Conformity of the ecclesiastical discipline of the Reformed churches of France with that of the primitive Christians written by M. La Rocque ... ; render'd into English by Jos. Walker.

XIII.

Deputies of Churches shall not be gone from Synods with∣out leave, and till they carry along with them the Decisions which shall there be made.

CONFORMITY.

There are two things to be consider'd in this Article, First, That Deputies are not suffer'd to depart from the Synod without leave; The Second Council of Arles made this Decree in its 19 Cannon, Anno Dom. 452, If any one thinks he may abandon the Assembly of his Brethren before the dissolution of the Council, * 1.1 let him know that he is deprived of the Communion of his Brethren, and that he cannot be thereunto received, until he be first of all absolv'd in the following Synod: There may be seen in the Fourth Tome of Councils, certain Fragments attributed to a Council of Sevil in Spain, assembled about the time of Pope Gregory the I. in the X. of which is to be found word for word the Decree of the Synod of Arles; which makes me believe, that Burchardus, * 1.2 from whom Garsias has taken this Cannon, was mistaken when he attribu∣ted it to the Council of Sevil, and I the rather believe it, when I consider that the compilation of Cannons made by this Writer, are full of this kind of mistakes. The Fourth Council of Toledo assembled in the year 633, does defend also in the Fourth Cannon, to depart from the Council until all things are decided by the ma∣jor Votes, and Signed by all the Bishops; * 1.3 The Sixteenth of that of Worms of the year 868, prescribes the same thing. To. 6. Conc. pag. 695.

The Second thing our Discipline prescribes those which are Deputies to Synods, is to carry along with them the Decisions which shall be made; I find the same thing practic'd in the Antient Church; in Effect, it may be seen by the 29th Cannon of the First Council of Orange in the year 451, that each Bishop carried away with him a Copy of the Acts and Resolutions made in the Assembly, and that the like was sent even to those as were absent, to advertise them of their Du∣ty by the Ministry of the Metropolitan; and in the year 431, the First Oecumenical Council of Ephesus permit∣ted each Metropolitan to take a Copy of the Acts, whereof his Brother Bishops might have Communica∣tion by his means. The Eighth Cannon where this power is granted to Metropolitans, saying expresly that it is for their own surety, that is to say, for Conserva∣tion of the Rights of their Provinces, and by conse∣quence the Rights of all the Suffragan Bishops. See what shall be said on the Tenth Article of the following Chapter.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. p. 105.
• * 1.2

  pag. 521.
• * 1.3

  Tom. 4. Conc. p. 583.