This antiquity is now of eleven or twelve hundred years' standing: and the ruins of it are now only left us in the books of the writers of that period; which have indeed met with none of the best treatment in their passage through the several ages down to our time; as we have before shewn. How then can we entertain the least hope that, amidst this so great confusion, we should be able yet to distinguish the remains, and to tell which of them honoured the public temple, and which went to the furnishing of private chapels only? especially considering that the private ones have each of them ambitiously endeavoured to make their own pass for public. For where is the province, or the city, or the doctor, that has not boasted of his own opinions and observations as apostolical? and not used his utmost endeavours to gain them the repute of being universal? St. Hierome allows every particular province full liberty to do herein as it pleases. "Let every province (says he) abound in its own sense, and hold the ordinances of their ancestors as apostolical laws."

It is true indeed, that Hierome speaks in this place only of certain observations of things which are in themselves indifferent. But yet, that which he has permitted them in these matters, they have practised in all others. I shall not here trouble myself to produce any other reasons, to prove the difficulty of this inquiry, because I should then be forced to repeat a great part of that which has been already noticed.

If it be a very difficult matter to attain to any certain knowledge what the sense of the writings of the Fathers is, as we have proved before, how much more difficult a thing will it be, to discover whether their opinions were those of the particular Churches wherein they lived, or else were the opinions of the Church Universal in their age; the same things which cause obscurity in the one having as much or rather more reason for doing the like in the other. And if you would fully understand how painful an undertaking this is, only read the dispu

* Unaquæque provincia abundet in sensu suo, et præcepta majorum leges apostolicas arbitretur.- Hieron. ep. 28, ad Lucinum.

tations of the learned of both parties on this point; where you will meet with so many doubts and contradictions, and such diversity of opinions, that you will easily conclude, that this is one of the greatest difficulties to be met with throughout the whole study of antiquity.

CHAPTER XI.

REASON XI.-THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE

TO KNOW EX

ACTLY WHAT HAS BEEN THE BELIEF OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH, EITHER UNIVERSAL OR PARTICULAR, AS TO ANY OF THOSE POINTS WHICH ARE AT THIS DAY CONTROVERTED AMONGST US.

BEFORE we proceed to the Second Part of this treatise, it may not be irrelevant to give the reader this last advice, and let him know that, though all these difficulties before represented were removed, it would still be impossible for us to know certainly, out of the Fathers, what the judgment of the whole ancient Church, whether the Church Universal, or only a considerable portion of it, has been, as regards the differences which are now agitated in religion.

Now that we may be able to make the truth of this proposition appear, it is necessary that we should first of all explain the terms.

We understand commonly by the Church, (especially in these disputations) either all those persons in general who profess themselves to be of the said Church, of what condition or quality soever they be; or else, in a stricter sense, the collective body of all those who are set over, and who are representatives of the Church; that is to say, the Clergy. So that whether you speak of the Church Universal, or of some particular Church— as, for example, that of Spain, or of Carthage--this term may be taken in either of these two senses. By the Church Universal we understand either all those persons in general, who live in the communion of the Christian Church, whether they be of the laity or of the clergy; or else those persons only who are Ecclesiastici, or church-men, as we now call them. For in the primitive times, all Christians that lived in the communion of the Catholics were called Ecclesiastici. In like manner, by

the Church of Carthage is meant, either generally, all the Faithful that live in the particular communion of the Christian Church of Carthage; or else particularly, and in a stricter sense, the bishop of Carthage, with his whole clergy.

Now I do not believe that there is any man, but will easily grant me, that if we take the Church in the first sense, it is impossible to know, by way of testimony given of the same, what the sense and judgment of it have been in each distinct age, as to all the points of the Christian religion. We may indeed collect, by way of discourse, what has been the belief of the true members of the Church. For there being some certain articles, the belief of which is necessarily requisite for the rendering a man such; whosoever rightly understands which these articles are, may certainly conclude that the true Church, whether universal or particular, has believed the same. But now, in the first place, this does not extend to all the points of the Christian religion, but only to those which are necessary: besides which there are various others, concerning which we may have not only different but even contrary judgments; and yet not thereby hazard the loss either of the communion of the Church, or of our inheritance of everlasting salvation. But this reasoning applies only to those who are the true members of the Church. As for those who make but an outward profession of the truth, it being not at all necessary that they should be saved, there is in like manner no more necessity for their embracing those beliefs which are requisite for that end. They may, under this mask, hide all kind of opinions, however impious they are. Lastly, that which makes most for our purpose is, that this knowledge is acquired by discourse; whereas we speak here of such a knowledge as is collected by the hearing of several witnesses, who give in their testimonies as to the thing which we would ascertain. Now the Fathers having written with a pur pose of informing us, not what each particular man believed in their time, but rather what they thought fit that all men should have believed, we must needs conclude that certainly they have not told us all that they knew on this particular. And therefore partly their charity and partly their prudence may have caused them

to pass by in silence all such opinions, either of whole companies, or of particular persons, as they conceived to be not so consonant to the truth. But supposing that they had not any of these considerations, and that they had taken upon them to give us a just account, each man of the opinions of his particular church wherein he lived; it is evident, however, that they could never have been able to have attained to the end of their design. For how is it possible that they should have been able to have learnt what the opinion of every single person was, amongst so vast a multitude, which consisted of so many several persons, who were of such different capacities and dispositions? Who will believe that St. Cyprian, for example, knew all the several opinions of each particular person in his diocese, so as to be able to give us an account of the same? who can imagine, but that among such a multitude of people as lived in the communion of his church, there must needs have been very many who differed in opinion from him, on divers points of religion? Even at this very day, that we may not trouble ourselves to look so high, we see by experience, that there is scarcely that parish to be found, however small, where there are not particular persons that maintain, in many points of religion, opinions different from those of their minister. But if we take a whole diocese together, and pass by all those who trouble themselves not at all with the difference of opinions in religion, whether it be by reason of their want of years, or their weakness of judgment, or their malice; and take notice only of the rest, dividing them according to the difference of their opinions; I am persuaded that that part which shall agree in all points with the bishop of that diocese, will many times be found to be the least. Let a bishop preach or write what he will, on the points which are now in controversy, he will scarcely represent unto you the opinions of half the people of his diocese.

Now we must conceive that the temper of the world of old was no other than what it is at this present day; and therefore, for this very reason, the liberty of embracing what opinions a man pleased was much greater then than it is now; insomuch as the Church of Rome did not exercise its power then throughout Christendom