fome of each of them might be prefent at the Councils he there referrs to. And, First, In the great Council of Antioch, which condemn'd Paulus Samofatenus, there were prefent (fays he) Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons, and * the Churches of God; (by their Lay-Reprefentatives, as he explains it) because, in the Synodical Epistle which the Fathers of that Council fent to the Chriftian Churches abroad, (after the Council was over) they fent the joint Salutation of all of them, together with their own. And, Secondly, When the Herefy of the Montanists was fix'd and preach'd, the Faithful in Afia (fays an Anonymous Author in Eufebius) met together feveral Times to examine it; and, upon Examina tion, condemn'd it. The Argument from the former of these Authorities is plainly no more than this: There were, probably, prefent in that Council of Antioch, fome of all thofe Orders of Men; therefore they were all there as proper Members of the Council. Now, to be really prefent in any Court or Council, and to have a Right of Membership and Seffion there, are, doubtless, very Different things. And, to judge aright where this Difference lies in the prefent Cafe before us, let thefe few Particulars be confider'd : First, That Bishops were so absolutely neceffary and effential Members of the Primitive Councils, *Eng. P. 143. Ex Epift. Synod. Apud Eufeb. 1. 7. e. 30. + Eng. Ib. Councils, that a Convention of Bifhops and a Pri mitive Council, in the familiar Language of the Ancients were convertible Terms. And this our learned Enquirer is very fenfible of, who * tells us, (from Eufebius) that Polycrates prefided over a Synod of Bishops, which was no other than the great Council of Afia affembled about the Controverfy of keeping Eafter: And, in another place he says, Privatus, Bishop of Lambefe, was depofed by a Synod of ninety Bishops. Ia both which Places, 'tis manifeft, a Convention, or Synod of Bifhops, and a Primitive Council, were one and the fame thing; and 'twere endlefs to produce Inftances of this Kind. The Ancients, therefore, bear fufficient Witness, that Bishops were neceflary (at least, if not the only) Members of a Primitive Council. Whereas, Secondly, No Paffage in Antiquity (I have ever heard of) affirms fo much (in either refpect) either of Presbyters, Deacons, or People, how often foever we may hear of them, as being prefent at them; nor do I think our diligent Enquirer could have overlook'd it, had there been any fuch Paffage to be found; and fure it is, he offers no fuch thing. This exprefs Evidence, therefore, of Antiquity on the one Side, and entire Silence on the other, gives a fair Occafion to distinguish who were neceffarily prefent, and who occafionally, or prudentially call'd thither; especially, if we confider in the third and laft place, Thirdly, Enq. p. 145. Eufeb. Eccl. Hift. 1. 5. c. 23, 24. Thirdly, That whofoever were prefent in any Primitive Council, the whole Right of Vote, or Suffrage, in paffing any Acts or Canons there, was peculiar to the Bishops alone. And this our learned Enquirer has made clear to my Hand in one of the most eminent Inftances, which the Writings of the Ancients can afford us: For, in the Page juft before referr'd to, he tells us, The Office and Duty of a Moderator in a Synod was (amongst other Things) to take the Votes and Suffrages of the Members of the Synod; and last of all, to give his own, as is evident (fays he) in the Proceedings of the Council of Carthage, which are extant at the End of S. Cyprian's Works. Cyprian, being Moderator, fums up all, telling the Synod what they had heard; and that nothing more re main'd to be done, but the Declaration of their Judgment thereupon: Accordingly the Bishops gave their respective Votes and Decifions; and last of all, Cyprian, as Prefident, gave in his. In this Account you find, Firft, That S. Cyprian, as Moderator, took the Votes and Suffrages of the Members of that Council; and if S. Cyprian's own Authority may be taken, they were Bishops only, whofe Votes and Suffrages he took there, and therefore BiShops only (in the Enquirer's Account) were Members of it. The Proceedings of the Council, at the End of S. Cyprian's Works, (which this Author appeals to) manifeftly prove as much, Eng. p. 145, much. At the Opening of the Council, (we find there) fome few learned Letters were read, containing the full Senfe and Subftance of the Controversy they met about, (as any one who pleases to peruse them will quickly fee.) As foon as thofe Letters were read, S. Cyprian, the Moderator, addreffes to his Fellow-Bishops to this Effect: You have heard, my beloved Collegues, (fays he) what has been written on one side and t'other. And now what remains, is only this, that each of us [the Bishops here prefent, for fo the Context obliges us to read it] do give in our refpective Votes and Suffrages, or declare our Opinions in the Cafe, which accordingly the Bishops there present immediately did, being in Number 87; and their Suffrages alone (fo obtain'd and given, as I have fhewn you now) are recorded by S. Cyprian himself, as the Whole of that Council. And what room is left here, for any one Order of Men, there prefent, to have any Part or Intereft in it, befides the Bishops only? Nor does our Enquirer's own Representation of it imply less than this. S. Cyprian (fays he) in fumming up all, told the Synod what they had heard, and call'd upon them, (that is, upon the Synod again) to declare their Judgment; and how did +Cum in unum conveniffent, & lectæ effent literæ, Cyprianus dixit; Audiftis, collega dile&tiffimi, quid mihi Jubaianus Co-epifcopus nofter fcripferit, & quid ego ei refcripferim lectæ funt vobis & aliæ Jubaiani literæ fupereft, ut de hac re, finguli quid fentiamus, proferamus. Cypr. in Exord. Conc. Cartbag. A. D. did this Synod (which were furely all the Mem bers of it) declare their Judgment in the Cafe? Why, the Bishops accordingly (fays he) gave their refpective Votes and Decifions, and laft of all Cyprian gave in his. Can any thing be clearer, than that the Bishops alone are own'd in this Account to be the whole Synod, to whom alone their Prefident apply'd himself for Votes, and that no others gave in any? And if this eminent Council (which I may justly call the brightest Precedent of Primitive Synods, within the times prefcribed by the Exquiry) had Presbyters, Deacons, and a great Part of the People prefent at it, and yet the Bifhops only were addrefs'd to under the Name and Title of the Synod, had the fole Right of Suffrage, and determin'd all there; what would our learned Author gather more from * Ense bins's Account of the Council at Antioch, which condemned Paulus Samofatenus, supposing that Hiftorian had plainly faid, that all thofe Orders of Men were prefent there alfo, both at the Time of Debate, and when the Sentence pafs'd too? Why should we think they proceeded otherwise there, than the Practice of Synods in thofe Times appears to have been, by the evident Example of S. Cyprian's Council now mention'd? The Reason of the Thing itself muft incline us to believe they did not, and no particular Reason is offer'd to make us think otherwise. Tho', after all, the Quotation from Eufebins, wherein the Churches in general Terms (as well as Bifhops, Presbyters, and Deacons) are named, * Eufeb. H, E. 1. 7. c. 30 is |