Roman forgeries, or, A true account of false records discovering the impostures and counterfeit antiquities of the Church of Rome / by a faithful son of the Church of England.

Roman forgeries, or, A true account of false records discovering the impostures and counterfeit antiquities of the Church of Rome / by a faithful son of the Church of England.

Table of contents

[1]

Title page

§

§

A Premonition.

ERRATA.

AN ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER.

AN ABRIDGMENT OF THE CHAPTERS.

A TRUE ACCOUNT OF FALSE RECORDS; Discovering THE FORGERIES OR Counterfeit-Antiquities OF THE CHURCH of ROME.

CAP. I. Of the Nature, Degrees, and Kinds of Forgery.

CAP. II. Of the Primitive Order and Government of the Church. The first Popish Encroachment upon it, backed with Forgery. The Detection of the Fraud in the Sixth Council of Carthage.

CAP. III. A multitude of Forgeries secretly mingled among the Records of the Church, and put forth under the Name of Isidore, Bishop of Hispalis: Which Book is owned, defended, and followed by the Papists.

CAP. IV. James Merlin's Editions of the Councils, who lately published Isidore Hispalensis for a good Record, which is now detected, and proved to be a Forgery.

CAP. V. Divers Forgeries contained in Isidore's Collection, mentioned in particular.

CAP. VI. What use Merlin makes of Isidore, and the Forgeries therein. How much he was approved in the Church of Rome. How some would have Isidore the Bishop to be a Merchant, others, a Sinner.

CAP. VII. Of Francis Turrian the Jesuite: With what Art and Boldness he defendeth the Forgeries.

CAP. VIII. Of Peter Crabbe's Tomes of the Councils: Wherein he agrees with, and wherein he differs from Isidore and Merlin.

CAP. IX. of Carranza: his Epitome of the Decrees and Councils. He owneth the Forgeries.

CAP. X. Of Surius his four Tomes, and how the Forgeries are by him desended. He hath the Rescripts of Atticus and Cyril, by which pope Zozimus was condemned of Forgery in the sixth Council of Carthage.

CAP. XI. Of Nicolinus his Tomes, and their Contents for the first 420 years. His Testimony concerning the sixth Council of Carthage.

CAP. XII. Nicolinus his Epistle to Pope Sixtus. His contempt of the Fathers. He beginneth to confess the Epistle of Melchiades to be dubious, if not altogether Spurious. He overthrows the Legend about Constantines Donation.

CAP. XIII. The Epistle of Pope Damasus to Aurelius, Archbishop of Carthage, commanding him to take care, that the Decretals of the Roman Bishops be preached and published abroad: Wherein the Forgeries of the Church of Rome are Fathered on the Holy Ghost.

CAP. XIV. Counterfeit Canons of the Apostles defended by Binius. A Glympse of his Pretences, Sophistries, and Contradictions. A Forged Council of Apostles concerning Images, defended by Binius and Turrian.

CAP. XV. Of the Pontisical Falsety Fathered upon Damasus, Bishop of Rome, An. 397. How the Popish Collectors use it as their Text, yet confess it to be a Forgery full of Lyes and contradictions.

CAP. XVI. Of the Decretal Epistles forged in the Names of the first holy Martyrs and Bishops of Rome The first was sent (as they pretend) from S Clement, by S. Peter's order, to S. James the Bishop of Jerusalem, seven years after he was dead; and by the best Account 27. S. Clement's Recognitions a corsessed Forgery.

CAP. XVII. Of Higinus and Pius, as they are represented in the Pontifical; and of a notable Forgery in the name of Hermes: Where you have the Testimony of an Angel, concerning the Celebration of Easter, cited by no body, while the matter was in 〈◊〉.

CAP. XVIII. A Letter fathered on Cornelius Bishop of Rome in the year 254. concerning the Removal of the Apostles Bones: giving Evidence to the Antiquity of many Popish Doctrines, but is it self a Forgery.

CAP. XIX. The ridiculous Forgery of the Council of Sinuessa, put into the Roman Martyrologies. How the City, and the name of it was consumed, (though when, no man can tell) by an Earthquake.

CAP. XX. Divers things premised in order, first to the Establishment, and then to the Refutation of Constantine's Donation; the first by Binius, and the latter by the Author. The Forgeries of Marcellus, Pope Eusebius, and Binius opened.

CAP. XXI. The EDICT of our Lord CONSTANTINE the Emperour.

CAP. XXII. The Donation of Constantine proved to be a Forgery by Binius himself. He confesseth the Acts of Sylvester, which he before had cited as good Records, to be Counterfeit.

CAP. XXIII. Melchiades counterfeited. Isidore Mercator confessed to be a Forgery. The Council of Laodicea corrupted, both by a Fraud in the Text, and by the False Glosses of the Papists.

CAP. XXIV. Threescore Canons put into the Nicene Council after Finis, by the care and Learning of Alphonsus Pisanus. The counterfeit Epistles of Sylvester, and that Council. A Roman Council wholly counterfeited. Letters counterfeited in the Name of Pope Mark, and Athanasius, and the Bishops of Egypt, to defend the Forgeries that were lately added to the Nicene Council.

AN APPENDIX. Cardinal Baronius his Grave Censure and Reproof of the Forgeries: His fear that they will prove destructive and pernicious to the See of Rome.

§

§

[Page]

[Page]

Roman Forgeries Or a TRVE ACCOUNT OF FALSE RECORDS Discovering the IMPOSTURES AND Counterfeit Antiquities OF THE CHURCH OF ROME.

By a Faithful Son of the Church of ENGLAND.

LONDON, Printed by S. and B. Griffin, for Jonathan Edwin at the three Roses in Ludgate-Street,

[Page]

§

1 Tim. 4. 2. ‘Speaking lies in Hypocrisie, having their Conscience seared with an hot iron.’

2 Tim. 3. 8, 9.

Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the Faith.

But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.

§

[Page]

TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE Sr ORLANDO BRIDGEMAN KNIGHT and BARONET One of HIS MAJESTIES Most Honourable Privy Council;

The AUTHOR Devoteth his best Services AND DEDICATETH The VSE and BENEFIT of his Ensuing Labors.

A Premonition.

[Page]

[Page]

THe Bishops of Rome, in the persons of Zozimus, Boniface, and Celestine, Successively opposed the Sixth Council of Carthage, consisting of 217 Fathers (among whom the great S. Augustine is acknowledged to be one:) in the matter ofviz [...] all the world to the Roman Chair. Appeals: which was the first step made by that irregular Chair, to the Exorbitant Supremacy which they afterward claimed. In vindicating that Claim before the Council, they produced two counterfeit Canons, fathered upon the Oecumenical Synod at Nice; which were by the Records of Carthage, Alexandria and Constantinople, in the presence of all those Fathers, in the sixth Council of Carthage, detected to be forgeries, as well as by the Tenor of the undoubted Canons of the Nicene Council it self, [Page] which are contrary to those by the Roman Church pretended; and so they were esteemed by the Fathers in that sixth Council, who were startled at the sight of those New unheard of Monsters, at their first Publication, above 1200 years ago.

Vpon this Passage, I redoubled in the Book an observation (to make it more remarkable,) which you will find cap. 2. pag. 9. to this purpose, That in the first General Council of Nice it was ordered, that the chief in every Province should confirm the Acts of his inferior Bishops; And if any Trouble did arise which could not be decided by the Metropolitan, Provision was made Can. 5. (in words so clear and forcible, that none more plain can be put into their places) that the last Appeal should be made to Councils, and that the Person condemned in any Province should [Page]not be received, if he fled to others. That Parenthesis (In words so clear and forcible, that none more plain can be put in their places) relates to the CANON it self: which here follows that you may see how forcible it is, and how much plainer then the very Words into which I had contracted it. It is worthy your Consideration, as on of the most Important Records in Antiquity, consented to by all the Popish Compilers of the Councils themselves.

Can. 5. Concerning those thatThis is the Canon opposed by the Forgeries. are Excommunicated, whether in the order of the Clergy or the Laitie, by the Bishops in every several province, let the Sentence prevail according to the Canon, that they who are cast out by some, be not received by others; But let it be required that no man be excluded the Congregation, by the Pusillanimitie, or contention, or any [Page] such vice of the Bishop. That this therefore might more decently be inquired into, we think it fit, that Councils should every year throughout every Province twice be celebrated, that such Questions may be discussed by the Common Authority of all the Bishops assembled together. And so they that have evidently offended against their Bishop, shall be accounted Excommunicated according to reason, by all; till it pleaseth the Community of Bishops to pronounce a milder Sentence on such But let the Councils be held, the one before the Quaaragesima before Easter, that all dissention being taken away, we might offer a most pure Gift unto God: and the second about the middle of Autumn.

Had the Canon said, The last Appeal shall be made to Councils, they that are accustomed to such shifts without [Page] blushing, might easily have evaded the Words, by affirming the Bishop of Rome to be particularly excepted, without any need of expressing the exception; because by the general and Tacit Consent of all, he is above the Limits of such Laws, and above the Authority of that, and all other Councils. Thus they might still render the matter doubtful by their Subterfuges and Pretences; as indeed they do, in evading one expression of the Canon it self. For whereas the Fathers say, Let the Sentence prevail according to the Canon, that they, who are cast out by some, be not received by others: Those Popish Hirelings make an exception of the Bishop of Rome, where the Oecumenical Synod maketh none: and might as well except him here, though the Council had said in terms, The last Appeal shall be made to Councils. For the last Appeal to any subordinate Authority, over which the Council had any Legislative Power, was ordered, they [Page] might say to be made to Councils: But the Bishop of Rome being the Head of the Church, and having the supreme Authority over all Councils, was not thought of in this Canon: nor was fit he should be at all mentioned, because that would imply he was under their authority. The Prodigious Height of their usurped Claim being their sole Defence, and their incredible Boldness the amazement of ignorant People, which is their chief security.

But the Council adding to the former expression this clause, That Councils should every year, throughout evry Province, twice be celebrated, (for this very end) that such Questions may be discussed by the common authority of all the Bishops assembled together: it puts an end to the business: especially when they add, That they who have evidently offended their Bishop, shall be accounted excommunicated according to reason,[Page]till it pleaseth the community of Bishops to pronounce a milder Sentence. But that which renders it most plain and forcible, is this, Let the Councils be held, the one before the Quadragesima before Easter, that all Dissention being taken away, we might offer a most pure Gift unto GOD. And the second about the middle of Autumn, All the wit in the world could not have invented a more clear and apparent provision, against the Roman Bishops absurd and impudent Pretences. No Evasion (I think) can possibly be made there from; when it is once noted and understood. For the Bar put in against the Pope, is not here in Words, but Things, It implies that the Controversie must before Easter be fully determined: The very end of calling such a Council, and holding it then, being the taking away of all dissention, that we might offer up a most pure Gift or Sacrifice to [Page]God: that is, That Vnity being restored to the Church at that time, we might receive the Sacrament in Peace and Charity. Whereas, if after the Sentence of the Council, the business were to be carried to the Court of Rome; Suits and Quarrels could not be ended against Easter, but would be lengthened in many Provinces, beyond Easter; both by reason of the Seas and Regions, to be passed over by old and Crazy Persons, such as the venerable Bishops were, before they could come from their own Countries to the Roman Chair; and by those Prolatory delays they might find there, the matter being wholy referred to the Popes pleasure.

The Variation of the Letter in the Book, made my Note on this place look too like the Text of the Council it self; which for as much as it happened in a most weighty Place, I could not with a good Conscience let it pass, without acquainting the Pious Reader with the [Page] same. Though the Letter of the Canon it self (to prevent mistakes) is faithfully translated afterwards page 26, and 27. Yet without giving this Gloss upon the Canon; which was the occasion of this Pramonition, because so necessary to a clear and full understanding of all the procedure.

This Note is the more weighty, because the Nicene Council is confessed on both sides, (by us for its own sake and its conformity to the Scriptures, by the Papists, for the Popes, that have ratified it,) to be of great Authority; next to the Holy Bible, the very first, and most indisputable that is. Yet this Canon laid in the foundation, utterly overthrowes all the following Pretences and Forgeries of the Roman Bishops. Which I beseech the Reader to examine more perfectly. For though by many Arts and long Successes, the Bishop of Rome bas ascended to an Ecclesiastical Supremacy; and a subtile Train of Doctrines, is laid, to make him the Universal[Page]Monarch of the World, as much higher then the Emperour, as the Sun is greater than the Moon, as they expresse it: Yet the Sentence of an Eminent Dr. Stil: Sermon on Acts 24. 17. pag. 45.Divine well acquainted with these Affairs in a late Sermon preached before the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen in the City of London, and now published, is very true,Dr. Stil: Sermon on Acts 24. 17. pag. 45. The Supremacy of the Roman Church was a meer Usurpation, begun by Ambition, advanced by Forgery, and defended by Cruelty.

ERRATA.

THe Reader before he enters upon the Book is desired to correct these, as the principal Errata's, with his Pen. Page 35 line 15 dele now p. 43 l. 21 r. love of the world that. p. 55 for Councits r. Statesmen p. 66l. 16 aft. Magdenburg r. and. p. 83 l. 21 for 1635 r. 1535. p. 104 l. 16 for fit r. fift. p 107l 10 for 1618 r. 1608. p. 109 adde in the Margin 11. p. 137l. 7 r Right use of the Fathers. p 157 [...]. r. Transeunt. p 172 Cap. 15. Contents: for Falsity r. Falsely.

AN ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER.

[Page]

IRenaeus, one of the most Ancient Fathers, Scholar to S. Polycarp, S. John's Disciple, in his Book against Heresies, giveth us four notable marks of their Authors: First, he sheweth how they disguize their Opinions; Errour never shews It Self,Iren. Proem.saith he, lest it should be taken naked; but is artificially adorned in a splendid Mantle, that it may appear truer than Truth it self, to the more unskilful. 2. That havingLib. 1. cap. 1. Doctrines which the Prophets never preached, nor God taught, nor the Apostles delivered, they pretend unwritten Traditions: Ex non Scriptis legentes, as he phraseth it. 3. They make a Rope of Sand, that [...]. they may not seem to want Witnesses; passing over the Order and Series of Writings, and as much as in them lies, loosing the Members of the Truth, and dividing them [Page] from each other: for they chop and change, and making one thing of another, deceive many, &c. But that which I chiefly intendLib. 1. cap, [...].is the fourth; They bring forth a vast multitude of Apocryphal and Spurious Writings, which themselves have feigned, to the amazement of Fools; and that those may admire them, that know not the Letters (or Records) of the Truth. How far the Papists have trodden the foregoing Paths, it is not my purpose to unfold, only the last, the Heretical pravity of Apocryphal and Spurious Books; how much they have been guilty of imposing on the World by feigned Records, I leave to the evidence of the ensuing Pages; which I heartily desire may be answerable to the Merit of so great a Cause.

Vincentius Lirinensis, another eminent Father, praised by Gennadius, died in the time of Theodosius and Valentinian. He wrote a Book against Heresies in like manner; wherein preparing Furniture and Instructions against their Wiles, he at first telleth us, that the Canon of the Scripture is alone sufficient: Then, that the concurrence of the Fathers is to be taken in, for the more clear certainty of their sense and meaning. Upon this latter point he saith afterwards, But neither are all Heresies to [Page] be assaulted this way, nor at all times, butVin. Lir. cap 39. only such as are New and Green: to wit, when they first spring up, before they have falsified the Rules of the Ancient Faith, while they are hindered by straitness of time, and before (the Poyson spreading abroad) they have endeavoured to corrupt the Writings of the Fathers. So that Hereticks have inclination enough, where they are not hindered by straitness of time, to corrupt the most Ancient Writings of the Church: For which cause he further saith in the same place, But Heresies that Ibid. are spread abroad, and waxen old, must not be set upon in this sort, because by long continuance they have had opportunity to steal away the Truth. Whatsoever [...] nesses there be therefore, either of Schismes or Heresies that are grown Ancient, we [...] in no case otherwise to deal with them then either to convince them, if it be needful, by the Authority of the Scriptures only; or at least to avoid them, as convicted of old, and condemned by Vniversal Councils.

In this Admonition the Father informs us of two things: First, that it is possible for Errour to prevail and spread abroad; to continue long, and wax old: Secondly, that having gotten possession of [Page] Books and Libraries, it may falsisie the Rules of the Ancient Faith and steal away the Truth, by corrupting the Writings of the Fathers. In which case, he will not have the Controversie decided by the Fathers, but by the Scriptures only, or by old Vniversal Councils.

But if Errour proceed so far, as to corrupt the Councils too, then of necessity we must have recourse to some other remedy; either to the Scriptures alone, as he directeth; or else we must detect the frauds, whereby the Councils themselves are falsified: For that they are liable to the same inconvenience, is evident, both by the paueity of Ancient Records, and the many Revolutions that have been in the World: especially since Nature teacheth men to strike at the Root, attempts are more apt to be made upon them, because Hereticks are prone to be most busie in undermining the Foundation.

That it is possible for men so far to act against their Consciences, as to corrupt the Ancient Records of Truth, you see by the premises: and that it is an easie thing for them to effect it, that have gotten all kind of Books and Libraries into their hands, is apparent; because they that keep them, order them as they please: [Page] So that if Hereticks be the Lords and Masters of them, for many Ages together, we may not rashly adventure our Salvation upon their own Records: All the World knows, that the Church of Rome had all the Libraries of these Western parts, for many Ages, in her power; & that the Eastern parts are swallowed up by the Deluge of Mahumetanism: All that can seem harsh, is, that she that pretendeth her self the Catholick Church, should be guilty of Heresie. But if the property of falsifying the Fathers and Councils may pass for a Badge of Heresie, there will no greater Hereticks be found in the world, than those who stile themselves falsly Catholicks. For as the sight of the possibility of such a thing made Vincentius talk more like a Prophet than a Father, the Church of Rome hath so behaved her self since his departure, as if she intended eminently to fulfil his Predictions: which will in the process of our Discourse be made evident to the pious and Christian Reader.

S. Bernard lived to see the accomplishment of that which Lirinensis feared; for he flourished in the Eleventh Age of the Church, when the Pope and his Chair were mounted up to the top of their [Page] Height and Grandeur; and bearing an impartial Testimony, he wrote many things against their Enormities: The Vices of their Popes, with those of all other Orders and Degrees of men in the Church of Rome, he inveyeth against at large, in his 33. Sermon upon the Canticles; smartly touching their Vain-glory, Pomp, Luxury, Avarice, Simony, Vsurpation, and Incorrigibleness: so that for any Piety or Conscience in them, such frauds might easily be digested. He distinguishes the State of the Church into four several periods, or four different times; to each of which he annexeth one peculiar temptation: Terrour in the Night of Persecution, Errour in the Morning of her Peace, the heat of Lust, and the glaring splendour of Riot and Excess, beautified with Riches, and varnished over with Hypocrisie in the Noon of her prosperity, and the Guile of Deception in the Evening; where with great vehemence, and impatientIbid, [...], he speaketh thrice in little room, of a certain business walking in the dark. Now a little before his time, and not long after the second Nicene Council, that Fardel of Forgeries came forth under the Name of Isidore, which seduced all the late Collectors of the Decrees and Councils, [Page] which have risen up among the Papists (at least if they have not been wilful corrupters of the Records themselves, which is much to be feared) and discovered a design (probably) to S. Bernard also, that was then on foot in the Court of Rome, to alter and deface the Monuments of Antiquity: For Riculphus, the Archbishop of Mentz, who first scattered [...] An. [...] [...]. 5, 6, 7, 8. those Forgeries abroad, and Benedictus Levita, who first put them into the Capitular Books of the Kings of the Franks, and being conscious of their weakness, got Ibid. them confirmed by the Avthority of the Roman Chair. Hincmarus Laudunensis also, whom Baronius calleth Novissimum usque ad haec Tempora Collectorem, The last Collector of the Councils, till his own Age. All these lived before S. Bernards time: So did Hincmarus, Archbishop of Rhemes, who having a more sagacious Nosiril than ordinary, as Baronius observes, did first attempt the detection of the fraud, and was accused for the same, and that so roughly, that as Baronius further notes out of Frodoardus his History of Rhemes, he was [...] forced to recent; and though he did it, he was marked with Infamy, for having attemqted to reprove them. S. Bernard therefore having such a Mirrour before [Page] his eyes, speaking covertly for his ownS. Bern. Serm. [...]. in Cant. preservation, yet plainly enough for the Authors Conviction, among other [...] and open Abominations, seemeth to [...] at this in particular: For shewing the State of the Church to be more miserable under the Pompous Hypocrisie of the Popes, than either in the night of persecution under Heathen [...], or in the conflicts of Hereticks that sprang up in the morning, in the midst of the brightness of that Glaring Noon, he talks of, a work going on in the dark, a design [...] carried on by the instigation and procurement of the Noon-day Devil, that should shortly after appear to seduce the rest, if there be any in Christ, (saith he,) abiding S. [...]. Ibid. yet in their simplicity: For he hath swallowed up the Floods of the Wise, and the Rivers of the Mighty, and trusteth in himself: that he can take Jordan into his mouth, that is, the simple and the lowly that are in the Church. Which immediately following that business walking in the dark, makes me to believe, that he looked upon that business as the Engine of their Deception; which gave him the Hint, to speak by way of Prophesie, concerning the fourth Temptation that was yet to come, in the Churches Declension; [Page] and which he expresly noteth to be the immediate means of opening the way for Antichrist to appear. His words are very Poinant and Emphatical: it was bitter at first in the Death of Martyrs,Ibid.more bitter in the conflict of Hereticks, but now most bitter in the manners of Domesticks: She cannot put them to flight, she cannot fly them, they are so multiplied upon her: The Plague of the Church is in the Entrails, and incurable; therefore its bitterness is most bitter in its peace. But in what peace? It is peace, and it is not peace; peace from Pagans, and peace from Hereticks, but truly none from her Children: The voice of weeping is in that time! I have nourished children, and exalted them, but they have despised me! They have despised and defiled me with their filthy life, their filthy gain, their filthy commerce; and finally, with that business walking in darkness. It remains now that the Noon-day Devil should appear to seduce the rest, if there be any in Christ abiding yet in their simplicity.

That S. Bernard intended this, is only my conjecture; because whatsoever he spake against, under that Title of Darkness, he chose obscure terms, as it should seem on purpose: for that business is Arcanum[Page]Imperii, the Great Mystery of the Roman Chair, the Popes Palladium, not to be seen with profane eyes; nay, the very Ark of his Most Holy Place, to be lookt into by none but his own faithful Priests: It was Death to look into it with suspitious eyes, or to expose it to those of the people Where we may further observe, that as a Serpent hideth her head, and exposeth any of her members, for the preservation of that, to the stroaks of her Enemy; so doth the Church of Rome desire more to conceal this Grand Art of counterfeiting Ecclesiastical Antiquities, than any other points less Radical and Vital: All other Controversies are but superficial blinds, more freely exposed to her Enemies debates, that mens eyes may be turned another way from this Arcanum, which is with all endeavour hidden from the people: And for this cause they find it better to buy up the Editions, than answer the Discoveries; which makes Dr. James his Treatise, and Blondels Pseudo-Isidorus, so rare among the people.

Matters of Fact may be manifest enough, where the means of contriving them remain unknown: a conjecture in a circumstance therefore destroys not the [Page] Foundation. You will find other kinds of Arguments in the subsequent Epitome, than bare conjectures. In the mean time, be pleased to remember, that the Papists have had all kind of Books, nay, and Libraries in their hands; that the Roman Clergy (especially those that attend the Chair) have Glory, Wealth, and Pleasure enough to tempt them to such endeavours; that the Pope hath Power enough to reward his Creatures, and that they have actually endeavoured to corrupt such Books by their Indices Expurgatorii, as also to put forth Apocryphal and Spurious Pieces; which Dr. Reynolds, Dr. James, Bishop Jewel, and the Learned Crashaw, as well as the Indices themselves, do evidently declare. It shall here appear more clearly, that they have adulterated all by Counterfeit Records; the very places and things corrupted, being themselves produced, detected, and reproved.

I shall not descend into the latrer Ages, but keep within the compass of the first 420 years, and lay open so many of their frauds, as disguize and cover the face of Primitive Antiquities, which ought to be preserved most sacred and pure. It is sufficient to prove, that all [Page] the Streams are infected by the Poyson that is thrown into the Fountain-head; and to expatiate downwards, would overswell the Book, which is intended to be little, for the use and benefit of all. Neither shall I talk of the Fathers at large: I will not meddle with their Amphilochius, Abdias, S. Denis, &c. but keep close to Records, and publick instruments of Antiquity, which have the force of Laws: Such as Apostles Canons, Decretal Epistles, and Ancient Councils; which they have either depraved by altering the Text, or falsified, as it were, by Whole-sale, in the intire Lump: And I shall concern my self in the [...], more than the former.

I desire the Reader to note, that I do not trust other mens information, but mine own eyes; having my self seen the Collectors of the Councils, and searched into all their Compilers for the purpose: Neither do I use our own, but their most affectionate and Authentick Writers, the circumstances of the things themselves (in their most approved Authors) detecting the Forgeries.

Before I stir further, I shall add one passage which befel me in the Schools, as I was studying these things, and searching [Page] the most Old and Authentick Records in pursuance of them. One Evening, as I came out of the Bodleian Library, which is the Glory of Oxford, and this Nation, at the Stairs-foot I was saluted by a Person that has deserved well both of Scholars and Learning, who being an intimate Friend of mine, told me there was a Gentleman his Cosen, pointing to a Grave Person, in the Quadrangle, a man that had spent many thousand pounds in promoting Popery, and that he had a desire to speak with me. The Gentleman came up to us of his own accord: We agreed, for the greater liberty and privacy, to walk abroad into the NewParks. He was a notable man, of an Eloquent Tongue, and competent Reading, bold, forward, talkative enough: He told me, that the Church of Rome had Eleven Millions of Martyrs, Seventeen Oecumenical Councils, above an Hundred Provincial Councils, all the Doctors, all the Fathers, Unity, Antiquity, Consent, &c. I desired him to name me One of his Eleven Millions of Martyrs, excepting those that died for Treason in Queen Elizabeths, and King James his days: For the Martyrs of the Primitive times, were Martyrs of the Catholick, but not of the Roman [Page] Church: They only being Martyrs of the Roman Church, that die for Transubstantiation, the Popes Supremacy, the Doctrine of Merits, Purgatory, and the like. So many he told me they had, but I could not get him to name one. As for his Councils, Antiquities, and Fathers, I asked him what he would say, if I could clearly prove, that the Church of Rome was guilty of forging them, so far, that they had published Canons in the Apostles names, and invented Councils that never were; forged Letters of Fathers, and Decretal Epistles, in the name of the first Bishops and Martyrs of Rome, made 5, 6, 700 years after they were dead, to the utter disguizing and defacing of Antiquity, for the first 400 years next after our Saviour? Tush, these are nothing but lyes, quoth he, whereby the protestants endeavour to disgrace the Papists. Sir, answered I, you are a Scholar, and have heard of Isidore, Mercator, James Merlin, Peter Crabbe, Laurentius Surius, Severinus Binius, Labbè, Cossartius, and the Collectio Regia, Books of vast Bulk and Price, as well as of great Majesty and Magnificence: You met me this Evening at the Library door; if you please to meet me there tomorrow morning at eight of [Page] the Clock, I will take you in; and we will go from Class to Class, from Book to Book, and there I will first shew in your own Authors, that you publish such Instruments for good Records; and then prove, that those Instruments are downright frauds and forgeries, though cited by you upon all occasions. He would not come; but made this strange reply; What if they be Forgeries? what hurt is that to the Church of Rome? No! (cryed I, amazed) Is it no hurt to the Church of Rome, to be found guilty of forging Canons in the Apostles names, and Epistles in the Fathers names, which they never made? Is it nothing in Rome to be guilty of counterfeiting Decrees and Councils, and Records of Antiquity? I have done with you! whereupon I turned from him as an obdurate person. And with this I thought it meet to acquaint the Reader.

AN ABRIDGMENT OF THE CHAPTERS.

[Page]

Cap. 1. OF the Nature, Degrees, and Kinds of Forgery.

Cap. 2. Of the Primitive Order and Government of the Church. The first Popish Encroachment upon it, backed with Forgery. The Detection of the Fraud in the Sixth Council of Carthage.

Cap. 3. A multitude of Forgeries secretly mingled with the Records of the Church, and put forth under the Name of Isidore, Bishop of Hispalis: Which Book is owned, defended, and followed by the Papists.

Cap. 4. James Merlins Edition of the Councils, who lately published Isidore Hispalensis for a good Record, which is now detected, and proved to be a Forgery.

Cap. 5. Divers Forgeries contained in Isidores counterfeit Collection, mentioned in particular.

[Page]

Cap. 6. A further account of Merlins design. How some would have Isidore to be a Bishop, others a Merchant, others a Sinner; no man knowing well what to make of him.

Cap. 7. Of Francis Turrian, the famous Jesuite, with what Art and Soldness he defendeth the Forgeries.

Cap. 8. Of Peter Crabbe, his Tomes of the Councils. Wherein he agrees with, and wherein he differs from Indore and Merlin.

Cap. 9. Of Carranza his Epitome: He owneth, and useth the Forgeries for good Records.

Cap. 10. Of Surius his four Tomes, and how the Forgeries are by him confirmed. He hath the [...] of Atticus and [...], by which Pope Zozimus was convicted of Forgery, in the sixth Council of Carthage.

Cap. 11. Of Nicolinus his Tomes, and their Contents for the first [...] years. How full of Forgeries. His Testimony concerning the sixth Council of Carthage; with his way of desending the Popes Forgery therein.

Cap. 12. Nicolinus his Fpisile to Pope Sixtus V. His contempt of the Fathers. He beginneth to confess the Epistle of Melchiadcs [Page] to be naught. He overthroweth the Legend about Constantines Donation.

Cap. 13. The Epistle of Pope Damasus to Aurelius, Archbishop of Carthage, commanding the Decretals of the Roman Bishops to be preached and published, and Fathering those Forgeries on the H. Ghost.

Cap. 14. Counterfeit Canons made in the Apostles names, defended by Binius. A Glympse of his Pretences, Sophistries, and Contradictions. A forged Council of the Apostles concerning Images, defended by Binius, and Turrian.

Cap. 15. A Book called the Pontifical, falsly fathered upon Damasus, an Ancient Bishop of Rome. How the most Learned of the Popish Collectors use it as the Text on which they Comment in their voluminous Books, yet confess it to be a Forgery full of lyes and contradictions.

Cap. 16 Of the Decretal Epistles, forged in the Names of Holy Martyrs and Bishops of Rome, for many hundred years together: The first was sent from S. Clement, by S. Peters Order, to S James (as they pretend) Bishop of Jerusalem, seven years at least; and by the truest account, more than seven and twenty years after he was in his Grave. S. Clements Recognitions, a cónfessed Forgery; which detecteth [Page] the first Epistle of S. Clement to be a real fraud.

Cap. 17. Of Higinus, and Pius. A notable Forgery in the name of Hermes: Where you have the Testimony of an Angel concerning the Celebration of Easter; never cited while the matter was in controversie.

Cap. 18 A Letter Eathered on Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, concerning the removal of the Apostles Bones, about the year 2 4. It gives Evidence to the Antiquity of many Popish Doctrines, but is it self a Forgery.

Cap. 9. The ridiculous Forgery of the Council of Sinuessa, put into the Roman Martyrologies. How the City, and the Name of it, was consumed (no man can tell when) by an Earthquake, &c.

Cap. 20. Divers things premised, in order first to the Establishment, and then to the Refutation of Constantines Donation; the first by Binius, the latter by the Author. The Forgeries of [...], Pope Eusebius, and Binius together, opened.

Cap. 21. The counterfeit Edict of our Lord Constantine the Emperour: wherein the Western Empire was given to the Bishop of Rome.

Cap. 22. The Donation of Constantine [Page] proved to be a Forgery by Binius himself. He confesseth the Acts of Pope Sylvester (which he before had cited for good) to be Forged.

Cap. 23. Pope Melchiades Epistle counterfeited. Isidore Mercator, the Great Seducer of all the Roman Collectors, confessed to be a Forger. The Council of Laodicea corrupted by the fraud of the Papists.

Cap. 21. Threescore Canons put into the Nicene Council after Finis, by the care and Learning of Alphonsus Fisanus. Epistles counterfeited in the name of Sylvester, and that Council. A Roman Council, under Pope Sylvester, wholly counterfeited. Spurious Letters Father'd on Pope Mark, Athanasius, and the Bishops of Egypt, to defend the Forgeries that were lately added to the Nicene Council.

Appendix. Cardinal Baronius his Grave Censure and Reproof of the Forgeries. His fear that they will prove destractive and pernicious to the See of Rome.

A TRUE ACCOUNT OF FALSE RECORDS; Discovering THE FORGERIES OR Counterfeit-Antiquities OF THE CHURCH of ROME.

[Page]

CAP. I. Of the Nature, Degrees, and Kinds of Forgery.

THe Sin of Forgery is fitter to be ranked with Adultery, Theft, Perjury, and Murder, than to be committed by Priests and Prelates: One Act of it is a Crime to be punished by the Judges; what then is a whole Life spent in many various and enormous Offences of that nature?

[Page]

If a Beggar forge but a Pass, or a Petition, putting the Hands and Seals of two Justices of the Peace to it, he is whipt, or clapt into the Pillory, or marked for a Rogue, though he doth it only to satisfie his Hunger

If a Lease, a Bond, a Will, or a Deed of Gift be razed, or interlined by Craft, it passeth for a Cheat; but if the whole be counterfeited, the Crime is the greater.

If an Instrument be forged in the Kings Name, or his Seal counterfeited, and put to any Patent, without his privity and consent, it is High Treason.

If any Records of Antiquity be defaced, or wilfully corrupted, relating to the benefit of men, it is like the Crying Sin of removing thy Neighbours Landmark, which Solomon censures in the Proverbs. But if those Records appertain to the Right of Nations, the Peace of Mankind, or the Publick Welfare of the World, the Sin is of more mysterious and deeper nature.

If Counterfeits be shufled in among good Records, to the disorder and confusion of the Authentick, and a Plea maintained by them, which without those Counterfeits would fall to the ground, [Page] upon the deposition of False Witnesses; Theft and Perjury are effectually couched, together with Lying, in the Cheat.

If the Records so counterfeited concern the Church, either in her Customs or Laws, her Lands, or the limits of her Jurisdiction, the Order of her Priests, or any other Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Affair, besides other sins contained in it, there is superadded the Sin of Sacriledge.

The highest degree of Forgery is that of altering the Holy Scriptures; because the Majesty offended being Infinite, as well as the Concernment, the Crime is the more heincus.

The highest, next under that, is to counterfeit Rules in the Names of the Apostles, Oecumenical Councils, most glorious Martyrs, and Primitive Fathers, that is, to make Canons, letters, Books, and Decrees in their Names, of which they were not the Authors.

If the Church of Rome be guilty of this Crime, her Antiquity and Tradition, the two great Pillars upon which she standeth, are very rotten, and will moulder into nothing.

If Money be spent in promoting the Forgery, or any thing given, directly or indirectly, to its Fautors and Abettors, [Page] in order to the Usurpation of any Spiritual Priviledge or Power; he that doth it, is guilty of Simony: And in many cases, Simony, Lying, and Sacriledge; are blended together.

Finally, If they that make the Forgeries ather them upon GOD, or upon the Holy Ghost, the Sin of Blasphemy is added to Forgery; for it maketh God the Father of Lies; and being done maliciously, it draweth near to the unpardonable sin.

That some Popes have been guilty of Simony, cannot be doubted by them that are any thing versed in Church Antiquty. Hart, in his Conference with Reynolds, Confer. cap 7. Divis. 5. [...] out of Dr. Genebrard, that the Popes, for the space of seven score years and ten almost, from John VIII. to Leo IX. about fifty Popes did revolt wholly from the vertue of their Ancestors, and were Apostatical, rather than Apostolical: and that some of them came not in by the Door, but were Thi ves and Robbers.

That it is not impossible to forge Records for the Bolstering up of Heresies, those counter eit Gospels, Acts, Epistles, Revelations, &c. that were put forth by Hereticks in the Names of the Apostles, do sufficiently evidence; which being [Page] extant a little after the Apostles decease, are pointed to by Irenaeus, condemned in a Roman Council by Gelasius, and some of them recorded by Ivo Cartonensis, in a Catalogue lib. 2. cap. [...]. The Itinerary of Clement, and the Book called Pastor, being two of the number.

I note the two last, because S. Clement in his first Epistle to S. James, is made to approve the one, and Pope Pius in his Decretal magnifieth the other. Which giveth us a little glympse of the Knavery by which those Ancient Bishops and Martyre of Rome were both abused, having Spurious Writings fathered upon themselves; for had those Instruments been their own, they would never have owned such abominable Forgeries. But of this you may expect more hereafter, Cap. 16. and Cap. 17.

These aggravations and degrees of Forgery we have not mentioned in vain, or by accident. In the process of our discourse, the Church of Rome will be found guilty of them all, except the first, which is beneath her Grandeur; and in so doing, she is very strangely secured by the height of her impiety. For because it does not easily enter into the heart of man to conceive, that men, especially [Page] Christians, should voluntarily commit so transcendent a Crime, the greatness of it makes it incredible to inexperienced people, and renders them prone to excuse the Malefactors, while they condemn the Accusers.

But that the Church of Rome is guilty in all these respects, we shall prove not by remote Authorities, that are weak and feeble, but by demonstrations derived from the Root and Fountain. I will not be positive in making comparisons; but if my reading and judgment do not both deceive me, she is guilty of more Forgeries than all the Hereticks in the world beside: Their greatness and their number countenance the Charge, and seem to promise that one day it shall pass into a Sentence of Condemnation against her.

CAP. II. Of the Primitive Order and Government of the Church. The first Popish Encroachment upon it, backed with Forgery. The Detection of the Fraud in the Sixth Council of Carthage.

[Page]

IT is S. Cyprian's observation, that our Saviour, in the first Foundation of the Church, gave his Apostles equal honour and power, saying unto them, Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained, Cyprian. Tract de Simpl. Praelator. The place has been tampered with, but unsuccessfully: For though they have thrust in other words into the Fathers Text, in some Editions of their own; yet in others they are left sincere: As Dr. James in his corruption of the Fathers, Part. 2. Cap. 1. does well observe. But the most remarkable attempt of the Papists is that whereas they have set a Tract concerning the Primacy of the Roman Church before the Councils, containing many Quotations out of the Bastard Decretals, which they pretend to be extracted, ex Codice antiquo,[Page]out of an Old Book, without naming any Author; closing it with this passage of S. Cyprian, they leave out these words of Scripture, Whose soever sins ye remit, &c. as rendring the Fathers TestimonyBin. Tom. 1. Tractat de Primat. &c. unfit for their purpose. You may see it in Binius his Collection of the Councils, &c.

When the Apostles had converted Nations, they constituted Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, for the Government of the Church; and left those Orders among us, when they departed from the world.

It was found convenient also for the better Regiment of the Church, when it was much inlarged, to erect the Orders of Archbishops, and Patriarchs.

The Patriarchs being Supreme in their several Jurisdictions, had each of them many Primates and Archbishops under him, with many Nations and Kingdoms allotted to their several Provinces; every of which was limited in it self, and distinct from the residue: as appeareth in that first Oecumenical Council assembled at Nice, An. Dom. 327. where it was ordained, Can. 6 that the ancient custom should be kept; the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome being expresly noted to be equal to that of the other Patriarchs.

[Page]

In the two preceding Canons they ordain: 1. That in every Province BishopsConcil. Nicen. 1. should be consecrated by all the BishopsCan. 4. thereof, (might it consist with their convenience to meet together; if not) at least by three being present, the rest consenting; but the confirmation of their Acts is in every Province reserved to the Metropolitan. 2. That the last Appeal should be made toConcil. Nic. 1. Councils; and that the person condemnedCan. 5. in any Province, should not be received, if he fled to others. Can. 4. and 5.

In the first of these Canons it was ordered, that the chief in every Province should confirm the Acts of his Inferiour Bishops, the Patriarch of Rome in his, and every other Patriarch in his own Jurisdiction. In [...] last, if any trouble did arise that could not be decided by the Metropolitan, provision was made (in words so clear and forcible, that none more plain can be put into their places) that the last Appeal should be made to Councils, [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...]

But the City of Rome being in those days Queen of the World, and lifted up above all other Cities, as the Seat of the Empire, the Bishop thereof began to wax [Page] proud in after-times, and being discontented with the former Bounds, invaded the Jurisdictions of his Fellow-Patriarchs.

For though the Foundation upon which the Government was laid was against it, yet when persons were Immorigerous, if any Bishop were censured by his Metropolitan, or Priest excommunicated by his Bishop, or Deacon offended with his Superiour, who chastised him for his guilt; though the Canon of the Church was trampled under foot thereby (which forbad such irregular and disorderly flights) the manner was, for those turbulent persons to flee to Rome, because it was a great and powerful City; and the Roman Bishop trampling the Rule under foot, as well as others, did (as is confessed) frequently receive them. Nay, their ambition being kindled by the greatness of the place, it tempted them so far, as to favour the Delinquents, and oftentimes to clear them, for the incouragement of others, invited by that means, to fly thither for relief, till at last the Cause of Malefactors was openly Espoused; and while they were excommunicated in other Churches, they were received to the Communion in the Church of Rome.

[Page]

Hereupon there were great murmurings and heart-burnings at the first in the Eastern Churches, because Rome became an Asylum, or City of Refuge, for discontented persons; disturbing the Order of the Church, spoiling the Discipline of other Provinces, and hindering the Course of Justice; while her Bishop usurped an Authority, which neither Scripture nor Canon gave unto him.

It is recorded also, that they sometimesConcil. Carth. 6. Epist. ad Celestin. acquitted Malefactors without hearing Witnesses, and sent Orders for the Restauration of those, who made such irregular flights, into the Provinces of other Patriarchs that were Subject indeed to the Roman Empire, but not within the Province of the Roman Patriarch

Nay, when those Orders were rejected, (if some of their own Collectors may be believed) the Roman Bishops, through favour of the Empire, got Magistrates and Souldiers to see them executed by Plain force: which grew chiefly scandalous in the times of Zozimus, and Boniface; of which you may read the three last and best Collections of the Councils, set forth by the Papists, Binius, [...] abbè, and the Collectio Regia, unanimously consenting in their Notes on the sixth Council [Page]of Carthage. And that this was the cause of calling that Council, they confess in like manner.

For to stop these intolerable Incroachments, and to suppress the growth of an Aspiring Tyranny, this seasonable Council was called at Carthage, consisting of [...] Bishops, among whom S. Augustine was one present in particular.

To this Council Zozimus the Roman Patriarch sent three persons, one of which was Faustinus, an Italian Bishop, to plead his Cause, with two Canons fathered upon the Nicene Council; designing thereby to justifie his Power of receiving Appeals both from Bishops and Priests, but by the care and wisdom of that Council they were detected and confounded, the Fraud being made a Spectacle to the whole world.

For first, the Copy which Caecilianus, Archbishop of Carthage, brought from Nice, (he being himself one of the Fathers in that Council) was orderly produced, and the two Canons which the Roman Bishop sent were not there. Next, because it might be pleaded upon the difference of the Copies, that the Copy of Carthage must give place to that of Rome, Rome being the greater See; they [Page] sent Messengers to the Patriarch of Alexandria, to the Patriarch of Antioch, and to the Patriarch of Constantinople, (and admonished the Bishop of Rome to do so too, that he might see sound and fair dealing) desiring the Records of the Nicene Council, from all the principal parts of the world, from the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria they received Authentick Copies, attested with their several known Authorities, which agreed exactly with the Copy at Carthage, but disagreed with that of Rome; the Extract produced out of it, by the Name of a Commonitorium, being every word apparently forged.

Upon this the Bishop of Rome was condemned, his Arrogance and Usurpation suppressed by Canons, and his Pride chastised by Letters; the Letters and Canons being yet extant. This was done about the year 420.

Zozimus dying, Boniface and Celestine successively take up the Quarrel, without any Dissent appearing in the Roman Clergy: nay rather all the Interest of that Chair was imployed to uphold the Forgery; whereby it is evident, that it was not a Personal Act, but the guilt and business of the Church of Rome; as appeareth [Page] further by all their Successors persisting in the Quarrel, by the multitude of her Members defending it and the Forgery both; and by all the Popish Collectors conspiring together, to maintain the Spurious and Adulterate Canons.

Among other things which the FathersEpist. Concil Carthag. 6. ad Celestin. wrote out of this Sixth Council of Carthage to Pope Celestine, they oppose the true Canons of the Nicene Council, against the false ones, noting that, which is alone sufficient to overthrow the Forgery, that these two Popish Canons were really contrary to the Canons and Decrees of the Nicene Council: For desiring him no more so easily to admit Appeals, nor to receive into Communion those that were Excommunicated in other Churches; they tell him, he might easily find this matter defined in the Nicene Council: for if it seemed fit to be observed in the inferiour Clergy, and Lay-men, much more in Bishops. They tell him, that he should chastise and punish such impudent Flights, as became him: As also, that the Canons of the Nicene Council had most openly committed both the inferiour Clergy, and Bishops themselves to their own Metropolitans; wisely and justly providing, that all businesses whatsoever should be determined[Page]in the places where they arose; Nisi fortè est Aliquis, &c. unless perhaps there be some one who will say, that God is able to give Justice of Judgment to one, be he who he will, but denies it to innumerable Priests assembled in a Council. Which was in those days held so absurd and monstrous a thing to conceive, that (however the case is altered since) they thought no man impudent enough to affirm it. In these words they cut the Popes Arrogance sufficiently, for that he being but One, was so highly conceited of himself, at least so behaved himself, as if he had an extraordinary Spirit of Infallibility, and were fitter to determine the Causes of the Church, than a whole Council of Bishops assembled together. Finally, they charge him with bringing the empty puff of secular pride into the Church of Christ: And so proceed to their Canons against him.

Notwithstanding this, the Roman Bishops continued obstinate, contending so long, till there was a great Rupture made in the Church upon this occasion. And if some Records be true; namely, those Letters that past between Eulalius and another Boniface, the Bishops of Rome grew so impudent, as to Excommunicate [Page] the Eastern Churches, because they would not be obedient to an Authority sounded on so base a Forgery. If they be not true, then there are more Forgeries in the Roman Church than we charge her with: For the Letters were feigned (as Baronius confesseth) by some afterwards,Baron. that were zealous of the Churches welfare; to wit, for the better colouring of that Schism which was made by the pride and ambition of Rome.

These Epistles were set forth by the Papists, and were owned at first for good Records; but upon the consideration of so many Saints and Martyrs that sprung up in the Churches of Africa, during that 100 years, wherein it is pretended by those Epistles, that they were cut off from the Church of Rome, it was afterwards thought better to reject them as Counterfeits, because the Roman Martyrologies are filled with the names of those African Saints: And it is a stated Rule, that no Saint or Martyr can be out of the Church. Lest the Eastern Churches therefore should out-weigh the Roman, by reason of the Splendour, Multitude and Authority of these Eminent Saints, these Letters are now condemned by some among themselves; vid. Bellarm, de Rom. [Page]Pont. lib. 2. cap. 25. Baron. in Not. Martyrol. ad 16. Octobr. and Bin. in Concil. Carthag. 6.

This unfortunate Contest happening so near to the Fourth Century, was the first Head-spring, or Root of the Schism, that is now between us: And the matter being so, on whose side the fault lay, I leave to the Reader.

How the Roman Church proceeded inDaillè concerning the right use of the Fathers, lib. 1. cap. 4. this business, we may learn from Daillè, an able Writer of the French Nation: He tells us, that the Legates of Pope Leo, in the year 45, in the midst of the Council of Chalcedon, where were assembled 600 Bishops, the very Flower and choice of the whole Clergy, had the confidence to alledge the sixth Canon of the Council of Nice, in these very words, 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 Latine Copies, nor so much as in the Edition if Dionysius Exiguus, who lived about 50 years after this Council: Whereupon he breaketh out into this Exclamation, When I consider that the Legates of so holy a Pope, would at that [Page]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, but with much noise, &c.

He further tells us, (in the place beforementioned) That whereas the Greek Code, Num. 206. sets before us in the XXVIIIConcil. Chalced. Act. 16. Tom. 2. Concil. 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 the City of Constantinople was the Seat of the Senate, 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 should have the Ordaining of Metropolitans in the three Diocesses of Pontus, Asia, and Thrace. Which Canon is found both in Balsamon and Zonoras; 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 [Page]extant, it is set down at large: Yet notwithstanding, in the collection of Dionysius Exiguus it appears not at all, no more than as if there had never been any such thing thought of at Chalcedon. He hath other marks of Dionysius Exiguus, which sufficiently brand him for a Slave to the Chair, but omitted here, as out of our Circuit. However, I think it meet to lay down the Canon as I find it lying in the Code of the Universal Church.

‘CCVI. Altogether following the DecreesConcil. Chalced. Can. 28. of the H. Fathers, and the Canon of those 150 Bishops, most beloved of God, which was lately read, which met under the Great Theodosius the Pious Emperour, in his Royal City of Constantinople [called] New Rome, we also define and decree the same, concerning the Priviledges of that most H. Church of Constantinople [that is] New Rome: For the Fathers justly gave priviledges to the See of Elder Rome, Quod urbs illa imperaret, because that City was the Seat of the Empire: And the 150 Bishops, most beloved of God, being moved with the same consideration, gave equal Priviledges to the most holy See of New Rome; rightly judging, that the City which is honoured with the [Page] Empire, and the Senate, and enjoys equal priviledges with the Royal Elder Rome, ought in Ecclesiastical Affairs also, no otherwise then it, to be extolled and magnified, being the second after it, &c.’

Upon this advantage, the Patriarch of Constantinople advanced himself above the other Patriarchs; and his See being made equal to the See of Rome, by the Authority of the Church, upon the Interest he had in the Empire then setled in Greece, he arrogated the Title of Vniversal Bishop: Which Gregory, then Bishop of Rome, so highly stomacked, that he thundered out Letters against him, calling the Title a proud and prophane,Greg. lib. 6. Epist. 30. Lib. 4. Epist. 32. Lib. 6. Epist. 30. nay, a blasphemous Title; denying that either himself, or any of his Predecessors had ever used it; and plainly affirming, that whosoever used that Title, was the forerunner of Antichrist. And to this purpose,Greg. lib. 4. Epist. 34. in the 34. Epistle of his fourth Book, he asketh, What else can be signified by this pride, but that the times of Antichrist are drawing near? For he imitates him (says he) who despising the Fellowship of the Angels in their common joy, endeavoured to break up to the Top of Singularity. This he spake against John of Constantinople, [Page] because he brake the Order of the Patriarchs, and despised the Equality of his Fellow-Bishops. Now whether it does not hit his own Predecessors, Zozimus, and Boniface, and Celestine, and Leo, I leave to the judgment of the Reader: They were not contented with an Equality in Power, but aspired, and that some of them by the most odious way, that of Lying and Forgery, as well as Pride and Ambition, to the top of Singularity.

Whether this Zeal of Gregory was according to knowledge, that is, whether it proceeded from integrity, or self interest, I shall not determine. All that I observe is this which followeth, when the Tyde turned, and the Emperour next sided with the Bishop of Rome, the very next Successor of Gregory but one, took up the Title, a little before condemned for blasphemous, which is claimed by the Roman Bishops to this day.

The Emperour sided with the Roman Bishop, because the Roman Bishop sided with him: For when Phocas had murdered his Master, the good old Emperour Mauricius, and usurped the Throne in his stead, the Title of Vniversal Bishop was given to the Patriarch of Rome by [Page] this Bloody Tyrant, to secure his own; which had so great a Flaw in it, and needed the assistance of some powerful Agent.

Hereupon a Council was called atHelvic. Chronol. Rome by Boniface 3. wherein the priviledge of the Emperour Phocas was promulged, and the Bishop of Romo made a POPE, upon the encouragement of the Tyrant, by the consent of the Council: but his own, viz. a Roman Council.

Thus Boniface and Phocas were great Friends: The Imperial and Triple Crown were barter'd between them: Connivance and Commerce soiling them both with the guilt of Murder, Simony, Treason; and if S. Gregory may be believed, with Sacriledge and Blasphemy: For being involved in a mutual Conspiracy, they became guilty of each others crimes; to partake with Adulterers, and comply with Offenders, being imputed as sin, in the H. Scriptures.

Platina, an Eminent Writer of the Lives of the Popes, and a Papist himself, informeth us sufficiently of this business, in these words, Boniface 111. (saith he) aPlatin. in vir. Bonif. 3. Roman by Birth, obtained of the Emperour Phocas, but with great contention, that the Seat of blessed Peter the Apostle (which [Page] is the Head of all the Churches) should be so called, and so accounted of all: which place the Church of Constantinople endeavoured to vindicate to it self, evil Princes sometimes favouring it, and affirming the first see to be due to the place where the Head of the Empire was.

In the Life of Zozimus the first Episcopal Forger in the Church of Rome, Platina mentioneth the foresaid business at Carthage; but so briefly, that it is clear he did not like it. And to close up all, in the Life of this Boniface he endeavours to strengthen the Title of the Roman Bishop against the Patriarch of Constantinople, by the Donation of Constantine, another Forgery, of which hereafter.

The two counterfeit Canons contained in the Commonitorium, which the Roman Bishop sent to the sixth Council of Carthage, are these, as Faustinus the Italian Bishop delivered them in Greek, to be read by Daniel the Pronotary in the Council.

[...], &c. We are pleased, that if a Bishop be accused, and the Bishops of his Country being assembled together, have judged him, and deposed him from his Degree, and he thinks fit to Appeal, and [Page] shall fly to the most blessed Bishop of the Roman Church, and shall desire to be heard, and he shall think it just that the Tryal be renewed; then he [the Roman Bishop] shall vouchsafe to write to the B. shops of the adjoyning and bordering Province, that they should diligently examine all, and define according to the Truth. But if any one thinks fit that his Cause be heard again, and by his own Supplication moves the Bishop of Rome, that he should send a [Legate or] Priest from his side; it shall be in his power to do as he listeth, and as he thinketh fit. And if he shall decree that some ought to be sent, that being present themselves might judge with the Bishops, having his Authority by whom they were sent, it shall be according to his judgment: but if he think the Bishops sufficient to end the business, he shall do what in his most wise counsel he judgeth meet.

Here the Roman Bishop, nay the meanest Priest he shall please to send as his Legate, is exalted above all Councils, Bishops, and Patriarchs in the world; he may do, and undo, act, add, rescind, diminish, alter, whatsoever he pleaseth in any Council, when the Causes of the most Eminent Rank in the Church do depend in the same. All Bishops are by this [Page] Canon made more to fear the Roman Bishop than their own Patriarch, and are ingaged, if need be, to side with him against their Patriarch: the Gate is open for all the Wealth in the World to flow into his Ecclesiastical Court, which is as much above the Court of any other Patriarch, by this Right of Appeals, as the Archbishops Court above any inferiour Bishops, while we may Appeal to that from these at our pleasure. Thus Bishops and Patriarchs are made to buckle under the Popes Cirdle, and the Decrees of Councils are put under his foot: And all this is no more but half a Step to the Popes Chair.

The other part of the Step in this Commonitorium, was the following Canon concerning Priests:

[...], &c. I ought not to pass that over in silence, that does yet move me: If any Bishop happen to be angry (as he ought not) and be suddenly or sharply moved against his Priest or Deacon, and would cast him out of his Church, Provision must be made, that he be not condemned being Innocent, or lose the Communion. Let him that is cast out have power to Appeal to the Borderers, that his Cause might be heard, and handled more carefully; [Page] for a Hearing ought not to be denied him when he asks it: And the Bishop, which hath either justly or unjustly ejected him, shall patiently suffer, that the business be lookt into, and his Sentence either confirmed, or rectified, &c.

What is the meaning of this, &c. in Binius, Labbè, Cossartius, and the Collectio Regia, I cannot tell; but doubtless the Canon intends the same in the close with the former, that the last Appeal is reserved to the Roman Chair; which made the Fathers in the sixth Council of Carthage so angry as we find them, to see things so false and presumptuous, fastned upon the first most Glorious Oecumenical Council, which decreed the clean contrary, in the 4 and 5 Canons. The substance and force of which, as we gave you before, so shall we now the words of the Canons themselves.

Can. 4. [...], &c. It is fit that a Bishop chiefly be ordained by all the Bishops that are in the Province: but if this be found difficult, either because of any urgent necessity, or for the length of the journey, then the Ordination ought to be made by Three certainly meeting together, the absent [Bishops] agreeing, and consenting by their Writs: but let the confirmation [Page] of the Acts be given, throughout every Province, to the Metropolitan.

Can. 5. [...], &c. Concerning those that are Excommunicated, whether in the Order of the Clergy, or the Laity, by the Bishops in every several Province, let the Sentence prevail according to the Canon, that they who are cast out by some, be not received by others: but let it be required, that no man be excluded the Congregation, by the pusillanimity or contention, or by any such vice, of the Bishop. That this therefore might more decently be inquired into, we think it fit, that Councils should every year, throughout every Province, twice be celebrated: That such Questions may be discussed by the common Authority of all the Bishops assembled together: And so they, that have evidently offended against their Bishop, shall be accounted Excommunicated, according to to reason, by all; till it pleaseth the community of Bishops to pronounce a milder Sentence upon such. But let the Councils be held the one before the Quadragesima before Easter, that all Dissention being taken away, we might offer a most pure Gift unto God; and the second about the middle of Autumn.

The last Appeal, you see, is ordered by [Page] the Canon to Councils; and, as they please, the Controversie is to be ended, without flying from one to another Bishop. These are the true and Authentick Canons of the Nicene Council, overthrown by the Forgery.

CAP. III. A multitude of Forgeries secretly mingled among the Records of the Church, and put forth under the Name of Isidore, Bishop of Hispalis: Which Book is owned, defended, and followed by the Papists.

THe Roman Chair being thus lifted up to the utmost Height it could well desire, care must be taken to secure its Exaltation. After many secret Councils therefore, and powerful Methods used for its Establishment; for the increase of its Power and Glory, (furthered by the Luxury and Idleness of the Western Churches) of which Salvian largely complains in his Book De Providentiâ (written to justifie the Dispensation of GOD in all the Calamities they suffered by the Goths, who sacked Rome Piatin. in [...]. [...] [...]. in the days of the forenamed Zozimus) [Page] there came out a collection of Councils and Decretal Fpistles, in the Name of Isidore, Bishop of Hispalis, about the year 790. In which Book there are neatly interwoven a great company of forged Evidences, or feigned Records, tending all to the advancement of the Popes Chair, in a very various, copious, and Elaborate manner.

That the Bishop of Rome had a secret hand in the contrivance and publication of them, is probable, if not clear, from divers Reasons.

1. Before they were published, Hadrian 1. maketh use of the Tale of Constantines Leprosie, Vision, and Baptism by Pope Sylvester; things till then never heard of in the world, but afterwards contained in the Donation of Constantine; a Forgery, which in all probability lay by this Hadrian, but of his own preparing, when he wrote his Letter to Constantine and Irene; which Letter was read, and is recorded in the 2. Nicene Concil. Nicen. 2. Act. Council, on the behalf of Images: being sent abroad like a Scout, as it were, to try what success it would find in the world, before he would adventure the whole Body of his Players to publick view: For if that were swallowed down without [Page] being detected, the rest might hope for the same good Fortune: if not, the first might pass for a mistake, and its Companions be safely suppressed, without any mischief following.

2. The Emperour and the Council having digested the first Legend, exposed by the Pope so crastily to publick view, the other Forgeries were a little after boldly published in this Book of Isidore, together with the Legend and Donation of Constantine: which when Hincmarus, Archbishop of Rhemes, (upon its firstBaron. An. [...]. 5. nn. 6. publication) set himself to write against, he was taken up so roundly for the same by the Authority of Rome, that he was fain gladly to acquit the Attempt for ever: And their tenderness over it, is, I think, a sufficient Indication of their Relation to it; every Creature being naturally affectionate to its own Brood, and prone to study its preservation.

The Church of Rome was so tender of Isidores Edition, that, as some say, Hinemarus [...], ibid was forced to recant his Opinion; and to declare, that he believed and received the Book with Veneration.

3. It is recorded by Justellus, that the [...] [...] [...] [...]. forementioned Hadrian was careful to give Charles the Great a Copy of the [Page] Councils and Decretal Epistles, drawn up (as he affirmed) by Dionysius Exiguus. Daillè accuses the Book of many faults; but whether Hadrian or Dionysius were guilty of them, is little material; only 'twas done as a Pledge of Reconciliation, after several Bickerings between the Giver and Receiver. Charles the Great having several times invaded Rome, and now departing thence with Friendship: which makes me a little the more prone to suspect Dionysius too, for one of those Danaum Dona, which are given like Nessus his Shirt, when wounded by Hercules, to his Enemies Wife, for the destruction of her Husband.

Be it how it will, it shews that Hadrian I. was a busie man, that he understood the influence and power of Records, what force they would have upon the minds of Lay-men, and that his eyes and hands were sometimes busied in such Affairs.

But that which above all other Arguments discovers the Popes to have a hand, if not in the Publication, yet in the Reception of the Forgeries, is this; that the Roman Canonists, Ivo, Gratian, &c. have digested them into the Popes Laws; and they are so far countenanced by the [Page] Popes themselves, that almost from the time of their publication, throughout all Ages since, they have been received for Authentick in the apal Jurisdiction, and are used as such in all the Ecclesiastical Courts under the Popes Dominion, as the chief of their Rules for the deciding of Causes: So that they are not only fostered, but exalted by the Authority of Rome. The Glory which they acquired in the Throne of Judgment, advancing them for a long time above the reach of Suspition. The Veneration which is due to the Chair of Holiness was their best security.

By the influence of the Popes Authority they were received into the Codes of Princes, being (as we shall shew out of Baronius, in the next Chapter) introduced into the Capitular Books of the Kings of the Franks by Benedictus Levita; and at his instant request, confirmed and approved by the [...] Chair.

The Forgeries in Isidore being scattered abroad, it is difficult to conceive to what a vast Height the Roman See by degrees [...]: The Splendour of so many Ancient Martyrs [...], together with so many Canons and Decrees in her behalf, so far wrought, that her Bishop [Page] came at last to Claim all Power over all persons, Spiritual and Temporal, to have the sole power of forgiving sins, to be alone Infallible, to be Cods Vicar upon Earth, the only Oracle in the world, nay, the sole Supreme and Absolute Monarch, disposing of Empires and Kingdoms, according to the Tenour of the Doctrines contained in those Forgeries; wherein he is made the sole Independent Lord, without Controul, able to do what ever he lifted.

Some few Ages after this first Publication of Isidore, there were other Records put forth, though lately seen, yet bearing the countenance of [...] Antiquitie; which so ordered the matter, that (according to them) the Evangelists brought their Gospels to S. Peter to confirm them; and several books of [...]. [...]. 84. S. Clement, S. Peter's Successor, were put into the Canon of the Holy Bible, the whole number of Canonical books being setled and defined by his sole Authority:Ibid. In token (doubtless) of the Power Inherent in all S. Peter's Successors at Rome, to dispose of the Apostles, and their Writings, as they please. S. [...] own Canon, for that purpose, being numbered among those of the Aposiles.

[Page]

That the Pope was uncapable of being judged by any; that no Clergy-man was to be Subject to Kings, but all to depend immediately upon the Bishop of Rome; that he was the Rock and Head of the Church, was the constant Doctrine of all those Forgeries, when put together, with many other Popish Points, of less concernment, sprinkled up and down in them at every turning.

Cui bono? Among the Civilians 'tis a notable mark of Detection in a blind Cause, whose Good, whose Exaltation, whose Benefit is the drift and scope of things; and 'tis very considerable for the sure finding out of the first Authors. That they are Forgeries, is manifest: Now, whose they are, is the Question in hand; and if Agents naturally intend themselves in their own Operations, it is easily solved.

How excessively the World was addicted to Fables about the time of Isidore's Appearance, we may see by the Contents of the 2. Nicene Council, Dreams, Visions and Miracles being very rife in their best demonstrations; and among other Legends, a counterfeit Basil, a counterfeit Athanasius, a counterfeit Emperour, maintaining and promoting the [Page] Adoration of Images: As may perhaps in another Volume be more fully discovered, when we descend from these first, to succeeding Ages.

The Counterfeits in Isidore being mingled with the Records of the Church, like Tares among Wheat, or false Coyns among heaps of Cold, lay undistinguished from true Antiquities, and (after Hincmarus his ill success) were little examined by the space of 500 or 600 years. Some small opposition there was, made in particular by the Bishops in France, and [...]. An. perhaps by some Doctors and Bishops, more sincere than ordinary, or by some Learned Lawyer that rarely appeared: but the general Interest of the Times, the Deluge of corrupted manners, the Ignorance of the Laity, the Luxury of the Priests, the Greatness of the Chair, and the Love of Superstition so far prevailed, that for a long time the Court of Rome luxuriantly fiourished in the Light of her own Glory, and to this Prodigious Sun-shine owed much of its Splendour.

For the Pope having wrought himself by his first Arts into that high Reputation, the Lustre whereof dazled the world, it concerned him much to keep the Earth [Page] in a Profound Quiet, and to cherish Ignorance, (a Vertue highly praised in the Church of Rome) that as the Tares were sown, they might be permitted to grow, and be fruitful, while men slept: In which, the want of Printing much assisted him, Monks and Fryars being the only scribes, or the chief ones, and all at his Devotion.

Written Copies were the only Books, which at most could be but few; enough indeed to preserve knowledge by way of Record; but being Chained up in Monasteries and Libraries, they came seldom abroad, unless by the report of such wellaffected persons as had their Tutelage and keeping.

The Popes Indulgence, and the Sloth [...], made way for the Artisice of [...] in after-ages; which were not Bookish ones, as this is, neither were Laymen addicted much to Reading.

But upon the Reformation, occasioned by nothing more than the notorious impiety and excess of Popes, (unless the impudence and security of his Followers may contend for a share in it) when Libraries fell into the Protestants hands, Inquisition was made, Archives were entered, Books opened, Records searched [Page] and diligently compared: Whereupon much fraud and shufling was found, and exposed to the world.

For as the Copies were enough, had they been sincere; so, though they were not sincere, by the Providence of God, they contained Indications, wherby clear Judgments might easily discern between Records and Forgeries; as I found my self, to my great amazement, without any Warning! when I first set my self to read the Councils, and simply made use of none but Popish Compilers: For there is not more difference, for the most part, between a piece of Gold and an Oystershell, than between a true Record and a Forgery.

Upon this Inspection the Popes Power began to be questioned, and his Throne to shake, as if it had been founded on a Quagmire: He therefore furnisheth himself with Armies of Priests, as S. Gregory phraseth it, new Orders of Jesnites and Fryars, (never before heard of) being erected for the defence of his Tottering Chair: men devoted against the Truth, as those Conspirators were, that swore they would neither eat nor drink till they had slain Paul; for the Maintenance of whom, he is at great expence unto this [Page] day. Above all other arts, that of providing Seminaries being the most costly, and the most mysterious: wherein they are secretly trained up, like Sappho s Birds; of whom it is reported, that being ambitious to be thought a GOD, he privately cherished a multitude, and taught them by degrees to say, [...]: Sappho is a great God: which being let loose on a sudden with their Lesson, all the other Birds in the Forrest were quickly instructed in the same Ditty: Whereupon (he withdrawing himself) the people thought him gone to Heaven, and a Temple was erected to the God Sappho. Whether the Story be true, I shall not determine, I am sure it may pass for an Embleme of the Popes Atchievement, who by this means has made the World to ring of a Doctrine which makes him a God; or if not that, at least Lord of all Councils, greater than Emperours, Head of the Church, &c. His Emissaries issuing forth from these mysterious Seminaries, and filling the Earth like Locusts, or like little fraudulent and simple Birds, chirping out the Ditty: and while all the Wood learning it one of another, the Earth is full of the Miracle.

[Page]

All the late Compilers of the Decrees and Councils seem hence to flow; James Merlin, Peter Crabbe, Laurentius Surius, Nicolinus, Carranza, Severinus Binius, Labbè and Cossartius, the Collectio Regia, &c. being his sworn Adjutants for upholding the Chair. The last is a Book of such State and Magnificence, that it consists of 37 Volumes, and is in price about 50 pounds: More or less, they all carry on the Forgeries with one consent, which were at first published in the name of Isidore of Hispalis; though some had rather, upon mature deliberation, it should be Isidore Mercator, or Isidore Peccator, a Merchant, or a Sinner, rather than a Saint, and a Bishop.

This Narrative of the Forgeries being thus nakedly, and by way of History plainly given, it remains now, that the Forgeries themselves be proved to be such: In the detection of which, much light will reflect upon the foregoing passages: All which, if you please, you may take only for a fair Introduction.

Howbeit, I must close with two or three Observations. First of all, I do not content my self with any single Collector of Councils among the Papists, lest they should say, This is but one Doctors [Page] Opinion; but I take the Stream of them together. Secondly, Detect not the Books of private men, but such as are adopted by the Church of Rome; being dedicated to Popes, Kings, Emperours, and coming out cum summo Privilegio. Thirdly, that the first of these Compilers, (excepting those that were imployed in the first publication and Promotion of Isidore) did begin with that Service not much above 130 years ago; all of them rising up since the times of Martin Luther, though their Names make a great noise and bluster in the world: For upon the Reformation of the Church, so happily wrought, and carried on by the Protestants, these Armies of Collectors were marshalled together, to help a little, and to uphold the Popes Chair by Forgeries: Which intimates a Dearth of Antiquities, since they are forced to fly to such shameful expedients.

Luther appeared in the year 1517. The first that appeared after him was James Merlin, in the year 1535. The next was Peter Crabbe, in the year 1538. After him Carranza, in the year 1564. Then Surius, in the year 1567. Turrian follows, not as a Collector, but as a Champion to defend them, in the year 1573. Whom Nicolinus [Page] succeeded as a Compiler of the Councils, in the year 1585. After him Binius, Labbè and Cossartius, and the Collectio Regia follow in their Order. So that it is an easie matter to discern what set these Voluminous Writers on work, to wit, the great and smart occasion they received by the Reformation.

Finally observe, that Isidore and Merlin, the first of the Compilers, whose Works are extant, lay down the Forgeries, simply and plainly, for good Records; but Binius, and his Followers, by reason of the Arguments which they cannot answer, begin to confess some of them to be Forgeries: So do the most Grave and Learned Cardinals, Bellarmine and Baronius, though they still carry on the Design of the first Inventers, by some other Methods, which they hope will succeed better.

Nor is it any wonder, that a Secular Kingdom should make men more active than the love of Heaven; since we daily see, how the Kings of the world expend vast Treasures of Gold and Silver, and run through all dangers of Death and Battel, for their own preservation, and the Conquest of their Neighbours. The same care which they take in building [Page] Forts and Cittadels, being taken by the Bishop of Rome, in maintaining Seminaries, Universities, Printing-Houses, &c. which depend absolutely on him, for the securing of all that Wealth and Empire, which he hath by his Wit and Policy acquired: It standeth him upon; for if his Religion falls, his Glory vanisheth, and his Kingdom is abolished.

What men will do for Secular Ends, beyond all the belief and expectation of the Vulgar, we see in Hamor and Shechem, Gen. 34. the first and most Ancient Myrrour of that kind in the world: who for the accomplishment of their desires, introduced a new Religion, troubling themselves and their Citizens unto Blood, meerly to get possession of Dinah, Jacob's Daughter.

[...]'s Policy is about 2500 years1 Kings. old, though much more late. When the ten Tribes revolted from the House of David, for fear lest they should return to their Allegiance, if they went up yearly to Jerusalem, according to the Law, he set up two Calves for the people to worship, and underwent a great expence (besides the Gold in the Calves) in erecting a new Order of Friests, that the people might be kept at home in their perverse [Page] Obedience. He very well knew those Calves were no Deities, yet for secular ends he promoted their worship, and was followed therein by all the Line of the Kings of Israel, several hundred of years together.

What Demetrius the Silver-Smith did for Diana of the Ephesians, and what an uproar he made, purely for Gain, in making her Shrines, all the Christian World understandeth: But the High-Priests, Scribes and Elders of the Jews, in acting against all the Miracles of Christ, and against their Conscience; especially in giving Money to the Souldiers to hold their peace, when they brought the news of his Resurrection, their resisting of the Holy Ghost at his Miraculous Descent; these are a sufficient instance of the incredible obdurateness of mans heart, and his obstinate [...] allures his hopes, as the immediate Crown of his Labours.

The Diana of the Romans is much more prosicuous than the Diana of the Ephesians: The fattest places of the Provinces, and the greatest Empire in the World, are the Game they Play. This Dinah animateth all their Strength to impose on the people: And for the easing [Page] of their own Charge, it is a usual thing with Popes, to permit their Priests and Fryers, for their better support, to deceive the people; which Dr. Stillingfleet, in his Book of Popish Counterfeit Miracles, does excellently open: in which, and in all other Arts and Tricks, they have a special connivance, provided they keep the poor simple Sheep within the bounds of their Jurisdiction, and contribute to the continuance of their Secular Kingdom.

This is the truth of the Story; and these are the circumstances of the whole procedure, which remains now to be proved.

CAP. IV. James Merlin's Editions of the Councils, who lately published Isidore Hispalensis for a good Record, which is now detected, and proved to be a Forgery.

JAmes Merlin's pains was to publish Isidore, with some Collections and Additions of his own. He positively affirmeth him to be that Famous Isidore of Hispalis, a Saint, a Bishop, and a Father [Page] of the Church: though as Blondel and Dr. Reynolds accurately observe, S. Isidore of Hispalis was dead 40, 50, 60 years, before some things came to pass that are mentioned in that Book of the Councils.

Blondel in a Book of his, called Pseudo-Isidorus, or Turrianus Vapulans, Cap 2. observes, how the lowest that write of Isidores death, fix it on the year 647. as Vasaeus in his Chronicle: Others on the year 643. as Rodericus Toletanus Hist. lib. 2. cap. 18. Or on the year 635. as the proper Office of the Saints of Spain: or on the year 636. when Sinthalus entered his Kingdom, as Redemptus Diaconus, an eyewitness, De Obitu Isidori.

Brauleo Bishop of Caesar-Augustana, Lucas Tudensts, Baronius the great Annalist, Mariana, Grialus, and others, agree with the last; which is eleven years sooner than Vasaeus. So that the general prevailing Opinion is, that Isidore of Hispalis died in the year 636. However, that we may deal most fairly with them, we will allow them all they can desire, and calculate our affair by the last Account, which is most for their advantage.

Admit Vasaeus in the right, that Isidore lived till the year 647. yet the Book [Page] which is Fathered upon him, can be none of his; for it mentions things which came to pass long after.

It is observed by Blondel, that Honoratus, who succeeded Isidore in the See of Hispalis, is found in the sixth Council of Toledo; whereas this pretended Isidore makes mention of the eleventh Council in the same place. He talks of the sixth Oecumenical Council, in the year 681. no less than 46 years after his own death, by the lowest account. He writes of Boniface of Mentz, slain as Baronius observes, in the year 755. which was threescore and sixteen years after Isidores death: Yet Possevin, upon the word Isidorus Hisp. and Hart in his Conference with Reynolds, contend the Author of this Book to be the true Isidore, Bishop of Hispalis, as Merlin who first published Isidore in print, and others did before them.

Among his Witnesses produced against this Counterfeit, the first which Blondel useth, is the Code of the Roman Church; in which onely the Epistles of 13 Roman Bishops are contained, beginning with Siricius: Whereas there are in Isidore above 60. whereof five or six and thirty lived before Siricius, and were all unknown until the time of Isidore.

[Page]

His next Testimony is that of the Bishops of France, about the year 865. who concluded, that Isidore's Wares then newly beginning to be sold, could not have the force of Canons, because they were not contained in the Authentick Code, or Book of Canons formerly known.

He next citeth the Council of Aquisgranum, An. 816. the Bishops of Paris, An. 829. Henricus Caltheisensis, Erasmus, Greg. Cassander, Anton. Contius, the famous Lawyer, Bellarmine and Baronius, the Learned Cardinals.

The Testimony of Baronius being more largely cited than the residue, I thought it meet to search the Author, and there I found these following passages.

Writing upon the Contest between Pope Nicholas and the French Bishops concerning Appeals, he beginneth to shew how they complained, that the Causes of Baron. An. Christ. 865. nu. 4. Bishops, which ought to be tryed in Councils by their Fellow Bishops, were removed to the Apostolick Chair: And they questioned in their Letters, whether those Epistles of the more Ancient Bishops, which were not inserted into the Body of the Canons, but were written in the Collection of Isidore Mercator, were of equal Authority with the residue?

[Page]

For the making of which Controversie the more plain, and to shew what they mean by the Body of the Canons, he tells us, It is certain, that the more Ancient Collection of the Decretal Epistles of the Roman Bishops, and the Canons of divers Councils, acquired such a name, that the Volum was called, The Book, or Code, or BODY of CANONS, increased by the addition of other Councils, which were afterwards celebrated. But the more ancient and full collection of the Epistles of Roman Bishops, and Canons of Councils, was that of Cresconius, of which I have spoken before, saith he: Which being increased by the addition of many Canons and Epistles, went under the name of the Book, or BODY of CANONS. and whereas there were many other Collections of Canons compiled, that which is the richest of all, made by Isidore sirnamed Mercator, containing the Epistles of the Ancient Roman Bishops, beginning from Clement, was Longè recentior, far younger than they all; as Hincmarus, Archbishop of Rhemes, does testifie: Forasmuch as it was not brought out of Spain into France, before the times of Charles the Great, by Riculphus Archbishop of Mentz: For so he testifies in a Letter of his to Hincmarus Laudunensis, [Page] beginning, Sicut de Libro, &c. But he who first collected Canons out of the foresaid Epistles, published at first by Isidore, and inserted them into the books of the Kings of the Franks, was Benedictus Levita, as he testifieth of himself in his preface before the fifth book of those Canons; who writ in the times of the Sons of Ludovicus Pins the Emperour, Ludovicus Lotharius, and Charles, as me shewed, where he saith, I have inserted these Canons, &c. to wit, those WARES of Isidore Mercator, which were brought, as thou hast heard of Hincmarus, into France out of Spain by Riculphus. Nè quis calumniari possit, ab Ecclesiâ Romanâ aliquid hujusmodi commentum esse: Lest any one should slander us, and say, the Church of Rome invented such a business as this.

I think here is enough: He looks upon it as a Commenium, a meer Fiction, and is [...] left any one should have the advantage of Fathering such a dreadful Bastard on the Church of Rome. He calls them Isidore the Merchants Wares; he does not refel the Bishops of France; he dares not affirm they were in the Ancient Code of Epistles and Councils; he acknowledgeth them far younger than the [Page] BODY of CANONS, and subscribes to Hincmarus Archbishop of Rhemes, citing him who writ against Isidore, as a good and Authentick Author. He confesseth that they were never known in France till the times of Charles the Great, that is 700 years after they first began to be written; and that they were introduced into the books of the Kings of the Franks by Benedictus Levita, in the times of Ludovicus Lotharius, which was about the year 850. So that the Church was governed well enough without them, and about 800 years after our Saviours Birth they were first hateht as meer Innovations. This is too large a Chink for an Enemy to open; but he proceedeth further.

That the same Riculphus, Bishop ofBaron. An. 865. nu. 6. Mentz, did live in the times of Charles the Great, many Monuments of that Age do make it certain; especially the Testament of the same Charles the Great, to which this Riculphus is found to have subscribed among divers others. We find that he was President also in a Council at Mentz, held in the year of our Redemption 813. &c. Since therefore the French Regions, which are nearest to Spain, knew not the Collection of Isidore before the times of [Page] Riculphus, much less Italy, it is a conjecture, that this Isidore did live and write not long before; and so it was first published by Riculphus, who brought it thither; then by Benedictus, who put it into the Capitular books; and lastly, by Hincmarus Junior, Bishop of Laon, the last Collector unto this our Age: which Hincmarus of Rhemes, a man of a keener smell, reprehendeth in many things, defaming that collection of Isidore which the other used, for which cause he was accused. For Frodoardus, in his History of Rhemes, Cap. 16. near the end, saith of him, that being accused because he had condemned the Decretal Epistles of the Roman Bishops, he professed and protested otherwise, that he admitted, held, and approved them with the greatest honour. Vpon this occasion, to wit, it appears, he was branded with a mark, because he had signified himself not to have approved that Collection of Isidore in all things.

Baronius you see, who is one of the greatest Friends to the See of Rome, endeavours to remove the matter of Isidore as far as he can from the Roman Chair, being sore afraid, lest the guilt of so many Forgeries should too apparently be charged upon [...] For which cause he [Page] will not have the book so much as known in Italy, nay not in France, which is nearer unto Spain, for 800 years time, but that it came out of Spain first, being brought by Riculphus. Perhaps Riculphus was never there. He doth not tell us that he went into Spain, for ought I can find, nor upon what occasion, nor in what City, nor of whom he received Isidore: which putteth me in mind of Cacus his device, who being a strong Thief, and robbing Hercules of his Oxen, drew them all backward by the Tail into his Den, that the print of their heels being found backwards, they might not be tracked, but seem to be gone another way.

But he fails in his design: for as it is strange, that Italy should not know the Decretal Epistles of its own Popes for 800 years, till Riculphus brought them out of Spain; so is it more strange, that being such Forgeries as he would have them, Hincmarus Archbishop of Rhemes should be accused for condemning them, and ratled up, and Branded in such a manner, and compelled to recant by so powerful an Enemy; for it seems he had no way to save himself, but by renouncing his Opinion. The jealousie of the Roman Church, and its tenderness over Isidore, [Page] appeareth most exceeding great in the hard dealing which Hincmarus met with, who though he did recant, was still noted with infamy; as if to speak against Isidore, were a Crime not to be washed off by the Tears of Repentance in the Church of Rome. Perhaps the poor Bishop was an Hypocrite in that forced Confession, and for this was branded, because he confessed a lye, as men upon the Rack are wont to do, for his own deliverance: for that he knew still that Isidore was a Counterfeit, and must therefore be reputed a rotten Member of the Church of Rome. This Baronius observes, while he ascribeth Hincmarus his reprehending Isidore's Collection, to his keener scent; whereby he was able, more readily than others, to smell a Rat, and discover the Cheat.

Baronius proceedeth further in condemning the collection of Isidore, thus; But Nicholas the Pope seemed to abstainAn 865. nu. 7. from it on purpose: for though he was often ingaged in these Controversies, concerning Appeals to the Apostolick Chair, and there were in it many, and those most powerful, Testimonies of most holy Popes, and they Martyrs too, whose Authority might be of highest force in the Church; yet he [Page] wholly abstained from them (which that he knew to be doubtful at least, is not to be doubted) using only those, concerning which there was never any doubt in the Church of God; because the Church did not want those adventitious, and late invented Evidences, because it might receive them abundantly from other places: but Benedictus Levita himself also, though (as you have heard from Hincmarus, and as he himself testifies in the Preface before his books) he took many things out of that same Collection of Isidore; yet being conscious in himself, that the Authority of those Epistles was not so sure, but that it nodded exceedingly, he never cited any Author of them, as he did in the other Epistles of the Roman Bishops, Innocent, Leo, Gelasius, Symmachus, and Gregory; naming the Authors of those, whose Faith was clear and certain. But further yet, with great caution, because he knew the Evidences taken from them not to be so firm, he took care, as he testifies in the end, to have them confirmed by the Apostolick Authority.

Is not here a merry passage? Benedictus Levita knew the Decretal Epistles to be false, and therefore he got them to be made true by the Popes Authority; at least to be confirmed as true, whereas they [Page] were doubtful before. It is the manner of sometimes, to get others to propose the matters, which they themselves design to be done; that the business springing from the request of others, might appear more graceful in the eye of the people. We may justly enquire, whether Benedictus Levita were not ordered what to Petition, by private instructions from his Holiness, before he made his motion to the Chair: for it had otherwise been an extravagant impudence to have assaulted the Chair with such a request as that is, of craving a Confirmation of new-found Records, so feeble and suspected. Whatever the Intrigue was, the event is clear, Benedictus Levita got them confirmed, and so they were adopted for his Holiness Children, though Pope Nicholas was shy a little out of shame and modesty, and blushed to acknowledge his poor Kindred.

It is further observable, that these counterfeit Epistles were first brought in into the Records of the Franks, without naming their Authors: and that a little after their quiet publication, some Favourite of the Chair grew more bold, and added their names unto them; this of Clement, that of Anacletus, &c. And that the [Page] work was thus perfected by degrees, Baronius shews us in the following passage.

But he who first published the DecreesIbid nu. 7. extracted out of those Epistles, with the Title of the Roman Bishops, in whose names they are recorded, was that Hincmarus we mentioned, the Bishop of Laon, as appears by an Epistle or book written against him by Hincmarus of Rhemes; who receiving that work of the Bishop of Laon, read it not without indignation, and in very many things reprovedit. But others have followed the Bishop of Laon, as Burchardus, who writ in the following Age, and others after him, who prefixed the names of the very Roman Bishops before all the Chapters, which Gratian also did the last of all.

But that those Epistles are rendered suspitious, by many things which we have said in the second Tome of our Annals, while we mentioned each in particular, is sufficiently demonstrated: Where we shewed withal, that the holy Roman Church did not need them, so as (if they should be detected of falsity) to be bereaved of its Rights and Priviledges, since (though she wanteth them) she is abundantly strengthened and confirmed by the Legitimate and Genuine Decretal Epistles of other [Page] Popes. But that the Chapters taken out of them by Benedictus Levita, were at first approved, as agreeable to the Canons (as himself testifies) by the Authority of the Roman Bishops, (which was done also by the latter Collectors) it happened rather by long use, than for any strength or firmness in themselves.

Thus Baronius in his Annals, An. 865. nu. 5, 6, 7, 8. all together.

In Notis Martyrol. ad 4. April. he saith, Vasaeus is convicted to have erred, who thought this Isidore Pacensis that Isidore who collected the Epistles of the Roman Bishops, and the Councils, &c. Hincmarus Laudunensis also, and Trithemius, and others err, who ascribe that collection to Isidore of Hispalis: That Opinion is refelled; first, because Brauleus and Ildephonsus, who lived in those times, drawing up a Catalogue of his Writings, make not the least mention of that work. But further, all doubt is taken away concerning this matter, while the Author of that work, speaking there concerning the manner of holding a Council. recites the words of the first Canon of the eleventh Council of Toledo, and mentions Agatho the Pope in his Preface, since Isidore of Hispalis departed this life, long before the [Page] times of that Council, and Pope Agatho.

Had we time, we might make many curious reflexions upon these passages of Baronius: He afterwards talks of another Isidore, called sometimes Mercator, and sometimes Peccator; but of what Parents, what Calling, what City, or what Country he was, he mentioneth nothing. So that this Child, among all those Isidores and Fathers that are found out for it, must rest at last in one that is unknown.

All that can be gathered from this whole discourse of Baronius, is this, That a new Book of Councils, richly fraught with Evidences for the Roman Church and Religion, came abroad under the name of Isidore, containing Decrees and Decretal Epistles that were never before heard of in the world: that this Book was falsly Fathered upon Isidore of Hispalis; and that all those ancient Epistles of the Roman Bishops, from S. Peter down to Siricius, are justly suspected: Nay, he confesses them to be insirm, adventitions, and lately invented, or newly found, and to nod exceedingly: He opposeth them to those Records which are Legitimate and Genuine, though they are of late magnified, and followed by all [Page] the Collectors of the Decrees and Councils, being, though waved by some, cited and approved by other Popes, as well as Doctors, Jesuites, Cardinals, &c.

This is the last and best Story that can be made on the behalf of that Book, the Counterfeits in which, as we observed before, were, because they extol and magnifie the Popes Chair, received for good and Authentick Laws in the Church of Rome: For Baronius died not long since, about the year 1607. in this last Century; and when he had seen the truth of those Arguments that are urged against the Forgeries, endeavours so to handle this matter in his History, as to clear the Church of Rome from the imputation.

Bellarmine, that saw not into this Mystery so clearly, takes another course; which when we have intimated one or two Marginal Notes in Baronius, we shall declare. Baronius deals more fairly with us than Binius; for the one in his Marginal Notes contradicteth his Text, sometimes to delude the Reader: but Baronius fairly notes in the Margin, Isidori collectio vulgata in Galliis. Isidori collectio ab Antiquis non adeo probata. Isidori collectio ut minùs sincera [Page]notata, &c. Soft words for a Treatise rejected, but strong Indications of a Desperate Cause. The Ancients approved not the collection of Isidore. It was not so sincere as it ought, &c.

Cardinal Bellarmine, to prove theBellarm. de Rom. Pont lib. [...] cap. 14. Popes Supremacy, draweth one Argument from the Popes themselves; whose Testimonies he casteth into three Classes. The first, saith he, contains the Epistles of Popes that sate from S. Peter to the year 300. in which Calvin and the Magdenburgenses confess the Primacy to be plainly asserted; and that those Bishops were holy men, and true Bishops; but they say the Epistles are forged and new, and falsly Fathered on those Bishops. In this Class he affirmeth, These Holy Fathers do clearly assert the Primacy; Clemens in his first Epistle, Anacletus in his third, Evaristus Epist. 1. Pius Epist. 1, and 2. Anicetus Epist. 1. Victor Epist. 1. Zephirinus Epist. 1. Calixtus Epist. 1. Lucius Epist. 1. Marcellus in Epist. 1. Eusebius Epist. 3. Melchiades Epist. [...]. Marcus Epist. 1.

After this he saith, Quamvis aliquos Errores, &c. Though I cannot deny, but that some Errours are crept into them, and dare not affirm that they are indubitable, yet I doubt not at all, but that they are very [Page]Ancient. As if an old Deed being called into question, and the matter of Fact made certain, that it was a real Forgery; he that holds his possession by it, should say, It has been interlined indeed, and corrupted in many places, but 'tis very old. Let us see however what his reason is for the Antiquity of it: He is rough with his Opponents, and telleth us, The Magdeburgenses do lye, when they say Cent. 2. Cap. 7. near the end, that no Author worthy of credit ever cited these Epistles before Charles the Great: For Isidore, who is 200 years older than Charles the Great, in the Proem of his collection of the Holy Canons, saith, that by the advice of 80 Bishops, he collected Canons out of the Epistles of Clement, Anacletus, &c.

Isidore did indeed begin to flourish near to the year 610. So that Bellarmine takes him right for the same Isidore Bishop of Hispalis. But had he well examined the matter, he would have forborn to give the Lye to men more in the right than himself, confiding in the rotten Antiquity of this Counterfeit Isidore. For Isidores Preface is a Counterfeit too, made on purpose to countenance the Forgeries; not 200 years older than Charles [Page]the Great, things after the Death of Isidore, its pretended Author, being mentioned in the same.

Dr Reynolds in his Conference withConfer. [...] [...] [...]. Hart, having smartly checked him for his fourscore Bishops out of one Isidore, asked him, About what year of Christ Isidore did die? How doth Genebrard write? (because Genebrard was Hart's most admired Author.) He answereth, About the year 637. as he proveth out of Vasaeus. Asking him, When the General Council of Constantinople, under Agatho, was kept? He answereth, In the year 681. or 682. or thereabout Then Isidore was dead above [...] years, saith Reynolds, before that General Council. He was, saith Hart, but what of that? Of that it doth follow, that the preface written in Isidores name, and set before the Councils, to purchase credit to those Epistles, is a counterfeit, and not Isidore's: For in that Preface there is mention made of the General Council of Constantinople, held against Bishop Macarius and Stephanus, in the time of Pope Agatho and the Emperour Constantine: which [...] it was held above 40 years after Isidore [...] dead, by Genebrard's own confession, by his own confession Isidore could not tell the fourscore Bishops of it. And [Page]so the 80 Bishops which Turrian hath found out in one Isidore, are dissolved all into one Counterfeit, abusing both the name of Isidore, and fourscore Bishops. Hart was unable to answer him, and [...] from the Point.

Harding, in his Book against Bishop Jewel, citeth these Forgeries frequently and briskly: Upon the failure of which, though Baronius pretends an abundant number of other Evidences; yet in the loss of 30 or 40 Primitive Bishops and Martyrs, that were so long time, for the first 300 years after Christ together, thought to speak for the Supremacy of the Church of Rome, one of the fairest Feathers in the Popes Crown is placked away; and the younger Evidences, in which Baronius trusts, being none but the Malepert and Arrogant Testimonies of Junior Popes, in their own Causes, will make but a slight impression in the minds of men, that have found themselves deluded with more ancient [...], of the grave and unspotted Authorities of Holy Men, that Sacrificed themselves for the Glory of God, and the good of the World, and sealed their Testimony [...] their latest blood which the latter Bishops of Rome have been more Secular [Page] and Pompous, than to be doing like their Predecessors.

CAP. V. Divers Forgeries contained in Isidore's Collection, mentioned in particular.

Isidore, as he now standeth set forth by Merlin, has 50 Canons of the Apostles for pure and good Records; many Decretal Epistles, made, as he pretends, by the first Martyrs and Bishops of Rome; very long and full of Popery.

He has two Epistles of S. Clement written to S. James Bishop of Jerusalem, that was dead before S. Clement came to the Chair: one to the Brethren dwelling with S. James, and two others in his name.

He has four Epistles in the name of Anacletus, who lived in the time of Trajan, and sate in the Roman Chair, An. [...]. In the last of which the Counterfeit Anacletus feigneth, ‘That all the Primacies and Archbithopricks in the World were divided and fetled by S. Peter, and S. Clement; that the Church of Rome is the Head and Hinge of all [Page] the Churches; and that all the Patriarchal Sees were made such by vertue of S. Peter: Antioch, because he sate there, before he came to Rome Alexandria, because S. Mark came to sit there from S. Peter: but Rome especially the first See, because it is sanctified by the death of S. Peter, and S. Paul.’ As if our Saviours Death were nothing able to sanctifie Jerusalem, as S. Peter's death was to sanctifie Rome: though besides the Death of Christ, Jerusalem hath this advantage, that it is the first Church, and the Mother of us all.

That you may a little discein the dealings of the Papists, note here, that Anacletus his first and second Epistles are cited by Bellarmine for good Records, [...]. de Rom Pont. [...]. I. cap. 23. [...] in the very same book where he confesseth them to be Counterfeits: For though in one little passage they be confessed for the present satisfaction of a stiff Oppanent; yet where men are minded to be corrupt, they may serve the turn in an hundred other places, by a Pious Fraud; and the Confession being over-skipped, they may still seem Authentick, especially if the place happen to be unseen where the Confession was made, as it often cometh to pass in voluminous writings.

[Page]

[...] has besides these, 2 counterfeit Epistles of [...], 3 of Alexander, 2 of Sixtus, 1 of Telesphorus, 2 of Higinus, 2 of Pius, 1 of Anitius, 2 of Soter, 1 of [...], 2 of Victor, 2 of Zephirinus, 2 of [...], 1 of [...], 2 of Pontianus, 1 of [...], 3 of Fabian, 2 of Cornelius, 1 of [...], 2 of Stephen, 2 of Sixtus, 2 of Dionysius, 3 of [...], 2 of [...], 1 of [...], 2 of Marcellinus, 2 of Marcellus, 3 of Eusebius, 1 of [...]. All laid down without the least [...] of any Fraud: though the later [...] of the Councils, having their [...] [...] by the Century-Writers of [...], the care of other I [...], [...] to acknowledge several of them to be Forgeries.

These Episiles have one common blast upon them they were first seen in a counterfeit book and never known to the World, [...] hundred years after their pretended Authors were set in their Craves. They cannot all be [...] at once; the Reader therefore must have patience, till we meet with them in their places. In the mean time see what Bishop Jewel saith concerning them, a [...] ever answered by any, especially as to these points, wherein he [...] them [Page] with Forgery. ‘Gratian sheweth, that [...] [...]. De Epistolis. the Decretal Epistles have been doubted of among the Learned. Dr. Smith declared openly at Paul's Cross, that they cannot possibly be theirs whose names they bear: And to utter some reasons shortly for proof thereof, these Decretal Epistles manifestly [...] and abuse the Scriptures, as it may soon appear to the Godly Reader upon sight. They maintain nothing so much, as the State and Kingdom of the Pope; and yet there was no such State erected in many hundred years after the Apostles time. They publish a multitude of vain and Superstitious [...], and other like fantasies, far unlike the Apostles Doctrine. They proclaim such things as Mr. Harding knoweth to be open and known [...]. [...], that [...] [...] [...] was next after Peter, willeth and [...] commandeth, that all Bishops, once in the year, do visit the [...] of S. Peter's Church in Rome, which they call Limina [...]; yet was there then [...] Church as yet built there in the name of Peter. Pope Antherus maketh mention of Eusebius Alexandrinus, and Felix, which lived a long time after him. Fabianus writeth of the coming of Novatus [Page] into Italy; yet 'tis clear by S. Cyprian, and [...], that Novatus came first into Italy in the time of Cornelius, who was (next) after Fabianus. One Petrus Crab, the Compiler of the Councils, complaineth much, that the examples from whence he took them, were wonderfu ly corrupted, and not one of them agreeing with another. Gratian himself upon good advice, is driven to say, that al such Epistles ought to have place, rather in debating matter of Justice in the Consistory, than in determining and weighing the truth of the Scriptures. Besides this, neither S. Hierom, nor Gennadius, nor Damasus, nor any other Old Father, ever alledged these Epistles, or made any account of them; nor the Bishops of Rome themselves at the first, no not when such Evidences might have stood them in best stead, in their ambitious contention for Superiority over the Bishops of Africa: The Contents of them are such, as a very Child of any judgment may soon be able to [...] them.’ Here he nameth St. Clement's writing to St. James when he was dead, Marcellus charging the Emperour Maxentius, an Infidel and a Tyrant, with the Authority of Clement; [Page] with several things of this kind. In his Reply to Harding's Answer, Artic. 1. and 4. But I proceed with Isidore, or rather Merlin, that first printed him.

He has, besides all these Epistles, certain counterfeit Decrees of Sylvester, Bishop of Rome, in the time of Constantine the Great, and the Epilogus brevis Romani [...] post [...] celebrati; which Hincmarus, Archbishop of Rhemes, is reported particularly to have excepted against, as absurd, because it ordaineth, 1. That no Lay-man ought to accuse a Clergy-man. 2. That no Inferiour Priest may accuse his Superiour. 3. That a [...] may not be condemned without 72 Witnesses, a Cardinal Priest not without 43, a Cardinal Deacon of the City of Rome not without 27, a Sub-Deacon, an [...], a Reader, a Door-keeper, not without 7 [...]. It is further provided, that every one of these [...] must be without any spot of infamy: no Lay-man at all, nor any inferiour Clergy man. So that upon the matter a safe Indemnity is prepared for all kind of Priests, especially the great ones, to swim in any Excess as himself listeth, provided he be not guilty of the Protestants faults; that is to say, that he doth not touch the Popes Crown, or the Monks Belly.

[Page]

This Decree is most solemnly put among the Councils by Isidore, and Merlin, by Peter Crabbe, Surius, Binius, Labbe, and Cossartius, and the Collectio Regia; and as solemnly put among the Popes Laws, by Ivo an ancient Bishop, a great Civilian, and one of the Eldest Digesters of the Canon Law, before Gratian

This brief Epilogue set before the Council, giveth you to wit, that there were Cardinals in Rome in the time of Constantine, An. [...] the first Christian Emperour. But if you please to examine Antiquities, you will hardly sind Cardinals so ancient.

Isidore in his Preface directed to one, whom he calls his Fellow-servant and Father of the Faith, mentioneth 70 Canons of the Nicene Council, somewhat too affectedly: ‘You 80 Bishops, saith he, who have compelled me to begin and perfect this work, ought to know, and so ought all other Priests of the Lord, that we have found more than those 20 Canons of the Nicene Council, that are with us: And we read in the Decrees of Julius the [...] that there ought to be [...] Chapters of that Synod.’ Yet when he cometh to the Council it self, he forgets himself so far, as to lay down but 20; the 50 forged [...] receiving a [Page] fair Countenance only, by that Preface or Epistle, set for shew before the work.

He has an Epistle of Athanasius, and the Bishops of Egypt, to Pope Mark; wherein they tell him, that there were 70 Canons of the Nicene Council, and desire him to send them into Egypt from Rome, since all their own were burnt at Alexandria by the Arrians. Mark was [...] [...]. [...]. in vita Marc. dead 9 years before the Burning happened; howbeit, he sent them a Gracious Answer, with the 70 Canons. The [...] of these was seriously cited to [...] by a Learned Son of that Church, to prove the Bishop of Rome was called Pope (to wit, by Athanasius, and all the Bishops of Egypt) within the first [...] years: But some of their latest Authors begin to blush at it, as Binius and Baronius do in particular.

Next to these he has three Epistles of Julius the Pope, as very Counterfeits as the former, yet generally cited by the Pseudo-Catholicks, as good Records.

After these, an Epistle of Athanasius, and the Bishops of Egypt to Liberius; the oppression of the Church by the Arrians being the pretended Theme, but its real design is to magnifie the Popes Chair.

Liberius his Answer. Ejusdem [...]. [Page] A lofty Brag like the residue.

An Epistle of the Bishops of Egypt to Pope Felix, concerning the cruel Persecutions of the Arrians: An humble Address, and very Supplicatory. Though Felix was an Arrian himself, and an Usurper of the Chair, thrust in by an Arrian Emperour, while Liberius the true owner of it was banished for the Faith; yet the stile of the Epistle runneth thus, Domino beatissimo, &c. To our most blessed and most honourable Lord, the Holy Father Faelix, Pope of the Apostolical City, Athanasius, and all the Bishops of Egypt, Thebais and Lybia, by the Grace of God assembled in the Holy Council of Alexandria. A stile too too lofty for those purer times of humble simplicity: The usual Compellations of those days (as may be seen by S. Cyprian's Letters to the Bishops of Rome, and some other good Records) being far more short and samiliar; such as Julio Vrbis Romae Episcopo, or, Stephano fratri, or, Cornelio Collegae & Coepiscopo; that is, to Julius Bishop of the City of Rome, or to Stephen my Brother, or to Cornelius my Associate and Fellow bishop: Nor can we find any other, in undoubted instruments, for the first 300 or 400 years: But for an Vsurper to be called [Page] Most blessed and honourable Lord, an Heretick, Holy Father and Pope of the Apostolical City; and that by a man who had rather die than be guilty of such a Flattery, was little suitable to the Spirit of Athanasius, that Great and Couragious Champion of the Church, being (as God would have it) one, that of all others was the most mortal hater of the Arrians.

Isidore and Merlin dote so exceedingly, as to make this Usurper a Pope, and to record his Decrees as lawful Canons.

After a little time Liberius was restored, but on very base and dishonourable terms, as Bellarmine himself testifieth outBell. de Rom. Pont. lib. 4. cap. 9 Baron. An. Christ. 357. Liberii 6. nu. 32, 33. of S. Hierom, and Athanasius. He fainted in his Persecution, and was restored by an Arrian Emperour, upon his Subscription to the Heretical Pravity. After this he writeth more Decretals; and the Title of his Epistle is in Isidore thus, Epistola Liberii Papae, ut nullus pro Persecutionibus dum dur are potestatem suam relinquat Ecclesiam. It is Nonsense, and false Latine: but Binius about a thousandBfn. in vit. Liberii. and three hundred years after Liberius his death, mendeth it thus; Epistola XII. Liberii Papae, ad omnes generaliter Episcopos, ut nullus pro persecutionibus dum durare potest suam relinquat Ecclesiam: That[Page]no man should forsake his Church, for persecution sake, while he was able to bear it. By the Title it should be a compassionate Letter: For if any one be wearied with persecution, as Liberius was, by a tacit intimation, it seemeth to permit him to renounce the Faith, as Liberius did: for Bellarmine and Platina consent to this,Bellarm. ut supra that he subscribed to the Arrian Creed; only the one saith, he did it in the external act, through fear; and the other Sentiens, that he thought, or consented with them in all. Platin. in vit. Liberii.

Damasus his Epistle to Paulinus Bishop of Antioch follows. I fear an Imposture: Isidore and Merlin were not aware there was no such man: Their Followers are fain to mend it thus; Paulinus Bishop of Thessalonida. As Binius, Labbe, &c. In vitâ Damasi.

Next the Epistle of Damasus to Hierom, and Hierom's Answer, both confessed toBin. [...] pist. 3. be a Forgery, there is an Epistle of StephenDamasi. & in Epist, Hieron. ad Damas. the Archbishop, and of three Councils in Africa, to Damasus the Pope, concerning the priviledge of the Roman Chair. Doubtless the Bishops in Africa were very zealous for the priviledge of the Roman Chair, ever since the Oppression, and Cheat of Zozimus. The Title is somewhat [Page] suspitious: Beatissimo Damino, & Apostolico Culmini sublato, &c. Stephanus Archiepiscopus Concilii Mauritanii, &c. In English thus; To our most blessed Lord, and the Apostolical Top highly lifted up, the Holy Father of Fathers, and the Supreme Bishop over all Prelates, Stephen Archbishop of the Council of Mauritania, and all the Bishops of the three Councils in the Province of Africa. Many men have stiled themselves Archbishops of Provinces, but no man (as I remember) Archbishop of a Council. There may be Archbishops in a Council, but not an Archbishop of the Council. Three Councils at once in the same Province were never heard of: One and the same Letter sent from three Councils is a strange thing: So is a Letter sent in the name of one Archbishop, as President of three Councils at a time.

After this we have 6 Epistles of Siricius, 2 of Anastasius, 19 of Innocent, 2 of Zozimus, 3 of Boniface, with feveral Answers: Among which there is inserted a Constitution of Honorius the Emperour sent to Boniface, That if there were two Bishops of Rome made any more, they should be both driven out of the City: Which shews how subject the Roman Chair is to Schismes, and the Power that [Page] did of old belong to the Emperour.

There are other Epistles of Celestine, Sixtus, Leo, Hilarius Simplicius Felix, Gelasius, Anastasias, Symmachus, Hormisda, &c. the most of which do much exceed our compass of the first 400 years, and are too late for our Cognizance: For since the Forgery of Zozimus, much credit is not to be given to the Roman Bishops: Not as if one mans fault had blasted them all; but he leads up the Van of Forgets, and they have all persisted in his Guilt, no one of them making acknowledgment or restitution, and almost all of them guilty of the like, either by doing, or suffering.

Among the rest there is an Instrument, which the Collector calleth, Sacra Justini Imperatoris ad Hormisdam Papam: The Sacred Writing of the Emperour Justinus to Hormisda Pope. But the word POPE is not in the superscription: The Letter it self is, To the most Holy and blessed Archbishop and Patriarch of the Venerable City of Rome, Hormisda. Archbishop and Fatriarch we allow him; but not that Typhus wherewith the Fathers in the sixth Council of Carthage charge Zozimus, that blasphemous Title which John assumed at Constantinople, and S. Gregory [Page] so declaimed against at Rome.

This Letter of Justin the Emperour was written more than 500 years after our Saviours Birth, yet I never saw true Record, in all that time, give a Title so high to the Bishop of Rome. But Justin was a man of low Descent, a Swineherd at first, a Carpenter afterwards, then a Souldier of Fortune, and at last an Emperour: He was the more solicitous therefore to complement so Mighty a Bishop with accurate expression.

Note well. Isidore has suppressed all the Canons of the sixth Council of Carthage, as too bitter and sharp for the Popes Constitution. And so has Merlin, though very foolishly: for in the beginning of the Book he hath a Preliminary Tract, called, An Annotation of Synods, the Acts where of are contained in this book. In which he giveth us this account: in the Aquitan Council, 18 Fathers made 24 Canons: in that of Neocaesarea, 16 Fathers made 14 Canons: in that of Gangra, 16 Fathers made 21 Canons: in that of Sardica, 60 Fathers made 21 Canons: in that of Antioch, 30 Fathers made 25 Canons: in that of Laodicea, 22 Fathers made 59 Canons: in the Council of Car thage, 217 Fathers made 33 Canons. I [Page] had a long time coveted a sight of these Canons, and finding them numbred in such an Annotation of Synods, the Acts whereof are contained in this book, I was much comforted with hope of seeing them: But when I turned to the place, I found them not! Surely to slip out 33 Canons at a time, made by more Fathers than were in all the other Councils put together, is a lusty Deleatur: There was never Deed of more importance imbezelled in the World.

The Nicene Council had 318 Fathers, that made 20 Canons: for what secret cause therefore he skippeth over the account which he ought especially to give of this, is worth the enquiry. He mentions it by the by, and shuffles it off without an account, (perhaps) because he was loath to say, or unsay the story of 70 Canons in the Nicene Council. However he dealeth fairly with us in this, that having noted Aurelius to have been President in the sixth Council of Carthage, he confesseth, that S. Augustine, Bishop of Hipyo, is recorded to have been in that Council, in the Reign of Honorius. Ibid.

Binius, and all the Popish Compilers I could ever meet with before, clipped off that Council in the midst, without so [Page] much as signifying the number of its Canons. I was glad I had a sight of their number here, though I mist of themselves: and was confident, that however cruelly the Pope dealt with Aurelius Archbishop of Carthage, S. Aug. Bishop of Hippo, and other holy Fathers, in cutting out their Tongues, I should at last meet with them: And the Learned Justellus with much honesty and honour has made us satisfaction.

We acknowledge some true Records among these Spurious Abominations: but a little poyson spoileth the greatest Mess of the most wholesom Meat; much more doth a Bundle of Forgeries that overpoyseth the true Records in size and number.

The method which he useth in the mixture of the Records and Forgeries is remarkable: For beginning with the Counterfeit Epistles of Clement, Anacletus, &c. he first seasoneth the Readers spirit with Artificial Charms, and prepossesseth him with the high Authority of the Roman Patriarchs; and after he has given him those strong Spells and Philtres, composed of Roman Drugs, permits him boldly to see some true Antiquities, his eyes being dazled in the very Entry, [Page] with Apparitions of Popes, and such other Spectres.

Lest the Tincture should decay, he reserves some of the Forgeries till afterwards; that the true Records might be compassed in with an Enchanted Circle, and the last Relish of Antiquity go off as strong as the first, and be as successful as the prepossession. Thus he cometh down with Forgeries to Melchiades; and then he breaketh off the Decretal Epistles, to make room for the Councils, beginning with the Nicene, under pretence of its Excellency, and putting the Councils before it in time, after it in order that he might get a fit occasion to introduce them here, so running down in a disorderly manner, from Ancyra to Neocaesarea, Gangra, Sardica, Antioch, Laodicea, Constantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon, among the Greeks, and then up again to the Latine Councils, many of which preceded divers of the other; as the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth Council of Carthage, all which were before the Council of Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon: From the seventh Council of Carthage, he runneth down to the thirteenth Council of Toledo, which happened long after Melchiades, Silvester, Pope Mark Liberius,[Page]Felix, &c. were dead: Then he cometh (in the second part of his Work) up again to Sylvester, and so downwards with more Decretals, that he might Husband his Forgeries well, and not glut us with them altogether. And remarkable it is also, that he doth not give us the least syllable of notice of any Fraud among them: Nay, even Constantine's Donation set in the Front before the Nicene, and in the midst between the first Order of Counterfeits and the Councils, passeth with him silently and gravely for a true and sacred Instrument, which is of all other the most impudent Imposture.

Let Baronius say what he will, it was impossible to debauch all Antiquity and Learning with so much Labour and Art, without some deep Counsel and Design. What use Merlin puts all these things to, and how much he was Approved in the Church of Rome, you shall see in the next Chapter, and how highly also he extolleth this Book ofF orgeries.

How plainly he fathereth it upon S. Isidore Bishop of Hispalis, is manifest by the Coronis of the first Part, where with it endeth

Give thanks to industrious and learned men, studious Reader, that now thou hast [Page] at hand the Acts of the Councils, as well as of the Popes; which Isidore the Bishop of Hispalis collected into one Volume, &c. What shall we believe? The first Edition of the Book it self, or Baronius his Testimony? Old Merlin fathers it upon Isidore before Baronius was born, and all the World was made to believe the Bishop of Hispalis was the Author of it; though now for shame, and for a shift, they fly to another Author. Now if Isidore were dead before the Booke was made, it must needs Ibid. be a Cheat; which, as Clausule insuesa sus picionem [...]. Merlin saith, honest Francis Regnault, the cunning Printer, ended at Paris, in the year of our Lord 1535, which unusual form of Concluding, instead of allaying, increaseth the suspicion.

CAP. VI. What use Merlin makes of Isidore, and the Forgeries therein. How much he was approved in the Church of Rome. How some would have Isidore the Bishop to be a Merchant, others, a Sinner.

HOw false and fraudulent soever the Collection of Isidore be, yet its Title is very Splendid, and its Authority Sacred in the Church of Rome.

[Page]

JAMES MERLIN'S COLLECTION OF THE Four General Councils; The NICENE, the CONSTANTINOPOLITAN, the EPHESINE, and the CHALCEDONIAN:

Which S. Gregory the Great does Worship and Reverence as the Four Gospels.

TOM. I.

Of 47 Provincial Councils also; and the Decrees of 69 POPES.

From the APOSILES and their CANONS, to ZACHARIAS.

ISIDORE being the Author.

ALSO

The GOLDEN BULL of CHARLES IV. Emperour, concerning the Election of the KING of the ROMANS.

PARIS:

At Francis Regnault. 1535.

All we shall observe upon this Title, is this; If Gregory the Great did Worship [Page] and Reverence the Four General Councils as the Four Gospels, they were the more to blame that added 50 Canons to one of them; and they much more, that stain them all with the Neighbourhood, and Mixture of such hateful Forgeries.

But who could suspect that so much Fraud could be Ushered in with so fair a Frontispiece? or so much Sordid Basene s varnished over with so much Magnificence! I have heard of a Thief that robbed in his Coach, and a Bishops Pontificalibus; of the German Princess, and of Mahomet's Dove: But I never heard of any thing like this, that a [...] should trade with Apostles, Fathers, Emperours, Golden Bulls, Kings, and Councils: under the fair pretext of all these, to Cheat the World of its Religion and Glory.

His Grandeur is rendered the more remarkable, and his Artifice redoubted, by the Greatness of his Retinue: Riculphus Archbishop of Mentz, Hincmarus Laudunensis, Benedictus Levita, the Famous [...], and his fourscore Bishops, Ivo Cartonensis, Gratian, Merlin, Peter Crab, Laurentius Surius Carranza, Nicolinus, Binius, Labbè, Cossartius, the COLLECTIO REGIA, Stanistaus Hosius, Cardinal [Page] Bellarmine, Franciscus Turrianus, &c. Men that bring along with them Emperours and Kings for Authority, as will appear in the Sequel: Men who think it lawful to Cheat in an Holy Cause, and to lye for the Churches Glory: These augment the Splendour of his Train. Their Doctrine of Pious Frauds is not unknown: And if we may do evil that good may come, certainly no good, like the Exaltation of the Roman Church, can possibly be found, wherewith to justifie a little evil.

The Jesuites Morals are well understood: Upon their Principles to do evil, is no evil, if good may ensue. Perjury it self may be dispenced with by the Authority of their Superiour. An illimited Blind Obedience is the sum of their Profession. To equivocate and lye for the Church, that is, for the advancement of their Order, and the Popes benefit, is so far from sin, that to murder Heretical Kings is not more Meritorious.

It is a sufficient Warrant, upon such grounds, to James Merlin our present Author, that he was commanded to do what he did, by great and eminent Bishops in the Church of Rome: as he sheweth in his Epistle Dedicatory, To [Page]the most Reverend Fathers in Christ, and his most excellent Lords, Stephen and Francis, &c. the one of which was Bishop of Paris, and the other an Eminent Prelate, who ordered all his work by their care, and made it publick by their own Authority.

Conceiving nothing (saith he) more profitable for the Commonwealth, I have not dissembled to bring the Decrees of the Sacred Councils and Orthodox Bishops, which partly the blessed Isidore sometime since digested into one, partly you, most Reverend Fathers, having confirmed them with your Leaden Seal, gave me to be published in one Volume: For every particular appeareth so copiously and Catholickly handled here, which is necessary for the convicting of the Errours of mortal men, or for the restoring of the now almost ruined World, that every man may readily find wherewith to kill Hereticks and Heresies.

The Protestants being grown so dangerous, that they had almost ruined the Popish World, by reforming the Church; nothing but this Medusa's Head of Snakes and Forgeries was able to affray them. The nakedness of the Pontisicians being discovered, they had no Retreat from the Light of the Gospel, but to this Refuge [Page] of Lies: Where every one may readily find, saith Merlin, wherewith to kill Hereticks and Heresies, to depress the proud, to weary the voluptuous, to bring down the ambitious, to take the little Foxes that spoil the Vineyard of the Church. By the proud and ambitious, he meaneth Kings and Patriarchs, that will not submit to the Authority and Supremacy of the Roman Church; and by the little Foxes, such men as the Martyrs in the Reformed Churches; the driving away of which was the design of the publication. That he meaneth Kings and Patriarchs in the former, you will see in the Conclusion.

And if any one shall hereafter endeavour15 to fray, and drive away these Monsters from the Commonwealth, what can be more excellent, saith he, than the stones of David, which this Jordan shall most copiously afford? If any one would satisfie the desires of the Hungry, what is more sweet and abundant than the Treasures which this Ship bringeth from the remotest Regions? but if he desires the path and splendour of Truth, by which the clouds of Errour (with their Authors) may best be dispelled, and driven far away; what is more apparent than the Sentences of the [Page] Fathers, which they, by the Inspiration ofThe Forgeries Fathered on the Holy Ghost. the Holy Ghost, have brought together into this Heap? For here, as out of a Meadow full of all kind of Flowers, all things may be gathered with ease, that conduce to the profit of the Church, or the suppressing of Vices, or the extinguishing of Lusts. Here the most precious Pearl, if you dig a little, will strait be found, &c. Here the Tyranny of Kings and Emperours, as it were with a Bit and Bridle, is restrained. Here the Luxury of [...] and Bishops is repressed: If Princes differ here peace sincere is hid: If Prelates contend about the Primacy, here THE ANGEL OF THE GREAT COUNCIL discovers who is to be preferred above the residue, &c.

Are not the Roman Wares set off with advantage here? How exceedingly are these Medicines for the Maladies of the Church boasted by these Holy Mountebanks? The stones of David that kill Goliah, the River that refresheth the City of God, the Food of Souls, the Ship, the very Argonaut of the Church, that comes home laden with Treasures from unknown Regions, are but mean expressions; the Inspirations of the Holy Ghost, the Pearl of Price, Angelus ille Magni Concilii, the Angel of the Covenant [Page] are hid here; and all (if we believe this dreadful Blasphemer) declare for the Pope against all the World. Here is a Bit and Bridle for Kings and Emperours, a Rule for Patriarchs, and what not?

The Councils, and true Records, we Reverence with all Honour due to Antiquity: And for that very cause, we so much the more abhor that admixture of Dross and Clay, wherewith their Beauty is corrupted. Had we received the Councils sincerely from her, we should have blest the Tradition of the Church of Rome for her assistance therein: But now she loveth her self more than her Children, and the Pope (which is the Church Virtual) is so hard a Father, that he soweth Tares instead of Wheat, and giveth Stones instead of Bread, and for Eggs feedeth us with Scorpions: We abhor her practices, and think it needful warily to examine, and consider her Traditions

What provisions are made in Merlin's Isidore for repressing the Luxuries of Popes and Bishops, you may please to see in Constantines Donation, and the Epilogus Brevis. In the one of which so many Witnesses are required before a Bishop be condemned; and in the other, [Page] care is taken for the Pomp. of the Clergy, even to the Magnificence of their Shooes, and the Caparisons of their Horses.

As Merlin, (who was a Doctor of Divinity of Great Account) so likewise all the following Collectors among the Papists, derive their Streams from this Isidore, as their Fountain. And for this cause I was the more desirous to see the Book, which is very scarce to be found; and the more scarce, I suppose, because if the Fountain be unknown, a greater Majesty will accrue to the Streams. The Booksellers-Shops afforded me none: but at last I met with two of them; the one with the Learned Dr. Barlow, Margaret Professor, and Provost of Queens Colledge in Oxford, the other in the Bodleian Library: The one was Printed at Collein, An 1530. The other at Paris beforementioned. Either had all, and both affirm Ifidore Hispalensis to be the Author.

Though some afterwards are careful to distinguish Isidore Hispalensis from Isidore Mercator. The one failing, the other is obtruded as the Author of the Work: the latter Collectors unanimously leaving out Hispalensis, and calling him only by the Name of Mercator. But how the Name of Isidore Mercator should [Page] come before the Book, the Wisest Man in the World, I suppose, can scarcely Divine.

It is said, that Eulogius Bishop of CordubaBlondel, cap. 6. had a Brother, whose Name was Isidore, whose condition of Life Banishment, whose Nation Spain, whose Trade was Merchandize: And that this Spanish Merchant flying out of his Country, upon the account of Religion, chose rather to intrust this most precious Treasure, which he had saved from the Lust of Barbarians, to the care of the Germans, than to expose it to the Rage of those Wasters and Destroyers wherewith Spain was at that time infested, as the Monks of Mentz; at least, who, upon his having sojourned there, took occasion to put his Name before the Book that was then in their hands, would have the World really to believe. This is Blondel's conjecture, which he raiseth from the real existence of such an Isidore. But he excuseth himself for conjecturing barely in such an affair, because the Work is a Work of Darkness, and they that did it, hated the Light, because their Deeds were evil: And the Patcher up of those Epistles coming forth in the Vizor of another Name, in such a business a conjecture may suffice. Let them that imposed the [Page] Name, give us a Reason why they did it: it is not incumbent on us to render an account of what other men are pleased without reason at any time to do.

It is not impossible, but a Knave, called Isidore, might be sent abroad with the Book, being pickt out on purpose, that the Famous Isidore, Bishop of Hispalis, might be believed to be the Author. He might come to Mentz, and sojourn there under the notion of a Spaniard, and give Riculphus, or the Monks, a sight of the Book, as a rare inestimable Treasure: For Sinon was let loose, with as little Artifice as this, to the Destruction of Troy. Thus, whence it came really, could hardly be discovered; and the Thing too would be the more admired, because it came from the farthest Regions, as Merlin speaks, being saved so Miraculously from the hands of Barbarians. But where did this Traveller find it? this Merchant, of whom did he receive it? For morally speaking, it is impossible, that a Merchant should be the Author of it; especially at that time, when the Records lay scattered perhaps in an hundred Libraries, and were all to be sought in obscure Manuscripts. An Ass may be expected to meddle with an Harp, as soon as a Merchant [Page] with the Mysterious Records of the Church. How come Lay-men to be so Judicious? Had any Merchant so great a Skill as this imports? It is improbable fourscore Bishops should know its much more that they should urge him to do that, which their own Learning and Function fitted them to do far better: Yet Isidore in his Preface writeth thus, You Eighty Bishops, who urged me to begin and perfect this Work, ought to know, as ought all other Priests of the Lord also, that we have found more than those 20 Chapters of the Nicene Council, &c. It is a shame to the Church of Rome, that a Lay-man should be the Fountain of all her Records; and that in very deed, the greater part of them should be in no Manuscript nor Library in the World, being never seen, nor heard of, till Isidore brought them out of Spain: That no man can tell what Isidore made the Book, which is now the President, and the sole Storehouse of all their Collections, is a [...] infamous; especially since they believed of old unanimously, that the Bishop Isidore of Hispalis was its ancient Author.

Baronius when he had irrefragably disproved him, puts nothing certain in his stead: but having a Wolf by the ears, [Page] and being willing to say something, raises a dust, and goes out in the Cloud.

In the ancient Manuscripts, saith he, Earon in [...] [...] [...] [...] [...]. we find this Isidore, the Collector of the Councils, sirnamed Mercator; as in those which we have in our Library: but in the Inscription of the Books lately Printed, he is stilled not Mercator, but Peccator, according to the manner of some of the ancient Fathers, who for Humility sake were [...] to superscribe, and subscribe themselves so. I conceive it crept in by a mistake. that Mercator was written for [...]; but since the Author of that Collection reciting the General Councils in his [...] [...] with the sixth, it is evident that [...] after the sixth Council, and before [...] seventh.

[...] [...] is here? He had before [...] [...] detected the Collection for a [...], and yet he now gravely troubles his Brains, to know what Isidore this might be It is a blind Isidore, that has left no mark of his Life behind him, but only that which lies in this counterfeit Preface; an Isidore that can no where else be found, by the great [...], Baronius. He has no other help to know the time about which he lived, but the Preface: Whether Peccator, or [Page] Mercator, is but a superficial Controversie; whether any Isidore made the Book, is a deeper enquiry: The old Manuscripts of Baronius, are Books of yesterday, all written since the counterfeit Isidore was published. The variety shows, that the Papists can rest no where: And the liberty they take to alter what they see in Manuscripts, as they please, is an ill sign of a large Conscience, which studies not what is faithfully to be published, but conveniently. For because the Name of Mercator did smell too strong of the Wares, left the World should wonder how the Inscription of a Merchant should come out before the Councils, they thought it fit to strain the courtesie of a Letter, and (because Peccator is an humble Name) to turn the Merchant into a Sinner. That it was a Sinner, I dare be sworn, and a fly Merchant too; lucky Names both of them: but the last is capable of a siner pretence, no Cheat being so vigorous and unavoidable, as that of a penitent we ping Sinner. The Pride of Rome comes cloathed in Humility, after the example of her Supreme Head, who stileth himself the Servant of Servants, while he aspires (by these very Records) to be the King of Kings.

[Page]

Isidore and Merlin being two of the first Collectors of the Councils among the Papists, I have taken the more liberty to be somewhat copious in them, that I may conveniently be more brief in perusing the residue.

CAP. VII. Of Francis Turrian the Jesuite: With what Art and Boldness he defendeth the Forgeries.

NOtwithstanding all the weakness and uncertainty of Isidore, Francis Turrian, the Famous Jesuite, appears in its defence, about 40 years after the first publication of it by Merlin. The Centuriators of Magdenburg having met with it, to his great displeasure, he is so Valiant, as not only to maintain all the Forgeries therein contained, but the whole Body of Forgeries vented abroad by all the Collectors and Compilers following, till himself appeared.

His Book is expresly formed against the Writers of the Centuries, and is a sufficient Evidence, that as soon as Isidore came abroad by Dr. Merlin's Labour, and [Page] the Bishop of Paris Command, it was sifted by the Protestants.

It is dedicated to the most Illustrious and most Reverend D. D. Stanissaus Hosius, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, and Bishop of Collein. Printed by the Heirs of John Quintel, and approved by Authority, An. Dom. 1573.

He defends all the Canons of the ApostlesVid. Turrian. which are recounted by other Collectors. That you may know the Mettal of the Man, I will produce but two Instances.

The last of those Canons, which he maintaineth to be the Apostles, is this which followeth.

Qui Libri sunt Canonici, &c. Let theseCan. 84. Books be Venerable and Holy to you all: Of the Old Testament, five Books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; one of Joshua the Son of Nun, one of Judges, one of Ruth, four of Kings, two of Chronicles, Hester one, three of the Macchabees, one of Job, one Book of Psalmes, three of Solomon, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs; one of the 12 Prophets, one of Isaiah, one of Jeremiah, one of Ezekiel, one of Daniel: And without, let your young men learn the Wisdom of the Learned Syrach.

[Page]

But of ours, that is, of the New Testament, there are four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; fourteen Epistles of Paul, two Epistles of Peter, three of John, one of James, one of Jude, two Epistles of Clement, and the Ordinations of Me Clement, set forth in Eight Books to you Bishops, which are not to be published to all, because of the Mysteries contained in them; and the Acts of our Apostles.

This is the eighty fourth Canon, and in some Accounts the eighty fifth; where you see the Episiles of Clement, and Eight Books of his Ordinations, put into the Body of the Bible: As for the difference of the Accounts, he sheweth you the way how to reconcile them.

If this be one of the Apostles Canons, then Clement was an Apostle, or had [...] Power: But if it be a Forgery, then not only the Apostles Canons, but the very Text of the Holy Scriptures is interlined and forged by the same.

He maintains all the Decretal Epistles, and among the rest S. Clement's: Whose genuine Epistle to the Corinthians they leave cut, as making nothing to their purpose: but five Spurious ones they record; the two first of them being written to S. James, and the last to the Brethren[Page]dwelling with him at Jerusalem.

It is good sport to see how like the shot of a great Gun, the Discovery of the Protestants comes in among them: Their keenness in detecting the time of S James his Death, shatter the [...]; and whereas before they were all united, they now fly several ways, every man [...] for himself, as he is best able.

Baronius dislikes suen Arts of upholdingIn [...] [...] [...] [...]. the Church, not as impious and unlawful, but as inconvenient and pernicious. [...]. Bellarmine [...] the Epistles to be Old, but dares not attest them; Isidore, Merlin, Peter Crabbe, Nicolinus, Carranza, and Surius, own them freely without any scruple: For saying nothing of the Quarrel, they lay them down simply as good Records. Binius, Labbè, and the Collectio Regia, confess some of them to be false; and in particular, that S James was dead seven years before S. Clement could write his first Epistle to him. And to salve the sore, they say, that it was not written to James, but to Simeon, who was also Bishop of Jerusalem, and Brother to our Lord; and that the Name of James crept into the Title Mendosè, by Errour and Mistake, for that of Simeon. But honest Turrian maintains plainly, that [Page] S. Peter and S. Clement knew very well that S. James was dead before they wrote unto him; yet nevertheless they did very wisely, both S. Peter in ordering the Epistle, and S. Clement in writing it. And his Reasons, as he bringeth the matter about, are pretty specious.

For my part, I protest, that such a High Piece of Impudence was to me incredible: But that you may see the rare Abilities of a Jesuite to argue well for the absurdest Cause, turn to his Book, and read his Comment on S. Clement's first Epistle, and there you shall see Wit and Folly equal in their height: Wit in managing, but Folly in attempting so mad a business.

For the sake of those who are not able to read, or get the Book, I will give you a Glympse of his Demonstrations. First he observeth, how Reason it self compelleth [...] in Clement E. pist [...] us, especially being confirmed by so many and so great Testimonies of the Ancients, to confess the Epistle to be S. Clement's, whose it is reported to be. He sophistically pretendeth here, that there were great Authorities of the Ancient Fathers extant to prove it: Whence, saith he it began to be had in every mans hand, to be read by the Catholicks, to be put among[Page]the Decretal Epistles, and produced and cited in Ecclesiastical Causes and Judgments. The latter part of which Clause is true: For (as we before observed) Gratian, Ivo, and the rest of the Popes Ministers, have brought the Decretals into the Body of the Canon-Law, which maketh the matter more fatal and abominable; for being really cited in their Ecclesiastical Courts, and used both in matters of Controversie, and in cases of Conscience, they are forced either to defend them, or to pluck up their Customs by the very Roots; and so further expose the Church of Rome to the shame of Levity or Fraud; yet for this very cause, it is far more impious and wicked to retain them: So that not knowing which way is best, some of them retain them, and some of them renounce them. But you must wink at all this, and believe what Turrian says, for the Authority of the Roman Church (which hath seated the Forgeries in the Chair of Judgment) is a greater Argument, to them that believe her Infallible, than any one Doctor can bring against them: Neither was blessed Peter ignorant, when he commanded to write to the Dead, nor Clement, saith he, when he wrote by the Commandment;[Page]but that the Readers would presently see, the Epistle to be written to him, whom all men knew to be dead before S. Peter; they being about thereupon, to enquire diligently into the cause thereof, and seeking to find it: Nay, this was the design of the blessed Peter, and therein he imitated the Holy Scripture. Whether to counterfeit, or blaspheme the Scriptures, be the worse, I cannot tell: but of this I am sure, that they who think such courses lawful, (as this fastned on S. Peter, and the Holy Scripture here) will stick at nothing which they take for their advantage. For that it was lawful to counterfeit S. James his Name, he proveth afterwards very largely; and now he is giving the reasons of it: One intention was to stir up all people to Enquiry; their admiration at so strange a thing, being very prone to make them diligent to learn the cause of it: Another was, that all Bishops might see the more clearly, that they were taught in the person of James: For James being dead, and uncapable of receiving the instruction, it is evident, that he was not intended thereby; and therefore it must be for others in his capacity. A third reason was the preventing of envy: for had [Page] S. Peter vouchsafed (being our Saviours Vicar, and Head of the Church) to write to any Bishop alive, the Honour done unto that Bishop had been so great, that all the rest had been tempted to maligne him shrewdly for that advantage: His intention was, saith he, to transfigure Ibid. these things in the person of James, after the manner of the Holy Scripture; and that as well for other Bishops as especially those that should succeed him in the Church of Jerusalem, (whence the preaching of the Gospel began, according to the Prophesie of Isaiah) that they might thus think with themselves; If the Prince of the Apostles commanded Clement to write these things to James the Brother of our Lord, whom Peter, James and John did first of all ordain, who now ceased to be a Shepherd and was rewarded with his Crown; he certainly did not command him to write for his sake, but for us, to whom Solomon saith, Look diligently to the face of thy Cattel, and consider thy Herds, &c. Let this, saith he, be one cause of the Transfiguration, or counterfeiting a person in this Epistle. Having noted how S. Paul transferred a certain business on himself and Apollos by a Figure, he concludeth thus: Why therefore may we not think, that [Page] S. Peter for the same reason commanded Clement to transfer his Epistle concerning his Death and Doctrine, pertaining in common to every Bishop, by a Figure to S. James already dead? lest if he should have commanded him to have written to Simon the Bishop of Jerusalem, who succeeded S. James, or to any other, as to Mark the Bishop of Alexandria, or Ananias of Antioch, or any other, he should then perhaps seem to love him, or honour him, more than the residue?

Much more he saith to this purpose but all made vain, with one small observation: Whereas he pretends that Clement knew S. James to be dead, there is a [...] Epistle written by the same Clement, To his most dearly beloved Brethren dwelling at Jerusalem, together with his dearest Brother James, his Fellow-Disciple. So that S. James after all, was still thought to be alive, by those that transferred this Epistle on S. Clement by a Figure.

S. Peter's influence over the Bishop of Jerusalem, and our Lords Brother, was thought a considerable Circumstance for the Establishment of the following Popes: And till the Protestants discovered the Fraud, let Turrian say what he will, there was scarce a person in the [Page] World, that thought not the Letter timed well enough for the purpose.

And whereas he pretendeth so many and so great Testimonies of the Ancients, confessing the Epistle to be S. Clement's; he is not able, nor does he so much as attempt to name one, from S. Clement downward, till this Spurious Isidore, that affirmed any such matter. Howbeit, he quotes Origen, Theodoret, Gregory Nazianzen, &c. to prove the lawfulness of a Transfiguration, and makes great Ostentation of the Fathers, in shewing that S. Peter and S. Clement did wisely in the business.

CAP. VIII. Of Peter Crabbe's Tomes of the Councils: Wherein he agrees with, and wherein he differs from Isidore and Merlin.

BEsides the Forgeries that are in Merlin and the Bastard Isidore, Peter Crabbe, whose Tomes of the Councils were published eight years after the first Edition of Merlin, published more, of as great importance as the former; not omitting those of Isidore and Merlin, but [Page] recording and venting them altogether.

He pretends to give an account of all those Councils that have been from S. Peter the Apostle, down to the Times of Pope John II.

He wrote before Turrian, as Carranza and Surius did, whom it is Turrian's business to defend.

The End being proposed before the Means, with what design these Editions of the Councils are so carefully multiplied, we may conjecture by a Treatise that is set in the Front of them, concerning the Roman Primacy. Almost all the Compilers, after Peter Crabbe, having prefixed the same with one consent before their Work, as the Aim of their ensuing Labours.

It is extant in Crab, Surius, Nicolinus, Binius, Labbe and Cossartius, and the Collectio Regia. Carranza hath it not nor Paul V.

Paul V. in his own Work, published at Rome, Anno Dom. 1608. touches the Forgeries but very sparingly. It does not become the Majesty of a Pope in his own Name to utter them: It is moreover a thing of hazardous consequence for him to appear in Person in such a disgraceful business: It besits his Holiness to act rather [Page] by Emissaries and Inferiour Agents, as all great Statesmen and Polititians do, being unseen themselves in matters that reflect too much upon their safety: that Method (you know) is more stately, as well as more Honourable and secure. Yet he approveth others at a distance, as his dear Son Severinus Binius in particular, who dedicated all his Tomes to Pope Paul V. in the year 1608. and has a particular Letter of Thanks from Pope Paul himself, as a Badge of his Favour before the Work. As for Carranza, he is but an Abstract, or brief Compendium.

This Treatise of the Primacy, thus put before the Councils, containeth a Collection of Testimonies out of Counterfeit Epistles of the Primitive Bishops and Martyrs of Rome, proving under the Authorities of most Glorious Names, that the Holy Apostolical Church obtained the Primacy, not from the Apostles, but from our Lord himself: that it is the Head and Hinge of all the Churches; that all Appeals are to be made thereunto; the greater causes, and the contentions of Bishops, being to be determined only by the Apostolical See: that she is the Mother of all Churches; and as the Son of God came to do the Will of his Father, so ought all Bishops[Page]and Priests to do the Will of their Mother: that all the Members ought to follow the Head, which is the Church of Rome: that the first See ought to be judged by no man, neither by the Emperour, nor by Kings, nor by the People: that it was granted to the Church of Rome, by a singular priviledge, to open and shut the Kingdom of Heaven to whom she would: that none may Appeal from her to any other: that the Apostolical See may without any Synod unbind those whom a Synod or Council hath unjustly condemned. Of which Sentence she is to be the Judge, whether it be just; for she may judge all, but none her: that the Church of Rome is the Foundation and Form of all the Churches; so that no Church hath its Essence without that of Rome: that from her all the Churches received their beginning. Doctrines as true, as the Authorities by which they are confirmed; and to say no more, as true as the last: For the Christian Churches received their beginning from Jerusalem, before the Church of Rome had any Being.

Consider it well, and you shall find this the removing of a meer stone of highest importance, an Encroachment upon the Territories of other Patriarchs, an [Page] [...] of all Spiritual and Secular Power, to the subversion of Emperours, Kings and Councils.

For if all are to obey her, as Jesus Christ did his Eternal Father; if it be granted to the Roman Church, by a singular Priviledge, to open and shut the Kingdom of Heaven to whom she will; if no King, Emperour or Council, hath power to judge the Pope, while he hath power to judge all; Kings, Emperours and Councils are made Subject to him, and nothing can escape the Sublimity of his Cognizance.

Besides this Treatise of the Primacy, Peter Crab has 34 new Canons of the Apostles more than Isidore and Merlin: So that Antiquities are daily increasing in the Church of Rome, and Records are like Figs, new ones come up instead of the old ones.

The last of these Canons is that of Clement, about the Canon of the Bible: a Forgery of more Scriptures, added to the former, in the names of the Apostles; defended by honest Turrian zealously, and magnified by Nicolinus as the Coronis Vid. [...] [...] of the Apostles Canons.

He has the Roman Pontifical, a Treatise of the Lives of Popes, fitted exactly [Page] to the Decretal Epistles, and accordingly, most richly stored with all kind of Forgeries and Lyes. It is a new Book Fathered upon Pope Damasus; which Isidore and Merlin (I think) were ignorant of, for it is not in them; and I admire where he had it. It is the Text on which he commenteth, as a Great Record; he useth it as a great proof in doubtful matters, and according to it the Method of his Tomes is ordered. You will see more of it hereafter.

He has the counterfeit Council of Sinuessa, a new Piece, which I find not in Merlin: But I verily believe, he scraped it up some where else, and 'tis not his own, 'tis so full of nonsense: A Council sitting in the year 303. and defining from that Text, Ex ore tuo justificaberis, & ex ore tuo condemnaberis, that no Council can condemn a Pope, nor any other Power, but his own mouth: For because our Saviour has said, Out of thine own mouth thou shalt be justified, and out of thine own mouth thou shalt be condemned; therefore no body can condemn the Pope but himself alone: for which purpose they repeat the Text over and over again, very [...] and childishly, even unto nauseating: And the example of Marcellinus is [Page] made an instance in the case; who being called to an Account for offering Incense to an Idol, could not be condemned by this Council, and was therefore (because he was Pope) humbly implored to condemn himself.

It is a Council of great value, because of the President we have in it, how Scriptures may be applied to the Bishop of Rome; and how places that belong to all the World, must peculiarly be ascribed to him alone: Howbeit Crab makes a sowre face on't, and is fain to premise this Premonition to the Reader.

By reason of the intollerable difference and corruption of the Copies, whereof the one was old and faulty, though written in the best Parchment and Character; the other more old, but equally depraved (as the Beholders might discern with their eyes) so far, that what they mean sometimes cannot be understood, we have set both the Copies, without changing a syllable of them, in two Columns; setting the Letter A over the first, and C over the other: but the middle Column over which B is placed, for its capaeity, or rather conjecture, endeavours as much as it is able, to reconcile the other two so very divers, and bring them to some sense.

[Page]

He does not tell you plainly, that he made the middle Copy; but 'tis easie to conceive it, since he found but two, and they were so full of nonsense, that he added one, which is the third, to reconcile them. Yet Crabbe's Invention is now recorded by the Collectio Regia, and the two old ones, for their horrid Barbarismes, are thrown out of the Councils, and (for very shame) are cast away: for proceeding in his Apology, Crab a little after saith, Nemo ergo caput subsannando moveat, &c. Let no man therefore wag his Head in derision, who having either gotten more correct Exemplars, or being of a more Noble and clear apprehension, is able to mend these: but rather let him patiently bear with what is done, and reduce it himself into better form.

This is a sufficient Light, wherein to see the dissimilitude between Forgeries and true Records: For whereas the undoubted were made in great Councils of Holy Men, and are all of them clear and pure, and well-advised, full of Uniformity, Sense, Gravity, Majesty, Smoothness, Order, Perspicuity, Brevity, Eloquence and Verity; it is the common Fare of these Instruments which we accuse as Forgeries, being made in a Dark [Page] Age, by men not so Learned as the Church of Rome could desire, (and sometimes in a Corner by some silly Monk) to swarm with Absurdities, Errours, Tautologies, Barbarismes; to be rude and tedious, empty and incoherent, weak and impertinent: yet some of them we confess to be more pure in Language, and better in sense than others.

This Council of Sinuessa is more ridiculous than it is possible well to imagine, before you read and consider it.

He has the Counterfeit Edict of the Emperour Constantine for a good Record. It is more warily made than the other, and better Latine, but of Swinging Importance: 'I is but a Deed of Gift, wherein the first most Christian Emperour is made to give all the Glory of the Western Empire, with its Territories and Regalities, to the Bishop of Rome. We shall meet with it in others: for the Collectors of the Decretal Epistles, all of them, harp upon this String most strangely.

As Pope Paul V. so Peter Crab has but 20 Canons of the Nicene Council; wherein he agrees with Isidore and Merlin, and differs much from some that follow him: Nay, he agrees and disagrees with Isidore [Page] at once, in this very thing: He agrees with Isidore in his Book it self, (on the Nicene Council) but disagrees with him in his Preface.

But then he maketh amends for the Omission, for he hath the Synodical Epistle of the Nicene Council, a new Record, which I find not in Isidore, or in any before him: It is an humble Address of the Nicene Council to Pope Sylvester, beseeching his Holiness to ratifie their Decrees: To shew that no Council is of any value, unless it be approved by the Bishop of Rome: And he has a Gracious Answer too by the same Pen, or I am sorely deceived; for they are both alike so full of Barbarismes and false Latines, that another Dunce can hardly be found like the first to imitate them. In good earnest, they are the most feculent Forgeries that ever I saw. To speak much in little, is, they are worse than the Sinuessa Council.

They are without Greek Copies, which (where all the rest is in Greek) is an evil sign: But as they are, you shall have them, when we come to Binius, that the more Learned may judge of their Excellency.

He has a Pseudo-Catholick Council at [Page] Rome under Pope Sylvester, with the same Premonition to the Reader, word for word, which he set before the Sinuessa Council, Propter Exemplariorum intolerabilem nimiamque & Differentiam, & Depravationem, &c.

He has the other Forgeries of Isidore Mercator; and among the rest, the Epilogus brevis concerning the number of Witnesses.

He defaces and suppresses the sixth Council of Carthage, as well as his Predecessor.

What with blotting out, and putting in, he so disguizes the Face of Antiquity, that unless it be to very clear eyes, the Primitive Church appeareth not the same.

Yet are his Voluminous Tomes dedicated to the Invincible Emperour Charles V. being Printed in the year 1538. by Peter Quintell. Cum Gratiâ & Privilegio tam Caesario quam Regio Colloniae. That is, At Collein by the consent and Authority both of the King and Emperour. So far even Monarchs are deluded sometimes with a shew of Piety, and the Light of Depraved and Corrupted Learning.

CAP. IX. of Carranza: his Epitome of the Decrees and Councils. He owneth the Forgeries.

[Page]

CArranza, being but a short Compendium, was Printed at Paris, An. 1564. to wit, very fitly, for the more general sprcading of the corrupted Councils: All the other Collections being great Volumes, but this a little Informer, or Companion for the Pocket.

It was dedi ated to the Illustrious Dicgo Hurtado Mendoza, Orator in the State of Venice, and his Imperial Majesties Vicegerent in the Holy Council of Trent.

He lays down all the Apostles Canons for good Laws, even the last it self being not excepted; and selects Decrees out of the Decretal Epistles for good and Catholick Canons.

The Decretal Epistles themselves would be too long for so short a Compendium; and therefore he has not the Decrees themselves, but Excerptions.

He has the Pontisical of the Popes Lives, but more modesty than to ascribe it to Damasus: It is a part of his Text however.

[Page]

He has but [...] Canons of the Nicene Council, and skippeth over the Council of Sinuessa.

He omits the Epilogus Brevis, but owns the Council to which it is annexed.

He followeth Isidore, and exceeds him a little.

CAP. X. Of Surius his four Tomes, and how the Forgeries are by him desended. He hath the Rescripts of Atticus and Cyril, by which pope Zozimus was condemned of Forgery in the sixth Council of Carthage.

LAurentius Surius was a Monk of the Order of the Carthusians: He wrote four Tomes: He pretends to have all the Antiquities of the Church at large, and to mend and restore the defects of the Ancient Manuscripts. What their mending and restoring is, you begin to discern. He dedicates the whole Work to Philip King of Spain, Sicily, and Neapo lis, &c. and directeth it in another Epistle to the most August and Invincible Emperour Charles V. It was Printed at Collein [Page] by Geruvinus Galenius, and the Heirs of John Quintell, in the year of our Lord 1567.

He has the counterfeit Preface of Isidore Mercator, before detected; The Treatise of the Primacy of the Roman Church, all the 84 Canons of the Apostle, and the Apostolical Constitutions of Pope Clement (newly added to the Tomes of the Councils) for good Records; though Isidore Mercator, some of the Apostles Canons, and Clement's Constitutions, are rejected by some of the best of his most able Followers, (as you shall see hereafter:) not I suppose upon mature deliberation, but inevitable necessity.

The Liber Pontisicalis of Pope Damasus, that notorious Cheat, is the groundwork upon which he commenteth. It so exactly containeth the Lives and Acts of the Bishops of Rome, that when I first approached it, I apprehended every Life to have been recorded by some person contemporary with the Pope, of which he was writing: for it nominates the time of their Session to a Year, a Moneth, a Week, and a Day, from S. Peter downward: Which being done for no Episcopal Chair beside, it made the Roman See seem of more Eminent Concernment than [Page] the residue from the very first beginning; such a peculiar and extraordinary care being no mean Indication of its High Exaltation above all other Chairs, that were not for a long time together so accurately regarded. But a little after, I found a shrewd sign; for beside the errours and contradictions noted before, in the midst of all this exactness, he [...] sometimes. 3, 4, 5, [...], 9 years together. This shall be proved hereafter, with more than we yet say, when we come to Binius.

He has all the Decretal Epistles, and the Donation of Constantine for good Records. The Epistle of Melchiades concerning the Munificence of Constantine; the Spurious Roman Council under Pope Sylvester, with the Epilogus Brevis; the Letters between Athanasius and Pope Mark, concerning the number of the Nicene Canons: Those Letters tell us the Canons of the Nicene Council are 70. and yet he records but 20 of them.

The most of these Great Appearances are rejected afterwards, by Baronius, Binius, Labbè, and the Collectio Regia.

By good fortune he has the Rescripts of Atticus, and S. Cyril, the Patriarchs, concerning the true Records of the Nicene [Page] Council, sent to the sixth Council of Carthage, upon the occasion of Zozimus before related.

The Letter of that Council to Celestine the Bishop of Rome concerning that Controversie.

And a Scrap of the Council it self: but he omits the Decrees.

Did I follow them throughout all Ages, my work would be endless. We should find much foul Play in following Councils and Records of the Church: but for several weighty Reasons I have at present confined my self within the compass of the first 400 years next after the Death of our Lord, whose Name is not to be mentioned without praise and glory.

Note well: I go on thus, to observe particularly what Forgeries every Collector of the Councils owneth, and what Emperours, Kings, and Popes, their Books are dedicated to; and what priviledge, in all the principal parts of the Popes Jurisdiction, they come forth withal; and especially what a multitude of men have been encouraged to carry on this Design, that you might see the Conspiracy of the Members with the Head, and the general Guilt of that Church in so [Page] Enormous an Affair. To which we might add the innumerable Armies of Learned men that have cited them in that Church, and the Company of Captains that have defended them: But it had been better for them that they had never medled with the Protestant Objections, for they have made the matter worse than they found it, and bewraid themselves in all their Answers; nay, they have made the Frauds more eminent and notorious, by disturbing the Reader, while they give him Warning by their Notes, though the intent be to defend them. This I speak especially upon the last, from Binius downward.

CAP. XI. Of Nicolinus his Tomes, and their Contents for the first 420 years. His Testimony concerning the sixth Council of Carthage.

NIcolinus is printed in five Volumes, Sixti V. Pont. Max. faelicissimis Auspictis, as himself phraseth it: I think he means, By the favourable Permission and Authority of Pope Sixtus V. He dedicates [Page] his Tomes to the same most Holy Lord Sextus, &c. which were printed at Venice, An. 1585.

Among other things in which I should sav he is peculiar, had not Merlin in his Isidore done the same, he sets a counterfeit Epistle of Aurelius, Archbishop of Carthage, to Damasus the Pope, and the Popes Answer, in the Front of his Work. The Epistle requesteth a Copy of all the Decretals that were made by the Bishops of Rome, from S. Peter downwards. The Answer intimates a Copy, commanding him to preach and publish the same.

In both these Collectors the Epistles are displaced above [...] years out of their due order, meerly that they might face the Forgeries with the great Authorities of Aurelius and Damasus, who were both dead 300 or 400 years before the Counterfeits were made: Howbeit, the Pageant does well to adorn the Scene; it entertains the Spectators as a fit Praeludium, to make the way more fair for these disguized Masquer's.

In the last of these Epistles, the Counterfeit Decrees are Fathered on the Holy Ghost, and whosoever speaketh against them, is charged with Blasphemy.

Yet for all [...], though the Epistles [Page] were desired by Aurelius, and sent by Damasus, and commanded to be preached and published throughout the world, they were never heard of by the space of 700 or 800 years after their first Authors, nor for 300 or 400 years after this Damasus and Aurelius; though pretended to be the Canons of the Holy Fathers, so Sacred, and so Divinely inspired by the Holy Ghost.

This is that Damasus upon whom the Famous Pontifical is Fathered: He sate in the Chair An. 370. The Forgeries were unknown till about the year 800.

This Aurelius is he who tasted the Decrees of Zozimus, and had experience of their sincerity, when he resisted the Encroachments of the Roman Chair.

But to return to Nicolinus; he has Isidore's Preface, The Treatise conceruing the Primacy of the Roman Church, containing so many Testimonies out of forged Bishops, Martyns, and Fathers: All the Apostles Canons, of which he maketh S. Clement's the Top and Coronis, concluding that Impious Counterfeit with this affected phrase, Coronidis ipsorum Canonum Apostolorum finis: The end of the Coronis of the Apostles Canons.

Francis Turrian is in so much esteem [Page] with him, that he hath Eight Books of Clement's Constitutions, with Turrian's Proem, and Explanatory Defences upon them.

The Liber Pontificalis, drawn from the beginning like a Vein of Lies, through the tedious length of 800 years, infecting all these Ages with Forgery: It is his Text in like manner.

He has all the Decretal Epistles without Exception; the Council of Sinuessa, or condemnation of Pope Marcellinus, with the same Premonition you saw in Peter Crab to the Reader; The Donation of the Emperour Constantine, which by this time one would think to be a sound and admirable Record, having so many Hands subscribing it, and so many Pens inserting it among the Councils, without the least note of any dubiousness or blemish in it.

He has threescore and eighteen Canons of the Nicene Council, and professethNicol. Epist Dedicatad Sixt V. himself to be the first which added them thereunto: And he had them of a certain man that brought fourscore of them in Arabick to Alexandria, as his Printer does witness for him to the Reader. But surely had there been so many, Pope Paul V. and all the Collectors before him, had not omitted them.

[Page]

Some 40 years hence we may expect fourscore more: for as for those naked and vulgar Canons, (as he calleth the Old and Authentick Records) they will not serve the turn; nor yet the old Seventy mentioned by Isidore, Athanasius, and Pope Mark: by which you may see they are always growing, and may come to a Million, if the continuance of the World permit it, and their need require it.

What say you? In good earnest, methinks, the year 1585. is very late, for the finding of eight and fifty Canons of Nicol. [...]. Lectori. the Nicene Council: That Council was assembled in the year 327. and made its Canons above one thousand and two hundred years before Nicolinus time: They were written in Greek, and these lay dormant in Arabick, so many Ages, no man can tell where. But the blessed Jesuites, or one of the same Society, luckily foundNicol. T. pogr. Lectori. them the other day.

Here and there he has a true Record, and among the rest a piece of the sixth Council of Carthage, though mangled too: where concerning the two Counterfeit Canons of Pope Zozimus, he saith, The African Fathers not finding any such Canons as these, in the Codes which they had of the Nicene Council, [Page] both in Greek and Latine, promised that they would keep them only so long, as the time would be, that they might get the true Copies out of Greece: Which when they had been sent for, and were brought from Cyril of Alexandria, and Atticus of Constantinople, they were found imperfect, as not containing but only those 20 Canons, which were extant also among the Latines; in which nothing is contained concerning Appeals to the Roman Bishop: Nay, those African Fathers from the fifth and sixth of those Canons gathering the contrary, did earnestly beseech Celestine the Pope, that succeeded Boniface, who was the Successor of Zozimus, that he should not admit Appeals: which (they said) as it was most prudently and justly provided for by the Nicene Council, so they found it in no Synod of the Fathers, that any should be sent from the side of his Holiness. No Legatus à Latere. What Boniface and Celestine answered, it is not certain: Acta enim illa valdè concisa sunt, & mutila, For those Records are cut very short, and maimed; and therefore the matter is the more obscure.

Who maimed those Records is worth the Enquiry: Some-Body that was concerned in them, and whose influence must [Page] be exceeding great for the attempting of such a thing, hath out them short, that Records so offensive and pernicious to him, might be made obscure. But as Thieves, by dropping some of the Goods by the way, are oftentimes detected, or Murderers by forgetting the Knife behind them; so doth the Great and Just GOD infatuate the Pope of Rome, against whom this Council was asiembled, and smite his Agents with blindness here; and at other times their heart faileth them, because of Guilt: so that not daring to make thorow work with the Councils, they faulter, and are detected.

Here is a rare case, all the Copies of the Nicene Council, throughout the World, were imperfect 1200 years ago, both among the Greeks, and among the Latines, only those at Rome were valid and Authentick. For the Councils of Carthage were reckoned among the Latines, as you may see by Isidore, and Merlin, placing them in that number, and that justly; for the African Fathers that pertained to Carthage, wrote in Latine, as S. Augustine, Fulgentius, Tertullian, &c. They were Naturalized so far, that Latine was almost their MotherTongue, as Justellus observes out of S. Augustine: [Page] and yet these that were Allied to the See of Rome so near, were at one with the Greeks in the Records controverted: None were good at Carthage, Constantinople, or Alexandria, &c. but only those which the Pope produced in his own Cause: Nor were any like his upon the Face of the whole Earth besides.

At first I admired to see those Canons of Carthage so abruptly cut off by Binius, where I happened first to miss them: but when I afterwards found them, by the help of Justellus, I saw the reason: The Roman Bishop was curbed; though that of Anacharsis concerning Laws proved true; Laws are like Spiders Webs, they detain Flies, but Hornets break through them.

Nicolinus having intimated the lameness and obscurity of the Narration, goeth on thus: It is probable that Celestine wrote back sharply, and would have the Appeals of Priests, from their own, to the bordering Bishops, and of Bishops themselves to the Roman Chair established and valid. The Pope would have it so, notwithstanding all contradiction: Forasmuch as they were founded on Right andNicol. ibid. cusiom, and upon the Nicene Canons, [Page] which were kept entire (it is credible) in the Roman See, as they were extant in the time of Mark.

It is credible: Was ever such Impudence known before! They were not able to urge one Argument why it should be credible, and yet this credibility must overthrow all the Evidence in the whole World.

But they were kept entire in the Roman See, as they were extant in the time of Mark. This spoileth all! for by referring you to Mark, he appeals to the Epistles of Athanasius to Mark, and of Pope Mark to Athanasius, concerning the number of the Nicene Canons. Which Epistles of Mark and Athanasius, by invincible reasons urged by Binius, as well as the Authorities of Baronius, Labbè, and the Collectio Regia, are evidently proved to be very Forgeries.

He gives you more of these audacious Guesses; He says it is credible, that they were contained also among the Canons of Sardica which Celestine sent, it is probable, unto them: But that the Africans rested not satisfied, either because they suspected those Canons to be corrupted, or for some other cause; it is shewn in the Epistle of Boniface the H. to Eulalius of Alexandria, [Page] concerning the Reconciliation of Carthage, which happened about 100 years after.

The more you stir this business, the more it stinks. The Epistles made in the name of Eulalius and Boniface, concerning the Excommunication of the churches of Africa for 100 years, past down so fair to Nicolinus, that he took them for good Records; and doubtless he thought it well enough, that the African Fathers were Excommunicated for opposing the Popes Opinion: So that the Quarrel rose very high, or, what we before observed was very true, these Epistles of Boniface and Eulalius were invented to colour the Popes Cause, and disgrace the Fathers. Take it which way you please, it smells ill: Baronius and Bellarmine had rather they should be Counter [...].

His probability about Celistine's sending the Canons of Sardica to Carthage fares little better: Celestine knew very well the Canons of Sardica would not do in that Council: Nicolinus cannot produce one syllable in proof, to make it probable, that he sent them thither, and his flying to Sardica is in an evil hour; for it is opposed by [...] Bishops, so great, that they have frighted Rome out of her Excommunication, [Page] who altogether testifie, no less than twelve hundred years ago, that no Synod of the Fathers made any such Canons. And if Sardica were no Synod, what will its Canons signifie? The Popes then living and concerned, never attempted so vain a shift, but positively affirmed and maintained still, that they were the Nicene Canons: only the Council of Sardica is pretended of late, and some new men, now the business is over, perswade us they did all mistake while the matter was in agitation, both at Rome and Carthage; and that themselves have more clear and piercing judgments (to see into a business so far off better) than all the Fathers.

Admit those Canons were made at Sardica, it was a gross Errour to Father them upon the Nicene Council: for the Authority of Sardica is not to be compared with that of Nice. Sardica was unknown to all the Council at Carthage. S. Augustine thought it an Arrian Council; as Binius in his Notes upon it observeth: and Bellarmine puts it among the partly [...]. de Concil. & Eccles. lib [...] cap [...]. Reprobated. And that which induceth me to believe those Canons now extant in the name of Sardica to be forged, is, that they were first produced in Zozimus [Page] his Counterfeit, and Fathered upon Nice. And there being a Council once, it is now pretended that there were two there; that these Bastards disowned at Nice, might have a Sanctuary somewhere, and find some Fathers. My conjecture is made considerable, because the Canons now Fathered upon Sardica are contrary to those of Nice: And it is not probable, that two Catholick Councils so near, should so suddenly Decree things contrary to each other; nor that the same Fathers that were at Nice, when they came to Sardica, should change their minds with the place of their Session. That there were no Canons of Sardica known till the time of Dionysius Exiguus, is very probable, because they were not in the Code of the Vniversal Church, nor in the African Code, till Dionysius. Exiguns put them in; as Jacobus Leschasserius most excellently proveth.

Whether Dionysius or Hadrian put them in, is to me uncertain: But Hadrian I. first gave the Copy of Dionysius to the Emperour Charles, whence the old Manuscripts were transcribed, which are now extant in several Libraries; and in which the Dedication of Pope Hadrian is contained in Verse, To his most Excellent[Page]Son King Charles, &c. The first Letters of the Verses being put together, make this Acrostick, EXCELL. FILIO. CARULO. REGI. HADRIANUS. PAPA. The Verses are found in the Copies yet extant of Dionysius Exiguus.

This shews that some New Thing was put into the Book, and that Hadrian had a finger in it, which reached perhaps farther than the beginning. If the Book was as new as the Acrostick, Dionysius was far enough from being its Author. What Faith we are to have in the Papists, when they tell us who were the Ancient Compilers of the Councils, you may see by Baronius, who giving us an Account ofIn Nat. Martyrol. ad. [...]. April. their Order, reckons Isidore (a known Counterfeit) for one; Dionysius Exiguus for the first, Ferdinandus Diaconus for the second, Martinus Bracarensis for the third, Cresconius for the fourth; and after all these, Isidore for the fift. As certain as Isidore was a Collector of the Councils, so certain is it that Dionysius was one, but further certainty yet I can see none.

Charles the Great, perhaps having never seen the like before, was pleased with the Acrostick; and the putting of his Name in Capital Letters before the Councils [Page] was delightful to him. Syrens sing sweetly, while they deceive bloodily. Hadrian I. knew well, what was a Gift fit for a Scholar, and a Pope of Rome.

If I should produce but one passage which I found in it, the matter would be more effectual: For after he has done with the Councils, he lays down the Decretal Epistles of 13 Roman Bishops, beginning with Syricius, who lived in the year 385. In his Epistle to Himerius, there is this passage: Such is our Office, saith he, that it is not lawful for us to be silent, for us to dissemble, upon whom a Zeal greater than that of all others, of the Christian Religion, is incumbent: We bear the burdens of all that are oppressed: nay rather the blessed Apostle Peter beareth them in us: who as we trust, protecteth and defendeth us his Heirs in all the things of his Administration.

Of GOD he saith nothing here, but his confidence is all in Peter. There is not a word like it in all Antiquity: and those words protecteth and defendeth us, seem to relate to those Jars that had been before between Hadrian, and Charles the King, or Emperour.

These observations carry me to believe what I met with in Daille, since Dionysius [Page] is gone from under my hands: and having searched into the Book since, I am further confirmed.

About 74 years after the Council ofDaille pag. 45. &c. Chalcedon, Dionysius Exiguus, whom we before-mentioned, made his collection at Rome, which is since Printed at Paris, cum Privilegio Regis, out of very Ancient Manuscripts. Whosoever shall but look diligently into his 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 Laodicea, 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, &c. A little after he saith, the Greek Code represents unto us VII Canons [Page] of the first Council of Constantinople. which are in like manner found both in Balsamon, and in Zonoras, and also in the Greek and Latine Edition of the General Councils, Printed at Rome. The three last of these do not appear at all in the Latine Code of Dionysius, though they are very considerable ones, as to the business they relate to, which is the order of 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. It is very hard to say, what should move the Collector to Gueld this Council thus: But this I am very well assured of, that in the sixth Canon, which is one of those he 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, to judge a Bishop: The power of hearing and determining all such matters being here wholly and absolutely referred to the Provincial Synods, and to their Dio cesans.

Another instance which he hath is this, After the Canons of Constantinople, there follow in the Greek Code VIII Canons of [Page]the General Council of Ephesus, set down also both by Balsamon and Zonoras, 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, &c. Daille in his Treatise of the Right [...] of the Fathers. Cap. 4. pag. 45, 46, 47.

This being true, the Authority of Dionysius is very small, relating to the matter of the Council of Sardica. If any man hath any thing to say against it, let him, when he answereth this Charge of ours, produce what he is able in Defence of Dionysius, as to the points whereof he stands accused by Daille; but we proceed to Nicolinus.

CAP. XII. Nicolinus his Epistle to Pope Sixtus. His contempt of the Fathers. He beginneth to confess the Epistle of Melchiades to be dubious, if not altogether Spurious. He overthrows the Legend about Constantines Donation.

THat you may know the Genius of the Man a little better, how much [Page] he was devoted to the service of the Pope, and how little he valued the Authority of Councils and Fathers, I have thought it meet to give you his Epistle; and his Admonition to the Reader, recorded by him in the words following.

To our Most Soveraign Lord, Sixtus V. High-Priest.

‘It fell out conveniently for me, Most Blessed Father, in the Universal Joy of the Christian World, for your Elevation to the Sublimity of the Apostleship, that in so great a multitude flowing from every place to honour you, I also, among the Oldest Servants of your Holiness, had something near at hand, which is unworthy neither of the Masty of your Name, or Authority; and yet very fit for my Occasions to offer at your feet, as suitable to the Office of my Gratitude and Veneration It is a new Edition of the Councils: for theThings put into the Councils of Nice and Ephesus [...] Nicolinus. remarkable addition of two Councils especially, the Nicene and the Ephesine, never published so entire and full, as now.’

‘For to whom may the Councils of the Church, aided by the Inspiration of the H. Ghost, according to the seasonableness [Page] of various times, for the repairing of her Ship, more fitly be Dedicated, than to her Chief Master, to whom it is given from Heaven to call and confirm them? especially him, who is so well versed in all Scholastical Disciplines, and Ecclesiastical History!’

‘I have used all diligence, according to my weak ability, sparing no cost, omitting no labour; the most Catholick and Learned Divines of our Age, being assembled also from every Quarter, especially the most Excellent Father Dominicus Bollanus, a Noble-Man of Venice, of the Order of Preachers, never enough commended for his excellent parts; who by his Industry, Care, and Learning, was a vast help both to me, and to the Work.’

‘And that I may in one word signifie my study and pains bestowed thereupon, lest I should seem to draw the Saw backward and forward too often upon the same Line, I have taken care to perform whatever could be done by one man, and he a private person, that this Edition might come forth from me, and be offered to you, more Copious and Illustrious than any other Publications hitherto sent abroad: In which I trust, [Page] that as a just and knowing Judge, you will discern some Accomplishment: Wherefore I suppose I may affirm, that nothing is perversly, or too concisely exprest; but all things most rightly and clearly, as far as was possible, according to their Primitive Candour.’

‘This my Gift therefore, from which men may receive so great profit and benefit, since both those things that before were wanting, and those that have hitherto been dispersed, may be had together in it; and this Work of mine, not of less cost in Printing (the great expences of which may easily be proved by the magnitude of the Volume) than labour: to which I was not so much present, as presiding; earnestly desiring that it should come forth most free from Errour and Faults, for the benefit of the Studious, I doubt not but according to your Humanity, you will accept it with a willing mind, as some kind of Token of my will to serve you; even as I desire with all my Soul, and humbly pray, that your Holiness may receive it. In the mean time, Holy Father, I desire that all things may fall out prosperously to your Blessedness: And I pray, that you may long be preserved [Page] in health, and more plentifully adorned with Heavenly Gifts, for the good of the whole Church.’

Venice VI. Kal. Octob. M. D. LXXXV.

Here you see one of the Popes Old Servants laying down all the Councils at his Holiness Feet, boasting of additions to the Nicene and Ephesine Councils, never before published, ascribing the Councils to the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost; and yet adding, for the good of the Roman Church, eight and fifty Canons to the most glorious of them all, ascribing the power of calling and confirming Councils, to the Pope, sparing no cost (though he draws the Saw too often upon that point, which as if he were enchanted, he cannot leave, throughout all the Epistle) assisted, as himself confesseth, with a confluence of the best Popish Divines, permitted to come forth under the Popes Nose, with all these Abominations. By which you may perceive, it is not the work of a private Doctor, but the Disease of the Church of Rome.

His Typographus Lectori.

His contempt of the Fathers appears in his Printer to the Reader: for by one of Turrian's Transfigurations, he covers [Page] that Admonition with the Printers Name, though too Learned for any Printer, and evident enough to be his own: for he there unfoldeth the matter, order and use of the Work, far above a Printers reach; and especially notes its Corrections and Emendations to us: which he reduceth to four Heads.

1. To the observation of the time wherein Councils were held, and under what Pope. Whereupon we note, the manner of ordering the Councils under such and such a Pope, seemeth a new thing: Nicolinus else arrogates too much to himself, in ascribing this to his own Invention. Certainly the custom of computing times by the Popes Lives, is of no long standing, but an Artisice lately taken up by his Flatterers, to dazle the eyes of their Readers; for it adds much to the Splendour of the Chair, to see Kings and Councils marshalled under the Reign, as it were, of this, and that, and the other Pope, down from S. Clement, throughout all Ages. But from the beginning it was not so.

2. To the truth of History and Actions: As when various Authors are often cited, either for the confirmation of Sentences, or to show the variety that is among Writers,[Page]or to reprehend some falsity, Quod interdam, parcè tamen, & timidé fecimus. In his Dedicatory Epistle he told the Pope, that he did nothing perversty, but all things most rightly and clearly, as far as was possible, according to their Primitive Candour: As you see before. But here he confesseth, the business of repieving falshoods to be a tender work, which he went about with great caution and trembling. Some he detected, but timerousiy and sparingly: he durst not meddle with them all.

3. To the consutation of some contumacious and rebellions persons; who lay hold on the lightest occasions, and oftentimes wrest the plainest matters, to the disgrace of the H. Roman Church. As when from a slight contention of the African Fathers, about Appeals to the Church of Rome, they foreibly conclude against the very truth of the Acts, and the Faith of the History, that those Fathers did not acknowledge but refuse its Primacy over them. In the Body of his Tomes, he [...] Epistles of Boniface and Eulalius, as good Records, testifying the Excommunication of all the African Churches by the Pope; yet here he calleth it a light contention: Himself wresteth the plainest matters forcibly [Page] against the very truth of the Acts, and chargeth the fault on the Protestants: For in this very place he pretendeth that the African Fathers did not refuse the Primacy of Rome, but acknowledge its Supremacy, or its Primacy over them. Yet it all this but a Copy of his countenance, a common flourish in the Frontispiece of their work: For if they submitted to the Popes Primacy over them, why should they be Excommunicated? He knows well enough, when we come close to the matter, that these Rebellions Protestants, and those Catholick Fathers, were of the same judgment, and acted the same thing. By way of provision therefore he addeth, that this was far from the mind of those Fathers; but if they had conceived so, it would have redounded to their Infamy, and not at all have tended to the lessening of the Supreme Authority of the Roman Church, ordained and established by God.

Two hundred and seventeen Bishops in an ancient approved Council, even the sixth Council of Carthage, protested against the Popes Supreme Authority, to their perpetual Infamy; as Nicolinus would have it: for should all the Bishops in the World joyn together, they would but [Page] dash themselves against that Rock, and do things to their Infamy, and there's an end. This is the value which Papists have for the Councils and Fathers, when they stand in their way: And this Impudence comes abroad by the consent of Nicolinus, and the Pope, without Blushing.

His fourth Head is Addition. His Emendations are referred lastly to Addition, either by making those things perfect and entire, that before were imperfect and marred: [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] Canons of the [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] Acts of that [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] of a Greek Book [...] [...] [...] [...] into Latine by [...] [...] [...] suite; and [...] [...] [...] [...] Latine out of an Arabick book brought to Alexandria by another man of the same Society.

I once thought a certain man had had the Book at Alexandria; but now it seems a Jesuite brought it thither. He does not tell you who, nor from whence. Jesuites are the Popes Janizaries, and fit to be so imployed: And the Vatican is an admirable Storehouse doubtless for the Greek too, a very Pit of Witnesses for the Popes Supremacy. As if Perkin Warbeck should have brought Evidences [Page] out of his own Closet to prove himself King of England. If no body but he must be believed, the veriest Cheat in the World must needs prevail. Greek and Arabick are strange amusements: else a Book out of the Vatican, in its Masters own Cause; or another man without a name, that brought an Arabick Book to Alexandria, with fourscore Canons of the Nicene Council in it, would scarcely be regarded against the Evidence of the whole World; especially in a matter so upheld by Forgeries.

Two things there are wherein he adventures to be a little cordial; Licèt parcè & timidè: though seldom, and with fear.

1. Whereas Isidore, and Merlin, and Peter Crab, and Surius, &c. have the Epistle of Melchiades without any Note of its dubiousness, he [...] it can be none of Melchiades, because mention is made therein of the Nicene Council, and of other things that were done after Melchiades Death.

2. Whereas Binius lays a Dreadful Reproach upon Constantine, the first most Excellent Christian Emperour, as if after all his Glorious Acts done for the Church and State of Christendom, he were [Page] an Apostate, a Murderer, a Tyrant, a Perecutor, a Parracide, smitten with Leprosie for notorious Crimes, for killing Licinius unjustly, and his own Son Crispus: And all, that he might uphold the Counterfeit Donation, Nicolinus begins the first Book of the Acts preceding the Nicene Council, (translated out of an Ancient Greek Book in the Vatican) thus.

‘De Gestis post sublatum impium Licinium, & de Imperio Regis Constantini, & de Pace Ecclesiarum Dei.’

‘Constantine, when he had conquered his Enemies, shewing himself an Emperour by the Wisdom given him of God, took care to better the Affairs of the Christians day by day, more and more. And this he did several ways, having a most flaming Faith, and faithful Piety towards the God of all: And the whole Church under Heaven lived in profound peace. Now let us hear what Eusebius, that most excellent Husbandman of the Churches Agriculture, [...] from the most Famous Pamphilus, speaketh here. In his tenth Book he saith, What Licinius saw long ago to befall wicked Tyrants with his eyes, he now suffered himself, like to them; and that deservedly: for he would neither receive [Page] Discipline, nor be admonished at any time to learn wisdom by the punishment of his Neighbors, &c. But Constantine the Conqueror being adorned with all kind of Piety, together with his Son Crispus, the Emporour beloved of God, and in all things like his Father, reduced all the East into his Power, and brought the Empire of the Romans into one, as it had been of old, and obtained an Universal Kingdom, from the rising of the Sun, to the utmost borders of the West, and to both the other Regions of the North and South, in perfect peace: Then the fear of Tyranny wherewith men were before oppressed, was utterly taken away from the life of men; then frequent Assemblies were held, and Festivals kept; then all things abounded with gladness and joy; then they that were before of a dejected [...], and sorrowful, looked with a pleasant face, and with joyful eyes; then with Dances and Hymns, throughout all Cities and Fields, they proclaimed fast, that God was truly God, and the Highest King of all: next they magnified the Emperour and his Children, most dear unto God. [...] there was no remembrance of the [Page] former evils; then all Impiety was forgotten; then there was a sweet enjoyment of present goods, and a joyful expectation of future: Then [...], not only the Decrees of the Emperour, the most Illustrious Conquerour, [...] of Humanity and Clemency, but his Laws also glorious in Magnificence, and fraught with Tokens of true [...] [...] published in all places: So the [...] Spot of all Tyranny being [...] away, and wholly blotted out, Constantine alone, and his Children, thenceforth possessed the Helm of the Empire, which by Right pertained to them; it being made secure by his Authority and Government, and freed from all envy and fear. Hitherto Eusebius Pamphilus, of all Ecclesiastical Writers most worthy of belief.’

Thus their own Record in the Vatican justifieth Eusebius: and thus Nicolinus produceth it, who also defendeth Eusebius, though himself holdeth the Donation of Constantine firm; not discerning how that History overthroweth the same. But Binius who saw the inconsistence better, crys out of Eusebius for a Lyar, a Flatterer, an Arrian, because he stands in his way. Thus all of them, here and there, [Page] serve the Fathers: For Eusebius lived in the time of Constantine himself, and was Honourable in his eyes: He was Bishop of Caesarea-Cappadocia, and an individual Friend of Pamphilus the Martyr, a Father in the Nicene Council, and one of those that disputed there, in person, against Phaedo the Arrian: As Binius also himself recordeth in the Disputation, extant in his Tomes. But of such Legends as this, and the Tragical Story of Constantine, we have more than good store in Popish Writers: As you may see at large in Dr. Stillingfleet his Book of Popish Counterfeit Miracles.

CAP. XIII. The Epistle of Pope Damasus to Aurelius, Archbishop of Carthage, commanding him to take care, that the Decretals of the Roman Bishops be preached and published abroad: Wherein the Forgeries of the Church of Rome are Fathered on the Holy Ghost.

DAmasus, to his mest Reverend Brother, and Fellow-Bishop Aurelius. We have received the Epistle of your [...] [Page] with due Veneration: Wherein we understand how your Reverence and Prudence thirsteth, as is fit, for the Apostolical Decrees. Concerning which Affair, we have sent some of those which you desired, and desire to send more when you shall send unto us. Yet we have past by none of our Predecessors, from the Death of Blessed [...], Prince of the Apostles, of whose Decrees we have not sent somewhat to you under our certain Seal by Ammonius the Priest, and Falix the Deacon: Which we both desire you to keep, and command to be preached and published to others; that they may inviolably be kept with due Veneration of all, and inviolably observed, and diligently reverenced by all future Ages.

Because the voluntary Breakers of the Canons are heavily censured by the H. Fathers, and condemned by the H. Ghost, by whose Gift and Inspiration they were dictated: Because they do not unfitly seem to blaspheme the H. Ghost, who being not compelled by any necessity, but willingly (as was before said) either do any thing perversly, or presume to speak against the same Holy Canons, or consent to them that will; for such a presumption is manifestly one kind of blaspheming the H. Ghost: Because (as was even now promised) it acteth[Page]against him, by whose grace and impulse the same Holy Canons were set forth. But the wickedness of the Devil is wont to deceive many, and so doth very oftentinies delude the imprudence of some by a similitude of Piety, that he perswadeth them to take hurtful things for healthful.

Therefore the Rule of H. Canons which are made by the Spirit of God, and consecrated by the Reverence of the whole World, is faithfully to be known, and diligently to be handled by us; lest by any means the Decrees of the H. Fathers should withoutA [...] for the Popes:inevitable necessity (which God forbid) be transgressed: but that we walking most faithfully in them, may by their Merits, God assisting, deserve the glory of a reward, and the heap of our labour.

These therefore being rightly considered, and upon our deliberation brought to the knowledge of your Churches, it most highly becometh you to obey the Rules of the same H. Canons, lest the sloth of some should make them in any thing to walk contrary to them. But let your wise and wholesome Doctrine, which desires you in all things to please God, shew them these faithful Fellowworkmen in their Thrones, the coheirs and partakers of the Coelestial Kingdom. Dated XVI. Kal. Jun. Gratian and Cyricius being Consuls.

[Page]

The close of the Epistle (is not clear nonsense) is very obscure. The meaning of it is, that Aurelius should shew men the Decretal Epistles of Clement, Anacletus, &c. those faithful Fellow-workmen in their Thrones, the coheirs and partakers of the Coelestial Kingdom, that are now in Heaven, to the intent they may obey them, and come to the same Eternal Glory. A goodly design doubtless. But we have a cross proverb, [...] be to the Sheep, while the Fox Preacheth. This piety in the Close is but the Sheep-skin to cover the Fox, who needs not more cunning in Preaching, than concealing himself. We have a more sacred saying, In the Pit which he made for others, is himself fallen. And it is not impertinent: for while he chargeth others with the unpardonable sin, himself blasphemes the Holy [...]. For to make the Holy Ghost the Father of Lies, is (I think) to blaspheme him.

Damasus, we confess, never made the Epistle; but that makes the matter worse. Some other in Damasus his Coat, is guilty of this accursed business; that while he Fathers the Frauds, which himself invented, on the H. Ghost, has not ignorance to excuse, but malice to condemn him. And whether the Forgeries [Page] are not so Fathered still on the Holy Ghost, may be a proper Question. Binius, I think, was afraid of these Epistles.

Nicolinus in his Printer to the Reader, pretendeth an exact observation of the time, under what Pope things were done: but for once he varies the method, and sets this in the Front of the Forgeries, to countenance all.

He knows them perhaps to be what they are, yet clearly owns them.

There is some Errour in the date of these Epistles; an usual Symptom of the Disease in such Instruments. Instead of the XVI. Kal. Jun. Nicolinus putteth it the XI. Some hidden reason compels him, or he would never be so nice: for Cyricius, Siricius a small mistake: But the next is greater, for Gratian, Equitius. As if Damasus the Pope could not tell who was Consul at Rome when he wrote his Letter.

I wonder at Damasus for one thing much; he tells us of the wickedness of the Devil, who deludes men with a shew of Piety, and forces in that expression of the Devils perswading men to take hurtful things for healthful so affectedly, that it would make one to think his Guilt put [Page] him in memory of such a saying. But his design in charging all that impugn them, with the dreadful and unpardonable sin of blaspheming the Holy Ghost, was more clearly to deter men from writing or speaking against these pretended Canons. And perhaps he declaims against the wickedness of others, that delude the imprudence of some with a similitude of Piety; and so loudly inveigheth against the Guilt of perswading men to take hurtful things for healthful, to remove the suspition from himself. Whatever tis, no man is more guilty of the Fraud in the World.

You may note a contradiction in the Letter: The Canons of the H. Fathers, and Bishops of Rome, were consecrated by the Reverence of the whole World; and yet upon Aurelius his desire, were newly brought to the knowledge of the Churches, and now first ordered to be published and preached.

They past the deliberation of our present Damasus before they came abroad, being rightly considered, and upon due deliberation brought to the knowledge of the Churches. Doubtless they were well weighed, and what was most agreeable to the Roman Chair was pickt out, and chosen for the purpose.

CAP. XIV. Counterfeit Canons of the Apostles defended by Binius. A Glympse of his Pretences, Sophistries, and Contradictions. A Forged Council of Apostles concerning Images, defended by Binius and Turrian.

[Page]

SEverinus Binius, a late Collector of the Councils, is grown so famous, that his Voluminous Tomes have been Printed thrice; he is approved by an Epistle of Pope Paul V. inserted among other Instruments before his Work, and so highly esteemed, that he is exactly followed by Labbe and Cossartius in 17 Volumes, and taken in, word for word, by the COLLECTIO REGIA; lately published by the care of a King in 37 Tomes.

The reason why they follow Binius so exactly, the Collectio Regia giveth in [...] words, set next to the Title-page of the Book, for our better information. We thought fit to follow the last collection of the councils put forth by Binius, and illustrated with his Notes; and to Print it [...], as that which of all others is most richly stored. Wherein they have [Page] done Binius as great Honour as one can well imagine: for it shews his Notes to be the best and most convenient that can be gotten in the Church of Rome, and that all the Collectors since (which were very many) have not been able to devise better.

Hereupon it followeth, that in one Work we may the more concisely treat of Binius, Labbe, Cossartius, and the Collectio Regia together.

I once intended to give you a Copy of the Popes approbation, with the other Authorities by which Binius is approved; but as the case [...] it is superfluous.

He pretendeth in Preface, and [...], to justifie all the Canons, Councils, and Decretal Epistles, and maketh a glorious shew, setting them down afterwards with great Titles of Splendour and Majesty; in such sort, that a man would take them all for Authentick Records: But when he cometh to his Notes, he many times deserteth his design, and confesseth the Imposture. But his Notes are [...] in more [...] and inconsiderable Letters, and those his acknowledgments hidden from a [...] Eye in little room.

[Page]

In his Letter to Paul V. he layeth all his Labours at the Popes Feet. So that we are like to have good on't, when the Malefactor (accused) is made sole Lord and Judge of the Witnesses.

He hath several Prefaces to the Reader, and to Persons of the Highest Rank and Splendour: in which he pretends to magnifie the Decrees and Canons following, as good Records.

He prefixeth Isidore's Counterfeit Preface before his Collection.

Over the Canons of the Apostles, in a Splendid manner, he sets this Title.

THE CANONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES WITH ALL VENERATION TO BE FOLLOWED.

According to The Ancient Edition OF DIONYSIVS EXIGVVS.

A man would think now there should no more Canons be laid down, than Dionysius[Page]Exiguus hath in his Ancient Edition: But as if he intended to bear the Mark of the Beast in his Forehead, he puts under this Title eighty four Canons of the Apostles, whereas Dionysius hath but 50. Certainly 'tis not well done so to Cheat his Reader with a Lye; but in some blind Corner or other he will make us satisfaction.

Over against this he puts a Note in the Margin, thus: Francis Turrian, of the Society of Jesus, hath published a very clear Book in Defence of the Apostles Canons. He approveth the Book, yet rejecteth two of the Canons which Turrian defendeth: but that is concealed till afterwards.

It is his custom, in the top of his Pages, Chapters and Margins, eminent and conspicuous places, to put Notes or Titles, defending those Counterfeit Antiquities, which in some little Gloss hidden in the Text, he really slighteth: For the Potentates of the World, with their Lords and Councellors, not having time enough to search into the bottom, may by such means as these neatly be deceived; while they think no man so impudent, as in the same Leaf, to contradict his pretences. So that the very greatness [Page] of the Crime is their greatest security.

Another Artifice like this, is that of putting the Preface of Dionysius Exiguus before these Tomes of his own, the better to countenance the ensuing Frauds. Though Dionysius were dead 1000 years before he wrote them, and never intended, nor thought of the greater part of them.

But Lyars are intangled always in the [...]: what is convenient in one respect, being inconvenient in another.

For in that his Preface, Dionysius speaking for himself, saith only this: In the beginning we have placed those Canons which are said to be the Apostles, translated out of Greek: which because the most do not easily acknowledge, I thought meet to acquaint your Holiness with the same.

He doubts them all you see; yet speaketh only of his own fifty, which he hath in the Code which himself digested: He does not meddle with those that make up the number of 84. no more than Isidere and [...] do: [...] Binius, when he [...] to his Notes upon the word Canones [...] stolorum, speaketh thus, after his large Copy in three Columns of all the 84. These Canons made by the [...] of the [...], and by Tradition[Page]from them delivered to us, Clement of Rome, S. Peter's Disciple, wrote in Greek; and Dionysius Exiguus, an Abbot of Rome, translated them into Latine, in the time of Justinus the Emperour. An. 520.

He does not prove that Clement wrote them, unless by the last [...], which hath Per me Clementem [...]: nor by that neither; for that he [...] [...] [...] a Forgery. Dionysius [...] [...] [...] before Binius, does not say [...] [...] wrote them, but rather the contrary: He suspects them all, and knows Clement could not write them all; since himself has but fifty, and those only by Rumour, not Tradition.

Nay Einius himself, you will see presently, rejected some; and yet here he pretendeth the whole number to be written, both by Clement in Greek, and by Dionysius in Latine: For of all his Catalogue, he faith, These Canons, &c. Clement of Rome, S. Peter's Disciple, wrote in Greek, and Dionysius [...], an Abbot in Rome, translated them into Latine; as if it were not sufficient to write a Lye in the Front, unless he closed up the Canons with a Lye in the Tail.

It would be worth the Enquiry to [Page] know where they had the 34. which were unknown to the Ancient Dionysius? For after all this, he seems to reject them in the passage following.

Horum quinquaginta priores, &c. saith he, Only the first fifty of these (the last of which is of dipping thrice in Baptism) containing nothing but sound Apostolical Doctrine, and approved by Ancient Bishops, Councils, and Fathers, are received as Authentick, Cap. 3. Dist. 16. And according to that common Rule of the Holy Fathers, because the Author of them is unknown, they are rightly believed to flow unto us by Apostolical Tradition. The residue by Pope Gelasius, Can. Sanct. Dist. 15. are accounted Apocryphal, both because their Author is unknown, as also because by the 65 and the last Canon, it is evident, that some of them are craftily put in by the Grecians, and some of them corrupted by Hereticks.

This passage deserves one or two remarkable Observations.

1. If the Tradition of the Apostles, though committed to writing, be capable of corruption; what security can we have of Oral Tradition, which is far more loose, and liable to danger?

2. If the Church of Rome were unable [Page] to secure the Apostles Canons from the Leven of the Grecians, and other Hereticks; or so careless, as not to keep one Copy, or Record sincere; what assurance can we have of her care and ability in the residue? This shews the weakness of these inconvenient Shifts, and pitiful [...].

But the reason why some are received as Authentick, and others accounted [...], is most fit to be marked. The reason why it is highly to be presumed, that the first 50 Canons should be [...] [...], Because the Author of them is unknown: And the reason why the residue are rejected, is, Because the Author of them is unknown. So that the same reason (as Fire hardens Clay, and [...] Wax) will prove contrary things. And by reasoning in such a Latitude, it will be easie to prove the Sun black, and the Sky a Molehill.

Howbeit for these reasons, Gelasius an Ancient Pope rejecteth some of them: But Binius takes the liberty to put his judgment in the other end of the Scale; and outfacing us with a Counterfeit Clement, and Pretended Dionysius, will have all but two, to be Authentick Canons: All but two; namely, the 65. and the last Canon; by which it is evident, that some [Page]of them are crastily put in by the Grecians, and some of them corrupted by Hereticks. Some of them put in by the Grecians, must at least be two; and some of them corrupted by Hereticks, must at least be two more; yet they are all of them, except two, Authentick.

Let his reason be what it will, we observe, 1. That the Church of Rome is in a tottering condition, when a poor Canon of Collein shall take upon him to refel the Sentence of an [...] Pope, and fourseore Bishops: for so many did [...] use in [...] the Apocryphal from Cennine Books; and this Sentence was Desinitive by a Pope in his Council: So that 2. A Pope in his Council is not [...]. 3. If Einius be right, Gelasius and fourscore Bishops did [...] [...] in condemning the Code [...] [...] Canons, which S. Clement wrote from the mouth of the Apostles. 4. The Church of Rome is divided, the New and the Old Church of Rome are against each other. The New is all for Additions, and the very Apostles Canons, allowed in Gelasius his time, which was 1260 years ago, are not sufficient, unless more be added.

But let us now consider Binius his [Page] reasons. Quia tamen ex his posterioribus ferè omnes praeter praedictos duos, &c. But because all these latter almost, besides the two forementioned, are either by the Authority of the Roman Bishops, or by the Decrees of other Councils, or by the Sentences of some Fathers, confirmed and approved, as is manifest by these our Marginals and Annotations: (So that it may not lightly or rashly he doubted, whether they were taken hence by the Bishops, Councils, and Fathers, or rather translated hither, and put here out of their Writings:) Hereupon they may and ought rightly and deservedly all, except the two excepted, to be taken for Authentick.

How perplexed his discourse is, I suppose you see. His courage fails in the midst, and it becomes thereupon so rough and difficult, that it is scarce intelligible. The occasion of its Incoherence is that Parenthesis (thrust into the middle.) For Binius foreseeing a strong Obiection to the Discourse he was going to make, claps it Sophistically into the midst of his Argument; hoping thereupon, that it would never more be retorted upon him: Which you may easily see, both by the Nature of his Argument, and by the resolution of his words. [Page] For his Argument is this; which if you lay aside the Answer to it, runs smoothly. Almost all these latter Canons, besides the two forementioned, are either by the Authority of Roman Bishops, or the Decrees of other Councils, or the Sentences of some Fathers, confirmed and approved (:) hereupon they may and ought rightly and deservedly, all except the two excepted, to be taken for Authentick. Now the Answer is the Parenthesis in the midst. Certain Sentences like to these Canons are in the Fathers writings, but so contained there, that it may not lightly or rashly be doubted, whether they were taken hence by the Bishops, Councils, and Fathers, or rather translated hither, and put here out of their Writings. To doubt a thing rashly is nonsense; but it may justly be feared, that these Canons are Sentences pickt out of other Books, and packt into a Body, bearing the name of the Apostles Canons. His Conscience did convict him, and he replieth not a word, though it be an important consideration in the case.

But there is a worse fault in his Logick; he argues from Particulars to Vniversals: for having said, Fere omnes praeter praedictos duos, he comes to conclude, [Page] Omnes praeter praedictos duos. Almost all except two are approved, therefore all except two are Authentick.

Such Tricks as these he hath often: And sometimes affects an obscure kind of speaking, on purpose to blind the Reader; especially when he is intangled with some difficult Argument: He then Clouds himself, like the Cuttle, in his own Ink, that he might vomit up the Hook in the dark, and scape away.

He might have produced a General Council, if he pleased, to confirm all the 84 Canons, and that under the Name of the Apostles too, which had been more to the purpose: but then he must have confessed the last Canon of Clement to be true, and consequently that his eight Books of Constitutions, and his two Epistles, are part of the Bible; or else that the Decree of the Council, confirming these, was Spurious; or else of necessity, that the Pope and Council did err. But he had more kindness for the Pope than so, and therefore perhaps let the Council alone.

He would inure you by his words to believe that Popes are equal to Councils. Because they are, saith he, either by the Authority of Roman Bishops, or other Councils,[Page]or some Fathers confirmed, they may and ought to be taken for Authentick. Some Fathers is a dwindling expression: He very well knows that 217 were rejected together in the sixth Council of Carthage. Roman Bishops, and other Councils, are words of some weight: But what can other Councils do, if the Roman Bishops please to reject them? The Roman Bishops, and other Councils, are so put in contradistinction, that the Authority of Roman Bishops is set before that of other Councils: And perhaps the proportion being observed, the Roman Bishops must be thought as far above other Councils, as other Councils above some Fathers.

In other places they affirm a Pope with his Council to be Infallible: Here, that the Roman Bishop is a Council: Otherwise it is nonsense to say, The Roman Bishops, or other Councils. The Roman Bishop hath a Council in himself: And indeed it is requisite, that he of all other should be the greatest Council, when standing alone, he is to judge of a Council, and to determine, even whether an [...] Council shall be approved, or disapproved.

This is a Tast of Binius, an Elephants Clee, a Scrap of five large Volumes, [Page] full of the same integrity and perverseness.

The swelling words which they talk of, approved and disapproved Councils, are all to be understood, of Councils approved, or disapproved by the Roman Bishop.

From his Canons we proceed to his Council: for Binius hath a Council of Apostles too, on a Prodigious Theme! the setting up of Images. It is but a short one, and hath but one Canon, and that is the eighth. It is set forth in this form.

ANTIOCHENA SYNODUS [...].

Canon. 8. [...] [...] Salvati ob Idola: sed pingant [...] Opposite Divinam Humanamque manufactam [...] Effigiem Dei veri ac Salvatoris nosire Jesu Christi, ipsiusque Servorum, contra Idola & [...]. Neque errent in Idolis, neque similes siant Judaeis.

This is all: and sure it is old, for the Latine is very bare. If you construe it, [...] [...] thus, but hath no Greek Copy.

A COUNCIL of the APOSTLES at ANTIOCH.

Canon. 3. Let not the Saved be deceived[Page]for Idols: but let them paint on the Opposite, the Divine and Humane unmingled Image of the true God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, made with hands, and of his Servants. Neither let them err in Idols, nor be made like the Jews.

The first Authority he hath to prove it, is the 2 Nicene Council, 800 years almost after the Apostles. And he collecteth it thence by a blind conjecture, not by any evident Assertion of theirs.

Besides this he citeth one Pamphilus, who testifieth that he found it in Origen's Study, as Turrian saith against the Writers of Magdenburg. So that all this resteth upon Turrian, an impudent Corrupter, as the World hath any. Where we first observe, that Origen had no Images himself, neither adored any. 2. That Images were forbidden in the H. Scripture, especially in the Old Testament. 3. The Apostles were wont to allure the Jews, and not to offend them. To the Jews, saith S. Paul, I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. Whereas to set up Images, was the only way to drive them out of the Temple. 4. That all other Councils, Nice, Constantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon, Arles, Eleberis, Antioch, Laodicea, Sardis, Jerusalem, Alexandria,[Page]Rome, &c. during all the time of 800 years, were silent of this Apostolical Canon.

Concerning which, I beseech you to consider further: 1. That admitting it were in the 2 Nicene Council, that was an Idolatrons Council, addicted to Fables, and full of Forgeries; for which it is rejected by all the knowing and sounder part of the World. 2. The Apostles were not obeyed in this Commandment, neither in their own Age, nor in divers Ages after. 3. Binius himself seemeth conscious of its unsoundness, for he putteth it not among the Councils of the Apostles, which are before their Canons altogether, but in another place stragling by it self, in his own Notes, and after the Apostles Canons. 4. Since the Apostles wrote in Greek, this is rendered suspitious by wanting a Greek Copy. 5. No Collector produceth one word besides himself, in the whole Circuit of the first 400 years, on the behalf of Images. 6. The Fathers unanimously write against Images in the Church of GOD. 7. You may perceive by the dulness of the Sense out of what Storehouse this Fragment came, and by the horrid incongruity of making a Divine and Humane Image unmingled[Page]with hands: The Divinity and and Humanity being Natures infinitely distant, cannot be painted in the same Picture. But for want of a better, this Musty Evidence must serve the turn.

CAP. XV. Of the Pontisical Falsety Fathered upon Damasus, Bishop of Rome, An. 397. How the Popish Collectors use it as their Text, yet confess it to be a Forgery full of Lyes and contradictions.

THe Liber Pontifiealis is a Legend so stuffed with Lyes, that the very Title of it is notorious: The very first Inscription of the Book miscarries; not so as to need, like the former Counterfeits, either those of the Apostles Canons, or their Council, or the Preface of Isidore, a long Circuit of Deductions to prove the Forgery; Binius, Labbe, and the Collectio Regia, immediately confess it. It beginneth thus.

[Page]

THE BOOK OF POPES, From Pope Peter down to Pope Nicholas of that Name the First; in which their Acts are described: The Acts of the first Popes by Pope

**

Damasus: The rest by other * Ancient

Cunning honest men like Merlin's Printer.

Men, and * worthy of credit.

Upon this Title Binius noteth, Hujus libri Pontificalis Damasus Auctor non est, &c. Damasus is not the Author of this Pontifical: but rather it is patched up of two divers Authors; as may be proved by this, that almost in every Popes Life, it contains things fighting with themselves: And so no account can be given of Things and Writings clashing with one another. And for this he cites Baronius, An. Christ. 69. nu. 35. Au. 348. nu. 16. & 17. Anton. Possevin. Apparat. Sac. on the word Damasus.

Now a man would expect he should lay aside the Book, and refuse to make use of such an odious Pamphlet: But for want of a better he takes it in, as his most Learned Companions do; and so they labour all under the miserable Fate of making a Forgery, the Text upon which their Notes and Volumes are the Commentary.

[Page]

It is meet before I pass, to make some use of what is given us: for Observation is the Life of History, Reflexions digesting the Objects that are before us, and turning them into nourishment.

What is here said, concerneth not a Page, but a whole Book, stuffed with Legends, and Lives of Popes.

It was set forth as a Book made by Damasus, a Learned, Grave, and Ancient Bishop of Rome, that his name might give colour and Authority to the same.

Because it could not be believed that [...] should write of Popes that followed after he was dead, part of it is ascribed to other ancient men, and worthy of credit; naming no body, for the greater Reverence, and shew of Antiquity, and the more pious estimation of unknown persons.

How ancient, and how worthy of credit they are that [...] such Cheats, and what a Mystery of Iniquity they make of Antiquity, you may easily conjecture.

Sometimes [...] are thrown upon [...] Greeks and [...]: but here is one made and compiled by the more Famous Romans.

Binius knew it to be a Forgery by the baseness of the Stile; Consarcinatus est, [Page]It was patched up. That is his word; a Metaphor implying, the Taylors were but Botchers that made it. Secondly, By the contradictions that are in it, he knew they were divers Authors, because they jangle, and cannot agree. The parts of it are so irreconcileable, that the Story will by no means hang together.

It is a Vein of Lyes, reaching from S. Peter to Damasus, and from Damasus to Nicholas 1. containing the Lives of above 100 Popes, from S. Peter to the year 860.

About the time of this Nicholas 1. the Popedom was exalted above the Clouds, and was (of necessity) to be secured by as evil means, as it was gotten: When loe the Witch of Endor raises up Samuel in the good old Damasus, to tell the World that Peter was a Prince, and all his Successors Vniversal Heads of the Catholick Church.

Nicholas 1. began to sit about 50 years after the death of Hadrian 1. the Pope that is suspected by us to be the Father of the [...]. So great an Impression therefore being made by the Publication of Isidore, a little before, it was thought good to follow the Blow by this Pontifical: and a more ancient Father than Isidore [Page] must be awakened out of his dust to justifie him. For as Light answered Light in Solomons Buildings, so do the Lives and Letters of the Popes; their Lives in the Pontifical, and their Letters in the Decretal.

The Artifice shews contrivance, and the design of it a deep and hidden Correspondence.

The World has been cheated for so long a time, by the attempt of wicked and deceitful men.

Peter Crab, Carranza, surius, Nicolinus, the Elder Compilers of the Councils, use it boldly and freely, without warning their Readers to suspect it, or confessing it to be a Forgery; though Binius, and the last Compilers, upon necessary Conviction, are forced to do it.

[...] and [...] have it not at all: we may justly wonder therefore where these latter [...] got it.

The Forgery is not about mean matters, but things most Sacred, the Rights of the Church, and the Souls of men.

Here the [...] are detected by their own confession; and he that is once [...] is still suspected.

The Works of Darkness are seldom [...], so that more are committed than [...] known.

[Page]

All these Forgeries that are now acknowledged, did pass about 200 years ago for good Records, excepting some perhaps that were since invented: And if the last two Ages brought so many to light, an Age or two more may, through Gods blessing, accomplish Wonders.

The Secular state and security of the Pope, with his Adherents, which Binius in his Epistle to Pope Paul V. calls Honor & Augmentum [...], was the end of all. And if men excogitate Titles to Crowns, and patch up [...] with some Flaws, yet serviceable enough with the help of a Long Sword; then a Chair so Politick is able to do it more neatly, having had the strong Holds of the Church so long in their hands.

Now we shall note some few of those many Errours that are in the Pontifical; which, though it be a duty circumstance to have such a Text to gloss on, is the Basis of their Discourses, and the Rule of their Method, both in the Popes and Councils. It beginneth thus.

Peter the blessed Apostle, and Prince of [...], [...] the Apostles, the Son of John, of the Province of Galilee, of the City [...] [...], the Brother of Andrew, sate in the Chair of Antioch seven years. In the end it [...] [Page] us how long S. Peter Reigned, just twenty five years, two moneths, and three days. Binius tells us with the consent of Baronius, it was rather twenty four years, five moneths, and eleven days.

The Pontifical saith, Peter was Martyred with Paul on the same day: Though Prudentius and S. Angustine say, It was not the same year. Binius reconcileth them, They were slain the same day indeed, but not the same year: Therefore say we, Peter was not Martyred with S. Paul.

The Pontifical says, It was 38 years after the Passion of our Lord. More truly the 35. saith Binius, in the 13 year of Nero, and the 69 after the Birth of Christ.

S Peter's Name is the Patron and [...] of the Roman Church; and therefore inserted like a Shield in the Front. Next his Notes on S. Peter's Life. Binius inserts the Treatise of the Roman Churches Primary, Ex antiquo Codice: out of an Old Book, without any name at all: Which puts me in mind of the Gibeonites old Bottles, clouted Shooes, and mouldy Bread, and the notable Cheat which thereby they put on the Israelites. All is Old and Ancient in the Church of Rome: and this Old Book of the Primacy [Page] set before the Councils according to the Rules of Art, because the End is to be proposed before the Means.

After this old Treatise of the Primacy, he cometh to S. Linus, Pope and Martyr. He is pleased to call him Pope, as well as Pope Peter; not as if his Contemporaries called him so, but because the Modern Title will not sit well on the present Popes, unless it be given to S. Peter, and the first Bishops of that See. And ever and anon he begins with a known Lye in the top of the Chapter, formally set by it self, the more pleasingly to take the eye, after the manner of a Title, Ex Libro Pontificali Damasi Papae;

OUT OF THE PONTIFICAL OF POPE DAMASVS.

This course he continues from Life to Life throughout all the Popes, so far as the Pontifical lasteth, intermixing the Decretal Epistles first, and then the Councils, in the Lives of the several Popes: or to use his form, under the pope in whose Life they happened. And all his Tomes being moulded into that form, it makes every Pope seem, to him that is not aware of the fetch, the Supreme over all Councils from the beginning. And with this Method he always goes on, Ex libro[Page]Pontificali Damasi Papae, hoping perhaps that in long tract of time, he should be at last believed.

In all the Book, there is scarce a Life, wherein there are not as many Errours, as in S. Peter's. As in example.

Linus sate eleven years, three moneths, An. [...]. and twelve days, [...] the Pontifical: Binius saith, It was eleven years, two moneths, and twenty three days. A days difference, where the exactness is pretended to be so great, shews all to be Counterfeit.

He saith, [...] sate twelve years, one An. [...]. moneth, and eleven days: Binius tails on him for the mistake; though he agrees with him in the [...], that Linus and Cletus sate some twenty three years between Peter and Clement. So that on this account, S. James was dead above 27 years before S. Clement (who wrote a [...] Epistle to him) came to the Chair: For before he was Pope he might write an Epistle, but not a Decretal Epistle.

Cletus (saith Binius) was by S. Irenaeus, Ignatius, and [...], called [...], which Baronius thinks was a mistake among the Greeks, [...] by the Errour of Writers and Libraries. What shifts will a man be driven to by a desperate [Page] Cause! Three of the best and most Ancient Fathers were cheated with the Errour of Writers and Libraries, concerning a mans Name that was alive, either not long before, or together with themselves. S. Irenaeus and Ignatius are extremely Ancient. Ignatius lived before Anacletus was Bishop of Rome, much more before his Name was put into Libraries, and much more yet, before it could be corrupted there by the mistake of Scribes and Writers. But such Errours of Writers and Libraries are a good hint, how capable they are of them, and how much the Church of Rome is acquainted with them.

Binius is at last terribly provoked with the nonsense of the Pontifical: for whereas it saith, Cletus was in the Church from the seventh Consulship of [...], and fifth of Domitian, to the ninth of Domitian, and the Consulship of Rufus; that is, from the 78 year of Christ, to the 85. Binius speaking as if he were present, takes him up [...], Errorem igitur Errori addis, quisquis [...] Pontificalis Authores, &c. Whoever thou be that art the Author of this Pontifical, thou addest Errour to Errour: For if Cletus began to sit in the forementioned Consulship, in the 78 [Page] year of Christ, how did he immediately succeed Linus, dying, as thou saidst, in the 69 year of Christ, Capito and Rufus being Consuls? How wilt thou excuse a 9 years Interregnum in the Chair, made only by thy Authority contradicting it self? How sayest thou that Cletus sate twelve years, whose continuance thou doest circumscribe by two Consulships, in the space of 7 years distant from themselves? How, which is more intollerable and absurd, doest thou say, that Clement sate from the Consulship of Trachilus and Italicus, even to the third year of Trajan; which is from the 70 year of Christ to the 102. and so to have administred the See 33 years, whom in his Life thou affirmest to have continued only 9 years? Thus far Binius.

When Cato saw the Southsayers saluting one another in the Roman Marketplace, he said, I wonder they can forbear laughing, to think how delicately they cheat the people! Hence therefore, saith Binius, O Reader, thou mayest perceive on what Rocks he shall [...], whosoever shall suppose the writings of this Book to be taken up upon Trust, without any Inquisition! Yet when the fit is over, in the very next line, he is at it again, THE LIFE, EPISTLES, AND DECREES OF CLEMENT, [Page] EX LIBRO PONTIFICALI DAMASI P. The Pontifical is (afresh) ascribed to Damasus: For Friends may quarrel, without falling out eternally. But if they are so angry, what make they together? What have Scholars to do in so scandalous a Fellows Company? Why of all Books in the World do they take this to follow? All of them from Peter Crab to the Collectio Regia? Why not the Grave, Sincere, and Learned? Why not a true Record? Why do they chuse a Counterfeit so full of lyes and contradictions? It is the highest Symptom of a deadly cause, that they take such a Fellow to be their Copy to write after, their Text to gloss on, their Guide to follow. For all these gross mistakes are committed within the compass of some 30 or 40 lines, in four Lives of one hundred and six: And in every Life almost throughout, they are exercised in the same manner. If this be the best Record they can find for the purpose, and all their Antiquities be like this, they are as mouldy and rotten as can well be desired.

CAP. XVI. Of the Decretal Epistles forged in the Names of the first holy Martyrs and Bishops of Rome The first was sent (as they pretend) from S Clement, by S. Peter's order, to S. James the Bishop of Jerusalem, seven years after he was dead; and by the best Account 27. S. Clement's Recognitions a corsessed Forgery.

[Page]

TO stumble in the Threshold is Ominous: If the first of all the Decretals be a Forgery, it is a leading Card to the residue.

Binius his Title, and the Text of the Pontifical, is represented thus.

THE LIFE, EPISTLES, AND DECREES OF POPE CLEMENT I. Out of the Pontifical of Pope DAMASVS.

He made two Epistles that are called Canonical. This man, by the Precept of S. Peter, undertook the Government of the Church; as by Jesus Christ our Lord the Chair was committed to him. In the Epistle which he wrote to S. James, you [Page] shall find after what manner the Church was committed from S. Peter. Linus and Cletus are therefore recorded to be before him, because they were made Bishops by the Prince of the Apostles himself, and ordained to the [...] Office before him.

NOTES. (After the Method of Binius.)

He made two Epistles called Canonical.] These words are adapted to the 84th Canon of the Apostles, where two Epistles of Clement, and his eight Books of Ordinations, are made parts of the Canonical Scripture.

In the Epistle which he wrote to S. James] Here the Pontifical openly voucheth his Epistle to S. James; which Binius afterwards tells you was written to Simeon. If the Pontifical be right, Binius was overseen, in saying, the name of S. James crept by corruption into the Title of the Epistle, for that of Simeon. The Tales do not hang together.

They were made Bishops by the Prince of the Apostles, &c.] You understand here, that S. Peter out of his superabundant care for the Church, made three Bishops of Rome in his own life time: So that Rome had four Popes at once, S. Peter, S. Clement, S. Linus, and S. Cletus. Some [Page] think that Linus and Cletus were S. Clement's Adjutants in External Affairs: Some, that they succeeded each other in order: Some, that they presided over the Church together. Some say, that Clement out of modesty refused the Chair, till he was grown older belike. It is a world to see, what a variety and puzzle they are at in this matter: The confusion springeth from two causes: The first is the obscurity of the State of Rome in the beginning: The second is the ignorance of the Forger that made S. Clement's Letter to S. James: For happening so heedlesly to Father it on S. Clement, he has made all the Story inconvenient. S. Clement saith not one word of refusing the Chair in his Epistle, nor of Linus and [...] coming between him and it; but [...] a [...] fair Hypocritical shew, [...] in his [...] to S. James, that [...] [...] by S. Peter, and [...] [...] [...]. Whereupon, [...] [...] will have this Epistle to be a good and true Record, are forced of necessity to say, that S. Peter did himself ordain Clement, though they very well know that Linus and Cletus, or Anacletus, were both in their Order Bishops before him. For a sure Token, either [Page] that the Church of Rome was little considered in the dawning of the Gospel, or that their ignorance marred her Officious Impostors, nothing is more obscure and doubtful than the order and manner of her first Bishops. The Pontifical undertakes to reconcile all; and does it luckily, were it not that it contradicts it self: For he saith of Clement, that he undertook the Government of the Church by the precept of Peter And yet of Linus and Cletus it saith, they are recorded to be before him, because by the Prince of the Apostles they were made Bishops before him.

Be that a contradiction or no, it was neither Linus nor Cletus it seems, but Clement who writ the Epistle to S. James about the death of Peter.

He made many books.] Binius upon those words observes, that before his Epistles he wrote the Constitutions of the Apostles, &c. He did not make, but write the Apostles Canous in Greek, &c. It is much he did not make them, for the Coronis of them, as Nicolinus calleth it, hath by me Clement in it; and for ought I know a Pope that hath the fulness of power Apostolical, may make Apostles Canons at any time. It is an odd observation, He did not make, but write the Apostles Canons.

[Page]

Among his other Monuments (saith Binius) there are ten books of the circuits of Peter; which by some are called, The Itinerary of Clement, by others his Recognitions: Which since they are stuffed with Loathsome Fables, and the Fathers abstained from the use of them, as Gelasius also in a Roman Council rejected them for Apocryphal; all wise men will advisedly abstain from reading them. It is a Tradition, that Clement left the Rite of offering Sacrifice to the Church of Rome in writing. It is reported also, that many pieces are falsly published under the Name of Clement.

Forgeries are (you see) thick and threefold in the Church of Rome: but this of Clement's Itinerary, which Binius disswadeth all men from reading, even ten Books, Cum insulsis fabulis reserti [...], since they are stust with loathsome Fables, I desire you to take special notice of; because this Confession of his will discover him to be either a false man, or a Fool. It is a delicate Snare, and will detect S. Clement, and S. Binius together.

As for Binius, who defendeth the first Epistle of Clement to S. James for a good Record; if he did read the Epistle, and [Page] note what he read, he was a false man for defending it against his Judgment and Conscience. He that so mortally hated the Itinerary of Clement, could not but know the Epistle to be Forged, if he read it with any diligent observation: If he trusted others, he was an unwise man, to be so confident in maintaining it, upon the report of those that read and transcribed it for him: For their inadvertency hath deceived him.

For S. Clement himself (if that Epistle be his) owneth the Forgery of S. Clement's Itinerary, which Binius so extremely abhorreth. It must needs be a Forgery therefore, because in this case, nothing but a Forgery can defend a Forgery: no Author (if a Saint) acknowledging those Forgeries for his, which he never made.

After a long Oration which S. Clement fendeth to S. James, in that Epistle out of S. Peter's mouth, concerning the Dignity and Excellency of the Roman Chair, he has these words, speaking of S. Peter.

When he had said these things in the midst before them all, he put his hands on me, and compelled me (wearied with shamefacedness) to sit in his Chair. And when I was sate, again he spake these things unto [Page] me: I beseech thee, O Clement, before all that are present, that after (as the Debt of Nature is) I have ended this presentS. Peter's order about the [...] ary. life, thou wouldst briefly write to James, the Brother of our Lord, either those things that relate to the beginning of thy Faith, or those thoughts also which before thy Faith thou hast born; and after what sort thou hast been a companion to me from the beginning, even to the end of my Journey, and my Acts; and what, being a Solicitous Hearer, thou hast taken from me disputing through all the Cities; and what, in all my preaching, was the order either of my words or actions: as also what End shall find me in this City, as I said; all things being (as thou art able) briefly comprehended, let it not grieve thee to destine unto him: Neither fear, that he will be much grieved at my End, since he will not doubt but I endure it for piety. But it will be a great solace to him, if he shall learn, that no unskilful man, or unlearned, and ignorant of the Discipline of [...] Order, and the Rule of Doctrine, hath undertaken my Chair: For he knows, if an unlearned or an unskilful man take upon him the Office of a Doctor without, the Hearers and Disciples being involved in a Cloud of Ignorance, shall be drowned in destruction.

[Page]

Wherefore I my Lord James, when I had received these precepts from him, held it necessary to fulfil what he commanded, informing thee both concerning these things, and briefly comprehending, concerning those, which going through every City, he either uttered in the word of preaching, or wrought in the vertue of his deeds. Though concerning these things I have sent thee [...], and more fully described already, at his command, under that very Title which he ordered to be prefixed; that is, Clementis Itinerarium, The Itinerary of Clement, not the preaching of Peter.

In these words he telleth us, how S. Peter taking his leave of the World, placed him in his Chair, and by that Ceremony installed him in the Episcopal Throne in the presence of them all: What a charge he gave him in that moving circumstance of time, just before his piercing and bitter Passion, to write to S. James: How he ordered him to make an Itinerary of his Circuits throughout the World, and furnished him at the same time with the Materials and Title of the Book; The Itinerary of Clement, not the preaching of Peter. S. Peter's modesty (as is to be supposed) giving the Honour of the Title, not to himself that was the Subject, but [Page] to the Author: How S. Clement, according to this commandment, had sent to S. James, not only this Epistle, but the Book it self long before it; wherein the Journeys and the Acts of Peter were more fully described: And the great care which S. Peter took, [...] the dead man should be grieved, by the Solace he provided in the Tydings sent unto him, concerning the perpetual certainty of Skilfulness and Learning in all his Successors, securing at once both the Church, and his Chair, is very remarkable. All these things, out of the very Bowels of the Epistle, disgrace [...] Chimera's of Binius and [...]. For what Saint being well in his Wits, would tell the World, that S. Peter commanded him to make a Forgery, nay a putid Forgery, stussed with loathsom Fables! S. James his Name is over and over in the body of the Epistle, not only in the Title. The Epistle was not sent to S. James by a Figure, but it plainly tells S. James, that he had sent him the [...] before; which consisting of ten books, must be some considerable time after S. Peter's Death in making, some time in going from Rome to Jerusalem, and some time must be [...] in coming back with the Answer, that certified him of [Page] S. James his receiving it. After all which, this new Letter was written to S James, impertinently giving him an account of the same business: And yet all this while S. James was dead before S. Peter. For as Binius observes, S. Peter was put to Death in the thirteenth year of Nero, and S. James in the seventh.

The Compiler of this Epistle, finding S. Clements Itinerary extant in the World, several hundreds of years before himself, and being not aware of its unfoundness, took it up as a good Record, and so fitted the Epistle and Fable to the purpose in hand, being himself cheated with a Forgery, as many others are, and not expecting to be detected so clearly, as it hath since happened.

But to make the matter more absurd, they have a second Letter to S. James, De Sacratis [...] vel [...]. Wherein he divides the Priesthood (as Pius in his Decretal afterwards [...]) into three Orders, of Presbyter, Deacon, and [...]: With what design I cannot tell, unless he would have us think the Pope the only Bishop. Wherein he also takes care about the Lords Body; orders the Priests with what Ceremony of Fasting and Reverence it shall be consumed: Gives Commands [Page] about the Pall, the Chair, the Candlestick, and the Vail: speaks of the Altar, the Worship of the Altar, the Doorkeepers, the Vails for the Gates, the covering of the Altar, &c. As if there were stately Temples, Attires, Ornaments, and Utensils, in those early days of poverty Persecution, when a Den or a Cave was both Sanctuary and Temple. Among other things, he orders that no man should through ignorance believe a dead man ought to be wrapt in a Clerke. Fryers Coul; a Novel, superstitious Errour. All which he speaks out of the mouth of S. Peter, whom he calls the Father and Prince of the Apostles. In the end of the Letter, he denounces a Curse against all them that will not keep S. Peter's Commandments. So that Peter's Name, and Peter's Authority, is used for every thing appertaining to the Chair, and all the Apostles to be ordered by S. Peter's Successors, as S. [...] [...] of our Lord was.

CAP. XVII. Of Higinus and Pius, as they are represented in the Pontifical; and of a notable Forgery in the name of Hermes: Where you have the Testimony of an Angel, concerning the Celebration of Easter, cited by no body, while the matter was in [...].

[Page]

HIginus sate, saith the Pontifical, four years, three moneths, and four days.An. 184. Binius faith, He sate four years, except two days; counterfeiting as much exactness as the other. If we should follow him in his Consuls, saith he, we should make Higinus sit twelve years.

But the Pontifical is guilty of a more arrogant and ambitious errour: The Hierarchy of the Church, it saith, was made by Higinus, to wit, the Order wherein Presbyters were inferiour to Bishops, Deacons to Presbyters, the people to Deacons. Binius mendeth it as well as he is able, interpreting it only of a Reformation of Collapsed Discipline. But it [...] so exactly with the distinction before made in S. Clement's second Epistle, who will have the Priesthood divided into the Order[Page]of Presbyter, Deacon, and Minister, that the design seemeth deeper than so. He doth not say, the Hierarchy of the Church was corrected, but made by Hyginus: which strikes at the Root of Episcopacy; as if it were not of Divine, but Humane Institution: and being made by the Pope alone, depended only on the Popes pleasure.

Binius is not able to name the time wherein the Discipline of the Church was (in this respect) corrupted so, as to need the Reformation pretended.

Next after Hyginus, the PontificalAn. 158. bringeth in Pius, an Italian, the Brother of a Shepherd. He sate nineteen years, four moneths, and three days, in the times of Antoninus Pius. Hermes his own Brother wrote a book, in which a Commandment was contained, given him by an Angel of the Lord, coming to him in the Habit of a Shepherd, that Easter should be observed on the Lords Day. This man ordained, that an Heretick, coming from among the Jews, should be baptized, & c,

This Hermes, saith Binius, in his Notes on the place, is the same whom S. Paul mentioneth in his Epistle to the Romans. Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobus, Hermes, &c. He was at Mans Estate [Page] when S. Paul saluted him, and a very old man sure for a Writer of Books in the time of Pius.

Binius is not willing to have him so obscure as a Shepherd, but faith, He was called Pastor, either because he was of the Family of Junius Pastor, who in the third year of Aurelian was Consul, or more probably, because the Angel appeared to him in the form of a Shepherd. In this his Guess he is upon the brink of rejecting the Pontifical. Howbeit he quits it not of a Lye: for instead of nineteen years which the Pontifical giveth him, Binius faith, he sate but nine years. A small mistake in this Learned Pontifical.

Concerning the Book which Hermes the Shepherd wrote, he saith, It was almost unknown among the Latines, but very famous among the Greeks: Which was very strange, considering he was the Popes Brother: A Book made by so eminent a person, and so near home, unknown among the Latines! But his meaning is perhaps, it was better known than trusted. For a little after he saith, The Latines esteemed it Apocryphal as Tertullian, Athanasius, and Prosper witness, and as Gelasius decreed; Can. Sanct. Dift. 15.

Now because their unmannerliness [Page] doth refiect a little upon the Pope himself, who in his Decretal Epistle annexed, owns his Brother with an Honourable mention of the Angelical Vision; Binius to display more Learning on the behalf of the Pontifical, and Pius his Decretal, tells you; that the Book of the true Hermes Pastor, praised so much by Tertullian, Origen, Athanasius, Eusebius, Jerome, &c. is not now Extant. Which is evident (he saith) because in that we now have, there is no Mention at all of Easter. Nay the Author of it saith, he was admonished to deliver it to Clement the Pope, by whom it was to be sent to forreign Cities. They have as good Luck at Rome, as if they held Intelligence with Purgatorie. The Dead and they have as intimate a Correspondence, as if the Pope knew the Way to send his Bulls thither. Here is another Forgerie detected, by its Dedication to S. Clement who by no unusual Providence is served just in his own kind, for he disturbed S. James, and another disturbes him, in his Crave. Yet Binius is very much inclined to this Opinion, for from hence he gathereth, it was longè ante haec Tempora Scriptus, a Book written long before the time of Pius. As no doubt it must, if it be not the same that was [Page] praised by Tertullian, Origen, Athanasius, &c. For all Forgeries must be old and True, or they are not worth a farthing.

But how comes Tertullian and Athanasius, &c. to esteem it Apocryphal, and yet to praise it so much, in the same [...]? It is Binius his Breath, not theirs. They poor men are made like Stage players to say whatsoever the Poet listeth. Or else as Binius observes there were two Books of Hermes (though it be double dealing thus to have two of a Sort:) the one right, and the other Apocryphal.

But then Gelasius did very ill, there being two of a Sort, to condemn the one, and not tell us of the other. And so did Ivo. For this Pastor is one of the Catalogue we told you of in the Beginning.

But Binius has a fetch beyond this; He teaches you a way, how to take both these persons for the same man: and what you may say in defence of your self, if you so do. However (saith he) if any one be disposed to take them for the same Author, Ex Sententiâ Illustriss. Card. Barona dicendum est, &c. He must necessarily say, as Baronius gives his Opinion, that they were two commentaries, written at divers times where of the first was more famous among the Greeks the later more obscure among[Page]the Latines. A brave Antithesis! So that upon the point the Latines had none. The more obscure among the Latines was obscure every where; the more famous among the Greeks and the more obscure among the Latines! The Antathesis makes a shew of giving you some Solid matter, but when you grasp it in your hand, it turnes to Air. Unless perhaps you will learn thereby, that the more obscure among the Latines was a Book made in an instant, by a meer Conjecture and a pretty Mockery to gull the Reader, as a shadow at least of some proof that the Pontifical and the Decretals are not Lyars.

Among other Things their Allowances are considerable: for they are good honest reasonable men, and will let you think what you will of the Book, so you consent to the main, and believe the Popes Supremacy. And next that, their Art of Instruction is to be weighed, Whether it be true or no, no matter: If the Disciple can but defend himself by a Distinction, and escape the Conviction of an Absurdity, it is enough; Bellarmine is at such Dicendums often. Though 'tis a Secret among themselves, they teach their Disciples What to say, not What is True. [Page] But I thought we had been agreed before, that of these Hermes at least was a Forgerie.

It seems. by Pope Pius his Letter, that Hermes was a Doctor, and not a Shepherd, for in these Days, he saith, Hermes a Doctor of the faith, and of the H. scriptures shined among us. Not of old, but in these Days. Yet it is pretended, that the Book of old was by some order from on high, to be delivered to Clement the Pope, by whom it was to be sent to forreign Cities. Notwithstanding all their Contrivance, there Wit failes them sometimes, that are so accustomed to Lying. They have so many Irons in the fire that some of them miscarry, whether they will or no.

Nevertheless that Hermes received this Commandment from the Angel Tertullian witnesseth, in his third Book of verses against Mareion saith Binius. I have not heard much of Tertullian's Poetrie. I have his Works, put forth with the Notes of Beatus Rhenanus, and cannot find any such verses among them. If he hath? all that Binius pretendeth out of them, is that Hermes spake Angelical Words; Therefore he saw the Angel.

Pius in his Decretal Epistle applieth this Scripture, Not holding the Head from [Page]which all the body by joynts and bands having nourishment ministred, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God,] to the Pope of Rome. Whereupon, he saith, We instruct you all by our Apostolical authority, that you ought to observe the same Commandments, because we also observe the same. And ye ought not by any means to divide from the Head.

The Commandment was given to Hermes by an Angel. Whereupon Pope Pius after the first complement, beginneth very unluckily with forbidding the Religion or worshipping of Angels. Whereas upon this occasion some eminent matter ought to have been spoken concerning Angels. But because of the words following, he puts them together. Let no man beguile Colos. 2. 18, 19. you of your reward in a voluntary humility of worshipping Angels, &c. Not holding the Head from which all the body by joynts and bands, &c. Where he taketh off the Eternal Head, and puts a New one on the Churches shoulders. For in these dayes Hermes a Doctor of the Faith and of the Holy Scriptures shined among us: And though we observed Easter on the foresaid day, yet because some doubted, for the confirming of their Souls, an Angel of the Lord appeared to the same Hermes in the [Page]shape of a Shepheard, and commanded him that the Passeover should be celebrated by all on the Lords day: Whereupon we also instruct you all by our Apostolical authority, that you ought to observe the same Commandments. (Not because an Angel brought them, or GOD sent him; but) Because we also observe the same, and ye ought not by any means to divide from the Head. And because the business is to promote the Apostolical Authority above all the Angels, instead of extolling and magnifying them, which had been the natural method on such a Topick: as if he would enervate the evidence of the Angel, he biddeth them take heed, and that diligently, least any one seduce you, by any Astrology, or Philosophy, or vain Fallacy, according to the tradition of men: after the Rudiments of this World, and not after Christ's and true Tradition. As if no more heed were to be given to an Angel, than to an Asse, unless the Pope first approved the Vision: Nor is Philosophy, nor the Tradition of men, nor any thing else to be valued in opposition to him, and his true Tradition; for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily: that ye may be repleat in him, who is the Head of all Principality and Power, and who bath commanded[Page]this Apostolical See, to be the Head of all Churches, saying to the Prince of the Apostles, Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock will I build my Church.

What it is to walk after Christ and true Tradition, you may see Cleerly, by this Glos, upon our Saviours Text. They that do not hold the Head, from which all the Body by Joynts and Bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God, are in extream peril of damnation. And our Saviour who is the Head of all Principality and Power, hath commanded this Apostolical See to be the Head of all Churches; Therefore, Whosoever holdeth not to this Head is in extream peril of damnation. For the Pope is not the Head of all Principality and Power in himself, but only by Derivation he is made the Head, &c. And consequently, 'tis as necessary to cleave unto him as to Christ himself. Since he in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth Bodily, dwelleth in his Vicar, even as S. Peter does in like manner. So that all Angels and [...] of men, Reason, Philosophy &c. [...] but feeble Threeds for him that hath [...] Potestatis, the fulness of[Page]Power, and may open the Kingdom of Heaven to whom he will

It is a Cross Observation to note the little Authority of the Popes Custome. For though it it was the Practice of all the Roman Church to Keep Easter in such a manner before, yet some doubted, that is, all the Eastern Churches were of anotherEaseb. Opinion: till an Angel came to teach them otherwise. Yet when he came, he must not be believed for his own sake, but the Popes: nor be obeyed for himself: so jealous was the Pope of his Apostolical Authority.

How weak both the Popes Authority and the Angels were, (which thus mutually needed each others assistance) appeareth by the Event, for notwithstanding the Testimony of Pius and the Angel, this Controversy was left undetermined till the Nicene Council.

It continued above 150 years after Pope Pius his days. Yet through all that considerable Tract of time, this Testimony of the Angel was cited by no Body. Only as Ovid makes use of the [...], and his Crowing in the Morning, to introduce the fable of Alector; this wicked Pius maketh use of this Controversy, for the fable of the Angel. But it was a little [Page] Suspicious that the Angel should appear to no body but the Popes Brother, and the matter be published by no body but the Pope himself. It smelleth of the Forge out of which it came, being proved by the Pontifical of Pope Damasus

CAP. XVIII. A Letter fathered on Cornelius Bishop of Rome in the year 254. concerning the Removal of the Apostles Bones: giving Evidence to the Antiquity of many Popish Doctrines, but is it self a Forgery.

THe forgery made in the Name of Pius, is fitted to the year 158. You shall now see one made in the Name of Cornelius Bishop of Rome in the year [...]54. 100. years after the former excepting four. Not as if there were no forgeries between this and that, there is scarce a year upon which they have not fastned something, but should we trace them all, through the weary Length of so many Ages, our Travail would be Endless. We have chosen one, or two, as Exemplars of the residue.

[Page]

THE FIRST EPISTLE Of Cornelius the Pope.

Concerning the Translations of the Bodies of Peter and Paul, &c.

[...] the [...] to his Dear and most Beloved [...], the Sons or the Holy Church of God, and to all them that serve our Lord in the right Faith.

Considering the [...] of your Charity, because ye are Lovers of the Apostles and hold [...] [...] and Doctrine, I determined [...] write unto you, (the Lord being the Author) some of those things which are at this time necessary to be Known, and which the Lord assisting, by the Merits of the Apostles, were lately done among us in the Church of Rome, or are now in Doing. Because Charity patreniring, I believe with fatherly Grace, ye willingly receive [...] Writings of the Apostolical See, and preform the Commandments of the same, and [...] in the Increases thereof. Because whosoever engrasses himself in the root of Charity, neither [...] of Greatness,

(nec a fructibus inanes eis) [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] nor waxes vain from fruit, neither does he by Love lose the Efficacious Work of fruitfulness. For Charity it self does exercise the Hearts of the faithful, corroborates their Senses, that nothing seemeth Grievous, nothing difficult, but all is easy which is done; while its property is to nourish Concord, to keep the Commandments, to joyn things disleyered, to correct Evil things, and to consolidate all other vertues by the Bulwark of its perfection.

Wherefore I [...] you to rejoyce with us, because by the Entreaty of a certain devout Woman, and most noble Matron Lucina, the bodies of Peter and Paul were lifted out of the Catatumbae. And first of all, the Body of the Blessed Paul was carried with Silence and put in the Grounds of the foresaid Matron, in the Ostiensian Way, neer to that Side where he was beheaded. But afterwards we received the Body of the Blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostes, and decently placed it neer the place where he was crucified, among the Bodies of the H. Bishops, in the Temple of Apollo, in the golden Mountain, in the Vatican of Nero's palace; the third day of the Ca' end, of July: praying God [Page] and our Lord Jesus Christ, that these his holy Apostles interceding, he would purge away the Spots of our Sins, and keep you in his Will all the dayes of your Life, and make you perseverable in the Fruit of Good works. But see that ye rejoice together for these things: Because the Holy Apostles themselves also rejoice together for your joy. Praise ye God alwaies, and he shall be glorified in you. For it is written, What shall I return unto the Lord, for all he hath returned to me? I will take up the Cup of Salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord.

In this first part of the Epistle concerning the Translation of the Bodies of the B. Apostles, Peter and Paul, the Pope does you to wit of his wonderful kindness and charity to the Dead, as also of his devotion and reverence towards the Relicks of such glorious Saints.

Wherein first of all, he would have his gratitude towards those blessed Founders of the Roman See made conspicuous, it being a thing meet to be published all the World over, as it is in most solemn manner here, by Decretal Epistle. 2. He does intimate the veneration due to Relicks, especially those of such glorious [Page] Saints, as Peter and Paul. 3. He gives us to know that the Translation of their Bodies from one Grave to another was a matter of such moment, that it was Quaedam ex his quae [...] temporis necessaria [...] [...], A thing, in these dayes, necessary to be [...]. 4. That the merits of the [...] [...] God to assist and [...] the Church of Rome in all her Doings. 5. That God was the Author of those things which he wrote unto them: [...] a [...] saith, Decrevivobis seribere, [...] [...]. 6. That all the World did even in Cornelius daies, and upward, to [...] [...] S Clement and S. Peter, Script [...] [...] Apostolicae libenter [...], [...] [...] the Writings of the [...] [...], obey its commands, and [...] in its increases. For the Roman Church [...] [...] increasing in Tradition, Doctrine, Wealth, &c. 7. That Love is so excellent an ingredient, that like Salt it must [...] all things, especially this Ppistle, Because it [...] a multitude of faulrs: The [...] of it otherwise comes in very [...], as [...] [...] to the Story of removing the [...] bones.

The Epistle [...] many other [...] even in this little part of it: As that [...] [Page] Saints are to rejoice for any benefit done to the Church of Rome: That the bodies of the most blessed Apostles being too dishonourably buried before, turned to the greater joy of the Church, which otherwise had lost this occasion of Festivity. If you ask, how it was possible they should be interred so gloriously in the days of Decius a bloudy Persecutor? It was at the intreaty of Lucina, a noble Matron, of which kind there are some alwayes that have a great influence in the Church of Rome. That Peter was buried in the Golden Mountain as a presage of his Successors glory. That the Bishops of Rome, were even in the Height of Paganisme (and Idolatry) buried in the Temple of Apollo: That Peter was buried in three or four places at once: among the Bishops of Rome, in the Temple of Apollo, in the Golden Mountain, and in the Vatican of Nero's Palace; a little before Cornelius his Martyrdome, on the 3. of the Kalends of July.

If you will not believe this, consider yet further, the holiness of Cornelius affirming it. For while he was settling these Holy Bodies, he, and the Saints of the Church of Rome with him, prayed God and our Lord Jesus Christ, that upon [Page] the Intercession of those Holy Apostles, he would purge away the Sins of all them to whom he wrote; the Merits of the Apostles, and especially the Intercession of those that sate in the Roman Chair being established 1450 years ago, by the Decretal Epistle of Cornelius: The Vision of the Apostles, and their knowledge of things done upon Earth is intimated sufficiently, together with the Principality and Piety of the Church of Rome, that was ever a Loyer of the Saints, and a Worshipper of their Relicks. Way is made too for Praying to Saints departed: [...]. [...]. this Part of the Epistle ending with that notable Passage [...] [...], What shall I give unto the Lord for all his Benefits towards me? I will take up the Cup of Salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord. Which shews the honourable use they make of the Scriptures.

Now if you enquire, Whether this Epistle be Authentick? you sin against the Doctrine of Implicit faith, and highly Scandalize the Church of Rome. For can any man be so wicked, as to believe that Cornelius, or any other Pope should counterfeit COD to be the Author of a Counterfeit; or return such Solemn praises for a feigned Deliverance; or [Page] write Publick Admonitions to all the Churches in the World concerning a Lie; or abuse the Holy Scriptures; and make nothing of Love, but a pretext to patch up, and cover Forgery? Yet let us hear what Binius and Baronius say concerning these Matters. For though the Epistle be never so formally set down, and a Lie written in the Top, both of the Epistle, and the Page, Cornelii Papae Epistola 1. And again, The sirst Epistle of Pope Cornelius: yea, though Binius saith in his Notes on this Epistle, that S. Jerom witnesseth Cornelius to have written many Epistles; and that this therefore is undeservedly taxed for its faith and authority, which has gotten so famous a Witness as Jerom. Yet after all this, ( though (among other Circumstances of Importance) it hath been laid down as a Good Record by Binius his Ancestors ) he saith, That it doth attribute to Cornelius the Translation of the H. Bodies of Peter and Paus from the Catatumbae, (which is, if I mistake not, from the meaner Graves of the Common people) Id ex Libri Pontificalis Erroribus in Epistolam irrepsisse, probabile, &c. That that crept in into this Epistle, from among the Errours of the Pontifical, seemeth probable. For [Page]more truly that Translation happened in the first Age, a little after their Passion: As by the testimony of S. Gregory the Pope we demonstrated above.

Surely the feet upon which this Peacock stands, are very Black. The pride of Rome is founded like that of the great Whore, on the waters at least, if not in the mire.

If you examine What, or Where this Testimony of S. Gregory is, that overthroweth this Epistle of Cornelius, a Person much more Ancient and Authentick than himself; and with what Circumstances, or with what form of words Binius maketh use of the same? Let your patience turn to Binius his Notes on those Words in the Pontifical, Hic Temporibus, &c. in the Life of Cornelius, and there it shall be satisfied.

CAP. XIX. The ridiculous Forgery of the Council of Sinuessa, put into the Roman Martyrologies. How the City, and the name of it was consumed, (though when, no man can tell) by an Earthquake.

[Page]

MARCELLINVS the Bishop of An. 296. Rome entered on his See about the year 296 in the dayes of Dioclesian. The Pontifical in the Life of Marcellinus telleth us, that he offered incense to an Idol, to escape the wrath of the Emperour.

Binius saith, When Marcellinus the Roman Pontisex was therefore accused, because in the Temple of Vesta and [...], he burnt incense, and offered Sacrifice to Heathen Images and Idols, to wit, that of Jupiter and Saturn; 300 Bishops came together in the City Sinuessa, to pass their Sentence on the Fall of Marcellinus. The place of meeting was the Crypta Cleopatrensis, which fifty, one after another could enter, it not being able to contain them all, by reason of its straitness. After the discussion of the Cause, and condemnation of certain Priests, Marcellinus the chief Bishop, publickly confessing his Sin, [...] [Page] Sackcloath, sprinckled with ashes, prostrate on the ground, acting Repentance, said, I have sinned before you, and cannot be in the Order of Priests: and so condemned himself by his own Sentence. ¶ After those of Magdenburg, the English Innovators reject this Convention of 300 Bishops, as if it were feigned by the Donatists. Because they think it improbable, that in this 20. year of Dioclesian, wherein the fiercest Flame of Persecution burned, and the Anger of the Emperours did rage more bitterly against the Christians, throughout all the Roman world, 300 Bishops should be assembled together, Bin. Not. in Vit. Marcellin.

By the way I must tell you, that the English do upon several accounts, besides that of the Persecution reject this Council of Sinuessa, however it pleaseth Binius to ease himself of labour, by mentioning only that. Neither do they fasten it on the Donatists, but the Papists. For though Marcellinus be made a Donatist in opinion, his Confession being founded on that Doctrine, that no man guilty of mortal sin, can (though penitent) continue in the Order of Priests: Binius himself puts the Doctrine into his mouth: while other Doctrines relating to the Popes Supremacy, [Page] and other Persons defending this Council, shew plainly enough whose it is, notwithstanding the present Mist which Binius putteth before our eyes. Hear him on.

But if no fear of the Persecution of Decius, saith he, could hinder them, but that about sifty years before this, as we said in our Notes of the Roman Council held in the Interregnum, many Bishops of the Remoter Provinces, and many others neighbouring on Italy, and living in hanishment, came together upon the Letters of the Roman Clergy, at Rome, and holding a Council there, ordained those things, which the present necessity of the Church did require: Why should it seem more distant from the truth, that by the most vigilant care of the Roman Clergy, the Bishops of Forreign Churches should be called together by Circular Epistles, and no fear or Danger of Life deterring them, meet at the time and place appointed, to transact and decide that cause, of all other the most deplorable, in which not only the Roman Church, but the whole Christian Religion was brought into the greatest Hazard, wherein the whole Foundation of the Church was shaken, in the first Bishop of the Catholick Faith, and almost utterly overthrown?

[Page]

Binius you see consesseth the Truth, that Mercellinus did offer Incense [...] an Idol: and that the Gates of Hell had well nigh prevailed against S. Peters Chair, in the Idolatry of his Apostate Successor. That therefore they might imitate God, though the perverse way, in bringing Good out of Evil: the matter is so neatly ordered, that the Ball reboundeth higher by its Fall; the Weakness of Marcellinus increases the Popes power, and his Disgrace is turned to his Greater Glory. His slip is made the establishment of all his Successors. For a Council of 300. Bishops is raised up, by the Invention of the Papists, which do all of them most humbly beseech the Cuilty Pope to condemn himself, and Decree with one Consent, that the Sovereign Bishop of the City of Rome can be condemned by no body. For out of thine own mouth thou shalt be justified, and out of thine own mouth thou shalt be condemned. It is an important Point: and no witness fit to be lost, that giveth Testimony thereunto.

Concerning this Council therefore, on the Words Act a Omnia. The saith, Though exceeding many among the most learned of men, have endeavoured to prove those Acts to be Spurious, and of no weight, [Page]truly by Strong Arguments, and would esteem it as no other than a Device of the Donatists, cunningly contrived that the Name of Marcellinus, well accepted of among all the Ancients, and had in great Esteem, should be defamed: We nevertheless conceive the same Acts, to be not only not Commentions, or forged, to be ascribed to the Donatists; but rather to be had in great Veneration, both because venerable Antiquity it self fighteth Sharply for them, compelling a Reverence even from the unwilling by its majesty: and because by the Common Assent of all, being believed, it hath hitherto been received, and without all Controversy maintained in the Ancient Martyrologies and Breviaries both of the Roman, and other Churches. Baron. In Append. Tom. 10. Ad hunc Annum.

Note here, that as Surius, and Binius and Baronius, so even the Roman Church hath it self received this Council into her purest Records, her Sacred Martyrologies, and Mass-books, or Breviaries. Which is a reason above all other reasons, compelling Binius and his fellowes, Baronius, Labbe, and the Collectio Regia, to embrace this Council. For it cannot be rejected without Prejudice to the Authority of the Roman Chair. Which as it clears [Page] the Donatists from the pretended imputation, discovers plainly who are the true Authors of this Council.

For though it be more than probable, that some pitiful barren Head, void of all Sence and Learning, did at first compose it, out of the affection he had to the See of Rome: Yet as in Treason all are Principals, so here the Receiver is as bad as the Thief. The Roman Church by aiding and abetting this Abomination, hath made it her own: Be it forged in what empty Shop it will, she hath magnified it to the Stars, by fixing it in her Martyrologies: The Chair is defiled with the Forgery it hath adopted: and the Pope hath made it as much his, as if it had been the Issue of his own Brain.

Being therefore it cannot now be deserted, without discovering the shameful secrets of the Roman Church; Binius like a good Son endeavours to maintain it: but with such ill success, that he shames her more by miscarrying in the enterprize.

First he saith, Exceeding many among the most learned of men, have endeavoured to prove those Acts to be spurious. By these most learned of Men he means the Papists, not the Protestants: So that exceeding [Page] many of the most learned Papists have rejected that Council; lest the Chair should be too much disgraced with the reproach of Marcellinus. 2. He saith, They have endeavoured to prove these Acts to be spurions, truly by strong Arguments. He confesseth the Arguments to be strong against it. And here he varies a little from himself: for besides the Persecution of Decius, there are Arguments and strong ones to, against this Council; which he before concealed. Nor do the English Innovators only, but the Papists also, and the most learned among them write against it. What Arguments then doth Binius bring to defend it? His Opinion, Antiquity, General Consent, and all resolved into the Roman Martyrology. As for the first, his Nevertheless I conceive, will not do, against strong Arguments. Antiquity, which is the second, stands upon other mens Legs, and speaks by other mens Mouths: She may be painted like a Woman, but is of neither Sex: And though Binius would perswade us, that She fighteth in person very sharply for the Council, you can see nothing but her Name, and his Talk of her Majesty. She wanted the tongue of the Learned, and is a dumb Champion. His General Consent is disturbed by those [Page] exceeding many most Learned men, of which he had [...] before, that endeavonred to prove these Acts to be spurious. They come out of their Graves with strong Arguments, to disorder the common Assent of all, by which it is beleived; to defile the Majesty of Antiquity, by which it is asserted, and to reprove Binius for a Lyar, who faith, that it hath hitherto been received, and without all Controversie maintained. Nor is he a Lyar onely, but contradicteth himself, and foolishly bewrayeth his design, while he shufles and cuts upon all occasions.

But perhaps you will say his meaning is, It is without all Controversie maintained in the Roman Martyrologies and Breviaries. That reserve be keeps for a [...], then, but it will not do. He might say, it was put in without all controversie, because the Roman Martyrologies and Breviaries were works of Darkness, made in Secret by the Popes Authority: But is it maintained without all controversie, when exceeding many of the most Learned Men endeavour to prove its Acts to be Spurious by strong Arguments? Does veneralle Antiquity it self fight sharply for them, compelling a Beverence from the unwilling by its Majesty; or is it by the[Page]common Assent of all believed; when exceeding many endeavour to refute it? As for the Roman Martyrologies, it is no wonder it should lie quiet in then. None were by but the Actors only when the Council was put in and if by dissembling the fraud, it be maintained there, it is no great business. But there it is, and that is sufficient.

For my part I could not have believed, that Binius or any other Sober man, could ever reckon such [...] piece of Barbarism for a Council [...] I not seen it with my own eyes in the Author. It is so much against all reason, that a thing so absurd should be owned, to the disgrace of all Martyrs, Synods, and Councils. And were it not for the [...] of the wonder, the Roman Martyrologies, whose credit must be saved, it would be my lasting amazement.

Binius is so stiffe in defending this Council, that in the next words he chargeth ignorance on S. Augustine for not understanding it.

Love and Hunger will eat through stone walls. His Zeal for the Church of Rome, and its Direful necessity, makes him to defend this Council in the Roman Martyrologies, against an apparent falsehood [Page] in the bottom of it, against very many most learned men, against all the barbarous intollerable Nonsence and Tautologies therein, against the Killing Circumstance, that there was no such City or Crypta at least in the World, as well as against the Impossibility of calling it, on his own Principles; Besides all which, the vanity of its Design, and the Absurdity of its meeting on such an occasion, is sufficient to detect it.

The Lye in the bottom of it is in those Words, Cum [...] in Bello Persarum. This Council was convened, as the Title sheweth, when Dioclesian was in his War with the Persians. Upon these words Binius saith, Haec [...] emendentur falsa sunt, &c. ‘These Words be false unless they be mended: for since Eusebius, and divers others witness, that Dioclesian in this 20. Years of his Reign devested himself of the Empire, and which is more, two years before triumphed at Rome with his Collegue Maximianus, for having conquered the Persians; how I pray you could [...] this year be going forth with his Army against the Persians.’

This is one reason more, for which the Writers of Magdenburg, and the English Innovators, as he is pleased to stile them, [Page] reject that Council. Another is contained in Binius his Notes on the word Sinuessa, num.] ‘So called from the City Sinuessa in a certain Crypta whereof, called Cleopatrensis, they came together secretly to shun the Sword of the raging Gentiles. For whereas men doubt, whether any such City was ever in the World, he proceedeth to tell us, that it is not to be admired at al, that there is no mention made either of this City, or such a Crypta, in any other Writers, nor at least the smallest memory of this Place to be found: Since we know that by great Earthquakes, not only mountains and plains have lost their Situation and Name, but the Desolation of some most ample Cities hath bin also made’

It is an unlucky Chance that this City should be swallowed up by an Earth-quake: As ominous almost as the Burning of the Nicene Canons by the Arrians. That other Place have been lost we know: but no man knoweth that this City was lost, nor is the least memory of it to be found. Whereas such Strange Accidents being the [...] Themes for the Trumpet of Famous such a Rarity had made it more remarkable, than if it had continued until this Day: Since Marvels chiefly busy the Pens of Historians. [Page] That they should be Silent, or its Name be shaken out of [...] Books by an Earthquake, is the greatest Miracle Story doth afford.

Inserting the Notes of Peter Crab and Surius, he [...] [...] another reason fot which we reject that [...]. Be pleased to look back on Peter Crab, and there you shall see his Premonition beginning thus, Because of the intolerable and too too grievous Depravation of the Copies, & c The Collectio Regia hath rejected the old ones, and for the smoother Convevance of that Council hath left them both out, and recorded only the false one that was made in their Stead. So may it come to pass in time, that all the Barbarismes shall be forgotten, and the well-mended but Spurious Copy be taken for the true Record. They reject the old one for their Nonsence, and we theirs for its Novelty.

Surius, whose Premonition to the Reader Binius reserveth till after the Council, yieldeth us another reason whereupon we refuse it. It is pretty to see the Hypocrisy wherewith he admires the Care and Diligence of its first Compilers, notwithstanding the Depravations and Corruptions of the same. For he telleth us, It seemed not good to the * Collector,[Page]to pass over these things for the forementioned Peter Crab Trifles, which our forefathers have with so much Labour and Diligence left us. That is (when you pull of the mask, which Peter Crab the Collector, out of some idle Monk or other set on work by the Church of Rome, was pleased to record, for the interest of that Chair) though those little Trifles, The in tolerable Difference and Depravation of the Copies would otherwise have hindered him. The reason why he defendeth it, moves us to reject it. For they, who being Zealous for the Bishop of Rome, conceit these things to be [...] by those who rival the Apostolical See, as if it were unworthy of the Apostolical Chur, that in great a Bishop should be brought to so [...] a Pass, as to Sacrifice [...] [...] seem little to remember how Peter Denial did not hurt him; or that there is joy among the Angeis over one Sinner that repenteth; or that this very Marcellinus afterwards constantly met his Death for the sake of Christ; and according to the Proverb, sought manfully after he ran away. However it be, O Reader, we would not have that concealed from thee, which we have found in the Monuments of the Ancients, leaving the Truth of this to the Records themselves,[Page]and not prejudicating any mans Sentence by our Opinion. His Reason why it may be held for a good and true Record, is the safety of the Roman Chair not with standing it should be thought so. And one of the Reasons why we so greatly suspect them, is that very behaviour: The advantage of the Roman See being the only Touchstone among them, of Records and Forgeries. By this very example you see, that men as wise as Binius leave the Council Doubtful; and by his Testimony you find that many Romanists renounce it: So may you discern by the Crookedness of their Rule, that they are fit to be suspected. It is a very great Secret and warily to be discovered, and that to none but friends! but they that are zealous for the Bishop of Rome, shape their Opinions by their Affections. Some that are zealous, conceit those things to be feigned, because they think it unworthy of the Apostolical Chair, that so great a Bishop should sacrifice to Idols. While some of them, that are zealous too for the Bishop of Rome, because they remember how Peter's denial did not hurt him, and know that the fear of the former might easily be removed with pretences enow, think it better to retain this Council. For there is joy [Page]among the Angels for a Sinner that repenteth; and Marcellinus's Martyrdome is as glorious to the Chair, as his Fall was disgraceful. The one are afraid of the Popes Infallibility, and because they think the Fall of Marcellinus in that respect too dangerous to be recorded, would suppress the Council: The other are zealous of the Popes Supremacy, and because they would exempt him from all Superiours, and make him uncapable of being judged by any, record the Council. And which is the Wisest, that is the Question: Not what is true, but what is expedient? While their Judgments are formed not according to Things, but conveniencies.

Another reason why we reject this Council is because it containeth a Doctrine, which no true Record of Antiquity teacheth: but where with the Forgeries before laid open do extreamly abound. And here the behaviour of Surius is a little further to be noted. He avers that he found these things in the Monuments of the Ancients, and yet is so dasht, that he leaves the truth of them to the Records themselves. What Records, what Monuments, what Ancients can these be, that are fit to be suspected? He will [Page] not prejudicate any mans Sentence by his opinion. Which is a piece of Liberality in a [...]. that implies some extraordinary Cause not to be uttered

Another reason of our opposing it, is because it so notoriously wresteth the H. Scriptures. That Place which is spoken of the general Account, which all men must give at the Day of judgement, being applied in particular, to shew that no man may condemn the Pope. Out of thine own Mouth thou shalt be justified, &c. Which being the Sole foundation on which they lay any stress, is with somuch ridiculous Babling repeated, that it would turn a mans Stomack, and make him sick to peruse it.

But the Impossibility of the Thing is an Argument ad Hominem, that may perhaps be more convincing. For as they hold that no man may condemn a Pope, So do they hold that no man, but he, can call a Council. And though for Formsake they ascribe the Power of Calling Councils, in the Vacancy of the See, to the Roman Clergy; yet when a Pope is Alive, they utterly deny it to them, orany else: Because the Pope is Supreme, and be he Good or Bad, can be judged by none. By what Authority then did the [Page] Roman Clergy call this Council, before the Pope was judicially deposed. If the Roman Clergy take upon them to condemn him before he is heard, his Condition is worse than that of other men. If they presume to call a Council before he is condemned, they usurp his Authority, and act independently to the prejudice of the Chair, in such sort as was never heard of; there being no President or Copy but this, of such a Proceeding. Though the Pope were a Criminal, yet every one must not judg him. I suppose they will Confess there have been many wicked Popes, yet while the Pope is a Pope, no man without his Authority may call a Council. The thing is impossible therefore in it self. For he must First be condemned, before a Council could be called to condemn him; and before he could be condemned, the Council must be called. Which would seem among Protestants a Contradiction.

The Absurditie of the Plot, is another reason why we reject it. Three hundred Bishops in a persecution adventure their Lives to meet together, upon an unwarrantable Call before the Pope was convicted as a Criminal, and without knowing whether he would [Page] come to Judgment; though certainly knowing that none could compel him, convene him before them. They produce one Day 14. Witnesses, another Day 44. And care is taken, according to the Decree of the Epilogus Brevis: to compleat the number of 72. Witnesses: And when all is done, they confesse they have no Power to condemn him. The Absurdities are not easily fathomed. How gross was it for the Roman Clergy to call a Council for the Deposing of a Pope, whom they before knew nothing could condemn but his own Sentence? How absurd, for them to judg the Pope, whom they continually teach no man can judg? How much more absurd for the Council to meet to depose him, who if he were pleased to declare their Sentence null, all was in vain? It is just as if a Rebellions Parliament should meet on their own Heads, to call their King to account, upon pretence of his Crimes. If this be admitted, all must be Disorder and Confusion in Kingdom.

If his Ingenuity had led him to depose himself, without giving all these Bishops the trouble, he might have done it at home. That he wanted Ingenuity, his denial, [Page] of the Fact (before the Council) testifieth. Whereupon I wonder what brought him thither, or what Miracle made him stand before the Bar, at his Tryal? But had he not denied the Fact, the Ceremony had been lost of producing seventy and two Witnesses. Which relation to the putid Forgery of the Epilogus Brevis, as yet unmade, utterly mars the business.

The Council it self is the greatest evidence against it self in the World. If you please to give your self the trouble of reading it, either in Peter Crab, or Surius, or Nicolinus, or Binius, and compare it with the Letters of Pope Sylvester and the Nicene Council, recorded afterwards, you will find reason to believe the very same Dunce made them all. Those three being the absurdest pieces, that ever were seen with learned eyes.

For a Taste of this, take but the beginning of the two old pretended Originals, A. and C. to let go the third, which being made by latter men, is nothing to the purpose.

A. | C.
Dioclefiano & Maximiano Augustis. Cum multi in vitá suâ asperse[Page] [...] suae vacillitate mentiebantur, ori [...] dicentes, quod [...] [...] [...] vanitas super se sentirent, & ad Sacrificandum [...] tempore multi inducerentur per [...] [...], [...] [...] Diis. Marcellinus itaque, &c. | Cum multi in [...] suâ aspersu mentis suae vacillitate [...], origine, dicentes, quod de eorum Superstitionem vanis super sentirent, & ad [...] codem tempore multi [...] per pecuniam ut [...] Di is. Marcellinus itaque, &c.

Take which you will, and try to construe it; you will find it impossible: yet in this Diaject he holdeth from end to end. Many things more we might speak, but we study brevity.

CAP. XX. Divers things premised in order, first to the Establishment, and then to the Refutation of Constantine's Donation; the first by Binius, and the latter by the Author. The Forgeries of Marcellus, Pope Eusebius, and Binius opened.

MArcellus a Roman sate five years, six An. 304. moneths, and twenty one days, saith the Pontisical. He succeeded Marcellinus. There are two Decretal Epistles aseribed to him, and both counterfeit: [Page] The one is coneerning the Primacy and Authority of the Roman Church: the Other is written to Maxentius the Heathen Emperour, and a Tyrant. Concerning which last, Binius (in his Notes upon it) saith, Hanc Epistolam, Anno 308. Scriptam, Additamentum aliquod accepisse, Res Scriptae hic parùm sibi cohaerentes indicant. He holdeth it for a good Record; but there are so many things inconsistent in it, that he fears it has taken a Dose, and confesseth that some things were put in by way of Forgery.

This is an easy way of defending. There was never any Deed forged, wherein the larger half, being directed purely according to form of Law, was not Good. But if for that cause, when it comes to be Scanned, the forger at every Detectionshould say, This was forged indeed, but the rest is good; the Court would laugh at him: And this is Binius his present Case.

In the time of Marcellus there was a Council called at Eliberis, An. 305. where they forgot Binius his Council of Apostles at Antioch; and among other Canons decreed this for one, Placuit Picturas in Ecclesiâ esse non debere. Ne quod colitur & adoratur, in Parietibus depingatur. They [Page] think it unlawful to put any Picture of what is adored, in the Church on the Walls. He takes much pains to pick this Thorn out of the Popes foot: but we leave him at his work, and proceed to

THE LIFE, EPISTLES, AND DECREES OF EVSEBIVS POPE, Out of the Pontifical of Pope Damasus.

Eusebius a Grecian sate nine years, four An 309. moneths, and three days. Binius proveth, he could sit but two years, some moneths, &c. And whereas Eusebius saith, the Cross was found in his days, and Fathers the Invention of it upon one Judas, converted thereupon, and called (at his Baptism) Quiriacus; though he names the day of the moneth exactly, the fifth of the Nones of May, and instituteth and Holy-day thereupon; yet is all this rejected by Binius for a Fable. For by the consent of all Ancient Writers, saith [...], the Cross was found after the Nicene Council, by Helena the Mother of Constantine the Great. Howbeit, there is a very formal Epistle to the Bishops of [...] and Campania, in the name of [...], devoutly abusing H. Scripture, exalting Piety, and the Popes Chair; till at last it decrees an [Page] Holy-day for this happy Invention, solemnly enjoyn'd by the Authority of this Roman Catholick and Apostolical Bishop, though all this be as very a Cheat as any of the former. Binius has a cure for this too, but a very course one: This part of the Epistle we confess to be counterfeit. Vid. Bin. in loc.

Melchiades an African sate three years, An. 311. eleven moneths, and eight days. Binius saith, two years, &c. And reprehends the Pontificals Confusion, which I shall not [...] to mention, having greater matters [...].

[...] his time Constantine the first Christian Emperour arose: Concerning whom the Pontifical is silent in the time of Melchiades, having need of him in that of [...]: but Binius gives us this little Abstract of his History here.

After an Interval of seven days. Octob. 3. [...]. Christ. 311. in the third year of the Emperour [...], Melchiades began to sit. In his time, six moneths from the return of Peace to the Church being searcely past, [...] in the East, being Emperour with Licinius, stirred up a most grievous Persecution against the Christians, whom he called the Firebrands, and the Authors of all the Evils in the World. [Page] Euseb l. 9. c. 6. Maxentius in the West oppressed the Empire with a grievous [...]: But Constantine his Fellow Emperour that Reigned with him in the West, as Licinius Reigned with Maximinus in the East, being stirred up partly by injuries, and partly by the prayers of the Romans, resolved to suppress the Tyrant. When therefore he designed the War, he despised the Aids of the Heathen Gods, and determined in himself to implore only the Creator of Heaven and Earth, whom his Father Constantius adored. It happened therefore that while he was praying for Prosperity, he saw at Mid-day the Sign of the Cross, made with Beams of Light, appearing in the Heavens; in which these words were manifestly contained, IN HOC VINCE. The Explication whereof when he had learned from our Lord Jesus Christ appearing to him in his sleep, and from his Priests; he undertakes the War against Maxentius, and happily conquers him. Which Victory being gloriouly gotten, in acknowledgment that it came from that One Invisible and Immortal God, he erected a Trophy of the Cross in the midst of the City, with this Famous Motto: HOC [...] ARI SIGNO, VERO FORTITUDINIS INDICIO CIVITATEM VESTRAM[Page]TYRANNIDIS JUGO LIBERAVI. Under this Saving Sign, the true Mark of Fortitude, I freed your City from the Yoke of Tyranny. And as a man fest Token of his Liberality and Piety, he gave to Melchiades the Publick House in the Lateran, which heretofore was the Palace of Fausta the Empress. Opt. Mil. He restored the Goods of the Church, gave great Priviledges and Immunities to the Clergy, and made a Decree, that they should be maintained at the Publick Charge.

In the latter end of this first Tome, Binius has a long Record of Gelasius Cyzicenus, in fair Greek and Latine, who being a very Ancient Author, confirms all these things, shewing the madness of Maximinus, and his destiuction, the building of Churches, the evil manners of Licinius, the Victory which the Religious Emperour obtained against that Wicked man, the Peace of the Churches after Licinius his Death, and the several ways whereby the good Emperour promoted the Christian Affairs.

Yet as if all this were a Dream, the Scene is immediately overthrewn; [...] [...] Tyraat, a Murderer, an Oppressor, a Persecuter of the Church, and [Page] smitten with Leprosie from Heaven! namely for his great abominations: Licinius is innocent, and unjustly slain; but Constantine is made the Destroyer of peace. For in the Life of Sylvester the next Bishop after Melchiades, the Pontifical saith, he was banished into the Mountain Soracte. Upon which words, Binius further saith, that Sylvester searing the cruelty of the Emperour, fled from the City, as his own Acts, and Zozimus, and Sozomen do probably shew.

As for Sylvesters Acts so simply and freely cited here, meerly to cheat the Reader, he afterwards Bin. Not. in Constant. Edict. confesseth them to be a Forgerie. And as for Zozimus and Sozomen: those Words, [Do probably shew.] shew Binius to be a Sophister. He would fain have father'd the Story upon Zozimus and Sozomen: but his Courage sailed him: for they speak not expresly, but Probably shew; that is, in his conceit, they give him colour enough to side with a Cheat, a Forger, a Lyar, a notorious Counterfeit, Damasus, against all the true Antiquities and Histories in the World. The positive Relation of Eusebius Pamphilus an holy Father in the Niceue Council, that lived in those times, the Records of Gelasius Cyzicenus that ancient [Page] Author, and Nicolinus, the late Compiler of the Councils, that commend Eusebius as the most faithful witness among Ecclestastical Writers, being palpably contradicted, while Zozimus the Heathen is favoured in some dark expression, wherein his Envy tempted him to carp at the Emperour; because he was next under God, the Author of so much Peace and Felicity amongst the Christians. As for Sozomen he was a Christian indeed, but too late an Authot to contend with Eusebius and Gelasius [...]. Neither does Binius say he positively avers any such thing, but probably shews either a [...] or a Fernbush; Some frailty perhaps which proves Consiantine a Man: but Binius should have produced clear Testimonies, as sound and authentick as the former, if he meant to swim against all Antiquity, in disgracing so glorious an Emperour, positively affirming him to be guilty of Murder, and Paricide, Apostacy, and Idolatry, Persecution, &c.

Binius acteth his part too far: for, is (as he saith) Constantine counterfeited himself to be an Heathen only to satisfic the People; his great munificence, and kindness to the Christians having imbittered [Page] the Multitude, so far, that it almost brake out into a Rebellion: for the appeasing of the Sedition therefore, he dissembled his Religion, upon Temporal Considerations, for which God was provoked, Certainly he could never hope to be cured of his [...], by going in earnest to the Heathen Priests and their Idols, as Binius pretendeth, when he was so deeply humbled, and in danger of Destruction.

But this whole pretence is overthrown, and the Genius of the Man more clearly [...] in the passage following.

In [...] Life of Marcellus with which we began the Chapter, and which was some years before this pretended necessity, he telleth us that Maxentius, who studied to possess himself of the Tyranny of Rome, at his first entrance into the Roman Empire, feigned himself craftily to embrace our Faith; thereby to please the Roman people, and to take them with his [...], for which cause he remitted the [...] against the Christians: and put on [...] a shew of Prety, that for a time he [...] [...] of Courtesie, Love, and Humanity. This he proveth out of [...]. l. 8. [...]. [...]. But for a purpose of which [...] was not aware: his design being hereby to justifie the Counterfeit Epistle of [Page]Marcellus, and to palliate the absurdities therein contained, the Popes ranting so foolishly out of the Bible, and threatning Maxentius the Heathen Emperour, with the Authority of his [...] Clement; While he was a Pagan [...]. Now if Maxentius found it necessary to counterfeit himself a Christian, to please the People; Constantine, who found the minds of men far more [...] to Religion then Maxentius did, was by consequent, more engaged to appear a Christian, than [...] was; that so he might also please the People. But voluble Wits in partial Heads are bended easily to any Cause, they fancy for their advantage: Otherwise the Cross in the Heavens, the Trophies upon Earth, the prevailing glory of Christianity, the victories of Constantine, the joy and exultation of the people, and the general applause with which he was received throughout the whole World, would have taught Binius another Lesson, than Constantines necessity to counterfeit himself an Heathen, which is the meer Chymera of a lying Brain: for which he is not able to produce any one Author in the World, worth the naming.

He produces the Testimony of Eusebius [Page] concerning the necessity of Maxentius his counterfeiting himself to be a Christian, but Eusebius speaketh not one word of any necessity lying upon Constantine to counterfeit himself an Heathen: but the contrary, so far, that Binius, who had quoted Eusebius so gravely before, brandeth him with the Reproach of an Arrian, because he crosseth his design now about Constantines Donation.

For the Donation is founded on Constantines Cure, his Cure on his Leprosie, his Leprosie on his Apostacy, his Apostacy upon a Necessity to comply with the perverseness of the Heathen people, whose Power was of too great a sway for his Design in the Empire: All which is contradicted by the continual decaying of Heathenism that then was day by day, and the growth of Christianity, which had taken such root and possession in the People, that there needed nothing but the change of the Emperour, to turn the Empire into Christendom. But this Necessity must be invented: for else it would seem impossible that he should turn Pagan, after our Saviour had appeared to him in his sleep, after he had seen the Cross in the Air, after he had set it up in his Standard, aster all his Victories [Page] gotten under that glorious Banner, after he had erected its Trophy in the City, and made the World Glorious by his Munificence to the Churches.

For this Cause, a far off, and so long before the end could be discovered, to which it should be applied, does Binius take his Rise from the Fable in the Donation, and shape his Discourse to the [...] of the See, by rooting the [...] [...] in the Minds of men. For all [...] is to no other purpose, than to [...] the Donation of the Emperour, thereby to settle the Empire in the Chair: for the sake of which, he tramples upon the Emperour, wryeth Antiquity, wresteth Authority, citeth Forgeries and Heathen Authors, defaceth the History of the Church, and rewards the greatest of all Benefactors with the basest ingratitude.

All these Wars are commenced afar off: for the strength of Rome is alwaies at a distance: near at hand she is weak and feeble; when he comes up close to the matter, though he makes a great semblance of its evident certainty, writing over head in Capital Letters, EDICTUM CONSTANTINI: And putting down the Donation under it at large, commenting [Page] on it also very formally, nay and writing in the Margin of his Notes, Constantini Donatio defenditur, and near the close of them, Constantini Donatio consirmatur: yet after all this, he confesses the Donation to be Spurious. His Design being no more, than to make a Shew, and cover that onfession; which meer necessity, at greatest pinch, wrested from him. His Confession lies in little roome, and his Notes are made for the assistance of Confederates; Such mighty Tomes for the Help of a sworn Party. As for the rest of men that are allured perhaps by the Magnificence of the Books to admire them, and to grace their Studies with them, such as Lords and Princes, he very well knows, they may feed their Eyes with Great Titles, and Glorious Shews afar off; but they will never penetrate [...] Stupendious Volumes. by reason of other Diversions, Labors, cares, and [...] [...], which call them [...] [...] other secular Objects. So that they may easily be deceived with the outward Appearance and splendor of such great and learned Collections, which [...] Design is the Mystery of the Popish Councils.

For in the Body of those Notes, Binius [Page] himself by many well studied Arguments sets himself strenuously to overthrow the Donation; and Fathers it on the Knavery of Balsamon a Greek, who produced it (as he pretends) with an intent to dis race the Roman Chair; by making the World believe, that the Popes Supremacy came not by Divine Institutions but the Grant of the Emperour: Which he abhors as sickle, weak, and humane, chusing rather that the Popes Right should rest on the Scriptures.

Labbe, Cossartins, and the COLLECTIO REGIA follow Binius exactly, even to those Cheats in the Margin. But now it is high time to see the Contents of this wonderful Donation.

CAP. XXI. The EDICT of our Lord CONSTANTINE the Emperour.

[Page]

IN the Name of the Holy and IndividualA Forgery beginning in the Name of the Father, Son, and H. Ghost. Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and the H. Ghost; Flavius Constantinus, Caesar, and Emperour, in Jesus Christ, one of the same H. Trinity, &c. To the most Holy and Blessed Father of Fathers Sylvester, Bishop and Pope of the City of Rome, and to all his Successors about to sit in the Seat of blessed Peter, to the end of the World: And to all our most Reverend and Catholick Bishops, amiable in God, made Subject throughout the World to the H. Church of Rome, by this our Imperial Constitution, &c. It is too long to put it down formally, and at large: We shall therefore take only the chief Contents, as they lie in the Donation. It first contains a large account of the Articles of his Faith; Secondly, the story of his Leprosie, Cure, and Baptism: wherein the Font is remarkably called Piseina, (the Popes Fishpond as it were) then he cometh to the Gift it self.

[Page]

While I learned these things by the Preaching of the blessed Sylvester, and by the benefit of the blessed Peter, found my self perfectly restored to my health, we judged it profitable, together withAll the Nobles, and the Se nate, converted in a moment. all our Nobles, and the whole Senate, my Princes also, and the whole People Subject to the Empire of the Roman, Glory; that as S. Peter upon Farth seemeth to be made the Vicar of the Son of God, the Bishops also that are the Successors of him, the Prince of the Apostles, may obtain the Power of Principality given from us and our Empire, more than the Earthly Clemency of our Imperial Majesty is seen to have had; chusing the Prince of the Apostles, and his Successors, for our stedfast Patrons with God. And we have decreed that this H. Roman Church shall be honoured with Veneration, even as our Terrene Imperial Power is: And that the most Holy Seat of B. Peter be more gloriously exalted than our Earthly Throne; giving it Power, and Dignity of Glory, and Vigour, and Honour Imperial. And we decree and ordain, that he shall hold the Principality, as well over the four Principal Sees of Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, andNot built. Constantinople, as over all the Churches of God in the whole World. And by his Judgment let all things whatsoever, pertaining [Page] to the Worship of God, and the Establishment of the Christian Faith be ordained.

When Binius pleases to give Efficacy to a Miracle, all the World shall be converted in a moment. Notwithstanding all the Miracles and Victories before, Constantine was fain to counterfeit himself an Heathen for fear of the people: Now all his Nobles, and the Senate, are changed in an instant; and his Leprosie upon Earth has done more than his Cross in the Heavens. So easie it is to blow mens minds with a Breath, when they are dead and gone. His Princes also, and the whole people subject to the Empire of the Roman Glory, judged it prositable, together with him, and his Nobles, to do that which they abhorred before, to give to Banished Sylvester, and his Heirs, the Glory of the Roman Empire: As it that one Miracle had in a trice for Virtue outgone all our Saviours.

The last Clause contains something more than the Emperour had power to bestow. That a Lay-man should by Deed of Gift devise, and give away the power of determining all Controversies in Religion, to whom he fancieth; may be put among the Popes Extravagants (as [Page] some of their Decrees are called:) yet with Constantinople, (a City yet unmade) this also is given to the Pope in the present Donation. But upon good reason: For it is just that the Holy Law should retain the Head of Principality there, where our Saviour, the Instituter of Holy Laws, commanded the B. Peter to undertake the Chair of his Apostleship.

A merrier accident follows, he bequeaths his Goods to the Dead! It is true indeed he was allied to them, for he was dead when the Deed was made, as well as they. S Peter's Trustees having the management of his Pen, knew very well, that whatever he gave to his most blessed Lords, Peter and Paul, (since dead men never want Heirs) would fall to their share: and like our late Long Parliament, conspired to give large Boons to themselves, in form following.

‘WE Exhort and admonish all, thatIbid. with us they would pay abundant thanks to our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, because being God in Heaven above, and in Earth beneath, he hath visited us by his H. Apostles, and made us worthy to receive the H. Sacrament of Baptisme, and the health of our Body. FOR WHICH we grant to the H. Apostles [Page] themselves, my most Blessed Lords,Constanti e the Great gives his Cloaths to S Peter and S. Paul in heaven. Peter and Paul, and by them also to B. Sylvester our Father, the chief Bishop and Pope of our Universal City of Rome, and to all Bishops his Successors that shall ever sit in the Chair of B. Peter, to the end of the World, Our Diadem, to wit, the Crown of our [...] together with our Mitre, as also [...] Cloak on our Shoulders; viz [...] Breast-plate which is wont to compass our Imperial Neck, as also our Purple Clamys, and Violet Cloak, and all the Imperial Attires. The Dignity moreoverThe Popes Guard. of our Imperial Horsemen: Giving him also the Imperial Scepters, with all other Signs, Badges, Banners, and other Imperial Ornaments, with the whole manner of the Procession of our Imperial Highness, and the Glory of our Power.’

‘WE Decree also and Ordain to the most Reverend Clergy-men serving that H. Roman Church, in their divers Orders, the Height in Singularity, Power and Excellency, with the Glory whereof our most ample Senate [...] to be adored; that is, that they shall be made Patricii, and Consuls. As also we promulgateSecular Power. it for a Law, that they be beautified [Page] with the other Imperial Dignities. AND as the Imperial Army is adorned,The Popes Army. so do we Decree the Clergy of the Roman Church to be adorned: And as the Imperial Power is adorned with divers Offices, as that of Chamberlains, Porters, and all Guards; so we will have the Roman Church to be adorned.’

‘AND that the Pontifical Glory mayThe Popes Horses. shine most amply, we Decree this also; That the Horses of the Clergy of the said Roman Church, be beautified with Caparisons, and Linnen Vestures of the whitest colour, and so to ride. And as our Senate useth Shoes, cum Vdonibus, made bright and illustrious with fine white Linnen, so let the Clergy also do: And let the Heavenly, as the Earthly things are, be made comely to the praise of God.’

‘BUT above all, we give License to our most H. Father Sylvester, Bishop and Pope of the City of Rome himself, and to all that shall succeed him for ever, for the Honour and Glory of Christ our God, in the same Great, Catholick, and Apostolick Church of God, by our Edict, Vt quem placatus proprio False Latine and Nonsense. Consilio clericali voluerit, & in numero [...] Clericorum connumerare,[Page]nullum ex omnibus praesumentum superbè agere.’

Binius for Clericali will have it Clericare, which he puts over against it in the Margin. Here are more Barbarismes than one: but I think the drift is that no man but he whom the Bishop of Rome pleaseth, shall be made a Priest: and that no man so made, shall behave himself proudly against the Bishop of Rome.

WE have Decreed this also, That theIbid same Venerable Sylvester our Father, the High-Priest, and all his Successors, ought to use the Diadem, to wit, the Crown which we gave him from off our Head, of pure Gold and Precious Stones, and to wear it on his Head, to the praise of God, and honour of S. Peter. * BVT because the mostThe Popes Modesty. Holy Pope himself will not endure a Crown altogether of Gold on the Crown of his Priesthood, which he bears to the Glory of the B. Peter, we have with our own hands put the Mitre of Resplendent White, signifying the most Glorious Resurrection of our Lord, on his Head: * And holding the Bridle [...] the Great the Popes Groom or Stirrupholder. of his Horse, for the Reverence we owe to S. Peter, we served him in the Office of a Stirrup-holder: Ordaining, that all his Successors shall in single and peculiar manner use the same Mitre in their Processons, [Page] in imitation of our Empire.

The Popes Modesty comes off purely: Because he would not have his Shaven Crown profaned with a Crown of Gold; therefore the Emperour must give him the Mitre too: because it was unlawful for him to wear the one without the other; that is, his Conscience made a seruple at the one, unless he might have both. being so made exactly like the Heatheu Monarchs at Rome, Pontifex Maximus, and Emperour together.

The Regalities were affected, not for themselves; Alas, Ornaments are but shadows, the Body and Substance is the thing desired.

WHEREFORE that the Pontifical CrownIbid. may never wax vile, but he more exalted also than the Dignity of the Terrene Empire, and the Glory of Power: Behold, weThe Popes [...] [...]. give and leave as well our Palace, as was before said, as the City of Rome, all Italy, and all the Provinces, places, and Cities of the Western Empire, to our [...] most B. High Priest. and Universal Pope, and to the Power and Tenure of the Popes his Suc cessors, by firm Imperial Censure, Per haueThe Popes [...]Divalem & Pragmaticum Constitutum; By this our Divine and Pragmatical Constitution, we Decree them to be dispased, [Page] and grant them to remain under the Right and Tenure of the H. Roman Church.

Poor Priests are fain to cheat the people by witty Miracles, and small Devices, at Shrines and Images, for a little Silver and Gold. The best of them can attain no more than Lordships, and the Territories of Subjects: As the Manours evidence, which are given to our Lady of Loretto, and those Lands which Jesuites squeeze out of dying men with the fear of Purgatory. But the Pope and his Cardinals find it not suitable to their State and Dignity, to juggle for less than Empires and Kingdoms; and therefore soar high, you see, in the present Donation.

‘Wherefore, saith the Emperour, weIbid. have thought it convenient to change and remove our Empire, and the power of our Kingdom into the Eastern Countries, and in the best place of the Province Byzantium, to build a City after our Name, and there to found our Empire. Because where the * Head of theThe Pope the Head of Religion. Principality of Priests, and of the Christian * Religion is ordained to be by the Coelestial Emperour, it is not just that the Earthly Emperour should there have any Power.’

Here is a high Career of notorious He [Page] resie and Blasphemy together. S. Peter was called the Prince of the Apostles, but the Pope is the Head of the Principality; nor Head of the Priests only, but of the Christian Religion: which I think none but our Saviour can possibly be. It smells rank of Blasphemy; but that the Priestly and Imperial Power should be incompatible, is Rebellion and Heresie. It shews how incompatible Popish and Imperial Power is: Yet all these things are ratified by other Dival Sanctions, made by the Emperor, though recorded no where; as you may see in the words following.

BVT all these things we also have decreed,

The Sanction of the Decree

and ratified by other Dival Sanctions, and we decree them to stand unblemished, and unshaken, to the end of the World. WHEREFORE we protest before the Living God who commanded us to Reign, and before his Terrible Judgment by this our Imperial Constitution, that it shall not be lawful for any the Emperours our Successors, nor for any of our Nobles and Peers, or for the most Ample Senate, or for all the people of the whole World, now, or hereafter, from hence in all Ages, lying under our Empire, by any means to contradict, or break, or in the least to diminish these things; which by this our Imperial[Page]Sanction are granted to the Holy Roman Church, or to all the Bishops of the same. But if any Breaker or Contemner of these shall arise (which we do not believe) let him be knotted and ensnared in eternal Damnation, and find the Saints of God, and the Princes of the Apostles Peter and Paul, Enemies unto him, both in the Life present, and in that which is to come: and being burnt in the lower Hell, let him perish with the Devil and all the wicked.

The great Council of Chalcedon consistingCouncil. [...] [...]. of 620 Fathers, lies under this Sentence; because they made the Patriarch of [...] equal with the Bishop of Rome: If Constantine the Great did make it, with the consent of all his Nobles and the whole Senate, before all the Princes and People of Rome, as is pretended in the Donation. It was too publick a thing not to be heard of, and too remarkable to be let pass in silence. Since therefore it is incredible, that so many Fathers should wilfully fall under the Curse, it is certain the whole Donation is a Counterfeit. Howbeit as the Substance of the Act, so the Ceremony is worth the observation.

But [...] the Page of this our Imperial [Page] Decree, we laid it with our own hands on the venerable Body of the blessed Peter Prince of the Apostles, and there promising to that Apostle of God, that we would inviolably keep all these things, and leave them in charge to be kept by the Emperours our Successors, we delivered them to our blessed Father Sylvester, High-Priest, and

Gregory the Great's Blasphemous Title

Universal Pope, and to all the Popes his Successors, the Lord God, and our Saviour Jesus [...] allowing [...], for ever, and happily to be enjoyed. And the Imperial subscription. The [...] keep you many years, [...] and blessed Fathers. Dated in Rome, on the [...] day of the Kalends of April. Our Lord Flavius Constantinus [...] th fourth time, and Gallicanus being Consuls.

A NOTE.

No Emperour being ever accustomed, to stile himself Our Lord, &c. Those words Our Lord Flavius Constantinus, coming out of Constantine's own Mouth bewray the Donation, as made by some other, unless he were at the same time both his own Subject, and his own Emperour.

CAP. XXII. The Donation of Constantine proved to be a Forgery by Binius himself. He confesseth the Acts of Sylvester, which he before had cited as good Records, to be Counterfeit.

[Page]

THose things (saith Binius in his Notes) which are told concerning the Dominion and Temporal Kingdom, given to the See of Rome, are manifestly enough proved to be likely, by what we said in our Notes upon the former Epistle; as well as by the Munificence of the Emperour himself, never enough to be praised.

Observe here the modesty of the man! He ought to prove the Instrument itself; but that he throws by, and talks of the Dominion, and Temporal Kingdom.

2. Neither will he undertake to prove it certain, but likely, that the Dominion and Temporal Kingdom was given to the See of Rome.

3. He cites his Notes on a counterfeit Epistle, to make it likely: For the Epistle going before was the Epistle of Melchiades, which he confesseth to be a Forgery.

[Page]

4. The Munificence of the Emperour makes it probable, that he gave away the Empire to the See of Rome. If you will not believe this, you are an hard-hearted man; for Binius says it.

His Notes upon the former Epistle, to which he refers you, are these:

‘That the things which are written in this Epistle concerning the Donation of Constantine to Melchiades and Sylvester, are true, is proved not only from hence, but most firmly also by the Authority of Optatus Milevitanus, a most approved Writer. For he writeth, lib. 1. cont. Parm. that Constantine and Licinius being the third time Consuls, to wit, in the year of Christ 313. a Council of 19 Bishops was held at Rome, in the Cause of Caecilianus and the Donatists, in the Lateran, in the House of Fausta, which was the Seat of the Roman Bishop. Truly he doth not expresly write, that the House was given to Melchiades by the Emperour: but since no reason doth appear for which it is necessary, that the Convention of 19 Bishops should require larger Rooms out of the House of Melchiades, that wherein the foresaid Synod was assembled, to wit, the Lateran, or House of Fausta, can by no prudent [Page] person any more be doubted, to be given by the Emperour to Melchiades the Bishop of Rome.’

The Lateran is not so much as named in the Epistle of Melchiades; but that he left the Imperial Seat, which the Roman Princes had possest, and granted it to the profit of the blessed Peter, and his Bishops. Which considering what follows, is far more fit to be understood of the Emperours leaving Rome, and granting it to the Bishop: whence they pretend, he did go on purpose. So that the agreement between Optatus Milevitanus, and the Epistle of Melchiades, is very small, or none at all.

But admit that Melchiades and Optatus Milevitanus had said, both of them, that the Lateran was given to Melchiades; what is that to the Dominion and Temporal Kingdom? A single House, instead of an Empire! Though, that the House was given, Optatus Milevitanus doth not affirm, even by Binius his own confession.

How the things in this Epistle should be concerning the Donation of Constantine to Melchiades and Sylvester, is difficult to conceive; because Melchiades was dead before the Donation was made to Sylvesier. It is very unlikely therefore [Page] that Melchiades should make mention of that Donation.

His Epistle talking of Constantine his being President in the H. Synod that was called at Nice, is a manifest Imposture, Melchiades being dead before the Nicene Council; as is before observed: Yet hence it is proved, that Constantine [...] a Donation to Melchiades and Sylvester.

Binius holdeth fast the Donation, though he lets go the Epistle. Like a Lo gician, who lets go the premises, but keeps the conclusion.

For it is most firmly proved by Optatus Milevitanus. What is proved by him? That Constantine the Great gave the Lateran to Melchiades. How is it proved? Why he testifieth, that a Council of 19 Bishops met in Fausta's house in the Lateran. Truly he doth not expresly write, that the house was given to Melchiades. But it seemeth probable to Binius his imagination: And so it is most firmly proved by Optatus Milevitanus, a most approved Writer. Thus those things that are told concerning the Dominion and Temporal Kingdom given to the See of Rome, are manifestly enough proved to be likely by what we said in our Notes upon the former Epistle. But it is better proved, by the [Page]continual possession of those houses, by the space of thirteen Ages, until now; as he afterwards observeth. Though the length of an unjust Tenure increaseth the Transgression.

Having first proved the Donation, he proceedeth thus. Hoc Edictum à Graecis persidâ Donatione (quâ, juxta illud. Virg. 2. Aeneid. Timeo Danaos & Dona ferentes; donare solent acceptum) mutilum esse, ac dolosè depravatum, hae rationes evidenter demonstrant. These following reasons evidently shew this Edict of Constantine, by the persidious Donation of the Greeks, to be maimed, and treacherously depraved.

He enters upon the business gently, pretending at first (as if the Donation were true) that it was depraved by the Greeks. But afterwards, when he is a little warm in the Argument, and somewhat further off from his Sophistical Defences, he falls foul upon it as a Counterfeit, and rejects it altogether; as in the close will appear to the considerate Reader. But here let us see what Arguments he produceth, to prove it maimed, and treacherously depraved.

‘1. Because it pretendeth the PrimacyBin. Not in Const intin. [...]. of the Church to be granted by a Layman, [Page] which was immediately given to Peter, by God himself, and by our Lord Jesus Christ; as is manifest by those words, Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock will I build my Church.’

‘2. The Emperour, by this Edict, is made to give a Patriarchal Dignity to the Church of Constantinople: Which if it be true, how then could Anatolius, the Bishop of Constantinople, be said to take the Patriarchal Dignity to himself long after; even after the Council of Chalcedon was ended, Leo, Gelasius, and other Roman Bishops resisting him?’

‘How could the Church of Constantinople be a Patriarchal See at this time, wherein even the name of Constantinople was not yet given to Byzantium.’

‘3. This Edict was first published by Theodorus Balsamon, out of the Acts of Sylvester the Pope, falsly written in Greek under the name of Eusebius, BishopForgeries in the Name of Eusebius. of Caesarea: not that he might do any service to the Church of Rome, but that he might shew the Patriarchate of Constantinople to be the eldest. Which Acts of Sylvester were not known till aThe Acts of Sylvester forged. thousand years after Christ, coming then forth in Eusebius his name, out of a certain Book of Martyrs; but were now [Page] increased by the Addition of this Edict of Constantine.’

His design is, if it be possible, to clear the Church of Rome of this too palpable and notorious Counterfeit: And for that end he would fain cast it on the Treacherous Greeks, that he might thereby acquit the more Treacherous Romans: Which he further pursues in the clause following.

The new found Hereticks that oppose this Edict of Constantine, translated out of Greek into Latine, with such great endeavour, and impertinent study; let them know, that in this they rather further our Cause, than fight against us: Who do our selves, with Irenaeus, Cyprian, and other Holy Fathers, as well Greek as Latine, profess the Priviledges of the Church of Rome, not to be conferred and given of men, but from Christ to Peter, and from Peter to his Successors.

Where the [...] are so great, we need not make a Remark on the common Cheat, his vain Brag of the Fathers. But this we may observe, that whereas the Popes Claim is somewhat blind to the Prerogative, which is pretended to be given to S. Peter, Binius hints at a proper Expedient to make it clear. For suppose [Page] our Saviour made S. Peter the Rock on which he built his Church: How comes the Pope to be that Rock? Since S. Peter being an Apostle immediately inspired, and able to pen Canonical Scripture, some of his Prerogatives were Personal, and died with him? He tells you, that the Priviledge was granted from Christ to Peter, and from Peter to his Successors. So that it was not Christ, but Peter that gave it to the Bishops of Rome. Now it would extremely puzzle him to shew, where Peter gave that power to the Bishops of Rome; in what place, at what time, by what Act, before what Witnesses. All he can produce, is S. Clement's counterfeit Letter, and that miscarries.

But in opposing the Edict of Constantine, the Protestants further their Cause, rather than fight against them. Is not this a bold Aslertion? Their Popes have laid Claim to the whole Empire of the Western World, even by this very Edict, or Donation of Constantine: And yet the Protestants did nothing, when they proved it to be a Forgery. This Donation is an old Evidence, proving the Divine Right of Peter's Primacy, and the Popes Supremacy: Did they promote their Cause, that proved it to be a Cheat? [Page] Certainly they that have Fingers so long as to grasp at an Empire, and Foreheads so hard as to claim it by Frauds, will stick at nothing they can conceive for their advantage. Is it impertinent to discover Knavery in the Holy Roman Catholick Church; or Imposture in the Infallible Chair? And together with the Credit of Rome, to take away an Empire? Besides the Spiritual Right of being the Rock, there are ample Territories and Cities claimed, with a Temporal Kingdom.

Let him therefore pretend what he will, the Authority of such Instruments is very convenient: And because he knows it well enough, he produces the Diplomata, or the Patents of other Kings and Emperours, to confirm the Churches Secular Right, extant, as he saith, in the Original, with their Imperial Seals; as particularly those of the Most Christian Princes of France, restoring those things which the Longobards took away. But he does not tell you, by what Arts they got possession of those Territories at first, nor by what Ancient Evidences, Seals, or Patents, they held them before the Longobards touched them.

And because a Kingdom is of much [Page] Moment in the Church of Rome, he further saith, As for the Dominion of things temporal given to the Church, herself proves them by the Broad Seals of the very Emperours giving them, yet extant in the Originals, and she quietly enjoyeth them. How quiet her injoyment is, you may see by that stir and opposition she meeteth, and by all the clamour throughout the Christian World, that followeth her Usurpations. Which she defendeth here by the Seals of Emperours in general Terms, but what Seals they are, she scorneth as it were, to mention in particular. Which argueth her cause to be as Bad, as her pretence is Bold.

But as for the Rights granted to the same Roman Church, S. Leo, Faelix, Romanus, Gelasius, Hormisda, Gregorius, and other their Successors, that flourished famously from the times of Constantine, have defended them, saith he, not by the Authority of this Constantinian Edict, but rather by Divine and Evangelical Authority, against all the Impugners of them. The man is warily to be understood; for some of these, whom he pronounceth as Defenders, violently oppose their claim, as Gregory in particular: who for himself and all his Predecessors, renounceth that Blasphemons [Page] Title, which John of ConstantinopleGreg. lib. first arrogated, but the Bishops of [...]. Ep. 30 Rome acquired afterwards, by the Gift of Phocas, the bloody Emperour. So that all these are Mummers, brought in, as it were in a Masque, to shew their vizars, and say nothing. For of all these Roman Bishops mentioned by Binius, Gregory was the last: who testifieth, that none of his Predecessors ever claimed such a Title.Greg. lib. 4. Epist. [...]

We may further note, that he speak here with much Confusion, because he speaks of the Rights granted to the Roman Church; but does not distinguish between the Divine and Humane Rights of which he is treating. For the Business he is now upon, is the Temporal Klngdom; in desending of which these Popes down to Gregory did forbear to use the Authority of this Constantinian Edict, as he calleth it (by way of scorn) not because they had it not, but rather (as he pretends) because they had no need of it, having enough to shew by Divine and Evangelical Authority for the same. Which is another pretence as bold and impudent as the former. For, I think, none of his own Party will aver, that the Bishop of Rome can claim a Temporal Kingdom by the Holy Scripture.

[Page]

As for any other Claim by this Constantinian Edict, or any Donation else of Emperours, before the Longobards, he slighteth all: especially the Authority of this Constantinian Edict, conceruing which, he saith, ‘None of all those, who sate over the Church before the year 1000. many of which saw the genuine Acts of Sylvester recited, concerning which we spake above, is read to have made any mention of this Edict. For as much as the Counterfeit Edict was not yet added to the Acts by the Greek Impostors.’

He does not tell us how he came to know, that many of the Roman Bishops saw the genuine Acts of Sylvester, before the year 1000. that being an Artifice or Color only, as if there were two divers Books of Sylvesters Acts, and the one a true one. He tells us not a word of the Contents that were in them: but he before told us plainly, that the Acts of Sylvester the Pope, were falsly written in Greek under the name of Eusebius Bishop of Caesarea, that they were not known till 1000. years after Christ, coming then forth in Eusebius his Name. And now he telleth us as plainly, that the Counterfeit Edict was not yet added to the Acts by the Greek [...].

[Page]

The poor Greeks on whom he layes all the Load of Imposture, never injoyed the benefit of these Acts, nor ever pleaded the Imposture as the Latines did. And in all likelyhood they made it, that laid Claim and Title to the Supremacy by it. Since therefore the Question is come to this, Who were the Impostors? we must define against him, that the Counterfeit Edict was added to the forged Acts, not by the Greek, but Latine Impostors.

For how Counterfeit to ever he will have it, Pope Adrian in his Epistle to Constantine and Irene, which remains inserted in the Nicene Council, recites this whole History almost in the same manner, and so confirmes it by the Truth of this Edict. As Binius himself telleth us on the words Ipse enim.] So that the Edict was pleaded long before the Greeks added it to the Acts of Sylvester. For Pope Adrian died in the year 795, and the Acts of Sylvester were unknown till the year 1000. Yet this Adrian founded his Epistle to the Emperour and Empress, in the second [...] Council, upon the truth of this [...]. And in very truth, the Story he telleth is the same of Constantine's Leprosie, &c. contained in the Donation. Which if [...] had been [Page] pleased to remember, was published by the Latines in Isidore Mercator's Collection of the Councils, about the year 800. Where the Greeks in all probability first found it, and were cheated, (as many Wiser men have since been) with the appearance of it there. So that searching it up to the Fountain Head, it rests still among the Romans.

By the way, to shew you that Binius is his Crafts-Master, over against these words concerning Adrian before mentioned, he putteth down that Famous Marginal Note; Donatio Constantini confirmatur, The Donation of Constantine is confirmed; not by Binius, as the simple Reader would suppose, but by Adrian's Epistle, recorded in the 2 Nicene Council, and expresly containing the whole Fable of Constantine's Leprosie, Vision, and Baptism. So that the first that ever knew it in the World, for ought I can yet perceive, was this Adrian, of whom we have spoken somewhat before.

Now he comes to shew, how greedily the Popes received this Cheat of the Greeks. Among those who received the [...]. [...] [...] [...] [...]. Acts of Sylvcster in good seoth, corrupted thus with the addition of this counterfeit Edict, by an evil Art, and by the sorry [Page]faith of the Grecians carried out of the East into the West, and that earnestly defended them as Legitimate and Genuine, and pure from all fraud and Imposture, the first is found, saith he, to be Pope Pope Leo. [...]. citet; the Donat on. Leo the Nineth: Who in an Epistle to Michael of Constantinople, and Leo of Acridanum, Bishops, in the year of our Redemption, 1054. makes mention of the Donation of this Constantinian Edict, made to Sylvester. From whence, I believe, it was, that much Faith and Authority being hereby added unto it, very many of the The Gravest and most Learned Doctors among the Papists use it without any suspition. Gravest and most Learned Doctors, without any suspition of Fraud or Imposture, with good Faith did read and receive it.

He makes a large Confession here; wherein three things are fit to be noted. The first that ever used this Edict was a Pope: Pope Leo 9. 2. He used it immediately after it came forth: For Sylvesters Acts came forth about the year 1060. being afterwards increased with the Addition of this Edict of Constantine; and some 54 years after, the Pope made use of the Donation in it. Wherein he is followed by many, very many of the Gravest and most Learned Popish Doctors; which is the third thing to be noted. This fault of the [Page] Popish Doctors, who did read and receive this Donation of Constantine, without any suspition of Fraud and Imposture, being by Binius charged upon the Pope. The Shepherd went out of the way, and the Sheep followed him. The Captain, and the Herd, did all stray and miscarry: Leo 9. being somewhat like the Dragon in the Revelation, that threw down the third part of the Stars with his Tail.

Binius his Cure is but the shift of a Mountebank, to save his Credit. There are Errours and Heresies in the Donation of Constantine, which whosoever receiveth the Donation, he receiveth them in like manner: And to say, that the Head and its Members in the Church of Rome were deceived by the Evil Art and sorry Faith of the Grecians, while they licked up this Vomit of Balsamon, for the Popes advantage; is but a sorry shift, a Corrosive that eats like a Canker. For it shews how the Holy Catholick Roman Church may be deceived; Head and Members, Pope and Doctors, Priests and People. They were imposed on by an Evil Art it seems, and swallowed down Heresie in Constantine's Donation.

But that Binius lyes in his prevarication about the Greeks, and that the Greeks [Page] were not the Authors of the Donation, and that it did not intend to hurt the Popes Chair, is evident by this. The Donation was made not to overthrow, but confirm the Divine Right of the Popes Supremacy, point blank against what Binius pretends. He that made it had an eye both to the Temporal and Spiritual Priviledges of the Roman Chair. For the Donation applieth those Scriptures, on which the Popes build their Right, to S. Peter's Successors, and makes the Empercur to note, that the Will of our Saviour was the Root of all his Kindness to the Chair: nay it expresly throws all on our Saviours Institution. For it is just, that the Holy Law should retain the Head Constantin. Donat. of the Principality there, where our Saviour, the Instituter of H. Laws, commanded the blessed Peter to undertake the Chair of the Apostleship. Where you may note another fetch of the Papists: Lest what our Saviour did to S. Peter should seem too remote to concern Rome; that they might make the Channel of Conveyance clear, these old Counterfeits record, that S. Peter did not come to Rome by chance, but being invested in so great an Hereditary power, our Saviour chose the place where it should rest: and that Peter came [Page] to Rome, and there undertook the Chair, of his Apostleship, by our Saviours Commandment. Which if they could make the World believe, their work would be half done. So that it utterly destroys the Interest of the Greeks, and the Donation is Root and Branch altogether Roman. Neither did the Greeks ever use it to disgrace the Roman Church, for ought I can find, though the Romans used it, to magnifie their Church above all other Churches.

CAP. XXIII. Melchiades counterfeited. Isidore Mercator confessed to be a Forgery. The Council of Laodicea corrupted, both by a Fraud in the Text, and by the False Glosses of the Papists.

THe Forgery put out at first in the name of Melchiades, concerning the Primitive Church, and the Munificence of the Emperour Constantine, hath now gotten a clause added to the Title, viz. Falsly ascribed to Melchiades: In Binius, Labbé, and the Collectio Regia. Upon those words, Falsly ascribed to Melchiades, Binius [Page] speaketh thus. ‘That this Epistle was ascribed to Melchiades, appeareth Can. Futuram 12. q. 1. & Can. Decrevit. Dist. 88. which bearing the name of Melchiades, contain for the most part the things which are written here. It appeareth from hence also, that hitherto it was commonly put in the former Edition of the Councils, just after the Decrees of Melchiades the Pope.’ Thus was this counterfeit Epistle placed among their Laws and Councils. ‘ButIbid. that it was noted with the false Title and name of Melchiades, appeareth from hence; (saith he) because it maketh mention of the Nicene Council: which by the consent of all men happened after the death of Melchiades, and after the Baptism of the Emperour: not under Melchiades, but under Sylvester, in the year of Christ 325. being the 20 year of Constantine, as almost all Historians unanimously do testifie. Perhaps. therefore it is more true, that Isidore himself, being a Compiler, rather than a [...] a Forger. Collector, was the Author of this Epistle: Which it is certain was made out of the third Canon of the Council of Chalcedon, and a certain fragment of the 24 Epistle in the 1. Book of Pope Gregory, [Page] and the History of the Nicene Council. Baron. An. 312. Nu. 80.’

Here we come to know the manner how Decretal Epistles were made: Good passages stoln out of the Fathers, are clapt Artificially together, and a Grain or two of Interest, thrust neatly in, makes up an Epistle. This of Binius is plain dealing. Isidore is confessed to be a Compiler, that is, a Forger, rather than a Collector, or Recorder of the Councils.

* Note this well: because Isidore is the Fountain (a muddy dirty one) out of which they drink their waters.

This acknowledgment is the more considerable, because Baronius, Labbè, and Cossartius, and the Collectio Regia, herein do keep Binius Company.

Confessing it to be stoln out of S. Gregory, he acknowledgeth it to be made almost 300 years after it was pretended: Which draws near to the time of Hadrian the First, and sheds another Ray of Light on the Original of these Impostures.

In the time of Sylvester there happened many Councils. One Feather is finely thrust in, into that at Arles, to adorn the Papacy: The Pope is set before the Emperour. In that of Ancyra, the Marriage of Deacons is permitted. Can. [...] Priests [Page]also were not compelled to leave their Wives, unless they were taken in Adultery. Can. 8. The Cup and the Bread were both given to the People. Can. 13. In the Council of Laodicea it is determined, that the Scriptures should be read on the Sabbath days. Can. 16. And that we ought not to leave the Church of God, and go and call upon Angels, and make Congregations which are known to be forbidden. If any one therefore be found observing this hidden Idolatry, let him be accursed; because he leaves our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, and gives himself over to Idolatry. Can. 35.

The Invocation of Angels, though they were known to be Angels, is by the Council of Laodicea called Idolatry: Which vindicates Dr. Stillingfleet, in his acceptation of the word Idolatry, from the cavils of his Adversary. The Council esteemeth the very calling upon Angels a forsaking of Christ, and an hidden Idolatry.

Many attempts have been made to overthrow the Canon: I should be tedious, should I give you all their several ways to evade it. That which lies under my Cognizance, is their corrupting of the place.

[Page]

Angelus and Angulus, being two words in the Latine, near of Kin, though in the sense they differ much, the one signifying [...] Angel, the other a Corner; some have been so bold, as to turn Angelos into Angulos, Angels into Corners: making the Canon to run thus; We ought not to leave the Church of God, and to go and call upon Corners. Though neither the sense of the place, nor the word in the Greek Tongue, nor the occasion of the Canon will bear it.

Binius indeed is not so bold as to put it into the Text, but as a various Reading he puts it over against the Text in the Margin; to stumble the Reader, or make him obdurate.

Theodoret, an Ancient Father, livingTheod. in Colos. 2.near the times of this Council, observes that by this Canon those Hereticks were condemned, who taught that Angels were to be worshipped: As Binius himself upon the place confesseth.

Epiphanius, among other Hereticks,Epiphan. Hares. 60. mentions the Angelici; against whom, in all probability, this Canon was made.

Bellarmine defends Theodoret, and approves of his Exposition. For there is noLib. 1. de SS. Beatcap. 20. doubt (saith he) but Theodoret was sound and Orthodox in his Opinion, concerning [Page] the Worship of Angels. But then he has a fetch to clear the Church of Rome: Not every pious Veneration of Angels is forbidden, but that only which is due to God. Doubtless Theodoret was willing to give a pious Veneration to Angels; but neither he, nor the Council of Laodieea, knew of any pious Invocation of them.

But we leave these to come unto Binius. In his Notes upon Pius his Epistle before mentioned, he saith, ‘The words of S. Paul, Colos. 2. are written, not as Hierom supposeth against the Jews, who believed the Stars of Heaven to be Angels; nor against the Simonaici, as Bellarmine supposed; but rather against the pernicious Doctrine of Cerinthus: who holding Christ to be a naked man, extolled all the Angels, as the Makers of the World, above him.’ Yet a little after he saith the clean contrary: ‘That Cerinthus did not only not teach, that Angels were as Makers of the World to be adored; but rather they were to be had in hatred, as the Authors of evil. For the one he citeth [...], Epiphanius, and Tertullian:’ Baronius for the other: And (which is very strange) himself sideth with all. Which [...] must conceive to be a neat effect of [Page] clean conveyance: For by how much the more impossible the Operation is, the Juglers slight is the more to be admired. In very truth, his behaviour is such, that it makes me too justly to fear, they say any thing in every place, that will serve their turn, make Cyphers of the Fathers, and care not a farthing how much they contradict themselves, so they be not discerned in doing it: Nay, his contradictions are so palpable, as if long custom had made him careless of being seen too, and deprived him of his feeling: For Lyars, speaking truth and falshood indifferently, for a long time, at last note not themselves, nor well apprehend which of the two they are speaking. And they that make a Trade of contradictions, inure themselves, by long habit, till they become insensible: Which (if need be) we shall more fully and clearly shew, out of Binius himself, upon this occasion.

CAP. XXIV. Threescore Canons put into the Nicene Council after Finis, by the care and Learning of Alphonsus Pisanus. The counterfeit Epistles of Sylvester, and that Council. A Roman Council wholly counterfeited. Letters counterfeited in the Name of Pope Mark, and Athanasius, and the Bishops of Egypt, to defend the Forgeries that were lately added to the Nicene Council.

[Page]

BInius hath the Code of the Nicene Council, fairly written in Greek, and at the end of it [...]: or in Latine, FINIS.

After this, in another place, (by it self) under the name of Alphonsus Pisanus, with the Patronage of Francis Turrian, he bringeth in a whole Legend of Canons, to the number of fourscore, Fathered all upon the Nicene Council.

In the Code it self there are the Epistles of Alexander Alexandrinus, Constantine the Emperour, and the whole Synod, the Emperours Oration, the Recantation of Theognis and Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia, the Nicene Creed, and the 20 Canons[Page]of the Nicene Council. All curiously written in fair Greek.

Out of the Code, after [...], there is a counterfeit List of the Bishops Subscriptions (but miserably depraved) to put the better face on the rest of the Forgeries: and like many other of the Frauds, written only in Latine. Then there is an humble Letter, whereby the Council submitteth it self to the Popes Censure; but in the Column on the other side (for there are 2 Columns in the Leaf) it is defaced with an empty Blank, for want of a Greek Copy.

For fear this Letter should not be seen often enough, he hath it again, with the Answer of Pope Sylvester thereunto; both recorded in another place, near to the Arabick Canons; detected by these marks: They are without any Greek Copy, are not among the Acts of the Council, are full of mistakes and Barbarismes, and clearly refelled by the Genuine Acts of the Council it self.

The Epistles are these.

SYNODI NICAENAE Epistola AD SYLVESTRVM PAPAM.

Beatissimo Papae Urbis Romae, cum om [...] Reverentiâ [...], Sylvestro; Hosius [Page] Episcopus Provinciae Hispaniae, Civitatis Cordubae; Macarius Episcopus Ecclesiae Hierosolymitanae, Victor & Vincentius ex Urbe Romae, Ordinati ex directione tuâ.

QUONIAM omnia corroborata de Divinis Mysteriis Ecclesiasticae utilitatis, quae ad robur pertinent Sanctae Ecclesiae Catholicae & Apostolicae, ad sedem tuam Romanam explanata, & de Graeco redacta sunt, scribere confitemur, nuncitaque ad vestrae Sedis argumentum accurrimus roborari. Itaque censeat vestra Apostolica Doctrina, Episcopos totius vestrae Apostolicae Urbis in unum convenire, vestrumque habere Concilium, sicut docet mystica Veritas, ut firmetur nostra Sanctimonia, gradusque fixos, vel textus Ordinationis tuae Sanctimoniae nostra possit habere Regula. Quoniàm decet numerum dictorum tuorum Coepiscoporum à te discere gradus vel ordinis constituere Urbis. Quicquid autem constituimus in Concilio Nicaeno, precamur vestri oris consortio confirmetur. Oret Beatitudo tua pro universo Concilio. Data [...]. Kalend. Julias. Accepta 13. Kalendas Novembris, Paulino & Juliano [...] [...].

[Page] There are a great many faults in it, which Binius mendeth; but he did not consider how accurate they were in Dating the time wherein the Letter was received: nor how much the Council condescended to the Bishop of Rome, while they wrote in Greek to the common people of Alexandria; but translated their Acts into Latine, for the Popes understanding. Ad sedem tuam Romanam explanata, & de Graeco redacta. As if the Pope and his Clergy were unacquainted with the Greek Tongue.

RESCRIPTUM SYLVESTRI ad Synodum Nicaenam.

SYLVESTER Episcopus Sedis Apostolicae & Sanctae Catholicae Ecclesiae Reverendae Religionis Vrbis Romae, fratribus & Coepiscopis, qui in Nicaenum Concilium convenerunt in Domino Salutem.

GAUDEO promptam vos Benignitatem servare. Nam & confirmo figoque ad vestrae Doctrinae reclamantes de Mysterio vel unitate Trinitatis Chrysmatis vos secundùm Dict a & Doctrinam Evangelicam Sanctam accepisse Gratiam. De quo Examinationis probo vera fuisse & esse mansura, quae in vestrum nostrumque manavere Mysterium. Meum Chirographum & Discipulorum meorum offero in vestro Sancto Concilio,[Page]quicquid constituistis unà parem dare consensum. Atque in gremio vestrae Synodi parva propter Disciplinam Ecclesiae alligabo praecepta, propter Victorinum qui arbitrio suo quicquid vellet affirmabat, & Cyclos Paschae pronunciabat fallaces, & cum Episcopis [...] Vrbis Italiae examinatam universitatis vestri Sancti Concilii dignetur accipere veritatem. Et [...] manu, Oret pro nobis Beatitudo vestri Sancti Concilii Trecentorum Decem & Octo: ut Charitatis quae vobis data est Domini nostri Jesu Christi servetur Augmentum. Data 5. Kalendas Novembr. Accepta 4. Idûs Februarii, Constantino Septiès & Constantio Cafare Quarto Consulibus.

Though the Nonsense be the most horrible that ever was seen, the exactness is great: For in token of the Spirit of Prophecy, the Bishop of Rome telleth them at Nice, that they were three hundred and eighteen, and dateth the day on which his Letter was received: which I think was extraordinary.

But there is a contradiction in these Dull Letters, that mars all. They at Nice inform the Pope, that all the Bishops of the Apostolical City were assembled in one, and held his Council for him there: The Pope on the other side tells them of a [Page] Council at Rome of the Bishops of all the City of Italy (assembled) whence he sent the Truth examined by his Disciples there (as he calls them) for them at Nice, to receive: which he prayes them to accept, &c. I confess the nonsence so terrible, that it is difficult to construe it to any sense at all: but divers circumstances interpret the words so, that Praecepta signifie Canons, and Episcopi totius urbis Italiae, the Roman Synod under Sylvester: As those other words, Meum Chirographum & Discipulorum meorum offero; his own Subscription, and the Subscription of the Bishops under him, whereby he confirmed the Nicene Council.

For the Legend goes, that while the Council was sitting at Nice of 318 Bishops, Sylvester called a Council at Rome of 267 Bishops; where they made Canons as they did at Nice, and as good luck was, confirmed the Council there: Else all at Nice had not been worth a Rush. And to this Roman Council Sylvester relateth, when he saith, I send you mine, and my Disciples hands to give our joynt consent to all. that you have ordained. This is that Council which made the Epilogus Brevis, the commending of which to the Nicene Council, (were there nothing in [Page] the Letter beside) would disgrace it for Cosin-German to that putid Forgery, so often touched in the Epilogus Brevis.

This Council is set by Binius (I know not why) before the Nicene Council; though it professeth it self to be held at the same time. Perhaps the reason is, that they could not be set down both together, and Priority was to be given to the Synod at Rome.

The Title of this Council is,

CONCILIUM ROMANUM

Aliud, sub Sylvestro Papa Primo.

It immediately follows Constantines Donation, and dependeth on the truth of the same.

The Popes See is magnified therein above the Skies; and for that reason it shineth among the Councils, as a Direful Comet among the Stars of Heaven.

The Proem set before it bears the name of the Epilogue, Epilogus brevis, &c. A short Epilogue of the following Roman Council. A Trip in the Threshold bewiaying the Author. A Learned Council it was, no doubt, that began with the conclusion: For the Epilogue is the close of any discourse, the Prologue is the beginning.

[Page]

But this First is a small Indecency, we proceed to the matter. The Nicene Council has the good fortune of being full of smoothness, clarity and Majesty: But Binius finds this so rude and rough, that he is fain to clear the way by a Premonition to the Reader.

The following Canons were written verbatim, Bin. in Concil. saith he, out of two Ancient Copies, Rom. [...] Sylvest. which in many places, by reason of the depravation of the Exemplars, can scarcely, or indeed not at all, be understood. Let the Reader censure favourably, and communicate, if he hath, something more certain.

You must touch it gingerly you see, or it will fall to pieces. Solecismes and Nonsense are like Rust and Cobwebs, signs of Antiquity in the Roman Church: Else certainly [...] would never have dared to present such Mouldy Instruments to the Face of the World. * But such Councils [...] are fit to support the Mystery of Iniquity, which is made a Mystery, by making and supporting such Councils.

Since the Canons are so rude, we will let them go, and come to the Epilogus, which beareth the force of the most Authentick Canon.

Therein it is recorded, that in the time [Page]of Sylvester and Constantine the most holy Emperour, while 318 Bishops sat in Council at Nice, by the Command of Sylvester; on the thirteenth of the Kalends of July, there was a Council of 267 Bishops convened at Rome, by the Canonical Call of the Pope: That again condemned Callistus, Arrius, Photius, and Sabellius, before condemned in the Nicene Council, and ordained, that no Arrian Bishop returning, should be received by any but the Bishop of the place. In which also, by the consent and Subscription of all, it was ordained, That no Lay-man should accuse a Clergyman, and that no Priest should accuse a Bishop, no Deacon a Priest, no Sub-Deacon a Deacon, no Acolythite a Sub-Deacon, no Exorcist an Acolythite, no Reader an Exorcist, no Door-keeper a Reader. It was further ordained, that no Bishop should be condemned but by the Testimony of at least threescore and twelve Witnesses, nor shall the Highest Priest be judged by any, &c.

This Decree is put among the Popes Laws by Ivo Cartonensis, &c. Doubtless to the very great ease and satisfaction of the Roman Clergy: For it reaches down, you know, to the lowest Orders of Readers and Door keepers. So that they may write as many Forgeries as they will: If [Page] it be a Pope, no man can condemn him: If it be a Bishop, no less than threescore and twelve Bishops, must on their Corporal Oath prove the Fact against him: forty four Equals, against a CardinalPriest, twenty six must depose against a Cardinal-Deacon of the City of Rome, and seven against a Door keeper; all which must be at least his Equals. A Marvellous Priviledge for the City of Rome! Which word Rome, though annexed only to Cardinal-Deacons, yet, for ought I know, the Judge will interpret its Extent, to all the other Orders; or use it Equivocally, as himself listeth, or as his Superiour pleaseth. So that in Causes pertaining to the Interest of the Roman Church, other Priests perhaps, beside them in the City of Rome, shall enjoy the benefit of this Law; but in Causes displeasing the Pope, and his Accomplices, none shall enjoy it, but the Priests of Rome. Many such Trap-doors are prepared in Laws, where Rulers are perverse and Tyrannical; and whether this be not one of those, I leave to the Readers further Examination.

Mark succeeded Sylvester in the See of Rome: Between whom, and Athanasius, there were certain Letters framed, that [Page] stand upon Record to this day, to prove the Canons of the Nicene Council to be Threescore and ten. Heretofore they were good old Records magnificently cited: but now they are worn out: for Baronius and Bellarmine have lately rejected them; who are followed by Binius, as he is by Labbe and Cossartius and the Collectio Regia, all concluding the Letters to be Forged. The three last have this Note upon that of Athanasius. Hanc Surreptitiam & ab aliquo confict am fuisse quinque rationibus ostenditur, &c.

‘That this Epistle is a Counterfeit devisedBin. in Ep: Ashan. ad Marc: by some body, appeareth evidently by five reasons. Whereof the first is this, In the Controversie between the African Churches, and the Roman Bishops, (Zozimus and Boniface) concerning the number of the Nicene Canons, this Epistle was unknown. 2. Athanasius, as is manifest by what went before, was at this time fled into France, and so it could not be written from Alexandria and from the Bishops in Egypt. 3. That Divastation fell upon the Church of Alexandria many years after these times in the Reign of Constantius, &c. As Athanasius himself witnesseth in his Epistle ad omnes Orthodoxos. 4. Mark died in [Page] the Nones of October this present year: Constantine himself being yet alive. 5. If Pope Mark had sent a Copy of the Nicene Council out of the Roman Archives, to them at Alexandria, surely the Roman Copy and that of Alexandria would have agreed thenceforth as the same: How then were those three Canons wanting in the Copy, which S. Cyril sent from Alexandria to the Africans, which were found in the Roman Copy?’

He pointeth to the Commonitorium sent from Rome to the Sixth Council of Carthage; and verifies all the Story we have related; by rejecting these Letters of Mark and Athanasius, made on purpose to defend the Forgeries there detected. For which he cites Baron. An. 336. nn. 59, 60. and Bellarm. de Rom. Pont. lib. 2. cap. 25.

This Epistle was alledged by Harding against Jewel, and by Hart against Rainolds for a good Record. How formally it was laid down by the Elder Collectors you may see with your eyes: and may find it frequently cited by the most learned Papists. Such as these being their best and only Evidences.

After Mark Julius succeeded. The Epistle[Page]sent by the Bishops of the East to Pope Julius 1. is now confessed to be a Forgery. [...]. in Epist. Julii. Veram & germanam non extare praeter authoritatem Baronii illud asserentis, ea quae supra in principio Epistolarum Julii annotavi confirmant: Saith Binius. Again he saith, ‘This Epistle which is put in the second place, bearing the Names of the Bishops of the East, seems to be compiled by some uncertain Author, both by the concurrent Testimony of Sozomen, and Socrates, and because thou mayest observe many things to be wanting, and some in the words and things expressed to be changed,’

Rescriptum Julii] The Epistle which Julius returned in answer hath the like Note upon it. Hanc mendosam, corruptam, & a quodam ex diversts compilatam, &c. ‘That this Epistle is counterfeit, corrupt, and compiled by some body out of divers Authors, the Consulships of Felicianus and Maximianus evidently shew, &c.’

The matter in these Epistles is the Popes Supremacy; the unlamfulness of calling Councils, but by his Authority; his Right of receiving Appeals; with other Themes, which Ambition and self Interest suggest, and of which genuine Antiquity is totally silent.

[Page]

Having so fortunately glanced upon that Sixth Council, I shall not trouble the Reader with any more: but bewailing what I observe, beseech him earnestly to weigh this Business walking in the Dark, and take heed of a Pope and a Church, that hath exceeded all the World in Forgerie. For let the Earth be searched from East to West, from Pole to Pole, Jews, Turks, Barbarians, Hereticks, none of them have soared so high, or so often made the Father of Lies their Patron, in things of so great Nature and Importance. Since therefore the Mother of Lyes hath espoused the Father of Lies for her assistance, and the accursed production of this adulterate brood is so numerous; I leave it to the Judgement of every Christian, what Antiquity or Tradition she can have, that is guilty of such a Crime, and defiled with so great an Off-spring of notorious Impostures.

AN APPENDIX. Cardinal Baronius his Grave Censure and Reproof of the Forgeries: His fear that they will prove destructive and pernicious to the See of Rome.

[Page]

APiarius, a Priest of the Church of Africa, being Excommunicated by his Ordinary, for several notorious crimes, flies to Rome for Sanctuary; Zozimus the Bishop receives him kindly, gives him the Communion, and sends Orders to see him restored. Hereupon the African Churches convene a Council, namely, the sixth Council of Carthage, whence they send a modest Letter, but as Sincere as Powerful, shewing how after all shifts and Evasions, Apiarius had confessed his Enormities; and that both the Nicene Council, and clear Reason, was against the disorder of such Appeals: All Causes being to be determined in the Province where they arose, by a Bishop, Patriarch, or Council, upon the place. Otherwise, [Page] say they, how can this Beyond-Sea Judgment Epist. Concil. Carth. 6. ad Calestin. be sirm, where the necessary appearance of Witnesses cannot be made, either by reason of weakness of Nature, or Old Age, or many other Impediments? They decry the Innovation of the Bishop of Rome in arrogating that Authority, lest the smoakie [...] of the pride of this World Ibid. should be brought into the Church of Christ. This Epistle is on all sides owned and confessed to be a good Record. It was sent to Celestine the Successor of Zozimus and Boniface.

About 100 years after, Eulabius sate in the Chair at Alexandria, (some call him Eulalius:) Between him and Boniface 2. there are two Epistles extant, out of which it is gathered, that after the sixth Council of Carthage, the African Churches were Excommunicated by the Roman for 100 years, and reconciled at last upon the Submission of Eulalius, Archbishop of Carthage, accursing S. Augustine, and his own Predecessors.

Concerning these two Epistles, Cardinal Bellarmine giveth his Opinion thus:Bel. de [...]. [...]. lib. 2, cap. 25. Valdè mihieas Epistolas esse suspectas, &c. ‘I have a mighty suspition of these Epistles: For first they seem to be repugnant to those things which we have spoken [Page] concerning the Union of S. Augustine, Eugenius, Fulgentius, and other Africans with the Roman Church: And again, either there was no Eulabius of Alexandria, to whom Boniface seemeth to write; or at least there was none at that time: as is evident out of the Chronology of Nicephorus of Constantinople. Besides, Boniface intimates in his Epistle, that he wrote at the Commandment of Justinus the Emperour. But Justinus was dead before Boniface began to sit; as is manifest out of all Histories. Moreover, the Epistle which is ascribed to Boniface, consists all of it almost of two fragments, of which the one is taken out of the Epistle of Pope Hormisda to John, the other out of the Epistle of S. Gregory to the Bishops of France: even the 52 Epistle of his fourth Book. Now S. Gregory was not born at that time: nor is it credible that Gregory took those words out of Boniface, since the Stile is altogether Gregorian.’

‘In the Epistle also which is Fathered upon Eulabius the Carthaginian, there is a Sentence of S. Gregories inserted, out of the 36 Epistle of his fourth Book: and the rest of that Epistle is nothing but a sragment of au Epistle of John, [Page] the Bishop of Constantinople, to Pope Hormisda.’

Notwithstanding all these reasons, Bellarmine is afraid to damn the Epistles: but Cardinal Baronius is a little more bold. He judges it inconvenient for the Church of Rome, that any such Forgeries were ever made: And upon the occasion of these two Epistles, utterly disgraces Isidore Mercator for a meer Impostor.

Whether in so doing he salves the Sores of the Roman Church, that hath been guilty of vending them, the experience of Ages yet to come, will hereafter evidence. In the mean time let us fee what he saith.

In Not. Martyrol. ad 16. Octobr. he layeth down these words: Scias falsam & adulterinam Epistolam illam, quae fertur nomine Bonifacii 2. &c. Know, that the Epistle which is carried abroad in the name of Boniface 2. to Eulalius Bishop of Alexandria, which is extant, and published in the second [...] of the Councils of the latter Edition, is false and adulterate.

And speaking concerning the Schism, Excommunication, and Re-union of the African Churches, he saith, Sihaec vera sunt, &c. If these things are true, certainly then all the Martyrs and Confessors,[Page]which were at that very time crowned with Martyrdom in the African Church, or otherwise waxed famous by the Merits of their Eminent Sanctity, must be blotted out of the List of Saints, which THE HOYL ROMAN CHURCH it self hath, in its Martyrology, numbred among the Martyrs, or reckoned among the Confessors. Since it is most manifest by a thousand Sentences of Cyprian, Augustine, and all the Fathers, that out of the Church there can be no Martyrdom, nor any kind of Sanctity.

If Lyes were always consistent, Truth would be amazed. God doth infatuate the Counsels of his Enemies, and turn their Wisdom into Foolishness. They run into inconveniences, sometimes so great, that they cannot be remedied. Could a Lye shun all inconvenience, and see to its Interest on every side, it would be as wife and perfect as Truth itself.

‘Quin amplius ex Collegis Aurelii, &c.Ibid. But yet further, among other Companions of Aurelius, the most holy Father S. Augustine, the most glorious Beam of the Catholick Church, was accused in that Epistle. Who being clouded with the same [...] of Schism, must (if [...] [...] be true) be blotted out of the Class, of the Doctors of Holy Church [Page] out of the number of Saints, nay out of the Martyrology; nor only so, but out of the Kalender of the HOLY ROMAN CHURCH. For it is most certain, that after the aforesaid Aurelius, he departed this life, within the space of the time before-mentioned. What should I reckon the Fulgentiuses, the Eugeniuses, and others, almost innumerable men, most Famous for Holiness and Learning, to be accounted in the same condition?’

It is a common Artifice in the Church of Rome, to propagate these Forgeries as far as they are able, by them to possess the minds of men with great apprehensions of the Popes high and Infallible Power; and if at at any time they are detected, to cast the blame on private persons: while the Church is free (they pretend) from such Abominations. I desire you to note therefore, that the HOLY ROMAN CHURCH it self is the Author of Her Martyrologies and Kalendars, and that the HOLY ROMAN CHURCH her self hath Canonized her Saints, and made Holy-days, and put them into her Breviaries: And it was this very HOLY ROMAN CHUCH, that put the counterfeit Council of Sinuessa into her Martyrologies, [Page] the Lying Legend of Sylvester into the Roman Breviary, Authorized by three Popes, and the Council of Trent; and her counterfeit Decretals among her Laws, in all her Consistories, and Ecclesiastical Courts of Highest Judicature. So that if Baronius do not [...], the ROMAN CHURCH is liable to the Charge of these Bastard-Antiquities: For which cause he might well break out into that angry [...], Eccè in quod DiserimenIbid.Vnus isidorus Mercator, illarum Epistolarum Collector, res nostras adduxit! ut ex [...] parte periclitari videatur Ecclesia, &c. ‘Behold into what peril, one Isidore Mercator, the Collector of those Epistles, hath brought out Affairs! So that the CHURCH seemeth on that side to be endangered, if we shall say, those things which he hath collected, or rather [...], be [...] and certain.’ If the Roman Church be [...] [...] of [...], in Baronius, his judgment, [...] is utterly [...].

[...] is of [...] [...] Importance, did he only [...] the things to be feigned (rather than [...]) which their great [...] of the [...] [...] in Isidore, their first Author. But his acknowledgment of the hazard which the Roman [Page]Church runneth, is more. For they have so many Subterfuges about the Roman Church, that it is more difficult to find it, than to vanquish it. It was not the Pope in a formal Council, that Excommunicated the Church of Africa, or that put her Saints first into the Roman [...], yet it was the [...] Roman Church. And indeed, if the Holy Roman Church, and her Authority, be not to be found in her Mass books and Breviaries, her Courts and Consistories, her Laws and [...], her Martyrologies and Kalenders, her Popes and Doctors. I know not where to meet with Her: And if nothing else be the Roman Church but a Pope and Council [...], the Roman Church is but a blinking [...]. There is no Roman Church (upon this account) sometimes for two or three Ages together: for she always vanishes upon the [...] of the Council.

The Roman Church is in a great [...]; but she may thank herself. She threw her self into this Peril, by making her self a Schismatick, an [...] a [...]. She first breaks the Rule; and if the Pope and his Doctors about him be the Roman Church, as they certainly must needs [...] (for all that depart from [...], shall be [Page] Schifmaticks:) if the Head of the Church, and all the Members that cleave unto it, be the Roman Church, she first brake the Rule, and then forged Ancient Canons in the Name of the Nicene Council, to defend her Exorbitancy: she cut her self off from the true Church in the sixth Council of Carthage, by a perverse inveterate obstinacy; and to acquit her self afterwards, laid the Curse and Scandal upon others. She pretends, at least, that the most Holy Churches were Excommunicated; that 217 Bishops in a Sacred Council, Alypius. S. Augustine, Aurelius, and all his Collegues, were puffed up with pride by the Instigation of the Devil, and accursed by a Dreadful Excommunication: for so it is in the Epistle of Bonifaee 2. to Eulalius. And now she hath nothing left to support her Enormity, but that Greatness alone, which by these Forgeries she hath acquired and maintained. These Thorns are never to be pulled out, but the Veins and Sinews will follow after: For in rejecting these (Thorns in her sides) all her Authority, Infallibility, Antiquity, Tradition, Vnity, Succession, Credit and Veracity is gone.

As for Baronius, and the way he takes, a man may safely throw away the Sword, [Page] when he has killed the Enemy: but the Church of Rome is not arrived to such an happiness. Politicians pull down the Ladder by which they have gotten up to the Top of their desires. But the case is altered here: They are undone, if the Ladder be removed. To acknowledge these Helps to be Forgeries, is their apparent Ruine.

Some Papists use these Counterfeits, by vertue of which their Predecessors acquired, and established their Empire, as Vsurpers do Traytors, by whose villanous help they are seated in the Throne. But they can never wash off the Guilt they have contracted; nor make the Act, or the Crime (committed once) to be again undone. After 700 years enjoyment of the Benefit, they begin to slight the means of acquiring it: But it is, because they cannot help it. The Cheat is detected, and they would sain perswade the World they are Innocent of it. All of them either hold these things to be Forgeries or (if Forgeries) to be none of their The Confession is not Genning like [...] of S. Peter; rather it is awkward [...] [...] like that of Apiarius; [...] Confession the sixth Council of Carthage observes to be sorced. For after [...] [...] [Page] obstinately persisted, as long as possible, in an impudent denial, reviled his Judges, abused the Roman Chair, disordered the Church, and inflamed the World, when God had brought him into so vast a strait, that he could do no otherwise: then the Fraudulent Dissembler, as they call him, fled to Confession; but the Root of his Malevolence he retained in him.

Some Papists confess these Forgeries, but deny them to be theirs: They confess the things, but justifie themselves. The things they say are Forgeries, but themselves no Forgers: And whether of the two be the greater Impudence, is hard to define: They confess the Fraud, but make no Restitution. All their Drift is to save their Skin: when one pretence is broken, they fly to another: nay, they go on to quote these things, even now they confess them: where they are not detected they still do quote them; and wish still, they were as able to conceal and defend them, as ever: For for one that knows them, they meet with a thousand that are ignorant of those devices. There they dissemble their Conviction, and hide their Confession with the Ignorant, and before such make shew of these Frauds, as of great and glorious [Page] Antiquities; though, like Proteus, they transform themselves into other shapes before the more Learned. They find it meet and necessary to fail with every Wind, and to adapt themselves fitly in their discourses, both to them that know them, and to them that know them not; with them that know them they seem to decry the Impostures.

These things I speak, not to the poor simple seduced Papists, who did they believe and know these things, would abhor them to the Death; but to the Seducers themselves, who so delude the Ignorant, and are by all Methods ever busie in carrying on the Cause of the Temporal Kingdom of the Church of Rome: as by their obstinate practises is most apparent.

Baronius himself bewrayeth his Confession to be without any purpose of amendment; even by the Defence he maketh, for his good Old Friend, the Bastard Isidore.

A Jerom of Frague, or a John Huss, a Latimer, or a Ridley, though never so holy and pure in other things, were to be cursed with Bell, Book and Candle, if the least Errour appeared in them, that reflected on the Popes Security: Though never so Innocent, they were with all [Page] violent fury pursued to the Fire. But if a man have this one Vertue, of maintaining the Popes Interest, he may lye, and cog, and cheat, and forge; abuse Apostles, Councils, Fathers, and be followed by an Army of Popes and Doctors: becoming a Zealous and Venerable Saint notwithstanding. Hincmarus of Rhemes could hardly escape, for offering to mutter against Isidere. But Isidore himself, because he did the Pope Service, though he be a Sacrilegious person, and deserves all that can be called Bad, for the incomparable height and depth of his Villany; yet he is received to fair Quarters, and well esteemed of by Cardinal Baronius: Testimonium illi perhibeo (utar verbis Apostoli) (saith he) quod Zelum habuit, sed non secundùm Scientiam, &c.

I will give him this Testimony, (and here I will use the words of the Apostle) He had a Zeal, but not according to knowledge. For because the contention of Aurelius, Bishop of Carthage, Augustine, and other African Bishops, seemed to him a little more hot than it should be, with Boniface and Celestine the Roman Popes, in the Cause of Apiarius the Priest: he supposed it expedient, in that Epistle which he feigned in the name of Boniface, to patch [Page] up what was cut away. But away with these things! The Church of God is not founded, nor does it lean upon Chaff, it self being the Pillar and Ground of Truth. Baron. Martyrol. Octob. 16.

I will not note, how he abuseth the Scriptures, nor how he wresteth the words of the H. Apostle, to cover a filthy piece of Knavery: nor yet in what sense he maketh the last words, which he uttereth, to sound; concerning the Roman Churches being her self the Pillar and Ground of Truth. Though matters are so carried, as if she were great enough to be her own Support, and without being founded on any other, were her own Foundation. All I shall observe, is, that Hadrian 1. and Leo 9. have been very zealous and tender of these Records: that Benedictus Levita got them confirmed by the Roman Chair: that several Popes, since Leo 9. have imbraced, countenanced, and furthered them, as Pope Paul V. and Sixtus V. in particular: that Isidore Mercator, whom Baronius confesseth to be a Cheat, is the common Father of the Popish Compilers: That the Codes, or Tomes of the Councils, at this day received in the Roman Church, for good and Sacred Records, are by these Collectors, [Page]James Merlin, Peter Crab, Laurentius Surius, Carranza, Nicolinus, Severinus Binius, Labbe, the Collectio Regia, old Ivo, Gratian, &c. have digested these Impostures, and recorded them as the Sacred Authenticks of the H. Catholick Church: that whole Armies of Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Doctors, Schoolmen, Jesuites, Monks, Fryars, Canonists, &c. have cited them for many Ages as true Records: that Turrian in particular (with divers others) have set themselves strenuously to defend them: that they have imposed the Cheat upon Kings and Emperours: that the Forgeries are backed with the Authorities of Popes, Emperours, Kings, &c. All, no doubt, having a zeal, but not according to knowledge; that is, being exceeding regardful of the Interest of the Chair, and studiously maintaining the Temporal Kingdom of the Church, as they call it; but erring in the manner. While they thought this the way to advance her, which is now become her apparent shame, and a probable means (without sudden amendment) to bring her to Confusion.

[Page]

That Princes may a little more clearly see into the Mystery of these counterfeit Decretals, it is meet, in the close of all, to expose to the view of the World one Passage, out of many other, which we have passed over in silence. The Design of it touches Kings and Emperours to the Quick, though (for greater security to the Chair) it be covertly expressed. It is in the [...] of S. Peter to the people of Rome, in S. Clements Letter to S. James and it is commended to the consideration of the World by all the Popish Compilers of the Decrees and Councils, [...] [...] downwards.

[...] revived in the first Epistle of [...], as Binius Bin. Marg in Clement. Epist. 1. observes: And expresly repeated (because they will make much of it) in the counterfeit Letter of Fab Epist. 1. Fabianus, a Roman Bishop and Martyr, that lived about 1400 An. Christ 238. years agoto this purpose.

When he had said these things, and manyS. Peters Forged Oration. more like unto these, looking upon the people, again, he said, And you my dearest Brethren, and Fellow-Servants, obey this. The Roman Bishop Man that presideth over you to teach you the Truth, IN ALL THINGS: Knowing, that if any one grieveth him, he receiveth not Christ, who intrusted to him [Page] the Chair of Teaching: and he that receiveth not Christ, shall be judged not to have received God the Father: and therefore neither shall himself be received into the Kingdom of Heaven, &c. But ever coming together to Clement, Date omnes operam proipso sentire, (it is an Emphatical expression) make it your business to be of his Opinion; and with your utmost study to shew your [...] towards him: Knowing, that for every one of your sakes, the Enemy is more inraged against him alone, and stirs up greater Wars against him. Ye ought therefore to endeavour with your utmost study, that being all knit together in the Bond of love towards him, ye may cleave unto him with a most perfect affection. But you also be sure to continue unanimous in all Concord, that you may so much the more easily obey him with one Consent and Vnanimity. For which, both you may attain Salvation, and he, while ye obey him, may more readily bear the weight of the Burden laid upon him. They must with their utmost study favour him, and bend all their Charity to each other, [for this very end] that they may cleave the faster unto him; for doing which, they shall attain Salvation. This environs the Popes Chair with Armies of [Page] Well-wishers and Servants. But the Dangerous Passage follows, which shakes all the Thrones and Kingdomes in the World! Lest they should be an Army of silly Sheep, and simple Doves, wanting the Serpents Fraud and Sting. He admonisheth them further, that they all must be Enemies to their Popes Enemies, and hate all that he hateth. I leave Kings and Princes to judge of the words.

Quaedam etiamex vobis ipsis intelligere debetis, &c. Some things also ye ought to understand of your selves; If there be any thing which he dares not evidently and manifestly speak out, for fear of the Treacheries of evil men. As for Instance: If he be an Enemy to any one for his Deeds, do not ye expect that he should tell you, Be ye not Friends with such an one: but ye ought prudently to observe, and to do his Will without any Admonition, and to turn from him, against whom ye perceive he is an Enemy; nor so much as to speak to him, with whom he speaketh not, &c. That every one in fault, while he covets to regain all your Friendships, may the sooner make haste to be reconciled to him who is over all; and by this return to Salvation, while he begins to obey the Admonitions of his Superiour. But if any one shall be a Friend [Page] to those to whom he is not a Friend, or speak to those to whom he speaketh not, he is one of them, &c.

This dangerous Intimation is a sufficient hint sor Jesuitical Souls: He declares his Principle, that he is an Enemy to some, contrary to our Saviours Order: and gives order to his Disciples to guess at his meaning, and without any publick notice to execute the same. Hatred removes its Object; he hates, and they must do his Will without Admonition. If they mistake his meaning, provided they do it out of Zeal, he can easily connive at it: which suits with their Practises, of Poysoning Emperours, Murdering Kings, attempting on Queens, their Massacre at Paris, the Gunpowder-Treason, & c. The Instruments of which Acts, are by such Records rather favoured than discouraged; and some of them Canonized, rather than punished in the See of Rome.

FINIS.

[Page]

Information about this book

Title statement

Roman forgeries, or, A true account of false records discovering the impostures and counterfeit antiquities of the Church of Rome / by a faithful son of the Church of England.

Traherne, Thomas, d. 1674.

Edition statement

1673

Publication

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

Place of publication

Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) :

Date

2005-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A63048

ID [STC]

Wing T2021

ID [STC]

ESTC R5687

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

12191016

ID [OCLC]

ocm 12191016

ID [VID]

55872

Availability

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Series

Early English books online.

Notes

(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A63048)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 55872)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 116:14)

Source

— Roman forgeries, or, A true account of false records discovering the impostures and counterfeit antiquities of the Church of Rome / by a faithful son of the Church of England., Traherne, Thomas, d. 1674..

Extent

[35], 316 p.

Printed by S. and B. Griffin, for Jonathan Edwin ...,. London :: 1673.. (Written by T. Traherne. Cf. Halkett & Laing (2nd ed.).) (First ed. Cf. BM.) (Errata: p. [15].) (Reproduction of original in Union Theological Seminary Library, New York.)

Creation

Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.