"first was employed in proving, that the right of jurisdiction "over Christ's kingdom here had been given entirely to the "Roman pontiff, and not a single particle of it to any other "in the church. The second contained his answers to all "the arguments on the opposite side, adduced in former "meetings.

"The substance was, that there is a great difference, nay, "a contrariety between the church of Christ and civil com "munities, inasmuch as these have an existence previous to "the formation of their government, and are thereby free, "having in them originally, as in its fountain, all the jurisdic ❝tion, which, without divesting themselves of it, they com municate to magistrates. But the church did neither make ❝herself, nor form her own government. It was Christ the "prince and monarch who first established the laws whereby "she should be governed; then assembled his people, and, "as scripture expresses it, built the church. Thus she is "born a slave, without any sort of liberty, power, or jurisdic ❝tion, but every where, and in every thing, subjected. In "proof of this he quoted passages of scripture, wherein the "gathering of the church is compared to the sowing of a "field, the drawing of a net to land, and the rearing of an "edifice; adding, that Christ is said to have come into the "world to assemble his faithful people, to gather his sheep, to instruct them both by doctrine and by example. he subjoined: the first and principal foundation whereon "Christ built the church, was Peter and his succession, ac"cording to the word which he said to him, Thou art Peter, "and upon this rock I will build my church; which rock though "some of the fathers have understood to be Christ himself, "and others the faith in him, or the confession of the faith, "it is nevertheless a more catholick exposition to understand "it of Peter himself, who, in Hebrew or Syriack, is called "Cephas, that is, Rock. He affirmed, in like manner, that "while Christ lived in mortal flesh, he governed the church "with despotick and monarchical government, and leaving this "earth, he left the same form, constituting St. Peter, and the "successours of St. Peter, his vicars successively, to admi

Then

nister it, as it had been exercised by him, giving them "plenary power and jurisdiction, and subjecting to them the "church in the way wherein it is subjected to him. This he "proved from what we are told of Peter, because to him alone "were given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and by conse (6 quence, power to admit and exclude, which is jurisdiction; "and to him alone it was said, Feed, that is, rule my sheep, “silly animals, which have no part, no choice whatever in

conducting themselves. These two things, namely, to be porter and pastor, being perpetual offices, it was necessary that they should be conferred on a perpetual person, that is, "not on the first only, but on the whole succession. Hence the Roman pontiff, beginning from St. Peter to the end of the "world, is true and absolute despot with plenary power and jurisdiction; and the church is subject to him as it was to Christ. And as when his divine majesty governed it, it "could not be said, that any of the faithful had the smallest 66 power or jurisdiction, all being in total subjection, the same 661 may be said in all perpetuity. Thus we ought to under

stand these declarations, that the church is a sheepfold, "that it is a kingdom, and what St. Cyprian says, that the "episcopate is one, and that a part thereof is held by every "bishop; that is, that the whole undivided power is placed "in one single pastor, who apportions and communicates it to associates in the ministry as exigencies require; and that, in allusion to this St. Cyprian compares the apostolick see to "the root, the head, the fountain, the sun; showing, by these "comparisons, that the jurisdiction is essentially in her alone; “in others, only by derivation or participation. And this is "the meaning of that most usual expression of antiquity, that "Peter and the pontiff possess the plenitude of power, others "do but participate in the cure. And that he is the sole shepherd, is demonstrated by the words of Christ, who said, "that he had other sheep, which he would gather, that there "might be but one sheepfold, and one shepherd. The shep"herd spoken of here cannot be Christ himself, because it "could not be said, in the future tense, that there shall be one "shepherd, he being already the shepherd. It must, there"fore, be understood of another sole shepherd, to be consti"tuted after him, who can be no other than Peter with his "succession. He remarked here, that the precept to feed "the flock, occurs but twice in scripture, once in the singular "number, when Christ said to Peter, Feed my sheep; once in "the plural, when Peter said to others, Feed the flocks assigned to you. Now if the bishops had received any jurisdiction "from Christ, it would be equal in them all, which would destroy the difference between patriarch, archbishop, and bishop; besides, the pope could not intermeddle with that authority, either by diminishing it, or by removing it en"tirely, as he cannot intermeddle with the power of orders "which is from God. Wherefore the greatest caution is "necessary here, lest by making the institution of bishops de "jure divino, they should subvert the hierarchy, and introduce into the church an oligarchy, or rather an anarchy. He

"added, To the end that Peter might govern the church "well, so that the gates of hell should not prevail against her, Christ, a little before his death, prayed efficaciously, that "his faith might not fail, and ordained him to confirm the "brethren; in other words, he gave him the privilege of "infallibility, in judging of faith, manners, and the whole of "religion, obliging all the church to obey him, and stand firm "in whatsoever should be decreed by him. He concluded, "that this is the true foundation of the christian doctrine, "and the rock whereon the church is built. He proceeded "to censure those who hold that bishops have received any "power from Christ, an opinion subversive of the privilege of "the Roman church, whose pontiff is head of the church uni"versal, and the only vicar of Christ upon earth. It is very "well known, that by the ancient canon, omnes sive patriarchæ, "&c. it is enacted, that whoever takes away the rights of other "churches, commits injustice, but whoever takes away the "privileges of the Roman church, is a heretick. He added, "that it is an absolute contradiction to maintain, that the pon"tiff is head of the church, and its government is monarchis "cal, and to affirm, that there is either power or authority in "it, which is received from others, and not derived from "him.

"In refuting the arguments, on the opposite side, he ad"vanced, that, according to the order instituted by Christ, the "apostles must have been ordained bishops, not by Christ, but "by Peter, receiving jurisdiction from him alone; an opi "nion, he said, extremely probable, and held by many catho"lick doctors. Others, however, who maintain that the apos"tles were ordained bishops by Christ, add that his divine ma"jesty, in so doing, exercised, by prevention, Peter's office, doing "for once what belonged to Peter to do, giving to the apostles "himself that power which they ought to have received from "Peter, just as God took of the spirit of Moses, and imparted "it to the seventy judges, so that it was as much as if they "had been ordained by Peter, and had received all authority "from him; and therefore they continued subject to Peter, "in regard to the places and modes of exercising their autho"rity. And though we do not read that Peter corrected "them, it was not through defect of power, but because they "exercised their office properly, and so did not need correction. "Whoever reads the celebrated canon, Ita Dominus, will be "assured, that every catholick ought to believe this; and thus "the bishops, who are successours of the apostles, receive the "whole from the successour of Peter. He observed, also, "that the bishops are not called successours of the apostles,

•

"unless, as being in their places, in the way that a bishop suc"ceeds his predecessors, and not as being ordained by them. "He replied to what some had inferred, that the pope might "then leave off making bishops, choosing to be the only biέσ shop himself. He admitted that ordination is divine, that "in the church there is a multitude of bishops, coadjutors of "the pontiff, and therefore that the pontiff is obliged to pre"serve the order, but that there is a great difference between "saying that a thing is de jure divino, and that it is appointed "of God. Things instituted de jure divino, are perpetual, and "depend on God, alone, at every time, both universally and particularly. Thus baptism, and all the other sacraments, "wherein God operates singularly in each particular, are de "jure divino. Thus the Roman pontiff is of God. For when "one dies, the keys do not remain with the church, for they "were not given to her. But when the new pope is created, "God immediately gives them to him. But it happens other. "wise in things barely of divine appointment; inasmuch as "from God comes only the universal, whereas the particulars "are executed by men. Thus St. Paul says, that princes and "temporal powers are ordained of God; that is, from him "alone comes the universal precept, that there should be princes; nevertheless, the particulars are made by civil laws. "In the same manner bishops are ordained of God; and St. "Paul says they are placed by the Holy Ghost for the govern"ment of the church, but not de jure divino. The pope, how "ever, cannot abolish the universal precept for making bi"shops in the church, because it is from God; but each ❝ticular bishop, being only de jure canonico, may, by pontifical "authority, be removed. And to the objection made, that the bishops would be delegates, and not ordinaries, he answered: It behoveth us to distinguish jurisdiction into fun"damental and derived, and the derived into delegated and "ordinary. In civil polities, the fundamental is in the prince,

ช

par

the derived is in all the magistrates. And in these, ordina"ries are different from delegates, because they receive the "authority diversly, though they all derive equally from the "same sovereignty; but the difference consists in this, that "the ordinaries are by perpetual laws, and with succession: "the others have singular authority either personal or casual, "The bishops, therefore, are ordinaries, being instituted, by "pontifical laws, dignities of perpetual succession in the "church. He added, that those passages, wherein Christ "seems to give authority to the church, as that wherein he "says, that it is the pillar and basis of the truth, and that other, "Let him who will not hear the church be to thee as a heathen and

"a publican, are all to be understood solely in respect of its "head, which is the pope. For this reason the church is in"fallible, because it has an infallible head. And thus he is "separated from the church who is separated from the pope, "its head. As to what had been urged, that the council could "have no authority from Christ, if none of the bishops had "any, he answered, that this was not to be regarded as an ob jection, but as a certain truth, being a very clear and neces "sary consequence of the truly catholick doctrine he had "demonstrated; nay, added he, if each of the bishops in coun"cil be fallible, it cannot be denied, that all of them together "are fallible; and if the authority of the council arose from the "authority of the bishops, no council could ever be called ge "neral, wherein the number of those present is incomparably "less than the number of those that are absent. He mention

“ed, that in that very council under Paul the third, the most "momentous articles concerning the canonical books, the au "thority of translations, the equality of tradition to scripture, "had been decided by a number less than fifty: that if multi"tude gave authority, these decisions had none at all. But "as a number of prelates, convened by the pontiff, for the pur "pose of constituting a general council, however few, derives "not the name and efficacy of being general from any other "cause than the pope's designation, so likewise he is the sole "source of its authority. Therefore, if it issue precepts, or "anathemas, these have no effect, unless in virtue of the pontiff's future confirmation. Nor can the council bind any by its anathemas, further than they shall be enforced by the con"firmation. And when the synod says, that it is assembled "in the Holy Ghost, it means no more than that the fathers "are assembled, by the pope's summons, to discuss matters, "which, when approved by him, will be decreed by the Holy "Ghost. Otherwise, how could it be said, that a decree is "made by the Holy Ghost, which may, by pontifical authority, "be invalidated, or has need of further confirmation: and "therefore, in councils, however numerous, when the pope is present, he alone decrees, nor does the council add any thing "but its approbation; that is, it receives. Accordingly, the "authentick phrase has always been, Sacro approbante concilio; nay, in determinations of the greatest weight, as was the de"position of the emperour Frederick the second, in the gene"ral council of Lyons, Innocent the fourth, a most wise pontiff, "refused the approbation of the synod, lest any should ima"gine it necessary: he thought it enough to say, sacro presente "concilio. Nor ought we hence to conclude, that a council is "superfluous. It is convened for the sake of stricter inquisi