was not begun in the seventh or other Century but was alwaies believed since the Apostles seeing that in the nineth Century Christians universally believed that in the holy Eucharist the bread and wine were changed into the body and blood of our Saviour and as such adored them and embraced this doctrine of the real presence not as a doctrine newly found out by themselves or their immediate Fore-fathers by reading the holy Scriptures or other means but as taught them by their Fore-fathers uninterruptedly from the Apostles and seeing likewise this has ever been the way of the Catholick Church to teach and pretend to teach Posterity not new Doctrines of her own but what she had learnt from her Ancestors Hence S. Vincent Lerinensis twelve hundred years ago in his Golden Treatise against the profane Innovations of Heresies upon those words of S. Paul Siquis c. If any one Evangelize to you besides what you have received let him be Anathema Sed forsitan c. But perhaps those things were commanded the Galatians only Then those things also which follow in the same Epistle were commanded the Galatians only Be not desirous of vain-glory provoking one another envying one another Or perhaps was it then commanded if anyone announce besides what has been announced let him be Anathemaâ—ized but now it is not commanded Therefore and that also which he there saies But I say walk in the Spirit and do not perfect the desires of the Flesh was then only commanded but is not now commanded But if it be impious and pernicious to believe so it necessarily follows that as these things are to be observed by all Ages so those things also which are established concerning not changing the Faith are commanded to all Ages Wherefore it was never lawful it is not now lawful nor ever shall be lawful to Christian Catholicks to announce any thing besides what they have received Let him cry and cry again and to all and alwaies and every where let him cry by his Epistle that Vessel of Election that Master of the Gentils that Trumpet of the Apostles that Preacher of the World Conscious to the secrets of Heaven let him cry if any one preach a new Doctrine let him be Anathematiz'd And on the contrary side let certain Froggs and Cynifes and Flies that are to perish such as are the Pelagians reclame and this to Gatholiks We say they being Authors we being Heads we being Expositors Condemn what ye did hold hold what ye did Condemn reject the ancient Faith the institutions of your Fathers the depositions of your Ancestors and receive but what I have a horror to mention them for they are such proud things c. But may not general Councils at least presume to reach new Doctrines Hear the same S. Vincent chap. 32. Hoc semper neque quicquam praeterea c. The Catholick Church excited by the Novelties of Hereticks by the decrees of her Councils even did this and not thing more than this what she had received by Tradition only this she consigned to Posterity by writing comprehending a great sum of things in a few letters and for the most part for the light of understanding signing the not new sense of Faith with the propriety of a new name Take notice that the Christian Church using this means to preserve the Faith first received its impossible she should ever lose or change it For if Fathers from the beginning had resolved to teach their Children what they had learnt or even thought they had learnt from their Parents as to the point of the Real prefence or other doctrine its impossible they should teach another doctrine For should they teach another doctrine it must happen either because they were ignorant what was taught them by their Parents which is impossible not only to whole Nations but even to the Inhabitants of one small Town or else because though they knew what was taught by their Parents yet they would teach otherwise than they had been taught but then they must forsake their first resolution of teaching their Children what they thought they had learnt from their Fathers contrary to the Supposition But on the other side let us suppose a book fully written as to all points to be believed by Christians by the first teachers of Christianity Let them together with this Book give charge to their 〈◊〉 Converts neither to add to it nor to diminish it and to believe as in their Consciences they shall think that Book shall teach them Though Generation after Generation be never so faithful to such a charge yet they may in after Ages come to lose or change their Faith because the Book may seem to one Generation to bear one sense and to another Generation to bear another Especially if the mysteries to be believed be very sublime and the Book obscure in many places and admit of divers senses when it speaks of those mysterieâ— For example these words This is my Body may seem to one Age to bear this sense This is a sign of my body and â—o another This is really and truly my body But no ten Families who have been taught by their Parents either to believe our Saviours body is in the Euecharist or that it is not there can possibly mistake what their immediate Fathers taught them and frequently inculcated to them as to this point both by themselves and choice persons ordained on purpose for this end to teach what they learnt from their immediate Masters and Fathers Nothing can make a change here but a resolution to go contrary to what they know was taught them by their Parents Wherefore seeing God Almighty is resolved not to teach every Age by immediate infallible Missionants from himself but to send inspired Ambassadors to one particular Generation only and to leave that Generation to teach their Children successively till the day of Judgment what they learnt from the immediate infallible Messengers of Heaven And seeing also a Book with a charge not to change or alter it and with a charge also to follow what should seem to every Generation to be the sense of it and supposing every Generation faithful to such a charge would not have been a sufficient means to keep the first divine Faith from Corruption we may safely conclude the Almighty has not taken that way to teach the world But seeing Oral teaching by inspired Pastors at first with a charge to every Generation to follow what they thought was taught them by their immediate Parents and Teachers provided every Generation were true to this charge would have kept the first Faith inviolate we may also conclude the Almighty has taken this way Especially finding a Congregation of so vast a spread in being who pretends to have made use of this means to preserve her first Faith taught her Ancestors many hundred years ago nor can she be evinced by any History or Tradition or any thing but mere sayings and ungrouâ—â—â—d surmises to have lost
and yet we can give no assured credit to History or immemorial testimonies of whole Countrys Moreover we finding by the experience of the Age we live in that though fabulous stories be told and printed too yet we easily distingnish betwixt them and true Histories of the present times For that true Histories gain an universal credit amongst persons of the best understanding and the Historigraphers that write them are commended to Posterity as faithful witnesses of Truth whereas fables and fictions every one of ordinary capacity looks upon them as such nor do we give any other Recommendation of them to Posterity then as of fabulons Romances This we experiencing in the present Age persons of humility and solid judgment deem the like to have happen'd in the daies of their Fore-fathers and consequently give another kind of credit to Stories how strange so ever recounted by a S. Bernard a venerable Bede or a S. Bonaventure then they do to the fictions of a Don Quixot a Guy of Warwick c. And he that will consult what has happen'd in the World will find mens eyes and other senses to have been as often mistaken as he will find whole Towns and Countries to have confidently told a Lye to their Posterity which they evidently knew to be a Lye And this the Atheists of our days would do well to reflect on when they so senselesly call in question the History of Moyses or Book of Exodus concerning the wonders wrought by Almighty God in Aegypt And Dr. N. N. too must one day give a sad account for all his Drollery as merry as he makes himself with the History of Lorretto and other stories registred by persons of noted sanctity and integrity And would he reflect a little on the difficulty of making whole Countrys believe a Lye contrary to the evidence of their senses he would find it a greater miracle that the whole Territory of Lorretto should so immemorially believe so great a Lye as he would make his Reader think they do then the wonder it self he sacrilegiously scoffs at To wit the Translation of the House in which our B. Lord was conceived by his Holy Mother at Nazareth out of the Holy Land first into Dalmatia and then afterwards into Italy Let the Dr. cause a house to be built in a Night in S. James's Park and then tell the Citizens of London it was brought thither by Angels out of a forreign Country and see if he can make them so universally to believe it as they shall no body contradicting make their Posterity believe as much and I perswade my self he may with the same ease bring such a House from Geneva or New-England in a Night as make the numerous multitude believe such a notorious Lye O England England dear Native Soyl at length open thine Eyes and acknowledge the illimited goodness of the divine Majesty to be such that not contenting himself with giving us prodigies of sanctity for the first Planters of Christianity and with confirming their sublime and holy doctrins with evident signs and wonders he is ever now and then awakening the drowsie world with a S. Dominick a S. Francis or a S. Xauerius and ceases not by undeniable miracles to confirm the languishing Faith of tepid Christians The sight of present miracles strangely strengthens our Faith of wonders past and done long since And believe it 't is a next disposition to Antichristianism and Atheism freely to give our selves the liberty to scoff at all miracles though attested by never so grave Authors except such as are recorded in the four Gospels and to laugh at all lives of Christian Saints as ridiculous but those of the twelve Apostles though to an impartial considerer one Egg does not more resemble another then do the persons we so freely deride express the first followers of our dear Redeemer in their holy and divine Conversations 4. Consider the force of S. Austins Argument to prove the truth of Christianity The world has actually submitted to Christianity as to a Religion taught from Heaven From whence the Saint argues thus The world believed the high mysterious doctrins of Christianity either upon miracles wrought by the first teachers of them or without miracles If upon miracles then you who doubt have reason also to believe them Or if the world submitted their Faith to believe such strange mysteries without any miracles this is the greatest miracle of all that such vast multitudes and innumerable of these of ripe judgement and quick understanding should believe such strange things upon the Authority of the Proposer without a miracle Apply this to our present mystery Two hundred years ago the whole Christian world believed the H. Eucharist to be our B. Saviours body and adored it as such Hereupon I argue These vast multitudes and many of them of great learning and judgement began to believe this strange mystery either for miracles wrought by the first Teachers of it or without miracles If upon miracles then you ought to believe it also If without miracles this is the greatest miracle of all that such vast multitudes and these innumerable of them well cultivated with learning besides their natural ripeness of judgment and sharpness of wit should believe so strange a mystery without any miracles wrought by those who first demanded their belief of it Finally consider with your self how many millions there are who believe this mystery and would sooner part with their life then their Faith of it and these if you have the least grain of humility such as you have reason to think them of as good Learning Wit and Judgment as your self Add as good Christians as your self for either piety to God or Charity to their indigent Neighbor or mortification to themselves Imagin you saw all these as holy and as wise as your self in the several Christian Countrys of the whole world all upon their knees adoring a seeming Wafer-Cake as their Creator and God Bishops Priests Doctors of Divinity in vast numbers Kings and Princes Men and Women of all degrees and condition And can you now think all these people to be in their wits and not have some strong Reasons and Arguments which induce them to such a Faith and such a practice Had you and I been in the Stable of Bethlehem in the Night of our Lord's Nativity and S. Joseph should have told us that the little Infant we saw there sucking his Mothers Breast was the Maker of Heaven and Earth we should no doubt have found great difficulty to believe him But should we have staied there a while and have seen the Shepherds come in and fall down upon their knees before him by the admonition as they pretended of an Angel that had appeared to them as they were keeping watch over their Flocks this doubtless would a little have enclined us to think that at least there was something extraordinary in the new born Babe But had we staied till the comeing of the three Kings
and seen them in like-manner fall down before him making him rich presents upon the admonition as they said of a miraculous Star which had appeared to them in their own Country such circumstances as these would sure have strangely urged us to the belief of that wonder of wonders And to make use of a homebred example Who would have taken our Gracious Soverain Charles the Second for the King of Great Brittain France and Ireland that should have seen him under the disguise of a Sheepherd Sea-man or other habit he was forced to assume to secure his Royal Person But could you and I have peeped into this private Chamber and seen his small Retinue all bare before him and some one of them upon his knees presenting him with a cup of Beer or wine should we not think you have begun to suspect Surely this Person however and for whatsoever reasons he may disguise himself is of another quality then his outward garb represents him to be Nor do I less perswade my self did you and I see the many thousands all over the world as well of the Grecian as Roman Church who upon their knees with an assured Faith devoutly adore a Consecrated Wafer as their Creator and God if we have any respect to reason and man-kind and do not imagin all the world to be Fools except our selves Such a prospect as this would make us suspect in the secret of our hearts Surely under this disguise of a contemptible Wafer there is veiled some hidden Majesty or other who forces the highest adoration from such vast multitudes of all Nations and many of them so sharp-witted and of such solid judgements and such impartial enquirers after Truth and of so good and holy lives Say then and we have reason to say it heartily and without the least scruple or doubt 'T was the same out Gracious Soverain who lay hid in a common Oak at White-Ladys under the disguise of a Peasants weed who sits now at Westminster in his Princely Throne invested in his Royal Robes And 't is the same Christ Jesus our only Saviour and God who under the humble disguise of common bread and wine is immolated here below every day upon our Christian Altars who in transcendent splendor and glory sits at the right hand of his Eternal Father in the Heavens Sir I have done my part the Almighty do the rest and make you a happy Child of his holy Church But Sir I beseech you give me leave to add A Postscript to my Fellow Collegians My dearest Companions whom with my soul I wish the same happiness with my self both in this Life and the other I beseech you before you be engaged in the world and hindred from an industrious impartial enquiry after Truth by the cares of a Family and fears of wanting a competent subsistance do your selves and your Country that right as to consider with as little passion and prejudice as you can these my scattered thoughts and do not rashly conclude against Transubstantiation until you have fully heard what its Affertors as well as what its Deniers have to say for themselves I was once as you are and many suspicions of the truth of the Roman Catholick Faith came into my mind but still I was hindred from examining of it with this one thought If I turn Papist I must believe Transubstantiation but I know that 's an impossibility and this made me sit down contented with the Religion in which I was educated But afterwards making it my business more in good earnest to save my soul and setting my self impartially to examin what was the belief of the Primitive times concerning this mystery and finding mostclear Testimonies for the Real presence in the most renowned Primitive Christian Doctors I was much amazed having been always taught they were of a contrary Faith I read the citations to a Clergy-man of my Acquaintance I demand of him what he thought their belief was who in those words expressed their Faith He told me no doubt but they believed as the Church of Rome believes I consult the Authors themselves read the context before and after the said citations I am still more and more convinced S. Augustin Chrysostom Cyril c. believed as the Church of Rome now believes Hereupon I resolve not to venture my soul upon a point of Philosophy for example whether God Almighty by all his Omnipotency can make a body be in two places at once or no I believe two mysteries already both which puzzle and shock my reason as much as Transubstantiation to wit the B. Trinity and the Incarnation of the Son of God why may not I believe a third as well especially when I have the same Arguments for one as the other clear Scriptures the immemorial belief of all Nations ever since the Apostle c. And indeed if God Almighty will oblige me to believe what was taught sixteen hundred years before I was born how should he expect I should come to the knowledge of this but by such books as were written in those times and near those times and by the testimony of all Christian Countrys what has been immemorially believed by them ever since they were Christians Now if it be too long a journey to go over all Christendom to ask of them what is and what alwaies has been their Paith as to Transubstantiation and how they have always understood the holy Scriptures that speak of that mystery go but to the Royal Exchange in London and there you may meet with persons which at least have been in all or most Christian Countrys and ask of them what the belief and practice of Christendom is and you will find they all believe and adore the B. Sacrament and have done so as they say immemorially ever since they were Christians as Roman-Catholicks do in England or else if they do for so me numbers amongst them believe and practice otherwise 't is only since such a time above c. And then reflect how by such an Argument you prove as you think efficaciously against an Antiscripturist that the Books of the Old and New Testament are infallible and you securely believe every particular Story in them though never so strange in like manner the change of Saturday-Sabbath into Sunday against the Sibbatarians and Fasting in Lent as Apostolical with Bishop Gunning against Non-Conformists And indeed it is impossible such an universal effect should ever be without a proportionate universal cause That so many several Christian Countrys should immemorially abstain from certain meats on Fridays every week and in Lent every year or adore a Consecrated piece of Bread as their Creator and God unless they had been either first taught so to do by the first Planters of Christianity or by some Preachers since or had agreed so to do in some General Council by their representatives is impossible Should we ever think you even in the single City of London have fall'n by little and little to have shut