too late standing in the world to be accounted the first Broacher of those Doctrinal Points which have such warrant from the Scriptures and were so generally held by the ancient Fathers both Greek and Latine till St. Austins time defended since that time by the Iesuites and Franciscans in the Church of Rome by all the Melancthonian Divines among the Lutherans by Castalio in Geneva it self by Bishop Latimer and Bishop Hooper in the time of K. Edward VI by some of our Confessors in Prison in the days of Qu. Mary by Bishop Harsnet in the Pulpit by Dr. Peter Baroe in the Schools in the Reign of Qu. Elizabeth by Hardem Bergius the first Reformer of the Church and City of Emden and finally by Anastasius Velvanus A. D. 1554. and afterward by Henricus Antonii Iohannes Ibrandi Clemens Martini Cornelius Meinardi the Ministers generally of the Province of Vtrecht by Manaus the Divinity Professor of Leyden by Gellius Succanus in the Province of Friezeland before the name of Iacob van Harmine was heard of in the world And if it be objected that the whole stream of Protestant Divines who were famous either for Piety or Learning embraced the Calvinian Doctrines to this also the Doctor gives a satisfactory answer in many places of his learned Writings The Reader may please to consider 1. That this being granted to be a truth we are rather to look upon it as an infelicity which befel the Church than as an argument that she concurr'd with those Divines in all points of judgment That which was most aimed at immediately after the Reformation and for a long time after in preferring men to the highest dignities of the Church and chief places in the Universities was their zeal against Popery and such a sufficiency of learning as might enable him to defend those Points on which our separation from the Church of Rome was to be maintained and the Queens Interest most preserved The Popes Supermacy the Mass with all the Points and Nicities which depended on it Iustification by Faith Marriage of Priests Purgatory the Power of the Civil Magistrate were the Points most agitated And whoever appeared right in those and withal declared himself against the corruptions of that Church in point of Manners was seldom or never looked into for his other Opinions until the Church began to find the sad consequences of it in such a general tendency to Innovation both in Doctrine and Discipline as could not easily be redress'd 2. In answer to the fâ—re-mentioned objection It is recorded in St. Marks Gospel cap. 8. that the blind man whom our Saviour restored to sight at Bethsaida at the first opening of his eyes saw men as Trees walking ver 24. i. e. walking as Trees quasi dicat homines quos ambulantes video non homines sed arbores mihi viderentur as we read in Maldonate By which words the blind man declared saith he se qauidem videre aliquid cum nihil antè videret imperfectè tamen videre cum inter homines arbores distinguere non posset More briefly Estius upon the place Nondum ita clarè perfectè video ut discernere possim inter homines arbores I discern somewhat said the poor man but so imperfectly that I am not able to distinguish between Trees and Men. Such an imperfect sight as this the Lord gave many times to those whom he recovered out of the Egyptian darkness who not being able to discern all Divine Truths at the first opening of the eyes of their understandings were not to be a Rule and Precedent to those that followed and lived in clearer times and under a brighter Beam of Illumination than others did What grounds were laid down by this excellent person for Unity and Charity in the Worship of God and in the Doctrine and Government of the Church may be seen in these words to Mr. Baxter Unity and Charity in the ancient simplicity of Doctrine Worship and Government no man likes better than my self bring but the same affections with you and the wide Breach that is between us in some of the Causes which we manage on either side will be suddenly closed but then you must be sure to stand to the word Ancient also and not keep your self to simplicity only If Unity and Charity will content you in the ancient Doctrine in the simplicity thereof without subsepuent mixtures of the Church I know no Doctrine in the Church more pure and Ancient than that which is publickly held forth by the Church of England in the Book of Articles the Homilies and the Catechism authorized by Law of which I may safely affirm as St. Austin does in his Book Ad Marcelinum His qui contradicit aut a Christi fide alienus est aut est Haereticus i. e. He must either be an Inâ—idel or an Heretick who assents not to them If Vnity and Charity in the simplicity of Worship be the thing you aim at you must not give every man the liberty of worshiping in what Form he pleaseth which destroys all Vnity nor Cursing many times instead of Praying which destroys all Charity The ancient and most simple way of Worship in the church of God was by regular Forms prescribed for the publick use of Gods people in the Congregations and not by unpremeditated undigested Prayers which every man makes unto himself as his fancy shall lead him And if set Forms of Worship are to be retained you will not easily meet with any which hath more in it of the ancient simplicity of the Primitive Times than the English Liturgy And if ancient simplicity of Government be the point you drive at what Government can you find more pure or Ancient than that of Bishops of which you have this Character in the Petition of the County of Rutland where it is said to be That Government which the Apostles left the Church in that the Three Ages of Martyrs were governed by that the thirteen Ages since have always gloried in by their Succession of Bishops from the Apostles proving themselves Members of the Catholick and Apostolick Church that our Laws have established that so many Kings and Parliaments have protected into which we were Baptized as certainly Apostolical as the Lords day as the distinction of Books were written by such Evangelists and Apostles as the Conâ—ecration of the Eucharist by Presbyters c. An ample commendation of Episcopal Government but such as exceeds not the bounds of Truth or Modesty Stand to these grounds for keeping Vnity and Charity in the ancient simplicity of Doctrine Worship and Government in the Church of God and you shall see how chearfully the Regal and Preâ—atical Party will joyn hands with you and embrace you with most dear affections But you tell me That if I will have men in peace as Brethren our Union must be Law or Ceremonies or indifferent Forms This is a pretty Speculation but such as would not pass for
Port or lofty looks or in all or in none Admitting the most and worst you can of these particulars would you have men that shine in a higher Orb move in a lower Sphere than that in which God has placed them Or being rank'd in Order and Degree about you would you not have them keep that distance which belongs to their Places Or because you affect a Parity in the Church would you have all men brought to the same Level with your self without admitting Sub and Supra in the Scale of Government If they were your Fathers in God why did not you look upon them with such reverence as becomes Children If your Superiors in the Lord why did not you yield them that subjection which was due unto them If fix'd in Place and Power above you by the Laws of the Land only and no more than so why did not you give obedience to those Laws under which you lived and by which you were to be directed Take heed I beseech you Mr. Baxter that more Spiritual Pride be not found in that heart of yours than ever you found worldly and external Pride in any of my Lords the â—â—â—hops and that you do not trample on them with greater insolence Calco platonis Fastum sed majori Fastu as you know who said in these unfortunate days of their Calamity than ever they expressed toward any in the time of their Glory Were it my case as it is yours I would not for ten thousand worlds depart this life before I had obtained their pardon and given satisfaction to the world for these horrible Scandals 3. As for those persons that were heartily affected with Episcopacy and dissatisfied with the extinction of an Order so sacred and venerable there was this way found out to quiet their diâ—contents viz. to persuade them that Bishops and Presbyters were of equivolent importance and comprehended under the same name in the Holy Scriptures But grant says this their Champion that they be so who that pretends to Logick can dispute so lamely as from a Community of names to infer an Identity or Sameness in the thing so named Kings are called Gods in Holy Scripture and God does frequently call himself by the name of King yet if a man should thence infer that from this Community of names there arises an Identity or Sameness between God and the King he might worthily be condemned for so great a Blasphemer St. Peter calls our Saviour Christ by the name of Bishop and himself a Presbyter or Priest or an Elder as we unhandsomly read it yet were it a sorry piece of Logick to conclude from hence that there is no distinction between an Apostle and an Elder the Prince of the Apostles and a simple Presbyter or between Christ the Supreme Pastor of his Church and every ordinary Bishop Lastly take it for granted that Bishops have an Identity or Sameness in Name Office Ordination and Qualification with Presbyters it will not follow convertibly that Presbyters have the like Identity or Sameness of Qualification Ordination Name and Office which the Bishop hath My reason is because a Bishop being first Regularly and Canonically to be made a Priest before he take the Order and Degree of a Bishop hath in him all the Qualifications the Ordination Name and Office which a Presbyter has and something further superadded as well in point of Order and Iurisdiction which every Presbyter hath not So that altho every Bishop be a Priest or Presbyter yet every Presbyter is not a Bishop To make this clear by an example in the Civil Government When Sir Robert Cecil Knight and principal Secretary of State was made first Earl of Salisbury and then Lord Treasurer continuing Knight and Secretary as he was before it might be said that he had an Identity or Sameness in Name Office Order and Qualification with Sir Iohn Herbert the other Secretary yet this could not be said reciprocally of Sir Iohn Herbert because there was something superadded to Sir Robert Cecil viz. the Dignity of an Earl and the Office of Lord Treasurer which the other had not So true is that of Lactantius Adeo argumenta ex absurdo petita ineptos habent exitus It is ordinary for Arguments built upon weak grounds to have worse Conclusions And a better Instance cannot be given of this than in the Retortion that Mr. Selden made to one in the House of Commons who disputed against the Divine Right of Episcopacy His argument was this 1. That Bishops are Iure Divino is of Question 2. That Archbishops are not Iure Divino is out of Question 3. That Ministers are Iure Divino there is no Question Now if Bishops which are questioned whether Iure Divino shall Suspend Ministers which are Iure Divino I leave it to you Mr. Speaker Which Mr. Selden whether with greater Wit or Scorn is hard to say thus retorted on him 1. That the Convocation is Iure Divino is a Question 2. That Parliaments are not Iure Divino is out of Question 3. That Religion is Iure Divino is no Question Now Mr. Speaker that the Convocation which is questioned whether Iure Divino and Parliaments which out of Question are not Iure Divino should meddle with Religion which questionless is Iure Divino I leave to you Mr. Speaker There are some other Points relating to Episcopacy which Dr. Heylyn has long time since cleared and determined And if some of our pretending States-men had considered and read what was written upon those Subjects their time and pains would have been more profitably spent to the honor and security of this Church and Kingdom than in raising doubts and scruples which had long before been so clearly stated and resolved For 1. As for Bishops sitting in Parliament to Vote in Causes of Blood and Death this the Doctor evinced not only in the Tract entituled De Iure paritatis Episcoporum but in his Observations upon Mr. L'Estrange's History where he says that altho the ancient Canons disable Bishops from Sentencing any man to Death yet they do not from being Aâ—sistants in such cases from taking Examinations hearing Depositions of Witnesses or giving Counsel in such matters as they saw occasion The Bishops sitting as Peers in the English Parliament were never excluded from the Earl of Strafford's Trial from any such Assistances as by their Gravity and Learning and other Abilities they were enabled to give in any dark and difficult business tho of Blood and Death which were brought before them 2. With the like solid reasoning the Doctor has evinced the Bishops to be one of the Three Estates For not to mention what he says upon this Argument in his Stumbling-Block of Disobedience That they have their Vote in Parliament as a Third Estate not in capacity of Temporal Barons altho they are so as Mr. Selden evinces and an Act of Parliament Stat. 25. Edw. III. will evidently appear from these following Reasons For
in Italy at which time the Valour of the English was imprisoned in the same Seas with their Island And therefore France was at that time when first the Arms were quartered the more famous Kingdom 'T is true indeed since the time of those victorious Princes those Duo Fulmina Belli Edward the Third and the Black Prince his Son the Arms of England have been exercised in most parts of Europe Nor am I ignorant how high we stand above France and all other Nations in the true fame of our Atchievements France it self divers times over-run and once Conquered the House of Burgundy upheld from Ruine the Hollanders Supported Spain Awed and the Ocean Commanded are sufficient testimonies that in pursuit of Fame and Honor we had no Equals That I was always of this opinion my Book speaks for me and indeed so unworthy a person needs no better an Advocate in which I have been no where wanting to commit to memory the honorable performances of my Countrey The great Annalist Baronius pretending only a true and sincere History of the Church yet tells the Pope in his Epistle Dedicatory that he principally did intend that work pro Sacrarum Traditionum Antiquitate Authoritate Romanae Ecclesiae The like may I say of my self though not with like imputation of Imposture I promised a Description of all the World and have according to the measure of my poor Abilities fully performed it yet have I apprehended withal every modest occasion of enobling and extolling the Soâ—â—ers and Kings of England Besides that I do not now speak of England as it now stands augmented with by the happy Addition of Scotland I had had it from an Author whom in poverty of reading I conceived above all exception viz. Cambden Clarencieux that general and accomplish'd Scholar in the fifth part of his Remains had so informed me If there be error in it 't is not mine but my Authors The Precedency which he there speaks of is in General Councils And I do heartily wish it would please the Lord to give such a sudden Blessing to his Church that I might live to see Mr. Cambden Confuted by so good an Argument as the sitting of a General Council Thus Mr. Heylyn was the interpreter of his own words and by these demonstrations of his integrity King Iames's indignation was appeased and his own fears were ended Only he took care to have these offensive words blotted out of his Book as the Dean of Winton advised him In the year 1625. he took a Journey with Mr. Levet of Lincolns-Inn into France where he visited more Cities and made more Observations in the space of five weeks for he staid there no longer than many others have done in so many years The particulars of this Journey he put in Writing and some years after gratified his Countrey with the Publication of it together with some other very excellent Remarks made by him when he attended upon the Earl of Danby to the Isles of Guernsey and Iersey Anno Dom. 1628. Had King Iames lived to have perused that Book Mr. Heylyn had needed no other Advocate to have restored him to his Princely Favour and Protection For never was the Vanity and Levity of the Monsieurs and the Deformity and Sluttishness of their Madames more ingeniously exposed both in Prose and Verse than in the Account that he gives of his Voyage into France On April 18. 1627. he opposed in the Divinity-School and the 24th day following he answered pro Forma upon these two Questions viz. An. Ecclesia unquam fuerit invisibilis An Ecclesia possit errare Both which he determined in the Negative And in stating of the first he fell upon a different way from that of Doctor Prideaux in his Lecture de Visibilitate Ecclesiae and other Tractates of and about that time in which the visibility of the Protestant Church and consequently of the Renowned Church of England was no otherwise proved than by looking for it into the scattered Conventicles of the Berengarians in Italy the Waldenses in France the Wickliffs in England and the Hussites in Bohemia which manner of proceeding not being liked by Mr. Heylyn because it utterly discontinued that Succession in the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy which the Church of England claims from the Apostles he rather chose to look for a continual Visible Church in Asia Aethiopia Greece Italy yea and Rome it self as also in all the Western Provinces then subject to the power of the Popes thereof And for the proof whereof he shewed 1. That the Church of England received no Succession of Doctrine or Government from any of the scattered Conventicles before remembred 2. That the Wickliffes together with the rest before remembred held many Heterodoxies in Religion as different from the Establish'd Doctrine of the Church of England as any point that was maintained at that time in the Church of Rome And 3. That the Learned Writers of that Church and Bellarmin himself among them have stood up as cordially and stoutly in maintenance of some Fundamental points of the Christian Faith against Socinians Anabaptists and Anti-Trinitarians and other Hereticks of these Ages as any of the Divines and other Learned men of the Protestant Churches which point Mr. Heylyn closed with these words viz. Vtinam quod ipse de Calvino sic semper errasset nobilissimus Cardinalis And this so much displeased the Doctor of the Chair that so soon as our young Divine had ended his Determination he fell most heavily upon him calling him by the most odious names of Papicola Bellarminianus Pontificius c. bitterly complaining to the younger part of his Audients unto whom he made the greatest part of his Addresses of the unprofitable pains he had took amongst them if Bellarmin whom he had laboured to decry for so many years should now be honored with the Title of Nobilissimus The like he did within a few days after Tantaene animis coelestibus irae when the Respondent became prior Oppenent loading him with so many Reproaches that he was branded for a Papist before he understood what Popery was And because this Report should not prepossess the minds of some great Persons the Disputant went to London and after the Lord Chamberlain had ordered him to Preach before the Kings Houshold Arch-Bishop Laud then Bishop of Bath and Wells took notice of the passages that had happened at Oxford But Mr. Heylyn told him the story at large and for a farther testimony of his Judgment and Innocency gave him a Copy of his Supposition which when it was perused the Disputant waited on him and his Lordship made him to sit down by him and after enquiry made into the course of his Studies told him That his Supposition was strongly grounded and not to be over thrown in a fair way of Scholastick Arguing That he would not have him be discouraged by noise and clamour That he himself had in his younger days maintained the same Positions in
publickly read and Mr. Huish then Minister in Abingdon had a numerous Auditory of Loyal persons who frequented publick Prayers at St. Nicholas which became so greatly offensive to the Factious party that they laboured all they could to have the Church raz'd to its very Foundations But notwithstanding the Authority which then ruled God rendred the endeavours of Dr. Heylyn and some other Royallists successful in the preâ—ervation of his own house And because Mr. Huish either out of a principle of prudence or fear had for some time whilst those contests continued desisted from performing the sacred Offices of Religion therefore our Doctor to animate him unto the performance of his Duty sent him the following Letter after his return from London where he had been soliciting in the common Cause of the Church which was to have been laid even with the ground SIR We are much beholden to you for your chearful condescending unto our desires so for as to the Lords-days Service which though it be Opus Diei in Die suo yet we cannot think our selves to be fully masters of our requests till you have yielded to bestow your pains on the other days also We hope in reasonable time to alter the condition of Mr. Blackwel's pious Gift that without hazzarding the loss of his Donation which would be an irrecoverable blow unto this poor Parish you may sue out your Quâ—etus est from that daily Attendance unless you find some further motives and inducements to persuade you to it yet so to alter it that there shall be no greater wrong done to his Intentions than to most part of he Founders of each University by changing Prayers for the Souls first by them intended into a Commemoration of their Bounties as was practised All dispositions of this kind must vary with those changes which befal the Church or else be alienated and estranged to other purposes I know it must be some discouragement to you to read to Walls or to pray in publick with so thin a company as hardly will amount to a Congregation But withal I desire you to consider that magis and minus all Logicians say do not change the Species of things that Quantities of themselves are of little efficacy if at all of any and that he who promised to be in the midst of two or three when they meet together in his name hath clearly shewed that even the smallest Congregations shall not want his presence And why then should we think much to bestow our pains where he vouchsafes his presence or think our labour ill bestowed if some few only do partake of the present benefit And yet no doubt the benefit extends to more than the parties present For you know well that the Priest or Minister is not only to pray with but for the people that he is not only to offer up the peoples Prayers to Almighty God but to offer up his own Prayers for them the benefit whereof may charitably be presumed to extend to as well as it was intended for the absent also And if a whole Nation may be represented in a Parliament of 400 persons and they derive the Blessings of Peace and Comfort upon all the Land why may we not conceive that God will look on three or four of this little Parish as the Representative of the whole and for their sakes extend his Grace and Blessings unto all the rest that he who would have saved that sinful City of Sodom had he found but ten righteous persons in it may not vouchsafe to bless a less sinful people upon the Prayers of a like or less number of Pious and Religious persons When the High Priest went into the Sanctum Sanctorum to make Atonement for the Sins of the People went he not thither by himself none of the people being suffered to enter into that place Do not we read that when Zacharias offered up Incense which figured the Prayers of the Saints within the Temple the people waited all that while in the outward Courts Or find we any where that the Priest who offered up the daily Sacrifice and this comes nearest to our Case did ever intermit that Office by reason of the slackness or indevotion of the people in repairing to it But you will say There is a Lion in the way there is danger in it Assuredly I hope none at all or if any none that you would care for The Sword of the Committee had as sharp an edg and was managed with as strong a malice as any Ordinance of later Date can impower men with Having so fortunately escaped the danger of that why should you think of any thing but despising this as Tully did unto Mark Antonie Catilinae Gladios contempsi non timebo tuos Why may you not conclude with David in the like sense and apprehensions of Gods preservation that he who saved him from the Bear and the Lion would also save him from the Sword of that railing Philistine And you may see that the Divine Providence is still awake over that poor Remnant of the Regular and Orthodox Clergy which have not yet bowed their knees to the Golden Calves of late erected by putting so unexpectedly a hook into the nostrils of those Leviathans which threatned with an open mouth to devour them all I will not say as Clemens of Alexandria did in a case much like that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to indulge too much to apprehensions of this nature in matters which relate to Gods publick Service All I shall add is briefly this that having presented you with these Considerations I shall with greediness expect the sounding of the Bell to morrow morning and in the mean time make my Prayers to Almighty God so to direct you in this business as may be most for his Glory your own particular Comfort and the good of this people with which expressions of my Soul I subscribe my self Your most affectionate Friend and Brother in Christ Iesus Peter Heylyn Upon the receipt and reading of this Letter Mr. Huish betook himself to his wonted duty reading the Churches Prayers with that frequency gravity and devotion as became a man of his Reverence and Profession And the daily visits which were paid by our Doctor to the place of Gods publick Worship the better enabled him as well to undergo the severity of Study as to contend with the hardships of Fortune And amongst the products of his Studies the Theologia Veterum or Exposition of the Apostles Creed does first merit our Commendations Indeed many other Books were written by him when the King and Church were in their low and calamitous condition some of which were Historical relating to matters of Fact some Political relating to the power of Princes and various Forms of Government and lastly others Theological and those either Didactical tending to the settling and informing of mens understandings or Practical that conduced to the amending of their manners or Polemical that vindicated the Truths of God
Sermon upon the Tares where he lays to the charge of the Papists the most gross Idolatry greater than which was never known among the Gentiles And indeed the whole Volume of those Sermons is studiously contrived against Popery and put out on purpose in the last times of Confusion by our Doctor to obstruct the spreading of that Canker of Christianity And when he had preach'd only the two first some of his judicious hearers did not stick to declare That Dr. Heylyn had done more in two Sermons for the Suppression of Popery than ever Dr. Pr. had done in all his life But that the Reader may be convinc'd about the Doctors sincerity in Protestantism let it be considered that never any Writer upon the Apostles Creed did more industriously expose and strenuously confute the Errors of the Roman Church than he does in his Treatise upon that Subject which was put out also at that time when he and the exauctorated Clergy as he calls them had all the provocations of want and scorn to have forsaken a persecuted Church and embraced Popery He disproves their Traditions And as for their Idolatry he speaks in these words That altho they publickly profess but one Sovereign God yet the poor Christians in the Roman Church are taught every where to place their confidence in more local Saints than ever Heathen-Rome did muster of its Topical gods And how in a very little time Rome Christian came to have more Tutelary Saints and Patrons and those too of each Sex than ever Heathen-Rome should gods or goddesses Neither is this any studied Calumny but so clear a Truth that it was never yet gain-said by their greatest Advocates so much hath Rome relapsed into her ancient Gentilism revived again so many of her gods and goddesses that both Jews and Infidels may have cause to question whether she doth believe in one God alone or that he only is the Almighty Father whom the Creed mentions Neither does he stick in generals but particularly proves the Popish Idolatries in Worshiping Saints and Angels and imploying them as Mediators unto God in adoring the Blessed Virgin and bestowing those blasphemous Titles of Mater misericordiae Mater Gratiae Regina Caeli c. in Worshipping the Cross and the impudence of those Writers that defend it in the Invocation of Saints shewing how it first came to be introduced in the Church together with the unlawfulness and danger of that Doctrine and practice from Scripture Reason and the Fathers answering the Objections made by School-men and others for it proving that that Doctrine together with that of Worshippiug of Images is a Fruit of Gentilism and shewing the vanity of their distinctions as also upon what ground the device of Purgatory is obtruded on us and how 't is rejected as well by the whole Greek Church as by the ancient Fathers He censures the whole herd of School-men telling how they have intangled the simplicity of the Christian Faith within the labyrinth of curious and intricate distinctions insomuch that it became at last a matter of great wit and judgment to know what was believed in the things of Christ. He exposes those impure Blasphemies that the Papists fix upon the Holy Spirit and Blessed Virgin-Mother unmasking the obscenities of the lazy Monks and Friers who fancied themselves to have had unclean commixtures with her relating the Bull of Pope Lâ—o 10. that gave Tekelius a Dominican Frier authority to absolve any man whatsoever etiamsi virginem matrem vitiaverit although he had defloured the Virgin-Mother Perstringing those that would free her from the contagion of all Venial and Original Sin and assert her Virginity so far as to extend it to the integrity of her Body as well as purity of her Mind and condemning Maldonate for not only making Christ but God the Father inferior to her He largely disproves the monstrous Paradox of Transubstantiation which he shews was hammered in the brains of capricious School-men and that the Sacrifice of the Mass is a dangerous deceit and blasphemous Fable affabulated to Transubstantiation by the Popes of Rome the Rise and absurd consequences of which Doctrine he at large illustrates He is content to be accounted a Heretick by the Papists because he will admit of no more Mediators of Intercession than Christ who is the Mediator of Redemption He confutes the strange Positions of the Trent-Council about the Mass shewing how absurd it is that a poor Priest should have power to make his Maker and having made him with the Breath of his Mouth he should fall down and Worship what himself had made That having worship'd him as God he should presume to lay hands upon him and Offer him in Sacrifice as soon as Worship'd that his Oblation once made is efficacious both to Quick and Dead to the Absent and the Present and that such as are present at it may if they find their stomachs serve devour their God He attacks the Papists in the Fundamental of their Religion viz. That Christ must have the Pope for his Vice-Roy to supply his place and absence and to govern and direct his Church in Peace and Unity and he again re-assumes the Argument and confutes all that Bellarmin and others produce for it But then the mischief is he tells of those who would impose upon the Church as many petite Popes as there are Parishes by means whereof they make Christs Body more monstrous than the Monster Hydra not to have seven Heads only but seven hundred thousand He takes Estius to task for making Christ in his Exposition of Mark 13. 32. the Author of Equivocation He confutes Harding for asserting that the proof of Christs Deity depended not upon the Holy Scriptures but the Tradition of the Church and the Authority of some subsequent Councils confirmed by Popes as if God could not be God unless the Pope allowed it He vindicates the Greek Church against the uncharitableness of the Roman and the Authority and Honor of the Scriptures against the Blasphemies that are fixed upon them by the Papists but then as luck would have it he speaks of some Reformers who assert that Preaching viva voce is only able to convert sinners and that the Word sermoniz'd not written is alone the Food that nourishes to eternal life and he proves unanswerably how such men detract more from its perfection and sufficiency than the Papists He condemns those who call Papists by the name of Catholicks professing that he never gave that name to them either in Writing or common Speech as thinking it a greater condemnation to our selves than men are aware of And that if we once grant them to be Catholicks we thereby do conclude our selves to be no Christians Nay he proves out of Bellarmin how they are delighted with the name of Papists and that they have no mind to be called Christians the name in