the Old or New English Blood in his Veins I have said enough to convince the World that you are of English Extraction Sect 34. And pray Gentlemen consider what greater Honour can you desire than to be accounted English Since they are a People Famous all the World over as well for Arts and Arms as for Honesty Industry Courage and Good Nature They have for a long time held the Ballance of Europe and more than once preserved the Liberty of the Christian World from the Attempts of an Universal Monarchy and which is yet more when they have subdued Others they have at the same time Generously Conquer'd Themselves and have post-pon'd their Resentments to their Compassion and their Justice else there had been no occasion for this Monitory Epistle at this time S. 35. As for the Laws one ought to refer you to the Flourishing Condition of England that is Govern'd by them They cannot but be Excellent since they are derived from the Law of GOD the Laws of Nature and Reason Common Customs which long Experience has found to be Useful and made into Law and Acts of Parliament made by your selves or your Ancestors and as occasion requir'd adapted to Our or Their Necessities Nor can you deny but that the Administration of these Laws is Just and Equal without regard to Shiboleth or Siboleth and not as it was in your Time when few but those of your Party could have any Success in the plainest Cases In short I appeal to your own Consciences whether you do not live much better under the Government of the Laws of England than ever your Ancestors did under their Lords and Brehoos Sect 36. As for your Language it is Originally Welsh to which there are added some Words of Latin and some of English so that you are deceiv'd in believing that Irish is a pure Original Language But whatever it be why you should not forsake it for the English Tongue which is much more Copious and which is by Law the Language of this Kingdom No Reason can be assigned but Priestcraft to keep you in Ignorance and to uphold a Feud between us Otherwise by using the English Tongue one is better qualified for the Casâ—â—e the Courts of Justice and the Market more capable of Preserment and of Charity and of the Benefit of Clergy and in a word more fit for the best Company and Conversation So that it seems to me they are Bewitched who live under a Government and Refuse to Learn the Legal and Received Language thereof Sect 37. As to the Habit and Manners of the English you cannot deny but the former is Neat Tight and Clean and the other Correct and Genteel and therefore as many of you as come to any Understanding or Fortune in the World do imitate us in both but with this difference That such Irish as turn Protestants conform entirely to our Habit and Mannors whereas those who continue Papists are generally more Slovenly and Unfashionable more Slattering in their Cloaths and more 〈◊〉 in their Houses But sure there will be no difficulty to perswade your Conformity to us in these Points since all we desire of you is but to be Neat and Clean about your Persons and in your Houses and to be Civil Genteel and Orderly in your Conversation to which in Truth you are Naturally inclin'd Sect 38. Nor can I see why you should scruple to Conform to the Religion of the Church of England since we believe all that our Blessed Saviour has Reveal'd or the Apostles Taught all that the holy Scriptures Contain or the Primitive Christians Believ'd or the first Four General Councils Approv'd Sect 39 And accordingly The Symbols of our Faith are the Apostolical the Athanasian and Nicene Creeds And after this Manner which you call Herefie do we Worship the GOD of our Fathers Sect 40. And suitable hereunto the Precepts of our Religion are Holy Exhorting to all sorts of Vertue and forbidding all manner of Vice It enjoyns Good Works without the Foppery of Merit and without Derogating from the Value of our Saviour's Sufferings and Mediation It admits of no Repentance but what produces a Reformation of Life and Manners and it indispensibly Asserts That without Holiness no Man shall be saved Sect 41. Hence you may perceive which is the Ancient Religion since we press you to believe no more but the Doctrines of Primitive Christianity which were from the Beginning and which your Church dare not deny and which indeed you believe already whilst the Church of Rome obliges you to believe all the New Articles she has Coyn'd or shall hereafter Coyn for her own Profit and Advantage Sect 42. We that perceive her Designs and are deliver'd from her Tyranny and converted from her Errors being desirous according to the Divine Precept to strengthen our Brethren Call out to you with a loud Voice and fore-warn you of the Danger We beg you to consider whether you are not over-laden with Superstition and Idolatry and whether the Popish Clergy do not make Tools of you to Enrich and Aggrandize themselves we offer to Demonstrate the Cheat and to shew it to you in divers Instances and we offer to prove by the Word of GOD That your Church has Apostatiz'd from her Primitive Purity in many Articles both of Doctrine and Practice Sest 43. Now supposing the Priest were a Deceiver and had a mind to Impose upon you as we say he has what part could he Act but as he does He would exhort you to stop your Ears and shut your Eyes and not to hear or read a word against the Church Probably he would try to Frighten you and tell you That he that Doubts is Damn'd 'T is certain he would advise you to an Implicit Faith blind-fold to believe as the Church that is the * By the word Church we understand its Head the Pope Greg Val. 34. Pope believes to be Liberal and Charitable to the Clergy and to trust him to direct you right to Heaven thô perhaps he does not know one step of the way thither himself Sect 44. And will not you reply to such a one That since GOD has given you Reason and Eyesight and has Publish'd the Holy Scriptures for your Direction and has commanded you to Try all things that you may hold fast 2 Thes 5. 21. ohat which is Good that therefore you desire to be inform'd in the Way you are to go that you may examine whether it be Right or Wrong And since our daily Prayer To strengthen our Faith shews there are degrees of it it must needs follow That such Scruples in Faith as put Men upon Enquiry Why they believe This or That are so far from being Damnable that they are subvervient to a great Duty of Searching the Scriptures in order to increase our Faith which will certainly grow stronger according to the Satisfaction we receive of its being well Founded Sect 45. Besides This false Principle is the Parent of
which no Man can properly be said to do when he Eats the Wafer even supposing whole Christ to be contain'd therein But to what purpose shall we argue longer on this point since the very Council that prohibits it confesses that the Institution of Christ and the Practice of the Primitive Church was to the contrary Sect 89. How weak is your Answer That the Church thought it convenient As if the Blessed JESUS were not a better Judge of Conveniencies than the Pope and Cardinals Pray Gentlemen consider who has the Antient Religion and who is likely to be in the right on 't We follow the Order and Institution of JESUS CHRIST and you do quite contrary in obedience to the Pope and to Reason of State Sect 90. 'T is just so in the next Article of the Marriage of Priests GOD Almighty Instituted Marriage and you say made it a Sacrament The Apostles advise it to all who can't contain St. Peter himself was a Married Man and the Scripture mentions his Wive's Mother Your Apostle St. Patrick was the Son of Potitus a Priest and the Primitive Clergy knew no Prohibition in this case On the contrary many of them were Married And St. Paul allows a Bishop to be the Husband of one Wife How then can you pretend that your Religion is Antient in this particular Sect 91. The Truth is When the Foundations of Ecclesiastical Empire were laid in Cozening and Deceiving the People it was necessary to forbid Marriage to Those who were to be the Managers and Instruments of the Cheat that they might be the more zealous therein when they had no Wives or Children to suffer by the Fraud Sect 92. Proceed we next to Auricular Confession and we shall find it a New Trick to discover Secrets and add value to the Priest Nothing is more groundless than that Practise as 't is us'd in the Roman Church since neither CHRIST ordain'd it nor the Ancient Church us'd it as Erasmus confesses 'T is one thing to consult your Pastor in difficult Cases and another thing to tell him all that you do If the Confession were Publick it might give Reparation to the Party injur'd it might purge the Assembly from the Scandal of such a Member the shame of it might contribute to his Mortification and Repentance But this private Shrift to one that is bound to conceal it can have no other effect but to give the Priest Intelligence that he may be the better able to compass his own Designs and those of his Church Sect 93. Lastly Your Religion is New Upstart and Erronious in forbidding the People to read Scripture for fear say you they should imbibe Heresie which is just such weak Reasoning as his that Refused to give his Child Meat for fear he should be choak'd and so suffer'd him to be starv'd Sect 94. But if this were a Reason it would extend to forbid Scripture to the Clergy since they have been the Broachers of most Heresies Marcion Paulus Samosatenus Arius Eunomius Apollinaris Macedonius Photinus Nestorius Eutiches Pelagius Novatius Donatus and many more Notorious Hereticks having been in Holy Orders Sect 95. Has not the Spirit of GOD published the Scriptures for the Use of all Christians Is not the Reading of them enjoyn'd by GOD Almighty that we may come to 2 Tim. 2. 4. the Knowledge of the Truth Are not those commended that Search the John 20. 31. Scriptures Is it not in them that we have Eternal Life Is there not in the John 5. 39. Rom. 10. 17. 15 4. Heb. 5. 14. 2 Tim. 3. 15. Scriptures as well Milk for Babes as Meat for strong Men And are not they able to make us wise to Salvation How then dare you to contradict the Positive Commands of of GOD and the Design of the Holy GHOST upon vain Fears and frivolous Pretences meerly to keep the People in Ignorance that they may be the more easily Enslav'd and Impos'd upon Sect 96. I have not room to enlarge on the many other Novelties you have introduced into Religion and therefore shall only give a short hint of your declaring the Apocrppha to be Canonical by the Council of Trent which was otherwise esteem'd by Origen Athanasius Epiphanius and the Ancient Fathers and of your Seven Sacraments which were first defin'd so in the Council of Florence Anno 1438. and of your scandalous Practice of Indulgences introduced by Clement VI. Anno 1350. whereby you have Traffiqu'd for the Grace of GOD and Erected a Market for the Remission of Sins And of your Doctrine of Merit and Supererrogation invented to raise an Imaginary Treasure in the Church to bring in Real Treasure to the Church-men directly contrary to every Man's Experience and the Holy Scriptures which assures us that at the best We are but Unprofitab'e Servants And of your Prayers in an Vnknown Tongue directly contrary to the Apostles Direction 1 Cor. XIV 16. How shall the Unlearned say Amen at thy giving of Thanks seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest And vers 19. In the Church I had rather speak five words with my Understanding that by my Voice I might teach others also than Ten Thousand Words in an Unknown Tongue Sect 97. Thus Gentlemen you see that you have no Foundation in Scripture and but vain Pretences of Antiquity for those Articles that have been Impos'd upon you And therefore your Church has set up Traditions that is Reports and Tales coyn'd for their purpose to be the Canon and Rule of Faith not regarding the Wo pronounc'd against those who should add to or diminish from the Canonical Word of GOD. 'T is true the Vniversal Tradition and Practice of All Churches and in All Ages deserves great Respect and we accordingly give it in the Observation of the Lords Day Sunday and in Baptizing Infants But to argue from hence That the Traditions Reports and Inventions of any Sect Faction or Particular Church ought to be deem'd Evidence for it self is the most Sophistical Inference that can be and directly against the Apostles Advice Not to think of Men above that which is written 2 Cor VI. 6. Sect 98. How much safer is it to rely upon the Holy Scriptures which being dictated by the HOLY GHOST are Infallible and Divine and cannot Deceive Sect 99. But say you We may be mistaken in the Interpretation and so you may in the Interpretation of any Rule of Faith Traditions Decrees of Councils c. Yet still you must judge for your self the best you can with such Helps as you can get Exercising your Senses to discern Good and Evil Heb. V. 14. Sect 100. Were the Scriptures Intelligible to the Hearers to whom our Saviour and the Apostles preach'd them If not to what purpose were they preach'd If they were then Intelligible are they now become otherwise by being Written Or if they are what need we go to Particulars and Niceties Will not an Implicit Faith in the Scriptures serve as well as the
the Statutes of Provisors and Premunire manifested that they were not such Bigots to the Papacy as you are They Enacted the Oath of Supremacy and took it and generally went to Church and were called Church-Papists until the Prospect of some hopeful Rebellion in favour of Rome made them Recusants Sect 110. But what if your Forefathers wer Papists would you therefore Prefer your Extraction before the Truth Or were not their Ancestors Heathens and as it would be ill in your Forefathers to remain Heathens because their Ancestors were so it is as ill in you to remain in Error Ignorance and Superstition because your Forefathers were in that condition In short This was the Argument of the Iews against their Conversion if it did sound Ill in their Mouths 't will not sound Well in yours Sect 111. As to the Sixth That there is but One Faith and One Church 't is true but that is the Christian Faith and Christian Church and tho' the several sorts of Christians as Papists Protestants Greeks Armenians c. may be said to be of different Communions Parties or Sects yet they are all Parts of the Catholcik Church and are all of that One Christian Church faith and Religion mention'd in the Gospel and therefore the Baptism of each of these Churches is allowed by the rest and the Papists dare not Re-baptize those that were Christned by Protestants which proves that they admit the Protestant to be a True Christian Church And they know well enough That difference in Opinion does not always make one of a different Religion else the Fathers were not Catholicks for there were very few of them but differ'd in some Point or other many of them were Millienaries and some had Notions more Hetrodox Nay Separate Communions do many times rather infer several Factions than different Religions as appears between the Episcoparians Presbyterians and Independants whose Creed is the same and consequently their Religion So that it is a Palpable Artifice to apply those Texts of the Gospel relating to One Church One Faith c. to any Particular Sect Party Faction or Communion within the Catholick or Christian Church Sect 112. It must be understood that the word Catholick signifies Vniversal and so 't is in the Apostles Creed in French L' Esglise Universelle The Universal Church which is what I said before The Christian Church throughout the World Now with what Front can the Particular Church of Rome call it self The Vniversal Church Certainly it would never have past if the People had not been blinded with the Term Catholick which they thought signified no more than Orthodox But say the Papists We do not mean the Particular Diocess of Rome only but also all other parts of the World that are in Communion with her and this we call The Vniversal Church But this won't mend the Blunder because all those Churches in Communion with Rome do make but a part much greater indeed than before of the Vniversal Church whilst there are any other Christian Churches out of its Communion For the Vniversal Church must comprehend All Assemblies of Christians over all the World So that if there were 1000 Christian Churches or Congregations in the World and 900 of them vvere of the Popish Communion as one Third of them are not yet vvere not she the Catholick or Vniversal Church properly speaking or in any other sense but as Professing the Faith and Doctrine vvhich our Saviour Published to the Universal World And it is the Point in Question vvhether she does that or no. And 't is to be noted that the vvord Catholick is inserted in the Creed in opposition to Iudaism vvhich vvas in effect appropriated to a Few vvhereas the Christian Religion is Catholick and Universally offered to The Whole World and all the Nations thereof Sect 113. To the Seventh I ansvver That Popery is not the safer Religion but on the contrary is by reason of its Idolatry and Superstition the most dangerous of all Christian Religions 'T is true We dare not Limit the Infinite Mercy of God nor determine hovv far Invincible Ignorance may excuse Idolaters Papists or even Turks and Heathens Does it follovv that any Man should choose to be an Idolater or a Papist or a Turk rather then to be a Good Christian because this last is Modest and vvill not Pronounce any Man Damn'd without warrant and the former are Rash and Uncharitable in Censures they have no Ground for Suppose two Ships Sayling together one Stanch and the other Leaky the Crew of the latter swear the stanch Vessel will Perish the others perceive no danger to themselves but think 't is 1000 to one if the Leaky Vessel reaches the Shore Yet allow that 't is possible she may Which of these two would a Wise Man choose to go in or has he any thing to do but to examine which is the Leaky Vessel and which is the Stanch one Moreover if We Examine this Popular Argument by like cases that have happened in the Church we shall find it but a Pittiful piece of Sophistry The Donatists denyed the Baptism of the Catholicks whilst the Church allowed the Baptism of the Donatists yet would not S. Augustin be Re-baptiz'd St. Paul owns a Possibility of Salvation to the Iudaizing Christians who built with Straw and Stubble on Foundations of Christianity Which They denyed to The Orthodox So that if this Popish Argument were Good All the Orthodox should have Iudaiz'd since both sides Allowed They might be saved But St. Paul and the Primitive Christians were wiser then to leave a certain way of Salvation for a meer Possibility of being Saved Besides The Protestant Religion is the safer because it Enjoyns you to believe no more then you do already and only Obliges you to Reject some New Whimsies which may safely be omitted whether the Doctrine be true or false for Example tho' the Doctrine of Merit were True Yet 't is more safe to depend upon the Merits of Our Saviour than upon our Own If there be a Purgatory Yet 't is safer to make our Calling and Election sure by Piety and Repentance in this Life then to Rely upon future Purgations If the Saints do hear yet 't is more Safe and Profitable to make our Prayers and Addresses to God And even if Transubstantiation it self were True Yet it would be safe to approach the Altar with that Preparation and Reverence our Church enjoyns but if it be not True 't is very Unsafe and Plain Idolatry to Adore corruptible Bread for the Ever living and Incorruptible GOD. Sect 114. And as to the Eighth and last Objection I Answer That nothing is more Ingenuous and Praise-worthy than to Confess and Forsake ones Errors And nothing more Dishonourable than to be Obstinate in a Bad Cause If it had been a Principle that were Justifiable That one never ought to change ones Sentiment our Saviours Preaching had been in vain since there could be neither Conversion nor Reformation