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JOBN M^LNEK. ^ ^DaiiiiJf.in'i U) r.oih.i u--f\. ^Uiii ■lit v.; fHiOiUiMiu lin* ♦ • BALTIMORE: .»J6 ,M4«ikHUut« METROPOLITAN PRESS. 1844. HOLY REUEEIIER LIBRARY, WINDSUR *i©[ yiiT 'i*> . U CONTENTS. i a VI a a ■ FAMT L . t a a k j j -^ p''iMi'ir LETTER X. -U w**Mm aWma inmm^ To Jams Brown, Esq. «**<* [The True Rule, namely. The Whole Word of- God, unwritten as well as writ- ten, subject to the interpretation of the Church. In this and in every other country, the written law is grounded upon the unwritten law. Christ taught th6 Apostles by word of mouth, and sent them to preach it hf word 7 of mouth. This method was followed by them and their disciples and suo> ceaaors. Testimonies of this from the Fathers of the five first centuries -r- LETTER XL „j- To James Brown^ Esq. lie subieet continued. Protestants forced to have recourse to the Catholio Rule, in different instances. Different instances of this. Their vain at- tempts to adopt it in other instances. Quibbling evasions of the Articles, Canons, Oaths, and Laws respecting uniformity. Acknowledged necessity of deceiving the people. Bishop Hoadley the patron of this hypocrisy. The Catholic Rule confessed by Bishop Marsh to be the Original Rule. Pim>fl^ that it has never been abrogated. Advantages of this Rule to the Church •t large, and to its individual members - . . • . 68 'O 61 LETTER XIL To James Broun, Esq. [Objections answered. Texts of Scripture. Other objections. Illusory d«* '^ damation of Bishop Porteus. The advice of Tobias, when he Sent his Soa into a strangi: country, recommended to the Society of NewCottaice - 75 •V Y , I'.j.n ft V ii-*U'",!'>rtir. 'Mi-.!',;') -till ;r, ftij.jj.,,.' ly HUmia Conienti, .sy,l PART JL l»rfija|hRfj «'«««■»?»<( fi'jfla VI Atubian'.Hi attikfriftS dWi j »{i/}J iiiobi.i'rtT J.i. tui.tUi-u .wf.j ..!->•... -^ LETTER XIII. . .. ^....a ,;,~;-.;i, .f v-i -i To Jome* Brownj Esq- ConfratulatioD with the Society of New Cottage on their aDknowledgment of the right Rule of Faith. Proof that the Catholic Church alone is pos- sessed or this Rule. Characters or Marks of the True Church - • . :■ - 86 LETTER XIV. Tq Janus Brown, Esq. I/htly, the First Mark of the True Church. This proved from Reason— from Scripture— and from the Holy Fathers - - • • - 90 atfT >ii() to ^taiiiijfttsl LETTER XV I,; V .i!<) iljjtiv/ 111 !'Kii» ^ , „ « ! ., . , .To Jfmes Broum, Esq. Want of Uni^ among Protestants in general. This acknowledged by tibetir eminent writers. Striking instances of it in the Established Church. Vain attempts to reconcile diversity of belief with uniform Articles - -OS .'•'"■' To Jama Brown, Esq. , i.-.^,,;, ,.^, ,,,, Unity of Ch« Oatholie Churcb^in Doctrine^in Liturgy-4n Ctovemmenti vai Constitution • • > • • -- >98 ii. fciMii/»i>.> *-. li 11.1 j»( i.t 10 i<-jiauniiUb'V .^ loca'fj LETTER XVIL To Dr. Mi from James irown, Esq. Objections against the exclusive clums of Catholics. Extract of a letter from the Rev. N. N. Prebendary of N. Bishop Watson's doctrine on Uiis head 108 '\f\i>in: 'diii'i PjiJ- sl:--i'i !• •» LETTER XVL "'^^ '' .vj <«/!(! '.•sWV^ Mt>T •♦ifi' 'J[^i*d.'^%' •IrvA ■■A ' •. . ::.•■ ■■\ LETTER XVin. To James Broten, Esq. Objeotions answered. Bishop Watson, by attempting to prove too much, proves nothing. Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers on this Mad. Exclusive dum of the Catholic Church a proof of her truth • lOS LETTER XIX. To James Brown, Esq. Second Mark of the True Church, SanctUy. Sanctity of doctrine wanting to the different Protestant Communions— to Luther's system— to Calvin's— to that of the Established Church— to those of Dissenters and Methodists. Doctrine of the Catholic Church Holy ..... 108 POSTSCRIPT. ' Variations and impiety of the late Rev. John Wesley's doctrina lis LETTER XX. To Jatnes Brown, Esq, Means of SancUty. The Seven Sacraments, possessed by Catholics. Pro* testants possess none of them, except Baptism. The whole Liturgy of Uie Established Church borrowed from the Catholic Missal and Ritua.. Sa* criAce the most acceptable worship of God. Tiie most perfect Sacrifiod offered in the Catholic Church. Protestants destitute of Sacrifice. Other moans of Sanctity in the Catholic communion - - 119 GmHtenU, LETTER XXI. T\t Jamu Brown, Esq. Fnuti 0/ Sanodtor* AU the saiAts were Catholics. Comparison of eii^«n| Protestants wrai contemporatr Catholics. ImmbniU^ tatuied "bj ehaonit theAAdentReligioa r Pag$, v»«/(A <> MiiciikiHt 1/tiu eSHintvU iO i;. -' - Objections answered. False accounts of the Church before the Reformation, 90 called. Ditto of John Fox*s Martyrs. The viceiT of a feIC Popes tfo impeachment of the Church's Sanctity. Scriptural practices and denSset common among Catholics btit despised by Protestants it'' ^^ b^ i. I!-,'. I'^Uisl '.<> \hn>;: IM .tii'f(/i '9th Ulii tHiflt-'HI'tbutStti '» LETTER XXHI.' ^ •7'." to James Broumj Esq. Divine Attestation of Sanctity in the Catholic Church. Murades the Crit*>r rion of Truth. Christ appeals to them, and promises a continuation of them. The Holy Fathers and Church wcHeiS attest their continuation, and appeal to them, in proof of the True Church. Eridence of the Truth (tf many Miracles. IrreUgious scepticism of Dr. Conner's |tf iddleton : this undermines tiie Credit of the Gospel Continuation of miradn domtio ^ ' present time : living tritnesses of it - ' ' 't^ >^^"i.'"J ' ■ * "J" .188 -Ttfjfct 1» bad snoiKTiVfltt^j 1 L£<|Mp£H XXIV. •'**'*l>*^"' to uc'JcTjvao^ atli t.vlf illjw airs?!? «, * n » wH a> Objections answered. False and unauthenticated miracles no disproof of true and authenticated ones. Strictness of tiie examination of reported miradei at Rome. Not necessary to know God's design in working each quiade. ,} Examination of the arguments of celebrated Protestants agamst Catholic miracles. Objection of Gibbon and the late bishop of Salisbury (Dr. John Douglass) against St. Bernard's miracles refuted. St. Xavier's miracles proved from the authors quoted against them. Dr. Middleton's confident I! vi tiii<\!.vit ■ assertion clearly refuted. Bishop Douglass's Conclusive Evidence from Acosta against St. Xavier's miracles clearly refuted, by the testimony of th^ said Acosta. Testimony of Ribadeneira concerning St Ignatius's mirac. ; ',; truly stated. True account of the miracle of Saragossa. Impostures at the tomb of Abb^ Paris. Refutation of the Rev. Peter Rouert's pamphlet, con* oeming the miraculous cure of Winefrid White - . . . 145 LETTER XXV. To James Brown, Esq. The True Church Cathotic. Always Catholic in name, by the testimony of the Fathers. Still distinguished by that name in spite of all opposition - 15S LETTER XXVL To James Brown, Esq. Qualities of Catholicit]r' The Church Catholic as to its members : u to its ex- tent; as to its duration. The original Church of this countiy - - 166 LETTER XXVII. To James Brown, Esq. Objections of the Rev. Josuah Clark answered. Existence of an invMbk Church disproved. Vain attempt to trace the existence of Protestantina through the discordant heresies of former ages. Vain Prognostication of the failure of the True Church. Late attempts to undermine it • - 109 ■Contents. • LETTER XXVIII. ;, , - To JunuB Brown, Esq. The Time Chineb. 4poilolieal: ao described by the ancievt Fathers. APOS- TOLICAL tJEwE of the Catholic church explained, by a brief account of ,, the fopes :.n.. tv;:\ To Jams Brown, Esq. '-"^^ -^i ■—■' :^^ '>•'"' ■• Objediont of the ReT. Josuah Clark answered. Apostolical ministry not in- terrupted by the personsl vices of certsun Popes. Fable of Pope Joan re- fated. Comparison between the Protestant and the Catholic Missions for the conversion of Infidels. Vain prediction of conversions and of refor- mation by tiie Bible Societies. Increase of crimes commensurate with that of the Societies - • - - ' .. ,* * ' 18<>1 tmtt m ion'jqsiii on f!'^-*in>iii ' Jh ^itin'i .!Kvi3Vf?rK« ?!rtoi.!.ir>(' ■<•''■ ^■- . "r.: '. >; POSTSCRIPT. ' ^O b!»tf/jitlVMlJl;K ?Mn: Reoi^itttlBtioii of thinip proved IB the &re|oing Letters , .J/'-i/;'!^;;.,;.^^,,'! »*i iijf'ji. .iQ},'f_-ujti?./1j(.8 'lo (|(idaiij dtE!>;ij hm H^KUIt',) in i'.'.>{,t't3(tlc.'! .f.fjla-rtJia JCKrii saioliS'iM vti-iuV.uv)'.) i^'r^al^uoU ffui!.-!.*! .U'^.-i'-n ~>hi:.^H (lolh-jrik arfjlo Y'!''''"!'*'-'* '»*' V' ,f>''^*fei yfts;fb t,'>;;'>i.-«4:' • v.i.i./. .if, St-uu.at. i'.i^.ty.jei * • «i»)}*M!ii«t »!'*«U»m;^l J« T,iiLni*)o>uyj vmi<\\b.ii',hil "h. vi)(Hi;:!/-.'/i' .;;1-.u:.v^ {vim Hioo^iAii'.^ia&i «'hj(ioil s'jJ-rfi .■/•aH pji'i'la ai!liii.v»n.4i .itiv-l ^'hu' i^* li'tiH-ii f/X n:vn:u MfKf vb juri'l ofiT ,-!/!%U>M.'n 'io * titiit: vr -Xr> )f^i ot e;; i-^ .11 /zx M ixr:) : is siri'un-i'bii;; oi ''■ixai>.H^i'.iUul ii-ivs'-'t '>'n'f. >;!i 'Lit t-I >-riH)J'".t; ;«'! Contentt. Pflf* len. APOS- ef account of irted by her, ' - - 166 J aong Protest* iuioD. Doo* s point Un- loctrine of its 8 of the form, cannot show ixtraordinary Mf}L 177 {hn'V lo (i> nistry not in- ope Joan re- Missions for and of refor- ttte with that . . - 186| /'"•ttcnimc..-., ■J 1)-|V<| ' ' ■i-'i.)TJi'>. ujA, bii -^ .. ',OJji« tJj. : ■ '' :.> lilli-- U.'.' » io sitliJt: .ii Jo noiSfrruain j-irt Jam; ///. f IliinoDVCTioir. Effects produced by the foregoing: Letters on the nunds of ■ Mr. Brown^ and others of his Society. This in part counteracted by the Bi^ idon's (Dr.'Porteus' ) Charges against the Catholic Religion > 197 shop of London'i K V- LETTER XXXII. To James Brown, Esq. I Observations on the Charges in question. Impossibility of the True Church being guilty of them. Just conditions to be required by a Catholic Divine in discussing them. Calumny and misrepresentation necessary weapons for the assailants of the True Church. Instances of gross calumny publish- ed by eminent Protestant writers, now living. Effects of these calumnies. No Catholic ever shaken in his faith by them. They occasion the conver> sion of many Protestants. They render their authors dreadAiUy guilty be- fore God -.-- - - - - - - 199 '-.vj'l .(^.('.Hi'i^vtt Mi" Kfvt To James Brmcn, Esq, Charge of Idolatry. Protestantism not originally founded on this. Invoca- tion of the Prayers of Angels and Saints grossly misrepresented by Protest- ants : truly stated from the Council of Trent, and Catholic Doctors. Yindi- ^ cation of the practice. Evasive attack of the Bishop of Durham : Retorted upon his Lordship. The practice recommended by Luther : vindicated by distinguished Protestant Bishops. Not imposed upon the faithAil : highlj coDsoUng and beneficial .... . . goC r Ma »« ifA-stumtHii un ..'T- (,..;-, .,.,„ „..i..v.. -JS ,9l*j0aq >iii 7<' Fifi^ji '■■■>. m 'VHS'jlho n. J LETTER XXXIV. To James Broton, Esq. Religious Memorials. * Doctrine and practice of Catholics, most of aU, mis- represented on this head. Old Protestant versions of Scripture corrupted to favour such misrepresentation. Unbounded calumnies m the Homuies, and other Protestant publications. True doctrine of the Catholic Church defined by the Council of Trent, and taught in her books of instruction. Errors of Bishop Porteus, in fact and in ruojoning. Inconsistency of his own practice. No obligation on Catholics of possessing pious images, pic- tures, or relics - - - - - - - • 813 LETTER XXXV. .'Ti^tjic;! nfisiufo^ii/. '' To the Rev. Robert Clayton, Jtf. Jl. ' » "-* ' > -^'.'i-iv'iv That the Saints cannot hear us. Extravagant addresses to Saints. Want of candour in explaining them. No evidence of the Faith of the Church. Notorious falsehoods of the Bishop of London, concerning the ancient doctrine and practice • ■ -\ - ,- - -819 . , - - ■ ■^- ■■ ' ^- ■- LETTER XXXVL '■;\'", -C.^:""!'':": "X^" To James Brown, Esq. Transubstantiation. Important remark of Bishop Bossuet concerning it Ca- tholics not worshippers of bread and wine. Acknowldgement of some eminent Protestents. Disingenuity of others, in concealing the main ques* tion, and bringing forward another of secondary importance. The Luthe- rans and the most respectable Prelates of the Establishment agree with Ca- tholics on the main point ----- , 823 ■h«i; -»-vj.f« f.v.iV Objections refiited. •t% CofUtnU, LETTER XXXVII. > To JanuB Broum, Etq, The Real Presence. Variations of the Established Church on this point In- consistency of her present doctrine concerning it Proofii of the Real Pre« senoe from Christ's promise of the Sacrament; from his institution of it The same proved from the ancient Fathers. Absurd position of Bishop Portens, as to the wigin of the tenet The reality strongly maintained by Lather. Acknowledge by the most learned English Bishops and Divinea. Its superior excellence and sublimity • - * • • • 886 LETTER XXXVIII. .' To the Rev. JMert Clajftoitt M. JL Objections answered. Texts of Scripture examined. Teitincnqr of tbt senses weighed. Alleged Contradictions disproved. - ^^ ,, ■'* 834 LETTER XXXIX. r -xiJ 'to '^U\(ilin^i:.: .liii 16) ■lUU- l*«».ij.>' ■ijt'ix -.i>t;ir4 -.•m--""? U' .A k... To Jumta Browne Esq. Communion under one or both kinds a matter of discipline. Protestants , forced to recur to Tradition and Church discipline. The blessed Eucharist a Sacrifice as well as a Sacrament. As a Sacrifice, both kinds netiessary ; as a Sacrament, whole and entire under either kind. Protestants receive no Sacrament at all. The aposties sometimes administered the communion under one kind. The Text, 1 Cor. xi. 87, corrupted in the English Pro- testant BiUe. Testimonies of the Fathers for communion in one kind. Oo* cation of the ordinances of St Leo and Pope Galasius. Discipline okT the Church different at different times in this matter. Luther allowed of com- munion in one kind; also the French Calvinists; also the Churohof £ng« land. • -- - • - - • -838 iM.' rir LETTER XL. 843 --,tK* 01 To James Broum, Esq. Excellence of Sacrifice. Appointed by God. Practised by all people, ex- cept Protestants. Sacrifice of the New Law, promised of old to the Chris- tian Church. Instituted by Christ The Holy Fathers bear testimony to it, and performed it St Paul's Epistie to the Hebrews misinterpreted by the Bishops of London, Lincoln, &c. Deception of talking of the PcpuA Jtfoss. Inconsistency of Established Church in ordaining Priests without having a Saerifice. Irreligious invectives of Dr. Hey against the Holy Mass, without his understanding it ! ■♦;!<.•. m 1.-....,. v*' i,, ..jtiv.i.'j • - ^'t.n.-f .' - LETTER XLI. ..ff. ,.-,,» To the Rev. Robert Clayton, M Jl. Absolution from sin. Horrid misrepresentation of Catholic doctrine. Real doctrine of the Church, defined by the Council of Trent This pure and holy. Violent distortion of Christ's words concerning the forgiveness of sins, by Bishop Porteus. Opposite doctrine of Chillingworth: and of Lu- ther and the Lutherans: and of the Established Liturgy. Inconsistency of Bishop P. Refutation of bis arguments about confession : and of his asser- tions concerning the ancient doctrine. Impossibility of imposing ttiis prac- tice on mankind. Testimony of Chillingworth as to the comfort and bene- fit of a good confession ... * - • 849 ' LETTER XLIL To the Rev. Robert Clayton, M A. Purgaton amiddl defeate Prayers versall Extreme 1 and inc refiited Antichrist and coi charges The Pope Scriptur gory's c< Concess rhe langu terofdi guage. Inconsia Various m Pretend( Sacrami Advants quent ti respecti] Indulgences. Unsupported false definition of them by the Bishop of London. His further calumnies on the subject Similar calumnies of other Protest- ant Prelates and Divines. The genuine doctrine of Catholics. No permis- 2 B Contents, ispobt In* be Real Pre- tittttionofit in of Biihop aintained by andDiTinok Doiqr of Ibt ; oiit ^^■'^ Protestants led End^ariat Isnet^ssary; itanta receive i communion English Pro- inekind. Oo> sipUne of the iwedofcom* nirohofEnc* Pagt. tion to commit sin. No pardon of any future sin. No pardon of sin at all. No exemption from contrition or doing penance. No transfer of superfluous holiness. Retortion of the charge on the Protestant tenet of imputed justice. A mere relaxation of temporal punishment No encouragement of vice; but rather of virtue. Indulgences authorized in all Protestant So- cieties. Proofs of this in the Church of England. Among the Anabaptists. Among the ancient and modern Calvinists. Scandalous BuUs, Di^nsa- tioBS, and Indulgences of Luther and his disciples - - S58 ' u #/ ^'J* ^ l*J J I ii'.> ^lt\r It LETTER XLIIL To the Rev. Sohert Clayton, M. A. I Purgatory and Prayers for the dead. Weak objection of Dr. Porteus against a middle state. Scriptural arguments for it Dr. P's Appeal to Antiquity defeated. Testimonies of Lutherans and English Prelates in favour of Prayers ibr the Dead. Eminent modern Protestants, who proclaim a Uni- \tnaX Purgat(Hy. Consolations attending the Catholic belief and practice . 265 SS8 [ people, ex- to the Chris* stimony to it, )reted by the PcpuA Jdua. lout having a lass, without LETTER XLIV. ifiMltt i«:+15 <'t -■ \''li!l-; JK ur. To the Rev. Robert Clayton, M A. Extreme Unction. Clear proof of this Sacrament from Scripture. Impiety and inconsistenqy of the Bishop in slighting this. His Appeal to Antiqui^ refilled 278 :m] S43l :trine. Real lis pure and curgiveness of and of Lu- onsistency of ofhisasser^ ngthisprac- >rt and bene- • 849 p of London, ther Protest- No permis* ,.wi4il*. •tt:\ .uiJl -,d! ' ' ■ ■ ■■" LETTER XLV. To the Rev. Robert Clayton, JIf. A Antichrist ; Impious assertions of Protestants concerning him. Their absurd and contradictory systems. Retortion of the charge of Apostasy. Other charges against the Popedom refuted ..... 275 LETTER XLVI. To the Rev. Robert Clayton, M A. The Pope's Supremacy truly stated. His spiritual authority proved from Scripture. Exercised and acknowledged in the primitive ages. St Gre-> gory's contest with the Patriarch of C. P. about uie title of (Ecumenical. Concessions of eminent Protestants .... .282 LETTER XLVII. To James Brown, Jun. Esq. The language of the Liturgy and Reading the Scriptures. Language a mat- ter of discipline. Reasons for the Latin Church retaining the Latin Lan- guage. Wise economy of the Church as to reading the Holy Scriptures. Inconsistencies of the Bible Societies .... .292 LETTER XLVIII. To James Broion, Jun. Esq. Various misrepresentations. Canonical and Apocryphal books of Scripture. Pretended invention of five new Sacraments. Intention of Ministers of the Sacraments. Continence of the Clergy— Recommended by Parliament Advantages of fasting. Deposition of Sovereigns by Popes far less fre- quent than by Protestant Reformers. The bishop's egregious falsehoods respecting the primitive Church ...... 2S9 LETTER XLIX. To James Broton, Jun. Esq. Religious Persecution. The Catholic Church claims no right to inflict san- guinary punishments, but disclaims it. The right of temporal Princes and Contentt, Pag0.\ Stlftei in this matter. Meanins of Can. 3, Lateran if. truly stated. Queen Maiy persecuted as a Sovereign, not as a Catholic. James II. deposed for rdiuMng to persecute. Retortion of the charge upon Protestants the most ef- fectual way of silencing them upon it Instances of persecution by Pro- testants in every Protestant country : in Germany: in Switzerland: at Ge- neva, and in France: in Holland: in Sweden: in Scotland: in England. Violence and long continuance of it here. Eminent loyalty of Catholici, Two circumstances which distinguished the persecution exercised by C»> tholics from that exercised by Protestants - • - 30S| . j!M.»n.tf .*«.tt„^» . . ''» '*« Frimdly SocUty 0/ JVetc Cottage. Conclusion.. Recapitulation of points proved in these letters. The True Rule of Futh : The True Church of Christ. Falsity of the Charges alleged against her. An equal moral evidence for the Catholic as few the Christiao ' Religion. The former, by the confession of its adversaries, the s^er side. No security too great whertt Eternity is at stake! - • • - 921| t T i*,«.«'.. ■*»; - « i[i^{.']frtT .«rt.'' iji^H iii'ii'i "^<"» A ^M .;x • 1. ',»/iJ h/ C'ViKj/fJcti^*/,)! t).i A POSTSCRIPT To the second Edition of the Address to the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of St DftTid**, occasioned by taa Lordship's ' One Word to tho Sto, Dr JMUmt.* S87| .)rlX «:'TT.f,l ■■''•''" ' 1 , ■•i!=jrn'i" IM V .lil''-,'na;i -M;t''"\ If' fi' .n/,!y }«.7rr.T \ •iiiiit iJ ■I'Sii'U:; ■<). r yni-jjir."' >im ?! .si'i: ili m;,, /. inil.! 'ifi; •<• •(!, •jsT.ii'f \ 6<^ J! - . ', . . Mv ' .tJ- 1. 'ttj •?;;, 'truhiilV-^'..; ',■!.., in flKn '■■' "> v r ^' A •••il. .It'll Vs. \ MivwU tA' ■rif.' l'((l\i!i ..! il'/:'? iiM .ii'i';.'* r.-;fi.-(') ii'o.ft.l ' *iilT J I SH in thus (iqaintai to impo! us a pa: land lik( I has beei Mr. J. I mention name of ?ei-8uasi am, which y I to us,* Howe J seems p ed with not unw may to it [the ladi< (town, in • Utter »d. Queen dqposedfor themoftef- ion by Pro- band: atGe- in England, of Catholics. bM by Cap . 305 , The True urges alleged the Christian thest/erMdc • 921 \.il'iiiui9iii.il bii ord Bishop of v.DrMiMr.*SSI t'rf'I '.'■n i,k,U'«-V»f!0 > 7 .'J'^s'U'^ ,''.tl'j;»'l<'"'i 'Htiini ! 5W5MJ^. OF RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY. (LJ ,'lotx>l viii'iow bits. Inm —^^ 1 1 ,, .{YJfi. -ja-vr 1/it.i c'ldlu T)[ho ??.om ■ «r Off fihm JJiMUS BROWNy Esq, to Uu Rw. .A M- «kjxo D. F, S. Ji , . ,ii:jb ■ ■»■ t vKli /in:'i!';>nirrrA hn>; fUihsux :'iii'in\il\ b-yi ii}ij itm .it/I .noiJ;.'.>n/H>> ; ', » « j-iv ■ ') rvr.%f. ^r.- INTROWCTION, .,;■]'' New Cottageytiear Cressage^ SalopyCJct. 15 ^ 1801. I SHOULD need an ample apology tor the liberty ( take, in thus addressing you without having the honour of your ac- quaintance, and still more for the heavy task I am endeavouring to impose upon you, if I did not consider your public character, as a pastor of your religion, and as a writer in defence of it, and likewise your personal character for benevolence, whicH has been described to me by a gentleman of your communion, Mr. J. C— ne, who is well acquainted with us both. Having mentioned this, I need only add, that I write to you in the name of a society of serious and worthy Christians, of different fei-suasions, to which I myself belong, who arc as desirous as am, to receive satisfaction from you, on certain doubts, which your late work, in answer to Dr. Sturges, has suggested tons.* However, m making this request of our society to you, it seems proper, Reverend sir, that I should bring you acquaint- ed with the nnttre of it, by way of convincing you, that it is not unworthy of the attention, which I am desirous you should pay to it. We consist then of above twenty persons, including the ladies, who, living at some distance from any considerable town, meet together once a week, generally at my habita- • lAlterttoaFrtbtndary, in answer to BtfledumonPaatrythy the Rev. ttf . Sturpes, l*rebmdgrv and ChanceUor of Winchuler. ■ " . * A Letter 1, tion of New Cottage; not so much for our amusement and re* fection, as for the improvement of our minds, by reading the best publications of the day, which I can procure from my London bookseller, and sometimes an original essay written by one of the company. I have signified that many of us are of different religious per i suasions : this will be seen more distinctly from the following account of our members. Among these I must mention, in the first place, our above named learned and worthy rector, Dr. Carey. He is, of course, of the church of England ; but like most other of his learned and dignified brethren, in these times, he is of that free, and as it is called, liberal turn of mind, as to explain away the mysteries and a great many of its other arti- cles, which, in my younger, days, were considered essential to it. Mr. and Mrs • Topham, are Methodists of the Predesti- narian and Antinomian class, while Mr. and Mrs. Askew arc mitigated Arminian Methodists, of Wesley's connection. Mr, and Mrs. Rankin are honest Quakers. Mr. Barker and his children term themselves Rational Dissenters, being of the old Presbyterian lineage, which is now almost imiversally gone into Socinianism. I, for my part, glory in being a stanch member of our happy establishment, wnich has kept the golden mean among the contending sects. aQd which I am fully persuaded, approaches nearer to the purity of the apostol- ic church, than any other which has existed sincjc the age ot it. Mrs. Brown professes an equal attachment to the church ; vet, being of an inquisitive and ardent mind, she cannot re- frain from frequenting the meetings, and even supporting the missions of those self-created apostles, who are undermining this church on every side, and who are no where more active than in our sequestered valley. IJ ;.,,;. ;,;., , .;,,, !,,„.,•,.». With these differences among lis, on the most interesting ot all subjects, we cannot help having frequent religious contro- versies : but reason and charity enables us to manage these without ar " breach of either good manners or good will to each other. Indeed, I believe that we are, one and all, possessed of an unfeigned respect and cordial love for christians of every description, one only excepted. Must I name it on the pre- sent occasion ?— Yes, I must ; in order to fulfil my commis- sion in a proper manner. It is then the church that you, Kcv. sir, belong to ; which, if any credit is due to the eminent divines, whose works we are in tne habit of reading, and more ])articularly to the illustrious bishop Porteus, in his celebrated and standing work, called A BRIEF CONFUTATION OF THE ERRORS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME, extract- ed from archbishop Seeker's V. SERMONS AGAINST ting i< has hal sial wl PRE] notice by thel ment o| I, for of the necessi quiring sons o power. jccts to estingl havew beth, d< anti SCI tins to ana the with ot so muc Rev. 8 society practic cnndes of thei sole vi( truths. Sturge I will t bctwc* tation ( dispos religio God's Jnt oductton. .n ment and re-| i reading the! re from my* ay written by religious per he following mention, in ly rector, Dr. md ; but like 1 these times, f mind, as to ts other arti- 1 essential to tie Predesti- . Askew arc ection. Mr. irkerand his >ein^ of the e universally in being a ch has kept I which I am f the apostol- :e the age ot the church ; ic cannot re- )portin^ the mdermming more active iteresting ot ious contro- anage these will to each >osses8ed of 18 of every on the pre- ny commis- i that you, the eminent f, and more i celebrated TION OF K^ extract' GAINSr POPERY,* is such amn.^ of absurdity, bigotrj-, superstition, idolatry, and immorality, that, to say we respect and love those who obstinately adhere to it, as we do otiier Christians, would- seem a compromise of rcasbn, Scripture, and virtuoui* feeling, i^q *Juov ^ .ai) ]>■;:. ..^ i;.^i V';- ••;•' ■■ '■ \^ v;- •■- ^: ,[^:^ And yet' even of this church, we have formed a less revol- ting idea, in some particulars, than we did formerly. Thi has happened, from our having just read over your controver- sial work against Dr. Sturges, called LETTERS TO A PREBENDARY, to which our attention was directed by the notice taken of it in the house of parliament, and particularly by the very unexpected compliment paid to it, by that orna- ment of our church, bishop Horsley. We admit then (at least I, for my part, admit) that you have refuted, the most odious of the charges brought against your religion, namely, that it is, necessarily, and, upon principal, intolerant and sanguinary, re- quiring its members to persecute, with fire and sword, all per- sons of a different creed from their own, when this is in tlieir power. You have also proved that Papists may be good sub- jects to a Protestant sovereign ; and you have shown, by an inter- esting historical detail, that the Roman Catholics of this kingdom have oeen conspicuous for their loyalty, from the time of Eliza- beth, down totne present time. Still most of the absurd and anti scriptural doctrines and practices, alluded to above^^ rela- ting to tne worslUp of saints and images, to transubstantiation . and die half communion, to purgatory, and shutting up the Bible, with others of the same nature, you have not, to my recollection, so much as attempted to defend. In a word, I write to you, Rev. sir, on the present occasion, in the name of our respectable society, to ask you whether you fairly give up these doctrines and practices of Poperj', as untenable, or otherwise, whether you will condescend to interchange a few letters with me on the subject of them, for the satisfaction of me and my friends, and with the sole view of mutually discovering and communicating religious truths. We remark that you say, in your first letter to Dr. Sturges : " Should I have occasion to make another reply to you, I will try if it be not possible to put the whole question at issue between us, into such a shape as shall remove the danger of irri- tation on both sides, and still enable us if we are mutually so disposed, to agree together in the acknowledgment of the same religious truths." — If you still think that this is possible, for God's sake and your neighbours' sake, delay not to undertake • The Norrisian profe«v»r of dirinitr, in the university of Ciwnbridg^e speak* •ng of thit work, aayB, ♦« The refuUtion of the Popish errors it now reduced into a small compass by archbishoD Seeker and bishop Vortt\it.**-—Lutwu inDiviniti/, Vol. If. p. 71. 4 Eatay /« \ it. llie plan embraces every advantage we wish for, and eX'> eludes every evil we deprecate. You shall manage the discus- sion in your own way, and we will give you as little interuption as possible. — ^Two of the essays above alluded to, with which ^ our wortliy rector lately furnished us, I, with your permission, enclose, to convince you, that genius and sacred literature are cultivated round the Wrekin, and on the banks of the Severn. i.i>,-o"itfyo7 w^'^ I remain. Rev* Sir, with great respect,'- ; t p, O ! ?v?! il \ i - Your faithful and obedient servant, .>,{v7.nv,r,,rn;-H:. . .. JAMES BROWN. Kuoi'iy' .-'"' ■:U i );\\- I'J yt3'i Ji'l; , '{-rciift ,!!.>[;;.:•■ •ji •ruuiiii-ip' Uii •; ^ J. .-:?;•>■; OJ^ rjy£ EXISTENCE OF GOD, AND OF NATURAL ii» ^•i.'Snr RELIGION, u ,iu;Jai' jujjTTjj-r.. ^;«ii'- ..BY THE REV. SAMUEL CAREY, LL. D. jV//f/;i ,ili->. ''FORESEEING that my health will not permit me, for a cbnsiderable time, to meet my respected friends at New Cot- tage, I comply with the request, which several of them have made me, m sending them in writing, my ideas on the two noblest subjects which can occupy the mind of man ; the ex- istence of God, and the truth of Christianity, In doing this, I profess not to make new discoveries, but barely to state cer- tarn arguments, which I collected in my youth, from the learned Hugo Grotius, our judicious Clark, and other advocates of natural and revealed religion. I offer no apology for adopting the words of Scripture, m arguing with persons who are sup- nosed not to admit its anthority, when these express my mean- ingas fully as any others can do. The first argument for the existence of God, is thus express- ed by the royal prophet ; Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, not we ourselves, Ps. c. 3. In fact, wher. 1 ask myself that question, which every reflecting man mubt sometimes ask himself : Now came I into this state of ex- istence ? Who has bestowed upon me the being which I enjoy ? I am forced to answer: It is not I that made myself; and each of my forefathers, if asked the same question, must have returned the «amc answer. In like manner, if I interrogate the several hein^l water,! father f IfOU ing e> howevi hither \ tional an eta gent M of beh and fr^ (lei)5ne to the proph< THA' alone by my Fro of the holine 1; for, and eji^-^ i;e the discus* t interuption , with which r permission^ literature are lie Severn. spect, i servant, ' ROWN. Hit \'i>'i '■■'i .i ^■v ■^■) 'Mu !■ NATURAL it me, for a : NewCot- them have on the two an ; the eX' doing this, state cer- the learned ivocates of vc adopting ho are sup- 1 my mean • is express- ' u God: it , In fact, cting man Hate of eX' I enjoy ? I id each of e returned he several •^ Efisay I, jj heings with which I am surrounded, the earth, the aii-, the vater, the stars, the moon, the sun, each of them, as an ancient father says, will answer me, in its turn : It was not I that ma:te If on ; /, like you, am a creature of yesterday^ at incapable of^iv' ing existence to you, as lam ofgivin^ittj nr/sc'f. In sh )rt, however often each of us repeats the questi^i: ffjru canf I hither ? Who has made me what I am ? we shall never find a ra- tional answer to them, till we come to acknowledge that there is an eternal, necessary self-existent Bein^, the author of all contin- gent beings, which is no other than GOD. It is this necessity of being, this self-existence, which constitutes the nature of Cio(l, and from which all his other perfections flow. Hence when he deigned to reveal himself, on the flaming mountain of Horeb, to the holy legislator of his chosen people, being asked by this prophet, what was his proper name? he answered: I AM THAT I AM, Exod, iii. 14. This is as much as to say: / alone exist of myself : ail others are created beings^ which exist i/if my will, ■-^'■'"'^^ • - i-'cn-' v^v.^yivv*^ «jrer> w« -.^.^ju'ii 4u\ \9 From this attribute of J^^m^rencf, all the other perfections of the Deity, eternity, immensity, omnipotence, omniscience, holiness. Justice, mercy, and bounty, each in an infinite degree, necessarily flow, because there is nothing to limit his existence and attributes, and because whatever perfection is found in any created being, must, like its existence, have been derived froin this universal source. This proof of the existence of God, though demonstrative and self-evident to reflecting beings, is, nevertheless, we have rea- son to fear, lost on a great proportion of our fellow creatures ; because they hardly reflect at all ; or at least, never consider, 10 ho made them, or what they were made for ; but that other ])roof, which results from the magnificence, the beauty, and the harmony of the creation, as it falls under the senses, so it cannot be thought to escape the attention of the most stupid o» ravage of rational beings. The starry heavens, the fulminating clouds, the boundless ocean, the variegated earth, the organized liuman body, all these, and many oiner phenomena of nature, must strike the mind of the untutored savage, no less than that o| the studious philosopher, with a conviction that there is an infi- nitely poweriul, wise and bountiful Being, who is the author ot these things : though, doubtless, the latter, in proportion as he Kees more clearly and extensively than the former, the properties and economy of different parts of the creation, possesses a stronger physical evidence, as it is called, of the exintence of the great Creator. In fact, if the Pugan physician, Gaienf** • I)e Uku Part'aim. » 6 Essay I, ,3 \'i from the imperfect knowledge which he possessed of the struc- ture of the human body, found himself compelled to acknow- ledge the existence of an infinitely wise andbenificent Being, to make it such as it is, what would he not have said, had he been acquainted with the circulation of the blood, and the uses and harmony of the arteries, veins, and lacteals ! If the philosophi- cal orator, Tully, discovered and enlarged on the same truth, from the little knowledge of astronomy which he possessed,* what strains of eloquence would he not have poured forth upon it, had he been acquainted with the discoveries of Galileo and Newton, relative to the magnitude and distances oi the stars, the motions of the planets and comets ! Yes, all nature proclaims that there is a Being, who is wise tnheart and mighty in strength : who dath great things and pant finding out; yea^wonders with- out number :— who stretcheth out the north over the empty places^ and hangeth the earth upon nothing,-— The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reprooJl—Lo ! these are a part of his ways; but how little a portion is heard of him ! The thun- der of his power who can understand! Job. ix. — ^xxvi. The proofs, however, of God^s existence, which can least be evaded, are those which come immediately home to a man's own heart; convincing him, with the same evidence he has of his own existence, that there is an all-seeing, infinitely just, and infinitely bountiful Master above, who is witness of all his ac- tions and words, and of his very thoughts. For whence aiises the heart-felt pleasure which the good man feels on resisting a secret temptation to sin, or in performing an act of benificence, though in the utmost secrecy? Why dori he raise his counte- nance to heaven, with devotion, and why is he then prepared to meet death with cheerful hope, unless it be that his conscience tells him of a munificent re warder of virtue, the spectator of what he does? And why does the most hardened sinner, tremble and falter in his limbs, and at his heart, when ha commits his most secret sins of theft, vengeance, or impurity? Why, especially, does he sink into agonies of horror and diispair at the approach of death, unless it be that he is deeply convinced of the constant presence of an all-seeing witness, and of an infinitely holy, pow erful,andjust Judge, i/}^o whose hands it in a terrible thing to full. -—In vain docs he say: Darkness encomft.tsseth me and the walls cover me: noonesevth: ofxviiomamlafraidP — for his conscience tells him that. The eyes of the Lord are far brighter than the sun, beholding round about all the x^ays ffmen, Eccles. xxiii. 26,28. This last argument, in particular, is so obvious and convinc- ing, that I cannot bring myself to believe there ever was a hu- 1 man! perso that and 1 dreac thatl who whos they ing, ' nions undei prop * Ue Xatura Deorum. 1. li. Ei'Hiy I, of the struc- i to acknow- ;ent Being, to , had he been the uses and 3 philosophi- ; same truth, possessed,* d forth upon Galileo and of the stars, ire proclaims in strength : onders xvith- ^mpty places^ 's of heaven te are a part / Thethun" can least be : to a man*s ce he has of ely just, and f all his ac- iience arises 1 resisting a benificence, : his counte- prepared to \ conscience atorofwhat Lrem!)le and its his most , especially, le approach the constant ' holy, pow king to fall, d the walls 3 conscience \an the sun, xiii. 26,28. id convinc- r was a hu- ■ ; man being, of sound sense, who was really an Atheist. Those persons who have tried to work themselves into a persuasion that there is no God, will generally be found, both in ancient and modem times, to be of the most profligate manners, who, dreadingtomeethim as their Judge, try to persuade themselves ^at he does not exist. This has been observed by St. Austin, who says : *^ No man denies the existence of Gcd, but such a one whose interest it is that there should be no God." Yet even they who pretend to disbelieve the existence of a Supreme Be- ing, in the broad day-light, and among their profligate compa- nions, in the darkness and solitude of the night, and, still more, under the apprehension of death, fail not to confess it; as Se- neca, I think, has somewhere observed.* a>i ^dt mn m*w A son heareth his father, and a servant his master, says the prophet Malachi. If then I be a father, where is mine honour ? and if I be a master, where is my fear ? scith the Lord of Hosts, i. 6. In a word: it is impossible to believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, our Creator, our Lord, and our Judge, with- out being conscious, at the same time, of our obligation to wor- ship him exteriorly and interiorly, to fear him, to love him, and to obey him. This constittites natural religion : by the observ- ance of which the ancient patriarchs, together with Melchise dec. Job, and, we trust, very many other virtuous and religious persons of different ages and countries, have been acceptable to God, in this life, and have attained to everlasting bliss, in the other; still we must confess, with deep sorrow, that the num- ber of such persons has been small, compared with -those of eve- ry age and nation, who, as St. Paul say«, When they knew God, glorified him not as God; neither were they thankful, but became vain in their imaginations; and their foolish hearts were dark- ened; — who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever more, Rom. i. 21, 25. SAMUEL CAREY. * It is proper here to observe, that a large proportion of the boastin|f Athe- Uts who ugnalized their impiety during the late French revolution, when they came to die, acknowledged that their irreligion had been attectcd, and thai the^ never doubted, in then; hearts, of the existence of God and the truths ol Chnstiaiuty. Among these were Boulanger, La Metrie onot ^".'^ihois, Egalit^, duke of Orleans, &c. ,i(' ,i''.; %> > .->.-,'rf i > ,-1 (O ...iHLtzTJi] r. ''.'Hi'i ^j.'jvl^ti/sT'/Hj jho-w oj husH .JVSrt OiiW «fiq^-19jq[ skshU). 1 ESSAY If#- «'* .'-otmi vr:4.io^i U'^^ i 0^' THE TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION mv-^ i^i BY THE REV. SAMUEL CAREY, LL. D. 7.' things relating to them were revealed by God to the patriarchs, and, through them, to their contemporaries and descendants. At length this knowledge was almost universally obliterated from the minds of men, and the light of reason itself was so clouded by the boundless indulgence of their passions, that thev seemed, every where, sunk almost to a level with the brute creation. Even the most polished nations, the Greeks and the Romans, blushed not at unnatural lusts, and boasted of the most horrid cruelties. Plutarch describes the celebrated Grecian sages, Socrates, Plato, Xenophon, Cebes, &c. as indulging free- ly in the former* and every one knows that the chief amuse- ment of the Roman people, was to behold their fellow creatures murdering one another in the amphitheatres, sometimes by hundreds and thousands at a time. But the depravity and im- pietv of the ancient Pagans, and I may say the same of those of modem times, appears chiefly in their religious doctrines and worship. What an absurd and disgusting rabble of pretended dei- ties,marked with every crime that disgraces the worst of mortals, lust, envy, hatred and cruelty, did not the above named refined nations worship, and that, in several instances, by the imitation of their crimes ! Plato allows of drunkenness in honour of the gods: Aristotle admits of indecent representations of them. How many temples were eveiy where erected, and prdstitutes consecrated to the worship of Venus ?f And how generally were human sacrifices offered up in honour of Moloch, Saturn, Thor, Diana, Woden, and other pretended gods, or rather real demons, by almost every Pagan nation, Greek and barbarian, * De Isid et Oiirid. Even the refined Cicero and Yirgpl did not blush at these infaiaies. f Strabo tells us, that there were a thousand prostitutes attached to tlie temple of Venus, at Corinth. The Athenians attributed the preservation of tlteir city to the prayers of its prostitutes. It was| juake ship, in fav Nile, of the series in the phets, people Mcssi I shall firms 1 testim All Tiber! extrac teachi lime a than t truths then 1 mauy Clod, fcrinj: and t t'.estii fieav( nndc vine ! or otl Terti collet .im Essay II, 9 ntf^Iiom hat. RELIGION', ufficient, as I the existence him, yet this ankind in the since many le patriarchs, descendants. y obliterated itself was 8ctrines and itendeddei- t of mortals, tned refined le imitation «our of the of them. prbstitutes «r generally ch, Saturn, ^ rather real barbarian, s not blush at ^ and among the rest by the ancient Britons, inhabitants of this island ! It is true, some few sages of antiquity, by listening to the dictates of nature and reason, saw into the absurdity of the popular religion, and discovered the existence and attributes oi the true God; but then how unsteady and imperfect was their belief, even in this point ! and when they knew God^ they did not glorify him as God^ nor give htm thanks^ but became vain in *heir thoughts, Rom. i. 21. In short, they were so bewilder- ed on the whole subject of religion, that Socrates, the wisest of ihem all, declared it " impossible for men to discover this, un- less the Deity himself deigned to reveal it to them."f Indeed it was an effort of mercy, worthy the great and good God, to jnake such a revelation of himself, and ot his acceptable wor- ship, to poor, benighted, and degraded man. This he did, first, in favour of a poor, afflicted captive tribe on the banks of the Nile, the Israelites, whom he led from thence into the country of their ancestors, and raised up to be a powerful nation, by a series of astonishing miracles, instructing and confirming them in the knowledge and worship of himselt by his different pro- phets. He afterwards did the same thing in favour of all the people of the earth, and to a far greater extent, by the promised Messiah, and his apostles. It is to this latter divine legation I shall here confine my arguments : though indeed, the one con- firms the other ; since Christ and the apostles continually bear testimony to the mission of Moses. All history, then, and tradition prove that in the reign of Tiberius, the second Roman emperor after Julius Csesar, an extraordinary personage, Jesua Christ, appeared in Palestine, teaching a new system of religion and morality, tar more sub- lime and perfect than any which the Pagan philosophers, or even than the Hebrew prophets, had inculcated. He confirmed the truths of natural religion and of the Mosaic revelation ; but then he vastly extended their sphere, by the communication of many heavenly mysteries, concerning the nature of the one true Ciod,his economy in redeeming man by his own vicarious suf- ferings, the restoration and future immortality of our bodies, and the final decisive trial we are to undergo before him, our I'.estined Judge. He enforced the obligation of loving ou» /leavenly Father, above all things, of praying to him continually, and of referring all our thoughts, words, and actions to his di- vine honour. He insisted on the necessity of denying, not one or other of our passions, as the philosophers had done, who, as Tertullian says, drove out one nail with another ; hut the whole collection of them, disorderly and vitiated as they are, since the f Plato Dialog. Alcihlad. 10 Essay TL fall of our first parent. In opposition to out mnate avarice, pride, and love of pleasure ; he opened his mission by teaching fiizty blessed are the poor in spirit ; blessed are the meek ; blessed are they that mourn^ &?c. With respect to our fellow creatures ; teaching, as he did, every virtue, he singled our fraternal charity for his peculiar and characteristic precept ; requiring that his disciples should love one another as they love themselves, anH. even as he himself has loved them ; he who laid down his life for them ! and he extended the obligation of this precept to our enemies, equally with our friends. Nor was the morality of Jesus a mere speculative system of precepts, like the systems of the philosophers: it was of a practicsJ nature, and he himself confirmed, by his example, every virtue which he inculcated, and more particularly the hardest of all others to reduce to practice, the love of our en- emies. Christ had gone abouty as tne Sacred Text expresses it, ^oing goodU) ally Acts x. 38. and evil to no one. He had cured the sick of Judeaa;nd the neighbouring countries, had given sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and even life to the dead ; but above all things, he had enlightened the minds of his hearers with the kno«^edge of pure and sublime truths, capable of lead- ing them tc present and future happiness : yet was he every where calumniated and persecuted, till at length, his inveterate enemies fulfilled their malice ap^nst him by nailing him to a cross, thereon to expire, by lengthened torments. Not content with this, they came before his gibbet, deriding him in his ago- ny with insulting words and gestures. What, now, is the return which the author of Christianity makes for such unexampled barbarity? He excuses the authors of it! He prays for them! Father yjorgive them: for they know not what they do! Luke xxiii. 34. No wonder this proof of supernatural charity should have staggered the most nnrdened infidels; one of whom confesses that, *^ if Socrates has died like a philosopher, Jesus alone has died like a God !"* The precepts and the example of the mas- ter have not been lost upon his disciples. — ^These have evet l)ecn distinguished by their practice of virtue, and, particularly, by their charity and forgiveness of injuries. Tlie first of them who laid down his life for Christ, St. Stephen, while the Jews were stoning him to death, prayed thus, with his last voice, Lordy lay not this sin to their charge! Acts vii. 59. Having considered the several systems of paganism, which have prevailed, and that still prevail, in different parts of the world, both as to belief and practice, together with the specula- tions of the wisest infidel philosophers concerning them; and ha- ( IIouss?au Gm'ile. Essay IL n late avarice, by teaching neek ; blessed •w creatures ; :emal charity ring that his mselveSf anr*. lown his life recept to our ative system : it was of a bis example, ticularly the i^e of our en- : expresses it, [e had cured d given sight [le dead ; but f his hearers >able of lead- as he every lis inveterate ing him to a Not content a in his ago- , is the return unexampled js for them! >/Lukexxiii. should have >m confesses us alone has of the mas- have evet particularly, first of them lie the Jews last voice, usm, which parts of the the specula- lem; and ha- ing contemplated, on the other hand, the doctrine of the New Testament on both of them, namely, theory and practice, 1 ,vould ask any candid believer, where he thought Jesus Christ :ould have acquired the idea of so sublime, so pure, so effica- cious a religion as Christianity is, especially when compared with the others above alluded to? Could he have acquired it in the workshop of a poor artisan of Nazareth, or among the fish ermen of the lake of Genezareth? Then, how could he and his poor unlettered apostles succeed in propagating this religion, as |they did diroughout the world, in opposition to all the talents and power of philosophers and princes, and all the passions of all mankind? No other answers can be given to these questions, than that the religion itself has been divinely revealed^ and that it has been divinely assisted^ in its progress throughout the world. In addition to this internal evidence of Christianity, as it is called, there are external proofs^ which must not be passed over. Christ, on various occasions, appealed to the miracles which he wrought, in confirmation of his doctrine and mission; miracles public and indisputable, which, from the testimony oi Pilate himself, were placed on the records of the Roman em- pire,* and which were not denied by the most determined ene- mies ot Christianity, such 9s Celsus, Porphyrius, and Julian, the apostate. Among these miracles, there is one of so ex- traordinary a nature, as to render it quite unnecessary to men- tion any others, and which, therefore, is always appealed to by the apostles, as the grand proof of the gospel they preached: I mean the resurrection of Christ from the deads to wnich must be added its circumstances, namely, that he raised himself to life by his own power^ without the intervention of any living person ; and that he did this in conformity with his prediction^ at the time, which he had appointed for this event, and in defi' ance of the efforts of his enemies, to detain his body in the se- pulchre. To elude the evidence resulting from this unexam- pled prodigy, one or other of the following assertions must be maintained, either that the disciples xvere deceived in believing him to be risen from the dead, or that they combined to deceive the world into a belief of that imposition.^Now it cannot be credited, that they themselves were deceived in this matter, being many in number, and having the testimony of their eyes, in seeing their master repeatedly, during forty days ; of their ears, in hearing his voice ; and one, the most incredulous among them of his feeling in touching" his person and probing his wounds ; nor can it be believed that they conspired to propa* Tcrtul. in Apology. 12 Lssay II, he Lor ioMS of in asto That th foot hav •arryini louncea tpon us xtraorc nd tof ^nfe an uncroalling falsehood oi this nature throughout the na- Vions of the earth, namely, that a person, put to death in JuJfia \\\\ risen again to life, without any prospect to themselves for this xvorU^ but that of persecution, torments, and a cruel death which they successively endured, as did their numerous disci pies aftc r them, in testimony of this fact j or^ for the other world^ but the vengeance of the God of truth. Next to the miracles, wrought bv Christ, is the fulfilment ot the ancient prophecies concerning him, in proof of the religion ta ight by him. To mention a few of these: he was bom just -» *.<' j'^juhj bu-n^t, aiu t;i; ,«yi/-..ui!A - The very existence, and, other circumstances respecting this extrairdinary people, the Jews, are so many arguments in j.r )of of Christianity. They have now subsisted, as a distinct p^jple, far mare than four thousand years, during which they ha/e agiia and again been subdued, harassed, and wlmoat ex- tirpated. Their mighty conquerors, the Philistif^ts, 'he As- syrians, the Persians, the Macedonians, the ^ v '\*ii , ^ ^d the Uomans, have, in their turns, ceased to exist and can no where l>e found as distinct nations: while the Jews ej^st in great iiujubefe, and are known in every part of the world. How can liiij. be accounted for? Why has God preserved them alone iimongst the a-.icient nations of the earth? The truth is, they ceeding are svil! '&■ .ub/^ct of • rophecy, with respect to both the Olcli of them and N.^v Testament. They exist as monuments of God's lare gui( v/rath ajraiwi^t them ; as witnesses to the truth of the Scriptures lence. which condemn them ; and as the destined subjectg of his finallbut alsc mercy before the end of the world. They are to be found inStoms to vvi:V\ quarter of the globe; but in the condition which theirlthe mo! g/-jar ie;3;i il-.it ir M )si*s threatened th-Mii with, if thi^y forsook ■ such in De YOU subject Christia man the 4i, 15. 1 commis! Hnrhari *. unwil pecting quiries desirou! I must Letter II, 13 lehout the m W^^ Lord, namely, lAat he would remdve *hem into all the king' eath in Tule V^'''* °f^^^ earth, Deut. xxviii. 25. That they should become hemselvc// W!} <^f^^'^^^^f^^t <"*^ ^ by-word, amoi^ all na//^vs, ibid. 37. iacruelde thF^**^ they shoxxld find no ease, neither should the sole of their imerous disc' W^^' ^^"'^ '^^*'' ^^ ^^' ^^"^^Xi ^^^Y ^^^ every where seen, but he other worldh^''^?' '^"?^" ""J ^^j*" foreheads, the curse which they pro- ■Jounced on themselves in rejecting their Messiah: hts blood be tfion us and upon, cur children. Mat. xxvii. 25. Still is this xtraordinar< i>e(.fple preserved, to be, in the end, convert<:d, e fulfilment ol ot the religion was bom justi Wa,Gen. xlix, m the restora- f temple of Je- in Bethlehem, 'd ofhim^ Isal pie for thirtMi chase of a pot- upon, Isai. 1. His hands arid d his side was died, was bu to life without m enemies of ars before his •es, containing I, which were Bspecting this arguments in as a distinct g which they '\ nimost ex- nts. ifke As- ■'■<*n: ,. • -.d the can no where XJst in great d. How can them alone, truth is, thev both the Old Its of God's le Scriptures nd to f?id iTicycy^ Rom, xi. 26, &c. SAMUEL CAREY. I. ' 3 .fi/; 1 ;;; i >■; .\v ,1. ;oD .li;;!iiicn }!ii.;< i?^' LETTER II. TO JAMES BROWN, Esq, ^c. PRELIMINARIES, 'it y.il. U, -M^ i. vd 1 #,•'.'> .^ .)!:■• ;^ % ■^ •'••!.* ' --viw : 1 ■■n•^^^ -1 - = ,r"^/ Bear Sir, Winton, October 20, 1801. i-Ai rV tn YOU certainly want no apology for writing to me on the subject of your letter. For if, as St. Peter inculcates, each Christian ought to be ready always to give an answer to ever\f man that asketh h'rm a reason of the hope that is in him, 1 Pet, lii. 15. how inexcusable would a person of my ministry and commission be, who am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Hnrhariahi,, both to the xviseand the unwise, Rom. i. 14. were t unwilling to give the utmost satisfaction in my power, res- pecting the Catholic religion, to any human being whose in- quiries appear to proceed from a serious and candid mind, desirous of discovering and embracing religious truth, such as I must believe yours to be. And yet this disposition is ex- ceedingly rare among Christians. Infinitely the greater part of them, in choosing a system ot religion, or m adhering to one, are guided by motives of interest, worldly honour, or conveni- ence. These inducements not only rouse their worst passions, ts of his finallbut also blind their judgement; so as to create hideous phan- • be found in Jtoms to their intellectual eyes, and to hinder them from seeing which theirjthe most conspicuous objects which stand before them. To :hey lorsQokasuch inconsistent Christians, nothing proves so irritating as the u Letter IL attempt to disabuse them of their errors, except the success oi it, by putting it out of their power to defend them any longer. These are they; and O! how infinite is their number! of whom Christ says, they love darkne^m rather than light^ John iii, 16.; and who say to the prophets. Prophesy not unto us right things: speak unto us smooth things, Isai. xxx, 10. They form to themselves a false conscience, as the Jews did, when they mur dered their Messiah, Acts iii. 17.; and as he himself foretold many others would do, in murdering his disciples, ^ohn xvi. 2, I cannot help saying that I myself have experienced something of this spirit, in my religious discussions with persons wlio have been loudest in professing their candour and charity. Hence, I make no doubt that, if the elucidation which you call for at my hands, for your numerous society, should happen, by any means to become public, that I shall have to eat the bread of affliction, and drink the water of tribulation, 1 Kings xxii. 27. for this discharge of my duty, perhaps for the remain- d -r of my life. But, as the apostle writes, none of these things move me; neither count I my life dear to me, so that I may finish my course with Joy, and the ministry which I have re- ceived from the Lord Jesus. Acts xx. 24. It remains, sir, to settle the conditions of our correspondence. What I propose is, that, in the first place, we should mutually, aid indeed all of us who are concerned in this friendly contro- versy, be at perfect liberty to speak, without offence to any one, of doctrines, practices, and persons, as we judge best for the discovery of truth: secondly, that we should be disposed, in common, as far as poor human nature will permit, to investi- gite truth with impartiality; to acknowledge it, when disco- vered, with candour ; and, of course, to renounce every error and unfounded prejudice that may be detected, on any side, whatever it may cost us in so doing. I, for my part, dear sir, here solemnly promise, that I will publicly renounce the reli- §ion, of which 1 am a minister, and will induce as many of mv ock, as I may have influence over, to do the same, should it prove to be that "mass of absurdity, bigotry, superstition, ido- latry, and immorality," which you, sir, and most Protestants conceive it to be ; nay, even if I should not succeed in clearing it of these respective charges. To religious controversy, when originating in its proper motives, a desire of serving God and securing our salvation, I cannot declare myself an enemy, with- out virtually condemning the conduct of Christ himself, who, on every occasion, arraigned and refuted the errors of the Pha- risees : but I cannot conceive any hypocrisy so detcatable as that of ascending the pulpit or employing the pen on sacred subjects to serve our temporal interest, our resentment, or our prido, under pi inquirer as I hav dinary t I the latte I spoke ion the p Iback the :tance;a Lettet, lUA 15 Jc success oil ■i any longer.! )er!ofwhom lohniii. 16.; 'ig'ht things: 'hey form to en they mur self foretold John xvi. 2. a something persons wlio md charity, lich you call uld happen, ^e to eat the oriy 1 Kings the remain- these thing's that I may h I have re- espondence. d mutually, ndly contro- e to any one, best for the disposed, in :, to investi- v^hen disco- every error n any side, irt, dear sir, ice the reli- many of mv e, should it stition, ido- Protcstants I in clearing i^ersy, when ig God and lemy, with- mself, who, of the Pha- table as that cd subjects our pride, kinder ptelexl ot promoting or defending rerigious truth. — To inquirers, in the former predicament, I hold myself a debtor, as I have already said ; but the circumstances must be extraor- dinary to induce me to hold a communication with jpeisono in the latter. Lastly, as you appear, sir, to approve of the plan I spoke of in my first letter to Dr. Sturges, I mean to pursue it on the present occasion. This, however, will necessarily throw back the examination of your charges to a considerable dis« tance ; as several other important inquiries must precede. I am, &c. J. M. J LETTER III. From JAMES BROWN, Eaq. to the Rrv. /. M, D, D. PRELIMINARIES. New Cottage^ Oct, 30, 1801, Reverend Sir, , I HAVE been favoured, in due course, with yours of the ^th instant, which I have communicated to those persons of our society, whom I have had an opportunity of seeing. No circumstance could strike us with greater sorrow, than mat you should suffer any inconvenience from your edifying promptness to comply with our well meant request, and we conndently trust that nothing of the kind will take place through our fault. We ajjrcc with you, as to the necessity of perfect freedom of speech, wliere the discovery of important truths is the real object of inquiry. Hence, while we are at liberty to censure many of your popes, and other clergy, Mr. Topham will not be offended with any thing that you can prove against Calvin; nor will Mr, Rankin quarrel with you for exposing the faults of George Fox and James Naylor; nor shall I complain of you for any thing that you can make out against our venerable Latimer or Cran- mer ; I say the same of doctrines and practices, as of persons. If you are guilty of Idolatry, or we of heresy, we are respec- tively unfortunate, and the greatest charity we can do, is to point out to each other the danger of our respective situations, to their full extent. Not to renounce error and embrace truth 6 16 Letter IF.. v\ of every kind, when we clearly see it, would be folly ; and tol neglect doing this, when the question is about religious truth, would be folly and wickedness combined together. Finally, we cheerfully leave you to follow what course you please, and to whatever extent you please, provided you only give us such satisfaction as you can give, on the subjects I mentioned in my former letter. ' '' v•'^:i,-^^■' . ;; ' I am, Rev. Sir, &r. i' JAMES BROWN. ."'» u : LETTER IV. To JAMES BROWN, Esq, ^e, DISPOSITIONS FOR RELIGIOUS INSipiRT, Dear Sir, THE dispositi3ns which you profess, on the part of your friends, as well as yourself, I own, please me, and animate me t) undertake the task you impose upon me. Nevertheless, availing myself of the liberty of speech which you and your friends allow me, I am forced to observe that there is notning in which msn are more apt to deceive themselves, than in think- ing themselves to be free from religious prejudices, and sincere in seeking after, and resolved to embrace and follow the truth of religion, in opposition to their preconceived opinions and wordly interests. How many imitate Pilate, who, when he had asked our Saviour the question, What is truth? presently went out of his company, before he could receive an answer to it! John xviii. 38. How many others resemble the rich young mtin, who, having interrogated Christ, What good thinj^ shall I do that Imaif huve eternal life? when this divins master an- swered hitn. If thou wilt he perfect^ go and sell what thou hast and give to the poor ; — went away sorrowful! Mat. xix. 22. Fi- nftUy, how many more act like certain presuir.p«^uous disciples ot our Lord, who, when he had propounded to them a mystery beyond their conception, that of tne real presence, in these words, Afif Hesh is meat indeed^ and my blood is drink indeed:-" Letter IV. If ; folly; and to^s^;^^ this is a hard saying"; who can hear it? — and went back eljgious truth, and walked no more with him/ John vi. 56. O! if all Christians, her. Finally, ^jf ^^g different sects and opinions, were but possessed of the ou please, and i sincerity, disinterestedness, and earnestness, to serve their God, y ^ive us such and save their souls, which a Francis Walsingham, kinsman to sntioned m my t|^g great statesman of that name, a Hugh Paulin Cressy, dea of Laughlin, and prebendary of Windsor, and an Anthon " : Ulric, duke of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, prove themselves ] to have been possessed of; the first, in his Search into Matters BROWN, cf Religion; the secorfd, in his Exomologcsis^ or Motives of Convemion^ ^c; and the lust, in his Fifty Reasons; how soon wo aid all and everv one of our controversies cease, and we be all united in one faith, hope, and charity! I will here transcribe, from the preface to the Ffiy Reasons^ what the illustrious rela- tive of his majesty says, concerning the dispositions, with which he set about mquiring into the grounds and differences of the several systems of Christianit) , whrn he began to entertain doubts concerning the truth of that in which he had been edu- cated ; namely, Lutheranism. He says, "First, I earnestly im- pl jred the aid and grace of the Holy Ghost, and with all my power, begged the light of true faith, from God, the father of lights," &c. " Secondly, I made a strong resolution, by the grace of God, to avoid sin, well knowing that Wisdom wiil not eiter into a corrupt mindy nor dwell in a body subject to sin^* Wisd. i. 4. "and I am convinced, and was so then, that the rea- son why 80 many are ignorant of the true faith, and do not em- brace it, is because they are plunged into several vices, and par- Nevertheless, 5 ticuhrly into carnal sins." Then, "Thirdlj', I renounced all '"" ««'! - gy^jg ^J£ prejudices, whatever they were, which incline men to o le religion more than another, which unhappily I might have foinurly espoused, and I brought myselfto a perfect indifference, s ) Hi to be ready to embrace whichsoever the grace of the Holy G'if>st, and the light of reason, should point out to me, without an.- rec;ard to th^ advantages and inconveniences, that might attend it in this world." '• Lastly, I entered upon this delibera- tion and this choice, in the manner ] should wish to have done it, at the hour of my death, and in a full conviction that, at the le rich young Iday of judgment, 1 must give an account to God, why I fol- jd tiling shall | lowed this religion in preference to all the rest," The princely inquirer finishes this account of himself with the following aw- ful reilections : Man has but one soul, which will he eternally either damned or saved. What doth it avail a man to gain the v'hule world and lose his own soul? Matt. xvi. 26, Eternity knows no end. The course of it is perpetual. It is a series of unlimited duration. There is no comparison between things infinite and those which are not so. O! the happiness of Uit C liumr. part of your d animate me Nevertheless, i^ou and your ere is nothing than in think- ; s, and sincere low the truth opinions and vho, when he th? presently an answer to ns master an- hat thou hnst t. xix. 22. Fi- lous disciples m a mystery nee, in these ink indeed;— la Letter V. I I ifi'ii l<\ hi! eterni^ of Ae samts ! O ! the wretchedness of the eternity of the damned. One of these two eternities awaits us!" ,..q t-itt^^-sw ,s«v>f.: I remain, Sir, yours, &c. ' "ft'^fi;; ■JV'T-' «t,i.' )'~'j/-?rri-;r)?^ :-^ tf!\' »■ m: h -:j. 'iim*. iS'\r J.M. -.4-. ';M- r»V^ .* t HW .1 .'! V- C "W* {J If: -rib-? >•< LETTER V. To JAMES BROWN, Esq, ■■„i f'.'iiitii i«» '■ ' ''■ ' <''< ' i ' »■. •.•m; i.'^n li,fi;S-^ .' ';■.■■;', i . ; r: irr-r.Ui ,t*iifj ■' ' .-• :• >'!>./-■ ';.! [ • 1 ' r ■• ' :.■..■; 'l\\\ _» , f j ■ •'■• " • . . • '.1. . ^ ''.','•/-:) I iii|,' 'k C 20 ),^ '■^^''''' "• •. LETTER VI. '.''•'■-■■^:.r.. '-.r lloiili,;!,; . - , r_ .. . ^ ).av.^. i - yO /w«A/i:5^ BROWN, Esq, ■ V TffE jP/i?.9T FALLACIOUS RULE OF FAFFIL Dear Sir, < '-* AMONG serious Christians, who profess to ,nake the di?- covcry and practice of religion their first and earnest care, three different methods or rules have been adopted f(jr this purpose. The first consists in a supposed private inspiration^ or an immediate light and motion of God's spirit, comnuini- cated to the individual. This was tne rule of faith and con- duct formerly professed by the Montanists, the Anabaptists, the Family of Love, and is now professed by the Quakers, the Moravians, and different classes of the Methodists. The se- cond of these rules is the written Word of God^ or THE BI- BLE, according as it is understood by each particular ri-adcr er hearer of it. This is the professed rule of the more regu- lar sects of Protestants, such as the Lutherans the Calvinists, the Socinians, the Church of England men. The third rule is THE WORD OF GOD, at large, xvhether written in the Bible^ or handed down from the apostles in continued succession by the Catholic church, and as it is understood and explained lyy this church. To speak more accurately, besides thtir rule of faith, namely. Scripture and tradition. Catholics acknow- ledge an unerring judge of controversy, or sure guide in all matters relating to ssdvation, namely, THE CHURCH. I shall now proceed to show that the first mentioned rule, iiamt - ly, a supposed private inspiration, is quite fallacious, in as much as it is liable to conduct, afid has conducted many, into ac- knowledged errors and impiety. About the middle of the second age of Christianity, Monta- nus, Maximilla and Priscilla, with their followers, by adopt- ng this enthusiastical rule, rushed into the excess of folly and lasphemy. They taught that the Holy Spirit, having failed to ave mankind, by Moses, and afterwards by Christ, had en- lightened and sanctified them to accomplish this great work. The strictness of their precepts, and apparent sanctity of their lives, deceived many, till at length the two former proved what {.pirit they were guided by, in hanging themselves.* Several * Euseb. Eccles. Hist. I. v. c. 1 J. Letter VU t* »ke the (lis- rnest care, ed for this impirathn^ comnumi- h and con- inabaptists, uakers, the . The se- THE Bf. liar reader more regu- Calvinists, lird rule is tten in the sucvesaion ( explaiui'ci thtir rule s acknov- uidc in all JRCH. I ule, namt - aus, in as y^ into ar- y, Monta- hy adopt- folly and [J failed to , had en- eat work, y of their >ved what Several ther heretics became dupes of the saiuc principles in the pri- nitive and the middle ages ; but it was reserved for the time iof religious licentiousness, improperly called the Reformation, to display the full extent of its absurdity and impiety. In less than five years after Luther had sounded the trumpet of evan- gelical liberty, the sect of Anabaptists arose in Germany and the I^ow Countries. They professed to hold immediate'com- munication with God, and to be ordered by him to despoil and kill all the wicked, and to establish a kingdom of the just,* who, to become such, were all to be rebaptized. Carlostad, Luther^s first disciple of note, embraced this UUra-ReJormation ; but its acknowledged head, during his reign, was John Bockhold, a taylor of Leyden, who proclaimed himself king of Sion, suid who, during a certain time, was really sovereign of Munster, in Lower Germany, where he committed the greatest imaRina> ble excesses, marrying eleven wives at a time, and putting them, and numberless other of his subjects to death, at the motion of his supposed interior spirit.f He declared that God had made him a present of Amsterdam and other cities, which he sent parties of his disciples to take possession of. These ran naked through the streets, howling out, " Wo to Babylon ; wo to the wicked ;" and, when they were apprehended, and on the point of being executed for their seditions and murders, they sung and danced on the scaffold, exulting in the imaginary light of their spirit.t Herman, another Anabaptist, was moved by his spi- rit to declare himself the Messiah, and thus to evangelize the peo- ple, his hearers : " Kill the priests, kill all the magistrates in the world : repent : your redemption is at hand."§ One of their chief and most accredited preachers, David George, persuaded a numerous sect of them, that " the doctrine both of the Old and New Testament was imperfect, but that his own was peri fi'ct, and that he was the true Son of God,^''H I do not notice these impieties and other crimes for their singularity or their atrociousness, but because they were committed upon the prin- iiple and under a full conviction of an individual and uncon- trolable inspiration, on the part of their dupes and perpetra- tors. Nor has our own country been more free from this enthusi- astic principle than Germany and Holland. Nicholas, a disci* . I . ^ ft • *' Cum Deo colloquium esse et mandatum habere sc dicebant, ut, impiis omnibus interfectis, novum constituerent mundum, in quo pii solum et inno- ccntcs vivercnt et rcruni, potircntur." — Sleidan. De Stat. Rel. et Reip. Com- niCMt 1. iii. p. 45. f Hist. Abrep. d* la Reform, par Gerard Brandt, torn. i. p. 46. Mosheim, F.cclcs Uist. by M.iclaiiic, vol. iv. p. 452. i Brandt, p, 49, 8(c. ^ ^ Brandt, p. 51. i Mothclm, vol. iv. p. 484, «2 Letter, VL m I {»le of the above mentioned David George, came over to En,v^- and with a supposed commission from God to teach men that the essence of religion consists in the feelings of divine love, and that all other things relating either to faitn or worship, are of no moment.* He extended this maxim even to the funda- mental precepts of morality, professing to continue in sm that grace might abound. His followers, under the name of the FamllistSy or The Family ofLove^ were very numerous at the end of the sixteenth century, about which time, Hacket, a Cal- vinist, giving way to the same spirit of delusion, became deeply persuaded that the spirit of the Messiah had descended u] on him ; and, having made several proselytes, he sent two of them, Aithingtou and Coppinger, to procldim through the streets of London, that Christ was come thither with his fan in his hand. This spirit, instead of being repressed, became still more un- governable at the sight of the scaffold and the gibbet, prepared m Chcapside for his execution. Accordingly he continued till tlie last, exclaiming, " Jehova, Jehova ; don't you see the hea- vens open, and Jesus coming to deliver me, &c."f Who has not heard of Venner, and his Fifth Monarchy-men, who, guid- ed by the same private spirit of inspiration, rushed from their meeting house in Coleman street, proclaiming that they would •* acknowledge nosovereiv, . but king Jesus, and that they would not sheathe their swords, till they had made Babylon (that is monarchy) a hissing and a curse, not only in England, but also throughout foreign countries ; having an assurance that one ot them would put a thousand enemies to flight, and two of them ten thousand r" Venner being " taken and led to execution, V ith several of his followers, protested it was not he, but Jesus, who had acted as their leader.":|: I pass over the unexampltd follies and the horrors of the grand rebellion, having det liled many of them elsewhere."^ It is enough to remark that, while many of these were committed from the licentiousness rf pii- vate interpretation of Scripture, many others originat d in . th • enthusiastic opinion which 1 am now combating, that (fan im- mediate individual inspiration, equal, if not superior, to that ot the Scriptures themselvesH It was in the midst of these religious and civil commotions that the most extraordinary people of all those who have adopt- ed the fallacious rule of private inspiration, started up at the call of George Fox, a shoe-maker of Leicestershire. His funda • Ibid. Brandt. , t Fuller's Church Hist. b. ix. p. 113. Stow's Annals, A. D. 1591, ♦ Echanl's Hist, of Eiig. &c. <& Letters to a Prebendury. Reig-n of Charles T. I Sec the rcinoj'kable hiiitury of tlic uiilitarv pn achrri at Kingston. Ibid lental lowers,^ ry rule nute to certain! which t vealed : tered in own sp sons."§ Quakei as recoi Geor sion he (churcl ^ leave of] to the I of his s constitu ferent p pies, "W several as a sig houses, be alls don wa wiih a Friend into W • Kobe t Prop yricnds, fritm . the lamed in i I'ron n Sec 'l i disciple 1 5 I 8h! Charles I Ijy victor swovd in drums, a l)e iiic()( of the CI niornih, threw til kc. ver to Enjj- ch men that divine love, worship, are :o the funcla- e in sin that name of the lerous at the jcket, a Cal- icame deeply cended ujon two of them, :he streets of in his hand. ;ill more un- >et, prepared lontinued till see the hea- t Who has 1, who, guid- d from their t they would t they woidd ylon (that is ind, but also 5 that one ot two of them :o execution, e, but Jesus, unexampled 'ing det liltd k that, while sness ( f pi i- nat d in . th • lat (fan im- ior, to that«»i commotions have adopt- up at the call His funda 1591. ing^ton. Ibid ental propositions, as laid down by the most able of his fol. owers,* are, that, " The Scriptures are not the adequate prima^ '•y rule of faith and manners^ — but a secondary rule^ subordi- nate to the spirit^ from which they have their excellency and certainty :"f that the testimony of the spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be re- vealed -yX that " all true and acceptable worship of God is of- tered in the inward and immediate moving and drawing of his own spirit, which is neither limited to places, times, nor per- sons."$ Such are the avowed principles of the people csdled Quakers : let us now see some of the fruits of those principles, as recorded by themselves, in their founder and first apostles. George Fox tells of himself, that at the beginning of his mis- sion he was " moved to go to several courts and steeple-houses, (churches) at Mansfield, and other places, to warn them to leave off oppression and oaths, and to turn from deceit, and to turn to the Lora."0 On these occasions the language and behaviour of his spirit was very far from the meekness and respect for constituted authorities of the Gospel spirit, as appears from dif- ferent passages in his Journal.^ He tells us of one of his disci- ples, William Simpson, who was "moved of the Lord to go, at several times, for three years, naked and barefoot before them,- as a sign unto them, in markets, courts, towns, cities, to priests* houses, and to great men's houses, telling them, so should they be all stripped naked. Another Friend, one Robert Hunting- don was moved of the Lord to go into Carlisle steeple-house wiih a white sheet about him."** We are told of a female Friend who went "stark naked in the midst of public worship, into Whitehall chapel, when Cromwell was there;" an^ &i^<^ ■.,,... ..: -. .... v. i.\ >: , .' ;, li ::•-•:; I 'M ' ' •■' .-*'''^ • Kobert Barclay's Apolo^ for the Quakers. t Propus. ill. In defending this proposition, Barclay cites some of tho Friends, who, being unable to read the Scriptures, even in the vulgar lan- g-nage, and being' pressed by adversaries with passages from it, botdfy denied, from, the manifestution of truth in their own hearts, that such pojsuges were con- lained in the Scrijjturis, p, 83. i I'ropos. II. § Propos. XI. II See the Journal of Georpe Fox, written by himself, and published by his disciple Pcnn, son of admiral Penn, folio, p. 17. 1 1 shall satisfy myself with citing part of his letter, written in 1660, to Charles 11. •• King C'barles, thou earnest not into this nation by sword nor |jy victory of war, but by the power of the Lord. And if thou dost bear the sword in vain, and let drunkenness, oaths, plays, May-games, with fiddlers*. (h'ums, and trumpets to play at tliem, with such hke abcmiinations and vanities, l)e encouraged, or go (mpunished, as setting up of Mi'-v -poles, with the ■mage oftlie crown a-top of them, the nation will quickly turn, like Sodom and Go- niorriih, and he as bad us tlie old world, who grieved the Lord, till he over- threw them : and so he will you, if these things be not suddenly preventeu*** 3io. (i. F.'s Journal, p. 225 •• Jocnial. p. •2:1'^ . , .,. 34 Letter VI. ther woman, who came into the parliament house with a trench- er in her Hand, which she broke in pieces, saying, thus shall he be broke in pieces.''^ — One came to the door of the parliament house with a drawn sword, and wojnded several, saying, lu was inspired by the Holy Spirit to kill every man that sat in that house."* But on no one occasion have the Friends, with 'George Fox himself, been so embarrassed to save their rule oj f'aith^ as they have been to reconcile with it the conduct of J ames Naylor.f When certain low and disorderly people in Hampshire, disgraced their society and became obnoxious to 1 the laws, G. Fox disowned them,:|. but, when a Friend of James Niylor's character and services^ became the laughing-stock of the nation for his presumption and blasphemy, there was no other way for the society to separate his cause from their own, but by abandoning their fundamental principles, which leaves every man to follow the spirit within him^as he himself feels it^ The fact is, James Naylor, like so many other dupes o^ a sup- posed private spirit, fancied himself to be the Messiah, and m this character rode into Bristol, his disciples spreading their ; garments before hini, and crying, Holy^ holt/, holy, hosannah in ; the highest: and when he had been scourged by order of par- 1 liament, for his impiety, he permitted the fascinated women, \ who followed him, to kiss his feet and his wo\v*^ds, and to hail liim " the prince of peace, the rose of Sharon, the fairest ot ten thousand,"!! &c. I pass over many sects of less note, as the Muggletonians, ^ the Labbadists, &c. who, by pursuing the meteor of a supposed inward light, were led into the most impious and immoral prac- tices. Allied to these are the Moravian brethren, or Hemhut- tcrs, so called from Hernhuth in Moravia, where their apostle, count Zinzendorf, made an establishment for them. They are now spread over England, with ministers and bishops appoint- ed by others resident at Hernhuth. Their rule of faith, as laid down by Zinzendorf, is an imaginary inward light, against * Maclftine's note on Mosheim, vol. v. p. 470. ■fSce History of the Qiiiikers, by William Sewel, folio, p. 138. Journal of G, Fox, p. 230. % .loumal of G. Fox, p. 320. tj Ibid. p. 220. Sc'vel's Hist, of Quakers, p. 140. I Eclianl's Hist. Muclaine's Mosheim. Neals Hist, of Puritans. In closing this account of the Quakers, we may remark that there is no appearance yet of the fulfilment of the conBdent prophecy with which Barclay concludes his Apology : '* That little spark (Quakerism) that hath appeared, shall grow to the consuming of whatsoever shall stand up to oppose it. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it ! Yea; he that hath risen in a small remnant, shall arise and go on by the »ame arm uf power in his spiritual manifestation until he hath conquered all his enemies : ujitil all the kingdoms «>r the earth become the kiiig-dom of Jeaua Ciirist." I at an e: I had dir I ner of j Don't t ed to 1 \yotir C the inti to you ■ tions w those o as gros fice it t female, fession. over th world that th an.l ha i • Wc h uh,' s n.»t in t tiirc, pi b:i war! fith til i))g as im, tlut ailding t« folic tse Grace, ^Ba «, ^ii pl«s o) gularit l.eve 1 LelUr VL u »vith a trench. thus shall he »e parliament tl, saying, /u lan that sat in Friends, with J their rule oj .^ e conduct of; :riy people in; obnoxious to ^ end of James hing-stock of : there was no \ >m their own, | which leaves' 'mself feels it, pes oi a sup. ;ssiah, and m j •eading their ^ hosannah in , order of par- 1 ated women, s, and to hail he fairest of jggletonians, f a supposed nmoral prac- or Hemhut- p heir apostle, * i. They are ops appoint- fiaith, as laid ■ ght, against 3. Journal of n, >ns. In closings ppearance yet ' concludes his , shall g^MT to mouth of the int, shall arise n until he hath tl become tha 'hich *rie true believer cannot sin. Tliis they are taught to >vak for in quiet, omitting prayer, reading the Scriptures, and thef rvorks,^ They deny that even the moral law contained n the Scriptures is a rule of life for believers. Having consi^* •lered this system in all its bearings, we are the less surpriseo It the disgusting obscenity, mingled with blasphemy, which is* o be met with m the theological tracts of the German count. f The next system of delusion which I shall mention, as pro- ceeding from the fatal principle of an interior rule of faith! though framed in England, was also the work of a foreign no- . bleman, baron Swedenborg. His Arst supposed revelation wa» at an eating-house in London, about the year 1 745, *• After I had dined, says he, " a man appeared to me sitting in the cor- ner of the room, who cried out to me, with a terrible Voice, DonH eat so much. The following night the same man appear- ed to me, shining with light, and said to me, lam the Lord^ your Creator and Redeemer^ I have chosenyou to explain to men the interior and spiritual sense of the Scriptures: J will dictate to you what you are to write,''^\ His imaginary communica- tions with God and the angels were as frequent and familiar a» those of Mahomed, and his conceptions of heavenly things were as gross and incoherent as those of the Arabian impostor. Suf- tice it to say that his God is a mere man^ his angels are male and ffmaky who marry together and follow various trades and pro* fe.ssions. Finally, his New Jerusalem^ which is to be spread, over the whole earth, is so little different from this sublunary world that the entrance into it is imperceptible.^ So far is true, tliat the New Jerusalemites are spread throughout England, and have chaptls in most of its principal towns.|| • Wesley, in a letter which he inscribes ••To the church of Gcd at Hem- hull,' says, «« There are many whom your brethren have advised, though ' n.)C ill tiieir public preaching', not to use the (Irdinances — ^reading the Scnpo ture, pntying', communicatinjf ; as the doing' tliese things is seeking salvatwti b\l works. So lie of our English brethren (Moravians) say. You wlllnever have f 1th fill ynu leave off the church and the sacrament x: as many go to hell by pray- v.ig an by thieving." J'^urnal, 1740. John Nelson, in his own Journal, teils lis, tJiiit the Moravians call their religion the Liberty, and the Poor Sinncrship, "(Iding-jthat «• they sell their prayer books, and leave off reading and prayingf ty follow the Lamb. t '^ee Miiclaine's Hist. vol. vi. p. 23, and bishop Warburtotfs Doctrine of Grace, quoted by him. i Baruel's Hist, du Jacobinisme, tom. iv. p. 118. § Bamel's Hist, du Jacobinisme, lorn. iv. p. 118. n ^ince tlie above letter was written, another sect, the Joannites, or disci- ples of Jo.nima Southcote, h.ave risen to notice by their number and the .sin- gularity of their t nets. This female apostle has been led by her spirit to bc- l.cve herself to be the woman of Genesis, destined to crush the head of the in- fernal serpent, with whom she supposes herself to have had daily battles, to the effusion of hit blood. She beUeves herielf to b«, likewise, the woman of D S6 j^eiter VI, I am sorry to be obliged to enter upon the s.ime list with these enthusiasts, a numerous class, many of them very respect- able, of modem religionists, called Methodists : yet, smce their avowed system of faith is, that this consists in an instantaneom illapse of God's spirit into the souls of certain persons^ by which riiey are convinced of their justification and salvation^ without reference to Scripture or any thing else, they cannot be placed, as to their rule of faith, under any other denomination. This, according to the founder's doctrine, is the only article of faith; all other articles he terms opinions^ of which he says, "the Me- thodists do not lay any stress on them, whether right or wrong."* He continues : " 1 am sick of opinions ; I am weary to bear them j my soul loaths this frothy fooa."f Conformably to this latitu- dinarian system, Wesley opens heaven indiscriminately to churchmen, Presbyterians, Independents, Quakers, and even to Catholics.il Addressing the last named, he exclaims, " O that God would write in your hearts the rules of self-denial and love laid down by Thomas a Kempis; or that you would fol- low in this and in good works, the bumiAg and shining light of your own church, the marquis of Renty.:|: Then would all who know and love the truth, rejoice to acknowledge you as the church of the living God."§ At the first rise of Methodism in Oxford, A. D. 1729, John "Wesley and his companions were plain, serious church of Eng- land men, assiduous and methodical in praying, reading, fasting, and the like. What they practised themselves, they preached to others both in England and America, till becoming intimate with the Moravian brethren and particularly with Peter Boh- the Rerelations crowned with t%. «t*e stars, which are so muij ministers of the established church. In fact, one of these, a richly beneficed rector, ami of a noble family, acts as her secretary, in writing and sealing passports to heaven, which she supposes herself authorized to issue, to the number of 144,000, at a very moderate price. One of these passports, in due form, is in the writer's frossession. It is sealed with three seids. The first exhibits two stars, name- y, the morning star, to represent Christ, the evening star, to represent her- self. The second seal exhibits the lion of Juda, supposed to allude to the in- sane prophet, Richard Brothers. The third shows the face of Joanna herself. Of late, her inspiration has taken a new turn : she believes herself to be preg- nant of the Messiah, and her followers have prepared silver vessels of various sorts for his use, when he is born. • Wesley's Appeal, P. III. p. 134. s ; t Ibid. p. 135. n Wesley's Appeal. t His life written in French, by PSre St. Jure, a Jesuit, and abridged in English by J. Wesley. § In his «• Popery Calmly Considered," p. 20, Wesley writes: •* I firmly be- lieve that many members of the church of Rome have been holy men, and that many of them are so now." He elsewhere says, •• Several of them (Pa- pists) have attained to as high a pitch of sanctity as human nature is capable of airiring at." Letter VI, jtr Icf , one of their elders, John Wesley, " became convinced of unbelief, namely, a want of that faith whereby alone we are saved.^^* Speaking of his past life and ministry, he says, " I was fundamentally a Papist, and knew it not."f Soon after this persuasion, namely, on May 24, 1739, " Going into a socie- ty in Aldersgate street," he says, ** whilst a person was reading Luther's Preface to the Romans, about a quarter before nine, I felt my heart strangely warmed : I felt I did trust in Christ, in Clirist alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken axvay mif sins, even, mine, and saved me from the laiv of sin and death,'''' \ What were now the unavoidable consequences of a diffusion of this doctrine among the people at large ? Let us hear them from Wesley's most able disciple and destined successor Fletcher, of Madeley, " Antinomian principles and practices," he says, " have spread like wild-fire among our societies. Many p'-rsons, speaking in the most glorious manner of Christ and their interest in his complete salvation, have been found living in the greatest immoralities. — How few of our societies, where cheating, extorting, or some other evil hath not broke out, and given such shakes to the ark of the Gospel, that, had not the Lord interposed, it must have been overset !"$—** I have seen tliem who pass for believers, follow the strain of corrupt na- ture ; and when they should have exclaimed against Antino- mianism, I have heard them cry out against the legality of their wicked hearts, which they said, stUl suggested that they were to do something for their salvationJ'''l — " How few of our celebrated pulpits, where more has not been said for sin than a^xainst it / '51 — The same candid writer, laying open the foul ness of his former system, charges Sir Richard Hill, who per sistcd in it, with maintaining that, " Even adultery and mur- der do not hurt the pleasant children, but rather work for their good."**-—" God sees no sin in believers, whatever sin they • Whitehead's life of .Tohn and Charles Wesley, vol. ii. p. 68. tJourn:il, A. D. 1739, Elsewhere, Wesley says, •• O what a work lias God bcg'un, since Peter Bohler came to England ; such a one as shall never come to an end, till heaven and earth pass away.'* ^ Vide Whitehead, vol. ii. p.-xge 79. In a letter to his brother Samuel, John Wesley says, *• By a Christian, I mean one who so believes in Christ that death hath no domuiion over him, and in this obvious sense of the word 1 was not II Christian till 24th of May, last year." Ibid. 105. § Checks to Antinom. vol. ii. p. 23. | Ibid, page 200. > .. 1 Ibid, pag-e 215. •• Fletcher's Works, vol. iii. page 50. Agricola, one of Luther's first disciples, is called the founder of the Antinomians. These hold that the fiiitlifid arc bound by no law, either of God or man, and that good works of evcrv kind are useless to salvation ; while Amsdorf, Luther's pot-companion, taught that they are an impediment to salvation. Mosheim'» Eceks. Hi»t. 6 28 Letter VL commit. My sins might displease God ; my person is alwai'« acceptable to him. Though I should outsin Manasses, I ahouiu not be less a pleasant child, because God always views me in Christ. Hence, in the midst of adulteries, murders and in- cests, he can address me with, Thou art all fair my love, my vndejfiled, there is no spot in Me^."*— " It is a most perni- cious error of the schoolmen to distinguish sins according to tht fact, and not according to the j&er*on."—" Though I blame those who say. Let us sin that grace may abound, yet adultery, incest, and murder, shall, upon the whole, make me holier on earthy and merrier in heaven,'*^ These doctrines and practices, casting great disgrace on Me- thodism, alarmed its founder. He therefore held a synod of his chief preachers, undtr the title of a Conference, in which he and they unanimously abandoned their past fundamental principles, in the following confession which they made,— " ^test, 1 7. Have we not unawares, leaned too much to Gal- vanism ? Ans, We are afraid we have, ^est, 18. Have we not also leaned too much to Antinomianism ? ^ns. We are afraid we have. ^lett. 20. What are the main pillars of it ? Ant. 1. That Christ abolished the moral law: 2. That Chris- tians therefore are not obliged to observe it : 3. That one branch of Christian liberty, is liberty from observing the com- mandments of God,^' &c.^ The publication of this retraction, m 1770, raised the indignation of the more rigid Methodists, namely, the Whitefieldites, Jumpers, &c. all of whom were under the particular patronage of lady Huntingdon : according- ly her chaplain, the Hon. and Rev. Walter Shirley, issued a circular letter l)y her direction, calling a general meeting of her connexion, as it is called, at Bristol, to censure this '* dreadful heresy,'''' which, as Shirley affirmed, " injured the very funda- mentals of Christianity."^ Haviiig exhibited this imperfect sketch of the errors, con- tradictions, absurdities, impieties, and immoralities, into which numberless Christians, most of them, no doubt, sincere in their )jlief, have fallen, by pursuing phantoms of their imagination or divine illuminations, and aaopting a supposed immediate and person-;! revelation as the rule of their faith and conduct, I would request any one of your respectable society, who may, bj' Maclaine, x'ol. iv. p. .15. p. 328. Eaton, a Puritan, in his Jfmeyenmh of JustiJUation, nays ; '< Delievers ourht not to mourn for lin, becaiive it was pardoned before it was committed." • Fletcher, vol. iv. p. 97. t Quoted by Fletcher. See alto Daubcny't Guide to the Churcn, p. B3. ♦ Apud Whitehead, p. 213. Benton's Apology, p. 208. S Fletcher** Works, vol. ii. p. 5. Whitehcail. Niffhtlngale's Portrait of Letter VII. 99 still adhere to it, to reconsider the self-evident maxim laid down in the beginning of this letter ; namely, that cannot be thtr rule of faith and conduct which is liable to lead w*, afid has led ^ very many well meaning" persons into error and impiety; I would remind him of his frequent mists; kes and illusions respecting things of a temporary nature ; then, painting to his mind the all-importance of ETERNITY, that is of happiness or misery inconceivable and everlasting, I would address him in the words of St. Augustine, " What is it you are trusting to, poor, weak soul, and blinded with the mists of the flesh : what is u you are trusting to ? J.M. ilj|»i: ;'.* i ' ■/!; !, li .;:(] :f 5:' ii.-j ■ / .■■•I :> Hi. X > I -yif.v LETTER VII. TO JAMES BROWN, Esq, ^e. OBJECTIONS ANSWERED, Dear Sib, """ ':'--■:■ .r"'- '■■•>■' -• ■ / .• ■' ' '. ^' buy A <*.-, I HAVE juBt received a letter from Friend Rankin, of Wen- lock, written much in the style of George Fox, and another from Mr. Ebenezer Topham, ot Brozcley. They both consist of objections to my last letter to you, which they had perused at New Cottage ; and the writers ot tnem both request that I would address whatever answer I might give them, to your villa. Friend Rankin is sententious) yet civil. He asks, first. Whether " Friends at this day and in past times, and even the faithful servant of Christ, George Fox, nave not condemned tlv*; vain imaginations of James Naylor, Thomas Bushel, John Pv- rot, and the sinfid doings of many others, through whom the word of life was blasphemed in their day among the ungodly ?'* He asks, secondly, "Whether numberless lollies, blnKphc' mies, and crimes, have not risen up in the Roman Catholic as well as in other churches ?'* He asks, thirdly, Whcllur the "leamed Robert Barclay in hi« glorious Apolog>-, hath not shown forth, that the testimony of the spirit is that alone bif which the true knowledge of God, hath been, is, and can be rrvtai- nd and confirmed ; and this not only by the outward tcatinwmy 30 Letter VIJ, of Scripture, but also by that of TcrtuUian, Hierom, Augustin, Gregory the Great, Bernard, yea also by Thomas a Kempis, F. Pacificus Baker,* and many others of the Popish communion, who, says Robert Barclay, have known and tasted the love of God, and felt the power and virtue of God's spirit working %vithia them for their salvation ?"f I will first consider the arguments of Friend Rankin. I grart him, then, that his founder, George Fox, does blame certain extravagancies of Naylor, Perot, and others, his followers, ai the same time that he boasts of several committed by himself by Simpson, and others.:}: But how does he confute them, and guard others against them? Why, he calls their authors ranters and charges them with running outl^ Now what kind of argu- ment is this in the mouth of G. Fox against any fanatic, how- ever furious, when he himself has taught him, that he is to listen to the spirit of God within himself, in preference to the authority of any man and of all men^ and even of the Gospel? G. Fox was not more strongly moved to believe that he was the messenger of Christy than T. Nsurlor was to believe that he himself was Christ', nor had he a nrmfer conviction that the Lord forbade hat-worship, as it is called, (fut of prayer^ than J. PerotH and his company nad that they were forbidden to use it in prayer,^ Secondly, with respect to the excesses and crimes committed by many Catholics, of diflFerent ranks, as well as bv other men, in all ages, I answer, that these have been committee!^ not in virtue of their rule of faith and conduct^ but in direct op- position to ity as will be more fully seen, when we come to treat of that rule ; whereas the extravagancies of the Quakers were the immediate dictates of the imaginary spirit which they fol- lowed as their guide. Lastly, when the doctors of the Catholic church teach us, after the inspired writers, not to extinguish^ but to walk in the spirit of God, they tell us, at the same time, * An English Benedictine Monk* author of Saneta Sophiot which ii qiiot. ed at li-nfrtli by Barclay. • ...-;.. t Apology, p. .'' 4 Speaking of James Naylor, he says, " I spake with him, for I saw he WOm nut and ivrongf he slighted what I said, nnd was dark and much out." Juurn, p. 220, I Journ. ."^lO. This and another friend, John Love, went on a mission ti Rome, to conveK the Pope to Quakerism ; but hia Holiness not understanding Kngiish, when they addressed liim with some course Knelish epithets in St. Peters church, they Imd no better succckh than a female friend, Mary Fisher, bad, who went into Greece to convert the (ireat Turk. See Scwel's Hist. 1 "Now he (Fox) found also that the Lord forbade him to put off his hat to any men either high or low ; and he required to Thou and Tnee every man and woman, without distinction, and not to bid people Good ntorrow, or Good evening,- neither might he bow, or scrape with his leg" SewcH's Iliat. a. 18. Sec there a Dissertation on llat-ivuralti^. ■j 4 -I Letter VII, 31 that this hol\- spirit invariably and necessarily leads us to hear \\\t church, and to practise that humility, obedience, and those other virtues, which she constantly inculcates : so that, if it were possible for an an^elfrom heaven to preach aiwther Gospel than -what we have recieved^ he ought to be rejected, as a spirit of darkness. Even Luther, when the Anabaptists first broached many of the leading tenets of the Quakers, required them to demonstrate their pretended commission from God, by incon- testable miracles,* or submit to be guided by his appointed mi- nisters, I have now to notice the letter of Mr. Topham.f Some of Ins objections have already been answered, in my remarks oa Mr. Rankin's letter. What I find particular, in the former, is the following passage: "Is it possible to go against conviction and facts? namely, the experience that very many serious Chris- tians feel, in this day of God''s power, that they are made par- takers of Christ and of the Holy Ghost? Of very many that hear him saying to the melting heart, with his still, small, yet penetrating and renovating voice. Thy sins are forgiven thee: be thou clean: thy faith hath made thee wholt ? If an exterior proof were wanting, to show the certainty of this interior con- viction, I might refer to the conversion and holy life of those who have experienced it." — ^To this I answer, that the facts and the conviction which your friend talks of, amount to noth- ing more than a certain strength of imagination and warmth of sentiment, which may be natural, or may be produced by that lying" spirit, whom God permits sometimes to go forth, and to persuade the presumptuous to their destruction. 1 Kings xxii. 22. I presume Mr. Topham will allow, that no experience he has felt or witnessed exceeds that of Bockhold, or Hacket, or Naylor, mentioned above, who, nevertheless, were confessedly betrayed bv it into most horrible blasphemies and attrocious crimes. The virtue most necessary for enthusiasts, because the most remote from them, is an humble diffidence in themselves. When Oliver Cromwell was on his death-bed, Dr Godwin be- ing present, among other ministers, prophesied that the Pro- tector would recover: death, however, almost immediately en- suing, the Puritan, instead of acknowledging his error, cast the blame upon Almighty God, exclaiming, "Lord, thou hast de- ceived us and we have been deceived! t With respect to the Sleidan. I It WM originally intended to insert these and the other letters of the same deRcription : but as this would hnve rendered the work too bulky, and at the whole of tlic objections may be (futhcrcd from the answers *.o tliiini| that iatCQ* tion has been abnndoned. 4 See Uirch's Life of Archbitthup Tillotsr'n. \> IT. ' 0* / • 52 Letter VIIL alleged purity of Antinomian saints, I would refer to the hh- tory of the lives and deaths of many of our English regicides, and to the gross immoralities of numlKjrless Justified M.:thO' distSy dfsc»-ibed by Fletcher, in his Checks to Antinomianism,* I am, &c. J. M. LETTER VIII. J' '5 i 4.. ■"■: , To JAMES BROWN, Etq, SECOND FALLACIOUS RULE, j DearSir, ■/ , ;' 1;;/' r ■'".'.'/ .''^^ '"'.'■ /''^ I TAKE it for granted, that my answers to Messrs, Ran- kin and Topham have been communicated to you, and I hope that they, in conjunction with my preceding letters, have con- vinced those gentlemen, of what you, dear sir, have all along, heen convinced, namely, of the inconsistency and fanaticism of every pretension on the part of individuals, now-a-days, to a new and particular inspiration, as a rule of faith. The ques- tion whicn remains for our inquiry is, whether the rule or me- thod prescribed by the church of England and other more rational classes of Protestants, or that prescribed by the Catho- lic church, is the one designed by our Saviour Christ for find- ing out his true religion. You say that the whole of this is comprised in the written word of God, or the Bible^ and that evrrif individual is a judge for himself of the sense of the Bible, Hence, in every religious controversy, more especially since the last change of the inconstant Chillingworth,f Catholics have * Thia candid and able writer says, ** Hie Puritans and first Quakers soon gnt over the edge of internal activity into the smooth and easy path of Landi- cran formality. Most of us, called Methodists, have already followed tliem. %Ve fall asleep under the bewitching power ; we dream strange dreams ; our 8»l\ ation is finished ; W3 have got above le^fnlity; we have attained Christian li- berty; wc have nothing to do \ our covenunt is sure." Vol. ii. p. 233. He re fert to several instances of the most flagitious conduct which human nature ik capable of, in persons who had attained to what they call f.niahed aalvatifm. I Chillingworth was first a Pmtestant, of the establishment: he wcxX be- , < • rntJiolic, and studied in one of our seminaries. He then retunied, in '^ • *, to nis former creed : and lost of all, he gave into SocirMiniani, which Itij '^) lings giTatly promoted. letter Vm, Sd oeen stunned vrith the cues of jarring Protestant sects and in- dividuals, proclaiming that, the Bible^ the Bible alone in their re- Ugion: and hence, more particularly at the present day, Biblea are distributed by hundreds of thousands, throughout the em- pire and the four quarters of the globe, as the adequate means appointed by Christ, of uniting and reforming Christians and of converting Infidels. On the other hand, we Catholics hold that the Word of God in general both written and unwritten^ in other words, the Bible and tradition., taken together., constitute the rnlt of faith or method for finding out the true religion: and that^ be- sides the rule itself he has provided in his holy church.^ a livings speaking judge to watch over it and explain it in all matters of controversy. That the latter, and not the former, is the true rule^ I trust I shall be able to prove as clearly as I have proved that private inspiration docs not constitute it : and this I shall prove by means of the two maxims I have, on that occasion, made use of; namely, the rule offaith^ appointed by Christ must be CERTAIN and UNERRING, that is to say, it must be one which is not liable to lead any rational and sincere inquirer into inconsistency or error: secondly, this rule must be UNIVER- S AIj i that is to say, it must be proportioned to the abilities and circumstances of the great bulk of mankind, I, If Christ nad intended that all mankind should learn his religion from a book., namely, The New Testament., he himself would have written that book, and would have laid it down, as the first and fundamental precept oi his religion, the obligation of learning to read it ; whereas, he never wrote any thing at all, unless perhaps the sins of the Pharisees with his finger upon the dust, John viii. 6.* It does not even appear that he gave his apostles any command to write the Gospels ; though he re- peatedly and emphatically commanded them to preach it, (^Matt, X,) and that to all the nations of the earth. Matt, xxviii. 19. — In this ministry they all of tliem spent their lives, preaching the religion of Christ in every country, from Judea to Spain, in one direction, and to India in another; every where establishing churches, and commending their doctrine to faithful men who should befit to teach others also, 2. Tim. ii. 2. Only a part ot tliein wrote any thing, and what these did write was, for the most part, addressed to particular persons or congregations, and on particular occasions. The ancient fathers tell us that St. Matthew wrote his Gospel at the particular request of the Christians of Palestine,! and that St. Mark composed his at the • It is agreed upon amonff the learned, that the supposed letter of Christ to Abg^orus, Kiii^ of F/(lt.9sa, quoted by Eusebius, Hist. Kcd. '.1. is spurious. t F.useb. 1. 3. UJHt. F'ccl. Chrysos. in Mat. Horn. 1. Ircn. . 3* c. 1. Ilieron. deVir lUuit. V. 34 Letter riri. desire of those at Rome.* St. l.uke addressed his (lospel to an indlvidual,Theophilus, having written it, says the holy cvvin- frt::\Ut^htcA\iscit seemed g-GOti to him to dd so. Luke i. 3. St. John wrote the hist of the Gospels in compliance with the petition of the clergy and people of Lesser Asia,f to prove, in particular, th* divinity of Jesus Christ, which Cerinthus, Kblon, and other heretics began then to deny. >5o doubt the evangelists wtrij moved by the Holy Ghost to listen to the requ'sts of the faith- ful in writing their respective Gospels ; nevertheless, there is nothing in th:;se occabions, nor in the Gospels ihems^ Ives, whi h indicates that any one of them, or all of them together, contiiin r.n entire, detailed, and clear exposition of the whole religion of Jesus Christ. The canonical Epistles in the New Testament, show the particular occasions on which they were written, and prove, as the bishop of Lincoln observes, that "they are not to be considered as regular treatises on the Christian Religion."^ s IL In supposing our Saviour to have appointed his bare writ- ten word for the rule of our faith, without any authorized judge to decide on the unavoidable controversies grow.ng out of it, you would suppose that he has acted differently from what com- mon sense has dictated to all other legislators. For where do we read of a legislator, who, after dictating a code of laws, ne- glected to appomt judges and magistrates to decide their meaii- mg, and to enforce obedience to such decisions? You, dear sir, have the means of knowing what would be the consequence of lea\'ing any act of parliament, concerning taxes, or inclosures, or any other temporal concerns, to the interpretation of the in- dividuals whom It regards. Alluding to the Protestant rule, the illustrious Fenelon has said, " It is better to live without any law, than to have laws which all men are left to interpret according to their several opinions and interests."^ The bi- shop of London appears sensible of this truth, as far as regards temporal affairs, where he writes, "In matters of property in- deed, some decision, right or wrong, must be made: society could not subsist without it:"|| just as if peace and unity were less necessary in the one sheepfold of the one shepherd^ the church of Christ, than they are in civil society! III. The f:ict is, this method of determining religious ques lions by Scripture only, according to eacn individuaPs interpre- tation, whenever and wherever it has beenadopted, has always |)roduced endless and incurable dissentions, and of course er- rors ; because truth is one, while errora are numberless. The c. 15. Hist. Eccl. Epipli. Ilicron. de Vir. Illust. ;»■• • Euscb. 1 fEuseb. I, 6. Hist. Eccl. Ilicron. \ Klein, of Cbrist. Kcl. vol. i. p. 277. S LiU; of Arclil)p. Fenelon, l)y Ramsey, B Brief Confut. p. 18 I ancient : and schi says St. who hav Another fhangini that thei To sp their pre vate jud authorit; jples, pr< [plain te?c land that jZulngliu this follo' |othef, w to gk>un alone. ] ^ain did Ithreaten iible in Ifolloweri lutual • St. Ai n'his h rope. Ti S He wa Zuingi iegan it ir pagan, anc IHe wa alityof/ hjtiotljig^ tli Muneer v |o him; an llii« requii ••«e«i levil ihall )assag^e8 o tand Uim 74. tt'Mfj ecant wii; )per. torn n See t >f rtal p\ Letter Fill 55 ancient fathers of the church reproached the sects of heretics and schismatics with their endless internal divisions; "See," [says St. Augustine, "into how many morsels those are divided, who have divided themselves from the unity of the church!"* Another father writes, " It is natunil for error to be ever ! fhanging.f The disciples have the same right in this mattei [that their masters had." To speak now of the Protestant reformers. No sooner had their progenitor, Martin Luther, set up the tribunal of his pri- Ivate judgment on the sense of Scripture, in opposition to the authority of the church, ancient and modern,:|: than his disci- pies, proceeding on his principle, undertook to prove, from [plain texts of the Bible, that his own doctrine was erroneous, land that the Reformation itself wanted reforming. Carlostad,^ IZuinglius,! Oficolompadius, Muncer,*|| and a hundred more of Ihis followers wrote and preached against him and against each jother, with the utmost virulence, still each of them professing to gbound his doctrine and conduct on the written word of God ilone. In vain did Luther claim a superiority over them ; in vain did he denounce hell-fire against them ;** in vain did he threaten to return back to the Catholic religion :tt he had put the Bible into each man^s hand to explain it for himself: this his followers continued to do in open defiance of him ^t till their lutual contradictions and discords became so nuirerous ar»fl /^ •St. Aug. f Tertul. de Prwucrip. n'his happened in June, 1520, on his doctrine bein^ censured by the 'ope. Till this time, he had submitted it to the judgement of the Holy See, i He was Luther's first disciple of distinction, being archdeacon of Wit- ^emberg^ He declared against Luther in 1521. Zuin^ius beg^n the reformation in Switzerland, sometime after Lutlter |)e{i^n it in Germany; but taught such doctrine, tliat the latter termed him « pagan, and said, he despaired of his salvation. ^ . « ^ He »'as the disciple of Luther, and founder of the Anabaptists, who, in huality of the just, maintained that the property of the wicked belonged (o them, itioting the second beatitudr : bleated are tJie meek fur they ahall possess the land. Miineer wrote to the several princes of Germany, to give up their possessions lo him; and, at the head of forty thousand of his followers, marched to enforce .his requisition. ' He says to them, " I can defend you against the Pope — ^but when the |evH ihaU vu"ge against you (the heads of these changes) at your death, these Kissages of Scripture, t/uy ran and I did not send t/tem, how shall you with, tand him \ He will plunge you headlong into hell."— Opcr. tom. vii. ful. ft •* If you continue in these measures of your common deliberations, T will ecant whatever I have written or said, and leave you. Mind wli.it I sav."— iper. tom. vii, fol. 276. edit. Wittemb. U See the curious challenge of Luther to Carlostad to write a book agninst |ie real presence, wlien one wishes the other to fireak his neck, and the other *U. »utjf Isu thee broken on tJu wluti, — Variot. b. U- 1' ^ • s« Letter VJIL i ss; and I scandalous, as to overwhelm the thinking part of them with grief and confusion.'ll' To point out some few of the particular variations alluded to ; for to enumerate them all, would require a work vastly more voluminous than that of Bossuet on this subject: it is well' known that Luther's fundamental principle was that of imputed Justice^ to the . exclusion of all acts of virtue and good works whatsoever. His favourite disciple and bottle-compamon, Ams- dorf, carried this principle so far as to maintain that good work are a hinderance to salvation,] In vindication of his fundamen tal tenet, Luther vaunts as follows : This article shall remain, I in spite of all the world: it is I, Martin Luther, evangelist,' who say it: let no one therefore attempt to infringe it, neither! I the emperor of the Romans, nor of the Turks, nor of the Tar. ; lars ; neither the Pope, nor the monks, nor the nuns, nor th« j kings, nor the princes, nor all the devils in hell. If they attempt | it, may the infernal flames be their recompense. What I say here is to be taken for an inspiration of the Holy Ghost."|-. Notwithstanding, however, these terrible threats and impreca- tions of their master, Melancthon, with the rest of the Luther ans, immediately after his death, abandoned this article, went over to the opposite extreme of Semipelagianism ; name ly, they not only admitted the necessity of good works, but they| also taught that these are prior to God's grace. Still on this single subject, Osiander, a Lutheran, says, " there are twenty! several opinions, all drawn from the Scripture ^ and held by dil- ferent members of the Augsburg, or Lutheran Confession."^ Nor has the unbounded license of explaining Scripture, each one in his own way, which Protestants claim, been con. fined to mere errors and dissensions ; it has also caused mu- tual persecution and bloodshed ;|| it has produced tumults, re - • Capito, minister of Strasburg', writing to Farel, pastor of Geneva, tliiu complains to him: *< God has given me to understand the mischief we h»ve done, by our precipitancy in breaking witli tlie pope, &c. The people say to us, I know enough of the Gospel: I can read it for myself, I have no need of you." Inter Epist. Calvini. In the same tone, Dudith writes to his friend Bcza, •• Our people are carried away with every wind of doctrine. If you know what their reU^ion is to-day, you cannot tell what it will be to-morrow. In what single pomt are those churches which have declared war against the pope agreed among themselves ? There is not one point which is not held by some! of them as an article of fuith, and by others as an impiety." In the some seii' timent. Calvin, writing to Melancthon, says, " It is of great importance thil the divisiuns, which subsist amongf us, should not be known to future ages; for nothing can be more ridiculous than that we, who have broken off from the ^thole world, should have agreed so ill among ourselves, from the very begin* iiing of the lleformation." f Musheim Hist, by Maclaine, vol. iv, p. 328. ed. 1790. \ Visit. Sa^on. i i Archdeacon Blackburn's Confessional, p. 16. II See Letters to a Prebendary, chapter, Pergecution. >umberle»« other prooij cf Protestants persecuting, not only Catholics, but also their fellow Protestanti, U death, uii urcouiit of their religious opinions, can be acMuceiU reason a poin taught these {•mines was m or aca Dessa the ih possib and to cate tc •Dr. fHis letter VllL % n with grief] alluded to ; vastly more it IS well; t of imputed good works anioQ, Ams- t good work is fundamcn ihall remain evangelist, je it, neither 1 of the Tar. 1 nuns, nor the they attempt f What I Bav; Ghost."!- md impreca- 1 "the Luther4 J article, and nism ; name irks, but they Still on this Yi are twenty Iheld by dit onfession."^ ng Scripture, m, been con- 5 caused mii- 1 tumults, re- of GenevB, tlmi lischief we have The people say I have 110 need rites to his frieii Ine, If you know ; to-morrow. In r against the pope not held by some In the same sen. t importance thitr I to future agesi! ■oken off from the n the very begiiv \ Visit. Sason. jerle»« other proolif| low Protestanti, ti bellions, and anarchy, beyond recounting. Dr. Hey assei ts, that " The misinterpretation of Scripture brought on the mise- ries of the civil war ;"* and lord Clarendor Madox, and other writers, show that there was not a crime committed by the Puritan rebels, in the course of it, which they did not profess to justify by texts and instances drawn from the sacred volumes.f Iceland, Bergier, Baruel, Robison, and Kett, abundantly provn that the poisonous plant of Infidelity, which has produced such dreadful effects of late years on the continent, was transplanted thither from this Protestant island ; and that it was produced, aourished, and increased to its enormous growth by that prin- ciple of private judgment in matters of religion, which is the very foundation of the Reformation. Let us hear the two last mentioned authors, both of them Protestant clergymen, on this important subject. " The spirit of free inquiry," says Kelt, (juoting Robinson, " was the great boast of the Protestants, and their only support against the Catholics ; securing them, both m their civil and religious rights. It was, therefore, encou- raged by their governments, and sometimes indulged to excess. In the progress of this contest, their own Confessions did not escape censure ; and it was asserted, that the Reformation, whicl* these confessions express, was not complete. Further reforma- tion was proposed. The Scriptures, the foundation of their faith, were examined by Clergymen of very different capacities, dispo- sitions, and views, till, by explaining, correcting, allegorizing, and otherwise twisting the Bible, men's minds had hardly any thing to rest on, as a doctrine of revealed religion. This en- couraged others to go further, and to say that revelation was a solecism, as plainly appears by the irreconcilable differences among the cnlighteners of the public, as they were called ; and that man had nothing to trust to, biit the dictates of natural reason. Another set of writers, proceeding from this, as from a point settled, proscribed all religion whatever, and openly taught the doctrines of Materialism and Atheism. Most of these innovations were the work of Protestant divine!}^ from the causes that I have mentioned. But the progress of fpfidelity was much accelerated by the establishment of a Philar^thrctpine^ or academy of general education in, the principality of Anhalt- Dessau. The professed object of this institution was to unite the three Christian commimions of Germany, and to make it possible for the members of them all not only to live amicably, and to worship God in the same church, but even to communi- cate together. This attempt gave rise to much speculation and • Dr. Key's Theological Lectures, vol. i. p. 77. t Hist, of Civ. War. Examin. of Neal's Hist, of Pari' ■^i-; 53 Utter fill. refinement ; and the proposal for the amendment of the formu- las, and the instructions from the pulpit, were prosecuted with 8o much keenness, that the ground-work of Christianity was refined and refined, till it vanished altogether, leaving Deism, ur natural, or, as it was called, pliilosjphical religion^ in it» place. The Lutherans and Cahinists^ prepared by the causes before mentioned^ to become dupes to this masterpiece of art, were enticed by the specious liberality of the scheme, and the particular attention which it promised to the morals of youth : but not one Roman Catholic could Basedow allure to his semi- nari/ of practical ethicsJ*^* IV. You have seen, dear sir, to what endless errors and im- f)ieties, the principle of private interpretation of Scripture, no CSS than that of private inspiration of faith, has Conducted men, and, of course, is ever liable to conduct them ; which circum- stance, therefore, proves, that it cannot be the rule for bringing us to religious truths, according to the self-evident maxim stated above. Nor is it to be imagined^ that, previously to the formation of the different national churches, and other religious associations, which took place in several parts of Europe, at what is called " The Reformation," the Scriptures were dili- gently consulted by the founders of them, and that the ancient system of religion was exploded, and the new systems adopted, conformably with their apparent sense, as Protestant contro- vertists would have you believe. No, sir, princes and states- men had a great deal more to do vrith these changes, than theo- logians ; and most of the parties concerned in them were evi- dently pushed on by very different motives from those of reli- gion. As to Martm Luther, he testifies, and calls God to wit- ness the truth of -his testiniony, that it was not willingly^ (that is, not from a previous discovery of the falsehood of his reli- gion) but from accident^ (namely, a quarrel with the Domini- can friars, and afterwards Ifith the Pope) that he fell into his broils about religion, j With respect to the Reformation in • Robison's Proofs of a Conspiracy against all Religions, 8cc. Kelt's History the Interpreter of prpphccy. Vol. ii. p. 158. f Casu non voluntate iii has turmas incidi : Deumtestor.*' — The Protestant historian, Mosheim, with whom Hume agrees, admits that several of the prin- cipal agents jn .this revolution •« were actuated more by the impulse of passions and views of interests than by a zeal for true religion." Maclaine, vol. iv. p. 135. He had before acknowledged that king Gustavus introduced Lutheran- ism into Sweden, in opposition to the clergy and bishops, ••not only as agreea- ble to the genius and spirit of the Gospel, but also as favourable to thetempo- r:U irtare and political constitution of the Swedish dominions," pp. 79, 80. He adds, that Christicrn, who introduced the reformation into Denmark, was ani- mated by no other motive than those of ambition and avarice, p. 82. Groti- us, another Protestant, testifies that it was •• sedition and violence which gave birtli to Uio Ueformation In his country," Holland, Append, de Antichmto. our OWl first st( lous ag Pope L himself der oft his que I Popen * caused and dec Thus h( every k evident word change Somers( and stati for his o formati( lie supj profliga( own anc I ishops, ccses du made a g by his o^ ployed c a new 1 The Bame cd, that ill hand, bee titnts to na tors of it, • Archb offered to ChrisU leg Antiq. Bri ual jurisdi «^ ho was j Religion d t " Lic( Burnet Hi tSecth iiament m 8ic. Se in Heylin, old, was t <>ur subjcc discern wl is fit to be LeUer VIII, SO he formir- luted with ianity was ig Deism, Ion, in its the causes Ece of art, e, and the of youth: his semi- r» and im- ripture, no uctedmen, ch circum- or bringing ent maxim )usly to the tr religious Europe, at were dili- the ancient AS adopted, mt contro- and states- , than theo- 1 were evi- ose of reli- 3od to wit- nffly, (that if his reli- le Domini- ell into his irmation in tett*9 History he Protestant al of the prin- Ise of passions ne, Tol. iv. p. ced Lutheran- inly as agreea- to the tempo- 79,80. He iavk, was ani- 82. Ciroti- ;e \¥hich pave Amtichruito. our own country, we all know that Henry VIIL, who took the first step towards it, was, at the beginning of his reign, so zea- lous against it that he wrote a book, which he dedicated to Pope Leo X. In opposition to it, and in return, obtained for himself and his successors, from this poiltiff, the title of Defen- der of the Faith, Becoming afterwards enamoured of one of his queen's maids of honour, Ann Bullen, and the reigning Pope refusing to sanction an adulterous marriage with her, he caused a statute to be passed, abrogating the Pope's supremacy, and declaring himself supreme head of the church of JEng-iand,* Thus he plunged the nation into schism, and opened a way for every kind of heresy and impiety. In short, nothing is more evident than that the king's inordinate passion, and not the word of God, was the rule followed in this first important change of our national religion. The unprincipled duke of Somerset, who next succeeded to supreme power in the church and state, under the shadow of his youthful nephew, Edward VI. for his own ambitious and avaricious purposes, pushed on the Re- formation, so called, much further than it had yet been carried, lie suppressed the remaining colleges and hospitals, which the profligacy of Henry had spared, converting their revenues to his own and his sssociates' uses. He forced Cranmer and the other 1 ishops, to take out fresh commissions for governing their dio- ceses during his nephew's, that is, his own good pleasure.^ He made a great number of important changes in the public worship by his own authority, or that of his visitors ^ and when he em- ployed certain bishops ard divines in forming fresh articles and a new liturgj', he punished them with imprisonment if they The same was the case in France, Geneva, and Scotland. It is to be obserr- ed, tliat in all these countries the reformers, ait soon as they got the upper hand, became violent persecutors of the Catholics. Berger defies Protes- tants to name so much as a town or village in which, when they became mas- ters of it, they tolerated a single Catholic. * Archbiahop Parker records, that the bishops assembled in Synod in 1531, offered to sign this new title, with the following salvo, •* In quantum per Christi leges licet :** but that the king would admit of no such modification. Antiq. Brit. p. 325. In the end, they surrendered the whole of their spirit- ual jurisdiction to him (all except the religious bishop of Rochester, Fisher, \\ ho was put to death for his refusal) ard were content to publish Artieka of Religion devined by the King's HighnefS. Heylin Hist, of Reform. Collier, &c. I " Licentiam concedimus ad nostrum beneplacitum dumtaxat duratuiam." , Burnet Hist. Ref. Rec. P. H. B. i. N. 2. ^ i Sec the Injunctions of the Council to Preachers, published before the par- liament met, concerning the mass in the Latin langu.nge, prayers for the dead, 8ic. See also the order sent to the ])rimate against palms, ashes, &c. in Heylin, Burnet, and Collier. The boy Edward VI. just thirteen years old, was taught by his uncle to proclaim as follows : •« We would not have nur subjects so much to mistake our judgment, &c, as though wc could not discern what is to be done, &c. God be praised, we know what, by hisword, is fit to be redressed," Collier, vol. ii, p. 246. 7 40 Letter VJII, ■were not obsequious to his orders*. He even took on himsei» to alter their work, when sanctioned by parliament, in compli- nicnt to the church's greatest enemy, Calvin.f Afterwards, when Elizabeth came to the throne, a new reformation, differ- ent in its articles and liturgy, from that of Edward VI., was set on foot, and moulded, not according to Scripture, but to her orders. She deposed all the bishops except one, " the ca- lamity of his see^'' as he was called i\ and she required the new ones, whom she appointed, to renounce certain exercises, which they declared to be agreeable to the Word of God,§ but which she found not to agree with her system of politics. She even in full parliament, threatened to depose them all, if they did not act conformably to her views.| V. The more strictly the subject is examined, the more clearly it will appear, that it was not in consequence of any investigation of the Scriptures, eit'ier public or private, that the ancient Catholic religion was abolished, and one or other oi the new Protestant religions set up, in the different northcti kingdoms and states of Europe, but in consequenc of the poli- tics of princes and statesmen, the avarice of the nobility an;l gentry, and the irreligion and licentiousness of the people. I will even advance a step further, and affirm that there is no ap- ])earance of any indiviaaal Protestant, to whatever sect he be- longs, having formed his creed by the rule of Sa-tptitre alone. For do you, sir, really believe that those persons of your com- munion, whom you see the most diligent and devout in turning over their Bibles, have really found out in them the Thirty- nine Articles, or any other creed which they happen to profess? To judge more certainly of this matter, I wish those gentlemen who are the most zealous and active in distributing Bibles among the Indians, and Africans, in their different countries, would procure, from some half dozen of the most intelligent and serious of their proselytes, who have heard nothing of the Christian faith by any othtr means than their Bibles, a summa- ry of what they respectively understand to be the doctrine and the morality taught in that sacred volume. What inconsistent and * The bishops Heath and Gardiner were both imprisoned for non-compli. ance. f Heyhn com'plaips bitterly of Calvin's pragmatical spirit, in quarrelling' with the English litu!*gy, and soliciting the protector to alter it. Preface to Hist, of Reform. His letters to Somerset on the subject may be seen in Fox's Ada and Monvm. ♦ Anthony Kitch n, so called by Godwin, De Prxsul, and Camden. % This took place with respect to what was termed prophesying, then prac- tised by many Protestants, and defended by arclibishop Grindal and the other bishops, as agreeably to God's word : nevertheless, the queen obliged theua to suppress it. Col. Eccl. Hist. P. U. p. 554, 8cc. I Sac her curious speech in parliament, March 25, 1585* in Stow's Annals.. Letter VIII. m on himseu in compli- Vfterwards, tion, differ- •d VI., was ure, but to le, " the ca- ved the new cises, which I but which . She even if they did I, the more ;nce of any )rivate, that e or other ot nt northcti of the poli- lobility and people. I ere is no ap- sect he be- pture alone. your corn- t in turning the Thirtv- 1 to profess ? e gentlemen iting Bibles countries, intelligent thing of the :s,asumma- loctrine and nsistent and or non-compli- uarrelling- with 'reface to Hist, n in Fox's Acta mden. ing, then prac- 1 and the other obliged theiQ Stowr's Annals . nonsensical symbols should we not witness ! The truth is, Pro- testants are tutored from their infancy, by the help of cate- chisms and creeds, in the systems of their respective sects ;they are giVided by their parents and masters, and are influenced bv the opinions and example of those with whom they live and converse, some particular texts of scripture are strongly im- pressed upon their minds, and others of an apparent different meaning, are kept out of their view, or glossed over; and above all, it is constantly inculcated to them, that their religion is built upon Scripture alone ; hence, when they actually read the Scrip- ,tures, they fancy they see there what they have been otherwise ^taught to believe ; the Lutheran for example, that Christ is re • ally present in the sacniment ; the Calvinist, that he is as fur i distant from "it as heaven is from earth;" the churchman, that baptism is necessary for infants; the Baptist, that it is im- piety to confer it upon them ; and so of all the other forty sects of Protestants, enumerated by Evans, in his Sketch of the dif- ferent Denominations of Christiana^ and of twice forty other sects, whom he omits to mention. When I remarked that our blessed Master Jesus Christ wrote no part of the New Testament himself, and gave no or- ders to his apostles to write it, I ought to have added that, if he had intended it, together with the Old Testament^ to be the sole rule of religion, he would have provided means for their being able to follow it ; knowing, as he certainly did, that nine- ty-nine in every hundred, or rath- r nine hundred and ninety- nine in every thousand, in different ages and countries ^ would not be able to read at all, an(i mu< h less to comprehend a page of the sacred writings : yet no such means were provided by him : nor has he so much as enjoined it to his followers in ge» ntral to study letters. Another observation on this subject, and a very obvious one is, that among those Christians, who profess that the Bible alone is the rule of their religion, there ought to be no article-^ nc» catechisms, no sermons, nor other instructions. True jt is, that the abolition of these, however incompatible they are with the rule itself, would quickly undermine the established church, as its clergy now begin to understand, and, if universally carried into effect, would in the end, efface the whole doctrine and morality of the Gospel:* but this consequence only shows more clearly the falsehood of that exclusive rule. In fact, the // t-?(l ■•■!«( 'r\ • The Protestant writers, Kett and Robinson, have shown, in the passage* shove quoted, how tlie principle of private judgment tends to undermine tliristianity at large ; and archdeacon Hook, in his late Charge, shows, by an F 41i Letter VIII most enlightened Protestants find themselves here in a dilemma. and are obliged to say and unsay, to the amusement d' some persons, and the pity of others.* They cannot ahandon the rule of the Bible alojie, as explained by each one for hi in sell., without proclaiming their guilt in refusing to hear the Catholic church ; and they cannot adhere to it, without opening the flood- gates to all the impiety and immorality of the age ujion their own communion. — I shall have occasion hereafter to notice thc claims of the established church to authority, in determinin}?; the sense of Scripture, as well as in other religious controver- sies : in the mean time, I cannot but observe that her most able defenders are frequently obliged to abandon their own, and adopt the Catholic rule of faith. The judicious Hooker, in his defence of the church of England, writes thus, ^^ Of this we arc right sure, that nature, Scripture, and experience itself, ha\-e taught the world to seek for the ending of contentions, by sub- mitting to some ju(Ucial and definite sentence, whereunto nei ther party that contendeth may, under any pretence or colour, refuse to stand. This must needs be effectual and strong. As for other means, without this, they seldom prevail."f Ano- ther most clear-headed writer, and renowned defender of the establishment, whom I had the happiness of being acquainted with. Dr. Balguy4 thus expresses nimself, in a Charge to the clergy of hid archdeaconry: **The opinions of the people are and must be foimded more on authority than reason. Their parents, their teachers, their governors, in a great measure, de- termine for them, what they are to believe and what to prac- tise. The same doctrines uniformly taught, the same rites con- stantly performed, make such an impression on their minds, that diey hesitate as little in admittmg the articles of their exact statement of capltml convictions in diflerent years, tlmt the increase of immorality has kept pace with that of the Bible societies. * One of the latest instances of the distress in question was exhibited by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Marsh. In hit publication, Tfie Inquiry, p. 4, he suid, very truly, that "the poor (who constitute tlie bullc of mankind) cannot without assistance understand the Scriptures." Heinj;^ congmtulated on this impor- tant, yet unavoidable concession, by the Key. Mr. Gandolphy, he tacks about, in a public letter to tliat gentleman, and says, that what he wrote, in his In fuiry, concerninic the necessity of a further rule titnn mere Scripture only, regards the e«/ao/aAmefM( of religion, not tlie truth o(\t: just as if that rule were sufficient to conduct the people to tlic truth of religiun, while he ex- prcssly says they cannot underatand it. f Hooker's Eccles. Pohtic. Pref. art. 6. i Discourses on various Subjects, by T. Ralguy, D. D. archdeacon and prebendary of Winchester. Some of these discourses were prcuched at tlic consecration of bishops, and publislicd by order of the archbishop ; ««)me in Charges to the Cle**gy. The wiiolc of them are dedicated to the king, whom \ the writer thanks for naming him to a higli dignity (thu bishopric of (douce •Icr), and for permitting him to decline accepting of it. L5 Letter VIII. 43 » dilemmn. nt <:! some )an«l stant I have t means have | dich are the i' n ; or indeed ^ annot disco- t le Scripture, f ingworth ;il- f that the Old irts, and the [ evangelists. [, hat they «/- ■ er the influ- ie men: how In the next Testament, the Gospels hentic work in Scripture ct. an apostle^* and declared to he full of the Holy Ghoat^] I speak of St Bamaby. Lastly, you have no sufficient authority for asserting that the sacred volumes are the genuine compositiou of the holy personages whose names they bear, except the tra- dition and living voice of the Catholic church, since numerous apochryphal prophecies and spurious gospels and epistles, under the same or equally venerable names, were circulated in the rhurch, during its early ages, and accredited by different learn- ed writers and holy fathers : while some of the really canonical books were rejected or doubted of by them. In short, it was not until the end of the fourth century, that the genuine canon of Holy Scripture was fixed: and then it was fixed by the tra- aitioii and authority of the churchy declared in the Third Coun- cil of Carthage and a Decretal of P. Innocent I. Indeed, it is so clear that the canon of Scripture is built on the tradition of the church, that most learned Protestants,:|: with Luther him- self, have§ been forced to acknowledge it, in terms almost as strong as those in the well known declaration of St Augustine.J II. Again, sup ^osing the divine authority of the Sacred Books themselves to b. blished ; how do you know that the copies of them transla ..td printed in your Bible are authentic ? It is agreed upon amongst the learned, that the original text of Moses and the ancient prophets was destroyed, with the tem- ple and city of Jerusalem by the Assyrians under Nebuchad- nezzar ;5| and, the ^h they were replaced by authentic copies, at the end of the Babylonish captivity, through the pious care of the prophet Esdras or Ezra, yet that these also perished in the subsequent persecution of Antiochus ;** from which time we have no evidence of the authenticity of the Old Testament till this was supplied by Christ and his apostles, who transmitted it to the church. In like manner, granting, for example, that St. Paul wrote an inspired Epistle to the Romans, and another to the Ephesians; yet as the former was intrusted to an indi- vidual, the deaconess Phebe, to be conveyed by her to its des- tination,! f and the latter to his disciple Tycliicus,:j;|: for the same purpose, it is impossible for you to entertain a rational conviction that these Epistles as they stand in your Testament, • Acts xiv. 24. t Acts \\. 24. ♦ Hooker, Eccl. Polit. C. iii. S. 8 Dr. Lardner, in Bishop Yatson's Col. vol. ii. p. 20. ^ h ** We are obliged to yield many things to the Papists — tliat with them is the word of God, which we received fVom them ; otherwise we should have known nothing at all about it." Comment, on John c. 16. I " I should not believe the (iospel itself, if the authority of the Catholic ciiurch did not oblige me to do so." Contra Kpist. Fundam. 1 Ilrett's Dissert, in bishop Watson's Collect, vol. iii. p. 5 •• Ibid. ^^ If Kom. xvi. Sec Calmct, 84c. ♦t Kpl les. vi. 21 • 4G f.etttr IX, are exactly in the state in which thev issued from the apostle's pen or that they are his genuine Episties at all, without recur- ring to the tradition and authority of the Catholic church con- cerning them. To make short of this matter, I will not lead you into the ' ibyrinth of Biblical criticism, nor will I show you the endless aneties of readings with respect to words and whole passages, which occur in different copies of the Sacred Text, b\it will here content myself with referring you to your own Bible Book, as printed by authority. Look then at psahn xiv, as it occurs in the Book of Common Prayer, to which your clergy swear their *^ consent and assent ;" then look at the same psalm in your Bible : you will find four whole verses in the former, which 'are left out of tl.^ latter! What will you here: say, dear sir? You must say that your church has added to, or else that she has taken ctway from^ the words of this prophecy!^ III. But your pains and perplexities concerning your rule of faith must not stop even at this point : for though you had de- monstrative evidence, that the several books in your Bible are canonical and authentic, in the originals, it would still remain for you to inquire whether or no they are faithfullij transhited in your English copy. In fact, you are aware that they were written, some of them in Hebrew and some of them in Greek, out of which languages they were translated, for the last time, by about fifty different men, of various capacities, learning, judgment, opinions, and prejudices.! In this inquir}% the Ca- tholic church herself can afltord you no security to build your faith upon ; much less can any private individuals whosoever. The celebrated Protestant divine, Episcopius, was so convinced of the fallibility of modem translations, that he wanted all sorts of persons, labourers, sailors, women, &c. to learn Hebrew an;l Greek. Indeed, it is obvious that the sense of the text may depend upon the choice of a single word in the translation : nay, it sometimes depends upon the mere punctuation of a sentence, «8 may be seen below. J Can you then, consistently, reject the 1*1 • Tlie verses in question beinr quoted by St. Paul, Rom. iii. 13, &c. there 18 no doubt but the common Bible w defective in this passage.— On the otlur hand, the bishop of Lincoln has published his conviction that the most im- portant passage in the New Testament, 1 John v. 7, for establishing the divinity of Jesus Christ, "is spurious." Elem. of Theo. vol. ii. p, 90 t See a list of them in Ant. Johnson's Hist. Account. Theo. Collect, p. 9S\ X One of the strongest passages for the divinity of Christ is the following, •s it is pointed in the Vulgate : Ex quibua est Chrittus, seamdem camem, ^/i est *»per omnia Deu$ benedictua in aaeeula. Rom. ix. 5. But see how Grotiua and Socinus deprive the text of all its strength, by merely substituting a point for a comma : Ex quibua eat Chrittui, Kcundcm camem. (^i eU iruper 0mnia JJeui benedidiu in awcula. •♦rU^" Letter IX, 4r ; apostle's out recur- lurch con- 11 not lead show you mrds and he Sacred )u to your \ at psalm to which ook at the rses in ihc , vou hery Ided to, or rophecij /* )ur rule of 3U had de- : Bible are ill remain translated they were in Greek, last time, , learning, y the Ca- )uild your whosoever, convinced ed all sorts ebrew and ; text may ation : nay, a sentence, , reject the 3, 8ic. there On tlie other tlie most im. iblishing the ii. p. 90 ». Collect, p. le following-, > eamemj (fui how Grotuis ubstitutinff » Qm at Kupcr ^ authority of the great universal church, and yet build upon that of some obscure translator in the reign of James I. ? No, sir ; you must yourself have compared your English Bible with the originals, and have proved it to be a faithful version, before you can build your faith upon it as upon the Word of God. To say one word now of the Bibles themselves, which have been published by authority, or generally used by Protestants, in this country. Those of Tindal, Coverdale, and queen Eliza- beth's bishops, were so notoriously corrupt, as to cause a general outcry against them, among learned Protestants, as well as among Catholics, in which the king (James I.) joined himself,* who accordingly ordered a new version of it to be made, being the same that is now in use, with some few alterations made after the restoration,} Now, though these new transla- tors have corrected many wilful errors of their predecessors, most of which were levelled at Catholic doctrines and disci- pline,:^ yet they have left a sufficient number of these behind, for which I do not find that their advocates offer any excuse.^ IV, I will make a further supposition, namely, that you had the certainty even of revelation, as the Calvinists used to pre- tend they had, that your Bible is not only canonical^ authentic^ sndfaithfuly in its English garb ; yet what would all this avail you, towards establishmg your rule of faith, unless you could be equally certain ol your understanding' the whole of it rightly ? For, as the learned Protestant bishop Walton says,| " The Word of God does not consist in mere letters, whether written or printed, but in the true sense of it;5[ which no one can bet- ter interpret than the true church, to which Christ committed this sacred pledge." This is exactly what St, Jerom and St. Augustin had said many ages before him, " Let us be per- suaded," says the former, " that the Gospel consists not in the words, but in the sense, A wrong explanation turns the Word • Bishop Watson's Collect, vol. iii. p. 98. + Ibid. i These may be found in the learned Greg-. Martin's treatise on tne subject,, and in Ward's Errata to the Protestant Bible. § Two of these I had occasion to notice, in the Inquiry into the Character of the Iriah Catholics^ namely, 1 Cor. xi. 27, where the conjunctive anrf is put wv the disjunctive or ; and Mat. xix. 11, where cannot is put for do not .• to the altering of the sense, in both instances. Now, though these coiTuplions stand in direct opposition to the original, as the Rev. Mr. Grier and Dr. Ryan themselves quote it, yet these writers have the confidence to deny they are corruptions, because they pretend to prove, from other texts, that the cup i» necesaary, and that conttnency ia not necetaary .'.' Answer to Ward's Enuta, p. 13, page 33. 1 In the Prolegomena to his Poliglott, cap. v. 1 This obvious truth shows the extreme absurdity of our Bible societies antl modem schools, which reganl nothing but the mere reading of the Bible^ leaving persons to embrace the most opposite intep»'''tatJons of the sam« tlUElS. 43 Letter IX, of God into the word, of man, and what is worse, into the word of the devil ; for the devil himself could quote the text of Scripture."* Now that there are in Scripture things hard to be understood^ xvhich the unlearned and unstable wrest unto their 0W71 destruction^ is expressly affirmed in it.f The same thing is proved by the frequent mistakes of the apostles themselves, with respect to tl'.e words of their divine Master. These ob- scurities ar o : amberless throughout the sacred volumes, that the last c^aoted father, who was as bright and learned a divine as ever took the Bible in hand, says of it, " There are more things in Scripture that I am ignorant of than those I know.":|: Should you prefer a modern Protestant authority to an ancient Catholic one, listen to the clear-headed Dr. Balguy. His words are these : " But what, you will reply, is all this to Christians ? to those who see, by a clear and strong light, the dispensation of God to mankind ? We are not as those who have no hope. The day-spring from on high hath visited us. The spirit of God shall lead us into all truth. — To this delusive dream of human folly, founded only on mistaken interpreta- tions of Scripture ; I answ er, in one word : Open your Bibles : take the first-page that occurs in either Testament, and tell me without disguise ; is there nothing in it too hard for your un- derstanding ? If you find all before you clear and easy, you may thank God for giving you a privilege which he has denied to many thousands of sincere believers."^ Manifold is the cause of the obscurity of Holy Writ; 1st, the sublimity of a considerable part of it, which speaks either literally or figuratively of the Deity and his attributes j of the Word incarnate ; of angels, and other spiritual beings : — 2dly, the mysterious nature of prophecy in general : — 3dly, the pe- culiar idioms of the Hebrew ^nd Greek languages : — lastly, the numerous and bold figures of speech, such as allegory, irony, hyperbole, catachresis, and antiphrasis, which are so frequent with the sacred penmen, particularly the ancient prophets.! I should like to hear any one of those, who pre- tend to find the Scripture so easy, attempting to give a clear explanation of the 67th, alius the 68th, psalm ; or the last chap- ter of Ecelesiastes. Is it any easy matter to reconcile certain well-known speeches of each of the holy patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with the incommutal^le precept of truth ? I may here notice, among a thousand other such difficulties, that • In. r.p ad Galat. contra Lucif. f 2 Pet. iii. 16. 4 St. A\ip;'. Kp. adJanuar. • ' ' .• ;. * § Dr. Hiil|ijtiy'» Discourses, p. 133. I H'-e examples of tliosc, in Uonfrorius's I'rTloquia, and in the Appendixci to tin:m, at tlic end uf Menocliius. H I 1 Letter IX, 49 when our Saviour sent his twelve apostles to preach the Gospel to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he told them, according to St. Matthew x, 10, Provide neither gold nor silver — neither shoes nor yet staves : whereas St, Mark vi. says, He command- ed them that they should take nothing for their journey^ save a staf only. You rnay indeed answer, with Chillingworth and bishop Porteus, that whatever obscurities there may be in cer- tain parts of Scripture, it is clear in all that is necessary to be known. But on what authority do these writers ground this maxim ? They have none at all ; but they heg the question^ as logicians express it, to extricate themselves from an absurdity, and in so doing they overturn their fundamental rule. They profess to gather their articles of faith and morals from mere Scripture : nevertheless, confessing that they understand only a part of it ; they presume to make a distinction in it, and to siiy this part is necessary to be known, the other part is not ne- cessary. But to place this matter in a clearer light, it is obvi- ous tliat if any articles are particularly necessary to be known ami believed, they are those which point to the God whom we .irc to adore, and the moral precepts which we are to observe. Now, is it demonstratively evident, from r%ere Scripture, that Christ is God, and to be ado^ 1 as such ? Most modern Pro- testants of eminence answer ^s O ; and, in defence of their as- sertion, quote the following among other texts : The Father is greater than /, John xiv. 28 ; to which the orthodox divines oppose those texts of the same evangelist, ! and the Father arc one, X. 30. The Word was God, &c. i. 1. Again we find the fol- lowing among the moral precepts of the Old Testament : Go thy way ; eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart : for God now accepteth thy works. Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment. Live Joy- fully xvith the wife whom thou lovest, &c. Eccles. ix. 7, 8, 9. In the New Testament, we meet with the following seeming- ly practical commands. Swear not at all. Mat. v. 34. Call no man father upon earth — neither be you called masters, for one in your master, Christ, Mat. xxiii, 9. 10, If any man sue thee 'it hnv, to take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also, v. 46. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask him not again, Luke vi. 33. When thou makcst a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends nor thy brethren, xiv. 12. These are a few among hundreds of other difficul- ties, regarding our moral duties, which, though confronted by other texts, seemingly of a contrary meaning, neverthelesis show that the Scripture is not, of itself, demonstratively clear in points of fust rate importance, and that the divine law, like human Ci 50 Letter IX laws, without an authorized interpreter, must ever be a source of doubt and contention. V. I have said enough concerning the contentions among Pro- testants ; I will now, by way of concluding this letter, say a word or two of their doubts. In die first place, it is certain, as a learn- ed Catholic controvertist argues,* that a person who follows your rule cannot make an act offaith^ this being, according to your great authority, bishop Pearson, an assent to the revealed articles, with a certain arid full persuasion of their revealed truth ;f or, to use the words of your primate, Wake, " When I give my assent to what God has revesJed, I do it, not only with a certain assurance that what I believe is true^ but with an ab- solute security that it cannot be false "\ Now the Protestant, who has nothing to trust to but his ov*n talents, in interpreting of the books of Scripture, especially with all the difficulties and uncertainties which he labours under, according to what I have shown above, never can rise to this certain assurance and ahsa- iute security^ as to what is revealed in Scripture : the utmost he can say is, Such and such appears to me, at the present mo- ment^ to be the sense of the texts before me : and, if he is candid, he will add, but perhaps^ upon further consideration^ and upon comparing" thette with other texts, J may alter my opinion. How far short, dear sir, is such mere opinion from the certainty of faith! I may here refer you to your own experience. Are you accustomed, in reading your Bible, to conclude, in your own mind, with respect to those points which appear to you most clear, / believe in these, with a certain assurance of their truth, and an absolute security that they cannot be false; espe- cially when you ieflect that other learned, intelligent, and sin- cere Christians have understood those passages in quite a dif- ferent sense from what you do ? For my part, having some- times lived and conversed familiarly with Protestants of this description, and noticed their controversial discourses, I never found one of them absolutely fixed, for any long time together, in his mind, as to the whole of his belief. I invite you to make the etperiment on the most intelligent and religious Protestant of your acquaintance. Ask him a considerable number of ques- tions, on the most important points of his religion: note down his answers, while they are fresh in your memory. Ask him the same questions, but in a different order, a month after- wards, when I can almost venture to say, you will be surprised at the difference you will find between his former and his hu- J. • Shf.ffmachcr Letlrea d'un Doctcur Cat. a un Gcntilhomme Prol. vol. i. p. B. t On the Creed, p. 15 « ^ ♦ Pnncin. of Chmt. Rcl. p. 27. Letter IX. 51 be a source imong Pro- say a word as a leam- rho follows ccordJng to he revealed ir revealed , " When I »t only with with an ab- Protestant, interpreting acuities and \rhat I have :e and ahsa- the utmost present mo- c is candid, n, and upon inion. How certainty of ence. Are ide, in your pear to you nee of their false; espe- int, and sin- quite a dif- iving some- ;ants of this ses, I never le together, ou to make 8 Protestant ber of ques- note down Ask him lonth aftcr- le surprised and his lat- Prol. vol. i. p. . p. 27. tKf creed. Aftf r all, wc need not use' firty otftcf Wi'eafis ^a^ (iff§- caver the state of doubt and uncert-vinty in M'hich miiny of your gi'catest efivines and most profound Senptural students have passed their days, than to look into their publications. I shall satisfy myself Avith citing the pastoral Charge of one of them; a living bishop, to his clergy. Speaking of the Christian doc- trines, ne says, " I think it safer to tell you where tbeij are con- tained^ than xvliat they are. They are contained in the Bible ; and if, in reading that Book, your sentiments concerning the doc- trines of Christianity should be different from those of your neighbour, or from those of the churchy be persuaded, on you. part, that infallibility appertains as little to you as it does to the church."* Can you read this, my dear sir, without shuddering? It* a most learned and intelligent bishop and professor of divi- nity, as Dr. Watson certainly is, after studying all the Scrip- tures, and all the commtntators upon them, is forced publicly to confess to his assembled clergy, that he cannot tell them what the doctrines cf Christionitif are^ how unsettled must his mind have been ! and, of course, how far removed from the assurance of faith ! In the next place, how fallacious must that rule of the mere Bible be, which, while he recommends it to them, he plainly signifies, will not lead them to a uniformity of senti- ments one with another, net even with their church ! There can be no doubt, sir, but those who entertain doubts concerning the truth of their religion, in the course of their lives, must experience the same, with redoubled anxiety, at the approach of death. Accordingly there are, I believe, few of our Catholic priests, in an extensive ministry, who have not been frequently called in to receive dying Protestants into the Ca- tholic church,! while not a single instance of a Catholic wish- ing to die in any other communion than his own can be produc- ed.]: O death, thou great enlightencr! O truth-telling death, • Bishop Watson's Charge to lils Cleri^y, in 1795. f A larpe proportion of those grandees who were the most fonvurd in promot- ing' the Reformation, so called, and, among the rest, Cromwell, carl of Essex, the kingp's ecclesiastical vicar, when they came to die, returned to the Catho- lic church. This was the case also with Luther's chief protector, tht- elector of Saxony, the persecuting queen of Navarre, and many other foreign Protes- tant princes. Some bishops of the established church; for instance, Good- man and Cheyney, of Gloucester, and Gordon, of Glasgow, probably also Hali- fax, of St. Asaph's, died Catholics. A long list of titled or otherwise distin- guished personages, who hare either returned to the Catholic faith, or for tho first time, embraced it on their death-beds, in modern times, might be named here, if it were prudent to do so. ♦ This is remarked bv sir Toby Matthews, son of the archbishop of York, Hugh Cressy, Canon o/ Windsor and dean of Laughlin, F. Walsingham, and Ant. Ulric, duke of Brunswick, all illuitrious converts. Also by Bcurier, in his Conftreneex, p. 400. o 52 Letter X. how powerful art thou in confuting the blasphemies, and dissi- pating the prejudices, of the enemies of God's church! — ^Tak- ing it for granted, that you, dear sir, have not been without your doubts and fears about the safety of the road in which you are walking to eternity, more particularly in the course of the pre- sent Qontroversy, and being anxious, beyond expression, that ' you should be free from these when you arrive at the brink of that vast ocean, I cannot do better than address you in the words of the great St. Augustine, to one in your situation: "If you think you have been sdfficiently tossed about, and wish to see an end to your anxieties, follow the rule of Catholic disci- pline, which came down to us through the apostles from Christ himself, and which shall descend from us to the latest posteri- ty."* Yes, renounce the fatal and foolish presumption of fan- cying that you can interpret the Scripture better than the Ca- tholic church, aided, as she is, by the tradition of all ages, anc' the spirit of all truth,] But I mean to treat this latter subjec at due length in my next letter. . . , , rVTt-.'n*' • ■'■^' . ' ■ < 'S ' . 1 am, Uear bir, JS IC. V^t 'sh;-' J-''^'- '■ : ■ ^ ' I * J. M. -«^ .'!f :■'?-• ^ ■' ■■ ' ■.'--^-■i :"j r ' , '. • . ' t. 1 ' . ' ' If-, -r^n'i,-- .«■'■;■" . : . ■;, -.;•>. " . ■; i'■ ! ■ ■1 I'i ' ''■ :■. ,: ^ ■ , ' ! .' ' ' 1 : . ' ■- ' • . t ,,■'*.''•,''■-■.'■, 1 ' :f. . J- 1 . ■■'■ r'rl;;-. ■'>'-'■' ^ ' ' ''■' "'' -—•♦»— ( ^< ' 1 ^ y -,/-f(i J. . • .'!••. wi r," ' ■ * ' , 1 ,.! , , ^; \ > ,-- iHf - .'■■ ■'.::■. ^. - ^:J. -' . . • .ji, ^' '•'; ■ > . • ■ ' ' • ' ■) ' i.,i' . • = >..,. ,., . •.. ■ r.'^> > . ■ i ' ■ ■ ■ ' ' ■ .' .V- -r ■ {)■ = ■)•? ■; ■ •■ . '. V LETTER X. ; . >'\ •,.:• • -1 ■ ■ .■ ( - '. ' -: ^\ rh-1 :' ^;'< ' ^.' ) >; Tf} IJIMP.S! nnnir\T r^ ' . , ■' THE TRUE RULE, Dear Sir, ^1* I HAVE received your letter, and also two others irom gentlemen of your society, on what I have written to you con- cerning the insufficiency of Scripture, interpreted by individu- als, to constitute a secure rule of faith. From these, it is plain that mv arRuments have produced a considerable sensation in • Du Util. Creel, c. 8. f Bossuet, in his celebrated Conference tvUk Claude, which produced the conversion of Mile. DurHS, obliged him to confess, that, by the Protestant ride, •♦ every artisan and husbandman may and ought to believe that he can understand the Scriptures better than iiU the fathcrtt and doctors of the church, ancient and modern, put together. " the soci of the t |)ontlen< express ation, w of my i >incii)lt other s( versy n answer) cerning The the wri ten ana these / implies I ill intei (loubtfi 1. I hnvH n indeed 10 run i you kn umvrit huttha II lature, hefore- ture^ ai vine la the.fe d says jii the un' law."* and eh lilies h to be i. answei are tht decide accord j hindin j'')un(l<, uiling li:'' > Letter, X 53 the societ}-; insomuch that I find m)-9elf obliged to remind them of the terms on which we mutually entered upon this corres- ])ont)ence, namely, that each one should l)e at perfect liberty to express his sentiments on the important subject under consider ation, without complaint or offence of the other. 'I'he strength of my arguments is admitted !)y you all: yet you all bring in- >iiicible ol)jections, as you consider them, from Scripture and other sources, against them. I think it will render our contro- \ersy more simple and clear, if, with your pel-mission, I defer ^ answering these, till after I have said all that I have to say con- cerning the Catholic rule of faith. The Catholic rule of Auth, as I stated before, is not merely ' thewritten\Wonl ofGod^ but the whole Word of God, both writ"' ten and unwritten ; in other words. Scripture and tradition^ and these propounded and explained by the Catholic church. This implies that we have a truo-Jbld rule, or law, and that we have an interpreter, or Jud^'e to explain it, and to decide upon it in all doubtful points. ;- ; m/t 1. I enter upon this subjfxt with observing that a\\ written hnvK necessarily suppose the existence of unwritten lawn, and indeed depend upon them for their force and authority. Not to run into the depths of ethics and metaphysics on this subject, you know, dear sir, that, in this kingdom, we have common or umvrittenlaw, and statute or written law, both of them binding ; but that the former necessarily precedes the latter. The legis- lature, for example, makes a written statute ; but we must learn, before-hand, from the common law, what constitutes the leg-isla- turc, and we must also have learnt from the natural and the di- \ ine laws, that the legislature is to be obeyed in all thing's which thene do not render unlawful, " The municipal law of England," saj s judge Blackstone, " may be divided into Lex Non Scriptu, the unwritten or common law, and the Lex Scriptu, or statute law."* He afterwards calls the common law, " the first ground and chief corner-stone of the laws of England."! " If," conti- nues he, " the question arises, how these customs or maxims are to be known, and by whom their validity is to be determined? The answer is, by the judges in the several courts of justice. They are the depositaries of the laws, the living oracles, who must decide in all cases of doubt, and who are bound by oath to decide siccording to the law of the land,"^ So a4)surd is the idea of binding mankind by written laws, ivithout laying an adequate foundation for the authority of those laws, and without consti« uiting //i;///§'yi/r/^'Y'A' to decide upon them! ■ : • Comment, on the T,:i\vs, Introduct. sect. 3, tli)''l n 7\. atli ('dit. t ll)ia. p. 69* s% Letter X. ra*> 'N-ither has the divine wisdom, in founding the spiritual kingdom of his church, acted in that inconsistent manner. The Ahnighty did not send a Book, the New Testament, to Chris- tians, and, without so much as establishing the authority of that Book, leave them to interpret it, till the end of time, each one according to his own opinions or prejudices. But our blessed Master and legislator, Jesus Christ, having first demonstrated his own diA'ine legation from his heavenly Father, by undenia- ble miracles, commissioned his chosen apostles, by word oj mouthy to proclaim and explain, by word of mouth^his doctrines and precepts to all nations, promising to be with them, in the execution of this office of his heralds and judges, even to the end oj the world. This implies the power he had given them, of ordaining successors in this office, as they themselves were only to live the ordinary term of human life. True it is, that dur- ing the execution of their commission, he inspired some of them and their disciples to write certain parts of these doctrines and precepts, namely, the canonical Gospels and Epistles, which they addressed, for the most part, to particular persons, and on particular occasions ; but these inspired writings by no means rendered void Christ's commission to the apostles and their successors, oi preaching and explaing his word to the na- tions, or his promise of being with them till the end of time. On the contrary, the inspiration of these very writings, is not otherwise known, than by the viva voce evidence of these de- positaries and judges of the revealed truths. This analy- sis of revealed religion, so conformable to reason and the civil constitution of our country, is proved to be true, by the written Word itstW — by the tradition and conduct of the apostles — and by the constant testimony and practice of the fathers and doc- tors of the church, in all ages. II. Nothing then, dear sir, is further from the doctrine and practice of the Catholic church than to slight the Holy Scrip- tures. So far from this, she had religiously preserved and perpetuated them, from age to age, during almost fifteen hun- dred years, before Protestants existed. She has consulted them, and confirmed hei* decrees from them, in her several councils. She enjoins her pastors, whose business it is to in- struct the faithful, to read and study them without intermis- sion, knowing, that all Scripture is giveri by inspiration 'jf Gody ana is profitable for doctrine^ for reproof for correction^ for /;/- struction in righteousness, 2 Tim. iii. 16. Finally, she proves her perpetual right to announce and explain the truths and ]Te- cepLs of her divine Founder, by several of the strongest an.l Letter X, 55 le spiritual inner. Tlie t, to Chris- orityofthat e, each one our blessed monstrated !)y undenia- »«/ word oj is doctrines lem, in the n to the end n them, of s were only i, that dur- me of them ctrines and itles, which ir persons, tings by no postles and / to the na- nd of time, ings, is not these de- "his analy- id the civil the written istles — and rs and doc- jctrine and loly Scrip- served and ifteen hun- consulted ler several it is to in- t intermis- ion 'jJ'Gody ion,, for in^ she proves IS and I're- )ngest uni ■\ clearest ptipsfiges contamcd in Holy Writ.* Such, for exam- ple, is the last commission of Christ, alluded to above : Go t^e therefore and teach all nations^ hafitizinq' them in the name cf the Father^ and of the Son^ and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, Andlo ! I am with you all days^ even to the end of the world- Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. And again, Go ye into all the rvorld^ and treach the Gospel to every creature, Mark xvi. IJ. It is preaching and teaching then, that is to say the unwritten Word^ which Christ has appointed to he the general method of propa- gating his divine truths ; and, whereas he promises to he xvith his apostles to the end of the world: this proves their authority in expounding, and that the same was to descend to their legiti' mate successors in the sacred ministry, since they themselves M'ere only to live the ordinary term of human life. In like manner, the following clear texts prove the authority o' the apostles and their successors yor^yf;-; that is to say, of the ever- living and speaking tribunal of the church, in expounding our Saviour's doctrine : / will pray the Fatherland he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever* — The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will sendin my name ; he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you, John xiv. 16, 26. St. Paul, speaking of both the unwritten and the written Word, puts them upon a level, where he says, TherC' fore, brethren, stand fast and hold the tradition ye have been taught, whether by word or our Epistle, 2. Thess. v. 13, Fi- nally, St. Peter pronounces, that. No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 2 Pet. i. 20. III. I'hat the apostles, and the apostolical men, whom they formed, followed this method prescribed by their Master, is unquestionable ; and we have positive proofs froriS *:^cripture, as well as from tcclcsiastical history, that they did so. St. Mark, after recording the above cited admonition of preaching the Go.spel, which Christ kft to his apostles, adds. And they went forth and preached every where; the Lord working xvith them, and coiifirniing the xvord with signs following, Mark xvi. 20. St. Peter ];reathcd thnnighou't Judea, and Syria, and last of all in Italy and at Rome ; St. Paul, throughout Lesser Asia, Greece, and as far as Spain ; St. Andrew pene- trated into Scylhia ; St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew into Par- thia and India, and so of the others ; every where converting and instructing thousands, by xvord of mouth ; founding churches, • St. Austin uses this argximent agtiinst the Donatists, " In Scripturis dis- cimug Christum in Scripturis discimus, Ecclcsiam 8i Christum tcneutis, quai*e Eicleslam non tenctis." s* 56 Letter X, antt ordaining bishops and priests to do the same.* If any of them wrote, it was on some particular occasion, and, fo- the most part, to a particular person or congregation, without either giving directions, or providing means of communicating their Epistles or ^heir Gospels to the rest of the Christians throughout the world. Hence, it happened, as I have before remarked, that it was not till the end of the fourth century, that the canon of Holy Scriptures was absolutely settled as it now stands. True it is, that the apostles, before they separated to preach the Gospel to different nations, agreed upon a short sym- bol or profession of faith, called The Apostles' Creed \ but even this they did not commit to writing :f and whereas they made this, among other articles of it, I believe in the Holy Church ^\ theif made no mention at all of the Holy Scriptures, This cir- cumstance confirms what their example proves, that the Chris- tian doctrine and discipline might have been propagated and preserved by the unwritten Word^ or tradition, joined with th« authority oi the church, though the Scriptures had not been composed ; however profitable these most certainly arc Jo r doc- trine, for reproof for correction, and for instruction in right- eousness, 2 Tim. lii. 16. I have already quoted one of the ornaments of your church, who says, that "the canonical Epis- tles" (and he might have added the Gospels) "are not regular treatises upon the Christian religion ;"§ and I shall have occa- sion to show, from an ancient father, that this religion did pre- vail and flourish soon after the age of the apostles, among niv- lions which did not even know the use of letters. IV. However light Protestants of this age may make of the a icient fathers, as theological authorities^\\ they cannot ohjtct to them as faithful witnesses of the doctrine and discipline of the church in their respective times. It is chiefly in the lattir character that I am going to bring a certain number of them »ii • 'I'hfy nrdamen ihem prtrsfs m fvery envrrn. Acts xiv. 22. Vnr thh rmtse I if ft thfi' in I 'nie, thai thou xlumUst -ut in order the things that arc wuntiu^, and hhotiUUt orduln prients in every clti/, m I had appointed thee. Tit. i. 5. The thin4^.i that tiiou hast heard of me anionff many wilnr.ii,Hfi, the same commit thou to thrme fdithfid men, who shall be able to teach others also, 3. Tim. ii. 2. f lliiftin intor Opera Hicron. 4 The title Catholic was afterwards added, when heresies increased. ^ P.Itinents of Theoloj^y, vol. ii. I Jewel, Andrews, Hooker, W.)rton, Pearson, and other I'rotcst.int divines of tliC sixteenth and seventeenth centuries lal)oured hard to j)ress the futliers into their service ; but with such bad success, that the succcedinff controver- sialists jfave them up in despair. The learned Frotcstunt, Cansabon, con- fcs-ed that tlie fathers were all on the Catliolic side ; the ecpially learned OI)recht testifies that, in readin(f their works, •' he was frecjuently provoked to throw them on the (ground, fniding them so full of I'opery /' while* Middle- ion bciips every kind uf obloquy upon them. Letter X,\ J7 If any , and, fo- , without unicating Christians ve before itur^, that as It now larated to hort sym- ; but even ley made Chvrcli.X This cir- the Chris- a;ated and 1 with th« not been T^fordov- in right- »ne of the lical £pis- Dt regular lave occa- n did pre- mong niu alee of the lot ohjtct cipline of the hittc r of them Mm rrmsf 1 unititi!^, and i. 5. 'no. commit tliuu i 1 l9Cd. tant (UvincH Ihf fatlicTH f COlUlOVtT- :ibon, coii- illy kitriicd I provoked lilc Middlc' forward, namely, to prove that during the five first ages of the church, no less than in the subsequent ages, the unwritten Word, or tradition, was held in equal estimation by her with the Scrip- ture itself, and that she claimed a divine right of propounding and explaining them both. I begin with the disciple of the apostles, St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch : it is recorded of him that, in his passage to Rome, where he was sentenced to be devoured by wild beasts, he ex- horted the Christians, who got access to him, "to guard them- selves against the rising heresies, and to adhere with the ut- most firmness to the tradition of the apostles,^''* The same sentiments appear in this saint^s Epistles, and also in those of his fellow martyr, St. Polycarp, the angel of the church of Smyrna,] One of the disciples of the last mentioned holy bishop was St. Irenseus, who passing into Gaul, became bishop of Lyons, He has left twelve books against the heresies of his time, which a- bound with testimonies to the present purpose ; some few of which I shall here insert. — He writes, " Nothing is easier to those who seek for the truth, than to remark, in every church, the tradi- tion^ which the apostles have manifested to all the world. We can name the bishops appointed by the apostles in the several churches, and the successors of those bishops down to our own time, none of whom ever taught or heard of such doctrines as these heretics dream of":^ This holy father emphatically affirms that, ** In explaining the Scriptures, Christians are to attend to the pastors of the churchy who, by the ordinance of God, have received the inheritance of truth, with the succession of their Sees."§ He adds, " The tongues of nations vary, but the virtue of tradition is one and the same every where ; nor do the churches in Gern^nny believe or teach differently from those in Spain, Gaul, the East, Egypt, or Ly- bia."|| — " Since it would be tedious to enumerate the succes- sion of all the churches, we appeal to the faith and tradition of the greatest, most ancient, and best known church, that of Rome, founded by the apostles, SS, Peter and Paul; for with this church all others agree, in as much as in her is preserved the tradition which comes down from the apostles."^ — ^* SUPPOS- IN(; THE APOSTLES HAH NOT LEFT US THE SCRIPTURES, OUGH r NOT WE STILL TO HAVE FOLLOWED THE ORDINANCE OF TRADITION, which they consigned to those to whom they committed the churches ? It is this ordinance of tradition wh'ch many nations of barbarians, believing in Christ, follow, without the uie ot letters or ink."** • F.uspb. Hist. 1. Hi. c. "0. f Revel, ii. 8. ^ Advcrs. Ilxren. I. iii. c. 5. ^L. iv.c.43. IIL.i.c.J. IL.iii.c.3 ••L.iv.c.64 H 58 Letter X. Tertullian, who flourished two hundred years after the Chris- tian era, among his other works, has left us one of the same nature, and almost the same title with that last cited. In this, speaking of the contemporary heretics, he says, "They meddle with the Scriptures, and adduce arguments from them : for, in treating of faith, they pretend that they ought not to argue upon any other ground than the written documents of faith: thus they weary the firm, catch the weak, and fill the middle sort with doubt. We begin, therefore, with laying down as a maxim, that these men ought not to be allowed to argue at all from scripture. In fact, these disputes about the sense of Scrip- ture have generally no other effect than to disorder either the stomach or the brain. It is, therefore, the wrong method to appeal to the Scriptures, since these afford either no decision, or, at most, only a doubtful one. And even if this were not the case, still, m appealing to Scripture, the natural order of thinpfs requires that we should first inquire to whom the Scripi- tutes belong? From whom, and by whom, and on what occa- sion, and to whom, that tradition was delivered by which we l)eciime Christians ? F-or where the truth of Christian discipline and faith is found, there is the truth of Scripture, and of the interpretation of it, and of all Christian traditions."* He else- where says, " that doctrine is evidently true which was first de- livered : on the contrary, that is false which is of a later date- This maxim stands immoveable against the attempts of all late heresies. Let such then produce the origin of theii churches : let them show the succession of their bishops from the apostles, nr their disciples. — If you live near Italy, you see before your « ye« the Roman church: happy church ' to which the apostles have left the inheritance of their doctrine with their blood ! Where Peter was crucified, like his Master; where Paul was beheaded, like the Baptist! — If this be so, it is plain, as we \vA\e baid, that heretics are not to be allowed to appeal to Scrip- ture, since thty ha\ no claim to it.— Hence it is proper to ad- dross them as follows: — Who ore you? Whence do you come? What husinens have you strangers with my property ? By what right are yoUy Marcion^ filling my trees P By what authority are ifou^ Valentine^ turning the course of my streams? Under IV hut pretence are you^ Apelles^ removing my land-marks? The etitutc is viint: I have the ancient^ the prior possession of it. I have the title deeds delivered to me by the original proprietors, I am the heir of the apostles; they have made their will in my fjvoiir; ivhile they disinherited and cast you off^ as strangers and enemies.*''^ In another of his works,]: this eloquent father ♦ p^-acscrip. Atlvcrs. Ilxrcs. edit. Rhenan, pp, 36, 37. '«** » ♦• t biU- t licX'oruim Milit, 1 Letter X, 5% he Chris. the same In this, y meddle lem: for, to argue of faith: le middle lown as a gue at all of Scrip- iithfcr the nethod to decision, were not order ol the Scripr hat occa- which we discipline nd of the He else- is first de- later date- of all late churches : e apostles, ;fore vour e apostles :ir blood ! Paul was lin, as we il to Scrip- ►per to ad- yoM come? ' By what authority ' ? Under rks? The on of it, I roprietors, will in my strangers lent father ,^v.. proves, at great length, the absolute necessity of admitting tra» dition, no less tlian Scripture as the rule of faith, inasmuch as many important points which he mentions, cannot be proved without It. ... . .t 1 » I pass by other shining lights of the third century, such as St. Clement of Alexandria, St. Cyprian, Origen, &c, all of whom place apostolical tradition on a level with Scripture, and describe the church as the expounder of them both: I must, however, give the following words, from the last named great Biblical scholar. He says, " We are not to credit those, who, by citing real canonical Scripture, seem to say, behold the Word is in your houses: for we arc not to desert our first ecclesiastic cal tradition, nor to believe otherwise than as the churches of God have, in their perpetual succession, delivered to us." Among the numerous and illustrious witnesses of the fourth age, I shall be content with citing St. Basil and St Epiphanius, The former says, " There are many doctrines preserved and preached in the church, derived partly from written documents, partly from apostolical tradition, which have equally the same force in religion, and which no one contradicts who has the least knowledge of the Christian laws."* The latter of these fathers, says, with equal brevity and force, *-^ We must make use of tradi> tion: for all things are not to be found in Scripture."! St. John Chrysostom flourished at the beginning of the fifth centuiy, who, though he strongly recommends the reading of the holy Scriptures, yet, expounding the text, 2 Thess, ii. 14. says, *^ Hence it is plain that the apostles did not deliver to us every thing by their Epistles, but many things without writing. These are equally worthy of belief. Hence, let us regard the tradition of the church, as the subject of our belieC Such and such a thing is a tradition: seek no farther, ^^ — It would fill a large volume to transcribe all the passages which, occur in the works of the great St. Austin, in proof of the Catholic rule, and the authority of the church in making use of it: let therefore two or three of them speak for the rest. — " To attain to the truth of the Scriptures^'' he says, " we must . follow the sense of them entertained by the universal church, to which the Scriptures themselves bear testimony. True it is the Scriptures themselves cannot deceive us; nevertheless, to pre- vent our being deceived in the question we examine by them, it is necessary we should advise with that church, which these cer- tainly and evidently point out to us.":^ — "This ("the unlawful- ness of rebaptizing heretics) is not evidently reau either by you •In Lib. (1p Spir. Sane. ♦ L. i. contra Crcscon. t Dc Hares. N. 61, eo Letter X. is orljy lile'; heVettheless, if therfe were any Wise ifhaii, to whom Christ had borne testimony, and whom he had appointed to be consulted on the question, we could not fail to do so t now Christ bears testimony to his church. Whoever, therefore, re- fuses to follow the practice of the church resists Christ him- self, who by his testimony recommends this church."* Treat . ing elsewhere, on the st - e subject, he says, "The apostles, indeed, have prescribed nothing about this; but the custom must be consiaered as tleri^ jd from their tradition, since there are many things, obser\»;d by the universal church, which are justly held to have been appointed by the apostles, though they are not written,"f — It seems doing an injury to St Vincent of I-erins, who lived at the end of the fifth century, to quote a part of his Celebrated CowmonrVoWwrn, when the whole of it is so admirably calculated to refute the false rule of heretics, condemn- ed in the foregoing testimonies, and to prove the Catholic rule, here laid down : still T can only transcribe a very small portion of it. "It is asked," says this father, "as the Scripture is per- fect, what need is there of the authority of church doctrine? ITie reason is because the Scripture, being so profoundly deep, is not understood by all persons in the same sense, but differ- icnt persons explain it different ways, so that there are almost as many meanings as there are readers of it. Novation inter- prets it in one sense, Photinas in another, Arius, &c. in an- other. Therefore it is requisite that the true road of expound- ing the prophets and apostles must be marked out, according to ti' ; ecclesiastical Catholic line. "It never was, is, or will be lawful for Catholic Christians to teach any doctrine, except that which they once received ; and it ever was, is, and will be their duty to condemn those who do so.— -Do the heretics then appeal to the Scriptures ? Cer- tainly they do, and this with the utmost confidence. Vou will see them running hastily through the different books of Holy Writ, those of Moses, Kings, the Psalms, the Gospels, &c. At home andabroad, in their discourses and in their writings, they liardly produce a sentence which is not larded with the words of Scripture, &c. ; but they are so much the more to be dreaded, as they conceal themselves under the veil of the divine laws. Let us, however, remember, that Satan transformed himself into an angel of light. — If he could turn the Scri|)tiirt's against the Lord of Majesty, what use may he not make of them against us poor mortals ! — If then Satan and his disciplrs, the heretics, are capable of thus pcrvert'mg holy Scripture, how we Catholics the children of the church, to make use of them, * De UtU. CrcdeuJ. t l)e Bapt. contra Doimt. I. T. Letter XI. 6i p •jO a» to discern truth from falsehood ? The^ must carefully observe the rule laid down at the beginning of this treatise by the holy and learned men I referred to: THEY ARE TO I^l- TKKPRKT THE DIVINE TEXT, ACCORDING TO THE TKADITION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH."* It would be as easy to prove this rule erf' faith from the fa- thers of the sixth as the former centuries, particularly irom St, Gregory the great, that holy Pope, who at the close of this cen- tury, sent missionaries from Rome to convert our Pagan ances- tors : but, I am sure, you will think that evidence enough has l)ccn brought to show that the ancient fathers of the church, iVom the very time of the apostles, held this whole rule offaith^ iiamel)', the word of God unwritten as xvell as written^ together MJth the living-^ sfjeahing' tribunal of the church to preserve and interpret both of them. ' ;. "•■,• H' ,'•' I am, Stc. ■ii -( . , *_ !; n. ,r, ,x I ;; »; :u *\ I ■ (' ■; -.'i' LETTER XI. TO JAMES BROWN, Esq. ^ THE TRUE RULE. ; i . . .;i ,tr'.'i ) 1 . \ Dear Sir, ^ ^ < ■ ■, • \>\ . < • • •• \\ '\ vv ; THE all-importance of determining with ourselves which is the right rule or method of discovering religious truth must be admitted by all thinking Christians ; as it is evident that this rule alone can conduct them to it, and that a false rule is capa- ble of conducting them into all sorts of errors. It is equally Clear why all those who are bent upon deserting the Catholic church, reject her rule, that of the w/to.V word of God; toge- ther with her living' authority in explaining it : for, vhile this rule and tL's authority are acknowledged, there can be no he- resy or schism among Christians, as whatever points of reli- gion are not clear from Scripture are supplied and illustrated by tradition ; and as the pastors of the church, who possess that • Vincent I.crinH Coinmonit. Adveis, Ilacr. edit. Biiluz. An English U'ltiiMlatiun uf this little ^urk has lately been publiuhcU est better AJ, authority, are always \i\ ing and ready to declare what is the sense of Scripture, and what the tradition on each contested Soint which they have received in succession from the apes- 6s. The only resource, theT-efore, of persons resolved to f-^l- low their own cr their forefathers' particular opinior.s or prac- tices, in matters of relig'on, with the exception of tht^ nTthu^u- ast, has been in all times, both ancient and modern, u, appetd to mere Scripture, which beinp; a dead letter^ leaves tlvt* :n p' libertj' to explain it as they will. I. And yet, with all their repugnance to tradition :,r)d church authority, Protestants have found themselves absolutely obliged, in many instances, to admit of them bcUi. — It has be';n demon- strated above, that they are obliged to admit of trsfdition, in or- der to admit of Scripture itself. Withi>ut this, they can neither kn'.. meters tlm lie b'ls ti.. covered tlie Canticle or 'Song nf ,Sohmon to ht inspired Scripture f ^ your h I to waul those w hgion, ere mo ther fi Imt the that it ' contrar II. ] not onl porfant what is the ch contested )m the apos- olved to fnU ior«s or prac- tht^ cnthu!5i- U: appeal them ^'i es 1 unci church itely obliged, been demon- lition, in ov- y can neither ^ God s 11 . i- I i* nor what , as this mat- other points lout the au- f it. J the seventh anctified it. in the Ten keep it holy, ord thy God. at he is not \ He him- z*, he went 6. His dis- 'ested on the e xxiii. 56. keeping the lominations, 1 of it to the It authoritv ritten Word^ res thit the esurrection, f the week, t day hoh, s«t variance lis is the only Ls j)\vn rciison- iifiit. p. 9. I :!>•'.. icttTs tlia id Scripture .' Letter XL with the Sacred Text. The Almighty says, ** From even unto even shall you celebrate your Sabbath," Levit. xxiii. 32, which 19 the practice of the Jews down to the present time ; but not of any Protestants that ever I heard of. Again, it is declared ii* Scripture to be unlawful to dress victuals on that day, Exod. x\ i. 23, or even to make a fire, Exod, xxxv. 3, Again, where is L'\{^re IX precept in the whole Scripture more express than that Bg.mst eating blood ? God said to Noah, Every moving' thing- that liveth shall be meat to you — hut flesh with the life thereof^ which is the blood thereof shall you not eat. Gen. ix. 4. This prohibition we know was confirmed by Moses, Levit, xvii. 11 Dt It. xii. 23, and by the apostles, and was imposed upon the (ientiles, who were converted to the faith, Acts, xv. 20. Never- theless, where is the religious Protestant who scruples to eat ,iia\y with his meat, or puddings made of blood ? At the same lime if he be asked. Upon what authority ilo you act in contra- diction to the express words of both the Old and the New Tes- tament ? he can find no other answer than that he has learned from the tradition oj the church, that the prohibition was only temporary. — I will confine myself to one more instance of Pro- testants abandoning their own rule, that of Scripture alone, to follow ours, of Scripture explained by tradition. If any intelli- t,a'n: Pflgan,whohad carefully perused the New Testament, were asKed, wnich of the ordinances mentioned in it, is most explicitly and strictly enjoined ? I make no doubt but he would answer that it IS, T'le washing of feet. To convince yourself of this, he pieasec! to read the first seventeen verses of St. John, c. xiii. OI)serve the motive assigned for Christ's performing the cere- mony, there recorded ; namely, his " love for his disciples :'* next the time of his performing it; namely, when he was about to depart out of this wor'd : then the stress he lays upon it, in what he said to Peter, If I wash thee not thou hast no part, «.::t'i mc: finally, his injunction, at the conclusion of it, Jf I i/'jiir Lord and Master, have ivashed your feet, ye also ought 10 wash one another''s feet, I now ask, on what pretence can those who profess to make Scripture alone the rule of their re- hgion, totally disregard this institution and precept ? Had this eremony been observed in the church when Luther and the ther first Protestants began to dogmatize, there is no doubt hut they would have retained it : but, having learnt from her that it was only figurative, they acquiesced in this decision, contrary to what appears to be the plain sense of Scripture. H. But 1 asserted that Protestants find themselves obliged not only t,) adopt the rule of our church, on r^any the most im- portant «»ubierts. but also to claim ht-r authoritu. It is true as 64 Letter XL m I a late dignitary of the establishment observes,* that, "When Protestants first withdrew from the communion of the church of Rome, the principles they went upon were such as these : Christ, by his gospel, hath called all men to the liberty^ the glo- rious liberty, of the sons of God, and restored them to the pri- vilege of working out their own salvation by their own under- standing and endeavours. For this work, sufficient means are afforded in the Scriptures, without having recourse to the doc- trines and commandments of men. Consequently, faith and conscience, having no dependence on man's laws, are not to be ccynpelled by man's authority,"— What now was the conse- quence of this fundamental rule of Protestantism ? Why, that endless variety of doctrines, errors, and impieties, mention- ed above, followed by those tumults, wars, rebellions, and an- archy, with which the history of every country is filled, which embraced the new religion. It is readily supposed that the princes, and other rulers of those countries, ecclesiastical as well as civil, however hostile they might be to the ancient church, would wish to restrain these disorders, and make their subjects adopt the same sentiments with themselves. Hence, in every Protestant state, articles of religion, and confessions of faith, differing from one another, j'et each one agreeing with the opinion, for the time being, of those princes and rulers, were enacted by law, and enforced by excommunication, de privation, exile, imprisonment, torture, and death. These latter punishments indeed, however frequently they were exercised l)y Protestants against Protestants, as well as against Catholics, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries^ have not been resorted to during tlie last hundred years ; but the terrible sen- tence of excommunication, which includes outlawry, jven now hangs over the head of every Protestant bishop, as well as other clergyman, in this country,^ who interpret those passages of the Gospel, concerning Jesus Christ, in the sense which it ap- pears from their writings a number of them entertain ; and none of them can take possession of a living, without subscribing the Thirty-nine Articles, and publicly declaring his unfeigned as- sent and consent to them, and to every thing contained in the Book of Common Prayer.^ Thus, by adopting a false rule of • Archdeacon Blackburn in his celebrated Confessional, p. 1. t See the letter on the Reformation and on Persecution, in Letters to a Pre- btnrtitry. See also Ncal's History of the Puritans, Delaune's Narrative, Se- wel's History of the Quakers, i'tc. ♦ See many excommunicating' canons, and particularly one, .1. D. 1640, against "the damnable and cursed heresy of Socinianism," as it is termed, in Bishop Sp.m-ow's Collection. S^ 1st Eliz. cap. 2.— 14 Car. ii. c. 4. Item Canon 36 et 38. Letter XL It, "When the church h as these : /y, the glo- to the pri- )wn under- ; means are to the doc- \ faiih and e not to be the conse- Why, that I, mention- ns, and an- lled, which ed that the :siastical as the ancient L make their ;s. Hence, confessions ;reeing with and rulers, ication, de These latter e exercised \t Catholics, ive not been tenible sen- yr, jven now ,vell as other passages of which it ap- n ; and none ascribing the njeig'ned as- ained in the false rule of 1. !>//er» to a Pre- Narrative, Se- e, A. D. 1640, it is termed, in t religion, thinkmg Protestants are reduced to the cruel extremi- ty of palpable contradiction! They cannot give up "the glori- ous liberty," as it is called above, of explaining the Bible, each one for himself, without, at once, giving up their cause to the Catholics ; and they cannot adhere to it without many of the above mentioned fatal consequences, and without the speedy dissolution of their respective churches. Impatient of the con- straint in being obliged to sign articles of faith which the\' do not believe, many able clergymen of the establishment ha^•e written strongly against them, and have even petitioned par- liament to be relieved from the alleged grievance of sub- scribing the professed doctrine of their own church.* On the other hand, the legislature, foreseeing the consequences which would result from the removal of the obligation, have always rejected their prayer: and the judges have even refused to ad- mit the following saho in addition to the subscription: "I as- sent and consent to the Articles and the Book, as far as they are agreeable to the word of God,^^\ In these straits, many of the most able as well as the most respectable of the established clergy, have been reduced to such sophistry and casuistry, as to move the pity of their very opponents. One of these, the Norrisian professor of divinity at Cambridge,:|: as one way of excusing his brethren for subscribing articles which they do not believe in, cites the example of the divines of Geneva, where, he says, "a complete tacit reformation seems to have iaken place. The Genevese have now, in fact, quitted their Calvinistic doctrines, thougl , in form^ they retain them. — When the minister is admitted, he takes an oath of assent to the Scriptures, and professes to teach them according to the Catechism of Calvin; but this laat clause about Calvin, //c makes a separate business^ speaking lower, or altering his p^stiu'e, or speaking after a considerable interval."^ Such a change of posture, or tone of voice, in the swearer, our learned professor considers as sufficient to excuse him from the guilt of prevari- cation, in swearing contrary to the plain meaning of his oaih! It is not, however, intiniuted that the professor himself has re- course to this expedient: his particular system is, that 'Hht chu''ch of England, like that of (ieneva, has, of late, undergone a complete t:^rit reformation^W and hence that the sense of its • There was such a petrtiori, signed by a great number of clergymen, and supported l)y many otliers, in \77Z, t See Coiif'cssiunal, p, 183. i Lectures in Di\'uutv, delivered in the univeraity of Cambridge, by J. lley, .'-V P. its NoiTisiiin professor, 1797, vol. ii. p. 57. § Ibid. I Ibid. p. 48, (particularly in its approacri to Socinianism, frnm which he •igiiifies it is divideil nnly by u few •'unmeaning words.") I 66 Letter XL articles of faith is to be determined by circumstanccesy* Thus he adds (referring, 1 presume, to the statutes of King's col- lege, Cambridge) the oath, " I will say so many masses for the soul of Henry VI., may come to mean, I will perform the religious dutivs required of me ! !"f The celebrated moralist, Dr. Paley, justifies a departure from the original sense of the articles of religion subscribed, by an INCONVENIENCE^ which is manifest beyond all doubt !!\ Archdeacon Powtll, master of St. John's college, defends the English clergy from the charge of subscribing what they do nc t believe, because, he says, **The Ciime is impossible: as that cannot be the sense of the declara'ion which no one imagines to be its sense ; nor can that interpretation be erroneous which all have received !:j: And yet such prelates as Seeker, Hprseley, Cleaver, Pretyman, witli all the judges, strongly maintain that the literal meaning of the Articles must be strictly adhered to! . ^ : , ; I could cite many other dignitaries, or other leading clergy, men, of the establishment, and nearly the whole host of dis- senters^ who have recourse to such quibbles and evasions, in order to get rid of the plain sense of the articles and creeds, to which they have solemnly engaged themselves before the Crea- tor, as, I am convinced they would not make use of in.any con- tract with a i'ellow creature: but I hasten to take in hand trie admired Discourses of my friend, Dr. Balguy. He was the champion, the very Achilles, of those who defended the sub- scription of the Thirty-nine Articles, against the petitioners foi the abrogation of it, in 1772. And how thjnk you, dear sir, did he defend it? Not by vindicating the truth of the ar- tides themselves, much less by any of the quibbles mentioned or alluded to above ; but upon the principle, that an exterior show of uniformity in the ministers of religion is necessary for the support of it ; and that, therefore, they ought to subscribe and teach the doctrine prescribed to them by the law, whatever they may inwardly think of it. Thus it was that he and many of his friends imagined it possible to unite religious liberty with ecclesiastical restrictions. But I will give you the arch- deacon's own words, in one of his charges to his clergy. " The articles, we will say, are not exactly ivhat %ve might wish them to be. Some of them are expressed in doubtful terms; others are inaccurate^ perhaps, Jinplulosophival: others again may chance to tnislead an ignoran^ reader into some erroneous opi- • Lectures in Divinity, &c. p. 49. -j- Ibid. p. 62 i Moral and Polit. Philos. Not having- this work, or Dr. Powell's Serinon •t hand, I here quote frrra Overton's True Chnrchman, o. ^o7. % Senn. on Subacnp. Letter XI, 67 '«."* Thus King's col- masses for )erform the X moralist, ense of the IINIENCE, on Powell, lergy from because, he the sense of ,se ; nor can ved!:}: And lyman, with ining of the ling clergy, lost of dis- evasions, in d creeds, to re the Crea- ' in.any con- In hand the lie was the led the sub- I petitioners k you, dear ;h of the ar- i mentioned an exterior ecessary for to subscribe w, whatever le and many ;ious liberty ou the arch- ergy. *'The \t ivish them Jrms; others again may roneoiis opi' \. p. 62 owell's Sermon n'ions:^ but is there any one among th^.n that leads to imrno* ral'tty? Is there one in the number that will make us revenge- ful or cruel ?" &c.f On this principle, you might, in the Eastern world, conscientiously swear your assent and consent to the fa- bles of the Koran or the Vedam ! ! But, to proceed : he says, " No- thing is clearer than that the uniform appearance of religion is the cause of its general and easy reception. Destroy this uni- formity, and you cannot but introduce doubt and perplexity into the minds of the people.":|: Again, he says, "I am far from wishing to discourage the clergy of the established church from thinking for themselves, or from speaking what theythink, nor even from writing. I say nothing against the right of pri- vate judgment or speech, I only contend that men ought not to attack the church from those very pulpits, in which they ^\ ere placed for her defence."^ What is this doctrine of the subscription champion, dear sir, I appeal to you, but a defence of the most vile and sacrilegious hypocrisy that can possibly be imagined? He leaves the clergy at liberty to disbelieve in^ to tuiL\ and even to 'w.he^ against the doctrine of their church; but requires them vn the pulpit to defend it! I agree with him that contradictory doctrines publicly maintained by ministers of the same religion, is the way to make the adherents of it re- nounce it entirely : but will not that effect more certainly fol- low fron* the people's discovering, as they must in the case supposed discover, that their clergy do not themselves believe in the dortrrne.? which thty preach! But this system of deceiving the people is not peculiar to Dr. Balguy : it is avowed by his friend and master, bisnop Hoadle), and represented by archdeacon Blackburn, from whom I take the following passage, as being very generally adopted.!] — " In all proposals and schemes to be reduced to practice," the l.ishop says, " we must suppose the world to be what it ?.y, and ivhat it ought to be. We must propose, not merely what is absolutely good in itself, but what is sc with respect to the prejudices, tempers, and constitutions, we know and are sure to be among us. It is represented that the world was never less disposed to be serious and reasonable than at • Which art'f'r's they are that the doctor particularly object! to, we can easily gather, from his general language concerning mysteries, the sacra* mcnts, and our red -mption by Christ. On this last head, he seriously cau> tions us against •'censuring or persecuting our brethren because theirnon- itnse and ouv's wears a diltcrent dress." Charge ii. p. 192. \ rhnrge vi. p. 293. \ Charge v. p. 257. § Disc. vii. p. 120, Discourses oy Thomas Balguy D. D. archdeacon and pvebcndary of Winchester, &c. dedicated to the king. Lockyer Daviea, 1785, U Confissional, p. ?,7S, p. 385. 9* 68 Letter XI, Pi- ft-, this period. Religious reflection, we are informed, is i>. i *\q humour of the times. We are therefore advised to keep our prudence and our patience a little longer; to wait till our pec- pie are in a better temper, and in the mean time, to bear with their manners and dispositions ; gently and gradually correct- ing their foolish notions and habits ; hut still taking care not to throw in more light upon them^ at once^ than the weak optics ofmen^ so long used to sit in darkness^ are able to bear^'' His lordship's words are guarded, but perfectly intelligible. Bishop Hoadley had undermined the church he professed to sujjport, in her doctrine and discipline, as has been elsewhere demon- strated,* and he wished all the clerg) to co-operate in diflusing his Socinian system ; but he advised them to attempt this gen- tly and gradually y bearing with the people's foolish notions^ and not throxving too much light upon them at once : in other words, continuing to subscribe the Articles and to preach them from the pulpit, being inwardly persuaded at the same time, that they are not only false, but also foolish f — Thus, dear sir, you have seen the necessity to which the different Protestant societies have found themselves reduced, of occasionally ap- pealing to tradition, and of assuming authority to dictate con- fessions and articles of religion in direct violation of their boasted charter of private judgment ; and you have seen that this inconsistency has rendered the remedy worse than the dis- ea.se. These weapons, not being natural to them, have been turned against them, and have mortally wounded them : and *•• the church of England in particular," as one of its principal defenders complains, "is like an oak, cleft to shivers with wedges made out of its own body."f You will now see with what ease and success the Catholic church wields these wea- pons ; but, first, I think it best to add something by way of con- firming and elucidating this Catholic rule. 111. What has been said above in proof of the Catholic rule, namely, that Christ established it when he sent his apos- tles to preach the Gospel, and that the apostles followed it, when they established churches throughout different nations, is so incontcstible as not to be denied by any of our learned (opponents : still less will they deny, that the ancient fathers and the doctors of the church, in every age, maintained this rule. Accordingly, one of the latest and most learned Pro- testant controvertists writes thus, " No one will deny that Je- sus Christ laid the foundation of his church by preaching : nca* can we deny that the unwritten Word was the first rule ot •Letter, to a Prebendary, Art. Iloadleyipm. f Dauben} 'b Guide to the Church, Append. Letter XI, ,99 Christianity."* This being granted, it was incumbent on his lordship to demonstrate, and this by no less an authority than that which established the rule, at what precise period it was abrogated. Was it when this Gospel or that Gospel, when this Epistle or that Epistle, was written, though known only to particular congregations or persons, that the pastors of the church lost their authority of proclaiming. So we have received from the apostles, or the disciples of the apostles : so all the other pastors of the Catholic church believe and teach ? Or was this abrogation of the first rule of Christianity deferred till the canon of Scripture was fixed, at the erid of the fourth century ? So far from there being divine authority, there is not even a hint in ecclesiastical history on which to ground this pretended alteration in the rule of faith. His Lordship's only tbundation is his own conjecture : "It is extremely improba- ble," he says, " that an all-wise Providence, in imparting a new revelation to mankind, would suffer any doctrine or article of faith to be transmitted to posterity by so precarious a vehicle as that of oral tradition."! The bishop of London^ had be- fore said nearly the same thing, as well with respect to tradi- tion being the original rule as to the improbability of its continu- ing to be so, " considering," as he says, "how liable the easiest story, transmitted by the word of mouth, is to be essentially altered in the course of one or two hundred years." But, to the opinions of these learned prelates, I oppose, m the first place, undeniable yacf*. It is, then, certain, that the whole doctrine and practice of religion, including the rites of sacrifice, and, indeed, the whole Sacred History, was preserved by the patri- archs, in succession^ from Adam down to Moses, during the space of twenty-four hundred years, by means of tradition : and, when the law was written, many most important truths, regarding a future life, the emblems and prophecies concern- ing the Messiah, and the inspiration and authenticity of the Sacred Books themselves, were preserved in the same way. — Secondly, it is unwarrantable in these prelates to compare the essential traditions of religion, with ordinary stories : in the truth of these no one has an interest, and no means have been provided to preserve them from corruption ; whereas, the faith once delivered to the saints, the church has ever guarded as the apple of her eye, and all ecclesiastical history witnesses the ex- treme care and pains which were taken in ancient times by the pastors to instruct the faithful in the tenets and practices of • Comparative View of the Churches, p. 61, by Dr. (now bishop) Marsh, tibid p. 67. ^ Dr. Porteus, Brief Confut. TO Letter XL their religion, previously to their being baptized :* the same are generally taken by their successors previously to the con- firmation and first communion of their neophytes at the pre- sent day. Thirdly, when any fresh controversy arises in the church, the fundamental maxim of the bisops and Popes, to whom it belongs to decide upon it, is, not to consult their own private opinion or interpretation of Scripture, but to inquire Ijj, what is and ever has been the doctrine of the churchy poncern- ing it. Hence, their cry is and ever has been, on such occa- sions, as well in council as out of it : So we have received : so the universal church believes : let there be no new doctrine : none but what has been delivered down to us by tradition.f— Fourthly, the tradition of which we now treat, is fiot a local liut a universal tradition, as widely spread as the Catholic church itself is, and being found every where the same. The maxim of the sententious Tertullian must be admitted : "Er- ror," he says, "of course, varies, but that doctrine which is one ail the same among many, is not an error but a tradition/'^ {>y*ver liable men, and particularly illiterate men, are to be- lieve in fables ; yet if, on the discovery of America, the inha- bitants of it, from Hudson^s Bay to Cape Horn, had been found to agree in the same account of their origin and general histuiT, we snould cert.iinly give credit to them. But, fifthly, in the ])resent case, they arc not the Catholics of different ages and nations alone who vouch for the traditions in question, I mean those rejected by Protestants, but all the subsistingheretics and schismatics of tormer ages without exception. The Nestori- ans and Eutychians, for example, desertea t!te Catholic church, in defence of opposite errors, near fourteen hundred years ago, and still form regular churches under bishops and patriarchs throughout the East : in like manner the Greek schismatics properly so called, broke off from the Latin church, for the last time, in the eleventh century. Theirs is well known to be the prevailing religion of Christians throughout the Turkish and KuHsian empires. Nevertheless, these and all the other Christian sectaries of ancient date, agree upon every article in dispute between Catholics and Protestants (except that of the Pope's supremacy) with the former and condemn the latter.^ Let Dr. Porteus an ' the other controvertists, who declaim S'* • See PItury's Mofura des Chref,. Hartley, in bishop WaUon'i Col. vol. y.p. 91. f " Nil innovetur : nil nisi quod traditum es':." Stcph. Papal. •♦ ♦ Varia'isp tlcbcrct cmtop, Hcd quod umim apud niultoa invenitur, non eit rrratini, ned tr»dituin." I'rxacrip. advers. Hacrct. ^ Sfc tlip prool* of lliis, ill tht; Pcrp'tuite de la Foi, copied fh>rn the origl' n«l docuineritit, in the Krincli kitig'^ lil)r»ry, ■J Letter, XL •on't Col. vol. acainst the alleged ignorance and vices of tlic Catholic clergj' and laity during tht five or six ages preceding the Reforma- tion, and pretend to show how the tenets which they object to might have been introduced into our church, explain how pre. cisely the same could have been quietly received by the Nestorians at Bagdad, the Eutychians at Alexandria, and the Greeks at Moscow ! All these, and particularly the last named, were ever ready to find fault with us upon subjects ot comparatively small consequence, such as the use of unleaven- ed bread in the sacrament, the days and manner of our fasting, and even the mode of shaving our beards ; and yet, so far from objecting to the pretended novelties of prayers for the dead, addresses to the saints, the mass, the real presence, Sec, they have alwavs professed, and continue to profess, these doc- trines anr* practices as zealously as we do. •'•> \ rnv ii cu •'c r Finally, by way of the farther answer to his lordship's shame- ful calumny, that the ancient " clergy and laity were so univer- sally and monstrously ignorant and vicious, that nothing was too bad tor them to do or too absurd for them to believe," thereby insinuating that the former invented and the latter were duped into the belief of the articles on which the Catho- lic church and the church of England are divided ; as also by way of tarther confirming the certainty of tradition, I maintain that it would have been much easier for the ancientclergy to cor- mpt the Scriptures than the religious belief of the people. For, it is well known that the Scriptures were chiefly m the hands of the clergy, and that, before tne use of printing, in the fifteenth century, the copies of it were renewed and mukiplied in the monasteries by the labour of the monks, who, if they had been so wicked, might with some prospect of success, have attempt- ed to alter the New Testament, in particular, as they pleased ; whereas, the doctrines and practices of the chuich were in the hands of the people of all civilized nations, and, therefore, could not be altered without their knowledge and consent Hence, wherever religious novelties were introduced, a violent opposition to them, and, of course, tumults and schisms, would nj ve ensued. If they had been generally received in one country, as for example, in France, this would have been the occasion of t'leir being rejected with redoubled antipathy in a neighbour- \x\\r hostile nation, as, for instance, England. Yet none of thi'se disturbances or schisms do we read ot, respecting anv of the doctrine* or practices of our religion, objected to by Pro- testants, either in the same kingdom, or among the different states of Christianity. I said that the doctrines and practices < f riligion were in the hands of all "the people," in tact they were all, in every part of the church, oblitfed to receive ihc 72 Utter XL i' I*" If- holy sacrament at Easter ; now they could not do this without knowing whether they had been previously taught to consider this as bread and wine taken in memory of Christy or as the real bodt/ and blood of Christ himself. If they had originally held the former opinion, could they have been persuaded or dragooned into the latter, without violent opposition on their part, and violent persecution on that of their clerg)' ? Again, they could not assist at the religious services performed at the funerals of their relations, or on the festivals of the saints, with- out recollecting whether they had previously been instruct ;?(! to pray for the former, and to invoke the prayers of the lat* er. If they had not been so instructed, would they, one and a',., at the same time, and in every country, have quietly yielded to the first imposters who preached up such supposed supersti- tions to them ; as, in this case, we are sure they must have done ? In a word, there is but one way of accounting for the alleged alterations in the doctrine of the church, that mention- ed by the learned Dr. Bailey ;* which is to suppose that, on some one night, all the Christians of the world went to sleep sound Protestants, and awoke the next morning rank Papists ! IV. I now ccme to consider the benefits derived from the Catholic rule or method of religion. The first part of this rule conducts us to the second part ; that is to say, tradition conducts us to Scripture. We have setn that Protestants, by their own cjjnfession, are obliged to build the latter upon the former; in doing which ihey act most inconsistently : whereas Catholics, in doing the same thing, act with perfect consistency. Again, Protestants in building Scripture, aa they do, upon tradition, as a mere human testimony, not as a rt//e of faith ^ can only form an act of human faith^ that is to say, an opinion of its being in- spired ;f whereas Catholics, believing in the tradition of the thurch, as a div ne rule^ are enabled to believe, nnd ,lo helitvc in the Scriptures with ^ firm faith ^ as the ctrtain Word of (iocl. Hence the Catholic church n^quires her pastors, who are lo preach and expound the Word of God, to study this s« c n 1 part of her rule no less thun the first part, with uiremitiing diligence; and she encourages those of her ^ock, who aie po- jierly qualified and disposed, to read it for their cdifi' uion. In perusing the books of the Old Testciment, s .1 the nujst striking passages are those which regard the pu i0^,atiM> ■• Hp was son of tlic bUliop of Bunfcur, and hecominR' a convert to ih*- ( ;i- tbolic thurcli, wrote »ever»I v^orkHin Iut dtfVncc; uixl uinoni^ tlic rvHt, our uiidirlho litlr uf tlicHC L«"ttPi-», hikI Hnotliir calk-d A ('liullfH|f«', t t:|iillin)(wortli in his Hflijfion ofProlpstHntH, rhsp. ii. fxprc<u every wind of doctrine, aiid arc agitated K 74 Letter XI by dreadful doubts and fears, as to the safety of the road they are in ; Catholics^ being moored to the rock of Christ's church, never experience any apprehension whatsoever on this head, The truth of this may be ascertained by questioning pious Ca- tholics, and particularly those who have been seriously convert- ed from any species or Protestantism: such persons are gene- rally found to speak in raptures of the p ^ace and security they enjoy in the communion of the Catholic church, compared with their doubts and fears before they embraced it. Still the death- lied is evidently the best situation for making this inquiry. I have mentioned, in my former letter, that great numbers of Protestants, at the approach of death, seek to be reconciled to the Catholic church; many instances of this are notorious, though many more, for obvious reasons, are concealed from public notice: on the other hand, a challenge has frequently been made by Catholics (among the rest by sir Toby Mathews, Dean Cressy, F. Walsingham, Molines dit Flechiere, and Ul- ric, duke or Brunswick, all of them converts) to the whole ■vrorld to name a single Cat^holic, who, at the hour of drain, expressed a wish to die in any other communion than his own." I have now, dear sir, fully proved what I undertook to prove, that the rule of faith professed by rational Protestants, that of Scripture as interpreted by each person's private judgmem^ :s no less fallacious than the rule of fanatics, who imagine them- selves to be directed by an individual^ private imfyiration. I have shown that this rule is evidently unserviceable to injinitelii the greater part of mankind; that it is liable to lead men into error, and that it has actually led vast numbers of them into endless errors and shocking impieties. The proof of these points was sufficient, according to tne principles I laid down at the beginning of our controversy, to disprove the rule itself: but I have, moreover, demonstrated that our divine Master, Christ, did not establish this rule, nor his apostles follow it: that the Protesant churches, and that of England, in particular, were not founded according to this rule : and that mdividual Pro- testants have not been guided by it in the choice of their reli- gion : finally, that the adoption of it leads to uncertainty and uneasiness of mind in life, and more particularly at the hour of death. — On the other hand, I have shown that the Catholic rule, that of the entire word of God, unwritten as well as writ- ten, together with the authority of the living pastors of the church in explaining it, was appointed by Christ: — was follow- ed by th*" apostles: — was maintained by the holy fathers: — has been resorted to from necessity, in both particulars, by the ProtCBtani congregations, though with the worst success, from tl»e impossibility of uniting private judgment with it; — that tradition these tw; mony to pounding through by adher and secur It rem who hav mine wh your relij Were it \ thod, witl could ans pious wri ed, thou J be found [your own juthorizei j lor such p pray hum and stren^ Deai I AMi • " Domi t Hugh o fbadthey :*s church, this head, pious Ca- y convert- are gene- urity they >ared with the death- iquiry. I umbers of onciled to notorious, aled from frequently Mathews, e, and Ul- the whole of death, 1 his own'. Ic to prove. Its, that of cfgmem^ :s ;ine them- ration. I ) irifinitelif men into them into lese points )\vn at the self: but I er, Christ, t : that the ular, were dual Pro- their reii- tainty and :he hour of ; Catholic ;11 as writ- ers of the f^as follow- fathers : — irs, by the cess, from 1 it -.-—that letter XII, PP" tradition lays a firm ground for divine faith in Scripture : that these two united together as one rule, and each bearing testi- mony to the living, speaking authority of the chun h in ex- pounding that rule, the latter is preserved in peace and union through all ages and nations :*— and, in short, that Catholics, by adhering to this rule and authority, live and die in peacu and security, as far as regards the truth of their religion. It remains for you, dear sir, and your religious friends, who have called me into this field of controversy, to deter- mine which of the two methods you will follow, in settling vour religious concerns for time and FOR ETERNITY Were it possible for me to err in following the Catholic me- thod, with such a mass of evidence in its favour, methinks I could answer at the judgment seat of Eternal Truth, with a pious writer of the middle ages: "Lord, if I have been deceiv- ed, thou art the author of my error."f Whereas should you be found to have mistaken the right way, by dtpcndiiig upon your own private opinion, contrary to the directions of ) our authorized guides, what would you be able to allege in excuse for such presumption ? — ^Think of this while you have time, and pray humbly and earnestly for God's holy grace to enlighten and strengthen you. I am, Dear Sir, &c. J. M LETTER XII. TO JAMES BROWN, Esq. fyt. OBJECTIONS ANSIVEKED. '; Dear Sir, - ' ] I AM not forgetful of the promise I made in my last lettc? • ut one, to answer the contents of those which I had then re- ' lived from yourself, Mr. Topham, and Mr. Askew. Within ' hcsc few days 1 have received other letters from yourself and ' • " I)omi< illium pucia et unltatis"— S. Cyp. Ep. 46. m t Huk'> of Ht. Victor. ^ 10 76 Letter XIL r Mr. Toptiini^ which, cqaiUy with th.' for:n'"r, c.iW f ,)r my ntten. lion to their substance. However, it would take up a great dr.\\ of time to write separate; answers to eacli of these letters, and, Us I know, that they are arguments, and not formalities, which you expect from me, I shall make this letter a general rejily t the several objections contained in them all, with the exce])iion of such as have been answered in my last to you. Conceiving, also, that it will contribute to the brevity and perspicuity of my letter, if I arrange the several objections, from whomsoever they came, under their proper heads } and if, on this occasion, I make use of the scholastic instead of the epistolary style, 1 shall adopt both these methods* I must, however, remark, before I enter upon my task, that most of the objections appear to have been borrowed from the bishop of Loiidon's book called a Brief Confutation of the Errors of Popery. This was ex- tracted from archbishop Seeker's Sermons on the same suhject; which, themselves, were culled out of his predecessor TiUot- son's pulpit controversy. Hence you may justly consider your arguments as the strongest which can be brought against the Catholic rule and religion. Under this pei suasion the work in question has been selected for gratuitous distribution, by your tract societies, wherever they particularly wish to restrain or suppress Catholicity. Against the Catholic rule it is objected that Christ referred the Jews to the Scriptures : Search the Scriptures ; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testifij of me, John v. 35, Again, the Jews of Berea are commendt '1 ov the sacred penman, in that they search the Scriptures u^ulij, whether these things were sa. Acts xvii. 11, Before I enter on the discussion of any part of Scripture, with you or your friends, I am bound, dear sir, in conformity with my rule of faith, as explained b) tlie fathers, and particu- larly by Tertullian, to protest against your or their right to ar- gue from Scripture, and, of course, to dcn\- any need there is of my replying to anv objection which you may draw from it. For I have reminded you that, N' prophecy of Scripture is oj any private enterpretation ; and I have proved to you that the whole business of the Scriptures belongs to the church: she has preserved them, she vouches for them, and, she plone, by con- frontint- them, and by the help of tradition, authoritatively ex- plains tnem. Hence it is impossible that the real sense of Scrip- ture should ever be against her and her doctrine ; and hence, of course, I might quash every obiertron which vou can draw from any passage in it by this siiort rcjjjy, 'ihc church nn< deratanJfi t'>c pussacc tlij^c>cn(/ij from you ; therefore you ink- take its meaning. Nevertheless, as charity hcartth all thiiij^-! and -.leiHr faikth^ I will, for ihc belter sailafying of youanJ \-our frien swer disti any of yo brought aj By way whether C tiniated tl .vhich he ' successors, secondly, Scripture, was then \ be agitate( tion betwe was not tl (luced the detailed b he wrougl fulfilled ir tist. The In- St Lul cies, to ve and in su< marked b ;\nd other siiymg an versies. Dr. Po his Gospc ttanding' order, mo certainty Again St mii^'ht he believing- Answt an argun he does 1 his did ;?' In/ word list gain' that heai 16. In aiony of iiiiy, or 1 «ii lions. ■I ir my attcn. a great deal letters, and, itics, which ;ral rej^ly m le exception "onceiving, rspicuity of v^homsoever is occasion, olary style, ^er, remark, tions appear book called his was ex- «Tie suhject; ;s>-or Tillot- maider your against the the work in ion, by your > restrain or rist referred for hi them ich testij'ij oj nmendt '! d^ tures c,^:ilij, f SGriptiuT, conformitv tmd particu- right to ar- ced there is "aw from it. rrpttire is cj ou that the •ch : she har» me, by con- tatively ex- ise of Scrip- and hence, u can draw V lunch ttih re yrjii mis- h all tliin;^i ui ^'OU UIlll Letter XII, «;• \-our friends, quit my va itage ground for the present, and an- swer distinctly to eveiy text not yet answered by me, which any of you, gentlemen, or which Dr. Porteus himself, has brought against the Catholic method of religion. ' • ' By way of answering your first objection, let me ask you, whether Christ, by telling the Jews to search the Scriptures in- timated that they were not to believe in his unwritten Word^ ,vhich he was then preaching, nor to hear his apostles and their successors^ with whom he promised to remain forever ? I ask, secondly, on what particular question Christ referred to the Scripture, namely, the Old Scripture? (for no part of the New was then written) was it on any question that has been or might be agitated among Qhristians? No, certainly: the sole ques- tion between him and the infidel Jews, was, whether he was or was not the Messiah : in proof that he was the Messiah, he ad- uced the ordinary motives of credibility, as they have been detailed by your late worthy rector, Mr. Carey, the miracles he wrought, and the prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in him, as likewise the testimony of St John the Bap- tist. The same is to be said of the commendations bestowed In- St Luke on the Bereans; they searched the ancient prophe- cies, to verify that the Messiah was to be born at s\ich a time, and in such a place, and that his life and his death were to be marked by such and such circumstances. We still refer Jews ;ind other Infidels to the same proofs of Christianity, without saying any thing yet to them about our rule or judge of contro- versies. ■ ■'• Dr. Porteus objects what St Luke says, at the beginning of his Gospel : It seemed good to me also^ having had perfect under' standing of all ihingsJVom the very firsts to write unto thee in order ^ most excellent Theophilus^ that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. Again St. John savs, c. xx. These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christy the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through hii name. Answer. It is difficult to conceive how his lordship can draw an argument from these texts against the Catholic rule. Surely hj docs not g-ather from the words of St. Luke, that Theophi- liis did not believe the articles in which he had been instructed 1)1/ word of mouth till he read this Gospel! or that the evange- list gainsayed the authority given by Christ to his disciples : He that heareth you hcareth mf , which he himself records, Luke x. 16. In like manner the prelate cannot suppose that this testi- mony of St. John sets aside other testimonies of Christ's divi- •lity, or that our belief in this single article without other con-' liiij 'Ms, will ejisiire eternal life. 73 Letter XIL Having quoted these texts, which appear to me inconclusive, the bishop adds, by way of proving that Scripture is sufficjentlv intelligible, "Surely the apostles were not worse writers, with divine assistance, than others commonly are without it/'* I will not here repeat the arguments and testimonies already hroughtf to show the great obscurity of a considerable portion of the Bible, particularly with respect to the bulk of mankind, l)«;cause it is sufficient to refer to the clear words of St. Ptttr, declaring that there are in the Epistles of St. Paul, some thinjrs hard to be understood^ which 'he unlearned and unstable ivrest, as they do all the other .Scriptures^ tirito their otvn destruction^ (2 Peter iii. 16,) and to the instances, which occur in the (ios- pels, of the very apostles frequently misunderstanding the mean- ing of their divine Master. The learned prelate says, elsewhere,:|: "The New Testament supposes them (the generality of the people) capable of judg- ing for themselves, and accordingly lequires them not only to try the spirits whether they be ofGod^ 1 John i\'. 1, but to prove all things and holdfast that which is ;^"?od, 1 Thess. v. 21." Answer. True : St. John tells the (Christians, to whom he writes to try the spirits whether they are of God^ because^ he adds, many false prophets are gone out into the world. But then he gives them two rules for making trial : Hereby ye know the spirit of God, Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the fleshy is of God. And every spirit that cotfesseth not that Jesus is come in the fleshy (which was denied by the heretics of that time, the disciples of Simon and Cerinthus) is not of God, In this, the apostle tells the Christians to sei; wheth- er the doctrine of these spirits was or was not conformable to that which they had learnt from the church. The second rule was. Ha that knoweth God^ heareth us; he that is not of Ood^ heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spi- rit of error: namely, he bid them oljserve whether these teach- ers did or did not listen to the divinely-constituted pastors of the church. Dr. P. is evidently here quoting Scripture for our rule, not against it. The same is to be said of the other text. Prophesy was exceedingly common at the beginning of the church ; but, as we have just seen, the/e were false pro- phets as well as true prophets : hence, while the apostle defends this supernatural gift in general. Despise not prophesyinifs^ he admonishes the Thessalonians to prove them: not certainly bv their private opinions, which would be the source of endless discord; l>ut, by the established rules of the church, and parti- cularly by that which he tells them to /lo/d fi.st^ 2 Thess. li. 15, pumeh , traditi(m. I'. 4. t l.iUcr ii. t P. 19 ^"<->Jh« > Letter XIL 79 conclusive, sufficjentlv riters, with t it."* ies already ble portion if mankind, St. Ptttr, 9ome things tabic tvre.st^ destruction^ in the Gos- g the mean- Testament le of judg- not onl)- to but to prove ) whom he because^ he d. But then r knotv the esus Chr'vit t confesseth niecl by the irinthus) is I sec wheth- formable to jeconcl rule lot of God, md the spi- hese teach- pastors of ripture for f the other eginning of false pro- stle defends Tsyini(s^ he certainly bv I of endless I, and parti - hcss, ii. 15, Dr. P. in another place,* urges the exhortation of St. Paul to Timothy,*Continiie "hou in the things which thou hast learn- ed and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learn- ed thern : and that from a child thou hast known the holy Scrip- tures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus,. All Scrip, ire is given by inspiration of (Jod, . nd i' pronta'vie for doctniie, for reproof,'&c. 2 Tim. iii. Answe- Dees, then, the prelate mean to say, that the (orm ofs^^wid words which Timothy had heard from St. Paul, and which he was commanded to holdfast, 2 Tim. i. 13, was all contained m the Old Testament, the only Scripture which he could have read in his childhood? Or that, hi this he could have learn., d the mysteries of the Trinity and the incarnation, or the ordinances of baptism and the Eucharist ? The firs'. part of the question is a general commer -'.atiou of tradition, the latter of Scripture. Against tradition, Dr. P. and yourself quotef Mark vii, where the Pharisees and Scribes asked Christ, Why -walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with vnwashed hands ? He answered and said to them^ In vain do they worship w^, teaching FOR\ doctrines the com- inandments of men, tor., loifi^g aside the commandments of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups, ^c. Answer. Among the traditions which prevailed at the time of our Saviour, some were divine, such as the inspiration of the books of Moses and the other prophets, the resurrt ction ot the body, and the last judgment, which assuredly Christ did not condemn, but confirm. There were others , merely human, and of a recent date, introduced, as St. Jerome informs us, by Sammai, Killel, Achiba, and other Pharisees, from which the Talmud is chiefly gathered. These, of course, were never obligatory. In like manner, there are among CathoU ,u divine traditions, such as the inspiration of the Gospels, the divine, observation of the Lord's day, the lawfulness cf invoking the prayers of the saints, and other things not c'f^arly contained in Scripture ; and there are among many Catholics, historical and even fabulous traditions.^ Now, it is the former, as avow- •P. 69. fP-ll- * This particle FOR, which m some degree affects the sense, is a corrupt interpolation as appears from the orig'inal Greek. N. B. The texts which Dr. i*. refers to I quote fron; the common Bible j Iris citations, of it are frequently inaccurate. ^ Such are the acts of several saints condemned by Pope Gelasius 5 such al- so was the opinion of Christ's reign upoa earth frr -i x^c ?nnd yeanb. ^1 vt opmion 10* 19 «0 Letter XIL ss f m ed to be divine by the church, that we appeal : of the others, every one may judge as he thinks best. You both, like^ se, quote Coloss. ii. 8. Bervare lest any man spoil (cheat) , ju through philosophy and vain deceit^ after the tradition of men^ after the rudiments of the xmrU^ and not after Christy Answer. The apostle himself informs the CoUossians what kind of traditions he here speaks of, where he says, Let no man therefore Judge you in meat or drink^ or in respect of any holiday^ or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days. The an- cient fathers and ecclesiastical historians inform us, that, in the age of the apostles, many Jews and Pagan philosophers pro- fessed Christianity, but endeavoured to allay with it their res« pective superstitions and v^in speculations, absolutely inconsis- tent with the doctrine of the Gospel. It was against these St. Paul wrote, not against those traditions which he commanded his converts to holdfast to, whether they had been taught by word or by Epistle, 2 Thess. ii. 15 ; nor those traditions which he commended his other converts /or keeping, 1 Cor, xi. 3.* Finally, the apostles, in that passage, did not abrogate this his awful sentence, now we command you, brethren, in the nant of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradi' tion which ha ; /; sived of us, 2 Thess. iii. 6. Against 'ln'-; ir;fallibiUty of the church in deciding questions of filth, f asri referred to various other arguments made use ol by Dr. Poittus ; and, in the first place, the following : " Ro- manists themselves own that men must use their eyes, to find this guide ; why then must they put them out, to follow him ?"f I answer by the following comparisons. Every pru- dent man makes use of his reason, to find out an able physi- cian to take care of his health, and an able lawyer to secure his property : but having found these, to his full satisfaction, does he dispute with the former about the quality of medicines, oi with the latter about lorms ui' Jaw ? Thuii the Catholic makes use of his reason, to observe which, among the rival communions, is tho church that Christ established and promised to remain with ; having ascertained that, by the plain acknowledged marks which this church bears, he trusts his soul to her uner Vine judgment, in piefepenoe to his own fluctuating opinion. Dr. PortBOs r'Uls, " Ninety-nine parts in every hundred of their (the Catholic) communion, have no other rule to follow, but what a few priests and private writers tell them."t Ac • The FngUsh Tesvameiit puts tlie word ordinance here for tradltioni, con« fifty to the sense of the oripn.il Greek, and even tiie authority of Bez» t P. 19 I Hid. true the others, re lest any deceit^ after kf^ and not issians what ays, Let no ^pect of any \s* The an- |, that, in the lophers pro- it their res. lely inconsis- inst these St. commanded n taught by se traditioni) g', 1 Cor. xi. abrogate this t, in the nam: rselves from er the tradi- ng questions made use oi rtring : " Ro- eyes, to find t, to follow Every pru- i able physi- to secure his faction, does ledicines, ot ic makes use omm unions, 1 to remain knowledged to her uner ; opinion. ry hundred e to follow, )m."t Ac lllHL rs up to the arant in of them,) radttimu, con> r of Bez» Letter XII. ording to this mode of reasoning, a loyal subject does not make any act of the legislature the rule of his civil conduct, because, perhaps, he learns it only from a printed paper, or the proclamation of tlie bell-i.an. Most likely the Catholic peasant learns the doctrine of the church from his parish priest ; but then he knows that the doctrine of this priest must be conforma- ble to that of his bishop, and that otherwise he will soon be called to an account for it. He knows also that the doctrine of the bishop himself must be conformable to that of the other bishops and the Pope, and that it is a fundamental maxim with tiiem all, never to admit of any tenet but sucl believed by all the bishops, and was believed by their pr( apostles themselves. The prelate gives a "rule for the unlearn religion, (that is to say of ninety-nine in every liui which is this : Let each man improve his own judgment, and increase his own knowledge as much as he can ; and be fully assured that God will expect no more." — What f If Christ has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists and tome pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting the saints, for the work of the ministry, Ephes. iv. 11, does he not expect that Christians should hearken to them, and obey thtm ? The prelate goes on ; "In matters, for which he must rely on aU" thority," (mere Scripture then, and private judgment, accord- ing to the bishop himself, are not f^lways a sufficient rule, even for Protestants, but they must in some matters rely on church authority,) " let him rely on the authority of that church which God's providence has placed him under," (that is to say, whe- ther Catholic, Protestant, Socinian, Antinomian, Jewish, he.) " rather than another which he hath nothing to do with," (every Christian has, or ought to have, something to do with Christ's true church,) and " trust to those, who, by encouraging free inquiry, appear to love truth ; rather than such as, by requiring all their doctrines to be implicitly obeyed, seem conscious that they will not bear to be fairly tried." What, my lord, would you have me trust those men, who have just now deceived me, by assuring me that I should not stand in need of guides at all, rather than those who told me, from the first, of the perplexities in which I find myself entangled ! Again, do you advise me to prefer these conductors, who are forced to confess that they may mislead me, to those others who assure me, and this upon such strong grounds, that tliey will conduct roe with perfect safety ! ii > IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // A J ^ 1.0 I.I lu Uii 12.2 £f |4£ 12.0 11.25 III 1.4 II 1.6 *** ^. '/, A^S ^> 7 a Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STRUT WnSTIR.N.Y. MSM (716) •73-4503 ^. S. iP s c\ -q^' \ ^ 6^ y.^ 5* 6^ 82 Utter XIL ' Our Episcopal controvertist finishes his admonition " to the ignorant and unlearned," with an address, calculated for the stupid and bigoted. He says, " Let others build on fathen and Popes, on traditions and councils, what they will : let iu« continue firm, as we are, on the foundation of the apostles ani Srophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief comer-stone.'' >nliffhten€ Finally, his lordship, with other controvertists, objects agsunst -.« gQul the infallibility of the Catholic church, that its advocates are not Jljgut ^m agreed where to lodge this prerogative; some ascribing it to the Pope, others to a general council, or to the bishops dispersed throughout the church. True, schoolmen discuss some such points : but let me ask his lordship, whether he finds any Ca- tholic who denies or doubts that a general council, with the Pope at its head, or that the Pope himself, issuing a doctrinal decision, which is received by the great body of Catholic bishops, is secure from error ? Most certainly not : and hence he may gather where all Catholics agree in lodging infallibili- ty. In like manner, with respect to our national constitution; some lawyers hold that a royal proclamation, in such and such circumstances, has the force of a law, others that a vote of the house of lords, or of the commons, or of both houses together, has the same strength ; but all subjects acknowledge that an act of the king, lords, and commons, is binding upon them ; and this suffices for all practical purposes. But when, dear sir, will there be an end of the objections and cavils of men, whose pride, ambition, or interest, leads them to deny the plainest truths ! You have seen those which the inge- nuity and learning of the Porteus's, Seekers, and Tillotsons have raised against the unchangeable Catholic rule and inter- preter of faith : say, is there any thing sufficiently clear and certain in them to or'^'^se to the luminous and sure principles, on which the Cathoi ethod is placed ? Do they afford you a sure footing, to su^.port you against all doubts and fears on the score of your religion, especially under the apprehension of approaching dissolution ? If you answer affirmatively, I have nothing more to say ; but if you cannot so answer, and, if you justly dread undertaking your voyage to eternity on the pre- sumption of your private judgment, a presumption which you have clearly seen has led so many other rash Christians to cer- tain shipwreck, follow the example of those who have happily arrived at the port which you are in quest of: in other words, listen to the advice of the holy patriarch to his son : Then Tobias answered his father — I know not the way^ 8fc. :—-then his father said — Seek thee a faithful guide. Tob. v. You will no sooner have sacrificed your own wavering judgment, and have submitted to follow the guide, whom your heavenly Father has provided for you, than you will feel a deep conviction that you are in the right and secure way ; and very soon you will be ■Mil. V bjects against Dcates are not cribing it to ops dispersed s some such inds any Ca- iciJ, with tlie g a doctrinal of Catholic : and hence ig infallibili- constitution; ch and such L vote of the ses together, edge that an upon them j jections and ads them to ch the inge- d Tillotsons i and inter- y clear and J principles, ' afford you nd fears on ehension of ely, I have and, if you )n the pre- which you ans to cer- ve happily ber words, ion: Then r — then his ou will no and have ''ather has 1 that you >u will be Letter XH. 85 o the ch li ^^^^^^ to join with the happy cohVerts of ancient and modem J , J times,* in this hymn of praise : " I give thee thanks O God, my enlightener and deliverer; for that thou hast opened the eyes of my soul to know thee. Alas ! too late have I known thee, O incient and eternal truth ! too late have I known thee.*' I am, Dear Sir, yours, &:c. J. M. * 8t. Auatin*! SoliUxiuiest c. 33, quoted hj Dean Craaqr? ExomoL p. C6& , r ' • Ml/ n:vmA * 'I Uo 'm v^^r^: I ■ ■ ''.1 M U'-' ' :i ; ^■^;- ' T ^ti.f'.;: r'\, ■,:'"' ■V' -tc , • .1 : .' '1 y\ » il; II. ■ '1.-; ■■■-V,^ • :'.*:,■■ ,■'.'■ ft...!; ! ,\v! -i) 'i " ; , I."" f , : • "I ' ,' ! till.' ■ I • (it (ill !f >• I It'll-. Ir. !''...ri<* .; >.' V > :•!. I ■ r > I f ' :--.' ' ! '.J .! ' •• /r. ' I r If.. 'H. /. ■ ' !• > H : '' >; l"' J ffit'v^^a' THE END m i RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY. •>» . .; ./> PART II. LETTER XIII. To JAMES BROWJV, Esq. SfC. OJ^ THE TRUE CHURCH. Dear Sir, The Letters which I have received from you, and some others of your religious society, satisfy me that I have not ahogether lost my labour in endeavouring to prove to you, that the private interpretation of holy Scripture is not a more certain rule of faith, than an imaginary private inspiration is ; and, in short, that the church of Christ is the only sure expounder of the doctrine of Christ. Thus much you, sir, in particular, candidly acknow- ledge: but you ask me, on the part of some of your friends as well as yourself, why, in case you " must rely on authority," as bishop Porteus confesses " the unlearned must," that is to say, the great bulk of mankind, you should not, as he advises you, " rely on the authority of that church, which God's providence hath placed you under, rather than that of another which you have nothing to do with,"* and why you may not trust to the church of England, in particular, to guide you in your road to heaven, with equal security as to the church of Rome ? — Before I answer you, permit me to congratulate with you on your ad- vance towards the clear sight of the whole truth of revelation. As long as you professed to hunt out the several articles of this, one by one, through the several books of Scripture, and under all the difficulties and uncertainties which I have clearly shown to attend this study, your task was interminable, and your suc- cess hopeless : whereas, now, by taking the church of God for * Coafutatiou of Errors of Popery, p. 20. ' i .-'ri) ; ' 1 • Z6ner IGIT. m some others )t altogether t tlie private rule of faith, »ort, that the J doctrine of lly acknow- ir friends as thority," as It is to say, idvises you, providence which you trust to the our road to 3 i — Before •n your ad- revelation, cles of this, and under arly shown your suc- of God for your guide, you have but one simple inquiry to make : Whtch is this church 9 a question that admits of being solved by men of good will with equal certainty and facility. I say, there is but one inquiry to be made : Which is the true church 9 because if there is any one religious truth more evident than the rest from reason, from the Scriptures, both Old* and New,f from the apostles' creed,| and from constant tradition, it is this, that * the Catholic church preserves the true worship of the Deity ; she being the fountain of truth, the house of faith, and the tem- ple of God," as an ancient father of the church expresses it.<§ Hence it is as clear as the noon-day light, that by solving this one question, Which is the true church ? you will at once solve every question of reli^ous controversy that ever has, or that ever can be agitated. You will not need to spend your life in studying the sacred Scriptures in their original languages, and their authentic copies, and in confronting passages with each other, from Genesis to Revelation, a task by no means calcu- lated, as is evident, for the bulk of mankind : you will only have to hear what the church teaches upon the several articles of her faith, in order to know with certainty what God revealed concerning them. Neither need you hearken to contending sects, and doctors of the present, or of past times : you will need only to hear the church, which, indeed, Christ commands you to hear under pain of being treated as a heathen or a publican. Matt, xviii. 17. I now proceed, dear sir, to your question ; why, admitting ike necessity of being guided by the church, may not you and your friends submit to be guided by the church of England, or any other Protestant church to which you respectively belong 9 — My answer is ; because no such church professes, nor, consistently with the fundamental Protestant rule of private judgment, can profess to be a guide in matters of religion. If you admit, but • Speaking of the future church of the Gentiles, the Almighty promises, by Isaiah : Sing, O barren, thou that didtt not bear^ &c. : as I hare sworn that the waters of J^oah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed^ but my kindness shall not depart from thee, &c. lir. See also lix. Ix. Ixiii. Jerem. xxxiii. Ezech. xxxvii. Dan. ii. Psalm Ixxxix. t Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matt. X/i. IB. lam with you all days even until THE END OF THE WORLD. Matt, xxviii. 20. / tvill pray the Father and he will give you another comforter, that he may abide with you FOR EVER, even tlie Spirit of Truth-^he will tearh yon MAj 'I" RUT 1 1, John xiv. 16. &c. The House ofOod, tphirhisthe Church' of the living God, THE PILLAR AND GROUND OF TRUTH. 1 Tim. iii. 14. t I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. Art. ix, I Lactan, I)u Divin. lastit. 1. 4. 11 •-! 86 tktter Xm. for an instant, church authority, then Luther, Calvin, and Cran< mer, with all the other founders of Protestantism, were evidently heretics, by rebelling against it. In short, no other church but the Catholic can claim to be a religious guide, because evi- dently she alone is the true church of Christ. This assertion leads me to the proof of what I asserted above, respecting the facility and certainty with which persons of good will may solve diat most important question : Which is the true church ? Luther,^ Calvin.f the church of £ngland,| assign as the characteristics, or marks of the true church of Christ, Truth of doctrine, and the right administration of the sacraments. But to follow this method of finding out the true church, would be to throw ourselves back into those endless controversies con- cerning the true doctrine, and the right discipline, which it is my present object to put an end to, by demonstrating, at once, which is the true church. To show the inconsistency of the Protestant method, let us suppose that some stranger were to inquire, at the levee of his neighbour, which of the personages present is the Prince Regent ? and that he was to receive for answer, it is the king^s eldest son : would this answer, however true, be of any use to the inquirer ? Evidently not. Whereas, if he were told that the prince wore such and such clothes and ornaments, and was seated in such and such a place, these ex- terior marks would, at once, put him in possession of the in- formation he was in search of. Thus we Catholics, when we are asked, which are the marks of the true church ? point out certain exterior, visible marks, such as plain, unlearned persons can discover, if they will take ordinary pains for this purpose, no less than persons of the greatest abilities and literature, at the same time that they are the very marks of this church, which, as I said above, natural reason, the Scriptures, the creeds, and the fathers, assign and demonstrate to be the true marks of It. Yes, my dear sir, these marks of the true church are so plain in themselves, and so evidently point it out, thatybo/5 can- not err, as the prophet foretold, Isai. xxxv. 8, in their road to it. They are the flaming beacons, which for ever shine on the moun- tain at the top of the mountains of the Lord's house. Isai. ii. 2. In short, the particular motives for credibility, which point out the true church of Christ, demonstrate this with no less certitude and evidence, than the general motives of credibility demon- strate the truth of the Christian religion. The chief marks of the true church, which I shall here assign, • De Concil. Ecclcs. t Inslit. 1.41. X Art. 19. Letter XIII. are not only conformable to reason, Scripture, and tradition^ but, which is a most fortunate circumstance, they are such as the church of England, and most other respectable denomina- tions of Protestants, acknowledge and profess to believe in, no less than Catholics. Yes, dear sir, they are contained in those Creeds which you recite in your daily prayers, and proclaim in your solemn worship. In fact, what do you say of the church you believe in, when you repeat the Apostles' Creed ? You say, I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. Again, how is this church more particularly described in che Nicene Creed, which makes part of your public liturgy f In this you say, I BELIEVE IN ONE CATHOUC AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH.* Hence it evidently follows that the church which you, no less than we, profess to believe in, is possessed of these four marks : UNITY, SANCTITY, CA- THOLICITY, and APOSTOLICITY. It is agreed upon, then, that all we have to do, by way of discovering the true church, is to find out which of the rival churches, or communions, is peculiarly ONE— HOLY— CATHOLIC— and APOSTO- LIC. Thrice happy, dear sir, I deem it, that we agree toge- ther, by the terms of our common creeds, in a matter of such infinite importance for the happy termination of all our contro- versies, as are these qualities, or characters of the true church, which ever that may be found to be ! Still, notwithstanding tills agreement in our creeds, I shall not omit to illustrate these characters, or marks, as I treat of them, by arguments from rea- son, Scripture, and the ancient fathers. lam, dear sir, &c. J. M. * Order of Administration of the Lord's Sapper. M i£^. 90 ! ! LETTER XIV. , * , To JAMES BROWJ^, Esq fye. I UMTY OF THE CHURCH. Dear Sir, ' Nothing is more clear to natural reason, than that God cannot be the author of different rehgions ; for being the Eter- nal Truth, he cannot reveal contradictory doctrines, and, being at the same time, the Eternal Wisdom, and the God of Peace, he cannot establish a kingdom divided against itself. Hence it follows, that the church of Christ must be strictly ONE; one in doctrine, one in worship, and one in government. This mark of unity in the true church, which is so clear from reason, is still more clear from the following passages of Holy Writ. Our Saviour, then, speaking of himself, in the character of the good shepherd, says, I have other sheep (the Gentiles) which are Hot of this fold ; them, also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be ONE FOLD, and one shepherd, John X. 16. To the same effect addressing his heavenly Father, pre- viously to his passion, he says, / pray for all that shall believe in me, ^Aa^ THEY MAY BE ONE, as thou Father, art in me and I in thee, John xvii. 20, 21. In like manner St. Paul em- phatically inculcates the unity of the church, where he writes, IVe, being many, are OJVE BODY in Christ, and every one members one of another, Rom. xii. 5. Again he writes. There is OJVJG BODY and one spirit, as you are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, OJVjG FAITH, and one baptism. Ephes. iv. 4, 5. Conformably to this doctrine, respecting the necessary unity of the church, this apostle reckons HERESIES among the sins which exclude /rowt the kingdom of God, Gal. v. 20. and he requires that a man who is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, be rejected. Tit. iii. 10. The apostolical fathers, St. Polycarp and St. Ignatius, in their published Epistles, hold precisely the same language on this subject, with St. Paul, as does also their disciple St. Ire- nteus, who writes thus, " No reformation can be so advantage- ous as the evil of schism is pernicious."* The great light of die third century, St. Cyprian, has left us a whole book on tlie •De Hicr. 1. i. c. 3. Lcrtcr X/r. % an that God ing the Eter- is, and, being rod of Peace, If. Hence it y ONE J one . This mark reason, is still y Writ. Our r of the good which are riot hall hear my \epherd, John ' Father, pre- t shall believe ier, art in me St. Paul em- ere he writes, md every one writes, There n one hope of one baptism. ?specting the HERESIES God, Gal. V. 'fier the first Ignatius, in language on ;iple St. Ire- • advantage- reat light of book on tlie uttt/y of the church, in v/hich, among other similar passages, he writes as follows : " There is but one God, and one Christ, and one faith, and a people joined in one solid body with the cement of concord. This unity cannot suffer a division, nor this one body bear to be disjointed. — He cannot have God for his father, who has not the church for his mother. If any one could escape the deluge out of Noah's ark, he who is out of the church may also escape. To abandon the church is a crime, which blood cannot wash away. Such a one may be killed, but he cannot be crowned."* In the fourth century, the illus- trious St. John Chrysostom, writes thus : " We know that sal- vation belongs to the church alone, and that no one can partake of Christ, nor be saved out of the Catholic church and faith."\ The language of St. Augustin, in the fifth century, is equally strong on this subject, in numerous passages. Among others the Synodical epistle of the council of Zerta, in 412, drawn up by this saint, tells the Donatist schismatics, " Who- ever is separated from this Catholic church, however innocently he may think he lives, for this crime alone, that he is separated from the unity of Christ, will not have life, but the anger of God remains upon Aim." J Not less emphatical to the same effect, is the testimony of St. Fulgentius and St. Gregory the Great, in the sixth century, in various passages of their writings ; I shal! content myself with citing one of them. " Out of this church," says the former father, " neither the name of Christian avails, nor does baptism save, nor is a clean sacrifice offered, nor is there forgiveness of sins, nor is the happiness of eternal life to be found."'§. In short, such has been the language of the fa- thers and doctors of the church in all ages, concerning her es- sential unity, and the indispensable obligation of being united to her. Such also have been the formal declarations of the church herself in those decrees, by which she has condenmed and ana- • Cypr. de Unit. Oxon, p. 109. t Horn. t. in Pasc. ^ Concil. Labbe, torn. ii. p. 1620. ♦ Lib. tie Remiss. Peccat. c. 23. — N. B. This doctrine concerning the unity of the ctiurch, and the necessity of adhering to it, under pain of damnation, which appears so rigid to modern Protestants, was almost universally taught by their predecessors; as, for example, by Calvin, 1. iv. Instit. I. and Beza, Confess. Fid. c. v. ; by the Huguenots, in their Catechism ; by the Scotch, in their Profession of 1568 ; by the church of England, Art. 18 ; by the celebrated bishop Pearson, &c. The last named writes thus : " Christ never appointed two ways to heaven ; nor did he build a church, to save some, and make another institution for other men's salvation. As none were saved from the deluge but such as were within the ark of Noah — so none shall ever escape the eternal wrath of Gal, which belong not to the church of God.'* — Exposit. of Creed, ^349, 11* , . 92 Letter XV. thematized the several heretics and schismatics that have dogu matized in succession, whatever has been the quality of their ' errors, or the pretext for tlieir disunion. I am, dear sir, &£c. J. M. LETTER XV. To JAMES BROWJV, Esq, fye. Ik '• {J. PROTESTANT DISUmOX. Dear Sir, In the inquiry I am about to make respecting the church or society of Christians, to which this mark of unity belongs, it will be sufficient for my purpose to consider, that of Protest- ants, on one hand, and that of Catholics on tiie other. To speak properly, however, it is an absurdity to talk of the church or society of Protestants ; for the term PROTESTANT expresses nothing positive^ much less any union or association among them : it barely signifies one who protests or declares against some other person or persons, thing or things ; and in the pre- sent instance it signifies those who protest against the Catholic Jiurch. Hence there may be, and there are, numberless sects of Protestants, divided from each other in every thing, except in opposing their true mother, the Catholic church. St. Austin reckons up ninety heresies which had protested against tlie church before his time, that is, during tiie first four hundred years of her existence ; and ecclesiastical writers have counted about the same number, who rose up since that period, down to the era of Luther's protestation, which took place early in the sixteenth century : whereas, from the last mentioned era, to the end of the same century, Staphylus and cardinal Hosius enumerated two hundred and seventy diflerent sects of Protest- ants : and, alas ! how have Protestant sects, beyond reckoning and description, multiplied, during the last two hundred years ! Thus has the observation of the above cited holy father been verified in modern, no less than it was in former ages, where he exclaims : " Into how many morsels have those sects been broken who have divided themselves from the unity of the Letter XV. 93 church !"^ You are not ignorant that the illustrious Bossuet has written two considerable volumes on the Variations of the Protestants ; chiefly on those of the Lutheran and the Calvin- istic pedigrees. Numerous other variations, dissensions, and mutual persecutions, even to tlie extremity of death,f which have taken place among them, I have had occasion to mention in my former letters and other works. | I have also quoted the lamentations of Calvin, Dudith, and other heads of the Pro- testants, on the subject of these divisions. You will recollect, in particular, what the latter writes concerning those diflerences; " Our people are carried away by every wind of doctrine. If you know what their belief is to-day, you cannot tell what it will be to-morrow. Is there one article of religion, in which these churches, who are at war with the Pope, agree together ? If you run over all the articles, from the first to the last, you will not find one which is not held by some of them to be au article of faith, and rejected by others, as an impiety."'^ , „ . With these and numberless other historical facts of the same nature before his eyes, would it not, dear sir, I appeal to your own good sense, be the extremity of folly for any one to lay the least claim to the mark of unity in favour of Protestants, or to pretend that they who are united in nothing but their hostility towards the Catholic church, can form the one church we pro- fess to believe, in the creed ! Perhaps, however, you will say, that the mark of unity, which is wanting among the endless divisions of Protestants in general, may be found in the church to which you belong, tlie estabhshed church of England. I • St. Aug. contra Petolian. t Luther pronounced the Sacramentarians, namely, the Calvinists, Zaing- Hans, and those Protestants in general, who denied the real presence of Christ in the sacrament, heretics, and damned souls, for whom it is not lawful to pray. Epist. ad Arginten. Catech. Parv. Comment in Gen. His followers per!>ecuted Bucer, Melancthon's nephew, with imprisonment, and Crellius to death, for en- deavouring to soften their master's doctrine in this point. Mosheim by Mac- laine, vol. iv. p. 341 — 353. Zuinglius, while he deified Hercules, Theseus, &c. condemned the Anabaptists to be drowned, pronouncing this sentence on Felix Mans: " Qui iterum tnergitnt mergantnr ;^' which sentence was accord- ingly executed at Zurich. Limborch. Introd. 71. Not content with anathema- tizing and imprisoning those reformers who dissented from his system, John Calvin caused two of them, Servetus and Gruet, to be put to death. The Pres- byterians of Holland and New-England were equally intolerant with respect to other denominations of Protestants. The latter hanged four Quakers, one of them a woman, on account of their religion. In England itself, frequent execu- tions of Anabaptists and other Protestants took place, from the reign of Edward VI. till that of Charles I.; and other less sanguinary persecutions till the time of James II. ,. t LETTERS TO A PREBENDARY, &c. i Epist. ad Capiton. inter. Epist. Bezac. 94 Letter XV* grant, dear sir, that your communion has better pretentions to this, and the other marks of tlie church, than any other Pro- testant society has. She is, as our controversial poet sings, " The least deform'd because reformed the least."* You will recollect the account I have given, in a former letter,f of the material changes which this church has undergone, at differenf times, since her first entire formation in the reign of the lasf Edward, and which place her at variance with herself. You will also remember the proofs I brought of Hoadlyism, in othei words, of Socinianism, that damnable and cursed heresy^ as this church termed it in her last synod, J against some of her most illustrious bishops, archdeacons, and other dignitaries of modern times. These teach, in official charges to the clergy, in con- secration sermons, and in publications addressed to the throne, that the church herself is nothing more than a voluntary asso- ciation of certain people for the benefit of social worship ; that they themselves are in no other sense ministers of God than civil officers are ; that Christ has left us no exterior means of grace, and that, of course, baptism and the Lord's Supper (which are declared necessary for salvation in the Catechim) produce no spiritual effect at all ; in short, that all mysteries, and among the rest those of the trinity and incarnation, (for denying whitli, the prelates of the church of England have sent so many Arians to the stake, in the reigns of Edward, Elizabeth, and James I.) are mere nonsense.^ When I had occasion to expose this fatal system, (the professors of which Cranmer and Ridley would have sent, at once, to the stake,) I hoped it was of a local na- ture, and that defending, as I was in this point, the Articles nnd Liturgy of the established church as well as my own, I should, thus far, be supported by its dignitaries and other learned mem- bers : 1 found, however, the contrary to be generally the case,|| and that the irreligious infection was infinitely more extensive than I apprehended. In fact, I found the most celebrnted pro- fessors of divinity in the universities delivering Dr. Balguy's doctrine to the young clergy in their public leoUires, and the 0> I • Dryden, Hind and Panther. t Letter viii. ± Constitutions and Canor.s, A. D. 1640. Sparrow's CoUert. p. 355. ♦ See extracts from the Sermons of Bishop Hoadley, Dr. Balguy, and Dr. Sttirges, in Letters to a Prebendary, Let. viii. The most perspicuous and ner- vous oAhese preachers, unquestionably, was Dr. Balg;uy. See his Discoiirjei and Charges preached on public occasions, and dedicated to the king. Lockytr Davii, 1785. II That great ornament of the F>piscopnl bench, Dr. Horsloy, bishop of SL Asaph^, does not fall under this censure ; aa he protected the present writer, ImU) in aad out of parliament. Letter XV. 95 most enlightened bishops publishing it in their pastorals and otiier works. Among these, the Norrisian professor of theology at Cam-* bridge carries his deference to the archdeacon of Winchester so far, as to tell his scholars : " As I distrust my own conclusions tnnre than his, (Dr. Balguy's,) if you judge that they are not re- concileable, 1 must exhort you to confide in him rather than me."* In fact, his ideas concerning the mysteries of Chris- tianity, particularly the trinity and our redemption by Christ, and indeed concerning most other theological points, perfectly agree with those of Dr. Balguy. He represents the difference between the members of the established church and the Socini- ans to consist in nothing but " a few unmeaning words ;" and asserts, that " they need never be upon their guard against eacli otli€r."f Speaking of the custom, as he calls it, " in the Scripture, of mentioning Father, Son, and Holy Ghost togcihcry m the most solemn occasions, of which baptism is one," he says, " Did I pretend to understand what I say, I might be a Tritlicist or im Infidel, but I could not worship the one true God, and acknowledge Jesus Christ to be Lord of all."| Another learned professor of divinity, who is also a bishop of tlje established church, teaches his clergy " Not to esteem any particular opinion concerning the trinity, satisfaction, and ori- ginal sin, necessary to salvation."*^ Accordingly, he equally absolves the Unitarian from impiety in refusing divine honour to our Blessed Saviour, and " the worshipper of Jvjsus," as he expresses himself, from idolaii'y in paying it to him, on the score of their common good intention.^ This sufliciently shows what the bishop's own belief was concerning the adorable trinity, and the divinity of the second person of it. I have given, in a former letter, u remnrkal)le passage from the above quoted charge, where bishop Watson, speaking of the doctrines of Christianity, says to his assembled clergy, " I think it safer to tell you whvre they are contained than what they are. They are contained iii the Bible ; and if, in reading that book, your sentiments should be different from those of your neighbour, or from those of the church, be persuaded that infallibility apper- tains as little to you as it does to the church." I have else- where exposed the complete Socinianism of bishop Hoadley ^ • Lectiirei in Divinity, delivered in the university of Cumbridge, by J. Heji [D.D. Ri Norrii>iRn professor, in four volumeB, 1797. Vol. ii. p. 104. t Vol. ii. |). 41. t Vol. ii. pp. 250, 251. ♦ Dr. Watson, l)ishop of L^ndaff's Charge, 1795. Collect, of TliauLaV.irt«. "-♦■ ';- '•" • m Letter XV, 1.^ and his ccholars,* among whom we must reckon bishop Shipley in the first rank. Another celebrated writer, who was himself a dignitary of the «8tablishment,f arguing, as he does most powerfully, against the consistency and efficacy of public confessions of faith, among Protestants of every denomination, says, that out of a hundred ministers of tlie establishment, who, every year, subscribe the Articles made " to prevent diversity of opinions," he has reason to believe *' that above one-fifth of this number do not subscribe or assent to these Articles in one uniform sense."J He also quotes a Right Rev. author who maintains that " No two think- ing men ever agreed exactly in their opinion, even with regard to any one article of it."§ He also quotes the famous bishop Bumet, who says, that " The requiring of subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles is a great imposition, || and that the greater part of the clergy subscribe the Articles, without ever examining them, and others do it because they must do it, though they can hardly satisfy their consciences about some things in them."1[ He shows that the advocates for subscription, Doctors Nichols, Bennet, Waterland, and Stebbing, all vindicated it on opposite grounds ; and he is forced to confess the same thing, with re- spect to the enemies of subscription, with whom he himself ranks. Dr. Clark pretends there is a salvo in the subscription, namely, I assent to the articles in as much as they are agreeable to scrip- ture,** though the judges of England have declared the contra- ry.f f Dr. Sykes alleges that the Articles were either purposely or negligently made equivocat.'^'l Another writer, whom he praises, undertakes to explain how " these Articles may be sub- scribed, and consequently believed, by a Sabellian, an orthodox Trinitarian, a Tritheist, and an Arian, so called." After this citation. Dr. Blackburn shrewdly adds : " One would wonder what idea this writer had o{ peace, when he supposed it might be kept by the act of subscription among men of these diflerent judgments."§'§ If you will look into Overton's True Churchman Ascertained, you will meet with additional proofs of the repug- nance of many other dignitaries and distinguished churchmen to the articles of their own church, ns well as of their disagree- ment in faith among themselves. Hence you will not wonder riiat a numerous body of them should, some years ago, have • Letters to a Prebendary. t Dr. Blackburn, arrhdencon of Clenvelnnd, author of the Confeiaional. i Confess. 3 Kd. p. 45. ♦ Dr. Clayton, bishop of Clogher. ConfeM.p. 03. f r. 91. t v. 237. ii •• P. L»22. P. 239. tt P. IftO. ^.■ Letter XV, ¥i ishop Shipley ?nitaryofthc 'ully, against faith, among of a hundred subscribe the he has reason not subscribe "t He also Vo two think- i with regard imous bishop ription to the It the greater er examining though they js in them."T tors Nichols, t on opposite ng, with re- nraself ranks. »tion, namely, able to scrip- ed the contra- iier purposely er, whom he J may be sub- , an orthodox ' After this ould wonder sed it might hese diflerent e Churchman of the repiig- d churchmen icir disagree- I not wonder rs ago, have [^onfesBiunal. gher. ft P. 103. petitioned the legislature to be relieved from the grievance^ as they termed it, of subscribing these Articles ;* and that we ould continually hear of the mutilation of the liturgy by so :;iany of them, to avoid sanctioning those doctrines of their church, which they disbelieve and reject, particularly the Atha- nasian Creed and the absolution.! I might disclose a still wider departure from their ori^nal confessions of faith, and still more signal dissensions among the different dissenters, and particularly among the old stock of the Presbyterians and Independents, if this were necessary. Most of these, says Dr. Jortin, are now Socinians, though we all know, they heretofore persecuted that sect with fire and sword. The renowned Dr. Priestly not only denied the divinity of Christ, but with horrid blasphemy, accused him of numerous errors, weaknesses, and faults :J and when the authority of Calvin, in burning Servetus, was objected to him, he answered, " Calvin was a great man, but, if a little man be placed on the shoulders of a giant, he will be enabled to see farther than the giant himself." The doctrine now preached in the fashionable Unitarian chapels of the metropolis, I understand, greatly re- sembles that of the late Theophilanthropists of France, insti- tuted by an Infidel, one of the five directors. The chief question, however, at present is, whether the church of England can lay any claim to the first character or mark of the true church, pointed out In our common creed, that of UNITY ? On this subject I have to observe, that in addition to the dissensions among its members, already mentioned, there are whole societies, not communicating with the ostensible church of England, who make very strong and plausible pre- tensions to be, each of them, the real church of England. Such are the Non-jurors, who maintain the original doctrine of this church, contained in the Homilies concerning passive obedience and non-resistance, and who adhere to the first ritual of Ed- ward VI.*^ Such are the evangelical preachers and their dis- ciples, who insist upon it that pure Calvinism is the creed of • Particularly in 1772. t The omission of the Athanasian Creed, in particular, so often took place in the public service, that an act of parliament has just passed, among other thin^, to enforce the repetition of it. But if the clergymen alluded to really believe that Christ is not God, wliut is the Legislature doing in forcing them to worship hini as Cod ? \ Thcolog. UoiKwit. vol. 4. ♦ 'J'o this rhurc;h bolonjicd Ken, and tlio other six bishops, who were deposed at the revolution. Leslie, CoUior, Hicks, Brot, and muny other chief ornaments oftho church of Eugluud. 9B 'Letter Am. the established church.* Finally, such are the IVIethodists whom professor Hey describes as forming the old church of England.j[ And, even now, it is notorious that many clergy. men preach in the churches in the morning, and in the meeting houses in the evening ; while their opulent patrons are pur- chasing as many church-livings as they can, in order to fill them with incumbents of the same description. Tell me now, dear sir, whether, from this view of the state of the church of England, or from any other fair view which can be taken of it, you will venture to ascribe to it that first mark of the true churchy which you profess to belong to her, when, in the face of heaven and earth, you solemnly declare, / believe in ONE Ca- tholic Church 9 Say, is there any single mark or principle of real unity in it ? I anticipate the answers your candour will give to these questions. I am, &CC. J. M \ LETTER XVI. To JAMES BROWN, Esq. ^r. CATHOLIC umrY. Dear Sir, We have now to see whether that first mark of the true church, which we confess in our creeds, but which we have found to be wanting to the Protestant societies, and even to tire most ostensible and orderly of them, the established church of England, does or does not appear in that principal and primeval stock of Christianity, called the Catholic church* In case this church, spread, as it is, throughout the various nations of the earth, and subsisting, as it has done, through all ages, since that of Christ and his apostles, should have maintained that reli- gious unityt which the modern sects, confined to a single peo' • It 18 clear from (he Articles and Homilies, and still more from the persecu- tion of the assortors of freo-will in this country, that thechiirchof England was Calvinistic till the end of the reign of Jnmcs I. in the course of which he sent Episcopal representatives from England and Scotland to the great Protestant 8ynoil of t)ort. These, in the name of their respective churches, signed timl " the faithful who fail into atrocious crimes, do not forfeit jualificalion, or iucui ilamnatinn/' t Vol. ii. p. 73. W- Letter XVt ^^ le I\re(hodlst9, old church of many clergy- in the meeting foiis are pur- ler to fill them me now, dear he church of be taken of it, rk of the true , in the face of in OJYE Ca- ar principle of • candour will &CC. J. M k of the true hich we have nd even to tire lied church of 1 and primeval In case this lations of the gcs, since that led that reli- a single pco' Vom the pcrsecu- ;h of England was of which ho sent great ProtcstRnt •rlics, signed that ificaliout or i»(:u( pie, have been unable to preserve, you will allow that it must have been framed by a consummate Wisdom, and protected by an omnipotent Providence. Now, sir, I maintain it, as a notorious fact, that this ori^nal and great church iS) and ever has been, strictly ONE in all the above-mentioned particulars, and first in her faith and terms of communion. The same creeds, namely, the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Creed of Pope Pius IV. drawn up in conformity with the definitions of the Council of Trent, are every where recited and professed, to the strict letter j the same articles of faith and morality are taught in all our catechisms j the same rule of faith, namely, the revealed Word of God, contained in Scripture and tradition, and the same expositor and interpreter of this rule, the Catholic church speaking by the mouth of her pastors, are admitted and proclaimed by all Catholics throughout the four quarters of the globe, from Ireland to Chili, and from Canada to India. You may convince yourself of this any day, at the Royal Exchange, by conversing with intelligent Catholic merchants, from the several countries in question. You may satisfy yourself re- specting it, even by interrogating the poor illiterate Irish, and other Catholic foreigners, who traverse the country in various directions. Ask them their belief as to the fundamental articles of Christianity, the unity and trinity of God, the incarnation and death of Christ, his divinity, and atonement for sin by his passion and death, the necessity of baptism, the nature of the olessed sacrament ; question them on these and other such points, but with kindness, patience, and condescension, particu- larly with respect to their language and delivery, and, I will venture to say, you will not find any essential variation in the answers of most of them ; and much less such as you will find by proposing the same questions to an equal number of Pro- testants, whether learned or unlearned, of the self-same deno- mination. At all events, the Catholics, if properly interrogated, will confess their behef in one comprehensive article ; namely, this, / believe whatever the holy Catholic church believes and teaches. Protestant divines, at the present day, excuse their dissent from the Articles which they subscribe and swear to, by rea- son of their alleged antiquity and obsoleteness,* though none of them are yet quite two centuries and a half old,f and they • Dr. Hey's Lectures on Divinity, vol. ii. pp. 49, 50, 51, &c. t The 39 Article! were drawn in 156?, and confirmed by the queen and tht biibopiin 1571. ^ 12 100 Letter XVL feel no difficulty in avowing that " a tacit reformation,'* since the first pretended reformation, has taken place among them.* This alone is a confession that their church is not one and the same ; whereas all Catholics believe as firmly in the doctrinal decisions of the council of Nice, passed fifteen hundred years ago, as they do in those of the council of Trent, confirmed ii; 1564, and other still more recent decisions ; because the Catho- lic chm'ch, like its divine Founder, is the same yesterday ^ to-day, and for ever, Heb. xiii. 8.„,im.. .,.,,<., . Nor is it in her doctrine only, that the Catholic church ii one and the same ; she is also uniform in whatever is essential in her liturgy. In every part of the world, she ofiers up the same unbloody sacrifice of the holy mass, which is her chief act of divine worship ; she administers the same seven sacraments, provided by infinite wisdom and mercy for the several wants of the faithful ; the great festivals of our redemption are kept holy on the same days, and the apostolical fast of Lent is every where proclaimed and observed. In short, such is the unity of the Catholic church, that when Catholic priests or laymen, landing at one of tlie neighbouring ports, from India, Canada, or Brastil, come to my chapel,f I find them capable of joining with me in every essential part of the divine service. Lastly, as a regular, uniform, ecclesiastical constitution and government, and a due subordination of its members, are re- quisite to constitute a uniform church, and to preserve unity of doctrine and liturgy in it, so these are undeniably evident in the Catholic church, and in her alone. She is, in the language of St. Cyprian, " The habitation of peace and unity ,"f and in that of the inspired text, like an army in battle array. ^ Spread, as the Catholics are, over the face of the earth, accordHiig to my former observation, and disunited, as they are in every other respect, they form one uniform body in the order of re- ligion. Whether roaming in the plains of Paraguay, or con- fined in the palaces of Pckin, each simple Catholic, in point of ecclesiastical economy, is subject to his pastor ; each pastor submits to his bishop, and each bishop acknowledges the supre- macy of the successor of St. Peter, in matters of faith, morality, and spiritual jurisdiction. In case of error, or insubordination, which, from the frailty and malice of the human heart, must, from time to time, disturb her, there are found canons and ec- clesiastical tribunals, and judges, to correct and put an end to If Hi • Hey, p. 4B. t At Winchester, where the writer rcsiJcJ whca this letter was written. I " J)onnci!ium i)aci9 et unitutis/' St. Cyp. t Cant. vi. 4. Letter XVL 101 tion," since ong them.* one and the le doctrinal ndred years confirmed in the Catho- day, to-day, church ii is essential ffers up the ler chief act sacraments, ral wants of )n are kept eut is every the unity of or laymen, ia, Canada, e of joining • >titution and ers, are re- rve unity of ident in the language of y,"J and in § Spread, ccordiing to re in every order of re- ay, or con- in point of ;ach pastor 5 the supre- ii, morality, )ordination, leart, must, ons and ec- t an end to tlie evil, while similar evils in other religious societies are found to be interminable. I have said little or nothing of the varieties of Protestants in regard to their liturgies and ecclesiastical governments, be- cause these matters being very intricate and obscure, as well as diversified, would lead me too far a-field for my present plan. It is sufficient to remark, that the numerous Protestant sects expressly disclaim any union with each other in these points. That a great proportion of them reject every species of liturgy and ecclesiastical government whatever, and that, in the church of England herself, very many of her dignitaries, and other dis- tinguished members, express their pointed disapprobation of certain parts of her liturgy, no less than of her Articles,* and that none of them appear to stand in awe of any authority, ex- cept that which is enforced by the civil power. Upon a review of the whole matter of Protestant disunion and Catholic unity, I am forced to repeat with Tertullian, " It is the character of error to vary ; but when a tenet is found to be one and the same among a great variety of people, it is to be considered not as an error but as a divine tradition."f I am, dear sir, he. ^ ., , J- M. • Archdeacon Paley very naturally complains, that " the doctrine of the Articles of the church of England," which he so pointedly objects to, " are interwoven, with much industry, into her forms of public worship." I have not met with a Protestant bishop, or other eminent divine, from archbishop Tillotson down to the present bishop of Lincoln, who approves altogether of the Athanasian Croed, which, however, is appointed to be said or sung on thirteen chief festivals in the year. t De Prsescrip. contra Haer. The famous bishop Jewel, in excuse for the acknowledged variations of his own church, objects to Catholics that there are varieties in theirs ; namely, some of the friars are dressed in bliick, and some in white, and some in blue : that some of them live on meat, and some on fish, and some on herbs : they have also disputes in their schools, as Dr. Porteus also re- marks ; but they both omit to mention, that these disputes are not about articles of faith. ! written. C»nt. vi. 4. jy. [102] hi: ii.t'>.' Pf"' yiiDi :v';x; '>f- rt,;i:' rtW; T t I r' i i ' .' 'iI:{k<: i • . LETTER XVII. ' from JAMES BROWJST, Esq, ^c. OBJECTJOJ\rS TO THE CLAIM OF EXCLUSIVE SALVATIOK Reverend Sir, I AM too much taken up myself with the present sutiject of your letters, willingly to interrupt the continuation of them : but some of the gentlemen, who frequent New Cottage, having communicated your three last to a learned dignitary who is upon a visit in our neighbourhood, and he having made certain remarks upon them, I have been solicited by those gentlemen to forward them to you. The terms of our correspondence render an apology from me unnecessary, and still more the conviction that I believe you entertain of my being, with sincere respect and regard, Rev. Sir, &c. JAMES brown: "Extract of a Letter from the Rev. JV. JV. Prebendary of A*, to Mr. jy. It is well known to many Roman Catholic gentlemen, with whom I have lived in habits of social intercourse, that I was al- ways a warm advocate for their emancipation, and that, so far from having any objections to their religion, I considered their hopes of future bliss as well founded as my own. In return, I thought I saw in them a corresponding liberality and charity. But these letters which you have sent me from the correspondent ol your society at Winchester, have quite disgusted me with their bigotry and uncharitableness. In opposition to the Chrysos- tomes and Augustines, whom he quotes so copiously, for his doctrine of exclusive salvation, I will place a modern bishop of my church, no way inferior to them, Dr. Watson, who says, " Shall we never be freed from the narrow-minded contentions of bigots, and from the insults of men who know not what spirit they are of, when they stint the Omnipotent in the exercise of his mercy, and bar the doors of heaven against every sect but their own ? Shall we never learn to think more humbly of our- selves and less despicably of others ; to believe that the Father of the Universe accommodates not his judgments to the wretcli- M Letter XVIIL 103 iLF^TIOJf. ed wrangHngs of pedantic theologues ; but that every one, who, with an honest intention, and to the best of his abilities, seeketh truth, whether he findeth it or not, and worketh righteousness, will be accepted of by him ?"* These, sir, are exactly my sentiments, as they were those of the illustrious Hoadley, in his celebrated sermon, wh.'ch had the effect of stifling most of the remaining bigotry in the established church. f There is not any prayer which I more frequently or fervently repeat than that of the liberal minded poet, who himself passed for a Roman Catholic, particularly the following stanza of it : .. ,, ,i!n m " Let not this weak and erring hand Presume thy bolts to throw, And deal damnation round the land On each I judge tliy foe."| • ; , , <:5 I hope your society will require its Popish correspondent, be- fore he writes any more letters to it on other subjects, to answer what our prelate and his own poet have advanced against the bigotry and uncharitableness of excluding Christians of any denomination from the mercies of God and everlasting happi- ness. He may assign whatever marks he pleases of the true church, but I, for my part, shall ever consider charity as the only sure mark of this, conformably with what Christ says : By this shall all know that ye are my disciples^ if ye have love one to another, John xiii. 35. 1 1 ' ! ; '1 1 I «.v I ' , ■■ •'-• i ■ I LETTER XVIIL M . To MMES BHOWJS'y Esq. ^c. ' ' OBJECTIONS AJ{^WERED. r. • i^ ■;■.■• \'t Dear Sir, »• In answer to the objections of the Reverend prebendary to my letters on the mark of unity in the true church, and the ne- ■'it- ' • Bishop Watson's Theolog. Tracts, Pref. p. 17. t Bishop Hoadley's Sennon on the Kingdom of Christ. This made the choic* of religious a thing indifferent, and subjected the whole business of religion to the civil power. Hence sprung the famous Bangorian Controversy, which, ^hen on the point of ending in a censure upon Hoadley from the Convocation, the latter was interdicted by ministry, and has never since, in the course of a hundred years, been allowed to meet a^in. t Pope's Universal Prayer. ^ ,, j 12* 104 If" ■ 111 " ' cessity of being incorporated in this church, I must observe, in the first piace, that nothing disgusts a reasoning divine more than vague charges of bigotry and intolerance^ inasmuch as they have no distinct meaning, and are equally applied to all sects and individuals, by others, whose religious opinions are more lax than tlieir own. These odious accusations which your churchmen bring against Catholics, the Dissenters bring against you, who are equally loaded with them by Deists, as these are, in their turn, by Atheists and Materialists. Let us then, dear sir, in the serious discussions of religion, confine ourselves to language of a defined meaning, leaving vague and tinsel terms to poets and novelists. ' '.' "' " " ,' It seems, then, that bishop Watson, with the Rev. N. N. and other fashionable latitudinarians of the day, are indignant at the idea of " stinting the Omnipotent in the exercise of his mercy, and barring the doors of heaven against any sect," however heterodox or impious. Nevertheless, in the very pas- sage which I have quoted, thej' themselves stint this mercy to those who " work righteousness," which implies a restraint on men's passions. Methinks I now hear some epicure Divei or elegant libertine retorting on these liberal, chai'itable, divines, lu their own words. Pedantic thcologues, narrow minded bigots^ who stint the Omnipotent in the exercise of his mercy, and bar the doors of heaven against me, for following the impulse which he himself has planted in me ! The same language may, witli equal justice, be put into the mouth of Nero, Judas Iscarlot, and of the very demons themselves. Thus, in pretending to mag- nily God's mercy, these men would annihilate his justice, liis sanctity, and his veracity ! Our business, then, is, not to form arbitrary theories concerning the divine attributes, but to attend to what he himself has revealed concerning them and the exer- cise of them. What words can be more express than those of Christ, on this point, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned ! Mark xvi. IG, or than those of St. Paul : JVithout faith it is impossible to please God, Heb. xi. 6. Conformably to this doctrine, the same apostle classes heresies with murder and adultery ; con- cerning which he says, they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, Gal. v. 20, 21. Accordingly, he orders that a man, who is a heretic, shall be rejected. Tit. ill. 10, and the apostle of charity, St. John, forbids the faithful to receive him into their houses ; or even to bid him God speed who bring- eth not this doctrine of Christ, 2 John i. 10. This apostle acted up to his rule, with respect to the treatment of persons out of m f4m. wm- the church, when he hastily withdrew from a public building, in which he met the heretic Cerinthus, " lest," as he said, "it should fall down upon hira."* I have given, in a former letter, some of tlie numberless pas- sages in which the holy fathers speak home to the present point, and, as these are far more expressive and emphatical than what I myself have said upon it, I presume they hs^ve chiefty contributed to excite the bile of the Rev. prebendary. How- ever he may slight these venerable authorities, yet, as I am sure that you, sir, reverence them, I will add two more si^qh quotations, on account of their peculiar appositeness to the pre- sent point, from the great doctor of the fifth century, St. Au- gustine. He says : " All the assemblies, or rather divisions, who call themselves churches of Christ, but which, in fact, have separated themselves from the congregation of unity, do not belong to the true church. They might indeed belong to her, if the Holy Ghost could be divided against himself: but as this is impossible, they do not belong to her."f In like manner, addressing himself to certain sectaries of his time, he says : " If our communion is the church of Christ, yours is not so : for the ckurek of Christ is one, whichsoever she is; since it is said of her, My dove, my undefiled is one; she is the only one, ((f her mother.** Cantic. vi. 9. > ,;,)(> -j » y ii(j h >:uj But, setting aside Scripture and tradition, let lis; consider this matter, as bishop Watson and his associates afiect to do, on the side of natural reason alone. These modern philosophers think it absurd to suppose that the Creator of the Universe concerns himself about what we poor mortals do or do not be- lieve ; or, as the bishop expresses himself, that he " accommo- dates his judgments to the wrangling of pedantic theologues." With equal plausibility certain ancient philosophers have repre- sented it as unworthy the Supreme Being to busy hi^nself about the actions of such reptiles as we are in his sight ; and thus have opened a door to an unrestrained violation of his etera^i and immutable laws ! In opposition to both these schools, I maintain, as the clear dictates of reason, that as God is the au- thor, so he is necessarily the supreme Lord and Master of a]! beings, with their several powers and attributes, and therefore of those noble and distinguishing faculties of the human soul, reason and free will ; that he cannot divest himself of this su- preme dominion, or render any being or any faculty indepen- dent of himself or of his high laws, any more than he can ceaRefo * S. Iron. 1. ill. Euseb. Hist. I. iii. t De Verb. Dom, Serm. ii. m Letter XVIII. be God ; that, of course, he does and must require our reason to believe in his divine revelations, no less than our will to sub- mit to his supreme commands ; that he is just, no less than be is merciful, and therefore that due atonement must be made to him for every act of disobedience to him, whether by disbeliev- ing what he has said, or by disobeying what he has ordered. 1 advance a step further, in opposition to the Hoadley and Watson school, by asserting, as a self-evident truth, that there being a more deliberate and formal opposition to the Most High, in saying, / will not believe what thou hast revealed^ than in saying, I will not practice what thou hast commanded, so, ceteris paribus, WILFUL infidelity and heresy involve greater guilt than immoral frailty. - /> ^ You will observe, dear sir, that in the prrce.v!*;^ y; < s,age, I have marked the word toilful; because CiiVhoIic divines and the holy fathers, at the same time that ^hpy sti itd y insist on the necessity of adhering to the doctrine vm\ c immuniun of the Ca- tholic church, make an express exception in favour of what is termed invincible ignorance, which occurs, when persons out of the true church are sincerely and firmly resolved, in spite ^f all worldly allurements on one hand, and opposition to the con- trary on the other, to enter into it, if they could find it out, and when they use their best endeavours for this purpose. This 'exception, in favour of the invincibly ignorant, is made by the same St. Austin who so strictly insists on the general rule. His words are these : " The apostle has told us to reject a man that M a heretic: but those who defend a false opinion, withoitit per- tinacious obstinacy, especially if they have not themselves in- vented it, but have derived it from their parents, and who seek the truth with anxious solicitude, being sincerely disposed to re- nounce their error as soon as they discover it, such persons are not to be deemed heretics."* Our great controvertist, Bellar- mine, asserts, that such Christians, " in virtue of the disposition of their hearts, belong to the Catholic church. "f ^^ Who the individual er+eriorly of other communions, but by the sincerity of then d.sn rations, belonging to the Catholic church, who, and i'. v 'r,v r. :,bersth. j^ are, it is for the Search- er of hearts, our future Judge, alone to determine : far be it from me, and from every other Catholic, to " deal damnation" on any person in particular : still thus much, on the grounds already stated, I am bound, not only in truth, but also in chari- ty, to say and to proclaim, that nothing short of the sincere His- * Epiit ad Episc. Donat. t Contror. torn. ii. lib. iii. c. 0. W'\^ titter XVin, 107 position in question, and the actual use of such means as Pro- vidence respectively affords for discovering the true church to those who are out of it, can secure their salvation ; to say no- thing of the Catholic sacraments and other helps for this pur- nose, of whl'h sucli persons are necessarily deprived. I just metitioned the virtue of charity ; and I must l»ere add, that on no one poiiii ire latitudinariaiis and genuine Catholics more at variance than upon this. The former consider them- selves charitable, in proportion as they pretend to open the gate of heaven to a greater number of religionists of various descriptions : but, unfortunately, they are not possessed of t it hyi of that gate ; and when they fancy they have opened liy gate as wide as possible, it still remains as narrow, and the way to it as strait J as our Saviour describes these to be in the Gospel, Mat. vii. 14. Thus they lull men into a fatal indifference about the truths of revelation, and a false security as to the • salvation. Genuine Catholics, on the other hand, are p rsuac ed, that as there is but one God, one faith, and one Oaptism, Ephes. iv. 5. so there is but ONE SHEEP-FOLD, namely, ONE CHURCH. Hence, they omit lo opportunity of alarm- ing their wandering brethren on the danger they are in, and of bringing them into this one fold of the one Shepherd^ John x. IG, To form a right judgment in this case, we need but ask, Is it charitable or uncharitable in the physician, to warn his patient of his danger in eating unwholesome food ? Again, is it cha- ritable or .'mcharitable in the watchman who sees the sword com" ing to sound the trumpet of alarm ? Ezech. xxxiii. G. But to conclude, the Rev. prebendary, with most modern Protestants, may continue to assign his latitudinarianism, which admits all religions to be right, thus dividing truth, that is essen- tially indivisible*, as a mark of the truth of his sect ; in the meantime, the Catholic church ever will maintain, as she ever has maintained, that there is only one faith and one true church, and Ihat this her uncompromising firmness, in retaining and promising this unity, is the first mark of her being this church. The subject admits of being illustrated by the veil known judg meut of the wisest of men. Two women dwelt together, each of whom had an infant son; but, one of these dying, they both J^ontended for possession of the living child, and carried their cause to the tribunal of Solomon. He, finding them equally contentious, ordered the infant they disputed about to be cut in two, and one-half of it to be given to each of them ; which order the pretended mother agreed to, exclaiming. Let it be neither wfjie nor thine, hut divide it. Then spake the woman, whose the, 108 Letter XIX. t living child was, unto the king; for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O, my lord, give her the living child, and %n no wise slay it. Then the king ansivered and said. Give her the living child, and in no wise slay ii ; SHE IS THE MO. TUER THEREOF! 1 Kings iii. 26, 27. I am, Dear Sir, &c. >'^- ■'■!■•■■ J. M. Uoon abandoned ' Semi-pelagian r cause of coii- be true to say, 3US doctrine de- »e Reformation, Ltrianisni or So- )Us system. To ind patriarch of hing of us b(it ?."|| " I do not ill things nrres other cause of " Men, by the >wn, are prcdes- the disciples of lose to the doc ing remarkable " Faith is pc ependencc each implies an assu n our power to and Maclaine, Ec- Irbilrio, in Letten MnclHiiic, vol.v. p. 458. tt IWJ. Letter XIX. know whether we be predestinated to salvation, not by fancy, but by conclusions as certain as if we had ascended into heaven to hear it from the mouth of God himself."* And is there a man that,having being worked up by such dogmatizing, or by his own fancy, to this full assurance of indefeasible predestination and impeccability, who, under any violent temptation to break the laws of God or man, can be expected to resist it ! After all the pains which have been taken by modern divines of the church of England to clear her from this stain of Calvin- ism, nothing is more certain than that she was, at first, deeply infected with it. The 42 Articles of Edward VI. and the 39 Articles of Elizabeth are evidently grounded in that doctrine,f which, however, Is more expressly inculci ted in the Lambeth Articles,! approved of by the two archbishops, the bishop of London, &ic. in 1595, "whose testimony," says the renowned Fuller, " is an infallible evidence, what was the general and r^ ceived doctrine of the church of England in that age about the forenamed controversies."'^ In the History of the University of Cambridge, by this author, a strict churchman, we have evident proof that no other doctrine but that of Calvin was so much as tolerated by the established church, at the time I have been speaking of. " One W. Barret, fellow of ConvJlo and Cains college, preached ad Clerum for his degree of bachelor of divi- nity, wherein he vented such doctrines, for which he was sum- moned, six days after, before the consistory of doctors, and there enjoined the following retraction: — 1st, I said that, no man is so strongly underpropped by the certainty of faith^ as to he assured of his salvation : but, now, I protest, before God, that they which are justified by faith, are assured of their salva- tion with the certainty of faith. 3dly, I said that, certainty con- CFrning the time to come is proud: but now I proteat that justi^ ficd faith can never be rooted out of the minds of tlie faithful. fithly, Those words escaped me in my sermon : / believe against Calinn, Peter Martyr, S^c. that sin is the true, proper, and first tnusc of reprobation. Hut, now, being bettor instructed, 1 say that the reprobation of the wicked is from everlasting ; and I am • Exposit. cited hv Rossuet, Variat. 1. xiv. pp. f), 7. f Pnrtiriiliirly tlin"lUh, 12tli, KUh, and I7tli of tho 39 Articles, nylheleno: pfllio l:Uli, atiuiiix the 3!>, it would uppeiir, lliat (ho patimceof J^ocratcs, thu integrity of Arislidos, the coutinriicc of S(i[)io, and the pnlrmtismof Cato "had the niitnrp of cin," J)rrausr Ihry wore ''works done before the grace of Christ." t ^'lllhM•'»C;hlM•.hlli^t(n•y, p. '230. i Fu1Um% p. 2'3'2. — N. IJ. On tho point in qiirntion, Dr. Hey, vol. iv. p. fi, quotes tlie well-known h|i( rch of tlic j;rcat lonl (Jhatham ia parliamont : ** Wo luT« aCulvinistic crucd, and uu Arminiau cUtj^y." 13 112 Letter XIX. ■^'■f^ t ■' of the same mind concerning election, as the church ofEngtam teacheth in the Articles of faith. Last of all, I uttered these words rashly against Calvin, a man that hath very well deserved of the church of God : that he durst presume to lift himself above the High God ; by which words I have done great injury to that learned and right-godly man. I have also uttered many bitter words against Peter Martyr, Theodore Beza, he. being the lights and ornaments of our church, calling them by the odious name of Calvinists, fee."* Another proof of the former intolerance of the church of England, with respect to that mo* derate system, which all her present dignitaries hold, is the order drawn up by the archbishops and bishops in 1566, for government to act upon, namely, that " All incorrigible free will men, &c. should be sent into some castle into North Wales, or at Walingford, there to live of their own labour, and no one to be suflered to resort to them, but their keepers, until they be found to repent their errors."f A still stronger, as well a» more authentic evidence of the former Calvinism of the English church is furnished by the history and acts of the general Cal- vinistic Synod of Dort, held against Vorstius, the successor of Arminius, who had endeavoured to modify that impious system. Our James I. who had the principal share in assembling this Synod, was so indignant at the attempt, that in a letter to the States of Holland, he termed Vorstius, " the enemy of God," and insisted on his being expelled, declaring, at the same time, that " it was his own duty, in quality of defender of the faith, with which title," he said, " God had h« noured him, to extirpate those cursed heresies, and to drive : liem to hell !" J To be brief, he sent Carlton and Davenport, the former being bishop of Landaff, the latter of Salisbury, with two other dignitaries of the church of England, and Bancancjual, on the part of the church of Srotland, to the Synod, whore they appeared auiong the foremost in condonniiiig the yVrminians, and in defining tiiat " God gives true and lively faith to those whom he resolves to withdraw from the common damnation, and to them alone ; and that the true faithful, by atrocious crimcsj do not forfeit thegract (f adoption and the state nfjustifwation !"^ It might have been expected that the decrees of this Synod • Fuller's Hist, of Univ. of Cnmb. p. ir.O.— N. H. It will he evident to tlie reader, th'tl have (jrea'ly iibriiljjcd liiin curious reciinlalioii, which wus lot loiiR to l)n quoted at lonsfh. f Strypp's Annals of ilcform. vol. i. p. 214. \ Hi!ibles, kv. in order to rely more fully ' on the blood of the Fianib.' " In khort, Wesley abandoned the Moravian coiuiexion, and sot up that which is properly his own religion, as it is detailed by Nightingale, in his Portrait of Methodism. This ha})penrd in 1740, soon after which he broke oft* from his rival Whitfield: in fact they maintained quite opposite doctrines on several es- sential points : still the tenet of instantaneous justification, with- out repentance, charity, or other good works, and the actual Letter XIX. 117 OSS, oj)|)(isiiiir lire, fretjiuMil- 1, and set ui) feeling and certainty of this and of everlasting happiness, con- tinued to be the essential and vital principles of Wesley's sys- cm, as they arc of the Calvinistic sects in general j till having witnessed the horrible impieties and cri "s to which it conduct- ed, he, at a conference or synod of his .reachers, in 1744, de- clared that he and they had " leaned too much to Calvinism and Antinomianism." In answer to the question " What is Antino- mlanism?" Wesley, in the same conference, answers, " Ths doctrine which makes void the law through faith. Its main pillars are that Christ abolished the moral law ; that, therefore, Christians are not obliged to keep it ; that Christian liberty, is liberty from obeying tlie commands of God ; that it is bondage to do a thing because it is commanded, or forbear it because it \s forbidden ; that a believer is not obliged to use the ordi nances of God, or to do good works, that a preacher ought not to exhort to good works," he. See here the essential morality of the religion which Wesley had hitherto followed and preacl>- cd, as drawn by his own pen, and which still continues to be preached by the other sects of Methodists ! We shall hereafter 866 in what manner he changed it. The very mention, how- ever, of a change in this ground-work of Methodism, inflamed all the Methodist connexions : accordingly, the Hon. and Rev. Mr, Shirley, chaplain to lady Huntingdon, in a circular letter, written at her desire, declared against the dreadful heresy of Wesley, which, as he expressed himself, " injured the foundck- iion of Chriitianity." He, therefore, summoned another con- ference, which severely censured Wesley. On the other hand, this patriarch was strongly supported, and particularly by Fletcher of Madeley, an able writer, whom he had destined to succeed him, as the head of his connexion. Instead of being of- fended at his master's change, Fletcher says, " I admire the caiv dour of an old man of God, who, instead of obstinately maintaiiv- inp an old mistake, comes down like a little child, and acknow- ledges it before his preachers, whom it is his interest to secure." The same Fletcher published seven volumes of Checks to Antino minnism, in vindication of Wesley's change in this essential point of his religion. In these he brings the most convincing proofs and examples of the impiety and Immorality, to which tljc ei»- tinisiasm of Antinomian Calvinism had conducted the Metho- dists. He mentions a highwayman, lately executed in his neighbourhood, who vindicated his crimes upon this principle. He mentions other more odious instances of wickedness, which, to his knowledge, had flowed from it. All tliese, he says, are represented by their prwuchcrs to be " damning sins in Turks 118 Letter XIX, In ill m and Pagans, but only spots in God's children." He adds " There are few of our celebrated pulpits, where more has not been said for sin than against it .'" He quotes an Hon. M. P. " once my brother," he says, " but now my opponent," who, in his published treatise, maintains that " murder and adultery do not hurt the pleasant children, (the elected,) but even work for their good :" adding, " My sins may displease God, my person is always acceptable to him. Though I should outsin Manas- ses himself, I should not be less a pleasant child, because God always views me in Christ. Hence, in the midst of adulteries, murders and incests, he can address me with. Thou art all fair, my love, my undefiled ; there is not a spot in thee. It is a most pernicious error of the schoolmen to distinguish sins according to the fact, not according to the person. Though I highly blame those who say, let us sin that grace may abound; yet adultery, incest and murder, shall, upon the whole, make me holier on earth and merrier in heaven !" It only remains to show in what manner Wesley purified his religious system, as he thought, from the defilement of Antinomianism. To be brief, he invented a two-fold mode of justification, one without repentance, the love of God, or other works; the other, to which these works were essential : the former was for those who die soon after their pretended experience of saving faith, the latter for those who have time and opportunity of performing them. Thus, tc» "lay no more of the system, according to it a Nero and a Robespierre might have been established in the grace of God, and in a right to the realms of infinite purity, without one act of sorrow for their enormities, or so much as an act of their belief in God !] He adds lore has not Hon. M. P. ;nt," who, in adultery do ven work for my person iitsin Manas- 3ecause God if adulteries, rhou art all )ot in thee, distinguish on. Though may abound; whole, make only remains ^ious system, lism. To be one without the other, to for those who ing faith, the >f performing )rding to it a 3lished in the nfinite purity, so much as an t 119 1 LETTER XX. To JAMES BROWJV, Esq, ON THE MEAjYS OF SAjYCTITY. Dkar Sir, The efficient cause of justification, or sanctity, according to the Council of Trent,* is the mercy of God through the merits of Jesus Christ ; still, in the usual economy of his grace, he makes use of certain instruments or means, both for conferring and increasing it. The principal and most efficacious of these are THE SACRAMENTS. Fortunately, the established church agrees in the main sense with the Catholic and other Christian churches, when she defines a sacrament to be " an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, given unto us, and ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us there- of."f But, though she agrees with other Protestant commu- nions in reducing the number of these to two, baptism and the Lord's Supper, slie diflers with all others, namely, the Catholic, ihe Greek, the Russian, the Armenian, the Nestorian, the Euty- chian, the Coptic, the Ethiopian, &;c. all of which firmly main- tain, and ever have maintained, as well since as before their respective defections from us, the whole collection of the seven gacraments.'j^ This fact alone refutes the airy speculations ot Protestants concerning the origin of the five sacraments, which (hey reject, and thus demonstrates that they are deprived of as many divinely instituted instruments or means of sanctity. As these seven channels of grace, though all supplied from the same fountain of Christ's merits, supply, each of them, a sepa- rate grace, adapted to tlie different wants of the faithful, and as each of them furnishes matter of observation for the present discussion, so I shall take a cursory view of them. The first sacrament, in point of order m'J necessity, is bap- • Sess. vi. cap. 7. t Catechism in Com. Prayer. — N. B. The last ( lause in this definition is far too 8tron», as it seems to imply, that every person who is partaker of the out- war-' part of a sacrament, necessarily receives the j;,n'ace of it, whatever may ba his dispositions ; an impiety which the l)ishop of Lincoln calumniously attributcit to the Catholics. Elements of Theol. vol. ii. p. 436. I This important fact is incontrovertibly proved, in the celebrated work La Perpetuity de la Foi, from original documents, procured by Louis XIV. and preserved iu the king^s library at Paris. 120 Letter XX. III nm tism. In fact, no authority can be more express than that of the Scripture, as to this necessity. Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, says Christ, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John iii. 5. Repent, cries St. Peter, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus, for the remission of sins. Acts ii. 38. Arise, answered Ananias to St. Paul, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins. Acts xxii. IG. This ne- cessity was lieretofore acknowledged by the church of England, at least, as appears from her Articles, and still more clear) v from her liturgy,* and the works of her eminent divines.f Hence, as baptism is valid, by whomsoever it is conferred, the English church may be said to have been upon an equal foci- ing with the Catholic church, as much as concerns this instru- ment or means of hoUness : but the case is diflerent now, since that tacit reformation, which is acknowledged to have taken place in her. This has nearly swept out of her both the belief of original sin, and of its necessary remedy, baptism. " That we are born guilty," the great authority, Dr.Balguy, says, " is either unintelligible or impossible." Accordingly, he teaches, that " the rite of baptism is no more than a representation of our entrance into the church of Christ." Elsewhere, he says, " The sign (of a sacrament) is declaratory, not efficient.1[," Dr. Hey says, the negligence of the parent, with respect to pro- curing baptism, " may alfect the child : to say it will aflecl him, is to run into the error I am condemning."§ Even tlie bishop of Lincoln calls it " an unauthorized principle of Pa- pists, that no person whatsoever can be saved who has not been baptized."|| Where the doctrine of baptism is so lax, we may be sure the practice of it will not be more strict ; accordingly, we have abundant proofs that, from the frequent and long de- lays, respecting the administration of this sacrament, which oc- cur in tiie establishment, very many children die v/ithout receiv- ing it; and that, from the negligence of ministers, as to the right matter and form of words, many more iliildren receive it invalidly. Look, on the other hand, at the Catholic church: you will find the same importance still attached to this sacred rite, on the part of the people and the clergy, which is observ- • Comown Prayer. t See B. Pearson on the Creed. Art, x. Hooker, Eccl. Polit, B. v. p. 60. ± Charge vii. pp. 298, 300. { Lectures in Divinity, vol. iii. p. IfiS. I Vol, ii. p. 470. The learned prelate can hardly be supposed ignorant that many of our martyrs, recorded in our Martyrology and our Breviary, are ex. pressly declared not to have l)een actually baptized ; or that our divines unani- mously teach, that not only the baptism of blood by martyrdom, but also a sin» cere desire of being baptized, iiifnce?, where the means of baptitra are wanting, LeiUr XX. 121 than that of m be horn of iter into the 'eter, and be. the 7'emission it. Paul, and This ne- of England. nore clearly (nt divliies.l )nferretl, the 1 equal foot- s this instru- jt now, since have taken )th the belief 5m. " That tiy, says, " is , he teaphes, 'esentattdn of ere, he says, Icient.^" Dr. lect to pro- it will afl'ecl § Even tlie iciple of Pa- has not been lax, we may accordingly, md long de- it, which oc- thout receiv- Ts, as to the en receive it lolic church : this sacred ch is observ- t. B. V. p. 60. . iii.p. 182. 8(1 ignorant that peviary, are ex. ' divines unani- , but also a sin* iia are wanting, able in the Acts of the apostles and in the writings of the holy fathers ; the former being eVer impatient to have their children baptized, the latter equally solicitous to administer it in due time, and with the most scrupulous exactness. Thus, as mat- ters stand now, the two churches are not upon a level with re- spect to this first and common means of sanctification : the members of one have a much greater moral certainty of the re- mission of that sin in which we were all bom, and of their hav- ing been heretofore actually received into the church of Christ, than the members of the others have. It would be too tedious a task to treat of the tenets of other Protestants on this and the corresponding matters. Let it suffice to say, that the famous S}nod of Dort, representing all the Calvinistic states of Eu- rope, formerly decided that the children of the elect are includ- ed in the covenant made with their parents, and thus are ex- empt from the necessity of baptism, as likewise of faith and morality ; being thus ensured, themselves and nil their posteri- ty, till the end of time, of their justification and salvation !* Concerning the second channel of grace or means of sanctity, confirmation, there is no question. The church of England, which, among the diflerent Protestant societies, alone, I be- lieve, lays claim to any part of this rite, under the title ct the ceremony of laying on of hands, expressly teaches, at the same time, that it is no sacrament, as not being ordained by God, or an effectual sign of grace.\ But the Catholic church, instruct- ed by the solicitude of the apostles to strengthen the faith of those her children who had received it in baptism,J and by the lessons of Christ himself, concerning the importance of receiv- ing that holy spirit, which is communicated in this sacrament,^ religiously retains and faithfully administers it to them, for the self-same purpose, through all ages. In a word, those who are true Christians, by virtue of baptism, are not made perfect Christians, except by virtue of the sacrament of confirmation, which none ol' the Protestant societies so much as lays a claim to. « Of the third sacrament, indeed, the Lord''s Supper, as they call it, the Protestant societies, and particularly the church of England, in her Prayer Book, say great things : nevertheless, what is it, after all, upon her own showing.'* Mere bread and wine, received in memory of Christ's passion and death, in or- der to excite the receiver's faith in him : that is to say, it is a ♦ Bossuet, Variat. Book xiv. p. 40. i Art. zxv. i Actaviii. 14.— xix. 2. Q i Johuzvi. 122 Letter XX, it; 'J i bare ^ype or memorial of Christ. Aiiy thing' may be instituted to be tlie type or memorial of another thing j but certainly the Jews, in their paschal lamb, had a more lively figure of the death of Christ, and so have Christians in each of the four evangelists, than eating bread and drinking wine can be. Hence, I infer that the communion of Protestants, according to their belief and practice in this country, cannot be more than a feeble excitement to their devotion, and an inefficient help to their sanctification. But if Christ is to be believed upon his own solemn declaration, where he says, Take ye and cat; thu it my body : — drink ye all of this ; for this is my blood, Mat. xxvi. 26.— ^Jliy flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed, John vi. 56. Then the holy communion of Catholics is, be- yond all expression and all conception, not only the most pow- erful stimulative to our faith, our hope, our love, and our coiv tfition ; but also the most efficacious means of obtaining these and all other graces from the divine bounty. Those Catholics who frequent this sacrament with the suitable dispositions, are the best judges of the truth of what I here say : nevcrthclcssi, many Protestants have been converted to the Catholic church, from the ardent desire they felt of receiving tlieir Saviour Christ himself into their bosoms, instead of a bare memorial of him, and from a just conviction of tiic spiritual benefits tlicy would derive from this intimate union with him. Tlie four remaining Instruments of grace, penance, extreme unction, order, and matrimony, Protestants, in general, give up to us, no less than confirmation. The bishop of Lincohi,* Dr. Hey,f and other controvertlsts, pretend that it was Peter Ijoid- bard, in the 12th century, who made sacraments of them. True it is, that this industrious theologian collected together the dif- ferent passages of tlie fathers, and arranged them, witli proper definitions of each subject, In their present scholastic order, not only respecting the sacraments, but likewise the other branclit^ of divinity, on which account he is called the waster of the sen- tences ; but tills writer could as.s()on have Introduced I\Iah()nii't- anism into tiie church as the belief of any one sacrament which it had not before received as such. IJesiih.'s, supposing liiui to have deceived the Latin chunli into this belief, I ask l)y wliul means were the schlsniatical Creek churciies fas»-lnated into it.' In short, though these holy rites had n(»tl»'en endued by Clni>t with a sacramental grace, yet, practised as they are in the Cn- * Elcm. vol. ii. p. 414, t Led. vol. iv. !>. 199. ay be instituted >ut certainly the ly figure of the ich of the four f wine can be. ts, according to be more than a lefRcient help to iieved upon liij ye and cat; thw dood, Mat. xxvl, is drink indeed, Catholics is, be- y the most pow- 'e, and our coi>. obtaining these Those Catholicj dispositions, are y : nevertheless, Jatholic church, j; their Saviour are memorial of lal benefits they •)cnance, extrem general, give up )f Lincoln,* Dr. was Peter Lom- s of them. True ogether the dif- em, with proper lastic order, not ' other luiui(;lu'> nsd'}' of (he sen- need Mahoiiiit- acranu'ut uliidi ipposing him to , I ask by uluit scinated into it.' idued hy ("liii>i y arc in the di- ul.iv. i). 199. Letter XX. 13» tholic church, they would still be great helps to piety and Christian morality. What I have just asserted concerning these five sacraments, in general, is particularly true, with respect to the sacrament of nenance. For what does this consist of? and what is the pre- paration for it, as set forth by all our councils, catechisms, and p-ayer books f There must first be fervent prayer to God for h; light and strength; next an impartial examination of the conscience, to acquire that most important of all sciences, the knowledge of ourselves ; then true sorrow for our sins, with a (jrm purpose of amendment, which is the most essential part of the sacrament. After this there must be a sincere exposure of the state of the interior to a confidential, and at the same time, a learned, experienced, and disinterested director. If he could afford no other benefit to his penitents, yet how inestimable are those of his making known to them many defects and many du- ties, which their self-love had probably overlooked, of his prescribing to them the proper remedies for their spiritual mala- dies, and of his requiring them to make restitution for every injury done to each injured neighbour ! But we are well as- sured that these are far from being the only benefits which the minister of this sacrament can confer upon the subject of it : for it was not an empty compliment which Christ paid to his apostles, when, Breathing on them, he said to them : Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall remit, they are remitted j and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. John xx. 22, 23. O sweet balm of the wounded spirit ! O sovereign restora- tive of the soul's life and vigour ! best known to those who faithfully use thee, and not unattested by those who neglect and blaspheme thee !* It might appear strange, if we were not accustomed to similar inconsistencies, that those who profess to make Scripture, in its plain obvious sense, the sole rule of their faith and practice, should deny extreme unction to be a sacrament, the external f\^ of which, anointing the sick, and the spiritual effect of which, the forgiveness of sins, are so expressly declared by St. James, in his Epistle v. 14. Martin Luther, indeed, who had taken offence at this Epistle, for its insisting so strongly on pood works,f rejected the authority of this Epistle, alleging that it was " not lawful for an apostle to institute a sacra- • Sen Iho form of ordaininjf prints in bishop Sparrow's Collect, p. 158, alio the form of absolution, in tho vi^iitntion of the sirk,in the C'ommon I'raycr. t I.iithrr, in tho ori^innl Jena eilition of hit works, calla this Epistle "a dry and cliuffy Epistle, unworthy an apoille.'* 14 124 Letter XX, ment."* But, I trust, that you, dear sir, and your conscien. tious society, will agree with me,that it is more incredible that an apostle of Christ should be ignorant of what he was authorized by him to say and do, than that a profligate German frjar should be guilty of blasphemy. Indeed, the church of England in the first form of her Common Prayer in Edward's reign, en- joined the unction of the sick, as well as the prayer for them.f It was evidently well worthy the mercy and bounty of our di- vine Saviour, to institute a special sacrament for purifying and strengthening us at the time of our greatest need and terror Owing to the institution of this, and the two other sacraments penance and the real body and blood of our Lord, it is a fact, that feWy very few Catholics die without the assistance of their clergy ; which assistance the latter are bound to aftbrd, at the expense of ease, fortune, and life itself, to the most indigent and abject of their flock, who are in danger of death, no less than to the rich and the great : wliile, on the otlier hand, very ih\ Protestants, in that extremity, partake at all of the cold rites of| their religion ; though one of them is declared, in the Cate- chism, to be " necessary for salvation!" It is equally strange that a clergy, with such high claims and I important advantages as those of the establishment, should deny that the orders of bishops, priests, and deacons, are sacrament- al, or that the Episcopal form of church government, and ot'| ordaining the clergy, is in preference to any other required by Scripture. In fact, this is telling the legislature and the nation] that, if they prefer the less expensive ministry of the Presbyte- rians or Methodists, there is nothing divine or essential in tliel ministry itself, which will be injured by the change ; and that clergymen may be as validly ordained by the town-crier witli his bell, as by the metropolitan's imposition of hands ! Never- theless, this is the doctrine, not only of Hoadley's SocinianI school, as I have elsewhere demonstrated,^ but also of those mo- dem divines and dignitaries, wiio are the standard of ortho- doxy.'5> Thus arc the clergy of the English church, as well asi all other Protestant ministers, by their own confession, desti- tute of all sacramental grace for performing their functions ho- lily and beneficially. || But wr know, conformably to the doc- trine of St. Paul, in both his Epistles to Timothy, 1 Tim. iv.l • Luther's works, Jona edition. t gee Collier's Ecrles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 257. X Dr. Balffuy, Dr. Hey, &r. t The bishop oi Lincoln's Klnm. of Theol. vol. ii. pp. 37C, 3&6. II Sec Letters to a Prebendary, Letter VIII. grace cellent we an of Mai to the ed on I p.) our pij candid ceedid tiOMSUIll Xjetter XX. 125 14. 2 T in. i. 6. with the constant doctrine of the Catholic church, and of all other ancient churches, that this grace is con- ferred on those who are truly ordained and in fit dispositions to receive it. We know, moreover, that the persuasion which the faithful entertain of the divine character and grace of their clergy, gives a great additional weight to their lessons and ministry. — In like manner, with respect to matrimony, which the same apostle expressly calls a sacrament, Ephes. v. 32, in- dependently o{ its peculiar grace, the very idea of its sanctity, is a preparation for entering into that state with religious dis- positions. Next to the sacraments of the Catholic church, as helps to holiness and salvation, I must mention her public service. We continually hear the advocates of the establishment crying up the beauty and perfection of their liturgy ;* but, they have not the candour to inform the public that it is all, in a manner, bor- rowed from the Catholic Missal and Ritual. Of this any one may satisfy himself who will compare the prayers, lessons and Gospels, in these Catholic books, with those in the Book of Common Prayer. But, though our service has been thus pur- loined, it haS) by no means been preserved entire : on the con- trary, we find it, in the latter, eviscerated of its noblest parts j particularly with respect to the principal and essential worship of ill the ancient churches, the holy mass, which, from a true propitilitory sacrifice, as it stands in all their Missals, is cut down to a mere verbal worship in !Z%e Order for Morning Prayer. Hence, our James I. pronounced of the latter, that it is an ill-said mans. Tiie servants of God had, by his appoint- ment, SACRIFICE both under the law of nature and the writ- ten law; it would then be extraordinary, if under the law of grace they were left destitute of this the most sublime and ex- cellent act of religion, which man can ofler to his Creator. But we are not left destitute of it : on the contrary, that prophecy of Malarliy is fulfilled, Mai. i. 11. In evcri/ place fr(>mthe rising to ihc setting of the sun, sacrifice is offered and a pure oblation, ever Christ himself, who is really present and mystically ofler- cd on our altars in the sacrifice of the mp$s. I pass over the soienniity, the order and the magnificence of oiir public vvorhip and ritual in Catholic countries, rvlilch most ciuidid Protestants, who have witnessed them, allow to be ex- ceedingly impressive, and great helps to devotion, and which, • Dr. Roniiol r:\lIstIio «hiin^h litnrjjy " tho mf»st perfect of human fnmposi* tioniaiiil tho jucrcd lugivoy of tlio first rcformors." Disc. p. 237. 126 Letter XXI, certainly, in most particulars, find their parallel in the worship and ceremonies of the Old Law, ordained by God himself. Nevertheless, it is a gross calumny to assert that the Catholic church does, or ever did make the essence of religion to con- sist in these externals ; and we challenge them to our councils and doctrinal books in refutation of the calumny. In like man- ner, I pass over the many private exercises of piety which are generally practised in regular Catholic families and by indivi- duals, such as daily meditation and spiritual reading, evening prayers and examination of the conscience, &-c. These, it will not be denied, must be helps to obtain sanctity for those who are desirous of it. — But I have said more than enough to con- vince your friends in which of the rival communions the means of sanctity are chiefly to be found. I am, Dear Sir, he. J. M. m ':i3;i, m ^■^ LETTER XXL To JAMES BROWX, Esq, OJ^ THE FRUITS OF SANCTITY. * Dear Sir, The fruits of sanctity are the virtues practised by those who are possessed of it. Hence tire present question is, whether these are to be found, for tiie most part, among the members of the ancient Catholic church, or among the diflorcnt innovators, who undertook to reform it in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.? In considering the subject, the first thing which strikes me is, that all the saints, and even those who are record- ed as such in the calendar of the church of England, and in whose names their churches are dedicated, lived and died strict members of the Catholic church, and zealously attached to her doctrine and discipline.* For an example, in this calendar, we meet with a Pope Gregory, March 12, the zealous assertor of • I must except kinj;; Charles I. who is nibrictited as a martyr on Jan. 30: ncverthflless, it is ronfesxrd that he wa^ fur from jwsseit.oing either the purity of a taint or the conKtanry of a martyr : for ho artiially -javn up Kpi«ropacy, ami o'her OBtentiala of tlio establiaheil religion, by his lust treaty in thu Isle of Wiglit. in the worship God himself. t the Catholic ligion to con- our councils In like man- ety which are md by indivi- ding, evening These, it will for those who lough to con- ons the means Sir, &:c. J.M. Letter XXI. 127 by those who 1 is, whether le members of tit innovators, J seventeenth thing which o are record- gland, and ill nd died strict tachcd to her calendar, we IS assertor of rtyr on Jan. 30: pr (ho purity of Rpi^ropacy, aiul hti Isle of Wi gilt. the papal supremacy,* and other Catholic doctrines; a St. Benedict, March 21, the patriarch of the western monks and nuns J a St. Dunstan, May 19, the vindicator of clerical celi- bacy; a St. Augustine of Canterbury, May 2G, the introducer of the whole system of Catholicity into England, and a venera- ble Bede, May 27, the witness of this important fact. It is sufficient to mention the names of other Catholic saints, for example, David, Chad, Edward, Richard, Elphege, Martin, Swithun, Giles, Lambert, Leonard, Hugh, Etheldreda, Remi- giiis, and Edmund, all of which are inserted in the calendar, and give names to the churches of the establishment. Besides these, there are yery many of our other saints, whom all learned and candid Protestants unequivocally admit to have been such, for the extraordinary purity and sanctity of their lives. Even Luther acknowledges St. Anthony, St. Bernard, St. Dominic, St. Francis, St. Bonaventure, Stc. to have been saints, though avowed Catholics, and defenders of the Catholic church against the heretics and schismatics of their times. But, independently of this and of every other testimony, it is certain that the su- pernatural virtues and heroical sanctity of a countless number of holy personages of diflerciit countries, ranks, professions, and sexes, have illustrated the Catholic church in every age, «vith an efluigence which cannot be disputed or withstood. Your friends, I dare say, are not nnich acquamted with the histories of these brightest ornaments of Christianity : let me then invite them to peruse them ; not in the legends of obsolete writers, but in a n ork which, for its various learning and lu- minous criticism, was commended even by the Infidel Gibbon. I mean The Saints^ Lives, in twelve octavo volumes, written by tlie late Rev. Alban Butler, president of St. Omer's college Protestants are accustomed to jiaint in the most frightful colours the alleged depravity of the church, when Luther erected his standard, in order to justify him and his followers' defection from it : but to form a right judgment in the case, let them read the works of the contemporary writers, an a Kempis, a Gerson, an Antoninus, ^^c.or let them peruse the lives of Vincent Ferrer, St. Laurence Justinian, St. Franci» Paula, St. Philip Neri, St. Cajctaii, St. Teresa, St. Francis Xavier, and of those other saints, who illuminated the church about the period in question; • Many Protestant writers pretended that St. Crcpfory disclaimed the «n- premacy, because he usscrlcd against Jolin of ('. P. that neither he nor any other prt'hite ought to assume the title of Univrrsnl Jiishnp ; but that he claim- ed ami oxorrispil the supremacy, his own worka und the history of Bcdo incon- trorcrtihly Ucmoastratu. 128 letter XXI, ■•■:S or let them, from the very accounts of Protestant historians, compare, as to religion and morality, archbishop Cranmer with his rival bishop Fisher; protector Seymour with chancellor More, Ann Bullen with Catharine of Arragon, Martin Luther and Calvin with Francis Xavier and cardinal Pole, Beza with St. Francis of Sales, queen Elizabeth with Mary queen of Scots ; these contrasted characters having more or less relation with each other. From such a comparison, I have no sort of doubt what the decision of your friends will be concerning them, in point of their respective holiness. I have heretofore been called upon to consider the virtues and merits of the most distinguished reformers ;* and certainly we have a right to expect from persons of this description finish- ed models of virtue and piety. But instead of this being the case, I have shown that patriarch Luther was the sport of hig unbridled passions,f pride, resentment, and lust ; that he was turbulent, abusive, and sacrilegious, in the highest degree ; that he was the trumpeter of sedition, civil war, rebellion, and deso- lation ; and finally, that by his own account, he was the scholar of Satan, in the most important article of his pretended Re- format'.on.J I have made out nearly as heavy a charge against his chief followers, Carlostad, Zuinglius, Ochin, Calvin, Beza, and Cranmer. V/itli respect to the last named, who under Ed- ward VL and his fratricide uncle, the duke of Somerset, was the chief artificer of the Anglican church, I have shown that, from his youthful life in a college, till his death at the stako, he exhibited such a continued scene of libertinism, perjury, hy- pocrisy, barbarity, (in burning his fellow Protestants,) profli- gacy, ingratitude, and rebellion, as is, perhaps, not to be matched in history. I have proved that all his fcllow-lFbour- crs and fellow-sufferers were rebels like himself, who world have been put to death by Elizabeth, if they had not been exe- cuted by Mary. I adduced the testimony not only o( Erasmus and other Catholics, but also of the gravest Protestant histori- ans, and of the very reformers themselves, in proof that the morals of the people, so far from being changed for the better, by embracing tiie new religion, were greatly changed for the worse.^ The pretended Reformation, in foreign countries, as • Reflections on Popery, by Dr. Sturges, L. L. D. &c. t Letters to a Preb. Let. V. p. 17C. :f Ibid. p. 183, where Satan's conference ' ith Luther, and the arguments by which he induced this reformer to abolish the mass, are detailed, from Luthcr'l works. Tom. vii. p. 228. ) Letters to a Prebendary, Letter V. • i »; c- Letter XXL 129 t historians, ranmer with I chancellor artin Luther , Beza with ry queen of less relation 'e no sort of concerning • the virtues nd certainly iption finisii- is being the sport of his that he was iegree ; that n, and deso- 5 the scholar etended Re- arge against alvin, Beza, [) under Ed- smerset, was shown that, it the stalto, perjury, h>. ants,) profli- not to be Ilow-Irbour- who wopjd ot been exe- of Erasmus !tant histori- oof that tiic r the better, nged for tlie countries, as in Germany, the Netherlands, at Geneva, in Switzerland, France, and Scotland, besides producing popular insurrections, sackages, demolitions, sacrileges, and persecution beyond des- cription, excited also open rebellions and bloody civil wars.* In England, where our writers boast of the orderly manner in which the change of religion was carried on, it, nevertheless, most unjustly and sacrilegiously seized upon, and destroyed, in the reign of Henry VIII. six hundred and forty-five monasteries, ninety colleges, and one hundred and ten hospitals, besides the bishopric of Durham ; and, under Edward VI. or rather his profligate uncle, it dissolved two thousand three hundred and seventy-four colleges, chapels, or hospitals, in order to make princely fortunes of their property for that uncle and his un- principled comrades, who, like banditti, quarrelling over their spoils, soon brought each other to the block. Such were the fruits of sanctity, every where produced by this Reformation ! I am, &cc. J. M. • The Huguenots in Dauphiny alone, as one of their writers confesses, burnt down 900 towns or villages, and murtlered 378 priests or religious, in the course of one rebellion. The number of churclies destroyed by them throughout France, is computed at 20,000. The history of J^ngland's reformation (though this was certainly more orderly than that of other countries) has caused the conversion of many English Protestants: it produced this effect on James II. and his first consort, the mother of que^n Mary, and queen Ann. 'I'he following is the account which the latter has left of this change, and which is to be found in Dodd'slast volume, and in the Fifty Reasons of the duke of Brunsw.'ck. " See- ing much of the devotion ofthe Catholics, I made it my constant prayer that if I were not, 1 might, before I died, be in the true religion. I did not doubt but that I was so till November last, when, reading a book called The History of Ihe Rffonmlion, bi) Dr. Hfi/Hn, which I had heard very much commended, and had been told, if ever I had any doubts in my religion that would settle me : instead of which I found it tlie description of the horridest sacrileges in the world ; and could find no cause why we left the church, but for three, the most abominable ones: 1st, Henry VIII. renounced the Pope, because he would not give him leave to part with his wife and marry another: 2il)y, Edward VI. was a child nnd governed by his uncle, who made his estate out of the church lands : 3 Hiiat's restoring tight to a blind man iu confirmation of his doctrine. Ibid. c. 2. the confes CaliioliC^ doctor, sp thus : " C author of prodigies St. Berns miracles, Catholic of Bellarr not help iicloptiiig Irinc and prove the of mirach himself p which it Anabaptis made an or (Ircami of his vis must glor lliey (the 111 a Avhoh Such h: ters court • uir ol til will now i itf unqucs during th No Ch apostles ; the visioi niigel of 1 iipr of hi: mony of 1 pie of the that the v restrainec * The Ci phrey's Jesi t Ric. a i k Maiiliii II Luth. r Letter XXIII, 135 \r, we are led lied by niira- :ordingIy the other proofs is, by which rary heretics . Irenajus, a 3 of St. John •m he writes, to the deaf, ifies was fre* ntemporary, ti to see the ; fourth cen- nfully asks: restored the )us passages ;he Catholic s, bishop of ind, in order bards, from igers to wit- in, St. Ger- peech to the churches of king of the early so, by rian bishops is the caM, tury was 11- tin, of Can- e which he doctrine, by i confessionen >orum (frustra n Conciliorum auctoritatiaob* c. c. 15. arum stifTultii!, m Christi con- ccount of thii oe. Ibid. c. 2. the confession of the learned Protestants, was purely the Roman Catholic* In the eleventh century, we hear a celebrated doctor, speaking of the proofs of the Catholic religion, exclaim thus : " O Lord ! if what we believe is an error, thou art the author of it, since it is confirmed amongst us by those signs and prodigies which could not be wrought but by thee."f In short, St. Bernard, St. Dominic, St. Xavier, &,c. all appealed to the miracles, which God wrought by their hands in proof of the Catholic doctrine. I need not mention the controversial works of Bellarmin and other modern schoolmen ; nevertheless, I can- nr.t help observing, that even Luther, when the Anabaptists, iidopting his own principles, had proceeded to excesses of doc- trine and practice which he disapproved of, required them to prove their authority for their innovations by the performance of miracles ! J You will naturally ask, dear sir, how Luther himself got rid of the argument implied by this requisition, which it is evident, bore as strongly against him, as against the Anabaptists ? On one occasion, he answered thus : " 1 have made an agreement with the Lord not to send me any visions, OP dreams, or angels,"^^ Sic. On another occasion, he boasts of his visions as follows : " I also was in spirit," and, " if I must glory in what belongs to me, I have seen more spirits than lliey (the Swinkfeldians, who denied the real presence) will see in a whole 3^ear."|| Such has been the doctrine of the fathers and Catholic wri- ters concerning miracles in general, as divine attestations in fa- ' Mu- ol that church in which God is pleased to work them. 1 will now mention, or refer to a few particular miraculous events if unquestionable evidence, which have illustrated this church, during the eighteen centuries of her existence. No Christian questions the miracles and prophecies of the apostles ; and if they do not, wliy should any Christian question the vision and prophecy of the apostolic saint Polycarp, the atigel of the church of Smyrna, Rev- ii. 8, concerning the man- iipr of his future marty ' )m, namely, by fire. ''IT or the testi- mony of his episcopal correspondent, who was likewise a disci- pie of the apostles, St. Icnatius bishop of Antioch, who testifies that the wild beasts, let loose upon the martyrs, were frequently restrained by a divine power from hurting them ? In conse * The Centuriators of Magdeburg, Ssec. 6. Bale. In Act. Rom. Pont. Hunh phrey's Jesuit, &c. t Ric. a S. Vict, de Trinit. 1. i. t Sleidan. { Manlius in loc. commun. Sec Brierlcy's Apology, p. 448. II Lulh. ad Senat. Civil. Germ. If Gcuuiue Acts, by Ruinart. 15 ii56 Letter XXITL m C'f* f IT quence of this he prayed that it might not be the case with him.* St. Irenseus, bishop of Lyons, was the disciple of St. Polycarp, and like him, an illustrious martyr : shall we then call in question his testimony, when he declares, as I have no- ticed above, that miracles, even to the revival of the dead, fre- quently took place in the Catholic church, but never among the heretics ?f Or shall we disbelieve that of the learned Origen, in the next century, who says that it was usual with the Chris- tians of his time to drive away devils, heal the sick, and foretel things to come : adding, " God is my witness, I would not re^ commend the religion of Jesus by fictitious stories, but only b\ clear and certain facts."| One of Origen's scholars was St. Gregory, bishop of Neocesarea, surnamed Tkaumaturgus, or Wonderworker, for the numerous .and astonishing miracles which God wrought by his means. Many of these, even to the stopping the course of a flood, and the moving of a mountain, are recorded by the learned fathers, who, soon after, wrote his life.<§ St. Cyprian, the great ornament of the third century, recounts several miracles which took place in it, some of wliicli prove the blessed eucharist to be a sacrifice, and the lawfulness of receiving it under one kind. In the middle of the fourth century happened that wonderful miracle, when the emperor Julian the Apostate, attempting to rebuild the temple of Jerusa- lem, in order to disprove the prophecy of Daniel, concerning it, Dan. IX. 27, tempests, whirlwinds, earthquakes, and fiery eruptions convulsed the scene of the undertaking, maiming or blasting the thousands of Jews and other labourers employed in the work, and, in short, rendering the completion of it utterly impossible. In the mean time a luminous cross, surrounded with a circle of rays, appeared in the heavens, and numerous crosses were impressed on the bodies and garments of the per- sons present. These prodigies are so strongly attested by al- most all the authors of the age, Arians and Pagans, no less than Catholics, II that no one but a downright sceptic < an call them in question. They have accordingly been acknowledged by the niost learned Protestants. IF Another miracle, which may vie • Ep. nd Roman. t Contra Ilffir. 1. ii. c. 31. if Contra Ccls. 1. i. ♦ Grepf. Nyss. Euseb. 1. vi. St. Basil, St. Jerom. II Besides the testimony of the Fathers, St. GrPs:ory Nazianzen, St. Chryjo'- toai, St. Aml)rosc, unci of the historians Socrates, So/omrn Throdoret, Scv. tho«c events are also ncknowl dgcd by Philostorgius the Arian, Ammianus Marcclli- mis the Tagan, kc. t Bishop Warhnrton published a Itook, ralbd Julian, in proof of these miri- clcs. They urc also acknowledged by Bishop Halifax, Disc. p. 2J. formed Epistle works, elated \ Letter XXIIL 137 with the above mentioned, for the number and quality of its witnesses, took place in the following century, at Typassus in Africa ; where a whole congregation of Catholics being assem- bled to perform their devotions, contrary to the orders of the Arian tyrant, Hunnerick, their right hands were chopped off, and their tongues cut out to the roots, by his command : nevertheless they continued to speak as perfectly as they did before this biurbarous act.* I pass over numberless miracles recorded by SS. Basil, Athanasius, Jerom, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustin, iiiid the other illustrious fathers and church historians, who adorned the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries of Christianity ; and shall barely mention one miracle, which both the last men- tioned holy bishops relate, as having been themselves actual witnesses of it, that of restoring sight to a blind man, by the application to his eyes of a cloth which had touched the relics ol'SS. Gervasius, and Protaslus.f The latter saint, one of the most enlightened men who ever handled a pen, gives an ac- count, in the work to which I have just referred,^ of a great number of miracles, wrought in Africa, during his episcopacy, by the relics of St. Stephen, and among the rest, of seventy wrought in his own diocese of Hippo, and some of them in his own presence, in the course of two years ; among these was the restoration of three dead bodies to life. From this notice of the great St. Augustin of Hippo, in the fifth century, I proceed to observe, concerning St. Augustin of Canterbury, at the end of the sixtli, that the miracles wrought by iilm, were not only recorded on his tomb, and in the history i)f the venerable Bede and other writers, but that an account of them was transmitted, at the time they took place, by St. Grc- irory to Eulogius, patriarch of St. Alexandria, in an Epistle, still extant, in wljicli this Pope compares tliem with those per- formed bv the apostles.'^ The latter saint wrote likewise an Epistle to St. Augustin iiimself, which is still extant in his works, and in Bcde's history, cautioning him against being elated with vain glory, on the occasion of these miracles, and • The vouchors for this miracle are Victor Vitensis, Hist. Persec. Vandal. 1. lii.lhe empfiror Jiistiiiiai), who declaros that he had seen 8ome of the sufTcrcr^, lOnilex Just. Tit. '.J7, tlio (IrPcU historian rroco|)ins, who says he Iind conversed [with them, L. i. de Hell. Vand, c. H. iT.neas of Gezu, h Plutonic philosopher, I who haviii<; ex tniiiind their mouths, protested that he was not fo much surprised |:it their heinjfahle to talk as at their lieinjjahle to live. I)e Inimorl.Anim. Victor, ITiiron. Isid. Ilispal. (Sre;r. Miiu:n. &c. The miracle ii Admitted l)y Abbndie, |1)o(1wp1I, Moshnim, and other learned Protestants. + Any;. De Civit. Dei, 1. xxii. p. U. J Ibid. 1. xxii. ) Kpist. S. Gre^. 1. vii. 138 Letter XXIII. reminding him that God had bestowed the power of working them, not on his own account, but for the conversion of the English nation.* On the sup[)osition that our apostle had wrought no miracles, what farces must these Epistles have ex- hibited among the first characters of the Christian world. Among the numberless and well attested piracies which the histories of the middle ages present to our vijw, I stop at those of the illustrious abbot St. Bernard, in the twelfth century, to whose sanctity the most eminent Protestant writers have borne Iiigh testimony.! This saint, in the life of his friend, St. Ma- lachy of Armagh, among other miracles, mentions the cure of the withered hand of a youth, by the ap})lication of his friend's dead hand to it. J But this, and all the miracles which St. Bernard mentions of other saints, quite disappear, when com- pared with those wrought by himself; which for their splendour and publicity, never were exceeded. All France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy bore testimony to them ; and prelates, princes, and the emperor himself were often the spectators of them. In a journey which the saint made into Germany, he was followed by Philip, archdeacon of Liege, who was sent by Sampson, archbishop of Rheims, to observe hU " ns.^ This writer accordingly, gives an account of a va?" ber of in- stantaneous cures, which the holy abbot penormed on the lame, the blind, the paralytic, and other diseased persons, with all the circumstances of them. Speaking of those wrought at Cologne, he says : " They were not performed a corner ; but the whole city was witness to them. If any one doubts or is curious, he may easily satisfy himself on the spot, especially as some of them were wrought on persons of no inconsiderable rank and reputation. "|| A great number of these miracles were performed in express confirmation of the Catholic doctrine which he defended. Thus preaching at Sarlat against the im- pious and iin])ure Ilenricians, a spj'cies of Albigensos, he took «ome loaves of bread and blessed them : after which he said: " By this you shall know that 1 preach to you the true doc- trine, and the heretics a false doctrine : all your sick, who sfutll eat of this bread, sfiaU recover tlitir health f whicli prediction V • Ibid, et Hist. Bed, 1. i. c.31. •t Liithnr, C;tlviii, Biioer, (Kcolompadius, Jewel, Whitaker, Mosheim, iVr. \ Villi Mttliich. iiitJT Oper. Hern. ♦ St. Ueniurtrs LiCo wits written by his throe rontemporarien, William, nh- t)otorSt. Thierry, Arnold, abbot of lionevaux, and (ieoflery, the taint's xerro- tary, and by other enrly writers', hia own oloquont Epistles, aud other work!, furnish many p»r(iciilar!<. I Published by Mabillon. Letter XXIII. 139 !r, Mosheim, iVr. vas confirmed by the event.* St. Bernard himself, in the most celebrated of his works,f addressed to Pope Eugenius III. re- fers to the miracles, M'hich God enabled him to work, by way of justifying himself for having preached up the second cru- sade; J and, in his letter to the people of Thoulouse, he men- tions his having detected the heretics among them, not only by words, but also by miracles.<§ The miracles of St. Francis Xavier, the apostle of India, who was cotemporary with Luther, in number, splendour, and pub- licity, may vie with St. Bernard's. They consisted in foretell- ing future events, speaking unknown languages, calming tem- pests at sea, curing various maladies, and raising the dead to life ; and though they took place in remote countries, yet they were verified in the same, soon after the saint's death, by vir- tue of a commission from John III. king of Portugal, and they were generally acknowledged, not only by Europeans of differ- ent religions in the Indies, || but also by the native Mahometans and Pagans.lF At the same time with this saint lived the holy contemplative St. Philip Neri, in proof of whose miracles three hundred witnesses, some of them persons of high rank, were juridically examined.** The following century was Illustra- ted by the shining virtues and attested miracles, even to the resurrection of the dead, of St. Francis of Sales,f f as it was also by those of St. John Francis Regis, concerning which, twenty-two bishops of Languedoc wrote thus to Pope Clement XI : " We are witnesses that, before the tomb of F. J. F. Regis, the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dumb speak."l"| You will understand, dear sir, that I mention but a few of the saints, and with respect to these, but a few of their miracles, as my object is to prove the single fact tliat God has illustrated the Catholic church, chiody by means of his saints, with unde- niable miracles, in tlu; different ages of her existence. What now will you, dear sir, and your friends say to the evidence, here adduced ? Will you say that all the lioly fathers, up to the apostolic age, and that all the ecclesiastical writers down to the Reformation, and, since this period, that all Catholic au- thors, prelates and officials, have been in a league to deceive • C.eof. ir Vit. Born, t l)e ConsidcrHtioMP t I)e Conxiil. 1. ii. « Ad Tolofi. p.p. 041. of Mnckhiyt, Hsiklpu?, itrul Tavcrnior, all rrotestant*, II See Ihft t«»!y Uiuibciitoii, which is abridgcj by Cutler, June 16. H 140 Letter XXIII. ■I'l mankind ? In short, that they are all liars and impostors alike ? Such, in fact, is the absurd and horrible system, which, to get rid of the DIVINE ATTESTATION, in favour of the Catho- lie church, the celebrated Dr. Conyers Middleton has declared for ; as have most Protestant w riters who have handled the sub- ject, since the publication of his Free Inquiry. This system, however, which is a libel on human nature^ does not only lead to general scepticism in other respects, but also undermines the credit of the Gospel itself. For if all the ancient fathers and other writers are to be disbelieved, respecting the miracles of their times, and even those which they themselves witnessed, ujmn what grounds are we to believe them, in their report of the miracles which they had heard of Christ and his apostles, those main props of the Gospel and our common Christianity.'' Who knows but they may have forged all the contents of the former, and the whole history of the latter .'* It was impossible these consequences should escape the penetration of Middleton : but a worse consequence, in his opinion, which would follow from admitting the veracity of the lioly fathers, namel}', a diviike at- testation of the sanctity of the Catholic church, banished his dread of the former. Let him now speak to this point for him- self, in his own flowing periods. He begins with establishing an important fact, which I also Imve been labouring to prove, where he says: " It must be confessed that the claim to a mira- culous power was universally asserted and believed in all Chris- tian countries and in ail ag«s of the church, till the time of the Reformation : for ecclesiastical history makes no difierence be- tween one age and another, but carries on the succession of its miracles, as of all other common events, through all of them in- difl*erently to that memorable period.* As far as church histo- rians can illustrate any thing, there is not a single point, in nil history, so constantly, explicitly, and unanimouhly affirmed by them as the continual succession of those powers, through all ages, from the earliest father, wlio first mentions them, down to the Reformation ; which same succession is still further deduced by persons of the same eminent character for probity, learning; and dignity, in the Romish cinn-ch, to this very day ; so that the only doubt wliicii can remain with us is, whether church historians are to be trusted or not : for if any credit be due to them in the present case, it nuist reach to all or none : because the reason for believing thom in any one age will be found to be of equal force in all, as far as it depends on the character of ( • Free Inquiry, lutroJuct. Disc. p. xlv. Utter XXIIL 141 die persons attesting, or on the thing attested."* We shull now hear Dr. Middleton's decision on this weighty matter, and upon what grounds it is formed. He says : " The prevailing opinion of Protestants, namely, of Tillotsci., Marshal, Dodwell, kc. is, that miracles continued during the three first centunes. Dr. Waterland brings them down to the fourth, Dr. Berimau to the fifth. These unwarily betrayed the Protestant cause into the hands of its enemies : for it was in those primitive ages, particularly in the third, fourth, and fifth, those flourishing times of miracles, in which the chief corruptions of Popery, inoniiery, the worship of relics, invocation of saints, prayers for the dead, superstitious use of images and of sacraments were introduced. "f " We shall find, after the conversion of the Roman empire, the greater part of their boasted miracles were uiouglit either by monks, or relics, or the sign of the cross, Sic. : wherefore, if we admit the miracles, we must admit the rites for the sake of which they were wrought : they both rest on the same bottom. "J " Every one may see what a resem- hloMce the principles and practice of the fourth century, as they are described by the most eminent fathers of that age, bear to the present rites of the Popish church,''^^ " When we reflect on the surprising confidence with which the fathers of the fourth iige afiirnied, as true, what they themselves had forged, or knew to be forged, it is natural to suspect that so bold a defiance ol truth could not be acquired or become general at once, but ^ must have been gradually carried to that height by the exam- ple of former ages."]] Such are the grounds on which this shameless declaimer accuses all the most holy and learned men. whom the world hns produced during 1800 years, of forgery ai.d a combination to cheat mankind. He does not say a word 10 show that the combination itself is either probable or possi- ble ; all he advairces is, that this liliel on human nature, is necessary for the support of Protestantism ; for he says, and this with evident truth : " By granting the Romanists but a Siugle age of miracles, after the time of the apostles, we shall be entangled in a series of dilliculties, whence we can never fairly extricate ourselves, till we tJlow the same powers also to the present age. "IT Mclhinks I hear some of your society thus asking me, Do you then pretend that your church possesses the miraculous poioers at * Ibid. Preface, p. xv, X Introd. p. Ixvi. H IbiJ, p, Ixxxiv. ^ i Introd. p. li. ( Ibid. Ixv. T Ibid. p. xcvi. 142 Letter XXJII. Ml" the present day 9 I answer, that the church never possessed miraculous powers in the sense of most Protestant writers, so as to be able to effect cures or other supernatural events at her mere pleasure : for even the apostles could not do this, as we learn from the history of the lunatic child. Mat. xvii. IG : but this I say, that the Catholic church, being always the beloved spouse of Christ, Rev. xxi. 9, and continuing at all times to bring forth children of heroical sanctity, God fails not in this any more than in past ages, to illustrate her and them bv unquestionable miracles : accordingly in those processes which are constantly going on, at the apostolical See, for the canonization of new saints,* fresh miracles of a rereiit date continue to be proved with the highest degree of evidence, as I can testify from having perused, on the spot, the official printed account of some of them. f For the fnrtlier satisfaction of your friends, I will inform them that I have had satisfactory proof that the astonishing catastrophe of Louis XVI. and his queen, in being beheaded on a scaffold, was foretold by a nun of Fougeres, Soeur Nativite, twenty years before it happened, and that the banishment of the French clergy from their countrv, long before it happened, was predicted by the holy French pilgrim, Benedict Labre, whose miracles caused the conversion of the late Rev. INlr. Thnyer, nn American clergyman, who being at Rome, witnessed several of them. With respect to miraculous cures of a late date, I have the most respectable at- testation of several of them, and 1 am well acquainted with four or five persons who have experienced tiiem. The followiiit!; facts are respectfully attested, but at nuu'h greater length, by tlic Rev. Thomas Sadler, of Trafford, near ]\lan<:hester, and the Rev. J. Crathorne, of Garswood, near Wigaii : — Joseph Ijamli, of Eccles, near Manchester, now twenty-eight yvnr» old, on ilic 12th of August, 1B14, foil from a hay-rick, four yards and ;i half high, by which accident it was conceived the spine of his back was broken. Certain it is, that he could neither walk nor stand without <*nitches, thtwn to the second of October, and tliiii he described himself as feeling the most ex(|iiislte pain in his back. On that day, having prevailed with nuich difficulty upon * Among; the late rBnoni7'»tion<> nro lliosp, in lfl07 and IPOf?, of S. F. Cainr. r.iolo, f(»iinclcr of the Hpfj"!^'' Clerks; olSl. Anii^pla do Morrin, foundress of the Urmliiic Nuns, of St. Mary of the Iiunrnntioii, Mllo. Arnrio, Arc. Oneoftlis latest »ieatifivith a printed process of forty miracles, which had been laid before the Con- gregation of Rites, to which the examination of them belonged, was so well satisfied with the respective proofs of them, as to express a wish that Rome would never allow of any miracles, but such as were as strongly proved, as these appeared to be ; when to his great surprise, lie was informed that every one of these had been rejected by Rome as not sufliciently proved ! Nor can I admit of tlie third objection of your friend, by which he rejects our miracles, on the alleged ground, that there wa.s no sufllclent cause for the performance of them ; for not to mention that many of them were performed for the conversion of infidels, I am bound to cry out with the apostle: M^ho hath known the mind of the Lord:, or who hath been his counsellor! Rom. xi. 34. Thus nuich is certain from Scripture, that the same Deity who preserved Jonas in the whale's belly, to preach repentance (rem the I rrom heav swim, in o »vhich he 1 not to rej they are n are assure lice, as he Having brated Pn cles, ender to call Po my own, t answers w head, 1 ca writers of have publ ully, but panic fear shop of Sc del Gibboi racles asci posterior may seem so many ii his own, V his compa cal histor^ ing that h this objec safely cha any writii oles is clai (namely, with a n( power, bii hie presui fident ass( • The Ci arc ilistinp;ii Douj:las, 1), t Hist, ol \ Critori Letter XXir. 147 evangelists, * Mostcer- of the dis- > distiijguisli •ue ; and we I caution, in ;o the gene- es the dili- trelates, and ne into the : he is little place, then, ust be made the doposi- ith ; this e.\- mt times ai )nie are iin- who, never- ure or other )ort oi pliy- precipitatc, n, on a lew nided about laid before t, according et a mirnck hat an Eii- ih a printed re the Con- II belonged, them, as to ly miracles, ared to be ; very one of proved ! friend, bv d, that there ; for not to conversion : Who hath counsellor ! c, that tlie /, to preacii repentance to the Ninivites, created a gourd to shelter his h^itd (rom the heat of the sun, Jonas iv. 6, and that as he sent fire (rom heaven to save his prophet Elias, so he caused iron to swim, in order to enable the son of a prophet to restore the axe «rhich he had borrowed, 2 Kings vi. 6. In like manner, we are not to reject miracles, sufficiently proved, under pretext that they are mean, and unworthy the hand of Omnipotence ; for we arc assured, that God equally turned the dust of Egypt into lice, as he turned the waters of it into blood, Exod. viii. Having lately perused the works of several of the most cele- brated Protestant writers, who, in defending the Scripture mira** cies, endeavour to invalidate the credit of those they are pleased to call Popish miracles, 1 think it just, both to your cause and my own, to state the chief arguments they make use of, and the answers which occur to me, in refutation of them. On this head, 1 cannot help expressing my surprise and concern that writers of character, and some of them of high dignity, should jiave published several gross falsehoods ; not, I trust, intention- ally, but from the blind precipitancy and infatuation which a panic fear of Popery generally produces. The late learned bi- shop of Salisbury, Dr. J. Douglas, has borrowed from the infi- del Gibbon what he calls " A most satisfying proof that the mi- racles ascribed to the Romish saints are forgeries of an age posterior to that they lay claim to."* The latter says : " It may seem remarkable, that Bernard of Clairvaux, who records so many miracles of his friend St. Malachy, never takes notice of his own, which in their turn, however, are carefully related by his companions and disciples. In the long series of ecclesiasti- cal history, does there occur a single instance of a saint assert- ing that he himself possessed the gift of miracles ?"f Adopting this objection, the bishop of Salisbury says : " I think I ni y safely challenge the admirers of the Romish saints to produce any writing of any of them, in which a power of working mira- cles is claimed."! Elsewhere he says : " From Xavier himself (namely, from his published letters) we are furnished, not onl^ with a negative evidence against his having any miraculous power, but also with a positive fact, which is the strongest possi- ble presumption against it."§ Nevertheless, in spite of the con- fident assertions of these celebrated authors, it is certain (though • Tlie Criterion, or Rules by which the true Miracles of tlie New Testament arc i1istinp;iiishcd from the spurious Miracles of Pagans anj Pajiiits, by John Doup:las, 1). D. lord bisliopof Salishnry, p. 71, note, t Hist, of Dc'iliue and Fall, chap. XV. ' t Criterion, p. 1569. * Ibid. p. 76. 1 .9 I i M '^46 Letter XXir. ,»f? the last thing which true saints choose to speak of are their own 8up«>rnaturai favours) that several of them, when the occasion required it, have spoken of the miracles, of which they were the instruments j* and among the rest, those two identical saints, St. Bernard and St. Francis Xavier, whom Gibbon and Dr. Douglas instance, to prove their assertion. I have already re- ferred to the passages in the works of St. Bernard, where he speaks of his miracles as oi notorious facts ; and I here again insert them in a note.f With respect to St. Xavier, he not only jnentions, in those very letters which Dr. Douglas appeals to, a miraculous cure, which he wrought upon a dying woman in the kingdom of Travancor ; but he expressly calls it A Miracle, and afL'rms that it caused the conversion of the whole village in which she resided.;}; pj.iA second palpable falsehood is thus confidently advanced by the capital enemy of miracles, Dr. Middletoii j " I might risk the merit of my argliment upon this single point, that, after the apostolic times, there is not, in aJl history, one instance, either well attested, or even so much as 7nentioned, of any particular person who had ever exercised that gift {of tongues) or pre- tended to exercise it, in any age or country whatsoever."'^ In case your learned friend is disposed to take up the cause of Middleton, I beg to refer liim to the history of St. Pacomius, the Egyptian abbot, and founder of the Cenobites, who, " though he never learned the Greek or Latin languages, yet sometimes miraculously spoke them," as his disciple and bio- grapher reports, Ij and to that of the renowned preacher, St. Vincent Ferrer, who, having the gift of tongues, preached indif- ferently to Jews, Moors, and Christians, in their respective lan- guages, and converted incredible numbers of each of thtese des- ♦ The great St, Martin acknowledged his o^vn miracles, since, accor;!ing: to Jiis friend and biographer, Sulpicius, Dialogue 2, he used to say, that he was not endowed with so great a power o( working them, after he was a bishop, as he had been before. t Addressing himself to P. Eugeniiis HI. in answer to his enemies, who re- proached him withthe ill success of the second crusade, he sayj, "Sed dicunt for- sitari isti : Unde scitnus quod a Domino strmo egressussil ? (^u(e figna lu/acisvi credamus libi ? non est quod ad ista ipse respondeam : parcendum verecumiim mete : responde tu pro me et pro te ipso, secundum ea quseridisli et audisti." De Consid. 1. ii. c. 1. In like manner, writing to the people of Thowlouse, of his miracles wrought there, he says : " Mora quidcm brevis aprid vos sed non iu- fructuosa: veritate nimirum per nos manifestata, non sotum in senoooe sedeti- am in virlute.''^ Kp. S4 1 . ^ Epist. S. F. Xav. L. 1. Ep. iv. ♦ Inquiry into Mirac. Powers, p. 120, ke, ':>.•■ I Tillcmont, Mem. Ecc. torn. vii. criptions."* Lewis Bei of tongues I sand India three yeai great apo ordinarily iiounced 1 was empo the case i he enable all of wh< again at merchants hy Urban justrated of Middle Protestan either we who had i ercise it. Nor is Paley, && they insu truth, anc of this, I glistin, ai above. ' minic, w\ a book C( ever."§ In the cause of t. Pacomius, )bites, who, ignac^es, yet »Ie and bjo- rreaclier, St. cached indif- spective lan- [)f Ihfese des- ■>' ■ n ■ ..■! e, accfinlinj: to Lhut he WHS not a bishop, as he emies, tvbore- SecJ tlicunt for- igna lu/acisvi im verecundifls !li et audisti." loulouse, ofhis vos sed non in- tnoime sed eti* criptions.* In like manner, the bull of the canonization of St. » Lewis Bertrand, A. D. 1671, declares that he possessed the gift ? of tongues, by means of which he converted as many as ten thou- sand Indians of diflerent tribes in South America, in the space of three years.f Lastly, let your friend peruse the history of the . great apostle of the East Indies, St. Xavier, who, though he ordinarily studied the languages of the several nations he an- ■ jionnced the word of God to, yet, on particular occasions, lie ) was empowered to speak those he had not learned. J This wa.** the case in Travancor, as his companion Vaz testified, so as to be enabled to convert and instruct there ten thousand infidels, all of whom he baptized with his own hand. This was the case ac:ain at Amangiichi, where he met with a number of Chinese merchants. Finally, the bull of St. Xavierius's canonization hy Urban VIll. proclairaj to the world, that this saint was il- lustrated with the gift of tongues: so false is the bold assertion of Middleton, adopted in part by bishop Douglas and other Protestants, that " there la not, ia all 1»* tory, one instance, either well attested, or so much as ment. led, of any person who had ever exercised the gift of tong:et, or pretended to ex- ercise it." Nor is there more truth in wh it th^ bishop of Salisbury, Dr. Paley, &;c. maintain, namely, that " the Popish miracles," as they insultingly call them, were not wrouglit to confirm any truth, and that no converts were made by them !^ In refutation of this, I may again refer to the epitaph of our apostle, St, Au- glistin, and to the miracles of St. Bernard at Sarlat, mentioned above. To these instances, I may add the prodigy of St. Do- minic, who, to prove the truth of the Catholic doctrine, threw a book containing It into the flames, in which it remained un- v Kmaiiucl Acosta, in his lieruininOricnte (Ictlarum. Dilingon, 1571. Puris, I57i. miracles so concli Peter Re adopted ' much to of the tw will the Acosta b (ility o(y was ainoi this sanv quotes, e: I;) be reli the East ther, will <;alls him :iii(l such ruid cred in inagni all this T <)ishop E learned Ibund in 1 insert titled to the mira( nf the n 'Prcnt, 1) rarlos, y\ ))roper liou of iiig of tl b I • Cri'- Jt)is>Hf " Alte ^n)s(.it »post ^ipfraniiit.' 1 •' i:t (ju tint, /ic.tffn ^sBct, tarn 8,p, 141. *• Com vinim Apo tnsipie iJo .M!»S:ister ( i' The quaint des hetier XXJV. 151 lealth, and ia, that the edit of the f miracles, f criticism, were per- its of them n immense the saint's re, at once He died at letter was lis viceroy o take de- there is a he life and imendably but also living and ith all the and sealed e positive, this time, d uut been is that of een a mis- ida Indo' irty-seven xpress ac- brmed by f a Jesuit, ptionably, ; Xavier's pfi Comorin, I Protpstunl- : 'Jfir. grtai i»r. IfHt'e as • ofjUh at il V. liomult B, CI,&c. n'pral ycriM ingon, 1571. miracles were thought of."* The argument has been thou girt so conclusive, that Mr. Le Mesurier,f Hugh Farmer,^ the Rev. Peter Roberts,'^ and other Protestant writers on miracles, have adopted it with exultation, and it has probably contributed as much to the author's title of Detector Douglas^ as his exposure of the two impostors, Lauder and Archibald Bower. But what will the admirers of this Defector say, if it should appear that Acosta barely says, that " there was not (he same faculty or fa- cility of working miracles among the missionaries, which there was among the apostles ?"]] Or rather what will they say, it this same Acosta, in the very work '/hich Do<;tor Douglas; (juotes, expressly asserts, that signs and mi7'ttchs too numerous t;) be related, accompanied the preaching of the Gospel both in the East and the Wci^t Indies, in kis own timcJ^ ■ And yet fur- ther, with respect to this same " Bksscd Master Francis," as he <;alls liim, " being a man of an apostolical life, that so many Tiiid such great signs have been reported of him by numerous and credible witnesses, that hardly more in number or greater in mngnitu(iti are road of an}" one, except the apostles ?"** Now all this 1 affirm Acosta does say, in the very work quoted by f)ishop Douglas, a '"^py of which ! beg leave to inform your Irarned frirnd, (and through him, other learned men,) is to be fmmd in tire Bodleian library at Oxford, under the title which I insert below.f f llie author of The Criterion is hardly en- titled to more merrv for his cavils on what Ribadeneira savs of the miracles of St. Ignatius, than for those on what Acosta says of the mirach's of St. Xavi«'r. The fact is, the Couticil of 'rront, having recently prohibited the publication of any new mi- larlos, \nitil they had been examined and approved of by the ))rnper ecclesiastical authority, Hibadeneim, in the first edi- tion of his life of St. Ignatius, observed due caution in speak- ing of this saint's miracles ; however, in tlmt very edition, he • Cri*»i-ion, p. 7:1. t namiiton Leoture", p.2ni]. \ t)i<>>«rlutMtn (HI Miracles, p. 20;j. ♦ Olwervatioiis' on a Pumphlet. II " Altcrn raiisn in nobis est csi.it «|)os(olici>, qifod niiranilonim un\hif«cul(u3 sit, quaajTOsloli pluriiua prr- pplranint."— Afosta, DnProc. 1, ii. r.W. 1 *' r,l r Gaspar -..iique soc.ii, tc." — De IVonir. Ind. Saint. 1. ii. r. 10, p. 226. t' Tlio bo lit is to b«< inquired for af thn Hodlrian library by Ibp rollowin* cuaint desnriplioti ; Jithumia Papism Ml Orbi mninfvslata, U"* <• '2^, jtrt.Hdii Hi* 153 Letter XXIF. f^m rs<:4ri.'' TIk^ writer prorceiU to mention several ciiroi". &c. edit. ifui. 1 camiot floyp tlii< nrtirle withont proteilingajain?t the disinfjeuuity of sevord l'rot(>!ition9 practised by llie Jan^eniMn ;d ilm tomb of Abbi- I'liri^ In fact, who dotected those impoKitions, and fnniii'hril Dr. Campbel, Dr. Don^las, &c. with ar|'l:(iri ofUtcte and other Protestant writers, for the manner in which thoy dis^o^s Ilm rtupcndon* miracle that look place at Sam»oli°^ht mrntioii which cardinal Iletz ninkei of it in his Memni $. In fact, we mi.-jfit Iiavo cx\hh\ ed that learned divines would have known that tliis miracle had been ampl) discussed, »oon after it happenml, between Dr. Stillin»fleet and the Jesuit Fil- ward Worsley, in which discussion, the latter jn-odticed such attestations of thti fact OS It seems ininofHible not to credit.— See Rnnson and Religion, p. 3OT. t By th* Rev. Peter Roberts, rector of Llanarnion, ko. Letter XXV, 153 subject. He next proceeds to charge W. White and her friends with a studied imposition; in support of which charge, he as- serts, that " the church of Rome had not announced a miracle for many years." This only proves that his ignorance of what is continually going on in the church, is equal to his bigotry against it. The same ignorance and bigotry are manifested in the ridiculous story concerning Sixtus V. which he copies from the unprincipled Leti, as also in his account of the exploded and condemned book, the T^axa Cancellaria, &c.* Towards tlwj conclusion of his work, he expresses a doubt whether I have read bishop Douglas's Criterion, though I have so frequently quoted it; because, he says, if I had read it, I must have knovrn that Acosta proves that St. Xavier wrought no miracles among the Indians, and that the same thing appears from the saint's own letters. Now the only thing, dear sir, which these asser- tions prove, is, that Mr. Roberts himself, no more than bishop Douglas, ever read either Acosta's work, or St. Xavier's Let- ters, notwithstanding they so frequently refer to them ; for this is the only way of acquitting them of a far heavier charge. i I am, &^c. ■/ . J.M ji- water, or bv LETTER XXV. To JAMES BPOWN, Esq. ^c. OA* THR TRUE CHURCH BEING CATTIOUC. Dear Sir, Tk treating of this third mark of the true chnrch. nj» expr{?sserl in our common creed, I feel my spirits sink within me, and I ntn almost tempted to throw away my pen, in denpair. For what chanoe is there of opening the eyes of candid Protestants* to the other marks of the church, if they are capnble of keeping; them shut to this? Every time that each of theiii addresses the God of Truth, either in solemn worship or in private devotion, he fails not to repeat, T bdkve in THE CATHOLIC church: and vet if I ask him tho question. Are you a CATHOLICS he i/sure to answer me, JVo, lam a FliOTESTANT I Wa* • Emeb. Ecclcs. Hist. 1. iv. c. 16. u 154 tdtet XXV, mmts it l^.i^- there ever a nfiore prlanng ittstance of inconsistency arid self-coh demiiation among rational beings ! At the first promulgation of the Gospel, its followers were distinguished from the Jews by the name of Christians^ as we learn from Scripture, Acts xi. 26. Hence thp title of Catholic did not occur in the primitive edition of tlie apostles' Creed ;* but no sooner did heresies and schisms arise, to disturb the peace of the church, than there was found to be a necessity of discriminating the main slock of her faithful children, to whom the promises of Christ belonged, from those self-will choosers of their articles of belief, as the word heretic signifies, and those disobedient separatists, as the word schismatic means. For this purpose the title of CATHOLIC, or universal, was adopted, and applied to tiie true church and her children. Accordingly we find it used by the immediate disciples of the apostles, as a distinguishing mark of the true church. One of these was the illustrious martyr St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, who, writing to the chuicli of Smyrna, expressly says, that " Christ is where the Catholic church is." In like manner, the same church of Smyrna, giving a relation of the martyrdom of their holy bi- shop St. Polycarp, who was equally a disciple of the apostles, addresses it to " The Catholic churches. "j- This characteristi- cal title of the true church continued to be pointed out by the succeeding fathers in their writings and the acts of their couii- rils.J St. Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, in the fourth century, gives the following directions to his pupils : " If you go into any city, do not ask merely. Where is the church, or house of God? because the heretics pretend to have this; but ask, JVhirh is the Catholic church^ because this title l>r1o!if;s aiouc to our holy mother."^ " We," says a fatiuT of the fifth cen- tury, " are called Catholic Christians."]] His contemporary, St. Pacian, describes himself as follows : " Christian is my namp, Catholic is ?ny slrname : by the former I am called, by the latter I am dlstintfuished. By the name of Catholic, our society is distinguished from all hrreticsy^ But there is not one of the fathers or doctors of antirjuity, who enlarges so co- piously or so pointedly on tliis title of the tnie church, as the great St. Augustin, who died at the end of the fifth century. *' Many things," he says, " detain me in tl? bosom of the Ca- • Reft fftnrPoUatpd copies of it in Diipin'a Bib. Eccl. torn. i. ''•'<'' t EmsbV). Krc. Flist. 1. iv. r. 15. "^ SS. Justin. Clem. Alex. Appolin. 1. Nicrcn. can. R. 1. C. P. can. 7, &0« i Catpch. II). II Siilviau do GuUern. D«i. 1. iv. % ^ Pii'uau, K[>. i. ail Symjp. Itjiolicchi I which shi I that whei I yet, if an Uhe Cath plaee ofi » We mi called C. her enem or not, V strangers of Catho J did not lier."t of Catho e-^clesiasi countries of Lerin bearing ' St. Justii same rei cionite, ^ the nerv( ject: "\ been fon day. If their nar Marcion not of C I now who are jects, wl lathers a they we U there iind disti CHUR( which J) it ? Do tcstabiy » Contj I Conir jl Ad vol IJ Letttr XXV: 155 ibolic church — the very name of CATHOLIC detains me in it, I which she has so happily preserved amidst the different heretics; I that whereas they are all desirous of being called Catholics f yet, if any stranger were to ask them, Which is the assembly of ike Catholics ? none of them would dare to point out his own place of worship."* To the same purpose, he says elsewhere: " We must hold fast the communion of that church which is called Catholic, not only by her own children, but also by all her enemies. For heretics and schismatics, whether they will lor not, when they are speaking of the Catholic church with ^trangers, or with their own people, call her by the name I of Catholic ; inasmuch as they would not be understood, if they d not call her by the name by which all the world calls I lier."f In proportion to their affection for the glorious name of Catholic, is the aversion of these primitive doctors, to every I ecclesiastical name or title derived from particular persons, countries, or opinions. " What new heresy," says St. Vincent of Lerins, in the sixth century, " ever sprouted up, without bearing the name of its founder, the date of its origin ?" fee. J St. Justin, the philosopher and martyr, had previously made the same remark in the second century, with respect to the Mar- cionite, Valentinian, and other heretics of his time.*^ Finally, the nervous St. Jerom lays down the following rule on this sub- Meet: "We must live and die in that church, which, having been founded by the apostles, continues down to the present day. If, then, you should hear of any Christians not deriving their name from Christ, but from some other founder, as the Marcionites, the Valentinians, hi. be persuaded that they are not of Christ's society, but of Antichrist's. "j| I now appeal to you, dear sir, and to the respectable friends who are accustomed to deliberate with you on religious sub- jects, whether these observations and arguments of the ancient lluhers are not as strikingly true in this nineteenth century, as they were during the six first centuries, in which they wrote ? Is there not, among the rival churches, one exclusively known .111(1 distinguished by the name and title of THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, as well in England, Holland, and other countries, which protcat against this church, as in those which adhere to it ? Does not this effulgent mark of the true religion so incon- tpstably belong to us, in spite of every effort to obscure it, by • Contra Epist. Fundam. c. I. X Common. Ailvnrs. liter, c. 34. il Advors. Luciforan. t De Vor. Relig. c. 7. { Adrert. TryphoD. 166 LeUer XXFl **:i-p the nick-names of Pdpisis, Romanists, he.* that the rule of St. Cyril and St. Augustin is as good and certain now, as it was m their times ? What I mean is this : if any stranger in London, Edinburgh, or Amsterdam, were to ask his way to the Catholn chapel, I would risk my life for it, that no sober Protestant in- habitant would direct him to any other place of worship tlmn to ours. On i\ic other -la-id a is notorious, that the different sects of Prot"<:tavr,'5 like she i;e; tics and schismatics of old, are denominated « ithei from thei* . 'nders, as the Lutherans, the Cahiniats, th; Sotiit'Atnf., cic- oj from the countries in which fh( y pre! vail, as the church of England, the Kirk of Scotland^ the Moravicns, ii ' '■' •■ •' . sp I am, Sec. -''>" -''- - ■■ '•■•• ■' .'■• ■'■ ■ _ J. M. ■:;i)).i;{! .if J..' Mit; mI • 7j,.'ii . >n » m; ■ •ifir ' .rtl M 1 1 ; < 1 irii, V 'il: 'i .:i 1 ,ll ..5- a) .> • 11 Ji- ll '•,' l.| :il!^W;.' )l ■Mit .i} LETTER XXVI. 7 ,i, To JAMES BROWN, Esq. ^c. ■rrn ) I. .ii. . (.. Qjy. rpfjp qujLiTfES OF CATHOLICITY. ' • iir.j Ii, ,., ,'. Dear Sir, To proceed now, from the na'ne Catholic, to the signification of that name: this is to be •uijered from the etymology of the word itself, and from the sense in which the apostolical fathers ajul other doctors of t'le church have constantly used it. It is derived from the Greek word KaJoXixog, which means universe}; and, accordingly, it has evr been employed by those writers to discriminate the great body of Christians, under their legiti- • St. r.r<»»ory of Tours, speakin^of the Arians, ami other contemporary here- tics of the 6th rpntury, r,\yn: '* Uoinarioruin noiuiue vocitaiil nustrse religionii bomiiie!'.''* Hist. I. xvii. c.?.i. t Oil the New Tostameiil, p 378. late pas those con ilaces ai atholic lis spread addressir lepreads leaning Idoctrine, |the same Ithe worl( jfiiith whi from the monies that the respects, of the mc fused ivh ever sinci hear me stand m( theran, n atn not o iior of th the time limits wi member Christ I world, a that to ages ha^ gions ab cutions iigainst ' assured, Catholii Butt fusivene it is pr quarters ,i!-, • Epis X Com i doctrine i '■:/■'■. Letter XXVL 157 the rule of St. )w, as it was io rer in London, to the Catholti Protestant in- ' worship tl»an It the different tics of old, are Lutherans, the tries ill which 'k of Scotland^ belief or prac- Quakers, &c. at he and they itholic, that in substituted the Lutherans did are reproach- )n, proves that me, as well as C. J- M. 'I M ; . • ■ V ( ; .t .il ./ .. ■ > I, ■ ■■' 4-; i r. signification nology of the olical fathers ised it. It is ns universal ; Dse writers t(t r their legiti- temporary here- luRtrse reli'ionis ate pastors, and subsisting in ail nations and all ages, from ;hose comparatively small bodies of Christians, who, in certain laces and at certain times, have been separated from it. " The atholic church," says St. Augustin, " is so called, because i& spread throughout the world."* " If your church," adds he, addressing certain heretics, '' is Catholic, show me that it spreads its branches throughout the world ; for such is the meaning of the word Catholic."f *' The Catholic or universal doctrine," writes St. Vincent of Lerins, " is that which remains the same through all ages, and will continue so till the end of the world. He is a true Catholic who firmly adheres to the fiiith which he knows the Catholic church has universally taught from the days of old." J It follows, from these and other testi- monies of the fathers, and from the meaning of the term itself, that the true church is Catholic or Universal in three several respects, as to persons, as to places, and as to time. It consists of the most numerous body of Christians ; it is more or less dif- fused wherever Christianity prevails : and it has visibly existed eeer since the time of the apostles. Hence, dear sir, when you hear me glorying in the name of Catholic, you are to under- stand me as equivalently proclaiming thus : — I am not a Lu- theran, nor n Calvinist, nor a Whitfieldite, nor a Wesleyan ; I am not of the church of England, nor of the Kirk of Scotland, nor of the consistory of Geneva ; I can tell the place where and the time when each of these sects began ; and I can describe the limits within which they are respectively confined ; but 1 am a member of that great Catholic church, which was planted by Christ and his apostles, and has been spread throughout the world, and which still constitutes the main stock of Christianity ; that to which all the fathers of antiquity and the saints of all nges have belonged on earth, and still belonj^ in the bright re- gions above ; that which has endured and overcome the perse- cutions and heresies of eighteen centuries ; m short, that against which the gates of hell have not prevailed, and we are assured, never shall prevail. All this is implied by my title of Catholic. But to form a more accurate opinion of the number and dif- fusiveness of Catholics, compared with any sect of Protestants, it is proper to make a slight survey of their state in the four quarters of the world. In Europe, then, notwithstanding the • Epist. I7().ad S. Sever. + Contra Gaiulent.l. iii. r. 1. \ Comnionit. The same father briefly and accurately defines the CatholU) doctrine to be that which has been believed Semper et ubique tl ab omnibvu. 168 Letter XXVI. revolutionary persecution which the Catholic religion has en. dured and is enduring, it is still the religion of the several states of Italy, and most of the Swiss Cantons, of Piedmont, of France, of Spain, of Portugal, and of the islands in the Medi- terranean, of three parts in four of the Irish, of far the greater part of the Netherlands, Poland, Bohemia, Germany, Hungary, and the neighbouring provinces ; and, in those kingdoms and states in which it is not the established religion, its followers are ^.ery numerous, as in Holland, Russia, Turkey, the Lu- theran and Calvinibtic states of Germany and England. Even in Sweden and Denmark several Catholic congregations, with their respective pastors, are to be found. The whole vast con- tinent of South America, inhabited by many millions of con- verted Indians, as well as by Spaniards and Portuguese, may be said to be Catholic. The same may be said of the empire of Mexico, and the surrounding kingdoms in North America, including California, Cuba, Hispaniola, &.c. Canada and Louisiana are chiefly Catholic ; and throughout tiie United Provinces, the Catholic religion, with its several estabHshnients, is completely protected, and unboundedly propagated. To say nothing of the islands of Africa inhabited by CathoHcs, such as Malta, Madeira, Cape Verd, the Canaries, the Azores, Mauri- tius, Goree, &c. there are numerous churches of Catholics, esta- blished, and organized under their pastors, in Egypt, Ethiopia, Algiers, Tunis, and the other Barbary states on the northern coast ; and thcnrp, in all the Portuguese settlements along the western coast, particularly at Angola and Congo. Even m the eastern coast, especially in the kingdom of Zanquebar and Monomotapa, are numerous Catholic churches. There are also numerous C ^tholic priests and many bishops, with numer- ous flocks, throughout the greater part of Asia. All the Ma- ronites about Mount Libanus, with their bishops, priests and monks, are Catholics, so are many of the Armenians, Persians, and other Christians, of the surrounding kingdoms and pro- vinces.* In whatever islands or states the Portuguese or Spa- nish power does prevail, or has prevailed, most of the inhubitnnts, and in some all of them have been converted. The whole population of the Philippine islands, consisthig of two millions of souls, is all Catholic. The diocese of Gon contains four hundred thousand Catholics. In short, the number of Catho- lics is so great throughout all the peninsula of India within the Ganges, notwithstanding the power and influence of Britain, as '^ See Sir R. Steel's aucoutit of tlic Culhulic Religion throughout the world. Letter XXVL 159 liQ;ion has en- )f the several Piedmont, of i in the Medi- ar the greater iny, Hungary, kingdoms and , its followers •key, the Lu- gland. Even egations, with bole vast con- lions of con- rtuguese, may of the empire [>rth America, Canada and t the United stablishnients, ited. To say liolics, such as xores, Mauri- atholics, esta- ypt, Ethiopia, the northern ?nts along the ;o. Even m anquebar and There are , with nunier- All the Ma- ;, priests and ans, Persians, •ms and pro- j,ucsc or Spa- te inhabitants, The wholo two millions contains four )er of Catiio- lia within the of Britain, as hout the. world to excite the jealousy and complaints of the celebrated Protest- ant n 'issionary, Dr. Buchanan.* In a late parliamentary record, it is stated that in TravancOi and Cochin is a Catholic archbishopric and two bishoprics, one of which contains thirty- five thousand communicants. -f There are numerous Catholic flocks, with their priests and even bishops, in all the kingdoms and states beyond the Ganges, particularly in Siani, Cochin- china, Tonquin, and the difterent provinces of the Chinese em- pire. I must add, on this subject, that, whereas, none of the great Protestant sects was ever much more numerous or widely spread than it is at present, the Catholic church, heretofore, prevailed in all the countries which they now collectively in- habit. The same may be said with respect to the Greek schis- matics, and in a great measure to the Mahometans. It is in this point of view that the Right Rev. Dr. Marsh ought to in- stitute his comparison between the church of England and the church of Rome ; J or rather the Catholic church, in communion with the See of Rome. In the mean time, we are assured by his fellow prelate, the bishop of Lincoln, that " The articles and liturgy of the church of England do not correspond with the sentiments of the eminent reformers on the continent, or with the creeds of any Protestant churches there established."^ And with respect to this very church, nothing would be more incon- sistent than to ascribe the greater part of the population of our two islands to it. For if the Irish Catholics, the Scotch Pres- hyterians, the English Methodists and other Dissenters, together with the vast population who neither art nor profess to be of any religion at all, are subtracted, to what a comparativeh small numbf r would the church of England be reduced ! And^ how utterly absurd would it be for her to pretend to be the Catholic cLurch ! Nor are these the only subtractions to be made from her numbers, and indeed from those of all other Christian societies, divided from the true church ; since, there being but one baptism, all the young children who have been baptized in them, and all invincibly ignorant Christians, who exteriorly adhere to them, reallj' belong to the Catholic church. as I have shown above. In finishing this subject, I shall quote a passage from St. Au- gustin, which is as applicable to the sectaries of this age as it • See Christian Researches in Asia, p. 131. Mem. Eccl. t Dr. Kerr's Letter, qnoted in the late parliamentary Report on the Cs^tholio QucKiion, p. 487. I Sec his Comparative View of the Churches of Euglaud and Rome I » Charge, i.i 1803, 17 160 Letter XXFL -Was to those of the age in which he lived. " There are here- tics every where, but not the same heretics every where. For there is one sort in Africa, another sort in the East, a third sort in Egypt, and a fourth sort in Mesopotamia, being different in different countries, though all produced by the same mother, namely, pride. Thus also the faithful are all born of one com- mon mother, the Catholic church; and though they are every where dispersed, they are every where the same."* But it is still more necessary that the true church should be Catholic or Universal as to time than as to numbers or to place. If thore ever was a period since her foundation, in which she has failed, by teaching or promoting error or vice, then the pro- mises of the Almighty in favour of the seed of David and the kingdom of the Messiah, in the Book of Psalms,-}- and in those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel, have failed ;J ihen the more explicit promises of Christ, concerning this church and her pastors have failed ;§ then the Creed itself, which is the subject of our present discussion, has been false. || On this point, learn- ed Protestants have been wonderfully embarrassed, and have in- volved themselves in the most palpable contradictions, A great proportion of them have maintained that the church, in past ages, totally failed, and became the synagogue of satap, and that its head pastor, the bishop of Rome, was and is the man of sin, the identical Antichrist : but they have never been able to settle among tbeiTiaelves, when this most remarkable of all revo- lutions since the world began, actually took place ; or who were the authors, and who the opposers of it ; or by what strange means the former prevailed on so many millions of people of different nations, languages, and interests, throughout Christen- dom, to give up the supposed pure religion, which they had learned from their fathers, and to embrace a pretended new and false system, which its adversaries now call Popery I In a word, there is no way of accounting for the pretended change of religion, at whatever period this may be fixed, but by sup- posing, as I have said, that the whole collection of Christians, on some one night, went to bed Protestants, and awoke the next morning Papists ! That the church in conununion with the See of Rome is the original, as well as the most numerous church, is evident in ■^m IS- * • Lib. de Pact. c. 8. t Pa. Ixxxviii. alias Ixxxiz. &c. X Is. c. liv. lix. Jerem. xxxi. 31. I>an. ii. 44. t Mat.xvi. 18 xxviii. 19,20. il r believe in the holy Catholic churcik ' ' 3»X€«er XXVL 161 several points of view. The stone cries out of the wallf as the prophet expresses it,* in testimony of this. I mean that our veneic<.jle cathedrals and other stone churches, built by Catho- lie hands and for the Catholic worship, so as to resist, in some sort, that which is now performed in them, proclaim that ours is the ancient and original church. This is still more clear from the ecclesiastical historians of our own as well as other nations. Venerable Bede, in particular, bears witness,! that the Roman missionary, St. Augustin of Canterbury, and his companions, converted our Saxon ancestors, at the end of the sixth century, to the belief of the Pope's supremacy, transub- stantiation, the sacrifice of the mass, purgatory, the invocation of saints, and the other Catholic doctrines and practices, as learned Protestants in general agree.f Now, as these mission- aries were found to be of the same faith and religion, not only with the Irish, Ficts, and Scots, who were converted almost two centuries before them, but also with the Britons or Welsh, who became Christians in the second century, so as (mly to diffei from them about the time of keeping Easter and a few other un- essential points, this circumstance alone proves the Catholic re- ligion to have been that of the church in the aforesaid early age. Still the most demonstrative proofs of the antiquity and originality of our religion are gathered from comparing it with that contained in the works of the ancient fathers. An attempt was made, during a certain period, by some eminent Protest- ants, especially in this country, to press the fathers into their service. Among these, bishop Jewel of Sarum, was the most con- spicuous. He not only boasted that those venerable witnesses of the primitive doctrine were generally on his side, but also published the following challenge to the Catholics : " Let them show me but one only father, one doctor, one sentence, two lines, and the field is theirs."^ However, this his vain boast- ing, or rather deliberate impugning of the known truth, only sei'ved to scandalize sober and learned Protestants, and among others, his biographer. Dr. Humphreys, who complains that he thereby " Gave a scope to dw Papists, and spoiled himself and the Protestant church." li In fact, this hypocrisy, joined with his shameful falsification of the fathers, in quoting them, occa- sioned the conversion of a beneficed clergyman, and one of tlie • Habak. ii. 11. t Hist. Eccles. X Bishop Bale. Humphreys the Centiir. of Masrdeb. &c. . .. i Jewel's Sermon at St. Paul's Cross ; likewise his Answers to Dr. Cole. 11 Life of Jewel, quoted by Walsinghatn, in his invaluable Search inloMattert of Religion, ^A12. r m U2 Utter XXVIL ablest writers of hiB a^, Dr. W. Reynolds.* Most Protestant writers of later timcAf follow the late Dr. Middleton, and Lu- ther himself, in gi'.i v; «p the ancient fathers to the Catholics without reserve, and thereby the faith of the Christian church during the six first centuries, of which faith these fathers were the witnesses and the teachers. Among other passages to this purpose, the above named doctor writes as follows : " Every one must see what a resemblance the principles and practice of the fourth century bear to the present rites of the Popish chttrch."J Thus, by the confession of her most learned adver- saiies our church is not less CATHOLIC or Universal^ as to tme, than she is with respect to name, locality^ and numbers. I am, &c. •i-.a ..^O' .' •;.:/ -.-. ..:, J. M. w 1mI i'' . !.■ Ji, ;:. T u. ri Hi- I LETTER XXVII. To JAMES BROWK, Esq. OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. '■•" Dear Sir,'^'' ' •'■ '•'■ ■' - ^ ^ I HAVE received the letter written by your visiter, the Rev. Joshua Clark, B. D. at the request, as he states, of certain mem- bers of your society, animadverting on my last to you ; an an- swer to which letter I am requested to address to you. The Reverend gentleman's arguments are by no means consistent one with another; for like other determined controvertists, he attacks his adversary with every kind of weapon that comes to his hand, in the hopes jpcr/a5 et nefas of demolishing him. He maintains, in the first place, that, though Protestantism was not visible before it was unveiled by Luther, it subsisted in the hearts of the true faithful, ever since the days of the apostles, and that the believers in it constituted the real primitive Catho- lic church. To this groundless assumption I answer, that an invisible church is no church at all; that the idea of such a church is at variance with the predictions of the prophets re- specting Jesus Christ's future church, where they describe it as • Dodd*8 Church Hist. vol. ii. ' ' ' • ' ' . t See the acknowledgment, on this head, of the leairned Frotestanti, Obretcht, DumouUn, ant^ Causabon. % Inquury into Miraeldf Introd. p. 45. Latter XXFIL 163 n Protestant , and Lu- Catholics ian church ithers were iges to this : " Every practice of he Popisli ned adver- rsalf as to umbers, J.M. , the Rev. tain mem- u; an an- ou. The consistent ertists, he I; comes to him. He 11 was not led in the J apostles, ve Catho- r, that an of such a iphets re- :ribe it as a mountain on the top of mountains, Is. ii. 2. Mic. iv. 2. and as ' a city, vi^hose watchmen shall never hold their peace. Is. Ixii. 6. and, indeed, with the injunction of our Lord himself, 1'* tell the churchy Mat. xviii. 17, in a certain case, which he mf iirioii-?. It is no less repugnant to the declaration of Luther, v ho says of himself, " At first I stood alone :"* and to that of Calvin, who says, " The first Protestants were obliged to break off from the whole world ;"f as also to that of the church of England in her Homilies, where she says, " Laity and clergy, learned and un- learned, all ages, sects and degrees, have been drowned in abominable idolatry, most detested by God and damnable to man, for eight hundred years and more."J As to the argument ill favour of an invisible church, drawn from 1 Kings xix. 18. where the Almighty tells Elijah, / have left me seven thousand in Israel, whose knees have not been bowed to Baal ; our divines fail not to observe, that however invisible the church of the Old Law was in the schismatical kingdom of Israel, at the time here spoken of, it was most conspicuous and flourishing in its proper seat, the kingdom of Judah, under the pious king Josaphat. Mr. Clark's second argument is borrowed from Dr. Porteus, and consists in a mere quibble. In answer to the question ; " Where was the Protestant religion before Luther ?" this pre- late replies, " It was just where it is now : only that then it was corrupted with many sinful errors, from which it is now reform- ed. "§ But this is to fall back into the refuted system of an in- visible church ; it is also to contradict the Homilies, or else it is to confess the real truth, that Protestancy had no existence at ail before the sixteenth century. The Reverend gentleman next maintains, on quite opposite grounds, that there have been large and visible societies of Pro- testanis, as he calls them, who have stood in opposition to the church of Rome, in all past ages. True, there have been here- tics and schismatics of one kind or other during all that time, from Simon Magus, down to Martin Luther; many sects of whom, such as the Arians, the Nestorians, the Eutychians, the Monotholites, the Albigenses, the Wickliffites, and the Hussites, have been exceedingly numerous and powerful in their turns, though most of them now have dwindled away to nothing : but observe, that none of the ancient heretics held the doctrines of any description of modern Protestants, and all of them main- tained doctrines and practices which modern Protestants repro- i,Obretcht, • Opera. Pref. I Confut. p. 79. 17* t Epist. 171. J Perils of Idolatry, p. iii. 164 Letter XXVIL bate, as much as Catholics do. Thus the Albigenses were real M anicheons, holding two First Principles, or Deities, attributing the Old Testament, the propagation of the human species, to Satan, and acting up to these diabolical maxims.* The Wick- liffites and Hussites were the levelling and sanguinary Jacobins of the times and countries in which they lived ;f in other re- spects these two sects were Catholics, professing their belief in the seven sacraments, the mass, the invocation of saints, purga- tory, he. If, then, your Reverend visiter is disposed to admit such company into his religious communion, merely because ihey protested against the supremacy of the Pope, and some other Catholic tenets, he must equally admit Jews, Mahometans, and Pagans into it, and acknowledge them to be equally Pro" testanta with himself. Your Reverend visiter concludes his letter with a long disser- tation, in which he endeavours to show, that however we Catho- lics may boast of the antiquity and perpetuity of our church in past times, our triumphs must soon cease V v the extinction of this church, in consequence of the persecution now carrying on against it in France, and other parts of the continent, J and al$o from the preponderance of the Protestant power in Europe, and particularly that of our own country, which, he says, is nearly as much interested in the extirpation of Popery as of Jacobin- ism. My answer is this : I see and bewail the anti-Catholic persecution which has been, and is carried on in France and its dependent states, where to decatholicixe is tlie avowed order of the day. This was preceded by tlie less sanguinary, thnngh equally anti-Catholic persecution of the emperor Joseph II. and his relatives in Germany and Italy. I hear the exultations and menaces on 'Jiis account, of the Wranghams, De Coetlegons, Towscns, Bichenos, Ketts, Fabers, Daubenys, and a crowd of other declamatory preachers and writers, some of whom pro- claim that the Romish Babylon is on the point of falli.ig, and otiiers that she is actually fallen. In the mean time, though more living branches of the mystical vine should be cut ofl' by the sword, and more rotten branches should fall off, from their own decay,^ I am not at all fearful for the life of the tree itself; * See an account of them, and the authorities on which this reits, in Lttttn to a Prebendar/f Letter l\ . t Ibid. X Namely, in 1802. i Since the preapnt letter was written, many circuimtancflt have occurred to •how the mUtaJcen politics of our rulers, in endeavouring to weaken and supplant the reli^on of their truly loyal and conscientious Catholic subjects. Amon;; ether meaiurea for this purpose, may bo meationod th« late initructions Mot to amoui<% s Letter XXVIl. ib& since the divine veracity is pledged for its safety, as long as the sun and moon shall endure, Ps. Ixxxix. ; and since the experience of eighteen centuries has confirmed our faith in these divine promises. During this long interval, kingdoms and empires have risen and fallen, the inhabitants of every country have been repeatedly changed ; in short, every thing has changed except the doctrine and jurisdiction of the Catholic church, which are precisely the same now as Christ and his apostles left them. In vain did Pagan Rome, during three centuries, exert its force to drown her in her own blood ; in vain did Arianism and other heresies sap her foundations, during two centuries more ; in vain did hordes of barbarians, from the north, and of Mahometans, from the south, labour to overwhelm her ; in vain did Luther swear that he himself ^vould be her death :* she has survived these, and numerous other enemies equally redoubtable ; and she will survive even the fury and machinations of anti-chrlstian philosophy, though directed against her exclusively : for not a drop of Protestant blood has been shed in this impious persectition. Nor is that church which, in a single kingdom, the very head quarters of infidelity, could at once furnish twenty-four thousand martyrs and sixty thousand voluntary exiles, in defence of her faith, so likely to sink under external violence, or internal weakness, as your Rev. visiter supposes. Alluding to the then recent attempt of the emperor Julian to falsify the prophecy of Daniel by rebuilding the Jewish temple, St. John Chrysostom exclaimed, " Behold the temple of Jerusalem ; God has destroyed it, and have men been able to restore it ? Behold the church of Christ j God the governor of Canada, which Catholic provrnce ulone remained faithful at the time of trial, when all the Protes'tant provinces abjured their allegiance. To the same intent may he cited the letter of Dr. Kerr, senior chaplain of fort St. George, quoted in «he late Parliamentary Report. Ijy this it appears that the Catholics in (hat .irovinca jrencraily converted about three hundred Infidels lo Christianity ev*ry year, and that there was n pro?pe«;t nfthcir converting many of the Hmdo* chiefs, but that our government itt ill fare ai(ui>isl thear rnnvtr- mm. ThiM is the infamous worship of Juggernaut itself preferf-ed to the religion which coiiverted and civilised our ancestors. Juggernaut, as Dr. Buchanan in- forms u^, is « huge idol, carved v/ith the most ol)srene figurcL. round it, and pul»- iicly tvorshipped before hundreds of thousands wiili obscene songs and unnaturul ritf^t too gross to be described. It is placed on a carriage, under the wheels of vflioh great numbers of its votaries are cticouragrd to throw themselves in order (0 be crushed to death by them. Now this infernal worship is not hnrrfy permit' /frf, but even supportel by our government in India, as it takes a tribute from each individual w!io is prestin' at it, and likewise drfrnyi the exjteute oftt, to lh« amour', says Dr. Buchanan, of 8,7()0/. annually, including the keep of the pros, titutes, tVo. • Luther ordered this epitaph to bo ongraved on bU tomb : Puli$tram nvtn$f morisni era tnon /tw, Pa ■ \ l«G Letter XXVIIL has built it, have men been able to destroy it?" Should the Almighty permit such a persecution to befall any of the Pro- testant communions, as we have beheld raging against the Ca- tholic church on the continent, does your visiter really believe they will exhibit the same constancy, in suffering for their re- spective tenets, that she has shown in defence of hers ? In fact ; for what tenets should tlieir members sufler exile and death, since, without persecution, they have all, in a manner, abandon- ed their original creeds, from the uncertainty of their rule of faith, and their own natural mutability ? Human laws and pre- miums may preserve the exterior appearance, or 7nere carcass of a churchy as one of your divines expresses it ; but, if the pastors and doctors of it should Jemonstrate by their publications that they no longer maintain her original fundamental ai'ticles, can we avoid subscribing to the opinion, expressed by a late digni- tary, that " the church in question, properly so called, is not in existence ?"* > ! I I am, &£c. ^. >i>'.^ J. M. LETTER XXVIil. ' ! : ^ To JAMES BROWN, Esq. O.V THE JtPOSTQLlCtTY OF THE C'lTIIOLIC CHURCH. Dear Sir, The last of the four marks of the church, mrntioued in our common Creed, is Apostolicity. We cac\\ of us (Icchne, In our solemn worship, I believe in one, holy, Catholic, and JJPOS' TOLICAL church. Christ's last commission lo his apostles was this: Go irarh all nations, baptlzlnir them m the nc nc nj the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, a^xrl in! I am with you always, even unto THE EJVJ) OF THE WORLD. Mat. xxviii. 20. Now the cvoiit has proved, as I have alrcudy observed, that the apostles, themselves, were only to live the ordin^ term of man's life ; therefore, the comrni'- sion of preachin«i, • 1 ministering, together with the promise ot the Divine assistance, regards the successors of the apostles, n(» lets than tlie apostles themselves. This proves that there must H *-: * Con.''-fiion&l, p. 344. Letter XXVUI. 167 tould the the Pro- t the Ca- y believe their re- in fact ; nd death, abandon- ir rule of and pre- carcass of le pastors tions that icles, can ate digni- , is not in :c. J. M. URCII. iipd in our leclare, in d ^POS- is apostles «<..-; lo ! 1 9F THE rovfid, as I , were only e commi'- promise oi ipostles, m there rrnwi have been an uninterrupted series of such successors of tlie apostles in every age since their time, that is to say, successors to their doctrine, to their jurisdiction, to their orders, and to their mission. Hence it follows that no religious society what- ever, which cannot trace its succession, in these four points, up to the apostles, has any claim to the characteristic title, APOS- TOLICAL. Conformablv with what is here laid down, we find the fathers and ecclesiastical doctors of every age referring to this mark of apostolical succession, as demonstrative of their belong- ing to the true church of Christ. St. Irenseus of Lyons, the disciple of St. Polycarp, who himself appears to have been con- secrated by St. John the evangelist, repeatedly urges this argu- ment against his contemporary heretics. " We can count up,'* he says, " those who were appointed bishops in the churches by the apostles and their successors down to us, none of whom taught this doctrine. But as it would be tedious to enumerate the succession of Bishops in the different churches, we refer you to the tradition of that greatest, most ancient, and universally known church, founded at Rome by St. Peter and St. Paul, and which has been preserved there through the succession of its bishops down to the present time." He then recites the names of the several Popes down to Eleutherius, who was then living.* Tcrtullian, who also flourished in the same century, argues in the same manner, and challenges certain heretics, in these terms: " Let them produce the origin of theii church ; let them display the succession of their bishops, so that the first of them may appear to have been ordained by an apostolic man, who persevered iv. dieir communion." He then gives a list of tiie pontilFs in the li^oman See, and concludes as follows : " Let the Heretics feign any thing like this."f The great St. Au- gustin, who wrote in the fifth century, among other motives of credibility ir favour of the Catholic religion, mentions the one in question : " 1 am kept in this church," he says, " by the suc- cession of p. elates from St. Peter, to whom tlie Lord committed the care of his sheep, down to the present bishop. "J In like manner St. Optatus, writing against the Donatists, enumerates all the Popes from St. Peter down to the then living Pope, Siricius, " with whom," he says, " we and all the world are united in communion. Do you, Donatists, now give the history • Lib. iii. advon. Ilfler. c. iii. t " Fingant talealiquiil hwretici." I Contru Kpist. Fuiuluin. Prffwript. *» if 168 Letter XXVHL of your episcopal ministry."* In fact, this mode of proving the Catholic church to be apostolical is conformable to coroinon sense and constant usage. If a prince is desirous of showing his title to a throne, or a nobleman or gentleman his claim to an estate, he fails not to exhibit his genealogical table, and to trace his pedigree up to some personage whose right to it was unquestionable. I shall adopt the same precise method on the present occasion, by sending your society a slight sketch of our apostolical tree, by which they will see, at a glance, an abridg- ment of the succession of our chief bishops in the apostolical See of Rome, from St. Peter up to the present edifying pontiff Pius VII, as likewise that of other illustrious doctors, prelates and saints, who have defended the apostolical doctrine by their preaching and writings, or who have illustrated it by their lives. They will also see the fulfilment of Christ's injunction to tlie apostles and their successors in the conversion of nations and people to his faith and church. Lastly, they will behold the unhappy series of heretics and schismatics, who, in difierent ages, have fallen off from the doctrine or communion of^ the apostolic church. But as it is impossible, in so narrow a com- pass as the present sheet, to give the names of all the Popes, or to exhibit the other particulars here mentioned in the distinct and detailed manner which the subject seems to require, I will try to supply the deficiency by the subjoined copious noie.f • Contra Parmen. lib. ii. , ' . t Within the (irst century from the birth of Christ, this long expected Met- eiah founded the kingdom of his holy church in Judeea, and chose his apostles to propag;ate the same throughout the earth, over whom he appointed Simon, as the centre of union and fuad pastor ; charging him to feed his whole flock, sheep as well as lambs, giving him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and changing his name into that of PETER, or ROCK; adding, on this rock I will build my church. Thus dignified, St. Peter first established his See at Antioch, the head city of Asia, whence he sent his disciple St. Mark to establish and govern the See of Alexandria, the heHd city of Africa. He afterwards removed his own See to Rome, the capital of Europe and the wor'V Here, having, with St. Paul, seal- ed the Gospel with his blood, he tronsn. itted his prerogative to St. Linus, from whom it descended in succession to St. Cletus and St. Clement. Among (Iia other illustrious doctors of this age are to be reckoned, first, the other apostle?, then SS. Mark, Luke, Barnaby, Timothy, Titus, Hermps, Ignatius, bishop ol Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna. From the few remaining writings of thece may be gathered the nec^essity of unity and submission to bishops, (radition, the real presence, the sacrifice of the mass, veneration for relics, &c. In this a;jp, churches were founded, beiidcs the above-mentioned places, in Samana, throughout lesser Asia, in Armenia, India, Greece, Egj'pt, Ethiopia, Italy, Spain, and Gaul; in this apostolical age, also, and as it were under the eyes of the apostles, different proud innovators pretended to reform the doctrine which they taught. Among those were Simon the Magician, Ilymeneus and Philetui, ttie incontinent Nicolaitcs, Cerinlhus, Ebion, and Meander. Letter XXVIII. 169 of proving to common of showing lis claim to ble, and to [it to it Was liod on the etch of our an abridge apostolical ing pontiff, rs, prelates ne by their their lives, tion to the lations and behold the n diflerent ion of| the ow a com- 3 Popes, or he distinct uire, I will noie.f xpectcd Mej. lis apostles to Simon, ai the lock, sheep as chanofin" his will build my och, the head overn the See lis own See to it. Paul, seal- . Linns, from Among: tho ther apoptles, us, bishop ol iting;s ot theffl iradition, the In this a?e, in Samaria, liopia, Italy, »r the eyes of >ctrine which and Fhiletui, I do not, dear sir, pretend to exhibit a history of the church, nor even a regular epitome of it, in the present note, any more CENT. II. , . , The succession of chief pastors in the chair of Peter was kept up through this century by 'he following Popes, who were also, for the most part, martyrs: An- Bcletus, Evaristus, Alexander I, Xystus I, Telesphorus, Hyginus, Hus I, Ani- cetus, Soter, Elcutherius, who sent Fugatius and Damianus to convert the Bri- tons, and Victor i', who exertejl his authority against certain Asiatic bishops for keeping Easter at an undue time. The truth of Christianity was defended, in this age, by the apologists Qi^sadratus, Aristides, Melito, and Justin, the philoso- pher and maKyr ; and the rising heresies of Valentinian, Marcion, and Carpo- crates, were confounded by the bishops Dionysius of Corinth, and Theophylus ol Antioch, in the east, and by St. Irenseus and Tertullian, in the west. In the mean time, the Catholic church was more widely spread, through Gaul, Ger- many, Scythia, Africa, and India, besides Britain. CENT. III. ;', ; The Popes who presided over the church, in the third age, were all emineot for their sanctity, and almost all of them martyrs. Their names are Zephyrinus, Calixtus I, Urban I, Pontianus, Antherus, Fabian, Cornelius, Lucius, Stephen I, Xystus II, Dionysius, Felix I, Etuychian, Caius, and Marcellinus. The most celebrated doctors of this age were St. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Minu- tius Felix, St. Cyprian, St. I lypolitus, both martyrs, and St. Gregory, bishop, gurnamed for his miracles Thaumaturgus. At this time Arabia, the Belgic Pra vinces, and many districts of Gaul, were almost wholly conveited : while P^ul of Samosata, for denying the divinity of Christ, Sabellus, for denying the dis- tinction of persons in the B. Trinity, and Novatus, for denying the power of th« church to remit sins, with Manes, who believed in two deities, were cut off ad rotten branches from the Apostolic tree. CENT. IV. St. Marcellus, the first Pope in this century, died through the hardships of ia>' prisonment for the faith. After him came Eusebius, Melchiades, Silvester, un- der whom the Councils of Aries, against the Donatists, and of Nice, against Iha Arians, were held, Marcus Julius, in whose time the right of appeal to the Ro- man See was confirmed, Liberius, and Damasus. The church, which hitherto had been generally persecuted by the Roman emperors, was, in this age, alter* nately protected and oppressed by them. In the mean time, her numbers were prodigiously increased by conversions throughout the Roman empire, and also in Armenia, Iberia, and Abyssinia, and her faith was invincibly maintained by St. Athanasius, St. Hilary, St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Basil, St. Ambrose of Milan, &c. against the Arians, who opposed the divinity of Christ, the Macedonians, who opposed that of the Holy Ghost, the Aerians, who impugned episcopacy, fiutiug and prayers for tlie dead, and other new heretics aad schismatics. CENT„ V. During this age, the perils and sufferings of the churc'- were greatv but so alio were th^ resources and victories by which her Divine \ ounder supported her. On one hind the Roman empire, that fourth great Dynasty, compared by D.niel to iron, wps broken to pieces by numberless hordes of Goths, Vandals, Huns, Burgundians, Franks and Saxons, who came pouring in upon the civilized world, and seemed to be on the point of overwhelming arts, sciences, laws, And religion, in one undistinguished ruin. On the other hand, various clashes of powerful and subtil heretics strained every nerve to corrupt the apostolicil doc- 170 '^Zetier XXFILl thsn in the apostol'cal tree ; nevertheless, either of these will give you and your respectable society, a sufficient id: % of the WW trine, and to interrupt the course of the apostles' successors. Among these, the Nestorians denied the union of Christ's divine and human natures; the Euty- chians confounded them together; the Pelagians denied the necessity of divine prrar.e, and the followers of Vigilantius scoffed at celibacy, prayers to the saints, and veneration for their relics. Against these innovators a train of i]. lustrious pontiffs and holy fathers opposed themselves, with invincible fortitude and decided success. The Popes were Innocent I, Zosimns, Boniface I, Celes- tin 1, who presided by his legates in the Council of Ephesus, Xystus III, Leo the Great, who presided in thatof Chalcedon, Hilarius, Simplicius, Felix III, Gela- fius I, Anastacius II, and Symachus. Their zeal was well seconded by some of flie brightest ornaments of orthodoxy and literature who ever illustrated the church, St John Chrysostom, St. Jerom, St. Augustin, St, Gregory ofNys8a,&c. By their means, and those of other apostolic Catholics, not only were the ene- mies of the church refuted, but also her bounds greatly enlarged by the conver- sion of the Franks, with their king, Clovis, of the Scotch and the Irish. The apostle of the former was St. Palladius, and of the latter St. Patrick, both com iniraioned by the See of Rome. CENT. VI. ] The church had to co:nbat with infidels, hei'etics, and worldly politicians, in this as in other age? - but failed not to receive the accustomed proofs of tht di- vine protection, amidst her dangers. The chief bishops succeeded each other in the followinj; order : Flormisdas, St. John I, who died a prisoner for the faith, Felix IV, Boniface II, John II, Agapetus I, St. Silverius, who died in exile lor the unity of the church, Vigilius, Pelagius I, John III, Benedict I, Pelagius II, and St. Gregory the Groat, a name which ought to be engraved on the heart of every Englishman who knows how to value the benefits of Christianity, since it was he who first undertook to preach the Gospel to our Saxon ancestors, and, when he was prevented by force from doing this, sent his deputies, St. Auguatin and his companions, on this apostolical errand. Other beneficial lights of this age were St. Fulgentius of Ruspa, Cesarius of Aries, Lupus, Germanus, Severus, Gregory of Tours, our venerable Gildas, and the great patriarch of the monks, St. Bene- dict. The chief heretics who. 1 'urbed the peace of the church werethe Aie- ptiali and Jacobites, lx)th branches of Eutychianism, the Trithcists, the powerful supporters of the Three Chapters, Severus, Eleurus, Mongus, Athimius,and Aca- cius. A more terrible scourge, however, than these, or than any other which the church had yet felt, God permitted in this age to fall upon her, in the rapid progress of the impostor Mahomet; what however she lost in some quarters, was made up to her in others, by the suppression of Ariaiiism among the Visigoths of Spain and among the Ostrogoths of Italy, and by tlie conversion of the Lazes, Axumites, and Southern English. CENT. VIL I' i'he Popes in th.N century are most of them honoured for their sanctity, namely, Sabinianus, Bonif:u>.e III, Boniface IV, Deusdedit, Boniface V, Hono- rius I, Severinus, John IV, Theodoras, Martin I, who died an exile, in defence of the faith, Engenius I, Vitalianus, Domnus I, Agatho, who presided, by hii legates, in the sixth General Couuiul, held against the Monotholites, Leo II, He- nwlict II, John V, Conon, and Hergius I. Other contemporary do<;tor8 and suinti ware St. Sophrouius and St. John the almoner, bishops, and St. Muximus, martyr, in the East. SS. Isidore, Udcfons^iis and Eugcinus, in Spain, S9. Aniand, Eligius, Oilier and Owon, in Frame, and SS. I'aulinus, VVilfrid, Birinu?, Felix, (Jhnd, Aid.iu und Cuthbcrt, iu En^iaud. T^^^ East, at Uiis time, was dtatrAulcd by tii« I'M '• Jib' Letter XXVUL 171 these will d a of the ong these, the es: theEuty. sily of divine to the saints, _ atrainofil. 5>hle fortitude face I, Celes. asII[,Leoihe 5lJX Ilf, Gela. ed by some of Uustrated the ofNyssa,&c. *'ere the ene- y the conver- e Irish. The :k, both com 'oliticiaiM, in •oft of the di- each other in for the Ikith, > exile for the agius If, and leart of evcrv nee it was he inU, when he :u9tin and his his age were rus, Gregory ks, St. Bene- ere the Ace- the powerful ius,and Aca- other which in the rapid URrters, was Visigoths of f the Lazes, «r sanctity, e V, Hono- ill defence ied, hy hii I^eo II, He- '8 iujd sainti Us, inarlyr, nJ, Kiigius, ^lix, Chad, ulcU by Ui0 uninterupted succession of supreme pastors, which has subsisted in the See of Rome from St. Peter, whom Christ made head of Monolholite heretics, and in some parts, by the Fauliciaps, who revived the de- testable heresy of the Manicheans, but most of all by the sanguinary course of the Mahometans, who overran the most fertile and civilized countries of Asia and Africa, and put a stop to the apostolical succession in the primitive Sees of the East. To compensate for these losses, the church spread her roots wide in the northern regions. The whole Heptarchy of England became Christian, and diffused the sweet odour of Christ throughout the West. Hence issued S8. Wil- libord and Swibert to convert Holland and Frizeland, and the two brothers, of the name of Ewald, who confirmed their doctrine with their blood. The mar- tyr St. Killian, who converted Franconia, was an Irishman; butallthese apos- tolical men received their commission from the chair of St. Peter. CENT. VIII. The apostolic succession of the See of Rome was kept up in this age by John VI, John VII, Sisinnius, Constantine, Gregory II, Gregory III, Zacharias, Ste- phen 11, Stephen HI, Paul I, Adrian I, who presided by his legates in the seventh general council against the iconoclasts, and Leo III. The Saracens now crossed the straits of Gibraltar and nearly overran Spain, making ninnerous martyrs; while Felix and Elipand broached errors in the West, nearly resembling those of Neslorius. The most signal defenders of the orthodox doctrine were St. Ger- Mianus Patriarch, St. John Damascene, Paul the deacon, Ven. Bede, St. Ald- helm, St. Willibald, Alcuin, St. Boniface, bishop and martyr, and St. LuUus. Most of these were Englishmen, and, by their means, Hessia, Thuringia, Sax- ony, and other provinces, were added to the Catholic church. CENT. IX. The spostolic tree, in this age, was agitated by storms more violent than usual; 1ml; being refreshed with the dew of grace from above, held fast by its roots. Clau'iius of Turin, united in one system the heresies of Nestorius, Vigi- lantius, and the Iconoclasts, while Ciotescale laboured to infect the church with predestinarianism. A more severe blow, to her, however, was the Greek schism, occasioned by the resentment and ambition of the hypocrite, Fhotius. But the greatest danger of all arose from the overbearing power of the Anti- christian miisselmen, who now carried their arms iiito Sicily, France, and Italy, and became masters, for a time, of the holy See itself. The succession of ith bishops, however, continued uninterrupted, in the following order: Stepheu V, I'ascal I, Eugenius II, Valentin, Gregory IV, Sergius II, Leo IV, Benedict III, Mc.holas I, Adrian II, av1\o presided by his legates in the eighth general council, John VIII, Marinas, Adrian III, Sfephon \ I, Forinos^us, Stenhrn VII, atid Bomu* nus. Other props of the church, in this age, were Theodore the StuUile, St. Ig- natius, tlie legitimate jvatriurch of C. P. Rabanus, Ilincniur, and Agobtird, French bishops, together with our countrymen, St. Swithun, Neot, Grimbi.ld, Alfred, and Fdmnnd. In thi * age St. Ansgarius convert'^ tlie people of llolslein, ai.'d SS. Cyril and Methodius tlic Sclnvoiiinns, Moravians, aiid Bohemians, bj virtue of a commission from Pope Adrian II. CENT. X. The sevprnl Pojies during this century v/e re Theodore II, John IX, Benedict IV, Leo V, Chrislophei', Sergius III, Anasta.iius, Lrndo, John X, Leo VI, Stc- lihen VIII, John XI, l.oo VII, Stcjihen IX, Martin II, Agapetus II, John XII, ncnedict V, John XII!, hon.nns II, Itcnrdict VII, John XIV, John XV, and Grtgory V. Tliis age is generally eouaidcrcd ua the Icubl enlightened by piety Id I?2 1>tie^ XXVIIL his church, up to the present Pope, Pius VII. And this attri- ■ i« bute of perpetual succession, you are, dear sii , to obsierve, is W^ • j and literature of the whole number. Its greatftst disirrace, howCTer, arose from the misconduct of several of tlie above-mentioneH pontiffs, owing to the prevalence of civil factions at Rome, which obstructed the freedom of canonical election ; yet, in this list of names, there are ten or twelve, which do honour to the papal calen- dar, and even those who disgraced it by their lives, performed their public dut, in preserving the faith and unity of the church, irreprovliabiy. \i> the meantime a crowd of holy bishops and other saints, worthj Lhe n - .jf the a /ost^es, adorned most parts of the church, which rontin'ied to be aug • ited by numerous conver- sions. In Italy SS. Peter Damian, Romnald, Nilus, and R^tiiier, bishop of Verona adorned tlie cliurch with their sanctity and talents, as did he holy prelates, Ulric Wolfgang, and Bruno, in Germany, and Odo, Dunstan, (, swald, and Ethehvold, in England. At this time St. Adelbert, bishop of Prague, converted the Poles by his preaching and his blood ; the Danes were converted by St. Poppo, the Swedes, by St. Sigifrid, an Englishman, tlie pcopK; of le-'.-er Russia by SS. Bruno and Boniface, and the Muscovites by missionaries sent ;rom Greece, but at a time when that country was in communion with the See of Rome. ■ ' CENT. XI. During this age the vessel of Peter was steered by several able and virtuous ponti/fs. Silvester II was esteemed a prodia^y of learning and talents. After hira came John XVIII, John XIX, Sergius IV, Benedict VIII, John XX, Bone- di'jt ? X, Gregory VI, Clement. IF, Damascus 11, Leo IX, who has deservedly been re«^koned among the saints, Victor II, Stephen X, Nicholas 1', Alexander II, Gregcry VII, who is also canonized, Victor III, and Urban II. Other defenders of virtue and religion, in this age, were St. Elphege and I.anfr;inc, archbishops of Canterbury, the prelates Burcard of Worms, Fulbert and Ivo of Chartres, Odilo an abbot, Alger a monk, Guitmund and Theophylactus. The crown, also, was now adorned with saints equally signal for their virtue and orthodoxy. In England shone St. Edward the confessor; in Scotland, St. Margaret ; in Ger- many, St. Henry, Emperor; in Hungary, St. Stephen. The cloister also was now enriched with the Cisterchian order, by St. Robert; the Carthusian order was founded by St. Bruno; and the order of Valombroso, by St. John Gualbert. While, on one hand, a gr«»at branch of the apostolic tree was lopped off, by the second defection of the Greek church, and some rotten boughs were cut off from it, in the new Manicheans, who had found their way from Bulgaria into France, as likewise in the followers of the innovator Bercngarius; it received fresh strength and increase from the conversion of the Hungarians, and of the Normans and Danes, who before had desolated England, France, and the two Sicilies. ; CENT. xir. ' In this century heresy revived with fresh vigour, and in a variety of forms, though mostly of the Manichcan family. Mahometanism also again threatened to overwhelm Christianity. To oppose these, the Almighty was pleased to raise up a success ion of as able and virtuous Popes as ever graced the Tiara, with n proportionable number of other Catholic champions to defend his cause. These were Paschal II, Gelasius II, Caiixtus II, Honorius II, Innocent II, who held the second general council of Latoran, Celestin II, Lucius II, Eugenius III, Anasta- sius IV, Adrian IV, an Englishman, Alexander III, who held the third Lateran council, Lucius III, Urban III. Gregory VIII, Clement 111, and Celestin HI. The doctors of note were, in the first place, t!ie mellifluous Bernard, a saint, how- ever, who wail not more powerful in word than in work; likewise the venerable y PI Peter, abb( Peter Lom belt of Maj Lincoln, ar propagated helm, Petei ilans, Patai sects of Mai by the con^ of the abo\ Ureakspeai engrafted i Thf; SuCC Lateran cc bots, and a the extinct Honorius I Lyons, Ale Lyons, in v into it, Inn Nicholas I\ nonized, an Thomas of Pennafort. l^ewis, kinj land, St. Fi bury, St. Tl tics were tl self confessi the Cathol Estonia, wi the mouths Tartars, wi aries, whot of many of Still did all oppositi verified, it; Benedi XXll,Clei IX. Amoi St. Elizabe spouse Del brock, Pet and practi! else the vi| together w veiled at t true Cythc Letter XXVUI. 173 peculiar to the See of Rome : for in all the other churches, ibunded by the apostles, as those of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alex- Peter, abbot of Clugni, St. Anselm and St. Thomas, archbishops of Canterbury, Peter Lombard, master of the sentences, St. Otto, bishop of Bamberg, St. Nor- lieit of MagUeburg, St. Henry of Upsal, St. Malachy of Armagh, St. Hugh of Lincoln, and St. William of York. The chief heresies, alluded to, were those propagated by iviarsilius of Padua, Arnold of Brescia, Henry of Tholouse, Tanc- iielm, Peter Bruis, the Waldenses, or disciples of Peter Waldo, and the Bogomi- iians, Patarins, Cathari, Puritans, and Albigenses, all the latter being dilTerent sects of Manicheans, To make up for the loss of these, the church was increased by the conversion of the Norwegians and Livonians, chiefly through the labours of the above named Adrian iV, then an apostolic missionary, called Nicholas Hreakspeare. Courland was converted by St- Moinard, and even Iceland was engrafted in the apostolic tree by the labours of Catholic missionaries. ' •">' ' \t>f CENT. XIII. Thf, si;ccessors of St. Peter in this age were Innocent III, who held the fourth Lateran cc ^ncil, at which four hundred and twelve bishops, eight hundred ab- bots, and ambassadors from most of the Christian sovereigns were present, for the extinction of the impious and infamous Albigensian or Manichean heresy. Honorius Hi, Gregory IX, Celestin IV, who held the first general council of Lyons, Alexander IV, Urban IV, Gregory X, who held the second council of Lyons, in which the Greeks renounced their schism, though they soon fell back into it, Innocent V, Adrian V, John XXI, Nicholas III, Martin IV, Honorius IV, Nicholas IV, Celesfi'i V, who abdicated the pontificate and was afterwards ca- nonized, and Boniface VIII. The most celebrated doctors of the church were St. Thomas of Aquin, St. Bonaventure, St. Anthony of Padua, and St. Raymond of Pennafort. Other illustrious supporters and ornaments of the church, were St. Lewis, king ui France, St. Elizabeth, queen of Hungary, St. Hedwidge of Po- land, St. Francis of Assisium, St. Dominic, St. Edmund, archbishop of Canter- bury, St. Thomas of Hereford, and St. Richard of Chichester, 'i'he chief here- tics were the Beguardi and Fratricelli, whose gross immoralities Mosheim him- self confesses. In the mean time Spain was, in a great measure, recovered to the Catholic chorch from the Mahometan impiety ; Courland, Gothland, and Estonia, were converted by Baldwin, a zealous missionary: the Cumani, near the mouths of the Danube, were received into the church, and several tribes of Tartars, with oiie of their emperors, were converted by the Franciscan mission- aries, whom the Pope sent among them, not, however, without the martyrdom of many of them. CENT. XIV. Still did the promise of Christ, in the preservation of his church, contrary to all opposition, ajd beyond the term of all human institutions, continue to be verified. The '"ollowing were the head pastors, who successively presided ovei it; Benedict XI, Clement V, who held the general council of Vienna, John XXII, Clement VI, Innocent VI, Urban V, Gregory XI, Urban VI, and Boniface IX. Among the chief oruamonts of the church, in this age, may be reckoned St. Elizabeth, quonn of Portugal, St. Bridget of Sweden, Count Elzear and his spouse Delphina, St. Nicholas of Tolentino, St. Catharin ) of Sienna, John Rus- brock, Pttter, bishop of Autun, &c. The Manichean abominations maintained and practised by the 'I'urlupins, Dulcinians and other sects, continued to exer- cise the vigiHnce and zeal of the Catholic pastors, and the Lollards of Germany, together with the Wickliflites of England, whose errors and conduct were le- velled at the foundations of society, as well as of religion, were opposed by all trueCi'thc'Iic.. 'a their respective stations. The chief conquests of the churub ml >& 174 lAiter XXVIIl andria, Corinth, Ephesus, Smyrna, &;c. owing to internal dis- sensions and external violence, iwi succession of tlieir bishops in this century were in Lithuania, the prince and people of which received her fiiith, and in Great Tartary, where the archbishopric of Cambalu and six suf- frag^an bishoprics w'-e established hy the Pope. Odoric, the mission!' -^y, who furnished the accouuiuf these events, is known himscW to have baptized twenty thousand conrerts. CExNT. XV. TTiG siicoession of Popes continued through this century, though among nu. merous difficulties and dissensions, in the following order: Innocent VH, Grego- ry XII, Alexander V, John XXfl, Martin V, pjigenius IV, who held the general council of Florence, and received the Greeks, once more, into the Catholic com- munion, Nicholas V, Calixtus III, Pius II, Paul II, t^ixtusIV, Innocent VIII, and Alexander VI. In this age flourished St. Vincent Ferrer, the Wonder-worker both in the order of grace and in that of nature, St. Francis of Paula, whose miracles were not less numerous or extraordinary, St, Laurence Justinian, Pa- triarch of Venice, St. Antonius, archbishop of Florence, St. Casioiir, Prince of Poland, the Venerable Thomas a Kenipis, Dr. John Gerson, Thomas Waldensis, the learned English Carmelite, Alphonsus Tostatus, Cardinal Ximenes, &c. At this period the Canary Islands were added to tlie church, as were, in a great measure, the kingdoms of Congo and Angola, with other large districts in Africa and Asia, wherever the Portuguese established themselves. The Greek gchis- matics also, as I have said, together with the Armenians and MonotholiUs of Egypt, were, for a time, engrafted on the apostolic tree. These conquests, however, were damptby the errors and violence of the various sects of Hus- sites, and the immoral tenets and practices of the Adamites, and other remnants of the Albigenset. ■■■■■•'' , - , -•-•-■•'•-M. . .;■,;' _ ' CENT. xvL ■'■' Thiscentury was distinguished by that furious storm from tho north, which stripped the apostolic tree of so many leaves and branches in this quarter. 7'hat arrogant monk, Martin Luther, vowed destruction to the tree itself, and engaged to plant one of those separated branches instead of it ; but the attempt was fruitless ; for the main stock was sustained by the arm of Omnipotence, and the dissevered boughs splitting into niimberless fragments, withered, as all such Iwuglu had heretofore done. It would be impossible to number up all these dis- cordant sects; the chief of them were, the Lutherans, the Zuinglians, the .Ana- baptists, the Calvinists, the Anglicans, the Puritans, the Fnmily of Love, and the Socinians. In the moan time, on the trunk of the apostolic tree grew the following Pontiffs; Pius III, Julius 11, who held the fifth Lateran Council, Lea X, Adrian VI, Clement VII, Paul ill, Julius III, Marcclius II, Paul IV, Pius IV, who concluded the Council of Trent, where 2tJl prelates condemned the novel. ties of Luther, Calvin, &c., St. Pius V, Gre-ory XIH, Sixtus V, Urban VII, Gregory XIV, Innocent IX, and Clement VIII. Other supporters of the Calho lie and apostolic church against the attacks made upon her, were, Fisher, bi shop of Rochester, Sir Thomas More, Chancellor, Cuthbert Maine, and sonn hundreds more of priests and religious who were martyred under Henry Vlll and Elizabeth, in this cause; also the Cardinals Pole, Hosius, Cajetan and Al- len, with the writers Eckiu», Cochleu, Erasmus, Campion, Parsons, Staplston, fcc. together with that constellation of great saints which then appeared, SS. Charles Borromeo, Cajetan, Philip Neri, Ignatius, F. Xavier, F. Borgia, Teresa, &c. In short, the damages sustained from the northern storm were amply re. paid to the church, by innumerable conversions in the new eastern and western worlds. It is computed that St. Xavier alone preached the faith in 52 kingdomi Utter XXVin. 17i ternal dis- ir bishops received her i and six suf- sionii -^y, who tizeU twenty 'h among nu- t VII, Grego- d the general Jatholic cem- ent VIII, and nder-worker, Paula, whose ustinian, Pa- air, Prince of as Waldensis, ines, &o. At •e, in a great lets in Africa Greek jchig- onotholiUs of se conquests, ects of Hus- :her remnants north, which tiarter. That , and engaged attempt was nee, and the ) as all such all these dis- ms, the Ana- )f Love, and ree grew the [Council, Lea IV, Pius IV, >d the novel. Urban VII, )f the Calho , Fisher, bi 16, and somi Henry VIII Btan and Al- 9, Slaplston, jpeared, SS, •gia, Teresa, •e amply re. and western 52kingdomi has, at different times, been broken and confounded. Henco the See of Rome is emphatically and for a double reason call- er independent states, and baptized a million of converts with his own hand, in India and Japan. St. Lewis Bertrand, Martin of Valentia, and Bartholomew Las Casas, with their fellow missionaries, converted most of the Mexicans, and great progress was made in the conversion of the Brazilians, though not without the blood of many martyred preachers in these and the other Catholic missions. David, emperor of Abyssinia, with many of his family and other subjects, were now reclaimed to the church, and Pulika, patriarch of the P^estorians in Assyria, came to Rome, in order to join the numerous churches under him to the centre of unity and truth. , CENT. XVIL The sects if v'nch I have been speaking, were, at the beginning ; '.H cen- tury, in the :our; and though they difl'ered in most other /Xij «;'!'. yet they comb 'v-es, under the general name of Protestar. .. 'v vf i^itrow Christ's 6' ^h. These attempts, however, like th< waw tl the troubled d ashed to pieces against the rock on which he dtid built it. On the aey weakened themselves by civil wars and fresh divi- sions. The Luiiii ra s split into Diaphorists and Adiaphorists, the Calvinista into Gomarists and Arminians, and the Anglicans into Episcopalians, l-t«sbyte- rians. Independents, and Quakers. A vain effort was now set on foot, through Cyril Lucaris, to gain over the Greek churches to Calvinism, which ended in demo^istrating their inviolable attachment to all the controverted doctrines of Catholicity. Another more fatal attempt, was made to infect several members of the church itself with the distinguishing error of Calviuism, under the name of Jansenism. But the successors of St. Peter continued, through the whole of the century, equally to make head against Protestant innovations, Jansenistical vigour, and casuistical laxity. Their names, in order, were these, Leo XI, Paul V, Gregory XV, Urban VIII, Innocent X, Alexander VII, Clement IX, Clement X, Innocent XI, Alexander VIII, and Innocent XII. Their orthodoxy was powerfully supported by the Cardinals Bellarmin, Baronius and Perron, with the bishops Huetius, Bossuet, Fenelon, Richard Smith, and the divines Petavius, Tilleinont, Pagi, Thomassin, Kellison, Cressy, &c. Nor were the ca- nonized saints of this age fewer iti number or less illustrious than those of the former, namely, St. Francis of Sales, St. Frances Chantal, St. Camillus, St. Fi- oelis Martyr, St. Vincent of Paul, &c. Finally, the church continued to be crowded with fresh converts, in Peru, Chili, Terra Firnia, Canada, Louisiana, Mingrelia, Tartary, India, and many island? both of Africa and Asia. She had also the consolation of receiving into her communion the several Patriarchs of Damascus, Aleppo, and Alexandria, and also the Nestorian archbishops of Chal- dsea and Meliaporc, with their respective clergy. CENT. XVIII. At length we hnve mounted up the apostolic tree to our own age. In this beresy having sunk, for tiie most part, into Socinian indifference, and Jansen- ism into philosophic; infidelity, this last waged as cruel a war against the Ca- tholic church, [and O glorious mark of truth ! against her alone] as Decius and Dioclesian did heretofore : but this has only proved her internal strength of con- stitution, and the protection of the God of heaven. The Pontiffs, who have stood the storms of this century, were Clement XI, InnocentXIII, Benedict XIV, Clement XIII, Clement XIV, Pius VI, as at the beginning of the present cen- tury Pius VII has done. Among other modern supporters and ornaments of the church, may be mentioned the Cardinals Thomasi and Quirina, the bishops Lancruet, La Motte, Beaumont, Challoner, Hornyold, YV^almesley, flay aad IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) § 1.0 1.25 l:^ 12.8 |2.5 •^ 1^ 12.2 I.I l*^ ■ 2.0 1.4 m 1.6 *- /^ :\iV A V RiotDgraphic Sciences Corporation ^ \ O 4> Vv 33 WIST MAIN STRUT WltSTH.NY t4SI0 (71») •7a.4J03 ^ *^.^ ^A^ 176 Utter XXVIIL ed THE APOSTOLICAL SEE, and being the head See and centre of union of the whole Catholic church, furnishes the first claim to its title of THE APOSTOLICAL CHURCH. But you also see, in the sketch of this mystical tree, an uninterrupt- ed series of other bishops, doctors, pastors, saints, and piou^, personages, of different times and countries, through these eighteen centuries, who have, in their several stations, kept up the perpetual succession, those of one century having been the instructors of those who succeeded them in the next, all ot them following the same two-fold rule, Scripture and tradition ^ all of them acknowledging the same expositor of this rule, the Catholic church, and all of them adhering to the main trunk or centre of union, the apostolic See. Some of the general coun- cils or synods likewise appear, in which the bishops from differ- ent parts of the church, under the authority of the Pope, assent- bled, from time to time, to define its doctrine and regulate its discipline. The sise of the sheet did not admit of all the coun cils being exhibited. Again you behold, in this tree, the con- tinuation of the apostolical work, the conversion of nations, which, as it was committed by Christ to the Catholic church, so it has never heen blessed by him with success in any hands but in hers. This exclusive miracle, in the order of grace, like those m the order of nature, which I treated of in a former let- ter, ts Itself a divine attestation on her behalf. Speaking of the conversion of nations, I must not fail, dear sir, to remind your society, that this our country has twice been reclaimed from Pa- ganism, and each time by the apostolic labours of missionaries, sent hither by tlie See of Rouic. The first conversion took Moylan. Among Ihe writers nre Calmet, Muratori, Bergicr, Feller, Golhfr, Muniiing, Hawanlon, ami Alln^n Hiitler; and among (he per?on:tge8 di?titigni?h- cd liy thoir piHy, the (h»od Dauphin, hi>< f^istHi l^oiiisa thp Cnrmelite nun, his heroical daughter Kli/.ulielh, hi« othfic ditughter Clnlilda. v/hnse bealifioHtion is liow in pmgres«, as those olhi«hop Ligii(»ri, and I'luil o! the cross, toiirider c»f the I'sHsionists ; as also VV. Siirnimp, Nolhar \\m\ \„ r,iifai>l, with their follow- martyrs and the veufnilile Lahvp, kr. Nor has tho ajjoslolical work of ronvprt- ing InfMtels been neglected hy the Catltolic church, in the niideit of »uch pcrsie- cutions. In the early part of the cpiituty, numberlei>8 souls were gained by Ca- (liolir preachers in the kingdoms of Madura, Cochinchina, Tonqnin, and in the empire of China, including the penincula ott'ona. At the same time numeroui (■Avagcs were civilized and baptized among the Ilnrons, Miamis, Illinois, and other tribes of North America, liut the nio^t glorious conquest, bj^cause the most difficult and most complete, was thai gained hy the Jesuits in the interior of South America over the wild savages of Paraguay, Uraguay and I'nrona, to- gether with the wild ('anisians, Moxos and Chiquitcs, who, after shedding the blood of some hundreds of their first preachers, at length opened their hearts to the mild and sweet truths of the (lospel, and became models of piety and morali* (y, uor leM so «f industry, civil order, niid polity. ner. Leiier XXIX. 177 ad See and les the first ICH. But minterrujit- and piou^ )ugh these tioiis, kept laving been next, all ot I tradition j is rule, the in trunk or neral coun- from differ* ope, assent - regulate lU II the coun je, the con- of nations, c church, so y hands but grace, like former let- iking of tiic cmind your pd from Pa- (lissionaries, ersion took ''eller, Gothor, jc»di?ti(i{jni?h- nclilR nun, his healificHtion ii )S!, (oiitiiler tif Ih their fellow - )rk of ronvprt- nft>n(:h pcrsc- gnincil h\ Ca- lin, ami m the lime numerous I, illinoJ!, and t, b'^cauie the in the interior nd Parona, to- r shedding tha their hearts to ity aud Diorali* place in the second century, when Pope Eleutherius sent Fuga- tlus and Duvianus for this purpose, to the ancient Britons, or Welsh, under their king or governor, Lucius, as Bede and otlier historians relate. The second conversion was that of our im- mediate ancestors, the English Saxons and Angles, by St. Au- gustin and his companions, at the end of the sixth century, who were sent from Rome, on this apostolical errand, by Pope Gre- gory the Great. Lastly, you see in the present sketch, a series of unhappy children of the church, who, instead of hearing her doctrines, as it was their duty to do, have pretended to reform them ; and thus, losing the vital influx of their parent stock, have withered and fallen off from it as mere dead branches. I am, &EC. J. M. \'i IM' LETTER XXIX. To JAMES BROWJ^, Esq. ^. | . OJV THE APOSTOLIC ITY OF THE CATHOLIC MimSTRT, Dear Siit, In viewing ike apostolical tree, you are to consider it as re- presenting an uninterrupted succession of pontiffs and prelates, who derive not barely their doctrine, but also, in a special man- ner, their ministry, namely their holy orders and the right or jurisdiction to exercise those orders in a right line, from the apostles of Jesus Christ. In fact, the Catholic church, in all past ages, has not been more jealous of the sacred d^posite of orthodox dfoc/rt»c, than of the equally sacred deposites odegitX' mate ordination, by bishops who themselves had been rightly ordained antl consecrated, and of valid jurisdiction or divine mission, by which she authorises lier ministers to exercise their respective functions in such and such places, with respect to such and such p<>rsons, and uiulcr sucfi and such conditions, as she, by the depositaries of this jurisdiction, is pleased to ordain. Thus, my dear sir, every Catholic pastor is authoriy.ed and en- abled to address his lock as follows : TAc word of God which / unnounce to you, and the holy sacraments which I dispense to you, I am QUALIFIED to announce and dispense by such « Catholic bishop, who was consecrated by such another Catholic lis :t? Letter XXIX. hishopf and so orif in a series, which reaches to the apostles them,' selves ; and I am AUTHORIZED to preach and minister to you, bv such a prelate, who received authority, for this purpose, from the successor of St. Peter, in the apostolic See of Rome. Here- tofore, during a considerable time, the learned and conscientious divines of the church of England held the same principles, on both these points, that Catholics have ever held, and were no less firm in maintaining the divine right of episcopacy and the ministry than we are. This appears from the works of one who was, perhaps, the most profound and accurate amongst them, the celebrated Hooker. He proves, at great length, that the ecclesiastical ministry is a divine function, instituted by God, and deriving its authority from God, " in a very different man- ner from that of princes and magistrates :" that it is " a wretch- ed blindness not to admire so great a power as that, which the clergy are endowed with, or to suppose that any but God can bestow it ;" that " it consists in a power over the mystical body of Christ by the remission of sins, and over his natural body in the sacrament, which antiquity doth call the making of Chtist^a body."* He distinguishes between the power of orders and the authority of mission or jurisdiction, on both vtliich points he is supported by the canons and laws of the establishment. Not to speak of prior laws ; the act of uniformity,! provides that no minister shall hold any living, or officiate in any church, who has not received episcopal ordination. It also requires that he shall be approved and licensed for his particular place and function. This is also clear from the fo' 'n of induction of a clerk into any cure. J In virtue of this s^- , when Episco- {)acy was re-established in Scotland, in tli«. ,''ar 16G2, four ^rrjsbyterian ministers having been appointed by the king to that office, the English bishops refnsed to consecrate them, un- less they consented to be previcusly ordained deacons ami priests, thus renouncing their former ministerial character, and acknowledging that they had hitherto been mere laymen.'^ hi like manner, on the accession of king William, who was a Dutch Calvinist, to the throne, when a commission of ten bi- shops and twenty divines was appointed to modify the articles and liturgy of the established church, for the purpose of form- V • Ecclesiast. Politic. B, v. Art. 77, t StHt. 13 nnd 14 Car. 2, c. 4. ^ " CiirAm etreg;imen Hnimarnm parochianonim tibi committimus." I Collier's Eccl. Hift. Vol. ii. p. 887. It a})pears from the same history that four othar Scotch minisleri, who had formerly permitted themselves to be con- iwcrated biihopi, were, on that account, exrommunicated tnd dcg;rBcle(l by the iirk. Records, N. cxiii. LetUr XXIX, 179 ing a coalition with the dissenters, it appeared that the most lax among them, such as Tillotson and Burnet, together with chief baron Hales and other lay lords, required that the dissenting ministers should, at least be conditionally ordained f* as being thus far mere laymen. In a word, it is well known to be the practice of the established church, at the present day, to ordain all dissenting Protestant ministers of every description, who go over to her, whereas, she never attempts to re-ordaui an apos- tate Catholic priest, who offers himself to her service, but is satisfied with his taking the oaths prescribed by law.-}- This doctrine of the establishment, evidently unchurches, as Dr. Hey- lin expresses it, all other Protestant communions ; as it is an established principle that, JVb ministry no churchf'\. and with equal evidence, it unchristians them also ; since this church una- nimously resolved, in 1575, that baptism cannot be performed by any person but a lawful minister.^ But dismissing these uncertain and wavering opinions, we know what little account all other Protestants, except those of England, have made of apostolical succession and episcopal ordination. Luther's principles on these points are clear from his famous BttZ/ against the FALSELY CALLED order of bi- shops,^ where he says, " Give ear now, you bishops, or rather you visors of the devil : Dr. Luther will read you a Bull and a Reform, which will not sound sweet in your ears. Dr. Luther's Bull and Reform is this, A'hoever spend their labour, persons and fortunes, to lay waste your episcopacies, and to extinguish the government of bishops, they arc the beloved of God, true Christians, and opposers of the devil's ordinances. On the other hand, whoever support the government of bishops, and willingly obey them, they are the devil's ministers," he. True it is, that afterwards, namely, in 1542, this arch reformer, to \t ' I ■111 ii.i; ' • Life ofTillotran by Dr. Birch, pp. 42. 176. t Notwithstanding these proofs of the doctrine and practice of th« estahliihed church, a gjeat proportion of her modern divines consent, at the prei«nt day, to sacrifice all her pretensions to divine authority and uninterrupted succemion. It has been shown in Tkt Lelleri to a Prebendary^ that in the principles of the cele- brated Dr. Balguy, a priest or a bishop can as well be made by the town crier, if commissioned hy the civil power, as by the metropolitan. To this system, Dr. Sturges, Dr. Hey, Dr. Paley, and a crowd of other learned theologians aubioribe their names. Even the bishop of Lincoln, in maintaining Episcopacy to be ao apostolical institution, denies it to be binding on Christians to adopt it : wh>ch« in fact, is to reduce it, to a mere civil and optional practice. Elem. Vol. ii. i^^ f" Ubi nullui est Sacerdos nulla est Eccletia.** St. Jerom, &o. Elem. of Thool. Vol. ii.p.471. * Adversus falso Nomin. Tom. ii. Jen. A. D. 1525. 18b ^]^««r XXJX. gratify his cliief patron, the Elector of Saxony, took upon him- self to consecrate his bottle companion, Amsdorf, bishop of Naumburgh :* but, then, it is notorious, from the whole of his conduct, that Luther set himself above all law, and derided con- sistency and decency. Nearly the same may be said of ano- ther later reformer, John Wesley, who, professing himself to be a P'resbyter of the church of England^ pretended to ordain Messrs. Whatcoat, Vesey, &c. priests, and to consecrate Dr. Coke a bishop !f With equal inconsistency, the elders of Hern- huth in Moravia, profess to consecrate bishops for England and other kingdoms. On the other hand, how averse the Calvin- ists, and other dissenters, are to the very name as well as the office of bishops, all modern histories, especially those of En- gland and Scotland, demonstrate. But, in short, by whatever name, whether of bishops, priests, deacons, or pastors, these ministers respectively call themselves, it is undeniable, that they are all self-appointed ^ or, at most, they derive their claim from other men, who themselves were self-appointed, fifteen, sixteisn, or seventeen hundred years subsequent to the time of the apos- tles. '*•"**' '♦^*' '^iwMi\ mmii HO f.'m\rn\im k -xmnui .r. The chief question which remains to be discussed concerns the ministry of the church of England ; namely, whether the first Protestant bishops, appointed by queen Elizabeth, when the Ca- tholic bishops were turned out of their Sees, did or did not re- ceivi 'alid consecration from some other bishop, who, himself, was validly consecrated .'' The discussion of this question has filled many volumes, the result of which is, that the orders are, to say the least, exceedingly doubtful. For, first, it is certain that the doctrine of the fathers of this church was very loose, as to the necessity of consecration and ordination. Its chief founder, Cranmer, solemnly subscribed his name to the position, that princes and governors, no less than bishops, can make priests, and that no consecration is appointed by Scripture to make a bishop or priest.J In like manner, Barlow, on the va- lidity of whose consecration that of Mathew Parker and of all succeeding Anglican bishops chiefly rests, preached openly that ':>m ■»!;! , 1 ./; .1,. A.'i.j '.■ * Sleidan, Comment. L. 14. ' t Dr. Whitehead's Life of Charles and John Wesley. It appenn that Charlei ^itii horribly scandalized at this step of his brother John, and that a lasting Bchism among the Wesleyan Methodists was the consequence of it. I Burnet's Hist, of Reform. Records, B. iii. N. 21, See also his Rec. Part ii. N. 2, by which it appears that Cranmer and the other complying prelates took out fresh comininions on the death of Henry Vlfl, from ICdward VI, to gOToro thtnr diocMes, (/uranstl s'4'>lrt« /li«l **ii in mlirmtk »M -RT^»hto \/lafl*io These, however, are not the only exceptions which Catholic divines have taken to the ministerial orders of the church of £ngland. They have argued, in particular, against theybrm of them, as theologians term it; in fact, according to the ordinal of Edward VI, restored by Elizabeth, priests were ordained by the power. o{ forgiving sins,'l without any power of offering up sacrijice, in which the essence of the sacerdotium, or priesthood consists ; and, according to the same ordinal, bishops were consecrated without the communication of any fresh power whatsoever, or even the mention of episcopacy, by a/orm which might be used to a child, when confirmed or baptized.*^ Thii • Collier's Eccl. Hist. Vol. ii. p. 135. •' * t Richardson, in his notes on Godwin's Commentary, is forced to confess M follows: " Dies consecrationis ejus (Barlow) nondum apparet." p. 642. X " Receive the Holy Ghost : whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven; and whosd sins thou dost retain, they are retaineci. And he thou a faithful dis- penser of the word of God, and of his Holy Sacraments." Bishop Sparrow's Collection, p. 158. ♦ " Take the Holy Ghost, and remember Inat thou stir up the grace of God, which i8 in thee by the imposition of hands." — Ibid. p. 104. -■ ■ - ^ ^.^^. ■,. 183 LiUet XXIX. was agreeable to the maxims of the principal author of that CHrdinal, Cranmer, who solemnly decided that " bishops and priests were no two things, but one and the same office."* On this subject our controvertists urge, not only the authority of all the Latin and Greek ordinals, but also the confession of the above-mentioned Protestant divine. Mason, who says, with evi- dent truth, ** Not every form of words will serve for this institu~ tion (conveying orders) but such as are significant of the power conveyed by the ordcr."f In short, these objections were so poweifnlly urged by our divines. Dr. Champney, J. Lewgar, S. T. B.| and others, that almost immediately after the last named had published his work containing them, called Erasius Senior^ namely, in 1662, the convocation, being assembled, it altered the form of ordaining priests and consecrating bishops, in order to obviate these objections.*^ But admitting that these altera- tions are sufiicient to obviate all the objections of our divines to the ordinal, which they are not, they came above a hundred years too late for their intended purpose ; so that if the priests and bishops of Edward's and Elizabeth's reigns were invalidly ordained and consecrated, so must those of Charles ll.'s reign, and their successors, have been also. However long I have dwelt on this subject, it is not yet ex- hausted : the case is, there is the &ame necessity of an apostoli- cal succession of mission or authority, to execute the functions of holy orders, as there is of the holy orders themselves. This mwftbn, or authority, was imparted by Christ to his apostles, when he said to them, ^s the Father hath sent me, / also send yofi, Mat. XX. 21, and of this St. Paul also speaks, where he says of the apostles, How can they preach unless they are sent^ Rom. X. 15. I believe, sir, that no regular Protestant church, or society, admits its minister, to have, by their ordination or appointment, unlimited authority it| every place and congrega- tion: certain it is, from the ordinal and articles of the establish- .'■y: ■. .„,^ .-_ i'^ Bi^RMt'i Plist. of Reform, vol. i. Record^ b. iii. n. 21, quest. 10. • . v ' t Ihid. B. ii. c. 16. f. Lewgar was thiefrifend of Chillingworth, and by him converted to the Ca- tholic faith, which, however, he refused to abandon, when the latter relapsed into Latitu'iinarianism. , t The form ofordaining a priest was thus altered : " Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a priest in the church of God, now commit|eil to thee bv the imposition of our hands : Whose sins thou shalt forf ive, they are for- given," kc. — The form of consecratina^ a bishop was thus enlarged : ,*' Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a bishop in the church of God, now committed unto thee by the imposition ofour hands, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; and remember, that thou stir up the grace of God, which is in lhec.'» ,^^-.^^^,^ nj.,;^,^^,,^^,, ,,^ ^^ ^,^1 m w sfsjri » Letter XXIX. tm ed church, dmt she confines the jurlsdictidn of her ministers to " the congregation to which they shall be appointed."* Con- formably to this, Dr. Berkley teaches, that " a defect in the mission of the ministry, invalidates the sacraments, affects the purity of public worship, and therefore deserves to be investi- gated by every sincere Christian."! To this archdeacoti Daubeny adds, that " Regular mission only subsists iii the churches which have preserved apostolical succession." I moreover believe that in all Protestant societies the ministers are persuaded that the authority by which they preach and per form their functions is, some how or another, divine. But, on this head, I must observe to you, dear sir, and your society, that there are only two ways by which divine mission or au- thority can be proved or communicated j the one ordinary, the other extraordinary. The former takes place when this au- thority is transmitted in regular succession from those who ori- ginally received it from God ; the other, when the Almighty interposes, in an extraordinary manner, and immediately com- missions certain individuals to make known his will to men. The latter mode evidently requires indisputable miracles to at-" test it ; and accordingly Moses and our Saviour Christ, whd were sent in this manner, constantly appealed to the prodigies they wrought in proof of thieir divine mission. Hence, even Luther, when Muncer, Storck, and their followers, the Ana- baptists, spread their errors and devastations through Lower Germany, counselled the magistrates to put these questions to them, (not reflecting that the questions were as applicable to himself as to Muncer,) " Who conferred upon you the office oi preaching? And who commissioned you io preach? If they answer, God, then let the magistrates say, prove this to r^ by some evident miracle i for so God makes known his will, wn ii he changes the institutions, which he had before established*"! Should this advice of the first reformer to the magistrates be followed in this age and country, what swarms of sermonizers and expounders of the Bible would be reduced to silence ! For, on one hand, it is notorious, that they are self-appointed pro-^ phets, who run without being sent} or, if they pretend to a commission, they derive it from other men, who themselves had received none, and who did not so much as claim any, by regu- lar succession from the apostles. Such was Luther himself; such also were Zuinglius, Calvin, Muncer, Menno, Johu Knoj(| • Article 23. Form of ordering priests ard deacons, t Serm. at Conaecr. of bishop Home. I Slcidan. Dc Stat. Relig. I. t Jit/ 184 Utter XXIX. H I I'i' I Ir Hi George Fox, Zinzendorf, Wesley, Whitfield, and Swedenborg. None of these preachers, as I have signified, so much as pre- tended to have received their mission from Christ in the ordi- nary wayy by uninterrupted succession from the apostles. On the other hand, they were so far from undertaking to work real miracles, by way of proving they have received an extraordi- nary mission from Go(f, that, as Erasmus reproached them, they could not so much as cure a lame horse, in proof of their divine legation. Should your friend, the Rev. Mr. Clark, see this letter, he will doubtless exclaim, that, whatever may be the case with dissenters, the church of England, at least, has received her mission and authority, together with her orders, by regular succession from the apostles, through the Catholic bishops, in the ordinary way. In fact, this is plainly asserted by the bi- shop of Lincoln.* But take notice, dear sir, that though we were to admit of an apostolical succession of orders in the esta- blished church, we never could admit of an apostolical succes- sion of mission, jurisdiction, or right to exercise those orders in that church : nor can its clergy, with any consistency, lay the least claim to it. For, first, if the Catholic church, diat is to say, its " Laity and clergy, all sects and degrees, were drowned in abominable idolatry, most detested of God and danmable to man, for the space of eight hundred years," as the Homilies affirm,f how could she retain this divine mission and jurisdiction, all this time, and employ them in commissioning her clergy all this time to preach up this " detestable idola- try ?" Again, was it possible for the Catholic church to give jurisdiction and authority, for example, to archbishop Parker, and the bishops Jewel and Home, to preach against herself? Did ever any insurgents against an established government, ex- cept the regicides in the grand rebellion, claim authority from that very government to fight against it, and destroy it ? In a word, we perfectly well know, from history, that the first English Protest- ants did not profess, any more than foreign Protestants, to derive any mission or authority whatsoever from the apostles, through the existing Catholic church. Those of Henry's reign preach- ed and ministered in defiance of all authority, ecclesiastical and civil.| Their successors in the reign of Edward and Elizabeth claimed their whole right and mission to preach and to minis* • Elcm. of Theol. vol. ii. p. 400. T Against the Perils of Idolatry, P. iU. X Collier's Hist. vol. ii. p. 81. '? ,t .vi^>^ -'v'' I. Letter XXIX. 185 Jwedenborg. luch as pre- in the ordi- ostles. On work real extraordi- 1 them, they their divine is letter, he case with eceived her by regular bishops, in 1 by the bi- though we in the esta- ical succes- hose orders Istency, lay irch, that is grees, were f God and ars," as the nission and nmissioning table idola- rch to give op Parker, »st herself? •nment, ex- ty from that I a word, we ish Protest- s, to derive ss, through gn preach- iastical and 1 Elizabeth d to minis* ;/ ,01; U; • ' latTy,P.iU. ter from the civil power only.* This latter point Is demonftra* tively evident from the act and the oath of supremacy, and from the homage of the archbishops and bishops to the said Elizabeth, in which the prelate elect " acknowledges and con- fesses, that he holds his bishopric, as well in spirituaU as in temporals, from her alone and the crown royal.** The same thing is clear from a series of royal ordinances respecting the clergy in matters purely spiritual, such as the pronounw^ on doctrine^ the prohibition of prophesying^ the inhibition of all preachings the giving and suspending cf spiritual faculties^ ££C. Now, though I sincerely and cheerfully ascribe to my sovereign all the temporal and civil power^ jurisdiction, rights, and au- thority, which the constitution and laws ascribe to him, I can- not believe that Christ appointed any temporal prince to feed his mystical flocks or any part of it, or to exercise the power oj the keys of the kingdom of heaven at his discretion. It was fore- told by bishop Fisher in Parliament, that the royal ecclesiasti- cal supremacy, if once acknowledged, might pass to a child or to a woman,f as, in fact, it soon did to each of them. It was afterwards transferred, with the crown itself, to a foreign Cal- vinist, and might have been settled, by a lay assembly, on a Mahometan. All, however, that is necessary for me here to remark is, that the acknowledgment of a royal ecclesiastical supremacy " in all spiritual and ecclesiastical things or causes,"! (as when the question is, who sh^ll preach, baptize, &c. and who shall not; what is sound doctrine, and what is not,) is decidedly a renunciation of Christ's commission given to his apostles, and preserved by their successors in the Catholic apostolic church. Hence it clearly appears that there is and can be no apostolical succession of ministry in the established church more than in the other congregations or societies of Protestants. All their preaching and ministering, in their several degrees, is performed h) mere human authority.^ On the other hand, not a sermon is preached, nor a child baptized, nor a penitent absolved, nor a priest ordained, nor a bishop ');«:("; I ii . ( t t . * Archbishop Abbot having incurred suspension by the canon law, for acci* dentally shootiDg a man, a royal commission was issued to restore him. On ano- ther occasion he was suspended by the king himself, for revising to license a book. In Elizabeth's reign, the bishops approved of prophetying, as it was called, tiie queen disapproved of it, and she obliged them to condemn it t See his Life by Dr. Bailey : also Dodd's Eccles. Hist. vol. i. ; ■ ■ - - - t Oath of supremacy. Homage of bishops, &c. f) It is curious to see in queen Elizabeth's Injunctions, and in the 37th Article, the disclaimer of her " actually vdnistering the Word and the Sacrament." The question was not about this, but about the jurisdiction or miiaion of the ministnr. 2 A IW Lfitter :^X^. i emiseerated, throughout the whole extent of the Catholic church, without the minister of such function being able to show his authority from Christ for what he does, in the commission of Christ to his apostles : Ml power in heaven and on earth is given to me : Go therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them^ Sfc. Mat. xxviii. 19; and without being able to prove his claim to that commission of Christ, by producing the table of his unin- terrupted succession from the apostles. I will not detain you by entering into a comparison, in a religious point of view, be- tween a ministry, which officiates by divine authority, and others which act by mere human authority j but shall conclude this subject by putting it to the good sense and candour of your so- ciety, whether, from all that has been said, it is not as evident, Which, among the diflerent communions, is THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH we profess to believe in^ as which is THE CA- THOUG CHURCH? if(i{ io.«it'»'(MA'\<>'4teM'*':4-^'>A*^'-i -iit^ ..■• loWifba QPrnmi^fl^^i J.wgUftU!ini:<\: i:d:m *jiw.! IL ,^fp^: J.H. Uf LETTER XXX. Th JAMES BROWJ^, Esq. ^ sr) tS^viu vHtft ■ • IfD itgifrio I, , n ol ^1 f ■;! i i ^mmm»ho^^i^s^^ LETTER XXX. '^^ ^^^^.m ^^n\u |,Ta« «t H\\h It., Isid OJ iravfu nni OBMCTlOm ANSWERED. 1,5 Dear Sir, I FIND that your visiter, the Rev. Mr. Clark, had not left you at the latter end of last week ; since it appears, by a letter which I have received from him., that he had seen my two last letters, addressed to you at New Cottage. He is much dis- pleased with their contents, which I am not surprised at ; and he uses some harsh expressions against them and their author, of which I do not complain, as he was not a party to the agree- ment entered into at the beginning of our correspondence, by the tenor of which I was left at full liberty to follow up my arguments to whatever lengths they might conduct me, without any person of the society being offended with me on that ac- count. I shall pass over the passages in the letter which seem to have been dictated by too warm a feeling, and shall confine my answer to those which contain something like argument Qgajnst what I have advanced. 'H ! 'ifU Uh' ■'.)'"'. !*r. •'/ Letter XXX. a§^ he Catholic able to show commission d on earth is ng theniy Sfc. lis claim to of his unin- t detain ^ou of view, be- f, and others Dnclude this of your so- as evident, •OSTOLIC THE CA- .'SU».*J I &c. J.M. : \utu ,t the agree- indence, by How up my ne, without on that ac- ^hicb seem lall confine I argument The Reverend gentleman, then, objects against the claim of our pontiffs to the apostolic succession ; that in different ages this succession has been interrupted, by the contentions of rival Popes ; and that the lives of many of them have been so crimi- nal, that according to my own argument, as he says, it is in- credible that such pontiffs should have been able to preserve and convey the commission and authority given by Christ to his apostles. I grant, sir, that, from the various commotions and accidents to which all sublunary things are subject, there have been several vacancies, or interregnums in the Papacy ; but none of them have been of such a lengthened duration as to prevent a moral continuation of the Popedom, or to hinder the execution of the important offices annexed to it. I grant also, that there have been rival Popes and unhappy schisms in the church, particularly one great schism, at the end of the four- teenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century : still the true Pope was always clearly discernible at the times we are speak- ing of, and in the end was acknowledged even by liis oppo- nents. Lastly, I grant that a few of the Popes, perhaps a tenth part of the whole number, swerving from the example of the rest, have, by their personal vices^ disgraced their holy station : but even these Popes always fulfilled their public duties to the church by maintaining the apostolical doctrine^ moral as well as speculative, the apostolical orders, and the apostolical mission ; so that their misconduct chiefly injured their own souls, and did not essentially affect the church. But if what the Homilies affirm were true, that the whole church had been " drowned in idolatry for eight hundred years," she must have taught and commissioned all those, whom she ordained to teach this hor- rible apostasy, which she never could have done, and at the same time retained Christ's commission and authority to teach all nations the Gospel. This demonstrates the inconsistency of those clergymen of the establishment, who accuse the Catholic church of apostasy and idolatry, and at the same time boast of having received, through her, a spiritual jurisdiction and mmis- try from Jesus Christ. Your visiter next expatiates, in triumphant strains, on the ex- ploded fable of Pope Joan ; for exploded it certainly may be termed, when such men as the Calvinist minister Blondel, and the infidel Bayle, have abandoned and refuted it. But the cir- cumstances of the fable themselves sufficiently refute it. Ac- cording to these, in the middle of the ninth century, an English 19* il *■■'■! . -^ ^Kteiicr XXX. ' looman, born at Mentz, in Germany,''^ studied philosophy at Ath&Mf where there was no school of philosophy in the ninth ' cefitury, more than there is now, and taught divinity at Rome. ' It is pretended that, being elected Pope, on the death of beo " IV in 855, she was delivered of a child, as she was walking in ■a solemn procession near the CoUiseum, and died on the spot; • and moreover, that a. statue of her was there erected in memory *of the disgraceful event! There have been great debates 'among the learned concerning the first author of this absurd ? tale, and concerning the interpolations in the copies of the first ' chrcHiicles which mention it.f At all events, it was never heard 'of for more than two hundred years after the period in question : and in the mean time, we are assured, Irom the genuine works of contemporary writers and distinguished prelates, some ol whom then resided at Rome, such as Anastasius the librarian, Lnitprand, Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, Photius of C. P. Lupis Ferrar, &c. that Benedict III. was ranonically elected Pope in the said year 855, only three days after the death oi Leo IV, which evidently leaves no inter> al for the pontificate of the fabulous Joan. F'rom the warfare of attack, my Reverend antagonist 'passes to that of defence, as he terms it. In this he heavily complains of my not having done justice to the Protestants, particularly in the article oC foreign missions. On this head, lie enumerates the difi'erent societies, existing in this country, for carrying them on, and the large sums of money which tliey annually raise for this purpose. The societies, I learn from liim, are the following: 1st, the Society for promoting Chris- tian Knowledge, called the Bartlet Building Society, which, though strictly of the Establlsliment, employs missionaries in India to the number of six, all Germans, and it should seem, all Lutherans. 2dly, There Is the Society for propagating Chris- tianity in the English colonies; but 1 hear nothing of its do- ings. 3dly, There is another for the conversion of negro slaves, of which I can only say, ditto. 4thly, There Is another for sending missionaries to Africa and the East, concerning which we are equally left in the dark. 5thly, There is the London Missionary Society, which sent out the ship Dufl', with certain preachers and their wives, to Otahelte, Tongabatoo, and the Marf|uesaS| and published a journal of Uie voyage, by fn ii;. • fta P»eudo Marti nus Polonus, Arc. ■\ See Breviarium IIi8torico--Chropologico— critkum Pontif. Roman, studio R,, F. Pagi, torn. ii. p. 72. lilosopliy at in the ninth ty at Rome. eath ol'lJeo walking in n the spot; in memory eat debates this absurd of the first never heard in question : nine works some ol le librarian, us of C. P. illy elected he death oi pontificate antagonist he heavily Protestants, 1 this head, lis countrj, which they learn from ting Cliris- ^ty, which, ioiiaries in (1 seorn, all thig Chris- of its do- of negro is another 'oncerning >ere is the Dufl', with batoo, and jyage, by Letter XXX. which it appears that they are strict Calvinists, and Indepen- dents. 6thly, The Edinburgh Missionary Society fraternizes with the last mentioned. 7thly, There is an Arminian Mission* ary Society under Dr. Coke, the head of the Wesleyan Method- ists. 8thly, There is a Moravian Missionary Society, which appears more active than any others, particularly at the Cape and in Greenland and Surinam. To these, your visiter says, must be added, the Hibernian Society for difiusing Christian knowledge in Ireland ; as also, and still more particularly, the Bible Society, with all its numerous ramifications. Of this last named, he speaks glorious things, foretelling that it will, in its progress, purify the world from infidelity and wickedness. In answer to what has been stated, I have to mention several marked diflerences between the Protestant and the Catholic missionaries. The former preached various discordant reli- gions ; for what religions can be more opposite than the Calvin- istic and the Arminian ? And how indignant would a church- man feel, if I were to charge him with the impiety and obscen- ity of Zinzendorf and his Moravians ? The very preachers of the same sect, on board of the Dufi', had not agreed uppn the creed they were to teach, when they were within a few days sail of Otaheite.* Whereas the Catholic missionaries, whether Italians, French, Portuguese, or Spaniards, taught and planted precisely the same religion in the opposite extremities of the globe. Secondly, the envoys of those societies had no com- mission or authority to preach, but what they derived from the men and women, who contributed money to pay for their voy- ages and accommodations. / have not sent these prophets^ says the Lord, yet they ran ; I have not spoken to thcm^ yet they prophesied, Jer. xxiii. 21. On the other hand, the apostolical men, who, in ancient and in modern times, have converted the nations of the earth, all derived their mission and authority from the centre of the apostolic tree, the See of Peter. Third- ly, I cannot but remark the striking diflerence between the Protestant and the Catholic missionaries, with respect to their qualifications and method of proceeding. The former were, for the most part, mechanics and laymen, of the lowest order, without any learning infused or acquired, beyond what they could pick up from the English translation of the Bible; they were frequently incumbered with wives and children, and arm- oman. studio • " By the middle of January, the Committee ofeight (among the 30 minion- arie«) had nearly finished the artirlei of faith. Two of Uie number JiaiautMl, tutjavein." — journal of the Duff. 190 Letter XXX. e4 with muskets and bayonets, to kill those whom they could not convert.* Whereas the Catholic missionaries have always been priests, or ascetics, trained to literature and religious ex- ercises, men of continency and self-denial, who have had no other defence than their breviary and crucifix, no other weapon than the sword of the spirit^ which is the word of God^ Ephes. vi. 17. Fourthly, I do not find any portion of that lively faith and heroical constancy, in braving poverty, torments, and death, for the Gospel, among the few Protestant converts, or even among their preachers, which have so frequently illustrat- ed the difierent Catholic missions. Indeed, I have not heard of a single martyr of any kind, in Asia, Africa, or America, who can be considered as the fruit of the above-named societies, or of any other Protestant mission whatsoever. On the other hand, few are the countries in which tiie Christian religion has been planted by Catholic priests, without being watered with some of their own blood and of that of their converts. To say nothing of the martyrs of a late date in the Catholic missions of Turkey, Abyssinia, S:am, Tonquin, Cochinchina, &c., there has been an almost continual persecution of the Catholics In the empire of China, for about a hundred years past, which, be- sides confessors of the faith, who have endured various tor- tures, has produced a very great number of martyrs, native Chinese as well as Europeans ; laity as well as priests and bi- shops.f Within these two years,! the wonderful apostle of the great Peninsula of Corea, to the east of China, James Ly, with as many as one hundred of his converts, has suffered death for the faith. In the islands of Japan, the anti -christian perse- cution, excited by the envy and avarice of the Dutch, raged with a fury unexampled in the records of Pagan Rome. It began with the crucifixion of twenty-six martyrs, most of them missionaries. It then proceeded to other more horrible martyr- doms, and it concluded with putting to death as many as eleven * Th9 eighteen preachers who remained at Otahei(e " took up arma by tray •^ prteaution."— Ibid. It appearti, from subsequent accounts, that the preachen nade use of their arms, to protect their wives from the men whom they came to convert. Of the nine preachers destined for Tongabatoo, six were for carrying Are arms on shore, and three against it. — Journal. t Hist, de TEglise par Berault Bercastel, torn. 22, 23. Butler's Lives of the Saints, Feb. 5. Mem. Eccles. pour le 18 Si^c. X Namely, in 1801. While this work is in the press, we receive an account of the martyrdom of Mgr. Dufre«se, bishop of Tabraca, and Vicar apostolic of Sutchuen, in China, who was beheaded there Sept. 14, 1815, and of F. J. de Frior, missionary in Chiensi. who, after various torments, was strangled, Feb. 13, l«ltf. LetUr XXX, 191 they could ave always iligious ex- ve had no ler weapon odf Ephes. lively faith aents, and onverts, or y illustrat- ; not heard r America, d societies, n the other eligion has itercd with 5. To say ic missions &c., there olics in the which, be- arious tor- yrs, native sts and bi- ostle of the js Ly, with sred death itian perse- Itch, raged Rome. It 3st of them )le martyr- y as eleven armi hy way the preachen they came to ) for carrying B Liveiof the '6 an account If apofitolic of d of F. J. (le rangled, Feb. hundred thousand Chr' 'ans.* Nor were those numerous and splendid victories oi ^c Gospel in the provinces of South America achieved witkiout^torrents of Catholic blood. Many of the first preachers were'!^laughtered by the savages to whom they announced the Gospel, and not unfrequently devoured by them, as was the case with the first bishop of Brazil. In the last place, the Protestant missions have never been attended with any great success. Those heretofore carried on by the Dutch, French, and American Calvinists, seemed to have been mor^evelled at the destruction of the Catholic missions, than at the conversion of the Pagans.f In later times, the zealous Wesley went on a mission to convert the savages of Georgia, but returned without making one proselyte. His companion Whitfield afterwards went to the same country on the same er- rand, but returned without any greater success. Of the mis- sionaries who went out in the Duff, those who were left at the Friendly Islands and the Marquesas abandoned their posts in despair, as did eleven of the eighteen left at Otaheite. The remaining seven had not, in the course of six years, baptized a single Islander. In the mean time,the depravity of the natives in killing their infants and other abominations increased so fast, as to threaten their total extinction. In the Bengal govern- ment, extending over from thirty to forty millions of people, with all its influence and encouragement, not more than eighty converts have been made by the Protestant missionaries in seven years, and those were almost all Chandalas or outcasts from the Hindoo religion, who were glad to get a pittance for their support,^ " for the perseverance of several of whom," ..1,1, '.., , (. ,.•-,.,. , I Jjn ..■;li;v(; • Berault Bercastel says two Riillions, torn. 20. t It is generally known, and not denied by Mosheim himself, that the exter- mination of the flourishing missions in Japan is to be ascribed to thr Dutch. When they became masters of the Portuguese settlements in India, they endea- voured, by persecution as well as by other means, to make the Christian native! abandon the Catholif religion to which St. Xavier and his companions had con- verted them. The Calvinist preachers having failed in their attempt to prose- lyte the Brazilians, it happened that one of their party, James Sourie, took a merchant vessel at sea with forty Jesait mippionaries, under F. Azevedo, on board of it, bound to Brazil, when, in hatred to them and their destination, he put them all to death. The year following, F. Diaz, with eleven companions, bound on the same mission, and fulling into the hands of the Ciilvinists, met with the same fate. Incredible pains were taken by the ministers of New England to induce the Hunons, Iroquois, and other converted savages, to abandon the Ca- tholic religion, when the latter answered them : " You never preached the word to us while we were Pagans ; and now tliat we are Christians, you try to deprive us of it." t Extract of a Speech of C. Marsh, Esq. in a committee of the H. of C, July 1, 1815. See also Mujor Waring's remarks on Oxford Sermons. :f i^ Letter XXX, l!|! .'I I.* their instructors say, " thej tremble."* How different a scene do the Catholic missions present! To say nothing of ancient Christendom, all the kingdoms and states of which were re- claimed from Paganism and converted to Christianity by Ca- tholic preachers, and not one of them by preachers of any other ll§ description : what extensive and populous islands, provinces and states, were wholly, or in a great part reclaimed from idolatry, in the East and in the West, soon after Luther's revolt, by Ca- tholic missionaries ! But to come still nearer to our own time : F. Bouchet, alone, in the course of his twelve years labours in Madura, instructed and baptized twenty thousand Indians, while F. Britto, within fifteen months only, converted and re- generated eight thousand, when he sealed his mission with his blood. By the latest returns which I have seen from the East- em missionaries to the directors of the French Missions Etran- geres, it appears that in the western district of Tonquin, during the five years preceding the beginning of this century, four thousand one hundred and one adults, and twenty-six thousfind nine nundred and fifteen children, were received into the chuh:h by baptism, and that in the lower part of Cochinchina, nine hundred grown persons had been baptized in the course of two years, besides vast numbers of children. The empire of China contains six bishops and some hundreds of Catholic priests. In a single province of it, Sutchuen, during the year 1796, fifteen hundred adults were baptized, and two thousand five hundred and twenty-seven Catechumens were received for instruction. By letters of a later date from the above mentioned martyr Dufresse, bishop of Tabraca and Vic. Ap. of Sutchuen, it ai)- pears, that during the year 1810, in spite of a severe persecu- tion, nine hundred and sixty-five adults were baptized, and du- ring 1814, though the persecution increased, eight hundred and twenty-nine, without reckoning infants, received baptism. Bi- shop Lamote, Vic. Ap. of Fokien, testifies that, in his district, during the year 1810, ten thousand three hundred and eighty- four infants, and one thousand six hundred and seventy-seven grown persons, were baptized, and two thousand six hundred and seventy-four Catechumens admitted. From this short specimen, I trust, dear sir, it will appear manifest to you, on which Christian society God bestows his grace to execute the work of the apostles,a8 well as to preserve their doctrine, their orders and their mission. As to the wonderful eflects which your visiter expects from .1 i * Transact of Prot. Mim. Quoted in Edinb. Review, April, 1808. I Ccrter XXX. 19^ ;nt a scene of ancient I were re- ly by Ca- r any other vinces and n idolatry, )lt, by Ca- own time : labours in 1 Indians, ed and re- )n with his a the East- ons Etran- lin, during itury, four X thousand the chuirch :hina, nine urse of two e of China priests. In 796, fifteen ve hundred instruction, led martyr uen, it ap- re persecu- ;d, and du- jndred and itism. Bi- his district, md eighty- renty-seven ix hundred this short to you, on execute the irinef their :pects from ,809. the BU)le Society f and the three score and three translations into foreign tongues of the English translation of the Bible, in the conversion of the Pagan world, I beg leave to ask him, who is to vouch to the Tartars, Turks, and idolaters, that the Testa- ments and Bibles, which the society is pouring in upon them, were inspired by the Creator ? Who is to answer for these translations, made by officers, merchants, and merchants' clerks, being accurate and faithful f Who is to teach these barbarians to read, and, after that, to make any thing like a connected sense of the mysterious volumes P Does Mr. C. really tliink that an inhabitant of Otaheite, when he is enabled to read the Bible, will extract the sense of the 39 Articles or of any other Christian system whatever from it ? In short, has the Bible Society, or any of the other Protestant societies, converted a single Pagan or Mahometan by the bare text of Scripture ? When such a convert can be produced, it will be time enough for me to propose to him those further gravelling questions «vhich result from my observations on the Sacred Text in a former letter to you. In the mean time let your visiter rest assured, that the Catholic church will proceed in the old and successful manner, by which she has converted all the Christian people on the face of the earth ; the same, which Christ deli- vered to his apostles and their successors : Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Mark. xvi. 16. On the other hand, how illusory the gentleman's hopes are, that the depravity of this age and country will be reformed by the efforts of the Bible Society, has been victoriously proved by the Rev. Dr. Hook, who, with other clear sighted church- men, evidently sees thai the grand principle of Protestantism, strictly reduced to practice, would undermine their establish- ment. One of his brethren, the Rev. Mr. Gisborne, had pub- licly boasted, that in proportion to the opposition, which the Bible Society had met with, its annual income had increased, till it reached near a hundred thousand pounds in a year : Dr. Hook, in return, showed, by lists of the convictions of criminals during the first seven years of the society's existence, that the wickedness of the country, instead of being diminished, nad almost been doubled !^ Since that period up to the pre- * List of capital convictions, in London and Middlesex, in the following yean^ from Dr. Hook's Charge, and the London Chronicle :— In the year 1808 1809 863 1810 884 1811 1812 1813 1814 1012 1027 1815 2299 1616 2592 1817 Convictions 1 728 872 998 3177 o B tHi Letter XXX. ;■*• ■i sent year, it has increased three-fold and four-ibld, compared with its state before the society began. > > r nr (ai't'jl:! ■^riiK4i>'t'><'nr ':««.' .^:Mrtil>fiffi ,^'f*'.»ijf» v^ilaLftia *iu>{|ijf^/i- atMjhsiJTwci ^i.^,|uh/: • POSTSCRIPT, i h^iii 9imm^itu I ItAVte ri6w, dear sir, completed the second task wfalbh I un* dertook, and therefore proceed to sum up my evidence. Hav- ing then proved in my twelve former letters, the rough copies of which I have preserved, that the two alleged rules of faith, that of private inspiration and that of private interpretation oj Scripture, are equally fallacious, and that there is no certain way of coming to the truth of divine revelation but by hearing that church which Christ built on a rock and promised to abide with forever ; I engaged, in this my second series of letters, to demonstrate, which, among the diflerent societies of Christians, is the church that Christ founded and still protects. For this purpose I have had recourse to the principal characters or marks of Chrisfs church, as they are pointed out in Scripture and formally acknowledged by Protestants of nearly all descrip-> tions, no less than by Catholics, in their articles and in those creeds," which form part of their private prayers and public liturgy, namely, unity, sanctity, Catholicity and apostolicity. In fact, this is what every one acknowledges who says in the apos- tles' Creed, 1 believe in the holy Catholic church; and, in the Nicene Creed,* / believe one Catholic and apostolic church. Treating of the first mark of the true church, I proved from natural reason, Scripture, and tradition, that unity is essentia! to her ; I then showed that there is no union or principle of union among the diflerent sects of Protestants, except their com- mon protestation against their mother church, and that the church of England, in particular, is divided against itself in such manner, that one of its most learned prelates has declared himself afraid to say, what is its doctrine. On the other hand, i'JlU^Ji III i \t im\rit i< ... ■ Capital eoriTicttona In England and Wales, during the former seven years, from ^r. Hook's Charge : — 2723 3238 3158 3163 3913 4422'4025 l'\ u'-J<...\( ..If N. B. To the convictions, during the Uiree last years, in London and Middlesex, U« added thoac of Surry, in Iho London Chronicle, March 9, 1818. ♦ Sec the Communion Service, in Com. Prayer. I, compared I Uitfi «)«■!; f( which I un« nee. Hav- Dugh copies es of faith, pretatton oj 5 no certain bv hearing' sed to abide >f letters, to Christians, For tiiis irs or marks ripture and all descrip- nd in those and public stolicity. In in the apos- aiid, in the oUc church. )roved from is essential irinriple of t their com- id that the ist itself ill as declared 3ther hand, en yean, from iv^U .-n in nd Middlesex, Letter XXX. 195 I have shown that the Catholic church, spread as she is over the whole earth, is one and the same in her doctrinej in her litur- giff and in her government ; and, though I detest religious per- secution, I have, in defiance of ridicule and clamour, vindicated her unchangeable doctrine, and the plain dictate of reason, as to the indispensable obligation of believing what God teaches } in other words, of a right faith : I have even proved that her adherence to this tenet is a proof both of the truth and the charity of the Catholic church. On the subject ofholinesSf I have made it clear that the pretended Reformation every where originated in the pernicious doctrine of salvation by faith alone, without good works; and that the Catholic church has ever taught the necessity of them both ; likewise that she possesses many peculiar msans of sanctity ^ to which modern sects do not make a pretension, likewise that she has, in every age, pro- duced the genuine fruits of sanctity ; while the fruits of Pro- tr'stantlsm have been of quite an opposite nature: finally, that God himself has bore witness to the sanctity of the Catholic churchf by undeniable miracles^ with which he has illustrated her in every age. It did not require much pains to prove that the Catholic church possesses, exclusively, the name of CA- THOLIC, and not much more to demonstrate that she alone has the qualities signified by that name. That the Catholic church is also APOSTOLICAL, by descending in a right line from the apostles of Christ, is as evident as that she is Catholic. However, to illustrate this matter, I have sketched out a genea- logical, or, as I call it, the apostolical trce^ which, with the help of a note subjoined, shows the uninterrupted succession of the Catholic church in her chief pontiffs and other illustrious prelates, doctors, and renowned saints, from the apostles of Christ, during eighteen centuries, to the present period; to- gether with the continuation in her of the apostolical work of converting nations and people. It shows also a series of un- happy heretics and schismatics, of different times and countries, who, refusing to hear her inspired voice and to obey her divine authority, have been separated from her communion. and have withered away, like branches, cut off from a vine, which are fit for no human use. Ezek. xv. Finally, I have shown the ne- cessity of an uninterrupted succession from the apostles, of holy orders and divine mission, to constitute an apostolical church, and have proved that these, or at least the latter of them, can only be found in the holy Catholic church. Having demon- strated all this in the foregoing letters, I am justified, dear sir, in aflirniing that the motives of credibility , in favour of the Chris- 80 I' id6 Letier XXX, tian religion, in generalj are not one whit morie clear and cer. tain than those in favour of the Catholic religion in particuJar But without inquiring into the degree of evidence attending the latter motives, it is enough for my present purpose that they hre sufficiently evident to influence the conduct of dispassionate and reasonable persons, who are acquainted with them, and who are really in earnest to save their souls. Now, in proof, that these motives are at least so far clear, I may again appeal to the conduct of Catholics on a death bed, who, in that awful situation, never wish to die in any religion but their own : 1 may also appeal to the conduct of so many Protestants in the same situation, who seek to reconcile themselves to the Catholic church. Let us, one and all, my dear sir, as far as is in our power, adopt these sentiments in every respect now, which we shall entertain, when the transitory scene of this world is closing to our sight, and during the countless ages of eternity. O the length, the breadth, and the depth of the abyss of ETERNI- TY ! " JVo security" says a holy man, " can be too great Vfhere eternity is at stake."* \inirn um hih i\ I am, &c. .<: f^MJ^^ff ismmi mil jYf'>'/fi;«|T)r^^'^i».jws.K?0([ flnutl- J. M. , mUi^k tmii Hifm-finm-jlj «t ot«M jirjufu ibit hun JJUiOn !ii':it^'^'''^ ^'"NdbntiB magna securitasubiperiditaturEterDitai." {, .,. .nimhsj H'idk imb sr iiHim^n -I ,mtil ) '\o >)rj/oqn -nh trro q.;-. "McJ.nff ;^!!;j>iv/if. .;iir: -HT^b .^^»^lM{|f^M. r,,.,,h'tf ^^ iji>-.>n«tf 'Jt ••■; :,f!» if- (, .<"■<*, - i>" •\^^^ (111.) i,M (ar and cet^ I particular ttending the 56 that they ispassionate m, and who proof, that n appeal to that awful eir own : I stants in the he Catholic IS is in our i^, which we Id is closing ty. O the ETERNI- e too great OCCr **i 1 J.M. ■ ■ ' d:vitit i« ^>jlr tau f iVrfmro '. f'( !>«::> '^1 > r->U:l'y. u iltli 'i'lif Vr.J'E*: ■•■ri'S')"! .f.wHv THE END aei RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY. ^^> if Vi|, •/•(!.) ^ 1 .1 1 t\ili:-'. ! '• PART IILu. > I'.t. «: l/!rj«il}./.; 'fj! fj-.i: X)N4 FromMMES BROWN, Esq. to the Rev. J.M. .'«>«» D.D. F.S.A. >»««M LETTER XXXI. ' ,V »i ' *-) .su:f mny ^n^ .,!,>'..;,, INTRODUCTION.' ^^-■iiUiih I .hood ' (i-fyl 'yf,:ii minim Reverend Sir, ■'"'' ' ■'' • :•''■"■ ."■ " ■ '-- ' " '- ,' The whole of your letters have again been read over in onr society ; and they have produced important though diversified ejQfects on the minds of its several members. For my own part, I am free to own, that, as your former letters convinced me in the truth of your rule of faith, namely the entire Word of God, and of the right of the true church to expound it in all questions, concerning its meaning ; so your subsequent letters have satis- fied me that the characters or marks of the true church, as they are laid down in our common creeds, are clearly visible in the Roman Catholic church, and not in the collection of Protest- ant churches, nor in any one of them. This impression was, at first, so strong upon my mind that I could have answered you nearly in the words of king Agrippa, to St. Paul : almost thou persuadest me to become a Catholic, Acts xxvi. 28. The same appear to be the sentiments of several of my friends : but when, on comparing our notes together, we considered the heavy charges, particularly of superstition and idolatry, brought against your church by our eminent divines, and especially by the bishop of London (Dr. Porteus,) and never, that we have heard of, refuted or denied, we cannot but tread back the steps we have taken towards you, or rather stand still, where we are. 196 Letter XXX/. a Ik! ' I in suspense, till we hear what apswer you will make to them : I speak of those contained in the bishop's well known treatise czWediA Brief Confutation of the Errors of the Church of Rome. With respect to certaipi other members of our society, I am sorry to be obliged to say, that, on this particular subject, I mean the arguments in favour of your religion, they do not manifest the candour and good sense, which are natural to them, and which they show on every other subject. They pro- nounce, with confidence and vehemence, that Dr. Porteus's charges are all true, and that you cannot make any rational an- swer to them ; at the same time, that several of these gentle- men, tp my knowledge, are very little acquainted with the sub- stance of them. In short, they are apt to load your religion and the professors of it, with epithets and imputations too gross and injurious for me to repeat, convinced as I am of their false- hood. I shall not be surprised to hear that some of these impu- tations have been transmitted to you by the persons in question, as I have declined making my letters the vehicle of them ; it is a justice, however, which I owe them, to assure you, Rev. sir, that it is only since they have understood the inference of your arguments to be such as to imply an obligation on them of re- nouncing their own respective religions, and embracing yours, thvX they have been so unreasonable and violent. Till this pe- riod they appeared to be nearly as liberal and charitable with respect to your communion as to any other. ->;!!:- 'Xi.-A ;.-j >:!-/! t , :*;;. \ . lam. Rev. Sir, he. /: , , ! ., JAMES BROWN. •Ml? Ill "\-\,'i^ fl "■■,'■) -i ..■ , ',. -,.■, i;^'/ '- ''' n: ; ;, ,,.,., J . ;, : SiM-V^ .'■•^,n w, : ^i; ' ! , . • _ ,■,. ■ ' • ■ ' - ' \ ■ . I ' - - 'I 1 /• i ! ' . ; t ( vJ '/'.a;i . ;' c In:;: ,.,■■, ^i t I M ..; v.. ' ' ' IJ .;■?,. S"!;! o them : I 'n treatise of Rome. ety, I am subject, I jy do not latural to They pro- Porteus's tional an- se gentle- the sub- religion too gross leir false- ese impu- question, lem; it is Rev. sir, e of your im of re- tig yours, 1 this pe- :able with ., ,lf'v. > i.. OWN. , ■ 1^ £199] •©•i- rmm 1 1 t.im-> mrunyli. svavv) t)j .\ nti(\ lU: 'lifJ.iUl'Uli f. "my I V-' .hii ; '0'. ftV TBE CHJiRGES ^GAIJfST THE CATHOLIC CHURCB, LETTER XXXII. To JAMES BROWN, Esq. f>,t: ■..-\-. hll.Vsi <• ii-«', ( ' Dear Sir, I SHOULD be guilty of deception were I to disguise the satis- faction I derive from your and your friends, near approach to the house of unity and peace, as St. Cyprian calls the Catholic church: for such I must judge your situation to be from the tenour of your last letter, by which it seems to me, that your entire reconciliation with this church depends on my refuting Bp. Porteus's objections against it : and yet, dear sir, if I were to insist on the strict rules of reasoning, I might take occasion of complaining of you from the very concessions which afford me so much pleasure. In fact, if you admit that the church of God, is, by his appointment, the interpreter of the entire Word of God, you ought to pay attention to her doctrine on every point of it, and not to the suggestions of Dr. Porteus or your own fancy in opposition to it. Again, if you are convinced that the one, holy, Catholic and apostolical church is the true church of God, you ought to be persuaded that it is utterly im- possible she should inculcate idolatry, superstition, or any other wickedness, and, of course, that those who believe her to be thu» guilty are and must be in a fatal error. I have proved from reason, tradition, and holy Scripture, that, as individual Chris- tians cannot of themselves judge with certainty of matters of faith, God has therefore provided them with an unerring guide, in his holy church ; and hence that Catholics, as Tertullian and St. Vincent of Lerins emphatically pronounce, cannot strictly and consistently, be required by those who are not Catholics, to vindicate the particular tenets of their belief, either from Scripture or any other authority : it being sufficient for them to show that they hold the doctrine of the true church which all Christians are bound to hear. Nevertheless, as it is my duty, after the example of the apostle, to become all things to all men, 1 Cor. ix. 22, and as we Catholics are conscious of being able to meet our opponents on their own ground, as well as on ours, I am willing, dear sir, for your and your friends' satisfaction, to enter on a brief discussion of the leading points of controversy which are agitated between the Catholics and the Protestants, particularly those of the church of England. I must, however- 20* 200 Letter XXXIL II 'i »■' if! previously stipulate with you for the following conditions, which I trust you will find perfectly reasonable. i., Ist. I require that Catholics should be permitted to lay doton their own principles of belief and practice, and, of course, to distinguish between their articles of faith in which they must all agree, and mere scholastic opinions, of which every individual may judge for himself; as, likewise, between the authorized liturgy and discipline of the church and the unauthorized devo- tions and practices of particular persons. I insist upon this preliminary, because it is the constant practice of your contro- versialists to dress up a hideous figure, composed of their own misrepresentations, or else of those undefined opinions and un- authorized practices, which they call Popery; and then to amuse their readers or hearers with exposing the deformity of it and pulling it to pieces ; and I have the greater right to insist upon this preliminary, because our creeds and professions c f faith, the acts of our councils and our approved expositions and Catechisms, containing the principles of our belief and practice, from which no real Catholic in any part of the world can ever depart, are before the public and upon constant sale among booksellers. 2dly. It being a notorious fact that certain individual Chris- tians, or bodies of Christians, have departed from the faith and communion of the church of all nations, under pretence that they had authority for so doing, it is necessary that their al- leged authority should be express, and incontrovertible. Thus, for example, if texts of Scripture are brought for this purpose, •t is evidently necessary that such texts should be clear in them- selves and not contrasted by any other texts seemingly of an op- posite meaning. In like manner, when any doctrine or prac- tice appears to be undeniably sanctioned by a father of the church, for example, of the third or the fourth century, without an appearance of contradiction from any other father, or eccle- siastical writer, it is unreasonable to affirm ir. t Iig or his con- temporaries were the authors of it, as Prote fTii * > m^ps are ' ; the habit of affirming. On the contrary, '..i ;s ..atv^ial to sup- pose that such father has taken up this with the other points of ^]!s religion from his predecessors, who received them from the aposv'es. This is the sentiment of that bright luminary St. Aagusil. who says, "Whatever is found to be held by the Uiyvt;ti'bal cburch, aud not to have had its beginning in bishops .';;ii- ii(! Ife ;' ditionsy ly dovm urse, to must all dividual horized d devo- )on this contro- eir own and un- then to ity of it to insist isions (:i ions and ^ractic^, can ever '. among il Chris- laith and nee that their al- i. Thus, purpose, in them- >f an op- or prac- r of the without 3r eccle- his con- 's are * '■■ I to sup- points of from the aary St. I by the 1 bishops '. ii'f; ■: 'I 1(1, . I \JUuer ^:^XJL 301 and cotuacils, must be esteemed a tradition from those by whom the church itself was founded."^ You judged right in supposing that I have received some let- ters, containing virulent and gross invectives against the Ca- tholic religion, from certain meir << rs of your society. These do not surprise or hurt me, as the writers of them have probably not yet had an opportunity of knowing inueli more of this reli- gion than what they could collect from fifth of November, and other sermons of the same tendency, and from circulated pamphlets expressly calculated to inflame the population again ^;t it and its professors ; but what truly surprises and aA flKelf- denial to acknowledge their error and return to her communion, they endeavour to justify their conduct by interposing a black and hideous mask before the fair countenance of this true mo- ther, Christ's spotless spouse. This is so far true, that when, as it often happens, a Protestant is, by dint of argument, forced out of his errors and prejudices against the true religion, if he be pressed to embrace it, and wants grace to do it, he is sure to fly back to those very calumnies and misrepresentations which he had before renounced. The fact is, he must fight with these, or yield himself unarmed to his Catholic opponent. That you and your friends may not think me, dear sir, to have complained without just cause of the publications and ser- mons of the respectable characters I have alluded to, I must in- form you that 1 have now lying before me a volume called ixood Advice to the Pulpits, consisting of the foulest and most malignant falsehoods against the Catholic religion and its pro- fessors, which tongue or pen can express, or the most enve- nomed heart conceive. It was collected from the sermons and treatises of prelates and dignitaries, by that able and faithful writer, the Rev. John Gother, soon after the gall of calumnious Ink had been mixed up with the blood of slaughtered Catholics; R score of v« horn were executed as traitors for a pretended plot * Lib. ii. De Bapt. ' ' "'■■'* 2 C S02 Letter XXXII. P hi to murder their friend and proselyte, Charles II ; a plot which was hatched by men who themselves were soon after convicted of a real assassination plot against the king. At that time, the parliaments were so blinded as repeatedly to vote the reality of the plot in question : hence it is easy to judge with what sort of language the pulpits would resound against the poor devoted Catholics at that period. But without quoting from former records, I need only refer to a few of the publications of the present day to justify my complaint. To begin with some of the nu:nberless slanders contained in the J^o Popery Tract of the bishop of London, Dr. Porteus : he charges Catholics with " senseless idolatry to the infinite scandal of religion j"* with trying " to make the ignorant think that indulgences deliver the dead from hell j"f and that by means of " zeal for holy church, the worst man may be secured from future misery :"J and the bishop of St. Asaph, Dr. Halifax, charges Catholics with " Antichristian idolatry,*^ the worship of demons, || and idol mediators."ir He, moreover, maintains it to be the doc- trine of the church of Rome, that " pardon for every sin, whe- ther committed or designed, may be purchased for money.** The bishop of Durham, Dr. Shute Harrington, accuses them of " idolatry, blasphemy, and sacrilege."f f The bishop of Lan- dafl'. Dr. Watson, impeaches the Catholic priests, man'yrolo- gilts, and monks, without exception, of the " hypocrisy of liars ;"|J and he lays it down, as the moral doctrine of Ca- tholics, that " humility, temperance, justice, the love of God and man, are not laws for all Christians, but only counsels ol perfection. "§§ He elsewhere says, " that the Popish religion is the Christian religion, is a false position."|||| He has, more- over, adopted and republished the sentiments of some of his other mitred brethren to the same purpose. One of these as- serts, that, " instead of worshipping God through Christ, they (the Catholics) have substituted the doctrine of demons."irir " They have contrived numberless ways to make a holy life needless, and to assure tiie most abandoned of salvation, with- out repentance, provided they will sufficiently pay the priest for absolution."*** " They have consecrated murders, &c."f f f " The Papists =tick fast in filthy mire — by the affection tliey ♦ rnnfuttilion, p. 39, edit.'l'nC. ^ Warburton's Lectures, p. 191. •• Ihid. p. 347. tt Charge, p. 11. H Bishop VVutson's Tiiids, vol. i. f IF Hishop Honson'-s 'TtwU, vol. v. p, 272. ♦tt Ihid. p. 282. t Ihi.l. p. 53 11 Ibid. p. SS!". J Ibid. p. .^S. IT Ibid. p. 'A^9. n Letter 11. to Gibbon, 'y Ibid. vol. V. Contents. *♦♦ Ibid. p. 273. Letter XXXII, 203 plot which • convicted it time, the ; reality of what sort or devoted am former ions of the th some of •y Tract of lolics with n;"* with ces deliver I for holy misery :"j 1 Catholics ions,|| and e the doc- ' sin, whe- money.** les them of )p of Lan- mar\yrolo- pocrisy of ne of Ga- ze of God counsels ot religion is las, more- me of his f these as- irist, thev tnons."1'ir I holy life ion, with- priest for &c."tff ction they J. p. !)3. (1. p. 'A58. > Uibboii. >iit('nt8. 273. to otlicr lusts, which their fitted to gratify, ^hop of Canter- bury i'cw writers hud misrepresented the Catholic relij^ion mort foully than b« 'I ,t ' !1 lil m 204 Letter XXXIL I I If El i but being unfortunately engaged, as I said before, in an here ditary revolt against the church, which shines forth conspicuous, with every feature of truih in her countenance, and wanting the rare grace of acknowledging their error, at the expense of temporal advantages, they have no other defence for themselves but clamour and calumny, no resource for shrouding those beauteous features of the church, but by placing before them the hideous mask of misrepresentation ! Before I close this letter, I cannot help expressing an earnest wish that it were in my power to suggest three most important considerations to uJl and every one of the theological calumnia- tors in question. I pass over their injustice and cruelty towards us; though this bears some resemblance with the barbarity of Nero towards our predecessors, the first Christians of Rome, who disguised them in the skins of wild beasts, and then hunted them to death with dogs. But Christ has warned us as follows: It is enough for the disciple to be as his master ; if they have called the master of the house Beelzebub: how much more them of his household. In fact, we know that those our above-men- tioned predecessors were charged with worshipping the head of an ass, and of killing and eating children, &;c. The first observation wliich I am desirous of making to these controvertists, is, that their charges and invectives against Ca« tholics never unsettle the faith of a single individual amongst us ; much less do they cause any Catholic to quit our commu- nion. This we are sure of, because, after all the pains and ex- had done in his controversial works : even in his commentary on the Catechism, he accuses it oi htresy, schism, and idolaU-y: but, having entered into acorrespond- cnce witli Dr, Dupiri, for tlie purpose of uniting their respective churches, he as- sures tiie Catholic divine, in his last letter to him, as follows: " In dogmatibus, prout a tc candidc proponuntur, non admodum disscntimus ; in rcginiine eccle- «iastico minus; in fundaniciitalibus, nive doctrinain, sive disciplinam spectemus, vix omninn." Append, to Moslioim's Hist. vol. vi. p. 121. The present writer has been informed, on pood authority, that one of tiie bishops, whose calumnies are here quoted, M'hen he found himself on his deathbed, refused the proflTered ministry of tlie primate and expressed a great wish to die a Catholic. When urged to satisfy his coiiscif nee, he exclaimed : What then will become of wiy lady and imj children f Certain it is that very many Protestants, who had been the most violent in their language and conduct against the Catholic church, as for example, •John, Elector of Saxony, Margaret, Queen of Navarre, Cromwell, Lord Essex, Dudley, Karl of Nortlinniberland, king Cliailes H, the late Lords Montague, Nu- gent, Dunnoyne. &c. did actuully reroneile tliemselves to the Catholic church in that situation. The writer may add, liiat another of tlu! calumniators here quoted, being desirous of stilling tlie suspicion o*" his having written an anoii^ymous No- J'rncry publication, when first he took pari in that cause, privately addressed him- «t'lf t') the writtT in these terms: How con you susprct me of writing against youi rilitrion, whin yon so well kuow my altaehmmt to it! In fact, this modern Luther, innonic other similar concessions, has said thus to the >V4!tcr: / sucked in a love for tlte Ciitholic rtligion with my motlur's milk. penses o Confutat tages of pastors, 1 tained in catechisn dissolute as one of self, on hi noblemar times a p communii single pre and Lond I may sa JVo Pope Durham. A socoi tlon of th flagrant n \y an occe upright mi company of iuquirir irreligion ed them deceived viewing m hideous m to becomt concern. The mc sideration must all amined or rest, thou supposing thollc nei blood, sh( to be calu thors that venting tl Letter XXXIL 305 an here ispicuous, inting the xpense of hemselves ing those fore them in earnest important calumnia- y towards rbarity of of Rome, en hunted IS follows : they have more them )ove-men- le head of g to these gainst Ca- [ amongst r commu- is and ex- e Catechism, I correspond- irches, lie as- dogmatibus, ^inline eccle- 1 spcctemus, resent writer le calumnies the proflTered olic. When t of my lady een the most for example, Lord Essex, iiitngue, Nu- lic cliurch in here quoted, •ii-ymous No- dressed him- against ymii dern Luther, li in a love jot penses of the Protestant societies to distribute Dr. Porteus's Confutation of Popery, and other tracts, in the houses and cot- tages of Catholics, not one of the latter ever comes to us, their pastors, to be furnished with an answer to the accusations con- tained in them ; the truth is, they previously know from their catechisms, the falsehood of them. Sometimes, no doubt, a dissolute youth, from " libertinism of principles and practice," as one of the above-mentioned lords loudly proclaimed of him- self, on his deathbed ; and sometimes an ambitious or avaricious nobleman or gentleman, to get honour or wealth ; finally, some- times a profligate priest, to get a wife, or a living, forsakes our communion ; but, I may challenge Dr. Porteus to produce a single proselyte from Popery throughout the dioceses of Chester and London, M'ho has been gained by his book against it : and I may say the same with respect to the bishop of Durham's wVo Popery Charges, throughout the dioceses of Sarum and Durham. A second point of still greater importance for the considera- tion of these distinguished preachers and writers is, that their flagrant misrepresentation of the Catholic religion, is constant- ly an occasion of the conversion of several of their own most upright members to it. Such Christians, when they fall into company with Catholics, or get hold of their books, cannot fail of inquiring whether they are realJy those monsters of idolatry, irreligion and immorality, which those divines have represent- ed them to be ; when, discovering how much they have been deceived in these respects, by misrepresentation ; and, in short, viewing now the fair face of the Catholic church, instead of the hideous mask which had been placed before it, they seldom fail to become enamoured of it, and, in case religion is their chief concern, to become our very best Catholics. The most important point, however, of all others for the con- sideration of these learned iheologues, is the following : Wc must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to be ex- amined on our observance of that commandment, among the rest, thou shalt not hear false witness against thy neighbour ; supposing then these their clamorous charges against their Ca- tholic neighbours, of idolatry, blasphemy, perfidy, and thirst of blood, should then appear, as they most certainly will appear, to be calunuiies of the worst sort, what will it avail their au- thors that these have answered the temporary purpose of pre- venting the emancipation of Catholics, and of rousing the po- !' I i »> * w 306 Letter XXXIIL h ! < ii pular hatred and fury against them ! Alas ! what will it avail them' ■ ..-.:,.., . ,, ;^ :^^^..^v I am, Dear Sir, yours, 8tc. J. M. .')' ' LETTER XXXllI. To MJ\IES BROJVJY, Esq. OJV THE mvOC^TWJ^ OF SMJH'S. Dear Sir, "' The first and most heavy charge which Protestants bring against Catholics, is that of idolatry. They say, that the Ca- tholic church has been guilty of this crime and apostasy, by sanctioning the invocation of saints, and the worship of images and pictures : and that on this account they have been obliged to abandon her communion, in obedience to the voice from hea- veUf sayings Come out of her, my people, that ye he not partaken of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Rev. xviii. 4. Nevertheless, it is certain, dear sir, that Protestantism wn- not founded on this ground either in Germany or in Englan^l : for Luther warmly defended the Catholic doctrine in both the aforesaid particulars, and our English reformers, particularly king Edward's uncle, the duke of Somerset, only took up this pretext of idolatry, as the most popular, in order to revolution- ise tJie ancient religion, wliich they were carrying on f.om mo- tives of avarice and ambition. The same reasons, namely, that this charge of idolatry is best calculated to inflame the ignorant against the Catholic church, and to furnish a pretext foi* de- serting her, have caused Protestant controvertists to keep up the outcry against her ever since, and to vie with each other in the foulness of their misrepresentation of her doctrine in this particular. To speak fir: t of the invocation of saints : arcbbishop Wake, [who afterward, as we have seen, acknowledged to Dr. Dupin that there was no fundamental difference between his doctrine and that of Catholics] in his popular Commentary on the Church other G( has been ofCath( substitut mous tei ists, spe£ among o heathen commen( life, but depend Saviour'i courtiers Such is Catholici in the na to stand hear wha article, ai prelates c of the w ing with good an( course tc from Go( Mr Red council o Pope Pi be praye himself ? things ; God, th; nhat we tlie instri nngels as honour v presented Catiiolic! publishec * Sect. J Brief ( w\\\ It avail ' M • ■ ' J. M. ta«ts bring hat the Ca- postasy, by p of images een obliged cefrom hea- ot partaken Rev. xviii. tantism wa n England : in both the particularly took up this revolution- in r.om mo- lamely, that the ignorant jtext for de- to keep up ach other in trine in this shop Wake, » Dr. Dupin, his doctrine tary on the Letter XXXIIL 207 Church Catechism, maintains, that " The church of Rome has other Gods besides the Lord."* Another prelate, whose work has been lately republished by the bishop of Landaff, pronounces of Catholics, that, " Instead of worshipping Christ, they have substituted the doctrine of demons." j In the same blasphe- mous terms, Mede, and a hundred other Protestant controvert- ists, speak of our communion of saints. The bishop of London, among other such calumnies, charges us with " Bringingback the heathen multitude of deities into Christianity ;" that we " Re- commend ourselves to some favourite saint, not by a religious life, but by flattering addresses and costly presents, and often depend much more on his intercession, than on our blessed Saviour's ;" and that, " being secure of the favour of these courtiers of heaven, we pay little regard to the King of it."| Such is the misrepresentation of the doctrine and practice of Catholics on this point, which the first ecclesiastical characters in the nation publish ; because, in fact, their cause has not a leg to stand on, if you take away misrepresentation ! Let us now hear what is the genuine doctrine of the Catholic church in this article, as solemnly defined by the Pope, and near three hundred prelates of different nations, at the council of Trent, in the face of the whole world ; it is simply this, that " The saints reign- ing with Christ offer up their prayers to God for men; that it is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and to have re- course to theh prayers, help, and assistance, to obtain favours from God, through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alone ur Redeemer and Saviour."'^ Hence the Catechism of the council of Trent, published in virtue of its decree, || by order of Pope Pius V, teaches, that " God and the saints are not to be prayed to in the same manner ; for we pray to God that he himself would give us good things, and deliver us from evil things ; but we beg of th» saints, because they are pleasing to God, that they would be our advocates, and obtain from God what we stand in need of."1[ Our first English Catechism for the instruction of children, says, " We are to honour saints and nngels as God's special friends and servants, but not with the honour which belongs to God." Tinally, The Papist Misre- presented and Represented, u work of great authority among Catholics, first published by our eminent divine Gother, and re- published by our venerable bishop, Challoner, pronounces the ♦ Sect 2— S. t Bishop Watjon't Thcol. Tracts, vol. v. p. 272. X Brief Confut. pp. 23, 25. ^ Concil. Trid. Sps«. 25. dn Invoe. II Sej». 24. lie K»>r. c. 7. T Pars IV. Quis orandus. 21 I ^1 , Vi i >it Ua > * . ll SOS Letter XXXUI, ] following anathema against that idolatrous phantom of Catho- licity, which Protestant controvertists have held up for the identical Catholic church . " Cursed is he that believes the saints in heaven to be his redeemers, that prays to them as such, or that gives God's honour to them, or to any creature whatso- ever. Amen." " Cursed is every goddess worshipper, that believes the B. Virgin Mary to be any more than a creature; that worships her, or puts his trust in her more than in God, that believes her above her Son, or that she can in any thing command him. Amen."* You see, dear sir, how widely different the doctrine of Ca- tholics, as defined by our church, and really held by us, is from the caricature of it, held up by interestea preachers and con- trovertists, to scare and inflame an ignorant multitude. So far from making gods and goddesses of the saints, we firmly hold it to be an article of faith, that, as they have no virtue or excel- lence but what has been gratuitously bestowed upon them b^ God, for the sake of his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, so they can procure no benefit for us, but by means of their prayers to the Giver of all good gifts^ through their and our common Sa- viour, Jesus Christ. In short, they do nothing for us mortals in heaven, but what they did while they were here on earth, and what all good Christians are bound to do for each other, namely, they help us by their prayers. The only difference is, that as the saints in heaven are free from every stain of sin and imper- fection, and are confirmed in grace and glory, so their prayers are far more efficacious for obtaining what they ask for, than are the prayers of us imperfect and sinful mortals. In short, our Protestant brethren will not deny that St. Paul was in the practice of begging for the prayers of the churches to which he addressed his epistles, Rom. xv. 30, 8ic. and that the Almighty himself commanded the friends of Job to obtain his prayers for the pardon of their sins, Job xlii. S ; and moreover, that they themselves are accustomed to pray publicly for one another. Now these concessions, together with the authorized exposition of our doctrine, laid down above, are abundantly sufficient to refute most of the remaining objections of Protestants against it. In vain, for example, does Dr. Porteus quote the text of St. Paul, 1 Tim. ii. 5, There is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; for we grant that Christ alone is the Me- diator of salvation ; but if he argues, from thence, that there is no other mediator of intercession, he would condemn the con- ♦ Tap. Misrcp. Abridg;. p. 78. rays. iSterXXXm. 209 of Catho- p for the iieves the n as such, e wh'atso- )per, that creature ; in God, any thing le of Ca- ns, is from and con- So far rmly hold I or excel- 1 them b^ t, so they jrayers to nmon Sa- mortals in , and what , namely, is, that as nd imper- ir prayers for, than In short, ^as in the which he /Vlmighty ayers for that they another, xposition ficient to s against !Xt of St. and 7nen, the Me- there is the con- duct of St. Paul, of Job's friends, and of his own church. In vain does he take advantage of the ambiguous meaning of the word worship, in Mat. iv. 10 ; because, if the question be about a divine adoration^ we restrain this as strictly to God, as he can do ; but if it be about merely honouring the saints, we cannot censure that, without censuring other passages of Scripture,* and condemning the bishop himself, who expressly says, " The saints in heaven we love and Aonour."f In vain does he quote Revel, xix. 10, where the angel refused to let St. John prostrate himself, and adore him ; because, if the mere act itself, inde- pendently of the evangelist's mistaking him for the Deity, was forbidden, then the three angels, who permitted Abraham to bow himself to the ground before them, were guilty of a crime, Gen. xviii. 2, as was that other angel, before whom Josuah fell on his face and worshipped. Jos. v. 14. The charge of idolatry against Catholics, for merely honour- ing those whom God honours, and for desiring them to pray to God for us, is too extravagant, to be any longer published by Protestants of learning and character ; accordingly the bishop of Diirham is content with accusing us of blasphemy, on the latter part of thd charge. What he says is this : " It is blas- phemy, to ascribe to angels and saints, by praying to them, the divine attribute of universal presence."! To say nothing of his lordship's new invented blasphemy, I should be glad to ask him, how it follows, from my praying to an angel or a saint in any place, that I necessarily believe the angel or saint to be in that place ? Was Elisha really in Syria when he saw the am- bush prepared there for thtj king of Israel ? 2 Kings vi. 9. Again, we know that There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner that reptnteth, Luke xv. 10. Now, is it by visual rays, or undulating sounds, that these blessed spirits in heaven know what passes in the hearts of men upon earth ^ How does his lordship know, that one ])art of the saint's felicity may not * The word worship, in this place, is used for iuprenu divine homage, as appears by the original Greek : whereas in St. Luke xiv. 10, the English translators make use of it for the lowest de^ee of respect : Thou shalt have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with tliee. The latter is the proper meaning of the Avord wor- ship, as appears by the marriage service : YVith my body I thee xeorship, and by the designation of the lowest order of magistrates, his worship Mr. Alderman N. Nevertheless, as the word may be diHerently interpreted, Catiiolics abstain from applying it to persons or things inferior to God: making use of the words honour and veneration in their regard ; words which, so applied, even bishop Porteus ap- proves us. Thus it appears, that the heinous charge of idolatry brought against Catholics for their respect towards the saints, is grounded on notliiug but th« mi»- taken meaning of a word 1 » P 23. \ Charge 1810, p. \% 21) in m r^ii .' i;' 210 Lttier XXXIII. consist in contemplating the wonderful ways of God's provi- dence with all his creatures here on earth ? But, without recur- ring to this supposition, it is sufficient for dissipating the bi- shop's uncharitable phantom of blasphemy, and Calvin's profane jest about the length of the saint's ears, that God is able to re- veal to them the prayers of Christians who address them here on earth. In case I had the same opportunity of conversing with this prelate, which I once enjoyed, I should not fail to make the following observation to him : my lord, you publicly maintain, that the act of praying to saints, ascribes to them the divine attribute o( universal presence ; this you call blasphemy: now it appears, by the articles and injunctions of your church, that you believe in the existence and efficacy of " sorceries, en chantments, and witchcraft, invented by the devil, to procure his counsel or help,"* wherever the conjuror or witch may chance to be ; do you, therefore, ascribe the divine attribute of universal presence to the devil ? You must assert this, or you must withdraw your charge of blasphemy against the Catholics for praying to the saints. < , ' That it is lawful and profitable to invoke the prayers of the angels, is plain from Jacob's asking and obtaining the angel's blessing, with whom he had mystically wrestled. Gen. xxxii. 26, and from his invoking his own angel to bless Joseph's sons, Gen. xlvii. 16. Th j same is also sufficiently plain, with respect to the saint}, from the Book of Revelations, where the four and twenty elders in heaven are said to have, golden vials full oj odours, lohich are the prayers of the saints. Rev. v. 8. The church, however, derived her doctrine on this and other points immediately from the apostles, before any part of the New Testament was written. The tradition was so ancient and uni- versal, that all those Eastern churches, which broke off from the central church of Rome, a great many ages before Protestantism was heard of, perfectly agree with us in honouring and invoking the angels and saints. I have said that the patriarch of Pro- testantism, Martin Luther, did not find any thing idolatrous in the doctrine or practice of the church with respect to the saints So far from this, he exclaims, " Who can deny that God works great miracles at the tombs of the saints ? I therefore, with the whole Catholic church, hold that the saints are to be honour- ed and invocated by us."| In the same spirit he recommends Ir ♦ Ir\junction9, A. D. 1559. Bishop Sparrow's Collection, p. 89. Articles, ibid. |K 180. t In Purg. quoramd. Ailic. Tom. i. Germet, Ep. ad Gcorgf. Spalat 'd's provi- lout recur- ng the bi- I's profane able to re- them here conversing lot fail to u publicly ) them the lasphemy: ir church, ceries, en procure I'Jtch may ttribute of is, or you Catholics ers of the le angei's en. xxxii. 3h's sons, th respect J four and Is full of 8. The ler points the New and uni- ' from the estantism invoking 1 of Pro- atrous in be saints od works )re, with honour- >mmends ticks, ibid Letter XXXIIL SI J this devotion to dying persons, " Let no one omit to call upon the B. Virgin and the angels and saints, that they may inter- cede with God for them at that instant."* I may add that se- veral of the brightest lights of the established church, such . archbishop Sheldon and the bishops Blandford,f Gunning,J Montague, &;c. have altogether abandoned the charge of idola- try against Catholics on this head. The last mentioned of them says, " I own that Christ is not wronged in his mediation. It is no impiety to say, as they (the Catholics) do. Holy Mary, pray forme; Holy Peter, pray for me;"§ whilst the candid preben- dary of Westminster warns his brethren " not to lead people by the nose, to believe they can prove Papists to be idolaters when they cannot." II i • . /' In conclusion, dear sir, you will observe that the council of Trent, barely teaches that it is good and profitable to invoke the prayers of the saints ; hence our divines infer that there is no positive law of the church, incumbent on all her children to pray to the saints rlT nevertheless, what member of the Catholic church militant will fail to communicate with his brethren of the church triumphant? What Catholic, believing in the communion of saints, and that " the saints, reigning with Christ pray for us, and that it is good and profitable for us to invoke their prayers," will forego this advantage ! How sublime and consoling ! how animating is the doctrine and practice of true Catholics, compared with the opinions of Protestants! We hold daily and hourly converse, to our unspeakable comfort and advantage, with the angelic choirs, with the venerable pa- triarchs and prophets of ancient times, with the heroes of Christianity, the blessed apostles and martyrs, with the bright ornaments of it in later ages, the Bernards, the Xaviers, the Teresas, and the Sales's : they are all members of the Catholic church. Why should not you partake of this advantage? Your soul, you complain, dear sir, is in trouble; you lament that your prayers to God are not heard: continue to pray to him with all the fervour of your soul : but why not engage his friends and courtiers to add the weight of their prayers to your own? Perhaps his Divine Majesty may hear the prayers of the Jobs, when he will not listen to those of an Eiiphaz, a Bildad, * Luth. Prep, ad Mort. t See Duchess of York's Testimony in Brunswick's 50 Reasons. t Burnet's Hist, of his own Times, Vol. i. p. 437. ^ Treat, of Invoc. of Saints, p. 118. II Thorndike, Just Weights, p. 10. if Petavius, Suarez, Wallenburg, Muratori, Nat. Alex. A. 1 %z fll% Ijetter XXXIIl. m m \-0 or a Zophar. Jot xlli. You believe, no doubt, that you liave an angel guardian, appointed by God to protect you, conform^ ably to what Christ said of the children presented to him : Their angels do always behold the face of my Father tvho is in heaven, Mai. xviii. 10 : address yourself to this blessed spirit with gra- titude, veneration, and confidence. You believe also, that, among the saints of God, there is one of supereminent purity and sanctity, pronounced by an archangel to be, not only gra- cious, but "full of grace;" the chosen instrument of God in the incarnation of his Son, and the intercessor with this her Son, m obtaining his first miracle, that of turning water into wine, at a time, when his " time" for appearing to the world by miracles, was " not yet come." John ii. 4. " It is impossible," as one of the fathers says, " to love the son, without loving the mo- ther:" beg of her, then, with affection and confidence, to inter- cede with Jesus, as the poor Canaanltes did, to change the tears of your distress into the wine of gladness, \.y affording you the light and grace you so much want. Yon cdLwnoi re- fuse to join with me in the angelic salutation: Hail full of grace^ our Lord is with ihee,^ nor in the subsequent address of the inspired Elizabeth : Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Luke i. 42 : cast aside, then, I beseech you, dear sir, prejudices, which are not only ground- less but also hurtful, and devoutly conclude with me, in the words of the whole Catholic Church, uvon earth : Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of out decUh. Amen, I am, he. J. M. U ♦ Luke i. 28. The Cathorc version is here used, as more conformable to the Creek as well as the Vulgate than the Protestant, wWch renders tiie passage: Hail who art h^hly favoured. 4 .U\/[ 213 ] you have , conform- im: Their in heaven, with gra- also, that, ent purity only gra- of God ill is her Son, to wine, at y miracles, ," as one g the mo- ', to inter- liange the ' affording oannot re- lil full of address ot' omen, and de, then, I y ground- ne, in the yy Mary, our of out .1"! '('(M.'IM. .A,-f '^ i .IV n')-' i; ■>i} i\ •(' LETTER XXXIV. To JAMES BROWK, Esq, OX RELIGIOUS MEMORMLS. •(! I.I a i \.> 'f:'i- Dear Sir, If the Catholic church has been so grievously injured by the misrepresentation of her doctrine respecting prayers to the saints, she has been still more grievously injured by the prevail- ing calumnies against the respect which she pays to the memo- rials of Christ and his saints, namely to crucifixes, relics, pious pictures and images. This has been misrepresented, from al- most the first eruption of Protestantism,* as rank idolatry, and as justifying the necessity of a Reformation. To countenance such misrepresentation in our own country, in particular, avari- cious courtiers and grandees seized on the costly shrines, statues and other ornaments of all the churches and chapels, and authorized the demolition or defacing of all other religious memorials of whatever nature or materials, not only in places of worship, but also in market places and even in private houses. In support of the same pious fraud, the Holy Scriptures were corrupted in their different versions and editions,f till religious J. M. mable to the assage: Hail ♦ Martin Luther, with all his hatred of the Catholic church, found no idolatry JH her doctrine respecting crosses and images : on the contrary, he warmly de- fended it against Carlostadius and his associates, who had destroyed those in the churches of Wittenbei"g. Epist. ad Gasp. Guttal. In the titlepages of his vo- lumes, published by Melancthon, Luther is exhibited on his knees before a cruci- fix. Queen Elizabeth persisted for many years in retaining a crucifix on the al- tar of her chapel, till some of her Puritan courtiers engaged Patch, the fool, to break it : " no wiser man," says Dr. Heylen, (Hist, of Reform, p. 124,) " daring to undertake such a service." James L thus reproached the Scotch bishops, when tin objected to his placing pictures and statues in his chapel at Edinburgh : " You caii endure Lions and Dragons (the supporters of the royal anns) and Devils, (Q Elizabeth's G-riflins) to be figured in your churches, but will not allow the like place to pu,triarchs and apostles." Spotswood's History, p. 530. t See in the present English Bible, Colos. iii, 5. Covetousness which is idolatry : this, in the Bibles of 1562, 1577, and 1579, stood thus: Covetousness which is the loorshipping of images. In like manner where we read, a covetous nwn, who is an idolater, in the former editions we read, a covetous man which is a worshipper of idols. Instead of, What ap^et/mcnt hath the temple of God with idols, 2 Cor. vi. 16 : it used to stand. How agiretk the temple of God with images. Instead of, LitHe chil- dren keep yourselves from idols, 1 John v. 21 : it stood, during the reigns of Edward and Elizabeth, Babes keep yourselves from images. There were several other mani- fest corruptions in this as well iis in otiier points in the ancient Pi-otestant Bibles; «UQie of wliich remain in tlie picseiit veiJiiojj. 11 v.ml P 214 Letter XXyillL ;. h Protestants, themselves, became disgusted with them,^ and loudly called for a new translation. This was accordingly made, at the beginning of the first James's reign. In short, every passage in the Bible, and every argument which common sense suggests against idolatry, was applied to the decent re< spect which Catholics show to the memorials of Christianity. The misrepresentation, in question, still continues to be the chosen topic of Protestant controvertists, for inflaming the minds of the ignorant against their Catholic brethren. Accord- ingly, there is hardly a lisping infant, who has not been taught that the Romanists pray to images, nor is there a secluded pea- sant who has not been made to believe, that the Papists worship Vfooden gods. The Book of Homilies repeatedly affirms that our images of Christ and his saints are idoh ; that we " pray and ask of them what it belongs to God alone to give ; and that " images have beene and bee worshipped, and so, idolatry com- mitted to them by infinite multitudes to the great offence of God's majestic, and danger of infinite soules; that idolatrie can not possibly be separated from images set up in churches, and that God's horrible wrath, and our most dreadful danger, CiUinot be avoided without the destruction and utter abolition of all such images and idols out of the church and temple of God."f Archbishop Seeker teaches that " The church of Rome has other Gods, besides the Lord," and that " there never was greater idolatry among heathens in the business of image-wor- shipping than in the church of Rome."J Bishop Porteus, though he does not charge us with idolatry, by name, yet he intimates the same thing, where he applies to us one of the strongest passages of Scripture against idol worship : They that make them are like unto them ; and so is every one that trusteih in them. O Israel, trust thou in the Lord. Ps. cxiii.*^ Let us now hear what the Catholic church herself has so- lemnly pronounced on the present subject, in her general coun- ♦ See the account of what passed on this subject, at the Conference of Hampton Court, in Fuller's and Collier's Churcli Histories, and in Neal's History of the Pu- ritans. t Against the Perils of Idol. P. iii.— This admonition was quickly carried into effect, throughout Engvand. AH statues, bas-reiievos, and crosses, were demolish- ed in all the churches, and all pictures were defaced ; while they continued to hold their places, as they do still, in the Protestant churches of Germany. At Jength common sense regained its rights, even in tliis country. Accordingly, we Bee the cross exalted at the top of its principal church (St. Paul's,) which is also ornamented, all round it, with the statues of saints ; most of the cathedrals and collegiate churches now contain pictures, and some of them, as for example, Westminster Abbey, carved images. X Comment, on Ch. Catech. sect. 21. ^ P. 31. hem,* and iccordingly In short, ;h common decent re- istianity. !S to be the aming the Accord- een taught luded pea- sts worship ffirms that we " pray i f and that latry coni- offfnce of olatrie can rches, and ;^er, CiUinot of all such of God."f Rome has never was nage-wor- • Porteus, le, yet he •ne of the They that at trusteih If has so- erul couu" of Hampton ry ofthePu- carried into re demolist)- ontinued to rmany. At 'rdingly, we 'liich is also hedrals and •r example, Letter XXXJT ., 215 cll of Trent. She says, " The images of Christ, of the Virgin Mother of God, and the other saints, are to be kept and re- tained; particularly in the churches, and due honour and vene- ration is to be paid them : not that we believe there is any divi- nity or power in them, for which we respect them, or that any thing is to be asked of them, or that trust is to be placed in them, as the heathens of old trusted in their idols."* In conformity with this doctrine of our church, the following question and answer are seen in our first catechism, for the instruction of children: "Question: May we pray to relics or images? Answer: No; by no means, for they have no life or sense to hear or help us." Finally, that work of the able Catholic wri- ters Gother and Challoner, which I quoted above, The Papist Misrepresented and Represented, contains the following anathe- ma, in which I am confident every Catholic existing will readily join, " Cursed is he that commits idolatry ; that prays to im- ages or relics, or worships them for God. Amen." Dr. Porteus is very positive that there is no Scriptural war-' rant for retaining and venerating these exterior memorials, and he maintains that no other memorial ought to be admitted than the Lord's Supper.f Does he remember the ark of the cove- nant, made by the command of God, together with the punishment of those who profaned it, and the blessing bestow- ed on those who revered it f And what was the ark of the covenant, after all? A chest of Settim wood, containing the tables of the law and two golden pots of manna ; the whole being covered over by two carved images of cherubims ; in short, it was a memorial of God's mercy and bounty to his people. But, says the bishop, " The Roman Catholics make images of Christ and of his saints after their own fancy : before these images, and even that of the cross, they kneel down and prostrate themselves : to these they lift up their eyes, and in that posture they pray."| Supposing all this to be true ; has the bishop never read, that when the Israelites were smitten at Ai, Joshua fell to the earth upon his face, before the ark of the Lord, until the even tide, he and the elders of Israel, and Joshua said, Mas, O Lord God, S/-C. Jos. vii. 6. Does not he him- self oblige those who frequent the above-mentioned memorial, to kneel and prostrate themselves before it, at which time it is to be supposed they lift up their eyes to the sacrament and say their prayers ? Does not he require of his people that " when the name of JESUS is pronounced in any lesson, &ic. due re- i i m * Sess. xxr. t P. 23. } Confut. p. 27 ' *'■■ 4i ■< ■* nit \ \ 316 Letter XXXIF. ( , If , 1 4 i'\ verence be made of all with lowness of courtesie ?"* And does he consider as well founded, the outcry of idolatry against the established church, on this and the preceding point, raised by the dissenters? Again, is not his lordship in the habit ot kneeling to his majesty and of bowing with the other peers, to an empty chair when it is placed as his throne ? Does he not often reverently kiss the material substance of printed paper and leather, I mean the Bible, because it relates to and represents the sacred word of God ? When the bishop of London shall have well considered these several matters, methinks he will understand the nature of relative honour, by which an inferior respect may be paid to the sign, for the sake of the thing signi- fied, better than he seems to do at present ; and he will neither directly nor indirectly charge the Catholics with idolatry, on account of indifierent ceremonies, which take their nature from 4he intention of those who use them. During the dispute about pious images, which took place in the eighth century, St. Stephen of Auxence, having endeavoured in vain to make his persecutor, the emperor Copronimus, conceive the nature of relative honour and dishonour in this matter, threw a piece of money, bearing the emperor's figure, on the ground, and treat- ed it with the utmost indignity ; when the latter soon proved, by his treatment of the saint, that the affront regarded himself rather than the piece of metal. f The bishop objects, that the Catholics " make pictures of God the Father under the likeness of^a venerable old man." Certain painters indeed have represented him so, as in fact he was pleased to appear so to some of the prophets, Isa. vi. 1. Dan. vii. 9; but the council of Trent says nothing concerning that representation, which, after all, is not so common as thnt of a triangle among Protestants, to represent the trinity. Thus much, however, is most certain, that if any Christian were ob- stinately to maintain, that the divine nature resembles the hu- man form, he would be an anthropomorphite heretic. The bi- shop moreover signifies, what most other Protestant controvcrt- ists express more coarsely, that to screen our idolatry we havo suppressed the second commandment of the Decalogue, and to make up the deficiency, we have split the tenth commandment into two. My answer is, that I apprehend many of these dis- putants are ignorant enough to believe that the division of the commandments, in their Common Prayer Book, was copied, ♦ fT\junrtlon!i, A. D. 15nf», n. 52. Canons 1603, n. 18. f Fieury, Hiit Eac. L. vliii. n. 41. if not frc original t learning, several cc there was and anot making t authority In the m< part of tt Bibles, at die words either a p the bishoj iiig coins a mere pr which we that I int( way app( sanctity, thers gem will not s these, whi brought u departed was let stood upo But to the pressi with the extravagj relative and his Bible-bo( throne) Exod. xx| they beli for wbicl Catholicj and retai ♦ St. Aui t ('atprh Abridimeu d^ Letter XXXIV, 217 And does gainst the raised hy habit ot peers, to )es lie not paper and represents idon shall i.s he will an inferior ling signi- ill neither lolatry, on ature from 3ute about ntnrv, St. ) make his nature of a piece of and treat- »n proved, ed himself )ictares of [)ld man." in fact he Isa. vi. 1. oncerning on as that ity. Thus were ob- es the hii- Tbe bi- antrovcrt- f we have le, and tu nandmeiit these dis- on of the s copied, if not from the identical Tables of Moses, at least from his original text of the Pentateuch ; but the bishop, as a man of learning, must know that in the original Hebrew, and in the several copies and versions of it, during some thousands of years, there was no mark of separation between one commandment and another; so that v/e have no rules to be guided by, in making the distinction, but the sense of the context, and the authority of the most approved fathers,* both which we follow. In the mean time, it is a gross calumny that we suppress any part of the Decalogue ; for the whole of it appears in all our Bibles, and in all our most approved catechisms.f To be brief die words, Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven things are either a prohibition of all images, and, of course, those round the bishop's own cathedral of St. Paul, as likewise of all exist- ing coins ; which I am sure he will not agree to j or else it is a mere prohibition of images made to receive divine worship, in which we perfectly agree with him. You will observe, dear sir, that I intend to include relics^ meaning things which have some way appertained to and been left by personages of eminent sanctity, among religious memorials. Indeed the ancient fa- thers generally call them by that name. Surely Dr. Porteus will not say that there is no warrant in Scripture for honouring these, when he recollects that, From the body of St. Paul were brought unto the sick, handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases departed from them, Acts xix. 12 ; and that, When the dead man was let down and touched the hones of Elisha, he revived and stood upon his feet. 2 Kings xiii. 21. But to make an end of the present discussion : nothing but the pressing want of a strong pretext for breaking communion with the ancient church could have put the revolters upon so extravagant an attempt as that of confounding the inferior and relative honour which Catholics pay to the memorials of Christ and his saints, (an honour which they themselves pay to the Bible-book, to the imnie of .lESUS, and even to the king's throne) with the idolatry of the Israelites to their golden calf, Exod. xxxii. 4, and of the ancient heathens to their idols, which they believed to be inhabited by their gods. In a word, the end for which pious pictures and images are made and retained by Catholics, is the same for which pictures and images are made and retained by mankind in general, to put us in mind of the ♦ St. Augnstin, QytPiit. in ExoH. flum. Al«. Strom. 1. vi. Hieron.in P«. xxxil t Caterh. Roman nH Pnrorh. Tlie foli'> Caterh, of Moiifpellicr. Douajr Cateob. Abridgment of L'linaliuii Doctrine. w ■m 218 Utter XXXIV, Li : persons and things they represent. They are not primarily in- tended for the purpose of being venerated ; nevertheless, as they bear a certain relation with holy persons and things, by repre- senting them, they become entitled to a relative or secondary veneration ; in the manner already explained. I must not for- get one important use of pious pictures, mentioned 'by the holy fathers, namely, that they help to instruct the ignorant.* Still, it is a point agreed upon among Catholic doctors and divines, that the memorials of religion form no essential part of it.j* Hence, if you should become a Catholic, as I pray God you may, I shall never ask you, if you have a pious picture or relic, ov so much as a crucifix in your possession : but then, I trust, after the declarations J have made, that you will not account me nn idolater, should you see such things in my oratory or study, or should you observe how tenacious I am of my crucifix, in particular. Your faith and devotion may not stand in need of such memorials : but mine, alas ! do. I am too apt to forget what my Saviour has done and suffered for me ; but the sight of his representation often bnngs this to my memory, and affects my sentiments. Hence I would rather part with most of the books in my library, than with the figure of my crucified Lord. I am, &:c. '•/• \ ,■» f J. M. > .\ \ ■ * St. Gregory calls pictures Idiotarum libri. Epist. I., ix. 9 t The learned Petavius says : " We must lay it down as a principle, that images are to be reckoned among the adiphora, which do not belong to tne substance of religion, and which the church may retain or take away as she judges best" L. XV. de Incar. Hence Dr. Hawarden, Of Images, p. 353, teaches with Delphinus, that if in any place, there is danger of real idolatry or superstition from pictures, they ought to be removed by the pastors ; as St. Epipiianius destroyed a certain pious picture, and Czcchias destroyed tlie brazen serpent '-r.. .-^ ■ ■■ ■ •"I I i I it [ 219 ] nv€ ist 'imarily in- ess, as they , by repre- secondary not for- the holy nt.* Still, nd divines, art of it.f y God you re or relic, en, I trust, iccount me y or study, crucifix, in in need of to forget t the sight nory, and th most of ' crucified £C. J.M. ;vi, ' ,\ V. , that images substance of es best" L. h Delphinus, om pictures, «cl ft oertain • 111 { '■<\ ••:!! 'li ttili* ^M »i'/- f . 1 LETTER XXXV. : i To the Rev. ROBERT CLAYTON, M. A. OBJECTIOXa ANSWERED. > n • .,., Rev. Sir, . I LEARN by a letter from our worthy friend, Mr. Brown, ai well as by your own, that 1 am to consider you, and not him, as the person charged to make the objections, which are to be made, on the pari of the church of England, against my theo- logical positions and arguments in future. I congratulate the society of New Cottage on the acquisition of so valuable a member as Mr. Clayton, and 1 think myself fortunate in having; so clear-headed and candid an opponent to contend with, as his letter shows him to be. ; . ,, ,!i,? You admit, that, according to my explanation, which is no other than that of our divines, our catechisms and our councils in general, we are not guilty of idolatry in the honour we pay to saints and their memorials, and that the dispute between your church and mine upon these points, is a dispute about words rather than about things, as bishop Bossuet observes, mid as several candid Protestants, before you, have confessed. Vou and bishop Porteus agree with us, that " the saints are to be loved and honoured ; on the other hand, we agree with you, that it would be idolatrous to pay them divine worship, or to pray to their memorials in any shape whatever. Hence, the only question remaining between us is concerning the utility of desiring the prayers of the saints : for you say it is useless, be- cause you think that th^y cannot h^ar us, ^^d that, therefore, the practice is superstitious : whereas, 1 b*ve vindicated the practice itself, and have sh»^wn that the utility of it no wav de- pends on the circumstance of the blessea spirits immediately hearing the addresses made to them. , . i Still you complain that I have not answered all the bishop's objections against the doctrine and practices m question. My reply is, that I have answered the chief of them : and whereas they are, for the most part, of ancient date, and have been again and again solidly refuted by our divines, I shall send to New Cottage, together with this letter, a work of one of them, who, fur depth of learning and strength of argument, has not been »»o IS ^! u I I h 220 Letter XXKV, hi surpassed since the time of Bellarmin.* There, Rev. sir, yoa will find all that you inquire after, and you will discover, in particular, that the worship of the angels, which St. Paul con- demns in his Epistle to the CoIor J. M. * In Orat. Quod Chrlstus sit Deus. f Euseb. Hist. 1. iv. c. 15. Acta Sincer. Apud Ruinart # Contra Hxres. 1. v. c. 19. a _. , . ' ' * ~ I I^piit. 205. t. ill. edit. Pans. ,,| , , >',, >»; ,'^rtM -Mu •."■ M, I nit (h:.-'-i i.u ■.'•■ i U: , ._ :'fn '•) i! /'■'. ■;,'; , ) ;, '. Mj • •. (, A-M. -if Ml M'^ -'f.«',l •'. ' 1,1 I /i I TlMM /•.'•! •', .!^ i') ' . ,• ■ ,' ,;■ ■ , , 1/i t> ■;; . ..,•■: : ' : 1. ',, ;' I. . , y\u ) ■; 'lit .1' \i • -fil , ;.. \\>• ')• .;.';• ' 1 1 %V-> iU ■;. . T.i. ' "li M'' ' ^ I ii i_ ,■ ■ .-! ." : ■ '.1 , if ,■ ■r, ' e figure of essiy sajrs, lies. The St. Poly, their exe- valuable St martyr, I has ever your own the saints, lisciple of a^'ing for le martyr, 5t, and the have been ^asil) who e he sa^s, »y for me, y sins. I ings have practised f need not J. fiL lit. .f • ■'..{ ' [225] i'22 ..■;/ .t;f ■..If ,v i.'iU -t' tiatlon, is called consubsiantiaiion : while the Calvinists and church of England men in general (though many of the bright- est luminaries of the latter have approached to the CathoHc doc- trine) maintain that Christ is barely present in figure, and re- ceived only by faith. Now all the alleged absurdities, in a manner, and all the pretended impiety and idolatry, which are attributed to transubstantiationj equally attaches to consubstan- tiation and to the real presence professed by those eminent di- vines of the established church. Nevertheless, what controver- sial preacher or writer ever attacks the latter opinions ? What law excludes Lutherans from parliament, or even from the throne ."* So far from this, a chapel royal has been founded and is maintained in the palace itself for the propagation of their consubstantlation and the participation of their real pre- sence ! In short, you may say with Luther, the bread is the body of Christ, or with Osiander, the bread is one and the same person with Christ, or with bishop Cosin, that " Christ is pre- sent really and substantially by an incomprehensible mystery,"* or with Dr. Balguy, that there is no mystery at all, but a mere " federal rite, barely signifying the receiver's acceptance of the benefit of redemption ;" J in short, you may say any thing you please concerning the eucharist, without obloquy or inconveni- ence to yourself, except what the words of Christ, this is my body, so clearly imply, namely, that he changes the bread into his body. In fact, as the bishop o^ Meaux observes, " the de- clarations of Christ operate what they express ; when he speaks, nature obeys, and he does what he says : thus he cured the * De Capt. Babyl. Osiander, whose sister, Cranmer married, taught Impanation, or an hypostatlcal and personal union of the bread with Christ's body, in conse- quence of which a person might truly say : This bread is ChmVs body, t Hist, of Transub. p. 44. \ Cliarge vii. 2F .;:m H:,, I if! 226 Utter XXXVIL ruler s son, by saying to him, Thy son liveth ; and the crooked woman, by saying. Thou art loosed from thy infirmity"* The prelate adds, for our further observation, that Christ did not say. My body is here ; this contains my body^ but, this is my body : this is my blood. Hence Zuinglius, Calvin, Beza, and the defenders of the figurative sense in general, all except the Protestants of England, have expressly confessed, that, admit- ting the real presence, the Catholic doctrine is far more con- formable to Scripture than the Lutheran. I shall finish this let- ter with remarking, that, as transubstantiation, according to bi- shop Cosin, was the first of Christ's miracles in changing water into wine ; so it may be said to have been his last, during his mortal course, by changing bread and wine into his sacred body and blood. (I am, S£c. '• - ■■ ■ :■• 1 ., . J. M. . LETTER XXXVII. To JAMES BROWJV, Esq. OJV THE REAL PRESE.yrE OF CHRIST iJV THE B. SJlCRiyfENT. Df.ar Sir, It is clear from what I have stated in my last letter to you, that the first and main question to be settled between Catholics and church Protestants is concerning the real or figurative pre- tence of Christ in the sacrament. This being determined, il will be time enough, and, in my opinion, it will not require a long time, to conclude upon the manner of his presence j namely, whether by consubstantiation or transubstantiation. To con- sider the authorized exposition or catechism of the er.cablished church, it might appear certain that she herself holds the real presence; since she declares, that " The body and blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper." To this declaration I alluded, in the first place, where I complained of Protestants disguising their real tenets^ by adopting language of a different meaning from • Vwiat T. ii. p. 34. , ., Letter XXXVII. 227 e crooked "* The t did not this is my ieia, and except the at, admit- nore con- Ii this let- ing to bi- ding water during his cred body J. M. E B. er to you, Catiiolics rative pre- rmined, il ; require a B, namely, To con- ir.cablished Is the real I blood of he faithful ed, in the sing their ling from their sentiments, and conformable to those of Catholics, in con- sequence of such being the language of the sacred text. In fact, it is certain and confessed, that she does not, after all, believe ike real body and blood to be in the supper, but mere bread and wine, as the same catechism declares. This involves an evident contradiction j it is saying, you receive thai in the sacra- meut, which does not exist in the sacrament :* it is like the speech of a debtor, who should say to his creditor, / hereby verily and indeed pay you the money I owe you ; but I have not verily and indeed the money to pay you with. Nothing proves more clearly the fallacy of the Calvinists and other dissenters, as likewise of the established church men in general, who profess to make the Scripture, in its plain and literal sense, the sole rule of their faith, than their denial of the real presence of Christ in the sacrament, which is so manifestly and emphatically expressed therein. He explained and pro- mised this divine mystery near one of the Paschs, John vi. 4^ previous to his institution of it. He then multiplied five loaves and two fishes, so as to afford a superabundant meal to five thousand men, besides women and children. Mat. xiv. 21 ; which was an evident sign of the future multiplication of his own body on the several altars of the world ; after which he took occasion to speak of this mystery, by saying, / am the liv- ing bread, which came down from heaven. If any man eat oj * Dryden, in his Hind and Panther, ridicules this inconsistency as follows: " The literal sense is hard to iiesh and blood ; " But nonsense never could be understood." Even Dr. Hej calls this " an unsteadiness of language and a seeming inconsist* ency." Lect. vol. iv. p. 338. N, B, It is curious to trace in the Liturgy of the Established church her variations on this most important point of Christ's presence in the sacrament. The first communion service, drawn up by Cranmer, Ridley, and other Protestant bishops and divines, and published in 1548, clearly expresses the real presence, and that *' the whole body of Christ is received under each particle of the sacrument" Burnet, P. ii. b. 1. Afterwards, when the Calvinistic party prevailed, the 29th of the 42 Articles o! Religion, drawn up bv the same prelates and published in 1552, expressly denies* the real presence, and the very possibility of Christ being in the Eucharist, since he has ascended up to heaven. Ten years afterwards, Elizabeth being on the throne, who patronized the real presence, (see Heylin, p. 124,) when the 42 Arti- cles were reduced to 39, this declaration against the real and corporal presence of Christ was left out of the Common Prayer Book, for the purpose of comprehend- ing those persons who believed in it, as was the whole of the former rubric, which explained that " by kneeling at the sacrament no adoration was intended to any corporal presence of Christ's natural flesh and blood." Burnet, P. ii. p. 392. So the liturgy stood for just 100 years, when, in 1662, during the reign of Charles II. among other alterations of the liturgy, which then took place, the old rubrie •l^ainst the real presence and the adoration of the sacrament was again restored as it stands at present I m i«8 Letier XXXVII. ■ Hi IMI this bread, he shall live for ever : and the Iread that I will ght^ is myjleshf for the life of the world. John vi. 51. The sacred text goes on to inform us of the perplexity of the Jews, from their understanding Christ's words in their plain and natural sense, which he, so far from removing by a difl'erent explanation, confirms by expressing that sense in other terms still more eni- phatical. The Jews therefore strove amongst themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat 9 Then Jesus said unto them: T^erily, verily, I say unto you: except ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.— -For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. Ver. 52, 53, 55. Nor was it the multitude alone who took offence at this mystery of a real and corporal reception of Christ's person, so energetically and repeatedly expressed by him, but also several of his own beloved disciples, whom certainly he would not have permitted to desert him to their own destruction, if he could have removed their difficulty by barely telling them tl^at they were only to receive him by faith, and to take bread and wine in remembrance of him. Yet this merciful Saviour per- mitted them to go their ways, and he contented himself with asking the apostles, if they would also leave him. They were as incapable of comprehending the mystery as the others were, but they were assured that Christ is ever to be credited upon his word, and accordingly they made that generous act of faith, which every true Christian will also make, who seriously and devoutly considers the sacred text before us. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said : This is a hard say- ing : who can hear it 9 From that lime many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then Jesus said unto the twelve : will ye also go away 9 Then Simom Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life. Ver. 60, 66, 67, 68. .-; ,/ The apostles thus instructed by Christ's express and repeated declaration, as to the nature of this sacrament, when he pro- mised it to them, were prepared for the sublime simplicity of his words in instituting it. For, whilst they were at supper, Je- sus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the dis- ciples, and said : take ye and eat : THIS IS MY BODY. And taking the chalice, he s;ave thanks, and gave it to them, saying : drink ye all of this; FOR THIS IS MY BLOOD OF THE NEW TESTAMEiNT, WHICH SHALL BE SHED FOR MANY UNTO THE REMISSION OF SINS. Mat. xxvi. 26, 27, 28. This account of St. Matthew is repeated by St. Mark, xiv. 22, 23,24, and, nearly word for word, by St. Luke, Letter XXXVIL 229 will givt lie sacred Bws, from i natural lanation, nore em- sayingj said unto esh of the m. — For Ver. 52, ffence at s person, but also he would on, if he hem tl]at read and iour per- self with hey were ers were, ited upon t of faith, >usly and zrefore of hard say- disciples mid unto answered f eternal repeated he pro- )licity of pper, Je- the dis- »Y. And saying : V THE D FOR it. XX vi. 1 by St. t. Luke, xxii. 19, 20, and St. Paul, 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24, 25 ; who adds: Therefore whoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice oj the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord — and eateth and drinketh judgment (the Protestant Bible says damnation) to himself. 1 Cor. xi. 27, 29. To the native evidence of these texts I shall add but two words. First, supposing it possible that Jesus Christ had de- ceived the Jews of Capharnaum, and even his disciples and his very apostles, in the solemn asseverations which he, six times over, repeated of his real and corporal presence in the sacra- ment, when he promised to institute it ; can any one believe that he would continue the deception on his dear apostles in the very act of instituting it .'* and when he was on the point of leaving them ? in short, when he was bequeathing them the legacy of his love? In the next place, what propriety is. there in St. Paul's heavy denunciations of profaning Christ's person, and of damnation, on the part of unworthy communicants, if they partook of it only by faith and in figure ? for, after all, the Paschal Lamb, which the people of God had, by his command, every year eat since their deliverance out of Egypt, and which the apostles themselves eat, before they received the blessed eu- charist, was, as a mere figure, and an incitement to faith, far more striking, than eating and drinking bread and wine are : hence the guilt of profaning the Paschal Lamb, and the nume- rous other figures of Christ, would not be less heinous than pro- faning the sacrament, if he were not really there. I should write a iui52;e folio volume, were I to transcribe all the authorities in pn>of of the real presence and transubstantia- tion which may be collected from the ancient fathers, councils and historians, anterior to the origin of these doctrines assigned by the bishops of London* and Lincoln. The latter, who speaks more precisely on the subject, says, " The idea of Christ's bodily presence in the eucharist was first started in the beginning of the eighth century. In the twpjfth century, the actual change of the bread and wine into the uody and blood of Christ, by the consecration of the priest, was pronounced to be a Gospel truth. The first writer who maintained it was Pasca- sius Radbert. It is said to have been brought into England by Lanfranc."f What will the learned men of Europe, who are versed in ecclesiastical literature, think of the state of this sci- ence in England, should they hear that such positions as these, have been published by one of its most celebrated prelates ? 1 r,, m f^: I mi. ■ ♦ Page 38. t Elem. of Theol. vol. ii. p. 380. ^,; 230 LutUt XXXVU. have assigned the cause why I must content myself with afm of the numberless documents which present themselves to me in refutation of such bold assertions. St. Ignatius, then, an apos- tolical bishop of the first century, describing certain contempo- rary heretics, says, " They do not admit of eucharists and ob- lations, because they do not believe the eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who suffered for our sins."* I pass over the testimonies, to the same eflect, of St. Justin mar- tyr,f St. Iren£Eus,f St. Cyprian,<§ and other fathers of the second and third centuries ; but will quote the following words from Origen, because the prelate appeals to his authority, in another passage, which is nothing at all to the purpose. He says, then, " Manna was formerly given, as a figure ; but now, the flesh and blood of the Son of God is specifically given, and is real food."|( I must omit the clear and beautiful testimonies for the Catholic doctrine, which St. Hilary, St. Basil, St. John Chrysostom, St. Jerom, St. Austin, and a number of other il- lustrious doctors of the fourth and fifth ages furnish ; but I ca|i- not pass over those of St. Cyril of Jerusalem and St. Ambrose of Alilan, because these occurring in catechetical discourses or expositions of the Christian doctrine to their young neophytes, muat evidently be understood in the most plain and literal sense they can bear. The former says, " Since Christ himself affirms tiius of the bread, This is my body ; who is so daring as to doubt of it ? And since he affirms, This is my blood ; who will deny that it is his blood ? At Cana of Galilee, he, by an act of his will, turned water into wine, which resembles blood ; and is h" not then to be credited when he changes wine into blood.'' Therefore, full of certainty, let us receive the body and blood of Christ: for, under the form of bread, is given to thee his body, and, under the form of wine, his blood."1F St. Ambrose thus argues with his spiritual children, " Perhaps you will say, Why do you tell me that I receive the body of Christ, when 1 see quite another thing ? We have this point therefore to prove. How many examples do we produce to show you, that this is not what nature made it, but what the benediction has conse- crated it ; and that the benediction is of greater force than na- ture, because, by the benediction, nature itself is changed ! Moses cast his rod on the ground, and it became a serpent ; he caught hold of the serpent's tail, and it reco^'ercd the nature of a rod. The rivers of Egypt, &c. Thou hast read of the crea- • Ep. Bd Smyrn. ^ £p. 54 ad Corucl. t Apoloj. to Emp. Antonin, t L. v. c. 11. U Horn. 7. ill Lcvit. U Catcch. Mystagog. 4' Letter XXXVII. 231 nih a few s to me in an apos- ontempo- s and ob- the flesh ins."* I istin mar- rs of the ng words hority, in ose. He but now, iven, and stimonies St. Joiiu other il- )ut I cap- Ambrose ourses or jophytcs, ;ral sense If affirms Jg as to who will »y an act od; and 9 blood.'' nd blood thee hia fVmbrose will say, , when 1 o prove, iit this is s conse- than na- lianged ! lent ; he lature of he crea- ^c.ll. ■slagog. 4- tion of the world : If Christ, by his word, was able to make something out of nothing, shall he not be thought able to change one thing into another .?"* But I have quoted enough from the ancient fathers to refute the rash assertions of the two mo- dern bishops. True it is that Pascasius Radbcrt, an abbot of the ninth cen- tury, Writing a treatise on the eucharist, for the instruction of his novices, maintains the real Corporal presence of Christ in itj but so far from teaching a novelty, he professes to say nothing but what all the world believes and professes. f The truth of this appeared, when Berengarius, in the eleventh century, among other errors, denied the real presence j for then the whole church rose up against him : he was attacked by a whole host of eminent writers, and among others by our archbishop Lanfranc} all of whom, in their respective works, appeal to the belief of all nations ; and Berengarius was condemned in no less than eleven councils. I have elsewhere shown the absolute im- possibility of the Christians of all the nations in the world being persuaded into a belief, of that sacrament which they were in the habit of receiving, being the living Christ, if tiiey had be- fore held it to be nothing but an inanimate memorial of himj though, even b}' another impossibihty, all the clergy of the na- tions were to combine together for cA'ecting this. On the otiicr hand it is incontcstibJc, and has been carried to the highest de- gree of moral evidence, J that all the Christians of all the na- tions of the world, Greeks as well as Latins, Africans as well as Europeans, except Protestants and a handful of Vaudois pea- sants have, ill all ages, believed and still believe in the real presence and transubstantiation. I am now, dear sir, about tt^ produce evidence of a dliTcrent nature, I mean R'otestant eviti -nee, for the main point under consideration, die real jM'esencc. jNly first wilness is no other llian the fiither of the pretended Reformation, Martin Luther liiniself. I/o Iclls us how veiy desirous he was, and how inucli tie laboured in his mind to overthrow this doctrine, because, Rays he, (obso-ve his motive,) " T clearly saw how much I should thereby Injure Po|)cry ; but I found myself cani-ht, with- out any way rf escMping: for the text of the (^os])cl was too plain for this purncjo.''^^ Hence he continued, till his death, to ♦ T)e his qui INfyst. \\^\\. r. 0. t " Quod lotus oiliis ii-oilit <'tronfitr(nr." Soc frrpcfuit'' •' i The objections, however, which you. Rev. sir, and bishop Porteus chiefly insist upon, are the testimony of our senses. Yor '>of , say, the bread and wine are seen, and touched, and tai. J in our sacrament, the same as in yours. " If we cannot be)ieve our senses," the bishop says, " we can believe nothing." This was a good popular topic for archbishop Tillotson, from whom it is borrowed, to flourish upon in the pulpit, but it will not stand the test of Christian theology. It would undermine the incarnation itself. With equal reason the Jews said of Christ, Is not this the carpenter's son 9 Is not his mother called Mary? Mat. xiii. 55. Hence they concluded that he was not what he proclaimed himself to be, the Son of God. In like manner, Josuah thought he saw a man, Josuah v. 13, and Jacob, that he touched one. Gen. xxxii. 24, and Abraham that he eat with three men. Gen. xviii. 8, when in all these instances there were no real men, but unbodied spirits, present ; the diflerent senses of those patriarchs misleading them. Again, were not the eyes of the disciples, going to Emmaus, held so that they should not know Jesus 9 Luke xxiv. 16. Did not the same thing happen to Mary Magdalen and the apostles ? John xx. 15. But independently of Scripture, philosophy and experience show that there is no essential connexion between our sensations and the objects which occasion them, and that, in fact, each of our senses frequently deceives us. How unreasonable then is it, as well as impiou?; to oppose their fallible testimony to God's infallible word !* But, the bishop, as you remind me, undertakes to show that there are absurdities and contradictions in the doctrine of tran- jubstantiation ; he ought to have said of the real presence : for every one of his alleged contradictions is equally found in the Lutheran consubstantiation, in the belief of which our gracious queen was educated, and in the corporal presence, held by so ♦ For example, we think we «ee the setting sun in a line with our eyes, but phi* kMophy demonstrates that a largo portion of the terraqueous globe, is interposed •^>mrten them, and that the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon. As we trust nvre lu our feeling than to any other sense : let any person cause his neighbour !• »hut his eyes, and then crossing the two first fingers of citlicr hand, make him rub a pea, or any other round tubstancc between them, he will then protest that ka feels tufo Aucii olijects. Letter XXXVIH. 237 many English bishops. He accordingly asks how Christ's body can be contracted into the space of a host ? How it can be at the right hand of his Father in heaven, and upon our al- tars at the same time? he. I answer, first, with an ancient fa- ther, that if we insist on using this HOW of the Jews, with re- spect to the mysteries revealed in Scripture, we must renounce our.iaith in it.* 2dly, I answer that we do not know what con- stit»tes the essence of matter and of space. I say, 3dly, that Christ transfigured his body, on Mount Thabor, Mark ix. 1, bestowing on it many properties of a spirit, before his passion, End that after he had ascended up to heaven, he appeared to St. f*aul on the road to Damascus, Acts ix. 17, and stood by him in the Castle of Jerusalem, Acts xxiii. 1 1 . Lastly, I answer, that God fills all space, and is whole and entire in every particle of matter ; likewise, that my own soul is in my right hand and my left, whole and entire ; that the bread and wine, which I eat and drink, are transubstantiated into my own flesh and blood ; that this body of mine, which some years ago was of a small size, has now increased to its present bulk ; that soon it will turn into dust, or perhaps be devoured by animals or cannibals, and thus become part of their 'ibstanc e, and that, nevertheless, God will restore it entire, at * . last day. Whoever will enter into these considerations, instead of employing the Jewish HOW, will be disposed with St. Austin, to " admit that God can do much more than we can understand," and to cry out with the apostles, respecting this mystery : Lord^ to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life, .,.,..,.,.,.,.,,, ..■-„,......, ,H-"r..;<,- •.. I am, &c. iTVUf.ii^' K^ ,'; ,^f.i; .J ;....,!. .i,.;--i ,,-.;,, ,|-/a,J. . ,j,':,. p.f * Cyril. Alex. 1. 4, in Joan. '..;.i -I , ' I 'M • ;; r . ,- < . .• - (;«t ; ' .... i-'"' •- '. i'l /'■it! ■ (' ■ *t ■ »! ^'' 1; ,^ 1 ' -- 1 ^ . » It- ■ ,' 'I- ■ .» mil 1 i »■ > ' i *!<<"•>** - ' •- • ; ; 1 . . I 238 J LETTER XXXIX. To JAMES BROWjy, Esq. coMjaumo^r uj^der ojve kij^d. Dear Sir, I TRUST you have not forgotten, what I demonstrated in the first part of our correspondence, that the Catholic church was formed and instructed in its divine doctrine and rites, and espe- cially in its sacraments and sacrifice, before any part of the New Testament was published, and whole centuries before the entire New Testament was collected and pronounced by her to be authentic and inspired. Indeed, Protestants are forced to have recourse to the tradition of the churchy for determining a great number of points which are left doubtful by the Sacred Text, particularly with respect to the two sacraments, which they acknowledge. From the doctrine and practice of the church alone, they learn, that though Christ, our pattern, was baptized in a river, Mark i. 9, and the Ethiopian eunuch was led by St. Philip into the water, Acts viii. 38, for the same pur- pose, the application of it by infusion or aspersion is valid, and that, though Christ says, He that BELIE FETH and is bap- tized shall be saved, Mark xvi. 16, infants are susceptible of the benefits i baptism, who are incapable of making an act of faith. In like manner respecting the eucharist, it is from the doctrine ^nd practice of the church alone, Protestants learn, that though Christ communicated the apostles, at an evening supper, after they had feasted on a lamb, and their feet had been washed, a ceremony which he appears to enjoin on that occasion with the utmost strictness, John xiii. 8, 15, none of these rites are essen- tial to that ordinance, or necessary to be practised at present. With what pretension to consistency can they reject her doctrine and practice in the remaining particulars of this mysterious in- stitution f A clear exposition of the institution itself, and of the doctrine and discipline of the church, concerning the con- troversy in question, will afford the best answer to the objections raised against the latter. It is true that our B. Saviour instituted the holy eucharist under two kinds ; but it must be observed that he then made it a sacrifice as well as a sacrament, and that he ordained priests. ^e«€r XXXIX, 239 after namely, his twelve apostles, (for none else but they were present on the occasion) to consecrate this sacrament and oner thiti sacrifice. Now, for the latter purpose, namely, a sacrifice, it was requisite that a victim should be really present, and, at least, mystically immolated, which was then, and is still, per- formed in the mass, by the symbolical disunion, or separate consecration of the body and the blood. It was requisite, also, for the completion of the sacrifice, that the priests who had im- molated the victim, by mystically separating its body and its blood, should consummate it in both these kinds. Hence it is seen, that the command of Christ, on which our opponents lay so much stress, drinJc ye all of this, regards the apostles, as priests, and not the laity, as communicants.* True it is, that when Christ promised this sacrament to the faithful in general, he promised, in express terms, both his body and his blood, John vi. : but this does not imply that they must, therefore, re- ceive them under the diflerent appearances of bread and wine. For as the council of Trent teaches, " He who said. Unless you shall eat the Jlesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you, has likewise said. If any one shall eat of this bread, he shall live for ever. And he who has said. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath life everlasting, has also said. The bread which I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world. And lastly, he who has said, He who eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me and I in him : has never- theless said, He who eateth this bread shall live for ei'er."f The truth is, dear sir, after all the reproaches of the bishop of Durham concerning our alleged sacrilege, in suppressing half c sacrament, and the general complaint of Protestants, of our robbing the laity of the cup of salvation, J that the precious body and blood, being equally and entirely present under each spe- cies, is equally and entirely given to the faithful, whichever they leceive ; whereas the Calvinists and Anglicans do not so much ns pretend to communicate either the real body or the blood; but present mere types or memorials of them. I do not deny, that, ill their mere figurative system, there may be some reason fo? 4- W * The acute Apologist of the Quakers has observed, how inconclusively Protest* anls argue from the words of the institution. He saj-s : " I would gladly know how, from the words, they can be certainly resolved that these words (Do this) mu=it be understood of the clergy. Take, bless, and break this bread, and give it to others ; but to the laity only : Take and eat, but do not bless," &c. Barclaift J/joiog-y, Prop. xiii. p. 7. t Sess. xxi. c. 1. t Conformably to the above doctrine, neither our priests nor our bishops rn» iSeive under morp than one kjnd, when thpy do not offer up thp holy sjicrifipp, S40 Letter XXXIX. receiving the liquid as well as the solid substance, since the former may appear to represent more aptly the blood, and the latter the body ; but to us Catholics, who possess the reality of them both, their species or outward appearance is no more thf»u a matter of changeable discipline. It is the sentiment of the great lights of the church, St. Chrysostom, St. Austin, St. Jerom, &tc. and seems clear from the text, that when Christ, on the day of his resurrection, took hreadf and blessed and brake, and gave it to Cleophas and the other disciple, whose guest he was at Emmaus, on his doing which their eyes were opened, and they knevj him, and he vanish- ed out of their sight, Luke xxiv. 30, 31, he administered the holy communion to them under the form of bread alone. In like manner, it is written of the baptized converts of Jerusalem, that, they were persevering in the doctrine of the apostles, and in the communication of the BREAKING OF BREAD, and in prayer, Acts ii. 42 ; and of the religious meeting at Troas : on the first day of the week, when we were assembled to BREAK BREAD, Acts xx. 7, without any mention of the other species. These passages plainly signify that the apostles were accustom- ed, sometimes at least, to give the sacrament under one kind alone, though bishop Porteus has not the candour to confess it. Another more important passage for communion under either kind he entirely overlooks, where the apostle says. Whosoever shall eat this bread, OR drink the chalice of the Lord unworthi- ly, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.* True it is, that in the English Bible, the text is here corrupted, the conjunctive AND being put for the disjunctive OR, contrary to the original Greek, as well as to the Latin Vulgate, to the ver- sion of Beza, &;c. ; but as his lordship could not be ignorant of * H iriyt), or dririk, 1 Cor. xi. 27. The Rev. Mr. Grler, who has attempted to vindicate the purity of the English Protestant Bible, has nothing else to say for this alteration of St. Paul's Epistle, than that in what they falsely call " the parat lei texts of Luke and Matthew," the conjunctive and occurs ! Grier's Answer to Ward's Errata, p. 13. I may here notice the horrid and notorious misrepresenta. tion of the Catholic doctrine concerning the Eucharist, of which two living digni- taries are guilty in their publication). The bishop of Lincoln says : " Papists contend that the mere receiving of the Lord's Supper merits the remission of sin, ex opere cmerato, as it were mechanically, whatever may be the character or disposi- tion of the communicants." Elem. of Theol. vol. ii. p, 461. Dr. Hey repeats tlie charge in nearly the same words. Lectures, vol. iv. p. 355. What CatlioUc will not lift up his hands in amazement at tlio grossness of this calumny, knowing, as he does, from his catechism and all his books, what purity of soul, and how much greater a preparation is required for the reception of our sacrament tlian Protest- aata require for receiving theirs. See Concil. Trid. Sesa. xiii. c. 7. Cat Hum. Douay Catech. &c Letter XXXTT. 241 ore than rch, St. vanish- red the me. In rusalem, ■les, and iD, and ; Troas : mEAK species, custom- )ne kind nfess it. jr either hosoever aworthi- * True ted, the trary to the ver- orant of smpted to to say for the paral. i^nswer to :present£u ing digni- " Papists of sin, ex r disposi- peats tlie liolic will )\vinff, as 3W much I Protest- at. Iluio. this Corruption and the importance of the genuine text, it is iu« excusable in him to have passed it over unnoticed. The whole series of ecclesiastical history proves that the Ca- tholic church, from the time of the apostles down to the present, ever firmly believing that the whole body, blood, soul and di- vinity of Jesus Christ equally subsist under each of the species or appearances of bread and wine, regarded it as a mere matter of discipline, which of them was to be received in the holy sa- crament. It appears from Tertullian, in the second century,* from St. Dennis of Alexandriaf and St. Cyprian, J in the third; from St. Basil§ and St. Chrysostom, in the fourth, &c.|l that the blessed sacrament, under the form of bread, was preserved in the oratories and houses of the primitive Christians, for pri- vate communion, and for the viaticum in danger of death. There are instances also of its being carried on the breast, at sea, in the orarium or neckcloth. IF On the other hand, as it was the custom to give the B. Sacrament to baptized children, it was administered to those who were quite infants, by a drop out of the chal'.ce.** On the same principle, it being discover- ed, in the fifth century, that certain Manichaean heretics, who had come to Rome from Africa, objected to the sacramental cup, from an erroneous and wicked opinion. Pope Leo ordered them to be excluded from the communion entirely,f f and Pope Gelasius required all his flock to receive under both kinds. JJ It appears, that in the twelfth century, only the officiating priest and infants received under the form of wine, which dis- cipline was confirmed at the beginning of the fifteenth by the Council of Constance,'^'^! on account of the profanations, and other evils resulting from the general reception of it in that form. Soon after this, the more orderly sect of the Hussites, namely, the Calixtins, professing their obedience to the church in other respects, and petitioning the council of Basil to be in- ♦ Ad Uxor. 1. ii. t Apud Euseb. 1. iv. c. 44. t De Lapsis. ^ Epist. ad Cesar. || Apud Soz. 1. viii. c. 5. II St. Ambros. In obit. Frat.-~It appears also that St. Birinus, the apostle of thft West Saxons, brought the blessed sacrament with him into this Island m an Orari- am. Gul. Malm. Vit. Pontif. Florent. Wigorn, Higden, &c. *♦ St. Cypr. de Laps. tt Sermo. iv. de Quadrag. U Decret. Compenmus Dist. iii. ^ Dr. Porteus, Dr. Croomber, Kemnitius, &c. accuse this council of decreeing ., t ■^ i-i.: ...-.I-. . .liiii ■ If I LETTER XL. To JAMES BROWN, Esq, ^ ox THE SACRIFICE OF THE :N'EW LAW. :'-'\i I }' ■1't.i t > ''■\'' Dear Sir, ' '■^' The bishop of London leads me next to the consideration of the sacrifice of the new law, commonly called THE MASS, on which, however, he is brief, and evidently embarrassed. As I have already touched upon this subject, in treating of the means of sanctification in the Catholic church, I shall be as brief upon It as I well can. * ^^ • ' '< • • / ,ii;. A sacrifice is an offering up and immoladon of a living ani- malj or other sensible thing, to God, in testimony that he is the master of life and death, the Lord of iss and all things. It is evidently a more expressive act of the creature's homage to his Creator, as well as one more impressive on the mind of the creature itself than mere prayer is, and therefore it was reveal- ed by God to the patriarchs, at the beginning of the world, and afterwards more strictly enjoined by him to his chosen people, in the revelation of his written law to Moses, as the most ac- ceptable and efficacious worship that could be offered up to his Divine Majesty. The tradition of this primitive ordinance, and the notion of its advantageousness, have been so universal, 'hat it has been practiced, in one form or other, in every an 24 244 Letter XL. from our first parents down to the present, and by every people tvhether civilized or barbarous, except modern Protestants. For when the nations of the earth changed the glory of the in- corruptible God into the likeness of the image of corruptible man, and of birds and fourfooted beasts, Rom. i. 23, they continued the i'ite of sacrifice, and transferred it to these unworthy objects of their idolatry. From the whole of this 1 infer, that it would have been truly surprismg, if, under the most perfect dispensa- tion of God's benefits to men, the new law, he had left them destitute of sacrifice. But he has not so left them j on the con- trary, that prophecy of Malachy is evidently verified in the Ca- tholic church, spread as it is over the surface of the earth : From the rising of the sun even to the going down thereof my name is great among the Gentiles; and, in every place, there is sacrifice; and there is offered to my name a clean oblation. Malac. i. 11. If Protestants say, we have the sacrifice of Christ's death ; I answer, so had the servants of God under the law of nature and the written law : for it is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sin should be taken away : nevertheless, they had perpetual sacrifices of animals to represent the death of Christ, and to apply the fruits of it to their souls ; in the same manner, Catholics have Christ himself really present, and mystically oflered on their altars daily, for the same ends, but in a far more efllcacious manner, and, of course, a true propitia- tory sacrifice. That Christ is truly present in the blessed eu- charist, I have proved by many arguments ; that a mystical immolation of him takes place in the holy mass, by the separate consecration of the bread and of the wine, which strikingly re presents the separation of his blood from his body, I have like- wise shown : finally, I have shown you that the ofilciating priest performs these mysteries by command of Christ, and in memory of what he did at the Inst supper, and what he endured on Mount Calvarv: DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME. Nothing then is wanting in the holy mass, to constitute it the true and propitiatory sacrifice of the new law, a sacrifice which as much surpasses, in dignity and efiicacy, the sacrifices of the old law, as the chief priest and victim of it, the incarnate Deity, surpasses, in those respects, the sons of Aaron, and the animals which they sacrificed. No wonder then, that, as the fathers of the church, from the earliest times, have borne testimony to the reality of this sacrifice,''^ so they should speak, in such lofty • St. Justin, who appears to liavc l>prn, in his youth, rontompornry with St. John lh« Evangelist, Sciys, tiiut " Cliritt iiutituted a sauificc in bread and wioc, which Ijetter XL. 245 ery people 'rotestants. / of the in- diihh man, continued hy objects it it would dispensa- left them n the con- in the Ca- he earth : hereof, my there is n. Malac. f Christ's the law of t with the k'ertheless, the death Is ; in the esent, and ends, but ! propitia- lessed eu- L mystical e separate kingly re have like- officiating St, and in endured OF ME. ute it the fice which ces of the nte Deity, ic animals fathers of 3ny to the such lofty m\h St. John wioc, which t^rms, of its awfulness and efficacy : no wonder that the church of God should retain and revere it as the most sacred, and the very essential part of her sacred liturgy : and I will add, no wonder that Satan should have persuaded Martin Luther to at- tempt to abrogate this worship, as that which, most of all, is offensive to him.* The main arguments of the bishops of London and Lincoln, and of Dr. Hey, with other Protestant controvertists, against the sacrifice of the new law, are drawn from St. Paul's Episf.e to the Hebrews, where, comparing the sacrifice of our Saviour with the sacrifices of the Mosaic Law, the apostle says, that Christ being come a high priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that w, not of this creation: neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the holies, having obtain- ed eternal redemption. Heb. ix. 11, 12. JVor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holies every yea/ . Ver. 25. Again, St. Paul says, Every priest standeth in- deed daily ministering and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins : but this man offering one sa- crifice for sins, sitteth at the right hand of God. Chap. x. 1 1 , 12. Such are the texts, at full length, which modern Protestants urge so confidently against the sacrifice of the new law ; but in which neither the ancient fathers, nor any other descrip- tion of Christians, but themselves, can see any argument against it. In fact, if these passages be read in their context, it will appear that the apostle is barely proving to the Hebrews (whose lofty ideas and strong tenaciousness of their ancient rites ap- pear from diflerent parts of the Acts of the Apostles) how infi- nitely superior the sacrifice of Christ is, to those of the Mosaic Law J particularly from the circumstance, which he repeats, in Christians ofl'er up in every place," qiiotinf? Molachy i. 19. Dialofj^. cum Tryphoa St. Ironseus, whose master, Polycarp, was a disciple of tliit Evangelist, says, that " Christ, in consecrating bread and wine, has instituted tlic sacrifice of the New Law, whicli the cliurch received from llie apostles, according to the prophecy o( Malachy," I,, iv. .32. St. Cypriai. calls the Kucliarist " A true and full sacrifice ;•• and says, that " as Melchisedcch olFered bread and Avine, so Christ otFered the same, namely, his body and bh)od." Kpist. 6.1. St. Chrysostoni, St. Austin, St. Ambrose, &.c. are equally clear and . xpressive on this point. The last mentioned calls this sacrifice by the name of Jilissa or mass, so do St. Leo, St. (Jrcgory, our Ven. Bede, &c. ♦ Luther, in liis Book Dc Unct. ct IS'iiKS. Priv. tom. vii. fol. 229, pives an a(v count of the motive whi«-h induced him to suppress the sacrifice of the mass amoni; hia followers. He says that the Devil appeared to him at midnight, and in a loner conference with him, the whole of which he relates, convinced him tliat the wor- iihip of ttkc mass in iJolalry. Sec Leltcnt to u Prebendary. Let T •»! 1 »■( !'■' I* 346 Letter XL, di/Terent forms, namely, that there was a necessity of their sa crlfices being often repeated, which, after all, could not of them- selves, and independently of the one they prefigured, take away sin ; whereas the latter, namely, Christ's death on the cross, ob- literated at once the sins of those who availed themselves of it. Such is the argument of St. Paul to the Jews, respecting their sacrifices, which in no sort militates against the sacrifice of the mass ; this being the same sacrifice with that of the cross, as to the victim that is oflered, and as to the priest who offers it, dif-< fering in nothing but the manner of offering ;* in the one diere being a real, and in the other a mystical, effusion of the victim's blood.f So far from invalidating the Catholic doctrine on this point, the apostle confirms it, in this very Epistle ; where quot- ing and repeating the sublime Psalm of the royal prophet con- cerning the Messiah ; Thou art a priest for ever ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHISEDECH, Ps. 109, alias 1 10, he enlarges on the dignity of this sacerdotal patriarch, to whom Aaron himself, the high priest of the old law, paid tri- bute, as to his superior, through his ancestor Abraham, Heb.\, vii. Now in what did this order of Melchisedech consist."* Iii what, I ask, did his sacrifice differ from those which Abraham himself and the other patriarchs, as well as Aaron and his sons offered f Let us consult the sacred te\t, as to what it says con- cerning this royal priest, when he came to meet Abraham, on his return from victory : Melchisedrrh^ the king of Salem, bringing forth BREAD AND WINE,yor Ac was the priest of the most High God; blessed him. Gen. xiv. 18. It was then in offering up a sacrifice of bread and wtne,f instead of slaughtered animals, that Melchisedech's sacrificj diflered from the generality of those in the Old Law, and that he prefigured the sacrifice, which Christ was to institute in the New Law, from the same elements. No other sense but this can be elicited from the Scripturp as to this matter, and accordingly, the holy fathers unnnimously adhere to this meaning.'^ In finishing this letter, I cannot help, dear sir, making two or three short, but important observations. The first regards the deception practised on the unlearned by the above-named bi- shops, Dr. Hey, and most oilier Protestant controvertists, in * Concil, Trid. Sess. xxi'i. cap. 2. t Cat. ad Pnroc. P. il. p. 81. t The sacrifice of Cain, Gen. iv, 'i. and Ihut ordered in Ltvii. ii. 1, of flour, oil, and inrense, prove tliat inanimate tilings were sontetimcs of old oflered in sacr'w fice. ^ St. Cypr. Ep. C3. St Aug. in Ps. xxxiii. St Chry*. Hom. 35. St Jerom, Rp. ttctter XL, 247 tbeir sa t of them- take away cross, Gi- ves of it. ting their ce of the OSS, as to ?rs it, dif- one there e victim's le on this ere quot- ahet con- )RDING 09, alias riarch, to paid tri- I, Heb.x. sist f Ii] Abraham his sons >ays con- iham, on f Salem, iest of the 1 offering animals, rality of sacrifice, the same >om the Y fathers 5 two or ards the tmed bi- rtists, in r flour, oil, d in sacr'w erom, Ep. talking, on every occasion, of the Popish mass, and represent- mg the tenets of the real presence, transubstantiation, and a subsisting true propitiatory sacrifice, as peculiar to Catholics ; whereas, if they are persons of any learning, they must know that these are and have always been held by all the Christians in the world, except the comparatively few who inhabit the northern parts of Europe. I speak of the Melchite or common Greeks of 1 urkey, the Armenians, the Muscovites, the Nesto- rians, the Eutychians or Jacobites, the Christians of St. Thomas in India, the Cophts and Ethiopians in Africa ; all of whom maintain each of those articles, and almost every other on which Protestants difl'er from Catholics, with as much firmness as we ourselves do. Now as these sects have been totally separated from the Catholic church, some of them eight hundred and some fourteen hundred years, it is impossible they should have derived any recent doctrines or practices from her; and, divided, as they ever have been among themselves, they cannot have com- bined to adopt them. On the other hand, since the rise of Pro- testantism, attempts have been repeatedly made to draw some or other of them to the novel creed; but all in vain. Melanc- thon translated the Ausburg Confession of Faith into Greek, and sent it to Joseph, patriarch of C. P., hoping he would adopt it ; whereas the patriarch did not so much as acknow- ledge the receipt of the present.* Fourteen years later, Cru- sius, professor of Tubigen, made a similar attempt on Jeremy, Jhe successor of Joseph, who wrote back, requesting him to write no more on the subject, at the same time making the most ex- plicit declaration of his belief in the seven sacraments, the sa- crifice of the mass, transubstantiation, &;c.f In the middle of the seventeenth century, fresh overtures being made to the Greeks by the Calvinists of Holland, the most convincing evi- dence of the orthodox belief of all the above-mentioned commu- nions, on the articles in question, were furnished by them, the originals of which were deposited in the French king's library at Paris. J I have to remark, in the second place, on the in^ consistencies of the church of England, respecting this point ; she has priests,^ but, no snrrijice ! She has altars,\\ but, no victim ! She has an essential consecration <»f the sacramental clenients,ir without any the least effect upon them ! Not to dive • Shcffinac. torn. Ii. p. 7. t Ibid. t Perpetuity de la Foi. ^ See the Rubrics or the communion service. II See ditto in Sparrow's Collec. p. 20. il " Ifthe consecrated bread or wine be all spent, before all have communicated, the priest is tn consecrate more." Rubr. N. 1). Bishop Warburton and biahop ■lii M \i 84' ^48 Letter XL, deeper into this chaos, I would gladly ask bishop Porteos, what hinders a deacon, or even a layman, from consecrating the sacramental bread and wine as validly as a priest or a bi- shop can do, agreeably to his system of consecration? There is evidently no obstacle at all, except such as the mutable law of the land interposes. In the last place, I think it right to quote some r ' the absurd and irreligious invectives of the re- nowned Dr Hey against the holy mass, because they show the extreme igiionvxe of our religion, which generally prevails among the i.iost learned Protestants, who write against it. The doctor first describes the mass as " blasphemous, in dragging down Christ from heaven," according to his expression ; 2dly, as " pernicious, in giving men an easy way," as he pretends, " of evading all their moral and religious duties ;" 3dly, as *' promoting infidelity:" in conformity with which latter asser- tion, he maintains that " most Romanists of letters and science are infidelt; " He next proceeds seriously to advise Catholics to abandon this part of their sacred liturgy, namely, the ador- able sacrifice of the New Law ; and he then concludes his theo- logical farce with the following ridiculous threats against this sacrifice: " If die Romanists will not listen to our brotherly ex- hortations; htihem fear our threats. The rage o{ paying for masses will not last for ever : as men improve^ (by the French Revolution,) it will continue to grow weaker ; as philosophy (that of .^theism) rises, masses will sink in price and supersti- tion pine away."* I wish I had an opportunity of telling the learned professor, that I should have expected, from the failure of patriarch Luther, counselled and assisted as he was by Satan himself, in his attempts to abolish the holy mass, he would have been more cautious in dealing prophetic threats against it ! [In fact be has lived to see this divine worship publicly restored in every part of Christendom, where it was proscribed, when he vented his menaces : for as to the private celebration of mass^ this was never intermitted, not even in the depth of the gloomi- est dungeon", and where no pay could be had by the Catholic priesthood. What other religious worship, I ask, could have triumphed over such a persecution ! The same will be the case in the latter days ; when the man of sin shall have indignation Cleaver earnestly contend lliat the Eucharist is a feast upon a sacrifice : but as, in Iheir dread of Popery, they udniit no ehui>(?c, nor even the reui'ty of a victim, their feast is proved to be an itjugina. y banquet on an idcnl viand, * Dr. Hey's Theol. Lectures, vol. iv. p. SS.'i. The professor tells tis in a note, timt this lecture was delivered in the year 1792; the hey-day of that antichristiaii nnd antisocial pl\ilosophy, which attempted, through an ocean of blood, to lubvcrt MML'rjr ailor aua every tluvnc tigainst i continua wont^*' * fdct, — sh the diviri combs, :: heavenly which h\. God the I I PERC the sanu the forg' ajjainst Tracts o repute ai iiig the Protcsta ly with and real Home y comniitti one may wt upon l^opery whcrewi transgre ture."* * Abom the SU1U4 1 Leiier XLL S49 Porteos, isecrating t or a bi- There table law right to f the re- show the prevails tit. The dragging in; 2dly, pretends, 3dly, as ter asser- d science Zlatholics he ador- his theo- linst this tierly ex- lyingfor e French lilosophy supersti- lling the le failure by Satan uld have t it ! [In stored in when he of mass^ gloomi- Catholic lid have the case ignation but as, in f a victim, in a note, tichristiuii to lubvcrt tigainst the covenant of the sanctuary, — and shall take away the continual sacrifice, Dan. xi. 30, 34; for even then, the mystical wom^*> who is clothed with the sun, and ha^ the moon under her feet, — shall jly' into the wilderness, Rev. xii. 1, G, and perform the divine mysteries of an incarnate Deity in caverns and cata- combs, as she did in early times, till that happy day, when her heavenly spouse, casting aside those sacramental veils, under which his love now shrouds him, shall shine forth in the glory of God the Father f the Judge of the living and the dead.li I am, he. J.M. , '• 1 1 LETTER XLL To the Rev. ROBERT CLAYTOX, M. Jl, OJV JIBSOLUTIOJ^ FROM S/JV. Dear Sir, T fERCEiVE that you chiefly follow B. Porteus, who mixes in the same chapter the hcter()jL!,eneons subjects of the mass and the forgiveness of sins, in the selection of your objections against »he church, though you adopt some others from the Tracts of bishop Watson, and even from writers of such little repute as the Rev. C. De Cootlogon. This preacher, in vent- ing the horrid calumnies, which a great proportion of othiT Protestant preachers and controvertisls of diflereut sects, equal- ly with himself, instil into llie minds of their ignorant hearers awd readers, expresses himself as follows : " In the church of Home y(wi may purchase not only pardons for sins already committed, but for those liiui shall be committed ; so that any one may promise himself impunity, upon praying the rate that is %>t upon any sin he hath a mind to commit. And so truly is Popery the mother of abominations, that if any one hath wherewithal to pay, he may not only be indulged in his present transgressions, but may even be permitted to transgress in fu" ture.''** And are these shameless calumniators real Christians, * Abominations of tbe rhuroh of Romo, | 13. The preacher fcoes on to rtate the suut9 ut'iitam;y fur wbicb, he sa)s,C;ntholics believe tuey may comoulUie ato»* a i II 11 250 Letter XLT. who believe m a judgment to come ! And do they expect to ijnake us Catholics renounce our religion, by representing it to U3 as the very reverse of what we know it to be ! It is true, bi- shop Porteus does not go the lengths of the pulpit-declaimei- abene quoted, nnd of the other controvertists allufied tc, In his attack upon the Catholic doctrine of absolillon and justifica- tion : still he h guilty of much gross aiisrepreseiitatit s -J' it. As his luiiguage is conAised, if it couiTadic^orj 0:1 tuv uh- Ject, I will briefsy state what the Catholic church has ever be- lieved, and has solemnly viefined In her last generfil council concerning it. The council of Trent, then, tenche?, that •" All men 'osl v.ielr innocence and becom':" defiled nnd childrc}} of wrath, ia the pre- varication of Adam ; that, not only th'» Centiics v '^ Hiiable,hv «h<^ force of nature, but that even i\\e Jews wrre unable, by the r.aw ©r Moses, to rii^e, notwithstanding free-will was not extinct in ilK'ni. ftowevt^r weakened and depraved :"* tliat " The liea- ven! . ^'ather of mercy and God of all consolation sent his Son, Jesi?? Christ, to men, in order to redeem both Jews and Gen- tiles ;"f that "Though he died for :Ul, yet all do not receive tlie benefit of his death ; but only tho^.e to whom the merit of his passion is communic/ited ;" J that, for this purpose, " Since the preaching of the Gospel, baptism, or the desire of it, is ne- cessary ;"<^ that " The beginning of justification, in adult per- sons (those who are come to the use of reason) is to be derived from God's preventing grace, through Je.^us Christ, by which, tvithout any merits of their own, they are called ; so that they tvho, by their sins, were averse friim God, by his exciting anil assisting grace, are prepared to convert themselves to their justification, by freely consenting to and co-operating with his ntrocious crimes; " Por incest, &c. five sixpences; for debnuchin" t- vir)?in, six ^i\penhancery cou'd be nothing else but the /ret of office, on restorinK certain culprits to tlie civil nrivtuyes which they had forfeited by their crimes. When the proceed- ings ill do ..'tors commons, in case of incest, are suspended (as 1 have known them HUspended during the whole life of one of the accused parties) fees of office are al- ways required : but would it not be a vile calumny to ..ly, that leave to commit laccfit may be purchased in England for certain ,iums . . money ? * Seis. vi. cap. i. t Cap. ii. ^ Cap. iii. ^ Cap, If. grace :"* and recei God, be and pron ciful to t the fount hatred ai ceiving I ments."f justificati don of si "The p from tha from sin humble h least in ( tion ; an other pic nal punii the sacra poral pu wholly r doctrine glory of gress, to and mod gion to t leaves m great W( Calvinisi In short, of the IV pected ii the pres exterior avail hii virtues. Coetlog chiefly I sion, an whatsoe hreatheo Holy G Letter XLL 351 y expect to anting it to is true, bi- -declaimer tc, sn his ui( ! ^* it. 1 <^v (th- is ever be- ^\ council 1 ost i.ieir ii the pre- )J!iable,hv '1p, i)v the lot extinci The liea- it his Son, and Gen- et receive e merit of k " Since »f it, is ne- adnit per- )e derived 3y which, that they siting ami 1 to their ^ with \m V virjcin, six . orif; crown ('anifllari^r it variutioti!* and Fruiiot', Wr. Cliijloti no more ti» ^lan his i\ra- Totmdwoik t\\e papal 1 culprits to •le pHKiefd- nown thtm ficp ore al- to commit 'ap. JT. grace :"* that, " Being excited and assisted by divine grace, and receiving faith from hearing, they are freely moved towards God, believing the things which have been divinely revealed and promised — they are excited to hope that God will be mer- ciful to them for Christ's sake, and they begin to love him, as the fountain of all justice ; and therefore are moved to a certain hatred and detestation of sins." Lastly, " They resolve on re- ceiving baptism, to begin a new life and keep God's command- ments."f Such is the doctrine of the church concerning the justification of the adult in baptism ; with respect to the par- don of sins committed after baptism, the church teaches, that " The penance of a Christian, after his fall, is very diflereni from that of baptism, and that it consists, not only in refraining from sins and a detestation of them, namely, a contrite and humble heart, but also in a sacramental confession of them, at least in desire, and, at a proper time, and the priestly absolu- tion ; and likewise in satisfaction, by fasting, alms, prayers, and other pious exercises of a spiritual life ; not indeed for the eter-^ nal punishment, which, together with the crime, is remitted in the sacrament, or the desire of the sacrament, but /or the tem- poral punishment, which the Scripture teaches is not always and wholly remitted, as in baptism."]; Such is and always was the doctrine of the Catholic church, which thus ascribes the whole glory of man's justification, both in its beginning and its pro- gress, to God, through Jesus Christ ; in opposition to Pelagians and modern Lutherans, who attribute the beginning of conver- sion to the human creature. On the other hand, this doctrine leaves man in possession of his free will, for co-operating in this great work ; and thereby rejects the pernicious tenet of the Calvinistii, wlm deny free will, and ascribe even our sins to God. In short, the Catholic church equally condemns the enthusiasm of the Methodist, who fancies himself justified, in some unex- pected instant, without faith, hope, charity, or contrition ; and the presumption of the unconverted sinner, who supposes that exterior good works and the reception of the sacrament will avail him, without any degree of the above-mentioned divine virtues. Such, I say, is the Catholic doctrine, in spite of De Coetlogon and bishop Porteus's calunmies. This prelate is chiefly bent on disproving the necessity of sacramental confes sion, and on depriving the sacerdotal absolution of all efHcacy whatsoever. Accordingly, he maintains that when Christ breathed upon his apostles and said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost : WHOSE SINS VOU SHALL FORGIVE, 1-! ■■m IF I' Cap. t Cap. vi. John xx> 3V, 23. ■jr 252 Letter XJJ. THEY ARE FORGIVEN TO THKVI ; AND WHOSE SINS YOU SHALL RETAIN, THEY ARE RETAIN- ED, John XX. 22, 23, he did not give them any real power to remit sir^s, but only " a power of declaring who were truly penitent, and of inflicting miraculous punishments on sinners ; as likewise of preaching of the word of God," &;c.* And is this, I appeal to you. Rev. sir. following the plain and natural sense of the written word .'' But, instead of arguing the case myself, I will produce an authority against the bishop's vague and arbitrary gloss on this decisive passage, which I think he cannot object to or withstand ; it is no other than that of the renowned Protestant champion, Chillingworth. Treating of this text he says, "Can any man be so unreasonable as to ima- gine, that, when our Saviour, in so solemn a manner, having first breathed upon his disciples, thereby conveying and insinu- ating the Holy Ghost into their hearts, renewed unto them, or rather confirmed that glorious commission, &lc. whereby he delegated to them an authority of binding and loosing sins upon earth, he, can any one think, I say, so unworthily of our Sa- viour as to esteem these words of his for no better than compli- ment ? Therefore, in obedience to his gracious will, and as I am warranted and enjoined by my holy mother, the church of Eng- land, I beseech you, that, by your practice and use, you will not sufier that commission, which Christ hath given to his ministers, to be a vain form of words, without any sense under them. When you find yourselves charged and oppressed, &c. have recourse to your spiritual physician, and freely disclose the nature and malignancy of your disease, &l«*. And come not to him, only with such a mind as you would go to a learned man, as one that can speak comfortable things to you ; but as to one that hath authority, delegated to him from God himself, to ah' solve and acquit you of your «i«s."f Having, quoted this great Protestant authority against the prelate's cavils concerning sacerdotal absolution, I shall pro- duce one or two more of the same sort, and then return to the more direct proofs of the doctrine under consideration. The Lutherans, then, who are the elder branch of the Reformation, in their Confession of Faith and apology for that Confession, expressly teach that absolution is no less a sacrament than bap- tism and the Lord's Supper, that particular absolution is to be retained in confession, that to reject it is tht error of the Nova- iian heretics; and that, by the power of the keys, Mat. xvi. 19, * P. 46. t Serm.vii. Bclig. pp.408,,409. sins are r the sight that the p believes God."\ ants say infected doctrine tinguishe by Cranr curate, is any of y thing, la( some oth sin and g and of t Conform won Pra] the latter sins, if h( after whi< and heari who hnth hj re pint offences : THEE ] and of th that, sooi and the li inform hi ty this ( when arc count of nion serv at that ti becomes tlie book ation of I * Con<"r? + ?nCar( fession. t Bishop ^ Order pion of ■^in' to reveal U Letter XLI. 253 WHOSE 1 power to vere truly n sinners J And is id natural g the case p's vague think he int of tlie eating of IS to ima- having iid insinu- • them, or ereby he sins upon f our Sa- n compli- d as I am fi of Eng- ' you will en to his ise under ssed, &c. sciose the ne not to ned man, as to one f, to ab- linst the lall pro- rn to the n. The imation, rifession, an bap- is to be I Nov&- xvi. 19, sins are remitted, not only in the sight of the church, but also ■•ji the sight of God.* Luther himself, in his Catechism, required that the penitent, in confession, should expressly declare that he believes " the forgiveness of the priest to be the forgiveness of God."-f What cm bishop Porteus and other modern Protest- ants say to all this, except that Luther and his disciples were infected with Popery? Let us then proceed to inquire into the doctrine of the church itself, of which he is one of the most dis- tinguished heads. In The Order of the Communion^ composed by Cranmer, and published by Edward VI, the parson, vicar or curate, is to proclaim this among other things : " If there be any of you whose conscience is troubled and grieved at any thing, lacking comfort or counsel, let him come to me, or to some other discreet and learned priest, and confess and open his sin and grief secretly ^ he. and that of us, as a minister of God and of the church, he may receive comfort and absolution."^ Conformably with this admonition, it is ordained in the Com- mon Prayer Book that when the minister visits any sick person, the latter " should be moved to make a special confession of his sins, if he feels his conscience troubled with any weighty matter; after which confession, the priest shall absolve him, if he humbly and heartily desire it, after this sort : Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hnth left power to his church to absolve all sinners, who tru- ly repvnt and believe in him, of his great mercy, forgive thee thine offencen : and, by ''is authority committed to me, 1 ABSOLVK THEE FROM ALL THY SmS, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy dhost. Amen."^ I may add, that, soon after James T. became, .it the same time, the member and the head of the English cliuich, he desired his prelates to inform him, in the conference at Hampton Court, what authori- ty this church claimed in the article of absolution from sin, when archbishop Whitgift began to entertain him with an ac* count of the general confession and absolution, in the commu- nion service; with which the king not being satisfied, Bancroft,, at that time bishop of London, fell on his knees, and said, " It becomes us to deal plainly with your majesty : there is also in tlie liuok a more particular and personal absolution in the visit- ation of the sick. Not only the confession of Augusta, (Ausburg), * Con<"n!?s. August. Art. xi- xii. xiii. Apol. t fn Catech. Farv. See also Luther's Table Talk, c. xviii. on Auricular Con fession. t Bishop Sparrow's Collect, p. 20. ^ Order for the Visitation of tun Sick. N. B. To fiicouraRe tiie secret confes- sion of sins the church of Rii(;land 'las made a (^anon, requiring her minibtcri* not lu reveal the same. Sco Cauoncs l^cclcs. ^ D. lG92,u. 113. »■ L ill 254 Lettet XLl. Bohemia aild Saxony, detain and allow it, but also Mr. Calvin doth approve both such a general and such a private confession and absolution." To this the king answered, I exceedingly well approve it, being an apostolical and Godly ordinance, given i ' the name of Christ to one that desireth it upon the clearing of his conscience. '* I have signified that there are other passages o^ Scripture, besides that quoted above from John xx. in proof of the au- thority exercised by the Catholic church in the forgiveness of sin; such as St. Mat. xvi. 19, where Christ gives the keys oj the kingdom of heaven to Peter; and chap, xviii. 18, where he declares to all his apostles : f^erily I say unto you ; whatsoever ye shall hind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. But here also Bp. Porteus and modern Protestants distort the plain meaning of Scripture, and say, that no other power is expressed by these words, than those of inflicting miraculous punishments, and or preaching the word of God ! Admitting, however, it were pen sible to affix so foreign a meaning to these texts, I would gladly ftsk the bishop, why, after ordaining the priests of his churt h by this very form of words, he afterwards, by a separate form, commissions them tc preach the word, a)id to minister ?! " No one," exclaims the bishop, " but God, can forgive sins." Truo; but as he has annexed the forgiveness of sins committed befoie baptism, to the reception of this sacrament with the requisite dispositions : Do penance, said St. Peter to the Jews, and he baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, Acts ii. ti8 ; so he is pleased to forgive sins committed after baptism, by means of contrition, confes* sion, satisfaction, and the priest's absolution. Against the obligation of confessing sins, which is so evident- ly sanctioned in Scripture : Many that believed, came and con- fessed, and declared their deeds, Acts xlx. 1 8 ; and so expressly commanded therein, confess your sins one to another, James v 16, the bishop contends that " It is not knowing a person's sins that can qualify the priest to give him absolution, but knowing he hath repented of tlieni."j In refutation of this objection, I do not ask, why, then, does the English church move the dy- * Fuller's Ch. Hist. B. x. p. 9. See the Defence of Bancroft's Sucessor in the See of Canterbury, Dr. Laud, who endeavoured to enforce auricular Confession, in Heylin's life of Laud, P. ii. p. 415. It appears from this writer, that Laud was Confessoi- lo the duke of Buckingham, and from Burnet, that bishop Morley was Confessor to the Dutchess of York when a Protestant. Hist, of hio own Tiwes. t See the Form of Ordering Priests. i P. 46 ing man vested b forgive c taking c and with ner, esp( refrain fi gained fl gatherec whether they are proof o( enable tl reparatic and whe neighboi tion. A frequentl sion, anc thing of business enced pa to conce: pose to 1 perhaps proper r is for the and the Christ, t( of the lai confossio are requi firm pur church d clared it nance, in cation o shameful my aboA have see in short. Letter XL/. 5255 Mr. Calvin e confession exceedingly anee, given clearing of Scripture, of the au- ^ giveness of he keys oj j where lie whaisoevpr whatsoever n here also n meani))g d by these nts, and of were pcs- uld gladly his churcji rate form, r.^t "No IS." Truo; ted befoie 5 requisite vs, and be st, for the to forgive u, eonfes' evident- and con- expressly James v •son's sins knowing jection, I 3 the dy- lessor in the 5nfession,ir» Laud was Morley wasr Q Tiues. ing man to confess his sins? .«iit I say, that the priest, being vested by Christ with a judicial povrer to bind or to loose f to forgive or to retain sinsj cannot exercise that power, without taking cognizance of the cause on which he is to pronounce, and without judging in particular of the dispositions of the sin- ner, especially as to his sorrow for his sins, and resolution to refrain from them in future : now this knowledge can only be gained from the penitent's own confession. From this may be gathered, whether his oflences are those o{ frailty or of malice^ whether they are accidental or habitual; in which latter case they are ordinarily to be retained, till his amendment gives proof o( his real repentance. Confession is also necessary, to enable the minister of the sacrament to decide whether a public reparation for the crimes committed be or be not requisite j and whether there is or is not restitution to be made to the neighbour who has been injured in person, property, or reputa- tion. Accordingly, it is well known that such restitutions are frequently made by those who make use of sacramental confes- sion, and very seldom by those who do not use it. I say no- thing of the incalculable advantage it is to the sinner in the business of his conversion, to have a confidential and experi- enced pastor, to withdraw the veils behind which self-love is apt to conceal his favourite passions and worst crimes, and to ex- pose to him the enormit}' of his guilt, of which before he had perhaps but an imperfect notion ; and to prescribe to him the proper remedies for his entire spiritual cure. After all, it is for the holy Catholic church, with whom the Word of God and the sacraments were deposited by her divine spouse, Jesus Christ, to explain the sense of the former, and the constituents of the latter. In short, this church has uniformly taught, that confession and the priest's absolution, where they can be had, are required of the penitent sinner, as well as contrition and a firm purpose of amendment. But, to believe (hf bishop, our church does not require contrition at all, thottsrh slie has de- clared it to be one of the necessary parts of sacramental pe- nance, nor " any dislike to sin or love to God,"* for the justifi- cation of the sinner. I will make no farther answer to this shameful caiumny, than by referring you and your friends to my above citations from the council of Trent. In these, yon have seen that she requires " a hatred and detestation of sin ;" in short, " a contrite and humble heart, which God never do* i 25 ♦ P. 47. 256 Letter XLI. tptses:" and moreover, " an incipient love ofTaodjas the foun- liiln of all justice." , „J' ) * * Finally, his lordship has the confidence to maintain, that " The primitive church did not hold confession and absolution of this kind to be necessary," and that " Private confession was never thought of as a command of God, for nine hundred years after Christ, nor determined to be such till after 1200."* The few following quotations from ancient fathers and councils, will convince our Salopian friends what sort of trust they are to place in this prelate's assertions on theological subjects. Ter- tullian, who lived in the age next to that of the apostles, and is the earliest Latin writer, wliose works we possess, writes thus: " If you withdraw from confession, think of hell-fire, which confession extinguishes."f Origen, who wrote soon after him, inculcates the necessity of confessing our most private sins, even those of thought,! and advises the sinner " to look carefully about him in choosing the person to whom he is to confess his sins."<^ St. Basil, in the fourth century, wrote thus : " It is necessary to disclose our sins to those to whom the dispensa- tion of the divine mysteries is committed. "|| St. Paulinus, the disciple of St. Ambrose, relates, that this holy doctor used to " weep over the penitents whose confessions he heard, but never disclosed their sins to any but to God alone."ir The great St. Austin writes, " Our merciful God wills us to confess in this world, that we may not be confounded in the other;** and elsewhere he says, " Let no one say to himself, I do penance to God in private. Is it then in vain that Christ has said. What- soever you loose on earthy shall be loosed in heaven ? Is it in vain that the keys have been given to the church .''"ff I could produce a long list of other passages to the same effect, from fathers and doctors, and also from councils of the church, an- terior to the periods he has assigned to the commencement and confirmation of the doctrine in question : but I will have re- course to a shorter, and perhaps more convincing proof, that this doctrine could not have been introduced into the church at any period whatsoever subsequent to that of Christ and his apostles. My argument is this : it is impossible it should have been at any time "ntroduced, if it was not from the first neces- sary. The pride of the human heart would at all times have * Ibid. t Lib. de Pcenit X Horn. 3 in Levit ^ Horn. 2 in Fs. zxxviL || Rule 229 1 In Vit. Ambro& ♦♦ Horn. 20. it Horn. 4a Letter XLL 257 ;s tain, thai bsolution onfessioii liundrefl 1200."* councils, ey are to s. Ter- } and is tes thus; which ter him, iHs, even •arefully iless his " It is ispensa- lus, the used to ^t never reat St. in this ** and ance to What- Is it in I could t, from ch, an- 'nt and ive re- )f, that -hurch nd his 1 have neces- have ro& revolted at the imposition of such a humiliation, as that of con- fessing all its most secret sins, if Christians had not previously believed that this rite is of divine institution, and even necessary for the pardon of them. Supposing, however, that the clergy, at some period, had fascinated the laity, kings and emperors, as well as peasants, to submit to this yoke; it will still remain to be accounted for, how they took it up themselves; for monks, priests and bishops, and the Pope himself, must equally confess their sins with the meanest of the people. And if even this could be explained, it would still be necessary to show how the numerous organized churches of the Nestorians and Euty- chians, spread over Asia and Africa, from Bagdad to Axum, all of whom broke from the communion of the Catholic church in the fifth century, took up the notion of penance being a sacra- ment, and that confession and absolution are essential parts of it, as they all believe at the present day. With respect to the main body of the Greek Christians, they separated from the Latins much about the period which our prelate has set down for the rise of this doctrine ; but though they reproached the Latin Christians with shaving their beards, singing Allelujah at wrong seasons, and other such like minutise, they never ac- cused them of any error respecting private confession or sacer- dotal absolution. To support the bishop's assertions on this and many other points, it would be necessary to suppose, as I have said before, that a hundred millions of Greek and Latin Christians lost their senses on some one and the same day or night ! In finishing this letter, 1 take leave, Rev. sir, to advert to the case of some of your respectable society, who, to my know- ledge, are convinced of the truth of the Catholic religion, but are deterred from embracing it, by the dread of that sacrament ol which I have been treating. Their pitiable case is by no means singular : we continually find persons, who are not only desirous of reconciling themselves to their true mother, the Ca- tholic church, but also of laying the sins of their youth and their ignorances^ Ps. xxlv. alias xxv. 7, at the feet of some one or other of her faithful ministers, convinced that thereby they would procure ease to their afflicted souls, yet have not the courage to do this. Let the persons alluded to humbly and fervently pray to the Giver of all good gifts for his strengthen- ing grace, and let them be persuaded of the truth of what an unexceptionable witness says, who had experienced, while ha was a Catholic, the Interior joy he describes, where, persuading the penitent to go to his confessor " not as to one that can 2K d68 Letter XLU. speak comrortable and quieting words to him, but as to one that hath authority delegated to him from God himself, to ab- solve and acquit him of his sins," he goes on, " If you shall do this, assure your souls, that the understanding of man is not able to conceive that transport, and excess of joy and comfort, which shall accrue to that man's heart, who is persuaded he hath been made partaker of this blessing."* On the other hand, if such persons are convinced, as I am satisfied they are, (hat Christ's words to his apostles, Receive the Holy Ghost: whose sins you shall remits they are remitted^ mean what they express, they must know, that confession is necessary to buy oflf overwhelming confusion, as the fathers I have quoted signify, at the great day of manifestation, and with this never-endiiyr pwiishment. U) ■i ^j y ' I,' 1 . !' i)- ?•' i |( 'Ml !'i I am, Uc. J.M. (1 » • ; •>•.'/■ il'lli (! il LETTER XLII. '4.) I'l'it "•^' '\ To the Rev. ROBERT CLAYTOJV, M. A, <.\ :vy\ OJV IJ^DULGE:lde from one person to another. Lastly, whereas the council of Trent (rails ' ♦ Stricliirps on Fomnle F.dacat.i»»n, vol. ii. p. 23f>. , t Eator:' llonrypomh of Siilvation. Sec also Sir Ri» - ' ililPs I.ctter9. t Coiicil. Trid. Sess. vi. c. 4, c. l.'J, &c. -V . - if Sess. xiv. I>c Kxtr. Uric. || Soss. vi. ran. JD. il Fl)i(l. esq). lfi."-N. B. Tliorr ore riclit Indnlirrnccs grrantol to Cntholirs nt \\w chief festivals, &c. in every year ; tli«^ »ioti TrJ//» nn- tnr rrppulanrf, the M. ('omnnmion, aliir-to llif poor, (wIiImhiI (lisliii<-tinii oC llirir religion) prayers for the eininili and sir.iyed mhiI-*, llie i>cuod on thiH natinn ; flnnlly, a difd of the tvhole or part of the temporal punishment due to it in his sight. The contrary opinion, though held by some theologians, has been condemned by Leo X,* and Pius VI :f and indeed, with- out the effect here mentioned, indulgences would not be heaven," ly treasures, and the use of them would not be bsnejicial, but rw ther pernicious to Christians, contiary to two deciaraiions of the last general council, as Bellarmln well argues.| The above explanation of an indulgence, conformably to the doctrine of Theologians, the decrees of Popes, and the defini- tions of Councils, ought to silence the objections and suppress the sarcasms of Protestants on this bead : but if it be not suffi- cient for such purpose, I would gladly argue a few points with them concerning their own indulgences. Metliinks, Rev. sir, I see you start at the mention of this, and hear you ask, what Pro- testants hold the doctrine of indulgences ? — I answer you ; all the leading sects of them, with which I am acquainted. To be- gin with the church of England : one of the first articles I meet with in its canons, regards indulgences and the use that is to be made of the money paid for them.^ In the synod of 1640, a canon was made which authorized the employment of comnin- tation-monv?y, namely, of such sums as were paid for indulgen- ces from ecclesiastical penances, not only in charitable, but also in public uses. II At this period the established clergy were de- voting all the money they could any way procure to the war which Charles I. was preparing in defence of the church and state against the Presbyterians of Scotland and England : so that, in fact, the money then raised by indulgences was employ- ed in a real crusade. It has been before stated that the second offspring of Protestantism, the Anabaptists, claimed an indul- ' iiU ic. Anc^. ♦ Art. 19, inter Art. Damn. Lutheri. t Const. Jluctor. Fid. t L. i. c. 7, prop. 4. ^ " Ne quae fiat posthac solftmnis pciiitcntia5 commutatio nisi rationibus, gravio- ribus que de causis, &c. Dcinde quod nuilota ilia peouniariavel in relcvam pau- peruni, vel in ulio»i pios usus erofcctur." Articidi pro CIcro, A. D. 1584, Sparrow, C. 104. The next article is, " I)e modcrandis (|uil)usdam indulpentiis procele- ratione matrimonii," &c. p. 195. These indulgences wore renewed, under the same titles, in tiie Synod held in Loudon in 15!)7. Sparrow, pp. 248. 252. II " That no Chancellor, Commissary or Otfirial, shall have power to commute any pcjianco, in whole or in part ; but either, to^cother with the bishop, Stc. that ho shall give a full !vnd just account of su(!ii conunututions, to the liishop, who shall dec that all sucih moncvs shall he dis|)os(ul of for ciiaritaltle and puhlic uses, aceord- in« to law — saving always to ecclesiastical ollicers their rfitc unil uamtomable Jees.^ Canon 14, Sparrow, p. .1(!3 — In the remonstrance of jrrievunccs presented hy a committee of the Irish parliament to Cliarli!s I, one of thorn was, that " Several bi- shops received xrtMit sums of money /lu' ci>inmi(tnti<»i nf lununer (that is for indulj^erv ces) which they converlod to their own u.se." Commons J(»uru. quoted by Curry Vol i. p. \&3. •" S04 Letter XLIl. genre from God himself, in quality of his chosen ones, to despoil the impiouS; namely, all the rest of mankind, of their property while the genuine Calvinists, of all times, have ever maintained that Christ has set them free from the observance of eyery law of God as well as of man. Agreeebly to this tenet, sir Richard Hill says, *' It is a most pernicious error of the schoolmen to distinguish sins according to the fact, and not according to tlie person."* With respect to patriarch Luther, it is notorious that he was in the habit of granting indulgences, of various kinds, to himself and his disciples. Thus, for example, he dis- pensed with himself and Catharine Boren from their vows of a religious life, and particularly that of celibacy : and even preached up adultery in his public sermons. f In like manner he published Bulls, authorizing the robbery of bishops and bi- shoprics, and the murder of Popes and cardinals. But the most celebrated of his indulgences is that whicli, in conjunction with Bucer and Melancthon, he granted to Pliilip, Landgrave of Hesse, in consideration of the latter's protection of Protestam- ism, for so it is stated, to marry a second wife, his former being living.f But if any credit is due to this same Bucer, who, for his learning, was invited by Cranmer and the duke of Somerset into England, and made the divinity professor of Cambridge, the whole business of the pretended Reformation was an indul- gence for libertinism. His words are these : " The greater part of the people seem only to have embraced tht Gospel, in order to shake off the yoke of discipline and tb. obligation of fasting, penance, he. which lay upon them in Popery, and to live at their pleasure, enjoying their lusts and lawless appetites, without controul. Hence they lent a willing ear to the doc- trine that we are saved by faith alone, and not by good works, having no relish for them."^ I am, &c. J.M. ♦ Fietcbcr's Checks, vol. lit t " Pi nolit Domina, venial ancilla, &c." Serm. De Matrim. t t. J This infamous indulgence, with the deeds belonging to it, was puWifhed from the original by permiH8ion of a descendant of the Landgrave, and republubed by Douiuet. Variat book vi. ^ bucer. De Uckh. Chris. 1. i. c. 4. [ 265 ] (T-n ■~ '.v.UV \' v-x \t to death in to commgj he t. ill. 19. It jstles' creed : ed, to sufler ts,J but the ort, a middle fathers,*^ our hou shah not le. Luke xii. 3f St. Paul's the holy fa- of the Lord id rise not atallt Jcrom, 1. 2. con- :, U Lurd, in thia Letter XLIIL 267 shall he revealed by Jire^ and the fire shall try every vMn^s worfi of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work be burnt, he shall suffer loss ; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. 1 Cor. iii. 13, 16 The prelate's diversified attempts to explain away these Scrip- tur^.i proofs of purt:itory, are really too feeble and inconsistent lo riierit being even mentioned. 1 might here add, as a further proof, the denunciation of Christ, concerning blasphemy against the Hcly Ghost : namely, that this sin shall not be forgiven cither m this world or in the world to come, Mat. xii. 32 : which words clearly imply, that some sins are forgiven in the world to come, as the ancient fathers show :* but I hasten to the proofs of this doctrine from tradition, on which head the prelate is so \l\ advised as to challenge Catholics. 11. Bp. Porteus, then, acivances, that " Purgatory, in the present Popish sense, was not heard of for four hundred years after Christ; nor universally received for one thousand years, nor almost in any other church than that of Rome to this day."f Here are no less than three egregious falsities, which I proceed to show, after stating what his lordship seems not to know, namely, that all which is necessary to be believed, on this sub- ject, is contained in the following brief declaration of the coun- cil of Trent : " There is a purgatory, and the souls, detained there, are helped by the prayers of the faithful, and particularly by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar." J St. Chrysostom, the light of the eastern church, flourished within three hundred years of the age of the apostles, and must be admitted as an unexceptionable witness of the '• doctrine and practice. Now he writes as follows : " It was not without good reason OR- DAINED BY THE APOSTLES, that mention should be made of the dead in the tremendous mysteries, because they knew well that these would receive great benefit from it."<^ Tertullian, who lived in the tige next to that of the apostles, speaking of a pious widow, says, " She prays for the soul of her husband, and begs refreshment|j for him." Similar testi- monies of St. Cyprian, in the following age are numerous ? I shall satisfy myself with quoting one of them, where, describing the diflerence between some sou is, which are immediately ad- mitted into heaven, and others, which are detained in purga- -•. .' ^ ■:• ;'i - , , - • . - . ,. life, that I may not need the chastising fire of those loho will be saved, yet so aa by fire:' * St. Aug. Dc Civit Dei. !. 95^ . . ;/,.i. .r Greg. 1. 4. Dialog. Bed in cap. 3, Marc. t P. 50. ^ 4 Scss. XXV. De Purg;. ^ In cap. i. Fb'dip. Hum. 3. " U L. De Mouogam. c. 10. 268 tory, he Letter XLUL M It thi be for IS one thing to be waiting lor pardrm ; an- other to attain to glory : one thing to be sent to prison, not to go froi thence till the last farthing is paid ; another to receive immediately the reward of faith and vL las : one thing to suffer lengthened torments for sin, ^d to bj? chastised and purified for a long time in that fire ; another to have cleansed away all sin by suflering,"* namely, by martyrdom. It would take up too much time to quote authorities on this subject from St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Eusebius, St. Epiphanius, St. Ambrose, St. Jerom, St. Augustin, and several other ancient fathers and writers, who demonstrate, that the doctrine of the church was the same tha it is now, not only within a thousand, but also within four hun- dred years from the time of Christ, with respect both to pray- ers for the dead, and an intermediate state, which we call pur- gatory. How express is the authority of the last named father, in particular, where he says and repeats, " Through the pray- ers and sacrifices of the church and alms-deeds, God deals mtjre mercifully with the departed than their sins deserve !"f How aflecting is this saint's account of the death of his mother, St. Monica, when she entreated him to remember her soul at the altar, and when, after her decease, he performed this duty, in ordd, as he declares, " to obtain the pardon of her sins !"| As to the doctrine of the oriental churches, which the bishop signi- ti" ? ss conformable to that of his own, I affirm, as a fact, which h\u been demonstrated,'^ that there is not one of them which agrees with it, nor one of them which does not agree with the Catholic church, in the only two points defined by her, namely, as to there being a middle state, which we call purgatory, and as to the souls, detained in it, being helped by the prayers of the living faithful. True it is, they do not generally believe, that these souls are punished by a material fire ; but neither does our church require a belief of this opinion ; and accord- ingly, she made a union with the Greeks in the council of Florence, on their barely confessing and subscribing the afore- said two articles. i : , i i ; n HI. I should do an injury. Rev. sir, to my cause, were I to pass over the concessions of eminent Protestant prelates and other writers on the matter in debate. On some occasions Lu- ther adrr'ts of purgatory, as an article founded on Scripture. || Melancthon confesses that the ancients prayed for the dead, and V * S. Cjpr. 1. 4. ep. 2. t Serm. 172, Enchirid. cap. 109, 110. X Confess. I. ix. c. 13. ^ See the Confessions of the different Oriental churches in the Ferpetuitd, &o 3 A88erti')neS;LArt37._Disput. Lcipsic. Letter XLIIL 269 ?a; an- )n, not to receive to suffer |rified for all sin e up too Cyril of . Jerom, ers, who me tha ur huu- o pray- 'all pur- 1 father, le pray- d deals erve !"•!• mother, soul at duty, in ' !"J As •p signi- t, which n which ivith the namely, ry, and lyers of believe, neither iccord- ncil of afore- re I to ss and ns Lu- iture.jl d, and t^,&e says that the Lutherans do not find fault with it.* Calvin inti- mates, that the souls of all the just are detained in Abraham's bosom till the day of judgment. f In the first liturgy of the church of England, which was drawn up by Cranmer and Rid- ley, and declared by act of parliament to have been framed by inspiration of the Holy Ghost^ there is an express prayer for the departed, that " God would grant them mercy and everlasting peace."! ^* ^^^ ^^ shown that the following bishops of your church believed that the dead ouglit to be prayed for, Andrews, Usher, Montague, Taylor, -, Sheldon, Barrow of St. Asaph's and Blandford.§ T' nay add the religious Dr. Johnson, whose published M ove, that he constantly prayed for his deceased wife. lat need is there of more words on the subject, when it is ciea. that modern Protestants, in shutting up the Catholic purgatory for imperfect just souls, have opened another general one for them, and all the wicked of every sort whatsoever ! It is well known that the disciples of Calvin, at Geneva, and, perhaps, every where else, instead of adhering to his doctrine, in condemning mortals to eternal torments, without any fault on their part, now hold that the most confirmed in guilt and the finally impenitent shall, in the end, be saved :|| thus establishing, as Fletcher of Madeley ob- serves, " a general purgatory."ir A late celebrated theologi- cal, as well as philosophical writer of our own country, Dr. Priestly, being on his deathbed, called for Simpson's work On the Duration of Future Punishment, which he recommended in these terms : " It contains my sentiments : we shall all meet finally : we only require different degrees of discipline, suited to our different tempers, to prepare us for final happiness."** Here again is a general Protestant purgatory : and why should Satan and his crew be denied the benefit of it ? But to confine myself to eminent divines of the established church. One of its celebrated preachers, who, of course, " never mentions hell to ears polite," expresses his wish, " to banish the subject of everlasting punishment from all pulpits, as containing a doc- trine, at once improper and uncertain,"! f which sentiment is applauded by another eminent divine, who reviews that sermon ♦ Apolog. Conf. Aug. t Instit. 1. iii. c. 5. t See the form in Collier's Ecc. Hist. vol. ii. p. 257. ^ Collier's Hist— N. B. The present bishop of Exeter, in a sermon just ptibllsb' ed, prays for the soul of our poor princess Charlotte, " as far as this is lawftll atiut profitable.*' . / « I Encyclo. Art. Geneva. IT Checks to Antinom. vol. ^^ *♦ See Edinb. Review. Oct. 1806. - . .-! tt Sermona by Rev. W. Gilpin^ Preb. of Sarum. ^J rriit'i-t- *** ll^ P /• v*'.i ^y^vr IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 lu 1^ 12.2 Z MS, i I 2.0 ^ % •'^I-v .^ '/ ■>»t# /^ Photographic Sciences Corporation ^^^' 33 WIST MAIN STRUT WHSTIR.NY MStO (71*)t7}-4S03 ^ %° •mmmmim dTO A ^tter XLUI. IQ the British Critic.* Another modern divine censure^ " the threat of eternal perdition as a cause of infidelity."'!' The re- nowned Dr. Paley, (bnt here we are getting into quite rtbvel fystems of theology, which will force a smile from its old stu- dents, notwithstanding the awfulness of the subject) Dr. Paley, I say, so far softens the punishment of the infernal re^ons, as to suppose that, " There may be very little to choose between the condition of some who are in hell, and others who are in heaven !"| In the same liberal spirit the Cambridge professor of divinity teaches, that " God's wrath and damnation are more terrible in the sound than the sense !<^ and that being damned does not imply any fixed degree of evil." || In another part of his Lectures, he expresses his hope, and quotes Dr. Hartley, as expressing the same, that " all men will be ultimately happy, when punishment has done its work in reforming principles and conduct."*r If this sentiment be not sufficiently explicit in fa- vour of pnrgatory, take the following, from a passage in whidh he is directly lecturing on the subject. " With regard to the doc- trine of purgatory, though it may not be founded either in rea- son or in Scripture, it is nQt nnnatural. Who can bear the thought of dwelling in everlasting torments ? Yet who can say that a God everlastingly just, will not inllict them f The mind of man seeks for some resource : it finds one only ; in conceiv- ing that some temporary punishment, after death, may purify the soul from its moral pollutions, and make it, at last, accept- able, even to a deity, infinitely pure."** IV. Bishop Porteus intimates that the doctrine of a middle state of souls was borrowed from Pagan fable and philosophy. —In answer to tliis, I say, that, if Plato,f f Virgil, and other heathens, ancient and modern, as likewise Mahomet and his disciples, together with the Protestant writers quoted above, have embraced this doctrine, it only shows how conformable it b to the dictates of natural religion. I have proved, by va- rious arguments, that a temporary punishment generally re- mains due^ to sin, after the guilt and eternal punishment due to it, have been remitted. Again, we know from Scripture, that even the just, man falls seven timeSf Prov. xxiv. 17, and that men ♦ BrIUsh Critic, Jan. 1809. .. ... "''/ "^'"^'^ 'wo^^ ♦ t kev.Mr.Polwhele'aLettoDr.Hawker • » n< jii ^: t Morml ux! PoUt Philos. ^ I.ect vol. iil. p. 154. '*« I IWd. ' * % Vol. ii. p. 390. It iatobe observed that tlie doctrine of the flnal salvation of the wicked is expressly condemned in the 42d Article of the church of England^ A. D. 1552. *♦ Vol.iv.jp.lia. ft Plato In Gorgia, Virgil*! JEiMid,L 6, the Koran. .» „ , Letter XLIU, 271 5ure5 "the ' There- juite iifbvel its old stu- Dr.Paley, fegions, as ie between who are in J professor n are more ig damned ler part of lartley, as \y happy, ciples and licit in fa- i in which o the doc- er in rea- bear the can say The mind 1 conceiv- ay purify it, accept- a middle ilosophy. and other : and his d above, rmable it i, by va- ralJy re- it due to ure, that that men ■»'!<«; ^ ♦ (.. • , thid. olration of ngland^ A. tnvat give an account of every idle word that they speak, Mat. li^ 36. On the other hand, we are conscious that there is not an instant of our life, in which this may not suddenly terminate, without the possibility of our calling upon God for mercy. What then, I ask, will become of souls which are surprised in either of those predicaments f We are sure from Scripture and reason that nothing defiled shall enter heaven. Rev. xxi. 27 : will then our just and merciful Judge make no distinction in guiltiness, as bishop Fowler and other rigid Protestants main- tain f * Will he condemn to the same eternal punishment the poor child who has died under the guilt of a lie of excuse, and the abandoned wretch who has died in the act of murdering his father ^ To say that he will, is so monstrous a doctrine in it- self, and so contrary to Scripture, which declares that God will render to every man according to his deeds, Rom. ii. 6, that it seems to be universally exploded. f The evident consequence of this is, that there are some venial or pardonable sins, for the expiation of which, as well as of the temporary punishment due to other sins, a place of temporary punishment is provided in the next life, where, however, the souls detained may be relieved, by the prayers, alms, and sacrifices of the faithful here on earth. O ! how consoling is the belief and practice of Catholics in this matter, compared with those of Protestants ! The latter show their regard for their departed friends in costly pomp and fea- thered pageantry ; while theii burial service is a cold, discon- solate ceremony ; and as to any further communication with the deceased, when the grave closes on their remains, they do not so much as imagine any. On the other hand, we Catholics know, that death itself cannot dissolve the communion of saints, which subsists in our church, nor prevent an intercourse of kind and often beneficial offices between us and our departed friends. Oftentimes we can iielp them more eflcctually, in tiie other world, by our prayers, our sacrifices, and our alms-deeds, than we could in this by any temporary benefits we could be- stow upon them. Hence we are instructed to celebrate the ob- sequies of the dead by all such good works; and, accordingly, our funeral service consists of psalms and prayers, offered up for their repose and eternal felicity. These acts of devotion, pious Catholics perform for the deceased, who were near and dear to them, and indeed for the dead in general, every day, but particularly on the respective anniversaries of the deceast^d. ♦ Calvin, 1. iii. c. 12. Fowler in Watson's Tracts, vol. yi. p. 388. t See Dr. H«'y, vol. iii. pp. 384,451, 453. ,. 26* 372 Letter XUV, Such benefits, we are assured, will be paid with rich interest, by those souls to whose bliss we have contributed, when they attain to it ; and if they should not be in a condition to help us, the God of mercy at least will abundantly reward our charity. On the other hand, what a comfort and support must it be to our minds, when our turn comes to descend into the grave, to reflect that we shall continue to live in the constant thoughts and daily devotions of our Catholic relatives and friends ! Mu; . lam, &c. '! J To the Rev. ROBERT CLAYTOJi, M, A. J. M 'r. LETTER XLIV. : ' >■ .t." i\ EXTREME UJiCTIOX, * Rev. Sir, "' The Council of Trent terms the sacrament of extreme mic- tion, the Consummation of Penance, and therefore, as bishop Porteus makes this the subject of a charr'^ «igainst our church, here is the proper place for me to an: it. His lordship writes a long chapter upon it, because hi& uusiness is to gloss over the clear testimony which the apostle St. James bears to the reality of this sacrament : in return, I shall write a short let- ter in refutation of his chapter, because I have little more to do than to cite that testimony, as it stands in the New Testament : it is this : Is any man sick among you, let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the nam£ of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man ; and the Lord shall raise htm up, and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him, James v. 14, 15. Here we see all that is requisite, according to the English Protestant Cate- chism, to constitute a sacrament,* for there " is an outward visible sign," namely, the anointing with oil : there " is an in- ward spirit'ial grace, given unto us," namely, the saving of the tick and the forgiveness of his sins. Lastly, there is the Ordina* * In the Bogk or Common Praytr. Letter XLIF. 273 ch interest, when they to help us, ur charity, ist it be to 5 grave, to tt thoughts nds! J. M ■■I 'ul ■ » , - ) . 2. '■"'') rcme tine- as bishop ir church s lordship I to gloss s bears to i short ht- lore to do estament : the priests him vnth shall save f he be in re we see ant Gate- I outward ' is an in- ing of the e Ordina* tion of Clirist, as the fnedns by which the same U received ;^^ un- less the bishop chooses to allege, that the holy apostle fabricated a Sacrament, or means of grace, without any authority for tliis purpose from his heavenly Master. What then does his lord- ship say, in opposition to this divine warrant for our Sacra- ment ? He says, that the anointing of the sick by elders or old men, was the appointed method o( miraculously curing them in primitive times, which would imply, that no Christian died in those times, except when either oil or old men were not to be met with ! He adds, that the forgiveness of the sick marl's sins means the cures of his corporal diseases!* And after all this, he boasts of buildmg his religion on mere Scripture, in its plain, unglossed meaning !t In reading all this, I own I cannot help revolving in my mind the above quoted profane parody of Lu- ther, on the first words of Scripture, in which he ridicules the distortion of it by many Protestants of his time4 With the same confidence his lordship adds : " Our laving aside a cere- mony (the anointing) which has long been useless, &,c. can be no loss, while every thing that is truly valuable in St. James's di- rection is preserved in our office for visiting the sick."§ Ex- actly in this manner our friends, the Quakers, undertake to prove, that, in laying aside the ceremony of washing catechu- mens with water, they " have preserved every thing that is trulv valuable" in the sacrament of Baptism! || But where shall we find an end of the inconsistencies and impieties of de- luded Christians, who refuse to hear that church which Christ has appointed to explain to them the truths of religion ? There is not more truth in the prelate's assertion, that there is no mention of anoiniing with oil, among the primitive Chris- tians, except in miraculous cures, during the nrst 600 years : for the celebrated Oiigen, who was born in the age next to that of the apostles, after speaking of an humble confession of sins, as a mean of obtaining their pardon, adds to it, the anointing with oil, prescribed by St. Jamcs.% St. Chrysostom, who lived in the fourth century, speaking of the power of priests in remit- ting sin, says, they exert it when they are called in to perform the rite mentioned by St. James, &c.** The testimony of Pope Innocent I. in the same age, is so express as to the warrant for this sacrament, the matter, the minister, and the subjects of ♦ P. 59. T P- 69. t *' In principio Deus crcavit caelum et terrain : In the beginning 0i9 cuckoo devoured the sparrow and it$ feather a. t P. 61. n Barclay's Apology, Prop. 12. ir Horn. ii. in Levit. ** De Sacerd. I. iii. 3 M 374 Letter XLIV. it;* that thongli the bishop alluded to the testimony, he does not choose to grapple with it, or even to quote it.f I pass over the irrefragable authorities of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Victor of Antioch, St. Gregory the Great, and our Venerable Bede, in order once more to recur to that short but convincing proof, that the Catholic church has not invented those sacraments and doctrines in latter ages, which Protestants assert were unknown in the primitive ages. The Nestorians then broke off from the communion of the church in 431, and the Eutychians in 451 : these rival sects exist, in numerous congregations, throughout the east, at the present day, and they both, as well as the Greeks, Armenians, &z^c. maintain, in belief and praciicef Extreme Unction as one of the seven sacraments. Nothing can so satis- factorily vindicate our church from the charge of imposition or innovation, in the particulars mentioned, as these facts do. How much more consistently has the impious Friar, Martin Lu- ther, acted in denying at once the authority of St. James's Epistle, and condemning it as " a chaffy composition, and un- worthy an apostle,"J than Bp. Porteus, with his confederates do, who attempt to explain away the clear proofs of extreme nction, contained in it ? In the mean time, in spite of them all, pious Catholics will continue to renp inestimable consola- tion and grace, in the time of man's greatest need, for the sake r'^ which this and the other helps of their church, were provided by our Saviour Jesus Christ. I am, &ic. J. M. Epist. ad Decent. Eaj^b. t P. 6t. ** iStramminosa." Prefet. in Ep. Jac. Jens de Captiv. Babyl. C 275 1 iutni lufK ,i'/.j4fil.kiU fiUMkHinhH Amnam »>/lii r(J Jt hMlnuif i|uU '!ih U;i!> «l><>V»tltM»l lo-^i^^jf*^ I >.i «i-t// Miit hun ,« LETTER XLV. '''•>*« jrh&nmki^ {«^> » ' 'To fAe iJev. ROBERT CLAYTOK, M. A » '>^« » M} ;(( ,iiii WHETHER THE POPE BE ^J^TICHRIST.Uu\ ] -am Rtev. Sir, There remains but one more question of doctrine to be dit* cussed between me and your favourite controvertist, bishop Porteus, which is concerning the character and power of tlie Pope ; and this he compresses into a narrow compass, among a variety of miscellaneous matters, in the latter part of his book' However, as it is a doctrine of first-rate importance, against which I make no doubt but several of your Salopian Society have been early and bitterly prejudiced, I propose to treat it, at some length, and in a regular way. To do this, I must begin with the inquiry, whether the Pope be really and truly, the man ofsiUf and the son ofperdition, described by St. Paul, 2 Thesi, ii. 1, 10 ; in short, the Antichrist spoken of by St. John, 1 John ii. 18, and called by him, A beast with seven heads and ten horns, Revel, xiii. 1, whose See or church is the great harlot, the niother of the fornications and abominations of the earth. Ibid, xvii. 5. I shudder to repeat these blasphemies, and I blush to hear them uttered by my fellow Christians and countrymen, who derive their liturgy, their ministry, their Christianity, and civilization, from the Pope and the church of Rome ; but they have been too generally taught by the learned, and believed by the ignorant, for me to pass them by in silence on this occasion. One of bishop Porteus's colleagues, bishop Hallifax, speaks of this doctrine concerning the Pope and Rome, as long being " the common symbol of Protestantism."* Certain it is, (hat the author of it, the outrageous Martin Luther, may be said to have established Protestantism upon this principle : he had at first submitted his religious controversies to the decision of (he Pope, protesting to him thus : *' Wlielher you give life or death, approve or reprove, as you may judge best, I will hearken to your voice, as to that of Christ himself :"f bu( no sooner did Pope Leo condemn his doctrine, than he published * Sermons by bishop Hallifax, preached at the Lecture founded by the late b^ ihop Warburton, to prove the apostasy of Papal Rome, p. 27. . ., . t EpUt od Leon X. A. D. 1518. >, (u. . j^ 270 Letter XLF. his book " Against the execrable Bull of Antichrist,"* as he qualified it. In like manner, Melancthon, Bullinger, and many others of Luther's followers, publicly maintained, that the Pope is Antichrist, as did afterwards Calvin, Beza, and the writers of that party in general. This party considered this doctrine so essential, as to vote it an article of faiths in their synod of Gap, held in 1603.f The writers in defence of this impious tenet in our island, are as numerous as those of the whole continent put together, John Fox, Whitaker, Fuike, Wiliet, sir Isaac Newton, Mede, Lowman, Towson, Bicheno, Kett, Uc. with the bishops. Fowler, Warburton, Newton, Hallifax, Hurd, Watson, and others, too numerous to be here mentioned. One of these wri- ters, whose work has but just appeared, has collected a new and quite whimsical system from the Scriptures concerning Anti- christ. Hitherto, Protestant expositors have been content to apply the character and attributes of Antichrist to a succession of Roman pOntifl's ; but the Rev. H. Kett professes to have dis- covered, that the said Antichrist is, at the same time, every Pope who has filled the See of Rome^inpe the year 766, to the number of one hundred and si^fy^,'^ togllFher with the whole of what he calls " the Mahometan power," from a period more remote by a century and a half, and the whole of infidelity, which he traces to a still more ancient origin than even Mo- hometanism.;]; "* That the first Pope, St. Peter, on whom Christ declared, that he built his church. Mat, xvi. 18, was not Antichrist, I trust I need not prove, nor, indeed, his third successor in the Pope- dom, St. Clement, since St. Paul testifies of him that his name is written in the book of life, Phil. iv. 3. In like manner, there is no need of my demonstrating, that the See of Rome was not the harlot of Revelations, when St. Paul certified of its mem- ders, that i\\e\Y faith was spoken of throughout the whole world , Rom. i. 8. At what particular period, then, I now ask, as I abked Mr. Brown, in one of my former letters, did the grand apostasy take place, by which the head pastor of the church of Christ, became his declared enemy, in short, the Antichrist, and by which the church, whose faith had been divinely authenti- cated, became the great harlot, full of the names of blasphemy 'i This revolution, had it really taken place, would have been the *Tom.n. ' ' t Bossuct'8 Variat. P. ii. B. 18. " '■■•■' J H'lHtory of the Interpreter of Propliecy, by H. Kett, B. D. This writer's at- tempt to transform the p:reat supporters of the Pope, St. Jerom, Pope Gregory I, 8t Bernard, &c. into witneMses that tlic Pope is Antichrist, because they con* denin certain acts as Anticiiristian, is truly ridiculous. rist,"* as he er, and many that the Pope the writers of s doctrine so ^nod of Gap, )ious tenet in continent put •aac Newton, the bishops, Vatson, and of these wri- 3d a new and ^rning Anti- n content to a succession to have dis- time, every r 766, to the he whole of jeriod more [)f infidelity, an even Mo- st declared, ihrist, I trust n the Pope- lat Aw name [inner, there •me was not af its mem- yhole world, iw ask, as I 1 the grand e church of ichrist, and y authenti- dasphemy ? ^e been the lis writer's at- pe Gregory I, ise they con* Letter XLV, 277 greatest and the most remarkable that ever happened since tlie deluge : hence, we might expect, that the witnesses, who profess to bear testimony to its reality, would agree, as to the time of its taking place. Let us now observe how far this is the fact. The Lutheran Braunbom, who writes the most copiously, and the most confidently of this event, tells us, that the Popish An- tichrist was born in the year of Christ 86, that he grew to his full size in 376, that he was at his greatest strength in 636, that he began to decline in 1086, that he would die in 1640, and that the world would end in 1711.* Sebastian Francus af- firms, that Antichrist appeared immediately after the apostles, and caused the external church, with its faith and sacraments, to dlsappear.f The Protestant church of Transylvania pub Ushed that Antichrist first appeared A. D. 200. J Napper de clared that his coming was about 31^^ and that Pope Silvester was the man.<§ ^elnncthon says, thvb t*ope Zozimus, in 420, was the first Antichrist, || while Beza transfers this character to the great and good St. Leo, A. D. 440.ir Fleming fixes on the year 606 as the year of this great event, Bp. Newton on the year 727 ; but all agree, says the Rev. HenifV Kett, ** that the Antichristian power was fully established inj||M, Or 768.*'** Notwithstanding this confident assertion, Cranmers brother-in- law, Bullinger, had, long before, assigned the year 763 as the era of this grand revolution,f f and Junius had put it ofi" to 1 073. Musculus could not discover Antichrist in the church till about 1200, Fox not till 1300,I| and Martin Luther, as we have seen, not till his doctrine was condemned by Pope Leo in 1 620. Such are the inconsistencies and contradictions of those learned Protestants, who profess to see so clearlj hs verifica^ tion of the prophecies concerning Antichrist in the R( .man pon- tifls. I say contradictions, because those among them who pro- ntypce Pope Gregory, or Leo the Great, or Pope SilveAtdr, to have been Antichrist, must contradict those others, who tAxtAt them to have been respectively Christian pastors and saints Now what credit do men of sense give to an account of any sort, the vouchers for which contradict each other f Certainly none at all. Nor are the predictions of these egregious interpreters, con- cerning the death of Antichrist, and the destruction of Popery, more consistent with one another, than their accounts of the ♦ Bayle's Diet. Braunbom. i De Abolend. Christ, per Antichris. N In locis po8tremo edit ** Vol. ii. p. 68. n In Apoc De Alvegand. Stat. Eccles. ^ Upon the Revel. U In Confess General. U laEandem. 378 Letter XLVi birth and progress of them both. We have seen above, tliat Braunbom prognosticated that the death of tlie papal Anil- Christ would take place in the year 1640. John Fox foretold it would happen in 1666. The incomparable Joseph Mede, as iMshop Hallifax calls him,^ by a particular calculation of his own invention, undertook to demonstrate that the Papacy would be finally desti'oyed in 1653.f The Calvinist minister Jurieau, who had adopted this system, fearing that the event would not verify it, found a pretext to lengthen the term, first to 1690, and afterwards to 1710. But he lived to witness a disappoint- ment at each of these periods.^ Alix, another Huguenot preacher, predicted that the fatal catastrophe would certainly take place in 17164 Whiston, who pretended to find out the longitude, pretended also to discover that the Popedom would terminate in 1714: findi'^^ himself mistaken, he guessed a se- cond time, and fixed on^Jfiyear 1735.|l At length, Mr. Kett, from the success of his Aw»khrist of Infidelity against his Anti- christ of Popery, about twenty years ago, (for he feels no diffi- culty in dividing Satan against himself, Mat. xii. 6,) foretold that the long wished for event was at the eve of being accom- plished,ir and jyir* Daubeny having, with several other preach- ers, witnessed Pope Piu^ VI. in chains, and Rome possessed by French Atheists, sounds the trumpet of victory, and exclaims, all is accomplished.** Empty triumph of the enemies of the church! They ought to have learned, from her lengthened history, that she never proves the truth of Christ's promises so evidently as when she seems sinking under the waves of perse- cution ; and that the chair of Peter never shines so gloriously, as when it is filled by a dying martyr, like Pius VI, or a cap- tive confessor, like Pius VII ; however triumphant for a time, their perjsecutors may appear ! .^.i ., ,,..1. ^ ., - ? But those dealers in prophecy undertake to demonstrate from the characters of Antichrist, as pointed out by St. Paul and St. John, that this succr ssion of Popes is the very man in question : accordmglv the bishop of Landafi* says ; " I have known the infidelity of more than one young man happily removed, by showing him the characters of Popery delineated by St. Paul, in his prophecy concerning The Man of Sin, 2 Thess. ii. and )>' I 'ii.nn • ;■(:;• i (fi , ^1! '1 -MtJ vu:-', ' P;286. t Bayle's Diet • ' - t Ibid. ^ Ibid, tl Esasy on Revel. IF Vol. ii. cliaj). 1. ** Th« fall of Papal Rome. In like manner G. S. Faber, in his two Sermons before the University of Oxford, in 1799, boasts that " the immense Gothic struc- ture of Popery, built on superstition uad buttressed with tortures, has crumbled to dust." , , . , ' Lei^&r XLV, 279 above, tliat papal Ami. Fox foretold ph Mede, as lation of bis ipacy would ster Jurieau, It would not rst to 1690, disappoint- Huguenot d certainly find out the edom would lessed a se- 1, Mr. Kett, 1st his Anti- 2els no diffi- 6,) foretold eing accom- Her preach- lossessed by id exclaims, smies of the lengthened promises so 2S of perse- gloriously, , or a cap- for a time, strate from aul and St. 1 question : known the moved, by f St. Paul, ess. ii. and ) Ibid. two Sermons Gothic atruc< lu crumbled in that concerning the apostasy of the latter times, 1 Tim, Ww \*** In proof of this point, he republishes the Dissenter, Ben- son's Dissertation on The man of iSm;f I purpose, therefore, making a few remarks on the leading points of this adoptive child of his lordship, as also upon some of the Rev. Mr. Kett't illustrations of them. First, then, we all know that the Aevelor- tion of the Man of Sin will be accompanied with a revolt or falling of)*, in other words, with a great apostasy; but it is a question to be discussed between me and bishop Watson, whe- ther this character of apostasy is more applicable to the Ca ; tholic church, or to that class of Religionists who adopt his opinions f To decide this point, let me ask, what are the first and principal articles of the three creeds p>rofessed by his church as well as by ours, that of the apostles, that of Nice, and that of St. Athanasius, as likewise of his articles, his liturgy, and his canons f Incontestably those which profess a belief in the blessed Trinity, and the incarnation of the consubstantial Son of the eternal Father. Now it is notorious, that every Catholic throughout the world, holds these the fundamental articles of Christianity as firmly now as St. Athanasius himself did fifteen hundred years ago : but what says his lordship, with number- less other Protestant Christians of this country, on these heads f Tiet the preface to his Collection be consulted,;]: in which, if he does not openly deny the Trinity, he excuses the Unitarians, who deny it, on the ground that they are afraid of becoming idolaters by worshipping Jesus CAnV.'.<^ Let his charges be ex- amined : in one of which he says to his clergy, that '* he does not think it safe to tell them what the Christian doctrines are ;"|| no, not so much as the unity and trinity of God. In another charge, however, the bishop assumes more courage, and in-^ forms his clergy, that *' I-'rotestantism consists in believing what each one pleases, and in professing what he believes.** How much should I rejoice to have this question of apostasy^ between the bishop of Landaft* and me, decidea by Luther, Calvin, Beza, Cranmer, Ridley, and James I, only for the proofs which history afibrds me, that, not content with exclud- ing him from the class of Christians, they would assuredly bum him at the stake as an apostate. The second character of Antichrist, set down by St. Paul, is, that he opposeth and u lifted up above all that is called Godj or that is worshippedy sa * Bp. Watson's CoUcci p. 7. t Vol. i. Pref.p. 15,&c. I Bishop Watson's Charstv 1795t t Ibid. p. 268. i P. 17. ■ ; .mhJ 380 Letter XLF, that he ntteth in the Temple of God^ shomng himself as if he were God, 2 Thess. H. 4. This character Mr. Benson tnd bi- shop Watson think applicable to the Pope, who, they say, claims the attributes and homage due to the Deity. I leave you, Rev. sir, and your friends, to judge of the truth of this character, when I inform you, that the Pope has his confessor, like other Catholics, to whom he confesses his sins in private ; and that every day, in saying mass, he bows before the altar, and in the presence of the people confesses, that he has " sinned in thought, word, and deed," begging them to pray to God for liim, and that afterwards, in the more solemn part of it^ he pro- fesses " his hopes of forgiveness, not through his own merits, but through the bounty and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord."* The third mark of Antichrist is, that his coming is according to the working of Satanf in all power, and signs, and lying wou' ders, 2 Thess. ii. 9. From this passage of Holy Writ, it ap- pears that Antichrist, whenever he does come, will work false, illusive prodigies, as the magicians of Pharaoh did ; but, from the divine promises, it is evident that the disciples of Christ would continue to work true miracles, such as he himself wrought ; and from the testimony of the holy fathers and all ecclesiastical writers, it is incontestible, that certain servants of God have been enabled to work them, from time to time, ever since this his promise. This I have elsewhere demonstruted, as likewise, that the fact is denied by Protestants, not for want of evidence, as to its truth, but because this is necessary for the defence of their system. f Still it is false that the Catholic church ever claimed a power of working miracles in the order of nature, as her opponents pretend : all that we say is, that God is pleased, from time to time, to illustrate the true church with real miracles, and thereby to show, that she belongs to him. The latest dealer in prophecies, who boasts that his books have been revised by the bishop of Lincoln, J by way of showing the con- formity between Antichristian Popery and the beast, that did great signs, so that he made fire to come down from heaven unto the earth, in the sight of men. Rev. xiii. 13, says of the former, ** even fire is pretended to come down from heaven, as in the case of iS^. Anthony's fire"^ I am almost ashamed to refute 80 illiterate a caviU True it is, that the hospital monks of St. Anthony were heretofore famous for curing the Erysipelas with a peculiar ointment, on which account that disease acquired the * Canon of the Mass. t Part ii. Letter. xziiL t Inrerpref . of Prophecy, by H. Kelt, LL. B. Pref. 4 Kett, ToLii. 22. • ' t 4 1 i- tetter XLV. 281 ej/* as if he ion ind bi- they say, . I leave uth of this confesgor, in private ; the altar, eis " sinned to God for it^ he pro- wn merits, ir Lord."* ^cording to lying woti' Vrit, it ap- vork false, but, from of Christ le himself ;rs and all servants of time, ever lonstruted, )t for want iry for the e Catholic he order of hat God is \i with real lim. The have been 5 the con- tf that did aven unto le former, as in the to refute nks of St. }ela8 with |uired the name of St, Anthony's fire ;* but neither these monks, nor any other Catholics, were used to invoke that inflammation, or any other burning whatsoever, from heaven or elsewhere. 1 beg that you and your friends will suspend your opinion of the fourth alleged resemblance between Antichrist and the Pope, that of persecuting the saints, till I have leisure to treat that subject in greater detail tiian I can at present. I shall take no notice at all of this writer's chronological calculations, nor of the anagrams and chronograms by which many Protestant ex- pounders have endeavoured to extract the mysterious number six hundred and sixty-six from the name or title of certain Popes, farther than to observe, that ingenious Catholics have extracted the same number from the name Martinus I/utheruSj and even from that of David Chrytheus, who was the most cele- brated inventor of those riddles. Such, are the grounds on which certain refractory children, in modern ages, have ventured to call their true mother a pros- titutej and the conimon father of Christians, the author of their own conversion from Paganism, The Man of Sin, and the very Antichrist, But they do not really believe what they declare; their object being only to inflame the ignol-ant multitude. I have suflicient reason to think this, when I hear a Luther threatening to unsay all that he had said against the Pope, a Melancthon lamenting, that Protestants had renounced him, a Beza negotiating to return to him, and a late Warburton-lectur- er lamenting, on his deathbed, that he could not do the same. I am, &c. J. M. t;i, ' »'. . !F i Ivj !\U * Paqaotius, In Molr mDe Sacr. Imag. N i,'-.,,-:;",.., .-■. ■■'■ ■ . ■ .■■'{li'.t.'i- \ i '•' 'mMJ , < 'ti... -I t 1 •■ I w "t - < •• - ; . '• (* ■ ' .'■ . ■ II ■ ;> M /! ... •lil.>V.» I3S [ 282 ] '(nc iOti ./i\;',i'Vi: ■* ill) iM.'l!, i ltd ^: v Vim 1/1 JHiUr.Ulii.rMui •,•;((/ •■ ;.j7jit' (u [."ii ■ ir LETTER XLVI. , / ■ii ill . -> !j .-.noit , sons against it."* Your liberality. Rev. sir, on the formei point, justifies the idea I had formed of you : with respect to the second, whether the Pope's claim of Supremacy, or Tillot- son's assertion concerning it, is impudent^ I shall leave you to determine, when you shall have perused the present letter. But, as this, like other subjects of our controversy, has been enve- loped in a cloud of misrepresentation, I must begin with dissi- pating this cloud, and with clearly stating what the/aith of the Catholic church is concerning the matter in question. It is not, then, the faith of this clinrch, that the Pope has any civil or temporal supremacy, by virtue of which he can depose princes, or give or take away the property of other persons, out of his own domain : for even the incarnate Son of God, from whom he derives the supremacy, which he possesses, did not claim, here upon earth, any riglit of the above-mentioned Kind : on the contrary, he positively declared, that his kingdom is not of this world ! Hence, the Catholics of both our Islands, have, without impeachment even from Rome, denied, upon oath, that " the Pope has any civil jurisdiction, power, superi- * TillotK>D*s Preface to Barrow*a TraatiiA. UtUr XLVL 283 «0 'Jmvu; etters from Theob- ed, or will, ef purport )ious tenet, yoxxr faith, *. Barrow's ishop Por- archbjshop d treatise^ I indefensi- e tolerable ncible rea- he formei respect to , or Tillot- »ve you to tter. But, leen euve- witli diss!- uth of the •e has any an depose • persons, I of God, esses, did nentioned 1 kingdom r Islands, :d, upon r, superi- ority, or pre-eminence, directly or indirectly, within this realm."* But, as it is undeniable, that different Popes, in former ages, have pronounced sentence of deposition against certain contemporary princes, and, as great numbers of theolo- gians have held (though not as a matter of faith) that they had a right to do so, it seems proper, by way of mitigating the odi- um which Dr. Porteus and other Protestants raise against them, on this head, to state the grounds, on which the pontiffs acted and the divines reasoned in this business. Heretofore, the kingdoms, principalities, and states, composing the Latin church, when they were all of the same religion, formed, as it were, one Christian republic, of which the Pope was the ac- credited head. Now, as mankind have been sensible at all times, that the duty of civil allegiance and submission cannot extend beyond a certain point, and that they ought not to sur- render their property, lives and morality, to be sported with by a Nero or a Heliogabalus ; instead of deciding the nice point for themselves, when resistuuce becomes lawful, they thought it right to be guided by their chief pastor. The kings and prin- ces themselves acknowledged this right in the Pope, and fre- quently applied to him to make use of his indirect, temporal power, as appears in numberless instances. f In latter ages, however, since Christendom has been disturbed by a variety of religions, this power of the pontifl' has been generally with- drawn : princes make war upon each other, at their pleasure, and subjects rebel against their princes, as their passions dic- tate,! ^^ ^^^ great detriment of both parties, as may be gather- * 31. Geo. III. c. 32. t_ See in Mat. Paris, A. D. 1196, the appeal of our king Richard I, to Pope Ce- lestin III, against the dulte of Austria for liuving detained him prisoner nt Trivallis, and the Pope's sentence of excommunication against that duke for refusing to do him justice. X In every country, in which Protestantism was preached, sedition and rchellion, tvith the total or partial deposition of the lawful sovereign, ensued, not witliout the active concurrence of tlie preachers tliemselves. Lutlier formed a icngue of prin- ces and states in Germany against tlic emperor, wliich desolated tlie empire for more than a century, llis disciples, Muncer and Stor*'^ taking advantage of tlie pretended nan^elical Uhcrhi, which he taught, at tlie head of 40,000 AiiabaptistM claimed the empire and possession of the world, in (juulity of tlu: vieek men, und enforced their demand with ftre and sword, dispossessing princes und lawful owii> ers, Sic. Zuinglius lighted up a similar Ihime through'iut Switzerlond, at Geneva, &c. and died lighting, sword in hand, for the Keformution, which he prcurhcd. The United States embraced Protestantism und rfiiouneed their sovereign, Philip, at the same time. The ('alvinists of France, in conformity with tlie doctrine of their master, namely, thut " princes deprive themselves of their power, when they resist God, and thut it is better to spit in their faces than obey them," Don. vi. 22, as soon as they found themsclvt^s strong enough, rose in arms against their sove- reigns, and dispos.Hes>*r(l tiiem of iiulf tlirir dominions. Knox, (loodnian, Ruchan- on, und the oMin- pieuchcrauf ^r(:!^Ivas beheaded and the constitution destroyed. Has then the cause of humaiuty, or uiat of peace and order, been benehttud by the change in question T ♦ Survey of Europe, p. 202. t Remarks on Italy, p. 112. X The following is a specimen of Barrow's and Tillotson's chicanery m their Trtatise of the Suprmtaaj. Bellarmin, in workinc; up an argument on the Pope's iufallibility, says, hypothetically by way of proving the falsehood of his opponent's doctrine, that " this doctrine would oblige the church to believe vicet to be goody and virtues to be bail, in case the Pope wore to err in teaehitjg tliis." Bell. De Rom. Pont 1. Iv. c. .*>. Hence these writers take occasion to aliirni, that Bellarmin poa^ Hvely teaches, that " if the Pope should err, by enjoining vices, or forbidding vii> tues, the church should be bound to believe vices to be good and virtues evil!" p SOS. This shanipful misrepresentation has been taken up by most subsequent Pre loitaiU coQti'ovcrlutts. Letter XLVL 385 zealous Pro- ther, advisei-, lities, and de- idly, that the )r conduct of at the same hundred and chair of St. n, have dis- done honour I must again ly a man of ice, who has people's ex- children, or ther friends, * the Pope's ierfra, as the the faith of in case you in any doc» olic church, into tilts or Its s^ainst God e obeyed, good tioes, including of their lawful Willi respect t usurper, lady and supported r of any note, f the Ueforma- self, and a ha> n, till the king f huiiULtuty, or sncTT m their on the Pope's lis opponent's ret to be goo(L liell, De Rom. lellarmin pos^ brbidding vii^ tues evil!" p bsequcDt Pk uny other fichr^sistic question, I shall content myself with ob- serving, thkt ^s impossible for any man of candour and learn- ing, not to oc icur with a celebrated Protestant author, namely, Causabon, who writes thus : " No one, who is the least versed in ecclesiastical history, can doubt, that God made use of the holy See, during many ages, to preserve the doctrines of faith!"* At length we arrive at the question itself, which is, whether the bishop of Rome, who, by pre-eminence, is called Papa (Pope, or father of the faithful) is or is not entitled to a supe- rior rank and jurisdiction, above other bishops of the Christian church, so as to be its spiritual head here upon earth, and so that his See is the centre of Catholic unity 9 All Catholics ne- cessarily hold the affirmative of this question, while the above- mentioned tergiversating primate denies, that there is a tolera- ble argument in its favour.f Let us begin with coasulting the New Testament, in order to see, whether or no the first Pope or bishop of Rome, St. Peter, was any way superior to the other apostles. St. Matthew, in numbering up the apostles, expressly says of him, THE FIRST, SimoUy who is called Peter, Mat. X. 2. In like manner, the other Evangelists, while they class the other apostles differently, still give the first place to Peter.|; In fact, as Bossuet observes,^ " St. Peter was the first to con- less his faith in Christ ;|| the first to whom Christ appeared, after his resurrection jIF the first to preach the belief of this to the people j** the first to convert the Jews ;f f and the first to receive the Gentiles."Jf Again I would ask, is there no dis- tinction implied, in St. Peter's being called upon by Christ to declare tiiree several times, that he loved him, and even that he ioced him more than his fellow apostles, and in his being each ♦ime charged lo feed Chrisfs lambs, and, at length, to feed his fheep also, whom the lambs are used to follow ?<^^ What else is here signified, but that this apostle was to act the part of a shepherd, not only with respect to the flock in general, but also ♦ P.xercft. XV. ad Annal. Baron. t Tillotson's father was an Anabaptist, aod he hiouelf was profeasedlT a Puritaa preacher, till the Restoration, so that there is reason to doubt whether he ever re- ceived either Episcopal Ordination or Baptism. His successor, Seeker, was also a Dissenter, and his baptism has been called in question. The former, with bishop Burnet, was called upon to attend lord Russcl at his execution, when they abso- lutely insisted, as a point necessary for salvation, on his disclaiming the lawAilness of resistance in any case whatever. Presently after, the revolution happening, tlx^ themselves declared for lord Russol's principles. ,,, } Mark ill. 16. Luke vi. 14. Acts i. 13. ^OratadCIer. IMatxvl. 16. H Lwke xxiv. 34. , ** Acts ii.I4. "'^ ♦tVer. 87, JMbid.x.47. §§Johnxxl- Ifi. ■■> 286 Letter XLVL With respect to the pastors themselves ? The same is pUinly signified by our Lord's prayer for the faith of this apostle, in particular, and the charge that he subsequently gave him : Simon, SimoTif behold Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you, as wheat : but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not ; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren. Luke xxii. 32. Is there no mysterious meaning in the circumstance, marked by the Evangelist, of Christ's entering into Simon^s ship, in preference to that of James and John, in order to teach the people out of it, and in the subsequent miraculous draught of fishes, together with our Lord's prophetic declaration to Si- mon : Fearnot,from henceforth thou sholt catch men. Luke v. 3. 10. But the strongest proof of St. Peter's superior dignity and jurisdiction consists in that explicit and energetical declara- tion, of our Saviour to him, in the quarters of Cesarea Philip- pi, upon his making that glorious confession of our Lord's di- vinity : Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. Our Lord had mysteriously changed his name, at his first interview with him, when Jesus looking upon him, said, Thou art Simon, the Son of Jona ; thou shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter^ John i. 42 : and, on the present occasion, he explains the mystery, where he saj's, Blessed art thou Simon, Bar- Jona . because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Fa- ther, tpho is in heaven: And I say to thee: that thou art Peter (a rock,) and UPOJV THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it : and I vnll give to thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven . and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in hca- ven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loostd also in heaven. Mat. xvi. 17, 18, 19. Where now, I ask, is the sincere Christian, and especially the Christian who professes to make Scripture the sole rule of his faith, who, with these pas- sages of the inspired text before his eyes, will venture, at the risk of his soul, to deny that any special dignity or charge was conferred upon St. Peter, in preference to the other apostles ? I trust no such Christian is to be found in your society. Now, ns it is a point agreed upon, at least in your church and mi>i.;, that bishops, in general, succeed to the rank and functions of the apostles, so, by the same rule, the successor of St. Peter, in the See of Rome, succeeds to his primacy and jurisdiction. This cannot be questioned by any serious Christian, who re- flects, that, when our Siiviour gave his orders tihoui feeding his flock, and made hisii declaration about building his church, he was not establishing an order of things to last during the fciV Letter XLVI. »67 '■ is pluiiily apostle, in im: Simon, he may sift y faith fail hren. Luke •cumstance, ito Simon^s ler to teach )us draught ition to Si- Luke V. ■ior dignity nl declara- irea Philip- Lord's di- Our Lord rview with Simorif the interpreted le explains Bar-Jona. but my Fa- u art Peter V BUILD )ail against f Heaven . ad in hca- l be loostd ask, is the irofesses to these pas- ire, at the :harge was r apostles ? ty. Now, and mi'i.;, inctions of St. Peter, irisdiction. 1, who re- fecding his hurch, he iig the feA' years that St. Peter had to live, but one that was to last as long as he should have a flock and a church on earth, that is to the end of time ; conformably with his promise to the apostles, and their successors, in the concluding words of St. Matthew : Behold I am with you always, even to the end of the world* Mat. xxviii. 20. That St. Peter (after governing for a time, the patriarchate of Antioch, the capital of the East, and thence sending his disciple, Mark, to establish that of Africa at Alexandria) final* ly fixed his own See at Rome, the capital of the world, that his successors there have each of them exercised the power of su- preme pastor, and have been acknowledged as such by all Christians, except by notorious heretics and schismatics, from the apostolic age down to the present, the writings of the fa- thers, doctors, and historians of the church unanimously testify, St. Paul, having been converted, and raised to the apostleship in a miraculous manner, thought it necessary to go up to Jeru- salem to see Peter, where he abode vnth him fifteen days. Galat. i. 18. St. Ignatius, who was a disciple of the apostles, and next successor, after Evodius, of St. Peter in the See of Anti- och, addresses his most celebrated epistle to the church, which he says, "PRESIDES in the country of the Romans."* About the same time, dissensions taking place in the church of Corinth, the case was referred to the church of Rome, to which the Holy Pope Clement, whose name is written in the book of life, Philip, iv. 3, returned an apostolical answer of exhortation and instruction. f In the second century, St. Irenseus who had been instructed by St. Polycarp, the disciple of St. John the Evangelist, referring to the tradition of the apostles, preserved in the church of Rome, calls it " the greatest, most ancient, and most universally known, as having been founded by St. Peter and St. Paul ; to which (he says) every church is bound to conform, by reason of its superior authority.''^ Tertullian, a priest of the Roman church, who flourished near the same time, calls St. Peter, " the rock of the church,** and says, that " the church was built upon him."^ Speaking of the bishop of Rome, he terms him in diflerent places, " the blessed Pope, the high priest, the apostolic pre* late, &c.** I must add, that, at this early period. Pope Victor exerted his superior authority, by threatening the bishops of Asia with excommunication for their irregularity in celebrating ♦ rifoiMidw*!, Epist. Ignat. Cotelero. t Cotelcr. t '*Ad banc ecdesiam convcnire tieccssc cat omnem ecclesiam.** Cootni Haercs. 1. iilc. 3. ^ Prescrip. L i. c. 22. Do Monogam. , . 28B X Letter XLVL Easter, and the other moveable feasts, from which rigorous measure he was deterred, chiefly by St. Irenneus.* In the third century, we hear Origenf and St. Cyprian repeatedly affirm- ing, that the church was " founded on Peter," that he " fixed his chair at Rome," that this is " the mother church," and " the root of Catholicity." J The latter expresses great indig- nation that certain African schismatics should dare to approach " the See of Peter, the head church and source of ecclesiastical unity."<^ It is true, this father afterwards had a dispute with Pope Stephen, about rebaptizing converts from heresy; but this proves nothing more than that he did not think the Pope's au- thority superior to general tradition, which, through mistake, he supposed to be on his side. To what degree, however, he did admit this authority, appears by his advising this same Pope, to depose Marcian, a schismatical bishop of Gaul, and to appoint another bishop in his place. || At the beginning of the fourth century we have the learned Greek historian, Eusebius, explaining in clear terms, the ground of the Roman pontiff's claim to superior authority, which he derives from St. Peter ;1[ we have also the great champion of orthodoxy and the patriarch of the second See in the world, St. Athanasius, ap- pealing to the bishop of Rome, which See he terms " the mo- ther and the head of all other churches."** In fact, the Pope reversed the sentence of deposition, pronounced by the saint's enemies, and restored him to his patriarchal chair.f f Soon after this, the council of Sardica confirmed the bishop of Rome, in his right of receiving appeals from all the churches in the world. {]); Even the Pagan historian, Ammianus, about the same time, bears testimony to the superior authority of the Ro- man Pontift*.>^<§ In the same century, St. Basil, St. Hilary, St. Epiphanius, St. Ambrose, and other fathers and doctors, teach the same thing. Let it suffice to say, that the first named of these scruples not to advise, that the Pope should send visit- ers to the eastern churches, to correct the disorders, which the Arians had caused in them,|||| and that the last mentioned re- presents communion with the bishop of Rome, as communion with the Catholic church. ITIF I must add, that the great St. Chrysostom, having been, soon after, unjustly deposed from his feat in the Eastern Metropolis, was restored to it by the au- * Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 1. v. c. 34. t Horn. 6 in Rxod. Horn. 17 in Lua X Ep. ad Cornel. £p. ad Anton. De Unit. &c. ^ Ep. ad Cornel. 55. I Ep. 29. fl Euscb. Cliron. An. 44. ♦♦ Epist. ad Marc, tt Secret. Hist. 1. ii. c. 2. Zozom. XX Can. 3. kk Eerum Gcst. 1. xv. JHI Epist 52. 1f^ Orat. in Obit Satyr. Letter XLVl. 28d ich rigorous In the third tedly affirm- it he " fixed hurch," and great indig. to approach ecclesiastical dispute with esy ; but thig ! Pope's au- (gh mistake, however, he g this same Gaul, and to ming of the 1, Eusebius, lan pontifl^'s St. Peter ;ir Ky and the lanasius, ap- s " the mo- ct, the Pope y the saint's r.ff Soon )p of Rome, ches in the about the ^ of the Ro- St. Hilary, nd doctors, first named 1 send visit< , which the entioned re- communion great St. sed from his by the au- 17 in Lua rnel. 55. pist. ad Marc. 1. . Satyr. (hority t>f Pope Innocent ; that Pope Leo termed his ehurch ** the head of the world, because its spiritual power, as he al- leged, extended farther than the temporal power of Rome faad ever extended."* Finally, the learned St. Jerom, being dis- tracted with the disputes among three parties, which divided the church of Antioch, to which church he was then subject, wrote for directions, on this head, to Pope Damasus, as follows : '* I, who am but a sheep, apply to my shepherd for succour. I am united with your holiness, that is to say^ with the chair ot Peter, in communion. I know that the church is built upon that rock. He who eats the Paschal Lamb out of that house, is profane. Whoever is not in Noah's Ark will perish by the deluge. I know nothing of Vitalis, I reject Melitius, I am ig- norant of Paulinus : he who does not gather with thee, scat- ters," &c.f It were useless, after this, to cite the numeroaa testimonies to the Pope's supremacy, which St. Augnstin, and all the fathers, doctors, and church historians, and all the ge- neral councils bear, down to the present time. However, aa the authority of our apostle. Pope Gregory the Great, is claimed by most Protestant divines on their side, and is alluded to by Bp. Porteusjj merely for having censured the pride of John, patriarch of C. P. in assuming to himself the title of (Echumenical or universal bishop; it is proper to show, that this Pope, like all the others who went before him, and came after him, did claim and exercise the power of supreme pastor, throughout the church. Speaking of this very attempt of John, he says, " The care of the whole church was committed to Peter, and yet he is not called the universal apostle."^ With respect to the See of C. P. he says, " Who doubts but it is subject to the apostolic See ;" and again, " When bishops com- mit a fault, I know not what bishop is not subject to it," (the See of Rome.)\\ As no Pope was ever more vigilant, in dis- charging the duties of his exalted station, than St. Gregory, so none of them, perhaps, exercised more numerous or widely ex- tended acts of the supremacy, than he did. It is sufficient to cite here his direction* to St. Austin of Canterbury, whom he had sent into this island, for the conversion of our Saxon an- cestors, and who had consulted him, by letter, how he was to act with respect to the French bishops, and the bishops of this * Sena, de Nat Apos. This sentiment, another father of the church, in the (bl k>win9 century, St Prosper, expressed in these lines : " Rf>«'r« »*-- " .; m*^,!.,! paatoralis honoris ; Facta caput mundo, quidquid no.* tenet" t >• t P. 78. ^ Ep. Greg. 1. V. 20. ' ) iH ' 8£K) Letter TLLVt. island, namely, the British prelates in Wales, and the Pict'isb and Scotch in the northern parts. To this question Pope Gre« gory returns an answer in the following words : " We give you no jurisdiction over the bishops of Gaul, because, from ancient times, my predecessors have conferred the Pallium (the ensign of legatine authority) on the bishop of Aries, whom we ought not to deprive of the authority he has received. But we com- mit all the bishops of Britain to your care, that the ignorant among them may be instructed, the weak strengthened, and the perverse corrected by your authority."* After this is it pos- sible to believe that Bp. Porteus and his fellow writers ever read Venerable Bede's History of the English nation ? But if they could even succeed in proving that Christ had not built his church upon St. Peter and his successors, and had not given them the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; it would still remain for them to prove, that he had founded any part of it on Henry VUI, Edward VI, and their successors, or that he had given the mystical keys to Elizabeth and her successors. I have shown, in a former letter, that these sovereigns exercised a more despotic power over all the ecclesiastical and spiritual afiairs of this realm, than any Pope ever did, even in the city of Rome, and that the changes in religion, which took place in their reigns, were effected by them and their agents, not by the bishops or any clergy whatever; and yet no one will pretend to show from Scrip- ture, tradition, or reason, that these princes had received any greater power from Christ over the doctrine and discipline of his church, than he conferred upon Tiberius, Pilate, or Herod, or than he has given at the present day, to the great Turk or the Lama of Thibet, in their respective dominions. Before I close this letter I think it right to state the senti- ments of a ky/ eminent Protestants respecting the Pope's su- premacy. I have already mentioned, that Luther acknowledged it, and submissively bowed to it, during the three first years of his dogmatizing about justification ^ and till his doctrine was condemned at Rome. In like manner, our Henry VIII. assert- ed it, and wrote a book in defence of it, in reward of which the Pope conferred upon him and his successors the new title of Defender of the Faith. Such was his doctrine ; till, becoming amorous of his queen's maid of honour, Ann Bullen, and finding the Pope conscientiously inflexible in refusing to grant him a divorce from the former, and to sanction an adulterous con- nexion with the latter, he set himself up, as supreme head of the I ! * Hut. Bed. 1. i. c. 37. Resp. 9. Spelm..Concil. p. 98. LeUer XLVL 2fii [ the Picfisb I Pope Gre^ Ve give you roni ancient (the ensign n we ought ut we com- be ignorant led, and the is is it pos- writers ever n ? But if id not built i not given still remain t on Henry d given the ave shown, ire despotic irs of this Rome, and leir reigns, ops or any rom Scrip- ceived any iscipline of or Herod, reat Turk the senti- Pope's su- now lodged St years of ctrine was III. assert- which the Bw title of becoming nd finding rant him a ;rous con- xead of the chunk of England^ and maintained his claim by the arguments of halters, knives, and axes. James I, in his first speech in par- liament, termed Rome " the mother church," and in his writ- ings allowed the Pope to be " The patriarch of the West." The late archbishop Wake, after all his bitter writings against the Pope and the Catholic church, coming to discuss the terms uf a proposed union between this church and that of Englandi expressed himself willing to allow a certain superiority to the Roman pontiff.^ Bishop Bramhall had expressed the same sentiment,f sensible as he was, that no peace or order could subsist in the Christian church, any more than in a political state, without a supreme authority. Of the truth of this maxim, two others, among the greatest men whom Protestantism has to boast of, tiie Lutheran Melancthon, and the Calvinist Hugo Grotius, were deeply persuaded. The former had written to prove the Pope to be Antichrist ; but seeing the animosities, the divisions, the errors, and the impieties of the pretended re- formers, with whom he was connected, and the utter impossi- bility of putting a stop to these evils, without returning to the ancient system, he wrote thus to Francis I, of France : " We acknowledge, in the first place, that ecclesiastical government is a thing holy and salutary : namely, that there should be cer- tain bishops to govern the pastors of several churches, and that THE ROMAN PONTIFF should be above all the bishops. For the church stands in need of governors, to examine and ordain those who are called to the ministry, and to watch over their doctrine ; so that, if there were no bishops, they ought to be created."! The latter great man, Grotius, was learned, wise, and always consistent. In proof of* this he wrote as fol- lows, to the minister. Rivet : " All who are acquainted with Grotius, know how earnestly he hs^ wished to see Christians united together in one body. This he once thought might have been accomplished by a union among Protestants, biit after- wards, he saw that this is impossible. Because, not to meQtion the aversion of Calvinists to every sort of union, Protestants are not bound by any ecclesiastical government, so that they can neither be united at present, nor prevented from splitting into fresh divisions. Therefore Grotius now is fully convinced, !»•'!' It • '*' " Suo Gaudeat qualicunque Frimatu." See Maclain's Third Appendix to Mosheim'a Eccl. Hist. vol. v. t Answer to Milltiere. ' ' ' :■■ ,■ • >" X D'Argeiitre, Collect. Jud. t. i. p. 2.— Bercastel and Feller relate, that Melanc thongs mother, who was a Catholic, having consulted him about her religion, h persuaded her to continue in it. 28 1393 Letter XLVIl as many others are also, that Protestants n^ver cnn be united ampng themselves, unless they johi those who adhere to the Roman See ; without which tiiere never can be any general church government. Hence he wishes that the revolt and the tauses of it may be removed, among which causes, the primacy of the bishop of Rome was not one, as Melancthon confessed who also thought that primacy necessary to restore union."* I am. Sec. yirii. tmt <;;, ,' ■ . I : ' )!. li ', •- I «,•! i;';!(. i -',■ Il';i; T •Mil -i-flMJijfp LETTER XLVIL To JAMES BROWK, Jun, Esq, '. /' )'M OA* rA£ iJUiQU^GE OF THE LITURGY AXD OJV READlffQ hi^i'nv^,u>^ r: r THfi HOLY SCRIPTURES. , , ,,,^ ,. „,, ; .r EAR Sir, I AGREE with your worthy father, that the departure of the Rev. Mr. Clayton, to a foreign country, is a loss to your Sa- lopian Society in more respects than one ; and as it is his wish that 1 should address the few remaining letters I have to write, m answer to bishop Porteus's book, to you, sir, who, it seems, agree with him in the main, but not altogether, on religious subjects, I shall do so, for your own satisfaction and that of your friends, who are still pleased to hear me upon them. In- deed the remaining controversies between that prelate and my- self are of light moment, compared with those I have been treating of, as they consist chiefly of disciplinary matters, sub- ject to the control ,of the church, or of particular facts misre- presented by his Iprdship. • ' f The first of these points of changeable discipline, which the bishop mentions, or rather declaims upon throughout a whole chapter, is the use of the Latin tongue in the public liturgy of the Latin church. It is natural enough that the church of England, which is of modern date, and confined to its own do* main, should adopt its own language, in its public worship ; Apul. ad Rivet. Letter XLVIL 993 be united ere to the y genera] It and the e primacy confessed inion."* ic. J.M. I ■;!'(• . -'Mil re of the your Sa- i his wish to write, It seems, religious d that of em. Iii- and my- ive been ers, sub- ts misre- hich the a whole turgy ot' lurch of own do« i^orship ; ttild, for a similar reason, it is proper that the great Western oi* Latin church, which was established by the apostles, when the Latin tongue was the vulgar tongue of Europe, and which still is the conmion language of educated persons in every part ol* it, should retain this language in her public service. When the bishop complains of " our worship being performed in an un- known tongue*^* and of our " wicked and cruel cunning in keeping people in darkness "^ by this means, under pretext that " they reverence what they do not understand,"! he must bt. Paul, tlie lan- ave you, r T oKqIi M wrote 'hristian nguage, that the for the nued to the vu]- 83. gar did not understand it,^ and that our Saviour Christ, as well as his apostles, and u > her devout friends, attended tbis ser- vice in the temple, and the- synagogue, witliout ever ccDsuring it : 3dly, that the Greek churches, in general, no less than the Latin church, retain their )riginal puiv Greek tongue in their liturgy, though the common pe' pie have forgotten it, and adopted different barbarous dialects instead of it:f ithly that patriarch Luther maintained, against Carlostad, that the lan- guage of public worship, was a matter of indiirei*encc : hence, his disciples professed, in their Ausburg Confession, to retain the Laiin language in certain parts of their service : lastly, that -,'lii n the establishment endeavoured, under Elizabeth, and ui'u: I'wards, under Charles I. to force their liturgy upon the Irish Catholics, it was not thought necessary to translate it into Irish, but it was constantly read in English, of which the na- tives did not understand a word : thus " furnishing the Papist with an excellent argument against themselves," as Dr. Heylin observes.! The bishop has next a long letter on what he calls, the pro* hihition of the Scriptures, by the Romanists, in which he con- (lises and disguises the subjects he treats of, to beguile and in- flame ignorant readers. I have treated this matter, at some length, in a former letter, and therefore shall be brief in what I write upon it in this : but what I do write shall be explicit and clear. It is a wicked calumny, then, that the Catholic church undervalues the Holy Scriptures, or prohibits the use of them: on the contrary, it is she that has religiously preserved them, as the inspired word of God, and his invaluable gift to man, during these eighteen centuries : it is she alone, that can and does vouch for their authenticity, their purity, and their inspi' ration. But, then, she knows that there is an unwritten word of God, called tradition, as well as a toritten word, the Scrip- tures ; that the former is the evidence for the authority of the latter, and that, when nations had been converted, and churches formed by the unwritten word, the authority of this was nowise abrogated by the inspired Epistles and Gospels, which the apostles and evangelists occasionally sent to such nations or churches. In short, both these Words together form the Ca- tholic rule of faith. On the other hand, the church, consisting, according to its more general division, of two distinct classes, • Walton's Polyg;lot Prolep. Hey, ke. 1 Mosheim, by Maclaine, vol. ii. p. 575. t Ward has successfully ridiculed this attempt lb his Englatuts RffinmaHon, Canto II. ^^^ 28* m6 \v ^Lk^er XLVU. i the pastors and their jlocks, the preachers and their hearers^ each has its particular duties in the point under conside'-ation, as n ell as in other respects. The pastors are bound to study the rule of faith in both its parts, with unwearied application, to be enabled to acquit themselves of the ^r^^ of all their duties^ ihat of preaching the Gospel to their peo})le.^ Hence St. Aihbrpse calls the sacred Scripture the Sacerdotal Book, and the council of Cologneorders that it should " never be out of the hands of ecclesiastics." In fact, the Catholic clergy must, and do employ no small portion of their time, every day, in reading different portions of Holy Writ. But no such obli- gation is generally incumbent on the flock, that is, on the laity; it is sufficient for them to hear the word of God from those whom God has appointed to announce and to explain it to them, whether by sermons, or catechisms, or other good books, dr in the tribunal of penance. Thus, it is not the bounden duty of all good subjects to read and study the laws of their country : it is sufficient for them to hear and to submit to the decisions of the judges, and other legal officers, pronouncing upon them ; nnd, by the same rule, the latter would be inexcusable if they did not make the law and constitution their constant study, in »rder to decide right. Still, however, the Catholic church never did prohibit the reading of the Scriptures to the Inity ;she only Inquired, by way of preparation, for this most difficult and im- portant study, that they should have received so much education, ns would enable them to read the sacred books in their original languages, or in that ancient and venerable Latin version, the fidelity of which she guarantees to them ; or, in rase they Mere desirons of reading it in a modern tongue, that they should be furnished with some attestation of their piety and docility, in order to prevent their turning this salutary food of souls into a deadly poison, as, it is universally confessed, so many thou- sands constantly have done. At present, however, the chief f>astors have every where relaxed these disciplinary rules, and vulgar translations of the whole Scripture are upon sale, and 0|>en to every one, in Italy itself, with the express approbation of the Hon^an pontif)'. In these islands, we have an English version of the Bible, in folio, in quarto, and in octavo forms, against %vhich our opponents have no other objection to make, except that it is too literal,f that is, too faithful. But Dr. Porteus professes not to admit of any restriction whatever '* on • Trid. SeM. V. cap. 2. Sess. xxv. cap. 4. * See the biiiliop oi Lincoln's Klemcnts uf Theol. toI. U. p. 18. .1! •. .) A Miter XLriL 297 eir hearergf nside'-ation, nd to study ipplication, their duties^ Hence St. JBooky and ;r be out of )lic clergy every day, such obli- tlie laity; Irom those plain it to ood books, unden duty ir country : e decisions ipon them; ble if they )t study, in urch never ^ ; she only ult and im- education, Mr original erslon, the ' they were should be locility, in )iils into a )any thou- , the chief rules, and I sale, and tprobation n English ivo forms, I to make, But Dr. tever " on 'mill .<7t • the reading of what heaven hath revealed, with respect to any part of mankind." No doubt, the revealed truths themselves are to be made known as much as possible, to all mankind ; but it does not follow from hence, that all mankind are to read the Scriptures : there are passages in them, which, I am confident, his lordship would not wish his daughters to peruse ; and which, in fact, were prohibited to the Jews, till they had attained the age of thirty.* Again, as lord Clarendon, Mr. Grey, Dr. Hey, &c. agree, that the misapplication of Scripture was the cause of the destruction of church and state, and of the murder of the king in the grand rebellion, and as he must be sensible, from his own observation, that the same cause exposed the nation to the same calamities in the Protestant riots of 1780, 1 am confi- dent the bishop, as a Christian, no less than as a British sub- ject would have taken the Bible out of the hands of Hugh Pe- ters, Oliver Cromwell, lord George Gordon, and their respective crews, if this had been in his power : I will affirm the same, with respect to count Emanuel Swedenborg, the founder of the modern sect of Jerusalemites, who taught, that no one had un- derstood the Scriptures, till the sense of them was revealed to him; as also with respect to Joanna Southcote, foundress of a still more modern sect, and who, I believe, tormented the bishop himself with her rhapsodies, in order to persuade him, that she was the woman of Genesis, destined to crush the serpenVs head, and the woman of the Revelations, clothed with the »un, an df crowned with twelve stars. Nay, I greatly deceive myself if the prelate would not be glad to take awny every hot-brained Dis- senter's Bible, who employs it in persuading the people, that the church of England is a rag of Popery, and a spawn of the whore of Babylon. In short, whatever Dr. Porteus may choose to say of an unrestricted perusal and interpretation of the Scriptures, with respect to all sorts of persons, it is certain, that many of the wisest and most learned divines of his church hav« lamented this, as one of her greatest misfortunes. I will quote the words of one of them : " Aristarchus, of old, could hardly find seven wise men in all Greece : but, amongst us, it is difll- cult to find the same number of ignorant persons. They are all doctors and divinely inspired. There is not a fanatic or a mountebank, from the lowest class of the people, who does not vent his dreams for the word of God. The bottomless pit seems to be opened, and there come out of it locusts with stings ; a swarm of sectaries and heretics, who have renewed * St, Jerom in Proem Ezech. St. Greg. Naz. dc Modertnd Dihu '2P ! 9^ '^^Mer XLVIL vU the heresies of former ages, and added to them numerous and monstrous errors of their own.* Since the above was written, the Bibliomania^ or rage for the letter of the Bible, has been carried, in this country, to the utmost possible length, by persons of almost every description. Christians and Infidels ; Trinitarians, who worship God in three persons, and Unitarians, who hold such worship to be idolatrous ; Psedobaptists who believe they became Christians by baptism ; Anabaptists, who piunge such Christians into the water, as mere Pagans ; and Quakers, who ridicule all bap- tism, except that of their own imagination ; Arminian Metho- dists, who believe themselves to have been justified without re- pentance, and Antinomian Methodists, who maintain, that they shall be saved without keeping the laws either of God or man , Churchmen, who glory in having preserved the whole orders and part of the missal and ritual of the Catholics ; and the countless sects of Dissenters, who join in condemning these things as Antichristian Popery : all these have forgotten, for a time, their characteristical tenets, and united in enforcing the reading of the Bibhj as the only thing necessary ! The Bible Societies are content, that all these contending religionists should aflix whatever meaning they please to the Bible, pro- vided only they read the text of the Bible ! Nay, they are satisfied if they can but get the Hindoo worshippers of Jugger- naut, the Thibet adorers of the Grand Lama, and the Taboo cannibals of the Pacific Ocean to do the same thing, vainly fancying, that this lecture will reform the vicious, reclaim the erroneous, and convert the Pagans. In the mean time, the ex- perience of fourteen years proves, that ilieft, forgery, robbery, murder, suicide, and other crimes go on increasing with the most alarming rapidity ; that every sect cljngs to its original errors, that not one Pagan is converted to Christianity, nor one Irish Catholic persuaded to exchange his faith for a Bible Book. When will these Bible enthusiasts comprehend, what learned and wise Christians of every age iiave known and taught, that the word of God consists not in the letter of Scrip- iure^ but in the meaning of it ! Hence it follows, that a Ca- tholic child, who is grounded in his short but comprehensive First Catechiim, so called, knows more of the revealed word of God, than a Methodist preacher does, who has read the whole Bible ten times over. The sentiment expressed above is not only that of St. Jeromf and other Catholic writers, but also of the <{ >tten, for a brcing the The Bible eligionists 'ible, pro- , they are of Jugger- the Taboo ng, vainly eel aim the ne, theex- , robbery, I with the Is original y^ nor one * a Kible end, what lown and of Scrip' hat a Ca- )rehensive d word of the whole s not only ho of the lebrned Protestant bishop, whom I have already quoted. Hd iiays, ** The word of God does not consist in mere letters, but in tlie sense of it, which no one can better interpret than the true churchi to which Christ committed this sacred deposited'* uH«,faK ■iii^vi \nH I ^■^ll\•A\li ri-Mvi-.i . .1.::- 1, >-!-,! lam) &c* -.)t UU'l'l "■; M-'MiP I Hi' 7MiJ mm} \i'. I-.' -111* M;l>i!' •■■1 •»;!; ,:.'. Mi J. M. t l(> V, 'J 'ill lit IO({ ;rNf- M i » ;))■• ,iJ ' ,'f.< To JAMES BROWJS', Jun. Esq. ni OJf VJSR TO US MISREPRESEXTJlTIOJfB. ' ' « 5 \ M ' ' ! ;. fDU Dear Sir, The learned prelate, who is celebrated for having concen- trated the five sermons of his patron, archbishop Seeker, and the more diAusive declamation of primate Tillotson against Popery ; having gone through his regular charges on this to- pic, tries, in the end, to overwhelm the Catholic cause, with an accumulation of petty, or, at least, secondary objections, in a chapter which he entitles : various corruptions and superstitions of ike church of Rome. The first of these is, that Catholics " equal the apocryphal with the canonical books" of Scrip- ture :f to which I answer, that the same authority, namely, the authority of the Catholic church, in the fifth century, which decided on the canonical character of the Epistle to the He- brews, the Revelations, and five other books of the New Testa- ment, on the character of which till that time, the Fathers and ecclesiastical writers were not agreed, decided also on the can- nonicity of the Books of Toby, Judith, and five other books uf the Old Testament, being those which the prelate alludes to as apocryphal. If the church of the fifth century deserves to be heard in one part of her testimony, she evidently deserves to be heard in the other part. — His second objection is, that " The Romish church," as he calls the Catkolic churchy has made " a modern addition of five new sacraments, to the two appointed by Christ ; making also the priest's intention necessary to the ii Walton's Prolef. t P. 70 300 Letter XLVUL benefit of them." t have, in the course of these letters, vindi- cated the divine institution of these five sacraments, and have shown, that they are acknowledged to be sacraments no less than the other two, by the Nestorian and Eutychian heretics, &c. who separated from the church almost 1400 years ago, and in short, by all the Christian congregations of the world, except a comparatively few modern ones, called Protestants, in the north of Europe. Is it from ignorance, or wilful misrepresen- tation, that the bishop of London charges " the Romish church with the modem addition of five new sacraments ?" With re- spect to the intention of the minister of a sacrament, I presume there is no sensible person who does not see the essential dif- ference there is between an action that is seriously performedy and the mimicking or mockery of it by a comedian or bufibon. Luther, indeed, wrote, that " the Devil himself would perform a true sacrament, if he used the right matter and form :" but I trust, that you, sir, and my other friends, will not subscribe to such an extravagance. I have also discussed the subjects of relics and miracles, which the prelate next brings forward ; so that it is not necessary for me to say any thing more about them, than that the church, instead of " venerating fictitious relics, and inventing lying miracles," as he most calumniouhly accuses her of doing, is strict to an excess, in examining the proofs of thtm both, as he would learn, if he took pains to in- quire. In short, there are but about two or three articles in his lordship's accumulated charges against his mother churchy w'lich seem to require a particular answer from me at present. One of these is the following: *' Of the same bad tendency is their (the Catholics) engaging such multitudes of people in vows of celibacy and useless retirement from the world, their obliging them to silly austerities and abstinences, of no real value, as matters of great merit."'"' In the first place, /i.e church never engages any person whomsoever in a vow o.f celibacy ; on the contrary, she exerts her utmost power and severest censures, to prevent this obligation from being contracted rashly^ or un- der any undue influence.^ True it is, she teaches, that conti- nency is a state of greater perfection than matrimony ; but so does St. Paul | and Christ himself,^ in words too explicit and forcible to admit of controversy on the part of any sincere Christian. True it is, also, that having the choice of her sacred ■lioisters, she selects those for the service of her altar, and fur • P. 70. t Concil Trid. Seis. xxv. Pe Reg. ^np. 15, 18, 17, IR . 8«e the whole chapter vii. of I Cor. ^ Mat. xix. IS. Litter XLVUL 301 tters, vindi- and have ints no Jess m heretics, rs ago, and ►rid, except iits, in the isrepresen- nish church With re- I presume >ential dif- performed^ )r buffoon, d perform m :" but I bscribe to subjects of rward ; so ore about ; fictitious umniousiy nining the ains to in- icles in his rchf H !iich ent. One cy is their in vows of r obliging value, as e ciiurch ibacyj on : censures, ly, or un- bat conti* y ; but so plicit and y sincere ler sacred r, and fur 18. Bisisting the faithful in their spiritual wants, who voluntarily embrace this more perfect state :* but so has the Establishment expressed her wish to do also, in that very act which allows her clergy to marry.f In like manner, I need go no further than the homily on fasting, or the *' table of Vigils, fasts, and days of abstinence, to be observed in the year," prefixed to The Common Prayer Book, to justify our doctrine and practice, which the bishop finds fault with, in the eyes of every consistent Church-Protestant. I believe the most severe austerities of our saints never surpassed those of Christ's precursor, whom he so much commended,! clothed as he was with hair-cloth, and fed with the locusts of the desert. In a former letter to your society, I have replied to what the^ bishop here says concerning the deposing of kings by the Ro- man pontiff, and have established facts by which it appears, that more princes were actually dispossessed of the whole, or a large part, of their dominions, by the pretended gospel-liberty of the Reformation, within the first fifty years of this being pro- claimed, than the Popes had attempted to depose during the preceding fifteen hundred years of their supremacy. To this accusation another of a more alarming nature is tacked, that of our " annulling the most sacred promises and engagements, when made to the prejudice of the church."^ These are other words for the vile hackneyed calumny of our not keeping faith with heretics.\^ In refutation of this, I might appeal to the doc- trine of our Theologians,ir and to the oaths of the British Ca- tholics ; but I choose rather to appeal to historical facts, and to the practical lessons of the leading men by whom these have been conducted. I have mentioned, that «vhen the Catholic 3ueen Mary came to the throne, a Protestant usurper, lady ane, was set up against her, and that the bishops Cranmer, * The second Council of Carthage, can. 3, and St Epiphanius Har. 48, 59, trace tho discipline of sacerdotal continence up to the Apostles. t " Althougn it were not only better for the estimation of priests and other min» istcrs, to lire cliaste, sole, and separated from women, and tiie bond of marriage, but also they might thereby the better attend to the administration of the Gospel ; and it were to he wished that they would willingly endeavour themselves to a life of chastity, &c." 2 Edw. vi. c. 21. See the injunction of queen Elizabeth against the admission of women into colleges, cathedrals, &c. in Strype's Life of Parker. See likewise a remarkable instance of her rudeness to that archbishop's wife. Jbld. and in Nichol's Progresses, A. D. 1561. X Mat xi. 9. ^ P. 71. H In the Protestant Charter-school Catechism, which is taught by authority, the fullfiwing question and answer occur p. U. " Q. How do Papists treat those whom they call heretics l—K. They hold that faith is not to be kept with horclics, and that the Pope can absolve subjects from their oath of allegiance to thrir Sove- reigns." iD See in particular the Jesuit Becanus Dt Fide Haaretkif Jtrtttandt' 302 UUer XLVIU. Ridley, Latimer, Hooper, Rogers, Poynet, Sandys, and every other Protestant of any note, broke their allegiance and en- gagements to her, for no other reason than because she was a Catholic, and the usurper a Protestant. On the other hand, when Mary was succeeded by her Protestant sister, Elizabeth, though the Catholics were then far more numerous and power- ful than the Protestants, not a hand was raised, nor a seditious sermon preached against her. In the mean time, on the other side of the Tweed, where the new Gospellers had deposed their sovereign, and usurped her power, their apostle Knox publicly preached, that " neither promise nor oath can oblige any man to obey or give assistance to tyrants against God ;"* to which lesson his colleague, Goodman, added : ^' If governors fall from God, to the gallows with them."f A third fellow-labourer in tiie same Gospel cause, Buchanan, maintained, that " princes may be deposed by their people, if they be tyrants against God and his truth, and that their subjects are free from their oaths and obedience."! The same, in substance, were the maxims of Calvin, Beza, and the Huguenots of France, in general : the temporal interest of their religion was the ruling principle of their morality. But, to return to our own country : the ene- mies of church and state having hunted down the earl of Straf- ford, and procured him to be attainted of high treason, the king, Charles I, declared that he could not, in conscience^ concur to hit deathj when the case being referred to the archbishops. Usher and Williams, and three other Anglican bishops, they decided (in spite of his majesty's conscience, and his oath to administer justice in mercy) that he might, in conscienccj send this innocent peer to the block, which he did accordingly.'^ I should like to ask bishop Porteus, whether this decision of his predecessors was not the dispensation of an oath, and the an- nulling of the most sacred of all obligations? In like manner, most of the leading men of the nation, with most of the clergy, having sworn to the Solemn League and Covenant y " for the * In his book addressed to the nobles and people of Scotland. -t ' t De Obedient. - ' t History of Scotland.-— The same was the express doctrine of the Geneva Bi- ble, translated by Coverdale, Goodman, &c. in that city, and in common use among the English Protestants, till king James's reign : for in a note on verse 13 of 2d Mat. these translators expressly say, " A promise ought not to be kept, •where God's honour and preaching of his truth is injured." Hist. Account of Eiig. Translations, by A. Johnson, in Watson's Collrct. vol. iii. p. 93. *) Collier's Church History, vol. ii. p. 801.— On the other hand, when several of the ParliBmcnt's soldiers, who had been taken prisoners at Brentford, had sworn never aRain to bear arms against the king, they were " absolved from that oalh," fea;(a Clurcndun. " by their divines." Cxum. of Meal's Uist. by Urcy,vuL iii. p. tO. Lttter XLVni, 303 osed their pubJicJy 2 any man to Hliich s fall from ibourer in " princes gainst God heir oaths le maxims neral : the ^inciple of : the ene- of Straf- sason, the ce, concur hbishops, ops, they is oath to wee, send »giy4 I on of his J the an- manner, B clergy, ' for the :(! Scneva Bi- ll mon use n verse IS I be kept, ntofEng. several of lad sworn hut oalh," ui.p. 10. liibfe efiectual extirpation of Popery," they wero dispensed with from the keeping of it, by an express clause in the act of uni- formity.* But whereas, by a clause of the oath in the same act, all subjects of the realm, down to constables and school- masters, were obliged to swear, that " It is not lawful, upon any pretence vahatsoever, to take up arms against the king ;" this oath, in its turn, was universally dispensed with, in the churches and in parliament, at the Revohition. I have men- tioned these kyv facts and maxims concerning Protestant dis- pensations of oaths and engagements, in case any of your so- ciety may object, that some Popes have been too free in pro- nouncing such dispensations. Should this have been the case, they alone, personally, and not the Catholic church, were ac- countable for it, both to God and man. I have often wondered, in a particular manner, at the confi- dence with which bishop Porteus asserts and denies facts of an- cient Church History, in opposition to the known truth. An instance of this occurs in the conclusion of the chapter before me, where he says : " The primitive church did not attempt, for several hundreds of years, to make any doctrine necessary, which we do not : as the learned well know from their writ- ings."f The falsehood of this position must strike you, on looking back to the authorities adduced by me from the an- cient fathers and historians, in proof of the several points of controversy which I have maintained : but, to render it still more glaring, I will recur to the histories of AERIUS and VIGILANTIUS, two different heretics of the fourth century. Both St. Epiphanius,! and St. Austin,^^ rank Aerius among the heresiarchs, or founders of heresy, and both give exactly the same account of his three characteristical errors ; the first of which is avowed by all Protestants, namely, that " prayers and sacrifices are not to be offered up for the dead," and the two others by most of them, namely, that " there is no obliga- tion of observing the appointed days of fasting, and that priests ought not to be distinguished, in any respect, from bi- shops." || So far were the primitive Christians from tolerating these heresies, that its supporters were denied the use of a place of worship, and were forced to perform it in forests and ca- verns.ir Vigilantius likewise condemned prayers for the dead, but he equally reprobated prayers to the saints, the honouring ♦ statute 13 and 14 Car. II, cap. 4. t P. 73. X Hajresif 'G- ^ Dc Hacrcs. lom. vi. Ed. Frob. n Ibid. St John Damascen and St. Isidore oqimlly condemn these tcucts as bciclical _ H Flcury's llisl. ad Au. 392. 304 TMter XLVIU. of their relics, and the celibacy of the clergy, together with vows of continence in general. Against these errors, which I need not tell you Dr. Porteus now patronises, as Vigilantius former- ly did, St. Jerom directs all the thunder of his eloquence, de- claring them to be sacrilegious ^ and the author of them to be a detestable heretic,* The learned Fleury observes, that the im- pious novelties of this heretic made no proselytes, and therefore, that there was no need of a council to condemn them.f Fi- nally, to convince yourself, dear sir, how far the ancient fathers were from tolerating different communions or religious tenets in the Catholic church, conformably to the prelate's monstrous system, of a Catholic church, composed of all the discordant and disunited sects in Christendom, be pleased to consult again the passages which I have collected from the works of the former, in my fourteenth letter to your society ; or, what is still more demonstrative, on this point, observe, in ecclesiastical history, how the Quartodecimans, the Novatians,| the Dona- tists, and the Luciferians, though their respective errors are mere molehills, compared with the mountains, which separate the Protestant communions from ours, were held forth as here- tics by the fathers, and treated as such by the church, in her councils. ... ,,. ,,.,:., ,,., ,-,.„. ,..^,,. ;,.. ,. ,■ ,, „. f'f . ( * EpisL 1 and 8, advenus Vigilan. t Ad An. 405. } St Cyprian being consulted about the nature of Novatian's errors, antnrers : " there is no need of a strict inc^uiry what errors he teaches while he teaches out vf lAe cAurcA.** He elsewhere writes: " The church being one, cannot be, at the tame time, within and without. If she be with Novatian, she is not with (Pope) Cornelius ; if she be with Cornelius, Novatian is not in her." Epist 76 ad Mag. -i.ii ' hs%- i,ri '.:A. ^ r 305 ] • with vows lich I need ills Ibrmer- [uence, de- em to be a lat the im- 1 therefore, ^In.f Fi- ent fathers ous tenets monstrous discordant isult again ks of the hat is stil] lesiastical :he Dona- ;rrors are 1 separate 1 as herc- ch, in her r TV j'f J. M. >s, answers t iaehet out ^ t be, at the »yith (Pope) > ad Mag. •|-?vt:>, 'ji, Hi<*««j^Hii»*^. i*j*kmi ^nii uu \m\:-^\':>M% Hit ii^Miv if J :\^W '■)«:i>»'J k!,f ■':»■;■ a fib .iti^V i>p5i: ,«M,{ LETTER XLIX. ^ '^ « 11 V't'i v:J 5«. 1*^^ it Ji To JAMES 13H0WJV, Jun, Esq. . OJV RELIGIOUS PERSECUTIOJ^. / -HM i?(.J ,<{- hs'f ar^;;*n. ; 1 :*J -;' II .■.,) '■■,! Dear Sir, I PROMISED to treat the subject of religious persecution apart, a subject of the utmost import-ance hi itself, and which is spoken of by the bishop of London in the following terms : " They, the Romish church, zealously maintain their claim of punishing whom they please to call heretics, with penalties, imprisonment, tortures, death."* Another writer, whom I have quoted abpve, says, that this church " breathes the very spirit of cruelty and murder ;"f indeed most Protestant controvertists seem to vie with each other in the vehemence and bitterness of the terms by which they endeavour to affix this most odious charge, of cruelty and murder, on the Catholic church. This is the fa- vourite topic of preachers, to excite the hatred of their hearers against their fellow Christians : this is the last resource of baf- fled oratorical hypocrites : if you admit the Papists^ they cry, to equal rights , thesn wretches must and will certainly murder yoUf as soon as they can : the fourth Lateran council has esta- blished the principle, and the bloody queen Mary has acted upon it ... .-•..■ -'.V - I. To proceed regularly in this matter : I begin with ex- pressly denying the bishop of London's charge ; namely, that the Catholic church " maintains a claim of punishing heretics with penalties, iuiprisonment, tortures, and deuih ;" and I assert, on the contrary, that she disclaims the power of so doing. Pope Leo the Great, who flourished in the fourth century, writing about the Manichean heretics, who, as he asserted, " laid all modesty aside, prohibiting the matrimonial connexion, and sub- verting all law, human and divine," says, that " the ecclesiastical lenity was content, even in this case, with the sacerdotal judg- ment, and avoided all sanguinary punishments,"! however the fcecular emperors might inflict them for reasons of state. In the same century, two Spanish bishops, Ithucius and Idacius, having ♦ P. 71. t Epiiit. ad Turib. t De Coetlogon's Seasonnble Caution, p. IS. (K)6 Letter XLIX, interfered in the capital punishment of certain Priscillian here- tics, both St. Ambrose and St. Martin refused to hold commu- nion with them, even to gratify an emperor, whose clemency they were soliciting in behalf of certain clients. Long before their time, Tertnllian had taught, that " It does not belong to religion to force religion ;"* and a considerable time after it, when St. Austin and his companions, the envoys of Pope Gre- gory the Great, had converted our king Ethelbert, to the Chris- tian faith, they particularly inculcated to him, not to use forci- iile means to induce any of his subjects to follow his example. f lint what need of more authorities on this head, since our canon law, as it stood in ancient times, and as it still stands, renders all those who have actively concurred to the death or mutila- tion of any human being, whether Catholic or heretic, Jew or Pagan, even in a just war, or by exercising the art of surgery, or by judicial proceedings, irregular^ that is to say, such per- sons cannot be promoted to holy orders, oi exercise those orders, if they have actually received them. Nay, when an ecclesiastical judge or tribunal has, after due examination, pro- nounced that any person, accused of obstinate heresy, is actually guilty of it, he is required by the church, expressly, to declare in her name, that her power extends no further than such de- cision ; and, in case the obstinate heretic is liable, by the laws of the state, to suffer death or mutiktJon, he is required to pray for his pardon. Even the council Oi' Constance, in condemn- ing John Huss of heresy, declared that its power extended no further. J II. But, whereas many heresies are subversive of the esta- blished governments, the public peace, and natural morality, it does not belong to the church to prevent princes and states from exercising their just authority in repressing and punishing them, when this is judged to be the case ; nor would any cler- gyman incur irregularity by exhorting princes and magistrates to provide for those important objects, and the safety of the church itself, by repressing its disturbers, provided he did not concur to the death or mutilation of any particular disturber. Thus it appears, that though there have been persecuting laws in many Catholic states, the church itself, so far from claiming^ actually disclaims the power of persecuting. III. But Dr. Porteus signifies,'^ that the church itself has claimed this power in the tliird canon of the fourth Lateran ♦ Ad Scapul. t Rod. T.cc. Hist. 1. i. c. 26. * t Seas. XV. Sec Labbe's Concil. t. xii. p. 129. ^ P. 47. Letter XLtX. 30^ Ilian here- d commu- clemency ng before belong to >e after it, ope Gre- the Chris- use forci- Jxample.f aur canon renders r mutila- c, Jew or surgery, such per- ise those when an tion, pro- 5 actually o declare such de- the laws d to pray :ondemn- ended no the esta- >rality, it nd states unishing iny cler- gistrates y of the ' did not isturber. ing laws laimingf self has Lateral) council, A. D. 1215, bythe tenour of which, tempor.. iords air* magistrates were required to exterminate all heretics from their respective territories, under pain of these being confiscated to their sovereign prince, if they were laymen, and to their several churches, in case they were clergymen. From this canon, it has been, a hundred times over, argued against Catholics, of late years, not only that their church claims a right to exter- minate heretics, but also requires those of her communion to aid and assist in this work of destruction, at all times, and in all places. But it must first be observed, tcho were present at this council, and by whose authority these decrees, of a temporal nature, were passed. There were then present, besides the Pope and the bishops, either in person or by their ambassadors, the Greek and the Latin emperors; the kings of England, France, Hungary, the Sicilies, Arragon, Cyprus, and Jerusa- lem ; and the representatives of a vast many other principalities and states; so that, in fact, this council was a congress of Christendom, temporal, as well as spiritual. We must, in the next place, remark the principal business, which drew them to- gether. It was the common cause of Christianity and human nature; namely, the extirpation of the Manichean heresy, which taught, -that there were two first principles, or Deities; one of them the creator of devils, of animal flesh, of wine, of the Old Testament, he. ; the other, the author of good spirits, of the New Testament, &,c. ; that unnatural lusts were lawful, but not the propagation of the human species; that perjury was permitted to tliem, &;c.* This detestable heresy, which had caused so much wickedness and bloodshed in the preceding centuries, broke out with fresh fury, in the twelfth century, throughout difl'erent parts of Europe, more particularly in the neighbourhood of Albi, in Lnnguedoc, were they were support- ed by the powerful counts of Tholouse, Comminges, Foix, and other feudatory princes ; as also by numerous bodies of ban- ditti, called Rotarii, whom they hired for this purpose. Thus strengthened, they set their sovereigns at defiance, carrying fire and sword through their dominions, murdering their subjects, particularly the clergy, burning the churches and monasteries, and, in short, waging open war with them, and, at the same time, with Christianity, morality, and human nature itself; casting the Bibles into the jakes, profaning the altar-plate, and * See the Protestant historian Mosheim's account of the the shocking vidadon of decency and other crimes of which the Aibigenses, Brethren of the Free Spirit, lie. were guiltv in the 13th century. Vol. iii. p. 284. 29* 806 Letter XUX, practising their detestable rites for tlie extinction of the human species. It was to put an end to these horrors, tliat the great Lateran council was held, in the year 1215, when the heresy itself was condemned by the proper authority of the church, and the lands of the feudatory lords, who protected it, were declared to be forfeited to the sovereign princes, of whom they were held, by an authority derived from those sovereign princes. The decree of the council regarded only the prevailing heretics oj that time^ who, though " wearing diflerent faces," being indif- ferently called Albigenses, Catliari, Popllcolfe Paterlni, Bul- gari, Bacomilii, Beguini, Beguardi, and Brethrew of the Free Spirit, &c. were " all tied together by the tails," as their coun- cil expresses it, like Sampson's foxes, in the same band of Manicheism.* Nor was this exterminating canon ever put in force against any other heretics except the Albigenses, nor even against them, except in the case of the above named counts ; it was never so much as published, or talked of, in these islands : so little have Protestants to fear from their Ca- tholic fellow-subjects, by reason of the third canon of the coun- cil of Lateran. f ,; ; 5 / ;1 IV. But they are chiefly the Smithfield fires of queen Mary's reign, which furnish matter for the inexhaustible declamation of Protestant controvertists, and the unconquerable prejudices of the Protestant populace against the Catholic religion, as " breathing the very spirit of cruelty and murder," according to the expression of the above quoted orators. Nevertheless, I have unanswerably demonstrated elsewhere, J that, " if queen Mary was a persecutor, it was not in virtue of the tenets of her religion that she persecuted." I observed, that during almost two years of her reign, no Protestant was molested on account of his religion ; that in the instructions, which the Pope sent her for her conduct on the throne, there is not a word to re- commend persecution ; nor is there one word in the synod, which the Pope's legate. Cardinal Pole, held at that time, as Burnet remarks, in favour of persecution, This representative of his holiness even opposed the persecution project, with all * For a succinct, yet clear account of Manicheism, see Bossuet's Variations, Book xi ; also, for many additional circumstances relating to it, see Letters to a Prebendary, Letter IV. t For an account of the rebellions and antisocial doctrine and practices of the Wickliffites and Hussites, see the last qtioted work. Letter IV ; also History of Winchester, vol. i. p. 296. X Letters to a Prebendary, liOtter TV, on persecution ; also History of Win Chester, vol. i. p. 354, &c. See in the former, p. 149, &c. proofs of the infidelity of the famous martyrolog:ist, John Fox, and of the great abatemnats which ar« to. be made in his account of the Protestant gufferer*' -.i ;.:. , Letter XLIX. 309 Ef Iiiiman le great esy itself and the ;lared to re held, s. The retics oj ig indif- ni, Bul- he Free ir coun- 3and nf r put in ses, nor named of, in leir Ca- e coun- Mary's imation ?judices fion, as cording 'theless, f queen 5 of her almost account pe sent 1 to re- synod, imo, as ntatlve ith all iriations, ters to a !S of the story of )f Win ti fidelity [i ar« to his influence, as did king Philip's chaplain also, who even preached against it, and defied the advocates of it to produce an authority from Scripture in its favour. In a word, we have the arguments made use of in the queen's council, by those ad- vocates for persecution, Gardiner, Bonner, &ic. by whose ad- vice it was adopted ; yet none of them pretended, that the doc- trine of the Catholic church required such a measure. On the contrary, all their arguments are grounded on motives of state policy. Indeed, it cannot be denied, that the first Protestants, in this, as in other countries, were possessed of, and actuated by a spirit of violence and rebellion. Lady Jane was set up and supported in opposition to the daughters of king Henry, by all the chief men of the party, both churchmen and laymen, as I have observed. Mary had hardly forgiven this rebellion, when a fresh one was raised against her, by the duke of Suffolk, sir Thomas Wyat, and all the leading Protestants. In the mean time, her life was attempted by some of them, and her death was publicly prayed for by others ; while Knox and Goodman, on the other side of the Tweed, were publishing books Against the Monstrous regiment of Women^ and exciting the people of this country, as well as their own, to put their Jezabel to death. Still, I grant, persecution was not the way to diminish the number or the violence of the enthusiastic insur- gents. With toleration and prudence, on the part of the go- vernors, the paroxysm of the governed would quickly have sub- sided. < , *(!W *h\ / V. Finally ; whatever may be said of the intolerance of Mary, I trust that this charge will not be brought against the next Catholic sovereign, James II. I have elsewhere * shown, that, when duke of York, he used his best endeavours to get the act, De Heretico Comburendo, repealed, and to afford an asy- lum to the Protestant exiles, who flocked to England, from France, on the revocation of the edict of Nantz, and, in short, that, when king, he lost his crown in the cause of toleration : his Declaration of Liberty of Conscience, having been the deter- mining cause of his deposition. But what need of words to dis- prove the odious calumny, that Catholics " breathe the spirit of cruelty and murder," and are obliged, by their religion, to be persecutors, when every one of our gentry, who has made the tour of France, Italy, and Germany, has experienced the contrary ; and has been as cordially received by the Pope him- self, in his metropolis of Rome, where he is both prince ami I I il History of Winchester, vol. i. p. 437, Letters to a Prebendary, p. 376t 4 310 Letter XLIX. bishop, in the character of an English Protestant, as if he wene known to be the most zealous Catholic ! — Still, 1 fear, there are some individuals in your society, as there are many other Pro- testants of my acquaintance elsewhere, who cling fast to this charge against Catholics, of persecution, as the last resource ^or their own intolerance ; and, it being true, that Catholics have, in some times and places, unsheathed the sword against the heterodox, these persons insist upon it, that it is an essential part of the Catholic religion to persecute. On the other hand, many Protestants, either from ignorance or policy, nowadays, claim for themselves, exclusively, the credit of toleration. As an instance of this, the bishop of Lincoln writes : " 1 consider toleration as a mark of the true church, and as a principle, re- commended by the most eminent of our reformers and divines."* Id these circumstances, I know but of one argument to stop the mouths of such disputants, which is to prove to them, that per- secution has not only been more generally practised by Pro- testants than by Catholics, but also, that it has been more warmly defended and supported by the most eminent " Refornv> ers and divines'* of their party, than by their opponents. ',.. I. The learned Bergier defies Protestants to mention so much fis a town, in which their predecessors, on becoming masters of it, tolerated a single Catholic in it.f Rousseau, who was edu- cated a Protestant, says, that " the Reformation was intolerant from it cradle, and its authors universally persecutors."! Bayle, who was a Calvinist, has published much the same thing. Fi- nally, the Huguenot minister, Jurieu, acknowledges, that " Ge- neva, Switzerland, the Republics, electors and princes of the empire, England, Scotland, Sweden, and Denmark, had all employed the power of the state to abolish Popery, and esta- blish the Reformation. "§ But to proceed to other more posi- tive proofs of M'hat has been said ; the first father of Protest- antism, finding his new religion, which he had submitted to the Pope, condemned by him, immediately sounded the trumpet of persecution and murder against the pontiff, and all his support- ers, in the following terms : " If we send thieves to the gallows, and robbers to the block, why do we not fall on those masters of perdition, the Popes, cardinals, and bishops, with all our force, and not give over till we have bathed our hands in their blood .^"11 He elsewhere calls the Pope, " a mad wolf, against ♦ Charge in 18U. t letters de la Mont. \ Tab. Lett auoted bj Boaiuet, Avertiss, p. 683. I Ad Silvcst. Percir. t Trnit llUt. et Dof mat Letter XLIX, JIU if he wene , there are ither Fro- st to this resource Catholics d against essential her hand, lowadays, tion. As consider ciple, re- iivines."* stop the that per- by Pro- ven more ' Reform- its. 1 so much nasters of was edu- intolerant X Bayle, ing. Fi- hat " Ge- es of the , had all and esta- [>re posi- ' Protest- ed to the umpct of support- gallows, 3 masters I all our i in their ^, against whom every one ought to take arms, without waiting for an order from the magistrate." He adds, " if you fall before the beast has received its mortal wound, you will have but one thing to be sorry for, that you did not bury your dagger in its breast. All that defend him must be treated like a band of robbers, be they kings or be they Cwsars."* By these and similar incentive i, with which the works of Luther abound, he not only excited the Lutherans themselves to propagate their religion by fire and sword against the emperor and other Ca-» tholic princes, but also gave occasion to all the sanguinary and frantic scenes, which the Anabaptists played, at the same time, through the lower part of Germany. Coeval with these was the civil war, which another arch-reformer, Zuinglius, lighted up in Switzerland, by way of propagating his peculiar system, and the persecution which he raised equally against the Catholics and the Anabaptists. Even the moderate Melancthon wrote a book in defence of religious persecution,! and the conciliatory Bucer, who became professor of divinity at Cambridge, not satisfied with the burning of the heretic, Servetus, preached that " his bowels ought to have been torn out, and his body chop- ped to pieces."J '• : > . i •: i .. i.v/l IL But the great champion of persecution, every one knows, was the founder of the second great branch of Protestantism, John Calvin. Not content with burning Servetus, beheading Gruet, and persecuting other distinguished Protestants, Castallo, Bolsec, and Gentilis, (who being apprehended in the neigh- bouring Protestant canton of Berne, was put to death there) he set up a consistorial inquisition at Geneva, for forcing every one to conform to his opinions, and required, that the magis- trates should punish whomever this consistory condemned. He was succeeded in his spirit, as well as in his ofiice, by Beza, who wrote a folio work in defence of persecution.'^ In this he shows, that Luther, Melancthon, Builinger, Capito, no less than Calvin, had written works, exj)ressly in defence of this prin- ciple, which, accordingly, was firmly maintained by Calvin'i followers, particularly in France. Bossuet refers to the public records, of Nismcs, Monfpelier and other places, in proof of the directions, issued by the Calvinist consistories to their generals, for " forcing the Papists to embrace the Reformation by taxes, quartering soldiers upon them, demolishing their houses, &ic." I ♦ Theses npud Sleid. A. D. 1515. Opera Luth. torn. I. t Ue/i), De IluM-et. piiiiiciid. t Ge,. Hian.lt. Hist. .\\mr,. Hofor. Pais Has, vol. I. p. 454. ^ De llxrclu-tspiinitMitlistu ( ivili MaKiHtrutu. Ulc. A Thuod. Beza. M 912 Letter XLIX, and he says, " the wells into which the Catholics were flung, and the instruments of torture which were used at the first men- tioned city, to force them to attend the Protestant sermons, are things of public notoriety."* In fact, who has not read of the infamous baron D'Adrets, whose savage sport it was, to torture nnd murder Catholics, in a Catholic kingdom, and who forced iiis son literaliv to wash his hands in their blood f Who has noi heard g: mc Mihuman Jane, queen of Navarre, who massa- / ' cred priests and religious persons, by hundreds, merely on ac- count of their sacred character ? In short. Catholic France, throughout its extent, and during a great number of years, was ' n scene of desolation and slaughter, from the unrelenting per- secution of its Huguenot subjects. Nor was the spectacle dis- similar in the Low Countries, when Calvinism got a footing in them. Their first synod, held in 1574, equally proscribed the Catholics and the Anabaptists, calling upon the magistrates to support their decrees,f which decrees were renewed in several subsequent synods. I have elsewhere quoted a late Protestant writer, who, on the authority of existing public records, de- scribes the horrible torments with which Vandermerk and Sonoi, two generals of the prince of Orange, put to death incredible numbers of Dutch Catholics. J Other writers furnish more ample materials of the same kind.^ But while the Calvinist ministers continued to stimulate their magistrates to redoubled severities against the Catholics, for which purpose, among other means, they translated into Dutch and published the above-mentioned work of Beza, a new object of their persecu- tion arose in the bosom of their own society ; Arminius, Vos- sius, Episcopius, and some other divines, supported by the il- lustrious statesmen, Barnevelt and Grotius, declared against the more rigorous of Calvin's maxims. They would not admit, that God decrees men to be wicked, and then punishes them everlastingly for what they cannot help ; nor that many persons are in his actual grace and favour, while they are immersed in the most enormous crimes. For denying this, Barnevelt was belieaded,!! Grotius was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and all the remonstrant clergy, as they were called, were ba- nished, at the requisition of the synod of Dort, from their fami- lies and their country, with circumstances of ihe greatest cniplty. li'Hi I \ Brandt, vol. I. p. 227. • Varlat L. x. m. 52. t V. 2H3. Letters to a Prebenel p. 103. ^ See the learned Ks(insN IliMory of tlie Martyrs of (lorciim; Dc Brandt, kn. i DtoJaU, quul«d by BraiiUt, suyHtlail the cunouu of Dcrt carried odtlic head of IVu-ncvelt. In speak cuting d( and Zuin while bo tisls. B kingdom has signi Protestai Jaws, wl former, mentions in Swed( liaci beer himself \ III. 1 island : murdert' riotously else, wlii tumultu( iigion w to caplt; gers," s of tolera was Job and serr tion, wli that " is to a a high ¥ ing to d testnnts nnd to .lexabel' into Ell consriei bel, Ma nnd all W'illox, ♦ Span( t (Jilb. I IliKir IJ SI nil r 5) Citci were flung, e first men- ermons, are read of the , to torture who forced Who has who massa- rely on ac- lie France, f years, was en ting per- lectacle dis- a footing in )scribed the igistrates to d in several ; Protestant ecords, de- and Sonoi, 1 incredible rnish more le Calvinist ) redoubled )se, among blislied the Mr persecu- linius, Vos- i by the il- against the not admit, lishes them my personn nmersed in •ncvelt was irisonment, , were ba- their fami- jst cruelty. 7. Bnnrlt, tio. i\' tlio liuud jf Letter XLIX. 313 In speaking of Lutlieranlsm, I have passed by many perse^ cuting decrees and practices of its adherents against Calvmista and Zninglians. and many more of Calvinists against Lutherans; while both parties agreed in showing no mercy to the Anabap- tists. Before 1 quit the continent, I must mention the Lutheran kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden, in both which, as Jurieau has signified above, the Catholic religion was extirpated, and Protestantism established by means of rigorous, persecuting laws, which denonnred the punishment of death against the former. Professor Messenius, who wrote about the year 1600, mentions four Catholics who had recently been put to death, in Sweden, on account of their religion, and eight others who had been imprisoned and tortured on that account, of whom he himself was one.* HI. To pass over now, to the northern part of our own island : the first rcforniers of Scotland, having deliberately murdert' i Cardinal J3eaton, archbishop of St. Andrew's,f and riotously destroyed the churches, monasteries, and every thing else, whiih they termed monuments of Popery, assembled in a tumultuous and illegal manner, and before even their own re- ligion was established by law, they condemned the Catholics to capital punishment for the exercise of theirs : " such stran- gers," says Robertson, " were men, at that time, to the spirit of toleration and the laws of humanity !" J Their chief apostle was John Knox, an apostate friar, who, in all his publications and sermons, maintained, that " it is not birth, but God's elec- tion, which confers a right to the throne and to magistracy;" that " no promise or oath, made to an enemy of the truth, that is to a Catholic, is binding ;" and that " every such enemy, in a high station, is to be deposed. "<^ Not content with threaten- ing to depose her, he told his queen, to her face, that the Pro- testants had a right to take the sword of justice into their hands, and to punish h^r, as Samuel slew Agag, and as Elias slew .ley-abel's prophets. |j Conformably with this doctrine, he wrote into England, that " the nobility and people were bound in conscience, not only to withstand the proceedings of that Jeza- bel, Mary, whom they call queen, but also to put her to death, and all her priests with her. "IT His fellow apostles, Goodman, W'illox, Buchanan, Rough, Black, k,c. constantly inculcated to ♦ Spandia lUustrat (luofcd by Le Biun. Mess. Explic. t. iv. p. 40. t (Jilh. Stuart s Hist, of H«>f. in Scot. vol. i. p. M, kr. t Ilifttot'Srollund, An. ir)»!0. ^ .See Collier's lice, Hiitt. vol ii.p 448i II .Stuarts Hist. vol. i. p. .fift. H Cited by Dr, rulci':jun, in his Jcrun. and Rubcl. . i . 2 II :i 314 I^Jter XLIX. the people the same seditious and persecuting doctrine ; and the Presbyterian ministers, in general, earnestly pressed for the execution of their innocent queen, who was accused of a mur- der, perpetrated by their own Protestant leaders.* The same unrelenting intolerance was seen among " the most moderate" of their clergy, " when they were assembled by order of king James and his council, to inquire whether the Catholic earls of Huntly, Errol, and their followers, on making a proper con- cession, might not be admitted into the church, and be exempt from further punishment?" These ministers then answered, that " Though the gates of mercy are always open for those who repent, yet, as these noblemen had been guilty of idolatry, (the Catholic religion) a crime deserving death by the laws both of God and man, the civil magistrate could not legalJy pardon them, and that, though the church should absolve them, it was his duty to inflict punishment upon them."f But we need not be surprised at any severity of the Presbyterians against Catholics, when, among other penances, ordained by public authority, against their own members who should break the fast of Lent, whipping in the church was one. J IV. The father of the Church of England, under the authori- ty of the protector Seymour, duke of Somerset, was confessedly Thomas Cranmer, whom Henry VIII. raised to the archbishop- ric of Canterbury; of whom it is diflicult to say, whether his obsequiousness to the passions of his successive masters, Henry, Seymour, and Dudley, or his barbarity to the sectaries who were in his power, was the more odious. There is this circum- stance, which distinguishes him from almost every other perse- cutor, that he actively promoted the capital punishment, not only of those who differed from him in religion, but also of those who agreed with him in it. It is admitted by his advo- cates,^ that he was instrumental, during the reign of Henry, in bringing to the stake the Protestants, Lambert, Askew, Frith, and Allen, besides condemning a great many others to it, for denying the corporal presence of Christ in the sacrament, which he disbelieved himself ;|| and it is equally certain, that during the reign of the child Edward, he continued to convict Arians and Anabaptists capitally, and to press for their execution. Two of these, Joan Knell and George Van Par, he got actually t Robertson's Hist. An. 1596. ♦ Rtuart'n Hist. vol. i. p. 255 t bluarl, vol. ii. p. U4. ^ Fox, ArlH i\iu\ Momim. FiiIIit's Church Hist. b. v, II Sci! LcUcrs to a I'rcb. i). SiOli. burfit: them, ought t( eminent bishop '. cutors, I no less Upon Englan( l)uttress ed, by shown, tholics ' the men for almr condemt hundred tions, ar for heai When tc dreds of driven ii appear, grievous proper d Nor was numbers into En{ brethren tiere, as try. T. win Sam cation. II to their twenty-8 ♦ Bumc t Seoth in Letters \ t Certui Bufllred fo treason co wero tniiti re«t[KM*.t to ^ Se«le •' Ocr. 1 'Letter XUX, 315 ine ; and the ssed for the d of a mur- The same ; moderate" der of king olic earls of proper con- l be exempt I answered, en for those of idolatry, )y the laws not legalJy solve them, f But we •esbyterians , ordained kvho should ine.| he authori- confessedly rchbishop- ^vhether his ers, Henry, taries who his circum- ther perse- hnient, not )ut also of y his advo- Henry, in " '■ Ucr. Brandt, Hist. Ucforui. Abrcg.'vol. i. p. 23i. • • , .. 'Ij i 30 .- ■ ,-i I '* niG Letter XLIX, were so intimidated as to recant their opinions, some were scourged, two of them, Peterson and Terwort, were burnt to death in Srnithfield, and the rest banished.^ Besides these foreigners, the English Dissenters were also grievously perse- cuted. Several of them, such as Thacker, Copping, Green- wood, Barrow, Penry, &c. were put to death, wiiich rigiiurs they ascribed principally to the bishops, particularly to Parker, Aylmer, Sandys, and Whitgift.f The last named, they accused of being the chief author of the famous inquisitorial court, called the Star Chamber, which court, in addition to all its other vexations and severities, employed the rack and torture, to extort confession.! The doctrines and practice of persecu- tion, in England, did not end with the race of Tudor. James I, though he was reproached with being favourable to the Ca- tholics, nevertheless signed warrants for twenty-five of them to be hanged and quartered, and sent one hundred and twenty- eight of them into banishment, barely on account of their re- ligion, besides exacting the 6ne of 20/. per month from those who did not attend the church service. Still he was repeatedly called upon by parliament to put the penal laws in force with greater rigour ; in order, say they, " to advance the glory of Almighty God, and the everlasting honour of your majesty ;"<^ and he was warned by archbishop Abbot, against tolerating Catholics, in the following terms : " Your majesty hath pro- pounded a toleration of religion. By your act you labour to set up that most damnable and heretical doctrine of the church of Rome, the whore of Babylon ; and thereby draw down upon the kingdom and yourself, God's heavy wrath and indigna- tiou."|| In the mean time the Puritans complained loudly of the persecution, which they endured from the court of High Commission, and pirticularly from archbishop Bancroft, and the bishops Nealo, of Litchfield, and King, of London. They charged the former of these, with not only condemning Edward Wightman for his opinions, but also, with getting the king's warrant for his execution, who was accordingly burnt at Lich- field ; and the latter, with treating, in the same way, Bartholo- mew Legat, who was consumed in Srnithfield. IF The same unrelenting spirit of persecution prevailed in the addresses of parliiment, and of many bishops to Charles 1, which bad dis- * Brandt, vol 1. p. 234. Hist, of Churches of Engt and Scotl. vol. il p. 199. t Ihid. I Mosheim, vol. iv. p. 40. ^ Rushworth's Collect, vol. i. p. 141. || Hushworth's Collect 51 Chandler's Introduct. to Liinborche's Hist, of Inquis. p. 80. Neal*s Hitt of Purtt. vol. ii. p« '•'S. Ltiter XLIX. 317 some were re burnt to sides these usiy perse- ng, Green- cli rigiiurs to Parker, ey acrused rial court, to all its nd torture, )f persecu- )r. James to the Ca- '6 of them nd twenty- >f their re- from those repeatedly force with e glory of majesty;"^ tolerating hath pro- 1 labour to the church Jown upon d indigna- ! loudly of t of High icroft, and )n. They ig Edward the king's It at Lich- Bartholo- The same Idresscs of h had dis- L p. 199. Bt iealtlliitof graced those presented to his father : one of these, signed by the renowned archbishop Usher, and eleven other Irish bishop!^ of the establishment, declares, that " to give toleration to Pa- pists, is to become accessary to superstition, idolatry, and the perdition of souls ; and that, therefore, it is a grievous sin."* At length the Presbyterians, and Independents, getting the up- per hand, had an opportunity of giving full scope to their characteristic intolerance. Their divines, being assembled ai Sion college, condemned, as an error, the doctrine of tolera- tion, " under the abused term," as they expressed it, '* of li- berty of conscience."! Conformably with this doctrine, they procured from their parliament a number of persecuting acts, from those of fining, up to those of capital punishment. The objects of them were not only Catholics, but also church of England men,| Quakers, Seekers, and Arians. In the meau time, they frequently appointed national fasts to atone for their pretended guilt, in being too tolerant.^ Warrants for the exe- cution of four English Catholics, were extorted from the king, while he was in power, and near twenty others were publicly executed under the parliament and the protector. This hypo- critical tyrant afterwards invading Ireland, and being bent ou exterminating the Catholic population there, persuaded his boldiers, that they had a divine commission for this purpose, as the Israelites had to exterminate the Canaanites.|| To make' an end of the clergy, he put the same price upon a priest's as upon a wolfs head.lT Those Puritans who, previously to the civil war, had sailed to North America, to avoid persecution^ set up a far more cruel one there, particularly against the Qua- kers, whipping them, cropping their ears, boring their tongues with a hot iron, and hanging them. We have the names of four of these sufferers, one of them a woman, who were executed at Boston.** ' '»<-' IV. The Catholics had behaved with unparalleled loyalty to the king and constitution, during the whole war which the Puritans waged against these. It has even been demonstrat- ed,*! I that three-fifths of the noblemen and gentlemen who lo^t their lives on the side of royalty, were Catholics, and that more than half of the landed property, confiscated by the rebels, be- . ft n I ( * Leland*8 Hist., of Irelund, vol. li. p, 483. Neal*s Hist. vol. ii. p. 469. t Hist, of Churches of Kng. und ScotI, vol. iii. t Ibid. f, Ibid, Ncal's Hist. II Anderson's iloyul Goneal. quoted Ity Curry, vol. ii. p. 11. f Ibid. p. 6.1. ♦* Noal's lii.st. ofCliurciies. * tJ Lord CiiMtlcuaiu's Cutholit' .\pology. ■!'. ] did Letter XUX, longed to the Catholics; add to this, that they were chiefly in- strumental in saving Charles II, after his defeat at Worcester; hence there was reason to expect, that the restoration of the king and constitution, would have brought an alleviation, if not an end of their sufferings : but the contrary proved to be the case : for then all parties seem to have combined to make them the common object of their persecuting spirit and fury. In proof of this, I need allege nothing more than that two different parliaments voted the reality of Oates^s Plot ! and that eighteen innocent and loyal Catholics, one of them a peer, suffered the death of traitors, on account of it : to say nothing of seven other priests, who, about that time, were hanged and quartered for the mere e\ercise of their priestly functions. Among the absurdities of that sanguinary plot, such as those of shooting the king with silver bullets, and invading the island with an army of pilgrims from Compostella, &c.* it was not the least to pretend, that the Catholics wished to kill the kins at all ; that king whom they had heretofore saved in Staffordshire, and whom they well knew to be secretly devoted to their religion ; but any pretext was good which would serve the purposes of a persecuting faction. These purposes were to exclude Catholics not only from the throne, but also from the smallest degree of political power, down to that of a constable, and to shut the doors of both houses of parliament against them. The faction succeeded in its first design by the Test Act, and in its second, by the act requiring the Declaration against Popery ; both ob- tained at a period of national delirium and fury. What the spirit of the clergy was, at that time, with respect to the op- pressed Catholics, appeared at their solemn procession at sir Edmundbury Godfrey's funeral,f and still appears in the three folio volumes of invective and misrepresentation then published, under the title of A Preservative against Popery. On the other hand, such was the unchristian hatred of the Dissenters against the Catholics, that they promoted the Test Act with all their power, J though no less injurious to themselves than to the Ca- tholics ; and on every occasion, they refused a toleration which might extend to the latter^ There is no need of bringing down the history of persecution in this country to a later period than the revolution, at which time, as I observed before, a Ca- tholic king was deposed, because he would not be a persecutor. t North\s Exam. Echard. ' .it ♦ Krhanrs Hist. ,„„.... .,-.^» --. ,,,..,,^ t Neal's Hist, of Puritans, vol iv. Hist, of Churches, vol. iii. , , .^ ,^ , 4 Ibid. ,,,,; 1, ,,i .^;,,.;i.. .',,,^„, ,.,j.. ,.,„ i Letter XLIX. chiefly In* Vorcester ; on of the tion, if not to be the lake them fury. In o diiierent t eighteen iffered the of seven quartered mong tho ' shooting i with an the least s at all; inire, and religion; )oses of a Catholics degree of, » shut the 10 faction s second, both ob- IVhat the, o the op- on at sir the three ublished, the other $ against all their t the Ca- m which bringing !r period e, a Ca- 'secutor. Iii>(r,f * ■• ...jJ • •' .' or >. v.. I t m Suffice it to say, that the number of penal laws against the pro- fessors of the ancient roligion, and founders of the constitution of this country, continued to increase in every reign, till that of his present majesty. In the course of this reign most of the old persecuting laws have been repealed, but the two last men- tioned, enacted in a mi^ment of delirium, which Hume repre- sents as our greatest national disgrace, 1 mean the impractica- ble Test Act, and the unintelligible Declaration against Popery , are rigidly adhered to under two groundless pretexts. The first of these is, that they are necessary for the support of the established church : and yet it is undeniable, that this church hud maintained its ground, and had flourished much more du- ring the period which preceded these laws, than it has ever done since that event. The second pretext is, that the with- holding of honours and emoluments is not persecution. On this point, let a Protestant dignitary of first rate talents be heard : " We agree, that persecution, merely for conscience sake, is against the genius of the gospel : and so is any law for depriving men of their natural and civil rights, which they claim as men. We are also ready to allow, that the smallest negative discouragements, for uniformity's sake, are so many persecutions. An incapacity by law for any man to be made a judge or a colonel, merely on point of conscience, is a nega- tive discouragement, and, consequently, a real persecution," &c.* In the present case, however, the persecution which Ca- tholics sufler from the disabilities in question, does not consist so much in their being deju'ived of those common privileges and advantages, as in their being held out by the legislature, as un- worthy of them, and thus being reduced to the condition of an inferior east, in their own country, the country of freedom; this they deeply feel, and cannot help feeling. V. But to return to my subject : I presume, that if the facts and reflections, which I have stated in this letter, had occurred to the R. Rev. prelates, mentioned at the beginning of it, they would have lowered, if not quite altered, their tone on the pre- sent subject : the bishop of London would not have charged Catholics with claiming a right to punish those whom they call heretics, " with penalties, imprisonment, tortures, and death :" nor would the bishop of Lincoln have laid down " toleration as a mark of the true church, and as a principle, recommended by the most eminent reformers and (Protestant) divines." At all events, I promise myself, that a due consideration of the u 30* Dean Swift's works, vol. viii. p. 56 Letter XLIX. points here suggested, will efface the remaining prejudices of certain persons of your society against the Catholic church, on the score of her alleged " spirit of persecution, and of her sup- posed claim to punish the errors of the mind with fire find sword." They must have seen, that she does not claim, but that, in her very general councils, she has disclaimed all power of this nature ) and that, in pronouncing those to be obstinate heretics, whom she finds to be such, she always pleads for mercy, in their behalf, when they are liable to severe punish- [/ ment from the secular power : a conduct which many eminent Protestant Churchmen, were far from imitating, in similar cir- cumstances. They must have seen, moreover, that, Jf perse- cuting laws have been made and acted upon by the princes and magistrates in many Catholic countries, the same conduct has been uniformly practised in every country, from the Alps to the Arctic Circle, in which Protestants, of any description, have acquired the power of so doing. But, if, after all, the friends alluded to, should not admit of any material difference, on one side or the other, in this matter, I will here point out to them two discriminating circumstances of such weight, as must, at once, decide the question about persecution in disfa- vour of Protestants. " ;";* v'- v'^'^M'"'' "^^ .?.no»iim^TV| „ In the first place, when Catholic states and princes have per- secuted Protestants, it was done in favour of an ancient religion^ which had been established in their country, perhaps, a thou- sand or fifteen hundred years, and which had long preserved the peace, order, and morality of their respective subjects ; and when, at the same time, they clearly saw, that any attempt to alter this religion would, unavoidably, produce incalculable dis- orders, and sanguinary contests among them. On the other hand, Protestants, every where, persecuted in behalf of neMi systems, in opposition to the established laws of the church, and of the respective states. Not content with vindicating their own freedom of worship, they endeavoured, in each country, by persecution, to force the professors of the old religion to aban- don it and adopt theirs ; and they acted in the same way by their fellow Protestants, who had adopted opinions diflerenl from their own. In many countries, where Calvinism got a head, as in Scotland, in Holland, at Geneva, and in France, they were riotous mobs, which, under the direction of their pastors, rose in rebellion against their lawful princes, and hav ing secured their independence, proceeded to sanguinary ex tremities against the Catholics. Letter L, »tl ^judices of church, on of her sup- h fire find claim, but all power ' obstinate pleads for re punish- ly eminent imilar cir- if perse- rinces and >nduct has le Alps to escription, er all, the difference, point out veight, as n in disfa- have per- it religion^ »s, a thou- preserved jects ; and ittempt to jlahle dis- the other If of neM) lurch, and ting their )untry, by [ to aban- e way by 1 diflerenl sm got a ti France, I of their and hav linary ex In the second place, If Catholic states and princes hav^ en- forced submission to their church by persecution, they wete ftilly persuaded, that there is a divine authority in this church to decide in all controversies of religiori, and that those Chris- tians who refuse to hear her voice, when she pronounces upon them, are obstinate heretics. But on what ground can Pro- testants persecute Christians of any description whatsoever? Their grand rule and fundamental charter is, that the Scrip- tures were given by God for every man to interpret themf as he judges best. If, therefore, when' I hear Christ declaring, Taks ye and eat^ this is my body, I believe what he says; with what consistency can any Protestants require me, by pains or penal- ties, to swear that I do not believe it, and that to act conform- ably with this persuasion is idolatry ? But religious persecu- tion, which is every where odious, will not much longer find te- fuge in tlie most generous of nations : much less \vill the many victorious arguments which demonstrate the true church 6( Christ, our common mother, who reclaimed us all from ths barbarous rites of Paganism, be defeated by the calutnnious •outcry, that she herself is a bloody Moloch, that requires hu- laan victims. . , .-j-wnifffT/o -jid ixiij ,>'v!)'.j:fr lam foe. '^'**''" to; tti.i'(i-u;v» J ii ii«i)'''i*«r'H<'j /lnu/'iU r.li ?l ,(»'(>fji » nfi'Tlri. > iM'.li oi'vf .iifi.it't'i f-iil '*ft V'lt-.'ii rn >.(ioni;/ 'jjfi rt«j ^Ulnmt) ^laf *«♦ '<^t i.nWi ..; .-.i ri n It!') 'All'V UA^H Hi ;iiiii!itiia;v .f!,','..ii I^CT^jfUv Li» V .siu'C >?id 't«> 'iliK^Hf To the FRIENDLY SOCIETY of NEW COTTAGE, ; irr.Kii'i «' ;l t'nf ) .ill CO^TCLUSIOM ,,, .^j, ^,| ul„.,^\ ih'uiM MY FRIENDS AND BRETHREN IN CHRIST, Having, at length, finished the task you imposed upon me eight months ago, in my several letters to your worthy presi- dent, Mr. Brown, and others of your society, 1 address this, my concluding letter, to you, in common, as a slight review of them. I observed to you, that, to succeed in any inquiry, it is necessary to know and to follow the right method of making it : hence, I entered upon the present important search after the truths of the Christian Revelation, with a discussion of the rules or methods, followed, for this purpose, by different classes of Christians. Having, then, taken for grajited the followipic 3!J2 Letter L, maximsj — that Christ has appointed some rule or method of learning his revelation : that this rule must be an unerring one ; and that it must be adapted to the capacities and situations of mankind^ in general ; 1 proceeded to show, that a supposed pri- vatt'. spirit J or particular inspiration, is not that rule ; because this persuasion has led numberless fanatics, in every age, since that of Christ, into the depths of error, folly, and wickedness of every kind. 1 proved, in the second place, that the written Word or Scripture, according to each one's conception of its meaning, is not that rule ; because it is not adapted to the ca- pacity and situation of the bulk of mankind ; a great propor- tion of them not being able to read the Scripture, and much less to form a connected sense of a single chapter of it ; and, l)ecause innumerable Christians, at all times, by following this presumptuous method, have given into heresies, impieties, con- tradictions, and crimes, almost as numerous and flagrant as tnose of the above mentioned fanatics. Finally, I demonstra- ted, that there is a two-fold word of God, the unwritten, and the written ; that the former was appointed by Christ, and made use of by the apostles, for converting nations ; and that it was not made void by the inspired Epistles and Gospels, which some of the apostles, and the evangelists, addressed, for the most part, to particular churches or individuals ; that the Catholic church is the divinely commissioned guardian and in- terpreter of the word of God, in both its parts ; and that, therefore, the method, appointed by Christ for learning what he has taught, on the various articles of his religion, is to HEAR THE CHURCH propounding them to us from the whole of his rule. This method, 1 have shown, continued to be pointed out by the fathers and doctors of the church, in con- stant succession, and that it is the only one which is adapted to the circumstances of mankind, in general ; the only one, which leads to the peace and unity of the Christian church ; and the only one, which aflbrds tranquillity and security to in- dividual Cliristians during life, and at the trying hour of their dissolution. At this point, my labours might have ended ; as the Catholic church alone follows the right rule, and the right rule infallibly leads to the Catholic church : but since bishop Porteus, and other Protestant controvertists, raise cavils, as to which is the true church ; and whereas this is a question, that admits of a still more easy and more triumphant answer, than that concern- ing the right rule of faith, 1 have made this the subject of a second series of letters, with wliich, I flatter myself, the greater part of an attei true ch agree, marks letter tk 028 fnetliod of rring one ; uations of posed pri- ; because age, since iediiess of le written ion of its to the ca- it propor- and much f it ; and, >wing this eties, con- agrant as emonstra- itten, and irist, and and that Gospels, ^ssed, for tliat the n and in- au(i tliat, ling what an, is tn from the tinned to h, in con- i adapted )nly one, I church ; ity to in- • of their Catholic infallibly eus, and ich is the mils of a concern- iject of a le greater part of you are ilhjicquainted. In fact, no inquiry is so easy, to an attentive and upright Christian, as to discover which is the true church of Christ ; because, on one hand, all Christians agree, in their common creeds, concerning the characters or marks, which she bears ; and because, on the other hand, these marks are of an exterior and splendid kind, such as require no extensive learning or abilities, and little more than the use of our senses and coinnton reason, to discern them. In short, to ascertain which, among the numerous and jarring societies of Christians, all pretending to have found out the truths of Re- velation, is the true church of Christ, that necessarily possesses them, we have only to observe which among them is distinctive- ly, ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, and APOSTOLICAL, and the discovery is made. la treating o{ these characters, oi marks, I said it was obvious to every beholder, that there is no bond of union whatever among the diflerent societies of Protest- ants; and that no articles, canons, oaths, or laws, had the force of confining the members of any one of them, as experience shows, to a uniformity of belief, or even profession, in a single kingdom or island ; while the great Catholic church, spread as it is over the face of the globe, and consisting, as it does, oj all nations, and tribes, and peoples^ and tongues, is strictly unit- ed together, in the same faith, the same saxrraments, and the same church-government ; in short, that it demonstratively ex- hibits the first mark of the true church, unity.— -With respect to the second mark, sanctity^ I showed, that «he, alone, teaches and enforces the white doctrine of the gospel ; that she is the mother of all the saiiitji, acknowledged as such by Protestants them- selves ; that sh«? possesses many means of attaining sanctity, which the latter disclaim ; and that God himself attests the truth of this church, by the miracles with which, from time to time, he illustrates her exclusively : and, whereas many eminent Protestant writers have charged the Catholics with deception and forgery on this head, I have unanswerably retorted the charge upon themselves. No words vtre wanting to show, that the Catholic church bears the glorious name of CATHO Lie, and N'ery few to demonstrate, that >he is Catholic or uni- versal, with respect both to place and time, and that she is also apostolical. The latter point, however, I exhibited in a more evident and sensible manner, by means of the sketch of an apostolical tree, or genealogical table of the church, which ) sent you ; showing the succession of her pontiffs, her most emi- nent bishops, doctors and saints, as also, of the most notorious btJictics aud schismatics, who have been lopped oft' froi.i this m^ Z^eii^ L. ,tre^, in every age froin that of the apostles down to the present age. " No church, but the Catholic, can exhibit any thing of this kind," as Tertullian reproached the seceders of his time. Under this head^ you must have observed, in particular, the want of an apostolical succession of ministry, which, 1 showed, all Protestant societies labour under, and their want of success in attempting ^le ]a^p|'k qfthe apostles, the conversion of Pagan nations. ,, .,;.,. The third series of my letters has been employed in tearing o$ the hideous mask, with which calumuy and misrepresentation had disiigured the fair face of Christ's true spouse, the Catho- lic church. In this endeavour, 1 trust, 1 have been successful, and that there is i^ot one of your society who will any more re- proach Catholics with being Idolaters, on account of their re- spect for the memorials of Christ and his saints, or of their de- suring the prayers of the latter ; or on account of the adoration thev pay to the divine Jesus, hidden behind the Sacramental veils: nor will they, hereafter, accuse us of purchasing, or otherwise procuring leave to commit sin, or the previous pardon of sins, to be committed ; or, in short, of perfidy, sedition, cruelty, or systematic wickedness of any kind. So far from this, 1 have reason to hope, that the view of the church herself which I have exhibited to your society, instead of the carica- ture of her, which Dr. Porteus, and other bigoted controvertisis have held up to the public, has produced a desire in several of them to return to the communion of this original church ; beai*- ingi as she clearly does, all the marks of the true church ; gifted, as she manifestly is, with so many helps for salvation ; and possessing the only safe and practicable rule for ascertain- ing the truths of Revelation. The consideration which, 1 un- derstand, has struck some of them, in the most forcible manner, is that which I suggested from my own knoM ledge and experi- ence, as well as from the observation of the eminent writers whom I named ; namely, that no Catholic^ at the near approach ofdeathf is ever found desirous of dying in any other religion, while numbers of Protestants, in that situation, s»ek to be. recou' cilvd to the Catholic religion. 't ^^•t^^^lti Some of your number have said, that, though they are o( opinion that the Catholic religion is the true one, yet they have not that evidence of the fact, whicii they think sufficient to jus- tify a change in so important a point \s that of religion. — God forbid that I should advise any person to embrace the Catholic religion, without having sufficient evidence of its truth : but T must remind the persons in question, that they have not a meta- physici Christi certain which still a Cor. i. sincere unbelie cause, underst the will as Lock ral, Go stars, w not afibi respect morales we mam in the lei at large it would The gre bndie, ai ference t good, fo system. MelanctI Taylor, and For found in divine of ty, and 1 Scriptun that salv the case It rem take his ly take, ever you scientiou from yo his soul ! Letter L, S35 the present ny thing o( of his time, rticular, the I, 1 showed, i of success »n of Pagan d in tearing presentation the Catho- I successful, ny more re- of their re- of their de- le adoration sacramental ■chasing, or ious pardon ly, sedition, So far from arch herself ' the carica* ^ntrovertisis n several of urch ; bear- ue church; salvation ; ir ascertain- hich, I un- )le manner, and experi- nent writers ar approach er religiont to be. recon" they are of ;t they have cient to jus- gion. — God lie Catholic ruth; buiT not a meta* physical evidence, or a mathematical certainty of the trntk of Christianity, in general ; they have only a moral evidence, and certainty of it : with all the miracles and other arguments, by which Christ and his apostles proved this divine system, it was still a stumbling block to the Jewty and folly to the Gentitei, 1 Cor. i. 23 : in short, there is light enough in it to guide the sincere faithful, and obscurity enough to mislead the perverse unbelievers, according to the observation of St. Austin ; be* cause, after all, faith is not merely, a divine illustration of the understanding, but also, a divine, and yet voluntary motion of the will. Hence, if, in travelling through this darksome vale as Locke, 1 think, observes with respect to Revelation in gene* ral, God is pleased to give us the light of the moon or of the stars, we are not to stand still on our journey, because he does not aflbrd us the light of the sun. The same is to be said, with respect to the evidence in favour of the Catholic religion : it is moral evidence of the first quality ; far superior to that on which we manage our temporal aflairs and guard our lives ; and not, in the least, below that which exists for the truth of Christianity at large. — At all events, it is wise to choose the safer part : and it would be madness to act otherwise, when eternity is at stake. The great advocates of Christianity, SS. Austin, Pascal, Ab- bndie, and others, argue thus, in recommending it to us, in pre- ference to infidelity : pow, the same argument evidently holds good, for preferring the Catholic religion to every Protestant system. The most eminent Protestant divines, such as Luther Melancthon, Hooker, Chillingworth, with the bishops, Laud, Taylor, Sheldon, Blanford, and the modern prelates. Marsh and Porteus himself, all acknowledge, that salvation may be found in the communion of the original Catholic church : but no divine of this church, consistently with her chnracteristical uni- ty, and the constant doctrine of the holy fathers and of the Scripture itself, as I have elsewhere demonstrated, can allow, that salvation is to be found out of that communion ; except in the case of invincible ignorance. It remains, my dear friends and brethren, for each of you to take his and her part : but remember, that the part you several- ly take, is taken for eternity ! On this occasion, therefore, if ever you ought to do so, reflect and decide seriously and con- scientiously, dismissing all worldly respects, of whatever kind, from your minds ; for what exchange slinll a man receive for his soul!* and what will the prejudiced opinion of your fellow • Mat. xvi. 20. XetlcrX. taoitmh oiriiit yontni the tribnnalv where we are all so soon to ab> pear! and indie vast abyss of eternity m which we shall* t[aick^ }$r be all ingulfed! Will aiiy of thenk ^lead your cause at that bar? And wiU yosar punithineiit be more tolerable frohi their aliaring in' it f Finally^ beseech your future judge, who is now your roerciliil Saviour^ with all the fervour and sincerity of your souls, to bestow upon you the light to see your way, and the strength to follow it, which he merited for you, when he iMBig, for three hours, your agoniiing victim, on the cross. i^ i' Adieu, my dear friends and brethren, we shall soon meet to- gether at the ti'ibimal 1 have mentioned ; and be assured, that I look forward to that meeting with a perfect confidence, that you aud I, and the Great Judge himselt', will then approve, in CfMiimoa, of the advice 1 now give you. lBni,&c •'♦^" «t ii \ MlurUiV} ^iUlo -iiwrnX fii ymnbi J^ ]|| ,iuii iMi«.; r;*^ji_:iJjo fn»;ur< fjitn MiitTlii Iinoqsrnj in. ;j1o rituiJ jiU uH ^.P.ict lintin iiMi (tohn. ,,, .. .. tilj Vii liiif! : »'u;(j T^r -:?» •) rM >f > m) -j^iw at $\ f^.Ui'rn f\r, )t — <,*r;^'it^f in ' '.'filhh^fti oi 9^n'H'>\ ) . f'/lrtioll ftioi^f:yfv» 01 )a»HHi* 'ul ol f i ««JMiVli> . ini\i :ih)!> t»HH T*>'ill»' .. . :k ,f uir.in^l Jf* ' '{;n(| 'Jill Ihy/ iwl« liiu, '! lm)>, H^ 'TP'» I sdon to alb- shall' (]nict iitise teit that i frohi their who is how sincerity of ir way, and >U) when he e cross, s^ on meet to- sured, that dence, that approve, in Jj^ ('"^f: tr.ft J.M ">hvn' imtrnt ftcu'A mi} \u r oi 9')fi'>T»i fit I'l anhi' it*^iid &4! jn-