orders and comply with them no farther than they think good If after this we should examin the whole conduct of the Papacy it will appear altogether conformable to that spirit of humane policy whereby the whole body is compounded and all its parts united When any difference in Religion comes to be determin'd provided that the persons whose different Opinions are under examination are favorable to the Court of Rome all their Heresies are but trivial Mistakes but if they are less bigotted for the Pope all their Opinions deserve an Anathema Grace by it self efficacious is sound doctrine in the Jacopins but down-right Heresy in the Jansenists the plain reason is because these latter are enemies to the Pelagianism of the Church of Rome as well as to its Tyranny Because the Protestants are Adversaries to the Pope they must be Hereticks in the Article concerning the Trinity and that of the Incarnation of Christ They must err mortally when they say that Concupiscence is a sin notwithstanding Baptism and the marriage bond is dissolved by Adultery Let us look into the Popish Councils and we shall evidently discover this Spirit of Human Policy there we may see all the Arts and Tricks and Devices that are in use in the World for men to gain what they desire and reach the ends they aim at All the world hath observ'd this in the Council of Trent 't is every where complain'd of and all men consent to the truth of what was said by the Marquis of Lansac the French Ambassador that the Holy-Ghost who was invok't at the opening of that Council came every week from Rome in a Cloak-bag with the post letters It hath often been observ'd that the conduct of that Councill was altogether by the spirit of Worldly Bolicy and had nothing at all of the Character of a Divine spirit and yet those Canons which were forg'd by the Tricks of Humane Policy must be obtruded on us as Divine Decisions from the Spirit of God. In a word if we would see the Politiques of the Roman Church in the source and fountain and upon the Threne we need but go to Rome All the Courts in the World how refined and subtle soever are but meer Blockishness and Stupidity in comparison of that of the Pope Cardinal Pallavicin mentions this to the honour of his Religion pretending that Policy is the Principal of all moral vertues and that the Church ought to be govern'd according to the Politicks of Aristotle and after the Maxims of the Pagan Common-wealths CHAPTER III. The Pretence of Infallibility and eternal Duration The third Character of the Antichristian Kingdom HEre is an Example that will teach us how much we ought to be on our guard with respect to fair Pretences and Appearances that we be not surpriz'd and deceiv'd by ' em Doubtless if there be any strength in any thing of the Papacy it must be in their pretence of Infallibility For nothing can be more specious and glittering than their Arguments about the Necessity of an Infallible Judge upon Earth They have had recourse to this Article as their last refuge for twenty five or thirty years last part There is good reason they should make it an Idol because 't is their Tutelar God and if men could once be brought off from this Chimaera of the Infallibility of the Roman Church she were utterly lost 'T is her only Foundation by the removal whereof she tumbles to the ground But this Principle which appears so comely so useful so necessary is the most Pernicious the most false and the most absurd that was ever alledg'd This makes me say that we ought to stand upon our guard with respect to the fairest Appearances Rome the Eternal and Infallible is the name of Blasphemy of the Beast The first fault I find with this Principle is that it is one of the Characters of the Antichristian Kingdom according to the Prophets When S. John describes it under the image of a Beast he saith that on his heads was writ a name of Blasphemy All the Ancients and moderns ever since S. Jerom hold it for certain that the name of Blasphemy there is that of Rome the Eternal and I cannot question it The City of Rome hath alaways pretended to an endless Duration Virgil makes Eternity to be one part of her Destiny and makes Jupiter say Imperium sine fine dedi Now this is blasphemy because unchangeableness is one of the divine Perfections incommunicable to a Creature All things under the Sun are subject to change Modern Rome is much more guilty of Blaspheray than Rome Pagan was of old Not only doth she say that her Monarchy shall never cease shall not be destroyed untill three years and an half before the end of the world but declares that her faith can never be changed that the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against it So that now more than ever doth Rome carry the name of Blasphemy on its fore-head Rome the Eternal This is that which is afterwards exprest by those words of S. John And there was given him a Mouth Rev. c. 13. v. 5. speaking great things and Blasphemies For those great things can be nothing else than the great Encomiums and glorious Titles she gives her self of being the Queen of all other Churches the seat of Infallibility the Eternal Temple of the H. Ghost the Fountain of Oracles the Infallible Interpreter of the H. Scripture the Judge of the Prophets and Apostles the soveraign Decider of all Controversies who makes and discovers the Authority of the sacred Writings without whom they deserve no credit All these great things which she speaks of herself what are they but so many Blasphemies against God for none can ascribe that to themselves which belongs only to God without Blasphemy Rev. c. 18. v. 7. But this Character of Antichristianism doth most plainly appear in those words of the Apostle She hath glorified herself and lived deliciously she saith in her heart I sit as a Queen and am no Widow and shall see no sorrow 'T is Babylon who speaks thus or the H. Ghost who introduceth Babylon thus boasting of her self She hath glorified her self This the Church of Rome doth by assuming to her self the most glorious Titles that can be given to a Society she hath said in her heart I am Queen the Mistress of the world the Chair of the Vniverse the Metropolis of the Catholick Church God hath establisht me to be an Head unto all Christians He hath intrusted his own Power in my Hands the happiness or misery the good or evill Destiny of Mankind is at my dispose I shall never be a Widow the Holy spirit whose spouse I am will never abandon me he will love me forever and continually guide me in the Way of Truth and be with me to the end of the world I shall never see Sorrow or Mourning I shall never fall into Error or know what it is to dye I shall allways
that it is not so plain but that 't is necessary it should be Prov'd Now from whence shall we fetch the Proofs of the Churches Infallability I must take them from her own mouth and believe her to be infallible because she tells me so and for that only reason because she saith it This is manifestly absurd for no man's bare word is to be taken in a business wherein he hath a particular Interest to be partial Hath a Turk right to oblige me to believe the Divinity of his Alchoran only because Mahomet hath said that the Angel Gabriel brought him the Alchoran from Heaven Must I then consult Tradition that is the Councils and the Writings of the Fathers this is another plain Absurdity because it is evident that this way cannot be made use of by three Quarters of the number of Christians and more who are ignorant of Greck and Latin and so cannot read the numberless volumns wherein this Tradition is to be found Or must every one believe his Curate or Pastor when he tells him that the Church is infallible This is another Absurdity for this Pastor must be infallible or I cannot build my Faith upon his Testimony He tells me there is an infallibility in the Church but how doth he Prove it which way soever I turn my self I fall into the former inconveniencies for if he saith I must believe it without proof he deals with me like a Brute and not as a Rational Creature If he gives me Tradition for Argument in this case I tell him I know nothing of it if he turns me over to the Church I ask where is this Church If he sends me to the Pope I tell him I cannot go thither and if I could I 'm told he is not Infallible If he send me to a Councill I say there is none now sitting If he send me to the Canons of former Councills I shall answer that I cannot understand 'em and if I could have no assurance that these Canons were really made by such a Councill If he proves that these Canons were not forged but really made by a Councill there remains another difficulty which I cannot get over viz. that several Good Catholicks maintain the fallibility of a Council There is then but one way left to satisfie my self concerning the infallibility of the Church and that is the Testimony of the H. Scriptures But how can any man make use of that according to the Principles of the Roman Church for I shall say that the Scriptures have no Authority without the Church I cannot believe the testimony of the Scripture till I know it to be divine and I cannot know it to be divine but by the testimony of the Church as we are often told The Scripture then hath no Authority as to me without the Testimony of the Church and yet you would have me believe the Infallibility of the Church upon the Testimony of the Scripture you must therefore in the first place convince me that the Church is infallible without dependance on the Scriptures and then I shall believe the divinity of the Scriptures on the Testimony of the Church and after that I may be able to believe the infallibility of the Church on the Testimonies of the Scripture The absurdities of blind obedience If the Church be infallible a blind Obedience is my Duty to obtain this submission to the Church is the reason of asserting her infallibility I must blindly believe all that the Church affirms But till then I am not obliged to credit any thing which the Scripture saith or seems to say for I am not capable to understand the meaning and sense of the Scriptures without the Church so that until the Church hath declar'd that Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God and equal with the Father I have leave to doubt of it There was a time when the Church had not deliver'd her opinion in this point there was then a time when I was permitted to be an Arrian Photinian or Socinian But on the other hand whenever it shall please the Church to determine that the Ark was of a square figure equal in length and breadth or that Aaron's Sandals were with or without latchets it will be necessary that I must believe this or be damn'd Can any man be unapprehensive of the absurdities of such a Doctrine according to which at one time we may Blaspheme God without the least danger and at another time lie liable to Damnation for the least mistake about that which the Church hath decided to be the Truth These Gentlemen tell us that we must believe without examination all that the Church declares And by the same reason the Heathens were obliged to believe all that their Priests told'um and the Jews to receive all that was taught in their Synagogues No you will say they were false Teachers and so not to be credited very well But the Pagans and Jews say the same concerning my Pastors that they are false Guides And if the Jews and Heathens are bound to examin the truth of what is told them by their Guides why are not Christians obliged to know and examin what is told them by the Church at least they ought to examin the Church it self and her Authority and then we fall into the same Difficulties which were mention'd before After all this if a short and easy way could be found out to convince me that the Church is infallible this were not enough to quiet my mind because I know not where to find this infallible Church I see a multitude of differing Sects in the East and West in Europe and Asia who all say that they are the Church and that all other parties of Christians are guilty of Schism The Latins say this of the Greeks and the Greeks are even with 'em and say the same of the Latins the Protestants charge it on the Papists and the Papists on the Protestants I must know which of all these is in the right and to find out this I am plung'd into an abysse of difficulties and how shall I find my way out or extricate my self for there is no way left but by the Scriptures and that way is forbidden me till I am assured of the Infallibility and Authority of the Church without which I cannot be certain that the Scripture is divine It may possibly be said that I may believe the Divinity of the Scriptures before I know in what Sect of Christians is the Church because the Scripture is receiv'd by all the several Sects It matters not may it be said which of them is the infallible Church since they all bear restimony to the Scripture and there is one among them that is infallible viz. the true Church for her where-ever she be the Scripture hath an infallible testimony But this remedy will serve to little or no purpose because 't is necessary that I should know which of these Sects is the true Church before I can understand the
is the Sun and that the Emperor is but the Moon who hath all his authority from the Pope who gives him the Empire and that in the interregnum between the death of one Emperor and the Election of another the whole soveraign power comes into the Popes hands That Kings are only the doggs of his flock but the Pope is the only shepherd That he hath all Lawes in the cabinet of his breast that he is the Cause of Causes that he keepeth the keys of Heaven and hell that he hath authority to command the Angels that he is the Infallible Judge of the whole Church that none can be saved but in communion with him that the Old and New Testaments ought not to be received but because the H. Pope hath so pronounced that he can change the natures of things and make something out of nothing that his power is greater than that of all the Saints and that the Pope is the only Bishop and the rest are but his subdeligates and have no power but from him that Emperors and Kings ought to adore his Pontifical Crown and his Diadem that all Kingdoms are tributary to him and that he may constrain all the Commonwealths of the world to pay him Tribute that he is the stomach of the Church and consequently it belongs to him to distribute nourishment i. e. riches and wealth to the whole body But what perhaps these pretentions are vain and without effect Quite the contrary For the Pope took the actuall possession of all those pretended Rights Proud actions of the Popes as far as he was able Divers Popes have deposed Emperors and Kings They took away the Empire from Henry IV. Frederick I. and Frederick II. they depriv'd several Families of the Kingdom of Naples and bestow'd it on others Innocent III. gave the Kingdom of England to Philip August King of France After that he assum'd it to himself and made King John pay him homage for it as his Tributary and Vassal Alexander VI. gave the West-Indies to the Kings of Spain by the title of a Kingdom Julius II. took away Navarre from its lawfull Soveraings to bestow it on the Spaniards The Popes have setled Imposts and Taxes throughout all their Dominions and appointed Receivers to Collect the money They have forc'd the Greatest Monarchs actually to kiss their feet they have trod upon the necks of Princes and kickt their crowns from off their heads assoon as they had put them on and made 'em hold the Stirrup while they got on horseback they have obliged them to come and ask pardon on their knees in the habit of Penitents stript of all their royal Robes they have sent swords to Princes to let them know that they have all their power and authority from them they have pronounc't Anathema's against all who would not obey them and declar'd them to be Accursed of what rank quality or condition soever they be who should refuse obedience They have appear'd in publick with a magnificence and pomp that was rather divine than Royal they make the H. Sacrament which is their God to be carried in a less honorable place and manner than they themselves It is carried upon an Hackney while the Popes are born upon mens shoulders of whom the Emperor is to be one if he be at Rome at the time of the great Ceremony They actually grant dispensations contrary to the laws of God in Oaths and in the forbidden degrees of Marriage They exalt themselves above their own Saints who are their Gods for they canonize'em and decree them to have the honour of Altars and Incense whenever they please They open the Gates of Purgatory to fetch Souls from thence whenere they have a mind to do so They give Indulgences for Sodomy and Buggery for the murder of Parents and for Incest with a mother or sister Could God himself do more There is not a tittle of all this but is notorious matter of fact known and acknowledg'd ledg'd or sufficiently proved by undeniable Instances in our History of Popery and Legal Exceptions Is it possible that the eyes of mankind should continue shut as to these things was there ever any picture more like the original How can it be that we should not confess that this is he who should oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God and worshipt and should carry himself as if he were God Is not this to exalt himself above the true God to dispense with his laws to assume to himself the adoration and worship that belongs to God to call himself his vicar and vicegerent without any authority or Commission to do so and take to himself the name of a God upon Earth Is it not to exalt himself above all that is called God to advance himself above all those who are called Gods and the sons of the most High above the Kings of the Earth who bear the Image of God Is it not to exalt himself against that which is worshipt to take place of the H. Sacrament of the Altar which they adore as God to prefer himself before Glorified Saints and Angells to whom they build Temples and confer upon 'em divine Honour Lastly is it not to act as if he were God to pretend to be Infallible which God alone is to require that men should worship him and kiss his feet to rule over the Kings of the Earth to depose them at pleasure and set up others to exact tribute from the whole Church and stile himself the chief Shepherd and only Bishop of Souls The vanity of the popish Excuses for all this Pride Shall we always be put off with this pittifull reply that these are only proud pretences of some Popes and that we are not to judge of their true Authority by such attempts as the wisest and best men among the Papists do at this day condemn that these are only particular Opinions of some in the Roman Church who with the Prot. Ministers abuse the people to make the Holy See odious to the People Prudence is an admirable thing and so is the blindness of the Gallican Church and of the present Clergy of France to facilitate the return of the Protestants to the Church of Rome they deprive the Pope of his soveraign power they delare that he is not Infallible that he is not above the universal Church but the Church is superior to the Pope that he hath no authority to depose Princes or to dispense with the oaths of allegiance and fidelity in subjects upon any pretence whatever no not in the case of Religion But what do they do by all this they declare the Pope to be a Monster of Pride who doth arrogantly ascribe to himself a soveraign Power which doth no way belong to him and that all the bold attempts he hath made to dethrone Emperors and depose Kings and cause so many thousands to be murder'd to preserve himself in this authority are enormous crimes villanies and Injustice
most Holy Virgin Mary the Mother of God almost every thing which is in the H. Bible In prosecuting this design the Virgin Mary must be found in the first word of the Bible By the Heavens which God created in the beginning we must understand the Empyreal Heaven i. e. the Lady of the World the V. Mary When God said Let there be Light the meaning is Let Mary be begotten and born Every thing that is Great and Singular in the Antient History is Mary She is the Altar which Noah built to God after the Deluge the Holocaust in which God will smell a sweet savour is the Prayers of the same Virgin the Virgin is the Bow in the heavens of which 't is said when I bring a cloud over the Earth the bow shall be seen She is the mystical Ladder which Jacob saw in a Dream for by her the Son of God descends to us and by her we ascend to him she is the Gate thro which we enter into the Kingdom of God 't was of the Virgin that Jacob spoke when he said how dreadful is this place 't is the House of God the Gate of Heaven The Jewish Tabernacle and all its parts did respect the Virgin. She is the Ark of the Covenant that is gone into Heaven before us to prepare us a place there She is the Mercy-seat of pure Gold because she was sanctifyed above others in her Mothers womb She is also the Altar of Burnt-offerings because she is the Reconciler and hath taken this Office at her going into Heaven We may judge of the whole piece by these small shreds A thousand and a thousand Copies have been taken from these two famous Originals the antient Preachers of the Roman Church adorned their discourses with these excellent flowers For example in Solomons Song they found a large field for these profane applications There the H. Spirit in a mysterious manner sets forth the Wonders of the Union between J. Christ and his Church by the Emblems of a Bridegoom and a Spouse These profane wretches apply all this to the Virgin as if the Mysteries of our Redemption and Union with J. Christ were verifyed and fulfill'd in her And to give greater authority to all these shameless applications they were brought even into the Hymnes of the Roman Church In them they say to the Virgin Tu quoe furentem Leviathan serpentem tortuosumque c. Thou bruisest under thy feet the furious Leviathan and the crooked Serpent an Elogy which the Oracle in Genesis gives to the Blessed Seed i. e. to J. Christ Another hymn speaks thus to her Scala Jacob ora pro nobis Jacobs Ladder pray for us Nor is less done to the other Saints every one of 'em hath his proper Votaries especially the modern Saints are much more feasted and caressed than the old The book of the Conformities between S. Francis and J. Christ is full of these Abominations That Author will have that God had his eye on S. Francis when he Created the first man. For to him those words ought to be applyed Let us make man in our Image after our Likeness and let them have dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl c. There are none who have been so extravagant in abusing the H. Scripture as the Preachers of the Papacy For they have adopted all these profanations and over and above have peculiar ones of their own 'T was their profession to make the Scripture ridiculous and absurd by impertinent Expositions by expressions fit for the Stage and by the language of a Farce which they still used in all their discourses If any should dare to deny this we have at this day enough to convince the incredulous in the Sermons of Menot of Maillard of Barelette V. Exceptions from which we have made considerable citations and the consulting them will be useful to let us see the Character of Popery Tho their Preachers are not so sottishly extravagant in this age yet 't is certain that the same Character is to be discern'd in those who are newly come out of the Convent and have not convers'd with the world The Writers of Controversy Scripture abused by Controversial writers ought to be much more exact and circumspect in the using of the H. Scripture Preachers and those who write Books of Devotion have some Priviledge in this matter and may take some liberty in their Applications of Scripture provided that these applications are sutable to bring the soul unto God. But when we alledge Scripture as an evidence to decide a Controversy we must keep close to the true Intent of the H. Spirit Nevertheless one would pity and blush for the Controversial writers of the Church of Rome who boldly abuse and wrest the Scripture to prove their Doctrines We have ground already to say that all the proofs she brings from Scripture are real Abuses of it And what we have discoursed above to prove that the Papacy is not in the least sollicitous to have a conformity to the Rule of Christians might be repeated here But besides those abuses which the Papists are forced to employ otherwise they must in plain terms grant that the Scripture is not their Friend besides those I say we may find others which they could have spared Are not the words of Christ to S. Peter Thrust out a little from the land Panigarola and Launch out into the deep an excellent proof that S. Peter was first to erect his Episcopal Seat at Antioch and afterward to erect the Popes See and the Soveraign Tribunal of the Church in the City of Rome Psal 110.2 The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thy enemies Behold an express Text to prove the same thing viz. that Rome is to be the Metropolis of the Church the Queen of the world Christ saith to Peter Bozius Follow thou me i. e. Go and place thy Seat and that of my Kingdom at Rome Behold I lay in Ston for a foundation a tryed stone a pretious Corner stone i. e. I will establish the Pope to be the Lieutenant of God and the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth Bellarmin There is one Lord i. e. The Pope is the only Soveraign of the world Where two or three are gatherd together in my name Panigarola there I will be in the midst of them i. e. The Pope alone hath Authority to call general Councils Bellarmin Let a man so account of us as stewards of the mysteries of God i. e. There is a Treasure of Indulgences in the Popes keeping which he may dispense as he pleaseth Verily I say unto you Eckius this generation shal not pass away till all these things be fulfilld This signifieth that there shall be a constant succession of Bishops in the Roman Church Loose him and let him go did Christ say concerning Lazarus And this denotes that
that kindled the flame which burns to this day 'T is a prodigious blindness in which there is somthing supernatural that men should come so far as to utter such Blasphemies and that at this day men should not be afraid to repeat them Scripture insufficient The Third Affront tho Papists offer to the Scriptures is their asserting them to be insufficient and imperfect and that they cannot serve as a Rule of Faith. They employ their greatest Engins to establish this Principle Councill of Trent Ses 4. that Traditions ought to be regarded with the same reverence and veneration that is given to the Scripture Yea that Traditions excell the Scriptures because the H. Scriptures cannot subsist unless confirmed by Tradition Baron Tom. â— Annal. whereas Traditions keep their strength intire without the H. Writings We stand more in need of Tradition than of Scripture for the Scriptures only furnish us with a dead and dumb letter But Tradition as the Church holds it forth helps us to the true sense which is not indeed distinctly layd down in the Scripture yet is the real word of God. W. Bayly Nothing is more injurious to the Scripture than this Nothing is more contrary to the intention and wisdom of God than to suppose that he hath given a Rule of Faith which cannot regulate Faith which is too short by more than three quarters which is crooked dubious flexible and altogether useless without the aid of another Rule that is unknown to all Christians excepting a small number of Learned men who alone are capable of consulting it Scripture hath no Authority The fourth Affront that Popery offers to the Scriptures relates to their Authority They have no Authority without the testimony of the Church Without the Authority of the Church Bayly we should have no more Obligation to believe the Scriptures than the History of Titus Livius The Scripture Hosius if deprived of the Churches testimony have no more Authority than Esops Fables How know we say they that the Writings which go under the name of Moses are his seeing we never had a sight of the Originals And if we should who could assure us that they were writ by Moses's own hand Again if we could be assured of this what certainty have we that what Moses writ is true Who shall assure us that the Evangelists were Witnesses to all that they report But tho we should believe that they saw and heard all the Actions and Discourses of J. Christ which they report yet they might forgett and lye as every man may deceive and be deceived How can we again know with certainty Pighius that what goes under their names are their true Writings and not corrupted or forged I know not what kind of Temper a man must be of who can read and hear such things without trembling He that should speak at this rate of the Alcoran at Constantinople would be impaled alive An Infidel cannot say more to destroy all the Authority of the Holy Scriptures The several ways used by Papists to take away the Credit of the scripture 'T is not enough to these Gentlemen to affront the Scriptures by these four Accusations 1. That they are not necessary to the Church 2. That they are obscure 3. That they are defective 4. That they have no Authority as to us without the Church there is no Method imaginable which they employ not to dishonour them They tell us that they were writ only Occasionally and not at all with any design to make them a Rule of Faith. An Evangelist or an Apostle wrote a Gospel or an Epistle at random by chance and on particular private designs Afterward the Church collected those loose writings into one Book But seeing these were not writ by one or several persons writing in concert we cannot find in them a System of Faith. Can any thing be said more affronting to the H. Spirit who ordered the pens of these Writers and the occasions that obliged them to write The Papists talk just as if the Apostles had writ meerly on their own designs without any Inspiration But did not the H. Spirit who moved them to write design their writings collected together should be the true Rule of Faith To lessen the Credit of the Canonical books that are truly divine Popery hath joyn'd with them fabulous books a tale of Tobit a Romance of Judith of Bel and the Dragon of Susanna This tends to dispose the minds of men to believe whatever they have a mind to propose seeing the veriest Fables when authoriz'd by the Church ought to be received as Truth and the greatest Truth destitute of the Churches Testimony may be rejected as a Fable This is not yet enough the more effectually to abolish the holy Books and their Authority they affirm that at this time we have not the H. Scriptures compleat Many Books say they are lost we have not the Book of the Wars of the Lord mention'd in the Book of Numbers We have not the Books of Gad and of Iddo Solomon wrote concerning plants from the Cedar even to the Hyssop and I know not how many thousand Parables and Songs which we have not S. Paul wrote a third Epistle to the Corinthians which is lost one to the Church of Laodicea and perhaps many others which are not to be found and who knows whether in all these writings that we have not there were not innumerable things which would have made the Rule of Faith more compleat Perhaps what is come down to us are only some Planks escap'd from a Shipwrack which hath swallowed up the Vessel All the sacred Books of the Old Testament were burnt at the sacking of Jerusalem under Zedekiah Afterward Ezra gather'd what he could of the scatterd pieces There are Popish Authors who discourse at this rate Yea they go further Those Books of Holy Scripture that are preserved are yet corrupted and alterd The Jews out of hatred to the Christian Religion have corrupted the Originals at the best these Originals are lost and the Copies have felt the injuries of Time and the fate that is inevitable to all antient Books having for above three thousand years past thro the hands of so many ignorant persons many things may have been changed in them Besides they are dead Languages in which these Books are written such as we understand not we are not skill'd in their Grammar we know not the signification of their words This is what they discourse at this day Lastly to compleat the Affront they pull away these books out of the peoples hands they affright them with these as if they tended to ruin their souls They tell men that it never was the intention of God to abandon his Scriptures to the indiscretion of the Laity And on this pretence the Scripture is become a secret Book hid under a barbarous Language to which none is allowed to approach unless he is aforehand initiated in their
Babylon do insultingly ask us Where were those who denyed to adore the Eucharist or pray to Saints and that we should name those hidden Believers We take our turn to ask them shew us those honest people who did not partake in these Monkish superstitions as you call them Shew us those true Catholicks who worshipped God in all purity and who prayed to Saints only to place them in the number of those who pray to God. In the publick Hymns compos'd by Popes we find instances of Idolatry But behold two or three Evidences sufficient to stop the mouthes of these Gentlemen the Advocates of Popery whose deformities they conceal with so much cunning The First is That in their publick Hymns authorised by the Church publickly sung printed in their Missials and Hours we find these same Superstitions which they own to be Excesses and we call Blasphemies and Idolatries Have they not sung in one of the Hymns of the Roman Church monstra te esse matrem shew yourself to be his mother i.e. command your Son with the Authority of a Mother Did ever any private Author say anything more horrid than this that a Creature should in a way of Authority command its Creator Are there not these words in an antient Hymn positus in medio quo me vertam nescio which are spoken by a Devotionist plac'd between Jesus Christ and the Virgin and knoweth not which of them to prefer They were not therefore meer private persons who were guilty of these Excesses Our second Evidence is this that these Blasphemies have come out of the Mouthes of the Popes themselves of Popes I say who are the Mouth of Jesus Christ and who cannot err as 't was universally supposed in those times Was it not Pope Innocent III. who composed that Hymn in which these words are found Precor te Regina Coeli habeas me excusatum nam peccavi tibi soli i. e. I beseech Thee O Queen of Heaven to forgive me for 't is against Thee only I have sinn'd Is not this to put the Virgin in the place of God the great Lawgiver and soveraign Our third Proof is this that the Authors of this extravagant Devotion whose worship is full of Blasphemy have yet been canoniz'd One of these Saints is Cardinal Bonaventure another is Antonine Arch-Bishop of Florence There are others as St. Bernardin St. Anselme c. Did the Church at that time look upon these men with the same eye as Mr. Arnaud now doth would he increase the number of Saints by the names of those whom he stiles Wretched Authors and Pittiful Fellows such as Father Crasset and other sorry Iesuites A fourth Argument we may fetch from their Expurgatory Indexes If these Monkish Superstitions have been lookt upon as extravagant and excessive ever since the Council of Trent why are they not condemn'd why are they not raz'd out of their Writings why are not the Books forbidden wherefore do we not find them in some Index of forbidden Books and there have been many such printed at Rome and in Spain within an hundred and fifty years On the Contrary These Authors have been in vogue and as much esteem'd as formerly these Idolatrous Saints have kept their place in the Calender and their Statues been continued in Churches their Worship in the Roman service and their Festivals in the days of the year After this they must be very impudent to tell us that these excessive and extravagant Devotions were not the general Religion of the Roman Church for seven or eight hundred years This Extravagant Devotion which thus borders upon Idolatry doth yet continue As to that which these Gentlemen tell us that this is a thing past and gone and ought not to be jmputed to the present Roman Church because they are not now guilty but have reformed and brought back the Invocation of Saints to what it ought to be To this I say divers things may be answered First that granting the truth of this it would nevertheless be true that the Church of Rome hath been Idolatrous for seven or eight hundred years and this were enough to justifie our Charge of Idolatry against her and to prove the Character of the Kingdom of Antichrist belongs to the Papacy But I say further that this Assertion implies a much greater Impudence than the former Excuse for the darkness we are under as to former times might serve for a pretence in the denial of a matter of Fact concerning those times but all shame must be lost in those that will contest a present Truth and affirm that which our senses will evidence to be false whereof we may every day see the contrary What ought we then to judge of our modern Converters who so confidently assure their now Converts that all that was excessive in the Worship of Saints is now corrected and amended Is there any one thing abated of what we Charge them with do they not every day sing in their Churches those blasphemous Hymns against God and against the B. Virgin that we accuse 'em of wherin they call her The Tree of Life the Well of Living Water the Ocean of Graces the Light of the Church the Light of Hearts the Buckler of Mankind the Refuge of Mortals the Queen of Angells the Princess of Seraphims the Ark of the Covenant the Holy Altar the Repairer of all that Adam spoil'd the Judge of Quick and Dead Was there any thing worse than this ever said by the Bonaventure's Albertus's Antonine's Biel's c If the Virgin be the Light of the Living and of the Dead who inlightens every man that comes into the world if she be the Altar of our Propitiation the Asylom to which all men must have recourse if she hath restor'd all that Adam lost what remains for Jesus Christ to do and what could be said more of himself Is this past and gone doth it not still continue Is it not dayly sung in the Hymns and Letanies of the Virgin what Authority reduc'd the Church to the Truth in the point of the Invocation and Worship of Saints It may be the Council of Trent but have not the greatest part of these extravagant Authors we have quoted liv'd since the Council of Trent The Author of the signs of Predestination the Stellarium Binnet Salmeron Salazar Costerus Vasquez Father Suffren Carolus Scribanius and an hundred others who have liv'd in our age have they abated any thing on the contrary have they not out-done their Predecessors so far is the Idolatrous worship of the Virgin diminisht that within an hundred years it is very much augmented The opinion of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin was once a Probleme a disputable point but in our times the Monks have almost made it an Article of Faith. No man durst preach or write against it and since that time the votaries of the Virgin have kept no measures Kingdoms are put under her Protection and every Individual takes her for his Patroness
ever since and take a little rest after so many violent motions in removing And 't is very probable that it will never be removed from thence for since the time of Luther and Calvin the Angels are not so forward as heretofore to work such kind of Miracles in favor of Mary That you may not imagin this to be a Fable you must know that the people of Recanati who were ignorant whence this wonderful House should come were duely informed of the truth of all these Miracles by a devout person whom the Virgin obliged with a particular Revelation of the whole matter that the B. Virgin might not fail of being devoutly worshipt in this place But because the people were incredulous and had not faith enough to credit the story of the old man they sent sixteen Ambassadors grave pious and credible persons from Recanati to Nazareth with the exact measures of the House and there they Discovered the Foundations of an House that had been built there perfectly corresponding to the measures they had brought with them and which is more considerable near the place they found an Inscription which certified that there had been such a Church formerly there but it was miraculously translated After all this who can in the least question the truth of this History especially since it is ingraven on Tables of Brass which are hung up in the House it self The Jesuite Tursellin hath related the whole History in very good Latin and adorned it with many curious Circumstances which for the sake of brevity we omit and hath inlarged it by the account of very many Miracles wrought by the Virgin in favor of her House and Image The whole confirmed by the Priviledge and Approbation of Pope Clement VIII and fortified with the Testimony of the gravest Authors of the Roman Church such as Rainaldus Bzovius and Spondanus who have not forgot to mention this memorable History in their Annals and for a larger account of it refer us to Tursellin as an Author of such exactness and fidelity that none can be supposed to question his Authority in Italy especially in the Neighbourhood of Recanati To speak seriously was there ever any thing so ridiculous absurd and silly imposed upon the world the Metamorphoses of Ovid and the Book of Palephatus contain nothing so foolish and incredible But they got their End by it which was to promote the Worship of the Virgin to establish the Doctrine of Devils i. e. Demons these Fables are invented to this very intent exactly as S Paul fore-told Several Impâ—ous and Riâ—â—ulous Miracles wrought by the Virgin. To finish the History let us see some of the Miracles which these wretched Idolaters pretend to be wrought by the Virgin in the composition of these Fables they not only seem to have lost all Shame but to have renounc't common Sense as if they designed to render Christianity the most ridiculous of all Religious for Example can any thing be more enormous and abominable than what they make the Virgin do in favor of one Beatrix who had the charge of the Keys of a certaine Convent she was debaucht by a Priest and Privately left the Convent and for fifteen years frequented the Stews and the most infamous places during all which time the H. Virgin supplied her place in the Convent and was Door-keeper in her room that it might not be observed that she was absent Insomuch that at her return she reassum'd her former Offices and Imploy without the least blemish to her Reputation This was because she was extremely devoted to the Virgin. Because an Abbess of another Convent was one of her Votaries she suffered no damage for being with child by the Steward of the House the Bishop had notice of it and was preparing to punish her but the Virgin gave Commission to two Angels to transport the Abbess unto a private place where she was safely delivered and then restored her Virginity to her so that when the Bishop caused her to be searcht her Accusers were put to shame and confuted and the Bishop was fore't to crave her pardon Is there any thing more horrible than what the Annals of the Jacobins say of the Virgin They make her to be married to Dominick their founder she comes to him and discourses him after this manner Dominick my son my dear Husband Alanus Redivivus because by the inspiration of Jesus thou hast strenuously contested against the Enemies of the faith behold I am come to thy succor I whom thou hast so often invok't then the Virgin receives him into her Virginal Bosome kisses him with the most Amorous tenderness and having open'd to him her breasts gives him to tast of her Milk aâ—â— perfectly cures him If I had not related the very words of the Author I could not expect to find credit in the recital of so horrid a Passage The same Alanus who reports this of S. Dominick would be thought to have had the same Honour no matter tho the B. Virgin be made guilty of Polygamy by it she must it seems have several Husbands The Virgin then espoused Alain de la Roche in the presence of I Christ divers of the Saints who assisted at the wedding she gave him the ring of her Virginity made of her Virginal Hair. After this the Sweet Lady kiss'd him and let him suck her Breasts Can such things as these be read without Horror and Trembling 'T is incredible how many several Husbands this Holy Virgin is said to have espoused how pure a Virgin soever she be The Legend of Surius relates the History of one Herman surnamed Joseph because he was married to the Virgin. Mary comes with two Angels to demand Marriage of him the poor Fellow was astonisht at such a demand Incitabat amor retinebat pudor Love prompted him to accept but shame and bashfulness kept him back Caesarius tells the History of a certain Soldier who was in love with his Captains Wife The Virgin to divert him from so criminal an Amour presents her self to him as a most Charming Beauty and tells him I will be thy Wife give me a Kiss and constrain'd him to it Are there any worse impurities to be found in the Chronicle of Venus among the Fables of the Heathen We may see how the fire of lust discover'd it self in the impure Fancies of these wicked Monks who composed these Legends To what purpose is all this 't is to persuade the World that the Virgin doth passionately desire to be ador'd and worshipt for all these favors are granted to such as were her special Votaries The design of the Legendaries is to promote the Adoration of the Virgin. 'T is with the same design that those wretched Annalists of the Virgin would make us believe that there is no danger from which the Virgin doth not deliver those who devoutly worship her and give her the preference to all others Father Crasset hath lately made an whole book