Reign of Henry the Eighth agreed with the Church of Rome and all other Churches in her Communion concerning Faith and Doctrine is undeniable That at his coming to the Crown there was an Actual Church Government settled by a long continuance in Antient Possession is undebatable That Protestants alter'd the then own'd Faith and brake the Bands of that Government is manifest to the World Both the Time when and Occasion why can be assign'd Moreover That the first Protestants were born of Catholick Parents and Originally in the Communion of the Catholick Church is unquestionable and that they as desirous of Innovation voluntarily departing from that Church renouncing those points which were Principles of Unity both in Faith and Government ipso facto became Schismaticks is easily prov'd for Schismaticos non fides diversa facit sed communionis disrupta societas says St. Hierom on Matt. 11. Now how Rome should be guilty of Schism which did never withdraw from any known Christian Society or depart from the Communion of any former Church with which before she held Communion I cannot possibly apprehend she continu'd fix'd where she was as the Pillar and Firmament of Truth All Hereticks and Schismaticks go out of her this going out is an antient note of Falshood Truth being elder than Error They went forth from us 1 John 2. 19. And certain that went from us Acts 15. 14. and accordingly St. Austin 3. tract Epist Johan says Omnes Haeretici omnes Schismatici ex nobis exierunt i. e. ex Ecclesia exeunt And de Symb. Lib. 1. Haereses omnes de Ecclesia exierunt tanquam sarmenta inutilia de vite praecisa ipsa autem manet in sua radice And in this Case the Rule of Optatus is very observable Videndum est quis in radice cum toto Orbe manserit quis for is exierit Lib. primo Now as for Luther and Calvin when they had voluntarily departed from the Roman Church they separated from all the Christian-Churches in the World and consequently from the Catholick Church for they did not adjoyn themselves in Communion of Sacraments to any Christian Church which was existent before their revolt from the Roman there being not one Church to be found upon Earth antecedent to their Apostacy to which they did apply themselves after their defection but they stood alone till they had acquir'd more Revolters out of the Roman Communion this is most clear and confess'd by themselves Luther in his Preface to King Henry says of himself Solus primo eram and Calvin to the same effect in his Epistle to Melancthon Absurdum est postquam discessionem a toto orbe facere coacti sumus inter ipsa principia alios ab aliis dissilire So this New Church at the first was but one Person which by the accession of more Schismaticks grew numerous being protected by the Secular against the Spiritual Power But to prove your departure from the Roman Communion to be unvoluntary and consequently not Schismatical according to your definition of Schism you cite a saying which you say was King James's Non fugimus sed fugamur I must confess I never could be inform'd how the truth of these Words could be made out for Protestants before their Excommunication having made a wilful breach may be said to be Fugitivi rather than Fugati and accordingly their Expulsion may not so properly be term'd a driving them out of the Church as their Punishment for going out they having before deserted the Church of their own accord So she had too much reason to make use of her Spiritual Weapons for they by their Novel Doctrine and Schismatical Separation having first receded from her and by way of Anti-communion rais'd a new party of Pretended Reform'd Christians distinct from the general Body of the Catholick Church having instituted new Rites and moulded new Articles of Faith contrary not only to the Roman but to the Faith of all particular Churches then known immediately before they began their Separation and refusing to Communicate and joyn with her in Publick Liturgy and Participation of Sacraments disowning her Faith and Power to which they had submitted for above 900 Years and persisting obstinate in their Opinions and Separation the Church having with much patience attended their return and having try'd all Methods that might seem conducive to their amendment was enforc'd at last to proceed against them according to her Canons by a just Excommunication eliminating them from her Bosom for their Schism as St. Paul did the Infamous Corinthian for his Incest who by the heinous offence gave the first cause of his Excision So 't is manifest that the orignal departure was theirs and accordingly St. Hierom in his Comments Epistle to Titus avers Haeretici in semetipsos sententiam dicunt suo arbitrio ab Ecclesia recedendo And Cyprian in his Fortieth Epistle Paenas quas meruerunt pependerent ut a nobis non ejecti ultro se ejicerent de Ecclesiâ se expellerent For the Church forsakes no Person neither doth she eject any but like a tender Mother cherishes her Children in her Vital and Fotive Breast unless such as wilfully separate themselves by their obstinate adhesion to Heretical Doctrines or by persevering in a Flagitious course of Life so as she is not now the hindrance of their Reunion so neither was she at first the occasion of their Separtion Protestants well knowing that their formal Schism can neither be deny'd nor maintain'd find themselves oblig'd to acknowledge the Matter of Fact but to blanch and candy their Crime pretend to have had a just Cause given them for their Separation and upon this supposition accuse the Church of Rome of causal Schism This is what I conceive Dr. Stillingfleet to mean when he says The Church of Rome imposing unlawful Conditions of Communion it was necessary not to Communicate with her Bishop Lawd is very clear herein The cause of Schism is yours says he for you thrust us from you because we call'd for Truth and Redress of Abuses As for Abuses if any were crept in they ought to have been redress'd and this is properly Reformation but to alter receiv'd Articles of Faith establish'd by Councils that is Heresie But I could not be satisfied what truth it was that the Bishop says they call'd for I am fully convinc'd that in the beginning of Henry the Eighth's Reign our English Church did retain as a faithful depositary all those Sacred Truths which Gregory the Great convey'd unto us by St. Austin who I do fully believe did convert this Nation to the true Faith establishing his Doctrine with Miracles which Doctrine is still preserv'd unstain'd by the Catholicks of this Kingdom So I could not understand what the Bishop meant by calling for Truth neither could I tell when or by whom it was call'd for I must confess Henry the Eighth who open'd the Sluces to let in all the ensuing Mischief did call and that Vocally but not for Truth
things besides God are to be Adored as in August de Civit. Dei Lib. 10. c. 4. Homines si multum eis addatur etiam adorandi and Cyr. Alexand. Hom. de Deipara Crux adoratur toto orbe torrarum Accordingly Lactantius Flecte genu Lignumque Crucis venerabile adora And St. Hierom Epist 17. says Baptistae cineres adorate St. Ambrose in his Funeral Oration on Theodosius praises the Empress Helena for setting the Cross upon the Crown of Kings that it might be ador'd in them Sapienter Helena egit quae crucem in capite Regum levavit locavit ut Crux Christi in Regibus adoretur And St. Hierom in Epitaph Paulae reports of her that having at Hierusalem found out the Cross upon which Christ suffered she ador'd it as if she even had seen our Saviour hanging on it St. Chrysost is very clear herein in several places but more especially in his Hom. de Adorat Crucis That the Primitive Christians had a great veneration for the Cross may be prov'd out of Tertullian in his Apology where he acknowledges that the Heathens took notice of it and accus'd them as Crucis Religiosos This double acceptation of the word Adoration was well known to Mr. Thorndike who affirms the words Adoration Worship Respect and Reverence to be equivocal and the cause of this Equivocation to be for want of words to signify those conceptions which flow not from Common Sense and from this Equivocation in those words the greatest part of the difficulties which occur take their rise So you may see how deceitfully you deal by us herein always taking the words Adore Worship as importing Supreme Honor to God and then falsely accusing us of giving Gods Honor to a Creature or Image which we detest with a greater abhorrency than your self The other thing the Council took care in not to leave the least umbrage of suspition of Idolatry to any Rational Man is that they did disown any Virtue or Divinity to be in them that upon that account they should be respected or that they should be requested any thing or any trust reposed in them as the Gentiles did c. and this puts me in mind of what Gregory several hundred Years before the Council wrote in his Seventh Book of his Epistles to Secundinus who it seems had desired Gregory to send him some Pictures which he did and likewise instructs him in the right use of them agreeable to the Council Scio quidem quod Imaginem Salvatoris nostri non ideo petis ut quasi Deum colas sed ut ad recordationem filii Dei in ejus amore recalescas cujus te imaginem videre desideras nos quidem non quasi ante divinitatem ante illam prosternimur sed illum adoremus quem per imaginem aut natum aut passum sed in Throno sedentem recordamur CHAP. IV. Of Transubstantiation THe next Point by which you would prove Rome guilty of Schism is Transubstantiation which you have lewdly abused and injuriously represented but I am afraid you are not so much offended at the word as at the meaning of it As to the word the Church was pleas'd to make use of it as fit and proper to declare the change of the Bread and Wine after the words of Consecration into the Body and Blood of Christ Quam quidem conversionem Catholica Ecclesia aptissime Transubstantiationem appellat As the Lateran Council says Canone Secundo And accordingly the Council of Trent Quae conversio convenienter proprie à S. Catholica Ecclesia Transubstantiatio appellatur The Council defines not the word to be of Faith but makes use of it as a fit word expressive of their Sense so that if you can tell me a more proper one than this I shall not quarrel with you about it For names of words speaking in their rigour are not Objects of Faith as Athanasius shews in his Reconciliation of the Verbal Controversie of Person and Hypostasis but the Matter and Sense therein couch'd As to the newness of the word which is often objected tho' it was never in Latin publickly authoriz'd before the Council of Lateran yet the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be prov'd to be very antient and the thing thereby signify'd seems as old as Christs celebration of his Supper For a Point of Faith may be elder in it self than the Council that defines it The Consubstantiality of the Son and the Divinity of the Holy Ghost must be admitted to be elder than the Council of Nice and Constantinople that defin'd them The Conciliary Definition being generally occasion'd by the emergency of Heretical Opinions contrary to the Sense of the Church which had they not arose the Church had never been necessitated to a more Explicit Declaration Thus it happened here Sundry monstrous Opinions being broach'd about the Blessed Sacrament the Church was oblig'd to intervene with her unerring determinations establishing the Truth and dispelling Error Now tho' this Article was always in it self of the substance of Faith and tho' the thing signify'd by the new term was always held as a Divine Truth yet it was not obliging under that notion till the Solemn Declaration of the Church Quae veritas etsi prius erat de fide non tamen erat prius tantum declarata as Scotus says Now that the Church has power to coyn a new word for the Elucidating Truth and that she hath made use of this Power is clear by the Council of Nice which to declare Christs Consubstantiality with the Father found out the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Council of Ephesus which to express the Mystery of Christs Divine Incarnation made use of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deipara That the Fathers long before the Council of Lateran and Trent did believe a Real change after the consecratory words is most evident and accordingly to express their belief of a Real Conversion they make use of Real Changes mention'd in Scripture as of Aarons Rod into a Serpent Water into Wine Hence the Greek Fathers call this mutation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 affirming after the Consecration the Symbols to be chang'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Greek words importing Transelementation Transfaction Transmutation Transfiguration Thus St. Ambrose Lib. 4. de fide Per Sacrae Orationis mysterium in carnem transfigurantur sanguinem and Lib. 4. de Sacramento Vbi accesserit consecratio de pane fit caro Christi non erat corpus Christi ante consecrationem sed post consecrationem dico tibi quod jam corpus est Christi ipse dixit factum est And again Sermo Christi qui poterit ex nihilo facere quod non erat non potest ea quae sunt in id mutare quod non erant And accordingly George Nyssen in orat catechet Recte Dei verbo sanctificatum panem in Dei verbi corpus credo transmutari And Cyril Hieros in his Catech. Myst says Panis
World c. But instead of accusing her for this had you not been of an ungrateful temper you might have taken a fair opportunity of thanking her for sending her Apostles to convert this Nation to Christianity when we lay in the impure Arms of Heathenism But why should you take offence at her sending persons to propagate the Gospel even to the Remotest and most Barbarous Countreys as long as you whilst they are in the midst of Persecutions and Martyrdoms enjoy the soft Embraces of a Wife and the affluence of United Livings CHAP. VII Concerning Protestants objecting Errors to the Church of Rome The Authors Apologie for himself His Advice to the Protestant Parson with some other Particulars HAving hitherto followed you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tracing the print of your Footsteps and in as succinct a manner as I could examin'd your Reasons to clear your Church of Schism and to derive that crime on Rome they have appear'd to me too infirm either to justifie the one or to cast the other As for your accusing her of Errors that being but suppos'd and not prov'd it imports nothing Your Proofs to evince her Doctrines erroneous must be as manifest as your Actual Schism and your Arguments to justify your Schism must not be conjectural or Probable but they must be as Ostensive and as Irresistable as that you made it Nay you must prove her guilty of Damnable Doctrines and that Salvation was not attainable in her Communion or else you can expect none out of it For to accuse the Church of Error and upon that account to depart from her is Inevitable Perdition without a return I know it was always customary with her Enemies to object unto her the want of Truth but this was done by Schismaticks as St. Austin well observ'd Hoc dicunt qui in Ecclesiâ non sunt Upon this false surmise they audaciously attempt the reforming of her Doctrines broaching new ones in opposition to them which is done to authenticate and justify their Secession This was antiently observ'd by St. Hierom. Nullum Schisma non sibi aliquam fingit Haeresim ut recte ab Ecclesiâ recessisse videatur First they separate and so become Schismaticks then they mint new Articles of Belief and so turn Hereticks one follows upon the Neck of the other for they never continue long disjoin'd Schism being a very fair step to Heresie and Generally a Harbinger to it Quis unquam Haereses instituit nisi qui se prius ab Ecclesiae Catholicae universitate antiquitatis consensione discreverit says Vinc. Lyrinensis I know that in this case Truth is the pretence tho' indeed it is Pride and Arrogance which makes Men give the preference to their own Private Opinions and which keeps them from submitting to the Decisions of the Church for had they really with a pure ardour affected Truth they had never gone out of her who is the Pillar of Truth out of which when once departed they must not expect a Pillar of Fire to Pilote them but foolish Fires and Spirits of Delusion to misguide them through all the Serpentine windings and Mazes of falsehood In ventre Ecclesiae veritas manet quisquis ab hoc ventre Ecclesiae fuerit separatus necesse est ut falso loquatur says St. August on Psalm 57. I am apt to believe that if you would but once disenchant your self from the Spells of your unhappy Education and with an Impartial Judgment take a serious view of the Doctrines of the Church as propos'd and explicated by her not as wrongfully represented by her Adversaries that all those little Mormo's and Spectres rais'd by an injurious description of her Articles which have hitherto frighted you would disappear and that you then would be so captivated as not to be able to resist the charms of her naked Truths The force of Education is certainly great and lays violent anticipations on the Judgment which misleads us in our Elections disposing us to reject or embrace things rather as they suit or jar with our first receptions and prepossessions than by their conformity to Truth Till these false Ideas be dislodg'd Truth can expect no Introduction but must stand excluded by Preconceptions When this difficulty is conquer'd you would do well to question the Integrity of those Authors who have wrote in defence of your New Religion who first imbued your undiscerning Minority with adulterate Tinctures and then you are to apply your self with an unprejudicate Mind to those Authors who have oppos'd them After this you must lay aside all thoughts of Secular Advantage No Sophister can be more fallacious than Interest This imposes on our yielding Temper bribes our Judgments and by secret Attractions draws us to the wrong This made Alexander so violently stand up for his Ephesian Goddess tho' a false Deity and accordingly the Pythonissa was a long time maintain'd tho' possess'd with an impure Spirit for the lucre that she acquir'd for her owners In the last place you are to divest your self of your Conceitedness and high Opinion of your self assuming Humble Thoughts Fancy not your self unfallible in your Explications of Scripture look on it as unbecoming and arrogant in you to censure the Doctrines of the Church and to oppose the Definitions of General Councils When you shall have conquered all these Impedimental Obstacles you will soon descry those Mists which have hitherto benighted your Understanding to retire then through a serene and disclouded Medium you will clearly see the verity of Catholick Doctrines and by Gods assistance implor'd embrace them Nullus pudor ad meliora transire Amb. Epist 31. But now finding you to plant your Artillery to play on me I must take some care to defend my self which I do not at all despond of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Both Shields and Spears are in my Armory To guard my self and gall my Enemy First You profess your self heartily sorry that I own my self revolted from my Mother Church But your sorrow being grounded upon a mistake I beg of you to supersede it Quam pro me curam geris hanc precor optime pro me deponas for I have not forsaken the Mother Church but the Schismatical Daughter But pray how can your Church be the Mother Church which began but in Luthers days and consequently so young that she resembles an Infant rather than a grave Matron I must confess I cannot see her reckon'd either by Irenaeus amongst those Churches which he calls Maximae Antiquissimae or by Tertullian amongst those which he terms Matrices Originales whereas the Roman Church is of that Antiquity and Renown that the very Holy Ghost by the Pen of St. Paul celebrates her Faith and Fame Henry the Eighth before he had violated the pure Faith he first imbib'd in his Book against Luther will tell you which the World acknowledged for the Mother Church Negare non potest Lutherus quin omnis Ecclesia fidelium sacrosanctam sedem Romanam velut
His first call was for a fresh Bedfellow that was Carnal then he call'd for innocent Blood that was Tyrannical his other call was for Church-Goods and Lands that was a Sacrilegious call he had no scruples concerning the truth of his Religion neither alter'd he any thing of it but to gratifie his Lust and Covetousness Nullâ fere in re a fide Catholica discessit praeterquam libidinis luxuriae causâ as Sanders affirms of him And accordingly he ordered his Son to be brought up in the Catholick Religion excepting the Title of Head of the Church Edward the Sixth was too young to call for Truth he had most reason to call for it being early infected with the Zuinglian Heresie contrary to his Fathers Will by the Sacrilegious Protector who did call indeed but it was for the remains of the Goods of the Impoverish'd Church he likewise call'd for false Teachers to dilate the Gangren Martin Bucer a Dominican Peter Martyr a Canon-Regular Ochinus a Capuchin Apostate Monks and Sacerdotes Vxorati from such we were not like to have Truth who not only fell from the Catholick Church but flagitiously violated their Oath of Continency for which by the then establish'd Law they lay obnoxious to an infamous Death I shall say nothing of Queen Elizabeth she being a Woman and wholly unqualified to meddle with Church Affairs and to tamper in Articles of Faith neither shall I say any thing of the succeeding Princes who found the Schism begun and Religion alter'd to their Hands I know very well that in this case Truth is the Pretext but that is no more than what is in the Mouth of every Sectary This is the usual Mask to hide the ugly Face of a foul Action which without so fine a cover would affright those deluded Souls that are cheated with its beatiful Paint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there must be a plausible glittering Title a winning Frontispiece to a bad Enterprize but if the Origine of this unhappy Schism be examin'd we shall find that Revenge Haughtiness impure Flames and desire of Plunder were the Springs that mov'd the first Machin and nothing at all of Truth I do not find that Henry the Eighth did ever recant the Book he writ in defence of the Roman Church he hated both Lutheranism and Zuinglianism and fell out with the Church rather for its Booty and Prey than for its Doctrine and this was Tyndals Sense of it in his Letter to Frith where writing of King Henry the Eighth's intention against the Pope and Clergy saith thus Fox pag. 987. I smell a Council to be taken little for the Clergies profit in time to come but you must understand that it is not out of pure Heart and for love of Truth but to avenge himself and to eat the Whores Flesh and drink the Marrow of her Bones which because 't is somewhat enigmatically express'd Fox is pleas'd in the Margent thus to expound eating the Whores Flesh is to spoyl the Popes Church only for the Prey and Spoyl thereof not Religion Bishop Bramhall is very honest herein As for the suppression of Monasteries says he we fear that covetousness had a great Oar in the Boat and that sundry of the Principal Actors had a greater aim at the Goods of the Church than at the good of it Having premis'd thus much I shall now take notice how you acquit your Church of Schism even according to your own Distinction and Division of it You say she is not guilty of that Crime because she owns and performs Obedience to Christ and his Apostles Then because she pays Reverence to the Antient Fathers of the Church Thirdly Because she owns the first four General Councils c. This you think enough to clear her of Schism whereas 't is nothing at all to the purpose being a meer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and besides the Cushion you define Paternal Schism to be a renuntiation of Obedience and Communion to and with our Ecclesiastick Governours so how do any of these Reasons clear you of it You are accus'd by Catholicks of a voluntary departure out of the Catholick Church of a defection from the Government of your Occidental Patriarch under whose Spiritual Prefecture this Nation was for several hundred Years From this your Spiritual Governor you have revolted renouncing his Authority look'd on as of Divine Institution this being your Accusation the Reasons alledg'd for your acquittance are too weak and dilute for such a purpose Now tho' you come off with a scratch'd Face concerning your Paternal I must needs say you come off very fairly with your Fraternal Schism because you so courteously give the Right-hand of Fellowship to so many Churches and herein your obliging carriage is highly to be commended you extending your kindness to Lutheran Calvenist or Hugonot and indeed to any Church that will but joyn with you in separating from and defaming the Catholick The next thing I have to do is to see how you prove Rome guilty of Schism and the Method you take herein I found to be as improper as that by which you would clear your own Church of it For instead of proving Rome separating it self from any visible Society of Christians with whom she formerly held Communion which is properly Schism you accuse her of false Doctrine which Accusation could you be able to make good it would prove her to be rather Erroneous than Schismatical But I shall now descend to the Examination of those three Particulars by which you would prove your self not guilty of Schism The first is because you own and perform Obedience unto Christ and his Apostles and observe all the Rules and Ordinances they have left you in the Scriptures But how you can pretend to pay full Obedience to Christ and disobey his Spouse whom he enjoyns you to hear under penalty of being reputed an Ethnick or how you can fancy to be united to him when you fall off from his Mystical Body the Church of which he is the Head I know not or how you can be said to follow all the Rules of the Apostles when they recommend Tradition and you reject it when they tell you that the Church is the Pillar and Firmament of Truth and you make her Apostatical I could instance in many particulars how counter you run to the Scripture you so much pretend to but I shall wave them and only tell you that it is an unwarrantable way to fall off from the Church and then appeal to that Scripture which commands you to obey the Church yet this is your practice when you dispute with Catholicks but when you have to do with Sectaries who plead Scripture against you then you have recourse to Fathers and Tradition using the same Arguments against them as we do against you It was long ago observ'd by the Fathers That Hereticks were great pretenders to the Scriptures backing their false Opinions with it Omnes Haeretici ex sacris Scripturis falsas atque
fallaces Opiniones suas conantur defendere as Hilarius attests Lib. prim de Trint Vincent Lyrinensis to the same effect Nihil de suo proferunt quod non Scripturarum verbis adumbrare conentur This they formerly did and still do to reject the Authority of the Church and to avoid a living Judge they appeal to the Scripture then they assume to themselves what they deny the Church it 's Exposition perverting it's true Sense according to their wild Fancies and so crooken the Rule to their own Bent This was observ'd by St. Basil Hexam Hom. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These falsifiers of Truth which do not teach their mind to follow the Scripture but contort the meaning of Divine Writ to their own Wills Now tho' the Scripture as being the Word of God is infallibly true yet it do's witness of it self that it is not of private Interpretation and those that dare Expound it that way may instead of sound Truths extract damnable Doctrines St. Austin avouches That all Heresies take their Birth from its wrong Interpretation in his 222 Epistle to Consentius Neque enim natae sunt Haereses nisi dum Scripturae bonae intelliguntur non bene To avoid this we must not Interpret them according to our Fancies but adhere to the Interpretations of the Church not at all questioning but that that Spirit of Truth which did direct it to distinguish Canonical from Adulterine Writ will likewise instruct it in the right Interpretation And herein consists the difference betwixt Catholicks and Hereticks as St. Austin observes Libro de Gratia Haeretici secundum suum sensum Sacras Scripturas legunt but we according to Antiquity and constant Tradition receiving both the Scripture and its Sense from the Church and her Authority is so considerable herein that St. Austin Epist Manich. says Ego Evangelio non crederem nisi me Catholicae Ecclesiae commoveret authoritas The Second Reason is because you pay Reverence to the Antient Fathers of the Church Of this I shall hereafter have occasion to take notice and likewise of your Honesty and Integrity in quoting them The Third Reason to acquit your self of Schism is because you own the first four General Councils and are willing that the difference betwixt you and other Churches should be decided by their Vmpirage but I must tell you That if you own'd Forty Councils instead of Four and revolted from the Church that would not discharge you of the Crime of Schism As for your pretended willingness to admit them as Judges in differences betwixt you and other Churches this will appear to be a very empty Compliment unless you can prove that they made Definitions concerning our Modern Controversies they conven'd to define about the Heresies rise in those days of the Arrians Nestorians Eutychians Macedonians not concerning those of Protestants a word not then known and had their Doctrines been then extant they would as certainly have been condemned as the foregoing I shall only instance in one point in one Council that of Chalcedon I am fully convinc'd that that Council which paid so much respect to Pope Leo acknowledging him to have receiv'd the custody of the Vineyard from Christ granting him when they sent their Relation to him to preside over them by vertue of his Legate as the Head do's over the Members would have severely sentenc'd your revolt from that See That Council which depos'd Dioscurus the Patriarch of Alexandria and consequently no Subject of Leo's as he was Patriarch of the West not for any Erroneous Doctrine but for his Sawciness against him whom they call his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord and because he dar'd to convene a Synod without leave from the Apostolick See would most certainly have condemn'd your defection ftom the Authority of your Occidental Patriarch and more your Opprobrious Revilings of him But why the first four General Councils why not a Stage farther why Hic Terminus haeret Can you prove that all Contests in Matters of Faith arising in future Ages and in much different Centuries could possibly be determin'd in those Councils Would you have an Heresie be condem'd before it be broach'd your referring all our Controversal Differences to their Decision is as irrational as if Macedonius who was condemn'd concerning his Heresie about the Holy Ghost in the Second General Council had appeal'd to the Nicene which assembled chiefly to confute the Heresie of Arrius concerning God the Son and determin'd nothing about the Third Person of the Trinity Besides I know no reason why the Church should be credited in the first four General Councils and slighted and disbeliev'd in the following Christ promis'd he would be with them to the consummation of the World I do not in the least question but that the same Spirit of Truth which guided and directed the Church in its first Synods did accompany it in all its succeeding Conventions rendring it inerrable in its Definitions of Faith I can find no place where Christ promis'd to be with them for a limited time so as to direct them in their first four Assemblies and to leave them for the future to themselves It would have been a great incouragement to all new Heresies if no Decision in Gods Church should have been after the first four General Councils The truth of it is this 'T is usual with Hereticks to be Enemies to those Councils and to reject them that have condemn'd their Opinions charging them with Error as the Arrians did that of Nicene the Nestorians that of Ephesus the Eutichians that of Chalcedon and accordingly the Emperor Zeno being an Eutychian having put out a Profession of Faith which he call'd Henoticon he left out the Council of Chalcedon which had condemn'd that Error embracing only the Faith of the three first Councils The next thing I shall Discourse of will be concerning your Church which you assert to have all the Essentials of a true Church and to be a sound part of the Catholick This I wish you had prov'd as manifestly as you confidently affirm it Had you done this I would never have forsaken its Communion You cannot but imagine it to be a very hard task for any to forsake his Relations his Friends his Countrey-men in Matters of Religion and thereby to expose himself to their Odium the severity of rigid Laws and his Temporal Concerns to ruine nothing but the saving of ones Soul can be preponderant to all these Mischiefs So you may conceive that had I imagin'd my self as safe in reference to my Salvation in your Church as where I now am I had most certainly fix'd my self there Clavo Trabali As to your asserting your Church to have all the Essentials of a true one I must tell you plainly this That I find in the Fathers many to be condemn'd for Hereticks for denying but one of those many Articles which you disown But as for Essentials and Fundamentals I know you pretend to them but I cannot see
Catholicks had the use of the Cup been frequent they being a sort of Hereticks who by the Principles of their Religion would not drink Wine abhorring it as a thing unlawful to be drunk as a Creature of the Devil as Fel Draconis and so superstitiously abstaining from the Chalice in detestation of which Heresie the Church Commanded Communion in both kinds not as if the other were either unlawful or imperfect but for the detection of those Hereticks pursuant to their Exclusion from Catholick Societies At that time the Bishops to crush and extirpate that Heresie highly extol'd and commended the use of the Chalice but that Error being extinct and in process of time another Heresie arising against the Essential Integrity of Christs Body under either kind as also avouching the absolute indispensable necessity of both the Church began universally to practice Communion under one kind and to confute this Error did not only declare and publish the Truth by her Decrees and Definitions but likewise by her Practice well knowing that as it was not unlawful in its self to Communicate under both sorts so it was likewise not necessary but in its own nature indifferent and so consequently determinable to one or both kinds according to the Discretion of the Church the Precinct and Line of whose Power extendeth it self to things Adiaphorous for things absolutely Commanded Man cannot forbid nor Command things absolutely forbidden This thing being thus of a middle nature was as such within the territory of the Churches Legislative Power which according to the differences of Place Time and Persons hath power to enjoyn both or command but one as the juncture of Affairs may be and the benefit of the Church may require and upon these accounts the Church may restore the Cup again having Power to dispence in this Point of Discipline according as may be most advantageous to its Peace and Unity and accordingly as a tender Mother for quietness sake she restor'd the Cup to the Bohemians and there is no question but that she would have granted it you upon that account had it been requested before your Revolt rather than see you perishing in Damnable Schism Now that the Church has this Power is acknowledged by the Council of Basil Sess 30. Ecclesia quae regitur Spiritu veritatis c. ordinare habet quomodo ipsis non conficientibus ministretur prout pro reverentia ipsius Sacramenti salute fidelium viderit expedire and accordingly the Council of Trent Sess 21. Declarat Synodus hanc potestatem perpetuo in Ecclesia fuisse ut in Sacramentorum dispensatione salvâ illorum substantia ea statueret vel mutaret quae suscipientium utilitati seu ipsorum Sacramentorum venerationi pro rerum temporum locorum varietate magis expedire judicaret Hence 't is that the Church varied from the first institution in reference to time which was then after Supper whereas 't is now taken fasting and before Dinner so I believe that Christ did not strictly tie us up to the first institution but left it to the discretion of the Apostles who afterward referr'd it to the Judgment of the Succeeding Church this seems to be St. Austins Sense of it Non praecepit quo deinceps ordine sumeretur ut Apostolis per quos Ecclesias dispositurus erat servaret hunc locum 118 Epist ad Januarium and certainly 't is more fit that this Power should be lodg'd in the Hands of the Church than committed to the Arbitrement of Private Persons and you had better herein have acquiesced in her Determinations than in your own Elections for what have you gain'd by extorting this Cup but instead of a Cup of Salvation a baneful Potion your departure and Schism from the Church tainting your very Sacraments and poisoning the very Springs of your Holy Actions Omnia Sacramenta Christi non ad salutem sed ad judicium habentur sine charitate unitatis August Lib. 3. Con. Literas Petil. Neque sides neque Sacramenta ullis nisi persistentibus in Ecclesiae unitate sunt salutaria De Vnit Eccles Quid prodest homini vel sana fides vel sanum fortasse fidei Sacramentum ubi lethali vulnere Schismatis perempta est sanitas Charitatis De Baptismo con Donat. Lib. primo CHAP. VI. Concerning Publick Prayers in Latin and of several other Points THe Fourth Point by which you would prove the Roman Church guilty of Paternal Schism is her Publick Prayers in Latin This Point is highly opposed and fancied to be against the Word of God as contrary to the Sense of the 1 Corinth 14. which is generally brought against it and fully believ'd by your Flock tho' if rightly understood nothing to the purpose for this place do's not reprove the Practice of the Roman Church in having her Liturgy in Latin but prohibits Extemporary Prayers in Publick Meetings in an unknown Tongue according to the Inspir'd infus'd Devotion of the Speaker Here is not a Word concerning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Common Liturgy which hath set known Offices for every Day If there were it would be an admirable place for you to confute Fanaticks and to establish your Common-Prayer against Sectaries I know no reason why the Western Church should not have the liberty to make use of the Latin in her Religious Worship which is her Sacred and Learned Language and in her extent the most generally known as well as the Jews use the Hebrew or the Eastern Churches the Greek which altho' consisting of several Nations that speak Languages as much different from Greek as ours is from Latin Nay altho ' the Grecians have lost their own Language which is now no more resemblant to the Learn'd Greek than French is to Latin yet they retain their Liturgy unalter'd in the pure Language of Chrysostom not understood but by the Learned St. Hierom in his Preface in Paralip says That in those Days all those Churches were serv'd in Greek using Basil's Liturgy And Alexander Ross will tell you in his Review of Religion That the Copthies Jacobites Georgians Circassians and others to whom you will give the Right-hand of fellowship use not their vulgar Language but an unknown Tongue to the Vulgar in their Divine Service Now you must understand that it is no Position of the Catholick Church that the Publick Service should be in an unknown Tongue but it being Compos'd at first ever since the Apostles days in Latin in the Western Church the Church did not think it expedient that it should be turn'd into the Vulgar Barbarous Language of every Nation This was not Englands case alone but France Spain Germany Poland c. far'd no otherwise nay most part of the World according to St. August in his Book de verâ Religione Quotidie per orbem universum humanum genus unâ pene voce respondet sursum corda se habere ad Deum And that the Divine Service was in Africa perform'd in the Latin and not in the Punic
Pope acknowledging him the Prince and Head of Gods Holy Priests You make Laws in defiance of him pulling of him down as a Spiritual Usurper They made Laws which were according to his Approbation the Rules and Definitions of the Church backing the Spiritual with the Temporal Sword You make Laws in affront to him and against the Decrees of the Church Thus you see their proceedings herein have no affinity with Henry the Eighth's Headship nor with Edward the Sixth's Reformation of the Ecclesiastick Laws nor with Queen Eliz. New Articles and Canons But that you may more be convinc'd herein I shall give you a few Patterns of these Emperors Decrees which at your leisure you may confront with those of your party and see how they quadrate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justinian Novel 131. We enact that according to their own Sanctions the most Holy Pope of Old Rome be the Prince of High-Priests And in his Decrees about Justiniana he acknowledges therein to have followed the Definitions of Pope Vigilius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in Justin eod Lib. 7. he says thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither will we suffer any thing which belongs to to the State of the Church not to be referr'd to your Holiness as being the Head of all the Holy Priests of God As for Theodosius I find in Sozom. L. 7. C. 4. that he put out an Edict Commanding that Religion which Pope Damasus had preserv'd as deliver'd to him by St. Peter should be observ'd enjoining all his Subjects to embrace it I can find no Edict of his for reforming and altering it This he enjoyn'd those under him to be of under penalty of being reputed Hereticks and Infamous and deservers of Punishment Thus much Power in Church-Affairs is still granted every King and to speak the Truth 't is their Duty to defend the Church by their Temporal Power against Heresie and Schism By such Actions as these they purchase to themselves the glorious Title of Nursing Fathers and Propugnators not by usurping Authority over the Church depluming its Head of that Power which Christ invested him with and appropriating it to themselves changing Articles of Belief establish'd by General Councils and Antient Traditionary Truths handed down from Father to Son these are Actions unpresidented by any well instructed Christian Emperor who I find to be very cautious touching Church-Affairs as you may perceive by the Answer of the Emperor Valentinian to the Bishop of Heraclea Sozom. Lib. 6. C. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is not lawful for me who am one of the Laity to concern my self about such things After this vagrancy of your Roving Fancy you begin to think of home and being return'd into your own Countrey you affirm of our English Kings that Church-Affairs were both de facto jure govern'd by them This if you shall ever be able to prove out of good Authors you will certainly deserve the Palm for an admirable Historian I have already prov'd that Church-Matters do belong to the Spiritual not to the Temporal Power and that these two Governments are distinct and for this I have the Authority of St. Chrysost who in his Hom. 4. de verbis Isaiae in Vidi Dominum says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There be other limits of a Kingdom and other limits of the Priesthood but this is greater than that As for Matter of Fact I will not deny but that some Princes before Henry the Eighth irritated either by their Passion or allur'd by a curiosity of intermedling with what did not appertain to them have intrench'd upon the Immunities of the Church and asserting a pretended Right have clashed with the Roman Bishop and medled de facto with Church-Matters but quo jure is the Question You cannot prove a right of Power by proving an exercise of Power unless it be allow'd of for granted That whatever a King do's is lawful Their Quarrels with the Pope were chiefly about Investitures and disposal of Bishopricks They did not deny his Supremacy in Spirituals or if they quarrelled with any particular Pope they did not attempt the abolishing of Papacy A Pope may be to blame and so may a King but neither of these Institutions as Sacred ought to be abrogated for the faults of Men. But to bring the parrallel home to your Case Did our Kings before Henry the Eighth make themselves absolute Heads of the Church immediately under Christ Did they challenge as innate to their Crowns Supreme Power in all Cases both Spiritual and Civil Did they rob the Pope of his Power and assume Papal Jurisdiction Did they vendicate to themselves Authority in Church Affairs ordering Laymen Vicar Generals in Spiritualities as Cromwell was who sat in the Convocation-House amongst the Bishops as Head over them This would to them have appear'd as new and monstrous a sight as ever was brought out of Africa Suppose they clash'd with the Church of Rome did they ever part from her and all other Christian Churches besides as you did in your Reformation making Laws to reverse Decrees of General Councils changing Religion and altering Articles of Belief Did they pick Quarrels with the Church and then Sacrilegiously seize on her Lands and Goods Sacrificing to their fury as many Churchmen as would not comply with their Nefarious Oaths Demolishing Religious Houses violating Sacred Orders Was any thing of this nature acted in the days of Henry the Seventh or of those brave Princes before him But I shall not proceed further on this Point we having at present a King granted us by the indulgent benignity of Heaven who well knows how to distinguish betwixt the Rights of the Church and his own Royal Right betwixt what belongs to God and what to Caesar what to the Miter and what to the Crown A most Religious Prince tracing the sure Footsteps of his Great Ancestors owning the Religion which his vast Kingdoms receiv'd at their forsaking Heathenism and Conversion to Christianity In a Right and proper Sense Defender of the true Catholick Apostolick Faith for defending whereof this Crown obtain'd that illustrious Title For this Prince Pietate insignis Armis no less Pious than Valiant no less Just than Good endued with all those Adorable Qualities which render him amongst Kings the most Conspicuous amongst Monarchs the most Renown'd we ought to be highly grateful to the Supreme God whose Lieutenant he is hoping that under so Gracious and Merciful a Prince we may be protected from our cruel inveterate Enemies and that now at length our Innocency may be a sufficient Shield to defend us from the false Oaths of Profligate Perjur'd Villains who have so long triumph'd over us bathing their wicked Hands in guiltless Blood And now having made mention of our Natural Liege Sovereign I shall conclude this Point with a Prayer for him according to the Platform of Tertullian wishing his Majesty Vitam prolixam Imperium securum Domum tutam Exercitus fortes Senatum fidelem Populum probum
unnecessary and I may very well wave it as undeserving any notice should be taken of it what I said was this That our Savior asked Peter thrice suitable to his trine denial as St. Austin observ'd Additur trinae negationi trina confessio whether he lov'd him c. This seems not at all amiss or obnoxious to any exception but you had a mind to carp at every thing Now tho' such parvitudes as these are not worth the defending yet because you Cavil at them I shall not desert them as undefensible for I believe I can produce better Authority to maintain them than you can to impugn them Ter me negasti timendo Ter me confitere amando Ambros Psal 90. Enarrat And in his Apol. David Cap. 9. Vt trinae lapsum negationis professio Charitatis toties repetita deleret St. Austin Serm. 50. Secund. Johan Vt trinâ confessione amoris deleret trinum peccatum negationis Theophyl on John 21. gives two Reasons of our Saviors asking thrice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Both manifesting what a great care he took of the Faithful and withall by a trine Interrogation and Confession he cures his trine Negation The next that encounters my view is your Quotation out of St. Austin by which I perceive that the drift and scope of your design is to prove the words Pasce Oves meas to be spoken to the Rest as well as to Peter This is the White at which you level the words are these Cum illi dicitur ad omnes dicitur si amas me pasce c. This is all you quote but upon examining the place out of which these words were taken I find the foregoing words to be these Non sine causâ inter omnes Apostolos hujus Ecclesiae Catholicae personam sustinet Petrus huic enim Ecclesiae Claves Regni Caelorum datae sunt cum Petro datae sunt cum ei dicitur omnibus dicitur Pasce Oves meas August de Agone Christianâ Here you are to understand that in his Judgment Peter only of all the Apostles personated the Catholick Church and that the Keys are said to be given to her when they were given to him namely as to its Head Primate and Rector as I have already prov'd out of his Writings In this only Sense I have already fully prov'd that those words which were originally and immediately spoken to Peter are said to be spoken to the Rest they being all Epitomiz'd and compriz'd in him as their Chief In this Acceptation I grant that Pasce Oves meas might be spoken to all the Disciples and in no other aspect Now this do's not at all hinder but that these words were spoken primordially to Peter solely and this is acknowledg'd by St. Austin himself in his Book de Pastoribus where speaking of our Savior Tunc ideo commendavit Oves quia invenit Petrum imo vero in ipso Petro unitatem commendavit multi erant Apostoli uni dicitur Pasce Oves meas And again in the same Book Petro dixerat Pasce Oves meas quid ergo faciemus Cum Petro commendantur Oves non ibi dixit Dominus Ego pascam Oves meas non tu sed Petre Amas me Pasce Oves meas And again Sic certe a Domino ad Beatum Petrum dicitur Petre Amas me ille tu scis Domine quia amo te Et cum tertio fuisset interrogatus trinâ responsione fuisset subsecutus repetitum est a Domino tertiò Pasce Oves meas Your following attempt is to prove those words to be spoken to all Pastors as well as to Peter by your Saying cited out of St. Basil Consequenter omnibus Pastoribus dictum est c. But this your Quotation do's you no Service at all it amounting to no more than what I frankly grant for I do as well as you believe the words to be consequently derivatively extensively spoken to every Pastor all being Figured and Represented in the Supreme Pastor St. Peter as Austin avouches in festo Petri Pauli In uno Petro figurabatur unitas omnium Pastorum sed bonorum Now the most inferior Pastor is as really one as a Bishop tho' his Sheep be not so numerous nor his Fold so large and I grant that these words were in a subordinate secondary Sense spoken not only to the other Apostles but to all lawful Pastors for Peter tho' he were the Chief was not the Sole Pastor Pastor bonus Christus quid Petrus Nonne Pastor bonus Quid Paulus quid caeteri Apostoli quid Beati Episcopi Martyres quid Sanctus Cyprianus nonne omnes Pastores boni non mercenarii as St. August affirms in his 50th Serm. Evang. Johan Neither did he feed the Flock alone but had the Apostles his Coadjutors and Compresbyters whom he exhorts to feed the Flock not the Universal but the Particular one Pascite gregem qui in vobis the Prerogative of feeding the Universal Church including both the Apostles and other Christians being delegated to Peter only as Supreme Pastor of the Church I therefore affirm that the words were principally immediately and initially spoken to him alone but I acknowledge likewise that in a Proportion'd Adequate Sense In quodam Modo they suit and quadrate with all true Pastors For as Salmeron affirms Quod summo Pastori dicitur id suo modo proportione servatâ aliis minoribus Pastoribus dictum est Because they who are called as Fellow-Labourers into part of the Pastoral Function and Solicitude are to exscribe and imitate the Form that Peter used in Feeding Loving Cherishing and Defending his Flock But I shall now come to your Quotation out of St. Basil which I found to be in his Book de Vita solit Cap. 23. and upon my examining it taking in those words which were Introductive to it I discover'd it to be the most destructive and fatal thing to your purpose that was imaginable the previous words which you suppress'd making wholly against you they are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For a Governor is nothing else but one that represents the person of our Savior and this we are taught by Christ constituting Peter the Pastor of his Church after himself for he says Peter do yon love me more than these Feed my Sheep Here St. Basil do's remarkably affirm what I go about to prove namely That Christ created Peter the Pastor of his Church after himself by vertue of these words But what shall I think of your concealing these Lines Certainly the Action was unworthy and disingenuous especially in you who pretend so much to Truth and Honest dealings and you could herein have no Reverence for the Author or Kindness for me whom by such deeds you cannot pretend to instruct but impose on I do not wonder to see the Fathers so copiously quoted by you now I see 't is your practice to Cull out here and there a Line without perpending its relation either to the foregoing or following Matter
Matrem Primatemque recognoscat veneretur King James the First was not ignorant of this Truth when in his Speech to the Parliament he acknowledged the Church of Rome to be our Mother And well she may be call'd our Mother not only in point of Dignity but Kindness having twice planted the Gospel in this ungrateful Nation Next you seem dissatisfied that I should take so much pains to answer those Papers you sent my Brother hazarding the Shipwrack of his Faith in my Paper-boat under the notion of St. Peters Bark As to the first part you could not possibly imagine that a Person of his green and verdant Years should be qualified to answer your Composures But this I must needs say of him That having perused them he did much question their Truth and your Honesty in framing them looking on them as beset with Adulterous Gems The truth on 't is you had made them very plausible and winning their Superficies being sprinkled with Scripture and Fathers but Deceit and Cosenage lay at the bottom and they may well be compared to those Vessels with which Hannibal cheated the Gortynians Amphoras complures complet plumbo Summas operit auro argentoque this made me endeavour to rescue my Brother from being a Prey to these Nets you had spread for him and to answer your Papers as Nodus vindice dignus not intending hastily to cut it as Alexander did the Gordian knot but leisurably to unty it As for my being accus'd by you for hazarding the Shipwrack of his Faith in my Paper-boat under the notion of St. Peters Bark I must tell you that by my keeping him in St. Peters Ship I preserv'd him unspotted of two dangerous Sins Heresie and Schism and I question not but whatever your Opinion be through the Infinite Mercies of his Redeemer he is safely arriv'd at the Haven of Eternal Bliss for as St. Ambrose Serm. 11. affirms Hanc solam Ecclesiae Navim adscendit Dominus in quâ Petrus Magister est constitutus dicente Domino super hanc Petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam Sicut enim Arca Noe mundo naufragante cunctos quos susceperat illaesos reservavit ita Petri Ecclesia conflagrante saeculo omnes quos amplectitur repraesentabit illaesos 'T is usual with the Fathers to assimulate the true Church to a Ship Epiphanius in his Second Heresie says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Church of God is like to a Ship And St. Ambrose Lib. 3. de Virg. Navis Ecclesia est quae pleno Dominicae crucis velo Spiritus Sancti flatu in hoc bene navigat Mundo And again Hi igitur de Synagogâ ad Navim Petri hoc est ad Ecclesiam convenerunt But in Serm. 15. he may be said to come nigh your Fancy styling it a Bark Nautellam istam fratres cogitate Ecclesiam turbulentum mare hoc saeculum This Bark I question not will ride Admiral in spight of any Fleet you shall be able to set out against her and if you dare to embarque your self in such an Enterprize as to board her I question not but that she is strongly enough Mann'd to defend her self Your following Accusation rear'd against me is of rashness and you tell me That a Matter of this Nature ought to have been deliberately manag'd But how you should know what Authors I have perus'd or what time I have impended in Matters of Religion I cannot conjecture This I am sure of that I have not credulously surrendred my self into the Hands of any Opinion neither have I omitted a competent ventilation of my Religion otherwise I had never been able to throw off the prejudice I once had against it by a contrary Education but have fully satisfied my Curiosity Judgment and Conscience and do no more foster any doubts concerning the truth of Catholick Doctrines than I question the certitude of Christianity After all this you seem to take it amiss that I did not consult with your Oracular Tripus But if you will promise me not to be offended at my open and free discovery I will acquaint you why I look'd on you as an unfit Person to advise with in this case 'T is too evident to all that know you that you have all along been appassion'd prejudic'd and scurrilous against Catholicks endeavouring to blast their Repute by defamatory Aspersions and slanderous Obloquy taking all occasions to injure them in the Pulpit and out of it both in their Morals and Religion both in reference to their God and King continually reviling and barking at them as if you had been related to those sorts of Indians which Pliny mentions in his Seventh Book to be Genus hominum capitibus caninis pro voce latratum edere And how peccant you have been in your perverse disfiguring of Catholick Doctrine and what purulent stuff you have rais'd from your exulcerated Lungs against the Bishop and See of Rome can be attested by multitudes So I could not but look on you as an unfit Oracle to give Responsals herein Had you not been so much tinctur'd with prejudice and so strongly overbiass'd 't is likely I might have resorted to your Infallible Cortina You may be so good an Oculist as to know that the Christalline Humor wherein the visive Power sways is not colour'd I leave the Application to you whose Function renders you most qualified for it I would not have you fancy that I rip up these past things with a design to accuse you my only intent herein is if possible to stir you up to consult with your Second Thoughts and to make Sedate and Calm Reflections on what you have passionately and unadvisedly committed By this Method you may be induc'd to repent of them and for the future to suppress such Ebullitions of Gall and Rancorous Defluxions which tho' like a pleasant Potion may be imbib'd by the uninquisitive and prophane Herd Densum humeris bibit aure vulgus yet to the Politer sort they must needs be nauseous and like the drops that fall nigh the Line leave a putrid and corrupt steam behind them I am the more free and affectionate to you herein because you were so kind as to afford me your wholsome Advice I fancied I could not better correspond with your favours than to prompt your Memory to ruminate on your past transactions and to shew you how grateful I am for your good Counsel I return you mine in its lieu that if ever you hope to obtain pardon for your miscarriages against the Catholick Church you would endeavour Ad Ecclesiae Catholicae unitatem scissi Corporis membra componere Christianae Charitatis vinculo copulare and effect as much as in you lies a Redintegration of the Primary Union a Re-piecing the unwoven Garment of Christ miserably torn asunder by your Schism Consider what a generous Action it would be to leap into this Gulph and thereby close the unhappy Clefts and Breaches of Separation Perpend how much more Christian-like it would be to moderate