Service are guilty of Sixthly The Practice of your Church in Praying to the Saints is irrational and abominable because upon a due consideration of what manner of Saints you Invocate they are such whose Saintship nay whose Existence is by us justly to be question'd I pray call to mind what Cassander one of your own Church speaketh by way of complaint in his Chapter De Meritis Intercessione Sanctorum These are his words The People do now almost despise the Old Saints and serve with more Affection the New whose Holiness is less certain Yea there are some of them of whom we may justly doubt whether ever they lived in the World. I. You pray to some of doubtful Saintship or Holiness who instead of reigning in Heaven it may be are frying in Hell. You I suppose very well know that I do not now speak without Authority for it is a famous Saying of Gregory the Great That the Bodies of many Persons are Worshipped on Earth whose Souls are tormented in Hell. This is not only the opinion of one Doctor but Thomas of Aquine and Cardinal Cajetan and others do acknowledge that in a matter of Fact his Infallible Holiness may be mistaken and that his Holiness may be in an Errour in this very business of Canonization And many of your Church have taken great offence at that prostitution of Devotion usual in your Publick Assemblies to every upstart new Saint Do you not in this Worship many times ye know not what Christ put the Question to the Samaritan Woman give me leave to put the same to you I pray Who is it that you Worship How came they to be the Objects of your Worship and great Devotion paid to them in your Churches after they were dead whose Conversations were much questioned whilst alive against whom many Scandals were proved How many of your Saints Sir have been made fâ—r Money Many of them Traytors to the Government under which they then lived It would be an endless Task for me to make Observations upon the Lives of some of your Saints Murderers and common Disturbers of the Peace of Christendom Sir I will instance in the Lives of those Saints that have been of Note in the English Nation The first Instance that I shall give you is that of Austin the Monk and Archbishop of Canterbury who was sent into this our Nation by Gregory the Great and therefore called by your Church The Great Apostle of England this Monk with others were by this Gregory sent into this Island to turn the People to the Romish Religion which Augustine when through his pretended Holiness or rather Hypocrisie had got a Party to own him and had obtained of King Ethelbert to be Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of all England went into Wales where he found many Godly and Learned Bishops and Preachers of God's most Holy Word which sincerely and truly taught the Doctrine of the Scriptures and rightly administred the Sacraments according to Christ's Institution whom this Austin the Monk laboured to the best of skill and power to allure from the Sincerity and Simplicity of Christ's Religion unto the Superstition and Idolatry of your Church setting out that he was a Legate of the Most Holy Father the Pope sent from Rome and that he was made and ordained the chief Bishop and Primate of all England and therefore he commanded them to obey him and his Doctrine and to receive that Most Holy Father of Rome and his Religion but the Godly and Learned Fathers boldly answer'd That they were already true Christians and according to the Word of God they governed their Churches therefore would neither obey him nor submit themselves to the Authority of that strange Romish Bishop nor yet receive his strange Superstitious Ceremonies but continue as heretofore they had done in their old way of serving of God. For which cause Austin the Monk with his Companions departed and being not satisfied with the entertainment these holy men gave him he found a way to give these Christians great trouble because they would not obey him nor comply with the Bishop of Rome's pretended Title over them This develish Priest he complained to King Ethelbert that the Britains would neither obey him nor any man but only the Archbishop of Carleon which thing thus represented to the King it moved him to wrath and threatned to destroy them all Writing to Elfrid King of Northumberland that he would come to him with all the Force he could raise and that he would meet him at Leicester and from thence they would go into Wales and destroy the Archbishop of Carleon and all those who had refused to obey Austin and his Doctrine When these holy men heard of this and that the two Kings with their Armies did approach to the end they might destroy them they sent unto the Kings certain holy and good men who went barefoot and with all Humility and Meckness besought them to cease from so ungodly an Action But these wicked Kings would not speak to these holy men but presently order'd them to be slain which was presently done being in number five hundred and forty some say eleven hundred And from thence these Kings went to Bangor in order to destroy all the Britains but they having received notice of the intentions of these instigated Princes they assembled themselves and raised all the Force they could resolving to fight in the defence of their Religion and Country so that in the Battel King Ethelbert was slain by the just Judgment of God and Kind Elfrid was sore wounded in the Battel and forced most shamefully to fly the whole Army also were defeated and almost all destroyed Thus God gave his Servants Victory over their Enemies Ex Chron. Angl. This Sir is a Saint to whom great Devotions are paid by your Church for that as your Divines say he was the first that brought the Faith into this Land which is false the Faith having been Received by the Inhabitants thereof many hundred years before he was born But behold his Pride and Cruelty two Vices that did rather intitle him a Devil than a Saint His Pride is sufficiently set forth by Venerable Bede who tells us That he did disdain to rise up in token of Reverence to seven Bishops and other Learned and Grave men of Britain when they made their appearance at his Council And because of this his Pride they would not hearken to his Demands nor take him for their Archbishop thinking that if he carried himself so insolently to them whilst a Stranger what Respect might they hope for when they came under his Jurisdiction His Cruelty appears in stirring up two Kings to commit such barbarous Murders Now Sir what reason have we to pray to such a Saint as this that had stained his Life with such foul Crimes as these Besides I could never yet read of his Repentance for that Bloud which he had occasioned to be shed Nay see but the old Chronicle written in
for mine own use and my being abused by these uncircumcised Philistines and neglected by the Prelates and Presbyters of our Church and others that should have stood by me in that Cause for which I do Suffer hath made me sensible that Man is noâ— to be relied upon but that Trust is to be put in him that will confound these Hell born Devils in his own due time and that he will preserve those who abide faithful in the Truth Nor do I envy the Happiness of those my Brethren of the Church of England who are easie in their Places and Preferments for my part blessed be God I can from my Poor Prison where I have been almost five years behold all my Brethren of the Church of England with much Contentment and sufficient Enjoyment of my self on Thrones round about me It will not be amiss to tell you that one great Artifice of these Firebrands and Incendiaries was to perswade many of my Brethren of the Church of England that I was a Dissenter and an Enemy of the Church of England which tho' it was notoriously false for all that know me can testifie that I received my Ordination from the Church of England and Communicated with the Church of England in the blessed Sacrament of the Lord's Supper But this is the truth and nothing but the truth that I have been always of the opinion and do still esteem my Dissenting Brethren as a Generation of Men anointed by Almighty God with a Spirit of Wisdom Knowledge Zeal and Faithfulness and might well be so esteemed by all my Brethren of the Church of England and accepted of as Persons fit to help on the great Work of ruining the Temple of Dagon destroying of Baal and all its Worshippers and to bring on the New Heavens and the New Earth wherein Righteousness shall dwell and that by the mutual joyning of Protestants in the Repair of the House of GOD and making up the Breaches and decayed Places in the Body of the Doctrine of the Christian Religion which since the first raising and compleating of it by Christ and his Apostles and the delivering it from the Hands of these Edomites partly through the ignorance and insufficiency of some and partly through the remisness of others to whom the Guardianship and Custody thereof hath been committed by GOD in their successive Generations hath by these Locusts been lamentably dismantled and defaced in most parts of it that if a Man should look upon it as they have represented it he could scarce call it the Doctrine of Christ And therefore since my Brethren that are Dissenters were always ready to do their part to support and maintain the Doctrine of the Church of GOD here in England I could not but in point of Justice Truth and Righteousness own them for my Brethren with whom I am contented to suffer as well as with my Brethren that are in close Communion with the Church of England since both profess the same Faith. And were this Spirit of Love in me an Errour it might be more easily pardoned then the Errours and Wickedness of some few of those who pretending to be Bishops and Presbyters of the Church of England yet have been very zealous and forward to promote Popery and Slavery in the Nation these for a time have been caressed by those whose eyes now blessed be God are opened and have seen their own Mistake and the Villany of those that have deceived them they now see who were the Criminals and I question not but may help them to that state into which they have put the Innocent and relieve me who have been kept close these five Years My humble Request therefore to my Brethren of the Church of England is that I might not be thought unworthy of their Cognizance because of my tender Affections to my poor Brethren that cannot comply with the Church of England in some few things since they are so willing to go as far in the Service of the Protestant Cause and Interest as any of those who profess themselves Members of the Church of England Brethren It is time for me to cease entertaining you with the sad Account of the Villany Inhumanity and Cruelty of these Monsters of Mankind against me and to tell you that the Prize that I run for in this Humble Application of my self to you is by the opportunity and advantage hereof to excite provoke and engage you to bless the World in general and this Nation in particular labouring under Popish Burdens and Tokes which neither we nor our Forefathers were able to bear by asserting those blessed Truths worthy of your defending and maintaining and by bringing the Doctrines of God our Saviour out of the Pavillions of Romish Darkness into clear and perfect Light to be beheld understood reverenced and obeyed I have endeavoured to the best of my power at present to make it plain that Prayers to Saints departed this Life and to Angels are unlawful and abominable in the sight of God I have examined into some Authorities this angry Gentleman hath produced and find them either forged misrepresented or impertinent and without all Reason and Conscience he falls fouly upon a Reverend Presbyter of our Church for Licensing a Letter to him in which he is fairly and fully Refuted but the Mungril Curr will not leave barking in his Letter he is light profane and abusive and impudent as if he never had been in a Conspiracy against the Lives of two of the greatest Princes of Europe nay three and two of them Crowned Heads and against the Religion Liberties and Lives of the Protestants of these three Kingdoms But I shall say no more of this little Schoolmaster that talks as sawcily in the Pulpit and is as peremptory in his Notions as he was over his Boys at St. Omers where he used to bellow and roar like a Town Bull. This little Piece I offer to your Consideration and pray your acceptance of it there are Mistakes in it through the carelesness of the Printer which I cannot help because of my Imprisonment and not being permitted to see after it myself so that by this means I may appear obvious to your Censures because that some passages ought to have been better secured But I trust the Ancient Law of Indulgence in such Cases and Circumstances as mine are which may probably in due time be some of my Adversaries also is of Authority sufficient with all sober Protestants to relieve me Brethren and Beloved my Pen hath transgressed the Law and time of my Intentions these confined me to a much narrower Compass in my Epistle and prohibited me the troubling of you to any such degree as now I have done The truth is I have for a long time suffered wrongfully from my Popish Adversaries and I hope you will give an injured Presbyter of the Church of England leave to speak and complain a little of his hard and cruel usage for no other cause but doing Justice to
divales Sacras Jussiones de veniendo aut mittendo ad Concilium recepit The Authority of the Council doth not so depend upon him by whom it was Summoned so that unless it be Summoned by the Pope it can be no Council for so we shall avoid the first eight General Councils for we read they were Summoned by the Emperour and not by Popes and the Pope received the Emperour's Majesty's Commandment to come or send to Councils as other Patriarchs did And your own Writers have owned that the Council of Ephesus which was the third General Council was held under Theodosius the younger and by his Order that Holy Father did preside and not from any Legantine Authority he received from Pope Coelestine Here you fail in this particular and therefore we have just cause to question the whole But this shall suffice as to the first Enquiry 2. I pray how do you prove that Cyril spake this in the Name of the whole Council For if that the whole Council was not for Praying to the Saints and Angels he could not be said to speak in their Names Then how could he in their Names make such an Address to the Virgin without being deputed by them If it had been said by you that he did in the Name of Theodosius the Emperour make this Prayer you had said something for Praying to Saints was then scarce heard of in the Church of God. I confess toward the latter part of the fourth Century it began to creep into the Church but was questioned again by the Council of Carthage and the Council of Laodicea both which Councils determined against the Invocation of Saints and Angels In the 35 Canon of the Council of Laodicea it was thus determined That Christians ought not to leave the Church of God and go and call upon Angels and make Meetings which are things forbidden Let him be accursed because he hath forsaken the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God and applied himself to Idolatry Theodoret in his Exposition upon the Colossians doth twice mention this Canon and declare the Sence of it upon Col. 3. 17. The Apostle saith he commandeth us to adorn our Words and Deeds with the Commemoration of our Lord Jesus Christ and to send up our Thanksgiving unto God the Father by him and not by Angels The Synod of Laodicea following also this Rule and desiring to heal this old Disease viz. Angel-Worship made a Law That they should not Pray unto Angels nor forsake our Lord Jesus Christ And on Col. 2. he adds That this Vice continued long in Phrygia and Pisidia for which cause the Synod assembled at Laodicea the chief City of Phrygia and forbad them by a Law to Pray unto Angels Can it then be supposed that the whole Council of Ephesus should be agreed in the Point of Praying to Saints and Angels Since both these Councils had determin'd against it how then could St. Cyril do this in the Name of the whole Council For it is well known that there was yet never any General Council that had determin'd for it 3. Let us know Sir how you prove that ever St. Cyril did speak those Words or make such a formal Prayer as you pretend he made I have given myself the trouble of Reading the Council of Ephesus but I find nothing at all of the business and therefore you would do well to examine that Council once more and let us have the Prayer in Greek without an c. But I will tell you I have great reason to suspect the truth of it because I perceive you take it upon the credit of Baronius who was one of your own Writers and therefore worthily suspect it for certainly it was his design in all his History to promote the Doctrine and Interest of the Church and See of Rome If you would shew us St. Cyril's Speech it would go a great way further as to its reputation Yet Sir consider your Divines have falsified that Council of Ephesus and have represented that Council to have determin'd against administring the Communion in both Kinds which is a meer falshood because the Cup was not denyed to the Laity for several hundred years after But if it were taken away why was there no Decree made thereupon that is extant in that Council nor any mention of by any Learned Man within a great time after and those that laid first that Doctrine upon the whole Council might as easily make a Speech for St. Cyril and a Prayer for him too to the Virgin Mary the better to give countenance to that way of Worship The next proof you bring sorth is a Prayer of St. Gregory Nyssen unto St. Theodore in these words Martyr use the liberty you enjoy speak for your Fellow-Servant you have conquer'd the World but you have not forgotten the Passions and Necessities our human Condition is liable unto Ask for Peace that those Publick Meetings may continue that the enraged and wicked Barbarians may not plunder and destroy our Churches and Altars that no impious Man tread the Holy Thing under-foot for we that have been untouched and alive do own ourselves obliged to you for that Blessing and will ask your Protection and Security for the future No doubt but St. Theodere might be a Worthy Saint and Martyr of Christ to whom this St. Gregory might use a Rhetorical Apostrophe tho he were not present in Person yet he might be present by his Picture or some Monument that was set up in the Honour of so great a Saint But Sir Remember the Psalmist He calls upon Angels to Praise God and all the Hosts of Heaven the Sun the Moon and all the Stars of Light he calls upon Dragons and all Deeps he calls upon the Fire Haile Snow and Vapour to Praise God not that the Fire did hear him or the Sun Moon and Stars or Mountains Hills fruitful Trees or Cedars did hear him yet here was Invocation but answer me plainly Were these Words spoken by way of Adoration Was this a Formal Prayer to St. Theodore or only an acknowledgment only that God for the Sake of that Saint had preserved the Church You know that God did for the Sake of Abraham shew many favours to the People Israel and for the Sake of St. Paul a whole Ships Company were preserved as you may see in Acts 27. 24. Fear not Paul thou must be brought before Caesar and so God hath given thee all them that Sail with thee as in the same Sence that the People that Sailed with Paul were obliged to Paul for their Preservation In the same Sence doth this Holy Gregory tell St. Theodore that those who had escaped the Cruelties of the Barbarians and were alive they were obliged to him for that Mercy but you will say that St. Gregory saith That we own our selves obliged to you for this Preservation and we will ask your Protection for the future That is the same Protection he doth not pray to St. Theodore to