made appear that their own Authors do allow of all this If they do give a divine Worship to the Blessed Virgin and Saints departed If their very Missab and Pontifical do command them to adore the Cross If it appear that their Council of Trent damns all those who deny the Mass to be a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the Dead and Living and yet cannot say it is the very same with that of the Cross If finally their greatest Writers do allow a Merit of Condignity and that not as a Scholastick Tenet but as the Doctrine of their Church and agreeable to the intention of their Council they so much talk of Then I hope the premises may be as clear of the Calumny they are charged with as my inference is allow'd to be just for the consequence I would establish In the mean time Expos p. 5. pass we on to the state of the Question which I propose in these terms That we who have been so often charged by the Church of Rome as Innovators in Religion are at last by their own confession allow'd to hold the antient and undoubted foundation of the Christian Faith And that the Question therefore between us is not Whether what we hold be true But whether those things which the Roman Church has added as superstructures to it and which as such we reject be not so far from being necessary Articles of Religion as they pretend that they do indeed overthrow that truth which is on both sides allowed to be divine and upon that account ought to be forsaken by them This the Vindicator says Vindicat. pag. 24. is to state the Question after a new Mode and represent them as consenting to it Let us see therefore what the Old way of stating it is and wherein the insincerity he charges me with consists The true state of the Question betwixt us Ibid. p. 25. he says is Whether the Protestants or Papists do innovate The Protestants in refusing to believe those Doctrines which the Church of Rome professes to have received with the grounds of Christianity or the Papists in maintaining their possession And the dispute is Whether Roman Catholicks ought to maintain their possession for which he says many Protestants themselves grant they have a prescription of above 1000 Years Or whether the Authorities brought by Protestants against the Roman Catholick Doctrine be so weighty Ibid. p. 26. that every Roman Catholick is obliged to renounce the communion of that Church in which he was bred up and quit his prescription and possession In all which the only difference that I can find is this That He presumes for his Church in the state of the Question I for mine I suppose the points in Controversie to be Superstructures which they have added to the Faith He that they are Doctrines received with the grounds of Christianity In short the point we both put upon the issue is precisely the same viz. Whether the Roman Catholicks ought to maintain their possessions of these Doctrines or to quit them as Erroneous Whether Protestants to embrace the belief and practice of them as true and lawful or to continue as they are separate from the Roman Communion upon the account of them But where then is my unsincerity In this I suppose that I seem to insinuate as if the Roman Church granted that we held the ancient and undoubted foundation of the Christian Faith What others of that Communion will grant I cannot tell but whoso shall please to consider Monsieur de Meaux's arguing from Monsieur Daillè's concessions as to this Point See his Expos §. 2. p. 2. will find it clear enough that he did if the Foundation consists of Fundamental Articles and that we are on both sides agreed in these as his discourse manifestly implies But the Vindicator jealous for the Authority of his Church and to have whatever she proposes pass for Fundamental confesses that we do indeed hold a part but not all those Articles that are Fundamental This therefore we must put upon the issue in which we shall not doubt to shew them that those Articles their Church has added are so far from being Fundamental Truths that indeed they are no Truths at all but do by evident and undoubted consequence as I before said and as the Vindicator himself confesses Vindicat. Pag. 23. destroy those Truths that are on both sides agreed to be Fundamental But if I have not mistaken the Question between the Papists and Protestants Vindicat. pag. 26. I am sure the Vindicator has that between Him and Me. He tells us our present Question which we are to examine in the following Articles is Whether Monsieur de Meaux has faithfully proposed the sense of the Church declared in the Council of Trent And thereupon asks me What it do's avail me to tell them That I will in the following Articles endeavour to give a clear and free Account of what we can approve and what we dislike in their Doctrine To which I reply That it avails very much to the end I propounded in my Book viz. To give a true Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England in the several Points proposed by Monsieur de Meaux So that in reality the Question between us is this Not whether Monsieur de Meaux has given a true Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of Rome which it has been the business of others to examine but whether I have given a just account of the Doctrine of the Church of England This was what I undertook to do and what this Author ought if he could to have shewn I had not done ARTICLE II. That Religious Worship is terminated only in God IN this Article I am but little concern'd The Vindicator states the Case what 't is they mean by Religious honour being terminated only in God He distinguishes between what they pay Him and what they give to the Saints how truly or to what purpose it is not my business to examine Those who desire to be satisfied in it may find a sufficient Account in several late Treatises written purposely against this part of Monsieur de Meaux's Exposition and I shall not repeat what is so fully and clearly established there ARTICLE III. Invocation of Saints I Might well have pass'd over this Point altogether which has been so learnedly and fully managed but very lately in a particular †Discourse concerning the Worship of the B. Virgin and the Saints in Answer to Monsieur de Meaux's Appeal to the fourth Age. Discourse on this Subject Yet since the Vindicator desires to know what Authority I have for my Assertion That the Addresses which Monsieur Daillé allows to have been used by the Fathers of the fourth Century were rather innocent wishes and rhetorical flights than direct Prayers but especially for that Accusation which he says I bring against them viz. That they did herein begin to depart from the Practice and
so then the Vindicator himself allows Vind. p. 102. 2dly That a Particular Church may either by Error lose or by other means prevaricate the Faith even in the necessary points of it Indeed that promise of our Saviour Matt. 16.18 That the gates of Hell should not prevail against his Church seems on all hands acknowledged to refer to his whole Church not to any one particular Branch or Portion And therefore tho' the particular Church of Rome should have fallen into gross Errors both in matters of Faith and Practice yet the Catholick Church of Christ may still as to other of its members retain so much Truth and Purity as to keep it from falling away or being guilty of an intire Infidelity And then for the 3d. Exception The allowing any other Particular Church to examine and judg of the Decisions of this Church of Rome If She her self be but a particular Church and has no more Command or Jurisdiction over the Faith of other Churches than they have over hers then every other National Church is as much impow'red to judg for her self as She is and has an equal right to examine her Decisions as those of other Churches and may either receive or reject what by Gods Grace directing her She Judges to agree or disagree with his Holy Word Nor do's one Branch of Christ's Church in this respect invade the Prerogative of another since they do herein only follow the Apostles Rule in trying all things and holding fast that which is good But the 4th Exception he says Vind. p. 102. is yet more intollerable than all the rest That it should be left to every individual Person not only to examine the Decisions of the whole Church but also to glory in opposing them if he be but evidently convinced that his own belief is founded upon the undoubted Authority of God's Holy Word Ibid. p. 103. This he says is a Doctrine which if admitted will maintain all Dissenters that are or can be from a Church and establish as many Religions as there are Persons in the World These indeed are very ill Consequences but such as do not directly follow from this Doctrine as laid down in my Exposition For 1st I allow of this Dissent or Opposition only in necessary Articles of Faith where it is every Mans concern and duty both to judg for himself and to make as sound and sincere a Judgment as he is able And 2dly As I take the Holy Scriptures for the Rule according to which this Judgment is to be made so do I suppose these Scriptures to be so clearly written as to what concerns those necessary Articles that it can hardly happen that any one man any serious and impartial Enquirer should be found opposite to the whole Church in his Opinion Now these two things being supposed that in matters of Faith a man is to judg for himself and that the Scriptures are a clear and sufficient rule for him to judg by it will plainly follow That if a man be evidently convinced upon the best Enquiry he can make that his particular Belief is founded upon the Word of God and that of the Church is not he is obliged to support and adhere to his own belief in Opposition to that of the Church And the Reason of this must be very evident to all those who own not the Church but the Scriptures to be the ultimate rule and guide of their Faith For if this be so then individual Persons as well as Churches must judg of their Faith according to what they find in Scripture And tho it be highly useful to them to be assisted in the making of this Judgment by that Church of which they are Members yet if after this Instruction they are still evidently convinced that there is a disagreement in any necessary point of Faith between the Voice of the Church and that of the Scripture they must stick to the latter rather than the former they must follow the superior not inferior Guide And however this method may through the Ignorance or Malice of some men be liable to some Abuse yet certainly in the main it is most Just and Reasonable and most agreeable to the Constitutions of the Church of England which do's not take upon her to be Absolute Mistress of the Faith of her Members See Article 20. but allows a higher Place and Authority to the guidance of the Holy Scripture than to that of her own Decisions As to the Authority by which I back'd this Assertion viz. that of St. Athanasius tho' it is not doubted but that that Expression of his being against the whole World and the whole World against him did refer chiefly to the Eastern Bishops and was not so literally true as to those of the West yet if we consider what compliances there were even of the Western Bishops at Ariminum and Sirmium and how Pope Liberius himself tho' he refused to subscribe the form of Faith sent to him from Ariminum and was for that reason deposed from his Bishoprick and banished out of Italy yet afterwards when the Emperor Constantius sent for him to Sirmium and required his assent to a form of Faith in which the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was purposely omitted Sozomen Eccl. Hist lib. 4. cap. 15. he yielded thus far and was thereupon restored to his Bishoprick I say if we consider these and the like Particulars related by the Church Historians we shall have little reason to believe that the Western Bishops or even the Pope himself did throughly adhere to the Faith of St. Athanasius and therefore that neither was He or I much in the wrong in affirming That he stood up in defence of Christs Divinity when the Pope the Councils and almost the whole Church fell away ARTICLE XXVI Of the Authority of the Holy See and of Episcopacy IN this Article the Vindicator is pleased to declare that he has nothing to say against the Opinion of the Church of England Vindic. p. 106. only he thinks fit to advise me to enquire What that Authority is which the Ancient Councils of the Primitive Church have acknowledged and the holy Fathers have always taught the faithful to give the Pope Indeed a very little inquiry will serve the turn to let a man see that their Pope do's at this day lay claim to a great deal more than those Councils or Fathers did ever allow him And we should be glad he would direct us to those places either in the first Councils or the Primitive Fathers where the Pope is stiled the Vniversal Bishop or the Supreme Head on Earth of the whole Christian Church where it is said That he is Christs immediate Vicar and that all other Bishops must derive their Authority from him These are things which he do's now pretend to but we can find no Footsteps of them in the first Councils or Fathers of the Church On the contrary we find innumerable passages which
several Changes and Alterations that are placed at the end of my Preface That this Book with these differences is at this time in the hands of the Reverend Editor of my former Treatise and that whosoever of either Communion is pleased to Examine them may when ever he will have free liberty so to do This I the rather declare because Monsieur de Meaux is so positive in it as to charge me with no less than the pure Invention of those passages I have cited from it Vindicat. Pag. 12 13. As for those passages says he which they pretend I have corrected in a second Edition for fear of offending the Sorbonne it is as you see a Chimerical Invention and I do here once more repeat it That I neither publish'd nor connived at nor caused to be made any Edition of my Book but that which is well known in which I never altered any thing For answer to which I must beg leave once more to repeat it too That these passages are for the most part Chimerical Inventions indeed but yet such as He once hoped to have put off as the Doctrine of his Church and as such sent them into the World in that first Edition we are speaking of out of which I have transcribed them in as just and proper terms as I was able to put them in and I appeal to any one that shall please to examine them for the truth and sincerity that I have used in it But here Monsieur de Meaux has got an Evasion which if not prevented may in some Mens Opinion take off this seeming contradiction betwixt us and leave us both at last for the main in the right 'T is true says he this little Treatise being at first given in Writing to some particular Persons for their Instruction many Copies of it were dispersed and IT WAS PRINTED without my Order or Knowledge No body found fault with the Doctrine contain'd in it and I my self without changing any thing in it of Importance and that only as to the Order and for the greater neatness of the Discourse and Stile caused it to be printed as you now see So that now then it is at last confess'd that an Edition there was such as I charged them with different very much from what we now have But that it was an Edition printed without Monsieur de Meaux ' s Knowledge and the changes which he made afterwards were only as to the Order and for the greater neatness of the Discourse and Stile As to this last particular the Reader will best judge of what kind the differences were by that short Specimen I have given of them If to say in One Collect. n. â— That the Honour which the Church gives to the Blessed Virgin and the Saints is Religious nay that it ought to be blamed if it were not Religious In the Other to doubt whether it may even in some sence be called Religious If to tell us in the One Ibid. n. 12. That the Mass may very reasonably be called a Sacrifice In the Other that there is nothing wanting to it to make it a true Sacrifice If to strike out totally in several places Positions that were absolutely of Doctrine or otherwise very material to the Points that were so as in several instances it appears he has done If this were indeed only for the advantage of the Order and for the greater neatness of the Discourse and Stile I am contented I accuse not Monsieur de Meaux of any other alterations than such as these And thus far we can go certainly in Reply to his Allegations beyond a possibility of denial For what remains though I do not pretend to the like Evidence of Fact yet I will offer some Reasons why I cannot assent to his pretences even there neither That the Impression was made with Monsieur de Meaux ' s Knowledge if not by his express Order whoever shall consider the circumstances of Monsieur Cramoisy who printed it either as a Person of his Reputation and Estate or as Directour of the King 's Imprimerie or finally as Monsieur de Meaux ' s own Bookseller will hardly believe that he would so far affront a Bishop of his Church and one especially of Monsieur de Meaux ' s interest and authority at that time at Court as to make a surreptitious Edition of a Book which he might have had the Author's leave to publish only for the asking But further This pretended surreptitious Edition had the Kings Permission to it which could hardly have been obtain'd without Monsieur de Meaux ' s knowledge It was approved by the Bishops of France in the very same terms that the other Editions have been since which seems more natural to have been procured by Monsieur de Meaux himself than by a Printer underhand and without his knowledge and connivance In a word so far was Monsieur de Meaux from resenting this injury of setting out his Book so uncorrectly and without his leave that the very same Cramoisy the same Year Printed the Exposition with his leave and has continued to Print all his other Books ever since and was never that I could hear of censured for such fraudulent dealing till this time by the Bishop or any other All which put together I must beg leave still to believe as I did before that there was not only a first impression which is at length allow'd but that this first impression was not made without Monsieur de Meaux ' s Order or Knowledge As for the other Point and I think the only remaining in this matter concerning the occasion I mentioned for the suppressing that first Edition the Reader may please to know That a Person by many relations very intimate with one of the Mareshal de Turenne ' s Family upon the publishing of the pretended first Edition of Monsieur de Meaux ' s Exposition first discover'd to him the mystery of the former and shew'd him out of the Mareshal ' s Library the very Book which as he then assured him had been mark'd by some of the Doctors of the Sorbonne and lent it him for some time as a great Curiosity The knowledge of this raised the desire of endeavouring if it were possible to retrieve a Copy of it But the Edition was so carefully dispatch'd that the most that could be done was to get so many scatter'd Sheets of it as to make at last a perfect Book except in some few places in which it was transcribed from the Original of the Mareshal word for word page for page and examined by the Person himself who was so kind as to bestow it on me This is the Book to which I refer the Reader and for this I have the Attestation of the same Person under his hand at the beginning of the Book that it is in every part a perfect Copy of Monsieur de Turenne ' s mark'd by the Sorbonne Doctors and I have been besides so just to
Athanasius and the other Fathers of these Times to prove our Saviour to be God that he was prayed to Prayer were such as are utterly repugnant to such an Invocation These were the Arguments I then offer'd to which the Vindicator would have done more justly to have try'd if he could have made some Reply than after all this to cry out as if nothing had been said What Authority does he bring for his Assertion Vindicat. p. 29. By what Authority does he condemn these Prayers these innocent Wishes and holy Raptures as he calls them as fond things vainly invented c. And now that I have satisfied his demand may I in my turn ask him Where it is that I condemn those innocent Wishes and holy Raptures of these Fathers as fond things vainly invented That I do with our Church censure their Invocation of Saints as such is confess'd but that I pretend to pass any judgment at all upon these holy Men is false nor was it any way necessary that I should do it As for the Authority he requires for our refusal of this Invocation it were very easy to shew it Vindicat. p. 30. had I nothing to do but to repeat things that have been so often said already that the World grows weary of them and is abundantly satisfied that they have nothing to reply to them Every Text of Scripture that appropriates Divine Worship to God alone is a demonstration against them and that one Passage of St. Paul Rom. 10.14 How shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed were not Men willing to be contentious might end the Controversy And for the Antiquity which he speaks of What can be more ridiculous than to pretend prescription for that which has not the least foundation neither in Holy Writ nor Primitive Christianity of which not one Instance appears for the first three hundred Years after Christ but much to the contrary He that desires a fuller satisfaction in these Points may please to recur to that excellent Treatise I before mention'd and which may well excuse me that I say no more about it Only because this was one of the Points in which I promised to shew that they do adore Men and Women by such an Invocation as cannot possibly belong to any but God only and that they make the Merits of their Saints to run parallel with the Merits of Christ insomuch as for their Merits to desire that their very Sacrifices may be accepted and their Sacraments be available to them I will subjoin a short Specimen of every one of these out of their Publick Rituals to shew that there was neither Falshood nor Calumny in my Accusation of them Appendix to ARTIC III. A Specimen of the Church of Rome 's Service to Saints taken out of their Publick Liturgies AS to the Prayers they make to them we find them thus addressing to the Blessed Virgin 1 Sub tum praesidium confugimus S. Dei Genetrix nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus sed à periculis cunctis libera nos semper Virgo gloriosa benedicta We fly to thy Protection O Holy Mother of God despise not our Prayers which we make to thee in our Necessities but deliver us from all Dangers O Ever-glorious and Blessed Virgin Offic. B. V. p. 84. And in one of their Antiphona's 2 Dignare me laudare Te Virgo Sacrata Da mihi Virtutem contra hostes tuos Vouchsafe me that I may be worthy to praise thee O Sacred Virgin Grant me strength and Power against thine Enemies Ibid. p. 103. 3 Nos cum prole pia benedicat Virgo Maria. They desire her conjunctly with our Saviour to bless them Ibid. p. 105. And in their 4 Alma Redemptoris Mater quae pervia Coeli Porta manes stella maris succurre cadenti Surgere qui curat populo tu quae genuisti Naturâ mirante ruum Sanctum Genitorem Virgo prius ac posterius Gabrielis ab Ore Sumens illud Ave Peccatorum miserere Offic. B. V p. 122. Hymns they address to her in the most formal manner that she would help them that fall that she would have pity upon Sinners 5 Maria Mater gratiae Mater miserecordiae Tu nos ab hoste protege horâ mortis suscipe Ib. p. 123. that she would protect them against the Enemy and receive them at the Hour of Death I shall add only one Prayer more part of which I before mention'd and will now repeat it because ‖ Bellarm. I. 1. de Sanct. beat c. 16. p. 2036. l. A. reflects upon Calvin in these words Quinto ibidem dicit nos rogare Virginem ut filium Jubeat facere quod petimus At quis nostrum hoc dicit Cur non probat ullo exemplo I before observed that Cassander owns the Prayer Consult Art 21. And Monsieur Daillé assures us that in the Missal printed at Paris but in the Year 1634. in libr. Extrem p. 81. It is still extant in these words Cardinal Bellarmine and some others are so ashamed of it as totally to deny they have any such Prayer 6 O foelix Puerpera nostra pians scelera Jure Matris IMPERA REDEMPTORI Da fidei foedera Da salutis Opera Da in vitae vesperâ Benè mori And indeed however scrupulous Bellarmine is of this Matter yet others among them make no doubt to say that she does not only intreat her Son as a Suppliant but COMMAND him as a Mother So Peter Damien Serm. 1. de Nat. Mariae speaking to the Virgin tells her Accedis ante aureum illud humanae reconciliationis Altare non solùm rogans sed IMPERANS For so Father Crasset who both cites and approves it translates the Passage Thou comest before the Golden Altar of our Reconciliation not only as a Servant that Prays but as a Mother that COMMANDS And Albertus Magnus Serm. 2. de laud. Virg. Pro salute famulantium sibi non solùm petest filio supplicare sed etiam potest Authoritate Maternâ cidem IMPERARE That for the Salvation of those that serve Her the Virgin cannot only Intreat Her Son but by the Authority of a Mother can COMMAND Him This Father Crasset proves from more of the like stuff in his 1. Part. Trait 1. Qu. 8. p. 60 61. concluding the whole with this admirable Sentence Eadem potestas est Matris Filii quae ab omni potente Filio omnipotens facta est The Power of the Mother and the Son is the same who by her OMNIPOTENT Son is made her self OMNIPOTENT This is the last French Divinity approved by the Society of the Jesuits published with the King's Permission and espoused at a venture by Monsieur de Meaux in his Epistle O Happy Mother expiating our Sins By the right of a Mother COMMAND our Redeemer Grant us the of Faith Grant us the good Works of Salvation Grant us in the End of Lives that
of the Merits of Christ and partly of the superabundant Sufferings of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints who have suffer'd more than their Sins required The Pastors of the Church have obtain'd from God the power of granting Indulgences Ibid. c. 3. p. 19 27. and dispensing of the Merits of Christ and the Saints for this end out of the Sacraments The Punishments remitted by these Indulgences Ibid. c. 7. p. 47. are all those which are or might have been enjoyn'd for Sins and that whether the Persons be alive or dead WE believe there is a Power in the Church of granting Indulgences which concern not at all the Remission of Sins either Mortal or Venial but only of some temporal Punishments remaining due after the guilt is remitted So that they are nothing else but a Mitigation or Relaxation upon just Causes of Canonical Penances which are or may be enjoyn'd by the Pastors of the Church on Penitent Sinners according to their several degrees of demerit Papist Represent n. viii p. 10. M. de M. Expos § 8. p. 14. Of the Mass Old Popery New Popery THe * Concil Trid. Sess 22. Can. 1. 3. p. 196. ibid. c. 2. p. 191. Mass is a true and proper Sacrifice A Sacrifice not only Commemoratory of that of the Cross but also truly and properly propitiatory for the dead and the living Conc. Trent Art 16. †Verum reale Sacrificium veram realem mortem aut destructionem rei immolatae desiderat Bell. de Missa l. 1. c. 27. p. 1062. C. Vel in Missa fit vera realis Christi mactatio occisio vel non fit Si non fit non est verum reale Sacrificum Missa Sacrificium enim verum reale veram realem occisionem exigit quando in occisione ponitur essentia Sacrificii 1063. A. And again Per consecrationem res quae offertur ad veram realem externam mutationem destructionem ordinatur quod erat necessarium ad rationem Sacrificii ib. l. D. Sect. Tertio Every true and real Sacrifice requires a true and real Death or Destruction of the thing sacrificed So that if in the Mass there be not a true and real Destruction on there is not a true and real Sacrifice Bellarmin To offer up Christ then in the Eucharist is not only to present him before God on the Altar but really and truly to Sacrifice i. e. destroy him Bellarmin THe Sacrifice of the Mass was instituted only to represent that which was accomplish'd on the Cross to perpetuate the memory of it to the end of the World and apply to us the saving Vertue of it for those Sins which we commit every day Vindicat. pag. 95. When we say That Christ is offered in the Mass we do not understand the word Offer in the strictest Sense but as we are said to Offer to God what we present before him And thus the Church does not doubt to say That She offers up our Blessed Jesus to his Father in the Eucharist in which he vouchsafes to render him himself present before him Vindicat. ibid. p. 96. Of the Popes Authority Old Popery New Popery WE acknowledg the Holy Catholick and Roman Church to be the Mother and Mistress of all Churches and we Promise and Swear to the Bishop of Rome Successor of St. Peter Prince of the Apostles and Vicar of Jesus Christ a true Obedience Concil Trid. Jur. Pii 4ti p. xliv in fine The Pope has Power to depose Princes Si dominus temporatis requisitus monitus ab Ecclesia terram suam purgare neglexerit ab Haeretica foeditate Excommunicationis Vinculo innodetur Et si satisfacere contempserit infra annum significetur hoc summo Pontifici ut ex tunc Ipse Vassallos ab ejus fidelitate denuntiet absolutos terram exponat Catholicis occupandam Salvo jure Domini Principalis dummodo super hoc ipse nullum praestet obstaculum nec aliquod impedimentum opponat Eadem nihil ominus lege servata circa EOS qui NON HABENT DOMINOS PRINCIPALES and absolve Subjects from their Allegiance So the Council of Lateran If the Temporal Lord shall neglect to purge his Land of Heresie let him be Excommunicated and if within a year he refuses to make satisfaction to the Church let it be signified to the Pope that from thenceforth He may declare his Vassals absolved from their Allegiance and expose his Land to be seised by Catholicks yet so as not to injure the right of the Principal Lord. Provided that he puts no stop or hindrance to this And the same Law is to be observed with reference to those who have no Principal Lords Concil Later 4. Can. 3. de Haeret. p. 147. This is no Scholastick Tenet but the Canon of a Council received by the Church of Rome as General WE acknowledg that Primacy which Christ gave to St. Peter in his Successors to whom for this cause we owe that Obedience and Submission which the holy Councils and Fathers have always taught the faithful As for those things which we know are disputed of in the Schools it is not necessary we speak of them here seeing they are not Articles of the Catholick Faith It is sufficient we acknowledg a Head Establish'd by God to conduct his whole Flock in his Paths which those who love Concord amongst Brethren and Ecclesiastical Unanimity will most willingly acknowledg Expos Monsieur de Meaux p. 40. Such is the difference of the present Controversies between us from what they were when it pleased God to discover to our Fathers the Errors they had so long been involved in Were I minded to shew the division yet greater there want not Authors among them and those approved ones too from whence to collect more desperate Conclusions in most of these Points than any I have now remark'd And the Practice and Opinion of the people in those Countries where these Errors still prevail is yet more Extravagant than any thing that either the One or Other have written What now remains but that I earnestly beseech all sober and unprejudiced Persons of that Communion seriously to weigh these things And consider what just reason we had to quit those Errors which even their own Teachers are ashamed to confess and yet cannot honestly disavow It has been the great business of these new Methodists for some years past to draw over ignorant men to the Church of Rome by pretending to them that their Doctrines are by no means such as they are commonly mis-apprehended to be This is popular and may I believe have prevailed with some weak persons to their seduction tho' we know well enough that all those abroad who pretend to be Monsieur de Meaux's Proselytes were not so upon the conviction of his Book but for the advantages of the Change and the Patronage of his Person and Authority But surely would men seriously weigh this Method there could be nothing more
to pay a Fine than put up Hangings before their houses for the Procession After this 't is more than probable that M. de Meaux will strike out the passage above-mention'd and that men of sense will complain in their minds to be thus eternally wearied with their pretences that the Hugonots have signed the Formulary with all the readiness in the world Always provided that these men of sense be not endow'd with that turn of Wit and Conscience of which we have spoken heretofore pag. 471. above NUM II. An Extract of Father Crasset 's Doctrine concerning the Worship which the Roman Church allows to the Blessed Virgin MOnsieur de Meaux is very much of opinion that Father Crasset has nothing in his Book contrary to the Principles of his Exposition I must transcribe his whole Book would I insist upon every thing in it opposite to this Pretence But I shall content my self for the present to propose only to Monsieur de Meaux some of this Fathers Questions that he may please to tell us whether he be indeed of the same Opinion with the Father in them 'T will be an admirable Vindication of his Exposition and we shall not doubt after that of its being a true Representation of the Doctrine of the Roman Church Question 1. Whether the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin to God for us Page 31. be not only profitable but necessary to our Salvation Resp 1 Pt. trait 1. q. 4. I do not find the Father positive in his assertion here but at least he recounts abundance of their Saints that are so St. Germain St. Anselme St. Bernard the Abbè de Celles St. Antonine and St. Bernardine whose horrid Blasphemies see at large repeated and approved Qu. 2. Whether a tender and constant Devotion towards the Blessed Virgin Page 39. be not a mark of Predestination ANSWER This is what we read in all Books hear from all Pulpits There are but few Catholicks but what are of this Opinion and that this Devotion towards the Mother of God is a mark of Salvation the good Father undertakes to prove by the Authority of the Scripture Page 39 40. explain'd by the Fathers and confirmed by Reason Qu. 3. Whether a Christian that is devout towards the Blessed Virgin can be damned Page 54. ANSWER 1. Page 57. The Servants of the Blessed Virgin have an Assurance morally infallible that they shall be saved Qu. 4. Whether God ever refuses any thing to the Blessed Virgin Ibid. ANSWER 1. Page 60 61. The Prayers of a Mother so humble and respectful are esteemed a Command by a Son so sweet and so obedient 2. Being truly our Saviour's Mother as well in Heaven as she was on Earth she still retains a kind of natural Authority over his PERSON over his GOODS and over his OMNIPOTENCE So that as Albertus Magnus says she cannot only intreat him for the Salvation of her Servants but by her MOTHERLY AUTHORITY can COMMAND him and as another expresses it The Power of the Mother and of the Son is all one she being by her Omnipotent Son made HER SELF OMNIPOTENT Qu. 5. What Blessings the Virgin procures for her Servants Page 91. ANSWER 1. Page 92. She preserves them from Error and Heresie if they are in danger to fall into it and recovers them out of it if they are fallen 2. Page 98. She defends and protects them in their Temptations against their Enemy and this not only Men but other Creatures insomuch that a Bird which a young Lady had taught to say his Ave Maria being one day seized by a Hawk whilst he was in his Claws said only his Ave Maria and the Hawk terrified with the Salutation let him go and so he return'd to his Mistress Page 94. 3. She comforts them in their Distresses assists them in their Dangers counsels them in their Doubts Ib. 95. eases them in their Pains animates them in their Combats and finally procures them a good Death To this end 4. She gives them a timely foreknowledge of their Death Ib. 96. that they be not surprised She sends the Angels to assist them in it and sometimes comes her own self in Person Ib. 97. 5. She obtains them the Grace of Repentance if they are in Sin and of Perseverance Page 98. if they be in a State of Grace Qu. 6. Whether the Blessed Virgin has ever fetcht any out of Hell Page 99. ANSWER 1. As to Purgatory 't is certain that the Virgin has brought several Souls from thence as well as refreshed them whilst they were there 2. Page 100. 'T is certain she has fetcht many out of Hell i. e. from a State of Damnation before they were dead 3. The Virgin can and has fetcht men that were dead in mortal Sin out of Hell by restoring them to Life again that they might repent Page 102. which the Father proves at large for the Establishment of our FAITH and of our HOPE Qu. 7. What Honour ought we to render to the Blessed Virgin 2 Part. Pag. 73. ANSWER Pag. 79. We ought to render to her a Religious Honour 2. To honour her Images also with a Religious Honour as sacred things and this the many Miracles done by them do require 3. To build Temples to her Pag. 92. which many grave Authors do assure us was done before her Birth Pag. 99. during her Life and since her Death and Coronation in Heaven Qu. 8. Whether it be good to make Vows and Pilgrimages to the Honour of the Virgin Pag. 138. ANSWER It is good to make Vows and undertake Pilgrimages to the places where she is specially honoured Ibid. The Practice of Devotion towards Her 1. To wear her Scapulary which whoso does Pag. 315. shall not be damned but this Habit shall be for them a Mark of Salvation a Safeguard in Dangers and a Sign of Peace and eternal Alliance They that wear this Habit Pag. 316. shall be moreover delivered out of Purgatory the Saturday after their death 2. To enter into her Congregations Pag. 321. And if any man be minded to save himself 't is impossible for him to find out any more advantageous means than to enrol himself into these Companies Pag. 322. 3. To devote ones self more immediately to Her Service Pag. 339. For which the Father gives several very grave Forms Ib. seq These are some of the Heads of Father Crasset's Book It were infinite to recount his particular Follies with which every Page and Sentence is crouded And however Monsieur de Meaux is pleased at a Venture to espouse all this yet I must still beg leave to believe that he neither approves this Practice nor will receive these Principles And these things not only Monsieur de la B in his Answer but the Author of the Preservative at large alledged against him which being a Book so well known in France and mentioned to Monsieur de Meaux in a particular manner by In his Letter below N. 4. Monsieur Imbert in his Letter to