged by S. Irenaeus: but that the Catholicks had blotted out this Word▪ fearing that the Hereticks might abuſe it. Whether this Relation be true, or falſe, I muſt relie upon the Credit of the Author: But this I ſhall ſay, That it ſeems to me a clear Argument▪ That theſe Ancient Catholicks would have made no great ſcruple of blotting out of the Writings of the Fathers any Word that they found to contradict their own Opinions and Judgment; and that with the ſame Liberty that they inform us the Hereticks uſed. For ſeeing that, as this Father informs us, they made no Conſcience of making ſuch an Attempt upon the Goſpel of the Son of God himſelf; with how much greater confidence would they adventure to geld the Books of Men? Certainly Ruffinus, a Man ſo much applauded byHier. ep. 5. ad Flor. & ep. 41. ad Ruffin. S. Hierome, before their falling out; and ſo highly eſteemed byAug. ep. ad Hier. quae eſt inter ep. Hier. 93. & iterum ep. 97. S. Auguſtine, who very much bewails the Breach betwixt thoſe two; and whom Gennald. in Catal. inter op. Hier. Gennodius hath placed, with a very high Elogie of his Worth, in his Catalogue of Eccleſiaſtical Writers; hath ſo filthily mangled, and ſo licentiouſly confounded the Writings of Origen, Euſebius, and others, which he hath tranſlated into Latin, that you will hardly find a Page, in his Tranſlations, where he hath not either cut off, or added, or at leaſt altered ſomething. S. Hierome alſo, although his Enemy, yet agrees with him in this Point;Hier. ep 62. ad Theoph. Alex. & lib. 2. Apol. contra Ruffin. confeſſing in ſeveral Places, That he had indeed tranſlated Origen, but in ſuch ſort, as that he had taken liberty to cut away that which was dangerous, and had left only that which was uſeful, and had interpreted only what was Good, and had left out the Bad; that is to ſay, that if he found any thing there, that was not ſo conſonant to the Common Judgment and Opinions of his Time, and ſo might poſſibly give Offence to the ſimple People, he ſuppreſſed it in his Tranſlation; affirming alſo, that S.Hier. ep. 75. Id. praefat. in lib. Euſeb. de loc. Hebr. Hilary, and Euſebius Biſhop of Verceil, had done the like. And again, in his Preface to Euſebius his Book, De locis Hebraicis, he confeſſeth, that he had left out that which he conceived was not worth remembring; and that he had altered the greateſt part of it. And to make it appear, that this hath been his conſtant practice, we need but compare his Latin Chronology, with the Greek Fragments which remain of Euſebius; where you may plainly ſee what liberty theſe Ancients allowed themſelves in the Writings of others. And what doubt is there to be made, but that thoſe Men that came after them, following the Authority of ſo great an Example, carefully either took out of their Copies, or elſe left out of their Tranſlations, the greateſt part of whatever they found to be diſſonant to the Opinions and Cuſtoms which were received in the Church in the Times they lived in? and likewiſe, that for adding the greater Authority to them, ſome have had the boldneſs to add in ſome places what they conceived to be wanting? From whence elſe could it proceed, that we ſhould have ſo many unſeaſonable breakings off in many places, and ſo many imperſinent Additions in others, as there are to be met with frequently in the Ancient Authors? Whence otherwiſe ſhould we have thoſe many courſe Patches, that are ready to grate the Skin off our Fingers, in the midſt of their ſoft Sattin and Velvet? and that inequality of Pulſe and Breath, that we may obſerve in one and the ſame Author, in a quarter of an Hours reading? It would prove a troubleſom buſineſs, to bring in here all the Examples of this kind that we might; there being ſcarcely any of the Moderns, that have taken any pains in writing upon the Fathers, but have noted and complained of this Abuſe: and hence it is,Tom. 4. op. Amb. p. 211. lib. 2. de Abra. in marg. annot. that we oftentimes meet with ſuch like Notes as this, in the Margins of the Fathers: Hic videtur aliquis aſſuiſſe nugas ſuas, and the like. And that which is obſerved alſo by Vives, upon the XXI Book of S. Auguſtine De Civitate Dei, Lud. Vives in lib. 21. de Civ. Dei, c. 24. In antiquis libris. Brug. & Colon. non le guntur iſti decem aut duodecim qui ſequuntur verſus. namely, That ten or twelve Lines which we find at this day in the XXIV Chapter of that Book, which contain a Poſitive Aſſertion of Purgatory, were not to be found in the ancient Manuſcripts of Bruges, and of Collen; no, nor yet in that of Paris, as is noted by thoſe that Printed S. Auguſtine, Anno 1531. OneHolſtein. op. lim. praef. tom. op. Athan. Neque ſolius Athanaſti ea fortuna, ut ineptiſſimorum interpolatorum manus ſubiret, cùm Chryſoſtomi, Procli, aliorum que homilias ſimilibus ſequiorum ſaeculorum ineptiis faedatas, in iiſdem regiis codicibus invenerim. Holſteinius alſo, a Dutchman, teſtifieth, That he had met with divers Pieces among the Manuſcripts of the King's Library, of Chryſoſtome, Proclus, and others, that had in like manner been ſcratched in divers Places by the like Hands, by ſome Interpolators of the later and worſt Ages. But I may not here forget to note, That this Alteration hath taken place, even in the moſt ſacred and Publick Pieces alſo; as namely, in the Liturgies of the Church, and the like: and I ſhall give you this Obſervation, to the end it may carry with it the greater gracefulneſs and weight, in the Expreſſions of Andreas Maſius, a Man of ſingular and profound Learning; yet of ſuch Candor and Integrity as renders him more admired, than his Knowledge doth; and which, together with his other Excellencies, endears him to all moderate Men of both Profeſſions. This Learned Perſon taking notice, that the Liturgy of S. Baſil was not ſo long in the Syriac, Andr. Maſius Praef. in Litur. Syr. as in the Greek, gives this Reaſon of it: For (ſaith he) Men have always been of ſuch a humour and diſpoſition in Matters of Religion, as that you ſhall ſcarcely find any that have been able to content themſelves with the Ceremonies preſcribed unto them by their Fathers, how holy ſoever they have been in themſelves: ſo that we may obſerve, that in tract of time, according as the Prelates have thought fitteſt to move the Affections of the People to Piety and Devotion, many other things have been either added, or altered; and (which is much worſe) many ſuperſtitious things have been introduced alſo: in which particular, I conceive the Chriſtians of Syria to have been more moderate, and leſs extravagant than the Greeks and Latins, as having not the opportunity of enjoying that quiet and plentiful ſtate of Life, which the others had. Thus the Learned Maſius. Caſſand. in Liturg. cap. 2. And Caſſander, who hath alſo turned over the Writings of the Ancients with innocent Hands, confeſſeth, and proveth out of other Authors, That the ancient Liturgies have by little and little been enlarged, by the ſeveral Additions of the Moderns. Thus proportionably as the World it ſelf hath changed, ſo would it have whatever there remained of Antiquity, to ſuffer its Alterations alſo; imagining, that it was but reaſonable that theſe Books ſhould in ſome meaſure accommodate their Language to the Times, foraſmuch as the Authors of them, in all probability, would have done ſo themſelves, believing and ſpeaking with the Times, had they been now living. Now to render them the more acceptable, they have uſed thoſe Arts upon them, that ſome old Men are wont to practiſe; they have new coloured their Beard and Muſtachioes, cutting off the rude and ſcattered hairs; they have poliſhed their Skin, and given it a freſh Complexion, and taught them to ſpeak with a new Voice, having changed alſo the Colour of their Habit: inſomuch, that it is much to be feared, that we oftentimes do but loſe our labour, when we ſearch in theſe diſguiſed Faces, and Mouths, for the Complexion and Language of true Antiquity.Euſeb. in Chro. edit • num. 2148. & 2158. Vide Scalig. in loc. p. 198 a. & 201 a. Thus have they taught Euſebius to tell us, in his Chronicon, that the Faſt of Lent was inſtituted by Teleſphorus; and the Obſervation of the Lords Day, by Pius, both Biſhops of Rome: which is a thing Euſebius never ſo much as dreamt of, as may appear out of ſome Manuſcripts of him,See alſo Card. Perron's Reply to K. James, Obſerv. 2. c. 8. where you ſhall find him wholly mu • e, as to theſe Points, wherewith the Moderns ſo much pleaſe themſelves. But to return, and to take the Times all along as they lie, we may obſerve that this Licence grew ſtronger daily, as the Times grew worſe; becauſe that the greater the diſtance of time was from the Author's own Age, the more difficult the diſcovery of theſe Forgeries muſt neceſſarily be: the Example alſo of ſome of the moſt eminent Perſons among the Ancients, who had ſometimes made uſe of theſe ſleights, adding on the other ſide boldneſs to every one, and courage to venture upon what they had done before them. For, I pray you, is it not a ſtrange thing, that the Legats of Pope Leo, in the year 451. in the midſt of the Council of Chalcedon, where were aſſembled 600 Biſhops, the very Flower and Choice of the whole Clergy, ſhould have the confidence to alledge the VI Canon of the Council of Nice, in theſe very Words,Concil. Chalced. Act. 16. Tom. 2. Concil. That the Church of Rome hath always had the Primacy: Words which are no more found in any Greek Copies of the Councils, than are thoſe other pretended Canons of Pope Zozimus: neither do they yet appear in any Greek or Latin Copies, nor ſo much as in the Edition of Dionyſius Exiguus, who lived about fifty years after this Council. When I conſider, that the Legats of ſo holy a Pope would at that time have faſtned ſuch a Wen upon the Body of ſo Venerable a Canon, I am almoſt ready to think, that we ſcarcely have any thing of Antiquity left us, that is entire, and uncorrupt, except it be in Matters of Indifferency, or which could not have been corrupted, without much noiſe; and to take this Proceeding of theirs, which is come to our knowledge, as an advertiſement purpoſely given us by Divine Providence, to let us ſee, with how much conſideration, and adviſedneſs we ought to receive for the Council of Nice, and of Conſtantinople, and for Cyprian, and Hiero • o's Writings, that which goes at this day for ſuch. About ſeventy four years after the Council of Chalcedon, Dionyſius Exiguus, whom we before mentioned, made his Collection at Rome, which is 〈◊〉 printed at Paris, Cum Privilegio Regi • , out of very ancient Manuſcripts. Whoſoever ſhall but look diligently Into this Collection, ſhall find divers alterations in it, one whereof I ſhall inſtance in; only to ſhew, how ancient this Artifice hath been among Chriſtians. The laſt Canon of the Council of La • dicea, which is the 163. of the Greek Code of the Church Univerſal, forbidding to read in Churches any other Books, than thoſe which are Canonical; gives us withal a long Catalogue of them. Dionyſius Exiguus, although he hath indeed inſerted in his Collection Num. 162. the beginning of the ſaid Canon, which forbiddeth to read any other Books in the Churches, beſides the ſacred Volumes of the Old and New Teſtament; yet hath he wholly omitted the Catalogue, or Liſt of the ſaid Books: fearing, as I conceive, leſt the Tail of this Catalogue might ſcandalize the Church of Rome; where, many years before, Pope Innocent had,Innocent. 1. ep. 3. ad Exup. Tholoſ. c. 7. by an expreſs Decree to that purpoſe, put into the Canon of the Old Teſtament, the Maccabees, the Wiſdom of Solomon, Eccleſiaſticus, Tobit, Judith, &c. of which Books the Fathers of the Council of Laodicea make no mention at all, naming but XXII Books of the Old Teſtament; and in the Catalogue of the New, utterly omitting the Apocalypſe. If any Man can ſhew me any better reaſon of this ſuppreſſion, let him ſpeak: as for my part I conceive this the moſt probable that can be given; however, we are not at all bound to divine, what the motive ſhould be, that made Dionyſius out off that part of the Canon. For, whatſoever the reaſon were, it ſerves the turn well enough, to make it appear, that at that time they made no great conſcience to curtal, if need were, the very Text of the Canons themſelves. So that if we had not had the good luck to have had this Canon entire, and perfect, in divers other Monuments of Antiquity; as namely, in the Collections of the Greeks, and alſo in the Councils of the French Church; we ſhould at this Day have been wholly ignorant, what the judgment of the Fathers of L •• odices was, touching the Canon of the holy Scriptur • s▪ which is one of the principal Controverſies of theſe times. It is true, I confeſs, that the Latins have their revenge upon the Greeks, reproaching them in like manner, becauſe that in their Tranſlation of the Code of the Canons of the African Church, they have left the Books of the Maccabees quite out of the Roll of the Books of the Scripture, which is ſet down in the 24. Canon of their Collection, expreſly againſt the Faith of all the Latin copies of this Collection,Perron Repl. l. 1. c. L. both Printed, and Manuſcript; as Cardinal Perron affirmeth: and yet there are ſome others,Chriſt. Juſtel. in Not. ad Can. 24. God. Gr. Eccleſ. Afric. who aſſure us, that no Book of Maccabees appears at all in this Canon, in the Collection of Creſ • bnius, a Biſhop of Africk, not yet printed. The Greek Cud • repreſents unto us VII. Canons of the I▪ Council of Conſtantinople; which are in like manner found both in Balſamon, and in Zonaras, and alſo in the Greek and Latin Edition of the General Councils, printed at Rome. The three laſt▪ of theſe do not appear at all, in the Latine Code of 〈◊〉 though they are very conſiderable ones, as to the buſineſs they relate to, which is, That Order in Proceeding, in paſſing Judgment upon Biſhops accuſed▪ and in receiving ſuch perſons, who forſaking their Communion with Hereticks, deſire to be admitted into the Church. 〈…〉 very hard to ſay, what ſhould move the 〈…〉 this Council thus. But this I am 〈…〉 in the VI. Canon, which is one of thoſe 〈…〉 hath omitted, and which treateth of judging of Biſhops accuſed, there is not the leaſt mention made, of Appealing to Rome, nor of any Reſerved Caſes, wherein it is not permitted to any, ſave only to the Pope himſelf, to judge a Biſhop: the power of hearing and determining all ſuch matters being here wholly, and abſolutely referred to the Provincial and Dioce • an Synods. Now whether the Greeks added this tail to the Council of Conſtantinople, (which yet is not very probable,) or whether Dionyſius, or the Church of Rome curtalled this Council, it will ſtill that way alſo appear clearly, that this boldneſs in g • lding, or making Additions to Eccleſiaſtical Writings, is not at all in uſe in theſe dayes. After the Canons of Conſtantinople, there follow in the Greek Code, VIII. Canons of the General Council of Eph • ſus, ſet down alſo both by Balſamon, and Zonaras, and printed with the Acts of the ſaid Council of Epheſus, in the Firſt Tome of the Roman Edition. But Dionyſius Exiguus: hath diſcarded them all, not giving us any one of them: and you will hardly be able to give a handſome gueſs, what his reaſon ſhould be: unleſs perhaps it were, becauſe that the buſineſs of the eighth Canon diſpleaſed him: which is, that the Biſhops of Cyprus had their Ordinations within themſelves, without admitting the Patriarch of Antioch to have any thing to do with it: and that the ſame courſe ought to be obſerved in all other Provinces, and Dioceſſes: ſo that no Biſhop ſhould have power to intrude into a Province, which had not from the beginning been under His, and His Predeceſſors juriſdiction: Concil. Eph. Can. 8. qui in VII. Gr. eſt 178. Cod. Can. Eccl. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . For fear, that under the pretence of the Adminiſtration of Sacred Offices, the pride of a Secular Power ſhould thruſt it ſelf into the Church; and ſo by this means we ſhould loſe (ſaid theſe good Fathers) by little and little, before we were aware, the Liberty that our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, the Redeemer of all mankind, hath purchaſed for us with his own Blood. I know not, whether this Conſtitution, and theſe words, have put the Latines into any fright, or not: or whether any other reaſon hath moved them, not to receive the Canons of the Council of Epheſus into their Code. But this is certain, that they do not appear any where among them, and it is now at the leaſt ſeven hundred and fifty years and upward,Anaſtaſ. Biblioth. Praef. in Synod. VIII. Tom. 3. Concil. gen. that A • aſtaſius Bibliothecarius, the Popes Library Keeper, teſtified, that theſe Canons were not any where to be found, in the moſt Ancient Latine Copies; withal accuſing the Greeks of having forged them. But let them try out this diſpute among themſelves: yet whether theſe Canons were forged by the Greeks; or whether they have been blotted out of this Council, and ſmothered by the Latins; it is ſtill a clear caſe, that the Cheat is very near of eight hundred years ſtanding. But in the next example that follows, the buſineſs is evidently clear, without any more ado. For whereas the Greek Code, Numb. • 06. ſets before us in the XXVIII▪ Canon of the General Council of Chalcedon, a Decree of thoſe Fathers, by which, conformably to the Firſt Council of Conſtantinople, they ordained, that Seeing that the City of Conſtantinople was the ſeat of the Senate, Conc. Chalc. Can. 28. Cod. Graec. Eccl. Ʋ ni • . 206. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . and of the Empire, and enjoyed the ſame Priviledges with the City of Rome; that therefore it ſhould in like manner be advanced to the ſame Height, and Greatneſs in Eccleſiaſtical Affairs, being the ſecond Church in order, after Rome; and that the Biſhop of it ſhould have the Ordaining of Metropolitans, in the Three Dioceſſes of Pontus, Aſia, and Thrace; which Canon is found both in Balſamon and Zonaras; and alſo hath the Teſtimony of the greateſt part of the Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtorians, both Greek, and Latine, that it is a Legitimate Canon of the Council of Chalcedon; in the Acts of which Council, at this day alſo Extant, it is ſet down at large: yet notwithſtanding in the Collection of Dionyſius Exiguus, this Canon appears not at all, no more than as if there had never been any ſuch thing thought of at Chalcedon. We know very well, that Pope Leo, and ſome others of his Succeſſors rejected it: but he that promiſed us, that he would make an orderly Digeſtion of the Canons of the Councils, and tranſlate them out of the Greek, why, or how, did he, or ought he to omit, this ſo remarkable a Canon? If all other Evidences had been loſt how ſhould we have been able ſo much as to have gheſſed, that any ſuch thing was ever treated of at Chalcedon? Where, or by what means could we have learnt, what the opinion was of the DCXXX. Fathers, which met here together, touching this Point; which is the moſt important one, of all thoſe that are at this day controverted betwixt us? And it is now eleven hundred years, and upward, ſince this Omiſſion was firſt on foot. And who will paſs his word to us, that among ſo many other Writings, whether of Councils, or particular Mens Works, whether Greek or Latine, the like liberty hath not been at any time uſed? Rather by theſe Forgeries which have come to our knowledge, who can doubt, but that there have been many other the like, which we are ignorant of? Thou haſt gone along innocently perhaps, reading theſe Books of the Ancients, and believing, thou there findeſt the pure ſenſe of Antiquity; and yet thou ſeeſt here, that from the beginning of the Sixth Century they have made no ſcruple of cutting off, from the moſt Sacred Books they had, whatſoever was not agreeable to the guſt of the Times. And therefore, though we had no more againſt them than this, it were, in my judgment, a ſufficient reaſon to move us to go on here very warily, and, as they ſay, With a ſtiff Rein, through this whole buſineſs. In the next place, there is a very obſervable Corruption in the Epiſtle of Adrian I.Concil. VII. Act. 2. Tom. 3. Concil. to the Emperour Conſtantine, in the time of the Second Council of Nice. For in the Latine Collection of Anaſtaſius, made about ſeven hundred and fifty years ſince, Adrian is there made to ſpeak very highly, and magnificently of the ſupremacy of his See, and he rebukes the Greeks very ſhrewdly, for having conferred upon Taraſius, the Patriarch of Conſtantinople, the Title of Ʋniverſal Biſhop. And all this while, there is not ſo much as one word of this to be found, neither in the Greek Edition of the ſaid VII. Council, nor yet in the common Latine ones. The Romaniſts accuſe the Greeks of having ſuppreſſed theſe two Clauſes: and the Greeks again accuſe the Romaniſts, of having foiſted them in: neither is it eaſie to determine, on which ſide the guilt lies. However, it is ſufficient for me, that whereſoever the fault lies, it evidently appeareth hence, that this curtalling and adding to Authors, according to the intereſt of the preſent Times, hath now a very long time been in practice amongſt Chriſtians. Which appears alſo very evidently, in the next piece following in the ſame Council, namely, the Epiſtle of Adrian to Taraſius; which is quite another thing in the Greek, from what it is in Anaſtaſius his Latin Tranſlation; and that in Points too of as high importance, as thoſe other before mentioned. And ſo in the V. Act likewiſe,Conc VII. Act. 5. Tom. 3. Conc. where both in the Greek Text, and alſo in the Old Latin Tranſlation, Taraſius is called Ʋniverſal Biſhop; this Title appears not at all in Anaſtaſius his Tranſlation. In the ſame Act the Fathers accuſe the Iconoclaſts, Ib. p. 557. of having cut out many Leaves out of a certain Book in the Library at Conſtantinople; and that at a certain City called Photia, they had burned to the number of Thirty Volumes; and that beſides all this, they had raſed the Annotations out of a certain Book; and all this out of the malice they bore againſt Images, which theſe Books ſpake well and favourably of. But yet I do not ſee, how we can excuſe the Romaniſts, from being guilty of corrupting Anaſtaſius, in thoſe paſſages above noted; nor yet of the injury they do Euſebius, in the Expoſition which they give of ſome certain words of His, only to render Him odious;Concil VII. Act. 6. adverſ • Synod. Iconocl. Sect. 5. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Ibid. p. 625 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . objecting againſt Him, that He ſaith, That the Carnal Form of Jeſus Chriſt was changed into the nature of the Deity: whereas, all that he ſaith is, That it was changed by the Deity, dwelling in i • . Whence it appears, how much credit we are to give to theſe Men, when they alledge here and there divers ſtrange and unheard of pieces; and on the contrary, ſcornfully reject whatever their Adverſaries bring; as, for example, they did a remarkable Paſſage, alledged by them out of Epiphanius: which Paſſage they refuſed as ſuppoſititious; Becauſe (ſaid they) if Epiphanius had been of the ſame judgment with the Iconoclaſts, Ib. p. 616. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , he would then in his Panarium, have reckoned the Reverencing of Images among the other Hereſies. And may not a man by the ſame reaſon as well conclude, that Epiphanius was a favourer of the Iconoclaſts; for otherwiſe he would have reckoned their opinion among the reſt of the Hereſies by him reckoned up? I ſhal not here ſay any thing of their refuſing ſo boldly, and confidently, thoſe Paſſages alledged out of The odotui Ancyranus, and others. Since that time you ſhall find nothing more ordinary, in the Books both of the Greeks and the Latins, than the like reproaches, that they mutually caſt upon each other, of having corrupted the Pieces and Evidences wherein their cauſe was the moſt concerned: As for example, at the Council of Florence, Mark Biſhop of Epheſus diſputing concerning the Proceſſion of the Holy Ghoſt, had nothing to anſwer to two paſſages that were alledged againſt him; the one out of that piece of Epiphanius, Concil Florent. Act. 18. To. 4. Conc. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . which is entituled, Ancoratus: the other out of S. Baſils Writings, againſt Eunomius; but that That piece of Epiphanius had been long ſince corrupted: and ſo likewiſe of that other paſſage out of S. Baſil, that Some one or other who favoured the opinion of the Latin • s, had accommodated that place to their ſence: withall Ib. Act. 20. proteſting, that in all Conſtantinople there was but four Copies only of the ſaid Book that had that paſſage alledged by the Latins▪ but that there was in the ſaid City above a thouſand other copies wherein thoſe words were not to be found at all. Then had the Latins nothing to return upon them more readily, than that it had been the ordinary practice, not of the Weſt, but of the Eaſt; to corrupt Books▪ and for proof hereof, they preſently cite a paſſage out of S. Cyrill, which we have formerly ſet down: where notwithſtanding he ſpeaks not any thing, ſave only of the Hereticks; that is to ſay, of the Neſtorians, who were ſaid to have falſified the Epiſtle of Athanaſius to Epictetus; but not a word there of all the Eaſtern men, much leſs of the whole Greek Church. The Greeks then charged back upon the Latines the ſtory of Pope Zozimus, mentioned in the preceeding Chapter. And thus did they bandy ſtifly one againſt the other, each of them, as may be eaſily perceived, having much more appearance of reaſon and of truth, in their accuſation of their Adverſary, than in excuſing or defending themſelves. I ſhall here give you alſo another the like anſwer, made by one Gregorius, a Greek Monk, a ſtrong maintainer of the Ʋnion made at Florence, Apol. Gregor. Mon. Protoſyn. contr. Ep. Marc. Eph. Tom. 4. Concil. to a paſſage cited by Mark Biſhop of Epheſus, out of a certain Book of John Damaſcene; affirming, that The Father only is the Cauſe, to wit, in the Trinity: Theſe words (ſaith this Monk) are not found in any of the ancient Copies: which is an evident argument, that it had been afterwards foiſted in by the Greeks, to bring over this Doctor to their opinion.Petavi •• Not. in Epiphan. Petavin • hath in like manner lately quitted his hands of an objection, taken out of the 68. Canon of the Apoſtles, againſt the Faſting on Saturdays, which is obſerved in the Roman Church: pretending, that the Greeks have falſified this Canon. But whoſoever deſires to ſee how full of uncertainty the Writings of this later Antiquity are, let him but read the VIII. Council which is pretended by the Weſtern Church, to be a general Council, and but compare the Latine and the Greek Copies together, withal taking eſpecial notice of the Preface of Anaſtaſius Bibliothecarius; who after he hath very ſharply reproved the Ambition of the Greeks, and accuſed the Canons which they produce of the Third General Council, as Forged, and ſuppoſititious; to make ſhort work with them, he ſays in plain terms, that the Greeks have corrupted all the Councils, except the Firſt. What then have we now left us to build upon, ſeeing that this Corruption hath prevailed even as far as on the Councils, which are the very heart of the Ancient Monuments of the Church? Neither yet hath the Nicene Creed, which hath been approved and made ſacred in ſo many General Councils, been able to eſcape theſe Alterations. For, not to ſpeak any thing of theſe Expreſſions, which are of little importance; De Coelis, from Heaven; ſecundum Scripturas, according to the Scriptures; Deum de Deo, God of God; which Cardinal Julian Concil. Flor. Seſſ. 12. affirmed, at the Council of Florence, were to be found in ſome Creeds, and in ſome others were not: it is now the ſpace of ſome Ages paſt, ſince the Eaſtern ChurchConcil Flor. Seſſ. 4 & 5. & Conc VII Act. 7. quo loco videnda annot. marg. accuſed the Weſtern of having added Filio que and the Son, in the Article touching the Proceſſion of the Holy Ghoſt; the Weſtern Men as ſenſeleſly charging back upon them again, that they have cut it off: Which is an Alteration, though it ſeem but trivial in appearance, that is of great importance, both to the one ſide, and to the other, for the deciſion of that great Controverſie, which hath hitherto cauſed a ſeparation betwixt them; namely, Whether or no the Holy Ghoſt proceed from the Son, as well as from the Father? Which is an evident Argument, that either the one or the other of them, hath, out of a deſire to do ſervice to their own Side, laid falſe hands upon this Sacred Piece. Now whatever hath been attempted in this kind by the Ancients, may well paſs for Innocence, if compar'd but with what theſe Later Times have dared to do; their Paſſion being of late years ſo much heated, that laying all Reaſon and Honeſty aſide, they have moſt miſerably and ſhameleſly corrupted all ſorts of Books, and of Authors. Of thoſe Men that go ſo deſperately to work, we cannot certainly ſpeak of their baſeneſs as it deſerveth: and in my judgment, Laurentius Bochellus, in his Preface to the Decreta Eccleſiae Gallicanae, Laur. Bochel Praefat▪ in Decret▪ Eccleſ Gal. Taceo innumeros Auctores ſacros, protanos, veteres, recentiores, ab iſ • i • tam improbi quàm in • oelicis ingenii homin • bus miſerab 〈◊〉 decurtatos, vel ipſis Regibus parcero non aſſuetis, nedum S. Ludovico, cujus▪ Pragmaticae (ut vocant) Sanctionis articulos nonrull • s, maximè ad rei Gallicae ſtatum pertinentes, abs Bibliotheca illa SS. PP. Conſtitutionibus Regiis; & ſtatutis Epiſcoporum quorundam Synodalibus Reginae urbium Lutetiae nuper impreſſis expunxerunt. Vae, iterum vae, ut cum Vidente exclamem, Nebulonibus, qui tales Muſarum Caſtitati & integritati venerandae non ſolum inſidias ſtruunt, ſed & Muſas ipſas impudenter, & nequiter ſubdolo religionis zelo, nullius frontis homines devirginant, ſucum que iſtum pietatis nomen ementitum, inter Pias fraudes numerant. had all the reaſon in the world to deteſt theſe Men, as People of a moſt wretched and malicious ſpirit, who have moſt miſerably gelded and mangled ſo infinite a number of Authors, both Sacred and Prophane, Ancient and Modern; their ordinary cuſtom being, to ſpare no Perſon, no not Kings, nor even S. Lewis himſelf, out of whoſe Pragmatica Sanctio (as they call it) they have blotted out ſome certain Articles (principally thoſe which concerned the State of France) out of the Bibliotheca Patrum, the Conſtitutiones Regiae, and the Synodical Decrees of certain Biſhops, lately Printed at Paris. Wo, wo (to ſpeak with the Prophet) to theſe miſchievous Knaves, who do not only lay ſuch treacherous ſnares for the venerable Chaſtity and Integrity of the Muſes, but do alſo moſt impudently and wickedly d • flour, under a falſe and counterfeit pretence of Religion, even the Muſes themſelves; accounting this jugling to be but a kind of Pious Fraud. But we do not here write againſt theſe Men: it is ſufficient for us to give a hint only of that which is as clear as the Sun; namely, that theſe Men have altered, and corrupted, by their Additions in ſome places, and gelding of others, very many of the Evidences of the Ancients Belief. Theſe are they, who in this Period of the XII Epiſtle of S. Cyprian, written to the People of Carthage; Cypr. Ep. 12. Extr. Audiant quaeſo patienter Conſilium noſtrum; expectent regreſſionem noſtram, ut cùm ad vos per Dei miſericordiam venerimus, convocati Coepiſcopi plures ſecundum Domini doctrinam, & Confeſſorum praeſentiam, beatorum Martyrum literas & deſideria examinare poſſimus. Cypr. Pamel & Gryph. Lugd. An. 1537. l 3. ep. 16. p. 148. Aliae Editiones, ut Manutii, item Morellii, Par. An. 1568. p. 158. legunt Secundum veſtram quoque ſententiam. I deſire that they would but patiently hear our Counſel, &c. that our Fellow-Biſhops being aſſembled together with us, we may together examine the Letters, and Deſires of the Bleſſed Martyrs, according to the Doctrine of our Lord, and in the preſence of the Confeſſors, & ſecundum veſtram quoque ſententiam, and according as you alſo ſhall think convenient: have maliciouſly left out theſe words, & ſecundum veſtram quoque ſententiam: By which we may plainly underſtand, that theſe Men would not by any means have us know, that the Faithful People had ever any thing to do with, or had any Vote in the Affairs of the Church. Theſe be they, who in his Fortieth Epiſtle, have changed Cypr. Pamel. Epiſt. 40. p. 7. Cathedra una ſuper Petrum Domini voce fundata. Gryph. An 1537. p. 52. Morel. An. 1564. p. 124. habebant, ſuper Petram. Petram into Petrum, a Rock into S. Peter, and who following the ſteps of the ancient Corrupters, have foiſted in, in his Tract, De Ʋnitate Eccleſiae, here and there, as they thought fit, whole Periods, and Sentences, againſt the faith of the beſt and moſt uncorrupted Manuſcripts: as for example, in this place; Cypr. Pamel. p. 254. Super illum unum aedificat Eccleſiam ſuam & illi paſcendas mandat oves ſuas. Quae verba deſiderantur in Edit. Gryph. anno 15 • 7 & Morel. anno 1564. He built his Church on him alone (S. Peter) and commanded him to feed his ſheep: and in this, Cypr. Pamel. ibid. Unam Cathedram Conſtituit: Quae verba defiderabantur in Editione Gryphii, anno 1537. & Morel anno 1564. He eſtabliſhed one ſole Chair: and this other, Cypr. Pamel. ibid. Primatus Petro datur, ut una Eccleſia Chriſti, & Cathedra una monſtretur; & paſtores ſunt omnes; ſed unus grex oſtenditur, qui ab Apoſtolis omnibus unanimi conſenſione paſcatur: quae verba omnia, exceptis illis, (ut una Eccleſia monſtretur) non habebantur in Edit. Gryph. neque Morel • ti ſup. The Primacy was given to Peter, to ſhew, that there was but one Church, and one Chair of Chriſt: and this, Cypr. Pamel p. 254. Qui Cathedram Petri, ſuper quam ſundata eſt Eccleſia, abſunt à Gryph. & Morel. Edit. Who left the Chair to Peter, on which he had built his Church: Which are Additions that every one may ſee what they aim at. Theſe are the Men who cannot conceal the Pamel. in arg. ep. 75. Cypr. Atque adeo fortaſſis conſultius foret, nunquam editam fuiſſe hanc Epiſtolam; ita ut putent, conſultò illam omiſiſſe Manutium. regret they have for not having ſuppreſſed an Epiſtle of Firmilianus, Archbiſhop of Caeſarea in Cappadocia, who was one of the moſt Eminent Perſons in his Time; which Epiſtle Manutius had indeed omitted in his Roman Edition of S. Cyprian; but was afterward put in by Morellius in his, amongſt the Epiſtles of S. Cyprian, to whom it was written: and all becauſe it informs us, how the other Biſhops in ancient▪ Times had dealt with the Pope. So that we may hence obſerve, of what temper theſe Men have always been; and may gueſs how many the like Pieces have been killed in the Neſt.Nic. Faber, in ep. • d Front. Ducaum in Opuſc p. 216. Out of the like Shop it is, that poor S. Ambroſe is ſent abroad, but ſo ill accoutred, and in ſo pittiful a plight, that Nicolas Faber hath very much be wailed the corruption of him. For thoſe Gentlemen, who have publiſhed him, being over ingenuous (as he ſaith) in another mans Works, have changed, mangled, and tranſpoſed divers things; and particularly they have ſeparated the Books of the Interpellation of Job, and of David, which were put together in all other Editions; and to do this, they have, by no very commendable example, foiſted in, and altered divers things: and they have likewiſe done as much in the Firſt Apologie of David; and more yet in the Second, where they have raſed out of the eighth Chapter five or ſix Lines, which are found in all the ancient Editions of this Father.Ibid. p. 215. They have alſo attributed to this Author certain Tracts which are not his; as that, Of the Forbidden Tree, and that other upon the laſt Chapter of the Proverbs. And we may by the way alſo take notice, That this is the Edition which they followed, who printed S. Ambroſe his Works at Paris, Anno. 1603. Such hands as theſe they were that have ſo villanouſly curtailed the Book Of the Lives of the Popes, written by Anaſtaſius, or rather by Damaſus; leaving out, in the very Entry of it, the Authors Epiſtle Dedicatory, written to S. Hierome, becauſe it did not ſo well ſuit with the preſent temper of Rome: leaving out in like manner in the Life of S. Peter, the Concluſion of all, which I ſhall here ſet down, as it is found in all Manuſcripts.Hic B. Clementem Epiſcopum conſecravit, ei que cathedram, vel Eccleſiam omnem diſponendam commiſit, dicens: Sicut mihi gubernandi tradita eſt à Domino meo Jeſu Chriſto poteſtas ligandi ſolvendi que ita & ego tibi committo, ut ordines diſpoſitores diverſarum cauſarum, per quos actus Eccleſiaſticus profligetur; & tu minimè in curis ſaeculi deditus reperiaris, ſed ſolummodo ad orationem, & praedicationem populi vacare ſtude. Poſt hanc diſpoſitionem Martyrio coronatur. Habentur haec ex Euchar. Salm ad Sirmond. cap. 5. Editio Par. anno 1621. p. 664. He conſecrated S. Clement Biſhop, and committed to his Charge the Ordering of his Seat, or of the whole Church, ſaying, As the Power of Binding and Looſing was delivered to me by my Lord Jeſus Chriſt, in like manner do I commit to thy charge the appointing of ſuch Perſons, as may determine of ſuch Eccleſiaſtical Cauſes as may ariſe; that Thou thy ſelf mayſt not be taken up with worldly cares, but mayſt apply thy whole ſtudies only to Prayer, and Preaching to the People. After he had thus diſpoſed of his Seat, he was • rowned with Martyrdom. This is the Teſtament that S. Peter made, but it hath been ſuppreſſed and kept from us, becauſe in it he hath charged his Succeſſors with ſuch Duties as are quite contrary both to their Humour and Practice. And in another place, in the ſame Book, Anaſtaſ. in Stephano V. p. 219. Dei ordinante providentiâ Papa Orbis conſecratus eſt. Mſ. habent, Papa Urbis: ex Salm in Euchar. ad Sirmond. p. 464. in ſtead of Papa Ʋrbis; that is to ſay, The Pope or Biſhop of the City, namely, of Rome, as all Manuſcripts have it; theſe worſhipful Gentlemen will needs have us read, Papa Orbis, that is, The Biſhop of the whole World▪ foraſmuch as this is now the Stile of the Court, and this hath now long ſince grown to be the Title of the Biſhop of Rome. Theſe are the Men, who inVid Fulbert. Carnot. Edit. à Villerſio, anno 1608. Par. p. 168. Fulbertus, Biſhop of Chatres, where he cites that remarkable Paſſage of S. Auguſtine, This then is a Figure, commanding us to communicate of the Paſſion of the Lord, have inſerted theſe words, Figura ergo eſt, dicet Haereticus; It is a Figure then, will an Heretick ſay: cunningly making us believe this to be the ſaying of an Heretick, which was indeed the true ſenſe and meaning of S. Auguſtine himſelf, and ſo cited by Fulbertus. Theſe be the very Men alſo, who in S. Gregory have changed Exercitus Sacerdotum, Gregor. M • ep. l. 4. ep. 38. Omnia, &c. quae praedicta ſunt▪ fiunt. Rex ſuperbiae prope eſt; & quod dici nefas eſt, Sacerdotum ei praepatatur exitus Mſ. habent, Sacer • o • um • i praepatatur exercitus Ex Tho. Jameſ. in Vindic. Gregor loc. 666. quo modo citatur etiam à Bellarmino hic locus, lib. 3. de Rom P • nt c. 13. Sect. Addit. & ex • r. c. Sect. pari ratione. into Exitus Sacerdotum; reading in the 38 Epiſtle of his fourth Book, thus; All things, &c. which have been foretold, are accompliſhed. The King of Pride (he ſpeaks of Antichriſt) is at hand; and which is horrible to be ſpoken, the Failing, (or end) of Prieſts is prepared: Whereas the Manuſcripts (and it is ſo cited by Bellarmine too) read, an Army of Prieſts is prepared for him. Theſe be they who have made Aimonius to ſay, Aimon. de Geſt. Franc. l. 5 c. 8. In quā Synodo, (quam Octavam Univerſalem illuc convenientes appellarunt,) de Imaginibus adorandis. ſecundum quod Orthodoxi Doctores anteà definierant, • tatuerunt: legendum, Al • tèr quàm Orthodoxi definierant; ſic enim legit ipſe Baron. Annal. Tom. X. an. 869. That the Fathers of the pretended VIII General Council had ordained the Adoration of Images, according as had been before determined by the Orthodox Doctors: Whereas he wrote quite contrary, That they had ordained otherwiſe than had been formerly determined by the Orthodox Doct. as appears plainly, not only by the Manuſcripts, but alſo by the moſt ancient Editions of this Author; and even by Card. Baronius his alledging of this Paſſage alſo, in the Tenth Tome of his Annals, An. Dom. 869. Theſe are they who have quite raſed out this following Paſſage out of Oecumenius; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . For they who defended and favoured the Law, introduced alſo the worſhipping of Angels; and that, becauſe the Law had been given by them. And this Cuſtom continued long in Phrygia, inſomuch that the Council of Laodicea made a Decree, forbidding to make any Addreſſes to Angels, or to pray to them: whence alſo it is, that we find many Temples among them, erected to Michael the Archangel: Which Paſſage David H • eſchelius, in his Notes upon the Books of Origen againſt Celſus, p. 483. witneſſeth. That himſelf had ſeen and read, in the Manuſcripts of Oecumenius; and yet there is no ſuch thing to be found in any of the Printed Copies. Who would believe but that the Breviaries and Miſſals ſhould have eſcaped their Razour? Yet,Simon. Vigor l. 1. de la Monarch Eccleſiaſtique, ch. 1. F. Paolo di Vinet. Apol. contr. Bellarm Sic legitur in B • ev. Clement. VIII. juſſu recognitis, p. 937. as it hath been obſerved by Perſons of eminent both Learning and Honeſty, where it was read, in the Collect on S. Peter's day, heretofore thus, Deus, qui B. Petro Apoſtolo tuo, collatis clavibus regni coeleſtis, animas ligandi, & ſolvendi Pontificium tradidiſti: that is, O God, who haſt committed to thy Apoſtle S. Peter, by giving him the Keys of the Heavenly Kingdom, the Epiſcopal Power of Binding and Looſing Souls: in the later Editions of theſe Breviaries and Miſſals, they have wholly left out the word Animas, Souls; to the end that People ſhould not think that the Popes Autority extended only to Spiritual Affairs, and not to Temporal alſo. And ſo likewiſe in the Goſpel upon the Tueſday following the Third Sunday in Lent, they have Printed,Sic legitur in Bre • iar. Clem. VIII juſſu reco • n. p. 369. Dixit Jeſus Diſcipulis ſuis; that is, Jeſus ſaid to his Diſciples, whereas it was in the old Books,Sic legebatur in Brev. impreſ. Pariſ. 1492. per Jo. de Prato. Reſpiciens Jeſus in Diſcipulos, dixit Simoni Petro, ſi peccaverit in te frater tuus: Jeſus looking back upon his Diſciples, ſaid unto Simon Peter, If thy Brother have offended againſt thee, &c. cunningly omitting thoſe words relating to Simon Peter, for fear it might be thought that our Saviour Chriſt had made S. Peter, that is to ſay, the Pope, ſubject to the Tribunal of the Church, to which he there ſends him. And if the Council of Trent would but have hearkned to Thomas Paſſio, a Canon of Valencia, they ſhould have blotted out of the Pontifical all ſuch Paſſages as make any mention of the Peoples giving their Suffrage and Conſent in the Ordination of the Miniſters of the Church; and, among the reſt, that, where the Biſhop at the Ordination of a Prieſt ſaith, That Pontif. Rom. de Ordinat. Presbyt. fol. 38. Neque enim fuit fruſtrà à Patribus inſtitutum, ut de electione illorum, qui ad regimen altaris adhibendi ſunt, conſulatur etiam populus; quia de vita & conſervatione praeſentandi, quod nonnunquam ignoratur à pluribus, ſcitur à paucis; & neceſſe eſt, ut faciliùs ei quis obedientiam exhibeat ordinato, cui aſſenſum praebuerit ordinando. it was not without good reaſon, that the Fathers had ordained, That the Advice of the People ſhould be taken touching the Election of thoſe Perſons who were to ſerve at the Altar; to the end, that having given their Aſſent to their Ordination, they might the more readily yield Obedience to thoſe who were ſo Ordained. The meaning of this honeſt Canon was, that to take away all ſuch Authorities from the Hereticks, the beſt way would be to blot them all out of the Pontifical, to the end that there might be no trace or footſtep of them left remaining for the future. Pet. Soavez. Hiſt. Concil. Trident. l. 7. But they have not contented themſelves with corrupting onely in this manner ſome certain Books, out of which perhaps we might have been able to diſcover what the Opinion and Senſe of the Ancients have been; but they have alſo wholly aboliſhed a very great number of others. And for the better underſtanding hereof, we are to take notice, that the Emperours of the firſt Ages took all poſſible care for the ſtifling and aboliſhing all ſuch Writings as were declared prejudicial to the True Faith; as namely, the Books of the Arrians, and Neſtorians, and others▪ which were under a great penalty forbidden to be read, but were to be wholly ſuppreſt and aboliſhed, by the Appointment of theſe ancient Princes. The Church it ſelf alſo did ſometimes call in the Books of ſuch Perſons as had been dead long before, by a common conſent of the Catholick Party, as ſoon as they perceived any thing in them that was not conſonant to the preſent Opinion of the Church;Conc. V. Col. VIII. as it did at the Fifth General Council, in the Buſineſs of Theodorus, Theodoreius, and Ibas, all three Biſhops, the one of Mopſueſtia, the other of Cyprus, and the third of Ediſſa, anathematizing each of their ſeveral Writings, notwithſtanding there Perſons had been all dead long before: dealing alſo, even in the quiet times of the Church,Id. Col. V. & Col. VIII. Anath. XI. with Origen in the ſame manner, after he had been now dead about three hundred years. The Pope then hath not failed to imitate, now for the ſpace of many Ages, both the one and the other of theſe rigorous Courſes, withal encreaſing the harſhneſs of them from time to time: in ſo much that, in caſe any of the Opinions of the Ancients hath been by chance found at any time to contradict his, we are not to make any doubt, but that he hath very carefully and diligently ſuppreſſed ſuch Pieces, without ſparing any, though they were written perhaps two, three, four, or five hundred years before, more than the others. As for example: It is at this day diſputed, whether or no the Primitive Church had in their Temples, and worſhipped the Images of Chriſt, and of Saints. This Controverſie hath been ſometime very eagerly, and with much hea • , and for a long time together, debated in the Greek Church. That Party which maintained the Affirmative, bringing the buſineſs before the VII Council,Concil. VII. Act. 8. Car. 9. held at Nicaea, it was there ordained, That it ſhould be unlawful for any Man to have the Books of the other Party; withal charging every Man to bring what Books they had of that Party to the Patriarch of Conſtantinople, to do with them, as we muſt conceive, according as had been required by the Legats of Pope Adrian; Idem Act. 5. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . that is, t • at they ſhould burn all thoſe Books, which had been written againſt the Venerable Images: including, no doubt, within the ſame Condemnation, all ſuch Writings of the Ancients alſo, as ſeemed not to favour Images; as namely, the Epiſtle of Euſebius to Conſtantia; and that of Epiphanius to John of Hieruſalem, and others, which are not now extant, but were, in all probability, at that time aboliſhed. For, as for the Epiſtle of Epiphanius, that which we now have, is only S. Hieromes Tranſlation of it, which happened to be preſerved in the Weſtern parts; where the paſſion in the behalf of Images was much leſs violent, than it was in the Eaſtern: but the Original Greek of it is no where to be found. Adrian II. in his Council ordained in like manner, that the Council held by Photius, againſt the Church of Rome, ſhould be burnt, together with his other Books, and all the Books of thoſe of his Party, which had been written againſt the See of Rome: Cap. 1. Habetur in Concil. VIII. Act. 7. Ibid. Act. 1. in Ep. Adriani. and he commanded the very ſame thing alſo in the VIII. Council, which is accounted by the Latines for a General Council. It is impoſſible, but that in theſe Fires very many Pieces muſt needs have periſhed, which might have been of good uſe to us, for the diſcovering what the opinion of the Ancients was, whether touching Images, which was the buſineſs of the VII. Council; or that other Controverſie, touching the Power of the Pope; which was the principal Point debated in the Synod held by Photius; ſome of whoſe Pieces they, for the ſelf ſame reaſon, do at this day keep at Rome under Lock and Key; which doubtleſs they would long ere this have publiſhed, had they but made as much for the Pope, as in all probability they make againſt him. This rigorous proceeding againſt Books came at length to that height,Conc. Later. ſub Leone X. Seſſ. 10. as that Leo X. at the Council of Lateran, which brake up An. 1518. decreed, That no Book ſhould be printed, but what had firſt been diligently examined, at Rome, by the Maſter of the Palace; in other places, by the Biſhop, or ſome other perſon deputed by him to the ſame purpoſe; and by the Inquiſitor, under this penalty; That all Book ſellers offending herein, ſhould forfeit their Books, which ſhould be preſently burnt in publick; and ſhould pay a hundred Ducats, when it ſhould be demanded, towards the Fabrick of S. Peter; (a kind of puniſhment, this, which we find no examples of in all the Canons of the Ancient Church,) and ſhould alſo be ſuſpended from exerciſing his Function, for the ſpace of a whole year. This is a General Sentence, and which comprehendeth as well the Works of the Fathers, as of any others; as appeareth plainly by this, that the Biſhop of Malfi, Ibid. Reſponderunt omnes placere, excepto R. P. D. Alexio, Epiſcopo Malfitano, qui dixit, Placere de novis operibus, non autem de Antiquis. having given in his opinion, ſaying, that he concurred with them, in relation to New Authors, but not to the Old; all the reſt of the Fathers voted ſimply for all; neither was there any Limitation at all added to this Decree of the Council. This very Decree hath been ſince ſtrongly confirmed by the Concil. Trid. Seſſ 5. Decreto de Edit. & uſu Sacror. lib. Council of Trent, which appointed alſo certain perſons to take a Review of the Books, and Cenſures, and to make a Report of them to the Company, Idem Seſſ. 18. Quo faciliùs ipſa poſſit varias, & peregrinas doctrinas, tanquam Zizania, à Chriſtianae Veritatis tritico ſeparare. To the end that there might be a ſeparation made, betwixt the good Grain of Chriſtian Verity, and the Darnel of ſtrange Doctrines: That is in plain terms, that they might blot out of all manner of Books, whatſoever reliſhed not well with the guſt of the Church of Rome. But theſe Fathers, having not the leiſure themſelves to look to this Pious Work, appointed certainConcil. Trident. Seſſ. 25. decreto de Indice lib. Commiſſaries, who ſhould give an account of this matter to the Pope: whence afterward it came to paſs, that Pope Pius IV. firſt, and afterward Sixtus V. and Clement VIII. publiſhed certain Rules, and Indexes, of ſuch Authors and Books, as they thought fit ſhould be either quite aboliſhed, or purged only; and have given ſuch ſtrict order, for the printing of Books, as that in thoſe Countries where this order is obſerved, there is little danger that ever any thing ſhould be publiſhed, that is either contrary to the Doctrine of the Church of Rome, or which maketh any thing for their Adverſaries. All theſe Inſtructions, which are too long to be inſerted here, may be ſeen at the end of the Council of Trent, where they are uſually ſet down at large. And in order to theſe Rules, they have ſince put forth their Indices Expurgatorii, (as they call them;) namely, that of the Low Countries, and of Spain, and other places; where theſe Gallants come with their Razor in their hand, and ſit in judgment upon all manner of Books, raſing out, and altering, as they pleaſe, Periods, Chapters, and whole Treatiſes alſo often times, and that too in the Works of thoſe Men, who for the moſt part were born, and bred up, and dyed alſo in the Communion of their own Church. If the Church for eight or nine hundred years ſince, had ſo ſharp Razors as theſe men now have; it is then a vain thing for us, to ſearch any higher, what the judgment of the Primitive Chriſtians was, touching any particular Point: for, whatſoever it was, it could not have eſcaped the hands of ſuch Maſters. And if the Ancient Church had not heretofore any ſuch Inſtitution as this; why then do we, who pretend to be ſuch Obſervers of Antiquity, practiſe theſe Novelties? I know very well, that theſe men make profeſſion of reforming only the Writings of the Moderns: but who ſees not, that this is but a Cloak which they throw over themſelves; leſt they ſhould be accuſed as guilty of the ſame cruelty that Jupiter is among the Poets; for having behaved himſelf ſo inſolently againſt his own Father? Thoſe Pieces which they raze ſo exactly in the Books of the Moderns, are the cauſe of the greater miſchief to themſelves, when they are found in the Writings of the Ancients, as ſometimes they are. For what a ſenſeleſs thing is it, to leave them in, where they hurt moſt; and to raze them out, where they do little hurt? The Inquiſition at Madrid puts outInd. 〈◊〉 gat. Sandoval. in Athanaſ. Ind. 1. theſe words in the Index of Athanaſius, Adorari ſolius Dei eſt; that is,Athanaſ. Orat 3. ••• tra Arian. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . God alone is to be worſhipped: and yet notwithſtanding, theſe words are ſtill expreſly found in the Text of Athanaſius. The ſame Father ſaith,Id. in Frag. & Feſt. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . That there were ſome other Books, (beſides thoſe which he had before ſet down,) which, in truth, were not of the Canon; and which the Fathers had ordained, ſhould be read to thoſe, who were newly come into the Chriſtian Communion, and deſired to be inſtructed in the word of Piety: reckoning in this number, the Wiſdom of Solomon, Eccleſi • ſticus, Judith, Eſther, Tobit, and ſome other. Nevertheleſs theſe very Cenſ • rs put out, in the † Index of Athanaſius his Works, thoſe words which affirm, that the ſaid Books are not at all Canonical. In the Index of St. Auguſtine they put out theſe w • rds, Chriſt h • th given the ſign of his Body: which yet are evidently to be ſeen in the Text of this Father, in his Book againſt Adimantus, Id. in Auguſt. Chap. 12. They put out in like manner, theſe words: Auguſtine accounted the Euchariſt neceſſary to be adminiſtred to Infants: which opinion of S. Auguſtine is very frequently found expreſſed, either in theſe very words, or the like, throughout▪ his Works, as we ſhall ſee hereafter. They likewiſe put out theſe words; Infr. l. 1. c. 8. Ind. Exp. Sandov. in Auguſt. Auguſt. contr. Maxim. lib. Nonne ſi templum alicui Sancto Angelo excellentiſſimo de lignis & lapidibus faceremùs, ana thematizemur à veritate Chriſti, & ab Eccleſia Dei, &c. We ought not to build. Temples to Angels: and yet the very Text of S. Auguſtine ſaith, If we ſhould erect a Temple of Wood, or of Stone, to any of the holy Angels, ſhould we not be Anathematized? And this is the practice of the Cenſors, both in the Low Countries, and in Spain, in many other particulars, which we ſhall not here ſet down. Now if thou cutteſt off ſuch Sentences as theſe, out of the Indexes of theſe Holy Fathers; why doſt thou not as well raze them out of the Text alſo? Or if thou leaveſt them in the one, why doſt thou blot them out in the other? What can the meaning be of ſo ſtrange a way of proceeding in ſo Wiſe Men? But yet, who ſees not the reaſon of it? For, theſe Sentences, which theſe Men • hus boldly and rudely correct, are as diſpleaſing to them in the Ancients, as in the Moderns; and where they may ſafely do it, they expunge them, as well out of the one, as out of the other. But this they dare not do openly, for fear of giving too much ſcandal to the World, which they are unwilling to do: becauſe if they ſhould deal ſo uncivilly, and make ſo bold with Antiquity, they would quite take off that reſpect, which all people bear toward it; which being a matter which very nearly concerns themſelves, it is a ſpecial point of wiſdom in them, carefully to keep up the Reputation of it. But in laſhing the poor Moderns, who have made Indexes to all the Works of the Fathers, they ſave their Credit, and do their buſineſs too; ruining the opinions which they hate, by chaſtiſing the one; and yet withal preſerving the venerable Eſteem of Antiquity, which they cannot ſubſiſt without, by ſparing the other. And yet I cannot ſee, why Bertram a Prieſt, who lived in the time of the Emperour Charles the Bold, which is about ſome ſeven hundred and fifty years ſince, ſhould be reckoned among the Moderns: and yet his Book, De Corpore & Sanguine Domini, is abſolutely, and without any limitation, forbidden to be read, in the Index of the Council of Trent, in the Letter B • among the Authorsof the ſecond Claſſis, as they call them. But yet the Cenſors of the Low Countries have dealt with him more gently, ſhall I ſay, or rather more cruelly; not taking his life away quite, only maiming him in the ſ • veral parts of his Body, and leaving him in the like ſad condition with Deiphobus in the Poet: —Lacerum crudeliter ora, Ora, manuſque ambas, populata que tempora, raptis Auribus, & truncas inboneſto vulnere nares. For they have cut you off, with one ſingle daſh of their Pen, two long Paſſages, conſiſting each of them of twenty eight, or thirty Lines a piece, and which are large enough to make up a very conſiderable part of a ſmall Treatiſe; ſuch as his is. And that the Reader may the better judge of the buſineſs, I ſhall here ſet down one of theſe Paſſages entire as it is. Bertram. Presbyt. lib. De Corp. & Sangu. Dom. Conſiderandum quoque, quod in pane illo non ſolùm corpus Chriſti, verùm etiam corpus in eum credentis populi figuretur: unde multis frumenti granis conficitur, quia corpus populi credentis multis per verbum Chriſti fidelibus augmentatur, (al. coagmentatur) Qua de re ficut myſterio panis ille Chriſti corpus acc • pitur; ſic etiam in myſterio membra populi credentis in Chriſtum intimantur. Et ſicut non corporaliter, ſed ſpititualiter panis ille credentium corpus dicitur: ſic quoque Chriſti corpus non corporaliter, ſed ſpiritualiter neceſſe eſt intelligatur. Sic & in vino, qui ſanguis Chriſti dicitur, aqua miſceri jubetur, nec unum ſine altero permittitur offerri, quia nec populus ſine Chriſto, nec Chriſtus ſine populo, ſicut nec caput ſine corpore, vel corpus ſine capite valet exiſtere. Igitur ſi vinum illud, ſanctificatum per miniſtrorum officium, in Chriſti ſarguinem corporaliter convertitur, aqua quoque, quae pariter admixta eſt, in ſanguinem populi credentis neceſſe eſt corporaliter convertatur. Ubi namque una ſanctificatio eſt, una conſequenter operatio; & ubi par ratio, par quoque conſequitur myſterium. At videmus in aqua ſecundum corpus nihil eſſe converſum, conſequenter ergo & in vino nihil corporaliter oſtenſum. Accipitur ſpiritualiter, quicquid in aqua de populi corpore ſignificatur; accipiatur ergò neceſſe eſt ſpiritualiter quicquid in vino de Chriſti ſanguine intimatur. I • em, quae à ſe differunt, idem non ſunt: Corpus Chriſti, quod mortuum eſt, & reſurrexit, & immortale factum jam non moritur, & mors illi ultrà non dominabitur, aeternum eſt, jam non paſſibile. Hoc autem, q • od in Eccleſia celebratur, temporale eſt, non aeternum; corruptibile eſt, non incorruptibile, in via eſt, non in patria, Differunt igitur à ſe, quapropter non ſunt idem. Quòd ſi non ſunt idem, quomodo verum Corpus Chriſti dicitur, & verus ſanguis? Si enim Corpus Chriſti eſt, & hoc dicitur verè quia Corpus Chriſti in veritate Corpus Chriſti eſt, & ſi in veritate Corpus Chriſti, incorruptibile eſt, & impaſſibile, ac per hoc aeternum. Hoc igitur Corpus Chriſti quod agitur in Eccleſia neceſſe eſt ut incorruptibile ſit, & aeternum. Sed negari non poteſt corrumpi, quod per partes commutatum diſpertitur ad ſumendum, & dentibus commolitum in corpus trajicitur. We ought further to conſider (ſaith Bertram, ſpeaking of the Holy Euchariſt,) that in this Bread is repreſented not only the Body of Chriſt, but the Body of the People alſo, that believe in him. And hence it is that it is made up of many ſeveral grains of wheat, becauſe that the whole Body of believing People is united together, and made into one, by the word of Chriſt. And therefore as it is by a Myſtery, that we receive this Bread, for the Body of Chriſt: in like manner it is by a Myſtery alſo, that the Members of the People believing in Chriſt, are here figured out unto us. And as this Bread is called the Body of Believers, not corporally, but ſpiritu • lly; ſo is the Body of Chriſt alſo neceſſarily to be underſtood to be repreſented here, not corporally, but ſpiritually. In like manner is it in the Wine, which is called the Blood of Chriſt; and with which it is ordained, that water be mixed; it being forbidden to offer the one without the other: becauſe that as the Head cannot ſubſiſt without the Body, nor the Body without the Head; in like manner neither can the People be without Chriſt, nor Chriſt without the People: ſo that in this Sacrament, the Water repreſenteth the Image of the People. If then the Wine, after it is conſecrated by the Office of Miniſters, be corporally changed into the Blood of Chriſt, of neceſſity then muſt the Water alſo be changed corporally into the Body of the Believing people: becauſe that where there is but one only, and the ſame Sanctification, there can be but one and the ſame Operation: and where the Reaſon is equal, the Myſtery alſo that fellows it is equal. But now as for the Water, we ſee that there is no ſuch corporal change wrought in it: it therefore follows, that neither in the Wine is there any corporal Tranſmutation. Whatſoever then of the Body of the People is ſignified unto us, by the Water, is taken ſpiritually: it followeth therefore neceſſarily, that we muſt, in like manner take ſpiritually, whatſoever the Wine repreſenteth unto us, of the Blood of Chriſt. Again, thoſe things, which differ among themſelves, are not the ſame: Now the Body of Chriſt which died, and was raiſed up to life again, now dieth no more, being become immortal; and Death having no more power over it, it is eternal, and free from further ſuffering. But this, which is Conſecrated in the Church, is Temporal, not Eternal; corruptible, not free from corruption; in its journey, and not in its native country. Theſe two things therefore are different one from the other, and conſequently cannot be one and the ſame thing. And if they be not one and the ſame thing, how can any man ſay, that this is the Real Body and Real Blood of Chriſt? For if it be the Body of Chriſt; and if it may be truly ſaid, that this Body of Chriſt is really and truly the Body of Chri • t: the Real Body of Chriſt being Incorruptible and Impaſſible, and therefore Eternal; conſequently this Body of Chriſt, which is conſecrate • in the Church, muſt of neceſſity alſo be both Incorruptible and Eternal. But it cannot be denied, but that it doth corrupt; ſeeing it is cut into ſmall pieces, and diſtributed (to the Communicants,) who bruiſe it very ſmall with their teeth, Index Expurg. Belq. in Bertram. Non malè aut inconſultè omittantur igitur omnia haec à fine p • ginae: Conſidera • dum quoque quod in pane illo, &c. Uſ que ad illud mul • ò poſt, Sed aliud eſt quod ex • eri •• geritur, &c. in cad. pag. Et ſeq. pag omnia illa ſequentia, Item quae idem ſunt, unâ definitione comprehenduntur, &c. Uſque ad illud, Hoc namque quod agitur in viâ, spiritualiter, &c. Seq. pag. and ſo take it down into their Body. Thus Bertram. His other paſſage, which is longer yet than this, is of the ſame Nature; but I ſhall not here ſet it down, to avoid prolixity. Now theſe Gentlemen finding, that the language of both theſe paſſages did very ill accord with the buſineſs of Tranſubſtantiation, they thought it the beſt way to cut them clear out: for fear, leſt coming to the Peoples knowledge, they might imagine, that there had been Sacramentarians in the Church, ever ſince the time of Charles the Bald.

Thou then whoever thou art, that thinkeſt thy ſelf bound to ſearch in the Writings of the Fathers for the Doctrine of thy Salvation, learn from this Artifice of theirs, and thoſe many other Cheats which we, to their great grief, are now ſearching into, what an extreme deſire they have to keep from us the Opinion, and ſenſe of the Ancients in all thoſe Particulars, where they never ſo little contradict their own Doctrine: and remembring withal, how they have had, and ſtill have every day, ſuch opportunities of doing what they pleaſe in this kind, thou canſt not doubt, but that they have ſtruck deep enough, where there was cauſe: which blows of theirs, together with the Alterations and Changes, that Time, the Malice of Hereticks, the innocent and pious Fraud of the Primitive Church, and the Paſſion of the later Chriſtians have long ſince produced, have rendred the Writings, and Venerable Monuments of Antiquity, ſo imbroiled and perplexed, that it will be a very hard matter for any man to make any clear and perfect diſcovery of thoſe things, which ſo many ſevéral Artiſts have endeavoured to conceal from U • .

AMongſt all the Eccleſiaſtical Writers, the Pen men of the Old and New Teſtament only have received the knowledge of Divine things by an extraordinary Inſpiration: the reſt have acquired their knowledge by the ordinary means of Inſtruction, Reading, and Meditation; in ſuch ſort, as that this Knowledge came not unto them in an inſtant, as it did to the others; but increaſed in them by degrees, ripening and growing up by little and little, in proportion as they grew in years: whence it is, that their Writings are not all of them of the ſame weight, nor of the ſame Value. For, who ſeeth not, that what they, as it were, ſportingly wrote in their younger years, is of much leſs conſideration than thoſe other Pieces which they wrote in their riper age? Who, for inſtance,Hier. Ep. 1. ad Heli • dor: vid. Ep. 2. ad Nepot. would equal the Authority of that Epiſtle of S. Hierome to Heliodorus, written by him when he had but newly left the Rhetorick Schools, being yet a Child, and full of that innocent and inconſiderate Heat which uſually attendeth thoſe years, to that of thoſe other graver Pieces, which he afterwards ſent abroad into the Church, when he had now arrived to his full ſtrength, and ripeneſs of Wi • , and to the perfection of his Studies? S. Auguſtine hath left us a remarkable Teſtimony, that the Fathers profited by Age and Study in the Knowledge of the Truth, when as in his old age, taking Pen in hand, he reviewed and corrected all that he had ever written during his whole Life; faithfully and ingenuouſly noting whatſoever he thought worthy of reprehenſion, and giving us all thoſe his Animadverſions collected together in the Books of his Retractations; which, in my judgment, is the moſt glorious and moſt excellent of all thoſe many Monuments which he hath left to Poſterity; whether you conſider here the Learning, or the Modeſty and Sincerity of the Man. Hier. ep. 65. de Erroribus Origenis. Ipſe Origenes in Epiſtola quam ſcribit ad Fabianum, Romanae urbis Epiſcopum, poenitentiam agit cur talia ſcripſerit, &c. S. Hierome reporteth, that Origen alſo, long before, had in his old age written an Epiſtle to Fabianus Biſhop of Rome, wherein he confeſſeth, That he repented him of many things which he had taught and written. Neither is there any doubt, but that ſome ſuch like thing may have hapned to moſt of the other Fathers; and that they may have ſometime diſallowed of that which they had formerly believed, as true. Now from this conſideration there falls in our way a new Difficulty, which we are to grapple with, in this our Inquiry into the true, genuine ſenſe of the Fathers, touching our preſent Controverſies. For, ſeeing that the Condition and Nature of their Writings is ſuch, it is moſt evident, that when we would make uſe of any of their Opinions, it will concern us to be very well aſſured, that they have not only ſometime either held or written the ſame; but that they have moreover perſevered in them to the end.Vincent. Lirinenſ. lib. adv. prof. Novit. ſeu Common. Whence Vincentius Lirinenſis, in that Paſſage of his which is ſo often urged, for the making uſe of the Ancient Authors in deciding our preſent Controverſies, thinks it not fit that we ſhould be bound to receive whatſoever they have ſaid, for certain and undoubted Truth, unleſs they have aſſured and confirmed it unto us by their Perſeverance in the ſame, as he there ſpeaketh. Cardinal Perron alſo evidently ſheweth us the ſame way, by his own practice: for, diſputing about the Canon of the Holy Scriptures (which he pretendeth to have been always the very ſame in the Weſtern Church, with that which is delivered unto us by the III Council of Carthage, where the Maccabees are recko • ed in among the reſt;) and finding himſelf hardly preſſed by ſome certain Paſſages alledged by the Proteſtants out of S. Hierome to the contrary, he anſwereth the Objection, by ſaying, among other things,Perron's Repl. l. 1. c. 50. That this Father, when he wrote the ſaid Paſſages, was not yet come to the ripeneſs of his Judgment, and perfection of his Studies; whereas afterwards, when he was now more fully inſtructed in the truth of the Senſe of the Church, he changed his Opinion, and retracted (as this Cardinal ſaith) both in general, and in particular, whatſoever he had before written in thoſe three Prologues, where he had excluded the Maccabees out of the Canon.Id. ibid. And ſo likewiſe, to another Objection brought to the ſame purpoſe, out of the Commentaries of S. Gregory the Great, he gives the like anſwer, ſaying, That S. Gregory, when he wrote that Piece, was not yet come to be Pope, but was a plain Deacon only, being at that time employed at Conſtantinople, as the Popes Nuncio to the Greeks. Now theſe Anſwers of his are either inſufficient; or elſe, it will neceſſarily follow from hence, That we ought not to reſt certainly ſatisfied in the Teſtimony of any Father, except we firſt be aſſured, that not only he never afterwards retracted that Opinion of his; but that, beſides, he wrote it in the ſtrength and ripeneſs of his Judgment. And ſee now how we are fallen into a new Labyrinth: For, firſt of all, from whence, and by what means may we be able to come truly and certainly to the knowledge of this Secret; when as we can hardly meet with any light Conjectures, tending to the making of this Diſcovery, namely, Whether a Father hath in his old age changed his Opinion, touching that Point for which it is produced againſt us, or not? If they had all of them been either able, or willing to have imitated the Modeſty of S. Auguſtine, we ſhould then have had little left to trouble us. But you will hardly find any, either of the Ancients, or of thoſe of Later times, that have followed this example; unleſs it be Cardinal Bellarmine, who hath lately thought good to revive this Piece of Modeſty, which had lain dead and buried for the ſpace of ſo many Ages together, by writing a Book of Retractations: which Book of his is very diverſly received by the Learned, as well of the one, as of the other Religion. But yet, if you will ſtand ſtiff upon it, with Cardinal Perron, and not allow the ſaying of a Father to be of any value, unleſs it were written by him after the Ripeneſs of his Studies; I ſhall then deſpair of our ever making any Progreſs, ſo much as one ſtep forward, by this means, in the buſineſs in hand. For, (will the one and the other Party ſay, upon every Teſtimony that ſhall be produced againſt them) how do we know whether this Father had yet arrived to the Ripeneſs of his Judgment, when he wrote this Book, or not? Who can tell whether or no thoſe days of his Life that he enjoyed after the Writing hereof, might not have beſtowed as well clearneſs on his Underſtanding, as Whiteneſs on his Head; and have changed his Judgment, as well as his Hair? We ſuppoſe here, that no ſuch thing appeareth in any of his other Writings. How many Authors are there who have changed their Opinions, and yet have not retracted what they had formerly written? But ſuppoſe now, that we ſhould have loſt that particular Tract wherein the Author had given Teſtimony of the changing of his Opinion; what ſhould we do in this cafe? If Time ſhould have deprived us of S. Auguſtine's Retractations, and ſome other of his later Writings, as it hath of an infinite number of other Pieces, both of his, and other of the Fathers, which would have been of as great importance to us, we muſt certainly have thought, that he had believed, that the Cauſe of Predeſtination is the Preſcience or Foreſeeing of the Faith of Men, reading but what he ſaith in one of the Books which he firſt wrote, namely, Auguſt. Expoſit. quar. prop. ex Ep. Rim. propoſit. 60. Non ergo elegit Deus opera cujuſquam in praeſcientiâ, quae ipſe daturus eſt: ſed •• dem elegit, &c. That God hath not elected the Works of any Man, according to his Preſcience; ſeeing that it is▪ He himſelf that gives the ſame to a Man: But, that he hath elected his Faith by His Preſ • ience; that is, He hath elected thoſe who He foreſaw would believe his Word; that is to ſay, He made choice of them to beſtow His Holy Spirit upon, that ſo by doing Good Works they might attain everlaſting. Life. Now would the Pelagians and Semipelagians have brought this Paſſage as an infallible Argument that S. Auguſtine was of their Opinion; but that his Retractations, and his other Books which were written afterwards, in his later time, clearly make it appear, that this Argument is of no force at all; foraſmuch as this Learned Father, having afterwards better conſidered of this Point, wholly altered his Opinion: Id. Retract. lib. 1. cap 23. Nondum diligentiùs quaeſiveram, nec adhuc inveneram, qualis ſit Electio Gratiae, de qua idem dicit Apoſtolus, Reliquiae, &c. I had not (ſaith he) as yet diligently enough inquired into, nor found out, what the Election of Grace was, whereof the Apoſtle ſpeaketh in theſe words; There is a Remnant (to be ſaved) according to the Election of Grace: which certainly is not Grace, if any Merits preceded it; ſo that that which is given, ſhould be rendred rather as due to the Merits, than as given freely by Grace. Now who knoweth, but that among thoſe Fathers whom we ſo confidently alledge every day, ſome of them may have retracted thoſe things which we at this day read in their Works; and that Time may have devoured their Retractations of thoſe their Opinions, and may have left us only their Errors? Beſides, who knows, and can truly inform us, what Date their Writings bear? Whether they were the Fruits of their Spring, or of their Summer, or of their Autumn? Whether they were gathered green, or were ſuffered to ripen upon the Tree? Doubtleſs this whole Inquiry is very dark; there being ſcarcely any mark of their Seaſon to be found upon the greateſt part of them. There are indeed ſome few of them, that have ſome of theſe Marks; but yet they are ſo doubtful and uncertain ones, as that the moſt able and choiceſt Wits are ſometimes deceived in this their Inquiry. And when all is done, who knoweth not, that there are ſome Trees that bear their Summer-fruit even in the very beginning of the Summer, when as the Spring-time is yet hardly paſt? And again, the Fruits which are gathered at the end of the Later Seaſon, are not always the ripeſt: for Time, in ſtead of ripening, many times rotteth them. In like manner is it alſo with Men, and conſequently with the Fathers. Sometimes their Summer yieldeth much more, and better Fruit than their Autumn. For, as for the Winter, that is to ſay, the laſt part of our Age, it is evident that it uſually brings forth nothing at all, or if it do chance to force it ſelf beyond Nature, the Fruits it bringeth forth are yet worſe, and more crude and imperfect, than thoſe even of the Spring. Seeing therefore it is for the moſt part impoſſible to give any certain judgment of theſe things, either by the Hiſtory of theſe Authors, or by their Books themſelves; and that again on the other ſide, without this we ought not to ſit down upon any thing we find in their Writings, as reckoning we have made a diſcovery what their Opinions have been: we may ſafely conclude in this Point alſo, as we have done in the former, That it is a very hard matter to know truly and preciſely what the Opinions and Senſe of the Ancients have been, touching the Differences at this day debated amongſt us.

THoſe who make moſt account of the Writings of the Fathers, and who urge them the oftneſt in their Diſputations, do inform us, That the weight of their Sayings in theſe Matters proceeds from hence, that they are as ſo many Teſtimonies of the General Senſe and Judgment of the Church; to which alone theſe men attribute the Supreme Power of Judging in Controverſies of Religion. For, if we ſhould conſider them ſeverally, each by himſelf, and as they ſtand by their own ſtrength onely, they confeſs, that they may chance to erre. So that it will follow hence, That to the end we may make uſe of the Teſtimonies of the Fathers, it is not ſufficient for us to know whether ſuch or ſuch Sayings be truly theirs; and, if ſo, what the meaning of them is: but we ought further alſo to be very well aſſured, that they are conformable to the Belief of the Church in their time: in like manner as in a Court of Judicature, the Opinion of any ſingle Perſon of the Bench is of no weight at all, as to the paſſing of Judgment, unleſs it be conformable to the Opinion of all the reſt, or at leaſt of the Major Part of the Company. And now ſee how we are fallen again into new Difficulties. For, whence, and by what means may we learn, whether the whole Church, in the time of Juſtin Martyr, or of S. Auguſtine, or of S. Hierome, maintained the ſame Opinions in every particular, that theſe Men ſeverally did, or not? I confeſs, that the Charity of theſe Men was very great; and that they very heartily and conſtantly embraced the Body and Subſtance of the Belief of the Church, in all Particulars that they ſaw apparently to be ſuch. But, where the Church did not at all deliver it ſelf, and expreſly declare what its Senſe was; they could not poſſibly, how great ſoever their deſire of ſo doing might have been, follow its Authority, as the Rule of their Opinions. Whereſoever therefore they treat of Points which were long ſince decided, believed, and received, expreſly, and poſitively, by the whole Chriſtian Church, either of their own Age, or of any of the preceding Ages; it is very probable that they did conform to what was believed by the Church; ſo that, in theſe Caſes, their Saying may very well paſs for a Teſtimony of the Judgment and Senſe of the Church; it being very improbable, that they could be either ignorant what was the Publick Doctrine of the Church; or that knowing the ſame, they would not follow it. As for example, when Athanaſius, S. Ambroſe, S. Hierome, S. Auguſtine, and others, diſcourſe touching the Son of God, they ſpeak nothing but what is conformable to the Belief of the Church in General; becauſe that the Belief of the Church had then been clearly and expreſly delivered upon this Point: ſo that whatſoever they ſay, as to this Particular, may ſafely be received, as a Teſtimony of the Churches Belief. And the like may be done in all the other Points, which have either been poſitively determined in any of the General Councils, or delivered in any of the Creeds, or that any other way appeareth to have been the publick Belief of the Church. If the Fathers had but contained themſelves within theſe Bounds, and had not taken liberty to treat of any thing, ſave what the Church had clearly delivered its Judgment upon; this Rule might then have been received as a General one; and, what opinion ſoever we found in them, we might ſafely have concluded it to have been the Senſe of the Church that was in their time. But the curioſity of Mans Nature, together with the Impudence of the Hereticks, and the Tenderneſs of Conſcience, whether of their own or of others, and divers other Reaſons perhaps, having partly made them willingly, and partly forced, and as it were conſtrained them to go on further, and to proceed to the ſearch of the Truth of ſeveral Points, which had not as yet been eſtabliſhed by the univerſal and publick Conſent of all Chriſtians, it could not be avoided, but that neceſſarily they muſt in theſe Inquiries make uſe of their own proper Light, and muſt deliver upon the ſame their own private Opinions; which the Church, which came after them, hath ſince either embraced, or rejected. I ſhall not here ſtand to prove this my Aſſertion, ſince it is a thing that is confeſſed on all hands, and whereof the Romaniſts make ſpecial uſe upon all occaſions, in anſwering ſeveral Objections brought againſt them out of the Fathers. As, for example,Bellarm. de Rom. Pont. l 4. c. 14. Sect. Reſpondeo in primis, &c. where Cardinal Bellarmine excuſeth the Error of Pope John XXII, touching the ſtate of the Departed Souls, before the Reſurrection, by ſaying, that the Church in his time had not as yet determined any thing touching this Particular. And ſo likewiſe, where he applies the ſame Plaiſter to that (in his Judgment) ſo unſound Opinion of Pope Nicolas I, who maintained That Baptiſm adminiſtred in the Name of Jeſus Chriſt onely, without expreſſing the other Perſons of the Holy Trinity, was not withſtanding valid and effectual. Id. ibid. c. 12. Sect. Reſpond. Nicolaum, &c. Non invenitur ulla certa definitio Eccleſiae de hac re. Id. ibid Sect. ult. ex his. This is a Point (ſaith Bellarmine) touching which we find not the Church to have determined any thing. And, how dangerous, and almoſt Heretical ſoever the Opinion of thoſe Men ſeem to him to be, who hold, That the Pope of Rome may fall into Hereſie; yet doth he permit Pope Adrian to hold the ſame, not daring to rank him among the Hereticks, becauſe that the Church had not as yet clearly and definitively delivered it ſelf touching this Point. The ſame Bellarmine, in another Controverſie of great importance, touching the Canonical Books of the Old Teſtament, finding himſelf hardly put to it, by his Adverſaries urging againſt him the Authority of S. Hierome, who caſts Tobit, the Book of Wiſdom, Eccleſiaſticus, and the Maccabees, out of the Canon, contrary to the Judgment of the Church of Rome, which receiveth them in▪ rids his hands of this Objection, after the ſame manner. I confeſs (ſaith he) that S. Hierome held this Opinion, becauſe that no General Council had as yet ordained any thing touching theſe Books. Seeing therefore it is moſt clear, both from the Confeſſion of our Adverſaries, and alſo by the conſideration of the thing it ſelf, that the Fathers have ven • ed in their Writings very many of their own particular Opinions, digeſted out of their own private Meditations, and which they had not learnt in the School of the Church; who ſees not, that before we give any certain credit unto their Sayings, we ought firſt to be aſſured of what Nature they are? Whether they were their own particular Opinions onely, or the publick Senſe of their Age? Since it is confeſſed by all, That thoſe of the former ſort are not always obligatory neceſſarily; but are ſuch as oftentimes may, and ſometimes ought to be rejected, without any ſcruple at all. You will object, perhaps, to a Proteſtant, That S. Hierome▪ worſhipped the Reliques of Departed Saints. How ſhall I know (will he reply upon you again) whether this was his private Opinion onely, or not? If the Authority of this Father, for want of being grounded upon ſome Publick Declaration of the Church, could not bind Bellarmine to receive his Opinion, touching the Canon of the Old Teſtament; why ſhould this Opinion of his, which is not any whit better grounded than the other, perſwade me to the Worſhip of Reliques? The ſame will he reply upon you, and many times with much more appearance of Reaſon, concerning divers other Teſtimonies produced out of the Fathers. So that, whether you would confirm your own Faith, or whether you would wreſt out of your Adverſaries hand this manner of Reply, and make good all ſuch Allegations; it will concern you to make it clear, concerning any Paſſage whatſoever, that you ſhall urge out of a Father, that it is not his own private Opinion, but was the Opinion of the Church it ſelf wherein he lived: which, in my Judgment, is a thing that is as hard, or harder to be demonſtrated, than any one of all thoſe things we have yet diſcourſed of. For, thoſe means by which we might eaſily attain to this Knowledge, are wanting unto us; and thoſe which we have left us, are very weak, and very little concluding. If the Fathers themſelves had but taken ſo much pains as to have diſtinguiſhed betwixt theſe two ſorts of Opinions, informing us in every particular Caſe, which were their own private Opinions only, and which were taught by the whole Church; or, at leaſt, had but propoſed ſome of them as Doubtful, and others again as Aſſured Truths, in like manner as Origen hath ſometimes done; they would indeed have eaſed us very much: though, to ſay the truth, they would not have wholly cured us of our Grief: foraſmuch as ſometimes (as we ſhall hereafter make it appear) they attribute to the Church thoſe things,Infr. l. 2. c. 1. which it is moſt evident that it never held. But they very ſeldom uſe to make any ſuch Diſtinction, but commonly • ent their own private Opinions in the very ſame manner as they do the publick▪ and ſometimes alſo, by reaſon of the Paſſion, which theſe Authors may chance naturally to have been ſubject unto, be the thing what it will, we ſhall have them recommending unto us with more eagerneſs, that which they have conceived, and brought forth themſelves, than that which they have received from any other hand: ſo that we ſhall meet with very little in them, that may give us any light in this Particular. There would be left us yet another help in this buſineſs, by comparing that which they ſay here and there throughout their Writings, with the Publick Opinions of the Church, which would be a pretty ſafe and certain Rule to go by, had we any where elſe beſides their Books, any clear and certain evidence, what the Belief of the Church hath been, in each ſeveral Age, touching all Points of Religion: and if this were ſo, we ſhould not then need to trouble our ſelves with the ſtudying the Writings of the Fathers; ſeeing that we read them for no other purpoſe, but only to diſcover out of them, what the opinion of Chriſtendom hath been, touching thoſe Points which are at this day controverted betwixt us. But now there is no man but knows, but this help is wanting to us. For, ſetting aſide the Creeds, and the Determinations of the ſix firſt General Councils, and of ſome few of the Provincial, you will not meet with any Piece of this nature, throughout the whole ſtock of Antiquity. Now, (as we have already made it appear in the preceding Chapter,) the Ancient Church hath not any where declared, neither in its Creeds, nor in the aforeſaid Councils, what the opinion and ſenſe of it hath been, touching the greateſt part of thoſe Points, which are now in diſpute amongſt us. It followeth therefore, that by this means we ſhall never be able to diſtinguiſh, in the Writings of the Fathers, which were their own private opinions, and which they held in common with the reſt of the Church. If we could indeed learn from any creditable Author, that the preſent Controverſies had ever been decided by the Ancient Church; we ſhould then readily believe, that the Fathers would have followed this their Deciſion: and then, although the Co • ſtitutions themſelves ſhould not perhaps have come down to our hands, yet notwithſtanding ſhould we be in ſome ſort obliged to believe, that the Fathers who had both ſeen, and aſſented to the ſame, would alſo have delivered over the ſenſe of them unto us in their Writings. But we meet with no ſuch thing in any Author: but it rather appears evidently to the contrary, through the whole courſe of Eccleſiaſtical Story, that theſe Matters were never ſo much as ſtarted, in the firſt Ages of Chriſtianity; ſo far have they been from being then decided. So that it manifeſtly appeareth from hence, that if the Fathers of thoſe Primitive times have by chance ſaid any thing of them; they fetched not what they ſaid from the Determinations of the Church, which had not as yet declared it ſelf touching the ſame; but vented rather their own private thoughts and opinions. Neither will it be to any purpoſe to object here, that the Teſtimonies of many Fathers together do repreſent unto us the ſence of the Church; although the voice of one or two ſingle perſons only is not ſufficient to do the ſame. For, not to anſwer, that that which hath hapned to one, may have hapned to many others; and, that if ſome particular perſons chance to have fallen upon ſome particular Opinions, poſſibly others may either have accompanied, or elſe have followed them in the ſame: I ſay further, that this Objection is of no force at all in this Particular. For, ſeeing that the Church had not as yet declared its opinion publickly, touching the Points at this day controverted; it is as impoſſible that many together, that lived in the ſame time, ſhould repreſent it unto us, as that one ſingle perſon ſhould. How could they poſſibly have ſeen that; which lay as yet concealed? How could they poſſibly meaſure their Belief by ſuch a Rule, as was not yet viſible to the World? The Chiliaſts alledge the Teſtimonies, not of one, not of two, but of a very great number of the moſt eminent and the moſt ancient among the Fathers, who were all of their opinion as we ſhall ſee hereafter. The Anſwer, that is ordinarily made to the Objection, is, That the Church having not as yet declared its ſence touching this Point, the Teſtimonies of theſe Men bind us not to believe the ſame: which is an evident Argument, that a great number, in this caſe, ſignifies no more than a ſmall, in the repreſenting unto us, what the Belief of the Church hath been; and that it is neceſſary, that either by ſome General Council, or elſe by ſome other publick way, it muſt have declared its judgment touching any Queſtion in debate that ſo we may know whether the Fathers have been of the ſame judgment, or no. So that according to this Account, we are to raiſe up again the whole Ancient Church, and to call it to account, touching every of theſe particular Points now debated, touching which the Teſtimonies of the Fathers are alledged; it being impoſſible otherwiſe to give any certain judgment, whether that which they ſay be their own private, or elſe the publick Opinion; that is to ſay, whether it be fit to be believed, or not. So that any man, that is but of the meaneſt judgment, may eaſily perceive how that it is not only a difficult, but alſo almoſt an impoſſible thing, to gather out of the Writings of the Fathers ſo much light, as is neceſſary we ſhould have, for our ſatisfaction in matters of ſo great importance.

BEfore we paſs on to the Second Part of this Treatiſe, it ſeemeth not impertinent to give the Reader this Laſt Advertiſement, and to let him know, that though all theſe Difficulties here before repreſented were removed, yet notwithſtanding would it ſtill be impoſſible for us to know certainly, out of the Fathers, what the Judgment of the whole Ancient Church, whether you mean the Church Univerſal, or but any conſiderable Part thereof, hath been, touching the Differences which are now on foot in Religion. Now that we may be able to make the truth of this Propoſition appear, it is neceſſary that we ſhould firſt of all explain the Terms.

We underſtand commonly by the Church, (eſpecially in theſe Diſputations) either all thoſe Perſons in General who profeſs themſelves to be of the ſaid Church, of what Condition or Quality ſoever they be; or elſe, in a ſtricter ſenſe, the Collective Body of all thoſe who are ſet over, and who are Repreſentatives of the Church; that is to ſay, the Clergy. So that whether you ſpeak of the Church Univerſal, or of ſome Particular Church, as, for example, that of Spain, or of Carthage, this Term may be taken in either of theſe two ſenſes. For, by the Church Univerſal, we underſtand either all thoſe Perſons in general who live in the Communion of the Chriſtian Church, whether they be of the Laity, or of the Clergy; or elſe, thoſe Perſons onely who are Eccleſiaſtici, or Church-men, as we now call them. For, in the Primitive Times, all Chriſtians that lived in the Communion of the Catholicks, were called Eccleſiaſtici. In like manner, by the Church of Carthage, is meant either generally All the Faithful that live in the particular Communion of the Chriſtian Church of Carthage; or elſe particularly, and in a ſtricter ſenſe, the Biſhop of Carthage, with his whole Clergy. Now I do not believe that there is any Man but will eaſily grant me, that if we take the Church in the Firſt ſenſe, it is impoſſible to know, by way of Teſtimony given of the ſame, what the Senſe and Judgment of it hath been in each ſeveral Age, touching all the Points of Chriſtian Religion. We may indeed collect, by way of Diſcourſe, what hath been the Belief of the True Members of the Church: For there being ſome certain Articles, the Belief whereof is neceſſarily requiſite for the rendring a Man ſuch an one; whoſoever rightly underſtands which theſe Articles be, he may certainly conclude, that the True Church, whether Univerſal, or Particular, hath believed the ſame. But now, in the firſt place, this doth not extend to all the Points of Chriſtian Religion, but onely to thoſe which are Neceſſary: beſides which, there are divers others, concerning which we may have not only different, but even contrary Judgments too; and yet not thereby hazard the loſs either of the Communion of the Church, or of our Inheritance of everlaſting Salvation. So then, this Ratiocination concludeth not, ſave onely of thoſe who are the True Members of the Church. For as for thoſe who make but an outward Profeſſion onely of the Truth, it being not at all neceſſary that they ſhould be ſaved, there is in like manner no more neceſſity of their embracing thoſe Beliefs which are requiſite for that end. They may, under this Mask, hide all manner of Opinions, how Impious ſoever they be. Laſtly, that which makes moſt for our purpoſe is, That this Knowledge is acquired by Diſcourſe, whereas we ſpeak here of ſuch a Knowledge as is collected by the hearing of ſeveral Witneſſes, who give in their Teſtimonies touching the thing which we would know. Now the Fathers having written with a purpoſe of informing us, not what each particular Man believed in their time, but rather what they thought fit that all Men ſhould have believed; we muſt needs conclude, That certainly they have not told us all that they knew touching this particular. And conſequently therefore, partly their Charity, and partly alſo their Prudence, may have cauſed them to paſs by in ſilence all ſuch Opinions, either of whole Companies, or of particular Perſons, as they conceived to be not ſo conſonant to the Truth. But ſuppoſing that they had not any of theſe conſiderations, and that they had taken upon them to give us a juſt Account, each Man of the Opinions of his particular Church wherein he lived; it is evident however, that they could never have been able to have attainēd to the end of this their Deſign. For, how is it poſſible that they ſhould have been able to have learnt what the Opinion of every ſingle Perſon was, amongſt ſo vaſt a Multitude, which conſiſted of ſo many ſeveral Perſons, who were of ſo different both Capacities and Diſpoſitions? Who will believe, that S. Cyprian, for example, knew all the ſeveral Opinions of each particular Perſon in his Dioceſs, ſo as to be able to give us an account of the ſame? Who can imagine, but that among ſuch a Multitude of People as lived in the Communion of his Church, there muſt needs have been very many who differed in Opinion from him, in divers Points of Religion? Even at this very day, that we may not trouble our ſelves to look ſo high, we ſee by experience, that there is ſcarcely that Pariſh to be found, how ſmall ſoever it be, where there are not particular Perſons that maintain, in many Points of Religion, different Opinions from thoſe of their Miniſter. But if we take a whole Dioceſs together, and paſs by all thoſe who trouble themſelves not at all with the difference of Opinions in Religion, whether it be by reaſon of their want of years, or their weakneſs of Judgment, or their malice; and take notice only of the reſt, dividing them according to the difference of their Opinions, I am verily perſwaded, that that part which ſhall agree in all Points with the Biſhop of that Dioceſs, will many times be found to be the leaſt. Let a Biſhop preach or write what he will, touching the Points which are now in Controverſie, he will very hardly repreſent unto you the Judgment of half the People of his Dioceſs. Now we muſt conceive, that the temper of the World of old was no other than what it is at this preſent day: and therefore alſo, for this very reaſon, the liberty of embracing what Opinions a man pleaſed, was much greater then, than it is now; foraſmuch as the Church of Rome did not exerciſe its Power then throughout Chriſtendom ſo Abſolutely as it doth now adays: neither did the Paſtors, or the Princes, uſe that ſeverity and rigour which is now every where practiſed in our days; for the repreſſing this diverſity of Opinions. We muſt therefore neceſſarily believe, that the Opinions of the Faithful were in thoſe days altogether as different, if not much more, than they are now. Whence it will alſo follow, That even the Doctors themſelves, who lived in thoſe Times, could not know all the different Opinions of Men, much leſs could they repreſent them unto us in their Writings. But we ſhall not ſtand any longet upon a thing that no Man can deny us; but ſhall rather proceed to the conſideration of that which every one no doubt will be ready here to reply upon us, touching this Particular; namely, That it is not neceſſary that we ſhould know the Opinions, in Points of Religion, of all particular Perſons, which are almoſt infinite in number, and for the moſt part very • ill grounded, and uncertain: but that it is ſufficient if we know what the Belief hath been of the Paſtors, and thoſe that have been ſet over the Church, that is to ſay, of the Church taken in the latter ſenſe. But yet I confeſs I do not ſee that this Rule is ſo abſolutely right, as that we ought to walk by it. For, if we are to take the Church for the Rule and Foundation of our Faith, (as the Authors of this Reply pretend we ought to do) the People, in my Judgment, ought not then to be here excluded, and paſſed by, as a thing of no conſideration. I confeſs, the Opinions of particular Perſons are very different one from the other; and the knowledge of ſome of them is very mean, and ſometimes alſo is none at all. But yet poſſibly this Reaſon may chance to exclude even a good part of the Clergy alſo, from the Authority which they lay claim to in this Particular; being it cannot be denied, but that both Ignorance and Malice have oftentimes as great a ſhare here, proportionably, as they have among the very People it ſelf. Who ſees not, that, if we muſt have regard to the Capacity of Men, there are ſometimes found, even among the plain ordinary ſort of Chriſtians in a Church, thoſe that are more conſiderable, both for their Learning and Piety, than the Paſtors themſelves? Ambroſ. Ser. 17. T. 4. p 725. Plerum que Clerus erravit: Sacerdotum nutavit ſententia: divites cum ſaeculi iſtius terreno Rege ſenſerunt; Populus ſidem propriam reſervavit. One of thoſe Fathers, of whom we now diſcourſe, hath informed us, That many times the Clergy have erred, the Biſhop hath wavered in his Opinion, the Rich Men have adhered in their Judgment to the Earthly Princes of this World; mean-while the People alone preſerved the Faith entire. Seeing therefore that it may ſometimes happen, and that it hath alſo many times hapned, that the Clergy have held Erroneous Opinions, while the People onely held the True, it is very evident, in my judgment, that the Opinion of the People in theſe caſes ought not wholly to be neglected. And truly, S. Cyprian telleth us in divers places, That the Church in his time had the People in very great eſteem; no Buſineſs of any importance being then tranſacted, without communicating the ſame to the People; as may be ſeen by any one, in the Epiſtles of this Father: inſomuch that, C Cypr. in Conc Parthag. p 397. • raeſente etiam plebis maximâ parte. The greateſt part of the People alſo were preſent at the Council of Carthage, where the Queſtion touching the Baptiſm of Hereticks was debated; whereof we have already ſpoken ſomewhat a little before. But becauſe this Point is ſtill controverted, I ſhall let it alone for this time. Let us therefore grant, (ſince our Adverſaries will needs have it ſo) that it is ſufficient in this caſe to know what the Belief was of the Church, taken in the later and ſtricter ſenſe; that is to ſay, of the Clergy: for even this way it is evident enough,, that it is a very hard, if not an impoſſible thing, truly to diſcover what it hath been in each ſeveral Age. For, there is no leſs diverſity of Opinion among the Clergy, than there is among the People: and many times too there is much more; the being converſant in Books, ordinarily reducing things into nicer ſubtilties, and giving occaſion of raiſing divers Opinions upon the ſame. Who is he that will undertake to give us an Account what the Opinion is of all the Clergy of one City onely; I do not ſay of a Kingdom, or of all Chriſtendom; touching all the Articles of Religion? Who would be able to perform this, if he ſhould undertake it? Never was there more exact care taken for the Conſervation of Uniformity in Judgment among Chriſtians, than is now at this day; when there is uſe made, not only of the Cenſures and Thunderbolts of the Church, but even of the Fire and the Sword of the Secular Powers alſo. And yet, notwithſtanding all this, how many Eccleſiaſtical Perſons are there to be found, even in thoſe very places where theſe rigorous Courſes are obſerved with the greateſt ſtrictneſs, even at Rome it ſelf, and as it were in the Popes own Boſom, who differ very much in Judgment touching Points of Religion, both from their Equals, and from their Superiours? In France, where, by the Bleſſing of God, the Liberty of Conſcience is much greater than in other places, it would be a wonder, if, where Four Clergy Men of the more Learned, and Politer ſort were met together, Two of them ſhould not, upon ſome Point or other of the Faith, differ in judgment from the Main Body of their Church. And here I am to intreat all thoſe who follow Caſſander in great numbers, adoring the Monuments of the Fathers, and who take whatſoever they find in him, for the General Senſe of the Ancient Chriſtians, but to turn their eyes back a little upon themſelves, and to conſider, how many opinions they themſelves hold, which are not only different, but even quite contrary too to the Church, in the Communion whereof they live, and of which they profeſs themſelves to be Members, and by which indeed they ſubſiſt. The Difference is here ſo great, as that it ſeems to be, as it were, one State within another State, and one Church within another Church. And yet notwithſtanding, when any of the Doctors of that Party, to which they adhere, deliver unto us, either in their Definitions, or in their Sermons, or in their Books, the common Senſe, and Judgment of their Church, this Intermixture of Opinions is quite laid aſide, and appears not at all. They ſpeak only of the opinions of others, paſſing by thoſe of Caſſander, which are contrary to them, in ſilence, as if they did not at all concern the Church of Rome neither more nor leſs: and yet it is very well known unto us, even to us who live at this very day, that they are favoured, and maintained by very many of the moſt Eminent Perſons of the Roman Clergy it ſelf. And if this ſenſeleſs Sect, who forſooth think themſelves much more refined in their opinions than the reſt of the Body whereof they are a part, ſhould chance in time either to fail of it ſelf, or to be ſuppreſt by force; their▪ Memory would ſo utterly come to nought, as that Poſterity would not know any thing of their Belief, but only by conjecture. Every one will then believe, that the Church of Rome at this time preciſely held to the Doctrine and Opinions that he reads in the Decrees of Trent, and in other the like Books: and yet notwithſtanding we both know, and ſee, that among thoſe very Perſons, which have been Anointed, Conſecrated, and Preferred alſo by the ſaid Church, there is a Party that diſſenteth from it in judgment, touching divers Important Articles of Faith. Let us therefore reckon, that the Ancient Church had alſo its Caſſanders, and very many even among the Clergy it ſelf, who held many opinions which were different from that which was the common Belief of the Church, and which it hath at length by little and little ſunk, as it were, under water, and wholly ſwallowed up, ſo that now there is not any Tract of them left us. Chriſtianity was either different in the Ancient times from what it is now, or elſe it was the ſame. If it was Different, it is then a Piece of meer Sophiſtry, to endeavour to make it ſeem to be the ſame; and a very great Abuſe, to produce unto us, for this purpoſe, ſo many ſeveral Teſtimonies out of Antiquity. If it were the ſame, it muſt then without all doubt have produced the ſame Accidents, and have ſown the ſame ſeeds of diverſity of opinions in the ſpirits of its Clergy. Thoſe opinions and obſervations which now give offence to the Caſſandriſts, would then alſo have offended ſome perſons or other, that were endued with the like Moderation. For we are not to conceive, but that thoſe Firſt Ages of Chriſtianity brought forth Spirits, that were as much, and more refined and delicate, than ours have done. But that we may inſiſt upon this particular no longer, it is ſufficient for me, that I have thus clearly made it appear, that in the Ancient Church, the whole Clergy of a City, or of a Nation, much leſs of the whole World, had not neceſſarily one and the ſame ſenſe and opinion, touching Points of Religion. So that it will follow from hence, that we cannot know certainly, whether thoſe opinions which we meet withal in the Fathers, were received by all and every of the Paſtors of the Church at that time, or not. All that you can gather thence is but this at the moſt; that they themſelves, and ſome others perhaps of the moſt eminent amongſt them (if you pleaſe,) maintained ſuch or ſuch opinions: in like manner, as that which Bellarmine, and others have written, touching the Sacrament of the Euchariſt, will inform Poſterity, that theſe Men, and many others of our time, held theſe opinions in the Church of Rome. But as thoſe who ſhall conclude from the Books of theſe Authors, that there is at this day no other opinion maintained, among the Clergy themſelves of the Church of Rome, touching this Particular, would very much abuſe themſelves; ſo is it much to be feared that we in like manner deceive our ſelves, when, from what we find in Two or Three of the Fathers, we conclude, that there was at that time no other opinion held in the Chriſtian Church, touching thoſe Points whereof they treat, ſave that which they have delivered. It is a very hazardous buſineſs, to take Eight or Ten Men, how Holy and Learned ſoever they may have been, as Sureties for all the Doctors of the Church Univerſal, that lived in their Age. This is too little Security, for ſo great a Sum.

Now there are Two things, which may be objected againſt that which we have before delivered. The Firſt is, that if there had been in Antiquity any other opinions touching the Points now in Debate, which had been different from thoſe which we now meet with in the Books, either of all the Fathers, or at leaſt of ſome few of them; they would then both have mentioned, and alſo refuted them. But we have already heretofore anſwered this Objection, by ſaying, that the Fathers forbare to ſpeak any thing of this Diverſity of opinion, partly out of Prudence, leſt otherwiſe they might have provoked the Authors of the ſaid opinions, which were contrary to their own; and ſo might increaſe the Difference, inſtead of appeaſing it: and partly alſo out of Charity; mildly bearing with that, which they accounted not any whit dangerous. I only ſpeak here of thoſe Differences in opinion, which they knew of: for there might be a great number of others, which they knew not of. Who can oblige you to believe, that a Monk, for example, that had retired into a Corner, and as it were forſaken the World, profeſſing only to inſtruct a ſmall number of Men and Women in the Rules of Devotion, muſt needs have known, what the opinions in Points of Religion of all the Prelates of his Age were? Who will paſs his word unto us, in his behalf, that he doth not ſometimes reprove that in ſome Men, which yet the Church allowed in an infinite number of others? Who will warrant us, that all Chriſtendom in his time embraced all his opinions, and had no other of their own? Poſſevine anſwering an Objection made by ſome,Poſſevine in Appar. touching the Works of Dionyſius the Areopagite, which S. Hierome hath made no mention of at all, ſaith; that it is no great marvel, that a Man that lay hid in a Corner of the World, ſhould not have ſeen this Book, which the Arrians endeavoured to ſuppreſs. May not a Man with as much reaſon ſay, that it is no great wonder, if S. Hierome, or Epiphanius, or any other the like Authors, who were taken up all of them with their particular Charges, and Imployments, did not know of ſome opinions of the Prelates of their Age; or that either their Modeſty, or their Charity, or the little Eloquence, and Repute they had abroad, might have made them conceal the ſame?

The other Objection is drawn from hence, becauſe that theſe Doctors of the Ancient Church, who held ſome opinions different from thoſe which we read at this day in the Fathers, did not publiſh them at all. But, I anſwer firſt of all, that every Man is not able to do) ſo. In the next place, thoſe that were able, were not always willing to do ſo. Divers other Conſiderations may perhaps alſo have hindred them from ſo doing: and if they are Wiſe, and Pious Men, they are never moved, till they needs muſt. And hence it is, that oftentimes thoſe opinions, which have leſs truth in them, do yet prevail; becauſe that Prudence, which maintains the True Opinion, is Mild, and Patient: whereas Raſhneſs, which defends the Falſe, is of a Froward, Eager, and Ambitious Nature. But now let us but imagine, how many of the Evidences of this Diverſity of opinion may have been made away, by thoſe ſeveral ways before repreſented by us; as namely having been either devoured by Time, or ſuppreſſed by Malitious Men; for fear leſt they ſhould let the World ſee the Traces of the Truth, which they would have concealed? But that I may not be thought to bring here only bare Conjectures, without any proof at all, I ſhall produce ſome Examples alſo, for the confirming, and clearing of this my Aſſertion.

Epiphanius maintains againſt Aerius, Epiph. in Panar. Haer. 75. whom he ranks among his Haereſiarchae, or Arch Hereticks that a Biſhop, according to the Apoſtle Saint Paul, and the Original Inſtitution of the thing it ſelf, is more than a Prieſt: and this he endeavours to prove in many words, anſwering all the Objections, that are made to the contrary. If you but read the Paſſage, I am confident that when you had done, you would not ſtick to ſwear, that what he hath there delivered, was the general opinion of all the Doctors of the Church; it being very unlikely, that ſo Great, and ſo Renowned a Prelate would ſo ſlatly have denied the opinion which he diſputed againſt, if ſo be any one of his own familiar friends had alſo maintained the ſame. And yet for all this, Saint Hierome (who was one of the Principal Lights of our Weſtern Church, and who lived at the ſame time with Epiphanius, who was his intimate Friend, and a great admirer of his Piety,) ſaith expreſly, Hieron. Ep. 〈◊〉 ad O •• an. Tom. 2. Quanquam apud veteres iidem Epiſcopi & Presbyteri ſucrint: quia illud nomen dignitatis eſt, hoc aetatis. Id. ep. 85. ad Ev • gr. Tom. 2. Cùm Apoſtolus perſpicuè doceat, eoſdem eſſe Presbyteros, quos & Epiſcopos, &c. Id. Com. in Ag. Tom. 5. p. 512. Et Com. in Tit. Tom 6. p. 443. Fuſ. that Among the Ancients, Biſhops, and Prieſts, were the ſame; the one being a name of Dignity, and the other of Age. And that it may not be thought, that this fell from him in diſcourſe only, he there falls to proving the ſame at large, alledging ſeveral Paſſages of Scripture, touching this Particular; and he alſo repeats the ſame thing, in two or three ſeveral places of his Works. Whereby it evidently appears, that even Poſitions which have been quite Contradictory to the opinions which have been delivered, and maintained by ſome of the Fathers, and propoſed in what terms ſoever, have notwithſtanding been ſometimes either maintained, or at leaſt tolerated by ſome others of 〈◊〉 leſs Authority. S. Hierome himſelf hath • al • extreamly foul upon Ruffinus, and hath traduced divers of his opinions, as moſt Pernicious and Deadly: and yet notwithſtanding we do not any where find, that ever he was accounted as an Heretick, by the reſt of the Fathers. But we ſhall have occaſion hereafter to conſider more at large of the like Examples; and ſhall only at preſent obſerve, that if thoſe Books of S. Hierome, which we mentioned a little before, ſhould chance to have been loſt; every Man would then aſſuredly have concluded with Epiphanius, that no Doctor of the Ancient Church ever held, that a Biſhop and a Prieſt were one and the ſame thing, in its Inſtitution.

Who now after all this will aſſure us, that among ſo many other opinions, as have been rejected here and there by the Fathers, and that too in as plain terms, as theſe of Epiphanius, none of them have ever been defended by ſome of the Learned of thoſe times? Or, is it not poſſible that they may have held them, though they did not write in defence of the ſame? Or, may they not perhaps have written alſo in de • ence of them, and their Books have been ſince loſt? How ſmall is the number of thoſe in the Church, who had the Ability, or at leaſt the 〈◊〉 to write? And how much ſmaller is the number of tho •• , whoſe Wri • ings have been able to ſecure themſelves, againſt either the Injury of Time, or the Malice of Men? It is obj • cted againſt the Proteſtants, as we have touched before, that S. Hierome commendeth, and maintaineth the Adoration of Reliques: But yet he himſelf teſtifieth, that there were ſome Biſhops, who defended Vigilantius, who held the contrary opinion; whom he, according to his ordinary Rhetorick callethHiet. in Vigil. T. 2. p. 159. Proh! nefas, Epiſcopos ſui ſceleris dicitur habere conſortes. His Conſorts in Wickedneſs. Who knows now, what theſe Biſhops were; and whether they deſerved any ſuch uſage at S. Hieromes hands, or no? For, the Expreſſions which he uſeth againſt them, and againſt their opinion, are ſo full of Gall, and of Choler, as that they utterly take away all credit from his Teſtimony. But we have inſiſted long enough upon this Particular, and ſhall therefore forbear to inſtance any further in others. For as much therefore as it is Impoſſible to diſcover exactly, out of the Fathers, what hath been the ſenſe and judgment of the Ancient Church; whether taken Univerſally or Particularly; or whether you take the Church for the whole Body of Believers, or for the Prelates and Inſeriour Clergy only; I ſhall here conclude, as formerly, that the Writings of the Ancients are altogether Inſufficient, for the proving the Truth of any of thoſe Points, which are at this day controverted amongſt Us.