the Originals of Scripture when those that governed were so jealous of it that they would not suffer any Translation but the Latine which was overgrown the mean while as they now confess with many thousands of Corruptions III. Having considered the Obligation we have to the Religion we profess it may be seasonable next to reflect on the Religion to which we are invited We are invited to one that recals us to the Idolatrous practice of the heathen World to pray unto our fellow Creatures canonized to Saints and Heroes to worship Images and fall down to the stock of a tree Nay to the worshiping of the consecrated host which by the confession of Coster the Jesuite and Some others is a more stupid Idolatry than the worst of the Heathens were ever guilty of in case Transubstantiation cannot be made out Now that Transubstantiation is not real we have all the evidence that we are capable of the testimony of our reason and our senses The absurd and monstrous consequences of that Doctrine will fill Volumes a great part of which are with great truth and justice drawn together by Dr. Brevint in his late Tract entituled The Depth and Mistery of the Roman Mas. We are invited to a Religion that takes from us half the Sacrament of the Eucharist notwithstanding the Institution of Christ in express words and notwithstanding the practice of the Primitive Church to the contrary We are invited to a Church that revives the Heathen Persecution of taking away our Bibles and would involve every Lay-man in the guilt of being a Traditor the next step in the account of the Primitive Church to Apostacy from the Christian Faith. We are invited to a Church that as it takes away the Scriptures and half the Communion robs us likewise of the benefit of the Publick Prayers putting the Offices in an unknown Tongue insomuch that when about thirteen years ago some of the Prelates of the Church of France had taken care to translate the Liturgy and Scripture into the vulgar Tongue Pope Alexander the seventh damns the Attempt and under pain of Excommunication commands all persons to bring in their Books to be publickly burnt We are tempted to a religion which contrary to the command of trying all things and holding fast that which is good and paying to God a reasonable service enjoyns an implicite Faith and blind Obedience to a Religion that instead of the guidance of the Word of God sets up an infallible Judge and Arbitrator of all Doctrines the Pope of Rome Which instead of the faith once delivered to the Saints adds new Articles of Faith which instead of that one propitiation made by Christ and the condition thereof Faith and Repentance sets remission of sins upon quite other terms and proposes that gift of God to be bought with Money in the vile Market of Indulgences for instance Sacriledge is valued at seven grosses Incest at five Simony seven Perjury six Murder five and so on in the Tax of the Apostolic Chancery We are invited to a Church where we must be Schismatics that we may be Catholics and adhere to the Roman in opposition to all other that is to the Catholic Church 'T were endless by retail to reckon up the Errors and the Guilts to which we are invited the fond ridiculous Rites the superstitious burthensom and heathenish Ceremonies the Exorcisms and Conjurations the Blasphemies and forged Miracles Cheats and pious Frauds the Lies and Stories stupid and impossible as those of Amadis de Gaul the Knight of the Sun or the Seven Champions witness the Golden Legend the Lives of the Saints of S. Francis Bruno S. Dominick and infinite others or if we have a mind to a Romance of our own the long Tale of a Tub which Father Serenus Cressy has lately put out borrowed from Father Alford the improbable that is the greater Miracles as he tells us being omitted because of the unbelief of the Heretics and yet enow are left to weary the credulity of the most sanguine Catholic Wherein also as he tells us we may see the Faith of our Forefathers and truly we have great reason to thank him for the prospect which as he represents it gives us strong inducements in so unequal a competition to retein our own Notwithstanding all that has been said there are a sort of pacific Writers who represent the Doctrines of the Church of Rome under a fairer light and would have us believe they have a better meaning than is usually suggested And God forbid that we should take things by the worst handle or make that breach wider whose closure we should endeavour to make up with a zeal equal to that of the gallant Roman who threw himself on behalf of his Country into the gaping Gulf. Indeed no price can be too great for Peace but only Truth the which we may not part with for all the tempting charms of Charity and Love and God knows in the present case 't is evident that the excuses which are fram'd in the Romanists behalf are short and frivolous nor besides can any man be esteem'd a Roman Catholic by admitting the Doctrines of that Church in his own private or some more probable Doctors but in the public sense And had these undertakers in the Catholic Cause power to dispense therein according to that Candor which many of them make shew of we might attend to what is said but we are well assur'd that all these fair words can signifie nothing but are merely a bait and snare laid to draw in the easie Proselyte for when he 's reconcil'd and brought into the bosom of the Church these painted shews are presently washt off and all concessions immediately retracted the Convert must then learn the Colliers Creed believe as the Church believes and St. Peter's Key which threw the gate open to admit into the Church will shut the Prisoner in and the Child which had a piece of money given him to keep him quiet shall soon after have it call'd for back again and be aw'd with the rod if he repine or murmur So that 't will be a frivolous Project to talk of a Reconcilement with the Church of Rome till she first conform herself to Truth and a Conviction and much more a Reformation must here be impossible where the grossest Errors are joyn'd with an Assurance of being free from any nay a Persuasion of being infallible IV. The Motive which deserves the next place is the Safety of the King's Person and the Prerogative of the Crown which hath no higher or more necessary appendent than his Supremacy in his Dominions in all Causes Ecclesiastical and Secular according to the powers invested in the Jewish King under the Law and exercised by the first Christian Emperours 'T is obviously known how destructive both to itself and the Community is the Partnership of Regal Power but this must be
infinitely mischievous when shared by a Foreigner whose interests are necessarily contrary to those of our Prince and Nation as the Popes certainly are But this mischief stays not within the aforesaid bounds for the Pope is not content with a bare Co-ordination but demands the Preference for his spiritual Sword and claims a power to depose Kings and dispose of Kingdoms This we learn at large from Bellarmin Suarez Turrecremata Card. Perron Thom. Aquin Ledesma Malderius to pass by innumerable others all whose Works were publisht by Authority and so own'd as consonant to the Doctrines of the Church to which may be added the Pope's definition who makes it authentic Law in these words We say and define and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary to Salvation for every human Creature to be subject to the Bishop of Rome and this Law of Pope Boniface the Eighth's making he effectually commented on himself of whom Platina says That he made it his busines to gave and take away Kingdoms to expel men and restore them at his pleasure All which that it might want no Sanction or Authority to render it the Doctrine of the Church is justified in the third and fourth Lateran Council the Council of Lions the Council of Constance all which call themselves General and therefore speak the Doctrine of the Church What has been done in this kind since the days of Gregory the Seventh throughout Europe would fill a large Volume in the bare Narration whoever has a mind to see those black Annals need not consult Protestant Writers but read Baronius or Platina and there he will satisfie himself Behold at large the last and greater Triumphs of the Capitol Crowns and Scepters and the necks of Emperors and Kings trampled upon in great Self-denial by Christ's humble Vicar their Realms and Countries taken from them and involv'd in blood by the Leiutenant of the Prince of Peace Subjects discharg'd from their Allegiance in the right of him who himself disown'd the being a divider and a Judge and in a word the whole world made his Kingdom who pretends his interest deriv'd from our Lord Jesus who disclaim'd the having a kingdom of this World. So that it was not said amiss by Passavantius That the Devil made tender of all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them to our Lord Christ but he refused them afterwards he made the same offer to his Vicar the Pope and he presently accepted it with the Condition annext of falling down and worshipping The English Reader who desires to be satisfied in matter of Fact may please to consult the History of Popish Treasons and usurpations not long since written by Mr. Foulis to pass by others who have also dealt in that Subject At present I shall only add that although our neighbouring Princes have difficulty enough given them by this Universal Monarch who like his Predecessors in Heathen Rome makes it a piece of his Prerogative to have Kings his Vassals yet they often help themselves by some Advantages which our Sovereign is not allowed The most Christian King has his Capitularies Pragmatic Sanctions Concordats and the Privileges of the Gallican Church to plead upon occasion And his Catholic Majesty as the eldest Son of the Church has several Rights of Primogeniture especially in the Kingdom of Sicily But the Crown of England is not to be treated with such respect it alas ever since the days of Henry the Second or at least King John is held in fee of the Pope and we are in hazard to be called unto account for the Arrear of 1000 Markes per Annum payable ever since that time And Cardinal Allen has given it for good Canon Law That without the approbation of the See Apostolic none can be lawful King or Queen of England by reason of the antient Accord made between Alexander the third in the year 1171. and Henry the Second then King when he was absolv'd for the death of S. Thomas of Canterbury That no man might lawfully take that Crown nor be accounted as King till he were confirmed by the Soveraign Pastor of our souls which for the time should be This accord being afterwards renewed about the year 1210 by King John who confirmed the same by oath to Pandulphus the Popes Legate at the special request and procurement of the Lords and Commons as a thing most necessary for the preservation of the Realm from the unjust usurpation of Tyrants and avoiding other inconveniences which they had proved c. But if this be but the single Opinion of a probable Doctor we may have the same asserted by an infallible one Pope Innocent the Fourth who before his Colledge of Cardinals and therefore in likelihood e Cathedra declares that the King of England was his Vassal nay to speak truth his Slave From hence it is that the succeeding Popes have been so free on all occasions of turning out of doors these their Tenants upon every Displeasure and little pet Not to mention the old Mis-adventures of Richard the Second King John c. Hence it was that Paul the Third sent against King Henry the Eighth in the year 1538. his terrible thundring Bull as the Author of the History of the Council of Trent calls it such as never was used by his Predecessors nor imitated by his Successors in the Punishments to the King were deprivation of his Kingdom and to his adherents of whatsoever they possest commanding his Subjects to deny him Obedience and Strangers to have any Commerce in that Kingdom and all to take Arms against and to persecute both himself and his followers granting them their Estates and Goods for their prey and their Persons for their Slaves Upon like terms Paul the Fourth would not acknowledge Queen Elizabeth because the Kingdom was a Fee of the Papacy and it was audaciously done of her to assume it without his leave And therefore Pius the Fifth went on and fairly deposed her by his Bull dated Febr. 25. 1570. but because the stubborn Woman would needs be Queen for all this Pope Gregory the Thirteenth deposes her again and having two hopeful Bastards to provide for to the one he gives the Kingdom of England to the other that of Ireland Nor was she unqueen'd enough by all this but Sixtus Quintus gives away her Dominions once more to the King of Spain and after all when nothing of all this would thrive Clement the Eighth sends two Breves for failing into England one to the Laity the other to the Clergy commanding them not to admit any other but a Catholic though never so near in blood to the Succession in plain terms to exclude the Family of our Sovereign from the Crown When King James was come in notwithstanding those Breves the Gun-powder Plot was contrived to throw him out again and when that had occasion'd the State for its own Security to require the taking
be content to truckle under the Canon Law and occasional Bulls of his Holiness or Legantine Commissions The proceedings of the Courts in Westminster veiling to Prohibitions and Appeals to Rome against which a Premunire will be a weak fence in Bar to the plenitude of the Apostolic Power and to murmur or dispute any thing will be especially to new Converts interpreted Heresie a word of so sharp an importance as not to need a Comment There is a Tradition that heretofore the Gentlemen of the long Robe were in that mean estate as to ply at Westminster Hall Gate as now Watermen do at the Stairs for a Fare let the Practicioners in that noble Profession consider whether some such thing would not in earnest be the consequent of Popery And the rest of the People of England would do well to think whether they are fitted for a Journey to Rome as often as they shall be called thither I do not mean the divertisement of Travel or devotion of Pilgrimage but the compulsion of Citations from that Court where the attendance and expence is not likely to be less than formerly it was when it occasioned the groans and sad complaints of our Fore-fathers which though they have escaped our experimental knowledge sufficiently appear in all our Histories Or should the English Law have some quarter given it and be allowed a little Chamber practise this must be only in reference to the Layty All Ecclesiastics are under a more perfect dispensation and only accountable to the Apostolic See either for their actions or concerns the benefits of which though the Secular Priests share in some proportion the Regulars much more liberally enjoy being owned by the Pope as his Souldiers and Pretorian bands listed under the Generals of their several Orders maintained indeed at the cost of the Countries where they live but for the service of their Sovereign abroad to whom they owe an entire and blind obedience And that they may give no Hostages to the State where they reside are forbid to marry So that if Popery should prevail we must besides all charges necessary to secure our selves from forreign enemies both by Land and Sea constantly maintain a vast Army of possibly an hundred thousand men for such were the old numbers to assure our slavery to the Roman Yoke Nor are these Priviledges of the Church only personal the places themselves which these religious men possess are hallowed into Sanctuaries and give protection unto any criminal that treads within their thresholds the most horrid Murther or barbarous Villany is to have the Benefit of the Clergy and if the Malefactor have but time to step into a Cloyster he fears no farther prosecution VII But besides the inconvenience of submitting to a foreign Law that certain mark of slavery and the intolerable burthens that attend its execution it will be of moment to advise how well our Property and interest in our estates will stand secur'd And though when Princes are upon their good behaviour to be disseiz'd of their dominions whenever they offend his Holiness of Rome the Pesant or the Gentleman have no great reason to expect indemnity yet should the Farm or Manor-house be too low a mark for the Roman Thunderer to level at 't is not to be imagined the Lord Abbots and the Lands of all Religious houses will be past by as trifles The Church is ever a Minor and cannot be prescribed against by time or barr'd in her claims and our holy Father out of his Paternal care will find himself concern'd to vindicate the Orphan committed to his trust Some perchance who enjoy those Lands think they need not apprehend any thing because they hold under Acts of Parliament But they who imagine this should consider that the same strength that can repeal those Laws that establish Protestancy may also do as much for those which suppress Religious houses and no body can tell what the force and swing of a violent turn especially in England may produce where we seldom proceed with coldness or reserve Acts of resumption are not things unheard of in ours or in forrein stories Nor is the consent of the Pope in Queen Maries days a better security for in case of a change of Religion all those grants will be interpreted a bare permission and that conditional in order to the great end of reclaiming an heretical Kingdom which not being then accepted of and finally submitted to will not be thought obligatory when Papists by their own skill or interest have gotten the power into their hands King Charles the First yielded at the Isle of Wight that the Church Lands should be leased out for 99 years in order to a present peace and settlement of all things through the interposition of a powerful and violent Faction it was not then accepted of Does any man think the Obligation of leasing for 99 years remains now Let our Lay-Abbots apply this to their case and then judge whether they upon a revolution will be more secure of their Possessions than the late Purchasers were or whether those Purchasers were not as confident of transmitting their Acquisitions to their posterity as any possessor of Church Lands now is or has been The King of France not long since has redeemed back to the Crown those demesnes which belong'd to it paying back such summs as were really laid out by the Purchasers and allowing the mean profits as interest for the money so laid out Which method of procedure has been defended by very considerable Arguments to be just and equitable If the money expended on the Church penniworths at the dissolution of Religious houses were now refounded and the advantage of above 100 years profit already received were thrown in to the bargain though the present Proprietaries would have an ill exchange yet there would be so much plausibleness in the grounds of it as in the zeal and heat of a turn would not be easily controul'd especially if it be farther prest that the first claim from the Acts of Parliament suppressing Church Lands appear to be not full and peremptory the Lands of the first suppression in the 27. year of Henry 8. not seeming to intend an alienation to common and secular uses but to have been vested in the King in trust that the revenues might be employed to the pleasure of Almighty God and to the honour and profit of this Realm As to the second in 31 year of Henry 8. The Act supposes and is built upon the alienations legally made by the respective Religious Houses and Corporations who are said of their own voluntary minds good wills and assents without constraint coaction or compulsion of any manner of person or persons by the due order and course of the common Laws of this Realm of England and by their sufficient Writings of Record under their Covent and common Seals c. Now to the verifying of these particulars a great many doubtful circumstances and nice