66 abruptly to the subject of the Pope's pretensions. 'Your Lordship would fain persuade us," said he to the Archbishop, "that none can be saved who are not obedient to the Church of Rome. This, as far as I could ever see, St. John has no where declared. Besides, we have in our archives a letter of St. Caius, Bishop of Rome, wherein he confesseth that he had nothing more to do with the Church of Babylon, than the Church of Babylon had to do with his Church. We possess also another letter, which is called, in our records, the Letter on the Lord's Day, and is said to have been dictated by our Lord, to have been written by an Angel, and to have fallen from Heaven on a Sabbath day, while the people were assembled in Church. In that letter the same truth is affirmed respecting the independence of the Church of Babylon." He and the Cattanars then went on to refer to other legendary tales and writings of the same description, until the Archbishop, interrupting them, said, "Why do you stop at these obsolete fables, when you have the light of the Gospel to guide you, which is more brilliant than the sun, and the words of Jesus Christ, who expressly commended His sheep to the care of St. Peter and his successors. After the Saviour's ascension, St. Peter was chief in the Church, and prelate over the other Apostles: and the successors of St. Peter have the same authority over all who exercise the Apostolic functions, that is to say, over the Bishops, Archbishops, and Patriarchs of the whole world. Why did our Lord, after His resurrection, commend His sheep only to St. Peter? Why, in the time of His passion, did He command only St. Peter to confirm his brethren? Why did He not say to any other A. D. 1599. III. CHAP. Apostle, that he had prayed for him that his faith might not fail? He evidently showed thereby, that He had appointed that Apostle the prelate of the whole world, and universal pastor of the Church: that He had constituted the chair of St. Peter the sovereign see, to rule and judge all the rest: that while the Catholic faith would be fallible in them, its infallibility should be secured in St. Peter's see by the special assistance of the Holy Ghost, which the Lord Jesus had obtained for him from His Father, so that he might be able to confirm and teach the rest." Gouvea, instead of giving the answer of the Syrian ecclesiastics to this harangue, proceeds with the narrative as though they returned none, probably intending us to infer, that they thought the Archbishop's argument unanswerable. Indeed, he everywhere speaks of that prelate more in the language of panegyric, than of history none, however, but a romanist, himself blinded by the fable of the infallibility of his Church, would have considered such a speech as this 'creditable, either to the understanding or the theology of an Archbishop. The ingenuity indeed of Menezes and his Church, in thus converting to the honour of St. Peter his thrice repeated denial of his Lord with oaths and execrations, an event that filled the Apostle himself with grief and shame, we cannot fail to admire; but a more manifest perversion of Holy Writ is hardly to be found. The three questions of this prelate might have been answered in almost as few sentences. need only consider We First. When our Lord thrice commended His sheep to Peter, He asked him each time, "Lovest thou me?" 6 The Apostle, instead of being conscious of the honour that it is here pretended was then conferred upon him, "was grieved," because of the repetition of his Lord's question. He could not but feel that it implied a doubt of his love, and he would remember, with remorse, that he had recently given too just cause for such doubt. Consequently, before" the chief Shepherd " restores him to the office of feeding His flock, He requires the open, the unequivocal avowal of his love to be repeated, just so often as he had denied Him. The other disciples had given no such reason to question their fidelity to their Master: He, therefore, leaves them, without repeating the instructions which they had already received, to gather, to feed, and attend His sheep. The discrimination then in this case was any thing but honourable to Peter. Second. The Lord commanded him to strengthen his brethren, because he had experienced more of Satan's devices than they, when that enemy sifted him as wheat; and more of his Lord's power, in keeping him from utterly falling away. By the forwardness of his zeal, in protesting his readiness to defend his Master even to the death, he had shown himself less conscious than the other disciples of his infirmities: for this reason, probably, he was given, for a short time, into the hands of Satan. His fall wrung from his heart the bitterest tears he had ever shed; and it taught him to warn his brethren of the malice and craft of the enemy. Attributing his recovery to his Lord's power and compassion, he learned, by an act of grace second only to that which had regenerated his 6 John xxi. 17. 7 Luke xxii. 31, 32. 8 John xiii. 36-38. A. D. 1599. CHAP. III. Both parties a Synod, heart, to encourage his brethren to hold fast their confidence in the same Lord, at all times and under all circumstances. Third. Jesus prayed equally for all His Apostles, in their capacity as pastors of His flock. His special prayer for Peter was only in consequence of his special fall. This Apostle then, so far from being invested with any authority over his brethren, was the least entitled to such a distinction. He knew better than to assume the preeminence which 4. On such a foundation do the romanists agree to hold build their Pope's supremacy, and the infallibiand in the lity of their church. Truly is it a foundation of abstain from sand. Why should the silence of these Syrians interfering to the questions of Menezes be attributed to interim to with each other. their incapacity to answer him? It is quite as probable that, in common with many divines of the English, Scotch, and other orthodox churches, they thought it a fruitless task to undertake to controvert such manifest absurdities, in a conversation with one so deeply interested to maintain them. But, whatever was the cause of their apparent inattention to his arguments, it is evident from what followed that they made no impression upon their minds. It was at length, however, agreed, that a Synod should be called, as early as convenient, to determine questions of faith; and that in the mean time the Archbishop should be at liberty to visit any of their churches, to preach in them, and give the blessing. But the Archdeacon insisted on his neither confirming persons, nor performing any other Episcopal function within the diocese ; and that he should not be received as their primate, but as a Bishop merely on a visit to them, and acting so far by sufferance. Seeing that these were the best terms that he was likely at present to obtain, Menezes signed the agreement, and the Archdeacon and cattanars followed his example. It was further arranged, that the Synod should be held before Whitsuntide; and the Archdeacon, who, it was agreed, should accompany the Archbishop, promised to desist from stirring up the people against him, and from going about with troops of armed men. This agreement produced but a temporary tranquillity, being soon infringed by Menezes. 5. Immediately after this arrangement, the Archbishop proceeded by water to Canhur, whither the Archdeacon followed by land, not venturing to trust himself in the boats, where he would have been in the power of the Portuguese. At Canhur the prelate was very courteously received, the Archdeacon having prepared his way, by informing the people that he did not come among them as their Bishop, but merely as a stranger, to pay them a friendly visit. On |