ro8 Ofth~ Right andPdwer. - __ .. This then may fcrve, for the cu!l:ome of GoDs owne eleCt people.~ were!ewes, and wee would be loth, to Iudaiu: and it may b.ee, this was 00 ther. Ephef.us. daufes ofrhe Law of Commandements, conlifiing of OrdinAnces which c 11 eofth~. came ro abrogate. · ~ I s"'·· ~hepr4Efict or ufe of this l")owcr 11mong Cbrijli«.ns. I demand therefore,when CuRt s -r came, howwasittheni wilhhelik .· p_eare in theAjfemblies fince C u R ' • T ~ The very like, every way, as confona~~i' ~hatofthe Old Tefiament, as maybe. For C llll r s -r (Matth, XVIII.) iv ·H 0 · promife ofHis affifiance to ~uch meetings: but fers no new order for calling ;f t~~ma , other than had beenetakenmrhe Old. Therefore rhe fame order tdbekeptfiill "' _ A rime there was(youkna.w) after C a .. r s -r;when they were Infidels. K" • · ' and Kingdomes both. A time there followed, whea Kings receivedReligi;n • 10 gd ~ no_fooner receiv~d they it,bm rhey rece~ved this Power ofthe Tr~mpets with ir. T~~s ~ to be made mamfefi. I, By Gentrall Cotmcels. z; By ~tzonallandPrevinci.ft Councels; that havebeeneajfembled, 3• under Emperours, 4• and under Kings by · the fpace ofmany hundred yeares. · ' In Gmra/J I And for General/ Councels, this firfi (to begin with : ) that ifthofeAffimM' · councels. be_ nor rightly called, that by this Power are called; we have!oft all our GeneraU eo:: eels at o~e blo~. "!'he chur~hof CH R Is -r hath to this day, neveraGeneral/ c 6 u'iL ' ceiJ: Vna !ttura, w1th onewtpe, weda~ them our all : weleavenevenrone, no not one. For, all that ever h~v.e beene, have be~ethus called and kept• Yea, thofe fom·e firfi, whtch all Chn(hans have ever had m fo great reverence arid high ent. 1 matioil; not one ofthem a lawful! Counce!l, if this new alfenion take ~lace. This is . a perillous inconvenience: yerthis we mull: yeeld to, and more than rhis 5 ifwef~ke to difable<.AJfemblies, fo holden. For fure it is, all the Gener~tllCOttncehwere thus . a!Jen~bled, all ; all {even (for more are not tobereckoned :the eighth was ooely for ·'· a pnvate ·bulinelfe.) The re!l: were onely of the Wrjl Church alone, and fo n&:· . Genera!l.: The Eaft andWrjl together, makea GencrAil: TheEAP and Wejltogether ·, neV~:rmet, but in one oftbofe feven, for publike affaires: unlelfeit were once after, ·, inthat of Ferrar11. . . , . Aod it is well knowne, that was in hope of helpe, on theE'!ft Ch11rches part; , whtch they nev:r had; and fo the €ounce/Jnever kepr,but broken, even as foone as it .•· was broken up. . . . Briefly then to furvey thofe feven. And I will not therein alleage the reports of Stories (they write things they fawnot, many times, andfo frame matters to their own conceits; and many times are tainted with a partiall humour :) bur onely,out of authenricall Records in them, and out of the very acts oftheCouncelsthemfelv.e§> c-l bdl able to tefiifieand tell,by whofe authority they cametogether. And it is happy for the church of C Ha. r s 1", there are fo many of them extant as there are, tll guideus to the truth in this point, that fo the right may appeare. •i Firfi then, for the great NiceneCoNnce/1, the firft GenerAl/ CongregAtionofall that ·were called in the Chrifiian world : The wholeCouncell in their Synodicall Epiille :;;u""f'7'i~•. written to the Church ofAle:-:andri~,wicnelfc,they were alfembled (the holy Empe. ::.': ~~!~:;:~· rour Co11jlantinegathering rhem together out ofdivers Cities and Provinces.? -The Kov:«•7"'"""'whole letter is extant upon record inSocrAtes, _x. g. andTheodoret, I ,9; Gtvemee ~·?.·~·7:Jll;f leave.to make h~rca little fiand :For h.cre, at thts Cotmcell, was the pale firfi brokea, ;~:~::0·~,; and rhe right Cifany fuch were) here, it went firft away. At Z{ice there were then to· '!)'""f)!$-,, gether, three hundredAndeigbteeneBiihops, totifu orbisLumina(as Viflorilltnwell te~- ·merh them) the Lights of the wholeworld; rhe chiefeft and choicefimenfor hoh~ nelfe,learning,verrue and valour, that thechriflian Religionever had ~eforeor fince: Men that had laid downe their lives for the teilimony ofthe.truth: Dtd any ofthem rej11{e to come, being called by him, as not\:alled aright -~ O'r;coro~ing, was there any one ofthem that didprotefl again!l:it ~ or pleaded the ch11rches mterefi, to meet ofthemfelvu ?Not one. . . o· . What was it then~want of skill, in fo many famous men, that knewaotthetr owne rights~ Or want of v.J4ur;that knowing it forf11ch, wouldAotfomuchas · · fpeo~ke
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