Determinations from thence in a Portmantle The Bishops and Fathers of the Council were acted more by Reasons of State and Principles of Policy then of Piety and consulted the Pope and the Conclave at Rome more then the Holy Scripture and the Fathers of the Church And withal you have no reason to urge us of England with the Autority of the Trent Council when none of our Bishops were there except only one fugitive And as I take it our Potent Neighbors of France have not yet accepted that Council and withal the Council is of too late an Edition to bear up its Autority against the consent and practice of so many Ages of the Church And therefore being now grown weary of the Controversie be pleas'd to answer this Question and we will conclude Why doth the Church persist so stifly to maintain the Communion in one kind against so many advantages we have shew'd and you must acknowledg on the other side especially seeing in the Council of Trent it was so much desir'd by the Emperor Charles the Fifth and by the Princes and People of Germany well affected so to make up the breach and keep many from falling away from the Church of Rome that the Council of Trent would allow the Communion in both kinds yet we find it was not granted but referr'd wholly to the Popes determination who never had leisure to take his infallible Chair and determine that Controversie Phil. To speak freely The Fathers of that Council and the Pope with his Cardinals at Rome in their Wisdom did well perceive that such as moved for the Communion in both kinds were dis-affected to the Church and made this a specious bait to catch the People They saw their Concessions in this plausible case would but make way for many complaints more and grievances to be redress'd You know not long before the Germans publish'd in Print their first a Centum gravamina Century of Grievances every Article being as a Libel against the Church Hereupon they thought it the wisest course to justifie the former Councils and stand upon their Autority and require subjection from the true Sons of the Church and as for Heretics and Schismatics either to subdue them by subtlety and force or else to slight them Theoph. This Observation of yours confirms many Passages we read of Bishops b Joannes Baptistà Hosius Episcopus Rbeatinus Lib. 4. Gonc Trid. Sess 2. Ecclesia nunquam consueverit vel minimum indulg heriticis c. in that Council giving their Vote upon the Question who mightily oppos'd the allowance of the Cup and urg'd That the Church was never observed to give the least Indulgence unto Heretics but to establish that which was diametrically opposite to their Positions c Andreas Cuâ—sta Episcopus Legionensis Another Bishop seconds this Opinion with the Example of the first General Council of Nice wherein those 318. Holy Fathers would not yield one tittle to the Arrians altho Constantine desired moderation and the Controversie had well nigh set in a flame the whole World d A verbis commoda interpretatione molliendis ex composito abstinuerunt Nay saith he they studiously rejected many Words and Expressions of the Arrians which were capable of a convenient Interpretation And thus you see with what intolerable Impudence they accounted their Christian Brethren as Heretics for following the plain Institution of Christ The Arrians found no favor in the Council of Nice from those Orthodox and Godly Fathers nor the least degree of complyance neither must the Protestants in Germany from the Council of Trent But there was somthing more in the Wind that hindred the Reformation of the See of Rome namely this That if upon the complaint of Nations and People the Pope should reform abuses especially such as had been Decreed in Councils It would be a tacite acknowledgment that the Church of Rome had solemnly erred in making such unjustifiable Decrees and so the jealous People would begin to suspect and examine all her Determinations and be easily perswaded by their Schismatical Guides that in many things the Church had miscarried and Bills of exceptions and complaint would be put up one after another as the interest and malice of her Adversaries should contrive them and therefore the safest way was ever found for the Church of Rome to stand upon her Justification against the clamors of the whole World and to put Princes in mind of their Obedience to the Church and the Obligation that lies upon them by force of Arms to subdue their contumacious Subject's and make them submit unto Rules and Disciplines of the Churches This was the sum of that smart Council which Cardinal Soderine gave unto Pope Adrian when the good old Man was much perplex'd with the Complaints and Demands of the German Princes and their People against the corruptions chiefly of the Court of Rome His Piety and Simpllcity and good Nature being not well vers'd in the Politics of Rome promted him to endeavor satisfaction and reform all such Abuses as might give just occasion of offence and grievance to their Adversaries About this great Work of Reforming he consults the Conclave and the necessity of the Times and the public Scandal of Abuses induc'd many of the Cardinals to advise a Reformation of many things which were in question But at last the subtle and experienc'd Cardinal Soderinus who had been vers'd in the Affairs of Christendom under three active Poâ—ds Alexander and Julius and Leo the 10 th turns the Scale of their Votes and absolutly disswades any appearance or attemt of a Reformation He rolls them That neâ—er any Pope with his Cardinals before thought that a coâ—â—enient way but rather by the Interest of Princes and the power of the Sword to suppress and extirpate unquiet and schismatical Spirits That no Pope cut off Heresies by a Reformation a Sed cruciatis quas vocant excitatis contra 〈◊〉 Princibus Populis Crucis simbolo in signitis but by the â—rucrats as they are call'd the Princes and People being stirr'd up against them wearing the badge of the Cross upon their Coat of Arms. Phil. I must confess Experience hath found this way the surest for so Pope Innocent the 3 d supprest the Albigenses in France and Charles the fifth the German Protestant Princes Theoph. But thro the Providence of God you find the Lutherans are yet alive in Germany and several Princes together with their Subjects reform'd themselves in spight of all opposition protesting against those Errors which the Church of Rome intends to justifie only by the Sword and by the Inquisition and the lower you draw your Observation the more success you will find God hath given unto many Kingdoms and People against the Tyranny and Innovations of Rome Phil. The Judgments of God are a great deep and you may not enter into his Secrets and judg of Truths by the Success Theoph. No my design only was to confute
Territories in the West had seis'd upon Ravenna and threatned Rome it self the Emperor being unable to protect them a Ib. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and all this through his own folly Nay saith he you threaten to fend to Rome and break down the Image of St. Peter and carry away the Pope in Bonds but if you thus look big and threaten I will not contend but I will remove my self but 25 miles and then I shall be out of your reach and you may go and persecute the winds Phil. 'T is much he had the courage to write so boldly to the Emperor who had Dominions and Forces near in Italy Theoph. The subtle Pope knew his own strength The Lombards kept their Interest in Campania and other parts of Italy in despight of the Emperors Forces and altho they were many times very troublesom Neighbors to Rome yet thither upon case of necessity he would flie After the same manner he writes a second Letter unto the Emperor among other things telling him Altho thou dost persecute us with a Military hand of Flesh yet we being destitute of carnal Weapons do invoke the chief Captain of the Creation Christ sitting in the Heavens over all Power and Dominion to send the Divel into thee as the Apostle speaks To give such an one unto Satan and afterwards he thundred out against him the Bull of Excommunication And whereas the Emperor had demanded how it came to pass That none of the six general Councils had Decreed any thing for the worship of Images c. what Answer think you gave the Pope to that demand Phil. I cannot guess but it was a material Proposal Theoph. He answers it thus True O King neither did any of those Councils make Decrees of eating Bread and drinking Water intimating That it was as evidently necessary to worship Images as to eat and drink and therefore no matter for a Canon of a general Council And withal he tells him That the Patriarchs and Bishops carried Images before them when they went into the Council and none that did love Jesus Christ would take a Journey without some Images of the Saints as their Fellow-Travellers Now these things and many others are urged by him without any offer of proof and being not in his Pontifical Chair it seems he was not infallible neither was it likely such blind Stories and fond Assertions and foolish Letters should prevail with a Prince of great Power and Reason and therefore he continued his course of preventing Idolatry by taking Images and Pictures out of the way and so he had the Sir-name given him of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that did make war against Images His Son Consiantin follows him in the same severity and the Monckish Historians of that time had a nick-name also for him Constantinus Copronymus Because say they when being an Infant he was Baptized he defiled the Sacred Font with his dung and so gave an Omen of his future contemt and villanies against the Saints and the Church But that was not the reason of the Appellative and Name but rather because he much delighted in the smell of Horse-dung the compound name being deriv'd from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies dung and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is Interpreted I am pleas'd whereas perhaps the dull Monks thought it was deriv'd from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a Name Now because they had in vain sought the concurrence of the Pope and the Western Bishops in a general Council Constantinus the Emperor summons a Council at Constantinople Anno 754. where 318. Bishops assembled and declared against Images and their worship and stiled themselves a Sancta magna unversalis Synedus c. The holy and great general Council of Constantinople But we have no Record of the Actions of this Council otherwise then we find the definition thereof mangled and confuted by parcels in the Council of Nice succeeding This being the unjust and partial dealing of the Roman Faction through whose hands since the desolation of the Eastern Church by the Turks all Church History is transmitted to deliver nothing to Posterity as far as possibly they can stifle it which makes against them After Constantine did succeed Leo his Son in the Empire who Reigned five years and left his Son Constantine being ten years old together with his Mother Irene to rule the Empire Anno 773. the Monkish Writers of those times highly extol the Queen b Hierene piissima una cum Const. glorioso divinitus cepit Imperium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. stiling her Most Pious because Pope Adrian by his Instruments brought her over to restore Images and then the Pope promotes a general Council which was first summon'd at Constantinople but by reason of Tumults the People of Constantinople making Insurrection against the Council which should restore Image-worship it was prorogu'd for a year and afterwards translated to Nice whether the Pope sends his Legats and all is carried as he would Now here you may observe a Scene of Popish subtlety When the Emperor Leo Isaurus did not concur in Judgment with Gregory the second altho a Council was desired yet the Pope would not consent because he well knew that the Countenance and Autority of the Emperor would carry all things against the Popes Judgment But when Irene the Empress together with her Son Constantine were made for the interest of the Pope and for Images Then Adrian mightily promotes the Council condemns the former general Council of Constantinople which Decreed against Images as a meer Heretical Conventicle and sets up this at Nice in its stead And he laid his design sure enough for in the entrance of the Council he writes by his Legats both to the Emperor and to Tarasius the Patriarch of Constantinople That c he was made Patriarch against the Canons of the Church of Christ as being immediatly taken from a Courtier and a Lay-man to the See of Constantinople but because he was satisfied of his zeal for Images therefore he would not except against his Consecration And in the close of his Epistle to Tarasius he tells him plainly If the Emperor and the Council shall not restore Images I cannot by any means admit of your Consecration And this Patriarch in truth was fit for the Popes turn being liable to the exception you have heard and not learned he would be rul'd by the Popes Legats and some busie Monks in the Council the sooner and withal many of the Bishops of Asia and Greece had bin guilty of voting against Images in the former Council of Constantinople and none of them must be admitted into this Council but such as would submit acknowledging their Error and begging pardon and declaring strenuously against what they had establish'd and condemning the Council against Images unto the pit of Hell And with these preparations you may easily judge what would be the issue of the
Heaven upon the sons of men but thro the hands and conveyance of the Blessed Virgin Lay all this together and you will soon perceive how by a strange emulation of her Votaries the superstition is improv'd even into the highest degree of blasphemy Phil. Our Church is not concern'd in these follies of private persons and superstitious Votaries Theoph. You have past a just Censure upon them yet you will find they deriv'd their imaginations from others before them of great Autority in your Church You may turn Canisius the Jesuits Catechism set forth in a large Folio under the licence of Pope Pius the fift In his second chap. of the Lords Praier and the Angel Gabriel's Salutation quaest 18 among others he cites out of Damascen Bernard and Anselm these passages b Domina peccatoris orationem accipe To solum gaudii spem habentis c. O Lady receive the praier of a sinner who doth fervently love and worship thee as his only hope and joy and pledg of Salvation Shake off the burden of my sins and subdue temptations and guide me in holiness that by thy conduct I may obtain eternal bliss c Invituperabilem Deipara spem tuam c. Omnipotens auxtlium tuum I shall be sav'd under thine irreprovable hope having your protection as a brestplate and your omnipotent assistance Blessed Mother of God open unto us the Gate of mercy that trusting in thee we may not err and may be freed from all evil d Tu enimes salus generis humani For thou art the Salvation of Mankind e Omnem spem meam in Te repono Mater luminis I put my whole trust in thee ô Mother of Light This he cites out of Damascen Out of Bernard he brings these passages f Praecessit nos Regina nostra praecessit ut fiducialiter sequantur Dominam c. Our Quen is gon before receiv'd into her glory that we her servants may call after her Draw us that we may run after Thee because of the savour of thine Ointments Cant. 1. The Blessed Virgin ascending up on high even she will give gifts unto men For what should hinder seeing neither power nor a will is wanting She is the mercifull Queen of Heaven and the Mother of Gods only Son Let him forbear to magnify thy mercy who hath found thee wanting when he call'd upon thee O thou Blessed who can take the length and breadth and height and depth of thy mercy Out of Anselm this g Peripsam gratiam quâ Te De us omnipotens exaltavit omnia Tibi c. We beseech thee ô Lady by that grace whereby almighty God hath highly exalted thee and given to thee together with himself all things possible that Thou wouldst obtaine for us such fulness of grace which thou hast deserv'd to bring us to Glory Do thou only will our Salvation and we shall be sav'd help us therefore most benigne Lady and not remembring the multitude of our sins incline thy heart to pity us Again if your Church doth not approve how come your Superiors to licence such books why does your Sacred Colledg of Inquisitors strein at Gnats in other'd mens writings swallow these Camels If your Doctors did abhor such blasphemies they would expunge them they would bend their interests and their studies against them But the naked truth is That the Orders of the Franciscan's and the Jesuits most of them have so vehemently espous'd the honor of our Lady that nothing comes amiss to advance it and these having the greatest influence upon the Court of Rome have in a manner silenc'd all such as among your selves would have contradicted For Instance in that great Question about the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin in her Mothers womb the Dominicans were Orthodox and in the negative maintaining well That all who descended from the loins of Adam by natural generation were conceiv'd in sin infected with original corruption That only Christ was without sin and therefore his Blessed Mother was not free at least from original sin That if Christ was her God and Saviour as she acknowledges in the first verse of her Magnificat therefore she was a sinner For he was therefore call'd Jesus or Saviour because he should save his People from their sins But the other party effected that by power and interest which they could not make good by Argument by plurality of votes they prevail'd in the a Concil Trid. sess 5. Declarat tum haec sancta Synodus non esse suae c. Council of Trent That the Virgin Mother should not be included within the Canon of original sin but the Constitutions of Sixtus 4 tus the Pope should be observed The same faction had before prevail'd upon the Pope and Court to establish a Solemn Feast in memory of her Immaculate Conception they procur'd the Edict of Pope Xystus quartus that none should write or dispute against it and so the opinion of the Immaculate Conception is fairly made a Doctrine of the Church seeing the Feast is solemniz'd by the Authority of the Pope For Pope Sixtus an o 1476 publisheth his Bull b Vid. Bin. tom 8. pag. 1051 1052. to establish the Feast with great Indulgences to all such as should devoutly keep the Feast and be present at the solemn Offices and Services of it and seven years after he sets forth another Bull severely forbidding any one to speak or write against the Immaculate Conception and the Council of Trent Confirms that Decree of Xystus You see therefore how matters are carried by favour and affection under shew of piety devotion honour towards the Mother of God they have introduc'd heretical opinions and presumtious blasphemies whereof I have given some instances Phil. I pray forbear your railing keep close to the point of Saints Invocation and bring your exceptions against the public practise of the Church if any you have and trouble not your self and me with personal extravagancies and phancies Theoph. I thought a Popes Bull for the Celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the confirmation thereof by your darling Synod the famous Council of Trent had bin no personal extravagance Phil. What is that to the Invocation of Saints the Virgin Mother speak to the point or else conclude Theoph. Yes the Bull of Sixtus the fourth confirms much such extravagancies For in that Decree the Virgin Mary is stiled a Bin tom 8. p. 1051. Kegina Coeli Stella matutina via misericord c. Queen of Heaven the morning Star the way of mercy Mother of grace and the comforter of Mankind Phil. Leave these digressions speak to the point of Saints Invocation Theoph. I am perswaded as you do not approve so you cannot justify such passages and expressions and therefore you have not patience to hear of them but I will follow your direction and contract my observations within the public Offices and Breviaries
understanding and devotion putting an acceptable force upon the Almighty by the fervency and importunity of the whole Congregation I have likewise occasionally shew'd before how the Latine Tongue was propagated with the Roman Conquests by their Colonies and in time became even vulgarly known in many parts of the Western Empire but upon the Inundation of the Goths and Vandals c. And upon the decay of the Roman Empire the Roman Tongue every where gave place to the Conqueror and now there is no Nation or People in the World who generally understand it Now then seeing the Latine Service was in use in divers Countries because it was vulgarly understood and for that reason only as we may well suppose the case being so apparently alter'd and no common People now understanding the Latine Tongue it ought in every Country to give place to that Language which is understood And it is the insufferable Tyranny of the Pope and Church of Rome so strictly to keep up the old custom of Latine Service in several Countries when the reason of the first possession ceaseth and the Language is not understood And therefore in this case Augustin shall give an Answer to himself a De Baptisme contra Donatistas lib 3. cap. 6. Plane respondeo quis dubitet veritati manifestae debere consuetudinem cedere I answer plainly saith he who doubteth but that custom must yield unto apparent truth Phil. If any Nation find it a grievance they may peaceably apply themselves to the Pope and his Cardinals or to a General Council and without doubt may have Indulgence and leave granted to have the Service in their own Tongue For so I read how Cyril an Hermit who was a great Instrument under God to convert Moravia to the Faith of the Gospel having first instructed and Baptized Suatocopius their King who was overcome in a signal Battle by Arnolphus the Emperor and liv'd an Exile in the Wilderness b Aenâ—as Sylvius hist Bohemica cap. 13. The History shews how this Cyril went to Rome and earnestly sollicited the Pope that in Divine Service he might use the Sclavonian Tongue which was in Moravia the vulgar and it was granted Theoph. But why do you concele the most memorable Passage of the Story namely That when Cyrils request met with great opposition in the sacred Senate of Cardinals a voice was heard as from Heaven saying c Omnis spiritus laudet Deum omnis lingua confiteatur ei Ib ad finem capitis Let every one that hath breath praise the Lord and let every Tongue consess unto him And so they were in that Senate miraculously convinc'd of the Truth now controverted between us That every Nation should serve God and praise him in their own Tongue even in the public Service Now you cannot deny the Story to be credible seeing your self have made use of the first part and it was written by a famous Cardinal who was afterwards chosen Pope But as for Encouragements to ask leave we shall find very few For in the next Century Hildebrand a furious and turbulent Pope known by the name of Gregory the 7 th flatly denied the same Request made by the Duke of Bohemia Vuratislaus in the behalf of his Subjects And whereas in most of their Churches the People had before taken the liberty to use their own Language in the public Service the Pope strictly inhibits it by the Autority of Peter giving the Duke a charge for the honor of the Omnipotent God with all his power to resist such a vain and rash attemt And the lower we descend in Church History the more stiff we find the See of Rome to make any Concessions unto the People The Immunities of the Clergy must be enlarged and the Laics kept under a blind obedience and to this end their little or no understanding of Gods Worship and of the Mysteries d Binius part 1 ma. 7 Tom. Conc l 6. Epistolarum Greg. Papâ— 7. Epistola 11. Ne fiat quod à vestris imprud exposcitur autorit beati Petri inhibemus c. of Religion and of the Holy Scriptures is very subservient Phil. You are proud and of a Schismatical Spirit and so pretend great difficulties to excuse good maners Theoph. It is the usual course with Men of your Church to supply their defect of Arguments and Reason with railing I have all this while wondred at your patience but you have not bin long acquainted with their waies But in answer to your reproof I will tell you It is no part of good manners to ask leave to serve God in that way which he hath prescrib'd with the heart and with the lips and with understanding also a Lib. 30. cap. 5. contra Fauseum Manich. neque evim cenceditur secundum Veniam nisi peccatum S t Augustin tells us Indulgence is given to such things as are not lawful in themselves Prove it unlawful to understand our Praiers and we will ask your leave to do so And that we do not pretend difficulties is manifest for your Church is so far from allowing the public Service in a known Tongue that it scarce permits any to use their own Language in their private Devotions training up their Proselytes Men Women and Children to say their Pater noster the Creed the Penitential Psalms their Ave Maries in Latine and so like Parrots they are taught to speak what they understand not in particular to utter broken Latine and many Incongruities the intention of heart and mind all the while being not determin'd to those Petitions which they make with their lips For altho they have a moral perswasion that they say the Lords Praier when they mumble out the Pater noster yet for the distinct Petitions they are altogether to seek as I have had occasion to make the trial For when a Female Proselyte of Rome gloried that she could say her Praiers in Latine rehearsing her Pater noster when she came to the fifth Petition Demitte nobis debita nostra I interrupted her and demanded what that Petition was which the then put up to God she answered She could not tell distinctly but she knew in general that she said the Lords Prayer Now certainly it is necessary that the heart should know when the tongue asks forgiveness of Sins that so it may be smitten and deeply affected with a sense and shame of sin in general and with some particular sins which lie as a burthen upon the Conscience and would come into remembrance at that instant when we with understanding beg pardon And the same reason holds for all requests made to God we ought distinctly to understand them that we may be suitably affected with a due sense of our wants Did you never read the complaint which the Lord made to his Prophet Isaiah chap. 29. ver 13. This People draw near to me with their mouth and with their lips do honor me but have removed their heart far from me
not doubt but stedfastly believe That whole Christ his Body and Blood is contain'd under either Species of the Sacrament And therefore such a custom of giving the Sacrament in one kind introduc'd by the Church and the Holy Fathers and observ'd for a most long time let it be taken for a Law Theoph. The first part is warily penn'd c Tam sub Specie panis quam sub specie vini veraciter contineri We must stedfastly believe that whole Christ is verily contain'd as well under one Species as the other So it may be if it be in neither and so we hold Christ is contain'd in neither singly but he is signified and Sacramentally represented and really and spiritually exhibited by the Sacrament in both kinds unto the Faithful Receiver His Body that was broken for us is signified by breaking of Bread and his Blood shed by the Wine poured out of the Cup and separated from the Bread in the Sacrament and therefore at present we will dismiss this School nicety and by the Councils leave not take it for granted That whole Christ Body and Soul is in either Species Quod nullus Presbyter sub poena Excommunicat communicet Populum sub utraque Specie But the principal motive follows Seeing such a custom of giving the Sacrament in one kind hath been introduc'd and most long observ'd by the Church and Fathers we Decree it shall be taken for a Law which shall not be changed or reprobated without the Autority of the Church b Bin. Tom. 8. Concil Basil Sess 30. Sub qualibet Specie est integer totus Christus landab quoque consuet commun Laices c. The Council of Basil makes and confirms the same Decree upon the same Motives Whole and intire Christ is under either kind and the laudable custom of Communicating the Laity under one kind induc'd by Church and Fathers and hither to most long observ'd and approv'd by Doctors skilful in Gods Law and in the Holy Scripture and in Church Canons long since Let it be a Law c. Phil. Yes The Custom and Practice of the Church should prevail with sober Men not given to Faction especially when confirm'd by General Conncils Theoph. Why should not then the Custom and Practice of the Church which we have prov'd for so many Ages prevail for administring the Sacrament in both kinds especially being exactly conformable unto Christs Institution and Command and Apostolical Tradition Phil. Stay there We absolutely deny any command of Christ or of his Apostles or of the Church representative in a General Council to administer the Sacrament in both kinds and we shew two Councils forbidding it Theoph. You deny but the Scriptures affirm And the reason why no General Council determin'd the Sacrament to be in both kinds was because the Institution of Christ and the Tradition of the Apostles and the practice of the whole Church was so full and express for it It was never put to the Question as I can find until the 13 th Century and from that time when the School-men began to swarm most of them being sworn Champions of the See of Rome The laudable Custom as the Council speaks approv'd by Holy Fathers viz. Monks and Friers crept insensibly into the Church And this must be made a ground of Canons to establish the Communion in one kind and forbid the Cup and declare a Curse upon all those that shall dispute it And now when I shall declare the reason I hope your goodness will excuse that great trouble to my self and you in those numerous Quotations and Testimonies I have brought to prove the practice of the Church for 1200 Years in giving the Sacrament unto the People in both kinds It was chiefly upon this design to manifest the gross absurdity of those two Councils Constance and Basil who as you have heard do ground their Decree for one kind upon the laudable custom of the Church taken up not above 100 Years before against the Institution of Christ and the conformable practice of the Church for 1200 Years And withal to manifest their impudence in calling that a custom rationally introduc'd when such a Diutissime obs trifling Motives are brought to establish it And in saying it was diutissime observata for a long time observ'd when they cannot shew one clear Instance save in the Age immediatly before That the Sacrament was administred in public in one kind in any Christian Church Phil. It doth not become your Prudence and Moderation so to undervalue General Councils Theoph. Alass Those two pitiful Councils of Constance and Easil you may call them Oecumenical but you give no more Autority to them then you think fit As far as their Decrees suit the Genius of the Court of Rome they are confirm'd and no farther a Part. 2. Tom. 7. pag. 1134. Exparte Approbatum in iis quae consra Wicclesum c. Binius in his Notes upon the Council of Constance tells us It was approv'd in part in those Decrees against Wicliff Husse and Jerome of Prague But in the determination of the Autority of a General Council above the Pope it was abrogated by two General Councils of Florence and the Lateran b Bin. Tom. 8. Sâ—ss 34. Câ—nâ— Basil Tan suum Simâ—niacum perjurum incorig Scismaticum fide devium injurium bonarum Ecclesiâ—e pâ—â—ditorâ—m So the Council of Basil deposing Eugenius the 4 th from his Papacy As a Simoniacal and perâ— jur'd Man an incorrigible Schismatic erring from the Faith injurious and betraying the Goods of the Church And choosing Amadeus Duke of Savoy Pope called Felix the fifth and Declaring That a Council is above the Pope and hath its Power immediatly from Christ Alas for these things this poor Council is hist off the Stage of the World c Sess 11. Bin in notis in Concil â—asil p. 526. Conciliabulum Schismat c. And in the Lateran General Council under Leo the 10 th It is call'd a Schismatical and Seditious Conventicle and altogether of no Autority And yet these are the Councils upon whose Aurority you so much depend to establish your half Communion and pronounce us all Heretical and Contumacious for not submitting our Reason and our Consciences thereunto even against the Scripture and against the Fathers of the Church Phil. But the General Council of Trent hath no Exception being held 18 years and confirm'd by Pope Pius the fourth and subscrib'd by his Cardinals as appears by the Bull of Confirmation See the Council of Trent set forth in Latin by John Gallemart D. D. and Professor at Douey Theoph. Of the Council of Trent read the History of Father Paul a Frier at Venice a Man of Learning Judgment and Piety beyond compare and there you will find what just cause the World â—ath to decline the Autority and Decrees of that Cabal That great Ecclesiastical Body whose Soul and Spirit was at Rome receiving day by day Orders and Directions and
wall Phil. This Canon may respect the Pictures of God and not of the Saints and you have dismist that Point Theoph. Your Church however is to blame to transgress this Canon in admitting Images of God and of the Trinity But seeing you allow Worship and Adoration to the Images of Christ and of the Saints the reason given in the Canon reacheth them also The Fathers would not have that which is worship'd pictur'd on the Wall Phil. You will find other Answers given to that Canon That it prohibited Images in the Church because then the People were newly weanâ—d from Idolatry and might be apt to return For the Council was held under Pope Marcellus Anno 305. and withal the Heathen among whom they liv'd might suppose Christians did worship Idols like themselves whilst they condemn'd them and there was danger least the Gentiles should break in upon them and do despite unto the Images of Christ and the Saints Theoph. The Reason given in the Canon confutes these Answers and manifests them to be but shifts That which is worship'd must not be pictur'd Phil. b De Im. l. 2. c. 9. Bellarmin having reckon'd others chiefly approves this Answer The Canon forbids Images upon the Walls least they should be defil'd and stain'd with the moistness and mouldring of the Wall but Pictures in Arrasor Tables are not forbid as not being so liable to such Inconveniencies Theoph. He will say somwhat tho to little purpose such a ridiculous Answer deserves no Consideration Phil. But withal he shews how the Eliberitan Council consisted but of 19 Bishops And what are they if compar'd with such General Councils which afterwards establish'd Images Theoph. This is like himself when any thing makes against him to slight it But this Council was alwaies held in great esteem for the Antiquity and Piety thereof Hosius presided therein and the other Bishops were most of them Confessors and at that time assembled with the hazard of their lives to give Rules and Directions to the People of God And in those days Bishops were not so numerous the World being not subdued to Christianity And lastly Binius acknowledgeth there were six and thirty Presbyters in the Council besides the Bishops Phil. Once more Bellarmin shews That Council did incline to Novatianism denying Reconciliation unto the Church even at their deaths unto some Offenders as appears in the three first Canons of that Council whereas about 20 years after the great Council of Nice in the 13 th Canon Decreed the contrary a Bin. Tom. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. We determin in general That any one departing this life and desiring to receive the Eucharist the Bishop upon examination shall give it him Theoph. Bellarmin doubtless was not ignorant That Pope Innocent the first had vindicated the Eliberitan Council from this imputation of Novatianism and reconcil'd the difference of the Canons by the times wherein they were made b Innocent Epist 1. c. 2. Cum illis temporibus crebrae essent persecut c. In those persecuting Times the Fathers of the Eliberitan Council were more severe least the easiness of Reconciliation to the Church should encourage some to Apostatize they Decreed That such as did fall off should not be admitted to the Eucharist even at their deaths But when Constantine restored Peace to the Church and Persecution ceas'd the Council of Nice releas'd the former Canon and Decreed The Communion should be given to such as desired it upon their death beds Now Bellarmin's brother Cardinal c Annal Tom Anno 305. Fatetur se paulo liberius de hoc Concil loquutum c. Baronius taking into consideration this Justification of the Eliberitan Council by Pope Innocent makes acknowledgment That he spoken too freely against this Council in his Annals before and Declares That there could be no suspicion of Novatianism in that Council Phil. d Baron Tom. 1. Anno Christi 57. Baronius suspects this Canon against Pictures may be supposititious put in among the rest by some who had ill will to Images in after times Because saith he the Image-breakers take no notice of this Canon in their defence Theop. This is their constant practice to suspect all that makes against them They have accustomed themselves much of late to the corrupting of Fathers and Councils and would have us believe they have learn'd that Art from the Primitive Times And withal you may observe Baronius's cheat upon his Reader In the year 570. he much labors to undermine the Autority of this Council as being but a particular Council of few Bishops given to Novatianism and for this Canons sake against Images all this indignation and therefore the Canon must be thought supposititious Now when he hath prepossest his Reader with these prejudices against this Council long after in the year 305. as you have heard he recants acknowledging he had spoke too freely against it and that Pope Innocent had acquitted the Council of Novatianism c. Do you not believe the Learned Cardinal knew as much of this Concern when he wrote his first censure of the Council as when he cries peccavi only he was willing to undervalue the Council in the first place and might presume many of his Readers might never go so far as to read this his Recantation But to proceed in Church History concerning Pictures of the Saints in Churches we have a notable passage of Epiphaninus a Learned Bishop in Cyprus who going towards Bethel with John Bishop of Jerusalem in the way he turn'd into a Church in a Village call'd Anablatha to Pray And seeing there a piece of hanging before the door of the Church painted and having the Image of Christ in it or some Saint for afterwards in his Letter to John Bishop of Jerusalem he saith That he did not well remember whose Picture it was he cut the hanging and Picture into pieces and wish'd the Keeper of the Church to wrap some dead Body in it and bury it When some of the Village standing by expostulated with him for the Fact and said That however he should buy another piece of hanging before the door he promis'd to do so and sent it afterwards to the Bishop of Jerusalem to be put up instead of the other Now in this Letter to the Bishop who had Jurisdiction in that place he gives a reason of his action a Hierom. Tom 2. Epist Epiphan ad Jeannem Episc Hiros cum vidissem in Ecclesia Christi contra Script Autorit hominis c. When I saw in the Church of Christ against the Autority of Holy Scripture the Image of a Man set up I cut it in pieces And in the close of his Letter he adviseth the Bishop to command That such hangings should not be admitted into the Church which are against our Religion that so he might take away all scandal and scruple c. Phil. Many Answers you will find given to this memorable Passage Theoph. Yes it
Man and his redemtion by Christ and other Mysteries which were made known unto them saith the Apostle in the Churches by the Ministery of the Gospel See Estius in 4. Sent. dist 46. Paragr 19. p. 294. And so while your Doctors without any warrant of Scripture generally lay this for a Foundation That the Saints in Heaven do know our state and bear our Praiers when they come to the proof and confirmation every one abounds in his own sense and they easily confute one anothers Reasons and Opinions and manifest unto their Readers upon due consideration that they are full of uncertainties in the Point which they take for granted and can urge only fallible Arguments to confirm that which they would have receiv'd by all Men as a mesur'd Truth but we have not learn'd to subscribe to Mens Dictates And you acknowledg your Doctor makes not proof of his Assertion which is a great defect this being the main Hinge whereupon the Controversie turns We conclude therefore there is no reason we should call upon the Saints when they do not hear us as a Child doth not ask his Fathers Blessing when he is out of hearing Now you assert with Bellarmin That the Saints in Heaven out of doubt do hear us but you know not how It is probable say you that in the Face of God they see and know all things that concern them but give no reason of that probability and is it fit that a Doctrine of your Church which takes up in that part the Devotion of all Gods People should be grounded only upon such a probability whereof you can give no reason How can I call upon the Saints with Faith and Comfort when I have no assurance that they can hear me I may with as much reason daily beg the Praiers of pious Friends who live far from me and say It is probable God will revele to them that I desire the assistance of their Praiers Phil. Your Instance runs not parallel Our condition here is a state of ignorance their 's a state of comprehension They can see the Face of God and live for ever they certainly know all things which tend to their consummation in Bliss for they are arriv'd at the state of Perfection and perfect Knowledge is the foundation of their Happiness Theoph. The perfect knowledg of God is so Here we know in part saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 13. ver 12. but there we shall know as we are known i. e. fully perfectly and this knowledg and Vision of God is Beatifical But how doth this prove their knowledg of the necessities and Praiers of us poor Mortals here on Earth whom they have leâ—t behind them in the vale of Misery we may rather suppose the wisdom of God hath excluded them from the knowledg of their Friends and Relations and of miserable Man here beneath least it should prove a diminution of their Joy and Bliss Your Angelical Doctor holds o Aqu. part 1. qu. 12. Art 8. ad 4. Cognoscere singularia cogitata aut facta c. non est de perfect It belongs not unto the perfection of a created Intellect to know particulars the thoughts or actions of Men. If God only be seen it sufficeth to make men happy As S t Augustin â— He is happy who knoweth Thee altho he have nothing else In a word Cardinals Cajetane was a Learned Advocate of your Church and had studied the Point in hand much and he concludes at last That we have no assurance that the Saints know when we pray to them altho we piously believe it Phil. I well perceive you have a Spirit of contradiction and please your self much in eluding such Arguments which our Doctors urge from Scripture and reason to prove the Doctrine of our Church touching the Invocation of Saints I will therefore take a more convincing way unto such refractory persons and plainly shew by matter of Fact and express Testimony of the Antients That this Doctrine hath bin receiv'd in the Church Catholic from the beginning Theoph. I presume you mean not from the beginning of Christianity you have heard how the attemt of your Doctors to prove it out of Gods Word hath been altogether unsuccessful and some of your Doctors have confes'd that it is delivered in Holy Scripture very obscurely and others have shew'd the reason even the humility and modesty of the Apostles which with-held them from publishing this Doctrine least they should appear to make themselves as Gods after their decease by requiring the People of God to make their Praiers and Supplications to them Seeing therefore your Doctrine is not sounded in the Holy Scripture I could give a short Answer unto your pretended usage of the Church and Testimony of the Ancient That which S t Augustin gave to Cresconius urging the Autority of Cyprian r I am not bound to the Autority of this Epistle for I do not hold the Writings of Cyprian as Canonical but judg of them by the Canonical Scripture and whatsoever is consonant to the Holy Scripture I receive with praise what agrees not with his leave 〈…〉 eject If you could prove what you have urg'd out of the Canonical Books of the Apostles and Prophets I would not contradict but seeing what you haue is not Canonical with that liberty whereunto God hath called us I do not receive his Testimony whose due Praise I can never equal with whose Writings I dare not compare mine own whose Learning I embrace whose 〈…〉 y I admire whose Martyrdom is venerable Again S t Augustin to the same effect elsewhere It is not sufficient unto the Autority of Faith and of the Dostrines of the Church to say Thus Esay or thou faist or he saith 〈◊〉 Thus saith the Lord. So the Blessed Martyr Gyprian himself We must not been what any one hath done before us but what He who is before all Ages hath taught or communded to be don Once more I could answer you out of Gratian t A Custom without the Word of God to back it is not â— B 〈…〉 quâ— T 〈…〉 scit etiamsi alia n 〈…〉 t. 〈…〉 sec 〈…〉 secundie â—hem qn 88. Art 5. Certaratione nescimus an Sancti vota 〈…〉 se 〈…〉 2. contr Cresconium c. 32. Ego hujus Epistolae c. 〈…〉 do sine verbo Lei non esse veritatem sed vetustatem erroris Truth but the Antiquity of Error The Council of Cartbage resolved thus â— The Lord said in the Gospel I am Truth He said not I am Castom Phil. Can you so easily trample upon the Autority of the Fathers You have formerly pretended much honor to the venerable Testimony of Antiquity where you conceiv'd it consonant unto your Principles and now you would decline that Touch-stone because you know full well it is against you in this Point of the Invocation of Saints Theoph. These Sentences I have produc'd are of the Fathers and seeing the Word of God doth not establish your Doctrine
this Canon as of the sixth general Council when he could not be ignorant how that Council made no Canons only he was willing to found the Doctrine of Saints Invocation upon the Autority of general Councils and you see how shamefully he hath pretended to them If this be the way to uphold their Church Let not my soul enter into their Councils Your Doctor cites likewise the next general Council the second Council of Nice of which I have given you formerly an Historical large account It instituted the worship of Images and did allow the Invocation of Saints but this was held 800 Years after Christ about which time this Superstitious Worship of the Saints was publicly avowed From the general Bellarmin proceeds to the Testimony of six Provincial Councils which speak not to his purpose They appoint the Litanies of their Churches to be solemnly used in the times allotted for them now because the Saints are praied to in their new Litanies therefore your Cardinal supposeth they were so in the old and wheresoever he finds a command for the use of Litanies there he infers Invocation of Saints commanded And the Council of c Bin. Tom 6. Concil Moguntinum c. 32. Adrogandum Deum c. Mentz is one of them which your Cardinal quotes and that Council held under Charles the Great Anno 813. tells us That Litanies or Rogations are solemnly appointed to beseech the Lord and implore his mercy viz. when some diresul Calamities are eminent not one word of calling upon the Saints Phil. Bellarmin in this place shews how Walfridus Strabo in the 8 th Book of Ecclesiastical Affairs chap. 28. declaring what these Litanies were mention'd in these Councils saith a Litaniam de qua agitur in bis Conciliis esse Sanctorum Invocationem They were the Invocation of Saints Theoph. Turn to the place and you will not find it so First Strabo gives an account of the original and use of Litanies and then for their matter he saith They are not only Invocations of Saints for help b In adiutorium â—um infirmitatis cuncta quae fiunt Orationibus but any Supplications to God are Litanies He adds farther That the Invocation of Saints was brought into the Litany after S t Jeromes days but how soon after he asserts not neither that those Councils which Bellarmin quoted did include the Invocation of Saints you have heard how the Council of Mentz did rather exclude them And therefore I pray now judg upon a sober recollection of the Cardinals proofs from Councils they are in part false in part impertinent It is almost incredible that in less then one page he should manifest unto as many as shall examin him so much deceit and imprudence but we impute all to his desperate cause which can be no otherwise maintain'd then by imposing upon the unwary Reader Farewel therefore unto the Testimony of Holy Scripture and the Testimony of any Council for more then 700 Years after Christianity unto your Doctrine of Saints Invocation Phil. I presume Bellarmin relied not much upon these Councils as you observe he hudled them up in few lines but his Testimony from the Fathers are numerous and significant Theoph. I presume he well knew there was little in those Councils for his purpose yet he was willing to make his credulous Reader believe he had the Autority of all these Councils on his side and I am much satisfied for my great trouble and pains in the full discovery of the contrary being destitute of any proof from Scripture and Councils be pleas'd to produce his Allegations from the Fathers of the Church for the Invocation of Saints departed Phil. He cites a full Testimony of Dionysius the Areopagyte who lived in the Apostles daies c Ecclesiast Hierarch c. 7. That as he who puts out his eyes in vain desires the light of the Sun d Sic qui Sanctorum preces flagitat c. so in vain do we desire the Praiers of the Saints whilst we live and act contrary to their purity Theoph. The passage refers rather to the Praiers of the Saints living then of the Saints deceas'd such as neglect holiness of Life shall not be benefited by others Praiers And he instanceth in Samuels Praying for Saul and the design of that Chapter principally concerns the Rites of Burial in the Church to shew how our Praiers for the living or for the dead at their Burial avail nothing except the Persons for whom we pray are worthy And for a second answer I must tell you this Book is falsly ascrib'd to Dionysius it discovers it self to be written after the Nicene Council as I may have occasion to prove hereafter Phil. However Bellarmin takes his next Argument to be most evident It is taken from the early Testimony of Ireneus a Lih. 4. c. 19. ut Virginis Evae Virgo Marin fieret Alvocata As Eve was temted to turn from God so Mary was well perswaded to obey him That the Virgin Mary might prove the Advocate of the Virgin Eve b Quidclarius What is more evident to the Point then this saith the Cardinal Theoph. It is his Artifice to set out a weak Argument with the greatest confidence for this place doth not prove the Point He should prove the Invocation of the blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints and he attemts to shew her Advocation Phil. If she be our Advocate we ought to implore her Intercession Theoph. Not so neither as you have bin often told the Saints in Heaven may pray for the Church in general the Blessed Virgin for the Generations of Adam and Eve and yet not hear our Praiers in particular or be sensible of our condition However this Passage out of Ireneus proves not so much That the Virgin Mary is the Advocate of the Virgin Eve as the Fathers words seem to declare for the Blessed Virgin was not in being until thousands of Years after Eve was a Virgin Neither can you conceive that now she makes Intercession for the Mother of all living None of your Doctors can be so cruel as to keep our Mother Eve so long in Purgatory Ireneus his plain meaning is this That as by the prevarication of the Virgin Eve all her Posterity did suffer so by the obedience of the Blessed Virgin to the Angels Message and by the Blessed Fruit of her Womb all Man kind is comforted and relieved We have not Ireneus his Works in Greek as they were first written Suppose his word he made use of was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you know that signifies as well a Comforter as an Advocate The Virgin Mary hath made amends for the transgression of her Sex in our Mother Eve This is the sense of that comparison in the Father Phil. What sense you will fix upon his Words I see must pass for currant Bellarmin brings the Testimony of Pope Cornelius in the third Century between whom and S t Cyprian there past many Letters