A vindication of the Animadversions on Fiat lux

It is true, the Church of Alexandria hath some power assigned, ascribed, or granted unto it, above other Churches of Egypt, Lyb•a, and Pentapolis, for a warranty whereof, the usage of the Roman Church in reference unto her neighbour Churches, is made use of: which to deal freely with you, and to tell you my private thoughts, was a confirmation of a disorder by your example, which you were from that day forward seldom wanting to give plenty of. So to this purpose, Concil. Antioch. Can. 13, and 15. an. 341. Concil. Constantinop. Can 2. an. 381. But this Canon of the Nicene Fathers, openly condemneth and is perfectly destructive of your at present claimed Supremacy. Three Councils together in Afric, within the space of twenty years, warned your Church of her fall into this Heresy, and ⟨p. 77⟩opposed her attempts for the promotion of it. The first at Carthage, an. 407. which forbids all appeals. unto any beyond the Sea; which Rome was to them in Afric, no less than it is unto us in England. The next was the second Milevitan, an. 416. where the same prohibition is revived with express respect unto the See of Rome, as Binius acknowledgeth. The same order is again asserted by another Council in Afric, wherein the pretensions of Boniface unto some kind of superintendency over other Churches, are sorely reproved, and his way of prosecuting his attempt by pretended Canons of the Council of Nice, after great pains taken and charge disbursed in the discovery of the forgery, censured and condemned. All these testimonies of the condemnation of this fall of yours by Fathers and Councils you have gathered unto your hand in the Cod. Can. Conc. Afric. and by Binius, with others. Also the substance of all these Canons of Provincial Synods is confirmed in the fourth Chapter of the Decree of the third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus, an. 431. Act. 7. [Greek or Hebrew]. It seemeth good to the holy and general Council, that every Province retain its Rights, pure and inviolate, which, according unto ancient custom, it had from the beginning. The Decree, I confess, was purposely framed against the Bishop of Antioch, who had taken on him to ordain Bishops in Cyprus out of his Province; but it is built on that general Reason, which expressly condemns the Roman pretensions to an unlimited Supremacy. The great and famous Council of Chalcedon, an. 451.

It is true, the Church of Alexandria hath some power assigned, ascribed, or granted unto it, above other Churches of Egypt, Lyba, and Pentapolis, for a warranty whereof, the usage of the Roman Church in reference unto her neighbour Churches, is made use of: which to deal freely with you, and to tell you my private thoughts, was a confirmation of a disorder by your example, which you were from that day forward seldome wanting to give plenty of. So to this purpose, Concil. Antioch. Can. 13, and 15. an. 341. Concil. Constantinop. Can 2. an. 381. But this Canon of the Nicene Fathers, openly condemneth and is perfectly destructive of your at present claimed Supremacy. Three Councels together in Africk, within the space of twenty years, warned your Church of her fall into this Heresie, and