but rather have own'd his Church to have been a new one upon the whole Matter and granted a kind of Universal Apostacy the Protestant is brought in as in a manner deriding this Argument in his own Person or at least as contented with it as by a Socinian propos'd So then it seems we need fear no Schism from the Church Catholick till a part can divide from itself which can never be Whereas a Protestant would have first told them that there is just fear of a Schism in the Body of the Church Catholick though not from it And that they had made a Separation from the sound parts of it though not from the whole whilst the Protestants were both Members of the Universal Church and in Communion with all particular Churches so far as they are Christian. He would have added That Mr. Chillingworth's Words were proper in his own Case but not in the Case of a Socinian Church which is taken to be a Member in the Universal Church but unsound and out of its place Fourthly It may be noted that the Author of this Book is not the Inventer but the Borrower of this Argument call'd The Protestants Plea for a Socinian It has been used by Valerianus Magnus by the Author of the Brief Disquisition by Sir Kenelm Digby in his Discourse concerning the Infallibility of Religion if he be the genuine Author by the Iesuite who cavill'd against Dr. Potter's Book call'd Want of Charity Which Argument of the Iesuite was long ago answer'd by Mr. Chillingworth though this Author who was under Obligation by the very Nature of his Undertaking to have Reply'd is pleas'd to pass it over in silence Since that time Louis Maimbourg then a Iesuite wrote a Book Intituled A Treatise concerning the True Word of God Four Chapters of that little Book are spent in the managing of this Method And If you will take it upon his own Word he has come into the Field with Invincible Weapons About two years after this Protestants Plea is set to sale among us after the English manner in other knacks After the French comes the English Guide after the Foreign Expositor the English Misrepresenter We follow when the Mode declines elsewhere When others molt their Feathers we take them up and write with them Yet this is to be acknowledg'd that our Author both in his Judgment and Manners and closeness of Writing does much exceed that Monsieur Maimbourg though he may seem to have taken some Hints from him My Last Observation toucheth the design of this Book which looks as if it were particularly levell'd against the Established Church of England It is true the more general Name of Protestant is used but the Authors who are cited are not Luther or Calvin Calâ—…xtus or Daille Cartwright or Travers but Archb. Laud Archb. Bramhal Mr. Chillingworth Dr. Hammond Dr. Fâ—…rn and Dr. Stillingfleet Now it has been one of the later Stratagems of evil Men to Misrepresent the Ministers of this Sound Church as favourers of the Doctrines of Socinus and at this very time this Art is in Practice Otherwise why dâ—…es the Paper just now scattered abroad style the Socinians the Brethren of Protestants by descent and iniquity To what other purpose serveth the beginning of the long Book just now appearing and call'd a Letter to the Bishop of Lincoln For the Author complains of the Arian History of Sandius as publish'd here at London though 't was set sorth in Holland and in England twice refuted and of that Bishops declining an Answer to it which surely he might reasonably do without any approbation of so ill a Book for every Man is not at leasure to do every thing in Learning which in the general is fit to be done The Title of this Book is Serviceable to the abovesaid design by way of Insinuation And who will assure us that it was not pick'd out of the Guide for this disingenuous end That it was gathered meerly as the choicest Flower contain'd in that Book and not as the fittest in this juncture for this calumniating purpose I do not believe that this was the principal design either of the Author or the Publishâ—…r But if a Man that goes about to fence himself from his Neighbour can both dig his Ditch and cast his durt upon him he may perhaps be so ill natur'd as to think he does well to dispatch two works at a time However it be with our present Author this is certain Socinus himself taking notice of it that England and Scotland were not favourable to his Doctrine and that it sprang out of Italy Sozzo the Uncle Blandrata Paruta Alciat were Italians and bred in the Roman Church Ochinus was of Siena and some say Confessor to the Pope and General of the Order of the Capucins Faustus Socinus the Nephew as well as Laelius the Uncle was of the same Siena and nearly related to Pius the Second and Third and to Paul the Fifth And of the First Chapter of the Second Book of the Reformation of the Church of Poland these are the Contents After what manner the Seeds of Divine Truth were carried out of Italy into Poland in the Year 1551 by Laelius Socinus And before his remove in the Year 1546 he had form'd a Socinian Cabal of Italians in the Territories of Venice and especially at Vicenza amounting to a considerable number And I find it said elsewhere that in the Year 1539 the burning of a Lady who had turn'd from the Church of Rome open'd the Eyes of Men in Poland and dispos'd them to inquiry into Truth I have seen some Applications of the Socinians to the Mahometans in which they shew what approaches they make towards them I have read of Conditions of Accommodation betwixt the Socinians and the Romanists But Fame it self I think has not invented any such project betwixt the Socinians and the English Church I do not offer this discourse as a proof of encouragement for Socinianism in the Church of Rome yet it is an Argument sufficient for the Silencing of those of that Communion who charge it upon Ours And for other Churches that which is said already may be a proof of the wonted Sincerity of Monsieur Maimbourg who tells his Readers with assurance that the Persons who after the interval of nigh 900 Years reviv'd Arianism were all of them either Lutherans or Calvinists before they became the Disciples of Socinus A Man ought to have been Master of their History before he had pronounc'd so freely of them But some have an extraordinary Talent in making History It is true the Author de Constantiâ Religionis Christianae was by Education a Lutheran but he was taken young into the School of the Iesuites And after having been Ten Years among them he turn'd Socinian as he himself relates his own Story And Men who consider the Nature of causes and effects are
divided from them and rather Glories that he gives light to all the World than borrows from it The Author of the Brief Disquisition blames the Protestants for the great deference they pay to unwritten Tradition meaning by it that which is not Written in the Scriptures but in the Fathers although at the same time he makes them to ascribe to Councils and single Fathers a greater Authority than they really do notwithstanding they are very just to them Ruarus though he was a Man of extraordinary Candor yet in his Letters to Bergius he does not barely refuse but reject with derision his Catholick Interpretation of Scripture according to the Rule of Vincentius Lirinensis which admitteth That Sense which was every where always and of all beleived A Rule by which we help our selves And he further professeth that he should be much concern'd if the Interpretations of Calvin and Luther were not more solid and acute than those of the Fathers We of this Church consider in the Interpretations of the Fathers not so much the acuteness though in S. Chrysostome for instance sake and in Theodoret it is not wanting as we do the History and the light which they may give us into the consent of the Churches in the Primitive times We are not apt to believe that there was such an Universal Corruption and Apostacy as Socinians speak of immediately after the Apostles times We are not Strangers to the Testimony of Hegesippus of which they make use for the blackning of the Primitive Church He does not say that the Leprosy was spread throughout the Church but that it began early We do not undervalue the Fathers but proceed in the method of the Antients who begun first with the Holy Scriptures and then descended to those who wrote next after the Holy Pen-Men The Calvinists themselves Radon and Silvius in a Disputation at Petricow in Poland did not plead just after the manner of the Socinians They pleaded the Scriptures together with Councils and Fathers as Subordinate Witnesses Their Socinian Adversaries Gregorius Pauli and Gentilis mock'd at their way of arguing They profess'd they would admit of nothing but the pure Word of God as shiing sufficiently by its own Light. And they denied that there was contain'd in formal terms in the Holy Scriptures the Doctrine of Three Persons in one Divine Essence Again the Members of our Church do not imitate the Socinians in traducing Constantine the Great and preferring Constantius the Arian before him They celebrate his Memory as a Defender of the Faith so far are they from reviling him as a Perverter of it They do not joyn with Socinians in reproaching the Fathers of Nice as Mercinary and Flexible Men whom Constantine had gained to his party by interest or force They do not with Gregorius Pauli call the Explication of the Nicene Faith the Creed of Sathanasius They hate the irreverence as much as they despise the jingle They do not beleive that the Nicene Creed is forg'd as some Socinians do though at the same time they take this upon the modern Authority of Laurentius Valla whom they make to say that he read it in very Antient Books of Isidore who in his time was a Collector of Councils Such a Collector of Councils as Varillas of History a Father and a Collector together The truth is it is Valla's business to elude the sense of Isidore and to ascribe a twofold Creed to the Nicene Fathers the Apostolical and that which bears their Name Whereas Isidorâ—… distinguishes betwixt their Creed and that of the Apostles The Protestants repeat in their Liturgy the Creed of Nice in the form agreed on in the Council of Constantinople and would not do so if they did not beleive it Orthodox They do not say with some modern Arians that it was framed by Marcellus Ancyranus a Heretick or joyn with those Spanish Iesuites who it seems charg'd this Creed with the Heresie of Photinus the Master of Marcellus They pay a more just Duty to the Emperour and the Nicene Fathers than to say with the Enemies of the Holy Trinity that setting Council against Council they chuse rather to follow those of Sirmium and Rimini than those of Nice Our Church-Men do not with the Socinians disregard the Fathers who liv'd after that famous Council and acknowledge that those Fathers are against it and bid defiance to their opposition But so does Socinus so does Crellius so does Pisecius for thus he discourseth Do they say Theology knows nothing of this It is enough if the Apostles do S. Austin damns this Christ approves it The same Pisecius is more severe in his censure than Socinus himself and he agrees with Scaliger if Scaliger be by him rightly cited in accusing all the Fathers up to S. Austins time of ignorance in another Doctrine about the Receipt of departed Souls not Martyrs and in affirming that the Errours of the first Fathers prepared the way for Antichrist In fine Though the Church of England does not make the Councils her Rule of Faith or make her last Appeal to them yet she believes that in times of Controversie when the Heads of Men are apt to be disturb'd even in Matters otherwise plain enough by the Heats and Distempers of the Age they live in they are of special use The Authority of them tends to the quelling of the Party And then when the Faction cools it tends to the fixing and further strengthning of the weak and interrupted Faith of many For as in a Ballance one Scale may descend more or less below the Level so there may be Faith and Assent without adding the weight of Fathers and Councils and yet in unquiet Times especially and disputing Ages such Testimonies may give some further strength to Minds made feeble either by publick Distractions or the private Attacks of Crafty Seducers Thus our Church gives to the Scripture the things that belong to the Scripture and to Tradition the Dues of Tradition And it gives more even to the former than generally Socinians do and more also to the latter though with just Caution and Subordination So that their Plea and ours is not in a strict way of speaking the very same But Fourthly If we admit that the Plea of the Protestant and Socinian is the same for the general nature of it we cannot be truly said to plead for them unless the general Plea be with Truth and Pertinence as well as Boldness applied to the very merit of the Cause If two Men will plead the same thing with equal Assurance but not with equal Reason in Truth and Merit 't is not the same If the Confidence of Men in pleading might weigh against the Right of others they that were in the wrong would be in the right For what was wanting in the Reason of the Case would be supply'd by Impudence But is it said by any of the Robe
to the last Conference where our Author reasons to this effect THE Protestants imagine they excuse themselves from Schism by alledging that they left a Corrupt part of the Church meaning the Roman and Reform'd themselves That the Schism is theirs who caus'd it that they are united to all Churches in Charity and in the unity of the Catholick Church being with them in all things in which they are obliged to be with them And in the rest they are hindred from external Communion by the sinful Conditions which a particular Church puts upon them The Socinians say the same thing for themselves with reference to other Communions besides the Roman therefore the Protestant justifies the Plea of the Socinian in Relation to Schism The same Answer serves for the same Objection Socinians say as Protestants do but the reason is on the side of the latter and not on the former And our Author himself with respect to his Instance of the Divinity of the Son of God will by no means say that the Sociâ—…ians who make that Article where impos'd a sinful condition of Communion can by saying so excuse themselves from Schism whilst they any where refuse external Communion upon the pretence of that Article as not Christian. A Romanist cannot say that it is not sufficiently propos'd to the Socinians and that it was never in their power to be convinc'd If they will turn this upon us with reference to our not separating from them but standing where we were after having in Christian and Legal manner also thrown off the Corruptions which were unagreeable to the Primitive Christianity we will try it over again with them by Scripture Antiquity and Reason and the Impartial World shall judge if it pleases Whether the Additional Articles in the Creed of Pope Pius are of God or Men. For this point of Schism as here manag'd the reasoning of this Fifth Conference was long ago confuted by Mr. Chillingworth But our Author did not condescend to take notice of it though he cites many other Words of Mr. Chillingworth not far from these But a Cunning Marks-Man will not put that into his Gun which may make it Recoil However I shall be bold to produce the Words which he in all probability did studiously omit Whereas D. Potter says there is a great difference between a Schism from them and a Reformation of ourselves This you say is a quaint Subtilty by which all Schism and Sin may be as well excused It seems then in your Judgment that Thieves and Adulterers and Murtherers and Traytors may say with as much probability as Protestants that they do no hurt to others but only Reform themselves But then methinks it is very strange that all Protestants should agree with one consent in this defence of themselves from the imputation of Schism And that to this day never any Thief or Murtherer should have been heard of to make use of this Apology And then for Schismatiques I would know whether Victor Bishop of Rome who Excommunicated the Churches of Asia for not conforming to his Church in keeping Easter whether Novatian that divided from Cornelius upon pretence that himself was elected Bishop of Rome when indeed he was not whether Felicissimus and his Crew that went out of the Church of Carthage and set up Altar against Altar because having fallen in persecution they might not be restored to the Peace of the Church presently upon the Intercession of the Confessors whether the Donatists who divided from and damned all the World because all the World would not Excommunicate them who were accused only and not convicted to have been Traditors of the Sacred Books whether they which for the slips and infirmities of others which they might and ought to Tolerate or upon some difference in matters of Order and Ceremony or for some Error in Doctrine neither pernicious nor hurtful to Faith or Piety separate themselves from others or others from themselves or lastly whether they that put themselves out of the Churches Unity and Obedience because their Opinions are not approved there but reprehended and confuted or because being of impious Conversation they are impatient of their Churches Censure I would know I say whether all or any of these may with any Face or without extream Impudency put in this Plea of Protestants and pretend with as much likelyhood as they that they did not separate from others but only reform themselves But suppose they were so impudent as to say so in their own Defence falsly doth it follow by any good Logick that therefore this Apology is not to employ'd by Protestants who may say so truly We make say they no Schism from you but only a Reformation of ourselves This you reply is no good justification because it may be pretended by any Schismatique Very true any Schismatique that can speak may say the same Words as any Rebel that makes Conscience the Cloak of his impious Disobedience may say with S. Peter and S. Iohn We must obey God rather than Men But then the Question is whether any Schismatique may say so truly And to this Question you say just nothing But conclude because this defence may be abused by some it must be used by none As if you should have said S. Peter and S. Iohn did ill to make such an Answer as they made because impious Hypocrites might make use of the same to palliate their Disobedience and Rebellion against the Lawful Commands of Lawful Authority The Conclusion AFter all this causeless finding fault with the Plea of the Protestant what is it that the Romanists aim at and after what manner would they mend this Plea They will tell you This seems to be the Consequence of the late way taken up by many Protestants viz. That in stead of the Roman Church her setting up some Men the Church-Governors as Infallible in Necessaries here is set up by them every Christian if he will both Infallible in all Necessaries and certain that he is so They will endeavour to persuade you that the Great Ends they aim at are Truth and Peace And that these Blessed Ends are never to be universally attain'd without an Infallible Church to which all may submit their Judgments in Religion and by such submission preserve Unity They will continue their discourse and say Without such a Judge every Mans Reason is Reason and every Mans Scripture is Scripture and he is left to run wild after his own Imaginations And though a Man is not in the right he will not yield he is so till it is given against him by an Infallible Judge But Men must first be satisfi'd that there is such a Judge and who he is and where and how to be found and how far Men will follow him When there was such a Judge on Earth the most Infallible High-Priest the Blessed IESUS prejudic'd and perverse Men would neither be of One Faith nor of One Heart The Wisdom of God will