Terrors from the Anathema's of the Bold and Uncharitable by being call'd to by several at the same time with great and restless Importunity saying This is the Way the right Hand is the Way the left Hand is the Way I say if such a Man by such Disturbance by repeated dinns of Clamour and by such other Mechanick Influences has the Frame of his Head so open'd as to let in a Scruple which cannot be remov'd or an Error which cannot be resisted let not Man judg such a one his Case must be reserv'd to God. This is the safety of Men and the true Bottom on which they may be easy in all Times of Controversy and in all Places and Circumstances viz. That they doing their present best with a good Heart both for Judgment and Manners and repenting sincerely of the Omission or Abuse of former Means God will accept of them according to what they have and not according to what they have not And this anticipates Mr. Pulton's Object 4. That Men of his Communion using all possible means for Truth are not therefore to be punished with Draconic or Sanguinary Laws because when all is done they are to be left to their Conscience For this is yielded to Men of all Communions upon supposition that the Government is satisfy'd 't is not Humour Interest or Faction but final Conscience and not present Perswasion which needs only consideration for the altering of it and may be put upon consideration by Discipline Provided also that Publick Peace be secured which Peace if Men disturb out of final or present Conscience as Saul did that of the Assemblies of Christians a careful Governour uses Civil Power against them for Example to looser Men and to them by way of Restraint rather than Punishment And in such Cases their Confinement is a Bethlem Object 5. The Primitive Christians made a True Church To a True Church the Rule of a Church is Essential This Church subsisted many Years without a compiled Canon for several Years past without any written Gospels or Epistles either divulg'd or compil'd into a Canon Wherefore the written Word of God can't be the only true Rule of Faith. Answer Part of this Objection is false History and part of it is fallacious Reasoning Part of this Argument is false History For First The first Christians were not without the Old Testament which is the same Rule with the New though the New is clearer And that Rule was illuminated by the very coming of Christ. Secondly St. Matthew's Gospel was written and divulged and accepted within very few Years after Christ's Ascension and so was St. Paul's first Epistle to the Thessalonians and the whole of the New Testament was written during part of the Life of a Man for St. Iohn a Disciple of Christ was the last Writer Part of this Argument is fallacious Reasoning For first The New Testament was a Rule to the Christians before it was compiled into a Canon for by compil'd he means compil'd into a Codex or Volume of Canons by a Council for Canons Laws and Statutes are Rules before they are collected into a Body and we see the Sacred Scripture cited as the Rule by St. Ignatius Clement Irenaeus Tertullian and other Ancient Christians before any Council met to compile them And the Jews had the Law for their Rule before Esdras as they say put the Holy Writers together 2. Writing or not writing does not alter the Christian Rule which is the same spoken or written But a Rule which may be preserved without writing for a few Years and whilst the Apostles were alive and to be consulted and Evangelists commission'd by them who wrought amongst them real Miracles whilst they taught the Christian Doctrine and expounded the Old Testament and after the manner of Christ opened the Understanding of the People that they might understand the mystical Sense of the Old Covenant was not likely to be preserved so entirely and so usefully without writing to the end of the World Nor was the Law trusted without writing When therefore we say that the Scriptures are our Rule what else do we mean but that the Doctrine of the Messiah first taught by him and afterwards written down by Evangelists and Apostles for the sake of Posterity to whom nothing could have been accurately transmitted for so long a time from Mouth to Mouth that this Doctrine first preached and then written is the Rule of his Disciples It is a Fallacy then to say that a Rule once not written and afterwards written is not the same because one is not written and the other is And it is so weak a one that no Man of Judgment will be insnar'd by it For he knows in his own little Affairs that an Account made first by word of Mouth and afterward written down for the avoiding of Mistakes and for the Preservation of that which frail Memory would lose is but the same Account So our Rule which was first dictated and then written is but one Rule When our Saviour said it and St. Paul repeated it and St. Luke wrote it down that it was more blessed to give than to receive the Rule was not altered but preserved And our Saviour said many other things which because they were not written down are not known Object 6. Neither the universal Church nor any part of it deliver'd the Protestants the Bible as they have it The other Books being brought under examination in the Year 397. were found to be of equal Authority with those which were formerly received So that the Protestants not receiving the Books they call Apochryphal want ten parts of the Rule For the making good of this Reasoning he mentions the Authorities of the Councils of Carthage Constantinople and Florence and of the Fathers S. Austin Pope Innocent the first Pope Gelasius and Pope Eugenius Answer His Reasoning shall be first consider'd and then his Authorities 1. His Reasoning is not right upon two Accounts First The Rule of the Scripture is not like a Mechanick Rule of which just so much serves for measuring For the Scripture is both a sufficient and an abundant Rule And strictly speaking our Rule of Faith is rather in the Scripture than the entire Volume For the necessary Doctrines are few and they are often repeated and the same things are said more than once by Moses by the Prophets Evangelists and Apostles There is good use to be made of all the Books extant but if some of them had been wanting the Rule of Faith might still have been contained in the rest If therefore we lay aside some Books he calls Canonical it does not thence follow that the Rule of Faith is shortned because the Code of the Canon is less All things in Scripture are useful but all things are not Doctrines absolutely necessary to Salvation Secondly Whilst he argues for a Rule larger than the Primitive Church received and adheres to a later Canon he argues against Tradition For he
howsoever they sounded when they were heard from his Pulpit are now that they come to be seen and felt no such formidable things 1. If I had wholly refus'd to return an Answer to his Question about the Bible I had not departed from Reason When two Iews dispute they do not contend about the Truth of the Writings of Moses When two Mahometans dispute neither of them do call in question the Alcoran And when two Christians Dispute he that questions the Bible does unnecessarily contend about that which he allows 2. If I had persisted in the Suggestion concerning such Discourses as tending to Atheism or rather Unbelief No Man who is tender of the moments of Religion would have blam'd me considering some of the Company that was about us By such Questions such Converts are made as Father Simon has made by his Critical History of the Old Testament S. Paul's Rule is little observed by the Controvertists of this World Him that is weak in the Faith receive but not to doubtful Disputations 3. If I had answer'd his Questions with Questions the way had been justifiable before all equal Judges I mean among others such Questions as these about the Copy to which the Romanists are tied in all Disputes by the Council of Trent Why do you make a Translation your Rule and not the Original Why do you not follow the ancient Italic Translation us'd in the Latin Church Why is St. Hierom for one Translation and your Popes for another What Latin Translation was the Church tied to in St. Austin's time when there were numberless Translations and why did the Church suffer them if one was their Rule Why did the Popes Sixtus Quintus and Clement the 8th differ from one another in many places besides those which might be Errors of the Press Why did not St. Gregory the Great go by this Rule Why did Cardinal Zimenes Pagnin and Mariana correct it Why did Cardinal Cajetan help himself in the Translation by a Jew Why do's the very Learned French Bishop Huetius here and there touch it over again Why do's Father Simon himself who differs so much from it tell us that it serves as a Rule And if it be what Rule is it to the People who understand no Latin And what Translation of it have they by their Church into the Vulgar Tongue Last of all to refresh his Memory about Pope Innocent the Third Why did not HE go by the Rule of the Vulgar if in his Time it was a Rule He varies from it often and particularly in the Text of the Penetential Psalms where he thus pleasantly begins his Elucidation This Psalm according to the Translation which the Roman Church holds contains nine Verses by which the Penitent gradually ascends to the nine Orders of Angels because there is greater joy among the Angels of God over one Sinner that repenteth than over 99 just Persons who need not Repentance although the number of ten Verses which according to another Translation it is known to have agrees well to reason because Man who fell by Sin rises by Repentance that by him the Tenth Order may be restored Deservedly also this Psalm has Three Ternaries because Repentance ought to have Three Parts Confession by the Mouth Contrition in the Heart and Satisfaction by the Work. Now here 's your Pope for observing a Rule and giving an infallible Interpretation 4. The Universal Testimony which I mentioned as separate from Authority and proving the Books of Scripture to be such Writings as they are taken to be depends upon a firm Principle which Mr. Pulton has not shaken to wit that so many Persons of such different Places and Conditions and Interests and Perswasions could not possibly be Confederates in a false Testimony in this Matter no not so easily as in the Testimonies given for the Offices of Cicero the History of Livy and the Existence of the Cities of Ierusalem or Rome The sense of this was thrice repeated in the Conference and now the Answer is a Denial that ever it was said Father Nicole would have yielded what Father Pulton would not for thus he speaks both his own and Monsieur Iurieu's sense When the consent of the Universal Church is general in its several Ages as well as in its several Communions this unanimous consent makes a Demonstration But perhaps Monsieur Nicole is not Father Pulton's Pope 5. But why has he chang'd his Rule of a General Council for a living Judg And for what Reason do's he call the Bible MY RULE of Faith It is the Rule of all the Reformed It was the Rule of the Ancient Church It was St. Austin's Rule and he thus owned it to be so In those things which are plainly contained in the Scriptures all those things are found which contain Faith and Manners of living For the Creed or sum of things to be believed S. Irenaeus called it the Rule of Truth and Tertullian the Rule of Faith. The Scripture is the Rule which God hath given his Church Whom then makes He himself when he goes about to confute it and whom does he make me when to ME he ascribes the Rule 'T is wonderful surprizing that Mr. P. tho he venerates Creatures should make ME whom he reviles the Object of his Worship But so at the same time they worship'd Mercury and threw Stones at him 6. Against this Rule he has taken exception and it will soon appear whether they are or are not causeless I will first examine his more General Reasonings and Authorities and then descend to his more special Points about the Sabbath Easter Infant-Baptism and the Holy Trinity His more General Reasonings are Six OBIECT 1. Hereticks have from Christ's time appeal'd to the written Word of God which therefore cannot be the Rule of one true Church that is essentially different from an Heretical one Answer 1. This is not true in History for Irenaeus and Tertullian mention Hereticks who refus'd the Scriptures and were as the latter calls them Fleers from the Light. 2. This Argument proves nothing because it proves too much for it is an Argument against all Rules Hereticks have appeal'd to REASON therefore Reason is no Rule Hereticks have appeal'd to the dictate of the Spirit of God therefore that is not a true Spirit Hereticks have pleaded Tradition therefore Tradition is not to be pleaded Heathens have pleaded universal Consent All Asia and all the World worship'd Diana therefore universal Consent is not to be regarded Contentious Men in Civil Kingdoms plead Customs and Presidents and Maxims of Law and Statutes therefore none of these are Rules in Government Many have appeal'd to Popes in Uncanonical Causes therefore the Pope is no Judg. The later Arians pleaded the Councils of Sirmium and Rimini therefore Councils are not to be pleaded Miracles have been pretended to from the beginning by Impostors as signs of Truth therefore true Miracles are no Proofs False Appeals to a
Diabolo cum talibus noscitur fuisse facinus perpetratum (d) Mr. P's Rem p. 11. * Pro S. Athan l. 1. p. 25. (e) J. E. Right of the Prelate and the Prince p. 144. imprinted with License from Superiours Anno 1621. (f) Apol. R. Bellar. pro Resp. suâ ad L. Jac. M. B. Regis c. Cap. 7. p. 98. Jac. Regem ab Haeresi excusari nullâ ratione posse (g) Jac. Grâ—tseri Soc. Jes. Comment exeget Ingolstad 1610. c. 1. p. 13. (h) D. T' s Account p. 71. (i) Mr. P's Rem p. 32. The Charity D. T. hypocritically pretends to (k) Mr. P's Rem p. 13. (l) D. T' s Account p. 8. (m) Mr. P' s MS. Account (a) Nov. de la Rep. des Lettres Janv. 1687. p. 32 c. (a) Nov. de Novemb. 1685 p. 1263. (b) Prej. Chap. 2. (c) Def. de lá repp 2. P. ch 5. (d) Elle a et è ajouteé á là 2. Edit dep Pres. en 1683. (a) Sim. Hist. Crit. p. 313. Inno. 3. op fol. 105. 〈…〉 (a) De l'unitie de l'Eglise p. 183. Quand le consentment de l'Eglise Universelle est general dans tous les siecles aussi bien que dans toutes les Communions ce consentement unanimè sait une demonstration (b) S. Aug. de Doctr. Christ. l. 2. c. 9. p. 45. In iis enim quae apertè in Scripturis posita sunt inveniuntur illa omnia quae continent Fidem moresque vivendi (e) Mr. P' s Rem in the Title Page A Confutation of the DOCTOR' 's RVLE OF FAITH And p. 14. The DOCTOR' 's RVLE of FAITH prov'd insufficient Mr. P' s Rem p. 15. Mr. P' s Rem p. 16. Mr. P' s Rem p. 16 17. M. P. Rem p. 17 18. Mr. P' s Rem p. 18. Mr. P' s Rem p. 18 19. (a) Mr. P 's Full Account p. 9. had read all Eccles. Hist. and had Volumes of Notes c. (b) Du Pin Nov. Bibl. des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques tom prem p. 653. Livres Mis hors du Canon par les Juiss par plusieurs Antients Chretiens receus depuis dans L'Eglise Tobie c. (c) Consensu Leonis motu proprio ex certâ Scientiâ comprobantis c. (d) At. verò libri extra Canonem quam Ecclesia potius ad aedificationem Populi quam ad Authoritatem Ecclesiasticorum Dogmatum confirmandum recipit c. See Canon 47. (a) Mr. P' s Rem p. 18 19. (b) Mr. P' s Rem p. 18. (c) Pag. 19. (a) Concil Tom. secund Conc. Carth g. 3. p 1177. Quidam vetustus Codex sic habet De confirmando isto Canone Transmarina Ecclesia consulatur (a) A Patribus ista accepimus in Ecclesia legenda (a) S. Aug. de Doct. Christiana c 9. (a) August de Civitate Dei. l. 18. Cap. 36. Tom. 6. p. 1096. Ab hoc tempore apud Judaeos restituto Templo non Regessed Principes fuerunt usqque ad Aristobulum quorum supputatio temporum non in scripturis sanctis quae Canonicae appellantur sed in alils invenitur in quibus sunt Macchabaeorum Libri Quos non Judaei sed Ecclesia pro Canonicis habet propter quorundam Martyrum passiones vehementes atque Mirabiles Qui antequam Christus venisset in Carnem usque ad mortem pro Dei lege certaverunt mala gravissima atque horribilia pertulerunt (b) S. Aug. l. 2. contr Ep. Gaud. c. 23. p. 353 hanc quidem scripturam quae appellatur Macchabaeorum non habent Judaei sicut legem Prophetas Psalmos quibus Dominus Testimonium perhibet tanquam Testibus suis Sed recepta est ab Ecclesia non inutiliter si sobrie legatur vel audiatur maxime propter illos Macchabaeos qui pro Dei lege sicut veri Martyres c. (a) Post Resurrectionem vel Ascensionem Domini Salvatoris Apostoli quomodo Pascha deberent observare nihil ordinare potuerunt Quia dispersi per universum mundum ad praedicandum fuerunt occupati (a) St. Hil. de Trin. lib. 5. Propheta loquitur Evangelium testatur Apostolus interpretatur Ecclesia confitetur verum Deum esse qui visus sit cum tamen Deum Patrem visum nemo fateatur * See D. T 's Account p. 15 81. ‖ M. P's Full Account p. 9. ‡ Rem p. 26 27. ⸪ M. P's Full Account p. 9. * M. P's Rem p. 27. (a) M. P's Account p. 11. (b) D. T 's Account p. 81. * Bonif. VIII Vita Epist. ap Lab. Tom. II. part 2. p. 1398. (a) Ib. A. 1294. Errat Binius tantum abest ut Philippus juste excommunicatus fuerit ut ne fuerit quidem Excommunicatus * Jacobat de Concil l. 7. de Cap. Concil p. 329. 2 col unde Gl. 1. in †D. T 's Account p. 15. Mr. P. answered Father Walsh was not his Pope (d) Conc. Lat. 4. cap. 3. (a) M. P's Rem p. 2. (b) M. P's Rem p. 26. (c) D. T 's Account p. 77. (a) M. P's Rem p. 26. (b) M. P's Rem p. 26. (c) Rog. de Hoveden Annal pars prior p. 405. Anno 792. Carolus Rex Francorum misit synodalem librum ad Britanniam sibi a Constantinopoli directum in quo libro heu proh dolor multa inconvenientia verae fidei contraria reperiebantur maxime quod pene omnium Orientalium Doctorum non minus quam trecentorum vel eo amplius Episcoporum unanimi assertione confirmatum fuerit Imagines adorari debere quod omnino Ecclesia Dei execratur contra quod scripsit Albinus Epistolam ex authoritate divinarum Scripturarum mirabiliter affirmatam illamqque cum eorum Libro ex persona Episcoporum ac Principum nostrorum Regi Francorum attulit (a) Beda in Lucae Evang. cap. 22. lib. 6. p. 424. Col. 2. Ut viz. pro carne Agni vel sanguine suae Carnis sanguinisqque Sacramentum in panis ac vini figura substituens ipsum sese esse monstraret cui juravit Dominus non poenitebit eum tues sacerdos in oeternum secundum ordinem Melchisedec frangit autem c. (b) D. T 's Account p. 78. (a) H. de Knyghton de Event Anglice l. 5 p. 2647 2648. (a) Mr. P's Rem p. 2. (a) Mr. P's Rem p. 31. * A Full Answer to D. T 's Six Conferences concerning the Eucharist †M. P's Rem p. 32. * Bell. Apol. c. 17. p. 328 329. Jam. autem supra demonstratum est non potuisse Garnettum detegere proditionem in Confessione Sacramentali cognitam nisi etiam detegeret Proditores Ideo maluisse crudeli supplicio vitam amittere quam Sacrosanctum secretum violare M. P's Rem p. 34 35 36. (a) See Al. Cook Dial. le sieur de Congnard p. 85. (a) Mr. P's Rem p. 31. The Doctor here omits A. P's smart but just return c. (b) Mr. P's 3d. Letter p. 43. your last was in terms so ambiguous c. You won't neglect my
given them by Deed shall be void and not due So that when either or both of them shall be married here to such as sincerely cleave to the Church of England then the payment to be made c. As for my Body I charge my Executor to write these Words upon my Grave-stone Hic jacet Corpus HERBERTI THORNDIKE Prebendarii hujus Ecclesiae Qui vivus veram Reformandae Ecclesiae Rationem ac Modum precibusque studiisque prosequebatur Tu Lector Requiem ei beatam in Christo Resurrectionem precare THE CONTENTS CHap. 1. Mr. A. Pulton Iesuit consider'd in his Certificates Page 1. Chap. 2. Mr. A. P. consider'd in an Artifice used by him in his TRUE and FULL ACCOUNT with a like Instance relating to Dr. Hammond p. 7. Chap. 3. Mr. P' s Reasonings and Authorities considered and refuted and first in Relation to his Charge against Luther p. 17. Chap. 4. Mr. P's Objections against the Rule of Faith shown to be weak and unconvincing p. 33. Chap. 5. Mr. P. consider'd with relation to what he hath said about the Lateran Council p. 58. Chap. 6. Mr. P. consider'd in relation to what he has said touching the Antiquity of Popery in England p. 61. Chap. 7. Mr. P. consider'd in his Accusations p. 67. Chap. 8. Mr. P. consider'd in his Triumphs p. 93. Chap. 9. Mr. P. consider'd in his Threatnings p. 96. The Conclusion p. 97. CHAP. I. Mr. Pulton consider'd in his Certificates THE Iesuit has usher'd in his Second Pamphlet with a pompous Company of Testimonials With Testimonies in Favour of A. P. A new stile in Certificates which ought to be written either without Fear Affection or Favour There was as little necessity for any of them as there is sincerity in some For I affirm'd from very good Evidence That several Persons enter'd with him but I repeated it in the Second Page of my Account that I did not say they were all of Mr. Pulton ' s bringing Nor did I affirm there was one Iesuit there besides himself For certainly all Orders are not swallow'd up in his how widely soever he may open for that purpose I do not dispute either the L. S. I's or the Provincial's Certificate but if others under his Obedience have the like Sincerity with Mr. Pulton they may have been there without saying they were so as well as Katharine Lamb might not at first be there yet say she was Well his false Quotations will not be swallow'd and now his Refuge is Certificates But they have likewise fail'd him And he that reads the following Testimonies and enquires after the Integrity of those who subscrib'd them and the Capacity they have been in of knowing the Truth and considers the little Reason they have had to expose themselves to the ill will of many if their love of Truth would have suffer'd them to be private Such a person I say for the buying of Truth will not be apt to go to Mr. Pulton to purchase it And when our Disputant lays his hand upon his heart and reflects in Christian manner upon this insincerity he will I hope makea moreopen acknowledgment for a publick Scandal than an Auricular Confession can amount to And let him henceforth forbear his Raillery about Katharine Boren left he put people in mind of Katharine Lamb. This Katharine Lamb for ought I know may be a vertuous and true Woman But as She is represented in Mr. Pulton's Certificate she is a very extraordinary person Certainly she must have some Relation to that Famous Dr. Lamb whom the Mobile believ'd to be a Conjurer For to be in a Room kept on purpose private by Mrs. R. till D. T. and Mr. Pulton should come in and neither to be seen by her or him or in her passage by any of the Family if it has nothing in it of one Black Art I 'm sure in the telling it it has something of another If she was there she must have come in by some unsuspected way such as the Chimney or the Key-hole And if there she remain'd she must have put her self into the shape of some such thing as a Table a Chair or a Candlestick This Long-Acre Miracle will not pass nor make many Conversions For the People understand that if Katharine Lamb did not certifie this there 's Forgery in it and if she did there is False Evidence Now this as our Representer pleases to speak of a Query is a Horned Beast of an Argument It is a curst Dilemma which hath long Horns and let him take heed that they do not push him But let us see what Mr. Pulton himself says to this matter for he is an Artist at mending a business by making more holes in it On Novemb. the 4 th he Publish'd his Remarks That Night the false Certificate of Katharina in Nubibus was publickly expos'd This came to his Ear and it was no doubt as welcome to him as the next days History On the Lord's day following in the Afternoon the better the day the worse the deed he closes his Sermon with this Iargon not deliver'd without a Concern in his Looks and Disorder in his Voice I was mistaken this Week in one thing of my last Paper which tho true yet I had it not from the person 's own hand tho it came as if it came from them It is about one of the Evidences or Testimonials which I shall clear by a Printed Paper to morrow and satisfie therein about it The thing I say is true but the Evidence not made by the Person to me tho it came as from their own hands But I shall give an account of it to morrow by a Printed Paper Now commend me to the Infallible man who was thus mistaken to the man who will be plain in nothing relating to me He is the man in the World who is good at a Conclusion He is that Wise man in my Lord Bacon's Essays who reserves his great business for a Postscript He is concern'd in a false way let him neither dance nor dance in a Net for he is seen through his Cover and he shews his halting as often as he stirs As to the Famous Paper he promis'd to publish the very next day with such Solemnity no Person that I can hear of has ever yet beheld it tho inquiry after it has not been wanting And now I have greater Compassion than ever for deluded I. S. for he hapned upon a man who if he is a Lover of Truth has a very notable Art in concealing his Affection IMPARTIAL CERTIFICATES relating to the CONFERENCE betwixt Mr. A.P. and D.T. WE Inhabitants of the Parish of St. Martin in the Fields in the County of Middlesex and others whose Names are subscribed Do hereby certifie That Robert Uppington of Long-Acre in the said Parish Brasier is a Person of Honesty and Integrity and during his abode there has lived peaceably orderly and in good Esteem amongst his Neighbours Witness Our Hands the 11
this without any notice given me or any acknowledgment in either of his Books he besides many other Variations not so material makes in Print this alteration from the MS. he sent me He recounted I know not what Story of some Priest at Rome who pronouncing the words of Consecration was heard to say Bread thou art and Bread thou shalt be Wine thou art c. To what end do you imagine is this Alteration made without giving any notice Is it not that Readers observing first the Words I cite as his and then perusing his Account and finding in it that I tax him with failure in Memory or in Conscience may be induc'd to think I falsifie Some who came to me pleas'd to use the freedom for which I thank them and to ask how this could come about I show'd them the Account in MS. which Mr. Pulton sent me and compar'd it with the Account which he had Printed and they were satisfied about the truth and fullness of his Narrative He had better have left a void space in his Story than have fill'd it with things which should not have been put in But he must not arrogate to himself this Artifice It is an old Invention and I am going about to give a Remarkable Instance of it in the case of the Reverend the Learned and that for which I most esteem him the Pious Dr. Hammond He had cited a Passage out of Mr. White the Leaf was cut out and another pasted in and then the Dr. was charg'd by his Adversary W. S. with falsifying a Quotation I will give you this in Dr. Hammond's own Words both that it may not rest upon my slender Authority and that People may see it without the trouble of buying a great Book not in every hand Dr. Hammond's own Relation entitled A Brief Account of one Suggestion of the Romanist 1 IT is the Statesman's Maxim concerning a false Suggestion That if it be believed but Four and Twenty Hours the Value of it is inestimable which tho it must be allow'd to receive a grand Abatement when it is apply'd to inferiour and less considerable Transactions yet the Interests of Religion in the maintenance of Truth are not so dispisable as that he that hath appear'd or embarked in them can safely neglect the advantages which evil Arts may yield or furnish an Adversary against him 2. Such in Reason and in Experience beyond all others is the Charge of falsifying which if it be but suggested and believed of any and much more if a pregnant and visible Proof of it be tender'd there needs no other Blast or Smut or Vermine to lay waste the whole Field and deprive him of all Harvest of his Seed and Labours 3. How this is my Concernment at this time the Reader will not suddenly divine till I have entertain'd him with a short Relation of that which I had rather my self proclaim on the House-top than leave others to whisper it in Corners 4. I was lately advertised by a Judicious and Reverend Friend that it was particularly urged against me by a Romanist That I had mistaken or perverted Mr. White 's Words which I refer to in The Dispatcher Dispatch't Chap. 3. Sect. 4. p. 279. where I suppose him to answer in his Apology for Tradition p. 56. That the Beatifical Vision of the Saints before the Day of Judgment was not yet held a matter of Faith but only a Theological Conclusion when said he the Apology in that very place had expresly said That this Point is a matter of Faith grounded on Tradition and not a Theological Conclusion 5. That I should be guilty of but of such an Oscitancy or Mistake much more of such a vile perversion as this I may be allow'd to have been as unwilling my self to believe as I am oblig'd to take care that others should not causlesly apprehend it of me Therefore without delay I turn'd first to mine own Words which as I then could not doubt so now I acknowledge to be faithfully related then to Mr. White 's Words in the Page of his Apology whence I had cited them and those I found exactly and to a Letter concordant to my Transcript of them in the Dispatcher Dispatch't 6. For thus I still read if I will not at Noon-day suspect mine own Eyes in that Apologist p. 56. l. 12. For nothing is more clear than that the Validity of Baptism by Hereticks was a Tradition and decided by it So the Beatifical Vision of the Saints before the Day of Iudgment the Spirituality of Angels are not yet held matters of Faith but only Theological Conclusions as likewise the Souls being concreated to the perfecting of the Body What can be more manifest than that in this Period the Beatifical Vision of Saints before the Day of Iudgment is by that Apologist set down as one of the two things to which after a third is subjoin'd of which it is affirm'd in the Plural that they are not yet held matters of Faith but only Theological Conclusions Which was all to a Syllable that I cited from him in that place with this only change that speaking only of one of these the Beatifical Vision c. I set it as it was necessary in the Singular is not yet held a matter of Faith but only a Theological Conclusion 7. That I might be sure not to have mistaken my Author I carefully consulted the Errata but there was none noted relating to that Page And indeed the whole Composure of the Period was such that there must be a concurrence of very many changes in the compass of very few lines more I believe than the most negligent Compositor and Corrector have at any time conspir'd to be guilty of to wrest this Testimony from me or change it into what this Romanist had affirmed it to be 8. Having dispatch'd this account to my Friend from whom I received the former Advertisement I had no cause of doubt but that this affair had received its full Period the Romanist being obliged to yeild to such full uncontrollable Evidence and every man's Eyes to whom the contrary Suggestion could be offered being as well qualify'd as mine to secure him from being misled by it And on these grounds of safety I had no least thought of troubling the Reader with any Account or Complaint which I now see is become some part of my Interest and my Duty 9. For I was soon assured by my Friend that the Words which I had punctually transcribed from my Copy of the Apology were not to be found in that which he had before him but quite transformed into the contrary sense even that for which the Romanist had vouch'd them For thus he found them for nothing is more clear than that the Validity of Baptism by Hereticks was a Tradition and decided by it So the Beatifical Vision of the Saints before the Day of Iudgment The Spirituality of Angels is not yet held a matter of Faith but
only a Theological Conclusion 10. By this Representation I was soon forced to confess That the whole Scene was changed the first part of the Words remaining the same but the second of the Beatifical Vision of the Saints which were my only Concernment wholly transform'd that which before was join'd with the Spirituality of Angels as not yet held matters of Faith but only Theological Conclusions being now annex'd to the Validity of Baptism by Hereticks and so affirm'd to be a Tradition and that is with him a matter of Faith and decided by it And then I had Reason to acknowledge the Candour of that Romanist who proceeding on these Appearances had laid no heavier a Censure upon me than that of either mistaking or perverting Mr. White 's Words 11. In this new posture of Affairs first it was presently discernable That the very many Changes which I had foreseen had been really made to bring this about And as all this was obvious and credible to be done by a new Edition of the Book so it remained uncertain to me whether mine or that other so contrary to it were the True and Authentick Edition This therefore was my next care to examine 12. And herein again I met with an Intricacy For if the Title-Pages and a Concurrence of all obvious Indications might be believed there was all this while but one Edition both Copies carrying in their Front A Paris chez Iean Billain Rue S. Iacques à l'ensign S. Austin 1654. the same Volume Print Number of Pages beginning and end of every Page c. This soon suggested that which was the only clue to extricate me then and the Reader now out of this Labyrinth For sending to the Stationers for another Copy of the Apology as from one I received a Copy perfectly agreeing with mine so by the help of another I was furnish't with one exactly accordant to what my Monitor from the Romanist had represented to me yet not discernably differing from my own in any other save in this one Passage and looking more narrowly first the Paper and Ink wherein the Leaf was Printed discernibly differing from all the rest of the Book was apt to inject some suspicion But I soon saw that I had no need of this or other obscurer intimation it being grosly visible that in this place a Leaf had been cut out and a new one pasted in And what Gordian Knot might not have been untied by the like instrument 13. When this change was thought fit to be made I did and still want Augury to divine only this is apparent that it was a Work which Second thoughts suggested after the Book was published else my Copy which came regularly to me from the Worcester Stationer in the Year if my Memory fail me not 1655. and another now sent me from another Stationer which assures me there be many more must have had their parts in the Change. 14. Having given the Reader a brief and single view of this matter I abstain from any farther Observation or Reflection on it than what a Quo teneam vultus mutantem will amount to But that is also unnecessary my whole Design being compleated in this That it is now manifest to the most imperswasible of their Disciples that dare read what is written against their Masters which I perceive few are permitted to do That I neither mistook nor perverted the Apologist's Sense or Words those I mean which I read in his Book from which alone I could be imagined to receive cognizance of them not being able to forecast that what I had thus really transcrib'd from him would be so soon snatch't from me again or that what was to me so visible should vanish and become invisible to other men 15. This indeed is an unexpected Proof of what S. W. had told me concerning the Wits enormous Power to transform Testimonies which yet shall not discourage me from dealing in that Ware being firmly resolved never to make use of my duller Faculties to work such Metamorphoses nor yet from diverting sometimes into such pleasant Fields adorned with so great Varieties as that Apologist frequently affords the World hoping that I shall not again meet with such misadventures as these or any greater interruptions in reading him than what a competent Attention and a Table of Errata shall enable me to overcome 16. This Account I conceived would more pardonably because more moderately divert the Reader at this time than if I should stay till it were solemnly and articulately call'd for and moreover deliver S. W. from some temptation himself to think or to perswade others that he had sprang some real Game to invite his Chases some Guilt to support his Contumelies and perhaps prevail with some of their most credulous followers to think it equitable to subject the Suggestions they meet with to some other ways of Examination and Trial than the bare Authority or Confidence of the Suggesters THE END CHAP. III. Mr. Pulton's Chief Reasonings and Authorities consider'd and refuted And here first of his Reasonings and Authorities about Luther MR. Pulton's Chief Reasonings and Authorities may be consider'd in relation 1. To Luther 2. To the Rule of Faith. 3. To the Lateran Council 4. To the Antiquity of Popery in England 1. For Luther he has rais'd up the Ghost of Mr. Iohn Brerely Priest for the encountring of the celebrated Daemon of Martin And tho he was in the Conference referr'd to a late unanswered Book called The Spirit of Martin Luther yet he will take no notice of it but bring up the Old Objections and by Repetition attempt that which he cannot do by Argument Now the most material part of that which he certifies not in favour of Luther may be reduc'd to Six Heads that the rambling which he complains of and at the same time is guilty of may be avoided He will by no means grant even after grains of allowance for humane infirmity for Monkish Education for the Darkness and Abuses of those times for Natural Temper for highest provocations to be rugged with the rugged that Luther was an excellent instrument of God. 1. Because he express'd his Passion against the word Homousion 2. Because he spake irreverently of Ecclesiastes 3. Because he spake indecently about Marriage 4. Because he spake with disrespect of Henry the Eighth 5. Because he disgusted the Doctrine of Transubstantiation upon Conversation with Courtizans 6. Because he left the Mass upon the perswasion of the Devil Now I will first tell Mr. P. one of my Reasons in justice to Luther and then consider his My Reason is this God used Luther as an Instrument of bringing forth the Bible from under that Rubbish of Canonists and Schoolmen which had hid it from the World. The Roman Doctors did not put the Bible into Luther's Hands but he found it by God's Providence in a Library where he look'd not for it There was need of that Light in so ignorant and ill an Age in
inward Impressions in the Heart of Luther A Lutheran Minister also put forth an Answer to it against which a while after they published a Book at Paris and have added there a particular Reply to Mr. Claud about this Conference he complains that he had changed the Word of Dispute into that of Accusation Others are offended with these words en son coeur i.e. in his Heart which are not in the Latin Mr. Sagittarius supplies wherewith to silence these Complaints for besides what we have touch'd upon he tells us P. 5. that Iustus Ionas who translated this piece of Luther into Latin has suppress'd many things in the Original and in particular these words in corde meo mu'tas enim Noctes mihi acerbas molestas fecit which ought immediately to follow this Satan mecum caepit ejusmodi disputationem This Iustus Ionas was not Preceptor to Luther's Son but his Colleague in Divinity from the Year 1522. Hospinian mistakes in this and confounds him with another who was indeed his Preceptor and who assisted with Iustus Ionas at Luther's Death Mr. Sagittarius contents himself in this Particular to say that Mr. Cordemoy has follow'd the Error of Hospinian but it must be allow'd that throughout every place else he confutes him with a force that is a little too severe § One of the places that deserves the greatest Consideration is this which shews the design that Luther had when he composed that Treatise wherein we find an account of this Conference By this means he overthrows all those confused Stories and Illusions which the Missionaries frame upon what Luther seems to answer sometimes as being a good Catholick tho his Expressions should seem to prove a great deal in this respect and tho one should not acquiesce with the most probable sense which Mr. Sagittarius gives them yet we must at least agree that they are not Proofs which equal those of the Chronology already mentioned and consequently that there was a great deal of Rashness in the matter of Fact related by the Controvertists The Author qualifies their Dispute far otherwise for he thinks nothing can be more villanous than to accuse so many Princes and Cities of Germany of having annull'd the Mass and reform'd Religion upon a Platform taken from the Devil not by disguised Suggestions but by Instructions formally acknowledged to be Diabolical he maintains that this is a great Injury the Infamy whereof reflects upon his Imperial Majesty and all those Catholick Princes who own the Protestants to be Members of the holy Roman Empire and who have promis'd by solemn Treaties of Peace wherein the King of France interven'd to give them Toleration of their Religion and even to maintain it against all those who should give them any disturbance He adds that there would have been an apparent Nullity in all this if the Protestants were such as Mr. de Cordemoy has represented them since 't is certain that every Man who professes himself to be brought up by the Devil ought to be incapable of enjoying the Priviledges of humane Society and deserves the Punishment of Sorcerers and Magicians He desires to know if those who are now employ'd to make Converts in France do not fancy to themselves something like this and he wonders that they do not imitate Francis of Sales who as 't is said first began to instruct the Hugenots by Exorcisms But let us end this Article by that Remark which we made speaking of a Writing of the Abbot of Cordemoy in the Novels of August 1685. We said that the Devil prefers Truth before a Lie when he thinks it most proper to excite the Passions and to be the cause of much Mischief This is a Principle which methinks cannot be contested in this particular Dispute but to the end to perswade the World that the Lutherans have follow'd the Devil's Instructions as such rather than as a Truth But let them say what they will this Principle is agreed upon and we have given a notable Example of it in the second Edition of this place of our Novels 't is of the founder of the Jesuits of whom they published that the Devil would have diverted him from his Studies in giving to him a most lively knowledg of the Mysteries of Religion That which follows will serve as a Supplement to this Father Bouhours admirably well describes this Diabolical Stratagem in that place where he shews us St. Ignatius learning his Grammar at the 33 d Year of his Age. He says that the Enemy of Men's Salvation who foresaw to what end St. Ignatius his Learning would tend made use of a cunning Artifice to overthrow his Studies and so carri'd this new Scholar without any intermission to the Exercises of Piety fill'd him full of Consolations and suggested to him such tender Sentiments for God that all the time that he should have devoted to his Study was spent in devout breathings instead of conjugating the Verb Amo he exerted the Acts of Love I love you my God said he and you love me to love to be beloved and nothing more When he was in School his Mind was in Heaven and whilst his Master was explaining to him the Rules of Grammar he heard an inward Master that cleared to him all the difficulties of Scripture and Mysteries of Faith. The Life of St. Anthony attributed to St. Athanasius gives an account of many Temptations of this kind wherein the Devil made use of the appearances of Truth and Piety 'T is then a matter confess'd on both sides that the Devil sometimes maintains a good cause therefore 't is no Argument of the goodness of private Masses to say that he has strongly opposed them His other Objections about Luther are as inconsiderable as these I have answer'd and they have been spoken to by others and instead of being press'd with the force I am wearied with the weakness and the repetition of them For Mr. Pulton has done like the frugal Man who saved firing by carrying the same Billets out of one place into another Mr. P. has brought his Wooden Objections out of Bellarmine's and Brerelie's Cellar into his Chamber and he may please if he needs to be warmer than he naturally is to carry them back again CHAP. IV. Mr. P's Objection against the Rule of Faith shown to be weak and unconvincing I Purpose if God permit as soon as the approaching Solemnities of Christ's Nativity are for this Year past to publish a distinct Treatise about the Rule of Faith. Something I have attempted in the Tract entituled A Discourse of a Guide in matters of Faith but that seems a little too Scholastical for ordinary Readers I intend a shorter and plainer Book for more common use In that I shall deliver the Reason of the Case without further regard to Mr. Pulton or any other Disputer than as the Rule shows it self and that which is crooked At present I shall offer that which may refute Mr. Pulton's Reasonings which
force against them that they removed it out of many Copies Instances are infinite I will produce but one out of St. Hilary which shews the way of the Fathers in proving the Divinity of Christ out of the Scriptures St. Hilary compares the places in Isa. 6. St. Ioh. 12. and Rom. 10. and then draws this Conclusion The Prophet speaks the Gospel witnesseth the Apostle interpreteth the Church confesseth him who was seen to be the true God whilst no man owneth that God the Father was seen CHAP. V. Mr. P. consider'd with Relation to what he hath said about the Lateran Council MR. Poulton had mistaken some hundreds of Years in time about the great Lateran Council and he was tax'd for it in particular manner before Mr. M. and neither of them then deni'd it and now he turns it off by an Evasion which Katherine heard that he appealed to a General Council and troubled not himself with a private Man meaning the Monk Paschasius Radbertus If this had been his Answer what occasion could there have been for this Question put aloud to Mr. Merideth Why do you bring a Man for Mr. M. is a manager in Conference who has not common skill in History But notwithstanding He certifies for himself that he has profound skill for he had read all the Ecclesiastical History especially the Acts of Innocent the third and had Volumes of Notes relating thereunto Volumes better worth 10000 l. than the Books which I am wont to boast of before Catharine in the Cloudes and other such Witnesses For this Lateran Council let us weigh a little for a little ' weighing will suffice for a Feather these Reasonings and Authorities about the Lateran Council He proves it to be a General Council because Binius Labbe and Carranza give such an Account of it and because I oppose it by Father Walsh the Franciscan who it seems weak man is nothing in the hands of three such Defenders of the August Assembly That it may appear the more August he Notes that it was held against the Heresies of the Albigenses Now he should either have left out the Persecution of the Albigenses on his side or his Epithets of Sanguinary Bloody Penal on ours for as long as the Saint of the Lateran Council St. Dominic is remembred Blood and Penalties will not be forgotten This by the by and he will chide me for Rambling I return to Father Walsh and Binius And 1. I did not prove this Council by the mere Authority of Father Walsh but only noted how Father Pulton and Father Walsh agreed about their Rule of Faith in the great Article of Transubstantiation and how Mr. P. had own'd a Deposing Canon and denied it's Deposing Doctrine but this was with nimble art to be so clearly skipt over as not to be touched 2. I do in one point at least value Father Walsh above his very famous Binius and Labbe for they were friends of the Deposing Doctrine and he has been an open Enemy to it and for that Reason drawn no small hatred upon him Binius has words to this effect in his Collection of Councils Bonifacius VIII Justly Excommunicated Philip the IV. of France sirnamed the Fair for his Violation of the Law of Nations Labbe repeats them in the August Edition of the Louvre without any Note in the Margent against them but this giving Offence in the next Edition a Note is added which is rather an Evasion than a Reproof of that Doctrine He Notes that Binius err'd he does not say in the Doctrine of Excommunicating the King but in the History because Philip was not in one Jesuits Opinion tho he was in another's Excommunicated at all Moreover in the second Apparatus of Labbe and Cossart Jesuits to their Collection of Councils they have publish'd without Reflection this dangerous Doctrine That the Pope alone has power to depose an Emperor Kings and any other kinds of Power After this is it possible for any man to guess why this Franciscan is not this Iesuits Pope You will be wide of the Mark if you say it is because Father Walsh is an open Remonstrant and against deposing Whether the Acts of this Council were genuine or not I now dispute not But 't is certain 't was no truly General Council and yet that the major Part of Romish Writers have said it was And seeing Mr. P. is become one of that number let him with more Art than others have done attempt the evading the genuine Sense of its Decree for the Extirpation of Heresie owned afterwards by the Bull of Martin the V. It was then thus decreed That if a temporal Lord being requir'd and warn'd by the Church should neglect to purge his Dominions of Heresie he should first be excommunicated by the Metropolitan and the other Bishops of his Province whereof if within a years time he gave no satisfaction the Pope was to be warned who might absolve his Subjects from their Allegiance and expose his Dominions to be seiz'd on by Catholicks who having destroyed the Hereticks might thenceforward possess it without any contradiction and preserve it in the purity of the Faith saving the Right of the Principal Lord on CONDITION that he put no hindrance And it is expresly added that the same Course is to be observ'd towards them who have no Principal Lords CHAP. VI. Mr. P. considered in relation to what he has said touching the antiquity of Popery in England THREE things on this subject Mr. Pulton asserts yet there is not one of them which he can maintain 1. He asserts that Popery flourished in this Kingdom near a Thousand years he might as well have added my number of Ten thousand before Protestancy was ever heard of and that we our selves confess it Whereas we say that the British Bishops protested against the Popes Jurisdiction above a Thousand years ago that we had Witnesses against Romish Errors before Luther rose That our Faith is the Faith in the Ancient Creeds and that if our Protestations against Romish Errors are new it is because they were new and that we could not sweep out the Dirt till they had brought it in and that we are the same Church as from the beginning the Corruptions only being remov'd 2. He avers that the Corruptions I mention are but supposed and that I shall never be able to shew that St. Gregories Faith was not that which Rome now teaches I had said already that Gregory the Great had not sent into the Land the same Canon the Romanists now go by for he would not allow the Books of Macchabees to be Canonical Now according to Mr. Pulton's Art of Logic if old Popery has a shorter and new Popery has a longer Rule the Popery is not the same But then was then and now is now 3. He asserts concerning the Doctrines of the Two famous Synods the Second of Nice and that of
Rome shall be Triumphant He leaves this sting in the close of his Paper God be thanked our Church is too strong to waver by the blasts which flow from his mouth and will TRIUMPH when perchance the Doctor may SMART for having attempted its destruction Here 's want of respect with a witness to his Gracious Majesty's principle That Conscience cannot be forc'd Mr. P. himself is again besides his bounden Duty when he opens those wounds in his next Accusation which the Royal Clemency would heal Mr. P. consider'd in his Accusations ACCUSAT 2. HERE Mr. Pulton for my utter Affrightment has conjur'd up the Ghosts of the Duke of Monmouth and Sir Thomas Armstrong whom I assisted in their Extreams And he has charg'd me with assisting the latter of these without obliging him to an humble Confession of his Crimes and acknowledgment of the Injury done to his King and Country For tho Sir Thomas Armstrong and D. T. who had never before been in his Company were then in private within thick Walls and several Locks yet Katherine in the Cloudes was invisible there and gave Information to Mr. Pulton And note well here his Argument which cuts me on both sides If I do not reveal Confessions then it cuts me for not Revealing and injuring Government and if I do reveal Confessions then it cuts me for opening such a Seal as is not fit to be broken up For his Brother Bellarmin the Jesuit has demonstrated it in the case of his other Brother Garnett That he could not have reveal'd the Gun-powder Treason made known to him in what he calls Sacramental Confession without having made a discovery of the Traitors Therefore he chose rather to lose his Life by a cruel Punishment not crueller than that Treason than violate the very holy Secret A. P further informs the World A. P. has used a very fit word for it is as I observed before right informing that he has lately reconcil'd Two zealous Protestants one of which had been with the Doctor and sincerely desired to be satisfied in certain Queries about an uninterrupted Succession of the Protestant Religion from the Apostles About the Fallibility of of the Church of England And about the Miracles of the Roman Church To the first he says I answered only 't would cost Ten Thousand pounds worth of Books to show it A Thousand I might say but I said something besides and might have said much more having just then preached upon that very subject of visible Succession upon those words A City built upon a Hill cannot be hid What I said was open and before Hundreds of Witnesses what he reports was private and attested by one with whom I had no reason to use much freedom of Speech But does Mr. P. consider the Cost of Books out of which a man may prove minutely since Christ's time Succession of Doctrine in the Christian Churches It is true he may do it in some manner with little Cost but not amply and to the satisfaction of Cavillers without much Money and Labour For Examples sake There are MSS. relating to the Eastern Churches which a man would willingly use in this Argument And the purchase of that one Book of Dionysius Syrus in which 't is manifest that new Popery was not old Christianity in the great Article of their Corporal Presence did not come from so far a Countrey to Arch-bishop Vsher at a very easy Rate If Mr. P. would condescend to learn from Protestants and look into the Learned Work of Dr. Pearson late Bishop of Chester and Mr. Dodwell who have set that right in the Chronology of Popes which no Romon Writer could effect before them he would be convinc'd how many pounds worth of Books were necessarily to be consulted in order to the clearing of that one matter in the Succession of a very few Popes I will take leave to say further that a small Sum will not purchase all the Books necessary for the answering of this Question Whether a Woman did not set in the Papal Chair betwixt the Pontificates of Leo the IV. and Benedict III. And there are some who would not spare Cost for the retrieving of that History which was cut out of a fair MS. of Ranulph of Chester To the second how the Church of England granting her self to be fallible and for ought she knew in actual Error could be the Church built upon a Rock c. he assures me I answer'd nothing but instead of answering grew warm and call'd the party Impertinent and Impudent Now thus much is true There came a Woman to me with Queries as many have done and some of them have been sent upon no very commendable designs She was a Person I never to my knowledg saw before or since much less in a Church or at a Sacrament She own'd to the best of my remembrance that her Brother was a Priest She had the very Shibboleth of the Party Perhaps she was not formally reconcil'd for I perceive a great many are some years contracted e're the Priest joins their hands but they live all the while very lovingly together I told her of my Suspicion that some Priest or other had sent her of an Errand and at that saying she seem'd out of Countenance So little Reason had I for the incivility of saying She was Impudent But however if Katherine Lamb was there in her Magical Mantle she may I doubt not prove it upon me I do not affect the finesses of Courtship but for IMPUDENCE it is a word I do seldom use to those who deserve it But if I gave her a Reproof for coming with her Snares I did not trespass against good Manners by doing Justice It is much that I had nothing to say upon this Argument when Mr. Meredith may remember that upon the Objection as made by him I gave him this answer to which he has not yet repli'd That our Church was no more Fallible than any other in the World That God's Providence would not suffer all to fail together That we had a certain Rule and Sufficient means That we were as infallibly sure of the Necessaries of Faith as a man is of casting up a Sum right tho' by misattention 't was possible to commit a mistake And that our Church could prove it had rightly computed This was said to him at the side of the Bed in the second Room about the Close of our Talk. For the Third about Roman Miracles he thus misrepresents me in his very pleasant and Comical Humour You talk said he of Miracles in the Romish Church I 'le show in one Example what Credit they are of There was upon a time a certain Priest who got money by exposing the head of a pretended Saint to the peoples charitable Veneration Now as Providence would have it a Chirurgion on what suspicion I know not pierced this Saintly Head with his Launce and found it to be a piece of Parchment now said he tell
prescribe if you send me yours I le send you mine but I must acknowlege having no Secretary or Servant it is very troublesome and expensive to me but I am willing to shew herein that I am desirous to prove my self Honoured Sir Your Obediant Servant And. Pulton One Favour I must beg viz. that you will be pleased when you print to note your Paragrafs as I have don ACCUSAT VI. MR. P. concluded the first Collation which he gave the World with very bitter Sawce Blood spilt in abundance by the Reformed upon false Pretence of Gospel-Liberty And again in his Remarks he is talking of Severity and Sanguinary Laws of my Rancour and hypocritical Charity I am personally accused of bitterness tho no man was yet the worse for me for meer Religion one hair of his head I am also involv'd in the common Cause of the Reformed as a bloody man and you must not doubt of this for Mr. Pulton's CATHERINA IN NUBIBUS can plainly prove it by this Certificate I do testifie That D. T. is a Sanguinary Man for he is by Church-Principle against RESISTING the Higher Powers and approves not of the EXCLUDING and DEPOSING Doctrines taught in Mr. P's great Lateran Council before there were Iesuits and also after they arose by Bellarmin and Doleman and a long train of others in which some Popes some Synodical men have pompously marched Let any man that pleases set her hand to this Certificate if she neither understands nor likes it her self for they may do it as safely as it was done in that Testimonial which Mr. Pulton has published out of his GREAT SINCERITY And here again I must withdraw my self from under the obedience of Mr. Pulton and tell him a story a very true one And it will appear by this story that a Pope can be Sanguinary in reality whilst I am only such by Misrepresentation I will give it you in the words of an unquestionable Author for he is one of their own The King that is Philip the Second of Spain having imprisoned his Eldest Son Don Carlos because as was known after his death he designed both against the Service of the Kingdom and against the Person of his Father and the Pope having Intelligence from France that there were many Chests full of Calvin's Catechisms in the Spanish Tongue in Lyons and Toulouse he was not wanting to write upon this occasion a Brief to the King both to encourage and to comfort him And because it is a thing very remarkable that the King should make a Sacrifice of his own Flesh and of his own Blood to God and Pius publickly commended his Christian and Catholick Mind and Religion saying BECAUSE HE SPARED NOT HIS OWN SON I will here set down the Letter which he writ with his own hand to the Pope then follows the Letter too large to be inserted For this matter at present I will refer the Iesuit to an Ingenious man who is a Third person betwixt us Both of us say the Scriptures are ours and the Fathers are ours Reason is ours and History is ours let us put the matter to Arbitration Mr. P. is for a REFERENCE I am content I will not indeed presume as he does to use familiarly His Majesties SACRED NAME But in this case I will agree to the Award of a fellow-subject who bears his Testimony against Sanguinary proceedings in all Parties and so far as they are unchristianly Sanguinary even in my Arbitrators some Protestants if he throughly knows them and proves it upon them I am not of their Temper If it be in both Hypocritical Charity 't is more on my part than I have ever yet known by my self and for him I judge him by his Profession and believe not as Romanists do believe that an Angel from Heaven can search the Heart And thus having put this matter to Reference I shall acquiesce Mr. Pulton's True and Full Account p. 17 18. THE Reformers had taken the Priviledge upon a false pretence of Gospel-liberty to SPILL MORE CHRISTIAN BLOOD through all Germany Bohemia France Low-Countries Holland England and wherever they assum'd the Reforming Spirit than ever the Roman Catholicks had done from Christ's time nor should D. T. ever show they propagated their Faith by the Swords point William Penn's SEASONABLE CAVEAT against POPERY c. printed in Quarto in the year 1670. Chap. 10. of Ecclesiastical Hierarchy p. 35 36. TO conclude If we would not receive a Thief until he had repented Let the Papist first recant his Voluminous Errors not known in Scripture nor ever heard of for Three hundred years together after Christ But above all Let us have good Testimony of his hearty sorrow for that SEA OF BLOOD shed in England France Holland Ireland Spain Italy Savoy Switzerland and Germany of many Hundred Thousands of Poor Protestants that for pure Conscience could not conform to their most exorbitant practices as well as new Doctrines imposed upon them such inhumane and barbarous inventions and cruelties as no Age could ever Parallel and are the only demonstrations of their wicked Wits that liv'd in that and that not only upon the Parties themselves but their poor little innocent Babes CHAP. VIII Mr. Pulton considered in his Triumphs HIS Triumphs are made up of Two things 1. His performances in the Conference 2. The wonderful Success that followed it 1. He perform'd mightily in the Conference and as if he had had a double Portion of the spirit of every one of his Six Vncles who were Iesuits I will give you a true Representation of his way of performing in the Conference and I submit it to you whether he who has perform'd so little as he has done in Two printed Books upon deliberation could perform so much as his Party has boasted of together with himself in his talk at adventure His way of performing consisted in repeating the Names of some of the Fathers and some Questions over and over without condescending either to accept the Answer or to enervate it What is the Rule of Faith How do you prove the Bible From what Copies had you it What Copies What Copies When How Where St. Iustin Martyr St. Irenoeus c. St. Iustin Martyr St. Irenoeus c. And when I was desiring to speak to St. Ambrose which he first alledged he was still at his Cries St. I. Martyr St. Irenoeus c. He was at more than his Once Twice Thrice at his Auction of Strong Reasons In good earnest this is no Mockery it can be attested by the Oaths of many Judicious and Serious People present this is as true as it would be pleasant if the Conference had not been about Religion And thus because he would ask on and throw the same Stone again into the Well after it had been taken out and laid before him he calls this VICTORY but by his leave a Grammarian who gives words their freedom and sets them at liberty