Spouse of Christ always young and beautifull without spot or blemish This is the Language of the Popish Church who calls herself fair beautifull tho it be the most hideous deformed Society that bears the Christian name and calls herself Infallible in the midst of numberless Errors which make a Night of darkness wherein she hides herself IV. 'T is the Enemy of God of his Religion and his H. Word that endeavours not a conformity to the rules he hath given in his Word making to themselves another word of God which they call Tradition which is altogether and directly opposite to the true Word of God. Vnder pretence of making use of the H. Scripture they wretchedly abuse and wrest it Applying Scripture to all their false and foolish Mysteries without either reason or Conscience and by ridiculous and impious applications of Scripture exposing it to the derision of the Profane to the contempt and scorn of Infidels They maim and curtail it and impudently falsifie and pervert it and lest all this be not enough they speak as ill things of it as can be said of any book This Book they say is Imperfect 't is obscure 't is full of snares 't is the source of Heresies it abounds with Contradictions it contains an hundred things whose out side is proper to scandalize the weak it is insufficient one half of it is lost it hath no authority without the Church any more than the History of Titus Livius Lastly the Papacy makes use of the Scripture as if it were its own they abrogate the Laws of God laid down in the Scripture they grant dispensation contrary to those Laws they command that which the H. Scripture forbids and forbid that which it enjoyns and to make it evident that the Papacy is indeed the Enemy of God it always stands upon its guard to resist the force of Scripture defend themselves against the word of God by their Distinctions V. 'T is a Prodigy of Filthiness and Impurity whereas Christianity should be a Miracle of Holiness The Head of that Religion hath discovered such a train of Impieties and disorders that for enormity or continuance the like hath never been seen Some of their Popes have been seen wallowing in the pollutions of the flesh in drunkenness and all manner of filthiness and debauchery not only as to women but even Sodomy and Brutality and the most unnatural Lusts Some of 'em have been Magicians and Sorcerers Some have been seen who were Profane Atheistical without God without Religion bathing themselves in Blood Assassins Poisoners Murderers Traitors and oftentimes putting the whole world in a flame Their Priests and Ministers have been seen plung'd into the same disorders following the Example of their Head and treading in the steps of their Leader Ignorant Impious debaucht neglecting the service of God and intent only on their dishonest gain and fleshly Lusts Their Convents of men and women which they call Retirements from the world and little forts and castles of Holiness these I say have been observed to be as bad as the most infamous places of prostitution for all manner of debauchery Lastly their People also were carried away with this fearfull Torrent of corruption having lost the Spirit and power of Religion and retained nothing of Christianity but the name All this may be seen in the history of former ages VI. 'T is a Prodigy of Pride all whose doctrine Theology and Religion is proud and tends to destroy that Spirit of Humility which is the Spirit of the Gospel Pride discovers it self every where in the Papacy in its actions conduct words outside and inside It speaks loftily and magnificently of it self boasting that she is the only Body of J. Christ the only way to Heaven treating all other Communions as Heretical Sects Schismaticks Reprobates Damned Excommunicate as people that deserve to be condemned to the Fire and to be burnt in both worlds The Head of the Papacy is a monster of Pride who as God sits in the Temple of God who gives out his orders as if they were Oracles who makes himself be plac't upon the Altar and there to be worshipt who makes Kings and Emperors kiss his feet and will be carried on the shoulders of Nobles and great Men who holds the Keys of Hell of death and of Paradise in his hand who pretends to the Right of deposing Kings giving away their Crowns who will have homage paid him by all Christians who will be called God upon Earth his Holiness and the Holy Lord Who saith he is the Sun of the world and that all other Princes are but as the Moon and Stars His Ministers under him are Earthy Princes who will not give place to Soveraigns The meanest of their Priests exalt themselves above all other men and crowned Heads must kneel at their feet in Confession and they magisterially give sentence concerning the Eternal Life or Death of men VII 'T is a Merchandise a Trade of forgery lying covetousness and deceit The Papacy by innumerable unrighteous methods hath gained prodigious wealth not only in money and moveables but in lands not only in Lands but in Cities not only Cities but Provinces not particular Provinces only but whole Kingdoms It hath then pillaged and cheated the world and therfore is the worse of the two and by this means hath acquired extraordinary Riches to maintain and augment their abundance every thing in the Papacy is exposed to sale Offices Benefices Churches Sacraments Sins Adultery Incest Murder Parricide Sodomy Brutality and dispensations for any for every thing Paradise and God himself are to be sold but 't is their unhappiness not to be able to deliver 'em into the possession of the Purchasers VIII 'T is a great and vast Body which hath the Spirit of Impurity and Reprobation as a soul to animate it And these imprue Spirits come forth out of the mouth of the Papacy as so many frogs These unclean Spirits are diffused by the mouth of their Schoolmen who amuse the world with a silly obscure and bold Theology by the mouth of their Canonists who have given the Christian World such rules and laws as are obscene wicked and impure and filled volumes with their decisions of Cases full of absurdities extravagant and contradictory stuft with pride and filthiness of all sorts by the mouth of their Casuists and directers of Conscience who have vended such Morals that Pagans would be ashamed of who make nothing of the vilest Crimes and lay men under no obligation to love God who permit men to kill to steal to eommit adultery fornication and any other wichedness only as inconsiderable Venial Faults by the mouth of their Legendaries who have compiled an heap of frightfull and silthy Fables by the mouth of their Masters of Devotion who direct the People to pay that Honour to Saints and Angels which is due only unto God and speak such things in the praise of the Creature which are
plain Blasphemies against the Creator by the mouth of their Missionarics and Preachers who preach to the people a Ridiculous and profane Gospel made up of impertinent Fables and absurd stories most unbecoming expressions and vile comparisons foolish and unworthy subjects and the whole accompanied with trifling and Mimical gestures with an air suited to a Farce or Comedy rather than a Sermon IX 'T is a prodigious heap of Superstitions which are criminal and Idolatrous in the plainest and most simple use of 'em but in their Abuse are the most extravagant Idolatry that can be named according to which the most proper Divine Adoration is given to a Creature making the Virgin to be the Queen of Heaven and of the rest of the World the Salvation of mankind the Redeemer of the World the distributer of all saving Grace the Goddess the Divinity of Men and Angels the Completion and Perfection of the Trinity and so in proportion to all the other Saints Male and Female X. 'T is real Paganism reviv'd wherein besides the great God of Heaven and Earth the Great Jupiter most good and most great they worship innumerable inferior and subordinate Deities A Queen of the World Spirits separated from matter Mediators between God and Men good Demons and Genius's who perserve and take care of men and watch over ' em They likewise worship as the ancient Pagans did the Souls of dead men they build Temples and consecrate Altars to 'em and offer Sacrisices to their Honour they put themselves under their protection they establish them to be Patrons of Kingdoms and Cities and Families and particulier Persons insomuch that Juda had as many Gods as Towns. In this new Paganism they worship the Reliques of the Dead their Bones their Askes their Garments their Shirts their Shoes and their old Rags They worship also Images and Pictures as the ancient Pagans did And this worship is such in all the parts of it as besides its agreement with Heathenism is not at all Spiritual or Rational made up of Ceremonies that are carnal corporal and vain apish and foolish postures signs of the Cross Holy and lustral Waters Temples and Altars adorn'd with magnificence and pomp grimaces and wry faces and gesticulations of a Priest round about the Altar turning about now to the right hand and then to the left sometimes speaking and then on a sudden silent now thundering with a loud voice and presently after muttering somewhat between his teeth one while reading another while speaking without Book and always saying that which is not understood by the common People This is the goodly worship of Popery and must pass for Divine service tho without spirituality or reason XI 'T is a Religion animated throughout by a spirit of Lying and founded and supported by Fabâ—es Their Invocation of Saints Adoration of the Virgin Purgatory Sacrifice of the Mass Adoration of the Sacrament and all their other Superstitions are built upon a fabulous Gospel but framed by a spirit of Lying so gross and palpable that the least measure of sincerity would be enough to make a man blush and be asham'd of 'em They are meer Romances and stuft with Ribaldry and Filthiness The Romance of the Virgin is more ridiculous than that of S. Rose The Lives of their Saints do paint'em out as a Company of Fools Fanaticks and Bedlams with a vast multitude of frightful Miracles the number whereof is sufficient of it self to contradict the truth and overthrow the Authority of 'em But for the most part they are such as are mean and trifling sottish and ridiculous unworthy of the Grandeur and Majesty of God Miracles wrought on purpose to prove the Holiness of some little Monk that after his decease Temples may be built in honour of his memory and he may be worshipt as a God or to introduce and encourage the worship of a piece of Bread of Wood or of Stone and none of 'em to promote the worship of God. XII 'T is a cruel Master who hath teeth of steel and nailes of Diamant that tears and devours what he can and treads under foot the remainder He establishes his Kingdom under the name of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ with Fire and Sword destroying all that stoops not to him overturning Cities and Kingdoms making whole Provinces to be so many burying places and large Cities to be ruinous heaps inflaming Europe with Wars and destroying Germany and Italy by that means arming the Father against the Son and Children against their Parents Subjects against their Prince and Princes against their Subjects causing the most horrible Massacres and covering the Earth with Human Blood. He erects Gibbets prepares Scaffolds kindles Fires to hang behead and burn those that resist him and not content to take away their lives would destroy their Honour and Reputation likewise by imputing such opinions to 'em as they abhor making them to pass for the Enemies of God and of the Saints charging them as Hereticks Arrians Photinians Mamenees and as believing the most horrible Doctrines accusing them of Incests and Promiscuous Impurities in their night meetings to worship God putting on them the Skins of Bears and wild Beasts and exposing them to publick Execution in the view of the multitude as the worst of men XIII Lastly 't is a cruel Tyrant which for many Ages hath enjoyed a profound Peace and the utmost of temporal Felicity without any interruption save by the troubles it hath given unto others and the cruel Wars it hath raised against the Innocent If at any time it hath met with any check or opposition it hath given a great deal more to the peace of others for at length it hath subdued and overcome all its Enemies and by violence stopt the mouth of all its Adversaries The Emperors after long and cruel commotions have at last stoopt to the feet of this Tyrant Insomuch that this Strumpet glories in her victories saying This is Babylon the great that I have built by the greatness of my power and who can resist the force of it She hath brought all Opposers under the yoke and peaceably enjoyed her richess and rapines her pleasures and her Crimes She hath said to her Soul Eat drink and be merry thou hast goods laid up for many years She had added to these riches from time to time and the Soul of this wicked Miscreant is not yet required of her so that She hath enjoyed all the fruits of her Iniquities without seeing sorrow and all the desires of her Eyes without knowing Trouble Behold the true Picture of the Papacy if any think it is more deformed and more horrid than it ought to be represented let him but have patience till he hath perused this Book and he shall find all these Characters made good by Historical proofs against which nothing that is solid and reasonable can be objected I have here performed that which I long ago promised viz. to give an Extract or Abridgment of my Book
that this occasion'd the revolt of Zuinglius and Luther and disposed the spirits of the people to separate from a Clergy that was guilty of such dismal Disorders Besides we have the Confessions of the Papists of the same Age of Pope Adrian VI. of Cornelius Musse Bishop of Bitonto who in the midst of the Council of Trent said That there was no Filthyness how monstrous soever no Villany no Impurity with which the People and Clergy were not defiled We have the Testimony of the famous Mantuan and of the learned Espensaus who make such dismal and affrighting descriptions of the manners of the Roman City and Church in general that one cannot forbear trembling as he reads them After this we need not the testimony of the Lutherans and of the Hundred Grievances which were drawn up at the Diet of Norimberg 1522. wherein the Abominations of the Clergy of that time are set down with exact Fidelity The Priests and Monks have always been guilty of the greatest Corruption Observe I pray you that this dismal Corruption of Manners in all the Ages which we have been mentioning hath always been charged more particularly on the Clergy than on the People And this is a sensible Character of Antichristianism that is found in the Papacy We know that the Clergy and Monks are the principal Members of the Papacy its Spirit and Soul resides in them so that if Popery were Christianity the spirit of this later would be found in these two Orders of men we should perceive some marks of the Christian Religion to shine forth in them But by a righteous Judgment God hath permitted them to contract the very greatest corruption to convince those whom God will save that the Papal Empire cannot be the Kingdom of J. Christ The Corruption of the Priests Monks and Nuns hath always been worse than that of the Laity that so it might appear that the farther a man goes in Popery the more he partakes of the spirit of Antichrist We may view over again Alvares Pelagius Petrach Nicholas de Clemangis Fasciculus Temporum and add to them Walter Mapes an English Doctor Arnold de Villâ novâ Leonard Aretine and an infinite number of others and we shall see that their most bitter Invectives the lively Descriptions and affrighting Representations of the Corruption they speak of do principally relate to the Court of Rome the Priests the Clergy the Monks and Nuns This is not a matter that needs to be proved 'T is notorious even in our dayes for all who have had a mind to collect filthy and obscene stories even among the Papists themselves scarce relate any thing besides the enormous Crimes of the Priests and Monks this hath made the Name of a Fryar odious and the Proverbs which are in use among the vulgar make these the Instances of impurity such a one they say is Lazy fat and leacherous as a Friar Hence those who write Satyrs fall especially on the Monks as may be seen in the writings of Rablais and the Apologie for Herodotus Nor are they only obscure writers who have attacht them with violence The Bishop of Bellay in the present age hath omitted nothing that might make them odious And yet not one passage in him can be cited where he hath spoken without truth Consequences that ought to be drawn from â—â—nâ—e Here I conjure those who have any care of their own salvation to bestow their attention on this subject For in my judgment 't is the most proper to awaken those who have not quite lost even Common sense How can it possibly enter into the mind of any man that the only true Church should be found in a Society which for eight hundred years together hath been guilty of so abominable a corruption of manners that that of the Heathens has not equall'd it I grant indeed that we may find in Heathen History some passages as dismal as those which are seen in the History of the Papacy But I am bold to say that we cannot find such a long series of Villanies and abominable Practices so long continued For about a thousand years a Church is made up of Drunkards Whoremongers Incestuous Wizzards Magicians Sodomites Luxurious Unclean Wretches without Shame without Virtue without Modesty without Bounds without Masque These are the main body and community there are scarce honest men enough to complain of the Disorders of the rest A man I say must be resolved to damn himself in cool Blood if he digests this Absurdity and is persuaded that 't is possible for Jesus Christ to abandon his true Church at this rate and suffer her to sink into such a Corruption What can be replyd to this The Vanity of the Papists excuses 'T will perhaps be reply'd that in all Ages of the Church the H. Fathers have complain'd of Corruption of Manners and that we must not condemn the whole for the Faults of some particular men But 't is an intolerable Affront to the Primitive Church to make the Comparison between some Disorders that the Fathers complain'd of and the horrid Enormities of the Papacy At least the Clergy of those times complain'd therefore they were not guilty of the Disorders that they reproacht in others Some will say That there were great Corruptions sometimes in the people of Israel which was the only people of God. 'T is true but then they did not last so long God never sufferd this people to persevere constantly for seven or eight Ages in the Vices of the Heathen and in the Abominations which they borrowed from the Gentiles 'T is sayd that however these Disorders are past and that we cannot any longer justly charge the Church of Rome with them But First if this were true it doth not contradict the Truth of what I have alledg'd 'T is a certain Truth that the Church of Rome for seven or eight Ages was sunk into this extreme Corruption And I say it over again There is none who retains any Liberty of Mind who can possibly believe that the true Church could lye under this dismal Infamy for so long a time thro the permission of God. But besides where is this Reformation of Manners which they so much glory in In all the Countreys where there are no Protestants to inspect the Deportment and Manners of the Papists things are almost at the same pass We have Historians Travellors and Writers of Travells who tell us that in Italy and Spain Convents are places of Prostitution the Monks are employ'd to execute the worst of Villanies and the Priests are the most notorious Pimps We may consult A Relation of the Commonwealth of Venice writ by M. de S. Didier a Papist and a thousand other Books that are in every ones hands 'T is true in some Countries the outside is somewhat alter'd especially in France where for these twenty years past the Court being set upon the design of Reunion hath judg'd it necessary in order to gain the Protestants
we call Avarice and Simony is an honest and lawful means to support the honour and the Majesty of the Church CHAPTER XII The Eighth Character of Antichristianism which agrees to the Papacy The Spirit of Impurity and Reprobation IN the 16th Chapter of the Revelations we have an admirable Character of Antichristianism and a very plain and evident one where He speaks of three unclean Spirits coming out of the mouth of the Dragon of the Beast and the False Prophet V. 13. And I saw three unclean spirits like Frogs come out of the Mouth of the Dragon and out of the Mouth of the beast and out of the Mouth of the false Prophet V. 14. For they are the Spirits of Devils working Miracles which go forth unto the Kings of the Earth and of the whole World to gather them to the battel of that great day of God Almighty V. 15. And he gatherd them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon The Spirits coming out of the Mouth of the Dragon are his words I cannot think that any man who will consider without prejudice the interpretation we have given of this Oracle in our Accomplishment of Prophecies can doubt of the truth of it 'T is manifest that those Spirits coming out of the mouth must be understood of words for so words are exprest in a figurative stile in the H. Scripture The Spirits therfore which come out of the mouth of the Dragon the Beast and the False Prophet are doubtless the Words Laws and Doctrine of Antichrist And termed Vnclean Spirits because of the Impiety Folly Extravagance and Character of Reprobation which is to be apparent in those Laws and in that Doctrine of Antichrist Let us see whether this agree to the Papacy whether their words be not impious and impure extravagant and foolish and bear the marks of a Reprobate Spirit We must look for this in the words of Antichristianism that is what hath been said and taught by those who have liv'd in the Antichristian Kingdom in one word by the Doctors of the Church of Rome They are of several ranks and degrees Schoolmen Canonists Legendaries Preachers Casuists and the Authors of Mystical Theology Devotion and Controversy If we examin the words of all those different Authors we shall find in 'em the Characters of these impure and diabolical Spirits which come out of the mouth of the Dragon the Beast and the False Prophet The Impurity of the Schoolmen In the first rank are the Schoolmen a sort of Doctors who started up in the twelvth Century when the Devil had just compleated the Antichristian Monarchy and made up the confused mass of Errors and Superstitions which belong to Antichrist the Beast spake and innumerable lying Doctors appear'd under his Authority to abuse the People and continue them in the darkness of Ignorance The Patriarchs of this kind of Doctors who gave rise to this Monstrous Theology were Lombard whom they call the Master of the Sentences Albertus Magnus Abelardus and Thomas Aquinas The H. Scripture was buried in oblivion Aristotle succeeded in the place of S. Paul and a barbarous Philosophy brought forth a Divinity that was much more barbarous What is this Divinity of the Papists 'T is a black and gloomy science rising from the Bottomless Pit cover'd with Clouds and Darkness 'T is a Dedalus an inextricable Labyrinth which the wisest of mankind can never unriddle 'T is a dark and confused Chaos where a very little of that which is good is buried under a great deal of that which is otherwise 'T is a new and barbarous Language invented to astonish and confound the simple where they talk of nothing else but Quiddities and Entities Formalities and Modalities Hecceities and Identities Categoricks and Syncategoricks and a thousand such like things good for nothing but to darken the minds of men and hinder the light of Truth by an infinity of trifling unintelligble distinctions 'T is an Heap of frivolous Questions knotty impenetrable obscure and oftentimes blasphemous In this Scholastick Divinity they gravely inquire whether God can seperate a Relation from its subject whether the Body of J. Christ could be in the Eucharist before his Incarnation whether God could become a Woman whether this Proposition God is a snail or a pumkin be as possible as this God is man whether God could command all sorts of Crimes even the Haâ—red of himself and the Hypocrisie and Dissimulation of all good Actions even in his own Service whether numeral words do add any thing real to the Divinity whether the number of divine Persons ought to belong to first or to second Intentions whether this Proposition God the Father hates his Son be possible or no whether the second person of the Trinity might not have been united to a Devill to a Stone to a Plant to an Asse and if that be supposed how the Stone or Plant could have been crucified have preacht and wrought Miracles c. In all this one may plainly perceive an Impure and Reprobate Spirit and the unclean spirits which come out of the mouth of the false Prophet There is none of the Christian Mysteries but they have polluted and blemisht by their bold Questions that of the Trinity of the Incarnation of the Divine Nature and Providence And tho of late they are a little come off from that way there yet remains so much of it as is sufficient to discover this character of Antichristianism The Errors and Superstitions and Idolatries of Popery are concealed and cloak't under the niceties and darkness of this Divinity 'T is this that hath coin'd those numberless distinctions which are so many Subterfuges where error and Idolatry secure themselves when we attempt to discover ' em 'T is to this Theology that we owe those famous terms of worship absolute and relative Dulia Latria and Hyperdulia of Transubstantiation Concomitance and an hundred others like these Impurities of the Canonists The Canonists are another kind of the Mouths wherby the Dragon the Beast and the False Prophet do speak their words likewise have the Character of unclean and diabolical Spirits Burchard Bishop of Wormes Albertus Abbot of Gemblour Anselme Bishop of Lucca Ives Bishop of Chartres Gratian a Benedictine Monk of Bologna Raimond of Penna Fortè were the principal Composers of the Papal Laws and of those Decrees of the Papacy the body whereof makes up the Canon Law and they are in truth the unclean and diabolical spirits which come out to deceive the Kings of the Earth and to gather them together in battell against God in the place of Armageddon and that under the bond and tye of Excommunication It may be said truly that there is no Folly Filthiness Extravagance or Blasphemy which is not to be found in these Authors of the Canon Law. In one place we read that a Community of Wives is a very good thing and that Plato who would have introduc't it was the wisest of all
others calls her at every foot Diva i. e. Goddesse My Goddesse the Iesuite Iames du Iardin The Iesuite Rapin who is now living famous for his Writings in prose and verse saith of her Diva quam rebus trepidis benignam Lipsius calls our Lady of Hall Dea Hallensis the Goddesse of Hall. These are Poets you 'le say therefore that none may lay the blame of such language on the license of Poesy we must know that Philip Berâ—ald Ambrose Catharini Cardinal Bembo in their prose call her by the same Name of Goddess Bernardin de Bustis Antonin Archbishop of Florence would have her styl'd Dea dearum the Goddess of Goddesses Now these Goddesses over whom the Virgin presides are all the Saints of Heaven And thus we have as many female deities as there are Canonized Women in the Calender They do not only style the Virgin a Goddess but prove her to be so and take their Arguments from this That there is an infinite difference Between Her and Her Servants even as there is an infinite difference between God and his Worshippers and from this Viridarium Viepas Alanus de Rupe Alexis de Salo. That we may measure the divine Greatness by the Greatness of the Virgin and from this That she is the most noble chamber of the most H. Trinity and from this that God sayd to Her Thou shalt be changed into me and again from this that besides a being of Glory and Grace she hath esse dei the Being of God and lastly from this that God is not only in Her by his Grace but in the way of identity i. e. is become one with her Viridarium Pelbatt Binet Alexis de Salo. If the Virgin be a Goddess and all the other Shee-saints be inferior Goddesses and consequently all the Men-saints be inferior Gods it must not be doubted that all our good things come from them both At this rate these devout Gentlemen speak Bernardin Stellarium No favour comes down from God to us but thro the hands of the B. Virgin. The Virgin is the Queen-regent of Paradise the Country of Grace and Mercy The Treasures of the H. Spirit were given her as her dowry and Paradise as her Portion Therefore all the Gates of Heaven are at her devotion 'T is thro her hands that all the Happiness which Heaven lets Fall into our soules doth pass She is the Lady-Treasurer of Heaven the dispenser of all the Gifts of God She is the Neck thro which Iesus Christ sends down all spirituall sense and motion unto his Church Methodius Ozotius Albett Biblia Mariae She ruleth over Earth Heaven and Hell. She is the high and mighty Princess of the heavenly Potentates She is universal Queen A Queen seven ways for she hath seven Kingdoms The most important Affairs of the Trinity pass thro her hands Alanus de Rupe so that all the Citizens of Heaven the inhabitants of Earth the Souls in purgatory nay in Hell Antonin Biel. do acknowledge her as their Mistress and humbly bow the Knee before Her. J. Gerson The Angels are the souldiers of the Virgin. Missels She saith to one Go and to another Come Hymns She turns about the Heavens giveth light to the Sun Methode and governs the World. Her dominion is vast Admirable for she not only commands the Creatures but even God himself as being his Mother She hath a power over her Son Bonaventure founded upon a better right than that of other Mothers Lvo Carnet For our Saviour hath a greater Obligation to the Virgin Mary Salmeron than other Children have to their Mothers She hath requited God for all that she received of him Conformities She hath discharged herself by way of retribution yea she hath requited God for all that we receive from him Carolus 'T is true Scribanius we are Debtors to God but as for the Virgin God is a Debtor to her for the Virgin hath done more or as much for God as God hath done for mankind Iesus Christ by imitating the Virtues of Mary discharged his Office of Saviour The Virgin together with her Son is the cause of the Creation of the World 't is for her and for him that God created the whole universe All believers are elected and predestinated thro the Virgin. She is the Book of Life She merited to be the mother of God and to be the Mother of all Mankind Every thing that is spiritual flowes from Iesus as the Father and from Mary as the Mother of it She is more merciful to Sinners that Iesus Christ 'T is not possible that those should be saved from whom Mary turns away the eyes of her Mercy and 't is absolutely necessary that those should be justifyed toward whom she turns her Eyes 'T is against her alone that we sin If a man finds himself prosecuted by the justice of God he may appeal to the Virgin. The Mothers Mercy hath often saved thâ—se whom the Son hath a mind to damn one condemned by the Son is saved by the Mother If a man were in Hell the Virgin is able to fetch him out Every body hath heard of the Red Ladder and the White Ladder the Red is that of J. Christ the White is that of the Virgin. All those who had a mind to go up by the Ladder of J. Christ were tumbled down from the top to the bottom and all those who went up by the Ladder of the Virgin got into Paradise 'T is the Virgin that gave her Son to men and sacrificed him for them She offerd him by agreement with the Father and by conformity to the Son and thus offering him for all she hath procur'd the salvation of all The Clients of the Virgin represent themselves as in suspence between the Son and the Mother between the Milk and the Blood not knowing which way to turn 'T is easy to conclude what kind of worship ought to be given to one that is and doth so many things Therefore they say that the Invocation of the Virgin Salazar Binet Coster Alexis Vasques is of absolute necessity and that those who pray not to her are as bad as those who blaspheme her They beg of her in express terms whatever is desir'd from God Heaven Pardon of Sin Grace Repentance Victory over the Devil F. Sufften Viridarium Crasser 'T is not enough to pray to the Virgin you must adore her every knee must bow to her adoring her as soveraign Queen of Men and Angels And this Adoration is not to be a meerly external Adoration but internal The Angels themselves adore the Virgin and have adored her ever since she was born On the account of her own Holiness men owe Dulia to her on the account of her maternal relation they owe her Hyperdulia and because she toucht our Saviour the adoration of Latria is due to her Those who well perform these services tho never
an absolute and totall Apostacy from the Christian Religion 'T is sufficient if it Symbolize with Paganism and very much resemble it This is also signified by what is said 13th chapter of the Revel that the Beast which was struck dead should revive again This Beast is the Roman Empire as Pagan There were two things considerable in that Beast His Kingdom and his Paganism the first had been struck dead by the Goths the other the Paganism had receiv'd a mortal Wound from the time of Constantine untill that of Theodosius but both must revive and recover again The Empire of the Beast in the Papal Domination and the Paganism in the Papal Religion The Papacy ressembles Paganism First in General because its Worship is neither Spirituall nor Rational as neither was the Religion of the Heathens Secondly in particular that the doctrines and worship of the Papacy are an imitation of the Pagan Religion by these two Articles of Conformity between Popery and Paganism I intend to prove the Paganism of the Romish Religion And in the first place I 'le prove that the Worship of the Papacy hath this in common with that of the Gentiles that it is neither Spiritual nor Reasonable The two Characters of Christian Worship are that it is Spiritual and National This is undeniable that the two great Characters of the Service and Worship of the Christian Religion are these two That it is Spiritual and that it is Rational By Spiritual I understand a Service freed from Ceremonies and bodily Observances By Reasonable I understand a Worship that is holy in its Institution full of Wisdom and Reason and proper to impress a lively sense of its Divinity by elevating the Soul unto God. Our Lord Jesus told the Samaritan Woman Woman believe me the hour Cometh John 4. c. v. 21 22 23 24. and now is that neither in this Mountain nor at Jerusalem shall ye worship the Father The true Worshippers are they who worship in Spirit and in Truth God is a Spirit and they who worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth c. 'T is plain that the Spirit and a Spiritual Service are there appos'd to the Carnal Bodily Ceremonial Service of the Ancient Church S. Paul speaks in like manner to the Romans I beseech you Brethren by the Mercies of God that you present your bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your Reasonable Service That is the other Character of the worship of Christian Religion 'T is true Judaism had a corporal worship bodily exercise but it was reasonable being full of deep mysteries of types and lessons of piety but the worship of the Heathens had neither Spirituality nor reason Christian worship is altogether both Spiritual and Rational Nothing can be more Rational than to pray to God to sing his praise to offer him thanksgivings to hear his word and preach it to keep his commandments to receive the sign of our washing in Baptism and of our Spiritual nourishment in the Sacrament of the Eucharist In the Popish Religion there is just as much of Spirituality and of Reason as there is of Christianity therfore we find there prayers to God and Thanksgivings and Sacraments But so far forth as Popery hath made additions to Christianity there is nothing that is either Spiritual or Rational Popish worship neither Spiritual nor Reasonable First their worship is covered under an unknown Language a dead and barbarous one which the People understand not and that alone were enough to take away all the reason and spirituality of any such worship For tho all that is contain'd under that language convered under that vaâ—l should be Spirit and Reason to the highest degree tho all should be devout pious full of unction and able to raise the soul to the third Heaven of what use could it be to what purpose could it serve we could perceive but the outside a frightfull carnal bark and cover that were only for the eye wherin even the ear can have no part but with respect to the symphony and Harmony of sounds Secondly All that we see is meerly corporeal viz. Churches adorn'd with extraordinary pride and pomp wherin is a glimmering Light mixt with darkness but inlightned with Lamps and candles with niches in the walls where we see Images of a Curious sculpture in rich and magnifick habits They who serve at their Altars have extraordinary garments both for matter and form and sometimes for cost too the service is not said but sung with Musick and the Masses of Great and Festival days accompanied with instrumental and vocal Musick The Body of the Clergy with all the People march often in great pomp a Cross lifted up and banners displaid and so walk thro the streets and sometimes the fields with this equipage The shrine of a Saint is sometimes carried in this manner before which one cries that all must kneel and all the people are presently on their knees Every year The God made by a Priest is carried in great pomp all the streets eccho with joy all places thro which they pass with this Ceremony are adorn'd with Tapistry and Pictures and the streets covered with Flowers nothing can be more like the pomp of Isis a part whereof is described by Apuleius Is this a spiritual and Rational worship Is not this like the Heathen worship who carried their Gods in procession upon sacred Chariots which they called Thensae Deorum Is not this to make Religion a meer spectacle a kind of Comedie In short all the devotion of the People comes to this to look upon Processions the shrines and Reliques of Saints the Ciborium where they put the H. Sacrament Altars Ornaments Tapistrys Pictures Images Crucifixes Priests Habits Canopies and the magnificence of the Train which follows according to Ceremony The Imagination and the Heart likewise are fill'd with this glittering outside and gawdy show which is so far from elevating the soul to God as is pretended that it stops and hinders it from mounting higher than to what is meerly external and earthly They pretend that this worship of theirs is very spiritual and full of Mysteries The Priest puts the Amict upon his head which is the name of his hood this signifies they tell us the Divinity of Jesus Christ which was hidden and concealed under his Passion He puts on the Albe or white surplice over his other cloaths because it is written thy garments shall be white and this to denote the Innocence of those who serve at the Altar The Subdeacon in some places kisses the right hand of the Priest who doth officiate because the right hand of the most High hath done valiantly The Priest or the Bishop doth sit down after the prayer in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ's fitting in the Temple to dispute with the Doctors of the Law. In a word there is not the most minute and trifling Ceremony of their worship but hath its
drink the chalice He prepares himself by divers signs of the Cross kneelings and prayers he eats the pieces of the wafer that are upon the plate and then repeating the same actions as for the wafer he drinks the chalice with that part of the wafer that was thrown into it He makes the assistants likewise to communicate if there be any present who are prepar'd He rinses the gobelet with unconsecrated wine he drinks it he empties the chalice and folds up the linnen and pronounces the last Dominus vobiscum and at last he saith the Ite Missaest and for a conclusion he kisseth the Altar lifts his eyes and hands to Heaven worships the cross and blesseth the People These are the ordinary simple Masses but those upon Great Festivals have the addition of many other things For instance in that on the Saturday before Easter they put out all the candles in the Church and strike new fire with a Flintand steel The Pomp of Solemn Masses they sprinkle the new fire with holy water they light up torches the Deacon takes three lighted Tapers at the end of a stick The Acolyte fastens five grains of Incense in the form of a cross upon one of the consecrated Tapers they kindle it they consecrate the fonts of Baptism by cutting the water in the form of a Cross they make it leap back towards the four parts of the world breathing upon it three times in the form of a Cross and dipping the consecrated Taper on which are the five grains of incense three times in this water in the form of a Cross Absurdities of the worship of the Mass When I consider this medley of vain Ceremonies without reason without order ill contriv'd and ill put together I cannot comprehend how so many men of understanding should ever suffer themselves to be inchanted with it What is there of Spirituality or of Reason in all these Grimaces turnings and returnings elevations and stoopings these signs of the cross repeated an hundred times over upon the Altar upon the Priest upon the book upon the wafers upon the body and blood it self of our Lord Jesus Christ these soft murmurs and loud screamings these Reverences and extensions of the hand c One must be prodigiously blind that can persuade himself that this is becoming the Majesty of divine service It would hardly be tolerable on a Theater in a piece that were any thing grave and these Gentlemen need not wonder that men compare this to the Ceremonies of such who by signs and figures and circles and muttering words think they can charm and chain up the Devill The Pagans themselves observ'd a better decorum in their sacrifices There is nothing Spiritual to be found in all this And there is as little to be found in it that can be called Rational 'T is true in this miscellany there are some things good for we meet with divers passages of the H. Scripture but they are intermixt without reason order or coherence and sometimes you may divine long enough ere you can imagine why or wherfore they are mention'd Besides that being in an unknown tongue whatsoever there is in it of Spirituality or Reason is lost as to the People What reason is there for the Confession of Sins to the Saints and to the Virgin as well as unto God what reason is there to demand the prayers of the people when they are ignorant of what you say to ' em Is it not absurd and ridiculous that a Priest celebrating a private Mass in the Corner of a Church without any assistants should turn himself about and speak to the walls saying Dominus vobiscum The Lord be with you Is it not ridiculous to make the Deacon ascend an high Pulpit in sight of all the People to read to 'em an Epistle or Gospell in Latine which they understand nothing of Is it not a manifest Contradiction to offer little wafers that are not consecrated as a Sacrifice for the living and the dead Is it not to affront our Blessed Lord Jesus to pretend to arm him against the Devill by making signs of the Cross Must they not be void of reason and common sense to leave a parcell of words in their liturgie which are addrest to the people and yet expresly to order that they shall be pronounc't with a low voice that they may not hear so much as the sound of ' em To what purpose do they pray for all the People as if they were to partake of the bread and wine and yet oftentimes they do not all communicate and when they do but in one kind of the bread only In truth we may as soon number the stars as reckon up all the absurdities contradictions and impieties of this false Worship What spirituality and what reason is there in the Ceremonies added by the Papacy unto Baptism the signs of the cross upon the forehead upon the mouth upon the nose upon the eyes upon the ears of the Baptised the spittle wherwith they stroak his nose and ears their exorcizing the water and the conjurations over the font of Baptism Circumcision was plain and simple there can be no comparison between this and that Can there be any spirituality or reason in giving to their Devoto's a Rosary or a string of Beads wherby they may repeat just such a number of Ave's and Paternoster's but ten Ave's to one Pater that is ten homages to the Virgin for one to God the Father as if the Virgin were ten times more adorable than God. Is it not absurd to say the Ave i. e. the salutation of the Angell to the Virgin in the form of a Prayer to give her the tidings of the future conception of Jesus Christ a thousand times a day two thousand years after his birth we should never have done if we should say all that may be urg'd against them on this head These Instances may suffice to let us see that the Romish worship in the general hath this in common with Heathenism that it is gross and carnal and without reason Let us now see it more particularly CHAPTER XVII The Parallel between Popery and Paganism in Doctrines and Worship being a continuation of the tenth character of Antichristianism found in the Papacy Popery hath five objects of worship THe Paganism of the Romish Religion is so obvious and manifest that 't is not possible not to discern it wherefore it hath been accus'd of this many hundred times within these last two hundred years That we may be convinc't there is ground for this charge we must consider in Popery the Object of their worship and the Ceremonies of it For the object of their worship they have First the Supreme God an Infinite Being 2. They worship Angells Spirits by nature separated from matter 3. They imploy and worship the Souls of men of Dead men whom they canoniz'd to whom they build temples and offer incense 4. They have services to the Dead and to
the Ashes and Reliques of the Dead Lastly they worship and make use of Images and Pictures of the great God of Angels and of Separate Souls These are the five objects of worship in the Papacy The Heathens had just as many Paganism had also five First Rome Ancient as well as Modern worship one Supreme God a being infinitely Perfect King of men and of Gods as they were wont to speak Their Jupiter was the Soul of the world and as the Masters of their mysteries explain'd it he was Every thing Their different Gods called Neptune Pluto Ceres They worshipt but one supreme God. Apollo Vesta c. were but different names of the same great God upon different accounts many of their wise men have left it in their writings that at the bottom they believ'd but one only God at least this is certain that between their Jupiter and their other Gods and as to the opinion they had of him and his worship S. August lib. 4. de Civiâ— dei cap. 11. they made the same difference as the Papists do between the great God Creator of Heaven and Earth and between Angels and Saints The inferior Gods of Paganism were nothing else but those created spirits which according to our Theology do execute the orders and commands of God under him so that Popery hath no reason to boast it self above Paganism in this respect that they acknowledg'd and worshipt a plurality of Gods wheras the Papists do adore and acknowledg but one only for at the bottom the Theology of the Papists and of the Heathen is all one in that particular To prove a difference between Paganism and Popery in this respect they must not alledge the fables of the Heathen Poets for the Romans look't upon the fables of the Grecians as no other than Blasphemies against the Deity you ought to read what is written on this subject by Cicero in his Book de naturâ Deorum and by Dionisius Halicarnassaeus in the second Book of his Roman Antiquities The second object of worship in Paganism as well as Popery is Angels Heathens and Papists worship Angells The Heathens conceiv'd of 'em as Mediatory Spirits Agents between the Supreme Gods and mortal men God hath nothing to do with man saith Plato but all the commerce and correspondence between God and man is by the mediation of Demons So they call'd those Spirits which we now term Angels The Demons he adds are as messengers who maintain the intercourse between God and man who on the one hand convey our supplications and prayers to God and on the other his Commandments and Rewards unto us All that have any knowledg of Antiquity know this to be true Is not this meer Popery are not the Angels set up as Mediators between God and men to offer unto God the prayers and good works of men Are they not made Intercessors to obtain from God the favors we stand in need of The Heathens had 9 orders of Spirits as well as the Papists Paganism went as far as Popery in the knowledg of good and evill Angels The Heathens had a notion of bad Angels as well as good They divided the Angels into several classes and 't is very remarkable that the mystical Authors of Paganism rankt Spirits in nine orders as the mystical Divinies of the Papacy do Jamblicus names 'em thus 1. God. 2. Angels 3. Demons 4. Heroes 5. Princes or Greater Governors 6. Governors of matter or more inferior Governors 7. Archangels 8. Souls 9. He adds to these the visible Gods as the Sun and Moon c. 'T is plain the one is the copy of the other the only doubt is which of the two is the original Paganism paid homage to all these Spirits that they might make them â—avorable to themselves they built Temples to them they burnt Incense in honour of them they made prayers to them they put themselves under their Protection they chose them for their Patrons they believed that every one of these Angels besides their general affairs took a particular care of one single person The Papists do all this to the Angels they pray to them they serve them they build Chappels to them they choose them for their Patrons every one believes that he hath his guardian Angel. The Papists worship the dead as thâ— Pagans did The third article of the Conformity that is between the Papacy and Paganism is the Worship of the dead 'T is certain that the greatest part of the Gentile Gods were men that had been deifyed after their death When a person had done some extraordinary service either to the commonwealth or the world either by the Inventing of some useful Art or by some considerable deliverance of his country or by his singular virtues after his death they made him a God. Afterward 't was grown the fashion at Rome to Deify all their Emperors good and bad Nero that he might abuse his own Religion and his Predecessor Claudius got him ranked among the Gods. At first the deifying of Hero's was done by the tacit consent of the people But the ancient Romans the very Patriarchs of the modern begun the custom of making Gods in a solemn manner When any of their Emperors dyed they built in some spacious place of the City a stately Funeral pile of wood and other combustible matter divided into several stories which were fashion'd as a Pyramid to the poynt of which a rope was fastned with which an Eagle was tyed by the foot The dead Corps was placed in a lower storie then the Pile was set on fire and when the rope was burnt the Eagle flew up to the heavens and some witnesses appointed for the thing came and made report to the Senate that they had seen the Soul of the Hero fly up to heaven After this by order of the Senate a Temple was built to him and divine honours were given him The Philosophers by their fanci'es augmented and supported the superstition of the vulgar they said that the Souls of men after they leave the bodie become a kind of Demons or Angels which the antients call'd Lemures that those souls which were good natured and took care of their posterity were named Lares Apulejus de Deo Sccrat familiars And those that were restless troublesom ill natur'd and affrighted men by night vision were named Larvae and when it was uncertain to which rank the departed soul did belong whether it was Lare or Larva then it was only named the God Manes A man must in my judgment be very blind if he seeth not and very obstinate if he confesseth not the conformity that is between this and Popery In the Papacy all their Churches are so many Tombes and Temples of dead men and women exactly as it was under Paganism They bear their Names this is the Church of S. Peter that of S. Paul of our Lady of Magdalen c. and either their Reliques or those of some other Saint
are layd up under the Altar These Saints are departed souls which have been Canonised or deifyed At first this Canonization was made by the tacit consent of the superstitious But in following ages modern Rome imitated the fashions of antient Rome She hath her witnesses ready takes informations solemnly declares such or such an one a Saint or Blessed After this is done they are prayed to their names put in the Calendar a Feast is made for them their Protection is desired sacrifices are offer'd in their honour men shelter themselves under their merit recommend themselves to their intercession ask of them every thing that they want They are made the Protectors of Cities of Kingdoms of families Paganism shar'd employments among their lesser Gods. The Supreme God had the inspection over all but Neptune was to manage the sea Pluto the entrals of the earth Ceres the Surface of it Lucina had the charge of Infants and child-bearings c. The Papists after the same manner have divided the employments of their Saints in governing the world S. Nicholas is the Patron of Seamen S. Margerit takes care of women in childbed S. Rochus cureth the plague S. Hubert madness S. Memin the jaundise S. Paulina the toothache Papists have borrowed their Ceremonies at Funerals from the Pagans The very Ceremonies us'd at Funerals in the Papacy have been borrowed from Paganism For that which the Papists at this day perform to the dead is nothing but an imitation of the Pagan Ceremonies At this day when the dead body is to be buryed 't is exposed at the door oâ— the house that every one may throw holy water on it and pray for the soul Thus the Romans exposed the corps's of their dead placing them in the porches of their houses When the corps of a Great man is carryed to a distant city every night it is layd by the way in a Church Suetonius relates that when the body of Augustus was brought from Nola where he dyed to Rome where his funeral was to be solemniz'd when it came to any City it was layd in some Palace or in the greatest Temple and when it came to Rome it was set in the Porch of his own house The old Romans set branches of cypress by the dead body at this day a branch of box-tree is set by it At the end of seven days they solemniz'd the funeral the Papists have masses said for the dead seven days that so the dead person saith Durant may the sooner come to the eternal sabbath and that his sins which are reckond ' by sevens may be forgiven him Among the old Romans the corps's were accompanyed to the Funeral-pile by all who had a mind to honour the Ceremony with their presence and by a company of Singers and Musicians who sung mourning songs The modern Romans have sorrowful and mourning songs sung by their Priests The Romans made great use of lustral or purifying water in the interments and funerals of the dead and at this day the Papists make adoe in sprinkling their holy water tho with this difference that then the living were sprinkled whereas now they especially sprinkle the dead Then it was to cleanse the living from the pollution contracted by touching the dead for under Paganisin as well as Judaism the touching of a dead body was thought to defile S. Jerom informs us that the Heathens in there obsequies made use of torches and flambeau's and thus the Papists do The Romans in kindness and honour of their dead kept a religious solemnity which they call'd Novemdialia i. e. a nine-days festival they also celebrated the last day of the month the fortieth day and the anniversary day on all which they offerd sacrifices to the dij inferi the under ground Gods they saluted the souls of the deceas'd they prayed for them and requested such as pass'd by to pray for the soul of the deceased they wrote on the graves bene precare qui legis whoever passeth by pray for him that is dead They added sit tibi terra levis molliter ' ossa quiescant let the earth lie light upon you let your bones rest in ease The Papists also exactly colebrate the ninth the fortieth the anniversary day at all which times they offer sacrifice for the Rest of the departed souls they pray for them they salute them The old Romans had a stated time which was appointed for the appeasing of the Manes and for the procuring rest for them it was in the month February Now 't is the second day of November when the feast of all souls is celebrated and solemn services are performed in order to their rest We are told that it was an Abbot of the Order of Clugni named Odilon who invented this Feast Mount Aema in Sicily often casts out fire with most dismaying noises Odilon imagin'd that they were devils who roar'd out of rage because souls were fetcht out of purgatory and the more to enrage these wicked Spirits he agreeth with his Monks to say solemn Masses once every year to fetch souls out of purgatory In the Papacy you scarce hear of any thing else besides the apparitions of souls which complain and beg succour i.e. masses The heathens had such kind of fables and offer'd sacrifices on the same design viz. to appease the Manes who were out of humour or tormented Est honor tumulis animas placere paternas The worship of the dead is much more superstitious among Papists than among Pagans There is we see a near resemblance between the Service which the Pagans did to their dead and that which the Papists do to theirs But that of the modern Romans in point of superstition infinitely surpasseth that of the old ones and of all other heathens In all Pagan antiquitie 't was an unheard of thing to adore the ashes the bones the cloathes the raggs of the dead or any thing which at this day is call'd Reliques The Fathers reproach the heathens with this that their Temples were nothing but the sepulchers of dead men and women that the Temple of Minerva of Larissa was the tomb of Acrisius Arnobius Eusebius and that of Minerva of Athens was the sepulcher of Cecrops that the Capitol was the tomb of Aulus Vulticentanus But the Heathens did not own this and were so far from honouring their dead by burying them in their Temples that they buryed none within their Cities they buryed always in the high ways But now modern Rome boasts of that which old Rome was asham'd of They glory in having the reliques of dead men and women in their Temples yea they lay them under the altars they think that a Church or a Chappel is not rightly consecrated without reliques If the body of some Hero was laid in a Pagan Temple they did not believe that these bones did make the Temple Holy on the contrary they believed that it was a great honour to him that was buryed there But the Papists believe that
Images gave out that they were miraculously come down from Heaven But the Papists tell more stories of their miraculous Images than ever the Pagans did of theirs For whereas these boasted only of two or three miraculous Images the Papists have a hundred such The Image of our Lady of Liesse was brought down from Heaven to some Picard Gentlemen that of our Lady of Montferrat was found in a Grotto where it was worshipt by Angels At Guardeloupe in Spain there is an Image of our Lady that came out of the belly of a Cow. They shew us an Image of St. Dominick that was brought from Heaven by the Virgin Mary accompanyed by St. Mary Magdelen and St. Catherine The Madonna at Banelle was found in the middle of an Oaketree who could put it there but God In the year 1243. was found an Image of the Virgin miraculously graven on the stone cover of a well Among the miraculous Images the Veronica ought to have the first place this is the name of a Picture of Jesus Christ that remain'd printed on a Linnen Cloth with which he wip'd his Face besmeard with Sweat and Blood when he went to be crucifyed and which he gave to a holy Woman named Veronica At first there was but one but since it is multiplyed into three The principal of them is at Rome where they shew it with great solemnity and whenever it is shewed publickly all the people fall down and cry out Mercy Mercy But among these miraculous Images we ought at least for their Antiquity to reckon those that S. Luke made which are in great number and held in great veneration They reckon up ten or twelve There are others made by the order of Christ himself one of which was sent to Agbarus King of Edessa Shall we not reckon among the miraculous Images those that do work and have wrought so many Miracles Some have Swet others have Flew like Birds others have dropt Milk or Blood others have been cloathed with Flesh some have made themselves incredibly Heavy when any attemted to take them up others have made themselves as Light as Feathers tho they were of Brass and Marble They have wrought miraculous Cures without number heal'd the Sick restored sight to the Blind hearing to the Deaf and life to the Dead And F. Crasset hath very lately told us That God hath in every Age and still continues to work innumerable Miracles by the Images of Saints and especially by those of the Virgin. We might make several more Chapters of this Fabulous History of the Papacy if we had a mind to set down all the false Miracles and all the ridiculous Fables which have been made in favour of the real Presence of the Adoration of the Sacrament of the Sacrifice of the Mass of Purgatory and the Founding of the several Orders of Monks To prove the Real Presence and Transubstantiation we have the most extravagant Dreams which they cite us as Divine Revelations they tell us of Hosts that have been chang'd into the form of a Child have been turn'd into Flesh have shed Blood have been sacrificed in the shape of a Man by Angels have been turn'd into the likeness of Christ as he was crucifyed To prove the Adoration V. The School of the Eucharist they tell us of exemplary punishments which suddenly have been inflicted on those who refuse to give it to the Host They tell us of Asses and other Beasts that have adored the Sacrament To prove Purgatory they tell us numberless sottish tales of Souls that returned on Earth of Apparitions of Spirits that desired Masses and Pilgrimages of some persons who have gone down into Hell have seen Souls in the fire of Purgatory and have visitted all the Appartments of the Infernal Regions To prove the Mass they tell us a vast number of Lying-stories concerning Souls fetcht out of Purgatory concerning Prisoners whose Fetters have been loosed and other Miracles wrought by this Sacrifice To prove the Orders of Monks I might relate the Annals of each Order Annals that are more fabulous and a hundred times more detestable than the Adventures of Achilles or Vlysses sung by Homer and then those of Orlando Furioso related by Turpin and sung by Ariosto There is not a Dram of Modesty Judgment or Veracity in the Authors of these Chronicles that are deservedly called scandalous If we will believe'em the Founders of the Franciscan Dominican c. Orders wrought a hundred times more Miracles than the Founders of Christianity The Carmelites pretend to come from the Prophet Elijah and draw down from him their Genealogy that must be ridiculous to the meanest capacity In these Relations you have nothing but Miracles Visions Revelations Angels coming down from Heaven Priviledges brought down from Heaven by the B. Virgin in favour of the Order The Jesuites the most modern of these Orders which make such a stir in the world tho founded within this last Century an Age of wit and learning notwithstanding have the Confidence to tell us horrid Fables concerning their Founder The Society of Jesus these Gentlemen say was founded at the very momennt when Jesus Christ was conceived St. Ignatius hath conquered and cast out more Devils hath done more Wonders by his bare Name than Moses did by the Name of Jehova or the Apostles by the Name of Iesus You see here is materials enough to make great Volums but I suppose the Specimen that I have given is sufficient to make a clear discovery of that Lying fabulous Spirit that reigns in the Papacy and by consequence to prove that this Character of Antichristianism does exactly agree with it CHAPTER XXII A Refutation of the Excuses by which the Papists attemt to efface this Character of Antichristianism in the Romish Religion THis Spirit of Lying cheating of Imposture and Fiction is certainly the most sensible Character of Antichristianism that is in the Romish Religion therefore we are especially concerned to justify the Reflections we have made concerning it against the Excuses of the Papists And we have to deal with two sorts of men the first are the Devotionists of the Roman Church the second are the Esprits forts profane and irreligious Spirits At this day there are thousands among the Papists who believe all these Fables The Devout Papists are enraged at us that we dare fix the title of Fabulous on the Popish Histories their Legends the Annals of their Monks Miracles wrought by their Saints who have lived within these eight or nine hundred years Hear F. Crasset who is still alive and writes The third Objection that they make against this Doctrine 1. Part. Tract 1. pag. 108. is that it hath almost no other Foundation besides Relations and Histories which men are not obliged to believe and which are reported by simple over-credulous persons who take the Dreams and Imaginations of Women for Divine Revelations They are Libertine Papists who speak at this rate for the Heretick Hugenots talk