13. That the vows of priests and monks, and the prayers which they recite, are agreeable to God. 14. That the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the Maccabees, make a part of the Holy Scripture, and are not rejected like those of the Pagans. 15. That the Eastern church also acknowleges seven sacraments, as she has learned from tradition. We, children of the Eastern church, believe all these articles from our heart, and profess them with our tongue, having received from the ancient fathers and holy councils the tradition, which induces us to adopt this belief; and those who entertain on these points other sentiments, are engaged in hurtful and pernicious error. Besides, they SPEAK IMPUDENTLY, in the fury with which they are seized against our orthodox confession, and against the Greek church, and vent their murmurs against her with the utmost insolence, willing to excite a belief that she has fallen into the sentiments of obscure persons, and that she has abandoned the customs and rules of her fathers, which have been authorized by the practice of these same fathers, and confirmed by synods; such as that of Constantinople, under the patriarch Cyril of Berocia, and a little after under the patriarch Parthenius, surnamed the elder, who condemned certain infamous articles, published under the name of Cyril Lucaris, as monsters and falsehoods, which corresponded with the phantoms of the Calvinists. And the refutation of these unfounded opinions of Cyril, in which his fallacies were detected and exposed, have been placed in the archives of the great church. Accordingly we, the undersigned, certify all the articles above-mentioned, to all those who believe and profess the true religion. Given at Pera, July 18, 1671. BARTHOLOMEW of Heraclea, JEREMY of Chalcedon, METHODIUS Of Pisidiæ, METROPHANES of Cyzicum, ANTHONY of Athens, JOACHIM of Rhodes, NEOPHITUS of Nicomedia. The reader cannot fail to remark the positive and peremptory manner in which this document is worded, together with the tone of indignation which it breathes against those who imputed to the Greek church the errors of Calvinism. All the other documents are drawn up in the same style, and breathe the same spirit 1. NOTE B. Referred to in Page 400. Ir is really a matter of curiosity to observe the terms in which the first four general councils, at which the respective popes presided by their representatives, are solemnly and officially acknowledged by the church of England by law established. In the act of 1 Eliz. c. 1. ad ann. 1558, sect. 36, occurs the following passage. "Provided always, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that such person or persons, to whom your highness, your heirs and successors, shall hereafter by letters patent, under the great seal of See loc. cit. p. 411, et seq. England, give authority to have or execute any jurisdiction, power or authority spiritual, or to visit, reform, order, or correct any errors, heresies, schisms, abuses, or enormities by virtue of this act, shall not, in any wise, have authority or power to order, determine, or adjudge any matter or cause to be heresy, but only such as heretofore have been determined, ordered or adjudged to be heresy, by the authority of the canonical Scriptures, or by the first of the four general councils, or any of them, or by any other general council, wherein the same was declared heresy by the express and plain words of the canonical Scriptures." Let the learned reader calmly consider the inevitable consequences of this singular admission, and he will readily discover by what a feeble prop the cause of Protestantism is supported. THE END. W. WILSON, PRINTER, 57, SKINNER-STREET, LONDON. and labouring to establish it only on the basis of their own reasoning, and of a vain philosophy, widely depart from the purpose which they have in view, and plunge into the precipice, while they seek to involve their brethren in the same danger. This is the character of the Calvinists in France; who, full of vanity and presumption, raise their impudent calumnies against our eastern church, and boldly impute to it the darkest impostures; publishing in all places, that it agrees with their opinions, and assents to their fancies: though, however, their absurd and extraordinary opinion concerning the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, and some other points, has been scornfully rejected by particular councils, assembled at Constantinople, as unlawful, and unknown to the Greek church. For which reason, the most illustrious ambassador of the most serene and most Christian King of France, his Excellency Charles Francis Olier, Marquis of Nointel, having requested us to furnish him with a true and sincere attestation on the subject of the articles proposed to us,-We, the undersigned, have deemed it a duty to comply with so pious and so legitimate a request on the sentiments of the eastern church. 1. In the first place, concerning the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, we affirm, that the living body of Jesus Christ, who was crucified, who ascended to Heaven, and who is seated at the right-hand of the Father, is truly present in the Eucharist, but invisibly. 2. That the bread and wine, after the invocation of the priest, and after the consecration, ARE CHANGED from their own substance into the true body and blood of Jesus Christ, and that though the accidents which |