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A53364
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A discourse of the unlawfulness of praying to saints and angels being a full answer to a letter of Sabran the Jesuite : wherein the practice of the Church of Rome, in praying to saints and angels is plainly proved to be contrary to the doctrine of Christ and the presented authority by him produc'd, to be either forged or impertinent / by Titus Oates, a presbyter of the Church of England.
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Oates, Titus, 1649-1705.
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1689
(1689)
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Wing O33; ESTC R38151
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88,775
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90
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Language fall on them who appear in the Defence of those Catholick Truths for which double Service the Minister G seems to have been singled out they are both equally well qualified for the purpose because neither can blush Thus far Mr. Sabran who falling so fouly upon me I thought it fit to put Pen to Paper in order to justifie my self and expose the Doctrine by him so zealously defended I have no reason at this time of day to suspect that Spirit of Malignity amongst Protestants which carrieth some on to run down Men by vulgar Acclamations and as for those dismal Vizors those Rascally Party of Mankind the Popish Party I mean hath endeavoured to put upon me viz. of Malice Perjury Treason with the like which serve to affright Children in Vnderstanding and their Illegal and Vnjust and Reproachful Whippings and Pillorying as a Malefactor whereas God knows and you now must own that they have had no matter of just Accusation against me all which was to bring you out of the Love of those most Worthy and Important Truths I did before three Parliaments deliver upon my Oath as also in several Courts of Judicature where my Testimony was received believed and approved of In order to my fall these unwearied Vermin employed a Profligate Fellow the common Buffoon of the Nation and great Presents were made to him to blast and abuse me and the Pains he took met with an unexpected Success for many of my Brethren of the Church of England were deluded by him and were carried away by his Profligate Hellish Lyes Being thus run down by his Pen nothing would serve the turn of my Popish Adversaries but that I must dye to this end great Endeavours were used if possible to take away my Life by a false Accusation of Fellony and Treason but their Witnesses not having the luck to be believed then they were resolved not to rest themselves satisfied in the Defeat of that Effort and Enterprize they proceeded to Indict me for Perjury in which by the help of their Banditti from St. Omers and Staffordshire and by the Countenance of the Common Hangman of England they prevailed upon a Credulous Jury to Convict me and having obtained a Verdict these Conspirators laid their Heads together to invent what Punishment they should Inflict and ordered me to be Pilloried five times a Year during my Life and to be Whipt from Aldgate to Newgate and then within a day after to be Whipt from Newgate to Tyburn in which sort of Punishment I received two thousand three hundred fifty six Stripes according to the most modest Computation that could be made and they ordered that I should be divested of my Canonical Habit which they had no Power to do as I conceive besides all this they set a great Fine upon me and Condemned me to be a close Prisoner during my Life which Punishment they thought would render me very Obnoxious to all Mankind at least but the great Design was my Murther that I might not Communicate to the World those Particulars relating to the Popish Conspiracy carried on by that Wicked Party for the Murther of the Late King and the Subversion of the Protestant Religion and Government both in Church and State as by Law Established which are not yet told which I shall do when it shall please God and the King that now is that a Parliament shall meet and sit and Redress our Crying Grievances and Heal all those Wounds which the Devillish Hellish Popish Crew have made amongst us by Murthering our Protestant Brethren attempting to Assassinate the Late King Firing the City Corrupting Christianity Enslaving the Nation Debauching our Youth and Disturbing of Mankind Their base Vsage of me was I say to lessen me and those plain Truths which I have delivered in order to discover these Serpents to the World who at that time acted as behind a Curtain but since they have been more bare and brazen faced in their Proceedings and the Series of their Actions from the second of February 1684. to this very day have sufficiently justified me so that by the good Providence of our Great God and the Imprudence of my Implacable Enemies I do find that they have taken away all Cause and Occasion of Jealousie in me concerning you that you should take any such Impressions from them as may tend to beget in you an evil Opinion of me Further because you well remember that it hath been the common practice of the Members of that Whorish Synagogue they being instigated by the Devil their Father to put the Servants of God and Professors of the Protestant Religion into Bears Skins and Wolves Skins that they might be the better prepared to be torn in pieces and devoured by Dogs but they being now disabled from the acting of such Cruelties here they took another Course with some of us and slily have insinuated with the Sons of Men that they were a peaceable and quiet People and that those who have charged them with those Crimes viz. Treasons Murthers Fires and Massacres were Men not to be believed against them and by those Courses they did prevail with some Eminent and Holy Men who were carried away for a time with their Dissimulation but they have given you such a tast of their Truth Peace and Love that I conceive you will not any more fly to any such polluted Sanctuaries nor rely upon their Suggestions as if at this time of day they could disswade you from giving Credit to those great Truths I have already made known to you but if there be any Man or number of Men that may or shall remain subject to the Delusions of these Devils it is That they may be Damned for not receiving the Truth in the Love thereof As for me I have that Witness within me whose Prerogative it is to Laugh at all Jealousies and Suggestions of Men to Scorn whether they be deceived or such as deceive though I confess they have not run about altogether in vain who have sought my Ruine But I bless my Good God though my Popish Adversaries have to the utmost of their Power endeavoured to bring me under a Cloud of Disparagement insomuch that some of my old Friends were afraid or ashamed to own me yet he raised up new ones who have not without Difficulties preserved me from Perishing in my Affliction Feeding and Cloathing me many of whom were Persons who were better acquainted with my Cause than my Person who escaped the being deluded by that Infamous Race of the Babylonish Strumpet Almighty God who never forsakes those who stand faithful to the Truth hath been pleased to Comfort me with his Presence and to give me the Blessing of his Holy Jesus to grow in the Favour of himself and of good Men and though he hath Chastned me sore yet he hath not delivered me over unto Death but under the Affliction he hath taught me some weak Rudiments of his Heavenly Art drawing Light out of Darkness
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