Spirit assisting in his Catholic Church to direct us while we submit to this we go safe and Rationally and being taught to understand all thus propos'd to the best of our Capacity there 's no danger of our Vnderstanding being put out 2. Popery tears out the Hearts of all others out of her Communion whom she cannot deceive she will destroy This is false too since tho' Catholics are bid to go and Teach all Nations as Christ commanded his Apostles and consequently their Successors the Pastors of his Church to the end of the World yet where Men are so obstinate as to reject all Instructions they are taught to go elsewhere and only to pity and pray for such blind Souls but not to destroy them 'T is true in the Catholic Church care is taken to preserve all such as are her Members firm in her Communion and there are not wanting Threats to keep the Inconstant from being Misled into Error as likewise Punishments to reduce such as leave her and blindly run after False Guides And if for this reason she must be said to tear out their Hearts and destroy such as she cannot deceive what is to be the Character of this Preacher's Church which by consent of Bishops is fenc'd with such Laws as punishes with Loss of Goods Imprisonment and Death not only those who leave her Communion but likewise those too who never were Members of it This is a Cruelty not to be paralell'd amongst the worst of Christians I cannot say but that Rash Zeal Headlong Revenge or Detestable Avarice may have hurried some of ours upon such Barbarous Attempts but certainly never did any Christians deliberately and with Counsel thus deeply engage themselves in Blood. 'T is one thing to shed Blood in the heat of Fury and Passion another thing to do it by Law and if ours are thus to be condemn'd of Cruelty for some Rash and unaccountable Practices of this kind which we detest upon Reflection certainly others have a better Title to this Infamous Mark who with such Severity both in Goods Liberty and Life punish those with Deliberation who never were of their Communion and are so zealous in maintaining those Laws in force by which they own themselves Bloody by Profession 3. The Absurdity of Auricular Confession is endless where a Man unlades himself of all his Sins by whispering them into Priests Ears This again is a Calumny and Misrepresentation since no Catholics teach that only Whispering Sins in the Ears of a Priest is sufficient for their Remission They own indeed Confession to a Priest in order to Absolution and the same is allow'd by the Church of England but besides this Whispering they require likewise a True and Hearty Sorrow joyn'd with a Firm Purpose of Amendment and a Sincere Resolution of avoiding thro' the help of God's Grace all Sins and the occasion of them for the future and this I hope as no body will deny to be a proper Means in order to Forgiveness so likewise every one will see how unsincere this Preacher was in saying That a Man unlades himself of all his Sins by whispering them into Priests ears To make his Followers believe the Papists to be so Sottish as to think their Sins forgiven by a Whisper only 4. Of Transubstantiation where Men must renounce all their Five Senses at once How is this true that we must renounce all our Five Senses in the belief of this Mystery since if we follow our Hearing which is the Sense by which Faith comes we are oblig'd to believe it Christ's Words expresly signifie and declare that the Sacrament is his Body These Words we hear deliver'd to us by those whom He has appointed to Teach and Instruct the Flock to wit the Pastors of Christ's Church these Words we see likewise and read in the Holy Scripture So that if we follow our Ears and our Eyes directed by the Word of God we are bound to believe this Mystery and consequently do not renounce all Five at once And thus whilst we let both our Senses and Reason be immediately directed by God's Word which is Infallible we more Reverence the Scriptures and Believe upon better Grounds than Protestants who let Natural Objects ever about Mysteries of their Faith have the direction of their Senses in which they are so often deceiv'd rather than the Word of God which cannot deceive them We acknowledge that to frame a Judgment of the Nature or Substance of a thing we must depend upon the Information of Sense and that the Common and Natural way is to Judge according to the Relation the Senses give from the External and Natural Accidents of the thing But if we desire to frame a True Judgment of what is the Nature and Substance of such an Object not according to a Natural Being but according to the Divine Power and what it may have of Supernatural the Senses ought not to be laid aside but we must consider here too the Information These give not now from the Natural Accidents but from the Word of God and the Divine Revelation for tho' the Natural Substance of the thing be connected with and best known by its Natural Qualities yet a Supernatural Being not so and therefore This is better known from what the Senses tell us from God's Word and Divine Revelation than from the External Accidents and Natural Qualities of the thing I illustrate this by an Instance in another matter If I have a Present sent me in a Letter by a Friend and I intend to make a Judgment of the True Nature of it and What it is I cannot do this without the assistance of my Senses But then These may inform me Two ways either by Looking upon the thing it self which at present I suppose is a Transparent Stone observing every Cast of the Light how Pale c. or by Reading the Letter which being sent from an Excellent Artist gives a full Account of it as likewise Hearing What the Bearer says whom I know to be a skilful Jeweller Now in both these ways I use my Senses in order to Judge of the Present as to its Nature and Value If I take the Information of my Senses from the View of the Stone in it self I Judge it to the best of my Skill to be no Precious Stone but some Counterfeit or Peble If I take the Information my Senses give me from the Reading the Letter and Hearing the Artist I Judge it to be a True Diamond upon their Authority and greater Skill who being of known Honesty do unfeignedly give me this Assurance Now in which Judgment of these ought In in Prudence finally to acquiese Certainly in this last And yet in so doing I hope I should not renounce all my Five Senses at once No even in this Judgment too I should depend upon my Senses And if in such a Case as this I prudently form my Judgment from the Account my Senses give me of such Mens Authority and Knowledge rather
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
Augustin observes throughout the whole Scripture who truly Repented at the hour of Death to wit the Good Thief The Eighth is again contrary to our Doctrin in all our Prayers we being directed to preserve an Actual and Lively Attention and the admitting voluntary Distractions at Prayers being one of the Sins of which every one that goes to Confession is to make Examination and to accuse himself as may be seen in all our Books that give Instructions in order to Confession But it seems by the Apologizer this Saying of the Preacher is not charg'd upon us as a Profess'd Doctrin of ours but only as a Consequence of his own Head and from whence do's he draw it From this suppos'd Principle viz. The Romish Church enjoyns the saying them Prayers in a Language unknown to the Generality of the People which too is none of the Truest for this is not enjoyn'd by our Church to those that say Prayers For the Priests saying theirs in Latin understand what they say and the People have Theirs in their own Language as may be seen in our Manuals and in our Chappels where in the Hands of the People may be found Prayer-Books as Different in Language as those that use them are Different in Nation And tho' the Mass be said in Latin yet 't is only as the Function of Priests who understand it The People have the same in English and are instructed to accompany the Priest with Devotion and be attentive to every Mystery of the Oblation Which being a Sacrifice rather than a Form of Prayer the Attention and Devotion in respect to the People do's not fo much consist in the Words said by the Priest as in what is done by him as the Devotion of those Devout Women and other Believers upon Mount Calvary in the time of the Passion depended more upon being Attentive to what Christ Suffered and the Sacrifice he offer'd for the Redemption of the World than upon the Words that he spoke which were not altogether understood as the Scripture assures us by the Standers by In the same manner therefore as we should have been Attentive upon Mount Calvary we are Attentive here in this Oblation that is made upon the Altar of the Body and Blood of Christ and whosoever is at the time of this Service Dumb and Sensless like an Idol which is the Ninth Calumny must be necessarily as sensless as an Idol since a True Believer who has a Right Faith and Apprehension of this Mystery can no more be present at it without Devotion than he could have stood unmov'd under the Cross while his Redeemer hung upon it The Jews indeed were so then and may be now and all those who are like them without Faith but for a True Believer 't is impossible But the Matter of Fact is the best Confutation of this Slanderous Consequence whilst any one that takes a view of our People in time of Mass will find them with as much Devotion and Attention that is as much unlike Idols as Protestants are generally at their Common-Prayer So that all this is nothing but a Deduction grounded upon Ignorance and consequently a Calumny instead of a True Character of us but I fear whilst the Vindicator makes the Representer an Abettor of such unreasonable Doctrin 't is not the effect of Ignorance only but something worse For tho his Assertion be That Prayers may be said Well and Devoutly without attending to the Words or Sense of the Prayers BVT RATHER PVRELY ON GOD which last Words are fairly left out by the Vindicator yet whosoever considers this will not find this makes any thing for that Careless and Indevout way of Praying which is here by the Preacher charg'd upon the Papists Fourteenth Character of a Pulpit-Papist 1 Dr. Hooper TO cover his Idolatry he commits Sacrilege steals away one of the Ten Commandments and by the Index Expurgatorius blots the Two Tables themselves 2 Dr. Wallis For his Absolution 't is not necessary he should be sorry for his Sin but only for the Penance 3 Id. And if this should fail 't is but being at the Charge of an Indulgence or Pope's Pardon that is to purchase so many Penyworth of other Men's Merit and this is what is requir'd by way of Commutation instead of Regeneration Sanctification Holiness and a Godly Life 4 B. E. Auricular Confession their great Intelligencer and Lieger-Nuncio is the main Curb of the Laity whereby the Clergy hold them in awe in being admitted to all the Secrets of States and Families thereby to work their Purposes and Plots 't is a Matter of meer Interest and were there no Gain in it they would be asham'd of it 5 Id. Ignorance is the Mother of their Devotion which they are bound to by Vow and under the severest Penalties 6 Dr. Sharp They must wholly submit their Reason to an Infallible Judge even so far if one of their greatest Authors say true to be bound to believe Vertue to be Bad and Vice to be Good if it shall please his Holiness to say so 7 Dr. Butler Their Church-men must live a Single Life whether Honestly or no it makes no matter In this manner was the Papist describ'd in the Years 1678 79 81 82. All Plotting Years Years wherein Truth and Honesty acted but very small Parts and were not for the Turn and I fear had not that free access to the Pulpit at least unmix'd from Passion and Prejudice as became Preachers of the Gospel This Character may serve for Instance in which the First Charge is not sincere since 't is known that Catholics have the Ten Commandments in their Bibles and Catechisms and if they are set in short in some little Abstracts of Christian Doctrin in compliance to the weakness of some Memories and Capacities yet his is far from what the Preacher says of Stealing away one of the Commandments since this that they do to One of them they do to more setting down only the Words of the Precept without the Addition of Threats Promises or Explications as may be observ'd in the First Second Third and Fourth The Second is like this For that Sorrow which the Council of Trent requires for Absolution includes a Detestation of the Sins committed and a Firm Purpose of not Sinning for the time to come as may be seen Sess 14. cap. 4. and this I think is little less than Contradictions to the Saying of the Preacher The Third involves an Absolute Falsity whilst it supposes that a Papist who is sorry neither for his Sins nor the Punishment that attends them has no more to do than to procure or buy a Pope's Pardon and that this is sufficient for him instead of Repentance Amendment and a Holy Life This is a most abominable Doctrin in it self and most injuriously charg'd upon us in these words This is what they require by which the Preacher insinuates it into his Hearers as a thing