Pazzi the Revelations of St. Bridget c. And these are made use of to shew what unlikely Stories the Papists swallow and upon what false Grounds they build their Belief Now who would not believe that Those who make these Invectives should be careful in avoiding what they pretend to Reform and be sure not to out-doe the Papists in the very thing they condemn them And yet see their Fate Whilst they are drawing out the Character of Papists in these Colours they e'en make a most exact Resemblance of themselves and Protestant Preachers are no sooner Challeng'd in their Pulpit-Narratives but we are bid consult the Authorities they went upon and what Authorities are these We are sent to the Quaker Vnmask'd to the New Discovery to Foxes and Firebrands And these are stil'd the Authorities they go upon As if these were more Authentic than the Miracles of S. Xaverius which have been so strictly Examin'd that even some pretended Reformers themselves have judg'd them worthy of Credit And here while I am upon this Subject I cannot but admire some Protestant Preachers Writers and other otherwise sober Laymen of late who take upon them thus to Ridicule and slightingly to wonder at the Papists for this their Fond Credulity forsooth in relation to Old Legends and Modern Lives of Saints Whenas if these same Preachers and Lay-men do but look a little back over their own Shoulders they cannot but see yet in sight such a Heap of Monstrous Legends I mean the Perjuries and Contradictory Fables of Oats and Tong c. solemnly Preach'd up in Pulpits by the most Eminent Men of the Nation and as eagerly swallow'd by infinit numbers of the People that they cannot without Confusion censure the Credulity of the Papists whilst they consider how deeply they themselves have given such Credit to Impossibilities And this is very observable in the way that there is scarce any thing in all those Books objected upon this score against the Papists whether Ancient or Modern Legends but however incredible it may appear yet generally is all in order to a good End and to the working Christian Effects in the Reader scarce a Miracle related but raises the Admiration of God's Power his Goodness and Mercy scarce a Passage but is a Recommendation of some Vertue an Encouragement against Vice c. and cannot be read without a great Spiritual Advantage to every unprejudic'd Christian In such things as these it is the Papists are condemn'd for over-credulous tho' even as to all these too the Church lays no Obligation on any of Assenting or Subscribing to the Truth of them but allows them to be read as it do's other History to which every one gives credit in proportion to the Authority which they find for what is related But whilst the Papists are thus reproach'd for being of too hasty a Belief in things of this Nature see which way the Protestants lean They are taught not to be too Credulous in things relating to God to the Works of his Power and Goodness c. No here they are bid be Cautious to be Prudent not to Trust to others but be sure keep close to their own Sense and Reason and not to believe Rashly or Blindly But then let them but turn on the other side and let the Matter be nothing of God or Heaven but against Popery and the Papists here They believe without Restraint there 's no Miracle too great no Extravagancy so Improbable no Legend so full of Contradictions but 't is receiv'd without scruple and as greedily swallow'd as easily believ'd and the very Pulpits too that know how to cry down the Papists for an over-credulity in Matters of Piety and Devotion shall now in Matters of Defamation of Malice of Interest tending to the Ruin of their Neighbor tell how to be as Credulous as any And tho' they condemn the Papists for appealing to Councils the Relations of Holy Fathers and the Examination of Commissioners in taking up Miracles upon their Credit yet when they themselves are put in mind of the Improbable and Impossible Stories they have help'd to spread from their Pulpits they without Blushing fly to the Authority of Foxes and Firebrands Proclamations and Votes of Parliament as if these were more Infallible than those others and as if the Preaching and Believing Legends of Malice and Envy were Marks of a True Christian when to receive Miracles in order to the improvement of Piety and a Good Life are made to be so Ridiculous and Antichristian I must beg the Reader 's Pardon for this little Digression 't is a Subject of which the Pulpit often rings and is as often objected by Protestant Writers and so not unworthy of a short Remark for the shewing the Perverseness of their way of Reasoning and especially too because I shall have an occasion of referring to it afterwards before the close of this Discourse Fifth Character of a Pulpit-Papist THE different Orders of Religion amongst the Papists are Good Advice to Pulp Caut. 3. neither better nor worse than so many Sects and several Casts of Religion only they have that advantage in managing their Divisions which we have not to pack up their Fanatics in Convents and Cloysters and so bring them under some kind of Rule and Government Thus were the Papists set out in a Sermon at Whitehall in the Year 1675. in which the Preacher being desirous to take off that Foul Blemish of so many Sects and Divisions rending the Protestant Church of England inconsistent with the Vnity of Christ's True Church and so often objected against them by Catholics falls into that common Topic of covering the Defects of his own Church by Calumniating that of his Neighbor and therefore he boldly makes up to his Auditory and tells them That the Vnity the Papists boast of in their Communion is but a Pretence whereas says he They have readly more Divisions in their Religion than they charge ours with and then goes on in the words of the Character above cited In which he Represents the Church of Rome 1. To be divided into many Sects and different Casts of Religion 2. That the different Orders of Religion are neither better nor worse than so many Sects And that the only Advantage of that Church above Protestants is that they pack up their Fanatics into Convents so to bring them under Government Now what Protestant was there in his Auditory or what such Reader of his Sermon reflecting what the Sects and different Casts of Religion and what the so call'd Fanaticks are here in England but would presently receive this Notion imprinted as a Truth in his Head that as in in England so likewise in the Church of Rome are there different Sects of Religion and Fanatics to divide it but only that there they are shut up in Convents for better Order This is what the Preacher plainly and positively asserts and whosoever takes him at his word must necessarily believe so But because this
the being of any Papists there Now 't is certain the Papists here and there are of the same Church Principles and Faith and 't is no Difference in this kind makes them there like other Men and here like Monsters but 't is because there the Papists are what they are and here they are made to be what they are not but what their Maligners please to render them And as long as they are only look'd on through this false Glass and shewn to the People under the Deformity of many Heads and Horns and with the Beast all over what hopes of their being receiv'd into the Bond of Common Charity Or what greater encouragement for Feuds and unchristian Animosities than that these should be so mark'd out for Disciples of Antichrist to be pursu'd with Contempt and Hatred by their Neighbors in the Service and Fear of the Lord I must needs confess that were Popery so foul as 't is in the opinion of the Vulgar were its Principles so cruel and bloody did it teach Men Idolatry to worship any Creature for God to neglect the Commandments c. I would choose rather to be Jew Turk or Infidel than a Papist I would willingly subscribe to all the Comparisons betwixt Paganism and Popery I would own that a Man must of necessity lay by both Sense and Reason before he could take up such a Religion and that to Preach against it and endeavor its ruin would not be only laudable but even a necessary Duty But if this black Character should no otherwise agree to it than by Mistake if the Papists should not really teach nor believe those Fopperies and absurd Doctrins which are laid to them but utterly abhor and disclaim them then 't is certain our little World has been fill'd with Confusions upon Imagination it has been frighted into most unaccountable Practices by idle Jealousies and there can be no surer way for retrieving the past and preventing all such like Mischiefs than by more closely examining the thing we fear and seeing whether it be a real Monster we dread or else something artificially dress'd up for to fright the unwary For my part I am not asham'd here to own that my Religion is Popery as taught and deliver'd by the Church of Rome I embrac'd it without the influence of any Temporal Motive and I continue in it upon the hopes of obtaining Salvation in the Profession of her Faith and observance of her Doctrins through the Merits and Passion of my ever Blessed Redeemer And 't was no small surprise to me to hear this very Church the Purity of whose Belief and Doctrin I admir'd so positively decry'd for the Whore of Babylon for the Promoter of all Inhuman Barbarities rank'd with Paganism and Turcism the Prophaner of God's Holy Word and Propagator of the Doctrin of Devils c. I was alarm'd at this Character and immediately concluded that if this was so I had been greatly mistaken and instead of putting my self into the way of Heaven had certainly fall'n into the very Mouth of Hell. This put me upon some Reflections and oblig'd me to enter into a more strict Scrutiny of my Religion and my self I did both with seriousness knowing that the Concern was of Eternity and whereon depended my Soul's Salvation or Damnation Upon examination of my self I could not find that I had been taught any of those Hellish Doctrins charg'd against my Church or that She any where deliver'd them but on the contrary that I had been directed by Her To worship and adore one only Living God To serve him with fear and trembling To love him above all things To keep his Commandments To love my Neighbor as my self and in all things to fulfil the Law of Christ That nothing was so contradictory to this Law as to commit Idolatry to prophane the Word of God or any ways to propagate Superstition or the Doctrin of Devils And that I ought rather to suffer Death a thousand times than once incur the Guilt of any of these Crimes Now here what could I think finding my Church wholly opposit to the Character given of it and my self lying under the Scandal of such Doctrins which I did as much abhor as Hell and Damnation it self I was convinc'd of the falsness of the Charge and that the Accusation was a Calumny but whether proceeding from Mistake Misunderstanding Ignorance Faction Interest Passion or Malice I was not able to determine But a farther enquiry into the Proofs produc'd for the making good this Charge gave me some satisfaction For here amongst these I found a great number of Matters of Fact as Massacres Vsurpations Murders of Princes Treasons Plots Conspiracies Persecutions and other such unwarrantable Practices charg'd against the Members of this Church I found again the vicious and scandalous Lives of some of her chief Prelates their Pride Covetousness and Luxury laid home as likewise the ill Examples of other Ecclesiastical Dignitaries as of Cardinals Bishops and Priests their Ignorance Simony Oppression Cruelties Excesses c. Then the loose and extravagant Opinions of many of her Doctors Lastly many Superstitions and Abuses found amongst the People their being impos'd on by some with idle Inventions the noise of Relics and Miracles and being Priest-ridden a thousand other ways These I say I found with others of the same blackness urg'd against Men in Communion with my Church And hence a Conclusion drawn upon the whole Church upon her Doctrin and all in her Communion of their being as foul as Hell of the same Tincture with these Villanies and Crimes And here it was I began to lay aside all Troubles and Scruples concerning my Religion being now well satisfi'd that the frightful Character of my Church whlch surpris'd me before was not taken from her Faith and Doctrin but only from the Vice and Wickedness of such who tho' perchance in her Communion yet follow'd not her Direction and that 't was rather a black Record of as many villanous Practices as had ever been committed by any of her Members Shamm'd upon the People for a Draught of such things the Church taught encourag'd and approv'd And here upon the whole I could not but lament these uncharitable Proceedings to see so great a Body of Believers such an infinit number of Christians of which I was one lie under so base so scandalous a Reproach to see them condemn'd for the Abettors of such Principles which they detested and abhorr'd and the Crimes of their Ancestors made to be their Religion For my part this Method appear'd to me much beneath all Reason and Religion I thought if this were once allowable and just we might all be Indicted for Felons and Horse-stealers because many of our Church had been convicted of those Crimes that the Debaucheries of the Stews Whitefriers and the Mint might be prov'd to be according to Precept and the Rules of Christianity be exactly drawn by the Offences of those that transgress them I must confess had
is nothing better nor worse than an Absolute Falshood 't was therefore set down in the Advice to the Pulpits as an unjust Character and a Misrepresentation of the Papists and Caution given of it upon that score as a thing to be avoided by all Honest Sincere Christian Preachers who desire to speak nothing of themselves nor against their Neighbors but the down-right Truth However the Apologizer for the Pulpits in his Answer pag. 11. being resolv'd to Vindicate and bring off all that has been said in those Chairs as if never any thing had been rashly bolted out there comes with a Let us try what ground the Preacher had for such Assertions And then as to that where the Preacher says Their Orders among the Papists are so many Sects that is says the Answerer So many distinct Bodies that having different Founders Rules Habits and often Opinions by which an Emulation is begot betwixt Order and Order they become divided among themselves Would not a School-boy have been Scourg'd for such a sleeveless frivolous Excuse The Preacher without mincing it says That the different Orders of Religion amongst the Papists are neither better nor worse than so many Sects that is says the Apologizer So many distinct Bodies c. How low are we fall'n below the Pulpit-Character As if Divisions in Religion and different Sects were nothing but so many distinct Bodies having different Founders Rules c. If a Preacher of the Catholic Communion should in the like terms positively declare in a Sermon That the Two Vniversities and every Colledge in them wherein are generally Educated and fitted for the Pulpit all the Parsons in England are neither better nor worse than the Seminaries of so many different Sects and several Casts of Religion and the Fellows are so many Fanatics pack'd up in an Enclosure under Rule I don't question but the Town would soon be fill'd with the News of such an Impostor for being so Impudent in infusing such False Notions into his Hearers And would not he have an Excellent Apologizer to help him out if another to vindicate the Passage should Print in his behalf say That by the Members of the Two Vniversities being so many Sects and different Casts of Religion the Preacher only meant So many distinct Bodies that having different Founders Rules Habits and often Opinions by which an Emulation is begot betwixt Vniversity and Vniversity Colledge and Colledge they become divided among themselves and when occasion is offer'd do actually war one upon another in their way What would the World say of such Doings as these but only condemn the Preacher for rashly aspersing such Bodies of Men and the Vindicator for a vain Trifler in publishing such an Idle Apology And yet this is our Case it being well known to any one that has but a grain more of Truth than what he has learn'd from the Pulpits that those several Religious Orders amongst Catholics notwithstanding their different Founders Rules Habits School-Opinions and Emulation do live as entirely within the Communion of the same Church embrace and teach all the same Articles of Faith say the same Creed Preach Pray and Administer the Sacraments in one anothers Churches and are every way in as perfect a Union as the Two Vniversities which with their different Founders Rules Habits School-Opinions and Emulation are yet Members of the same Communion and subject to the same Church of England And then let the World judge what a great Truth that was of this Preacher asserting These to be so many Sects and different Casts of Religion Dr. Sherlock could have told him That Schismatics or Sectaries in the Church are just as Rebels in a Kingdom not as part of it but as open and profess'd Enemies and consequently that the different Corporations and Bodies of Men here in London under different Founders Rules and Practices might with the same colour of Reason be Preach'd up for so many Rebels as the Religious Orders for so many Sects whilst These are only so many different Parts of the Church as Those are of the Kingdom But now for the Fanatics in Convents The Preacher declar'd that in the Church of Rome they have Fanatics too but they take care to shut them up in Convents By what is already said the Reader may perceive that such as are in Convents in the Church of Rome are Men who embracing a Retir'd Life dedicate themselves to the Service of God in Praying Fasting Mortification and the other Exercises of a Pious Christian some according to the Institution of S. Benedict others of S. Francis others of S. Dominic c. which however different in the Practice of a Religious Life yet are all in perfect Obedience to the same Church-Authority and of the same Belief as may be seen here in England where there are Monks of S. Benedict's Order Friers of S. Francis c. and yet These are so far from making any Divisions in the Church of which they are Members that they all acknowledge one and the same as their Common Mother and are only as different Parts not dividing but making up the Whole This may be seen in Queen Dowager's Chappel at Somerset-house in which Officiate Monks Friars Dominicans Jesuits and Clergy that is so many different Orders of Men and yet without any difference in Religion or disagreement in Faith. Now how unlike is this to what the Preacher delivers How different are These from what is commonly here understood and the Church of England calls Fanatics But however the Apologizer is to bring him off And therefore Fanaticism says he is a general Name and comprehends in it Superstition and Enthusiasm So that Religious Men in Convents are Fanatics forsooth because they are acted by some suppos'd Revelations Visions Raptures and unaccountable Impulses What Controversial Stuff is this Why at this rate he might make Fanatics of all the Patriarchs and Prophets of S. Joseph S. Peter and S. Paul and the rest of the Apostles and most of all of S. John whose whole Book of Revelations is nothing now it seems but so much Fanaticism Marry well-fare such Fanatics I wish the Church-of-England-men were such Fanatics too and were acted a little more by such Visions Revelations and Divine Impulses instead of those we have seen of late Years when the Visions of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey and the Suggestions of Parson Tong and Oats with some other Helps not altogether Divine mov'd the Pulpits as strongly and Fanatically as if all had come directly from Heaven But see now whither we are driven by the Conduct of a close Vindicator The Preacher told his Auditory 1. That in the Church of Rome there are really more Divisions than they charge Ours with 2. That their Religious Orders are neither better nor worse than so many Sects and several Casts of Religion 3. That they have their Fanatics pack'd up in Convents And now upon the management of the whole Matter by the Vindicator 't is all sunk into
by his Church to own the Scripture as the Word of God and obliged to assent to all therein deliver'd as of Divine Authority and of necessity to be believ'd with a Divine Faith whilst for Legends tho' he may read them if he pleases as he do's other Histories yet he is not bound by his Church or Religion to give assent to or believe any one Passage in any Legend whatsoever This the Apologizer understood very well pag. 23. where he proves out of Bellarmine and Canus that according to our own Principles all these things contain'd in the Lives of Saints tho' mention'd even in the Canonization depend upon Human Testimony as to particular Matters of Fact and consequently are subject to Error And therefore no sufficient ground for any Point of Faith which can be built on nothing less than Divine Authority And tho' some of these are inserted into our Offices yet they are not there propos'd as likewise Particular Revelations as the Scripture is to wit as matter of Faith but only as a Relation of some History in the Reading of which some Spiritual Advantage may be reap'd as is at large discours'd above Which is very different from what the Preacher says that he changes Scripture into Legends 2. How do's he change the Sacraments into Shows when in his Church the Sacraments are not only Shewn but likewise care taken that they be duly Administred to all her Members The Apologizer pretends the Charge to be True because the Cup is shew'd to the People which they don't partake of and the Host elevated at Mass and carry'd in Procession And might not a Jew here step in and with this Argument pretend that Christ Crucifi'd was another Show upon Calvary while he was there expos'd for some hours upon the Cross to the view of the World But all this is nothing but a Method to teach Atheists how to make the greatest Mysteries of Christianity Ridiculous We know the Benefit of that Oblation Christ made of his Body and Blood upon the Cross and likewise of that he Instituted at his Last Supper where he gave his Body and Blood after an Unbloody manner under the Forms of Bread and Wine for the Remission of Sins and which is now daily repeated in the Church according to the Command of Christ which he gave to his Apostles when he said to them DO THIS in Remembrance of me We know the Benefit there is in this Continual Remembrance And those who make a Show of this are within one Step of those Vnbelieving Jews who made a Show of Christ in his Passion when 't was said to them Behold the Man. 3. As for the Third of Preaching Purgatory instead of Repentance 't is absolutely False inasmuch as in the plain import of the words it imprints this Notion in the Hearers viz. That the Papists don 't Preach Repentance to the People but instead of this they Preach Purgatory This I say is False and so evidently that the Apologizer dares not vindicate the Preacher in so foul a Calumny and therefore instead of what the Preacher asserts the Vindicator minces the matter and pretends only that the Doctrin of Purgatory invalidates that of Repentance Which too is False in it self since we see Catholics both in their Lives their Books and Sermons urge the Necessity of Repentance as much and as effectually as Protestants And 't is much more False as to Preaching since amongst so many Sermons I have been at both Abroad and in our own Country I have heard Repentance so often press'd to the People and Purgatory never so much as mention'd unless it were to shew the insufferable Torments of the Place and how great the hazard is even of getting thither And amongst the Printed Sermons of Spaniards French Portuguese c. that are extant in Latin I challenge the Apologizer to find one that so sets out Purgatory to the People as to make them neglect Repentance and if he do's I 'll be bound to shew him a Hundred for his One that enforce the Duty of Repenting without the least hint of Purgatory or their considing in it 4. He says We Preach Faction instead of Faith c. This the Preacher said of the Papists at a time when the Church of England had been assisting a Faction about Four Years with all the help the Pulpit could give them in Consecrating their Villanies and finding Arguments to gain them Credit for the deluding the People And tho' they cannot be Advis'd to be more Cautious for the future without an Apology appearing in their behalf yet I hope 't is not without some Sense and Shame especially since they have seen the Cart and Pillory so often appearing in Confutation of those Truths that were then so often Dispens'd to the People with the Gospel As for the Faction they can discover in Our Preaching let them do their best to find even half so much we freely give them a Thousand Years to review for to match these Four of theirs Let them take in likewise the Sermons that are now Preach'd in our Chappels throughout the Kingdom I hope they 'll all appear Instructive as to Faith and Manners but free from Faction Can the Church of England say as much of theirs at present in which there are so many unworthy Reflections made upon the Religion of their Prince so much Animosity blown up Fears and Jealousies insinuated into the People and the Government made to them uneasie even in the very Method that dispos'd them heretofore to Rebellion and ended not but with the Murder of their Sovereign I can't imagine them to intend the like Mischief at present neither did they I believe heretofore when they made way for it by their Indiscreet Preaching But when they have seen so lately the People exasperated to that degree by the Pulpits against Popery as even in an Unnatural Rebellion to take up Arms against their Prince and never leave pursuing him under the Pretext of his being a Papist till they had brought his Royal Head to the Block under the same Notion Methinks such as are truly Loyal and boast themselves the Best Subjects in the World should be more Tender of their Sovereign than to venture upon the same Method with the Son which prov'd so Fatal to the Father and so Dangerous to the Brother But I fear the Excess of Jealousie for their Religion puts them upon being too Bold with their Prince and that by a Just Judgment of Heaven they are blindly practising the very Principles they have so often charg'd upon the Papists Making their Church's Interest the Center of their Religion Preaching Faction instead of Faith Esteeming everything Conscientious that makes for the Cause And not minding the Lawfulness of the Means provided the Thing be but done Twelfth Character of a Pulpit-Papist THERE is a great noise of Alms made in his Church but the Scope they too often vainly aim at is the Blessing of a Dr. Tenison ibid. Presumed
Pulpit-Sayings OR THE CHARACTERS OF THE Pulpit-Papist EXAMINED IN ANSWER TO THE Apology for the Pulpits AND IN Vindication of the Representer against the Stater of the Controversie With Allowance LONDON Printed by Henry Hills Printer to the King 's Most Excellent Majesty for His Houshold and Chappel And are sold at his Printing-house on the Ditch-side in Black-Fryers 1688. TO THE READER IF to be a Papist is to be that which is describ'd in the following Characters I do here declare that I am none and that I am so far from undertaking Apologies for Men of such Practices and Belief that I here profess a hearty detestation of all such Engagements What kind of Religion is it then that is here set forth in these Characters I call it Pulpit-Popery and him that professes it a Pulpit-Papist that is such Popery and such a Papist as is describ'd by Ministers in their Pulpits and which the People are taught to pursue with Hatred and Contempt Well and am not I then such a Papist and is not my Religion such Popery No I profess I renounce such Popery and if there be any Papists that are taught such a Religion I here Protest against them And is it possible then that a Papist can renounce Popery Yes any Papist in Town may safely renounce this Pulpit-Popery which is so unlike the Doctrin and Faith we are oblig'd to learn in our Church that whosoever will be a good Papist must instead of assenting to disclaim every Point that is here set down by the Pulpits as Articles of his Religion But this is a foul Aspersion says somebody and a most scandalous Reflection upon the Pulpits to pretend that whilst they undertake to describe the Papists they assert such Principles for Popery which the Papists detest as much as they 'T is true indeed I confess 't is a thing in which they are something concern'd But as long as those Chairs pretend to no more than a Fallibility 't is a thing they themselves own â—hat they may be mistaken and I go but one Step farâ—â—eâ— and modestly say that â—n these Points relating to the Papists They are mistaken And pray now where is the Crime in this I hope I may be suppos'd to know what my Religion is as well as they and if they declare to their Congregation that our Religion is what I know it is not I am bound in defence of Truth to declare They are mistaken I 'll tell you as long as the Pulpits employ themselves in correcting the Vices of their Congregation in teaching them to lead good Lives not to use Frauds nor Cheat nor Lye nor Swear nor Blaspheme to avoid all Excesses c. I commend I applaud them I speak all the good things that possibly I can of them As long as they discourage those under their Charge from Praying to Images from attributing Satisfaction and Expiation to a Crucifix of Wood or Stone from putting any trust in it from esteeming every thing good and meritorious that makes for their Cause or for their Church's Interest from changing the Scripture into Legends from Preaching Purgatory instead of Repentance Faction instead of Faith from the thought of Compounding with Heaven for Vnforsaken Sins of procuring Indulgences for Deadly Sins for many Years to come from Worshipping Bread and Wine as God himself from appearing before God Dumb and Sensless and saying their Prayers without Attention from binding themselves to Ignorance by Vow c. As long I say as they discourage their Flock from these Follies and Abominations they do exceeding well they do like Christians I joyn with them and desire them to hold on these so wholsom Lessons Again as long as they declaim against the Abuses of Relics of Pretended Miracles of Confession against the ill Example scandalous Lives Pride and Covetousness of some Church-men against Tyranny Murder Vsurpation Cruelty Oppression Massacres Plots Treasons Rebellion c. This is still all very well 't is what Catholics do and I would do it my self were I to Preach I have nothing therefore to say against the Pulpits whilst they are engag'd in these Subjects but concur with them with all my heart But when they take a Step beyond this and lay all this at the Papists doors and describe all these Absurdities as the Religion of the Papists and that to become a Papist is to be instructed in and oblig'd to the Profession of all these Monstrous Abominations here I think my Self my Religion and Church concern'd and therefore I step in with my Advice to the Pulpits and tho' I confess 't would be a daring Presumption in me to pretend to direct them how they are to Guide and Feed their own Flock yet I take it for no such Crime to put them in mind that they be not Injurious to their Neighbor This is a Lecture all Christians have a Right to Preach and therefore with this Sermon of Advice I make up to our Preachers who are so forward in making Characters of the Papists I tell them that tho' they may have but little Affection for the Papists yet they ought to be careful not to be Vnjust to them not to wrong them in their Reputation not to defame them upon the account of every Idle Story not to promote Calumnies Preach out of Narratives nor to set up every Misconstruction of their own Phancy every Opinion of Authors every Extravagancy of her Members for the Profess'd Religion of the Papists This and much more of this kind I put them in mind of and tho' it be so truly Christian Advice yet I find they take it unkindly they are not willing to be thought Men of such Principles as to stand in need of this Advice Now for my part I never pretended that they were of such Principles as to proceed in this manner and be so unjust to the Papists designedly But alass there 's a great deal of Mischief done in the World which is never done by Design There are some little Accidents to which Frail Human Nature is very subject call'd Passion Prejudice Prepossession Disaffection c. These are very insinuating things and of a treacherous nature which put Men upon the worst of Engagements and do the greatest Mischiefs in the World without any open Design of doing any And therefore since the matter of Fact to me is certain the Mischief and Injustice done and we here suppose without Design I must desire the Preachers to reflect whether none of these Mischievous Accidents at least ever went up with them into the Pulpit whether Passion and Animosity never crept with them into those Chairs whether Prejudice never influenc'd their Pen and Tongue whether Prepossession never biass'd their Reason and Judgment and likewise whether they never rack'd a Text in compliance with the Temper and Humor of their Flock The People we know cannot always bear the Truth they sometimes say with the Jews Isa 30. 10. Prophesie not unto us right things speak unto
open Repentance to be improper in their Station but after so clear a Conviction of the Innocence of those whom they then accus'd they must needs conclude it a Duty and till they find a way to do it one way or another they must not take it amiss if as they were Misrepresenters then they are esteem'd Misrepresenters still since all that they asserted at that time in their Sermons as to them remains still in full force and with the Face of Truth till it be openly revok'd which was never done yet as I can hear of Second Character of a Pulpit-Papist THE Popish Jesuits had a Hand in that Horrid Plot of the Good Advice Murder of King Charles I. That Sacred and Royal Blood was not shed without the Concurrence and Assistance of the Papists From Rome those Dreadful Confusions were highly fomented The mischievous and busie Jesuit promoted the Design and was so Impudent as to boast of it The Priest is well known says one who when the Fatal Stroke was given flourish'd with his Sword and said Now the greatest Enemy we have in the World is gone The Church of Rome is justly accus'd of this Execrable Crime and 't is unjustly cast on those of the Reform'd Religion This is another Character of the Papists extracted out of Sermons 'T is as Foul and Barbarous as well can be and enough to make them odious in the sight of good Christians If it be True the Papists deservedly suffer but if False then certainly the Pulpits are Misrepresenters And how far it is from Truth I believe there are few even of Protestants who know how to think without Passion but have already concluded The Pulpits have a Groundless Story they produce in behalf of what they assert and we shew the contrary in an undeniable Testimony written in Characters of Blood of so many Noblemen Gentry and Commonalty who lost their Lives in defence of that Prince whom by the Pulpits they are accus'd to have Murder'd Strange that the Blood of so many Papists should be spilt and all under the Royal Standard and yet They to be the Murderers and their Church to be justly accus'd of that Execrable Crime 'T is well known that the Papists ventur'd All in the Service of the Father And the Challenge has been made to all sorts of Protestants to produce even Ten Papists I may say Two that in all that Confusion of Civil Wars ever drew Sword against him 'T is as well known that the Son our late Sovereign was shelter'd amongst the Papists that neither Promises nor Threats were powerful enough to move them from their Duty and that even a Priest too most Loyally hazarded his Life to save that of his Prince by whose Care he was secur'd from the Fury of his Enemies and preserv'd for the Crown This Evidence we have to attest the Loyalty of the Papists of those Times and yet the Pulpits still declare that the Papists had a Hand in the shedding of that Royal Blood. The Answerer has nothing to say here but that we ought to consult not the Preachers but the Authorities they went upon The Authority they have hitherto produc'd is that of the French Preacher which by sober Protestants themselves is reputed no better than a Fable If those that lay this Scandal upon Papists in their Sermons think it to be otherwise I wonder at least whether they can prove it to be so Great as even to let this single Authority by virtue of an Implicit Faith weigh down those other Testimonies of Sense and Reason visible in the Blood of those who lost their Lives in defence of their Sovereign Till they do this they only let weak Probability take place of Demonstration to the Defaming their Neighbor and how far this falls short of Misrepresenting I leave the World to judge Third Character of a Pulpit-Papist THE Papists we are satisfied were the Instruments in that Good Advice to Pulp Caut. 2. Judgment of the Fire of London and caus'd London to fall just then when it was expected Rome should this was for the Advantage of their Cause and we have too many Reasons to think they would pitch upon some such Counsel For such things as these are now become their last Refuge and the Arguments in which they expect most Success They find all Rational Attempts against us to be Fruitless and therefore despairing of ever convincing us like Men they are resolv'd to beat out our Brains if they can like Beasts This is a Character of Papists insinuated into the Honorable Magistrates of the City of London not in the time of that dreadful Fire when that general Consternation might have been a good Plea for an over credulous Accusation but almost Twenty years after when the whole Matter had been throughly consider'd And tho' there were no other Grounds whereon to build this Charge besides the Clamour and Affected Jealousies of the People and the Confession of a Distracted Man whose Religion was not much of any kind but still professedly Protestant Yet upon these Grounds are the Papists represented as the Instruments of that dreadful Judgment of the Fire of London a Wickedness so Execrable that 't is not easily to be suppos'd the Crime of Men but Fiends Yet the Pulpits are satisfi'd that the Papists did it for the Advantage of their Cause The People are persuaded that 't is from such Hellish Means the Papists expect most Success and that because they have nothing of Reason whereby to prevail upon Protestants rather than fail they are resolv'd to beat out their Brains like Beasts Strange Exaggerations from such weak Grounds And if this be not to pass for Misrepresenting they must have hard Foreheads that must even pretend to discharge it from that so deserv'd an Imputation But however to this are we forc'd by the Confidence of some Adversaries who after such Rash Assertions of theirs from the Pulpit and the loading us with so much Infamy and Popular Hatred upon such light Presumptions are notwithstanding so far from that Christian Duty of making the least Satisfaction for this so considerable an Injury done both to our Persons and Religion that they even continue to imprint the Infamy yet deeper in the Hearts of the People by condemning the Complaints of our having been thus unjustly Traduc'd and pretending that we cannot produce One clear Instance of our being Misrepresented Is not this to vouch for the Truth of all that has been ever said against us and to affirm in one Breath that whether as to Oat's Plot the Murther of Sir Edmondbury Godfrey the Firing the City and whatsoever else of this kind deliver'd out of the Pulpits 't is all True the Papists are Guilty of all and their Complaints of being Misrepresented is but Vain and Idle Are these Men are they Preachers can they be Christians in earnest that thus play with the Reputation of their Neighbors in the Pulpit blacken the greatest part of the Christian World with
than from my own because the Nature of the Thing before me consists in something above my Skill Certainly when the Question is What is the Substance or Essence of a thing not Natural but Reveal'd to be Miraculous and according to the Divine Power and Ordinance the Safest Judgment ought to be fram'd not from what my Senses tell me of the Natural Accidents but from what They tell me of God's Word and the Divine Assurance because as Dr. Sherlock says Preserv against Pop. p. 25. We may reasonably conclude that God understands the Reasons and Nature of things better than we Since therefore my Senses assure me from Scripture and the Pastor's of God's Church that the Sacrament is Christ's Body I am bound in Reason to Judge it Is so rather than from the Natural Accidents to Judge it to be Bread. So that in thus Believing this Mystery we do not Renounce but Follow our Senses Fifthly The Pope alone cannot Err and All others without some of his Assistance cannot but Err. This again is absolutely False For tho' Catholics Believe that the Catholic Church whether Diffusive or in its Representatives viz. a General Assembly of Bishops under their Head the Bishop of Rome thro' the Divine Assistance of the Holy Spirit cannot Err in declaring Matters of Faith and some School-Divines are of Opinion that the Pope is assisted with a like Infallible Direction even at other times Yet never did any Catholics Teach or Believe that all others without the Pope's Assistance were under a Necessity of Erring No Determinations indeed of others without his Consent are of Force or Obligatory on the Whole Church no more than is a Vote of Parliament without the Approbation of the King a Law to the Nation Yet there 's no necessity of Concluding them False and Erroneous but only Not Authentic Protestants believe their own Church not to be Infallible and yet they don't think it to lie under a Necessity of Erring Why therefore must it be charg'd upon us because we believe the Members of our Church without their Head to be Fallible that Therefore They cannot but Err This therefore is a most Illogical and Absurd Consequence such as the Apologizer himself knows not how to justifie and yet he has not Goodness enough to acquit us from so foul a Calumny Eighth Character of a Pulpit-Papist HE is professedly edified in Ignorance by his Church Praying Dr. Standish ibid. and Prophesying in an Vnknown Tongue They make no other use or account of Confession than what professed Drunkards do of Vomiting Thus is his Religion describ'd in a Sermon before the Judges at Hertford 1682 / 3. but most abusively 1. For tho' the Mass is said in Latin by the Priests yet the People have it translated into English they have it expounded in several Books at large and are taught to understand and have a true Sense of what is done so that if they are Ignorant 't is to be imputed to their own Neglect and not to any Design in their Church which is so careful in providing all necessary Means for the avoiding that Inconvenience But of this more afterwards But his Church besides Praying Prophesies too says the Preacher in an Vnknown Tongue Here the Apologizer p. 20. is put to it to save the Credit of the Preacher He owns that by Prophesying is meant in S. Paul 1 Cor. 14. Expounding the Scripture and Articles of Faith to the People and to be the same as Preaching and knowing that Catholics do this in the Vulgar Language if the Preacher be understood in this common Sense of the Word he cannot excuse him from abusing his Auditory with a Calumny But says the Apologizer it do's not appear to me that the Preacher here understood it of vulgar Preaching because he knew it to be otherwise Marry if They never Preach'd contrary to what they knew this would be a good Rule But suppose he did not yet he imposes upon his Hearers whilst he asserts a thing of the Papists which in the common acceptation of the Word is absolutely False and yet leaves it to them to be taken as they please And therefore whilst he says absolutely that They Prophesie in an Vnknown Tongue which is the same as Preaching he Misrepresents the Papists 2. They make no other use or account of Confession than what profess'd Drunkards do of Vomiting This is a most Putid Calumny and the Vindicator is so sensible of it p. 21. that he dares not defend what the Preacher asserts but only that so it is in the Practice of many of their Church This indeed we don't doubt but many in Practice abuse Confession as they do all other Good things but how different is it to say That many Papists abuse Confession and That the Papists absolutely make NO OTHER use of Confession than what profess'd Drunkards do of Vomiting The former I fear is too True but the later is False and a thing that no modest Man can say without Blushing out of a Pulpit It may be as truly said That the Ministers of the Church of England make no other use of Preaching than what the Profess'd Enemies of the Crown do of Libelling viz. to fill the People witb Fears and Jealousies and disaffect them towards the King and Government And then after such an Aspersion what a Come-off would it be to say I mean this only of the Practice of some of that Profession This is the Case Ninth Character of a Pulpit-Papist 1. HE pays his Devotions to Saints Canoniz'd for Money and J. Turner ib. Treason 2. In his Church they Pray to the Crucifix of Wood or Stone as well as to Christ himself and attribute as much Satisfaction and Expiation to it as they do to the Blood of their Crucifi'd Redeemer 3. Their Confession instead of keeping up a Wholsom Discipline is the way to corrupt it and tends to the Debauching both Laity and Clergy This is Popery as Painted out at Lincolns-Inn Sep. 29. 1683. As to the First Point it is only insinuated by the Preacher with an It is not lawful to Pray c. which is as good as an Assertion to the Hearers viz. That the Papists do Pray to Saints Canoniz'd for Treason The Vindicator to make this good proves First That it may so happen that Saints may be Canoniz'd for Treason Which is as much to the purpose as for one to say That the Church-of-England-men are Corrupters of God's Word because 't is possible they may be so as being in their Principles Fallible as to what they Teach and Preach to their Flock Secondly he 'll prove that it has been done and then comes in the next Line with an Instance in which it had like to have been done as he says but was not done Lastly he says that Thomas à Becket was Canoniz'd for Rebellion because he adher'd to the Pope against his Prince No 't was for his Vertuous Life and Martyrdom and the attestation of his
Sanctity by undeniable Miracles 'T is not adhering to the Pope is enough to be Canoniz'd after Death But if adhering to the Pope was Rebellion in that Bishop what do's he think of a Doctor who adheres to a Neighboring State against his Liege Prince And what of Those others here at home who help to spread and are so satisfi'd in Seditious Libels design'd on purpose against the King and Government Besides their Industry to uphold in open opposition to their Sovereign a Device which was laid by ill Men on design to exclude his Present Majesty from the Crown If Thomas à Becket was a Traitor for adhering to the Pope in some Ecclesiastical Privileges how far from Traitors and Rebels are These who joyn Hands with declar'd Traitors and espouse the same Cause against their Prince How might this be set out if there were but Ten thousand Pulpits to Paint it to the best Advantage 2. They Pray to a Crucifix of Wood or Stone as well as to Christ himself and attribute as much Satisfaction to it as to the Blood of Christ This is every word an Infamous Falshood And tho' the Vindicator here to acquit the Preacher from casting so unworthy and worse than Heathenish Scandal upon us appeals to the Words and Forms of some of our Prayers and then says That if Words will make it plain the Preacher was not mistaken pag. 24. Yet this is so childish a Plea that me-thinks it ought to be beneath a Divine especially a Man of Conscience to charge so Gross an Abomination upon such a Frothy Pretext For what if there are some Words in our Addresses that taken literally import as much Is this any more than what is found in Scripture Deut. 32. 1. where Moses thus cries out Give ear O ye Heavens and I will speak and hear O Earth the words of my mouth Is Moses for this Form presently to be accus'd of Calling upon the Material Heaven and Earth to hear him If this way of Arguing were enough pray what might be said of the Church of England too A Controvertist with a Forehead to the Temper of one of Those who makes up against us might positively accuse her in her Solemn Devotion and most Religious Way of Worship of Addressing themselves to the Sun and Moon Stars Showrs and Winds and calling upon to their Assistance the Birds the Beasts and the Fishes And then for to make all this good beyond exception he has no more to do than to make this Plea that This being a Charge of Words and Forms we must know whether the Charge be True or False by considering those Forms and if Words will make it plain the Arguer is not mistaken For see all this in their Canticle Benedicite in the Morning Prayer What Stuff is this And yet these are some of the Methods which the Church of England takes up to justifie her self to defame her Mother-Church and to fill the World with Confusion 3. Making a Particular Confession of our Sins to Men instead of keeping up wholsom Discipline is the way to corrupt it and tends to the Debauching both Laity and Clergy To see whither an Indiscreet Zeal and Blind Passion hurries Men even to the blackning their own Church whilst they inveigh against their Neighbors Thus infamously is Confession painted out and yet this very Auricular Confession was allow'd to all and at all times as a good Protestant Practice in the First Common-Prayer-Book of Edward the Sixth And the Church of England now at this time refuses no sort of Confession as the Expounder of her Doctrins says p. 42. whether Public or Private And even now in her present Liturgy is the Minister order'd in the Visitation of the Sick to move the Sick Person to make a Special Confession of his Sins Certainly if it were true as the Preacher says that Confession tends to the Debauching both Laity and Clergy his Church is very much to blame for appointing such a Preparative for Death and ordering its Members thus to be Debauch'd at the last hour But this I consider as the Preacher's Heat who instead of reproving some Abuses thus blindly falls foul upon the Best of Institutions And the Apologizer has the Grace to follow him Tenth Character of a Pulpit-Papist THE Churches Interest is the Center of Their Religion and W. Wray ib. Their Consciences turn upon the same Pin. Every thing is Pious Conscientious and Meritorious that makes for their Cause In this Colour was Popery set out in the Year 1682. A time when the Church of England was with such blind Zeal and Devotion both in Desk and Pulpit pursuing her own Interest in the Unjust Defeating the Papists that if the Preacher had turn'd his Eyes nearer home he might have seen Himself and his Hearers an Instance of that Crime he was even then charging upon his Adversaries And tho' the Apologizer will have this True of the Papists by a wrested Interpretation of a Constitution of the Fathers of the Society contrary to the plain meaning of it Yet after that and all he can say he cannot but own it to be a receiv'd Maxim amongst all even the Loosest of our Divines and Casuists that No Evil is to be done that Good may come of it And there 's no Protestant but upon Reflection may call to mind how Religiously the Catholics of this Nation have observ'd it who for so many Years have been excluded the most considerable Places of Honor Trust and Profit which might have been so much to their own Private Advantage as likewise to that of their Church and yet have quietly and constantly quitted them all rather than do an ill thing take Oaths Tests or go to Church against their Conscience Thus have they acted like the Best of Christians in the face of the World without respect to the Interest of themselves or their Church and yet upon I know not what Speculation and Pulpit-Inferences are they most unjustly render'd as Men without Conscience as moving only upon Interest and scrupling at nothing nay making the worst of things Meritorious so it be but for the Advantage of mother-Mother-Church Wicked Men of his Church as of any other may act upon such Principles but to set out his Religion in these Colours is a most Abusive Slander and more becoming the Rudeness of Street-Lectures than the Gravity and Sincerity that ought to be in the Pulpit Eleventh Character of a Pulpit Papist 1. HE changes Scripture into Legends 2. Sacraments into N. Bisby ib. Shews Priests into Puppets 3. Preaches Purgatory instead of Repentance 4. Faction instead of Faith never minds the Lawfulness of the Means provided the thing be but done Thus was the Papist drawn in 1683. but without Truth or Charity every Line being either absolutely False or drawn with so much Disingenuity that no more would be requir'd to make the Best of things Ridiculous For how do's the Papist change the Scripture into Legends when he is commanded