cannot be perform'd under Ten or Twenty Thousand Pounds worth of Books And even after all it is my opinion that the * â—hat makes all Doctrins plain and clear About two hundred pounds a year Hudib Money will be able to make it out better without the Books than with them The other is by saying according to Dr. Jackson's Notion * See above pag. 41. that the Church of England before the Reformation was in the Church of Rome and then the Proof of this Succession will come very cheap and if you give Six-pence for it it will be more than it is worth Now for such as will not or cannot go to the price of the former which I take to be the Boy 's case it is but reasonable that they should be contented with the latter If the Doctors think that I am somewhat too light on this Occasion they must pardon me for I knew not how to make them agree on better Terms THE APPENDIX VVHil'st these latter Sheets were in the Press Dr. Tenison's new Book entituled Mr. Pulton Considered came forth I cast my Eye on it but having read the Preface I found so many things which requir'd the Black Note that I was afraid to enter farther into the Book lest I should be overwhelm'd with matter and so either tempted to lengthen my own Pamphlet which I would not willingly do or else remain under a kind of vexation by seeing many Fallacies without exposing them when they should seem to lie in my way Wherefore to avoid both these Inconveniences I desir'd a Friend who had read the Book to inform me what there was in it that had any relation to my self that so I might either note or neglect it as I should see cause And as for the rest of this Worthy Piece wherein the Doctor as far as I observed him hath outdone himself in many of those laudable Qualities I have spoken of above I knew that so far as it should be thought necessary it would be under the Examination of a better Artist The Doctor says in his forementioned Preface That he went to this Conference in the simplicity of a Christian as to a private Discourse which says he the Arts of others have improv'd into a public Brawl Whom the Doctor means by others in this place I cannot well tell But I am apt to imagin that They who were conscious either of the Weakness of their Cause before the Conference or of their ill Success in it would not be over-fond of making the thing public For my part I am so charitable as to think there were no Arts used by either Side for this purpose the business was so carried that it could not well be otherwise Nay there were so many Hearers of both Sexes and Five of the Doctor 's Party for One of ours at this Conference that it had been the greatest Art in the World to have kept it secret But for the admittance of these People if there were any fault in it I know not whom to blame unless it be the Master of the House who doubtlesly might have refused entrance to as many as he pleased But perhaps the Good Man reckon'd upon nothing less than a complete Victory and in consequence of that the Recovery of his lost Sheep and therefore according to a Gospel-Example tho' somewhat too soon invited his Neighbors and Acquaintance to rejoyce with him And if this proved inconvenient to the Doctor he may learn by it that it is not always for his advantage that his Parishioners should have too great an Opinion of him but in the mean time there is no manner of reason why he should be angry at Us because his own Admirers were mistaken unless it be such as men that stumble have of quarrelling with those who shall happen to be near them tho' they contributed nothing to their Mischance He goes on to amuse his Parishioners by telling them of high Accusations lay'd by Catholic Writers on several of his Brethren of Insincerity Disingenuity Want of Modesty and the like And this Charge is set forth by a pompous Company of Great and Reverend Names that in view of so much Reverence and Grandeur our Disrespect may appear the more Notorious It is pity that so much Art should be so ill employ'd Are these terms of Insincerity Disingenuity c. any thing else but the plain and simple nay the softest Appellations of such things as these Gentlemen are taxed with Let them forbear to do or prove they have not done what they are unwilling should be named and all will be well If they have any thing to say against those Proofs wherewith we endeavor to make good our Accusations it will be to their purpose but as long as they shall give us Occasion for Complaints they must be contented to receive them in such Language as our Ancestors have left us 'till they themselves shall teach us one that is more to their satisfaction And yet what are these Terms which the Doctor complains of in comparison of those which the Ancient Fathers bestowed on the Separatists of their Time and that meerly for Deserting the Church and without regard to any sinister way they might take in particular to support and justifie their Schism To omit a multitude of Instances to this purpose be pleased to hearken to St. Augustin who was far from wanting Compassion for such as were seduc'd by Heresie and observe how he delivers himself in respect of a Reformer of those days * Sed ill a Ecclesia quae fuit omnium Gentium jam non est periit Hoc dicunt qui in illâ non sunt O impudentem vocem Illa non est quia tu in illâ non es Hanc vocem abominabilem detestabilem praesumptionis falsitatis plenam nullâ Veritate suffultam nullâ Sapientiâ illuminatam nullo Sale conditam vanam temerariam praecipitem perniciosam praevidit Spiritus Dei c. D. Aug. Enarr 2. in Psalm 101. That Church which was composed out of all Nations is no more she is perished or in our Modern Reformation-Language corrupted This says he is the saying of those who are not in the Church O impudent saying Is she not because thou art not in her This most abominable and hateful saying full of Presumption and Falshood destitute of Truth void of Wisdom insipid vain rash precipitate pernicious was foreseen by the Spirit of God c. Such and much more was the Language of these Holy men on such occasions The Apostles themselves notwithstanding that Meekness which they learnt from their Blessed Master both by Precept and Example were no less liberal in this kind than others as sufficiently appears by all their Writings St. Jude to give you one Instance of these also in that very Epistle wherein he reprehends Railing is so far from thinking severity of Language towards Schismatics to be so that his whole Work seems to be nothing else but if I may so speak
gratias ago nunc pro peccatis Matris meae deprecor te c. St. Aug. lib. 9. Confess c. 13. Almighty God for his Mothers Good Deeds on the one hand and beseeches him to pardon such Sins as possibly she might have committed on the other And he is so Zealous in this Charitable Employment that he is not contented to offer up his own Prayers only for this purpose but begs of such as should read his Book of Confessions wherein he gives an Account of these things that they likewise would joyn Their Petitions to His * Ut quod illa à me poposcit extremum uberius ei praestetur in multorum orationibus Ibid. That so adds this Holy Bishop what my Mother made her last Request to me may the more plentifully be performed for her by the Prayers of Many Other parts of this Dedicatory Address might likewise be dissected and read upon but I fear that my Lecture is too tedious already Neither should it have been so long had I not been willing to shew my Reader what just cause I have to decline the perusal of the whole Book when a few Lines of Preface afford so much and so trivial work Wherefore I shall not stay to examin with what probability of Truth he asserts That the Souls of his Sheep are much dearer to him than their Fleeces when he seems to be so * See above p. 17. sequ loth that any farther Division should be made in the Fleeces tho' for a better Attendance on the Souls Neither will I ask him how he comes in the close of his Letter to call the English Protestant Church * I suppose not from Missions Apostolical as if it came down by perpetual Succession from the Apostles when every body knows that has not read his Ten thousand pounds worth of Books that it began in the last Age and brags of no other Succession than what it pretends to have received from that Church to which in Truth and even according to its own Profession it neither succeeds in Doctrin nor Discipline And lastly whereas the Doctor says That the Establish'd Church so far as he can understand the Temper of it which is somewhat difficult for him to do had rather suffer Injuries than do them I shall only say That if this be so I presume he will give us leave to hope that this Established Church will not look on the power of doing those Injuries as part of Her Establishment And so much for the Preface I come now to what concerns me in the Book I am told that Dr. Tenison in the 58th page of his new Book calls me a Manager in Conference And again page 96. he says That I am the very Sales-man at every Auction of Arguments What the Doctor means by this I cannot well tell nor I suppose He himself Possibly it was somewhat that came into his Head whil'st the Pen was in his Hand and down it went at all Adventures For this was the second Conference I was ever at in my Life excepting casual and unsought Rencounters and how unwillingly I came to this I have already given my Readers an Account It is true that I had like to have been at one or two more in Mr. G. 's Company had not the Ministers who were to be his Antagonists disappointed him twice or thrice But this was before Dr. St. had published his first Letter to Mr. G. and so given me to understand how great an Advantage Latitudinarian Wits have over one not only much less but also ty'd within the streight Rules of Sincerity It is true the Goodness of a Cause is of great Weight but the Disingenuity of an Adversary is a shrewd Counterpoise Now I say how my Being at these two Conferences and that accidentally too and forasmuch as concerns the latter very unwillingly could render me that Manager and Sales-man at Auctions of Arguments which the Doctor 's Nick-naming Faculty would make me I do not perceive But the Doctor has a Rule for this as well as for the rest which he has been pleased to bestow on me viz. Calumniare fortitèr aliquid adhaerebit and therefore I shall say no more of it And yet it is hard to find out why the Doctor turns that into a Calumny which fairly represented would be a Commendation For what could any man do better who had a Talent proper for it than employ his time in freeing Souls from Error an Employment for which our Blessed Lord came into the World and for which his Holy Apostles travelled through it But I forget that the Retrenchment of Missions was one of the most considerable parts of the Reformation However tho' I have not been at many of these Conferences yet I will not deny but that I imagin my self to have arrived to some competency of skill in them and for some proof of this and because I desire to be communicative in so precious a Talent I purpose to make my Readers partakers of it as a Reward of that Patience wherewith they have hitherto endured such tedious and immethodical Discourses promising my self that for the sake of this one Treasure only they will think the rest of their time well bestow'd Now forasmuch as the worse the Cause is the greater skill is required in the Management of it I will lay down some brief Rules whereby as I conceive an ill Cause may be managed in Conference to the best advantage and so as that the Defender of it especially if the Hearers be no wiser than some of Dr. Tenison's Parishioners may come off with great Applause First then let the Scene of your Conference be Brief Rules how an ill Cause may be manag'd to the best advantage lay'd amongst your own Friends and therefore if the Disputer be a Protestant and such he must be to stand in any need of these Instructions let it be in a Protestant Family Before the Conference and the arrival of your Antagonist endeavor to possess your Favorers with a prejudice against him prophesie something which you are sure will come to pass that when it doth so they may have the better Opinion of you For Example Tell them that you are come alone without so much as either Friend or Servant when you know that the whole House are your Friends and that none can be readier to serve you than they are And then lay a wager that your Antagonist brings some one with him because you think it imprudent and therefore unlikely that he should trust himself to the Reports of your Party without some Witness of his own But this as you shall word it must argue Confidence in You and Diffidence in Him. And when you shall see that he complies with what you thought Reasonable turn to your Company and say Did I not tell you that he would not come alone Be sure to begin the Conference with that which hath nothing to do with it Make many Exceptions at the
making as great or greater shew than Figures amount to no summ For example to instance in the matter of our present Consideration when we ask them how they prove their Bible They tell us by it's own light * See Pag. 9. and 10. Their interior Sense and by the Testimony of Jews Turks Infidels and lastly of whole Bodies of Erroneous and Corrupted * Viz. Such Christians as are accounted Erroneous and Corrupted by them Christians whereas the Catholics have but one poor Testimony to oppose to all these viz. That of a true uncorrupted and uninterrupted Church Now it is not every ordinary Head which at least without settling will serve for a just Ballance to these two Proofs and not be weighed down by that which is most Bulky tho' least Weighty And yet one would think that it were impossible but that rational Creatures should see the plain Nullity of the former and the most abundant Sufficiency of the latter But to return to my business Dr. T. says in the latter end of his 17th Page That Mr. M. took Pen and Dr. T. delivering him the Paper he had signed in order to a regular proceeding he began to Write the first words of these Questions Whether God Almighty has left us any Guide c. The truth of the matter of Fact is this Dr. Tenison having after much time spent in vain if that may be said to be so which was spent as was most for the Doctors purpose drawn Mr. P. from that point which he had designed for the subject of the whole Conference viz. The Rule of Faith and fallen into particular matters where there is much more Sea-room for Controversie and consequently less danger of being run a-ground whilst these things were under debate Mr. P. happening to produce some proofs out of the Fathers in favor of Transubstantiation and particularly quoting a passage out of St. Ambrose de Sacramentis for one The Doctor to use his own words catch'd at it crying out that the Book was Spurious and none of St. Ambrose's And in this transport called for Pen Ink and Paper And to shew what a willing Mind may do that which was so hard to come by when the Writing of the Conference was proposed was brought him in a trice He writes down his Doughty Challenge Which was to this purpose That the Book cited by Mr. P. was Spurious and a late Book and none of St. Ambrose's and that he Dr. Thomas Tenison would shew it to be such This he valiantly subscribed Now indeed according to due Form Mr. P. should have underwritten That he would not fail to meet this bold Challenger desiring only a fair Stage and of him no favor But this it seems he refused for those reasons which he has already * See Mr. P 's Account p. 10. and sequ Published Now all this was done with so much noise and Triumph on the Doctors part and with such Tumultuous applause of his Adherents that being over and above called upon by them with great importunity I thought it convenient to put my self into the midst of the Bustle that I might come to know the matter and keep the Peace if it should lie in my Power As soon as I understood what had been the cause of so much Tumult I immediately applyed my self to the Doctor who had made some kind of Appeal to me and told him That indeed I could not but look on it as a very disingenuous proceeding that he should importune Mr. P. to Subscribe to One single Quotation as if that had been the Only thing that in so many hours he had been able to produce for the defence of his Religion Which would have appeared very Ridiculous whether the Book could be proved Authentic or not to any Wise Man of either Church I added That the Doctor should permit Mr. P. to do what he had desired viz. Write down all his Quotations and Arguments and Sign to them which would look like something and that then the Doctor should do his Best And lastly that this was no more than what was Fair and Reasonable The Doctor having little regard to what was said either by Mr. P. or my self still pressed Mr. P. to subscribe But Mr. P. not being drawn by the Doctors repeated instances nor by the Importunity of his * Pag. 70. and in Mr. P's Acc. pa. 11. Ingenious Women to what he judged neither Prudent nor Equitable I took the Pen into my hand and taking the Paper from Dr. Tenison's I told him that I would Write something which should look more like the substance of the Conference than what he had Written and in it self be more Efficacious towards the ending of the Controversie What I would have set down was as follows Whether God Almighty hath left us any Guide or Guides to direct us in the Interpretation of Scripture in things necessary to Salvation Or Whether he hath left every one to his own Vnderstanding in such Interpretation without obliging him to submit his Judgment to any other But I had scarce Written the three first Words of these Questions before the Doctor snatches away the Paper and blots out my Writing as much as he could with his Fingers Which was as I suppose lest * Pag. 70. some weight might be laid upon Ones Writing and Signing and the others Refusing For this * Viz. Dr. T 's Writing and Signing and Mr. P's Refusing to Sign was to be the Sign of Dr. Tenisons carrying the day And if I had Written and the Doctor had refused to Sign as it was Ten to one but he would all had been spoiled and the business had been but a drawn Battel at best Now I must confess that there was no great weight to be laid upon my three Words especially after the Doctor had blotted them But certainly the Doctors not giving leave to Write will bear as much Weight as Mr. P's refusing to Sign But Dr. T. said that I was drawing them away from their Point I know not how far it drew them from their Point But I am sure it drew them back to that Point which was proposed for the Subject of their Conference and which they ought to have been upon viz. The Rule of Faith And which had it been once fixt would have settled even that Point which they had then rambled to Wherefore as I have said already I told the Doctor that I would propose somewhat that might be look'd on as the substance of the Conference with more justice than what he had Written And as he had taken the liberty to pick out of this Conference what pleased him best for Writing so he ought to have permitted us to make choice of that which we had a mind to for the like purpose Especially when in Truth the Question which Mr. P. had proposed and Mine were of the same nature and the Doctor by Answering One would have Answered Both Or indeed when my Question was