MASCHIL OR A TREATISE TO GIVE INSTRVCTION TOUCHING The state of the CHURCH of ROME since the Councell of TRENT Whether shee be yet a TRVE Christian CHVRCH And if she have denied the FOVNDATION of our FAITH For the Vindication of the right Reuerend Father in God the L. Bishop of EXETER from the cavills of H. B. in his Book intituled The seven Vialls By ROBERT BVTTERFIELD Master of Arts and Minister of Gods Word IOâ 32. 7. c. I ââd dayes should speake and ãâ¦ã of ãâã should ãâ¦ã But there is a ãâ¦ã the inspiration of the ãâ¦ã ãâ¦ã wise neither ãâ¦ã Therefore I said Heathen to me I also will shâw ãâ¦ã Printed by H. L. and R. T. for N. âââter 16â9 ãâ¦ã ⧠To the Reuerend and Right Worshipfull Mr. Richard CHAMBER Dr. of Diuinity the Eâcourager of my Studieâ and Abeââor of my honest Endââuours Worthy Sir NEuer any man attained vnto Honour but Enuy folloued him close at the heels and those Actions which before were not onely plausible but commendable are now subiect to misconstruction I know not else hoâ it should come to passe that that Reuerend Diuine whose worth all Learned men know and your selfe in particular haue often extolled should come now to bee taxed through the preposterous zeale of some men for publishing to the World that Truth which bee hath beene alwaies knowne to mainetaine and should be thought to fauour that errour which no man euer more masculinely opposed The haynous Crime which is layd to the charge of that worthy Bishop is this That he is of opinion that the Church of Rome notwithstanding her manifold and deplorable Corruptions cannot yet be truly said to bee all Errour no Church An afsertion as you know not infrequent in the writings of other learned men but if it chance to fall from the Penne of a Prelate hee is straight-way making a Wicket to let-in Popery But is the truth so Surely no but as the Doctor of the Gentiles was accused to teach that which ill-disposed men did gather by his Writings euen such is their case whose words shewing the right vertuous contentednesse of his minde Through Honour and Dishonour are a most fit Episcopall Emprese It was an acute Hook Eccles Polit. lib. 3 §. 1 demand of one who for his profound Wisedome and Iudgement was second to none that liued in the Age with him Whether if an Hereticke were persecuted to the death by an Infidell for his Christian Profession sake we could deny such a one the Name of a Martyr Now who knowes not that Martyrdome is an honour peculiar to âhe Church of God From whence if all Papists as some would haue it beâ quite and cleane excluded to what end doe wee spend so much time in disputes with them about Christian Religion Why doe we trouble our selues more with them than with Iewes and Infidels who are altogether Aliens from the Church Or why doe wee rather take the Workes of Bellarmine than the Alcoran to confute But wherefore doe I anticipate seeing this is the subiect of the ensuing discourse but that the vertue of the Cause yeeldeth Arguments more than ânow For miâe own part I entreat your self the World to excuse me that I could bee âo longer patient when I sâe him whose meekenesse ââ such that although he desireâ Peace with âll men yet disclaimes Peace with Rome who hath written such serious dissââasâues from Poperie who hath sent comfort to some ân that Inquisition sand heartned them ãâ¦ã Martyrdome who before the Reuerând Assembly of the Clergie in the Conuocation gathered together all hiâ powers of Eloquence to perswade them to set themselues against that Tyberine Monster so âee calleth Poperie Concio ad Cleâum I say when I see him traduced as ãâã that would helpe Poperie 7. Vialls pag. 28. ouer the stile and censured as one whose * Charitie without zeale without sound Iudgement pag. 33. Charitie is told whose Iudgement ânfound I must creaâe pardon if my ãâã within me worke a little though from Virulency of speech I promise to abstaine which as my disposition ab harreth so it cannot better my Nunquam meluâem causâm fâcit diceâtis petulaâtia sed âepè peiorem l. our Val. Antidot in Pogium Couse and hee for whom I am entred into the Lists will not so bee defended who had rather put vp iniurie than eyther offer or requite any Now Reverend Sir if this imputation layd vpon the learned Bishop were the exception of one alone my labour might seeme superfluous for why should not one man dissent from another so that still the vnitie of the Spirit bee kept in the Bond of peace But the case is now otherwise for you are not ignorant that from him it is deriued to the People to whom the worthy Prelate is made odious and who thinke his Works vnworthy to be read any longer Neither is it needfull to vse force of reason to the Common sâât for what is waâting in the weight of ââens speeches is supplyed in the apenesse of their mindes to receiue whatsoeuer is but probably tendred them against their Saperious and they account such men to carry singular freedome of minde whiles thâse that shall but vndertake their defence must encounter with many heauy preiudices rooted in mens mindes that they are Men-pleasers and Time-seruers Yet ãâã all thiâ deterrâ not from pârsuing that which I haue taken in hand neither as I hope shall I ãâã any thing to the offence of any godly minded if besides the Reasons I alledge to fortifie the Cause it selfe they be pleased to consider what Reasons ââdâced me to stirre in this Maââer which are these The Truth suffârs while ãâã obtruded and ãâã are vrged ââ embrace it in stead thereof The Church suffers ãâã her children âre presented with ãâã opinionâ in stead of her ãâã Teâeâts Who though sheâ ãâã condemned all the ârrours of âââ Church of Rome yet ãâ¦ã contâmâlious against the Church it selfe The Reuerend Bishop suffâââ who ãâ¦ã his grâat deferning ãâ¦ã Church our Mother ãâ¦ã not âoââby to be ãâã the same day âis Aduersary is spoken of And lastly dââ Lâââned ãâã suffer whose ãâã fall ãâ¦ã conââââled ãâ¦ã Iudgment The Vindication of all these â great ãâã â thâ ãâ¦ã of many haue vnder ââen and ââ âumbly offer it to your Worships Patronage to whom I am so well ânownâ that what I am I made âot tâll you not my other inforâââou what are my abilities and what my weakenâsââ is not hid from you Besides such is your loue towards meâ that with a Fatherly affection you baue alwaies prosecuted mee as all know that know vs both Vt nihil à me tam Laurentius Valla. Epist ad Iohannem Tortellium exiguum proficââeaâur quod non tuo nâscio iudicio dicam an amori magnum esse videatur To your selfe therefore of right doth this Worke belong to whom though lowe more yea whatsoeuer I am able to doe yet
time deliuered vnder her authority To draw therfore to a conclusion since the Scriptures affirme that many of Gods people are in Babyloâ and that Antichrist must sit in the Church of God since that Popery taketh not away from the foundation but addeth to it * âândamento aâ ãâ¦ã âaâitâ noââtium Caput ãâã vâi sâpra Vide Dr. Prid. ââct de âisib ââclesia whence nothing is more frequent with ouâ Diuines than to tearme Popery âoctriâam addititiam and their Reliâion Popish additaments and Aquiâââ who gaue the Pope power to âake a new Creede neuer thought âhat he might abrogate the old for âs much as they haue that Baptisme âhich maketh them members of the âue Church and Orders so good âhat wee neuer iterate them seeing âhat when wee dispute against them âee acknowledge them to hold funâamentall truth and that all our âoctors with an vnanimous consent âffirme so much and the sentence of âny one Classicall Author cannot be ârought who affirmeth the contrary ând lastly seeing the Church our Mother imputeth vnto them errour ânely in âatters of Faith not abneâation of the Faith it selfe we affirme âhat the Church of Rome though otherwise wicked enough hath not âet directly denyed the Foundaâion of Faith and therefore that wee cannot deny her the name of a Christian Church ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which is that we intended to proue The Second Part. Wherein the Reuerend Bishops Arguments are defended and Mr. Burtons Obiections answered CHAP. I. Containing an Introduction to the following discourse THere is in rectitude as the Philosopher wisely ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã noteth that perfection and beautie whereby we discerne both it selfe and whatsoeuer is contrary vnto it For hee that knowes what is straight doth euen perceiue thereby what is crooked because the absence oâ straitnesse in bodies capable thereoâ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ariââââe anima lib 1. is crookednesse yet because tâ Iudge both of rectitude and obliqâtie is the Rule which all haue not tâ skill few the will to apply it is necessarie sometimes to leaue the amiable discourse of truth and apply oâ selues to set forth the knottinesse anâ deformitie of error that error maâ yet be more abandoned and trutâ more heartily embraced Wee suppose that wee haue alreadie not onâly fortified the cause it selfe whicâ wee tooke in hand with good aâ solid reason but laid downe thoâ rules also whereby whatsoeuer câ be probably obiected against thâ truth may be fully answered ââ namely if we marke in what senâ we affirme the Church of Rome tâ be a true Church in what respect sâ is Babylon and in what consideration a true Church what it is to dânie the foundation what likewisâ to ouerthrow it and how farre â Christian Church may ouerthrow it Yet to make the worke complete it will not bee amisse to examine the weight of those reasons which are opposed hereunto and to free the arguments already brought in defence not of the Romish Church or anie point of their Religion but of a true âssertion amongst Protestant Diâines from the exceptions alledged against them And this we will doe Heb. 6. 3. âf God permit Where by the way let mee aduerâise that had the second Edition of âhe Reuerend Bishops booke * Of the old Religion I saw it not till I had quite finished the first part of this Treatise come sooner to my hands I thinke I had saued my paines and not proceeded âhus farre not that I had not a good mind to the Bishops defence and yet haue but that it might seeme superâuous to adde to it vnreasonable to âeply against it M. Burton as it is âuident before the Edition of his booke saw and read the Reuerend Bishops Apologie wherein he sheweth that preferment hath not made him differ from what he was before nor self conceit to take vp a new opinion but loue of the truth to auerâ that wherein he finds all Diuines tâ conspire with him none gain sayinâ him At M. Burtons hands he hath gââned nothing hereby but the opinioâ of pertinacie added to his error ââ taketh him boldly by the sleeue anâ calleth him to account not only fââ his former assertions but for his Apologie also how iustly we comâ now to enquire CHAP. II M. Burtons method and manner of prâceeding ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Nazianzenus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã All disputation consisting of twâ parts the confirmation of trueth anâ the confutation of error the first oâ these wee haue absolued the laââ now taketh place M. Burton tooke vpon him the interpretation of a portion of holy Scripture in the booke of the Apocalyps one of those two bookes which St. Austen said were reserued to be vnderstood in heauen The subiect of his discourse is the powring out of the 7. Vialls wherein The Cantic in the Old Testament and this in the New as if St. Iohn in the Spirit of prophecie had foreseene the errour of our most worthy Prelate and designed M. Burton for one of the 7 Angells he powreth out the second Viall wholly vpon him with how good successe let the euent decide In the meane while I shall returne him some of his owne dregges to drinke His proceeding is troublesome and tempestuous like the Sea one while affirming another while denying the same thing Scopae dissolutae Now he answers now he argues by by he declaimes altogether without order vt nec pes nec caput vni reddatur formae yet to reduce him to the best forme we can wee will obserue in his discourse these two parts 1. a generall proposition 2. the disputation it selfe In the first hee teacheth vs how to procced herein telling vs that it is a matter not to bee 7. Vialls Page 28. maintained by finenes of wit nor quaint Rhetoricall discourse but vpon sound ground and substantiall demonstration I need not tell you whom hee would decipher by this speech but I must needs wonder that hee is so witty at first and it calls to my remembrance the Infamous Paralleâ written by Eudaemon Iohannes against the late Reuerend Bishop of Winchester wherein one maine head of hiâ accusation against that worthie Prelate is that he was too conuersant iâ the Comick writers his stile wââ Vid ãâã Tortâr âorti too curious his Latine too neat foâ the Iesuits palate Thus M. Butrââ least the Bishop by his diuine Esoquence and accurate speech shoulâ preuaile too farre with his Readers strikes first at that by disgrace tearming it finenesse of wit and quainâ Rhetoricke little hurting his aduersarie therreby but singularly dishonouring Almightie God For whose are the Arts whose is Eloquence and vtterance who gaue man the wit and the braine Demand of all the faculties of the Soule and bodie whose Image and inscription they beare they will tell you Gods In as much therefore as you offer âniurie vnto the least of these you do ât vnto God But who sees not whereunto
the faith of euerie particular man much lesse is euerie Idiot chargeable with the damââblenesse of those doctrines Lastly saith he formerly the Church of Rome was the true Church but had in it aâ Hereticall faction now the Church iâ selfe is Hereticall and some certaiâe onely are found in it in such degreey Orthodoxie as that wee may hope wââ of their saluation Loe Mr. Burtââ the Church of Rome is now Hereticall not no Church at all for Heresie as wee haue shewed taketh not away the being of a Church and there is hope of some mens saluation liuing in that Communion which you deny in euery page Thus the worthy Deane of Glocester hath not a word against vs but for vs and you are no lesse vnfortunate in your Authorities than before you were in your Similitudes Now vicem redde let vs be as much beholding to you as you are to vs and tell vs what you answer to those formall passages alledged out of the said Reuerend Author in his Appendix See our reuerend Bishops Apology to the Treatise of the Church where hee is clearly for vs That the Romish Church is a part of the Catholicke Church of God shewing it likewise to be the Tenent of the greatest Diuines of our side In this you are silent and passe it ouer siccopede with a dry foote as the Prouerb is And therefore whereas you afterwards tell vs of a many Shels in the pag. 46. Church of Rome the Shell of the Scriptures the Shell of the Creede the Shell of the Sacraments and the like you had done much better to fit downe and cracke nuts than to trouble the world with such empty discourse Nucleum amisit reliqâiâ pignori put omina CHAP. VIII Mr. Burtons exceptions against soâe passages in the Reuerend Bishops Apologie THus Mr. Burton hauing done with the Reuerend Bishops Rhetoricall discourse hee comes to take notice of what he hath more seriously layd downe in an Apologeticall aduertisement ioyned to the second edition of his Booke And here whiles pag. ââ hee expects from the Bishop an ingenuous recantation of his errour loâ a constant asseueration of the truth and the Reuerend Bishop is heartily pitied that hee is not mutable But consider Mr. Burton that if hee had retracted that which you thinke his errour all your former paints had beene lost and for the rest how would you haue done for a genuine interpretation of St. Iohns meaning in the powring out of the second Viall As for your pity bestow it somewhere else he hath no neede of it rather pity your selfe that it was your lot to fall vpon so weake a cause and to meet with so strong an Aduersarie But let vs see what are his exceptions against the Reuerend Bishops second thoughts First it is not enough for Mr. Burton that hee thus distinguisheth referring Visible to outward Profession True to some essentiall Principles of Christianitie neither of them to soundnesse of beliefe that so though the Church of Rome be a true Visible Church yet is she not a true beleeuing Church Acutely and admirably What reasonable man would not this satisfie Why doth not this please him Because he denieth any being at all to her and pag. 48. that which is not is not Visible Thus nothing but the bloud the life of the Church of Rome will satisfie his zealous thirst But heare what hee obiects Vnder correction is outward Profession a sufficient Marke of Visibility for a Church Ridicule What is Visible in a Church but that which shee professeth Or if you will not referre Visible to outward Profession whereunto will you refer it But this is none of those Markes ãâã pag. 48. which the Church of England takes notice of a Church by The Word preached and the Sacraments administred make her a Church but her Profession makes her Visible But they are the Synagogue of Sathan which call themselues Iewes and are not and the Samaritans feared God but they serued Idols withall and so doth the Church of Rome therefore it followeth that shee neyther feareth God nor doth after his Lawes True it followeth very well Adde to this that which elsewhere you teach What is it generally to professe Christ and particularly 7. Vâalls pa. 25. to haue no interest in him to professe the foundation but not to be built vpon it But all this while you are besides the cause here is an Homonymie you argue from the Church Visible to the Church Mysticall and Inuisible and fallacies Mr. Burton are no demonstrations Many things exclude a man from Heauen as well errours in manners as Faith which doe not exclude him from the Visible Church hee that would haue saluation by true Faith must be made a member of the Mysticall body of Christ Doth not the Reuerend Bishop tell vs that Visibilitie auaileth not to saluation and the Church of Rome that Their danger is more Visible thân their Church Wherein then hath hee offended But to what purpose is it that you entertaine vs with a tedious discourse of the Visible Church all the while neyther telling vs what the Church is nor what is Visibilitie * Thus his dâspuâing iâ nothing but equiuocation all along by these ambiguous proceedings deceiuing the simple whereas a fair distinction if it might take place would make all friends Sometimes indeed you shew vs the Church clad in her glorious apparrell that thereby we may take notice of her but what if Briers rend her cloathes and dirt defile her goodly garments doth shee then cease to be a Church Surely no. Now it being obiected that the Church of Rome holdeth some Essentiall Principles of Christianity first you confesse it then contradicting pag. 4â your selfe you deny it saying That shee hath professedly abiured Christ thereby also gaine-saying what euen now you granted namely that sheâ professeth to feare God for how can shee professe to feare him and yet professedly abiure him CHAP. IX Whether Papists be Christians IN the next place Mr. Burton is so oppressed with the weight of the Bishops reasoning that hee sees not which way to turne himselfe Grant the Romanists to bee but Christians how corrupt soeuer and wee cannot deny them the name of a Church This is Gordians knot which because he cannot vntye Alexander-like hee cuts it But why should we grant them pag. 49 to bee Christians Not Christians Of what Sect then are they Iewes or Turkes or Pagans We know no other Sects in the world Nay they are worse than these yea worse than the Diuels themselues as hee affirmes in the next page I neuer yet heard by a sober man that any greater fault than Heresie was layd to their charge Now he that is an Hereticke is necessarily a Christian for he that is not a Christian cannot be an Hereticke Olim qui Haeretici non inter Tureas Epiââoâ Winton Tortura Torti pag. 304. aut Iudaeos aut Ethnicos censebantur neque nisi qui de