METROPOLITAN POWER OF HUMAN ORIGIN. 209 Peter at first, as they say, sat bishop for seven years, be postponed to Alexandria? Especially, why should the church of Jerusalem, " the seat of our Lord himself, the mother of all churches,' the fountain of Christian doctrine, the first consistory of the apostles, ennobled by so many glorious performances; by the life, preaching, miracles, death, burial, resurrection, ascension of our Saviour; by the first preaching of the apostles, the effusion of the Holy Spirit, the conversion of so many people, and constitutionof the first church, and celebration of the first synod ;'upon these considerations, [why should it] not obtain pre-eminence to other churches, but in honour be cast behind divers others, and as to power be subjected to Cæsarea, the metropolis of Palestine? The true reason of this even Baronius himself saw and acknow- ledged; " for," says he, "that the ancients observed no other rule in instituting the ecclesiastical sees than the division of provinces, and the prerogative before established by the Romans, there are very many examples."' Of which examples that of Rome is the most obvious and notable; and what he so generally asserts may be so applied thereto, as to void all other grounds of its pre-eminence. X. The truth is, all ecclesiastical presidencies and subordinations, or dependencies of some bishops on others in administration of spiritual affairs, were introduced merely by human ordinance, and established by law or custom, upon prudential accounts, ac- cording to the exigency of things. Hence the prerogatives of other sees proceeded; and hereto whatever dignity, privilege, or autho- rity the pope with equity might at any time claim is to be im- puted. To clear which point we will search the matter nearer the quick, propounding some observations concerning the ancient forms of dis- cipline, and considering what interest the pope had therein. At first each church was settled apart under its own bishop and presbyters, so as independently and separately to manage its own concernments; each was arox'scpaaos and aúróvo¡.toç, " governed by its own head, and bad its own laws." Every bishop, as a prince in his own church, acted freely, according to his will and discretion, with the advice of his ecclesiastical senate, and with the consent of his tuta, tarnen quoniam prsefectura Alexandrina Augustalis dicta ... longe preestabat Syriee preefecturse, &c. Baron., anm 39, § 10. Epiph. Synod. Constant. ibid. Tñ, óé y, ptyrfds ásraoZv Tg,v ÉkkXv)olZv h ltpoou- 2 Optat. L 6, p. 169; Hier., Ep. lxi. ; Conc. Nic., can. vii. 3 Majores enim in instituendis sedibus ecclesiarum non aliam m u sse rationem, quota secundum divisionem provinciarum, et prserogativas a Romanos antes stabilitas, qua= plurima sunt exempla. Id, aid. VOL. I. 14
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