we remaine here in our earthly habitations imprisoned in our houses of clay as we cannot lift vp our heauy and drowsie eyes ād steddily fixe our dimme sight vpon the dazeling and indeed inuisible Deity nor entertaine an immediate communication with him like the childrē of Israel who desired that Moses not God might speake vnto them it was necessary that God himselfe should descend to some corporall substance that might be more familiar and lesse dazeling vnto vs And none was so conuenient as humane nature to the end that he might not onely conuerse freely and familiarly with vs and so in a gentle and a sweete manner teach vs what we should doe but also preach vnto vs by his example and himselfe be our leader in the way that he instructed vs to take The conclusion then of this discourse is that it was necessary Christ God and man should come into the world to teach vs what to belieue and what to doe 10. The tenth conclusion shall be that those vnto whom Christ did immediatly preach this faith and vnto whome he gaue commission to preach it vnto others and spread it through the world after he ascended to heauen ought to be belieued as firmely as he himselfe The reason of this assertion is that their doctrine though it be deliuered by secondary mouthes yet it proceedeth from the same fountaine which is God himselfe that is the prime verity and cannot deceiue nor be deceiued But all the difficulty here in is to know who had this immediate commission from Christ and by what seale we should discerne it to haue bin no forged one The solution of this ariseth out of the same argument which proueth that Christ himselfe was God and that the doctrine he taught was true and diuine which is the miracles and workes he did exceeding the power of nature and that could be effected by none but by God hmiselfe for he being truth it selfe cannot by any action immediatly proceeding from him witnesse and confirme à falsehoode In like manner the Apostles doing such admirable workes and miracles as nether by nature nor by art magicke could be brought to passe that must necessarily inferre God himselfe cooperated with them to iustifie what they sayd it is euidēt that their doctrine which was not their owne but receaued from Christ must be true and Diuine 11. Te eleauenth conclusion shall be that this faith thus taught by Christ and propagated by the Apostles and necessary to mankinde to belieue as well that part of it which is written as the whole which is not dependeth intrinsecally vpon the testimony of the Catholicke Church which is ordayned to conserue and deliuer it from age to age By which Catholike Church I meane the congregation of the faithfull that is spread through-out the whole world for we haue proued before that the way to the true faith ought to be open and playne to all men of all abilities and in all ages that haue a desire to embrace it and this cannot be but ether by the immediate preaching of Christ or else by the information ether in writing or by word of mouth of them that learned it from him and their deliuering it ouer to others and so from hand to hand vntill any particular tyme you will pitch vpon But from Christs owne mouth none could haue it but those who liued in the age when he did therfore there remaineth no other meanes to haue it deriued downe to after ages then by this deliuery ouer from hand to hand of the whole congregation of fathers or elders dispersed throughout the world to the whole congregation of sonnes or youngers which course of deducing faith from Christ we call tradition so that this conclusion proueth that the Church is the conseruer both of the whole doctrine of faith necessary for saluation and likewise of the diuine writ dictated by the Holy Ghost and written by the Prophetes Euangelists and Apostles which we are also bound to belieue And the same assent that we are to giue to the truth of Scriptures that is to say that the Scriptures we haue are true Scriptures the very same we are to giue to other articles of faith proposed vnto vs by the Church for they alike depend of the same authority which is the veracity of the Church proposing and deliuering thē vnto vs to be belieued And we may as well doubt that the Church hath corrupted the Scriptures as that she hath corrupted any article of fayth 12. The twelueth conclusion shall be that into the Catholike Church noe false doctrine in any age can be admitted or creepe in that is to say no false proposition whatsoeuer can euer be receiued and imbraced by the Catholike Church as a proposition of faith For whatsoeuer the Church beleeueth as a proposition of faith is vpon this ground that Christ taught it as such vnto the Church he planted himselfe and so it left it in truste to be by it deliuered ouer to the next age And the reason why the present Church belieueth any proposition to be of faith is because the immediate preceeding Church of the age before deliuered it as such And so you may driue it on frō age to age vntill you come to the Apostles and Christ. Therefore to haue any false proposition of faith admitted into the Church in any age doth Suppose that all they of that age must vnanimously conspire to deceiue their children and youngers telling them that they were taught by theire fathers to belieue as of faith some proposition which indeed they were not Which being impossible as it will euidently appeare to any prudent person that shall reasonably ponder the matter that so many men spread throughout the whole world so different in their particular interests and endes and of such various dispositions and natures should all agree together in the forgery of any precise lye it is impossible that any false doctrine should creepe into the Church But because the force of this argument may peraduenture not appeare at the first sight to your Ladyshipp that happily hath not had much occasion to make deepe reflection vpon the certainty that must needs be in the asseueration of any history of matter of fact subiect to the sense which shall be made by a great company of men so distant from one another and of such different interests and affections as they cannot conspire together in the forgery of a falsehood But that you may happily thinke since any one man is lyable to be deceiued or out of some indirect end may be iuduced to deceiue another it is also possible that a whole multitude of men be it neuer so great consisting of particular men may allso deceiue or be deceiued I will therefore for a further declaration of this matter propose for the thirteenth Conclusion that fayth thus deliuered is absolutly more certaine and infallible then any naturall science whatsoeuer And yet sciences are so certaine I meane such as depend of
whole world as would be requisite to extirpate and roote out a doctrine vniuersally spread ouer it all that was at the first taught and confirmed with such sâ—ales of truth as the miracles that Christ and the Apostles wrought that in it selfe is so pure and agreable to the seedes that euery man findeth sowed euen by nature in his owne soule that worketh such admirable effects as the reformation of manners in maÌ„kind that withdraweth mens affections from humane and wordly contentments and carryeth them with a sweete violence to intellectuall obiects and to hopes of immortality and happinesse in another life that prescribeth lawes for happy liuing euen in this world to all men of what condition soeuer ether publike or priuate as working a moderation in mens affections to the commodities and goods of this life which else in nature is apt to blinde mens mindes and is the cause of all michiefes and euills and lastly that is deliuered ouer from hand to hand from worlds of fathers to worlds of sonnes with such care and exactnesse as greater caÌ„not be imagined and as is requisite to the importance of that affaire which is infinitly beyond all others as on which the saluation and damnation of mankinde wholy dependeth Now vnto these rationall considerations let vs adde the promise which Christ made to his Church that the gates of hell should not preuaile against it and I thinke we haue sufficiently maintained that the Church of Christ in which the true doctrine of Christ is conserued can neuer faile but must infallibly continue vntill the worlds end Thus hauing proued that a supernaturall doctrine is necessary to bring mankind to beatitude that Christ taught this doctrine that from him the Churh receaued it and is the sacrary in which it is coÌ„serued that this Church cannot erre in the tradition of this doctrine that besides the infallibility of it this Church is perpetuall It remaineth now that we close vp this discourse by applying all these premisses vnto the question in hand which is where we shall find out this infallible Church that by it we may gaine the knowledge of the true faith of Christ whereby we are to be saued 16. For this end our sixteenth and last conclusion shall be that the congregation of men spred ouer the world ioyning in communion with the Church of Rome is the true Catholike Church in which is conserued and taught the true sauing faith of Christ. The truth of this conclusion will without bringing any new proofes appeare euideÌ„tly by reflecting vpon what we haue sayed and onely examining whether the Romane Church be such a one as we haue determined the true Church of Christ must be or whether the notes which me may inferre out of our discourse to belong inseparably to the true Church may not rather with more reason be acknowledged of some other then of that in coÌ„munion with the see of Rome this point after these groundes layed requireth no very subtill disquisition but is discernable euen by the weakest sights and therefore this way of arguing appeareth to me most satisfactory and contentfull when taking the whole body of the question into suruey and beginning with the first and remotest considerations of it we driue the difficulties still before vs and pursuing of them orderly at euery steppe we establish a solide principle and so become secure of the truth and certainty of all we leaue behind vs which course although it may at the first sight appeare to be a great way about and looking but superficially vpon the matter we may seeme to meete with difficulties which coÌ„cerne not our question yet in the effect we shall perceiue it is the most summary method of handling any controuersie and the onely meanes to be secured of the truth of what we conclude and that will recompense the precedent difficulties by making the conclusion which is the knotte of the affayre plaine easy and open I say then first that vnity of doctrine in matters of faith is inseparable from the Romane Church and can neuer be found in any other it onely hauing a precise aÌ„d determinate rule of faith For it hath belieued in euery age all that hath bin plainely aÌ„d positiuely taught vnto it by theire fathers as the doctrine of faith deriued from Christ and admitteth noe other article whatsoeuer as an article of faith Whereas on the other side all other Christian Churches amoÌ„g vs that pretend reformation haueing no certaine and common rule of faith but euery particular man gouerning himselfe in this matter by the collections of his owne braine and by his owne priuate vnderstanding and interpretation of Scripture which onely he acknowledgeth as the entire rule of faith it must consequently follow that according to the variety of their tempers and iudgemeÌ„ts there must be a variety and difference of their opinions and beliefes which difference of temper happening for the most part betweene euery two men that are it likewise followeth scarse any two should in all particulars of their opinions agree together And accordingly we see by experience that scarce any two authors out of the Romane Church that haue written of matters of faith haue agreed in their tenets but rather haue dissented in fundamentall doctrine and haue inueighed against one another in their writings with great vehemence and bitternesse Whereas on the other side the Doctors of the Romane Church in all tymes in all places and of all tempers haue agreed vnanimously in all matters of faith although in the meane tyme seuerall of them haue in diuers other points great debates against one another and pursue them with much sharpnesse which strongly confirmeth the ground vpon which we frame this obseruation But to insist a little further vpon this materiall and important consideration it is euident that the proceeding of the reformers openeth the gate to all dissention schisme irreuerence pride of vnderstanding heresie and ruine of Christian religion for to iustify the new births of their rebellions braines the first stroke of their pen must be to lay a taint of ignorance and error vpon the whole current of Ancient fathers and Doctours of the Church and generall Councells and to blast their authority which is so precisely contrary to their doctrine whose names and recordes ought to be sacred with posterity Which when they haue done to settle a coÌ„stant and like beliefe in all men they giue noe generall and certayne rule but leauing euery man to the Dictamens of his owne priuate iudgement according to the seuerall tempers and circumstances as we sayd before that sway euery single man in particular there must result which we see by experience as great a variety of opinions as those are different And lastly since they quarell at Catholickes beliefe in those points where they differ from them because they captiuate their vnderstandings with reuerence to what the Church proposeth and teacheth and thereby admitt into their beliefe articles which may seeme absurd to common sense
goodnesse of God to permitt those persons that most affectionatly seeke him and who for his sake out of pure deuotion and desire of contemplating truth doe abridge themselues of all other wordly contentmeÌ„ts to haue theyr vnderstandings worse blynded with false doctrine then other men that seeke him more coldly and care lesse for him and to haue their wills more depraued then theirs with erroneous and false deuotion as of necessity it would follow theyrs were if the doctrine that the Catholicke Church professeth were not true and the holy Ghost resided not in it to worke those effects Now on the contrary part lett vs make a short inquiry whether it be probable that the late pretended reformers haue beene illuminated by God in an extraordinary manner to discouer truth which they say hath for many ages layen hidd Surely if any such thing were they would haue expressed in they re manner of life by some extraordinary sanctity and excellent actions and supernaturall wisedome that extraordinary coÌ„munication which they would persuade vs they had with the diuinity For as by a radiant beame of light shining in at the chinke of a window wee know assuredly the sunne beateth vpon it although we see not his body soe likewise there should haue broken out froÌ„ them some admirable and excellent effect whereby wee might rest confident that the diuine sunne illuminated theire vnderstanding and enflamed they re will Moyses when hee came downe from the mountayne where hee soe long conuersed with God expressed euen by the luster glittering from his face that it was not an ordinary or naturall light which had shined vnto him the Apostles when they were replenished with the holy Ghost receiued immediatly the guift of tongues and a cleere intelligence of all the Scriptures whereby they made cleare vnto the auditors the obscurest passages of them and continually wrought miracles and all those that euer since them haue introduced the Gospell into any country where formerly it was not receaued haue still had thyre commission auctorised by the same seales and shall our late particular Reformers be credited in theyr pretended vocation and in theyr new doctrine that shaketh the very foundations of the faith that hath beene by the whole Christian world for soe many ages belieued and deliuered ouer from hand to hand when as nothing appeareth in them supernaturall and proceeding from a diuine cause This Madame is as much as I shall trouble your La withall vpon this occasion which indeed is much more then at the first I intended or could haue suspected my pen would haue stollen from mee The substance of all which may be summed vp and reduced to this following short question namely whether in the election of the faith whereby you hope to be saued you will be guided by the vnanimous consent of the wisest the learnedst aÌ„d the piousest men of the whole world that haue bene instructed in what they belieue by men of the like quality liuing in the age before them and soe from age to age vntill the Apostles and Christ and that in this manner haue deriued from that fountayne both a perfect aÌ„d full knowledge of all that ought to be belieued and likewise a right vnderstaÌ„ding and interpretation of the Scriptures as farr as concerneth faith the true sense of which so farr is alsoe deliuered ouer by the same tradition Or whether you wil assent vnto the new and wrested interpretations of places of Scripture made by late men that rely meerely vpon theire single iudgement and witt too slight a barcke to sayle in through soe immense an Ocean and whose chiefe leaders for humane respects and sinister ends not to say worse of them made a desperate defection from the other maine body since which tyme noe two of them haue agreed in doctrine and among whom it is impossible your ladyshipps greate iudgement and strong vnderstanding should finde any solide stay to repose securely vpon and to quiett all those rationall doubts that your perceing wit suggesteth vnto you And here Madame I shall make an end haeâ—ing sincerily and as succinctly and playnely as I can deliuered you the chiefe considerations that in this affayre turned the scale of the balance with mee which in good faith I haue done with all the simplicity and ingenuity that I can expresse my sense with being not at all warmed with any passion or partiality nor raysed out of my eueÌ„ pitch and temper with any spirit of disputation or siding humor which few haue auoyded vpon this subiect but I haue giuen you a true picture of my seriousest and saddest thoughts and resolutions to my selfe in this most important busynesse wherein you will belieue I would take the greatest paines I was able to be sure not to be deceiued I haue not sought to show wittinesse or acutenesse of learning in the debating of these points or haue affected polished langage in the committing them to paper for this matter should not be handled for oftentation but for vse and though peradueÌ„ture if this discourse should fall into the view of some learned man hee may at the first sight sett but a slight valew vpon it yett I perswade my selfe whosoeuer he be if hee will ponder it seriously and leasurely and with a like interior recollectioÌ„ as I at the first setled the grounds of it in my owne soule he will then finde it toucheth the life of the matter and though I haue not deliured my conceptions smoothly and well yett hee will not thinke his tyme lost in reading them and hauing stronger parts then I hee will make cleerer vse of them then I haue done This I am sure of that allthough I haue sett this downe for your La in 2. or 3. dayes for it is noe longer since you commanded me to doe it yet it is the production and result of many howers meditations by my selfe or rather of some yeares and how drye soeuer they may appeare to your La at the first yet I dare promise you that vpon your secoÌ„d and third readings and reflexions vpon them they will gaine more credit with you and you will I know by such application of your thoughts vpon them enlarge and refine what dependeth of the maine heads far beyond any thing I haue sayd For such is the nature of notions that are wrought like the silke wormes ball of ones owne substance they afford fine and strong threads for a good workman to weaue into a fayre peece of stuffe whereas they that like bees doe gather hony from seuerall authors or that like Aunts doe make vp their store by what they picke vp in the originall crude substance from others labours may peraduenture in their workes seeme more pleasant at the first taste or appeare to haue a fayrer heape at the first view but the others webb is more vsefull more substantiall and more durable I beseech God of his grace and goodnesse in this life to enlighten your La vnderstanding that you may discerne truth and to dispose your will that you may imbrace it and in the next to giue you part among those glorious Apostles Fathers Doctors and Martyrs that deriuing the same truth from him haue from hand to hand deliuered it ouer to our tymes FINIS