of all Opinions and Practices in the Matters of Religion is contrary to the Judgment and Practice of particular Learned Men in the Primitive Church Tertullian indeed tells us Non Religionis est cogere Religionem quae sponte-suscipi debeat non vi the owning of any Religion ought to be free not forced and 't is best that it should be so but lest this Expression should be made use of as Pamelius words it ad sectarum licentiam as a License to Hereticks the same Tertullian saith elsewhere ad officium Haereticos compelli non inlici dignum est it is fit the Hereticks should be compelled not allured to do what becomes them St. Hierom saith of Heresie scintilla statim ut apparuerit extinguenda est the very first spark of it should not be cherished but extinguished and how far he was from countenancing ill Opinions is evident from his Epistle to Riparius where he calleth his opposing the Heresies of those times Christi bellum the War of Christ And Fevardentius tells us Gloriatur Hieronymus se haereticis nunquam pepercisse St. Hierom glorieth that he never spared any Hereticks That great Man St. Austin who was very tender of punishing Men for their Opinions did yet write several Epistles to the Governours of several Provinces which bear this Inscription De moderatè coercendis Haereticis wherein he doth beseech them to Restrain Hereticks not by Capital Punishments but by some gentler Corrections That Sentence which Dulcitius pronounced against the Donatists St. Austin thought too severe and so do we noveritis vos debitae morti dandos know that ye must die as ye deserve such sanguinary Courses are very improper means to reduce Hereticks they are inconsistent with our Lord's Designs and cannot be reconciled to that Command of his Compel them to come in that my house may be filled the Compulsion here required must be such as tends to recover Men not to destroy them and certainly to send them out of the World by bloody Laws were a strange way of bringing them into the Church That Expression of St. Paul will never warrant such a course Galathians 5. 12. I would they were even cut off which trouble you He doth not wish they were killed with the Sword but only cut off from the Church by Excommunication But although sanguinary Laws may not be executed unless it be in case of professed Atheism gross Idolatry or downright Blasphemy yet for the restraint of other Opinions and Practices which corrupt the Doctrine and disturb the Peace of the Catholick Church some gentler Punishments have been used and in St. Austin's Judgment still ought to be In short all those Learned and Pious Men who were so renowned in former Ages Athanasius great St. Basil Irenaeus and many others have declared to all succeeding Generations that they did not approve of a general Toleration of all Opinions and Practices in the Matters of Religion For why else did they write so vehemently against the ill Opinions of Arius Eutyches Nestorius and other Hereticks concerning whom Cyril of Jerusalem gave every Orthodox Christian this Advice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abhor them avoid them do not so much as once salute them so he 2. 'T is certain that an universal Liberty of Conscience an unlimited Toleration of all Opinions and Practices in the Matters of Religion is directly contrary to the Decrees and Canons of antient Councils and that we may see in a few Instances as 1. The Decrees and Canons of Councils did not leave Men to the Liberty of their own Consciences as to the use of both the Sacraments The Council of Carthage established this Canon in reference to Baptism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whosoever demeth that little Infants newly born ought to be baptised let him be accursed or excommunicated And as to the other blessed Sacrament there is a Canon ascribed to the Apostles themselves which runs thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All Christians who come to the Publick Assemblies and there hear the Scriptures but stay not to receive the Holy Communion ought to be Excommucated and so thought the Council of Antioch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They who turn their Backs upon the Holy Communion ought to be cast out of the Church And the Council of Sardica as Zonaras tells us did by a Canon of theirs Excommunicate all Persons who abstained from the Holy Sacrament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for three Lords Days together 2. The Decrees and Canons of Councils did not leave Men to the liberty of their own Consciences as to the observation of the Lords day Concerning this the Council of Laodicea thus Decreed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no Christian ought to act like a Jew and rest upon the Saturday but to prefer our Lords days and rest in them and as for such as should transgress this Canon the Council passed this Sentence upon them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let them be accursed of Christ nor was it left as a thing Arbitrary for Men commonly to Fast upon the Sunday if a Clergy-man did it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him be deposed or degraded if a Lay-man did it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him be Excommunicated so say the Apostles Canons 3. The Decrees and Canons of Councils did not leave Men to the liberty of their own Consciences as to the use of Publick Churches and the frequenting of Sacred Assemblies held therein The Heretick Eustathius in the fourth Century despising Publick Churches taught his Followers to Pray and perform other Acts of Divine Service in private Conventicles Against this Practice the Council of Gangra Established their Canons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If any Man teach that the Church and Solemn Assemblies met therein are to be despised and if any Man shall set up Private meetings for the Worship of God without Licence from his Bishop let him be accursed These Canons and many more to the like effect are undeniable Evidences that the Councils of the Primitive Church were far enough from being favourers of a general Toleration of all Opinions and Practices in Matters of Religion 3. 'T is certain that an Universal Toleration of all Opinions and Practices in matters of Religion is contrary to the Judgment and Practice even of the Roman Church itself What their judgment is in this case we are informed from the Learned Men of their Communion Lorinus one of their Jesuites intimates his Opinion as well as his Authors when he saith Haereticos rectè Clemens exterminandos praecipit Clemens did justly command Hereticks to be rooted out Thomas Aquinas their angelical Doctor delivers his Opinion concerning Hereticks very roundly thus Non solùm ab Ecclesia per Excommunicationem separandos sed etiam per mortem à mundo excludendos Hereticks deserve not only to be excluded from the Church by Excommunication but also from the World by
unhappy as not to apprehend the Mysteries of Religion Doubtless the Reason must needs be this their own Understandings though exercised to their utmost Ability could not inform them better for want of some other and clearer Light And what was their Case would have been ours had not God enlightened and blessed the Christian Church with Divine Revelation But withal this great Blessing of Divine Revelation doth not exclude but require the very utmost Exercise of human Reason for we must employ not only our Eyes or Tongues but our Understandings in reading the Word of God it must be our great Endeavour by the use of all proper means to find out the true Meaning of what we read and when upon good Grounds we are satisfied that the right Sense of such or such a Text is this or that though the Matter therein delivered be above the reach of our Reason yet the same Reason will oblige us to believe it as an undoubted Truth because that God who cannot lie hath so revealed it And this I think is all which humane Reason hath to do in Matters of Faith and Worship unless it be to oblige us to the Practice of what we know and believe To conclude this Subject our Lord saith of himself I am the light of the world the same thing he said to his Apostles too ye are the light of the world so they were not only by their Holy Example but by their Holy Doctrine too Why else doth the Apostle mention the Glorious Light of the Gospel The Light of Reason is but as the Light of a Glow worm the Light of the Law is but as the Light of a Star but the Light of the Gospel is as the Light of the Sun a very glorious Light indeed Now if this be true if Christ himself if the Apostles of Christ if the Gospel of Christ be so many Lights differing in Number had not this Author strangely forgot himself and his Bible when he told the World in his printed Paper that the Reason of Man is the Light nay the only Light which God hath given him to distinguish the true Religion from the false ones and again that God hath given to Men no other Guide but their Reason to bring them to Happiness and yet a third time that the People's common Notions are the Tests and Standards of all Truths If these three Propositions be true or any one of them I do confess that the small Light of my own Reason hath not yet enabled me to discern any difference betwixt the clearest Truths and the grossest Errors And verily the exposing such notorious Falshoods to the view of the World by the help of the Press is a very strong Argument why its Liberty should be restrained But to go on SECT II. THE main Arguments which this Author pleads for an universal Freedom of the Press are drawn from these two Topicks First From the great Usefulness of Printing which hath been so very beneficial to the Christian Church Secondly From several great Inconveniencies which as he saith would follow were the Press once more restrained and limited I. This Author pleads the great Usefulness of Printing as an Argument that the Press should be unlimited To which I answer Two ways 1. By way of Concession we do easily grant that the Invention of Printing hath proved very beneficial to the Christian Church 'T is this which hath diffused the knowledge of useful Arts and Sciences and all sorts of humane Learning 'T is this which hath furnished our Libraries with vast Numbers of excellent Books 'T is this which hath furnished our Churches and our Families with great Store of Bibles and we easily grant what this Author asserts that to this Art of Printing we owe under God the happy and quick Progress of the Reformation But 2. By way of denial we cannot grant that the usefulness of the Press is a good Argument that its Liberty should be unlimited For notwithstanding these great Advantages which both Religon and Learning have reaped from this curious Art of Printing may not it as well as many other things very useful in their own Nature be so abused and perverted as to become Instrumental to the great Detriment of Mankind 'T is an old Rule corruptio optimi pessima the better things are when well used the worse they grow when corrupted The Sword is an excellent Instrument when it defends the guiltless but it proves an unhappy Tool when it murders the Innocent Physick duly administred by a Learned Physician may preserve a Life but being misapplied by an ignorant Mountebank it tends to destroy it 'T is certain that the Art of Printing hath done a great deal of good and we are to bless God for it but withal it is as certain that it hath done and still may do a great deal of Mischief and we are to lament it When the Press tends to promote Religion and Virtue 't is well employed and ought to be encouraged but when the Press tends to promote Vice and Irreligion it ought to be discountenanced and restrained 'T is evident that the Press hath been used to publish a great Numbers of such Papers as tend to debauch the Lives and corrupt the Judgments of Men such are our obscene Poems our profane and wanton Stage-plays where Vice is not only represented but so promoted that we may justly fear that as all their Spectators lose their Time so many of them may lose their Innocence too For since the Hearts of Men are so prone to evil and become so like to tinder apt to take Fire from every little Spark 't is hard to see those Vices which are pleasing to Flesh and Blood represented upon a publick Stage and yet not be infected by them And as these are very like to debauch their Spectator's Morals so are there many other printed Papers as like to corrupt their Reader 's Judgments Such are those many Volumes printed in Defence of Popery and which is worse such are those Books printed in the Defence of Arianism Socinianism and other Heresies justly condemned by the Catholick Church in the first and purest Ages of Christianity 'T is reported that our modern Socinians have already perverted a considerable Number of Men not only by their personal Insinuations but by their printed Papers and 't is very probable that they may yet make many more Proselytes to their dangerous Opinion if the Press be still permitted to publish whatever they think fit to write For their Books contain Arguments so plausible so seemingly strong that they may pass for clear Evidences and Demonstrations amongst the unlearned Multitude who are in no capacity to discover the Fallacies that lie in them Now since the Press may as well do harm as good 't is very reasonable that it should be well regulated to promote that good and prevent that harm 't is very fit that no new Books should be published till they have been first supervised and allowed
Death Bellarmine their most illustrious Cardinal spends a whole Chapter in proving that Hereticks posse ac deberi temporalibus poenis atque etiam ipsa morte mulctari that incorrigeable Hereticks not only may but must suffer Temporal Punishments yea and Death itself But there is no Man that speaks more fully to this than Maldonate another Jesuite who expresly saith Comburendi tanquam proditores transfugae discedentes Haeretici Hereticks who depart from the Church are to be burnt as so many Traitours and Renegadoes And whom he means by these Hereticks he elsewhere tells us Calvinistos Lutheranos Haereticos esse quis non videt nullus nunquam Haereticus fuit nullus Haereticus esse potest si illi Haeretici non sunt who doth not know that Calvinists and Lutherans Protestants of both Denominations are Hereticks If they are not no Man ever was nor can be such 'T is boldly spoken but never was never will be prov'd And 't is worth our Observation that the same Jesuit hath left the Kings of the Christian Church this advice Admoneo non licere illis istas quas vocant Conscientiae libertates nimiùm nostro tempore usitatas Haereticis dare I put Princes in mind that it is not lawful for any of them to grant Hereticks i. e. Protestants any Liberty of Conscience of which he complains as a thing too often done These instances are enough to teach us what are the Principles of the Roman Church whereunto their Practice hath been so sutable that it may be a matter of dispute whether Rome Pagan or Rome Papal hath shed the greater quantity of Christian blood And certainly their Persecuting Impopoverishing Imprisoning Tormenting Banishing and Massacring so many Thousands in England Scotland Ireland France and other places barely upon the score of Religion are very sorry Arguments that they do really like any Toleration what Hand so ever the Men of that Religion may have in ours 4. 'T is certain that an unlimited Toleration of all Opinions and Practices in the matters of Religion is directly contrary to the Commands and Edicts of good Kings both in the Jewish and Christian Church 1. The good Kings of Israel and Judah did not permit all their Subjects to do what they pleased in the matters of their Religion We cannot doubt but there were in those days many Men of erroneous Judgments who thought they did well when they Worshipped God by an Image St. Paul mentions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Conscience of the Idol i. e. a false Opinion that there was some thing of Divinity in it and accordingly did such Men Sacrifice to it But was this Opinion and Practice allowed by any of their religious Kings because it was sutable to the mistaken Consciences of some of their Subjects did Hezekiah did Josiah nay did Jehu grant a Publick Indulgence for the Worship of Idols because many both Laicks and Priests were for it It was so far from this that although a great number of their Subjects were too much inclined and had been too long accustomed to it they took care to root it out 2. Nor was such an Universal Tolleration of all Religions ever known in former Ages in the Christian Church since the Religion of Christ was own'd by Kings and Emperors It s true Socrates tells us that the good Emperor Theodosius did bear with the Novatians but he bore with none besides what he said to Demophilus an Arrian Bishop we have from the same Historian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I command thee to quit the Christian Churches 'T is also true that the good Emperor Constantine the Great did once sign a Royal Edict for such a Toleration the sum of which is thus Recorded by Eusebius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Let us give both to the Christians and to all others the free Choice of their Religion And hereunto he added this Charge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let no Man disturb his Neighbour in point of Religion but let every one do as his Soul desires This indeed was Constantine's Act and a wise Act it was and all that could then be done considering in what Circumstances he then stood for Constantine and Licinius were then Co-Emperors Constantine favoured the Christian Religion Licinius favoured the Pagan Worship Heathenism was the Religion then Established by Law Christianity was under Hatches the Pagan Religion did not need a Toleration the Christian did In such a juncture of time as this it was very worthily done of Constantine to get the consent of his Colleague Licinius to a General Toleration of all Religions that so the Christian might be Comprehended in it and such a present Toleration did he procure in order to a future Establishment of the Christian Faith And that this was indeed his present Design is Evident from what he afterwards did for when he became the sole Emperor and was well settled in the Throne he made it his great business to suppress all false Religions and Establish that of Christ Eusebius tells us that there was sent out by him a Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Restraining the abominable Idolatries that had hitherto been practised in Cities and Countries and again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Law Commanded that none should dare to set up any Images The same Historian saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by his Command the Gates of Idol Temples were shut up Nay another Historian tells us that he did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quite pluck down the Temples of Venus And as he had no kindness for any ill Religions without the Christian Church so did he give no Countenance to any Sects and ill Opinions which arose within it That he Banished Arius though Baronius denies it we have the Authority of Sozomen who saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arius was called back from Banishment not long after the Council of Nice and how he dealt with other Hereticks the same Historian informs us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By a Law he Commanded that the Oratories of Hereticks should be took from them and that they should hold no Assemblies either in Publick or Private places And as this good Emperor took care to root out all false Worship and to suppress ill Opinions so did he by his Royal Authority promote the true Service of God To that end he set forth a Law for the observation of the Lords day So Eusebius tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as the same Historian saith in another place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He Exhorted nay by a Law he required the universality of his Subjects to cease from all their worldly business upon the Lord's daies that therein they might attend the Exercises of Religion Certainly these and the like proceedings of his are infallible Evidences that although this good Emperor did once in Christian Policy and for an excellent end Sign a Royal Edict for a General Toleration of all Religions yet when it