World. With the Shavings of his Hair Devils were driven away A Grashopper once kept him Company eight days together and when he call'd her she percht upon his Head. A Nightingale kept him Company one day and sung by turns 'T is true that Jesus Christ wrought no such Miracles as these at least that we know of The Miracles of St. Dominick St. Dominick the Patriarch of the Jacopins doth not come behind St. Francis the Patriarch of the Cordeliers This good Saint took delight to vex and enrage the Devils sometimes he made them hold his Candle with their Fingers and when it burnt to the very place where they held the Caâ—â—le he made them hold fast tho they burnt their Fingers and made a grievous Cry. Sometimes he forc't 'em to keep in a body whether they would or no and notwithstanding their Intreaties to be gone To confound the Heretical Albigenses he made a great Dog appear who on all sides shew'd his Tail and out of it came the most horrible Exhalations that could be scented This Dog took the Shape of a Cat and escapt by the Bell ropes but as it went up let fall such filthy matter as stunk horribly A certain Nun named Mary had a greivous Pain for a long time in those parts which I shall not name St. Dominick appears to her visits her in a Dream and takes from under his Frock an Oyntment of a sweet Perfume anoints her with it and tells her the name of it was Vnguentum Amoris the Oyntment of Love The modesty of the Writer suffers in penning this and that of the Reader will likewise in perusing it But 't is necessary to observe the horror of that fabulous Spirit of the Papacy in the latitude and full extent of it Impertinent Miracles attributed to several Saints We meet with one St. Swithin in the Legend who wrought a more gentile miracle a Poor Woman in the Country having all her Eggs broke by a Mason the Saint made them whole again 't was well worth the while S. Aldem hung his Cloths one day upon a Sunbeam as one would do it on a pin The same thing happen'd to one Deicola being very weary in his Journey he had a mind to throw off his Coat which incommoded him he had servants of his own that attended which is not very common for the Saints to have they run to offer their service to take off his Coat but were prevented by a Sunbeam which took his Coat from him and kept it two or three hours 'till the Saint had need of it The Miracle of St. Brigit seems yet to be more admirable her Cloaths being very dirty and wet she had a mind to dry 'em on the Branch of a Tree which she saw as she imagin'd but in reality it was no Tree but only the shadow of one but that Shadow did her the same service as the real Tree could have done supported her Cloaths in the Air and dryed 'em as well as could be Saint Cadrac might have let his Staff rest upon the ground as other men use to do when he did not use it but he thought it more expedient to make use of the Power of God to make it hang in the Air. If any have a mind to see more of these Impertinences of Popish Saints he may consult our Legal Exceptions and will find many more in the Authors which we there quote I would fain ask any rational man whether there be any thing in these Miracles that bear the Characters of Divine Wisdom and Majesty and of that Gravity and Grandeur that is to be observ'd in true Miracles What Religion is that which makes the Great God to do such thingâ— as one would be asham'd to ascribe to a Grave and Good Man The second Character of these Miracles which manifests the Falsity of 'em The multitude of Miracles of Popish Saints discovers their falsity is their Multitude The very name Miracle signifies something that is rare and unusual All the Ages of the World from the Creation to the End of the Apostles days furnish us but with very few I know not whether we can make up two hundred in the whole History of the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament But if you read the Lives of the Monks and Saints of the Roman Church you find them walk in the midst of Miracles they hardly tread a step without working some Miracle or other God hath been very profuse of his Omnipotence in their favor they dispose of his Almighty Arm more freely than any Prince doth the hands of his own Subjects Dominick gave the word of Command to the Devils as a man would do to the meanest of his Servants in whatsoever form the Devilappeared he was still his Master if he took the form of a Dog or of a Cat we have seen how he used him If he took the form of a Bird he plum'd his Feathers by Sister Maximilla if he met with the Devil that had possest a Body let him be never so obstinate and refractory yet yield he must and with the Rosary alone he would have driven out an hundred Legions of 'em if there had been so many in one Body So the Legend tells us that when the Virgin had revealed the Rosary to Saint Dominick the Devils made Heaven and Earth resound with their Cries in the Air saying Wo wo unto us for we are bound by this Psalter as with so many Iron Chains Resurrections of the Dead are reckon'd among the chiefest Miracles and they are very rarely seen We read but of three wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ But they are very cheap and common among the Miracles of the Legendary Saints Brother William raised but two from the Dead for his part but Brother Ambrose of Massa raised six Brother Nicholas raised one from the dead and gave new Eyes to a man who had his Eyes pluckt out which is much more than to restore to a blind man who hath Eyes but cannot see Brother Anthony raised several from the Dead Brother Odoric raised one Brother Minor. Brother Benevent raised two from the Dead The Sepulcher of Brother John Vafordia was so singular a Remedy against death that the Bodies of all those who dyed of a violent death being brought thither were raised without fail All these were Brothers of the Order of St. Francis who wrought such Miracles Not so much as the Women of that Order but had their share in this gift The B. Salome of the Royal Family of Poland raised some from the dead at one time she restored life to a Peacock that had been strangled by a Dog. And yet this is nothing in comparison of what hath been done by the Saints of the Order of St. Dominick St. Vincent Ferrier a Jacopin for his own share raised eight and thirty from the dead and St. Jacinthe a Polonian a Jacopin also raised fifty two And we shall see presently how the Venerable
Father Crasset treats those who are incredulous as to these things As to other Miracles such as Curing diseases opening the Eyes of the Blind and the Ears of the Deaf restoring broken Limbs or paralitick wither'd Members or when half hath been lost c. These are little inconsiderable things which the Legend hardly thinks it worth while to take notice of I know not whether the Reader will not be weary of such stuff for my own part my patience is almost tired and I shall here conclude the Chapter of the Fables and Romances made in favor of the Invocation of Saints and pass to the Fabulous History of their Reliques CHAPTER XXI The fabulous History of Reliques of Images of the real Presence of the Adoration of the Host of the Sacrifice of the Mass of Purgatory of Founding the Orders of the Monks MOnks Adoration of Reliques and the Spirit of Lying came into the Church in the same Age. The Monks are those Cheats and Impostors who according to St. Paul's prediction were to set on foot the Worship and Doctrine of Demons or secondary Mediators And Reliques were the first step that led men to the diâ—iâ—al Superstitions which we have spoken of in the preceding Chapters If we should undertake to write the Annals of Reliques of their discovery of their Translations and Miracles down from the sourth Century they alone would make a vast Library but withal a very monstrous one for this is one of the most filthy and shameful Raggs which Popery hath sewed to Christianity Yea the very drawing up an Inventory of their Reliques would suffice to shew the filth of this piece of Popery One might sind at Rome an inexhaustible spring of Reliques and Cheats which is called the Catacombs These are Caves and Sepulchres Catacombs at Rome whence Reliques are now taken where the Romans of old buryed their Slaves and arterward all their dead When they gave over the Custom of Burning them which was after the time of the Antonins These Catacombs that were once the Sepulchres of Heathen Slaves are become the Quarries where the Gods of Christians are digg'd From thence some Bones are taken and baptiz'd with the name of some Saint who often never was in the world and are distributed into all Countreys Even those Papists who retain any Common Reason do abhor and deride them Marolles Abbot of Villeloin who dyed but a few years ago said That if a Church or a Community wanted Reliques they needed only to address to the Pope and most humbly desire his Holiness to give them some Who takes out of the Catacombs as many as he pleaseth and after an exact Tryal made he baptizeth them as they call it and giveth them their proper name whether by inspiration or because he hath a mind to do so is no matter Witness the chests fill'd with Reliques that were taken out of these Catacombs and which Pope Alexander VII and his Successor Clement the IX sent into France as a rich present Head of â—â—â—tunatus that was made of â—â—â—â—â—oard Among which was that miraculous Head of St. Fortunatus which the Physicians found to be made of Pastboard and the body of St. Ovidius which at this day worketh so many Miracles in the Convent of the Capuchius What a Pity it is that this Saint who was never known in the Martyrologies or History hath lost his time so sadly for twelve or fifteen Ages together what Miracles are lost which had been wrought if they had digg'd him up sooner Reliques of the Virgin. If we designed to make an Inventory of Reliques we ought to begin with those of the Virgin before we come to those of her Son. But since her Body as well as Soul is in Heaven these Gentlemen her Devoto's are deprived of the grand help to their Devotion because they can shew none of her Bones But to make amends for this they have made a curious Collection of her Linnens and little Cloaths They have her Girdles her Ropes her Sandals her Quoifs her Shifts her Wast-coats They have her Hair the Parings of her Nailes and her Milk in great quantity All this was never heard of till the sixth and seventh Centuries yea the most of these Reliques of the Virgin were not known a long time after But God who intended to honour these blessed Reliques with Altars and Adoration did carefully preserve them in little Corners that none knew of and after eight or ten Ages brought them to light to warm again the cold devotion of the Church They have good Warrant and Sureties for the truth of these Reliques for the Virgin hath taken care to assure some honest Monk or some boly Nunn by Dreams and Revelations If this will not serve they have a sure way to confirm their Faith as to these things viz. the Miracles that have been done by these Reliques And lastly If all fail they have Holy Tradition that cannot lye and this assureth us of the truth of these holy Reliques Reliques of J. Câ—rist His Foreskin Jesus Christ being also alive in Heaven with his Body we have not his Bones But this is no great loss for excepting these the Church hath almost every thing which she could desire She hath the glorious Foreskin of the Lord Jesus Christ The Physicians say that there can be no more than one but in favour of the Devout God hath made several Foreskins of Christ for there is one at Rome in the Lateran Church formerly there was one at Antwerp one in the Abby of Charrone another at Langres but as to this last the Abbot of Ville-loin dare not be very positive This multiplying of the Foreskin of Jesus Christ is not the thing that most troubleth the learn'd men of the Roman Church but 't is a question among them whether our Lord can have left his Foreskin on Earth for if he hath the Body of Jesus Christ in Heaven is not compleat and intire About this these Gentlemen have many pretty imaginations which may be seen in Suarez But the Devoto's who trouble not their heads with these deep and knotty questions do most piously adore all these Foreskins They mean well and this is enough They cannot want the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for he shed it on several occasions at his Circumcision as his bloody Sweat in the Garden of Gethsemene in Caiphas's Hall when he was Scourged on the way to Calvary at his crowning with Thorns and lastly on Mount Calvary where we must not doubt the Holy Women had brought Vessels on purpose to preserve his Blood. I say Holy Women for the Men have always been less devout Perhaps there did not run much Blood out of his Wounds for three or four nails which stop up the Wounds made by them do not leave much space for the Blood to run out which also presently congeles at the Orifices 'T was this which made the death of the Cross tedious and lingring For if the Blood had
That is in short they declare the Pope to be Antichrist for is not this the Character of Antichrist to assume to himself falsly and injustly the Rights of Jesus Christ to have power as our Lord to bestow Kingdoms and take away Crowns to open Heaven and Hell infallibly to determine all Controversies to pluck up and to plant to build and to destroy to have two swords the one spiritual th' other temporal and to be the only center and fountain of all the authority in the world Is it not the part of Antichrist to maintain an usurp't authority by the slaughter of so many thousand Christians as the Popes have done who have often made Germany and Italy to swim in blood to get the possession of this power to dispose of the Imperial Crown according to their pleasure for my part I expect a direct Answer to this and in the mean time I maintain that the Pope is a Monster of Pride and the Antichrist according to the last definitions of the Clergy of France and the Kings Declarations pursuant to ' em Can any thing be more ridiculous than what the New Converts alledge there is nothing they say more tolerable than the Power of the Pope as it is now explained in France But I would fain know whether the opinion of France and the decision of her Clergy be that which constitutes the Pope to be what he is and what he ought to be Let the assembly of the french Clergy at Paris say what they please is it ever the less true that the Pope doth ascribe to himself all that tyrannick Power we have been speaking of Is it the less true that he hath exerciz'd this power on an hundred occasions and that he will still exert it whenever he can Is it the less true that the Gallican Church on this very account is censur'd at Rome as guilty of Heresy and Scism Is it the less true that the whole body of the Roman Church looks upon the decision of Paris as a Crime If I should discourse in France of the Kings attempts upon his Neighbours as men discourse of them at Vienna and Madrid that nothing can be more unjust would this make any alteration in the Kings Right if he have any would he not still have reason on his side if it be true that he is in the right what hurt can it do to a Potentate that his Rights are limited and contracted by another Potentate in words and writing if the former continues still in possession of that which he pretends doth of right belong to him Let not those therfore be deceived who have suffer'd themselves to be abus'd by the modifications and abatements that have been made of the Popes power in France This doth not touch the Pope who continues still to be that in himself which he pretends to be and therfore once more I assert that this serves to no other end but to prove to the Gallican Church that the Pope is a Monster of Pride and by consequence that in this respect at least he bears the true Character of Antichrist CHAPTER XI The seventh Character of the Antichristian Kingdom which agrees to the Papacy a Spirit of Covetousness and Simony and its extraordinary Riches Babylon is to be a City of Merchants 'T Is manifest by the 18th Chapter of the Revelations that Babylon the Great was to be a City of great Commerce and Trade and of great Riches and consequently of Rapine and Avarice because these are the ordinary methods by which men acquire more than ordinary Riches Babylon is a City of Merchants V. 11. The Merchants of the Earth shall lament and mourn over her for no man buyeth her Merchandise any more V. 12. The Merchandise of Gold and Silver and precious Stones and of Pearls and Fine Linnen and Purple and Silk and Scarlet and all sweet Wood and all manner of Vessels of Ivory and of precious Wood and Brass and Iron and Marble V. 13. And Cinamon and Odors and Oyntments and Frankincense and Wine and Oyl and fine Flower and Wheat and Beasts and Sheep and Horses and Chariots and Bodies and Souls of Men. The Papacy framed by Covetousness That is to say that Spiritual Babylon is Rich and Powerful that her Goods are immense that every thing there is to be sold and bought Let us see whether this be not exactly verified in the Papacy First as to its Doctrines is it not Rich to the greatest abundance and do they not make sale of every thing First 't is plain that Covetousness dishonest gain and that wretched Passion which never saith 't is enough are the very soul and spirit of Popery Their Doctrines are framed to get Money The fable of Purgatory was forg'd by the spirit of Covetousness as well as Lying to drain Wealth and Treasure from the Houses of the simple People into those of the Priests and Monks 'T is this hath made so many foundations of Convents with good Revenues and Great houses setled by that which they call works of Piety The Sacrifice of the Mass the most august of all the Mysteries of Popery is made the source of a shameful and filthy Gain 'T is a Lucky hit for the Clergy that someway hath been found to persuade the people that this Sacrifice is good for every thing good for the Living and as good for the Dead good for Sickness and good for Health excellent to Find out what a man hath Lost and as admirable to Preserve that which he hath in possession good for Success in any undertaking by Sea or Land so that there is no Merchandise in the world that on this account hath so good a vent Innumerable persons are maintain'd by it and live by nothing else They have increased the number of the Sacraments because they are as so many Mines from whence money may be had Why are humane Satisfactions made to signifie so much but because you must pay dear to redeem them Why have they contriv'd a Treasure for the over-plus of the Righteousness of the Saints but to exhaust the treasure of the Ignorant of the Superstitious and of Libertins who buy Indulgences for money and do Penance by Proxy paying well for it 'T is well known that those Indulgences have made a filthy trade in the Papacy the traffick of 'em hath been so shameful that Papists themselves have complain'd of it By what spirit were Images brought into the Church and the Invocation of Saints not only is a spirit of superstition and Idolatry concern'd but of Covetousness too for Customhouses are establisht with reference to these called the shrines of Saints and consecrated Chappels where the Reliques and Images of our Lady work Miracles Multitudes of People flock thither and bring costly Presents and load the Altars with their Offerings to the great Gain and Profit of the Priests The proud Divinity of the Merit of Good Works serves only to advance that which they call Works
be done as She desired The Angel brought her a Branch of a Palm-tree from Paradise and bid her take care that this Branch be carried upon her Biere at her Burial He likewise gave her Mourning Garments that She might dye in a suitable and becoming Habit according to the Age and wear Mourning for her self Mary desires two things of her Son by the Mediation of the Angel First that She might be buried by all the Apostles Secondly that her Soul might see no Demon when it left her Body The Angel returns and leaves the Branch of Palm-tree which immediately became glittering and glorious every of its leaves shin'd like the Morning-Star The Virgin full of joy assembles the Holy Women together who were wont to visit her and gives them an account of her approaching Death St. Iohn was at this time preaching at Ephesus in the midst of his Sermon a noise of Thunder is heard and a Bright Cloud takes him up and carries him thro the air to the very door of Mary's House He goes in the Virgin and this Apostle embrace one another with abundance of Tears he is informed by Mary that within three days She should dye All the other Apostles arriv'd soon after in the same manner carried thro the Air. They were strangely surprised and astonisht to find themselves in that place St. Iohn unfolds the Mystery they came in they wept sorely and adored the H. Virgin. After a great deal of Worship and much discourse Mary received the Communion recommended her Soul to her Son fell upon her knees and put herself in a posture and preparedness to dye About the third hour of the day i. e. about nine a clock in the forenoon Iesus with the nine Orders of the Angels and the Assembly of the Patriarchs Prophets Martyrs Confessors c. i. e. with all the Court of Heaven came and stood round about his Mother's Bed. He and all the Celestial Company sung a melodious Song which began thus Come mine Elect and I will set Thee upon my Throne c. The Virgin answer'd Behold I come for in the beginning of thy Book it is written of me that I should do thy will O God! And with these words She gave up the Ghost When the Soul was departed the Body spake of it self saying I thank thee Lord that I am thy Glory remember me because I am thy Workmanship and have kept that which thou hast intrusted with me The dead Body which nevertheless could speak became so bright and luminous that the Virgins who washt it tho they might touch it were not able to look upon it When the Body was to be carried to the ground the Apostles made many Complements and Civilities to one another concerning the places of honour in the Ceremony for they were not it seems of the humour of the Monks who at the like meetings do oftentimes quarrel who shall go first so as to knock one another with the Crosier-Staff Peter and Paul carried the Body and Iohn the Palm-branch before the Biere the other Apostles followed As they were marching along in due order and Ceremony Iesus Christ covered with a Cloud with all his Angels overtakes 'em and joyning their Voices to those of the Apostles they sung the Obits in honour of the Virgin with a ravishing Melody and at the same time the whole Air round about was perfumed with a most grateful Odour The furious Iews being enraged at this spectacle thought it a very proper occasion to rid their hands of all the Apostles at once The High Priest with both his hands laid hold on the Biere to stop it but both were immediately wither'd and dryed up and fell off from his Arms at the Wrests the Remainder of the Enemies Troop was struck with Blindness The miserable High Priest of the Iews made a grievous Out-cry for the loss of his two Hands Peter tells him there was no cure for him on any other terms than these that he devoutly kiss the Biere of Mary and immediately turn Christian He did so and was healed presently Peter also gave him one of the Dates that grew on the Branch of Palm therewith to stroke the Eyes of those who were struck with Blindness and by so doing all that numerous Company recovered their sight After this the Convoy of the Virgin 's Body performed their journey without any Let or Molestation even to the Valley of Iehosaphat where they laid the Corps of the Mother of God in a new Sepulcher hewn out of a Rock as that wherein the Body of the Lord Jesus was laid When they had thus interred the Corps they remain by it three days which they spent in prayers At the end of three days a bright cloud encompasseth the Sepulcher Angelical voices are heard round about it and a sweet Odour perfumes the place Iesus descends from heaven salutes the Apostles and speaks to them after this manner Peace be unto you what kind of Honour and Glory think you do I owe to my Mother To which they replied It seems just O Lord to thy Servants that as after having conquered Death thou reignest for ever and ever in like manner that thou raise the Body of thy Mother and cause it to sit down for ever at thy Right-hand Thereupon the Soul of Mary immediately appeared and the Lord Iesus said unto it Arise my Well Beloved left up the Tabernacle of Glory the Vessel of Life Thou art fair my dearly Beloved and there is no Spot in thee as thou hadst no Spot so thy body shall not see Corruption At these words the Body of the Virgin arose and was united again to her Soul and ascended to Heaven with her Son. Behold after what manner the whole business was transacted according to the Relation of Pelbart de Temeswar a sober and grave Author whose Honesty and Credit is canonised afresh by Father Crasset within these eight or ten years So that we have no reason to doubt of his Testimony or suspect his Authority Not but that there are many who do not believe him especially in France but of such we may say that they are not thorough-pac'd Catholicks The Sermon concerning the Assumption of the Virgin was left out of the Service of the day by the Chapter of the Cathedral of Paris Anno 1668. which before that time was wont to be read but by doing so they have not much pleased or edified the devouter Romanists CHAPTER XIX A Continuation of the Romance of the Virgin invented to support the Idolatry of the Papacy ONe would think that the History of any person should be ended when we have traced it to the Grave But it is otherwise in regard of the B. Virgin. She hath done many more considerable things since her Death than ere she did in her Life time So that the continuation of her History if we should be exact and particular in our account of it would be much larger than that which hath already been related of her
most Holy Virgin Mary the Mother of God almost every thing which is in the H. Bible In prosecuting this design the Virgin Mary must be found in the first word of the Bible By the Heavens which God created in the beginning we must understand the Empyreal Heaven i. e. the Lady of the World the V. Mary When God said Let there be Light the meaning is Let Mary be begotten and born Every thing that is Great and Singular in the Antient History is Mary She is the Altar which Noah built to God after the Deluge the Holocaust in which God will smell a sweet savour is the Prayers of the same Virgin the Virgin is the Bow in the heavens of which 't is said when I bring a cloud over the Earth the bow shall be seen She is the mystical Ladder which Jacob saw in a Dream for by her the Son of God descends to us and by her we ascend to him she is the Gate thro which we enter into the Kingdom of God 't was of the Virgin that Jacob spoke when he said how dreadful is this place 't is the House of God the Gate of Heaven The Jewish Tabernacle and all its parts did respect the Virgin. She is the Ark of the Covenant that is gone into Heaven before us to prepare us a place there She is the Mercy-seat of pure Gold because she was sanctifyed above others in her Mothers womb She is also the Altar of Burnt-offerings because she is the Reconciler and hath taken this Office at her going into Heaven We may judge of the whole piece by these small shreds A thousand and a thousand Copies have been taken from these two famous Originals the antient Preachers of the Roman Church adorned their discourses with these excellent flowers For example in Solomons Song they found a large field for these profane applications There the H. Spirit in a mysterious manner sets forth the Wonders of the Union between J. Christ and his Church by the Emblems of a Bridegoom and a Spouse These profane wretches apply all this to the Virgin as if the Mysteries of our Redemption and Union with J. Christ were verifyed and fulfill'd in her And to give greater authority to all these shameless applications they were brought even into the Hymnes of the Roman Church In them they say to the Virgin Tu quoe furentem Leviathan serpentem tortuosumque c. Thou bruisest under thy feet the furious Leviathan and the crooked Serpent an Elogy which the Oracle in Genesis gives to the Blessed Seed i. e. to J. Christ Another hymn speaks thus to her Scala Jacob ora pro nobis Jacobs Ladder pray for us Nor is less done to the other Saints every one of 'em hath his proper Votaries especially the modern Saints are much more feasted and caressed than the old The book of the Conformities between S. Francis and J. Christ is full of these Abominations That Author will have that God had his eye on S. Francis when he Created the first man. For to him those words ought to be applyed Let us make man in our Image after our Likeness and let them have dominion over the Fish of the Sea and over the Fowl c. There are none who have been so extravagant in abusing the H. Scripture as the Preachers of the Papacy For they have adopted all these profanations and over and above have peculiar ones of their own 'T was their profession to make the Scripture ridiculous and absurd by impertinent Expositions by expressions fit for the Stage and by the language of a Farce which they still used in all their discourses If any should dare to deny this we have at this day enough to convince the incredulous in the Sermons of Menot of Maillard of Barelette V. Exceptions from which we have made considerable citations and the consulting them will be useful to let us see the Character of Popery Tho their Preachers are not so sottishly extravagant in this age yet 't is certain that the same Character is to be discern'd in those who are newly come out of the Convent and have not convers'd with the world The Writers of Controversy Scripture abused by Controversial writers ought to be much more exact and circumspect in the using of the H. Scripture Preachers and those who write Books of Devotion have some Priviledge in this matter and may take some liberty in their Applications of Scripture provided that these applications are sutable to bring the soul unto God. But when we alledge Scripture as an evidence to decide a Controversy we must keep close to the true Intent of the H. Spirit Nevertheless one would pity and blush for the Controversial writers of the Church of Rome who boldly abuse and wrest the Scripture to prove their Doctrines We have ground already to say that all the proofs she brings from Scripture are real Abuses of it And what we have discoursed above to prove that the Papacy is not in the least sollicitous to have a conformity to the Rule of Christians might be repeated here But besides those abuses which the Papists are forced to employ otherwise they must in plain terms grant that the Scripture is not their Friend besides those I say we may find others which they could have spared Are not the words of Christ to S. Peter Thrust out a little from the land Panigarola and Launch out into the deep an excellent proof that S. Peter was first to erect his Episcopal Seat at Antioch and afterward to erect the Popes See and the Soveraign Tribunal of the Church in the City of Rome Psal 110.2 The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thy enemies Behold an express Text to prove the same thing viz. that Rome is to be the Metropolis of the Church the Queen of the world Christ saith to Peter Bozius Follow thou me i. e. Go and place thy Seat and that of my Kingdom at Rome Behold I lay in Ston for a foundation a tryed stone a pretious Corner stone i. e. I will establish the Pope to be the Lieutenant of God and the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth Bellarmin There is one Lord i. e. The Pope is the only Soveraign of the world Where two or three are gatherd together in my name Panigarola there I will be in the midst of them i. e. The Pope alone hath Authority to call general Councils Bellarmin Let a man so account of us as stewards of the mysteries of God i. e. There is a Treasure of Indulgences in the Popes keeping which he may dispense as he pleaseth Verily I say unto you Eckius this generation shal not pass away till all these things be fulfilld This signifieth that there shall be a constant succession of Bishops in the Roman Church Loose him and let him go did Christ say concerning Lazarus And this denotes that
Emperor in his own Order that nothing is wanting to his Imperial dignity His anointing makes him a King of the Church and he acquires the whole perfection of the Quality of a Prince as soon as he gets subjects i. e. when a Priest gets a Cure and Parishioners They talk continually of the Clerical eminence and sublimity They tell us that the Clergy doth the neerest approach to and bears the most exact resemblance of God yea that those of the under-Clergy are Superiors to any of the Laity At this rate not long ago a Doctor of the Sorbon discourst in his Book against the Jesuit Cellot Is not this very like the description which our Lord Jesus Christ hath made of his Ministers The Kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them but ye shall not be so but whoever will be great among you let him be your Minister or servant Not lording it or affecting dominion over the Heritage A little ordinary Priest hath the greatest Monarchs lying at his feet and with a tone of Authority giveth 'em Absolution and remission of Sins They set up themselves as so many Judges between God and men and dispose of Heaven and Hell as if they were their own They take place and the upper-hand without any scruple of the greatest personages Of the three States which Commonwealths are divided into viz. the Nobility Clergy and Commons the Clergy which ought not to be reckon'd as the Tribe of Levi was not among the rest of the Tribes notwithstanding hath the precedence and consequently place themselves above Kings who are only the first or chief Nobles of their Kingdoms The Tribe of Levi had no inheritance in Canaan it was not reckon'd among the rest because it was the portion of God and he was their portion But the Clergy in the Papacy hath renounced their share of heaven and taken possession of the earth they make no account of God but take for their portion the chiefrank in the dignities of the world The Bishops will be styled My Lords and whenas Princes have only the title of Monsieur these monsters of Pride will be call'd by every body Monseigneur Read the Acts of their Assemblies T is pleasant to see how in every line they style themselves Monseigneur or My Lord. My Lord of Agen sayd thus My Lord of Tulle My Lord of Paris c. reported thus Their houses are stately their equipages are magnificent their tables sumtuous they live like Princes Is not this very sutable to the Ministers of Christ Nay is it not evident that these are the Officers of Antichrist The Clergy make themselves to be a Kingdom within a Kingdom Pride of the Bishops they exempt themselves from the Jurisdiction of their lawful Soveraigns By virtue of their Priviledges and immunities they must be free from all charges They have their own Courts their own Judges will have every body appear at their Tribunals but will themselves appear at none as if they were Soveraign Princes We read in History that these proud Prelates have resisted their Soveraigns have excommunicated and made them hold the stirrup for them to get a horseback In these later ages Kings have taken a little heart and refused such submissions But upon this the Clergy complains lamentably of oppression and violence offer'd to them Pride of the Coatâ— of Rome and the Cardicals If we would see the Pride of the Papacy in its height we must cast our eye on the source the Court of Rome the proudest that ever was in the world there we see some beggars whose first rise was to be scullions in a kitchin or valets de chambre and at the same time the Pathick to some Church man such fellows I say leap so high as to become Princes of the Church Pillars of the world Senators of the Universal Church these are the titles of Cardinals who pretend to be the superiors of Kings For on their grand solemnities the Seignior Cardinal Bishop Ceremon lib. 3. and lib. 2. sect 1. sits next after the Emperor above all the Kings of Christendom as is appointed by the Roman Ceremonial In all places they will go before Princes who are not Kings whatever Race and family they are of At Rome they dwell in stately Palaces have Bishops for their domesticks and often times there is not one of their servants who is not of a better family than they Pride of the Pope Lastly 't is in the Pope himself in whom we have an exact accomplishment of the Scripture predictions that paint forth the Seat of Antichrist as a Seat of Pride he will be styld Sanctissimus Dominus noster Our most holy Lord. A true name of blasphemy seeing that the true head of the Church J. Christ never would be styl'd other than Our Lord without addition But the Pope will on many occasions be call'd Our Lord God the Pope his divine Majesty The victorious God and man in his See of Rome Deus Optimus Maximus Soveraign Monarch and Vice-God named God by the pious Emperor Constantin and adored as God by that Emperor The lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world The most holy who carrieth the most holy i.e. the H. Sacrament which being in their opinion Jesus Christ himself behold the Pope in the same rank with Christ This is he who will have men to say of him that he is greater than all the saints in heaven yea greater than all the Angels greater than the whole Church That he cannot be judged by any that he cannot be censured or absolved that tho he should carry along vast multitudes to hell none may say to him what doest thou That he ought to be adored by all nations that he exactly resembles God that 't is written of him let all the Kings of the earth worship him that he hath power in heaven and in earth and ought to rule from sea to sea Behold what things he saith of himself and orders to be said in his Decretals in his Councils in his Bulls in Inscriptions Nothing in all this is aggravated 'T is transcribed word for word Exceptions 1. and 7. the citations are to be seen in our Leg. Exceptions Pride of the Popes pretentions T will be objected that Titles signify nothing but these Titles are so many real pretentions And these pretentions are prodigies of pride that were never heard of in any Throne nor in any person He pretends to have alone Right to make new Lawes to employ the forces of the Empire in his own service that Princes ought to kiss his feet that there is no other name in the world but that of the Pope that he may depose Emperors Kings and all Soveraigns that he can give away Crowns to whom he pleaseth that he can absolve subjects from all Oathes of Allegiance that he hath authority to dispense with Law against Right against the Gospel against the Apostles That God made two great Lights that the Pope
others calls her at every foot Diva i. e. Goddesse My Goddesse the Iesuite Iames du Iardin The Iesuite Rapin who is now living famous for his Writings in prose and verse saith of her Diva quam rebus trepidis benignam Lipsius calls our Lady of Hall Dea Hallensis the Goddesse of Hall. These are Poets you 'le say therefore that none may lay the blame of such language on the license of Poesy we must know that Philip Berâ—ald Ambrose Catharini Cardinal Bembo in their prose call her by the same Name of Goddess Bernardin de Bustis Antonin Archbishop of Florence would have her styl'd Dea dearum the Goddess of Goddesses Now these Goddesses over whom the Virgin presides are all the Saints of Heaven And thus we have as many female deities as there are Canonized Women in the Calender They do not only style the Virgin a Goddess but prove her to be so and take their Arguments from this That there is an infinite difference Between Her and Her Servants even as there is an infinite difference between God and his Worshippers and from this Viridarium Viepas Alanus de Rupe Alexis de Salo. That we may measure the divine Greatness by the Greatness of the Virgin and from this That she is the most noble chamber of the most H. Trinity and from this that God sayd to Her Thou shalt be changed into me and again from this that besides a being of Glory and Grace she hath esse dei the Being of God and lastly from this that God is not only in Her by his Grace but in the way of identity i. e. is become one with her Viridarium Pelbatt Binet Alexis de Salo. If the Virgin be a Goddess and all the other Shee-saints be inferior Goddesses and consequently all the Men-saints be inferior Gods it must not be doubted that all our good things come from them both At this rate these devout Gentlemen speak Bernardin Stellarium No favour comes down from God to us but thro the hands of the B. Virgin. The Virgin is the Queen-regent of Paradise the Country of Grace and Mercy The Treasures of the H. Spirit were given her as her dowry and Paradise as her Portion Therefore all the Gates of Heaven are at her devotion 'T is thro her hands that all the Happiness which Heaven lets Fall into our soules doth pass She is the Lady-Treasurer of Heaven the dispenser of all the Gifts of God She is the Neck thro which Iesus Christ sends down all spirituall sense and motion unto his Church Methodius Ozotius Albett Biblia Mariae She ruleth over Earth Heaven and Hell. She is the high and mighty Princess of the heavenly Potentates She is universal Queen A Queen seven ways for she hath seven Kingdoms The most important Affairs of the Trinity pass thro her hands Alanus de Rupe so that all the Citizens of Heaven the inhabitants of Earth the Souls in purgatory nay in Hell Antonin Biel. do acknowledge her as their Mistress and humbly bow the Knee before Her. J. Gerson The Angels are the souldiers of the Virgin. Missels She saith to one Go and to another Come Hymns She turns about the Heavens giveth light to the Sun Methode and governs the World. Her dominion is vast Admirable for she not only commands the Creatures but even God himself as being his Mother She hath a power over her Son Bonaventure founded upon a better right than that of other Mothers Lvo Carnet For our Saviour hath a greater Obligation to the Virgin Mary Salmeron than other Children have to their Mothers She hath requited God for all that she received of him Conformities She hath discharged herself by way of retribution yea she hath requited God for all that we receive from him Carolus 'T is true Scribanius we are Debtors to God but as for the Virgin God is a Debtor to her for the Virgin hath done more or as much for God as God hath done for mankind Iesus Christ by imitating the Virtues of Mary discharged his Office of Saviour The Virgin together with her Son is the cause of the Creation of the World 't is for her and for him that God created the whole universe All believers are elected and predestinated thro the Virgin. She is the Book of Life She merited to be the mother of God and to be the Mother of all Mankind Every thing that is spiritual flowes from Iesus as the Father and from Mary as the Mother of it She is more merciful to Sinners that Iesus Christ 'T is not possible that those should be saved from whom Mary turns away the eyes of her Mercy and 't is absolutely necessary that those should be justifyed toward whom she turns her Eyes 'T is against her alone that we sin If a man finds himself prosecuted by the justice of God he may appeal to the Virgin. The Mothers Mercy hath often saved thâ—se whom the Son hath a mind to damn one condemned by the Son is saved by the Mother If a man were in Hell the Virgin is able to fetch him out Every body hath heard of the Red Ladder and the White Ladder the Red is that of J. Christ the White is that of the Virgin. All those who had a mind to go up by the Ladder of J. Christ were tumbled down from the top to the bottom and all those who went up by the Ladder of the Virgin got into Paradise 'T is the Virgin that gave her Son to men and sacrificed him for them She offerd him by agreement with the Father and by conformity to the Son and thus offering him for all she hath procur'd the salvation of all The Clients of the Virgin represent themselves as in suspence between the Son and the Mother between the Milk and the Blood not knowing which way to turn 'T is easy to conclude what kind of worship ought to be given to one that is and doth so many things Therefore they say that the Invocation of the Virgin Salazar Binet Coster Alexis Vasques is of absolute necessity and that those who pray not to her are as bad as those who blaspheme her They beg of her in express terms whatever is desir'd from God Heaven Pardon of Sin Grace Repentance Victory over the Devil F. Sufften Viridarium Crasser 'T is not enough to pray to the Virgin you must adore her every knee must bow to her adoring her as soveraign Queen of Men and Angels And this Adoration is not to be a meerly external Adoration but internal The Angels themselves adore the Virgin and have adored her ever since she was born On the account of her own Holiness men owe Dulia to her on the account of her maternal relation they owe her Hyperdulia and because she toucht our Saviour the adoration of Latria is due to her Those who well perform these services tho never
the Ashes and Reliques of the Dead Lastly they worship and make use of Images and Pictures of the great God of Angels and of Separate Souls These are the five objects of worship in the Papacy The Heathens had just as many Paganism had also five First Rome Ancient as well as Modern worship one Supreme God a being infinitely Perfect King of men and of Gods as they were wont to speak Their Jupiter was the Soul of the world and as the Masters of their mysteries explain'd it he was Every thing Their different Gods called Neptune Pluto Ceres They worshipt but one supreme God. Apollo Vesta c. were but different names of the same great God upon different accounts many of their wise men have left it in their writings that at the bottom they believ'd but one only God at least this is certain that between their Jupiter and their other Gods and as to the opinion they had of him and his worship S. August lib. 4. de Civiâ— dei cap. 11. they made the same difference as the Papists do between the great God Creator of Heaven and Earth and between Angels and Saints The inferior Gods of Paganism were nothing else but those created spirits which according to our Theology do execute the orders and commands of God under him so that Popery hath no reason to boast it self above Paganism in this respect that they acknowledg'd and worshipt a plurality of Gods wheras the Papists do adore and acknowledg but one only for at the bottom the Theology of the Papists and of the Heathen is all one in that particular To prove a difference between Paganism and Popery in this respect they must not alledge the fables of the Heathen Poets for the Romans look't upon the fables of the Grecians as no other than Blasphemies against the Deity you ought to read what is written on this subject by Cicero in his Book de naturâ Deorum and by Dionisius Halicarnassaeus in the second Book of his Roman Antiquities The second object of worship in Paganism as well as Popery is Angels Heathens and Papists worship Angells The Heathens conceiv'd of 'em as Mediatory Spirits Agents between the Supreme Gods and mortal men God hath nothing to do with man saith Plato but all the commerce and correspondence between God and man is by the mediation of Demons So they call'd those Spirits which we now term Angels The Demons he adds are as messengers who maintain the intercourse between God and man who on the one hand convey our supplications and prayers to God and on the other his Commandments and Rewards unto us All that have any knowledg of Antiquity know this to be true Is not this meer Popery are not the Angels set up as Mediators between God and men to offer unto God the prayers and good works of men Are they not made Intercessors to obtain from God the favors we stand in need of The Heathens had 9 orders of Spirits as well as the Papists Paganism went as far as Popery in the knowledg of good and evill Angels The Heathens had a notion of bad Angels as well as good They divided the Angels into several classes and 't is very remarkable that the mystical Authors of Paganism rankt Spirits in nine orders as the mystical Divinies of the Papacy do Jamblicus names 'em thus 1. God. 2. Angels 3. Demons 4. Heroes 5. Princes or Greater Governors 6. Governors of matter or more inferior Governors 7. Archangels 8. Souls 9. He adds to these the visible Gods as the Sun and Moon c. 'T is plain the one is the copy of the other the only doubt is which of the two is the original Paganism paid homage to all these Spirits that they might make them â—avorable to themselves they built Temples to them they burnt Incense in honour of them they made prayers to them they put themselves under their Protection they chose them for their Patrons they believed that every one of these Angels besides their general affairs took a particular care of one single person The Papists do all this to the Angels they pray to them they serve them they build Chappels to them they choose them for their Patrons every one believes that he hath his guardian Angel. The Papists worship the dead as thâ— Pagans did The third article of the Conformity that is between the Papacy and Paganism is the Worship of the dead 'T is certain that the greatest part of the Gentile Gods were men that had been deifyed after their death When a person had done some extraordinary service either to the commonwealth or the world either by the Inventing of some useful Art or by some considerable deliverance of his country or by his singular virtues after his death they made him a God. Afterward 't was grown the fashion at Rome to Deify all their Emperors good and bad Nero that he might abuse his own Religion and his Predecessor Claudius got him ranked among the Gods. At first the deifying of Hero's was done by the tacit consent of the people But the ancient Romans the very Patriarchs of the modern begun the custom of making Gods in a solemn manner When any of their Emperors dyed they built in some spacious place of the City a stately Funeral pile of wood and other combustible matter divided into several stories which were fashion'd as a Pyramid to the poynt of which a rope was fastned with which an Eagle was tyed by the foot The dead Corps was placed in a lower storie then the Pile was set on fire and when the rope was burnt the Eagle flew up to the heavens and some witnesses appointed for the thing came and made report to the Senate that they had seen the Soul of the Hero fly up to heaven After this by order of the Senate a Temple was built to him and divine honours were given him The Philosophers by their fanci'es augmented and supported the superstition of the vulgar they said that the Souls of men after they leave the bodie become a kind of Demons or Angels which the antients call'd Lemures that those souls which were good natured and took care of their posterity were named Lares Apulejus de Deo Sccrat familiars And those that were restless troublesom ill natur'd and affrighted men by night vision were named Larvae and when it was uncertain to which rank the departed soul did belong whether it was Lare or Larva then it was only named the God Manes A man must in my judgment be very blind if he seeth not and very obstinate if he confesseth not the conformity that is between this and Popery In the Papacy all their Churches are so many Tombes and Temples of dead men and women exactly as it was under Paganism They bear their Names this is the Church of S. Peter that of S. Paul of our Lady of Magdalen c. and either their Reliques or those of some other Saint
to worship them without Images as they had done for 170 years The same S. Augustin relates the words of Seneca who admired the folly of men who made very abasing representations of their Gods calling by that name lifeless things at which they would be affrighted if they should begin to stir of themselves Common sense made a Pagan speak at this rate and 't is very amazing that the same common sense assisted by divine Revelation should not at this day inspire the Papists with the same sentiments They give a Religious worship to lifeless sensless stones which if they should begin to move and speak would seem much more worthy of worship but in such a case men would fly from them as monsters and tremble at them as prodigious Papists believe as Pagans did that the consecration of Images confers a virtue to them Those Pagans who went the highest in their esteem of Images asserted that by virtue of their consecration they became not Gods but the dwellings of the Gods and that their deities were present with those Images i. e. with a presence of virtue and operation For they did not believe that the very substance of Jupiter was in such a manner fastned to his Image at Rome that he was not at all present with his Images in Greece Now I beseech you what real difference is there between this Opinion and that which the Papists have concerning their Images The Council of Trent declares that it would not have people believe that there is more virtue in one Image than in another But doth this hinder the devout vulgar from thinking otherwise Do they not believe that there is a far greater virtue in the Images of our Lady of Loretto and Montferrat than in those at Paris If not why do they take such long journeys to visit and kiss those Images which are in other Countreys Why do some Images work miracles and others none Why are the Priests who are the Jaylors and Keepers of such Images so wealthy Why are the Chappell 's where those Images are kept so rich and stored with treasure if one Image is not better than another Pagans gave no other worship to their Images than what Papistâ— give theirs The more moderate Papists are continually telling us that their Images have nothing divine in them that they are only meer representations by which they honour the Saints The Pagans said the very same concerning their Images Who saith one of them that is not a fool Celsus apud Origin can imagin that the Statues are Gods and not the Images and representations of the Gods There is not a Papist who dare speak with so much contemt of his Images as Plato spake of the Heathen ones He said that we owe a much greater honour to our Parents than to the Images of the Gods and that the Images having no Souls can do us neither good nor evil There is no Roman-Catholick who builds Chappels to his surviving Father and Mother or burns Incense to them And there is not one who dare say that our Ladies Images that are famous for their miracles are good for nothing and do neither good nor hurt They will indeed confess that the Image doth not work the Miracles But they say that the Virgin works the Miracles at the presence of her Images as God worketh grace in men at the presence of the Sacraments They cannot therefore say that they do neither good nor hurt for then we might say the same of the Sacraments Therefore we must not imagin that the Pagans tho they have not found out the pretty distinctions of Latria and Doulia of absolute and relative adoration did not make a great difference between the worship they gave their Gods and that which they gave their Images If there were among the Pagans some so stupid that they did not distinguish the Image from the Original there are some such among the Papists their own Authors do confess it Otherwise setting aside the sentiments of the heart 't is plain that the external honours that the Papists give their Images are exactly like these that the Pagans gave their Statues This is a point that cannot be contested or needs to be proved But here we ought to observe what we remarqued before Papists more superstitious as to Images than the Pagans concerning the service that is done to the dead that Popery much surpasseth Paganism in the Worship of Images The madness for Images never was so excessive among the Pagans as it is among the Papists 'T was never seen that these did run from one end of the world to the other to adore a forreign Image every one was content with his own Gods. 'T was never seen that Images were surrounded with worshippers who expected miracles from them They had no book Legends of the miracles wrought by their Images 'T is true Isis and Esculapius as they pretended did some miraculous cures But the least Popish Saint hath done more than the greatest Pagan Deities And there is no proportion between the Fabulous Histories of miracles written by Pagans and those written by false Christians 'T is not now I suppose difficult to see a near Conformity between Popery and Paganism as to these five objects of worship 1. The supreme God. 2. Angels 3. Dead persons 4. Reliques And 5. Images We should now have proceeded to show their Conformity as to Ceremonies of worship But the Parallel would be over long because so easily made For we may truly affirm Ceremonies of Popish service borrowed from Paganism that there is nothing in the External worship of Popery that is not an imitation of Paganism Their holy water is come in the room of the Lustrat Waters of the Heathens Their Patron Saints succeed the Pagan Penates and Lares i. e. houshould Gods Their Canonisations the Roman Apotheoses's Their Pope the High-Priests Their Cardinals the Colledges of Augurs Their Priests those of Paganism Their Altars the Pagan Altars Their Lamps always burning the perpetual Fires that were kept in the Temples Their Processions the Pomps of the Circus Their Shrines that which the Heathen call'd the Chariots of the Gods Their Perambulations the Amberales Their Carnaval the Baccanals Their Benedictions and Consecrations that which the Pagans call'd Lustrations Their Purgatory the Subterraneous Mansions whither the Pagans said Souls went down to be purged Is not this a strange Event which falls out to the Confusion of Popery that at Rome and divers other Places the Pagan Idols and Temples have only chang'd their Names without changing their Uses 'T is affirmed that the Image of the Capitoline Jupiter at Rome is changed into that of S. Peter only instead of a Thunderbolt the Keys are put in his hands At Bordeaux formerly an Antique of Jupiter going up to Heaven on an Eagle serv'd on Ascension-day to represent Jesus Christ going up to Heaven The Temples of Heathenish Gods have been consecrated to Saints Those who write
into France After the Ascension of Christ they tell us that the Jews his Persecutors who resolved to destroy all his Friends and Disciples took Martha and Mary Magdalen Lazarus their Brother Marcella their servant and Maximin one of the seventy Disciples whom our Lord before his death had sent forth to preach the Gospel and imbark't them all upon one vessel without Sails Rudder Pilot Marriners or Oars but God was pleased to steer the vessel and safely landed'em at Marseilles These Saints thus delivered from the Sea finding none that would entertain 'em were forc't to sit down in the porch of an Idols Temple Magdalen preaches the Gospel to all that came Particularly to the Governor and his Lady They not profiting in the day by her sermons she appears to 'em in the night in Visions and at last by Promises and Threatnings with much ado makes them Christians She obtain'd a very particular favor from Heaven for 'em viz. that having no Children which they passionately desired the Lady is with child of a son by the intercession of S. Magdalen The Father and Mother resolv'd in gratitude to make a Voyage to Rome to be farther confirm'd in their Christianity by S. Peter himself They set forward in a Ship but are overtaken by a Tempest the Lady big with child and near her time is delivered of a Son but a little too soon by reason of the violent Tempest insomuch that it cost her her Life The disconsolate Father not knowing what to do with the dead body of his Wife in the Ship or with the Infant that might live but there was no nurse to be had for it he perceives a smal Rock in the midst of the Sea he causeth both to be carried there and puts the living Child by the dead Body of the Mother covering them with a coat after this he proceeds in his Voyage to Rome and perform'd what he intended there and receives assurance from S. Peter that his Wife and Child should both be restor'd to him Returning from Rome after two years stay there and the ship passing near that Rock He cast his eyes on that side of the Rock and perceives a little Child on the shore playing with Cockle-shells He makes towards it and finds it was his own son who had suckt the breasts of his dead Mother and always found milk there They remove the coat and find the body not in the least to be corrupted yea at that very instant it rose up and his Wife also was alive so both are brought back with him to Marseilles after this you may judge whether Mary Magdalen did not make mighty progress in the ruin of Idolatry in Marseilles The whole City was converted to the Christian Religion by her means and she gave them Maximin her fellow Traveller to be their Bishop and bestowed on him some of our Saviours Blood which she had brought with her in a Vial. As for her she hid her self for thirty years in the hole of a Rock where she was attended and serv'd by Angels who carried her every day up into Heaven where she heard the Heavenly Consorts and Hymns of the Blessed Spirits and on this she liv'd In all likelyhood this Saint had continued to this day in that rock if she had not been taken notice of by a certain holy Priest who seeing her thus mount into the Air came to the Rock and discourst with her The Saint finding she was observ'd had a mind to live no longer she therfore sends for Maximin the Bishop of Marseilles she receiv'd the Communion from his hands and was carried by the Angels into Paradise no more to return to the Earth I should think that those learned men have little to do with their time or imploy it very ill who give themselves the trouble seriously to confute such impertinent Fooleries as these are However we will be at the pains to repeat some of those many Miracles which the Papacy makes their Saints to work that they may oblige men to invoke and Worship ' em God hath permitted that there are two Characters by which they may be distinguisht viz. the Impertinence and the Multitude of them First their Impertinence for the most part they are ridiculous mean and ludicrous shameful and trifling For Example Ridiculous Miracles attributed to S. Francis. Is it not a Miracle unworthy of the Majesty of God that of S. Prancisd ' Assise when he preacht to the Birds and they held out their Bills and clapt their Wings in testimony of their Attention and Joy At another time he took a Woolf by the Ears that had done great mischief and ravage in the fields of Agobio and made a compact with him that henceforward he should devour or hurt no man but that the Inhabitants should provide him what was necessary to his livelyhood Upon a certain day the Devil tempted this Saint he makes his escape but the Devil after him and would have thrown him head-long from a Rock but the Rock split of it self in several places that he might be able to take fast hold with his hands Oftentimes the Devil tempted Brother Ruffinus but by the advice of St. Francis he one day spake thus to the Devil Aperiostuum stercorisabo in illud Open thy mouth and it shall serve me for a Closestool this frighted the Devil and away he goes in a mighty rage Brother Andrew of Annania had a mind to have some little Birds for his dinner he gets some to be roasted for him but when they were upon the table he bethinks himself and was ashamed of his being so delicate he therefore makes the sign of the Cross over the dish and dismisseth the little Birds away they fly as well as ever before they were taken and roasted Brother Antony preacht one day to the Fishes as S. Francis had done to the Birds these Fishes that we take to be a dull sort of Animales came all to the top of the Water and held up their Heads to listen to his Sermon and when he had done preaching some of 'em gave a loud cry of Approbation thus humming the preacher to the great dishonour of the proverb as mute as a Fish. When any sort of Animals were sick they had only to sprinkle them with a little of that water in which S. Francis did wash his wounds and they were presently Cured 'T was a rare Fellow this S. Francis 't is of him that the Legend saith nihil Christus fecit quod non ille fecit imò plura fecit quam Christus J. Christ did nothing but what St. Francis did as well as he yea much more was done by him than ever Jesus Christ did For certain J. Christ never did so many wonderful things as they ascribe to S. Francis If a Wall were crackt and ready to fall they needed only to thrust into the crevice a little of the Hair of this Saint and it proved more effectual than the best cement in the
the Antichristian Empire The other reason why the Holy Spirit hath divided the Crâ—isado's into two Plagues and into two Vials and why he hath not done the like by the two Reformations is because the Vials as I have often said signify Periods of Time. Nor could he ascribe a Vial to each Reformation because each of them apart would have consisted of too few years to constitute a Period For as the Reformation of the last Age was wrought in 25. or 30. years so that which we do next expect will in all probability be brought to pass in a less time And therefore to have made two Vials of them he must have allowed each but 25. or 30. years continuance Which would carry no kind of proportion to the rest of the Vials or to the for'going Periods every one whereof were much longer Beside it would have been needful to have interposed a third Vial between the two Vials of the first and second Reformation which ought to comprehend the time that elapseth betwixt the Reformation of the fore-going Age and the Reformation that we hope and wait for Every one will easily perceive that this would not have been a disposing of the Vials as they ought and that it is much more natural to make but one Vial or one Period of all the Times which comprehend the beginning the progress and the consummation of the destruction of the Papacy by means of the Reformation and of bringing the Truth into light and evidence This I take to be enough for the satisfying persons of justice and moderation in reference to the present difficulty And we ought after all to consider that it is free for the Spirit of God to rank Events and to dispose them into such Classes as he thinks meet The whole which belongs to us in this case is to consider the Relation and Agreement of the Events unto and with the Prophetical Schemes and Images Now it is evident that the Figures in the Prophecy concerning the seven Plagues do admirably accord with the Events to which we have applyed them So that now I think we may return to the Reasons assigned by the Author of the Illustrations upon the Apocalypse which he calls a kind of Demonstrations proving that none of the Vials are yet poured out His third Reason so far as I can comprehend it is that all the seven Vials are contained under the third Wo pronounced by the Angel when he cried Wo wo wo to the Inhabitants of the Earth by reason of the other voices of the Trumpet of the three Angels which are yet to sound For saith that Author the third Wo shall not be accomplished until after the sounding of the last Trumpet And S. John saith Chap. 11. v. 14. The second Wo is past and behold the third Wo cometh quickly To which he adds And the seventh Angel sounded and there were great voices in Heaven saying the Kingdoms of this world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord. If then the seven Vials be all contained under the third Wo and if the third Wo be not to come to pass till the sounding of the seventh Trumpet and if this last Trumpet which is to bring over the Kingdoms of the World to Jesus Christ have not hitherto sounded 't is then says he evident that none of the Vials are yet poured out And he concludes that this doth invincibly follow c. Tho for my part I do not comprehend how these can be stiled invincible proofs Nor is it true that the third Wo is contained under the seventh Trumpet But 't is true that this last Trumpet shall immediately and without any interval follow the third Wo so that we are not to wonder that the Holy Spirit speaketh of these two things as conjoined together The third Wo is the last Fall of Babylon and the moment of its total ruin The seventh Trumpet is the moment of Jesus Christ's entring upon his Kingdom For we may truly reckon the beginning of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ to commence immediately after the Fall of Babylon tho it will not attain to its perfection and glory until that the Jews and Pagans are converted This proof that is proposed unto us as invincible is herein weak that it supposeth a thing which is not true and which the Author cannot advance any reason in confirmation of Namely that the Plagues and the seven Vials are all comprehended in the third Wo. Whereas there is not so much as one of them therein contained For the third Wo is to arrive at the End of the seventh Vial and of the seventh Period of the downfal of the Papacy But when one supposeth what he pleaseth he may also prove what he pleaseth Only he ought not to call suppositions that are more than uncertain invincible Reasons And to prove that the seven Vials are not comprehended in the third Wo it is enough to prove as we have done that the seven Vials are seven Periods of Time which run along as water runs out of an Hour glass For seven Periods of time cannot be comprehended within the Time of the third Wo seeing that Wo it self is confined to the compass of a few years The third Wo is properly that which the Holy Spirit chap. 14. calls the Vintage 'T is added by the Author that the Vials must necessarily be still to be poured out because we are yet under the sixth Trumpet 'T is true that we are yet under the sixth Trumpet but it is almost 800. years that this sixth Trumpet hath been pouring forth its Influences For as we have said it is subdivided into seven Vials and we are now towards the end of the seventh Vial of the sixth Trumpet Nor are we to think it strange that the sixth Trumpet comprehends so many Ages seeing the seventh Seal contains a great deal more because comprehending the Trumpets into which it is subdivided it reacheth from the Reign of Theodosius until the End of the World. And our affirming that the seventh Seal comprehends under it the seven Trumpets is not a supposition advanced at random forasmuch as St. Iohn does plainly inform us of it For he does nothing at the opening of the seventh Seal of that which he had done at the opening of the former but all he doth is to give the seven Trumpets to the seven Angels And when he had opened the seventh Seal there was silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour and I saw the seven Angels which stood before God and to them were given seven Trumpets 'T is true that the Holy Spirit doth not so expresly say that the sixth Trumpet is subdivided into seven Vials But this may be gathered from the sixth Trumpets sounding at the time of the Turk 's invading the Grecian Empire which was about the tenth Age and from our finding that the first Vial fell about the same season on the Empire of the Beast So that the course of the Vials is confined within the