Inhanc'd upon him as his Necessities increas'd and when the Peace of 1646. was made it was within three weeks after Perfidiously Broken by Publick Edict of the Clergy at Waterford Those that did observe it were Excommunicated by the Nuntio and the Kings Heralds that went to proclaim it were basely Affronted both at Waterford and Limrick to the great hazard of their Lives and contrary to Allegiance Good Manners and the Law of Nations Sect 13. Nor were they more dutiful in His Majesties Extremities for they delayed the Peace of 1648 until a Fortnight before his Death and even then Forc'd Conditions upon Him that Hastned his Fate And this Peace also was perfidiously violated as well as the former not only because Limrick Waterford and other great Towns would not obey the Lord Lieutenant Ormond according to Stipulation but also because they Persecuted him with a Thousand Affronts and Indignities and at last Drove him out of the Kingdom even whilst he was Cloathed with the Royal Authority And they were no less Undutiful to the Lord Deputy Clanrickard tho he was of their Own Religion so that they had no other Quarrel to him but that he was the King of England's Deputy and yet without his Concurrence or Knowledge they sent Agents to Offer the Kingdom to the Pope the French King the Duke of Lorain or indeed any Body that would take it from the English Sect 15. As to the Reign of King Charles II. they lived in too much Hopes to plunge themselves into Open Rebellion However they gave this Demonstration of their Inclinations That in a National Synod held by Extraordinary Favour at Dublin Anno 1666. They refused to let the People take an Oath of Allegiance which their own Procurator-General P. W. had fram'd for them but on the contrary Persecuted him and his Adherents for endeavouring to Bind them to a Heretick Government by so strict an Oath and they also refused to beg Pardon for the Rebellion of 1641. one of their Bishops publickly averring That he knew none at all guilty of any Crime for any thing done in the War Sect 16. And as for King James II. You must allow that your Partiality was to his Popery and not to his Person or his Title and that you valued him as your Popish Friend and not as an English King since you paid him no more Respect or Loyalty than your Own Interest required and when that varied you shewed little Respect to Him or His Interest but on the contrary us'd him very ill in many things and particularly in the Instances following Sect. 17. First Whereas nothing could more Prejudice or Disoblige the People of England or Defeat King James's hopes of being Restor'd there than the ill Usage of the Protestants especially Clergy-men in Ireland yet did you Barbarously and Ungratefully abuse the English in all parts of the Kingdom you Assaulted and Wounded some of the Clergy and forc'd from them several of their Churches contrary to Law and contrary to King James's Express Command whom you Aw'd to that degreee That thô he issued a Proclamation to prevent seizing any More Chnrches yet he did not think fit to insert a Clause for the Restitution of those that were illegally taken before Sect 18. Secondly Contrary to King James's Interest and Inclination and to the Fundamental and Inherent Right of the Crown of England you made This Kingdom Independent of That You forc'd him to call a Parliament Unseasonably when he had need of the Members to promote the Siege of Derry You baffled Poyning's Law and Repeal'd the Act of Settlement and Prohibited Appeals and Writs of Error from hence to England Sect 19. Thirdly Whereas you had Cried Up and Asserted King James's Dispensing Power in England and therefore should have done so in Ireland that we might have thought you in Earnest yet you were so far from this that by your Severe Bill of Attainder whereby you endeavour'd to Ruine Women and Children some that were never in Ireland and more that had never done you any harm you took away the King's Power to Pardon which is the Inherent Right of the Crown Sect 20. Fourthly Thô the Chancellorship and Treasurership of Christ-Church Dublin were founded by Queen Mary and the Namination to those Dignities reserved to her and her Successors yet did the Titular Archbishop of Dublin clandestinely obtain Bulls from Rome and put in two Priests into those Places against King James's Will and thô he offer'd them Equivalents yet they Contested the matter so Obstinately with him that he was forc'd to pronounce the Bulls Surreptitious and to write to Rome to Justifie himself in a long Letter wherein he complains heavily of this Undutiful Attempt upon his Undoubted Right lamenting that the Clergy were not satisfied to Invade his Prerogative in other matters without Intruding even into his Chappel-Royal Sect 21. So that 't is manifest that the Pretended Loyalty of Superstitious and Bigotted Papists especially Clergy-men is appropriated to the Court of Rome and not to the Crown of England And if you will consider that you in Ireland who believe the Supremacy and Infallibility of the Pope whenever the Pope Excommunicates the King as Paul III. did Henry VIII and Pius V. did Queen Elizabeth must either renounce your Allegiance or your Religion and turn either Protestants or Rebels and if you will likewise consider Father John Talbot the Jesuit's Assertion That it is to no purpose to Exact an Oath of Allegiance from Papists because 't is lawful in Point of Conscience to break that Oath the next hour provided you follow the Doctrine of Probabilities and understand that any one Doctor is of that Opinion You will perhaps be of my Sentiment That 't is difficult for one that is Govern'd by a Popish Priest to be a Good Subject to a Protestant King And this may lead you to Examine and consequently to Detest and shake off a Religion so Inconsistent with True Loyalty Sect 22. My next Enquiry should be Whether you are good Christians or can be so whilst you are wrap'd up in so much Superstition and Ignorance Pray consider whether your Religion does not consist too much in Outward Shew and Pageantry without the Power of Godliness in your Hearts How formal and vain is your Devotion that is satisfied with the Number of Prayers without regarding the Words or understanding the Meaning and without any Intention or Attention of the Mind How hypocritical are your Mortifications whilst they are perform'd sometimes by Deputy and sometimes in a Trivial and Ridiculous Pennance Is it not a Mockery to pretend to Fast upon the best Fish Fruit White-meats and Wine that can be got In a word Do not you place your Piety in being of a Party and make Vnity and Communion with the Pope the Sum and Substance of Christian Religion and expect your Salvation from meer Chimerical Notions such as the Treasures of the Church the Indulgence of the Pope the Absolution of
without subverting this Specious Principle But the Truth is the Principle is not Good but Worldly Proud and Deceitful and tending to keep us always in the wrong if once we happen to be so On the contrary when the First Impressions are Ill we are Oblig'd in Honour to change for the Better Sect 115. But what are the mistaken Notions of Honour to the Salvation of ones Soul Or have not you done enough to vindicate your Honour that you have stuck to an Abdicated Cause till you see it so entirely bafled that 't is become the Derision of Europe Sect 116. Have not too many of you already been Misguided by your Priests into so much Villany that your Guilt robbs you of the Comfort Good Men might have in their Sufferings Are you not render'd Poor and Miserable by being Tools for an Infatiable Clergy that suck from you all they can get even in this Extremity And have not they for their own Ends prompted you to all the Rebellions you have been guilty of from whence your Forfeitures Confiscations and Miseries have proceeded Sect 117. On the other side Gentlemen you find that the Protestants are an Honest Good-Natur'd People infinitely kinder to you than either you deserv'd or hop'd for And above all The KING whom you had Provok'd to the last Degree Spitefully and Unnecessarily and consequently from whom you expected no Mercy has yet graciously manifested Himself to you the most Generous and most Merciful Prince in the world So that you never suffer'd less Persecution for the Exercise of your Religion than at this day All which being considered This seems the most proper Juncture that ever happened to Undeceive and Convert you and to Dispose you to a Thorough Reformation and to become Good Protestants and Good Subjects Sect 118. And surely those of the Protestant Religion will co-operate all they can to this Conversion by Exhortation and Example by Good Offices and Good Advice And certainly the IRIS◠〈…〉 worthy of their Care and are endued with such Excellent Qualities as will deserve and recompence all the Pains that shall be taken in that Pious Work For it cannot be denied but that the Irish abound in the Perfections of Body and Mind If you survey their Persons you will find their Complexions Good their Constitutions Healthy their Limbs Nimble and Active their Stature Tall and their Bodies Strong and comely And if you search their Minds you will find them Religious Constant Patient and Faithful very Docible and desirous of Instruction Naturally inclin'd to Manners and Complement Generous beyond Example and Profusely Hospitable even to a Fault And in short If it were not for the Bad Principles of their Religion they would be very good Neighbours good Subjects and good Men. Sect 119. 'T is true That the best Edge is soonest Turn'd and the sweetest Wine makes the sowrest Vinegar And the best things when corrupted degenerate into the other Extream And 't is as true That these Vertues of the Irish for want of Instruction and Cultivation are become Intollerable Vices Thus their Religion is dwindled into Superstition and Bigotry their Constancy turn'd to Obstinacy their Patience to Stupidity and even their Fidelity is become the Cause of the Perfidiousness and Ingratitude they are accused of Sect 120. And it is to set them Right in these Important Matters that is the Charitable Design of these Papers Which if they take Effect will Restore the Splendor of their Vertues bring them from Darkness to Light and from Ignorance and Misery to Happiness and Understanding Sect 121. And since there is a great deal of Truth in the Petition of the Miserable Irish to the French King setting forth their Deplorable Condition and the insupportable Calamities they have Suffered And that they have Postpond all that is Dear to Men so I say the Mistaken concerns of Religion Does it not hence follow That if they have Done and Suffered thus in a Bad cause They would have Done yet better in a Good One being rightly Instructed Is it not then a Noble Work and Worthy our Greatest Dilligence to Advise and Instruct them Effectually And should not We from this Consideration be Prompted to Labour Your Conversion and should not you from hence be Cautious to avoid Those Superstitions and Follys that have Reduced your Miserable Countrymen to that Wretched Condition Sect 122. But 't is Objected that the Irish Converts are not Sincere and will Apostatize when Time serves and it might be true if they were Forc'd and Persecuted to it But since they are under No Persecution for their Religion so that their Conversion is Voluntary One may say that the Suggestion is false and Uncharitable as may be seen in the first Converts and in some of the Noblest Families of this Kingdom whose Conversions were Sincere and whose Posterity have Proved Champions for the Faith Nor can a few instances of the contrary especially when Under Temptations that were Insuperable to some of our own Justify an Objection so General Besides Time Instruction and Example strengthen those Notions that were weak at first and their Children will be firm and free from the Pre-possessions of their Fathers which consideration alone is sufficient to Induce Us to Labour Your Conformity Sect 123. But 't is farther Objected That no People was ever more Vngrateful and Perfidious than the Irish have been to the English after Innumerable Favours Receiv'd from the Government and Obligations from Particular Men And the Matter of Fact is True but yet the Aspersion is not Iust For whenever Two Obligations concur an Honest Man is bound to Prefer the Greater and to Reject the Less If my Father and my Friend Quarrel 't is no Vnfaithfulness to my Friend that I help my Father 'T is reckon'd to Abraham for Righteousness that he would have Sacrific'd his Only Son at the Commandment of GOD. And 't is Frivolous to Object the Unnatural Barbarity of an Action when 't is Commanded by GOD ALMIGHTY who will either prevent the Doing it or confer Circumstances that will Sanctifie the thing Sect 124. In all Cases one is bound to regard the Superiour Obligation And therefore when the Command of GOD and the Prosperity of their Religion and Countrey as They thought came in Competition with their Obligations to the English They should not be Accused of Ingratitude or Persidiousness for preferring the former Sect 125. And 't is certain that Accuse them of what you will as long as they continue Papists they will Maugre all Obligations Desiroy the Protestants as often as They get Opportunity and the Priest bids them For here lies the Secret and Spring-Head of all their Faults and their Misfortunes That they take the Voice of every Siliy Priest for the Voice of GOD. Sect 126. And this it is which brings Reproach upon Irish Vnderstanding Not that you want Wit or Apprehension but that you are Credulous and take things upon Trust and consequently are easily Impos'd upon All
or that a Visible Governour or Head of the Vniversal Church is necessary or practicable On the contrary our Saviour assures us His Kingdom is not of this World and exhorted his Followers not to strive for Preheminence as Worldlings do And Luk. IX 46. He rebuked their Reasonings who should be greatest Sect 55. Secondly Let him prove that S. Peter was the Vicar or Pope so appointed by our Saviour On the contrary the Commission was to all the Apostles John XX. 23. He said unto THEM Whosoever Sins YE remit they are remitted unto them c. Matth. XVIII 18. Whatsoever YE shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven Matth. XXVIII 19. Go YE therefore and teach all Nations And S. Paul tells us That to HIM was committed the Care of ALL THE CHVRCHES That HE was not behind the very Chiefest Apostles and HE withstood Peter to his Face because he was to be blamed and I think that the single Text in St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians Chap. II. vers 9. is of it self sufficient to confute this pretended Supremacy It runs thus And when James Cephas that is Peter and John who seemed to be Pillars perceived the Grace that was given to me Paul they gave to me Paul and Barnabas the right Hand of Fellowship that we should go unto the Heathen Romans Grecians c. and they unto the Circumcision the Jews Sect 56. Thirdly Let him prove that Peter's Power whatever it were was to go in Succession On the contrary Peter's Authority was Personal as his Gifts and Graces for the Exercise of it were He was filled with the Holy Ghost and so was Qualified to be Christ's Vicar No body will say so of those many Atheists Hereticks Blasphemers Sodomites and Murtherers that have pretended to be his Successors Sect 57. If the Supremacy was to survive Peter why should it not descend to St. John the Beloved Apostle who out-lived Peter many years rather than to the Bishop of Rome What Title has that Bishop to it Did our Saviour order it so Or who else did Sect 58. Let your Priest shew that Peter was Bishop of Rome and who made him so On the contrary being an Apostle he could not properly be a Bishop of any particular See any more than the King can be said to be Governour of Limrick Besides He was the Apostle of the Circumcision or of the Jews and so could not be Bishop of Rome nor can you prove he was there at all At least the Popish Tradition of his being there 25 years is certainly False nor have you more than a doubtful Historical Testimony of his being ever at Rome which is not sufficient for such an Important Point upon which the whole of Popery does depend and to which you require a Divine Infallible Faith Sect 59. Besides Your Learned Men do not yet agree Whether Peter alone was Bishop of Rome or Peter and Paul together or who were the Immediate Successors to Peter so Uncertain is their History or Tradition in this matter and if you add your received Doctrine That want of Intention in the Priest or Bishop makes a Nullity in the Sacrament of Order you cannot be sure that Innocent XII is a Bishop at all much less Successor to St. Peter Sect 60. Thus is the Divine and Infallible Certainty you boast to have of your Religion as distinct from ours built on a Supremacy which you see is supported by very Improbable if not False Assertions But 't is good enough for you who are not suffered to Examine the Grounds and Reasons of your Faith but take your Religion upon Trust and venture your Salvation upon the Opinion of others whose Business it is to make a hand of you and who therefore keep you in the Dark that they may have the better Opportunity to pick your Pockets Sect. 61. But that which demonstrates Popery to be a Politick Contrivance is That after such confident Preâ—ences to Supremacy and Infallibility they are not agreed where it resides Their Arguments and Proofs tend to make the Goverment of the Church Monarchical in the Person of the Pope whom they pretend to be the Vicar of Iesus Christ which infers Infallibility without which he were a dangerous Center of Vnity But wisely knowing that many of the Popes had but a very bad Faith if one might judge it by their Works and that they were so Fallible and Foolish to contradict one another and sometimes the Truth even Ex Cathedra they have dexterously turn'd about and Debased the Government of the Church into a Republick by subjecting the Pope to a General Council and making his Holiness Vicar of the Church instead of Vicar of Christ and by placing Infallibility in the Pope and Council Sect 62. Nor are they of One Opinion in this Main Point the Diocess of Rome and the Gallican Church have very different Notions of this matter which has been defined both ways in their General Councils which makes them shy of Declaring their Opinion in this knotty Case And if you ask your Priest he will hardly give you a plain Answer to it For first There has been no General Council since the Apostles time nor can be unless the Christian World were under one Emperour or some other means could be found to Summon All Nations and and to have their Representatives at the Assembly Those which are reputed General Councils are improperly called so not that the Whole Church was there even by Representation but because their Decrees being Orthodox were Generally Received What then shall we say to the Council of Trent where only some of the Pope's Servants and a very few Prelates from three or four Nations Decreed New Articles of Faith Is it not absurd to call it a General Council when England Ireland Scotland Denmark Sweden Muscovy most part of Germany and the Low-Countreys the Greek and Armeman Churches and many others neither had a Representative there nor could safely send one Sect 63. But secondly They are shy of fixing the Infallibility in Pope and Council because it will be enough to confound that Position to shew That a Pope and Council have Erred or that they have Contradicted one another for in that Case one must be in the wrong Sect 64. And I conceive your Loyalty will not suffer you to deny that Pope Innocent III. and the Council of Lateran Erred when they Decreed That Princes who did not Purge their Kingdoms of Heresie should be Deposed for this gives the Pope Power over Princes in Temporals which surely you will not approve of thô he put it in Practice very smartly against our King John and the Emperor Otho the Fourth Sect 65. Certainly Pope Liberius and the Council of Sirmium Err'd when they decreed Arrianism for the Council of Nice has decreed and all Christians I hope believe the contrary I suppose the Pope and Council of Lateran Erred in advancing the Pope above the Council if not the Popes and General Councils of
the Statutes of Provisors and Premunire manifested that they were not such Bigots to the Papacy as you are They Enacted the Oath of Supremacy and took it and generally went to Church and were called Church-Papists until the Prospect of some hopeful Rebellion in favour of Rome made them Recusants Sect 110. But what if your Forefathers wer Papists would you therefore Prefer your Extraction before the Truth Or were not their Ancestors Heathens and as it would be ill in your Forefathers to remain Heathens because their Ancestors were so it is as ill in you to remain in Error Ignorance and Superstition because your Forefathers were in that condition In short This was the Argument of the Iews against their Conversion if it did sound Ill in their Mouths 't will not sound Well in yours Sect 111. As to the Sixth That there is but One Faith and One Church 't is true but that is the Christian Faith and Christian Church and tho' the several sorts of Christians as Papists Protestants Greeks Armenians c. may be said to be of different Communions Parties or Sects yet they are all Parts of the Catholcik Church and are all of that One Christian Church faith and Religion mention'd in the Gospel and therefore the Baptism of each of these Churches is allowed by the rest and the Papists dare not Re-baptize those that were Christned by Protestants which proves that they admit the Protestant to be a True Christian Church And they know well enough That difference in Opinion does not always make one of a different Religion else the Fathers were not Catholicks for there were very few of them but differ'd in some Point or other many of them were Millienaries and some had Notions more Hetrodox Nay Separate Communions do many times rather infer several Factions than different Religions as appears between the Episcoparians Presbyterians and Independants whose Creed is the same and consequently their Religion So that it is a Palpable Artifice to apply those Texts of the Gospel relating to One Church One Faith c. to any Particular Sect Party Faction or Communion within the Catholick or Christian Church Sect 112. It must be understood that the word Catholick signifies Vniversal and so 't is in the Apostles Creed in French L' Esglise Universelle The Universal Church which is what I said before The Christian Church throughout the World Now with what Front can the Particular Church of Rome call it self The Vniversal Church Certainly it would never have past if the People had not been blinded with the Term Catholick which they thought signified no more than Orthodox But say the Papists We do not mean the Particular Diocess of Rome only but also all other parts of the World that are in Communion with her and this we call The Vniversal Church But this won't mend the Blunder because all those Churches in Communion with Rome do make but a part much greater indeed than before of the Vniversal Church whilst there are any other Christian Churches out of its Communion For the Vniversal Church must comprehend All Assemblies of Christians over all the World So that if there were 1000 Christian Churches or Congregations in the World and 900 of them vvere of the Popish Communion as one Third of them are not yet vvere not she the Catholick or Vniversal Church properly speaking or in any other sense but as Professing the Faith and Doctrine vvhich our Saviour Published to the Universal World And it is the Point in Question vvhether she does that or no. And 't is to be noted that the vvord Catholick is inserted in the Creed in opposition to Iudaism vvhich vvas in effect appropriated to a Few vvhereas the Christian Religion is Catholick and Universally offered to The Whole World and all the Nations thereof Sect 113. To the Seventh I ansvver That Popery is not the safer Religion but on the contrary is by reason of its Idolatry and Superstition the most dangerous of all Christian Religions 'T is true We dare not Limit the Infinite Mercy of God nor determine hovv far Invincible Ignorance may excuse Idolaters Papists or even Turks and Heathens Does it follovv that any Man should choose to be an Idolater or a Papist or a Turk rather then to be a Good Christian because this last is Modest and vvill not Pronounce any Man Damn'd without warrant and the former are Rash and Uncharitable in Censures they have no Ground for Suppose two Ships Sayling together one Stanch and the other Leaky the Crew of the latter swear the stanch Vessel will Perish the others perceive no danger to themselves but think 't is 1000 to one if the Leaky Vessel reaches the Shore Yet allow that 't is possible she may Which of these two would a Wise Man choose to go in or has he any thing to do but to examine which is the Leaky Vessel and which is the Stanch one Moreover if We Examine this Popular Argument by like cases that have happened in the Church we shall find it but a Pittiful piece of Sophistry The Donatists denyed the Baptism of the Catholicks whilst the Church allowed the Baptism of the Donatists yet would not S. Augustin be Re-baptiz'd St. Paul owns a Possibility of Salvation to the Iudaizing Christians who built with Straw and Stubble on Foundations of Christianity Which They denyed to The Orthodox So that if this Popish Argument were Good All the Orthodox should have Iudaiz'd since both sides Allowed They might be saved But St. Paul and the Primitive Christians were wiser then to leave a certain way of Salvation for a meer Possibility of being Saved Besides The Protestant Religion is the safer because it Enjoyns you to believe no more then you do already and only Obliges you to Reject some New Whimsies which may safely be omitted whether the Doctrine be true or false for Example tho' the Doctrine of Merit were True Yet 't is more safe to depend upon the Merits of Our Saviour than upon our Own If there be a Purgatory Yet 't is safer to make our Calling and Election sure by Piety and Repentance in this Life then to Rely upon future Purgations If the Saints do hear yet 't is more Safe and Profitable to make our Prayers and Addresses to God And even if Transubstantiation it self were True Yet it would be safe to approach the Altar with that Preparation and Reverence our Church enjoyns but if it be not True 't is very Unsafe and Plain Idolatry to Adore corruptible Bread for the Ever living and Incorruptible GOD. Sect 114. And as to the Eighth and last Objection I Answer That nothing is more Ingenuous and Praise-worthy than to Confess and Forsake ones Errors And nothing more Dishonourable than to be Obstinate in a Bad Cause If it had been a Principle that were Justifiable That one never ought to change ones Sentiment our Saviours Preaching had been in vain since there could be neither Conversion nor Reformation