You reply'd That it should not be written unless it were by Consent And you did not consent because Mr. T declar'd now more loudly than before that he was fully satisfi'd and desir'd to propose a new Question to Mr. G Thus Mr. G was forc'd to break off and thus ended that Point which was design'd for the whole Subject of the Conference but whether with much Glory to you or much Shame to Mr. G I leave the most partial of my Readers to judge Certainly when you had given leave for Mr. G s Fifth Question you ought to have permitted his Sixth since it tended only to obtain that Answer which you could not but perceive was aim'd at by his Fifth viz. What Churches you look'd on as Members of the Christian Church I have here laid before you the most material Passages and Circumstances of this First Disputation as sincerely I call God to Witness as I have been able and as succinctly according to my Judgment as the Nature of the Thing would bear and could agree with that fulness in the Account which I promised at first I have indeed been somewhat the more Particular in it in regard that you say little or nothing thereof whereas one would have expected that whilst you pretend to give a True Account of this Conference you would not have pass'd by in silence so considerable a Part of it not to say in a manner the Whole I am sure that if you have any reason to complain that Mr. G s Copies were imperfect he hath much more to say that your True Account is so For if in his Paper there be a Twig missing in one of the Branches the very Trunk or Body of the Tree is wanting in your Account So easie it is to imagine Faults in others and so hard to see them in our selves And so true that the Mote is more discernible to us in our Brothers Eye than the BEAM in our own Having finish'd what I had to say concerning this First and Chief Controversie I shall use the same Sincerity in giving you both Copies of the Second in which as it happen'd when the Spirits of the Disputants grew warmer so especially towards the Conclusion as I have said above the Noise and Wrangling might hinder the Writers from being so exact However even here the Difference is so inconsiderable that an ordinary Charity would rather lay the blame of it on a casual Error than any wilful Mistake Mr. G s Copy Dr. St 's Copy 1. Qu. HOw do you prove the Church of Rome to be Infallible 1 Qu. HOw do you prove the Church of Rome to be Infallible 1. Ans By the Church of Rome I mean all the Churches in Communion with Rome and this Church I hold to be Infallible by following the Vniversal Testimony of all Traditionary Christians that is to say by holding the same Doctrin to Day that was delivered Yesterday in Faith and so up to the Time of our Blessed Saviour For if they follow this Rule they can never Err in Faith and therefore are Infallible 1 Answ By the Church of Rome I mean all the Churches in Communion with Rome and this Church I hold to be Infallible by following the Universal Testimony of all Traditionary Christians that is to say by holding the same Doctrin to day that was delivered yesterday in Faith and so up to the time of our blessed Saviour for if they follow this Rule they can never err in Faith and therefore are Infallible 2. Qu. How do's it appear that the Church of Rome is Infallible in Tradition 2 Qu. How do's it appear that the Church of Rome is Infallible in the sense and meaning of Tradition and is this Tradition a Rule of Faith distinct from Scripture or no 2. Ans All Traditionary Christians that is all Bishops all Priests all Fathers and all People following this Rule and receiving Faith because it was received the Day before could not Innovate in Faith unless they could all either forget what they received the day before or out of Malice change it therefore because no cause can be assigned for such an effect they cannot Innovate If there can Assign it 2 Answ All Traditionary Christians that is all Bishops all Priests all Fathers and all People following this Rule and receiving Faith because it was received the day before could not innovate in Faith unless they could all either forget what they received the day before or out of Malice change it therefore because no cause can be assigned for such an effect they cannot innovate If they can Assign it 3 Qu. Whether the Greek Church did follow from Father to Son the Tradition in matters of Faith or no 3 Qu. Did not the Greek Church follow Tradition from Father to Son and yet err in matters of Faith so that a Church pretending to follow Tradition may err in matters of Faith 3 Answ Till they left that Rule and took up another and so fell into Error as the Calvinists did 3 Answ The Greek Church followed Tradition till the Arians left that Rule and took up a new one that is Scripture privately interpreted  Dr. St I speak not of the Arians but of the present Greek Church The chief defect which you here seem to complain of in Mr. G s Paper is in the Third Question viz. That it being set down Whether the Greek Church did follow Tradition from Father to Son or no The inference which you drew from it is left out Now it is so palpably evident to any one who reads the preceding Questions and Answers for what reason you asked that Question and consequently What inference you drew from it that it cannot be imagined Mr. G's Amanuensis should have any design in leaving out those words unless it were to spare unnecessary pains it being manifest that you produced the example of the Greek Church to disprove what had been said before touching the Infallibility of Tradition So that in my Opinion this ought not to have been the occasion of any misunderstanding between you But whereas you say that Mr. G grants you in his Answer that the Greek Church followed Tradition If you mean that they followed it even when they fell into error I find no such thing in his Answer neither according to his Copy nor yours But if you mean That the Greek Church followed Tradition till they erred This is no plainer in your Copy than it is in his To your Instance of the Greek Church I remember Mr. G answered That they adhered to Tradition till the time of the Arians but whether or no he dictated his Answer in those terms when it came to be written down I have forgotten Neither do I remember that your last saying viz. I mean not the Arians c. which is left out in Mr. G's Copy was written down I believe that neither Mr. T nor the Gentleman who wrote for Mr. G had it in their Copies Neither do I think that
he aimed at the Glory of a Conqueror by those Papers since you cannot but see that according to the Tenor of them the Victory lies on neither Side I say this on presumption that those Papers which came to your hands were true Copies of that which was given out by Mr. G But because it may be otherwise and that a great part of your Spleen on this Occasion may be raised by a mistake I shall here subjoin a true Copy of Mr. G 's Paper And that you may examine the Fidelity of it with more Convenience a Copy likewise of your own which I had from a Protestant Gentleman of great worth and integrity shall be set down by it in a Parallel Column That on a due Comparison and maturer thoughts you may judge whether Mr. G in truth deserve so black a Note of insincerity as you are pleased to lay upon him or on the other side you be obliged to make some amends for an ungentile and unchristian Insinuation Mr. G s Copy Dr. St 's Copy 1 Qu. VVHether you are absolutely Certain that you hold now the same Tenets in Faith and all that our Saviour taught to his Apostles 1 Qu. VVHether you are absolutely certain that you hold now the same Tenets in Faith and all that our Saviour taught to his Apostles 1 Answ We are absolutely certain that we now hold all the same Doctrin that was taught by Christ and his Apostles 1 Answ We are absolutely certain that we now hold all the same Doctrin that was taught by Christ and his Apostles 2 Qu. By what certain Rule do you hold it 2 Qu. By what certain Rule do you hold it 2 Answ By the Divine Revelations contained in the writings of the New Testament 2 Answ By the Divine Revelations contained in the writings of the New Testament 3 Qu. By what certain Rule do you know that the New Testament we now have does contain all the Divine Revelations of Christ and his Apostles 3 Qu. By what certain Rule do you know that the New Testament which we now have does contain all the Divine Revelations of Christ and his Apostles 3 Answ By the Universal Testimony of the Christian Church from the Apostles time downwards 3 Answ By the Universal Testimony of the Christian Church from the Apostles time downward 4 Qu. Was that Vniversal Testimony an Infallible Rule to assure us certainly down to our time that the New Testament contained all the Divine Revelations of Christ and his Apostles 4 Qu. Was that Universal Testimony an Infallible Rule to assure us certainly down to our time that the New Testament contained all the Divine Revelations of Christ and his Apostles 4 Answ The Vniversal Testimony of the Christian Church concerning the Book of Scripture and the Doctrin contained therein is a sufficient ground to make us certain of all matters that are necessary for our Salvation 4 Answ The Universal Testimony of the Christian Church concerning the Book of Scripture and the Doctrin contained therein is a sufficient ground to make us certain of all matters that are necessary to our Salvation 5 Qu. Being the word Christian Church may be taken in several Latitudes by persons of different Religions I desire to know how you desine the Christian Church Or what it is whose Testimony is sufficient to make us absolutely certain of all matters that are necessary to our Salvation 5 Qu. Being the words Christian Church may be taken in several Latitudes by persons of different Religions I desire to know what that Christian Church is whose Testimony concerning the Book of Scripture and the Doctrin contained therein is a sufficient ground to make us certain of all matters that are necessary to our Salvation 5 Answ By the Universal Testimony of the Christian Church concerning the Books of Scripture which are our Rule of Faith as to matters of our Salvation I mean the Vniversal Testimony of all Christian Churches from the Apostles downward 5 Answ By the Universal Testimony of the Christian Church concerning the Books of Scripture which are our Rule of Faith as to matters of Salvation I mean the Universal consent of all Christian Churches from the Apostles time downward  Here Mr. T the Person for whom the Conference was being well satisfied in the Doctors Answers desired to ask Mr. G some Questions saying he was confirmed in the Truth of his own Church and therefore demanded how he proved theirs You have here the whole and entire Writings of the first longest and most Methodical Controversie as well according to Mr. G s Edition as your own wherein the difference is so trivial that I dare appeal even to your own subtilty who are as apt to find a Knot in a Bulrush as another whether or no you have here any cause for complaint And his exactness in this Copy ought to have been an Argument with you that such Errors as you found in the other were rather to be attributed to the Confusion wherein that second Dispute ended or some other Accident than to any wilful falsification unless perhaps you imagined that the issue of the first Dispute was such as that Mr. G could have no temptation for any Forgery in the account of it which is not greatly for your Credit since this Dispute as I have said was that for which the Conference was designed and that wherein the whole time in a manner was taken up it being carried on as far as you were pleased to give it leave At the end of that Copy of your Paper which I received from the abovementioned Protestant Gentleman I found these words Here Mr. T. the person for whom the Conference was being well satisfied in the Doctors Answers c. And therefore I have likewise added them in this Transcript left I also might pass with you for a Disperser of imperfect Copies tho' I think the Gentleman told me that those words were only his own Memorandum of what you imparted to him by word of Mouth concerning that Dispute And this too I say left on the other hand you should arraign me for any Addition So scrupulously careful it behoves a man to be when for the punishment of his Sins he falls into those circumstances where not only the least inadvertence is improved into a crime but even when nothing else will serve the turn the clearest innocence is render'd guilty And now to shew the World how willing I am to do you all the right imaginable I must freely acknowledge that Mr. T at the end of your last Answer in this Dispute as he had done a Question or two before declared according to what is set down in the abovewritten Memorandum that he was fully satisfied with your Answers Neither did Mr. G ever pretend the contrary But then I hope in return you will give us and others leave to judge who give every man leave to judge in things of far greater consequence and difficulty how far this satisfaction of Mr. T
was rational and what grounds he had for it I am sure that several ingenious Protestant Gentlemen having perused this Paper said That Mr. T was very easily satisfied To conclude your Answers lie before the Reader and he may judge of them himself But since you are so careful that people should understand what was spoken by Mr. T at the end of this first Dispute it is but just that you should give me leave to let them know what was likewise spoken by Mr. G tho it be not written down in these Copies You may remember that when Mr. G put his Third Question to you Viz. By what certain Rule do you know that the New Testament which we now have does contain all the Divine Revelations of Christ and his Apostles And you Answered By the Vniversal Testimony of the Christian Church from the Apostles time downward Mr. G pressed you that whereas you said from the Apostles time downward you would declare how far downward you meant it whether down to our times or not You told him That your Answer was already given and that he might make the best of it Now as you say in your Letter That Mr. G took care in the Conference to keep you from expecting any great Ingenuity from him so if I am not mistaken this odd Behaviour gave him also a sufficient Warning of what he was to expect from you it being a Proceeding which look'd more like a Search after Victory or Evasion than Truth But to go on Your refusal of so reasonable a Desire instead of confounding Mr. G or putting him out of the Road as perhaps you thought it might have done oblig'd him to the following Question and this Question drew from you that Answer which you had refus'd before Here it was that Mr. T declar'd somwhat more earnestly how fully he was satisfi'd with your Answers saying somwhat to this purpose by way of a Recapitulation That Mr. G had Asked How the Protestants knew certainly that they held the same Faith that was Taught by Christ and his Apostles It was Answer'd By the Scriptures And it being Asked How they certainly knew they had the right Scriptures It was Answer'd By the Vniversal Testimony of the Christian Church Which he look'd on as a most ample Satisfaction and therefore press'd that the Controversie might end and you were so far of his Mind that I remember you urg'd it to be most reasonable that he for whose sake the Conference was desir'd should determine when it ought to be given over Which indeed had been plausible enough had not the progress that was made in the Controversie been so very little and had it not been evident to you that the Point naturally led to several Difficulties which tho' it were not necessary for Mr. T s Satisfaction who I suppose brought it with him to the Conference yet it would have become so great a Man at Contraversie as you I do not say Would be but are taken for to remove For whereas Mr. G s Third Question was By what certain Rule you knew that the New Testament we now have contain'd all the Divine Revelations of Christ and his Apostles And you Answer'd That it was by the Vniversal Testimony of the Christian Church To say nothing of the difference in Translations as well as in the Number of the Books it is to be explain'd how you understand that all the Divine Revelations are contain'd in the New Testament viz. Whether you mean that all necessary Articles of Faith are contain'd in the New Testament virtually and implicitly and so as that all or at least some of them stand in need of the Churches Interpretation and Authority for being made known to us which Meaning will do you little Service or else that all such Articles are contain'd in it clearly and explicitly and so as that they are evident to every sober Enquirer which is the Doctrin you commonly Teach Now it is most apparent that you are not aâ—sur'd by the Universal Testimony of the Christian Church that all the Divine Revelations of Christ and his Apostles are contain'd after this last manner in the New Testament since all those Churches in Communion with Rome and divers others positively affirm the contrary So that if the Absolute Certainty of the Entireness of your Faith have no other Ground than a pretended Universal Testimony of the Christian Church that all necessary Articles are plainly and explicitly contain'd in the New Testament and that in reality there be no such Universal Testimony as it is undeniable there is none it necessarily follows that your Absolute Certainty is wholly groundless You see Sir how main a Point ought to have been spoken to before you and Mr. G had taken your leaves of this Subject But Mr. G waving this necessary Branch of the Controversie for that present was willing to understand first what you meant by your Vniversal Testimony and how far it extended He therefore press'd you to know what you meant by the Christian Church on whose Testimony you rely'd Here Mr. T once more profess'd his Satisfaction and you again thought he had so much cause for it that you were very loth the Disputation should proceed any farther But being told That seeing we were to receive the Rule of our Faith from the Testimony of the Christian Church it was but reasonable that we should know what that Christian Church was to which we ought to have recourse especially since there were so many different Opinions concerning it you were at length content that Mr. G should set down his Fifth Question which was thus Being the Words Christian Church may be taken in divers Latitudes by Persons of different Religions I desire to know what that Christian Church is whose Testimony concerning the Book of Scripture and the Doctrin contain'd therein is a sufficient Ground to make us certain of all Matters that are necessary to our Salvation I put in the Words of your own Copy Here we expected as I suppose all my Readers would have done that you would have given us a Definition or Description of the Christian Church But instead of this you tell us That by the Vniversal Testimony of the Christian Church c. you mean the Consent of all Christian Churches from the Apostles Time downward Was not this Trifling Who doubts but that the Christian Church in general must consist of all Christian Churches in particular Mr. G s Intention was as you might easily see to know what Churches in this Proposition you accounted Christian Churches i.e. Parts of the Universal Christian Church Whether you took in all those Congregations who made any Profession of Believing in Christ or requir'd somewhat more and what it was you requir'd for the Qualifying them for particular Christian Churches or Parts of the Universal Christian Church And therefore expresly he asked you Whether you included the Arians Nestorians Eutychians and Calvinists and urg'd that this Question might likewise be written down