these Colours were the Papists Represented from the Pulpit by these Preachers in the Year 1681. when the time was not of confuting them by Gospel and Reason but by barbarously knocking them in the Head like Beasts But all these Colours are either False or Deceitful as might be easily shewn at large but I am quite tir'd as I fear the Reader is too by staying so long in this nauscous Stuff I 'll therefore pass them over as such Calumnies deserve with as short a Reflection as may be but yet in order And therefore as to the First it is absolutely False for Falshood and Deceit are no where recommended or taught by his Church and are so far from sitting Men for Heaven that I am certain no Man of what Church soever guilty of those wicked Qualities can possibly have admittance there till they have first discharg'd their Conscience by a sincere Repentance and made Restitution to the Parties Injur'd to the best of their power This is the Receiv'd Doctrin of his Church and I hope in their Dealing they practise it as much as any I don't question but there are still Knaves of his Communion but then let that Teacher who has no such of his Coat or in his Church come and sling the first Stone The Second is False too since 't is known that there are great numbers of Papists who were never so by Education And is it not an abominable and wicked Slander to accuse all such of Atheism and that had it not been for their blinding themselves by this they had never become Papists Since such as have made the Observation find that those who were of a good Life when Protestants continue to be so when Papists and that many who liv'd like Atheists when Protestants become better Christians by being Papists The Third is likewise False since the Council of Trent do's not allow the Picturing the Divinity it self as the Preacher says but takes particular care if it happen says the Council that the Histories of the Holy Scripture be Painted or Figur'd that the People be taught that the Divinity is not therefore Figur'd or Painted as if that could be seen with Corporeal Eyes or represented in Colours Sess 25. which is just contrary to what the Preacher delivers And therefore tho' sometimes in our Churches there may be seen Figures to put us in mind of the Blessed Trinity yet the like may be seen too in the Frontispiece of some Bibles and Common-Prayer-Books of the Church of England to which the Preacher's Exclamation of O Hateful Sight may be as properly apply'd as to any thing of that nature in our Churches The Fourth of Praying to Images is false too for we are taught to Pray to none but God alone and to desire the Intercession or Prayers of such holy Persons as are acceptable to God whether in Heaven or Earth These we own may be assisting to us by the Prayers they offer up to the Throne of God where St. John saw an Angel offering Incense with the Prayers of all the Saints upon the Golden Altar which was before the Throne Revel 8. 3. But for Images we confess them to be nothing but Wood or Stone c. that they can neither Hear See nor Understand they are of some use indeed inasmuch as they are Sacred Remembrances of Christ or his Saints but are still devoid of all Power of Helping or Praying for us And we acknowledge it a like Absurdity to Pray to an Image as to offer a Petition to the Statue of the King. The Apologizer has found an odd Notion pag. 32. of leaving Prayers with an Image which I suppose is the same as leaving ones Grace in a Hat when a Man gives Thanks with that before his Mouth and his Eyes And if this be his meaning of our Praying to Images I wish he would expound it so to his Hearers at his next Meeting otherwise I shall still take him for a Misrepresenter If I charg'd any thing farther than due in relation to this Point in the Advice to the Pulpits I ask the Preacher's Pardon resolving to do him all the Right he shall require for I assure him 't was nothing of Design but Mistake only and therefore I do not here set this Calumny under his Name but quote the Apologizer who both asserts and pretends to defend it And I wish the Pulpits would do us the same Right in retracting and owning the many Wrongs they have done us if Repenting be not beneath their Station The Fifth is False since we worship only God himself and not the Bread and Wine which we believe not to be in the B. Sacrament And therefore this Charge is to be reckon'd for Misrepresenting by the Judgment of a former Adversary who gives this Sentence If we put our own Opinions of his a Papists Faith and Practice into his Character this says he is Misrepresenting because a Papist has not the same Opinion of these things which we have and this makes it a false Character Answ to Pap. Prot. pag. 17. Let the Apologizer examin this Rule and see whether it be not our Case whilst the Preacher gives a Character of us not according to ours but his own Belief The Sixth is False for tho' we confess a Temporal Punishment sometimes to remain due to Sin after the Guilt is remitted yet the Eternal Punishment is releas'd through the Influence of the same Cause by which the Guilt is discharg'd to wit the Passion of Christ and whatsoever Satisfaction we attribute to Human Means yet nothing of this can find acceptance or prevail with God but through the help of his Divine Grace and the Merits of Christ our Redeemer who gave himself a General Ransom for the World and yet requires we should apply it to our selves which Application of ours do's not at all derogate from the Plenitude of Christ's Satisfaction The Seventh is absolutely contrary to the Doctrin and General Practice of our Church whose Members do generally go to Confession many times in the Year and are under an Obligation of doing it at least Once a Year which cannot be perform'd as is directed by our Spiritual Books but by a Sincere and Hearty Repentance how then is the Non-necessity of Repentance before the Imminent Point of Death a Doctrin of ours when all in our Communion are bound by Precept not to defer it past the Year All our Divines indeed own Repentance to be absolutely necessary at the Point of Death but that it is not necessary till then I am certain is contrary both to the Receiv'd Doctrin of our Church and the Practice of her Professors And tho' we acknowledge that a Hearty Repentance even at the Point of Death is accepted by God according to that At whatsoever hour a Sinner Repents c. Yet this is not to be rely'd on and we hear nothing so much discourag'd in our Books and Sermons as deferring Repentance to the last there being but One as S.
of it he 's no True Son of the Church of England So that tho' the Teachers of this Communion as Establish'd by Law are very industrious to dissuade their Hearers from all Implicit Faith in assenting to Divine Mysteries deliver'd by the Church but that they must be sure not to move one Step beyond their own Sense and Reason otherwise they 'll â—ot believe like Men but pin their Faith on other Mens Sleeves and blindly be led by the Nose Yet when they turn on the other Sâ—â—â— and â—â—e to hear what Popery and the Papists are here they may run oâ— as blindly as they please an Implicit Faith is now more to the purpose Upon this Implicit Faith they may Hate them on this they may Rail against them 'T is not now here Search and Examin and then Believe and Speak as far as by your own knowledge you find to be True But a Genuine Son of the Church of England is to have a good Stock of this Implicit Faith by him and to Believe and Speak tho' he knows nothing at all And this it is I have often observ'd that Those who are the greatest Begots and rail most bitterly against the Papists are They that know the least of them not so much as my Country-man above not Two Families But why this Vneven kind of Dealing in Men that pretend to so much Conscience and Reason If a Member of the Church of England must not assent to any Mystery of Christianity upon an Implicit Faith for fear of Vnmanning himself forsooth why should he so unworthily betray his own Reason in taking up Calumnies upon Trust for the ruining his Neighbor As if the believing rashly of God or of our Neighbor were not both destructive and to be avoided by every good Christian For my part all that I pretend to here is that all Good Protestant would observe the Rule so often prescrib'd from the Pulpits of Search and Examin That they would Try and see what the Papists are before they condemn them But 't is not in the Pamphlets Books and Sermons of Protestants I would have them seek for this Information for all these I look on only as so many Painted Cloths or Popular Harangues design'd for the making of Crowds and encreasing the number of Admirers No what need of taking it thus upon Trust when at this time there are none but who have opportunity enough of seeing and knowing the Papists themselves and letting their own Eyes their own Ears tell them what the Papists are instead of going to a Lecture and receiving it upon Trust from those who at the same time they are telling what the Papists are are informing their Auditory how silly and unreasonable a thing it is to take things upon Trust and to be contented with an Implicit Faith when they may with much more Security follow their own Sense and Reason their own Eyes and their Ears 'T is thus then I desire Papists should be try'd after the Protestant Way I would have every one examin and see what the Papists are with whom they Converse with whom they Trade or have any Dealing such as are of their Acquaintance or Neighborhood consider and reflect on those who are in any Public Post let them use all their Senses and Reason and strictly look into their Way of Living and Dying their Conversation the Care and Pains they take in order to Salvation and then let them speak freely upon their own knowledge whether the Papists are generally the worst of their Neighborhood whether they are less Conscientious less Humble less Charitable c. than others of any other Persuasion But especially let them have a particular regard to such as are Converts to the Catholic Communion and observe them with a watchful Eye 't is certain if Popery be as Black as 't is Painted and so many Degrees worse than Protestantism 't will be impossible for a Man of Protestant to become Papist but 't will soon be discover'd in the Immorality of his Life and Actions Let these Converts therefore be rigorously observ'd to see whether with the change of Religion they change their Lives too for the worst and appear under all those Foul Colours that are pretended to belong to Popery Let them see in particular whether upon being Papists and going to Confession they are now less scrupulous of offending God and more Debauch'd than they were before as 't is said of the Papists in Protestant Sermons viz. That Confession tends Good Advice to Pulp p. 53. Answer to it p. 21 25. to the Debauching both Laity and Clergy and that the Papists make no other use of Confession than what profess'd Drunkards do of Vomiting Let 'em see whether they take less care of Repenting than they did before or Sin now more confidently presuming upon Popes Pardons and Compounding with Heaven for Money Whether they are less Attentive at their Prayers Dumb and Sensless like Idols at their Devotions in the Church Whether they are so stupid as to Pray to Images To change Scripture into Legends To neglect Repentance because of Purgatory To esteem every thing Meritorious that is for the Church's Interest c. Let all Converts be strictly observ'd as to these and such like Points which are the common Pulpit-Characters of Popery If it be true what is thus solemnly asserted with the Bible in Hand the Truth of it must necessarily appear for these are not meer Speculations confin'd within the Heart and Head but they are such Principles as influence the outward Man and must indispensably regulate the Actions of ones Life so that if this be the common Doctrine of Popery 't will be impossible for so many Professors of that Religion every where to be found and not to discover such an abominable Belief of their Heart in the common Practice of their Lives Since therefore we are come to things of Practice and Fact of which every Man 's own Eyes and Ears may be Judge I challenge Protestants in their own Way I appeal from the Pulpits to the Pews and instead of Implicit Faith pinn'd on the Pulpits require the People to make use of their own Senses To these we are contented to stand and to their Arbitration to refer all the Debate of Misrepresenting If our Lives and Actions our Conversation Living and Dying are so much worse than all the rest of our Neighbors answerable to what we are accus'd of from the Pulpits We are deservedly evil spoken of and for my part I shall willingly receive the Sentence of having my Hands ty'd from ever Penning any thing for the future in favor of a People of such pernicious Principles and detestable Practices and the Church of England I 'll own acquitted from the Charge of Misrepresenting Now in this Appeal I cannot expect that there shall be none Wicked or Scandalous found in our Communion 't is well known that the Perfectest of Creatures the very Angels in Heaven could not pretend to this while
Pulpit-Sayings OR THE CHARACTERS OF THE Pulpit-Papist EXAMINED IN ANSWER TO THE Apology for the Pulpits AND IN Vindication of the Representer against the Stater of the Controversie With Allowance LONDON Printed by Henry Hills Printer to the King 's Most Excellent Majesty for His Houshold and Chappel And are sold at his Printing-house on the Ditch-side in Black-Fryers 1688. TO THE READER IF to be a Papist is to be that which is describ'd in the following Characters I do here declare that I am none and that I am so far from undertaking Apologies for Men of such Practices and Belief that I here profess a hearty detestation of all such Engagements What kind of Religion is it then that is here set forth in these Characters I call it Pulpit-Popery and him that professes it a Pulpit-Papist that is such Popery and such a Papist as is describ'd by Ministers in their Pulpits and which the People are taught to pursue with Hatred and Contempt Well and am not I then such a Papist and is not my Religion such Popery No I profess I renounce such Popery and if there be any Papists that are taught such a Religion I here Protest against them And is it possible then that a Papist can renounce Popery Yes any Papist in Town may safely renounce this Pulpit-Popery which is so unlike the Doctrin and Faith we are oblig'd to learn in our Church that whosoever will be a good Papist must instead of assenting to disclaim every Point that is here set down by the Pulpits as Articles of his Religion But this is a foul Aspersion says somebody and a most scandalous Reflection upon the Pulpits to pretend that whilst they undertake to describe the Papists they assert such Principles for Popery which the Papists detest as much as they 'T is true indeed I confess 't is a thing in which they are something concern'd But as long as those Chairs pretend to no more than a Fallibility 't is a thing they themselves own â—hat they may be mistaken and I go but one Step farâ—â—eâ— and modestly say that â—n these Points relating to the Papists They are mistaken And pray now where is the Crime in this I hope I may be suppos'd to know what my Religion is as well as they and if they declare to their Congregation that our Religion is what I know it is not I am bound in defence of Truth to declare They are mistaken I 'll tell you as long as the Pulpits employ themselves in correcting the Vices of their Congregation in teaching them to lead good Lives not to use Frauds nor Cheat nor Lye nor Swear nor Blaspheme to avoid all Excesses c. I commend I applaud them I speak all the good things that possibly I can of them As long as they discourage those under their Charge from Praying to Images from attributing Satisfaction and Expiation to a Crucifix of Wood or Stone from putting any trust in it from esteeming every thing good and meritorious that makes for their Cause or for their Church's Interest from changing the Scripture into Legends from Preaching Purgatory instead of Repentance Faction instead of Faith from the thought of Compounding with Heaven for Vnforsaken Sins of procuring Indulgences for Deadly Sins for many Years to come from Worshipping Bread and Wine as God himself from appearing before God Dumb and Sensless and saying their Prayers without Attention from binding themselves to Ignorance by Vow c. As long I say as they discourage their Flock from these Follies and Abominations they do exceeding well they do like Christians I joyn with them and desire them to hold on these so wholsom Lessons Again as long as they declaim against the Abuses of Relics of Pretended Miracles of Confession against the ill Example scandalous Lives Pride and Covetousness of some Church-men against Tyranny Murder Vsurpation Cruelty Oppression Massacres Plots Treasons Rebellion c. This is still all very well 't is what Catholics do and I would do it my self were I to Preach I have nothing therefore to say against the Pulpits whilst they are engag'd in these Subjects but concur with them with all my heart But when they take a Step beyond this and lay all this at the Papists doors and describe all these Absurdities as the Religion of the Papists and that to become a Papist is to be instructed in and oblig'd to the Profession of all these Monstrous Abominations here I think my Self my Religion and Church concern'd and therefore I step in with my Advice to the Pulpits and tho' I confess 't would be a daring Presumption in me to pretend to direct them how they are to Guide and Feed their own Flock yet I take it for no such Crime to put them in mind that they be not Injurious to their Neighbor This is a Lecture all Christians have a Right to Preach and therefore with this Sermon of Advice I make up to our Preachers who are so forward in making Characters of the Papists I tell them that tho' they may have but little Affection for the Papists yet they ought to be careful not to be Vnjust to them not to wrong them in their Reputation not to defame them upon the account of every Idle Story not to promote Calumnies Preach out of Narratives nor to set up every Misconstruction of their own Phancy every Opinion of Authors every Extravagancy of her Members for the Profess'd Religion of the Papists This and much more of this kind I put them in mind of and tho' it be so truly Christian Advice yet I find they take it unkindly they are not willing to be thought Men of such Principles as to stand in need of this Advice Now for my part I never pretended that they were of such Principles as to proceed in this manner and be so unjust to the Papists designedly But alass there 's a great deal of Mischief done in the World which is never done by Design There are some little Accidents to which Frail Human Nature is very subject call'd Passion Prejudice Prepossession Disaffection c. These are very insinuating things and of a treacherous nature which put Men upon the worst of Engagements and do the greatest Mischiefs in the World without any open Design of doing any And therefore since the matter of Fact to me is certain the Mischief and Injustice done and we here suppose without Design I must desire the Preachers to reflect whether none of these Mischievous Accidents at least ever went up with them into the Pulpit whether Passion and Animosity never crept with them into those Chairs whether Prejudice never influenc'd their Pen and Tongue whether Prepossession never biass'd their Reason and Judgment and likewise whether they never rack'd a Text in compliance with the Temper and Humor of their Flock The People we know cannot always bear the Truth they sometimes say with the Jews Isa 30. 10. Prophesie not unto us right things speak unto