(a) Fibn de Falkenberg.

Foundations of Religion and Christian Morality, and affected all Mankind. This was what obliged the celebrated Doctors, particularly Gerfon, to fay in publick, that this Council had double Weight, and double Meafure, and that they weigh'd Caufes in uneven Balances. The Knights of the Teutonic Order, who had full Scope to range their whole Neighbourhood with Fire and Sword, under pretence of converting the Infidels, and reconciling the Greeks to the Latin Church, were fupported by the Council, notwithstanding all the Inftances of the King of Poland. It. was in vain to follicit the Condemnation of an impious and furious Libel, written by a Monk (a) who had dar'd to exhort all Chriftians to murder that King, and to maffacre all the Poles; tho' that deteftable Piece, had been condemn'd by the unanimous Opinion of all Nations, and even of the Cardinals. The King of France had no better Success in profecuting the Errors of another Fryar, (b) who had been fo infolent as publickly to (b) John vindicate the Affaffination committed by the Duke of Burgundy's Order, upon the Perfon of the Duke of Orleans, only Brother to the King of France. Moderate Refolutions were form'd in the Council against the cruel and bloody Sect of the Flagellants, a Sort of Fanaticks who under colour of Devotion committed all manner of Abominations, and ran into Libertinism and boundless Independantifm. But tho' the Council of Conftance did not answer the publick Expectation in many things, yet we find by all that has gone before, that never was any Council affembled. for more important Reafons.

Petit.

XIII. IT will not be improper now to treat of the Method which the Council purfued in their Debates. If the Partifans of the Pope and the Court of Rome had not been contradicted, all thofe Princes who were at the Council wou'd have made no better a Figure than mere Spectators,. or wou'd have ferv'd only as a Decoration of the Theatre, and muft. have been contented with the Honour of Obeying. But very proper Measures were taken immediately to hinder the Clergy from ordering all Matters according to their own Paffions or Interefts; and if they kept up. more Authority than perhaps belong'd to them, it must be afcrib'd to the Neceffity of the Times, and to the Force of Cufton. The Princes not only affifted at the publick Seffions, but bore a Part in the most important Negotiations, and often fupported the Council by their Advice and Courage. If any offer'd to difturb it, they were either feverely punished. for it, as happen'd to the Duke of Auftria, or elfe they did it underhand, which was charg'd upon the Duke of Burgundy. Notwithstanding the Emperor's Inclination to fpare the Pope, the Cardinals and all the Clergy, he was fometimes oblig'd to make ufe of his Authority, and to act with an Air of State which they had not been accuftom'd to for a long time. By his refolute Spirit he determin'd the Affembly to take a Method till then unknown in Councils, but what was equitable and of the utmost Im

portance

portance as things stood then; which was to vote not by Heads or Perfons, but by Nations. 'Tis true, this Prince wanted Refolution in the Affair of John Hufs, by abandoning him as he did at length to the Rage of the Clergy, inftead of procuring due Refpe&t, viis & modis, to a Safe-Conduct fo authentic as that which he had granted him. But it may be faid in excufe for him, that 'tis highly probable the Council wou'd have been diffolv'd, and confequently the Schifm muft ftill have continu'd, if the Emperor had not made a Sacrifice of John Hufs and his own Authority into the Bargain, as will appear from very fubftantial Proofs in the Course of this Hiftory.

XIV. THIS Method of voting by Nations entirely difconcerted John XXIII. because by the Means of his Cardinals, of a prodigious Number of poor Prelates of his own moulding, and of a vast Multitude of Fryars and other Ecclefiaftics, whom he look'd upon as his Creatures, he expected to carry every Point by a Majority of Voices. There were some well-meaning Perfons in the Council of Trent who wou'd fain have had this Method renew'd; but the Cardinal Del Monte, one of the Dupin, T. Pope's Legates, acted fo cunning a Part by his artful ProXV.p.31.c.1. mifes, that he 'warded off this Blow which might have been

fatal to his Mafter.

ONE Thing which also makes for the Honour of this Council, was the Measures they took to keep the Cardinals in awe. As they had render'd themselves very much fufpected by the Choice of the Anti-Popes, and as the Creatures of John XXIII. fupported him either in publick, or clandeftinely, even after his Escape, feveral of the Members were for excluding them entirely from all Affairs of the Council. But it had been impoffible to strike fo bold a Stroke without raifing too great a Clamour. They contented themselves therefore with this Expedient, namely, that they fhou'd not give their Votes as Cardinals, and Members of that College, but only as Members of their Nations. As to the Affemblies which were held for the Reformation, they only fingled out fome of the molt able and best affected; and in the Election of the Pope, they affociated with them 4 Deputies of every Nation who were vefted with the fame Authority as they. The Cardinals were forc'd to put up with it, and all they cou'd obtain, was, that it fhou'd be mention'd in the Decree, that it was for this once only that the Deputies of Nations were affociated with them in the Election of a Pope. Nevertheless Counc. Bail, this Method was renew'd at the Council of Bafil, in the Election of Felix V. And it was no doubt for the very fame Reafon, that when Pope Pius IV fell fick, there was a terrible Alarm in the Council of Trent, for fear that if he fhou'd dye, they wou'd follow the Steps of the two preceding Councils in the Choice of another Pope. Whether therefore we confider the Number and Quality of the Perfons who compos'd this Council; whe

Eneas Sylv.

P. 93.

Dupin. ut fu

pra p. 356.

ther regard be had to the importance of the Affairs which were therein to be treated, or finally, whether we attend to the manner of proceeding there, it can't be deny'd, but this was one of the moft celebrated, and most folemn Ecclefiaftical Affemblies that had been held fince the Birth of Chriftianity. Such was the Judgment pals'd upon it by feveral Orators of the Council, and by the Hiftorians of that time (a).

Hift. Pol. Lib. (a) Dugl (s XI. p. 359.

XV. 'Tis no wonder that a Council which had declar'd itself fuperior to the Popes, which had undertaken to try, and even to depofe them, and had given fuch great Blows to the Privileges, and to the Authority of the Cardinals, was not relish'd by the Court of Rome, nor approv'd of by the Popes or their Divines, nor by the Ultramontane Canonifts. But it will appear by this Hiftory, that this Council was not defective in any of the Conditions which form a general Council; and that if this was not, there never was a legal Council in the World, for which it may be proper in this place to produce fome Reasons. 1. Deputies came to it from all Parts of Chriftendom, not excepting even the Greek Church. 2. Whether it was the Popes Prerogative to call a Council, which the Popes pretended to, or whether it was a Right belonging to the Emperor, which there were Doctors who publickly maintain'd, there was nothing wanting in this refpect in the Council of Conftance, because it was affembled in concert with a Pope acknowledg'd by the greatest Part of Christendom. 'Tis true, that in the beginning of this Council, the whole Church was not yet well reconcil'd. Gregory XII. had a small fhare of Obedience in fome Parts of Italy and Germany. Benedict. XIII. had all Spain for him, together with Scotland; and the Counts de Foix and Armagnac. But I know not whether fo fmall a Part of Christendom, can be fet in a Parallel with Italy, France, Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, England, Denmark, Sweden, and all the North. 3. When Gregory XII. had refign'd, when his Obedience was united to the Council, as well as that of Benedict XIII. after his being depos'd, and when Martin V. who was chose by the unanimous Confent of all the Nations, had himfelf approv'd of the Council, I don't fee what room there is left for any Pretence to degrade the Council of Conftance. Nor does it feem that the Ultramontanes can difpute the Authority of this Council, without calling in question the Election of Martin V. who was therein chofe, and confequently the Election of all his Succeffors. Befides, if the Council of Conftance be not a legal Council, Martin V. was guilty of a grofs Blunder in approving all its Decifions, not excepting even thofe that fet Councils above the Popes; which he did, by declaring that he fubfcrib'd to every Thing that had been refolv'd conciliariter, that is to fay, in full Council. For 'tis manifeft, that the Decree which establishes the Superiority of Councils, and their co-active Authority over Popes, is of this number, because

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because it was unanimously approv'd in the fifth Seffion. 4. 'Tis very ftrange and unaccountable Conduct, to own a Council in one Senfe, and to reject it in others, as if the Holy Spirit was capable of blowing hot and cold in a Breath, and after enlightening the Fathers in fome Points, to leave them in the Dark in others. 'Tis not furprifing that Perfons who do not own the Infallibility of Councils fhou'd give themselves the Liberty of approving and rejecting what they find good or bad in them; but as for thofe who hold them infallible, they ought to be more uniform. There is no Medium; they must be entirely rejected or receiv'd in their full Scope, especially when the Queftion is about Matters of Faith, as this is, viz. Whether a Council is fuperior to the Pope, or whether the Pope is fuperior to a Council; and this other, whether Perfons ought to communicate in both kinds, or only one. One cannot help being furpriz'd at the uneven Conduct of the Council of Trent, with Refpect to the Council of Conftance. When any of those tender Points came upon the Carpet, in which the Pope's Authority might fuffer the leaft Infringement, the Councils of Conftance or Bafil cou'd not be urg'd without raifing the Indignation of the Legates. But when the Germans and French demanded the Communion in both kinds; the Divines arm'd themselves with the Decrees of the Council of Conftance, as with a Buckler. Salmeron the Pope's Divine, Andrada the King of Portugal's Divine, Mandolphus the Archbishop of Prague's Divine, the Spaniards and the Italians themselves maintain'd the Authority of this. Council, and John Baptift d'Aft, General of the Order of Servites, went fo far, as to extol it above all the other general Councils. The Bishop of Montefiafcone did not forget to urge the Decrees of this Council, in favour of the Ecclefiaftical Privileges and Immunities. By all thefe Remarks, I think it evidently appears, that the Italians meerly rejected this Council from Paffion and Self-Intereft, and not from any Reafon that cou'd deprive it of the Quality of being a general Council.

XVI. HOWEVER, this was what was attempted to be done at the clofe of the last Century, by Dr. Emanuel d'Schelftrate, Canon of Antwerp, and Deputy Librarian of the Vatican, in two Treatifes he caus'd to be printed upon the Subject, against the Gallican Church, the one at Antwerp, in 1683, and the other at Rome, in 1686. In these two Performances, the laft of which is much larger than the other, Schelftrate undertakes to prove four Things, from certain A&ts of the Vatican, which no body had publifh'd before him. 1. That the Decrees of the fourth Seffion of the Council of Conftance were corrupted by the Council of Bafil. 2. That the first Decree of the fifth Seffion of the Council of Conftance, which establish'd the Superiority of general Councils, was not form'd with mature and fufficient Deliberation. 3. That at the Time of the faid fifth Seffion, the Council of Conftance cou'd not be deem'd Oecumenical or General, nor by confequence reprefent the univerfal Church,

because

because the three Obediences were not yet reconcil'd. 4. That after the Union of those Obediences, neither the Council nor Martin V. authoriz'd the Superiority of Councils, and that the faid Pope was fo far from approving the first Decree of the fifth Seffion, that he indirectly oppugn'd it. I have in this History prov'd the Nullity of all these Pretenfions from Facts that are undeniable. This was what had been done to my Hand with very great Succefs, by feveral Divines of the Gallican Church, as M. de Launoy, Richer, Maimbourg, Dupin, of whom the two laft have made it their Business to confute the firft Differtation of Schelftrate, but they had not the Opportunity of perusing several A&ts, and other Pieces, which wou'd have fav'd them a great deal of Time and Argument with the Under-Librarian of the Vatican.

Since I wrote this Hiftory, and even after I had finifh'd this Preface, there was fent me from Holland, a pofthumous Work of the famous Anthony Arnauld, Doctor of the Sorbonne; wherein he confutes the first Differtation of Schelftrate with that Evidence and Strength, which never fail'd him when he had a good Caufe to maintain. I was impatient to read it, and was overjoy'd to find that I had jump'd in Opinion, almoft every where, with an Author of his Diftinction, without having confulted him. I must however obferve, that he has omitted a great many Things which wou'd have anfwer'd his Purpofe, and that he is mistaken in some others, for want of having feen the A&ts of Germany, which were not publish'd then, no more than the fecond Performance of Schelftrate. For Example, if he had seen the Acts of Germany, he wou'd not have afferted as he has done, that the Claufe of Reformation in the Head and Members is in all the Acts of the fourth Seffion; becaufe 'tis certain, that Claufe is in none of the Acts of Germany, written in the Council itself. On the other Hand, if Schelfirate had feen the Manufcript of the Abridgment of the Council of Conftance, made by Order of the Council of Bafil, he wou'd not have accus'd this laft Council fo boldly as he does, of having corrupted the Acts of the fourth Seffion of the Council of Conftance; because in this Manufcript, which is to be feen at Wolfembuttle, there is this Expreffion, and for the Faith, which by a Miftake is wanting in the printed Copies; and because we don't there meet with the Claufe for the Reformation of the Church in its Head and Members, which are in the common Editions, and in most of the Manufcripts of France. This Manufcript decides the Queftion againit Schelftrate, and wou'd have fav'd M. Arnauld a great many Arguments, which he urges indeed very a propos, in fupport of the Fidelity of the Council of Bafil. Befides M. Arnauld wou'd not have infifted so much as he has done upon the fourth Seffion, nor laid fo much Stress upon Cardinal Zabarella, if he had read the A&s of Germany; the laft Piece of Schelftrate, and fome cotemporary Hiftorians, as Gobelin Perfona, who all report unanimoufly, that Cardinal Zabarella curtail'd the De

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crees