Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon; which set before us another and distinct system of Church government, viz. the Diocesan or Patriarchal.

2. The ancient Liturgies, the depositaries of Apostolic tradition; which also set before us the Patriarchal government of the Church.

3. The ancient Fathers; who neither in their interpretation of Scripture attribute a Supremacy to St. Peter, as modern Roman controversialists do, nor by their acts and writings acknowledge a Supremacy in the Bishop of Rome. St. Peter has with them the Primacy, the first place among the Apostles; but it is distinctly and repeatedly denied that he had any authority over the other Apostles, or any peculiar gifts or commission above the rest. And the Bishop of Rome, in their estimation, stands foremost amongst his equal brother-Patriarchs.

4. The growth of the modern Roman Supremacy may be distinctly traced. It grew up chiefly under the shadow of a vast system of forgeries, which imposed on the whole Western Church for 700 years.

5. The Eastern Church with its four Patriarchates never submitted to the Roman Supremacy, but has continued its unbroken witness against the usurpation to the present day.

6. Our Fathers, maintaining the Canon of the

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PAPAL SUPREMACY TESTED BY ANTIQUITY.

Church, rejected the Supremacy of the Pope as a usurpation, and not of lawful right.

We conclude, that the sin of schism cannot and does not rest with us who lawfully maintain the ancient Canon and discipline of the Church. The guilt must be theirs who require unlawful terms of obedience.

"There can be nothing new in the Church," said de Maistre, "neither will she ever believe but what she has believedt." This is a great Canon to which we make our appeal. It is, in other words, the famous rule of Vincentius Lirinensis, Quod semper, Quod ubique, Quod ab omnibus.

* Du Pape, Liv. 1. c. 1.

τοῦ μητροπολίτου γένοιτο ἐπίσω κοπος, τὸν τοιοῦτον ἡ μεγάλη σύνοδος ὥρισε μὴ δεῖν εἶναι ἐπίσκοπον. ἐὰν μέντοι τῇ κοινῇ πάντων ψήφῳ, εὐλόγῳ οὔσῃ, καὶ κατὰ κανόνα ἐκκλησιαστικὸν, δύο ἢ τρεῖς δι' οἰκείαν φιλονεικίαν ἀντιλέγωσι, κρατείτω ἡ τῶν πλειόνων ψῆφος.

si quis præter sententiam metropolitani fuerit factus episcopus, hunc magna synodus definivit episcopum esse non oportere. Sin autem communi cunctorum decreto rationabili, et secundum ecclesiasticam regulam comprobato, duo aut tres, propter contentiones proprias, contradicunt: obtineat sententia plurimorum. Universalis Canon II. Qui sunt ultra diœcesin episcopi, nequaquam ad ecclesias, quæ sunt extra prefiros sibi terminos, accedant, nec eas hac prasumptione confundant : sed, juxta canones, Alexandrinus Antistes, quæ sunt in #gypto, regat solummodo: et Orientis episcopi Orientem tantum gubernent, servatis privilegiis, quæ Nicænis canonibus ecclesiæ Antiochenæ tributa sunt. Asianæ quoque diæceseos episcopi ea solum, quæ sunt in Asiana diæcesi dispensent. Necnon, et Ponti episcopi ea tantum, quæ sunt in Ponto, et Thraciarum, quæ in Thraciis sunt, gubernent. Non vocati autem episcopi ultra suam diæcesin non accedant propter ordina

Concilii Constantinopolitani Τοὺς ὑπὲρ διοίκησιν ἐπισκόπους, ταῖς ὑπερορίοις ἐκκλησίαις μὴ ἐπιέναι, μηδὲ συγχέειν τὰς ἐκκλησίας· ἀλλὰ κατὰ τοὺς κανόνας, τὸν μὲν ̓Αλεξανδρείας ἐπίσκοπον, τὰ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μόνον οἰκονομεῖν· τοὺς δὲ τῆς ̓Ανατολῆς ἐπισκόπους, τὴν Ανατολὴν μόνην διοικεῖν, φυλαττομένων τῶν ἐν τοῖς κανόσι τοῖς κατὰ Νικαίαν πρεσβείων τῇ ̓Αντιοχέων ἐκκλησίᾳ· καὶ τοὺς τῆς ̓Ασιανῆς διοικήσεως ἐπισκόπους τὰ κατὰ τὴν ̓Ασιανὴν μόνον οἰκονομεῖν· καὶ τοὺς τῆς Ποντικῆς, τὰ τῆς Ποντικῆς μόνα· καὶ τοὺς τῆς Θρακικῆς, τὰ τῆς Θρακικῆς μόνον οἰκονομεῖν, ἀκλήτους δὲ ἐπισκόπους ὑπὲρ διοίκησιν μὴ ἐπιβαίνειν ἐπὶ χειροτονίᾳ ἤ τισιν ἄλλαις οἶκονομίαις ἐκκλησιαστικαίς.

Φυλαττομένου δὲ τοῦ προγεγραμμένου περὶ τῶν διοικήσεων

Canon VI.