A Treatise of Episcopacy, Part 2 · Chapter 5

A Treatise of Episcopacy · Part 2 · Chapter 5

p. 19CHAP. V. The ſame proved by the full Teſtimony of Antiquity.

THat the particular Churches, infimae ſpeciei vel ordinis, (of which combined Aſſociated Churches were conſtituted) were no larger than is before deſcribed, and had but Unum Altare, I ſhall prove Hiſtorically from Antiquity.

I. And Order requireth that I begin with Clemens Romanus.

But let the Reader ſtill remember that while I cite him and others oft cited heretofore by many, I do it not to the ſame end, as they who thence prove that Biſhops and Presbyters were then the ſame; but to prove the Churches to be but ſuch ſingle Congregations as are fore-deſcribed, Ep. ad Cor. pag. 54, 55. [foreign] i. e. Per regiones igitur & urbes verbum praedicantes, primitias eorum ſpiritu probantes, Epiſcopos & Diaconos eorum qui credituri erant conſtituerunt.] Here are theſe concurrent evidences to our purpoſe. 1. In that he ſpeaketh only of Biſhops and Deacons, and neither here nor elſewhere one ſyllable of any other Presbyters but Biſhops, it is apparent that in thoſe times there were no Subject-Presbyters diſtinct from Biſhops in being: Nor could Doctor Hammond any other way anſwer Blondel here, but by confeſſing and maintaining this, and ſo expounding Clemens as ſpeaking of Biſhops only before other Presbyters were in the Church. And if ſo, then there could be none but Churches of ſingle Aſſemblies then, or ſuch as one man could officiate in: becauſe there was then no more to do it.

2. In that Cities and Countries are made the Seats of theſe Biſhops: for though ſome would make them to be mentioned only as the places where the Apoſtles preached, the obvious plain ſenſe of the words is connexive of preaching and conſtituting Biſhops: by preaching they made believers in Cities and Countries, and over thoſe believers they placed Biſhops and Deacons; which implieth it to be in the ſame places. And whereas ſome would ſtrain the word [foreign] to ſignifie Provinces, and not Country Villages, it muſt then, as diſtinct from Cities, have meant [many Cities] and ſo have ſtled Biſhops and Arch-Biſhops, p. 20intimating Subject-Presbyters under them: But here is no ſuch word or intimation: Yea, when the Countries are made firſt the Place of the Apoſtles preaching (as they confeſs) let any impartial man judge whether this be like to be the ſenſe [They preached in Provinces, that is, in the Cities of Provinces, and in Cities.] And if there were Country Churches and Biſhops ſe…ied by the Apoſtle's, its eaſie to ſee that each particular Church-Aſſembly had a Biſhop, when even the City Churches themſelves were no bigger than Petavius and others mention.

3. Ad hominem, Though I believe that the [foreign] eorum qui credituri erant, be intended only to ſignifie the ſubſequence of believing to their preaching, yet waving that, to them that ſuppoſe it to intend the ſubſequence of believing to making Biſhops, it muſt needs imply that the Churches then conſiſted but of few, and were yet to be filled up: But whether one Biſhop to have many Churches is a queſtion which muſt be otherwiſe and aliunde decided.

4. The magnitude of the Churches is plainly intimated, when he ſaith p. 57. [foreign &c. Conſtitutos itaque ab illis vel deinceps ab aliis viris celebribus cum conſenſu univerſae Eccleſiae qui inculpate ovili Chriſti inſervierunt, &c.] If the Biſhops were choſen by the Conſent of all the Church, it was no greater a Church than would and did meet to ſignifie their conſent; and not ſuch as our Dioceſſes now are.

5. Alſo the ſame is intimated by pag. 69. [If it be for me that Contention, Sedition and Schiſms ariſe, I will depart, I will be gone whither you will, and will do what ſhall by the people be appointed; only let the Sheep-fold of Chriſt live in peace with the Presbyters appointed over it. By which words it is evident, that it was ſuch a particular Ovile or Church, where the Will of the people might be declared as a matter that bore much ſway. But who can think that this is ſpoken of many Congregations, where the peoples Will could not eaſily be ſignified?

6. And it is farther manifeſt in that it was but for the ſake of one or two that the Church of Corinth moved this ſedition againſt the Presbyters (called alſo Biſhops,) pag. 62. Now how many Congregations that Church conſiſted of, where the intereſt of one or two was either ſo far concerned or ſo powerful, it is eaſie to conjecture; ſet all theſe together, and judge impartially.

I add (though out of ſeaſon) that it was none of the Apoſtles meaning that thoſe whom they made Biſhops of ſuch ſingle Churches, without a ſubject Order of Presbyters, ſhould make ſuch an Order of ſubject Presbyters, and make themſelves the Biſhops of a Dioceſane Church without any Biſhops under them. For pag. 57. he ſaith, [And our Apoſtles by our Lord Jeſus Chriſt knew, that contention would ariſe about the name of Epiſcopacy; and for this cauſe being endued with perfect fore-knowledge, they appointed them aforeſaid, and left the Courſes (or Orders) of After-Miniſters and Offices deſcribed, that other approved men might ſucceed in the place of the deceaſed, and might execute their Offices.] So that it was the ſame places and the ſame Offices which thoſe ordained by the Apoſtles had, in which others muſt ſucceed them, which therefore were deſcribed by the Apoſtles, and not into others.

p. 21To confirm my Expoſition of Clemens, note, that Grotius himſelf Epiſt. 182. ad Bignon. giveth this as a reaſon to prove this Epiſtle of Clemens to be genuine. Quod nuſquam meminit exortis illius Epiſcoporum authoritatis, quae Eccleſiae conſuctudine poſt Marci mortem Alexandriae, atque eo exemplo alibi introduci coepit: ſed plane, ut Paulus Apoſtolus oſtendit, Eccleſias communi Presbyterorum, qui iidem omnes & Epiſcopi, conſilio fuiſſe gubernatas.] that is, Becauſe he no where maketh mention of that excelling authority of Biſhops which began to be intrduoced at Alexandria by the cuſtom of the Church, after the death of Mark, and in other places by that example: But he plainly ſheweth, as the Apoſtle Paul doth, that the Churches were governed by the Common Council of Presbyters, who were alſo Biſhops.]

Note alſo, as aforeſaid, that Doctor Hammond in Diſſert. granteth as to matter of fact, that Clemens ſpeaketh but of the Biſhops of ſingle Congregations, whom he alſo calleth Presbyters, there being no other in the Church of Corinth.

II. My next Witneſs is Pius Biſhop of Rome, in Epiſt. Juſto Epiſcopo; in Biblioth. Patr. Tom. 3. pag. 15. mentioning only Biſhops and Deacons: of which Doctor Hammond making the ſame Conceſſion, ſtill granteth that hitherto Biſhops had but ſingle Churches. (Of this more anon.)

III. My next and greateſt Witneſs is Ignatius, in whom (to my admiration) the Dioceſanes ſo much confide, as that quaſi pro aris & focis they contend for the authority of his Epiſtles. I am as loth to loſe him as they are: therefore I will not meddle in Blondel's controverſie (againſt whom they ſay Doctor Pierſon is now writing.) In his Epiſtle to the Philadelphians he ſaith, [foreign] [There is to every Church one Altar, and one Biſhop, with the Presbytery and the Deacons my fellow ſervants.] I am not able to deviſe apter words to expreſs my ſenſe in. He ſaith not this of ſome one Church, but of all; nor yet as of an accident proper to thoſe times of the Churches minority; but as of the Notes of every Churches Individuation or Haecceity as they ſpeak. The Unity of the Church is characteriſed by One Altar, and One Biſhop with the Presbytery and Deacons. If [foreign] were out, it would not alter the ſenſe, being plainly implied. Biſhop Downame's Expoſition of foreign as if it ſignified Chriſt, is ſo forced and contrary to the evidence of the Text, that his own party quite forſake him in it, and he needeth no confutation. For who ever before dreamed that the Unity or Individuation of each particular Church, conſiſted in having one Chriſt, who is the common Head of all Churches? One Chriſt to every Church and one Biſhop, would ſignifie that every Church muſt have one ſeveral Chriſt, as well as one ſeveral Biſhop. Nor is foreign ſo uſed by the Ancients, except when the Context ſheweth that they ſpeak by alluſion of Chriſt. Maſter Mede's plain and certain Expoſition and Collection I gave you before; the ſame with ours.

p. 22As for them that ſay that many Congregations might per vices come to one Altar to communicate, I anſwer, 1. Let them make Churches as big as can thus communicate and ſpare not; though there be neceſſary Chappels or Oratories beſides. 2. But remember that every Church uſed to worſhip God publickly and to communicate, at leaſt every Lords day; and that there was but One Altar to each Church, and therefore but one Communicating Congregation. Doctor Stillingfleet in his Schiſmatical Sermon is for my Expoſition.

Object. It is meant of one Species of Altars, and not one Individual.

Anſw. Then it is meant alſo of one Species of Biſhops in each Church, and not of one Individual.

Object. The practice of the Churches after ſheweth that they took it not for a ſin, or Schiſm, to have ſeveral Altars in a Church.

Anſw. I talk of nothing but matter of fact; it was the note of One Church when thoſe Epiſtles were written: whether the Author was miſtaken de jure, or whether after Ages grew wiſer, or rather had fewer Biſhops and more Altars for the ſake of Carnal Intereſt, I judge not.

The ſame Author Epiſt. ad Smyrn. ſaith [Ubi utique apparet Epiſcopus, ibi & multitudo ſit: quemadmodum utique ubi eſt Chriſtus Jeſus, illic Catholica Eccleſia:] as Uſher's Lat. Tranſ. or [foreign] omnis exercitus coeleſtis. And the Context ſheweth that this multitudo or plebs is the Church which the Biſhop overſeeth. Therefore ubi Epiſcopus ibi Eccleſia fuit, and ſo every Church had a preſent Biſhop.

So in Epiſt. ad Magneſ. he bids them [All unitedly (or as one) run together to one Temple of God, as to one Altar, to one Jeſus Chriſt.] So that every Church had one Temple and one Altar to which (as a note of their Union in Chriſt) the whole Church muſt unanimouſly come.

So in Epiſt. ad Trull. he ſaith [Et Epiſcopus typum Dei Patris omnium gerit; Presbyteri vero ſunt conſeſſus quidam, & conjunctus Apoſtolorum coetus; ſine his Eccleſia Electa non eſt: Nulla ſine his Sanctorum Congregatio; nulla Sanctorum Collectio. Et poſtea, Quid vero aliud Sacerdotium eſt (vel Presbyterium) quam ſacer coetus, Conciliarii & aſſeſſores Epiſcopi? Quid Diaconi, &c.] So that it is hard more plainly to expreſs a thing in words, than this Author expreſſeth, that not only de facto every ſtated worſhipping communicating Congregation had their Biſhop, Presbyters and Deacons, but that de jure it ought to be ſo: And that there was no lawful Church Aſſembly for Worſhip, without the Biſhop and his Presbyters ordinarily; and one Altar and one Biſhop were the Notes of one Church.

And Epiſt. ad Polycarp. [Saepe Congregationes fiant: ex nomine omnes quaere: ſervos & ancillas ne deſpicias (ut Tranſ. Lat. Uſh.) i. e. Keep often Congregations: Enquire (or look after) all (or every one) by name: deſpiſe not the Servants and the Maids.] And how many Congregations at once that Church then had, or how great it was, when the Biſhop himſelf was to look after every one by name, even the Men-ſervants and the Maids, I leave to their judgments who are willing to underſtand the truth.

p. 23Since the writing of this (about thirteen years) I have ſeen Iſaac Voſſius his Florentine Ignatius, Edit. 2. and alſo had ſome ſpeech with Biſhop Gunning, confidently denying that by foreign is meant one material Altar or place of Communicating: I will therefore review the Texts of Ignatius according to Iſaac Voſſius, and anſwer this Biſhops confident aſſertion.

1. Epiſt. ad Smyrn. p. 4. foreign, &c. Omnes Epiſcopum ſequimini ut Jeſus Chriſtus Patrem; & Presbyterium ut Apoſtolos; Diaconos autem revereamini ut Dei mandatum. Nullus ſine Epiſcopo aliquid operetur eorum quae conveniunt in Eccleſiam: Illa firma Gratiarum actio (foreign) reputetur, quae ſub ipſo eſt, vel quam utique ipſe conceſſerit: ubi utique apparet Epiſcopus, illic multitudo ſit: quemadmodum utique ubi eſt Jeſus Chriſtus illic Catholica Eccleſia: Non licitum eſt ſine Epiſcopo neque baptizare, neque agapen facere.

Here it is evident, 1. That by foreign, the Multitude,] is meant the aſſembling multitude, and not diſtant people many miles off.

2. That by foreign apparet, is meant the perſonal viſible appearing preſence of the Biſhop. And ſo that every Church-Aſſembly had a preſent Biſhop ordinarily.

3. That by foreign, is meant the Churches joyful laudatory Communion, of which the Lords Supper was a chief part. And ſo that the Euchariſt was uſually celebrated with and by the Biſhop, and never but by his particular allowance to the Presbyters; not only a general allowance to do it commonly as Pariſh Prieſts do without him, but to do it in his Aſſembly either in caſe of his abſence, or need, or as aſſiſting him.

4. That by foreign is meant the matters and perſons of the particular Aſſembly: And ſo that every ſuch Aſſembly had a preſent Superviſor or Biſhop.

5. That by foreign, is meant a local going whither he goeth, and an imitation of him as preſent; and ſo that they had his viſible preſence.

6. That the prohibition of baptizing and holding their Love-feaſting Meetings without him, ſignified not only [without his general licence at a diſtance;] but as no Servants muſt do great matters in the houſe without the Maſter, ſo it implieth here his ordinary preſence and particular approbation of the ſingle perſons fitneſs for Baptiſm, and his conduct of their Love-feaſts, and his allowance in caſe of neceſſary abſence.

7. That the ſame Aſſemblies had a Biſhop, Presbyters and Deacons. For the ſame multitude is to follow the ſame Biſhop, Presbyters and Deacons: And how could one Pariſh follow all the Presbyters of all other Pariſh Churches of a Dioceſs whom they never knew? And it is certain that it was the ſame Church that the Presbytery and Deacons here mentioned had: But Deacons were appropriated only to ſingle Churches, and the people of one Pariſh-Aſſembly, were not to follow or obey the Deacons of all other diſtant Pariſh Churches.

8. And after he ſaith, [Saluto Deo dignum Epiſcopum, & Deo decens Presbyterium, & conſervos meos Diaconos & ſingillatim & communiter omnes.] Which plainly ſignifieth that it was the ſame City Church in Smyrna p. 24that had a Biſhop, Presbytery and Deacons: For the ſcattered Presbyters of many diſtant Pariſhes cannot be meant by the Presbytery which is ſuppoſed preſent with the Biſhop and Deacons.

II. The next in the Florentine Copy is the Epiſtle to Polycarpe, where he ſaith to the Biſhop, [Let not the Widows be neglected: Next after the Lord, be thou the Curator of them: Let nothing be done without thy Sentence: and do thou nothing without God: and what thou doſt let it be well ſtable: Let Congregations be often made: ſeek all by name: deſpiſe not Servants and Maids: ſpeak to my Siſters to love the Lord, and be ſubject in fleſh and ſpirit to their Husbands, and to the men to love their Wives. And the Men that marry, and the Women that are married, muſt make their union with the ſentence of the Biſhop, &c.]

Here it is evident, 1. That it was a Church of which Widows were a part that is here meant: But Widows then were ſpecial parts of particular Pariſh-Churches, and not common to a Dioceſs of many ſuch.

2. It was ſuch a Church where the Biſhop himſelf was to take care of all the Widows, and ſee that they were not neglected: And that could not be done to a Dioceſs of many ſcore or hundred Pariſhes.

3. It was a Church where the Biſhop as preſent could ſee to all that was done.

4. It was a Church that was oft to aſſemble or be congregate: which a Dioceſs never doth: For it is frequent Congregations of the ſame perſons that is here commanded or deſired.

5. It was a Church ſo aſſembled that the Biſhop could by name take an account who was abſent by his own eye: Yea, even of the Servant-men and Maids.

6. And ſuch as the Biſhop could himſelf marry all that were married in it, or at leaſt be their particular Counſellor therein: And exhort all Husbands and Wives to their duties.

7. He after ſaith, [I am of one ſoul with them that are ſubject to the Biſhop, Presbyters and Deacons.] Signifying that theſe three were the preſent Officers of one and the ſame particular Church.

III. The next is the Epiſtle to the Epheſians; where, 1. Pag. 17. he willeth them to love their Biſhop, and all of them to imitate him: which ſuppoſeth that they knew him (and ſo doth not one in an hundred in moſt of our Dioceſſes, nor ever ſee his face.)

2. Pag. 19. He tells them that [They agree in the Sentence of the Biſhop, and ſo doth the worthy Presbytery agree with him, as the ſtrings of a Harp; and therefore in their conſent and conſounding love Jeſus Chriſt is ſung: and they are all made a Chore, that being conſonant in conſent, receiving in unity divine melody, they might with one voice ſing by Jeſus Chriſt to the Father that he may hear them, and know by whom they do good.] Where it is moſt plainly ſignified that it was a Church which ſung to God by Chriſt in one Chore, in unity of concenting voice, under one Biſhop and his Presbytery and Deacons preſent and conducting them.

p. 253. After pag. 20. he praiſeth them for being [conſonant in Unity with the Biſhop, For if any be not within the Altar, he is deprived of the …read of God: For if the prayer of one or two have ſo great force, how much more that which is of the Biſhop and all the Church? He therefore that cometh not to the ſame, is proud and condemneth himſelf. And by how much you ſee the Biſhop ſilent, reverence him the more: for we muſt receive every one that the Lord of the houſe ſendeth, as him that ſent him: you muſt therefore look upon the Biſhop manifeſt (or viſibly preſent) as to the Lord. Oneſimus praiſeth your Divine Order.]

Here it is plain that it was a Church where many, yea all the Church joyned preſentially in prayer with the Biſhop, which a thouſand Pariſhes (nor two) do not.

4. It was a Church where the Biſhop was ſeen by all when he was ſilent; and ſo reverenced for his ſilent preſence.

5. It was a Church, which they that wilfully abſented themſelves from were ſelf-condemned: But a man can be but in one Pariſh at once.

6. It was a Church where they might all ſee foreign, the Biſhop manifeſt, that is, Perſpicuum, viſible.

7. It was a Church where all that had the Sacred Bread were [within the Altar,] that is, the one Sacrarium, or place of communicating in the Euchariſt.

8. And this was their foreign, the Order of their Aſſembly.

After pag. 25. he ſaith [Haſten therefore to aſſemble frequently, for the Euchariſt (or thanksgiving) of God, and for Glory: For when you oft meet for the ſame thing, the powers of Satan are deſtroyed, and his perdition looſed in the concord of your faith.]

9. Here it is plain that it was a Church that uſed to meet together for the Euchariſt; manifeſting therein the concord of the faith of all the Church.

And after pag. 29. he ſaith, [Becauſe they who according to Man, do all by name meet commonly in Grace in one faith, and in Jeſus Chriſt, in your obeying the Biſhop, and Presbytery, with an undivided mind, breaking one bread, &c.]

10. Here it is ſignified that the Biſhop and Presbytery were all preſent as Guides in one Aſſembly, which was that Church which they ſuperviſed.

11. And that it was ſuch a Church that brake one Bread, profeſſing one faith, in preſence, with undivided minds. So plainly doth this Epiſtle decide our controverſie.

IV. The next Epiſtle is Ad Magneſios. In which he ſaith, Canto Eccleſias in quibus Unionem oro Carnis & Spiritus. Union of Fleſh ſignifieth local Communion.

2. Pag. 31. he ſaith, [I am dignified to ſee you by Dama your Biſhop worthy of God, and the worthy Presbyters Baſſus and Apollonius, and my fellow Servant Sotion the Deacon, whom I enjoy becauſe he is ſubject to the Biſhop and Presbytery, &c.]

By which words it is plain that this Church which had a Biſhop, Presbytery and Deacon, was a Parochial Church that had preſential Communion with them, and not as our Dioceſſes.

p. 263. Pag. 33. Having mentioned the Biſhop he ſaith, [Becauſe in the aforeſaid perſons I behold all the multitude, in faith and love I warn you, ſtudy to do all in the concord of God, the Biſhop preſiding in the place of God, and the Presbyters in the ſtead of the Conſeſſion of the Apoſtles, and the Deacons, &c.

Which ſheweth that it was a Church where Biſhop, Presbyters and Deacons ſate together in preſence.

4. And after it's ſaid, [Let there be nothing among you which may divide (or ſeparate) you; but be united to the Biſhop and Preſidents, &c. Which ſheweth the ſame preſent Preſidency as aforeſaid.

5. Pag. 33. He repeateth [without the Biſhop and Presbyters do nothing] which no reaſon can interpret of any Presbyters but the preſent.

So 6. Pag. 34. [Let nothing elſe ſeem reaſonable proper to your ſelves; but one Prayer for the ſame thing, one deprecation, one underſtanding, one hope in love and undefiled joy.]

Which importeth their preſent Communion in Prayer and Profeſſion.

7. He addeth, [All of you run (or meet) together into one Temple of God, as to one Altar.] This needeth only an impartial Reader, and it's plain.

8. And pag. 37. [With your worthily honoured Biſhop, and the worthily Complexe Spiritual Crown of your Presbytery, and the Deacons, &c.] Where no Presbyters are mentioned but the Biſhops Presbytery which ſate about him in the Church, called the Complexe Corona.

9. He addeth ut unio ſit carnalis & ſpiritualis, that is, of preſent bodies and of minds.

V. The next is the Epiſtle to the Philadelphians: where praiſing them for their union with their Biſhop as the ſtrings of a Harp, he ſaith, [Study therefore to uſe one Euchariſt (or Thankſgiving) that is, to joyn all together in the Euchariſtical Communion:) For there is one Fleſh of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and one Cup (that is, which is there Sacramentally repreſented and given) into Union of his Blood, one Altar, and one Biſhop, with the Presbytery and the Deacons my fellow Servants; that what you do, you may do according to God.]

Here one Church is notified in its Unity by theſe marks.

1. That they all joyn in one Aſſembly for the Euchariſt. Which ſignifieth one Body and Blood of Chriſt. 2. And that there be one Altar for this Communion. 3. And one Biſhop. 4. And one Presbytery with his Deacons with him.

But here Biſhop Gunning ſaith, It is not meant of one material Altar.

Anſw. 1. It muſt be noted that (as Maſter Mede and others have obſerved) foreign is uſed in Church Writers for the Chancel, Sacrarium, or place where the Altar ſtood, as well as for the Altar it ſelf: Into which place the Communicants only were admitted; to which form our Chancels are made.

2. And to be intra Altare is uſually meant of being one admitted to that Euchariſtical Communion. 3. And though as we give the Sacrament in private houſes to the ſick, and have Chappels for the weak and diſtant, ſo might ſome great Churches then, and yet have but one Chancel, Altar or place for the p. 27Communion of the whole Church; 4. The expreſs words, and the Context and ſenſe fully ſhew that it is perſonal preſent Communion that is here ſpoken of, and therefore in one place. 5. The common uſe of the word in other Writers, ſheweth it, (as being intra vel extra Altare, and ſetting up Altare contra Altare, that is ſeparated Aſſemblies for ſuch Communion. (6. The moſt learned and famous Expoſitors ſo expound it; ſuch as Maſter Mede before cited, and Arch-Biſhop Uſher and others. 7. The Contradictors can feign no other probable ſenſe. For,

1. If by the Altar they ſay is meant [One Chriſt,] 2. or one Species of Altars, theſe are before confuted, and are palpably falſe. He that is in another part of the World may come to an Altar of the ſame ſpecies, which is nothing to the unity of a particular Church here ſpoken of. 3. If they ſay, It is called one Altar becauſe under one Biſhop, this maketh not many to be one, no more than many Temples. And if tropically it were ſo meant, it would be but a vain repetition, One Biſhop being mentioned beſides. And it is an Altar which the Biſhop with his Presbytery is ſuppoſed to be preſent at, which cannot be All in a Dioceſs called One. Partiality can give no other probable ſenſe.

Object. 1. One Church it is known had many Altars.

Anſw. Not then; no nor long after except at Rome and Alexandria: and then they were but as parts of Chappels, and not of Churches.

Object. 2. It is ſaid alſo, There is one Body of Chriſt and one Cup, which cannot be meant literally.

Anſw. It is well called One agreeably to our preſent ſence: For, 1. It is one and the ſame Bread, though not one piece, which is there preſent, conſecrated and divided to them all; and one Cup or preſent quantity of Wine which is there diſtributed among them. 2. And it is One body and blood or ſacrificed Chriſt, which is in every Church repreſented and offered by One Biſhop at one Altar. This doth but confirm our Expoſition. But what can be ſo plain as to convince the prejudiced and unwilling?

2. Pag. 45. he willeth [``the Church to ſend a Deacon to Antioch as other neighbour Churches ſent Biſhops, and ſome Presbyters and Deacons.] And can any man think that a Dioceſs met to chuſe a Deacon to go on a viſit, or that it was a Dioceſane Biſhop that was ſent by a Dioceſs, yea that all theſe neighbour Churches that ſent them were ſo many Dioceſſes?

VI. The next is the Epiſtle ad Tralleſios. Where he ſaith of the Biſhop that came to him, [That he ſaw all the multitude in him;] that is, the Aſſembly. And as before he bids them, [Do nothing without the Biſhop, and be ſubject to the Presbytery; and that as to the Counſel of God, and Conjunction of Apoſtles] adding, [For without theſe the Church is not called:.] what can be plainer to ſhew that it was a Church that had a preſent Biſhop and Council of Presbyters conjunct, without whom the Church was not lawfully called together? So that every Church had ſuch.

2. And pag. 50. he ſaith again, [Not inflated, but being inſeparable from God, Jeſus Chriſt, and the Biſhop and the Orders of the Apoſtles (that is, the Confeſs of p. 28Presbyters) He that is within the Altar is clean; and he that is without the Altar is not clean; that is, he that doth any thing (in the Church) without the Biſhop, Presbytery and Deacon, is not clean in Conſcience: which plainly ſheweth that every Church-Aſſembly had a guiding Biſhop, Presbytery and miniſtring Deacon.

3. Pag. 52. he ſaith, [I ſalute you from Smyrna with the Churches of God, which are preſent with me:] He had not then the preſence of many Dioceſſes; nor were Biſhops alone uſed then to be called Churches: Therefore they were Church-Aſſemblies which he viſited, and were with him, and about him.

4. Again he repeateth, [Be ſubject to the Biſhop and Presbytery, and love one another with an inſeparable heart.] Which hath the ſenſe aforeſaid.

VII. In the Epiſtle to the Romans, the words of the Church preſiding in locho chori Romanorum is much ſpoken of already by many.

The Epiſtles aſcribed to him have much of the like kind; as Epiſt. ad Tarſenſes, pag. 80. Ad Antiochenos, pag. 86, 87, 88. The Epiſt. ad Heroum Diaconum calleth the Presbyters of Antioch Biſhops who baptize, ſacrifice and impoſe hands.

So Epiſt. ad Philippenſes, pag. 112.

If after all this evidence from Ignatius any will wrangle, let him wrangle: what words can be plain enough for ſuch? And what a blind or blinding practice is it, which too many Writers for Prelacy have uſed? to pretend Ignatius to be for them, who is ſo much and plain againſt them? And to toſs about the name of a Biſhop and Presbytery, as if all that was ſaid for a Parochial Biſhop and Presbytery (that is, in a Church aſſociated for perſonal preſential Communion) were ſpoken for ſuch a Dioceſane Prelacy as putteth down and deſtroyeth all ſuch Churches, Biſhops and Presbyteries.

And what falſhood is it to perſwade the World that we are againſt Epiſcopacy becauſe we would have every Church to have a Biſhop, and would not have all the Churches in England except Dioceſane, to be unchurched and turned into Chappels or Oratories? When yet we refuſe not to ſubmit to more general Overſeers of many Churches, to ſee that the Paſtors do their duty, and counſel and exhort them to it, whether appointed hereto by the Magiſtrate, or the conſent and choice of many Churches.

IV. Juſtin Martyr's Teſtimony is trite, but moſt plain, and not to be evaded. foreign &c. Poſtea fratrum praepoſito panis & poculum offertur—Poſtquam praepoſitus gratias egit totuſque populus fauſta omnia acclamavit; qui inter nos Diaconi vocantur dant unicuique partem panis & calicis diluti, ſuper quos facta eſt gratiarum actio, atque etiam deferre ſinunt abſentibus—Die ſolis urbanorum ac ruſticanorum coetus fiunt, ubi Apoſtolorum prophetarumque literae quoad fieri poteſt praeleguntur: Ceſſant… Lectore Praepoſitus verba facit adhortatoria—Poſthaec conſurgunt omnes & preces off…rimus: quibus finitis profertur panis, vinum & aqua: Tum praepofitus quantum poteſt preces offert, & gratiarum actiones: Plebs vero Amen accin…t. Inde conſecrata diſtribuuntur ſingulis, & abſentibus mittuntur per Diaconos: p. 29Ditiores ſi libeat pro ſua quiſque voluntate conferunt: Collecta deponuntur apud praepoſitum: Is ſubvenit pupillis, viduis, & propter morbum aliamve neceſſitatem egentibus, vinctis quoque & peregrinis, & in ſumma curator fit omnium inopum. Thus Juſtin Apolog. 2. Where he deſcribeth the Church State and Worſhip which we deſire, as plainly as we can ſpeak our ſelves. Note here, 1. That whether the Country-men and Citizens had ſeveral Churches or met in one City Church, it ſheweth that they were but ſingle Congregations. For every Church had a preſent Biſhop: (For Doctor Hammond maintaineth that by the Praepoſitus here is meant the Biſhop, and ſo do others of them.) 2. This Biſhop performed the Offices of the day, every Lord's day, praying, preaching and adminiſtring the Lord's Supper, &c. 3. All the Alms of the Church was committed to the Biſhop at preſent, (and therefore he had not many hundred or any other Churches under him where Presbyters did all receive the Alms.) 4. He was the common Curator of all the Poor, Orphans, Sick, &c. which could not be for more than one of our Pariſhes: (And let the Biſhops take as big a Church as they will do all this for, and ſpare not.) 5. And the Deacons bringing the conſecrated Bread and Wine to the abſent in token of Communion with the ſame Church and Biſhop, ſheweth that there were not under him many other abſent Congregations, that had no other Biſhop of their own: Nor did the Deacon carry it to ſuch Congregations through the Dioceſs. In a word, here is a full deſcription of a Congregational Church and Biſhop.

Saith Maſter Mede before cited, of theſe words, [As the Jews had their Synagogues, ſo perhaps might they have more Oratories than one; though their Altar were but one, there namely where the Biſhop was. Die ſolis omnes, &c. (here he cites theſe words,) Namely as he there tells us, to celebrate and participate of the Holy Euchariſt. Why was this? but becauſe they had not many places to celebrate in.]

V. Tertullian is as plain and full: Apol. c. 39. Corpus ſumus de conſcientia religionis, & diſciplinae unitate, & ſpei foedere: Coimus in Coetum, & Congregationem, ut ad Deum quaſi manu facta precationibus ambiamus orantes—Cogimur ad divinarum literarum commemorationem.—Certe fidem ſanctis vocibus paſcimus: ſpem erigimus, fiduciam figimus, diſciplinam praeceptorum nihilominus inculcationibus denſamus. Ibidem etiam exhortationes, caſtigationes, & cenſura divina. Nam & judicatur magno cum pondere, ut apud certos de Dei conſpectu; ſummumque futuri judicii praejudicium eſt, ſiquis ita deliquerit, ut a Communicatione orationis & Conventus & omnis Sancti Commercii relegatur: Praeſident probati quique Seniores, &c.

And de Corona Milit. cap. 3. Euchariſtiae Sacramentum, & in tempore victus, & omnibus mandatum a domino, etiam antelucanis coetibus; nec de aliorum manu quam praeſidentium ſumimus.

And further, [Aquam adituri itidem, ſed & aliquando prius in Eccleſia ſub antiſtitis manu conteſtamur, nos renunciare Diabolo & pompae & angelis ejus.]

In all theſe words (and many more ſuch in Tertullian) it is evident, 1. That then a Church was a Congregation met for holy Worſhip, and not many hundred p. 30Congregations making one Church primae ordinis. 2. That this Church had ordinarily a Biſhop preſent (not preſent in one Congregation and many hundred without.) 3. That the Biſhop baptized, and took the Confeſſions of the Baptized, and performed the ordinary Worſhip, and adminiſtred the Lords Supper. (Doctor Hammond himſelf maintaineth that it is the Biſhop that Tertullian ſpeaketh of.) 4. That Diſcipline was exerciſed in thoſe Church Aſſemblies, and therefore the Biſhop was preſent.

5. They took the Sacrament from none but the Biſhops hand (ſave that the Deacon diſtributed it as from him) which proveth that the Biſhop was preſent, when ever the Sacrament was adminiſtred. 6. They had theſe Aſſemblies every Lords day. All which ſet together plainly ſheweth that then every Church had a preſent Biſhop, (ordinarily) and was no more than one Congregation, met for ſuch Communion as is deſcribed.

VI. And even in Cyprian's time the alteration was not great: Epiſt. 68.Cyprian in the Separation of Feliciſſ. and ſive Presbyters Epiſt. 44. (ed. Goul) pag. 93. ſaith, [Deus unus & Chriſtus unus & una Eccleſia—Aliud Altare conſtitui, aut Sacerdotium novum ſieri praeter unum Altare & unum Sacerdotium non poteſt. (Edit. Goulart.) p. 201. he ſaith, [Propter quod plebs obſequens praeceptis dominicis & Deum metuens, &c.] i. e. [For which cauſe the people that are obedient to the Lords Commands and fear God, ought to ſeparate themſelves from a ſinful Prelate (or Biſhop) and not to be preſent, at the Sacrifices of a Sacrilegious Prieſt; ſeeing they have the greateſt power either of chuſing worthy Prieſts, or of refuſing the unworthy: which very thing we ſee coming down by Divine Authority, that the Prieſt, the people being preſent, be choſen (or appointed) before the eyes of all, and by the publick judgment and teſtimony be approved worthy and fit. And ſo going on to prove the Divine Right hereof he addeth, which was before done ſo diligently and cautelouſly, the people being all called together, leſt any unworthy perſon ſhould creep into the Miniſtry of the Altar, or the place of Prieſthood. For that the Unworthy are ſometimes ordained, not according to the Will of God, but according to the preſumption of Man; and that theſe things are diſpleaſing to God which come not of legitimate and juſt Ordination, God himſelf doth manifeſt by the Prophet Oſee, ſaying, They made themſelves a King, but not by me: And therefore it is diligently to be obſerved, and held of Divine Tradition and Apoſtolical Obſervation, which with us alſo and almoſt all the Provinces is held, that for the right celebrating of Ordinations, all the next Biſhops of the ſame Province do come together, to that people over whom the Biſhop (or Prelate) is ſet, and that the Biſhop be appointed them, (or aſſigned) the people being preſent who fullyeſt know the life of every one, and have throughly ſeen the act of every ones Converſation: which alſo we ſaw done with you in the Ordination of Sabinus our Colleague, that the Office of a Biſhop was given (or delivered) him, and hands impoſed on him, in the place of Baſilides, by the ſuffrage of the whole Fraternity, and by the judgment of the Biſhops that had met together and had ſent you Letters concerning him.

And before Sect. 4. Deus inſtruit, &c. God inſtructeth and ſheweth that the Ordinations of Prieſts (that is, Biſhops) ought not to be done but under the Conſcience (that is, preſent ſight and conſent) of the aſſiſting people, that the p. 31Laity being preſent, either the crimes of the bad may be detected, or the merits of the good predicated, and that Ordination be juſt and legitimate, which was examined by the ſuffrage and judgment of all.—

The Caſe is ſo plain in Cyprian that Pamelius himſelf is forced thus to confeſs [Non negamus veterem Electionis Epiſcoporum ritum, quo plebe praeſente, immo & ſuffragiis plebis eligi ſolent. Nam in Africa illum obſervatum conſtat ex electione Eradii ſucceſſoris D. Auguſtini de quo extat Epiſtola ejus 120. In Graecia aetate Chryſoſtomi ex lib. 3. de Sacerdot. In Hiſpaniis ex hoc Cypriani loco, & Iſidor. lib. de Officiis. In Galliis ex Epiſt. Celeſtini, p. 2. Romae, exiis quae ſupra diximus Epiſt. ad Antoniam. Ubique etiam alibi ex Epiſt. Leonis 87. Et perduraſſe eam conſuetudinem ad Gregor. 1. uſque ex ejus Epiſtolis; Immo ad tempora uſqu… Caroli & Ludovici Imperat. ex 1. lib. Capitulorum eorundem ſatis conſtat; Verum☜ Plebi ſola ſuffragia conceſſa, non electio quae per ſubſcriptionem fieri ſolet.—Hoc enim potiſſimum tunc agebatur, ut invito plebi non daretur Epiſcopus.—

From hence now the quantity of their Churches may eaſily be gathered. 1. The people muſt be preſent. 2. And this muſt be All the people, the whole Laity of the Church. 3. They give their teſtimony of the life of the ordained. 4. They are ſuppoſed all to know his converſation. 5. This is the common cuſtom of the Churches, in Africa and all other Countries.

Now I leave it to the conſideration of ſober minds how many Churches, or Congregations could do all this? Whether it was many hundred Churches that never ſaw the perſon, nor one another, that were to meet in one Church or place, to do all this? Or rather the Inhabitants of a Vicinity, uſing to aſſemble for Communion, when even our Greater Pariſhes now are more than can thus meet and do all this?

2. Note alſo that when Cyprian impoſeth it on the ſame people that chuſe their Biſhop, alſo to ſeparate from one that is wicked, and not communicate with him in the Sacrament, it is moſt evident to him that is willing to underſtand, that this Biſhop was to be the Teacher of all the people of that Church, and was to adminiſter the Sacrament to them in the Congregation, and they had ordinary communion with him: For how elſe ſhould they be called on to ſeparate from him, in the Sacrifice (as it's called.) Doth he command a thouſand or a hundred diſtant Churches to ſeparate from the Sacrifices of that Biſhop, who never had local Communion with him (unleſs perhaps once in their lives as with a ſtranger.) The Impartial can hardly read theſe words, and not underſtand them.

Two Objections are here made. 1. Obj. All the People is put for all preſent, which is a part.

Anſw. By ſuch interpretations let God or Man ſay what they will, it will ſignifie but what the Reader pleaſe. The Context and many concurrent expreſſions ſhew that (though buſineſs or ſickneſs might hinder ſome Individuals) it was the main body of the Congregation which is called Plebs Univerſa, or elſe it will be nonſenſe.

2. Object. But if the ſame were the cuſtom till the days of Charles and Lodovick, then it could not be all the people, for then it's known that the Dioceſes were larger: Therefore it muſt be but all that belonged to the Cathedral.

p. 32Anſw. 1. Even till their days Chriſtianity had not been received by the whole Cities or Pariſhes, in the greateſt part of the Empire; but (according to the liberty then given when none were forced to be Chriſtians) the Chriſtians were but few in many great Countries. It was long ere they were the greater number of the Inhabitants in France and Flanders; longer in England; and longer in Germany, and Hungary, and Poland; and longer in Sweden and Denmark, &c. 2. That it was no Cathedral Society diſtinct from other Congregations under the ſame Biſhop in Cyprian's time, is moſt evident: There being no ſuch diſtinction intimated, but contrarily all the Biſhops Church or Flock is ſpoken to: And how ſhould one part of the Church come to have a right to chuſe and refuſe the Biſhop more than all the reſt? And in all ordinary Dioceſes it was ſo long after: But it is true that at Rome, Alexandria and the greater Churches, where the cuſtom was continued, and yet the multitude of the people was ſo great that they could not half meet in one place; thoſe that were forwardeſt crowded together, and oft committed Riots and Murders (as at the Election of Damaſus, and others,) till by this, the cuſtom was changed to avoid ſuch tumults; and thoſe that would not be in the Crowd ſtayed at home: And the neareſt Neighbours commonly were they that met.

Object. But do not we ſee that a whole County can meet to chuſe Parliament Men?

Anſw.1. No: It is only the Freeholders who are comparatively but a ſmall part of the County. 2. It is in a Field, or Streets, and not in a Church. 3. It is commonly to judge of their Suffrages by comparing by the eye, the magnitude of the diſtinct Companies when they ſeparate, or elſe by taking their Votes Man by Man in a long time, and not to do all in their hearing, and by their Counſel, as in this Caſe. 4. I have been at great Aſſemblies for ſuch Elections of Parliament, in the Fields; and I never ſaw more together than have heard me preach in one Aſſembly, nor half ſo many as ſome London Pariſhes do contain: much leſs as a Dioceſs.

There is a great deal more in Cyprian to prove the thing in queſtion, Epiſt. 3, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 26, 27, 28, 31, 33, 40. which would be tedious to the Reader ſhould I recite it. A primordio Epiſcopatus mei ſtatuerim nihil ſine conſilio veſtro & ſine conſenſu plebis meae privata ſententia gerere—Prohibeantur offerre, acturi apud nos, & apud confeſſores ipſos, & apud plebem univerſam cauſam ſuam.] Haec ſingulorum tractanda ſit & limanda plenius ratio, non tantum cum Collegis meis, ſed & cum plebe ipſa univerſa.—Vix plebi perſuadeo, immo extorqueo, ut tales patiantur admitti—Secundum veſtra divina ſuffragia, Conjurati & ſcelerati de Eccleſia ſponte ſe pellerent.—] By theſe and many ſuch paſſages it is evident that even the famous Church of Carthage, under that famous Biſhop was no greater than that all Church Affairs might be treated of in the hearing of all the Laity, and managed by their conſent, and the Quality of each Presbyter and Communicant, and their faults fell under the Cognizance of the whole Church; not as Governors, but as intereſſed for their own welfare, as the words declare.

p. 33VII. And here I think I may ſeaſonably cite the Conſtitutions called Apoſtolical; which if not written by Clement, were certainly for the moſt part of them very ancient, as being before Athanaſius who mentioneth them. And the Learned and Sober Albaſpinaeus, Obſerv. Lib. 1. p. 38. ſaith, [De conſtitutionibus iſtis nemini dubium eſſe debet, quin probus iuxta & antiquus liber ſit; certoque affirmare poſſum trecentis primis eo eccleſiam Graecam, tanquam rituali & Pontificali uſam eſſe; Quique eas attente legerit, eadem de illis quae de canonibus judicabit, additas, viz. decurſu temporum primis novas, quemadmodum & novae leges & conſtitutiones in regimine Eccleſiae, novis occaſionibus enatis, factae ſunt.] that though they were not written by Clement or the Apoſtles, yet they were that Summary of Apoſtolical or Chriſtian Diſcipline, which the Greek Churches much uſed for the firſt three hundred years; and that Additions were made by degrees. But I cite them for nothing but the Hiſtory, wherein they are of great account to acquaint us with the ſtate of the Church in thoſe times.

Lib. 2. cap. 18. It is ſaid, that [Omnium Epiſcopus curam habeat, & eorum qui non peccarunt, ut non peccent, & eorum qui in peccatis ſunt, ut peccaſſe poeniteat: ait enim Dominus, Videte ne contemnatis unum ex puſillis iſtis. Item poenitentibus condonare oportet peccata.—Quocirca curam omnium ſuſcipe tanquam rationem de pluribus redditurus: Ac ſanos quidem conſerva, lapſos vero mone, & qui in jejunio premens, leva in remiſſione, & eum qui luxit recipe, cuncta Eccleſia pro eo deprecante, &c.] And much more works he adds: Whereby it appeareth that the Biſhoprick was no greater than that he could take a perſonal care of every member, over the meaneſt, ſound and unſound: And that it was one Aſſembly where all did intercede for the reſtoring of the Penitent.

So cap. 20. opening the Biſhop's duty to the Laity, he repeateth, Omnes monens, omnes increpans, &c. And ibid. Medice ergo Eccleſiae Domini adhibe medicinam cuique aegrotantium convenientem: Omnibus modis cura, ſana, factos ſanos redde Eccleſiae; paſce gregem, non per vim, neque imperioſe, cum ludibrio & deſpectu quaſi dominatum teneas, ſed tanquam bonus paſtor in ſinum ac complexum agnos congrega & oves gravidas hortare.

And it concerneth them to know well what they do, for cap. 2. Scitote quod qui eum, qui injuriam non fecit, ejicit, aut qui ſe convertit non recipit, fratrem ſuum occidit, & ſanguinem ejus fudit, ſicut Cain ſanguinem fratris ſui fudit; cujus ſanguis, qui ad Deum clamat, requiretur.—Similiter eveniet ei qui ab Epiſcopo ſuo ſine iuſta cauſa fuerit excommunicatus: Qui tanquam peſtiferum ejicit eum qui eſt extra culpam, is quidem ſaevior eſt interfectore.—Violentior eſt ipſo homicida qui corpus perimit, is qui innocentem ex eccleſia ejicit.

Et cap. 25. Oportet ut qui in Eccleſia aſſidui ſunt eos Eccleſia aelat (viz. Pontificem, Sacerdotes, Levitas.) where the Aſſembly is the Church which maintaineth the Biſhop and Presbyters.

And cap. 26. It is the Biſhop that to all the Church is, Miniſter Verbi, ſcientiae cuſtos, Mediator Dei & veſtrum in iis quae ad eum colendum pertinent (that is, officiateth in Church Worſhip:) hic eſt magiſter pietatis ac religionis; hic eſt ſecundum Deum pater veſter, qui vos per aquam & Spiritum ſanctum regeneravit, &c. p. 34Epiſcopus igitur vobis praeſideat, ut dignitate Dei cohoneſtatus, qua clerum ſub poteſtate ſua tenet, & toti populo praeeſt, Diaconus vero aſſiſtat huic, &c. So that a Biſhops Church was no greater than that he could be the conſtant Teacher, Guide, Baptizer, &c. of them all.

And cap. 27. All the Oblations were to be brought to the Biſhop himſelf, by themſelves that offered, or by the Deacons. Immo primitias quoque & decimas & quae ſponte offeruntur; is enim probe novit afflictos & cuique tribuit, ut congruit; ne quis eadem die aut eadem hebdom ide bis aut ſaepius accipiat, alius vero nihil penitus. So that the reaſon why all the Offerings, Tythes and Gifts in his whole Dioceſs were brought to the Biſhop himſelf was, becauſe he was well acquainted with all the Poor of his Dioceſs, and was every day to relieve them, and ſee that one did not receive twice the ſame day, or the ſame Week, and another have none. How many hundred Churches think you had a Church then in the Belly of it? and how large was ſuch a Dioceſs?

And cap. 28. In their Love-Feaſts the Biſhop was to have always his ſpecial part of the Feaſt, even ſent him if he were abſent. Sure if his Dioceſs had ſix hundred or a thouſand Pariſhes and as many Feaſts, and ſome of them as far off as I am from the Cathedral Church (about fourſcore Miles) it will coſt more the Carriage of the Biſhop's Supper than it is worth, and it will be cold, and it is well if it ſtink not by the way. And the Presbyters that were all to have a double portion alſo of the Feaſt, are called tanquam Conſiliarii Epiſcopi & Eccleſiae Corona, ſunt enim Conſilium & Senatus Eccleſiae. So that it was but one City Congregation yet that had Biſhops and Presbyters and Deacons, &c.

And in cap. 30. and many Chapters there is mentioned often the Biſhops doing all without any help ſave the Deacons, which would make one think that de facto Doctor Hammond was in the right, and that ſome of the Conſtitutions were written when in moſt Churches there was no Presbyters with the Biſhop but Deacons only.

Cap. 32. If the Deacon knew any to be poor, he muſt tell the Biſhop, and do nothing without him. How large was this Dioceſs? cap. 34. This Biſhop muſt be loved as a Father, feared as a King, honoured as a God, offering him our Fruits and the works of our hands for his Bleſſing; giving him as God's Prieſt our Firſt-fruits, Tythes, First-fruits of Corn, Wine, Oyl, Apples, Wool, and all that God ſhall give us.] Was all this carried him from many hundred Pariſhes, many ſcore Miles?

And cap. 36. The Biſhop's Church was no farther off than that all the Members were to come to it in the morning before they went to any work, and at Evening when they had done. How big was this Dioceſs?

Cap. 44. The Deacon is to be the Biſhop's Eye, and Ear, and Mouth, and to help him, that he may not be overwhelmed with his work: If he had a thouſand ſubject Presbyters, one Deacon's help only would not have been named.

Cap. 56. The Biſhop is to ſee that this Deacon ſpeak Peace to every one that entreth into the Church to worſhip. Which implyeth that he was preſent in the Church.

Cap. 57. The deſcription of a Church Order is, that the Biſhop's Seat be in p. 35the midſt, and that the Presbyters ſit on each ſide of him, and ſo for the reſt. And the Order of Officiating was, [that (the Deacons ſeeing all orderly keep their Seats) the Reader firſt read the old Scriptures, and the Deacon or Presbyters the Goſpels; then that the Presbyters exhort the people, not all at once, but one by one, and laſt of all the Biſhop, &c.] Theſe were then the Churches; where every Altar had a Biſhop.

So cap. 50. Cum doces Epiſcope, jube & mone populum frequent are quotidie Eccleſiam mane & veſpere, ut omnino abeſſe nolit, immo aſſidue conveniat, neque Ullus ſubducendo ſe Eccleſiam mutilam faciat, & a corpore Chriſti unum membrum decerpat: Neque enim de ſolis Sacerdotibus dictum eſt, ſed potius quiſque Laicus, &c. So that a Biſhop's Dioceſs or Church was ſo great, as that no one Lay Member ſhould be abſent Morning or Evening.

Lib. 4. cap. The Biſhop had the particular care of all the Pupils, Widows, Labourers, Weak, Naked, Sick, Virgins, &c. And cap. 5. He is to know well who they be that offer all the Oblations; and is to reject the Oblations of all the Wicked: For cap. 7. Let the Poor have never ſo much …eed, it's better periſh by Famine, than receive anything from the Enemies of God, which may be contumelious to his Friends.]

Lib 8. cap. 4. The Ordering of a Biſhop muſt be (de quo nulla eſt querela; & qui ſit a cuncto populo ex optimis quibuſque electus, quo nominato & placente populus in unum congregatus, una cum Presbyteris & Epiſcopis praeſentibus, die Dominico, conſentiat. Qui vero inter reliquos princeps Epiſcopus, percontetur Epiſcopos & populum, an ipſe ſit quem praeeſſe petunt? &c. So that all the people of the Church came together to chuſe and conſent to the Biſhop: no greater at that time was a Dioceſane Church.

Cap. 12. His peractis dextram & laevam ejus ut diſcipuli Magiſtro aſſiſtant.—This is part of the Common Rubrick (of the beſt and eldeſt Liturgy that I know of recorded by Church Hiſtory) for the celebrating the Sacrament. So that it ſuppoſeth a Biſhop to be then preſent in all Churches that had an Altar and Sacrament. The reſt of the Liturgy, lib. 8. ſuppoſeth ſtill the ſame preſence of the Biſhop. Cap. 35. Congregabis Epiſcope Eccleſiam ad veſperam, &c. It would be too long to recite all the Biſhops part in the ordinary Offices of the Aſſembly. It is hence plain that in thoſe Ages (unleſs it were very few; perhaps only Rome and Alexandria) no Biſhops had more ſtated Aſſemblies or Churches that had Altars, or communicated, than one.

VIII. The Canons called the Apoſtles run juſt in the ſame ſtrain with the Conſtitutions: And though by ſome of them it is apparent that (at leaſt) all of them are not ſo old as many think, (As that which intimateth that Rulers ſet up Clergy-men, &c.) yet they were elder than our Compound Dioceſane Churches. For Can. 5. It is ſaid. [Omnium aliorum primitiae Epiſcopo & Preſbyteris domum mittuntur; non ſuper altare: Manifeſtum eſt autem quod Epiſcopus & Presbyteri inter Diaconos & reliquos Clericos eas dividunt.] By which and many ſuch paſſages it is evident that there was then but one Altar and one Biſhop with his Presbytery and Deacons in a Church, as in p. 36Ignatius's time: and that they all lived on the ſame Altar, together with the reſt of the Gifts of the Church, Vid. & Can. 58.

The Can. 32. ſaith, [Siquis Presbyter contemnens Epiſcopum ſuum, ſeorſim collegerit & altare aliud erexerit, nihil habens quo reprehendat Epiſcopum in cauſa pietatis, aut juſtitiae, deponatur, quaſi principatus amator exiſtens.—Haec autem poſt unam & ſecundam & tertiam Epiſcopi obſecrationem fieri conveniat.] The ſame is in the Can. 5. Concil. Antioch. And to ſet up aliud Altare, & Altare contra Altare is the Phraſe uſed then by many Writers, and Councils, to ſignifie a dividing and ſeparating from the Church, and ſetting up an Antichurch; All which ſheweth that then a Biſhops Church had but one Altar.

IX. Dionyſius (whoever or whenever he wrote) doth ſo deſcribe the Biſhops work as ſheweth that he had but one Church and Presbytery to aſſiſt him. Cap. 4. de Eccleſ. Hier. he tells us that [The Prefect did baptize thoſe that were converted,] and the Presbyters and Deacons did but aſſiſt him: And it is a very long manner of baptizing which he there deſcribeth, and all the Church were called together to it, and joyned in it. And this was in times when the Infidels were to be brought in, and converted, and baptized at Age, where Examinations, Profeſſions and Circumſtances made it ſo long a work, as this alone would have proved his Church to be no greater than aforeſaid: much more with the reſt of the work which he deſcribeth.

X. But Councils give the ſureſt teſtimonies to ſuch matter of fact: Concil. Agath. Can. 4. Siquis etiam extra Parochias, & ubi legitimus eſt ordinariuſque conventus, Oratorium habere voluerit, reliquis feſtivitatibus ut ibi miſſam audiat, propter fatigationem familiae, juſta ordinatione permittimus. Paſcha vero, Natali Domini, Epiphania, Aſcenſione Domini, Pentecoſte, & natali Sancti Johannis Baptiſtae, & ſiqui maxime dies, in feſtivitatibus habentur, non niſi in civitatibus, aut Parochiis audiant. This being decreed ſo late, when Chriſtians were increaſed in the Countries, alloweth them, to avoid wearineſs in travelling with their Families too far, to have Chappels or Oratories in the remote parts of the Country (but ſo that they come all to the City or Pariſh Church on all the greateſt Feſtivals.) Which ſheweth that then the Church was but one Aſſembly which all could joyn in to hear the word.

And that each of theſe City and Pariſh Churches had a Biſhop of their own, is apparent in what followeth, [Can. 30. Benedictionem ſuper plebem in Eccleſia fundere aut poenitentem in Eccleſia benedicere, Presbytero penitus non licebit; that is, [It ſhall not at all be lawful for a Presbyter to pronounce the Bleſſing on the people in the Church, or to bleſs a Penitent in the Church.] Now theſe being (or one at leaſt) performed in every Church Aſſembly, when a Presbyter is forbidden to do them, it is implied that a Biſhop was preſent to do it himſelf: and ſo that every communicating Aſſembly had a Biſhop.

And it's ſaid, Can. 31. Miſſas die Dominico ſecularibus totas audire ſpeciali ordine praecipimus; ita ut ante benedictionem ſacerdotis egredi populus non praeſumat, quod ſi fecerit, ab Epiſcopo publice confundatur. So that there muſt be a daily pronunciation p. 37of the Bleſſing each Lords day, and that not by the Presbyters but the Biſhop, who muſt rebuke them that go out before it; which ſheweth that each Church had a Biſhop.

And after, [Qui ſolemnitatum, id eſt Paſchae & natalis domini vel Pentecoſtes feſtivitatibus, cum Epiſcopis intereſſe neglexerint, quum in civitatibus communionis vel benedictionis accipiendae cauſa poſitos ſe noſſe debeant, triennio communione priventur Eccleſiae.] By which it appeareth that in a City there were no more Chriſtians or Church-members, than could congregate with the Biſhop on the Feſtivals for Communion; when all the neglecters were to be deprived of the Communion for three years.

XI. The Council at Eliberis Baetic. An. 305. had nineteen Biſhops, twenty ſix Presbyters, and the Deacons, & omnis Plebs ſtood by: which intimateth that theſe twenty ſix Presbyters and the Deacons were the main body of the Clergy under the nineteen Biſhops; which was not two Presbyters to a Biſhop: why elſe ſhould the Deacons and all the Laity be there, if not all the Presbyters? And ſuppoſing that Plebs omnis here ſignifie not ſtrictly all the Laity, yet it intimateth that the Churches were no greater than that ſo great a part of their Laity was there, as that Phraſe might be well uſed of; which cannot be of our Compound Dioceſs.

XII. Concil. Gangrenſ. cap. 7. No one was to receive the Oblations of Fruits, and the Firſt-fruits, due to the Church, out of the Church. And cap. 8. None was to receive them but the Biſhop, or he whom the Biſhop appointed. This ſheweth the quantity of the Dioceſs, and that every Church had one Altar and one Biſhop.

XIII. In a Roman Council ſub Silveſt. it's ſaid, [Ab omni Eccleſia eligatur conſecrandus Epiſcopus, nullo de membris Eccleſiae intercedente, & omni Eccleſia conveniente: & nulli Epiſcopo liceat ſine cuncta Eccleſia a noviſſimo gradu uſque ad primum ordinare Neophytum Silveſter Papa dixit, A nobis incipientes moderamine lenitatis judicare, commonemus ut nulli Epiſcopo liceat quemlibet gradum Clerici ordinare aut conſecrare, niſi cum omni adunata Eccleſia, ſi placet: & dixerunt Epiſcopi, placet. What can be more fully ſaid, [Let the Biſhop to be ordained be choſen by all the Church, no one of the Members of the Church being wanting, and all the Church meeting together. Let it be lawful for no Biſhop without the whole Church to ordain.—Not to ordain or conſecrate any degree of Clergy-Man, but with the whole Church together in one. And how great then were the Churches, when even at Rome and all about it, The whole Church united, and every member could meet together at every Ordination and Conſecration? I ſcarce know how a teſtimony can be plainer.

XIV. The Concil. Sardic. which firſt began to befriend the Grandeur of the Roman Biſhop, was it that firſt forbad Biſhops to be ordained in ſmall Villages: yet note that even there it was not abſolutely forbidden to all Villages; but p. 38only to ſuch Villages and ſmall Cities where one Presbyter was enough: But they allowed a Biſhop to the Cities. [Quae Epiſcopos habuerunt, & ſiqua tam populoſa eſt Civitas vel Locus (mark Locus as diſtinct from Civitas) qui mereatur habere Epiſcopum.] So that if there were but people enough for more than one Presbyter, they allowed them a Biſhop.

And Can. 14. It is decreed that, [As no Lay-man muſt be above three Weeks from Church, ſo no Biſhop from his own Church at another place.] Whereas if a Biſhop have many Churches, or many hundred, or a thouſand, he could be but at one in a Year, or two, or three, or more, if he did nothing but travel from pariſh to Pariſh. Only in the next Canon, thoſe that have Farms or Lands in the Country are diſpenſed with for three Weeks to be abſent from their own Churches, ſo they go to another.

XV. In the Epiſtle of the 1. Concil. Nic. ad Eccleſ. Aegypt. (in Crab. pag. 262. T. 1.) Presbyters were to be made, [Solummodo ſivideantur digni, & populus eos elegerit, condecernente ſimul & deſignante maxime Alexandriae Civitatis Epiſcopo.] Still the people that had the choice were no more than could meet to chuſe.

And even in the Arabick Canons aſcribed to this Council by ſome of late it's ſaid, Can. 72. Sic Epiſcopi & Sacerdotes ſi Civitates ſuas & Altaria propter alia majora relinquerent, male facerent; which ſhews that each City even then had but one Altar or Meeting for Sacramental Communion: though when theſe were written, there were other Churches in Villages that had Altars.

And in Piſan. Can. 57. Archi-presbyter in abſentia Epiſcopi honoretur tanquam Epiſcopus, quia eſt loco ejus, & ſit caput Sacerdotum qui ſub poteſtate ejus ſunt in Eccleſia. The Biſhop then was but ſuch a Head of Prieſts in the ſame Church, as an Arch-Presbyter might be in his abſence.

And Cap. 9. The Vote of the whole Dioceſs without the Arch-biſhop ſhall not ſerve to chuſe a Biſhop, though all gathered together.

XVI. The Concil. Vaſenſe granted leave for Presbyters to preach and Deacons to read Homilies in Country Pariſhes, which ſheweth both that Biſhops were the ordinary Preachers to their whole Flocks before, and that theſe Pariſhes were yet but new, and perhaps but Chappels that yet had not Altars and the Lord's Supper.

XVII. Binnius in Concil. Epheſ. 1. To. 2. cap. 20. ſaith, [Dalmatius told the Emperor that there were ſix thouſand Biſhops under the Metropolitan ſent to the Council that were againſt Neſtorius;] And there was a great number on the other ſide with Johan. Antiochen. who caſt out Cyril and Memnon. How great think you were theſe Biſhops Dioceſes?

XVIII. Concil. Carth. 3. cap. 39. & 40. (in Crab) ſome would have had many (twelve) Biſhops at each Biſhop's Ordination; but Aurelius deſired it might be but three, becauſe [Crebro & pene per diem Dominicum ordinationes habemus,] they p. 39had Ordinations almoſt every Lord's day, and Tripoli had but five Biſhops. How big were theſe Dioceſes where the Biſhops could meet almoſt every Lord's day for Ordinations; and five under Tripoly was an exceeding ſmall number.

And cap. 40. If a Biſhop were accuſed at his Ordination, the Cauſe was to be tried, In eadem plebe cui ordinandus eſt; And ſurely it was not to be in many hundred Congregations at once or per vices.

XIX. Concil. Antioch. (before this) Can. 5. (pag. 321. in Crab) Siquis Presbyter aut Diaconus Epiſcopum proprium contemnens, ſe ab Eccleſia ſegregaverit & ſeorſum colligens Altare conſtituit (vel in ſecunda edit. & privatim apud ſe collectis populis Altare erigere auſus fuerit, &c.) This ſheweth, 1. That the Presbyters then joyned with the Biſhop in the ſame Church. 2. And that then each Church had but one Altar, and to erect another Altar elſewhere, was to ſet up another Church.

Can. 8. Presbyteri qui ſunt in agris Canonicas Epiſtolas dare non poſſunt—Chorepiſcopi autem—dare poſſunt—This ſheweth that then the Country Villages had Chorepiſcopos with Presbyters.

Can. 10 Qui in vicis vel poſſiſſionibus Chorepiſcopi nominantur quamvis manus impoſitionem Epiſcoporum perceperint, & ut Epiſcopi conſecrati ſint, tamen Sanctae Synodo placuit, ut modum proprium recognoſcant, ut gubernent ſibi ſubjectas Eccleſias earumque moderamine curaque contenti ſint. This ſheweth that then the Churches in Villages had their Biſhops, though under the City Biſhops.

Can. 16. A Biſhop that put himſelf into a vacant Church without the conſent of a perfect Council, where muſt be the Metropolitane, muſt be caſt out, etſi cunctus populus quem diripuit eum habere delegerit: which ſheweth that the whole people were no more than could meet to chuſe him.

Can. 17, 18, 21. imply the ſame; Epiſcopus ab alia Parochia non migret ad aliam, nec ſponte ſua inſiliens, nec vi coactus a populo, nec ab Epiſcopis neceſſitate compulſus: Maneat autem in Eccleſia quam primitus adeo ſortitus eſt. A Church and a Pariſh are here the ſame; and no greater than that the people could be the compellers, which implieth their concurrence, which could not be in a Dioceſs of many hundred Churches; but in one only.

Can. 23. The Goods of the Church are faithfully to be kept: which alſo are to be diſpenſed by the Judgment and Power of the Biſhop, to whom is committed the people, and the ſouls that are congregated in the Church: and it's manifeſt what things belong to the Church, with the knowledge of the Presbyters and Deacons that are about him, who cannot but know what are the Church Goods, &c. Here 1. The Church contained only the ſouls that were congregated in it, and not many Congregations. 2. All the Church Goods were known to the Presbyters and Deacons, ſo that the Biſhop did diſpoſe of them while he lived, but could alienate none at his death: which ſheweth that it was but one Church or Congregation, where the Biſhop and Presbyters joyned in the Miniſtry.

p. 40Cap. 25. hath the ſame Evidence: The Biſhop diſpenſeth all the Goods and Lands of the Church, to all that need, but muſt not appropriate them to his Kindred, &c. but uſe them by the conſent of his Presbyters and Deacons.

XX. Concil. Carthag. 4. cap. 14. The Biſhop's dwelling was to be near the Church. (But if he had many Churches, they would have told which.) Can. 17. The Biſhop was to exerciſe the care of Government of Widows, Orphans, and Strangers by his Arch-Presbyter and Arch-Deacon (which ſheweth that they had not many Churches; where each appropriate Presbyter and Deacons did it.)

Can. 22. The Peoples conſent and teſtimony was neceſſary to every Clerk ordained: (which ſheweth how large the Churches or People were.)

Can. 35. The Biſhop is ordered to ſit above the Presbyters in the Church, and in their Conſeſs; but at home to know himſelf to be their Colleague: which ſheweth that they were all belonging to one Church, and not to many far from each other.

XXI. Concil. Laodic. Presbyters muſt not go into the Church (or Sacrarium as the other Ed.) before the Biſhop, nor ſit in the Seats, but muſt go in with the Biſhop, or ſit in lower Seats (till he comes.) Which ſheweth that they were all in one Church. And if there had been many Churches diſtant where there were no Biſhops but Presbyters only, it's like that Caſe would have been excepted, as well as is the Caſe of the Biſhop's [Sickneſs and Peregrination.] See Binnius three Verſions, To. 1. pag. 292. and Crab's two Vol. 1. pag. 310.

Can. 28. Forbidding the Agapae, or Church Feaſts to be made in the Church, implieth that other Houſes could contain the Church Members. And Can. 58. Forbidding Oblationes fieri vel celebrari in domibus ab Epiſcopis vel Presbyteris, doth ſhew that till they built Chappels there was but one Congregation in a City, which was where the Biſhop was.

XXII. Decretum Innocent. 1. P. Rom. (in Crab, Vol. 1. pag. 453.) Dicit, De conſignandis infantibus manifeſtum eſt non ab alio, quam ab Epiſcopis fieri licere: Nam Presbyteri licet ſint Sacerdotes, Pontificatus tamen apicem non habent, &c. And for how many one Biſhop can do this with all his other work alſo, you may judge.

XXIII. (To look back,) Concil. Carthag. 2. Can 3. decreeth, [Chriſmatis confectio, & puellarum conſecratio a Presbyteris non fiant: Vel reconciliare quenquam in publica miſſa, Presbytero non licere.] (Crab. pag. 424.) But this being an ordinary publick work, this ſuppoſeth the Biſhop ſtill preſent in every Church to do it, and to have a Church no more numerous than he could do it for: whereas if Diſcipline were but moderately exerciſed according to the ancient Canons, there could not be fewer than many hundreds in a day for the Biſhop either to excommunicate or abſolve in this Dioceſs where I live, Leg. Albaſpin. Not. pag. 268. And the fourth Can. fortifieth this by this exception, Si quiſquam p. 41in periculo fuerit conſtitutus & ſe reconciliari divinis altaribus petierit, ſi Epiſcopus abſens fuerit, debet utique Presbyter conſulere Epiſcopum, & ſic periclitantem cum praecepto reconciliare. Where note that reconciliari altaribus is the Phraſe for being reconciled to the Churches: And that no Presbyter might do it but in caſe of the perſons danger, the Biſhops abſence, and with the Biſhops Command: Which ſtill ſheweth that the Biſhop was uſually preſent. And as Albaſpineus noteth, a Presbyter might not do it for a dying Man, till he had conſulted the Biſhop, and told him all the caſe, and had his Command: Which ſuppoſeth him near (for the man may be dead before our Miniſters can ride to the Biſhop and have his Commiſſion) and ſuppoſeth the Church to be but ſmall.

XXIV. To make ſhort, and leave no place for doubting, I will joyn ſeveral Canons which decree that [No Man ſhall be a Clerk to two Churches, nor an Abbot to two Monaſteries, nor a Biſhop to two Cities or Churches.]

So Concil. Oecumen. Nic. 2. Can. 15. (in Bin. pag. 394.) Clericus ab hoc deinceps tempore, in duabus Eccleſiis non collocetur. Ab ipſa enim domini voce audivimus, non poſſe quenquam duobus dominis ſervire.

And Concil. Chalcedon. Can. 10. juxta Dionyſ. Non licet Clericum conſcribi in duabus ſimul Eccleſiis. And though then the Can. 17. ſheweth that there were Singularum Eccleſiarum Ruſticae Parochiae vel poſſeſſiones, yet theſe were but like our Chappels, and not called Churches, but only the Biſhop's Church. And if the Secular Power made any place a City, it was thereupon to follow the Secular Order. So of Abbots, Concil. Venet. Can. 8. (in Crab, pag. 948.) no one was to have two Monaſteries; Vid. Concil. Agath. Can. 38.

And Photius & Balſamon Nomocan. Tit. 1. cap. 20. pag. 21. Ne in una Provincia duo Metropolitani, aut in una Civitate duo Epiſcopi, aut in duabus Civitatibus unus Clericus—Neque in duabus Civitatibus quis poteſt eſſe Epiſcopus.] Excepting only (even then) Epiſcopum Tomenſem: Ille enim reliquarum Eccleſiarum Scythiae curam gerit, (Becauſe the Chriſtians were few, and from under the Roman Power.) [Et Leontopolis Iſauriae ſub Epiſcopo Iſauropolis eſt] He addeth, [Porro 35 Conſt. tit. 3. l. 1. Cod. c. 3. &c. ait, [Eum qui quamcunque veterem aut recens conditam civitatem, proprii Epiſcopatus jure, aliove privilegio privat, tametſi Principis permiſſu id faciat, infamia notat, mulctatque bonis conſtitutio; ac ſimul inceptum irritum facit.] So that no City new or old might be deprived of its Privilege of having a Biſhop. Now ſeeing Corporations and Market Towns are in the old ſenſe Cities, and ſeeing Pariſh Churches ſuch as ours are true Churches (as Communities) how many Cities, and how many hundred Churches have many Biſhops now? He addeth, Can. 15. …onc. 7. and ſaith [Si non permittitur cuiquam in duabus Eccleſiis Clericum fieri, multo magis praeſul duo Monaſteria non moderabitur; Quemadmodum neque unum caput duo corpora. Therefore by parity of reaſon much leſs ſhould one Church-man or Biſhop be the head of many hundred or a thouſand Bodies, without any ſubordinate Head or Biſhop under him. Why may not an Abbot as well rule a thouſand Monaſteries, per alios non Abbates, as a Biſhop a thouſand Churches per alios non Epiſcop…s?