or that a Visible Governour or Head of the Vniversal Church is necessary or practicable On the contrary our Saviour assures us His Kingdom is not of this World and exhorted his Followers not to strive for Preheminence as Worldlings do And Luk. IX 46. He rebuked their Reasonings who should be greatest Sect 55. Secondly Let him prove that S. Peter was the Vicar or Pope so appointed by our Saviour On the contrary the Commission was to all the Apostles John XX. 23. He said unto THEM Whosoever Sins YE remit they are remitted unto them c. Matth. XVIII 18. Whatsoever YE shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven Matth. XXVIII 19. Go YE therefore and teach all Nations And S. Paul tells us That to HIM was committed the Care of ALL THE CHVRCHES That HE was not behind the very Chiefest Apostles and HE withstood Peter to his Face because he was to be blamed and I think that the single Text in St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians Chap. II. vers 9. is of it self sufficient to confute this pretended Supremacy It runs thus And when James Cephas that is Peter and John who seemed to be Pillars perceived the Grace that was given to me Paul they gave to me Paul and Barnabas the right Hand of Fellowship that we should go unto the Heathen Romans Grecians c. and they unto the Circumcision the Jews Sect 56. Thirdly Let him prove that Peter's Power whatever it were was to go in Succession On the contrary Peter's Authority was Personal as his Gifts and Graces for the Exercise of it were He was filled with the Holy Ghost and so was Qualified to be Christ's Vicar No body will say so of those many Atheists Hereticks Blasphemers Sodomites and Murtherers that have pretended to be his Successors Sect 57. If the Supremacy was to survive Peter why should it not descend to St. John the Beloved Apostle who out-lived Peter many years rather than to the Bishop of Rome What Title has that Bishop to it Did our Saviour order it so Or who else did Sect 58. Let your Priest shew that Peter was Bishop of Rome and who made him so On the contrary being an Apostle he could not properly be a Bishop of any particular See any more than the King can be said to be Governour of Limrick Besides He was the Apostle of the Circumcision or of the Jews and so could not be Bishop of Rome nor can you prove he was there at all At least the Popish Tradition of his being there 25 years is certainly False nor have you more than a doubtful Historical Testimony of his being ever at Rome which is not sufficient for such an Important Point upon which the whole of Popery does depend and to which you require a Divine Infallible Faith Sect 59. Besides Your Learned Men do not yet agree Whether Peter alone was Bishop of Rome or Peter and Paul together or who were the Immediate Successors to Peter so Uncertain is their History or Tradition in this matter and if you add your received Doctrine That want of Intention in the Priest or Bishop makes a Nullity in the Sacrament of Order you cannot be sure that Innocent XII is a Bishop at all much less Successor to St. Peter Sect 60. Thus is the Divine and Infallible Certainty you boast to have of your Religion as distinct from ours built on a Supremacy which you see is supported by very Improbable if not False Assertions But 't is good enough for you who are not suffered to Examine the Grounds and Reasons of your Faith but take your Religion upon Trust and venture your Salvation upon the Opinion of others whose Business it is to make a hand of you and who therefore keep you in the Dark that they may have the better Opportunity to pick your Pockets Sect. 61. But that which demonstrates Popery to be a Politick Contrivance is That after such confident Preâ—ences to Supremacy and Infallibility they are not agreed where it resides Their Arguments and Proofs tend to make the Goverment of the Church Monarchical in the Person of the Pope whom they pretend to be the Vicar of Iesus Christ which infers Infallibility without which he were a dangerous Center of Vnity But wisely knowing that many of the Popes had but a very bad Faith if one might judge it by their Works and that they were so Fallible and Foolish to contradict one another and sometimes the Truth even Ex Cathedra they have dexterously turn'd about and Debased the Government of the Church into a Republick by subjecting the Pope to a General Council and making his Holiness Vicar of the Church instead of Vicar of Christ and by placing Infallibility in the Pope and Council Sect 62. Nor are they of One Opinion in this Main Point the Diocess of Rome and the Gallican Church have very different Notions of this matter which has been defined both ways in their General Councils which makes them shy of Declaring their Opinion in this knotty Case And if you ask your Priest he will hardly give you a plain Answer to it For first There has been no General Council since the Apostles time nor can be unless the Christian World were under one Emperour or some other means could be found to Summon All Nations and and to have their Representatives at the Assembly Those which are reputed General Councils are improperly called so not that the Whole Church was there even by Representation but because their Decrees being Orthodox were Generally Received What then shall we say to the Council of Trent where only some of the Pope's Servants and a very few Prelates from three or four Nations Decreed New Articles of Faith Is it not absurd to call it a General Council when England Ireland Scotland Denmark Sweden Muscovy most part of Germany and the Low-Countreys the Greek and Armeman Churches and many others neither had a Representative there nor could safely send one Sect 63. But secondly They are shy of fixing the Infallibility in Pope and Council because it will be enough to confound that Position to shew That a Pope and Council have Erred or that they have Contradicted one another for in that Case one must be in the wrong Sect 64. And I conceive your Loyalty will not suffer you to deny that Pope Innocent III. and the Council of Lateran Erred when they Decreed That Princes who did not Purge their Kingdoms of Heresie should be Deposed for this gives the Pope Power over Princes in Temporals which surely you will not approve of thô he put it in Practice very smartly against our King John and the Emperor Otho the Fourth Sect 65. Certainly Pope Liberius and the Council of Sirmium Err'd when they decreed Arrianism for the Council of Nice has decreed and all Christians I hope believe the contrary I suppose the Pope and Council of Lateran Erred in advancing the Pope above the Council if not the Popes and General Councils of
Ignorance and Obstinacy and if generally received would hinder all Conversion and all Discoveries of Truth for if it be Damnable to Doubt it is Damnable to Examine 'T is true 't is Damnable to Doubt the Veracity of GOD but 't is Sophistical to argue from hence that 't is Damnable to Doubt Indefinitely or particularly to Doubt whether This or That be the meaning of what GOD hath said It is indeed a sure way of keeping your Proselytes if you can perswade them to be so Stubborn as not to hearken to any Body else or so Bigotted as not to submit to Reason when they do hear it If my Country-men are of this sort 't is in vain to Reason with them they are not sui Juris any more than an Idiot under the Conduct of a Guardian but are in that case become helpless abandon'd to Spiritual Slavery and in great danger of Eternal Destruction and one has no more to say but Populus qui vult 〈…〉 Sect. 46. But because I have a better Opinion of them and that they will be so wise to assert their Natural Right of Using their Reason both in Examining and Choosing I proceed to ask If I should tell you That Popery is a Meer Artifice to Enrich and Aggrandize the Clergie at the Expence of the People That it has been your Ruine and drawn you into many Rebellions and Forfeitures and has prompted you to many Barbarities against your Friends and Country-Men That it has Ecclipsed your Understandings Debauch'd your Morals Impoverish'd your Families sophisticated your Religion Degenerated your Manners and in a Word has render'd you so stupid that thô you are the greatest Slaves to the most Arbitrary Tyrants that ever were in the World yet you tamely acquiesee and suffer your selves to be Insulted and Abus'd and thankfully Kiss the Spiritual Rod that Chastises you Sect 47. I say When I tell you this and the Priest tells you the contrary the Question will be Which of us should a wise Men believe Not the Priest sure 1. Because generally he is Vicious and Ignorant and knows little or nothing of the matter But 2dly and chiefly Because he speaks for his Profit his All is at stake Superstition is his great Diana and if the People forsake That he is undone On the contrary I have no other End or Profit by your Conversion but the Satisfaction of being an Instrument of Doing You Good and making you happy so that you cannot suspect my Sincerity However I don't desire to be Trusted Tbey who do Evil hate the Light but I desire to be brought to the Test I advise you to Examine and Consider what I say and I refer my Self to your own Experience and Observation for Matters of Fact and to the Scriptures Primitive Ages and Creeds for Matters of Faith Sect 48. If I say That your Church neglecting Piety makes it her Business to surport a Faction and enrich a Party Don't I prove it if I shew that she Encourages Superstition by equalling the Number of the Saints she worships to those of the Heathen Gods and like the Pagans assigning to one the Guardianship of Geese to another the Protection of Cattel and making a Third Tutelar of a Parish and a Fourth Patron of a Kingdom And by using fantastical Ceremonies more like the Orgies of Bacchus than the Plain Rites of the Primitive Church And if I shew that she encourages Rebellion by the Bulls of Gregory XIII and Clement VIII and those of later date by Urban VIII anno 1643. Granting a full Pardon of all Sins to the Irish Rebels and encouraging them to continue so and that she makes Disobedience to the Church a more hainous Crime than Disobedience to the Commands of GOD as the Priest found who was condemned for having a Wife but was absolved when he proved her his Concubine and as many of you find who more easily get Absolution for Stealing the Cow than for Eating the Flesh And if I shew that she prefers the Treasures of the Church before the Merits of her Saviour which she cannot esteem Infinite if the Former is made to supply the Defects of the Latter in Delivering Souls out of Purgatory Sect 49. And if to this you will add what Archbishop Spotswood has recorded That the Scots had a Dispensation to take the Oath of Supremacy provided they thought otherwise in their Hearts and kept in Communion with the Pope And if you will reflect on the Extravagance of Dispensations and Indulgences and the Doctrines of Equivocation and Probability you will easily perceive that Popery is very different from the Purity and Simplicity of the Gospel and advances Notions offensive to the Integrity of an Honest Man Sect 50. It is enough to make any wise Man Suspect and Examine Popery when he sees that almost every Article we differ in contributes something to the Honour or Profit of the Clergy but if besides this we can prove these Articles New or False sure then we have gain'd our Point Sect. 51. will try what I can do within the Narrow Compass of a Letter not thinking it for your Service to be more Prolix since few have the Leisure or Patience to read Volumes And those who are Inquisitive after Truth may be farther Informed in any Point they doubt of by some of our Learned Divines who are more than ever to be found in every Diocess of the Kingdom Sect 52. But first let us Examine the Foundation of your Religion as differing from ours and try what Grounds you have for that Supremacy and Infallibility you ascribe to the Pope for if that sinks the whole Fabrick will fall Bellarmine thinks the whole of Christianity depends upon it and therefore sure it should be well I think Infallibly proved but instead of that we are put off with Precarious Assumptions strain'd Arguments groundless Inferences Loose Conjectures and Sophistical Conclusions Sect 53. Your Grand Argument is That to preserve Unity and prevent Confusion A Papal Vicar and Infallible Iudge was appointed by our Saviour to determine Controversies and Govern the Church which is very absurd not only because our Saviour prophesied against this Unity and that There should be Schisms and Divisions in the Church and because there were many Heresies in the Primitive Times which must have been soon supprest if they had Then known of this Supremacy But because it is little less than Blasphemy to assert That an Infinite Wisdom should Institute Means so improper and ineffectual for Attaining the End design'd since the Person and Power of this Infallible Iudge is not at all or so obscurely described in Scripture that there is more difference even amongst Papists about this Previous Article than about all the rest Sect 54. But to proceed Since you are to make out your Title to the Iurisdiction you claim I desire your Priest to prove if he can First that Christ appointed any one Vicar or Pope to succeed him in the Supream Government of the Church
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