PRIMITIVE MODE OF ORDINATION. 289 clergymen, he deemed the greaterconsent of Christians and the cus- tom of the church was to be followed. "' So Celestine I.: " Let no bishop be given them against their wills; let the consent and will of the clergy, the people, and the order be demanded. "' And PopeLeo I. : " When there shall be an election of a bishop, let himbe preferred who has the unanimous consent of the clergy and people, so that if the votes be divided, andpart for an- other person, let him,. by the judgment of the metropolitan, be pre- ferred whose merits and interest are greatest; only, let none be ordained against their will or without their desire, lest the unwilling people contemn or hate a bishop whom they never desired, and become less religious than they should be, because they could not have such a bishop as they desired."a And in other of his epistles:. "There is no reason that they should be accounted bishops who were neither chosen by the clergy nor desired by the people, nor with the metropolitan's order consecrated by the provincial bi- shops,' &c. " Certainly let thewishes of the citizens, and the tes- timonies of the people be waited for, and let the judgment of the honourable be sought, and the choice of the clergy; which in the ordinations of priests use to be observed by those who knew the rules of the fathers."' "Peaceably, and with such harmony as God loves, he who is to be a teacher of peace is ordained by the agreement of all."' "Let priests who are to be ordained be peaceably and quietly petitioned; let the subscription of the clergy, the testimony of the honourable, the consent of the order and people, be attended to; let him who is to preside over all be chosen by all."' And Pope Nicholas I.: " We know the custom of your royal city, that none can arrive at the summit of hierarchical power In ordinandis vero sacerdotibus et clericis consensum majorem Christianorum, et consuetudinem ecclesire sequendam esse arbitrabatur._Posid. in Aug. Vit., cap. xx. z Nullus invitus detur episcopus; cleri, plebis, et ordinis consensum as desiderium requiratur, &c.Celest. I., Ep. ii. 3 Cum ergo de summi sacerdotis electione tractabitur, ille omnibus præponatur, quem cleri plebisque consensus concorditer postultrint; ita ut si in aliam forte perso- nam partium se vota diviserint, metropolitani judicio is alteri præferatur, qui majori- bus et studiis juvatur et mentis, tantumut nullus invitis et nonpetentibus ordinetur; ne civitas episcopum non optatum aut contemnat aut auderit, et fiat minus religiosa quam convenit, cui non licuit habere quem reluit. P. Leo L, Ep. lxxxiv. ad Anastas. Nulla ratio sinit, ut inter episcopos habeantur, qui nec a clericis sunt electi, nec a plebibus expetiti, nec a provincialibusepiscopis cummetropolitani judicio consecrati. P. Leo 1., Ep. xcii. 6 Expectarentur certevota civium, testimonia populorum, qurereretur honoratorum arbitrium, electio clericorum, que in sacerdotum soient ordinationibus ab his qui no- runt patrum regulas custodira. P. Leo, Ep. lxxxix. ; Dist. lxiii. cap. 27. 6 Quum per paeem, et Deo placitam concordiam consonis omnium studiis qui doc- tor pacis futuris est ordinatur. Ibid. 7 Per pacem et quietem sacerdotes qui praefuturi sunt postulentur ; teneatur sub - scriptio clericorum, honoratorum testimonium, ordinis consensus et plebis ; qui pm futuris est omnibus ab omnibus eligatur.lbid. VOL. I. 19
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