and Knew the voice of their Church and therefore according to the Doctors own assertion needed it not But perhaps the Doctor will say that for the Verbal Translation of the Scripture the Protestants are not necessitated to have recourse to particular Men the Bible being Translated to their hands and warranted by public Authority tho' here too they will be at a loss unless it appear to them that they may confide in this Authority but for the Sense in all dubious places they ought to Address themselves to their Ministers They may do it if they please And if not I suppose they may let it alone and this last with most safety For according to our late Divines all things necessary to Salvation are plain in Scripture and therefore to look after the meaning of dubious places is to do more than of bounden Duty is required and has the appearance of a Work of Supererogation which is such an abominable thing with the Church of England that they have a whole * See 14th Article Article against it and declare that it cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety much less as I suppose PRACTISED Wherefore as yet there appears no cause why the Apprentice should be chidden for not having waited on Dr. T. in this occasion And indeed if that be the case viz. That the Members of the Church of England are to go to their Ministers for the Construction of these dubious places I do not perceive that they have any great advantage over those of the Church of Rome tho' what the Doctor says were true viz. That Roman Catholics were to apply themselves to particular Priests for the Translation of the Scriptures since the Protestants themselves must make the same application for the Sense and Meaning of these Scriptures And this Sense is that which is of the greatest importance or rather That which is of any Importance at all But in Truth they are not particular Priests which Catholics depend on for either the Translation or Sense of the Scripture in any necessary Point of Faith but it is on their Church whose Voice is as Intelligible at least and with the Doctors leave much farther Heard than that of the Church of England For is it not full as evident in England and much more evident in other Parts of the World that the Church of Rome Teaches a Purgatory than it is that the Church of England Teaches the contrary And so of other Doctrins This is an Age wherein Men whilest they Scepticize on evident Truths are Positive in Absurdities and therefore there want not Those who ask how the Members of the Church of Rome can know what their Church holds But when they shall have considered how they themselves come to know what That Church holds whilest they Condemn it's Doctrins as also how a Man may come to understand what is held by the Church of England they will not I suppose expect any farther Answer This were it not so Common and even with Men of no Common Wit would have been too frivolous to have been taken notice of One endeavor which I used for the speaking somewhat of a Guide in Controversie was on the following occasion Dr. T. having called me to him and desiring as he said that * Pag. 21. Mr. P. would stick to something took upon him to explain a Text of Scripture which had been long before Cited by Mr. P. for the Authority of the Church viz. That of St. Matthew c. 18. v. 17. If he will not hear the Church let him be to thee as an Heathen and a Publican The Doctor said that considering the Antecedent Verses this ought to be understood of ordinary Trespasses such as the not paying of a just debt c. And not of Articles of Faith making use of a tedious Instance to that purpose the summ whereof was * Ibid. that in case a Man should refuse to pay his debts after one or two demands he is put into the Ecclesiastical Courts supposing it proper for their cognisance And if he will not stand to their Sentence then he is Excommunicated and Treated as such a One. Whereupon I told the Doctor that for my own part I understood that Text of Scripture quite otherwise than he did being persuaded that we were obliged by it to Hear the Church in all those things wherein the same Church doth declare that she hath Power to Judge And most especially in matters of Faith Which in their own Nature seem more proper for the Cognisance of Ecclesiastical Courts than a Question of Debt That it was not unusual for our Blessed Saviour on a particular occasion to deliver a general Precept as for instance when the Jews ask'd him whether or no it were lawful to pay Tribute to Caesar he * Mat. c. 22. v. 19 c. called for the Tribute-mony and ask'd whose Image it bore and being Answered that it was Caesars he gave this Rule Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesars Which Rule I suppose is general and hath regard not only to Tribute but also to whatever else is due from Subjects to Sovereign Princes as Respect Obedience and the like tho' the occasion on which the Rule was made and that which immediately preceded it seem to be Particular and to look no farther than his Pecuniary Rights That in like manner tho' this Text viz. If he will not hear the Church c. might be spoken in a Particular occasion it could not be thence inferr'd that it was not of a more large Extension especially if we should compare it with other Texts such as are * Joh. c. 20. v. 21. As my Father sent me so I send you * Matth. c. 28. v. 19 20. Go and Teach all Nations and lo I am with you always even unto the end of the World. a Luke c. 10. v. 16. He that Heareth You Heareth ME c. b Eph. c. 4. v. 11 c. And he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministry c. That we henceforth be no more Children c If Pastors are left to keep us from being tossed to and fro it follows that we must hearken to them as also that they must be kept from being tossed to and fro themselves Otherwise they will not be able to effect that for which they were left tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrin c. d Hebr. c. 13. v. 17. Obey those that are set over you for they watch as being to render account for your Souls All which places at least according to my own Judgment are clear for that Perpetuity and that Authority of the Church which are believed by Roman Catholics But above all this Truth seems to be most apparent to me when I consider what immediately follows in this place of Scripture viz. When
gratias ago nunc pro peccatis Matris meae deprecor te c. St. Aug. lib. 9. Confess c. 13. Almighty God for his Mothers Good Deeds on the one hand and beseeches him to pardon such Sins as possibly she might have committed on the other And he is so Zealous in this Charitable Employment that he is not contented to offer up his own Prayers only for this purpose but begs of such as should read his Book of Confessions wherein he gives an Account of these things that they likewise would joyn Their Petitions to His * Ut quod illa à me poposcit extremum uberius ei praestetur in multorum orationibus Ibid. That so adds this Holy Bishop what my Mother made her last Request to me may the more plentifully be performed for her by the Prayers of Many Other parts of this Dedicatory Address might likewise be dissected and read upon but I fear that my Lecture is too tedious already Neither should it have been so long had I not been willing to shew my Reader what just cause I have to decline the perusal of the whole Book when a few Lines of Preface afford so much and so trivial work Wherefore I shall not stay to examin with what probability of Truth he asserts That the Souls of his Sheep are much dearer to him than their Fleeces when he seems to be so * See above p. 17. sequ loth that any farther Division should be made in the Fleeces tho' for a better Attendance on the Souls Neither will I ask him how he comes in the close of his Letter to call the English Protestant Church * I suppose not from Missions Apostolical as if it came down by perpetual Succession from the Apostles when every body knows that has not read his Ten thousand pounds worth of Books that it began in the last Age and brags of no other Succession than what it pretends to have received from that Church to which in Truth and even according to its own Profession it neither succeeds in Doctrin nor Discipline And lastly whereas the Doctor says That the Establish'd Church so far as he can understand the Temper of it which is somewhat difficult for him to do had rather suffer Injuries than do them I shall only say That if this be so I presume he will give us leave to hope that this Established Church will not look on the power of doing those Injuries as part of Her Establishment And so much for the Preface I come now to what concerns me in the Book I am told that Dr. Tenison in the 58th page of his new Book calls me a Manager in Conference And again page 96. he says That I am the very Sales-man at every Auction of Arguments What the Doctor means by this I cannot well tell nor I suppose He himself Possibly it was somewhat that came into his Head whil'st the Pen was in his Hand and down it went at all Adventures For this was the second Conference I was ever at in my Life excepting casual and unsought Rencounters and how unwillingly I came to this I have already given my Readers an Account It is true that I had like to have been at one or two more in Mr. G. 's Company had not the Ministers who were to be his Antagonists disappointed him twice or thrice But this was before Dr. St. had published his first Letter to Mr. G. and so given me to understand how great an Advantage Latitudinarian Wits have over one not only much less but also ty'd within the streight Rules of Sincerity It is true the Goodness of a Cause is of great Weight but the Disingenuity of an Adversary is a shrewd Counterpoise Now I say how my Being at these two Conferences and that accidentally too and forasmuch as concerns the latter very unwillingly could render me that Manager and Sales-man at Auctions of Arguments which the Doctor 's Nick-naming Faculty would make me I do not perceive But the Doctor has a Rule for this as well as for the rest which he has been pleased to bestow on me viz. Calumniare fortitèr aliquid adhaerebit and therefore I shall say no more of it And yet it is hard to find out why the Doctor turns that into a Calumny which fairly represented would be a Commendation For what could any man do better who had a Talent proper for it than employ his time in freeing Souls from Error an Employment for which our Blessed Lord came into the World and for which his Holy Apostles travelled through it But I forget that the Retrenchment of Missions was one of the most considerable parts of the Reformation However tho' I have not been at many of these Conferences yet I will not deny but that I imagin my self to have arrived to some competency of skill in them and for some proof of this and because I desire to be communicative in so precious a Talent I purpose to make my Readers partakers of it as a Reward of that Patience wherewith they have hitherto endured such tedious and immethodical Discourses promising my self that for the sake of this one Treasure only they will think the rest of their time well bestow'd Now forasmuch as the worse the Cause is the greater skill is required in the Management of it I will lay down some brief Rules whereby as I conceive an ill Cause may be managed in Conference to the best advantage and so as that the Defender of it especially if the Hearers be no wiser than some of Dr. Tenison's Parishioners may come off with great Applause First then let the Scene of your Conference be Brief Rules how an ill Cause may be manag'd to the best advantage lay'd amongst your own Friends and therefore if the Disputer be a Protestant and such he must be to stand in any need of these Instructions let it be in a Protestant Family Before the Conference and the arrival of your Antagonist endeavor to possess your Favorers with a prejudice against him prophesie something which you are sure will come to pass that when it doth so they may have the better Opinion of you For Example Tell them that you are come alone without so much as either Friend or Servant when you know that the whole House are your Friends and that none can be readier to serve you than they are And then lay a wager that your Antagonist brings some one with him because you think it imprudent and therefore unlikely that he should trust himself to the Reports of your Party without some Witness of his own But this as you shall word it must argue Confidence in You and Diffidence in Him. And when you shall see that he complies with what you thought Reasonable turn to your Company and say Did I not tell you that he would not come alone Be sure to begin the Conference with that which hath nothing to do with it Make many Exceptions at the
a Favor by it tho' his not dealing so by his most worthy Friends might make one think otherwise and since whilst I am contented to yield to him in Contumely and Abuse I am resolved not to come one jot behind him in Point of Courtesie I have desired the Printer to pay him the same Respect as often as he can do it conveniently That his NAME may rumble as much in my Pamphlet as mine doth in his And altho' this should prove to be a sign of ill Will for I know not what to make of it our Spleen would not be mis-placed upon the Doctors Name since it is That which has done us Ten times more harm than his Arguments tho' indeed ever since his late Book we have some reason to hope that it's Authority is much lessened with all Those whose minds are at liberty to Consider There is one thing which with my Readers Licence I desire to take notice of before I pass on to the remainder of the Doctors Relation which is the gross fallacy wherewith some Protestant Divines are wont to delude the Common People whensoever they are called upon by Catholics to shew on what Authority they receive the Holy Scripture The Papists say they question the Authority of Scripture Again when it is alledged that the Scripture left to the Interpretation of each private person can decide no Point of Controversie since doubtlesly every one will declare that the Scripture is for him and in effect he does declare it by holding his particular Tenet whatsoever it be as grounded on Scripture I say when this is urged They cry The Scripture is undervalued by the Papists And this makes such deep Impression on the unthinking Multitude or shall I say strikes such a damp on their Spirits that many times it surpasses the skill of the ablest and plainest Logician to undeceive them And yet it is not because they cannot think Rationally enough to discern the Fallacy but because they will not since there is no understanding amongst them so dull or short-sighted but if it be made use of must see through it None can have a greater respect for the Holy Scripture than Catholics have I my self have known several of them beyond-Sea who amongst their other Devotions Reading some part of the Holy Scripture every day to shew their profound Veneration for it were always wont to Read it on their Knees which whosoever observes and compares with that very indifferent behaviour wherewith it is ordinarily handled here in England will not say that Catholics have a less regard for the Holy Scripture than Protestants And consequently they do as little question it 's Authority Why then do the Catholics urge the Protestants to shew on what Authority or Testimony they receive the Bible since it's Authority is undoubted on both sides It is because the Catholics would take this occasion of shewing their Adversaries that of necessity a True and Uncorrupted Church must be allowed to have been in the World when they began their pretended Reformation viz. about a hundred and fifty years ago For since they received their Bible from some Church then in the World in case there were at that time no true nor uncorrupted Church it must follow that they had no good Authority for their Bible And on the contrary if the Protestants will own that they received their Bible from good hands they must acknowledge that they had it from a True Church and consequently that there was such a one in the World when they began to Reform And from hence it will immediately follow that the first Reformers separating from the whole World as hath been said did also separate from the True Church which as we here suppose them to confess was then in it And therefore must be accounted Schismatics unless they can give us some better Definition of Schism than that which hitherto we have had viz. of it's being a Separation from the Obedience and Communion of the True Church There is yet another Reason why we ask the Protestants on what Authority they receive the Scriptures And it is because we would likewise put them in mind of what I hinted above viz. that they ought to admit other things and indeed the meaning of the Scripture upon the same Authority on which they admit the letter And therefore when they say that they had the Scripture from the Roman Catholics we tell them that if the Roman Catholics may be relyed on for the reception of the Scripture they may be credited for other Doctrins If they are bad Witnesses no part of their Testimony can be valid Wherefore if any part of it be so they must be look'd on as Good Witnesses and consequently their whole Testimony ought to be embraced And this is another cause of this Question But why do the Catholics derogate so much from the most abundant Perfection of Holy Scripture as to affirm that it is insufficient of it self to decide our Controversies in Faith It is because the daily and palpable experience of Mankind Teaches it to be so Neither is it any derogation to a Law to say that it stands in need of what never yet any Law was without viz. A Judge or Interpreter of it And I wonder that the Protestants who confess that every Man is fallible and as such may be mistaken in the Sense of Scripture and that to his Damnation should look on it as a Derogation to the same Scripture to think that God whose Mercy is over all his Works hath appointed some means to keep us from being so mistaken Especially when this help is not so much for the Scripture as for our understandings It arguing no more a defect in those sacred Volums that our narrow Intellects are not able to comprehend their meaning without an Interpreter as it fared with the * And Philip ran thither to him the Eunuch and heard him Read the Prophet Esaias and said understandest thou what thou Readest And he said how can I except some Man should guide me c. Act. c. 8. v. 30.31 Eunuch spoken of in the Acts of the Apostles than it doth a fault in a good Print that it cannot be Read by weak Eyes without the assistance of a Glass To conclude if it be a Derogation to the Scripture to say that it stands in need of somewhat besides it self for it's being understood by us How will those Protestants defend themselves who affirm that Prayer Humility and * See Pa. 18. Ministerial Guides are necessary for this purpose What greater affront is it to the Scripture to declare that it cannot be understood without the Authority of the Church than it is to say that it cannot be understood without Ministerial Guides Nor even with them according to Protestants any more than fallibly which is in truth not to be understood at all for how can a Man be said to know the meaning of a thing whilst he doubts whether he know it or not
same to themselves Nothing therefore is so primarily Essential to Protestants as to conclude both Themselves and their Leaders Fallible and in consequence of this to Distrust both And from hence it follows according to what I intimated before that when they do otherwise that is absolutely confide in either their Protestancy is at an end This in Truth is consonant to Reason and therefore one would think that what I here ask were already granted But alas Reason was never more Pretended nor less Used and these Gentlemen are so far from having it in our present Case that one Part of them whil'st they decry all dependence on Men for their Faith with the greatest impatience repose so entirely on This or the Other Reverend Doctor or on Several of them together that altho' these very Doctors * By a necessary Consequence from their Doctrin viz. That the Church is to be follow'd no farther than it agrees with Scripture and each man is left to judge how far she so agrees teach them the contrary they are ready to believe them in every thing but this and the Rest wondring at General Councils for pretending to Infallibility talk in the mean while themselves with so much Authority and so little Diffidence as if they spoke by immediate Inspiration from Heaven This is what truly passes in the World but this is notwithstanding what ought not to pass For whatever Allowances may be made to Ignorance where men proceed according to the best of their Knowledge there is certainly no excuse for Protestants whil'st they declare that both their Teachers and their own Judgments are liable to Error in Doctrins of Faith if nevertheless they suffer themselves to be deceiv'd by either Wherefore my dear Friends I hope you will not say you may be mistaken and yet act as if you could not but that reflecting on the Uncertainty which even your own Principles shew you to be in you will do what so much danger naturally suggests viz. have recourse to Almighty God who is our only Refuge in all Distresses earnestly and constantly beseeching him that since you cannot please him without Faith nor have Faith whil'st you have Doubt he would bring you to such a Faith as may rationally exclude all Doubting and so yield you a solid Foundation for both your Hope and Charity This Resolution of addressing your selves to God by humble Prayer is of so great moment that tho' I could heartily wish that this were now your Preparation of mind for the reading of this Pamphlet yet I should be very well contented if it should prove the fruit of your Perusal and that when you made an end of Reading you would be throughly convinced of the necessity of Praying And it is for this reason that I make the same Request to you once more in my Close And certainly I may well despair of obtaining any other favor from you if after all my Entreaties you deny me What your own Teachers your own Principles and your own greatest Interest asks of you as well as my self E. M. ADVERTISEMENT The Citations in the Margin refer to Dr. T.'s Account of the Conference excepting where it is otherwise express'd Page 15. line 22. for Doctor himself read Doctor and himself What other faults have escaped the Press are easily corrected Some Farther REMARKS ON THE Late Account given by Dr. Tenison of his Conference with Mr. Pulton THERE are few persons I suppose but such as have a great conceit of themselves who are willing that all the words which drop from them in the heat of a tumultuous and unprepared Discourse should be Published through the present Age or recommended to Posterity at least in no better dress than the hast they were spoken in would allow But when such casual expressions are not only divested of their Antecedent and Consequent Circumstances but must bear the Additions and Defalcations of Craft and Malice over and above nay when a Disputing Adversary not only takes care to Interrupt his Opponents Discourse and by that means renders his Propositions maim'd and imperfect but also when he has them at home mangles them yet farther and in this plight like a deform'd Sampson exposes them to mockery the injury is too great to need any other aggravation than barely the being told However this Injustice is heighten'd when to make these mishapen Sentences of his Antagonist appear yet more ugly his own are trimm'd up and placed by them with a far better Air in Print than that which they had at the Conference And yet how provoking soever this injury may be I call God to witness that my own Reputation tho' it suffer as far as either Dr. Tenisons Tongue or Pen is a Slander should never have prevailed with me to have appeared in its Defence Since over and above the Repugnance I still have to this kind of coming upon the Stage it ought to be a greater comfort to a Christian to bear an Affront with patience than to ensure the Praise of the whole World. And those who have been the most acquainted with the exercises of a vertuous life have always asserted that Applause in this warfare is much an harder Enemy to deal with than Calumny It is not my Reputation then any farther than the preservation of it is a Duty which calls upon me at this time to take the Pen into my hand But it is that which seems to be so united to it as to suffer with it I mean my Religion For altho' personal defects unless they come to be general ought to cast no blemish on any Profession yet how far shall we think that such things will influence weak persons when a * Gubbard whom D. T. in his Ep. to his Parishioners mentions to have succeeded his Father in his Benefice of Mondesly and afterwards to have Preached Purgatory c might for ought the Doctor pretends to know during his stay in that place come first to be convinced of the truth of such points as he Preached so that what the Doctor takes for Dissimulation which probably would not have discovered it self where there was a good Benefice to be lost by it might be Change. It being great pity that every one should be as Immutable in Evil as D. T. This might be the case or else this G might be a Church of England-man as others have observed supposed Crime of a supposed Jesuit made so violent an Impression on Dr. Tenison whilst he was Young against their whole Order that maugre his entire Doctorship of Divinity he is like to carry it with him to his Grave And consequently to the Tribunal of that Judge who when he was our Master taught us more Charitable Lessons And to such a strange degree of partiality does this rash Judgment arrive that with many Protestants one good Man is sufficient to bring their Religion into Repute and one evil Christian enough to Discredit ours Which tho' unreasonable in them is yet a good
and Socin Meth. p. 26. Work of his own in these Words Though he the Right Socinian thinks a Doctrin is plain in Scripture yet if he believes it to be against HIS REASON he assents not to it And p. 27. A Man of this Church of England suspects not Reason it self but his own present Art of Reasoning whensoever it concludes against that which he reads and reads without doubting of the Sense of the Words This he lays down for the Difference between the Church of England and the Socinians Hitherto I have taken the Socinians at least for a witty Generation But henceforward if the Doctor 's Character of them be true I must hold them all for Blockheads on pain of being held for one my self For what is it to think a Doctrin plain in * Supposing Scripture to be the Word of God. Scripture but to think it to be revealed by God And consequently what is it not to believe a Doctrin which is thought to be plain in Scripture but not to believe what is thought to be revealed by God And is not this in other terms to suppose that it is possible for God to reveal a Falshood Wherefore if this be the sign of a Right Socinian as the Doctor would have it a Bedlam is fitter for him than an Inquisition But the truth is the Socinians are not such Fools as this Gentleman would make them They do not think the Doctrin they reject to be plain in Scripture Nay before they reject it they conclude it not to be * The Arians and Socinians are so far from thinking the Catholic Doctrin touching the Divinity of our Savior to be plain in Scripture that they think the contrary to be plainly there bringing for in many Texts as My Father is greater than I Joh. 14. 28. and the like which the Doctor knows well enough plain Wherefore in those points wherein they differ from the Catholics what the One understands Literally in the Word of God the Other interprets Mystically or Figuratively And in reference to these Texts they behave themselves no otherwise than the Protestants do towards those Words of our Savior in the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament viz. This is my Body which they will not understand in a Literal Sense Again the Doctor says That a Church-of-England-man suspects not Reason it self but his own present Art of Reasoning I have not time to speculate on the nicety of this Distinction and so I let it pass altho' I believe that a Socinian would be extreme glad to know how he might come to be guided by Reason it self when he suspects his present Art of Reasoning * What causeth a Church-of-England-man to suspect his present Art of Reasoning Is it not his present Art of Reasoning Can Reason guide him without any Reasoning The Doctor seems to be very subtil here Is not the Faculty to be suspected when its Operation is faulty Can the Reason be Perfect and yet the Reasoning which flows from it Defective But whereas the Doctor 's Church-of-England-man suspects his own present Art of Reasoning whensoever it concludes against that which he reads and reads without doubting of the Sense of the Words I dare likewise engage that whatsoever the Right Socinian reads in Scripture without doubting of the Sense of the Words he shall believe as firmly as any Church-of-England-man in the World. This is proved already and if the Doctor think otherwise I shall have cause to suspect if not his Reason yet at least his present Art of Reasoning The Reason why I have examined this Quotation is because it is taken out of a Book which I am recommended to by the Doctor for an Answer to those Questions I would have propos'd to him at the Conference The Readers have my sense * Above p. 73. sequ already concerning the Answering of short Questions and proposed in a Personal Conference by a Reference to long Books which seems to be but the putting off the Trial at best What Encouragement I have from this Quotation to have recourse to that Book in particular out of which it was * But if this he the choice what is the refuse chosen by the Author himself let them Judge For if we may guess at the Stuff by the Pattern they will be able to do it A. P. press'd Writing says the Doctor pag. 60. yet when Dr. T. began to do so he declin'd it The Reader will have * Above p. 67. seq See also Mr. P. 's Acc. p. 10. seq seen that A. P. had a great deal of reason to decline the signing an insignificant Wrangle about the Authority of one single Book which was all the Writing Dr. T. propos'd and that the Doctor had no Reason at all to decline what was propos'd to him viz. the writing of the whole Conference unless it be such as he will be loth to own Whereabouts proceeds Dr. T. would these Disputers Pag. 60. be A while ago they were all for Verbal Conferences when Written ones were offer'd as more safe and useful Now when Verbal Conferences are agreed to Writing is press'd What a pretty Sophism is here Does not Dr. Tenison know whereabouts these Disputers would be Did not those who were all for Verbal or rather Personal Conferences desire that the Argumentative part of such Conferences might be taken in * Viz. for hindring such after misrepresentations as we have had from our Dr. as I said before pa. 61. Writing and that nothing else might be published as Authentic but what was so written And were not Conferences so managed viz. Personally and by Writing * See the above-mentioned Letter to Dr. E. S. p. 26. seq preferr'd before the carrying on of a Disputation by Books and not Verbal Conferences as the Doctor insinuates before Written ones Was the Doctor ignorant of this I do not think he was But a pretended Mistake is an excellent Instrument in the hand of a Controvertist It serves to deceive his own Party and at least to make Work for his Adversaries And now I would not have the Sense of what I have said here or elsewhere on this Subject so far mistaken as that I should be thought to look on such Personal and Written Conferences as infallible means of deciding Controversies whereas I only prefer this way of proceeding in them before that of writing Books I know there is nothing of this Nature which some time or other is not liable to the underminings of Craft and therefore as far as I have been able to observe when such kind of Conferences are obtained which is only where they cannot be kept off with any credit the Protestants either refuse to dispute of the Main Points such as the Rule of Faith the Proof of Scripture or the like and fall on some other Branch where as I have said before there is more room for disputing unless the matter be soon brought to the Rule of
run through all those parts of both Dr. Tenison's Pamphlets which I have thought fitting I am not conscious to my self of any thing wherein I have dealt unjustly by him save only it may be in the want of that Negligence wherewith he * See his Epist Ded. to his new Book threatens to do Justice upon Mr. P. Which piece of Justice if I have been defective in hitherto I shall be a more careful Observer of it for the future Only thus much I judged convenient to be said that when I shall think it reasonable to say less the World may not be mistaken in the Cause of my Silence A moderate Defence according to what I have said above is due to Truth but when Calumnies grow excessive they answer themselves by appearing what they are It may be objected That in some places of this rambling Discourse I deliver my sense somewhat more largely than I did at the Conference it self whereas at first I seemed to blame such proceeding What I blamed was that those who have full Liberty in any Conference of speaking what and as much as they please especially by way of Argument should afterwards when they pretend to give Account of it render their own Speeches more full and plausible than they were and yet represent them as truly spoken This I say is what I blamed But on the other side when either a man is wholly hindred from Answering or else cut short in his Answers by the Authority or Rudeness of his Adversary and when by that means most of what he has to say remains in petto it is but just he should have that freedom in the Press which was denied him at the Conference provided that whatever is added on any Subject be related not as what was but as what would have been said had an Opportunity been given And this I have taken care of I have already told my Readers after what manner Dr. Tenison dealt with me at the Conference He made his Applications to me as often and as fully as he thought fit excepting only when I withdrew to avoid them But as for me I was to speak no longer than he pleased I must confess a most effectual way of silencing sometimes not a word sometimes a few but never so many as were needful Neither is this the first time that I have made this Complaint I did it at the Conference and particularly the Doctor may remember I told him there was no possibility of prosecuting any Argument so long as he spoke all and heard nothing I added that this indeed became a Doctor but not a Disputant My meaning was That it was proper for one who was Teaching but not for one who was in the disagreeable Employment of Defending and Proving But tho' the Doctor 's Interruptions were remarkable enough in all his Discourses with me yet they seemed to be more than ordinary a little before the conclusion of our Conference For when I perceived that our Disputations had no other visible effect than the embittering of minds and a farther alienating of affections I thought it not amiss before we took our leaves to offer something that might tend to the calming and re-settling of our Spirits that so tho' we came to no Agreement in our Religion we might yet at least part Friends and Well-wishers to one another As soon as I opened my Mouth for this purpose the Doctor immediately stopt it Not a word must pass Sir said I I am not going to Dispute but only to take my leave and would offer a word that it may be amicably No it must not be the Doctor is inexorable and tho' I attempted it three or four times it was impossible for me to get above three words over without an Interruption Whether it were that the Doctor out of his great propensity to * Ep. to his Parish in his first Book suspicion suspected that I would put an Argument upon him in disguise or for some other reason I cannot yet tell But I despaired of prevailing with him and so gave over my importunity What I should have said had it been allow'd me was to this effect That I could not perceive our Meeting had been to any great purpose That I would not then dispute on whose side the fault lay much less who were in the right and who in the wrong as to Religion That I desired we might notwithstanding the difference of our Opinions live peaceably together only at present I would intreat them to consider that whil'st they imagined the Catholics to be Mistaken they themselves were but Men and consequently as liable to Error as their Neighbors and therefore I would advise them in so important a Point as That whereon their Eternal Salvation depended that they would have recourse to Almighty God and earnestly beseech him That if they were in the right he would confirm them in it but if in the wrong that he would bring them to the right This is all I would have said and this upon the word of a Christian I was not permitted to say which I think is sufficient to shew of what nature the Doctor 's Interruptions were But what I had no leave to say at the Conference I speak here and the liberty of doing it makes some amends for all that trouble I have had and all those pains I have taken on this occasion And could I be sure that my Counsel would be followed I should desire no farther Reward Wherefore I earnestly exhort my Protestant Readers That for an Establishment in the true Faith they would make their chief Applications to Almighty God whose * Ephes 2. 8. Gift it is Should I send them to Catholic Priests their Prejudices might perhaps make them think it unreasonable should I send them to their own Ministers they might suspect a Gubbard or Papist in Masquerade and at best could hope but for a Fallible Director should I send them to the Scripture what would it * Vnless by some plain Texts they are directed to an Infallible Interpreter as indeed they might be profit them so long as they carry with them their own Fallible Interpretation Lastly should I send them to Controversial Treatises they might complain of their tediousness and intricacy I say should I send them to any of these things they might find somewhat to be afraid of But what Apprehensions can they have when I send them to Almighty God This is an Advice wherein there can be no danger but in not following it Wherefore my dear Country-men I hope that you will neither hearken to the Suggestions of Pride on the one hand as if you needed not God's Assistance nor to those of Sloth on the other as if earnest and persevering Prayer were too dear a Purchase of it but that fixing your Eye on that ETERNITY which lies at stake you will despise whatsoever either by Flatteries or Threatnings shall strive to divert you from so necessary an Undertaking I do
our Saviour had said If he will not hear the Church let him be to thee as an Heathen and a Publican which is the subject of our present Controversie He adds in the very next Verse speaking to his Church Verily I say unto you whatsoever you shall Bind on Earth shall be Bound in Heaven c. * The Doctor ought to have considered what came after his Text as well as what went before the one having as manifest a regard to it as the other This Term WHATSOEVER whether it regard the Persons or the Things which fall under the Ecclesiastical Censure or else Both is of a most general Signification So that it is evident that the Power given in this place hath no other Restriction or Limit but the Will and Determination of those to whom it is given there being nothing more required for the Binding or Loosing a Thing in Heaven than that the Church should determin to Bind or Loose it on Earth Which proves what I asserted above viz. That the Church hath Power to Judge in all those things wherein she Declares Her self to have it It is true however that being always Guided by the same Holy Spirit which invests her with this Authority she can never Declare Her self to be our Judge but where she ought and where it is highly for our Advantage that she should be so My Discourse on this occasion was to this effect but as I have said of those on other subjects much shorter tho' this was the fairest opportunity of speaking that Dr. Tenison allowed me during the whole Conference In Conclusion I assured the Doctor that I was wholly convinced that the abovementioned Text as I declared before had quite another meaning than what he gave of it And therefore I ask'd him whether being so convinced as I was I ought to follow his Interpretation or my own He Answered that he would appeal to the Company whether the Sence which he gave of the place were not * Had it been plain it would not have stood in need of his explanation plainly so I told him that this would not serve my turn for tho' that Company should happen to be all of his Mind as they were not there being some amongst them of my own Judgment yet so long as my opinion continued as it was I should be still at the same loss unless the Doctor could inform me whose Judgment I was to trust my Own or Theirs The Doctor said that for the right Interpretation of Scripture I ought to examin the Originals consult Learned Men * Why so much ado for what be said was plain Had the Company he appealed to done all this c. Whereas said he this Boy did none of these things he came not to Me nor to his Master c. and so striking out of the Road with a Cavil about the Boy I could never get him into it again Had I been able to have held him to the Point a little longer he must have granted me according to his own principle of Every ones Power of Judging for himself That seeing I Judged the Sense of Holy Scripture to be Different from what he thought I was as much bound to dis-believe his Doctrin as he was to believe it Which would have been an excellent instance how much Dr. Tenison's Rule of Faith tended to the Vnity of it And undoubtedly must have sounded very strangely in the Ears of his Parishioners notwithstanding their great esteem and affection for him Which I question not but the Doctor was well aware of and therefore thought it more to his purpose to chide the Boy for not having wash'd his Face as the Story goes of such another Answerer than to suffer the Disputation to proceed And yet this is the Doctor who in this very place desires that his Adversary would * Pag. 21. stick to something But non videmus id Manticae quod à tergo est I have already taken notice of a Sentence or two which the Doctor sets to my account more than I can remember my self to have been guilty of There is another of them pa. 21. viz. Mr. M. asked Dr. T. if he could tell Chapter and Verse throughout the Bible And I think there are one or two more of the like nature But they are of so little importance one way or other that tho' I believe they were never spoken by me yet they shall be said or not said as the Doctor pleases But touching what he says pa. 18. Of something spoken to me about the Conference betwixt some Gentlemen of the Church of Rome and Dr. Stillingfleet and Dr. Burnet I remember nothing of it Neither had I any concern in that Conference or in any thing relating to it In the Doctors 22d and 23d Pages the Reader will find the following Lines After this Dr. T. said to Mr. P. there was one thing remaining and fit to be said to him He had in a Printed Paper promised not to tamper about Religion with the Protestant Boys who should come to the Savoy-School it had appeared that he tampered with Boys out of his care and would do so much more with those under it he said it did not follow because of his word which he would not break and that for this Boy he had done it in order to his everlasting Salvation Dr. T. answered that being your Principle that all out of your Communion are Damned you being a Jesuit and a Papist must break your word in that Paper for the necessary good as you think of the Souls of the Boys especially you having hope of turning Boys under your care Mr. M. said to Dr. T. This reflects upon the King. Another more loud this reflects upon the King and suggests that he will break his word And Mr. P. joyned in the Accusation but many of the Hearers cryed out against them and said it was a Knavish trick Mr. M. was going away Dr. T. called to him and desired him not to run away with a false Tale. Mr. M. denyed he said such words Dr. T. told him he did and that for his part he thought his Loyalty at this time to be more valuable than Mr. M's Because he as a Son of the Church of England professed he would not Rebell against the King notwithstanding he might be of another Religion whereas Mr. M. being of the same Religion could not so well separate Loyalty from Interest Dr. T. being concerned at this false and unworthy way of catching Men did say to Mr. M. at the Door of the first Room that if he had persisted in this Trick he could not have forborn to have given him the Name of Evidence Meredith Here it is that the Doctor Storms indeed Here it is that his Rage breaks forth Hunc tu Romane Caveto Here it is that he manifests the Truth of what he tells us in his Epistle to his Parishioners and convinces us at length that amidst so many things there