2 30 Church. Hiflory of Bifhops and § 63. But here Conflantine the Notary of the Conft. Patriarchate, happily brought in fo pertinent a Teffimony, as much made for the pardon of the penitent Bifhops : He read out of theCouncil of Calcedon, how theOriental and other Bifhops that had lately fet up 'Eutyches and .Diofcorus in the .d Ephefian Council, cryed at Calcedon, LWe.have all firmed, we all ask for- givenefs.I And how Thalafflus,Eufebius and Euflathius cryed, [We have all erred, we all ask forgivenefi ] And after them juvenal, and after him the Illyrican Bifhops cryed, [ We have all lapfed, we all ask pardon. ] And fo the Prefident was undeniable and effe&ual. Thefe were not the it& Bifhops that went one way in one Council under one Prince, and cryed peccavimus for it,as Herefie,in the next. § 64. But Sabers theMonk flags yet a greater doubt than this, and that is, whether they had true OrdMation,and fP were true Bifhops. For feeing theywere bred in the timesof Herefie, which had prevailed under fo many Emperors, and had Heretical Teachers, it's like they had Heretick Ordain- ers, feeing the late Council chewed what the Bifhops then were. And the Fa&was confeft, that they were Ordained byBifhops that were Hereticks, ( that is, againft Church-Images, and praying to Saints for their interceflion, and tiling Reliques. ) The Bifhop of Rome's Vicars pleaded hard againft their Ordination; but Tarafius knewwhat a breach it would make in the Church if aGeneral Council, and all the Bifhops that were at it, and all the reft thai confented to it, and were bred up in that Opinion, fhould be degra- ded, and the new Conformity receive fo great a flop ; and' what confufion it wouldmake among the People, ( as they had feen in many former inítances) ând therefore he is againft their depofition. And firPe there are two paffages read in their favour out of Ruffinus and Socrates, and fomewhat of .Atha- nafius. And then when Peter Vic. Rom. alledged the inftance of Meletius againft it, Tarafius brought a notable expeditious Argument, viz. The Fa- un thers agree among themfelves, and do not contradid one another : ergo the reft content to thefe that have been cited. Methinks I could make great ufe of this Argumentation to fave time, labour and difficulty in difputing. E. G. Nazianzen wifht there were no difference of Bifhops Seats (one above an- other ) .and faid that he never faw Councils that did not more harm than good. The Fathers differed not among themfelves; ergo the reft of the Fathers were of 'Gregory's mind. In conclufion, they offered their Confeffions,and wereabfolved. 65-. In the Id Aélion, the Rulersfend- in theBithop of Neo-Ca(area to do hisPennance; and he alfo cryeth for mercy, and confeffeththat his errors and fins were infinite, but now he believed as the Synod doth. Tharafius ask- eth him whether he be not afhamed to have been ignorant fo long, and quellioneth the fincerity of his Repentance, which he earneffiy profeffeth, condemning his Sin, and promifing Confoilnity. Next a long Epiftle of Adrian's to the Emperor and Etnprefs, and another to Tharakis fOr Images are. read : For Popes ufe not to travel to General Councils, but to fend their Letters and Legates, left in their prefent Difputes they -71
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