says We pray to the Saints in Heaven in the same order of Brotherly Society with which we intreat our Brethren upon Earth to pray for us But that this says he is not a true Representation of their Doctrine will appear by these Considerations 1. That they pray continues He to the Saints and Angels in Heaven with the same solemn Circumstances of Religious Worship that they pray to God himself 2. That in their Prayers and Thanksgiving they joyn the Angels and the B. Virgin and the Saints together with God and Christ 3. That in the Creed of Pope Pius 4. it is expresly said the Saints which reign with Christ are to be Worship'd and Invocated 4. That in the Public Offices of their Church they do not only pray to the Saints to pray for them but they direct their Prayers and Thanksgivings immediately to them for all those Blessings and Benefits which they ask of God and thank Him for of which innumerable Examples adds He might be given out of their Public Offices particularly in the Office of the B. Virgin they pray to the Angels thus deliver us we beseech you by your command from all our Sins To which I answer 1. That there never was a Book more universally commended and approv'd in the Latin Church than the Bishop of Meaux's Exposition of the Doctrine of the Catholic Church The Pope highly commended and approv'd it as appears by his Brief to this Bishop annex'd to the said Book All the Cardinals and Consistory in Rome approv'd it as the Letters of the Master of the Sacred Palace and the Consultor of the Holy Office do witness And all the Learned Bishops and Prelates of the R. Catholic Church have very much approv'd and commended t as appears by the Letters of many of them to the said Bishop and his Friends all which are likewise annex'd to the said Book it has been translated into almost all the Vulgar Tongues in Europe and is read and perus'd by all R. Catholics with all the satisfaction and content imaginable so that to say this Exposition is not a true Representation of the Doctrine and Practice of the R. Catholic Church in this matter is as Unreasonable in it self as it is injurious to that Great and Learned Prelate and to the whole Catholic Church which hath so universally approv'd it 2. As to his first Consideration I have already prov'd that we address no Prayers to Saints or Angels in the Public Service of the Church but that all our Prayers are directed to God only and as to our Posture in the Church or at our private Devotions whether kneeling or standing or bowing we declare our intention is to adore God alone and none else Touching his second Consideration viz. that in their Prayers and Thanksgiving ibid pag. 80 81. they join the Angels and the B. Virgin and the Saints together with God and Christ Of this He gives us in an other place these instances Nothing so frequent with them says He as to joyn the blessed Virgin with God and our Saviour in the same breath nothing so common in their Mouth as Jesus Maria glory to God and the B. Virgin and in the Roman Missal adds He they make Confession of their Sins to God-Almighty and the blessed Virgin and to St. Michael the Arch-Angel and to all the Saints To which I answer 3. That it is very True we join God and his Saints together in the same breath as the Dr. saith but then our Plea is that we are taught both by the Old and New Testament so to do For Instance All the Congregation blessed the Lord God of their Fathers and bowing their Heads Worship'd the Lord and the King 1 Chron. 29.20 Here at the same time and in the same act and in the same breath too 't is said that the Israelites Worship'd God and the King Had we but any such thing in our Public Offices what work wou'd the Dr. make on 't Again The people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel 1 Kings 12.18 Here again God and Samuel are join'd together in the same Breath Again It seem'd good to the Holy Ghost and to Vs to lay upon you no other Burthen Acts 15.28 Again I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Elect Angels 1 Tim. 5.21 St. John writes to the Seven Churches in Asia Grace be unto you and Peace from Him which is and which was and which is to come and from the Seven Spirits which are before His Throne and from Jesus Christ Rev. chap. 1. Had we offer'd Peace from the Angels to our Flocks and placed them before Jesus Christ how loud wou'd He Cry Yet no less than an Apostle of Jesus Christ hath done it What will the Doctor say to all this Is not God here join'd with Angels and Saints and Men in the same Breath And must it be a Crime in us to do that whereof we have such manifest Precedents in the very words of the Scripture Truely to weigh well the matter one wou'd almost swear the Doctor was not in earnest but were I of councel for him I shou'd have advis'd Him if He had a mind to exhibit such Ridiculous Scenes not to make the Religion of Jesus Christ a Theatre of Laughter and Sport for God is not mock'd As to his third Consideration I answer 4. That Pope Pius 4. his worshiping and invocating the Saints is to be understood in the same order of brotherly Society in which we worship and reverence our holy Brethren on Earth upon Account of their Piety and Virtue and in which we intreat them to pray for us as the Bishop of Meaux saith and as St. Austin said long since Colimus Martyres eo cultu dilectionis societatis quo in hac vita coluntur sancti Deì homines We worship the Martyrs with that Worship of Love and Fellowship wherewith the holy Men of God are worshipped in this Life Lib. 20. cap. 22. contra Faust All the difficulty then of these and the like Phrases which we read in Scripture in the Fathers and in the Decrees of Councils and Popes consists in the Ambiguity of these Words Worship and Invocate which I have on purpose explain'd in the beginning of this Dispute to avoid Confusion and which the Catechism publish'd by Order of the Council of Trent and many other learn'd Divines have so clearly and fully explain'd So that nothing but an Itch of Contention and a Spirit of Wrangling cou'd make any Man doubt of our Sense of these Words But the Passage of St. Austin is so clear and full to the purpose that I hope the Reader will not be sorry to have it at large tho' it be something long and the rather because it is in answer to a Certain Manichee who about twelve Hundred Years since reproach'd St. Austin with what the Doctor and his Party charge the Roman Catholics at present The Christian People says this Father do celebrate the Memory of
the Angel declar'd it grant us thy humble Petitioners who believe Her to be truly the Mother of God that by Her intercession we may with Thee be assisted thro' the same our Lord Jesus Christ c. Amen A Collect on the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul O God who hast consecrated this Day by the Martyrdom of Peter and Paul grant to thy Church to follow their Example in all things by whom the Religion began thro' our Lord Jesus c. Amen A Collect on the Nativity of St. John Baptist O God who hast Honor'd this Day with the Nativity of St. John give to thy People the Grace of Spiritual Joy and guide the Minds of all the Faithful in the way of eternal Salvation thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Here you see all these Prayers are address'd to God alone And thus indeed are all the Collects in the Mass-Book and Breviary which I willingly submit to any Man's Tryal ad Paenam libri As to the Office and Litanies of the B. V. Mary which are found in Manuals and read by some R. Catholics there is no Reason to charge them upon the Public Office and Service of the Church since they are not us'd by the Church nor publish'd by public Authority The Church does indeed allow such Prayers to be said as far as they hold within the Compass of meer Intercession because they are founded in the Practice of the Primitive Church and all succeeding Ages But if any of them contain any Terms or Expressions bordering upon the Prerogative of the Mediatorship of Jesus Christ she does as heartily and as earnestly desire they shou'd be abolish'd as any Protestant whatsoever Touching the Rosary or Beads in which the Dr. reproaches us for saying ten Ave Marias for one Pater Noster I believe every one knows the Church obliges no body to say it I am sure there are Millions of R. Catholics who never do Besides there is nothing in the Ave Maria but the very Words of Scripture except these last pray for us now and in the Hour of our Death and if it be a good thing to desire the Mother of God to pray for us sure the oftner we desire it the better it is As to the Disproportion between the Pater Nosters and the Ave Marias I must confess it were something if those who use the Rosary made all their Devotion to consist in it But it is well known that such as say it do to their Power discharge all other Christian Duties at least do pretend to no Exemption upon the Score of their Beads or Rosary from Praying to Almighty God from Adoring and Worshiping Him and giving Him their Humble and Hearty Thanks for his Benefits and Blessings from commemorating the Death and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and having recourse to the Merits thereof for Mercy and Pardon of their Sins And now when they have endeavour'd to discharge all these Essential Duties where lies the harm if they spend some part of their spare Hours in saying over and above so many Ave Marias especially since they are founded in the Merits of the Death and Passion of our Lord and Saviour in Virtue whereof all Catholics do hope and trust that the Virgin Mary and all the Saints will pray for them Or how can it be counted a Fault to desire the Virgin Mary to do that for us which even the Dr. himself and all the Learned Protestants in the world do acknowledge She and all the Saints in Heaven constantly do tho' we shou'd not ask it of them Now this is plainly the Case All R. Catholics are taught and exhorted by the Church to discharge first their Duty to God to worship and adore him to put up their Prayers to Him to thank him for His Benefits to be sorry for their sins to beg Mercy and Forgiveness thro' the Merits of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ and when this is done if they will take the Lady's Office or the Litanies of the Saints or the V. Mary or their Beads and beg those great Friends and Favourits of Jesus Christ who shed their Blood and lay down their Lives for the Truth of His Gospel to recommend them to Him and his Heavenly Father is it not better since the mind of Man must always be in Action than spend the Time in Idleness or perhaps in Evil Conversation In a Word these are Devotions which certain Fraternities and Regular Societies have taken upon them to discharge over and above the necessary and Essential Duties of Christianity and which other Catholics to be Partakers of the Prayers of the said Fraternities and Societies do also perform But in saying their Beads they do not always as the Dr. wou'd suggest say ten Ave Maria's for one Pater Noster For several Fraternities and Catholics say all Pater Nosters without ever an Ave Maria. But of this enough I proceed to shew 3. From the very Words of the Holy Fathers that this Practice of praying to Saints was us'd in the primitive Church St. Ambrose delivers his Thoughts in these Words We ought to pray to the Angels in our own Behalf who are given as a Guard to Vs We ought to pray to the Martyrs whose Bodies remaining with Vs seem to be as it were a Pledge of their Protection Lib de Viduis prope Fin. Gregory Nissen speaks thus to the Martyr St. Theodorus Intercede and Pray for your Country with our Common Lord and King Orat. in St. Theodor. St. Austin We do not Commemorate the Martyrs at the Lord's Table as We do those who die in the Peace of the Church but We do Commemorate them that they may pray for Vs that we may follow their Steps Tract 84. in Joa Again Holy Mary * Note that the Sermon whence this Passage is taken is ascrib'd by some Critics to St. Fulgentius but whether of the two it belongs to it matters not being both Fathers of Great Renown and of the same Age. succour the Distressed help the Pusillanimous cherish those that Mourn pray for the People mediate for the Clergy intercede for the Devout Female Sex let every one perceive thy Assistance who celebrate thy Commemoration Ser. 18. de Sanctis Theodoret We do not address our Selves unto the Martyrs as unto Gods but we pray unto them as Divine Men that they wou'd please to become Legats or Intercessors for us Ser. 8. de Martyr lib. Curat Grae◠Affect The Council of Calcedon Act. 11. has these Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Flavianus Liveth after his Death the Martyr will pray for us or as the Translators render it Let the Martyr pray for us it being usual with the Orientals to put the Future Tense for the Imperative Here is a General Council of more than 600 Bishops desiring the Martyr Flavianus to pray for Them This Council was held in the Year 451 and is one of the four first General Councils whose Acts and Decrees the Church of
and our Great Master because these only are the Excellencies and Abilities we conceive the Angels and Saints to be endued with and for which we respect them This suppos'd I answer 1. That St. Paul speaks here of Certain Heretics who separated from the Faithful and gave to Angels the supream Worship and Honour which is due only to God as these words of his not holding the Head do plainly denote For by these Words He give us to understand that these Heretics departed from Christ which is the Head and by these other words Worshipping of Angels that they offer'd Sacrifice to Angels whom they believ'd to have been the Mediators of the New Covenant or as Theodoret phrases it that the Law was given by Angels But this I hope the Protestants will not say we believe or hold 2. That the Dr's Interpretation of St. Paul's words is altogether forc'd and by no means warranted by Theodoret or any ancient Father of the Church on the contrary Theodoret is intirely ours For He says in that very Place cited by the Doctor that therefore these Heretics worship'd Angels because they believ'd Vol. 2. edit post ob pag. 44. the Law was given by Them He says indeed in an other place which the Doctor quotes that we must send up Thanksgivings to God and the Father by Christ and not by the Angels And this I hope we are careful to do for I am sure we put up all our Prayers to God and the Father by or thro' the Merits of Jesus Christ and not of any Angel or Saint But sure it is not reasonable to believe that Theodoret there meant that we ought not to desire the Angels or Saints to pray for us since he himself as I observ'd before so expresly says We not address our selves to the Saints as Gods but we pray unto them as Divine Men that they wou'd please to be Legats or Intercessors for us Comment in Epist â—d Colos c. 3. v. 17. 3. That the Canon of the Council of Laâ—dicea as Theodoret tells us speaks only of these Heretics meant by St. Paul who forsook the Church and gave themselves to secret Idolatry that is as the Fathers have always understood that word offer'd Sacrifice to Angels But the words of the Canon are so plain and full to this purpose that there needs no reading upon it 4. That the Doctor might very well have forborn his Exclamation for I assure him that excepting the General Confession aâ— aforesaid we do not invocate or pray to Angels in the Public Offices of the Church We have but one Feast in the Year wherein we Commemorate Angels which is that of St. Michael the Arch-Angel and in this excepting one Anthem in the Breviary and one Versile in the Mass which are not properly Prayers where 't is said in the first Arch-Angel Michael be mindful of us and pray for us to the Son of God and in the second Holy Michael defend us in Battle that we perish not in the dreadful Judgement there is no invocating or putting up of Prayers to St. Michael or any other Angel But it seems the Doctor was warm upon the Matter and in such a Case Rhetorical Exclamations are more pardonable pray God they may be pardon'd him in Heaven His second Objection is to this purpose Mediation and Intercession is founded in the Merit and Virtue of the Sacrifice Vol. 2. edit post ob pag. 56 57. by which Expiation for Sin is made but this Jesus Christ and no other has done Therefore He only is Mediator and Intercessor Answ This Argument proves too much For it proves that neither our Brethren on Earth nor the Saints in Heaven ought or can lawfully pray or intercede for us because they did not offer the Sacrifice by which Expiation for sin is made Yet the Doctor grants that both our Brethren on Earth and the Saints in Heaven may and do pray for us Well but granting that Mediation and Intercession is founded in the Virtue and Merit of the Sacrifice by which Expiation for Sin is made Does it therefore follow that the Saints may not charitably beg of God to forgive us our Sins 'T is true Christ only has a Right and Title to mediate and intercede for us because he alone paid the Ransom and full Value of our Sins and therefore may in Justice ask of His Father to forgive us But sure this does not hinder but that the Saints may do Us that Charitable Office as to pray to God to have Mercy upon Us tho' they cannot in Justice demand it May not a Friend and Favourite of the King beg the Life of a â—enitent Criminal And have not Kings and Princes often granted such Favours to their Friends tho' they were not in Justice bound to do so And are not the Saints in Heaven Christ's Favourites Does not He call them his Friends Vos Amici mei estis Job 15.14 Mat. 19.28 And what is more Does not He tell His Apostles that they shall sit upon Thrones Judging the twelve Tribes of Israel And why may not then these Judges and Friends and Favourites of Jesus Christ beg of Him to have Mercy upon poor miserable Sinners tho' they cannot in Justice require it at his Hands But the Doctor 's Mistake consists in this that he does not or rather will not distinguish between an Intercession founded in Justice and Equity and an Intercession founded only in Favour and good Will The first I grant is peculiar only to Christ for the Reasons offer'd by the Doctor but the second which is the Effect of Charity is common to every one who is possest of that Divine Virtue Well but says the Doctor the Mediation or Intercession of Saints is not properly speaking Intercession So say I for I own that in the Sense in which Christ is both our Mediator and Intercessor the Saints and Angels in the same sense cannot be call'd Intercessors but whether he calls them Intercessors in a proper or an improper Sense 't is all one to me Since he acknowledges they do pray for us and intercede with God in our behalf I am satisfied for I am sure we desire no more of them After this the Dr. gives us a great many Passages out of the Fathers ibid pag 76 77 78. 79. 80 81 82 83. to prove the Invocation of Saints unlawful namely out of St. Ireneus Origen Novatian for he must be a Father too Clemens Romanus St. Athanasius St. Epiphanius St. Chrysâ—stom and which I must admire at out of St. Austin who if Invocation of Saints be Popery was I am sure a Rank Papist But the Doctor might have spar'd Himself the Labour of quoting these Passages for there is not one of them all to which any Roman Catholic wou'd refuse to Subscribe and therefore I have no Temptation to vex or trouble them His third Objection is level'd at the Bishop of Meaux's Exposition of the Doctrine of the Catholic Church which
the Martyrs with a Religious Solemnity to excite us to their Imitation to be Partakers of their Merits and to be assisted by their Prayers Yet so as that we erect no Altars to the Martyrs but to the God of Martyrs tho' in Remembrance of the Martyrs For who of the Prelates standing at the Altar where the Bodies of the Saints are ever said I offer to you Peter Paul or Cyprian But that which is offer'd is offer'd to God who crown'd the Martyrs at the Memorial * Altars where the Relicks of Martyrs were kept of those whom he crown'd to the End that from the Remembrance of those places greater Affection may rise in us to whet our Love towards those we may imitate and towards Him God by whose Help we shall be able to imitate We worship then the Martyrs with that Worship of Love and Fellowship wherewith Holy Men in this Life are worship'd whose Hearts we perceive prepar'd for the like Passion in defence of the Truth of the Gospel but the Martyrs we worship so much the more devoutly by how much the more securely when the Fight is over and by how much the more confidently we may praise the Conquerors now in a happy State than those who as yet are fighting in â—his Life But with that worship which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in Latin cannot be render'd in one word since it is a certain Service properly due to God alone we do not worship nor teach to be worship'd but one God And since the offering Sacrifice pertains to this Worship whence Idolatry is imputed to those who give it to Idols we do by no means offer any such thing nor command to be offer'd either to any Martyr or any Holy Soul or Angel And whosoever falls into any such Error he is reprehended by wholesom Doctrine to the End he may amend or be shun'd Lib. 20. Cap. 22. contra Faust Manich. As to his last Consideration viz. That in the public Offices of their Church they do not only pray to the Saints to pray for them but they direct their Prayers and Thanksgivings immediately to them for all those Blessings and Benefits which they ask of God and thank him for I answer 5. That this is a notorious Imposition upon us and as great a Mark of Insincerity as it is a sign of a sinking Cause which needs such foul play to support it In short there is nothing more common than the Roman Missal and Breviary which contain all the public Offices of the Church and I challenge any Man to find as much as one single Prayer in either of these Books read in the public Offices of the Church which is directed immediately to either Angel or Saint for all those Benefits and Blessings which we ask of God and thank Him for As for that Example which he gives us out of the Office of the B. Virgin as he says namely that we pray to the Angels thus Deliver us we beseech you by your Command from all our Sins If it were true that there is such a Prayer in it 't is not to the Doctor 's purpose for that Office is no part of the public Offices of the Church nor was it ever publickly read in the Church But that it is not True I am an Eye Witness for I have upon this very occasion read every Word of that Office I mean the Office of the B. Virgin annex'd to the Breviary and I can in Truth aver that I found no such Prayer or Anthem or Versicle in it As to any other Offices of the B. Virgin made and publish'd by private Men whether there be any such prayer in them 't is more than I can tell for I have not read them all This I am certain that if there be 't is more than any Man is warranted by the Church to do However since none of these Offices of the Virgin Mary make any part of the public Offices Service of the Church nor are ever publickly read in it The Doctor had no Reason to charge such Prayers upon the public Offices of the Church tho' they were found in those private Offices of the B. Virgin Vol. 2. pag. 70. His fourth Objection is to this purpose To pray to Saints in all places and at all times and for all sorts of Blessings does suppose them to have the Incommunicable Perfections of the Divine Nature imparted to them or inherent in them namely Omnipotence and Omniscience and Immense-presence Answ This is the great popular Argument that takes so much with the weaker sort of People who measure all things by their own capacity and do not conceive how Saints and Angels shou'd hear at so great a distance because they cannot do so themselves It will be therefore requisite to take some pains to clear this difficulty and if it be possible to disabuse these simple but well-meaning People concerning these gross and carnal thoughts which that I may the more plainly do I shall lay down these known and evident Grounds 1. That Angels and Saints in Heaven have naturally a faculty of understanding and communicating their Thoughts that is a power connatural to their being of perceiving the thoughts of others that are directed to them and of imparting their own thoughts to others for these are essential Properties of Intelligent Beings 2. That Angels and Saints in Heaven do neither see nor hear in the sense we commonly take these Words For seeing they neither have Eyes nor Ears which are the Organs of Seeing and Hearing they cannot be said properly to See or Hear but only to Vnderstard which is what we mean when we say the Saints do hear us 3. Hence follows that Saints and Angels may Hear that is Vnderstand us when we direct our thoughts to them at any distance even at Ten Millions of Miles as well as if they had been in the same Room with us For since our Words or Thoughts are not convey'd to them by means of any Organs nor by the motion or impulse of the Air as it happens with us 't is evident that distance or neerness of place can have no part in their way of understanding 4. That God-Almighty is able to reveal in an Instant all our Prayers to the Angels and Saints be they never so far distant from us tho' Angels and Saints are not properly speaking distant from us distance in propriety of Speech being that space which is between two Bodies Now whether we conceive that the Angels and Saints when we direct our thoughts to them do hear or rather understand us by that natural faculty which is essential to all Intelligent Beings or that God reveals our thoughts to them we do not ascribe any of the incommunicable perfections of the Divine Nature to them namely Omnipotence Omniscience Immense-Presence c. Not if we conceive that they understand our prayers by that natural faculty which is essential to their Being 1. We do not
Purgatory because they pray'd for the Virgin Mary and the Apostles and Martyrs c. else why do they not conclude that we do not believe it because we do the same To sum up all these Evidences then I reason thus The Primitive Church pray'd to God for some Souls departed that they might be deliver'd out of Prison that their Faults and Sins might be forgiven them that they might be eas'd of their Pain that they might be sav'd from the Punishment of Fire that they might be receiv'd into Heaven but such Prayers are inconsistent with a Belief that the Souls departed are immediately taken into Heaven or condemn'd to Hell Therefore the Primitive Church believ'd there was a Third Place wherein some souls departed were detain'd and were capable of being assisted and better'd by their Prayers The first Proposition is taken from the very Words of the Fathers and acknowledged by our Adversaries to be true The second a very small portion of Natural Reason with never so little insight in Scripture and Christian Religion which assure us that Prayers of that nature for those that are in Heaven or Hell are needless and vain will easily discover to be likewise True And I think the consequence is rightly infer'd I now proceed to the Objections 3. The Doctor objects first Vol. 2 Pag. 63. that the Doctrine of Purgatory is not founded in Scripture nor can be prov'd from it and that some of our own Eminent Men do acknowledge it cannot To which I answer that I have produc'd two Passages from Scripture and cou'd produce as many more which the most Eminent Fathers of the Primitive Church have interpreted of Purgatory and therefore I think I may safely tell the Dr. that with submission He was mistaken As to those Eminent Men of our Church who say that the Doctrine of Purgatory cannot be prov'd from Scripture when any one in his behalf names them and points at the place in their Works where they say so I will return him as satisfactory an Answer as I can In the mean time I may reasonably presume they say no such thing Seeing he was never backward in giving citations when they made any thing for him All the Eminent Men He vouches for this is Estius who by the Dr's own confession only says that in his Opinion the Passage of St. Paul above cited does not evince Purgatory but does not say that other Passages of Scripture do not and if he had I shou'd oppose to his Opinion that of Tertulian St. Cyprian St. Ambrose St. Jerom St. Austin and many more of the Ancient Fathers whose Authority in this matter ought I think to weigh more with any reasonable Man than that of any modern Writer whatsoever Vol. 2. edit post ob pag. 307. His second Objection is borrow'd from a Text in the Revelations Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from hence forth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them cap. 14.13 Here says the Dr. the Spirit pronounces them happy who die in the Lord because they rest from their Labours which adds He they wou'd not do were they to be tormented in Purgatory Fire Ergo c. Answ This Passage is confessedly obscure as to the meaning of some Words in it and the Time whence the blessing there mention'd is to Commence and the Doctor 's bestowing six full Pages upon the Explication of it shews it to be so and for that Reason I think it is against the Rules of Logic to pretend to more Evidence in the conclusion than the Premises will afford But it seems he forgot in his second Sermon upon this Text that in his First he had told us that the Dead which die in the Lord in Scripture Phrase are those who die or are put to death for the Lord's Cause that is as he expresly says suffer Martyrdom for the Lord I say he must have forgot this else he wou'd not have objected that Text against Purgatory since he cou'd not be ignorant that we believe that all the Martyrs who suffer for the Faith of Christ and even other Eminent Saints who do not suffer Martyrdom but live the life of Martyrs do rest from their Labours and pass not thro' the Fire of Purgatory Wherefore in my opinion he shou'd have given us an other Interpretation of this Text or have let Purgatory alone but 't is no new thing to find the Doctor pulldown in one place what he had built in an other and therefore I am not surpriz'd to see Purgatory brought in by Head and Shoulders and spoken against in Season and out of Season 'T is Purgatory that reproaches the Sacrileges and Depredations of the Doctor 's Ancestors of worthy Memory and Bears hard upon their Posterity and upon that account it must be Cry'd down lest the horrid guilt of the Sacrileges of the Fathers shou'd fly in the Face of their Children and give them that Purgatory in this Life which He wou'd perswade them they shall not meet with in the next For a third Objection the Doctor tells us Vol. 2. Edit Post ob Pag. 310. we have a very considerable and substantial Reason to exempt as few as possibly we can from going to Purgatory because says he the more we put in fear of going thither the Market of Indulgences as he calls it riseth the higher and the profit thence accruing to the Pope's Câ—ffers and the more and greater Legacies will be less â—o the Priests to hire their saying of Masses for the delivery of Souls out of the Place of Torments Answ After my hearty thanks to the Dr. for his Charitable Opinion of us I must observe from what is above said that it seems this Market of Indulgences is of a very long standing and that the Ancient Fathers of the Church took great care it shou'd not sink But to be serious 'T is well known and even acknowledged by the Learned of his Church that in the Time of Gregory the Great now a Thousand Years since the Doctrine of Purgatory and all the Practices consequent upon it were believ'd and us'd as they are now And did that great Saint exempt as few as he cou'd from Purgatory only to raise the Market of Indulgences Did all the Bishops of the Western Church nay and of all the World concur with him in this only to fill his Coffers Alas The good Holy Man had but few Coffers and as little Money to fill them with Conversion of Souls not Money was his bus'ness Did St. Austin design the raising of the Market of Indulgences or the putting of the People into a fear of going to Purgatory when he earnestly desires the Readers of his Confessions to pray for his Mother Monica's Soul for the remission of her Sins And had St. Jerom any thoughts of filling the Pope's Coffers when he wrote that much benefit wou'd accrue to the Souls departed by the commemoration made of