be disproved now he is dead And if the great Esteem I had for that Excellent Person and most useful Instrument of God's Service in our late dangerous and critical Times does not render me a very incompetent judg of whatever comes from his hand the Reader will find even in these short Notes enough to reward his Pains and to keep him from thinking the time lost that he shall please to spend in the perusal of them W. W. A Private Conference BETWEEN Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden ABOUT Transubstantiation c. FAther Gooden Proposed the Rule of Faith to be the Subject of the Conference but upon the Request of the Lady for whose sake they met the Question of Transubstantiation was taken And the Father desiring that the Doctor would be the Opponent the Question was Stated on both Sides Dr. That the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is salse Doctrine and That the Natural Body of Christ is not in the Sacrament but in Heaven Fa. That after the Words of Consecration the true Body and Blood of Christ are in the Holy Eucharist and that the manner is well exprest by Transubstantiation Dr. This is not all the Doctrine of Transubstantiation in the Church of Rome The Doctrine of the Church of Rome is this That the Substance of the Bread is chang'd into the Substance of Christ's Body and the Substance of the Wine is chang'd into the Substance of Christ's Blood which Change the Church of Rome does conveniently call Transubstantiation Now against this I thus argue If the Substance of Bread remains in the Eucharist then it is not chang'd into the Substance of Christ's Body But the Substance of Bread remains in the Eucharist Therefore the Substance of Bread is not changed into the Substance of Christ's Body Fath. I deny the Minor viz that the substance of Bread does remain Dr. If Bread remains the substance of bread remains But Bread remains Therefore the substance of bread remains Fath. If the Nature of Bread remains Bread remains but if only the Name of Bread and Species remain then Bread does not remain Dr. That Bread which is properly Natural Bread remains in the Eucharist is proved from 1 Cor. 11.26 As often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew forth the Lord's death till he come 1 Cor. 10.16 The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ Now from hence we argue thus If that which is here said to be Broken and to be the Communion of the Body of Christ be properly natural Bread then that which is properly natural Bread remains in the Eucharist Fath. I grant the Major Dr. But that which is here said to be broken and to be the Communion of the Body of Christ is properly natural Bread Ergo Properly natural Bread remains in the Eucharist Fath. I deny the Minor. Dr. The Bread of which Saint Paul speaks is Bread that may be broken and therefore it is truly and properly natural Bread. Fath. I distinguish the Antecedent as to the Accidents and Appearance of Bread it may be broken as to the Nature of Bread it cannot because it is not there Dr. This is to beg the Question for the Question is whether Bread be there or not and the Argument to prove that it is there is Because Saint Paul speaks of Bread that might be and was broken but it is no sufficient Answer to this to say that the Accidents of Bread may be broken because the Bread is not there it self which is the thing that was disproved Fath. The Question to be proved was that the Nature of Bread was there therefore it is not a begging of the Question according to the Distinction given to say that the Nature of Bread is not there and consequently could not be broken For the Bread there spoken of is not meant of Natural Bread but of Bread which came down from Heaven and which is the flesh of Christ John. 6.41 I am the bread which came down from Heaven John 6.48 I am the bread of Life Ver. 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 58. From whence I infer my Answer to be good that though the H. Eucharist be called Bread and broken as to the Species of Bread yet it is not natural Bread but only in appearance of which St. Paul spoke for the same St. Paul 1 Cor. 11. speaking of the same bread saith He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh Damnation to himself not discerning the body of our Lord. Christ also speaking of the same bread saith Take eat this is my Body Matt. 26.26 Also Luk. 22.19 speaking of the same Eucharist This is my Body which is given for you Dr. The Answerer forgetting the Part of a Disputant has pretended to prove largely by the sixth Chap. of St. John and other places of Scripture That St. Paul in the aforementioned places did not speak of Bread properly so called although he spoke of Bread that was to be broken All which places when it is my turn to Answer I will consider particularly But if that which is here said is to go for an Answer the force of it lies in this That by the Bread which St. Paul spoke of we are to understand the Bread which St. John spoke of namely the bread which came down from Heaven by which the Answerer understands the Natural and proper flesh of Christ But that the Bread which St. Paul speaks of cannot be the natural flesh of Christ I prove thus The Bread which St. Paul speaks of was broken But the Natural Body of Christ cannot be broken Ergo. The Bread which St. Paul speaks of cannot be the Natural body of Christ Fath. As to the Species and Appearance of Bread it was broken I grant it as to any Nature contained under those Species of Bread I deny it Dr. This Distinction does not avoid the Argument because if the Bread in St. Paul and the Bread in St. John are really and properly the same and the Bread in St. John be really and properly the flesh of Christ then what is affirmed of the one must be true of the other and therefore if the Bread be broken in St. Paul then the Natural body of Christ must be broken too which cannot be I add further That if by breaking of Bread St. Paul means breaking the Accidents of Bread onely and if the Bread that is broken be really that which is spoken of in St. John as aforesaid it follows also that the Accidents of Bread are properly the body of Christ Fath. That which St. Paul calls Bread had in it both the Accidents of Bread and the substance of Christs body As to the Accidents of Bread it might be broken as to the substance of Christ's body which is mentioned in St. John it is not broken unless you mean as Christ's Body was broken upon the Cross And if the bread which is broken be really that which is spoken of in St. John as aforesaid
SEVENTEEN SERMONS Preach'd upon Several Occasions Never before Printed By WILLIAM CLAGETT D. D. Late Preacher to the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn and one of His Majesty's Chaplains in Ordinary With the SUMM of a CONFERENCE On February 21 1686 between Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden about the Point of Transubstantiation LONDON Printed for W. Rogers at the Sun in Fleet-street over against St. Dunstan's Church 1689. THE PREFACE THere will need no more to recommend the following Discourses to the Reader than only to assure him he is not imposed upon by the Title Page but what is here presented to him as Dr. Claget's Sermons are really so being published from his own Papers and by his own Brother And indeed the Sermons themselves do sufficiently speak their Author for they every where express the Spirit the Judgment and the Reasoning of that Excellent Man tho' some of them perhaps want that Finishing which his Masterly Hand would have given them had he been to have published them himself The first of these Sermons he meant to have Printed if God had given him Life being prevailed upon by the Importunity of several of his Friends who then judged it very seasonable The last in this Collection was the last Sermon he Preached It was preached at St. Martins in the Fields on the day of his Lent-course there And that very Evening he fell into that Sickness which put a period to his Life twelve days after No Man perhaps in this Age of so private a Condition died more lamented For as he had all the amiable charming Qualities to procure the Esteem and Love of every one that knew him So God had bestowed upon him so many great and useful Talents for the doing Service to Religion to the Church to all about him And he so faithfully and industriously employed those Talents to those purposes that he was really a Publick Blessing and he had that Right done him as to be esteemed so He was born at St. Edmunds-Bury Sept. 24. 1646. being the Son of Mr. Nicholas Claget then Minister there His Vniversity-Education was at Emanuel Colledge in Cambridge His first Publick appearance in the World was at his own Native Town of Bury where he was chosen one of the Preachers Which Office he discharged for several years with so universal a Reputation that it might be truly said as to him That a Prophet had Honour in his own Country From thence at the Instance of some considerable Men of the Long Robe whose Business at the Assizes there gave them Opportunities of being acquainted with his great Worth and Abilities he was prevailed with to remove to Grays-Inn And indeed it was no small Testimony given to his Merits that he was thought worthy by that Honourable Society to succeed the Eminent Dr. Cradock as their Preacher In this Place he continued all the remainder of his Life and he behaved himself worthily in it and the Gentlemen of that House took all Occasions of declaring that he did so by the constant Kindness they expressed to him while he lived and the Respects they paid him at his Death He had indeed at the time of his Death two other Preferments besides that of Grays-Inn The Lord Keeper North his Wives Kinsman had given him a Living in Buckingham-shire but the other Place was that which he himself most valued next to Grays-Inn and that was the Lecture of Bassishaw to which he was chosen by that Parish about two years before his death It was the Lecture which Dr. Calamy had immediately held before him Never was there two greater Men successively Lecturers of one Parish nor ever was any Parish kinder to two Lecturers Dr. Claget dyed of the Small-Pox March 28th and was buried in the Church of St. Michael Bassishaw His Wife Mrs. Thomasin North a most Vertuous and Accomplish'd Woman dyed eighteen days after him of the same Disease and was buried in the same Grave with him There is this little Passage not unfit to be mentioned here The last Sermon Dr. Claget made tho' not the last he preached was that which is the sixteenth in this Collection upon this Text Shall we receive good at the hands of God and shall we not receive evil This Sermon he made upon occasion of the death of a Child of his that happened a little before And he had writ it fairly out I suppose for this end that his Wife might read it And accordingly she did so but upon a much sadder Occasion For it was after his death that she got this Sermon into her hands and then she made it her continual Entert ainment and a seasonable one it was as long as her strength would suffer her But to return to Dr. Claget We owe it to the Society of Grays-Inn that he was brought to this City But after he came hither his own Merits in a little time rendred him sufficiently conspicuous For so innocent and unblameable was his Life such an unaffected Honesty and Simplicity appear'd in all his Conversation so obliging he was in his Temper so sincere in all his Friendships so ready to do all sorts of good Offices that came in his way and withal so Prudent a Man so good a Preacher so dexterous in untying Knots and making hard things plain so happy in treating of common Subjects in an uncommon and yet useful way So able a Champion for the True Religion against all Opposers whatsoever and lastly so ready upon all occasions to Advise to Direct to Encourage any work that was undertaken for the promoting or defending the Cause of God. I say all these Qualities were so eminent in Dr. Claget that it was impossible they should be hid The Town soon took Notice of him and none that intimately knew him could forbear to love and admire him and scarce any that had heard of him to esteem and honour him If the Reader would know more of Doctor Claget let him peruse those Writings of his which he Published himself By them he will in some measure be able to make a Judgment of the Genius and Abilities of the Man. If a Friend can speak without partiality there doth in those Writings appear so strong a Judgment such an admirable Faculty of Reasoning so much Honesty and Candor of Temper so great plainness and perspicuity and withal so much spirit and quickness and in a word all the Qualities that can recommend an Author or render his Books Excellent in their kind That I should not scruple to give Dr. Claget a place among the most Eminent and Celebrated Writers of this Church And if he may be allowed that it is as great an Honour as can be done him For perhaps from the inspired Age to this the World did never see more Accurate and more Judicious Composures in matters of Religion than the Church of England has produced in our days The Discourses writ and published by Dr. Claget are these that follow A Discourse concerning the Operations of
there is a shorter and a surer way to determine this matter and that by comparing those Doctrines and Practices with the Scriptures For the Scriptures have a more certain Tradition than any of those Histories that give an account of the Revolutions of Church Affairs since the beginning and now what matter is it if I am assured that such and such Corruptions were brought into the Church sometime or other after the Apostles because they are contrary to what the Apostles taught and left in their Writings though I cannot tell just the Year when or the Person by whom they first crept into the Church I would very fain know of any Man that when our Saviour set himself to overthrow that wicked Tradition which we were speaking of before whether he could not if he had pleased have given an exact account of the Persons that began it in the Jewish Church and of the time when it began and of every circumstance that attended its entrance into the World and its growth and encrease afterwards But did he go this way to work It is certain that the Pharises pretended the Traditions which they taught the People were delivered from God to Moses and that through several Ages they were conveyed down to them successively by word of mouth And I grant that if our Lord had with many words shewn them that they were such and such men who first brought them in this had been a confutation of their pretence but for all that he was pleased to use a better and a shorter argument against them and told them what the commandment was in the Law which their pretended Tradition made void and this was instead of a thousand arguments that their Doctrine never came from Moses but was invented some time afterwards And I beseech you let none of us be ashamed to use that kind of argument which our Saviour thought fit to confute those People withal and which we have reason to think he used that he might shew us the best way to secure our selves from being imposed upon by unwritten Traditions and by a pretence of having received such Doctrines from the Apostles as they never delivered When therefore we are asked If Transubstantiation be an Error and not an Article of Faith when did it come in If Service in an Vnknown Tongue be an Innocation when did it come in If the Sacrifice of the Mass be a Corruption when did it come in Let us account it sufficient to answer for so our Saviour thought it in the like case That Transubstantiation makes void those places of Scripture which expresly affirm that by eating of Bread we shew forth the Death of Christ and are made partakers of his Body That Service in an Vnknown Tongue makes void the Fourteenth Chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians And that the Sacrifice of the Mass makes void the Seventh and the Tenth Chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews which expresly tell us that Christ can be offered no more and that there remains no more Sacrifice for Sins and therefore we are very well assured that they did come in sometime or other since the Apostles but whether they came in sooner or later is nothing to the purpose for certainly nothing ought ever to have come in that makes void any part of the Word of God but if any such thing hath got in there is all the reason in the World that it should be thrown out again They may well be ashamed that cannot bear this sort of arguing but most certainly we have no reason to be ashamed to use it since our blessed Saviour hath used it before us for when he set himself to overthrow the credit of these Doctrines for which they pretended a constant Tradition in the Church he thought it sufficient for his purpose to shew that they voided the Commandments of God and made his word of none effect 2. If there be one Traditionary Doctrine that notoriously contradicts the written Word of God 't is enough to overthrow the whole Credit of that Tradition which pretends to bring down unwritten Doctrines that are necessary to be received For thus we find that our Saviour by the single instance of that Tradition which voided the Fifth Commandment overthrew the Objection of the Pharises against his Disciples Why do thy Disciples transgress the Tradition of the Elders i. e. their unwritten Traditions which was as much as to say that they ought all of them to be Religiously observed because they had all the same Authority Our Saviour therefore produces an instance of their Traditions that takes away all Authority inasmuch as it was a plain contradiction to the Law of God if therefore amongst their unwritten Doctrines and Rules there were any that had some kind of goodness and usefulness they were to be regarded upon their own account and not upon the Authority of Tradition But when he had utterly overthrown all that pretended Authority by an undeniable argument he then speaks to the case which themselves had propounded and lays down the truth concerning it They had a vast number of Superstitions for which they pretended Tradition and they tax our Saviour's Disciples for not observing one of them Now he with admirable wisdom first breaks the Authority of their Tradition shewing that one of them was plainly against the Law of God and then he shews how superstitious and foolish they were in the case which themselves chose to speak to In this also our Lord hath set us an example that if we are prest by a pretence to Tradition in favour of unwritten Doctrines and Articles we should in the first place shew that one or more of these is contrary to the Word of God and therefore that there is no reason to pretend Tradition for any of them since they are all said to have come down together Which being done in the first place it will be then seasonable to shew what is to be thought of the rest if they are judged of by the general Rules of Reason and Scripture 3. The Universal consent of some one or two Ages that such and such Doctrines were delivered by word of mouth many Ages before is no argument that they were so delivered The Pharises did pretend that their Doctrines and Interpretations of the Law had been conveyed down from Moses by Oral Tradition to that Age in which they lived and there were several of these Traditions universally believed in that Age to have been so conveyed and the Practice of the People was universally governed by them For instance that of Religious Washing before Meat and the washing of Cups and Pots as a thing in it self good and holy was universally received and practised as St. Mark tells us Now I would fain know whether they might not have reasoned in this fashion We in this Age received this Doctrine and Rule from our Forefathers who professed they received it from theirs and if they had not received it from theirs then
and defence that by adhering to him we have that Power for our Security and that Goodness for our Security which made the World and which Governs the World. Let us then in this our day consider the things that belong to our peace and seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near that he may be near unto us in all our Troubles and Adversities whensoever they oppress us and be found of us at the hour of Death and the day of Judgment that God of Mercy and Love which in himself he always is and which he desires to show himself to be to us all Let therefore the unrighteous man forsake his ways and the wicked man his thoughts and turn unto the Lord for he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly Pardon To the God of Infinite Goodness let us ascribe all Honour and Glory now and for ever Amen The Twelfth Sermon Luke XIII 5. I tell you Nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish CONCERNING the Galileans whose Blood Pilate mingled with their Sacrifices and the Eighteen Jews upon whom the Tower in Siloam fell and slew them our Saviour's discourse to those that were present was this Suppose ye that these Galileans and these Jews were Sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things and above all men that dwelt at Jerusalem I tell you Nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish From which words taken in Connexion with what went before there are two kinds of Observations that may be laid down The former are rather supposed than expressed and they are these Two 1. That God is Just in the Punishments that he inflicts upon Sinners 2. That by what means soever evil happens to men the Providence of God is concerned in it The Second Kind are intended more directly viz. 1. That they who suffer very great Evils are not always greater Sinners than those who in the mean time suffer nothing 2. That one Reason why such evils do not befal all Persons at the same time who are equally Sinners is That while some are visited with the Rod others may take warning by it And 3. That if they do not take warning they shall not escape These are all profitable Instructions and such as this Place naturally yields which I shall therefore pursue without taking much pains to shew how they are contained in it Something I shall say but very briefly of the Two First because they are supposed in these Sayings of our Lord though not the main Things intended The First is That Punishment is due to Sin which is the Ground of all that our Saviour discourses here concerning the ends of those unhappy men he knew that his Hearers would be apt to pass an hard Censure upon them and he took care to prevent it but they would never have been in danger of running into that extreme if it had not been fixed in all of them That Punishment was due to Sin and this our Saviour was far from correcting but rather confirmed them in it by concluding That they also should perish except they repented The truth is this is one of those things that men know by Nature and it is well that they do for if notwithstanding this sense the World is so bad how much worse would it have been if these apprehensions could have been extinguished Hence it is that the Conscience of well-doing inspires a man with assurance and that Guilt makes him a Coward That the disasters of others expose them to be hardly thought of and that our own Afflictions bring our own Sins to remembrance The Natives of Melita though they were Barbarians yet when they saw a Viper fasten upon St. Paul's hand presently concluded That he was a murderer whom though he had escaped the Sea yet vengeance would not suffer to live Acts 28. There the natural Sense of Punishment being due to Sin wrought though they carried it too far But with something better reason did Joseph's Brethren when he had brought them into distress argue with one another Verily we are guilty concerning our Brother therefore this distress is come upon us Gen. 42.21 It is this natural belief that supported many Mysteries of Religion every where in all Ages of the world whether those Mysteries were of God's appointing or of Man's inventing A good part of the Sacrifices and Rites of the Heathens and the Jews in their Worship was to make expiation of Sin and the Beast was killed to confess that Punishment was due to that man for whom it was offered It is this Sense that disposes men to believe strange Delusions that there is virtue in little things which seem to be no better than Charms to take away the guilt of Sin and to prevent the Punishment of it When people wear Habits and go Pilgrimages and touch Relicks and apply Holy Water and twenty other such Remedies to themselves for the ease of their minds tho they take a silly way to their end yet the Principle is good at the bottom That Sin and Punishment are linked together and that one naturally draws on the other if some method be not used to break the chain which belief is so troublesome to a guilty mind that for this reason the generality of men are naturally disposed to like a Religion so much the more for having great variety of Reliefs for an uneasie Conscience which is the true reason why mankind if good care be not taken are ready to run into a thousand Superstitions To prevent which and to bring us into the way of Salvation God sent his own Son into the World to be a Sacrifice for us that we having so great an assurance of the expiation of our sins should chearfully set our selves to the Reformation of our Hearts and Lives and serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life This is the first Observation That the Principle upon which all this Discourse proceeds is a natural Truth viz. That Punishment is due to Sin 2. That by what means soever evils befal men it still comes by the Providence of God either directly sending it or at least knowingly permitting it and for wise and good Reasons determining to permit it This also is evidently presumed in this Discourse for upon the relation of those disasters the minds of the Hearers presently turned to this Conclusion That they were very great Sinners that suffered such things and consequently that the evil was sent by a Just and Wise Providence Now this our Saviour did not go about to correct neither but rather confirmed them in it that God's hand was in all that happened as themselves should find it too if they repented not So that whether evil comes by the free will of others as it did upon the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their Sacrifices or by such means as seem to be merely casual as
following Truth and Goodness and this we know will put us upon strugling with our own Judgment and straining points against our clear knowledge of what we ought to do All the while we are gaining his Favour we are sure we do well and when we have done it we shall thank our selves instead of being plagued with a fad and black remembrance of the way we took to get it Acquaint now thy self with God and be at peace with him and so shall good come unto thy Soul. 5. There lies no Flattery nor false Accusation nor outward accident against us to put us out of God's Favour or to make us lose what we have wrought to turn his mind or to blot our services out of his remembrance No change of Fortune shall bring us into disgrace which consideration St. Paul laid great strength upon in pursuance of the Text. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword v. 35. I am persuaded says he that neither death norlife nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor heigth nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord v. 38. Nay says the Apostle in all these things we are more than Conquerors that is we get by being Condemned by others because by that we are made more dear to God who will consider not only that we served him but under what discouragements from the World we did so Lastly 6. Whom God justifies them he also glorifies For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the first-born among many brethren v. 29 30. i.e. Those whom he foreknew to be his most faithful servants he did before time decree that by suffering for righteousness they should follow so glorious a Pattern as their Elder Brother the Lord Jesus Moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called i. e. he brought them to the profession of the truth in a hazardous time that they should shew their Integrity and whâ—m he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified Which is so sure that the Apostle mentions it as if it were done already Then he proceeds in the following verses What shall we say to these things If God be for us who can be against us He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him freely give us all things who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect It is God that justifies who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us The conclusion is this That whoever Condemns we are not to be discouraged if God justiâ—ies But it may be said That all this is very true indeed but it serves the turn of all Parties even of those who are most severely Condemned by each other while each of them pretends to have God and Truth on their side And therefore that this Subject might have been more usefully pursued by shewing particularly what that Faith and that Practice is with which they must be qualified whom God justifies and how we are assured of it Now I considered all this at first but then I knew that I was to speak to persons who are neither ignorant of the Doctrine of this Church nor of the evidence whereby it appears to be the very Truth of Christianity by which whoever Governs himself in Worshipping God in behaving himself to others and in all his ways shall be assuredly Justified of God though all the World should Condemn him for it But I considered also that of all things which are apt to shake the constancy of modest Persons nothing is more likely to do it than the mighty confidence wherewith they of the Roman Church Condemn us and Exclaim against us For to those who are acquainted with the History of the World and of the Church it must needs be a surprize that men who are said to be Learned and known to be Zealous do pronounce against us with no less severity than if we were mere Infidels One would think there must be some deep reason for it when they make us nothing at all and themselves all in all For thus they will not allow that we are a Church or that we have any certainty so much as of that True Doctine we profess for they know us better than we do our selves and as for our Salvation they are as sure it belongs not to us till we are converted to them as if they kept the Keys of Heaven Nor do they sink us more than they raise themselves who are not only a Church but the whole Church and not only not deceived but even Infallible They talk as if there were no safety with us and no danger with them which may raise such doubts in weaker minds that I thought it not unseasonable to bring to your remembrance how violently the Apostles and their Christian Brethren were Condemned by men of whom yet these men will grant that they were justified of God. If it shall be said This is a common-place Argument of which all men serve themselves I Answer That the Argument is so much the stronger For if these men themselves will tell you that confidence is not to be trusted you will I hope make this application That neither is their confidence to be trusted and therefore that you ought to consider what they are before you believe them to be what they call themselves and examin what they teach before you think the worse of your selves for what they call you And this is all that we desire of you That you would weigh the reasons of things and not mind swelling words Brethren it is by no means a new Artifice to talk in a very high strain when Argument runs very low Thus Jews and Gentiles exclaimed against our Fathers the Apostles and the Primitive Believers condemning them for going against Antiquity Universality Authority Tradition Philosophers Law-makers Kings and Nations And yet when all was done all this was but empty noise and vain pretence and the Cause of Christianity was the Cause of God. Foul Errors have been drest with glorious appearances of Truth and Truth has been opposed with Confidence and God suffers it to be so to try the Sincerity of men that while they who are willing to be deluded fall by the Temptation men of Probity and lovers of Truth should upon diligent examination hold it faster than otherwise they would have done This is one of the great Advantages to which that opposition tends which Truth has met with in the World. And therefore the more lofty those pretences are by which the other Church would bring us to an intire