yet he is not always fo, for Gal. 2. 9. he is nam'd in the fecond place.

3. But N. C. infifts farther, That after Chrift's Afcenfion, St. Peter actually took upon himself the Character of Supream Head of the Church; and this he endeavours to prove from the First of the Acts, where St. Peter ftood up, and difcours'd at large of the Fall of Judas: 2. When he gave an account of the Gift of Tongues: 3. When he made his Defence before the Rulers: 4. When he paffed Sentence upon Ananias and Saphira, but efpecially by what he did in that famous Council of the Apostles, chap. 15.

These Inftances indeed prove St. Peter to be an Eminent Apoftle, but do not give us the leaft hint of his Superiority or Jurifdiction over the reft of the Apostles; for in the Council at Jerufalem, St. James was, if not fuperior, at least equal to him; and St. Paul himself tells us, That he withstood him to the Face, that St. Peter gave him the right Hand of Fellowfhip; and we are told, Acts 8. 14. That St. Peter and St. John were fent by the Apoftles, who were at Jerufalem, to Samaria, which gives no encouragement to the notion of St. Peter's Supremacy.

To this N. C. replies, "That 'tis true. St. Paul was equal to St. Peter, and fo is every Bishop to the Pope; but that this equality

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“equality doth confift only in the Power of Preaching the Word, of Adminiftring "the Sacraments, and of conferring Holy 66 Orders, but that the fupream Government of the Church was entirely lodg'd "in St. Peter. This he fays indeed, but how doth he prove it? Why, after his ufual manner, by taking it for granted, without affording us the leaft fhadow of Reafon for it.

But fince he thinks fit to take it for granted, we will pay fo much deference to him for the prefent, as to do fo too, and suppose that St. Peter was Bishop of Rome, and fupream Head of the Church, But then he will be hard put to it to prove, that he tranfmitted his Supremacy to his Succeffors, and to his Succeffors at Rome, rather than to, those at Antioch, where 'tis evident that he was first Bishop, but not that he was ever Bishop of Rome. For, if St. Peter devolv'd his Supremacy upon his immediate Succeffor, and that it is felf evident by the Law of Nature, that Heirs and Succeflors inherit the Privileges of their Anceffors, as he tells us, pag. 102. then his immediate Succeffor at Antioch, where he was first Bishop, must be the Supream Head and Paftor of the Church; and then the Supremacy will be lodg'd in the Church of Antioch, and not in the See of Rome,

C

To this N. C. answers, That 'tis true, that the Holy Scripture no where declares, that St. Peter's Supremacy, was derived down to his Succeffor at Rome, and that it was not neceffary it should be fo declar'd; because the Power and Authority of a Bishop naturally devolves upon his Succeffor; and with his ufual Modefty and Civility tells us, "That this

Question of His Grace (viz. Where does it appear in Scripture, that St. Peter's Power was deriv'd to his Succeffors?) is one of the fimpleft Expreffions that

ever fell from a Man of his Parts; and "and that he is almost unwilling to ho(6 nour it with a Confutation. But fince he acknowledges His Grace to be an Ingenious Perfon, and a Man of Parts, I am apt to think he had fome good Reafon for what he faid; tho' a Man of N.C.'s Parts and Ingenuity cannot presently apprehend it. Now fince there are three forts of Supremacy; a Supremacy of Worth, Order, and Jurifdiction; why may not St. Peter's Supremacy be the first and fecond of thefe? Which being founded on Perfonal Merit, doth not naturally flow to the immediate Succeffor? That it was fo, is more than probable, because there is not the leaft Footstep of any Supremacy of Jurifdiction lodg'd in St. Peter, either in the Holy Writ, or in any of the Antient Monuments

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of the Church for the first five Centuries; and when the Title of Univerfal Bishop was ufurp'd by the Patriarch of Conftantinople, in the end of the fixth Century, it was look'd upon as new and profane Title. But the Archbishop asks another Question; Why, (fuppofing that S. Peter's Supremacy did defcend to his immediate Succeffor) the Supremacy fhould be fix'd to the See of Rome ? Because 'tis uncer

tain whether St. Peter was ever Bishop of Rome; and if we grant that too, yet 'tis evident that he was first Bishop of Antioch : And when the Papists themselves confefs, that St. Peter rais'd two Epifcopal Sees, the first at Antioch, the other at Rome, why should all Power and Jurifdiction be entail'd upon the See of Rome, and none defcend to his immediate Succeffor at Antioch? This Objection N. C. took noë tice of, but is not pleas'd to honour it with an Answer.

And now fince the Miffionaries of the Church of Rome make use of this Sovereignty and Supremacy of the Pope, to prove the Infallibility of his Perfon; by fhewing how little Reafon there is to submit to his Supremacy, the way is level'd and prepar'd in order to attack that great Bulwark of Popery, the Infallibility; and to fhew, That neither the Pope, nor Church

of Rome, are Infallible. And this the Archbishop proves;

1. Because the Papifts are not agreed amongst themselves, where this Infallibi. lity is feated, whether in the Pope alone, or a Council alone, or in both together, or in the diffufive Body of Chriftians; and we cannot judge it reasonable that the Chriftians in all Ages did believe it, and had conftant recourfe to it, for determining their Differences; and yet that That very Church, which hath enjoy'd and us'd it fo long, fhould now be at a loss where to find it; nothing could have fall'n out more unluckily, than that there fhould be fuch Differences amongst them, about that which they pretend to be the only Means of ending all Differences;

To this N. C.'s Anfwer is fo fingular, that I fhall transcribe it for the use of the Reader. "For my own Part, (fays he) I never yet read, or heard of any Ca tholick Divine, that ever faid, That the Catholick Church, taken for the Diffufive Body of Chriftians, was not infalli"ble in declaring Matters of Faith; therefore, I think, all agree, that the Infalliહ્રદ bility is feated in the diffufive Body of Chriftians: And I challenge any Proteftant in the World to name me one, who fays the contrary. The Pope is one, and the chief Member of that Dif"fufive

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