THere has been an idle report ſpread up and down, that the Reverend Abbot of the Monaſtry of Seinen propos'd to me ſeveral things concerning the Catholic Religion, if not in Writing, yet by Word of Mouth, which I either am or was not able to reſolve. From which trifle of a Report, thoſe of your Party have thought to gain a Petty Lawrel Wreath; and thoſe of our ſide have been in a deep Suſpence, not knowing what was done, or what was to be done; for that Fame is as well an obſtinate Retainer of what is feign'd and bad, as a Divulger of Truth. I am not willing to believe that the Prelate aforeſaid is the Father of this Abortive Birth, in regard that ſince a Non-Entity can have no Accidents, He could never in the Truth of the Matter divulge, that he propounded any thing to me to be reſolv'd, when aſſuredly I remember it no more then I do an Act that never was done. This indeed is true, that about three years ſince, returning from the Viſitation of the Church of Grentzhauſen, and going into the Monaſtery in my road, at what time my Fellow-Brethren, Mr. William Simonis, and Mr. Arnold Schnabel, the one Paſtor of the Church of Alsbach, the other of Ruchroeten, both moſt vigilant and learned Perſons were with me, he read to us many and various Manuſcripts taken out of our Doctors, and Arguments againſt thoſe Authors, and highly vaunted them to be invincible; but we Three ſo well at that time defended the Truth, that your Party had no reaſon to boaſt of Advantage. But now that the Reverend Prior not only extends his Prayers for my Health, but alſo heartily wiſhes and deſires, That after I had adjur'd and forſaken my Religion, I ſhould conſult the good of my Soul, by returning to Peter's Nett, which is the Roman and only Soulſaving Church; leſt after I had finiſhed this life, I ſhould not only be deprived of Eternal Felicity, but with the reſt of my Doctors burn in the Everlaſting Fire of Hell; truly as upon the ſight of the firſt, I return him many Thanks; ſo in reſpect of the latter, I cannot forbear but that out of Duty and Conſcience, and for the love of Truth, I muſt Anſwer as follows, that I may not be again reproach'd to have thrown away my Buckler when the Duel was offered me, which was infamous among the Romans, or to have ſought for Safety by ignominious Flight. And I ſincerely and conſtantly adjure you, Reverend Prior, together with your Companions, that with impartial Minds, and laying aſide all fore-conceived Opinions, you would vouchſafe to read and weigh what ſhall be here written. Therefore that I may haſten to the thing it ſelf, the whole Hinge of your Epiſtle turns upon this, to perſuade me that the Romaniſts (give me leave to call you ſo throughout this Writing) are only worthy and fit to obtain Salvation: On the other ſide, that all the Proteſtants are damn'd, nay, irrevocably conſign'd to a ſad Eternity.

Is not this your Theſis? Nay, moſt certainly it is. It will be my part therefore to Prove and Aſſert the Salvation of the Proteſtants, and to Examin and Correct your raſh Judgment by the Rule of Charity, with regard however to the Civil Friendſhip of both; more eſpecially of that which is between me and your moſt reverend and famous Maſter, Charles Wertzius, whom I here name with Honor. I wiſh he had bin at home; for then you would not have preſum'd to have dealt ſo diſingeniouſly by me. But the Proverb ſays, When the Cat is gone abroad, the Mice play. But to the purpoſe.

There is nothing which the ſacred Scriptures more frequently recommend to us then Charity. This is that ſacred and perpetual Fire, which it behoves us more religiouſly to keep burning, then that which formerly was intruſted with the Veſtals in Rome, or with the Prieſts in the Temple of God. For Charity (ſaith St. Paul) is the bond of perfection, Col. 3. 14. The end of the Commandment, 1 Tim. 1. 5. Nay, The fulfilling of the whole Law, Rom. 13. 10. And if a Compariſon ſhould be made between the three Theological Vertues, there is no queſtion but the Palm would be given to Charity as the Principal, 1 Cor. 13. 13. Faith repreſents the Porch of the Temple, in regard it holds forth to us the Propitiation of our Sins upon the Altar of the Croſs. Hope repreſents the Holy Place, as being that which ſhines out to us with the ſevenfold Lamp of Evangelical Promiſes, in certain Expectation of Eternal Beatitude. But Charity repreſenting the Holy of Holies, and glittering on every ſide with pure Gold, is only worthy to be the Seat of the Deity; for as God is Love, 1 Job. 4. 16. ſo the Empyrean Seat, and the fiery Throne of Charity in our Minds, have a mutual Reſemblance. Now there may be numbred ſeveral Duties of this Chriſtian Charity, the Queenof all Vertues, as well toward God as toward our Neighbor. Toward God, there are two ſorts of Duties incumbent upon every Man by the Command of Charity; of which ſome are Poſitive, others Negative. By the one a Chriſtian is oblig'd to Exerciſe Benevolence and Bounty toward his Neighbor, as much as in him lyes, affectionately and effectually in Word and Deed. By the other he is deterr'd from all manner of Ill-will, and doing Injury to his Brother, not only directly by hurting him, but alſo indirectly by throwing Scandals upon him; not only openly and outwardly with Hand or Tongue, but alſo covertly and inwardly, by bearing Malice, Envy, Hatred, or by unjuſt Suſpicions and raſh Cenſures, as St. Paul witneſſes, 1 Cor. 13. 5. For Charity thinks no evil, ſuffers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. More particularly the Scripture, in more places then one, condemns raſh Judgments, by which Men, for the moſt part violating the Laws either of Divine Truth or Chriſtian Charity, judge evilly of the Actions or Perſons of their Brethren. To which purpoſe that Sentence of our Savior is expreſs and poſitive, Mat. 7. 1. Judge not, lest ye be judged. Such were the Judgments of the Phariſees formerly concerning others; ſo that they lookt upon all others beſide themſelves as Ideots, prophane and polluted Sinners. And at this day, there is nothing more frequent among Men, then theſe unjuſt Cenſures, who are often wont to receive with the Left-hand, what is reach'd forth with the Right; and to interpret all things in the worſt ſenſe, according to the variety of their Paſſions. For Example; if any Man grows Rich through the bleſſing of God, he is adjudg'd to have acquir'd thoſe Riches by evil means: If he fall ſuddenly into extreme Calamity, this is preſently deem'd to befal him by the ſecret Judgment of God revenging his ſecret Tranſgreſſions: If any one be averſe to Superſtition, he is accounted Profane: If he profeſſes Piety, he is ſaid to be an Hypocrite: If Liberal, he is taxed for a Prodigal: If Frugal, he muſt be Covetous: If Prudent, he is a Coward: If Magnanimous and Sedate in the midſt of the raging Waves, he is pronounced Raſh and Bold. Such is that Judgment of yours, moſt Learned Mr. Prior, which you give in your Letters of Me and all the Proteſtants, rather with a blind Fury, then a quick Underſtanding: That is to ſay, that we are all Damn'd to Eternity; and that unleſs we return to Peter's Ship, by ſubmitting our ſelves to the Pope, we are adjudg'd in this Life to the Torments of Hell. You are not the only Perſon who lye under this Miſtake, for there are not wanting among ye thoſe that in their Harangues to the People, in affrighting terms do pawn their own Salvation upon it, that all the Proteſtants are Damn'd. By vertue of which precipitate Condemnation, the hatred of many is kindled againſt us; for it is a difficult matter to love thoſe whom they believe to be ſo hated of God, that they are already deſtin'd to the Flames of Hell: And in regard there is but little difference between a Damn'd Perſon and the Devil, it is but rational that they ſhould abhor ſuch Perſons as the Devil, who by an anticipated Sentence are already numbred among the Damn'd. Nay, thoſe of your Party, who either out of Duty or Inclination are better and more tenderly affected towards us, are wont to look upon us with Horror and a kind of Commiſeration, ſaying, That they are very ſorry that Men of ſuch excellent Endowments, and otherwiſe born to Vertue, ſhould be out of the way of Salvation, and willingly throw themſelves headlong into Hell. For theſe Reaſons therefore I thought it neceſſary to examin by the Rule of Charity and Truth this Judgment ſo frequently given and inculcated againſt us; to the end that if it be found to be raſh and prohibited by the Sentence of Chriſt, not only you, Mr. Prior, may be brought to remit ſomewhat of your rigor, and bluſh at what you have ſo unjuſtly written, but that we our ſelves alſo ſlighting and contemning this prepoſterous Judgment, may continue cheerful and conſtant in the Truth of God, ſaying to our Prior, and ſuch like ſupercilious Cenſurers as He, what St. Paul ſaid to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 4. 3. With us it is a very ſmall thing that we ſhould be judged of you, or of mans judgment. It is better to be condemn'd by a Phyſitian, then a Judge; by Men, then by God. Wherefore as no Man can be a Judge in his own Cauſe, it is not for the Accuſer to paſs Sentence upon the Guilty: So that it might be ſufficient to plead in Oppoſition to this unjuſt Judgment, that Mr. Prior would ſit Judge in his own proper Cauſe; and that being carried away with various Affections, he never regarded what was true and honeſt, but what was profitable and convenient. This Judgment certainly is not to be imputed to Equity and pure Reaſon, but to Anger and Hatred. As Parents are wont to love their Children tho' Maim'd and Lame, ſo your Doctors are ſo prepoſterouſly devoted to their own pre-conceived Opinions, that they hate all Men who go about to impugn or correct them; and that ſo much the more, by how much the greater force they find in the ſame Opinions to eſtabliſh their Authority in the World, and to encreaſe and preſerve their Earthly Riches.

The Condition of the Proteſtants in this reſpect, reſembles the Condition of our Savior, while he was upon the Earth. For becauſe he oppos'd himſelf againſt the Corruptions both of Manners and Doctrin which abounded in the Church, and propounded a ſort of Juſtice quite different from the Phariſaical Pride, and rejecting unwritten Traditions, labour'd to cleanſe the Houſe of God, and reſtore all things to the Primitive Fountains of Purity and Truth; therefore he was accounted a Samaritan, and proclaim'd a Seditious Perſon, a Demoniac, a Blaſphemer, Turbulent, and an Innovator. The ſame things befal the Reformed; for therefore are they unjuſtly condemn'd, becauſe they deſire that the Temple may be cleans'd, that Abuſes and Corruptions may be reform'd, which Time, Ambition, Avarice, Negligence, Ignorance, and other Peſts have brought into the Church; that the Juſtice of our Savior may be fully acknowledg'd; that unprofitable, intolerable and ſuperſtitious Traditions may be cut off, and all things, as much as may be, reſtor'd to the Primitive ſtate of the Church, and the Exemplar and Pattern of pureſt Antiquity. And indeed if you would but lay aſide your Affections, and give never ſo little attention to the Word of God, you would there find how unlawful 'tis for you to give any ſuch Judgment upon Chriſtians, and to devote them to Maledictions whom Chriſt has redeemed with his Blood, whoſe Faith is conformable to the Scripture, and who repoſe their whole Confidence in the Grace and Mercy of God, and the Merits and Croſs of Chriſt. Certainly the Point of Eternal Salvation is of a higher Nature then to be wreſted away by little blind miſerable Animals to their Tribunal; or that any Man ſhould preſume to pronounce any thing concerning it, beyond the revealed Will of God. For God has aſſum'd it to himſelf, his Sentence is to be expected, and not to be anticipated by our Judgment, For what Mortal was ever privy to his Secrets, or whom did he ever permit the peruſal of the Book of Life, and the Catalogue of Election? St. James, c. 4. of his Epiſtle, v. 11, 12. poſitively admoniſhes us, to condemn that Law which condemns his Brother, and that he who judges of the Law, is not a Doer of the Law, but a Judge. And that Men for this reaſon ſhould not invade the Laws of God, he adds, There is one Lawgiver, who is able both to ſave and to deſtroy; who art thou shat judgeſt another? Excellent alſo was the ſaying of the Ethnic Poet; Thoſe things which it concerns us not to know, let us not take care to believe; let Secret things be left to God. Many are number'd among Wolves in this World, whom Chriſt will joyn to his Sheep at the laſt Judgment. Many who are weigh'd in the Ballance of human Cenſure, are rejected as Braſs, which the Touch-ſtone of Divine Judgment will demonſtrate to have bin fine Gold. Firſt therefore I would fain know of you, Mr. Prior, upon what ground you come to be more certain of the Damnation of others, then of your own Salvation. For if it be a piece of Arrogance as you commonly teach againſt us, for any Man to aſſure himſelf that he is the Son of God, and Heir of Heaven, certainly it muſt be a great piece of raſhneſs to determin as to others, that they are the Sons of Wrath and Hell. I rather am of Opinion, that the Religion of the Proteſtants is ſo far from being an Obſtacle to Salvation, that it rather ſerves in a high meaſure to promote Salvation. I confeſs, there is no hope of Salvation beyond the Pale of Chriſtian Religion; ſo that Salvation cannot be obtained in the Communion of Ethnics, Mahometans and Jews; no, not in the Society of thoſe who retaining the Name of Chriſt, nevertheleſs ſubvert the Foundation of Salvation, ſuch as formerly were the Ebionites, Borborites, Manichaeans, Arrians, and at this day the Socinians; or if there be or were any other ſuch like Monſters in Religion. But in our Religion, what is there to be diſcover'd that ſubverts the Fundamental Articles of Chriſtianity, but rather, on the other ſide, what ſerves in a high degree to ſupport them? Does it not admit the Scriptures of the old and New Teſtament to be of Divine Inſpiration, and the Three more ſolemn Creeds, the Apoſtolic, Athanaſian and Nicene, together with the Four Oeconomic Councils of Nicaea, Chalcedon, Epheſus and Conſtantinople? Does it not adore in truth One God, Three in One, the Father, Son and Holy Ghoſt? Does it not acknowledg one Chriſt, God and Man, for the Mediator between God and Men, the Redeemer of Souls, a Prophet, Prieſt, and King of the Church? Does it teach any thing concerning God, which is repugnant to his Majeſty, his Glory, and his Power? Can it be accuſed of any Opinion that ſubverts good Manners, or that ſins againſt the Law of God or public Honeſty? The aim of Religion is to inform Men how to live well and bear Death with confidence, to the end that after they have lived in the fear of God, they may die in his favour. And this is that which a Chriſtian may eaſily attain in our Religion; for it moſt powerfully excites a faithful Man to fear God and love his Neighbor. It propounds no Article of Faith from whence various Corollaries may not be deduc'd for performance of our Duties, and Reformation of our Lives; and adminiſters moſt ſweet and thoſe moſt effectnal Conſolations to a Chriſtian againſt the aſſaults of all Temptations, and Death particularly; advancing the Certainty of Redemption, through Chriſt, into the number of the Sons of God, by his Merit and Favour; ſo that they themſelves, who deal ſo rigorouſly by us, ſo often as any one is to be prepar'd for Death, inſenſibly come over to our ſide, and tacitly renounce their own Opinions, as is to be ſeen in Conſon. Agoniz. written by Viguerrus. For then they do not comſort the dying Perſon with heaps of his own proper Merits, but exhort him to put all his hope and confidence in the Mercy of God, and the Satisfaction of Chriſt. Nor do they ſcare their doubtful Conſciences with the Terror of Purgatory, but comfort it with the hopes of ſoon obtaining Everlaſting Reſt; and admoniſh the ſick Perſon often to repeat the words of David, Into thy hands I commend my Spirit. The Biſhop of Toledo is reported to have written to the Pope, that the Emperor Charles V, declar'd upon his Death-bed, that he plac'd all the Hopes of his Salvation in one Redeemer and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt, and in his Merits, adding withal, that he look'd upon Luther's Opinion concerning Juſtification, to be very true. To which, as the Famous John Crocius, my Tutor formerly at Marpurgh, reports in his Anti-Wigelius, p. 451. they make the Pope to return this Anſwer; That he would not celebrate his Funeral Obſequies, becauſe he held with Luther in ſuch a Principal Point of Religion. Maximilian II, when the Biſhop of Naples D. Lambert Gruterus came to him, then lying under the Pangs of Death, would not ſuffer him to be admitted, but upon promiſe firſt, That he would talk of nothing elſe, but of the Merits of Christ, his Blood and S • eat; The Biſhop was as good as his word, and made a long Oration concerning the Merits of Chriſt full of Conſolation; and when the Emperor was ask'd, Whether he intended to die in that Faith? He made Anſwer, I ſhall do no otherwiſe: As Crato relates in his Funeral-Oration; and Chytraeus Chron. Sax.

The Head and Summ of Chriſtian Religion, is Chriſt Crucify'd, 1 Cor. 2. 2. Other Foundation can no Man lay then that which is laid, which is Jeſus Chriſt, 1 Cor. 3. 11. So that for the obtaining of Salvation, there is no other Rule of Faith to be acknowledg'd then the Word of Chriſt reſounding in Scriptures; nor any other Merit to be pleaded before God, but his Death; nor any other Purgatory but his Blood; nor any other Propitiatory Sacrifice for our Sins, but that which he offer'd once upon the Croſs; nor any other Head of the Church, nor any other Mediator with God, but Himſelf. Behold the Foundations of our Faith: Why ſhould you deny us Eternal Salvation?

Moreover it would be very cruel, and altogether repugnant to Chriſtians, to condemn to the Torments of Hell ſo many Myriads of Chriſtians, living in the Eaſt, under the Patriarchs of Antioch, Alexandria, Jeruſalem and Conſtantinople; The Georgians, Armenians, Abiſſines, Egyptians, Greeks, whoſe Churches the Apoſtles founded, Martyrs water'd with their Blood, the moſt Learned of the Fathers cultivated with their Inſtructions, ſo many Councils honour'd with their Deciſions, and which are able to vye their Titles of Antiquity and Succeſſion with Rome it ſelf. Now if the way to Salvation is not to be deny'd to theſe Chriſtians diſpers'd over the Eaſt, and retaining the Foundations of Chriſtianity, tho' believing nothing of the Fire of Purgatory, the Pomp of Papal Dignity, Tranſubſtantiation of the Bread into the Body of Chriſt, Communion under One Kind, the Uſe of Latin or a Foreign Tongue in Publick Worſhip, the neceſſary Celibacy of the Miniſtry, Auricular Confeſſion, and the like; why may not Salvation be obtain'd in the Society of the Reformed Churches, which are gather'd to Chriſt in the Weſt, tho as to thoſe Points they have renounc'd the Roman Communion? Then there is another thing which you Romaniſts confeſs of your own accords, that our Church Reform'd according to the Word of God; leads all the Members of its Communion directly to Chriſt; that they may obtain Salvation in him and by him; that they feed the ſtarving Conſciences with the Spiritual Bread of the Divine Word, and Sacramental Euchariſt, call Sinners to Repentance, and recommend to every one Piety towards God, and Charity towards our Neighbor. There is alſo another thing which they acknowledge, that our Reformed Church both has and adminiſters the true Baptiſm of Chriſt, and by means of that, Spiritually begets Sinners which are to be Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven; ſeeing that by their own Confeſſion, our Children dying after Baptiſm receiv'd in our Churches, aſcend to Joys Celeſtial, as may be collected from Bellarmin, lib. 1. de Bapt. cap. 11.

In the mean time, I beſeech you, Venerable Sir, can you tell me what Motives they were that lead you headlong into ſo abſurd a Precipice? Or what, I beſeech you, were the Impulſive Cauſes and Pregnant Reaſons of ſo prepoſterous and unſeaſonable a Damning of our Souls?

If you are Ignorant, as I ſhrewdly conjecture you are, I will tell you what they are from your own Doctors, who have written variouſly concerning this Queſtion, that is to ſay, That we are therefore to be Damn'd, and are Damn'd to all Eternity. Firſt, Becauſe we are guilty of Blaſphemy againſt the Omnipotency of God, in the buſineſs of the The uſual gruonds of the Papiſts uncharitable Judgment. Euchariſt. Secondly, Becauſe we make God the Author of Sin. Thirdly, Becauſe we faſten Deſpair upon Chriſt, when he was upon the Croſs. Fourthly, Becauſe we are injurious to the Virgin Mary and the Saints. Fifthly, Becauſe we oppoſe Chaſtity, Sobriety, Mortification, Good Works, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and every pious Inſtitution. And Sixthly, Becauſe we are Heretics, or at leaſt, Seventhly, Schiſmatics.

Theſe are the Imputations which I find in Bellarmin, Becanus, Tirinus and Stapleton, all Jeſuites, the great Props of your Cauſe, and the Pillars of this cruel Sentence. Nevertheleſs know, Mr. Prior, that theſe Accuſations are no more then mere Imaginations, and feigned Dreams, which have no real Foundation; as I ſhall with all poſſible brevity demonſtrate in order, both for your own and the ſake of others; and if theſe Pretences of yours be found to be groundleſs and unreaſonable, there needs no more to convince you of your Error, and your ſtragling from Truth and Charity.

Firſt therefore we are accuſed, as if we would limit Divine 1. Of Proteſtants bounding God's Omnipotence Omnipotence; and that we plainly deny it, while we aſſert, that it is impoſſible for the Bread to be Tranſubſtantiated into the Body, or that any Body ſhould be actually in divers places; or that Accidents ſhould ſubſiſt without a Subject; or that there ſhould be ſome Bodies allow'd of that fill no ſpace. But far be it from us to limit the infinite Pôwer of the moſt Infinite, or in the leaſt to call it in queſtion. We are ready with our Blood to ſubſcribe to the Apoſtles Creed, in the firſt Article whereof we profeſs to believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth. And this we generally add for a Concluſion to our ordinary Prayers; For thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, for ever and ever, Mat. 6. 13. Then alſo our Saviour taught us, That thoſe things are Eaſie and Poſſible with God, which ſeem to Men Impoſſible. Let him be Anathema, that calls in queſtion the Power oſ the moſt High; who exiſting of himſelf, becauſe, according to the common Axiom, There is nothing in God which is not God; it is impoſſible for him to be limited or bounded. And this Infinity we could as certainly believe in the Sacrament of the Euchariſt, in reference to the deſtruction of the Bread, and ſubſtituting the Body of Chriſt in the room of it, as it is certain and perſpicuous from the Word of God, that our Bodies ſhould riſe at the Day of Judgment; our Faith would be directed by the Cynoſure of Divine Will; nor can we doubt but that God both could and would have done it, had he ſo decreed the thing to be done, as profitable and neceſſary for our Salvation. But as to this, we find, Firſt, That thoſe Sacred Myſteries which are diſtributed to us from the Table of the Lord, are and remain both in Subſtance and Name what they were, as to the Subſtance, before the Conſecration. Nor need we to produce the Teſtimony of Senſes for it; our Seeing, Taſting, Feeling, Smelling, which according to the Opinion of certain Philoſophers, are rarely deceiv'd about their proper Objects; the Authority of St. Paul is ſufficient, and beyond all Objection; 1 Cor. 10. 16. The Cup of Bleſſing which we bleſs, is it not the Communion of the Blood of Chriſt? The Bread which we break, is it not the Communion of the Body of Chriſt? And then again, 1 Cor. 11. 28. Let a man examin himſelf, and ſo let him eat of this Bread, and drink of this Cup. Secondly, We find that the eating of his Fleſh, and the drinking his Blood, is recommended to us by Chriſt, Joh. 6. But there, there is nothing ſpoken of Oral feeding, by which the Body of Chriſt is actually ſwallowed into our Bodies; but he ſpeaks of Spiritual and Myſtic Eating, by which he remains in us, and we in him; which does not come to paſs by Chewing, but by Believing; not in ſwallowing down into the Stomach, but by receiving him with the Heart & with Faith, as Chriſt in the ſame place clearly and frequently explains himſelf; as when he ſays, ver. 35. He that cometh to me, ſhall never hunger, and he that believeth on me, ſhall never thirſt. And thus all Antiquity has expounded this Context of St. John. And ſeveral Teſtimonies might be produc'd of St. Auſtin alone, among all the reſt of the Fathers, to the ſame purpoſe; whoſe following words were taken out of his Commentaries upon St. John by Gratian. Diſtinct. 2. Conſil. Can. 47. Why doſt thou make ready thy Teeth and Belly? believe, and thou haſt eaten: For to believe in him, is the ſame as to eat the living Bread; who believes in him, eats him, is inviſibly fed, becauſe he inviſibly grows again. Now that we ought to underſtand the words of Chriſt in this place of Myſtical and Spiritual Feeding, the conſtant Rule propos'd by the ſame Father, conſtrains us, l. 3. de Doctrin. Chriſt. c. 16. If the Scripture (ſaith he) ſeems to command an unlawful and wicked act, and to forbid a profitable and good deed, then it is Figurative. Ʋnleſs you eat the Fleſh of the Son of Man, and drink his Blood, you ſhall not have Life within you. Here it ſeems to command a wicked Act. Therefore it is a Figure, commanding its to communicate the Paſſion of our Saviour, and to remember profitably and ſweetly that his Fleſh was crucified and wounded for our ſakes. But I abſtain for the nonce from farther Explication of this Matter, unleſs occaſion ſhall be given of vindicating this Epiſtle by a Reply.

In the mean time, the ſole Omnipotency of God is uſually oppos'd to ſo many effectual Arguments, by which we are conſtrained to aſſent to the Opinion of the Antients concerning the Sacrament, as if God were bound to diſplay his Power to do whatever Men fancy to themſelves; or that we muſt be ſaid to Blaſpheme his Omnipotence, becauſe we do not conſent to their Dreams and Miracles; whereas if thoſe new and unprofitable Opinions were approv'd by the aſſent of the Divine Will, we ſhould never meddle to contradict this Argument taken from God's Omnipotency. But ſince there is nothing that can be produc'd in their favour out of the Teſtament of God; but on the contrary, ſo many Demonſtrations fighting againſt them, we dare peſume to deſcend to the Examination of this Argument; Not to limit the Omnipotence of God, but to ſhew that thoſe things that you Romaniſts would defend by virtue of that, are of the number of thoſe things which fall not under the Power of God, not through Impotency or want of Strength, but through the Excellency and Perfection of his Power. For tho' God be Omnipotent, yet he can neither Walk, nor Sleep, nor Die; for that theſe things would contradict the Perfection of his Eſlence. In this ſenſe, the Scripture teſtifies that God cannot lye, nor deny himſelf. Hence it comes to paſs, that tho' the Divine Power extends it ſelf to Infinity, yet is it agreed among all Chriſtians, that God cannot do thoſe things which imply Contradiction, becauſe he cannot lye nor deny himſelf. To this Truth your Bellarmin gives his Aſſent, lib. 3. de Euch. and all your Doctors ſubſcribe to his Opinion. And upon this Ground we diſpute with you, alledging, I. That it is impoſſible that Accidents ſhould exiſt without any Subject; in regard it is Eſſential to all Accidents to inhere in their Subjects. Inſomuch, that by virtue of that inherence it is, that an Accident is diſtinguiſh'd from Subſtance. Nor can any Accident be fancy'd without ſome Subject to which it may adhere, and by which it may be ſupported; but that ſome ſuch Accident muſt be fancy'd which is no longer an Accident, which implies a Contradiction. II. It is impoſſible that the Body of Chriſt ſholud be in infinite places remotely diſtant one from another, in Earth, tho' he do not deſcend from Heaven, whether nevertheleſs he aſcended after his Reſurrection; as it could not then have bin that he ſhould have bin in Heaven, unleſs he had locally and viſibly aſcended thither from the Earth. III. It cannot be that any Body ſhould be any where actually and properly, but that it muſt be in the ſame place corporeally and locally; becauſe the manner of being ſomewhere, muſt correſpond with the manner of being ſimply, which is the proper manner of the thing in diſpute: And as a Spirit cannot be any where actually preſent, unleſs definitely and ſpiritually; ſo neither can a Body be any where actually preſent, but corporeally and circumſcrib'dly; for if it were actually in any place where it were not corporeally, then it would ceaſe to be a Body. IV. It cannot be that the Body of Chriſt ſhould at the ſame moment of time, be viſible, palpable and circumſcrib'd in Heaven, and in infinite places of the Earth, after another manner inviſible, impalpable, uncircumſcrib'd, without Extenſion, and Latent under a Point. V. It is impoſſible that any ſingular or individual Thing ſhould be multiply'd in infinite places, and yet the Singularity and Individuality remain entire, without having its Unity deſtroy'd by that multiplication. VI. It is impoſſible that the Thing contain'd, ſhould be greater then the Thing containing: And that the Body of Chriſt ſhould lye hid under a ſmall Morſel of Bread, or be ſtreightned within the Bowels of a Mouſe, in the ſame ſtature as he had when he was upon the Croſs. Theſe and ſuch like Miracles as theſe, all ſprouting out of the Opinion of Tranſubſtantiation, we oppoſe as Impoſſibilities; not that God wants Power, but becauſe theſe things imply a Contradiction. And therefore we cannot be accuſed of any Blaſphemy againſt Divine Omnipotency.

About Three hundred years ago flouriſh'd Durandus. de Apud Bellarm. de Euchar. l. 3. c. 5. Sancto Portiano, Biſhop of Meaux, of the Dominican Order, of great repute among the Scholaſtics, and one that Rome never yet declar'd a Heretic. He affirms Contradictory Penetration of Dimenſions to be impoſſible, by means of which two Bodies ſhall be able to poſſeſs one and the ſame place; and argues againſt whatever has bin produc'd to the contrary, tho' taken from the Nativity of Chriſt, his Ent • ance among the Diſciples, the Doors being ſhut, and his Aſcent into Heaven; affirming, That it is much more juſt and rational to ſay, that the Creature gave way to the Creator; ſo that the Heavens if they were ſolid, parted aſunder, to give free paſſage to their Lord; and that the Doors of the Houſe where the Diſciples met, miraculouſly open'd before him, that ſo he might more eaſily come to them; and that the Womb of the Virgin was divinely dilated to facilitate his Nativity; then that they ſhould oblige the Creator to penetrate other Bodies, and ſo to receive a Law from their Nature, rather then to give it Them. All which Expoſitions of Durandus may be defended and maintain'd out of the Word of God, Pſal. 14. 7, 9. The Gates of Heaven are commanded to lift up their Heads, that is, to fly open to Chriſt ready to aſcend into Heaven, then under the name of the King of Glory entring in.

Joh. 20. 26. It is not ſaid that Chriſt came to his Diſciples through the Doors ſhut, but at what time the Doors were ſhut, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Now ſuppoſe they might be open'd to him by the Miniſtry of Angels, , as the Priſon-Doors flew open to Peter, Act. 12. 10. And as Mat. 28. 2. the Angel deſcended from Heaven which remov'd the Stone laid upon the Sepulchre. Luke 2. 23. relates, That the Bleſſed Virgin brought her Offering to Jeruſalem, and that there Chriſt ſtood before the Lord; As it is written in the Law of the Lord, That every Male opening the Womb, ſhall be called holy to the Lord. By which Law the Holy Virgin had not bin oblig'd, unleſs Chriſt at his Birth had open'd her Womb: Neither is it any Obſtacle to her perpetual Virginity, in regard ſhe never knew Man; and for that this Gate through which the Lord of Hoſts paſt, according to the ſaying of Ezekiel, c. 44. 2. remain'd from that time always conſtantly ſhut. Now if the Crime of Blaſphemy were never imputed to Durandus, nor any of his Followers, for theſe ſeeming attacks upon Divine Omnipotency, why are we reproach'd as Enemies of the ſame Omnipotency, for only averring the ſame things? Thomas Aquinas, liſted among the number of the Saints, vulgarly call'd the Angelical Doctor, and to whom they feign that the Statue of a Crucifix ſhould ſpeak theſe words at Naples; Thou hast written well concerning me, what Reward dos̄t thou expect? This Aquinas, Part 3. Queſt. 76. almoſt quite through the whole Queſtion, affirms it impoſſible and contradictory for the ſame Body to be locally and circumſcrib'dly in two ſeveral places; and alledges, That the Glorious Body it ſelf of our Saviour, cannot be locally, viſibly and circumſcrib'dly but in one only place; That in this manner now he is not in any other place then in Heaven; That he never is moveable and viſible in the Euchariſt, or after any other manner then only Sacramentally. And whereas it has bin ſaid, that he has bin ſeen in this moſt Auguſt Sacrament, under the Form of a Boy, or of Fleſh, or of Blood; That it was neither the Body nor the Subſtance of Chriſt. Now if Thomas could not perſuade himſelf, that it was poſſible for the Body of Chriſt to be locally in two different places, with whom Vaſques the Jeſuite, and all the reſt at this Time agree; and which is more, if he did not believe that that which was ſometimes ſaid to be ſeen in the Euchariſt, was the Body and Subſtance of Chriſt, or prov'd the local Preſence of his Body in the Sacrament; muſt we be call'd Blaſphemers who are of the ſame Belief, and conſequently aſſert, that the ſame Body cannot be actually preſent in two different places, in regard the actual Preſence of any Body of neceſſity muſt be Corporeal, Local and Circumſcrib'd? 'Tis true, I acknowledg a certain Sacramental Preſence in the Euchariſt, but different from that which Thomas has invented; not Phyſical and Real, but Moral and Significative, which is agreeable to the Being and Nature of the Sacrament; as alſo Super-phyſical and Real through Faith, in Vertue and Operation; which does not require a Phyſical and Real Preſence in the Subſtance either of the Perſon or of the Thing, Joh. 8. 56. 1 Cor. 10. 3, 4.

As we are undeſervedly accus'd of Blaſphemy againſt the Omnipotency, ſo are the Accuſations that follow meer Calumnies invented to inflame a hatred againſt us; yet the main Pillars to ſupport the moſt learned Mr. Prior's Damnation of our Souls. It is a Capital Crime This, and highly deſerving to Whether Proteſtants teach that God is the Author of Sin. be immediately rank'd next to the former. For in the next place you aſſert, Mr. Prior, that we teach, That God is the Author of Sin; whence you infer that the Devil is our God, and that the Reformed go about to recal from Orcus the long ſince buried Hereſies of the Florinians and Manichaeans. Nay, the Calumny was carried ſo high, that Becanus the Jeſuite, in his Manual Controv. propounds this Queſtion; Whether God be the Author of Sin? as one of thoſe which are controverted at this day between You and Us. And tho' we deny'd it, and complain'd of the Injury done us, wiſhing Anathema's to all that teach, That God is the Author of Sin, yet the Imputation continues, and our Adverſaries would fain perſuade us that we believe otherwiſe then really we do. As Mercurie in Plautus would have perſuaded Soſias that he was not the ſame Perſon he took himſelf to be. However, do but turn over the Confeſſions of Faith, the Forms of Conſent, the Public Catechiſms of our Church, and try whether you can find in them any thing that • avours in the leaſt of that Impiety. Come to our holy Aſſemblies, vouchſafe to hear our Sermons, and try whether you can find any ſuch thing there; nay, whether we do not openly and profeſſedly teach the contrary, as often as occaſion offers. So far are our Churches from this Blaſphemy, that they expreſly and in formal Terms reject this Propoſition, That God is the Author of Sin, Confeſſ. Gal. Art. 8. & Belg. Art. 13. They who lay this to our Charge, acknowledg that it is Affirm'd by none of us; only by certain Conſequences they would Wire-draw it from ſome Sentences of our Doctors; acknowledging nevertheleſs, that Zuinglius, Martyr, Calvin and Beza, whom you have charged as guilty of this Crime, expreſly and in formal Terms have condemn'd that impious Axiom in their Writings; and whoſe Teſtimonies alſo your Doctors produce, as is to be ſeen in Bellarmin de amiſſ. grat. l. 2. c. 2. and in Becanus after him, l. 3. Manual. Cont. l. 3. c. 5. quaeſt 6. §. 4. Nay, Calvin himſelf, againſt whom nevertheleſs you have the greateſt Peek, is acknowledg'd by your Doctors, to have moſt effectually confuted the ſame Impiety againſt the Libertines that upheld it.

Truly ſince the Romaniſts at this day will not allow that to be an Axiom of Faith, which is not to be found literally in Scripture, but is only deduc'd from a certain kind of Conſequence, That which is not cannot be, that they ſhould juſtly attribute to ſome of ours this Aſſertion, That God is the Author of Sin; becauſe it ſeems to be conſequentially deduc'd from ſome of their Sayings, ſeeing it is not only any where expreſly Extant in any of their Writings, but is alſo expreſly in plain words refuted and rejected by the ſame Authors. So that if every one ought to be the Interpreter of his own words, we are rather to believe our own Authors as to their Senſe, then their Adverſaries; who do not condemn them for what they have ſaid, but with envious Eyes induſtriouſly ſearch and prie into their Writings to find out Flaws and Pretences of rejecting and condemning them.

Ours therefore are deſirous to maintain that all the Works of God were known to him from Eternity, Act. 15. 18. that nothing lyes conceal'd from him, and that nothing happens in the World without ſome ſecret Diſpen ſation of his. That he is not what Epicurus dream'd him to be, a ſlothful Spectator of thoſe things which are tranſacted in the World; but that his Eternal Providence ſits at the Helm, and that he ſteers and governs the Ship as he pleaſes himſelf. In him we have our Being, live and move, as St. Paul teaches us, Act. 17. 28. Alſo that our Sins and Tranſgreſſions of his Law are ſubjected to the Government of his moſt ſecret Counſels; as Poyſons may be wholſomly and profitably adminiſtred by a prudent Phyſitian; and as the Sun-beams diffuſe themſelves over Mud, and penetrate rotten Carkaſſes, without being defiled. That God often puniſhes Sins by Sins; and that not only the Hearts of Kings are in his hands, as Solomon tells us, Prov. 21. 1. but univerſally of all Mankind, like a ſtream of Waters, ſo that he may incline them which way he pleaſes. Laſtly, after a wonderful and moſt ineffable manner, as St. Auſtin ſpeaks, Enchirid. c. 120. That what is done contrary to his Will, is not always done without his Will; becauſe it could not be done, if he did not permit it; neither does he permit againſt his Will, but voluntarily. As he is Good, he would not permit Evils to be done; unleſs as he is Omnipotent, he could bring Good out of Evil. Now tho' ſome of ours, deſirous to explain themſelves concerning theſe moſt conſtant and perpetual Truths, have made uſe of ſome Expreſſions ſomewhat harſh, they are not therefore preſently to be condemn'd; much leſs are others to faſten upon them whatever may be ſqueez'd from their Sayings by certain violent and malitious Conſequences.

But what Sayings of our Divines will you Romaniſts produce, to give credit to your Calumnies, the like to which I will not ſhew you in Scripture? Joſeph, Gen 20. 50. ſaid to his Brethren, That the ſame evil which they had contriv'd againſt him, God had contriv'd for the beſt, to the preſervation of a mighty People; that is to ſay, Divine Providence concurring with their Theft, and making uſe of it to a wholſom end. The Lord himſelf teſtifies, Exod. 10. 1. That he exaſperated and harden'd the heart of Pharaoh and his Servants, tho' Moſes had wrought all his Miracles in the midſt of them. By Nathan, 2 Sam. 12. 11, 12. he declar'd to David, That he would ſtir up evil againſt him out of his own houſe, and that he would cauſe his Wives to be raviſhed before his face, and deliver them to his Servants, who ſhould lye with them in the open Sun; adding alſo theſe words, Thou didſt this ſecretly, but I will do this thing before all Iſrael, and before the Sun. Such like Expreſſions are to be met with, Iſai. 6. 10. and 63. 17. Act. 4. 27. Rom. 1. 24. And would I be prolix, I could demonſtrate, that there has been nothing ſaid by Ours in this Matter, but that much harſher has fallen from the Pens of the moſt learned Men in your Church; nay, what whole Societies maintain at this day in the very Boſom of it. Let one ſerve for all; that is to ſay Bellarmin, who, l. 2. de amiſſ. Grat. c. 13. thus goes on; God does not only permit the Wicked to commit many Evils, neither does he only forſake the Godly, that they may be conſtrain'd to ſuffer what ever injuries the Wicked ſhall offer them; but alſo he preſides over thoſe evil and malicious Wills, rules and governs them, twiſts and bends them by working in them inviſibly; ſo that altho' they be evil out of their own vitious Inclinations, yet they are diſpos'd by Divine Providence more to one ſort of Miſchief then another.

III. As it cannot be without extreme Injury ſaid of us, That we make God the Author of Sin; ſo it is no leſs maliciouſly fixed upon us, in your Church, to the end you may have a Pretence the more freely to condemn us, that we maintain, That Chriſt deſpair'd upon the Croſs, and that the grievous Concerning Chriſt's Deſpair on the Croſs. Torments which he felt in his Body, would have little availd, unleſs he had alſo ſuffer'd in his Soul the Pangs and Torments of the Damn'd. But look upon the Tenth Section of the Gallican Catechiſm, where the contrary is expreſly aſſerted; that is to ſay, that Chriſt ſtill hop'd in God in the midſt of all his Agonies, even then when he cry'd out in the depth of all his Woes, My God, My God, why haſt thou forſaken me? As i • his Father had bin in wrath with him, and had deſerted him. It behov'd Chriſt, to the end he might free the Souls together with the Bodies, to ſuffer the Puniſhment of our Sins, as well in his Soul as in his Body. The moſt Learned among you in this Point, are of the ſame Opinion with us. Cardinal Cuſanus, Exercit. Spirit. l. 10. ex Serm. Qui per Spiritum, has utter'd thoſe things upon this Subject, without any Cenſure of your Church, which would have been adjug'd Blaſphemous and Impious in the Reformed, had they dropt from their Pens. The Paſſion of Chriſt (ſays he) then which none could be greater, was like that of the Damn'd, that cannot be more damn'd; that is to ſay, even to the Torments of Hell. In his behalf ſays the Prophet David, The pains of Hell compaſs'd me about, nevertheleſs thou haſt brought my Soul out of Hell. But he is the only Perſon who through ſuch a Death enter'd into that Glory. That ſame Pain of Senſe conformable to the Pains of Hell, he was certainly reſolv'd to ſuffer, to the Glory of God the Father; that he might ſhew, that he was to Obey him to the extremity of Puniſhment. For this is to gloriſie God by all poſſible manner of means. And thus our Juſtification comes ſolely from Chriſt. For we Sinners in Him diſcharge the debt of Infernal Torments which we juſtly deſerve, that ſo we may attain to the Reſurrection of Life. Suarez alſo, of the ſame Order, in 3 Thom. Quaeſt. 52. Art. 4. Diſput. 43. Sect 1. relates out of Medina, That ſome Catholics believ'd, that Chriſt ſuffer'd outwardly ſome Pains of the Damned in Hell, yet not in the ſame manner as the Damned ſuffer; that is to ſay, againſt their Wills, or with Diſorder and Confuſion, but out of extraordinary Charity. What more have ever any of Ours ſaid, not to offend Chriſt, but out of a deſire to ſeek the Fountain of Sweetneſs in the Bitterneſs of his Woes; the Harveſt of Joy in his Sadneſs, Security of Heart in his Horrors, and the • eby to acknowledge his Victory the more Illuſtrious, by how much the Combat was more Terrible which he undertook; and the Triumph the more Glorious, by how much the more Dreadful the Labors were that he ſuſtain'd? But from the Pens of which of Ours dropt any thing like that, which John Ferus both taught and wrote upon this Subject? By Birth a Teutonic (ſays Sixtus Senenſis, a Dominican Biblioth. l. 4.) of the Order of Minors, Preacher in the Chief Church at Mentz, a Perſon highly learned in Theology, endu'd with a ſingular Eloquence, whoſe Equal in the duty of Evangelical Preaching the Catholic German Churches at this time have not to ſhew, becauſe he wrote in a more free and polite ſtile Pious and Learned Meditations, according to the Catholic Doctrin. This Man therefore upon Mat. 27. diſcourſing of Chriſt's Exclamation upon the Croſs, has theſe Expreſſions; Chriſt at this hour put off God, not by Expoſing himſelf, but by not Feeling; he ſet aſide the Father, that he might act the Man. Thus God the Father now does not act the part of a Father, but of a Tyrant, tho' in the mean time he had a moſt tender Affection for Chriſt. And in another place; Chriſt, that he might ſet Sinners free, put himſelf in the place of all Sinners; not Stealing, nor committing Adultery, nor Murther, &c. but tranſlating to himſelf the Wages, Puniſhment and Deſerts of Sinners, which are Cold, Heat, Hunger, Thirſt, Dread of Death, Dread of Hell, Deſpair, Death, and Hell it ſelf; that he might overcome Hunger by Hunger, Fear by Fear, Horror by Horror, Deſpair by Deſpair, Death by Death, Hell by Hell, and in a word, Satan by Sitan. Go then, Reverend Mr. Prior, and bring me any Reformed Doctor that ever talk'd at this rate, which nevertheleſs in Ferus the Monk never any of your Party cenſur'd for Blaſphemy.

IV. Theſe more grievous Calumnies being thus wip'd off, the reſt that remain behind are too ſlight for me to ſpend much time in refuting them. The moſt of your Party cry out, That we deſerve to be damn'd, becauſe we are Of Proteſtants being Enemies to the Blhſſed Virgin and Saints Enemies to the Bleſſed Virgin and the Saints, as alſo to Mortification, &c. Are we to be traduc'd as Enemies to the Bleſſed Virgin, who underſtand that we cannot be ſo, but we muſt ceaſe to be Chriſtians, who believe her now in Heaven, enjoying Celeſtial Glory near her Son? Who know that on Earth ſhe was the truly happy and bleſſed Mother of our Lord and Savior? Are we to be accounted the Saints Enemies, who boaſt of their Communion in our Creed, and by the Imitation of their Examples, as much as in us lyes, labour up the ſame Hill to the ſame Reward? But you will ſay, That we Reformed do not adore the Bleſſed Virgin, nor the Shrines of the Saints, &c. I Anſwer, That we abſtain from that ſort of Worſhip, not out of hatred or contempt of the Bleſſed Virgin, but leſt we ſhould offend them, by paying to them that Religious Worſhip which is only due to God. The Faithful in the Old Teſtament, never gave theſe Honors to the Prophets and Patriarchs deceas'd, and yet they were never accounted their Adverſaries. For four hundred years together there was no ſuch Adoration us'd in the Primitive Church. And Antiquity anathematiz'd the Collyridians leaning that way, and ſaluting the Holy Virgin by the Title of Queen of Heaven, as we find in Epiphanius, Haereſ. 79. cont. Collyrid. The Body of Mary was really Holy, but no God. She was really a Virgin, and an honourable Virgin; but not intended for our Adoration, in regard that ſhe ador'd him that was begot of her Fleſh. And moreover by the Example of the Angel refuſing Adoration and Worſhip from John, he proves, That much leſs the Virgin Mary either deſires or ought to be Worſhip'd. But what he ſaid particularly of the Virgin, that did St. Auſtin affirm at the ſame time concerning all the Saints; that is to ſay, That they are to be Honour'd in reſpect of Imitation, not to be Worſhip'd in reſpect of Religion; l. de vera Relig. c. ult.

V. Neither can they find any thing in us, that is repugnant Of Proteſtants being Enemies to Chaſtity, Sobriety, &c. to Chaſtity, Sobriety, Mortification of the Fleſh, and Study of Good Works. For to all theſe things we Paſtors frequently and ſeriouſly in our Pulpits exhort our Flocks. Nor by the Grace of God do we ſo live, that we ſhould be thought to have proclaim'd open War to all Vertue and Godlineſs. For our not allowing that Law of Celibacy, ſo burthenſon to the Clergy, is no hatred of Chaſtity, when Celibacy it ſelf is that which has turn'd away ſo many, and ſtill hurries multitudes from the true Paths of Chaſtity. Inſomuch as Pius II, as Platina relates in his Life, was wont to ſay, That Wedlock was deny'd the Prieſts upon good Grounds, but that for better Reaſons it ought to be reſtor'd them.

We are not averſe to Sobriety and Faſting, becauſe we reject thoſe ſuperſtitious Obſervations; upon the Preſcribing of which the ſame thing is ſaid to us, as formerly they us'd to ſay, againſt whom the Apoſtle writes, Col. 2. 21. Eat not, taſte not, touch not; and to which, upon the ſcore of our Conſciences, we cannot ſubmit. Not that we are ſo addicted to luxurious Lives, or ſo ſtudious to indulge our Appetites; but becauſe they put a Bridle upon our Conſciences, contrary to the Liberty purchas'd us in Chriſt; and conſtitute the Eſſence of Faſting, not in humbling the Mind before God, and Veneration of his Deity; but in the nice Choice of ſome ſorts of Meats, and Rejecting others; and becauſe they affirm, that by ſuch bodily Exerciſes, and ſuch kind of Diet, our Sins may be Expiated, and that Men thereby merit Eternal Life. We do not hate the Mortification of the Old Man, while we reject the publick Whippings and affected Macerations of thoſe who had rather exerciſe Cruelty upon Nature, then correct the Corruption of it, and who ſeem to bear a hatred to their own Fleſh, contrary to that of the Apoſtle, Eph. 5. 29. Whereas they ought rather to ſubmit the Affections of their Hearts to the Will of God. For if it were ſo much a Duty to Chaſtize and Enſlave your outward and viſible Bodies, the Baalites, Brachmans, Prieſts of the Syrian Goddeſs, the Mahometan Monks, and thoſe Whipſters which about Two hundred years ago the Roman Church numbred in the Liſt of Heretics, have outdone and ſtill outdo you in thoſe Rigorous Exerciſes. But the Body which thou art to ſubdue, is the Body of Sin; and the Members to be extirpated, are the Vices of it, as the Apoſtle ſays, Col. 3. 5. Mortifie your Members which are upon earth; Fornication, Ʋncleanneſs, inordinate Affection, evil Concupiſcence, and Covetouſneſs, which is Idolatry. Laſtly; it is no hating of Good Works, to pronounce them neceſſary for Salvation; yet ſo, that they may but only be the way to the Kingdom, and not the Cauſe of Reigning; the cauſe of our Salvation being ſolely aſcrib'd to the Mercy and Grace of God in Jeſus Chriſt, and by no means to our own Merits, joyn'd with his, as if they could be Aſſiſtant toward ſo great a Benefit. But would to God, that ſetting aſide theſe Controverſies about the Uſe of Good Works, we could but give our Minds both of us to practice them with a ſincere Charity; then Mr. Prior would not be ſo highly exorbitant in his Unchriſtianlike Judgment concerning us. Then again, how can any Hatred of the moſt ſacred Euchariſt be affixed upon the Reformed, who urge nothing ſo much as the entire taking of it under Both Kinds, in conformity to the Inſtitution of Chriſt; and who believe concerning it, both what the Scripture holds forth, and what the Fathers of the Ancient Church deliver? But it is no hatred of this moſt Auguſt Sacrament, to refuſe to Kneel to it, and to pay the higheſt degree of Veneration to it, as it is the Cuſtom in your Roman Church. We abſtain from this Adoration of the Euchariſt, leſt we ſhould pay to the Creature, what is only owing to God. The Sacraments are Holy Things, which are to be lookt upon with Decency and Reverence, but not to be Ador'd. The Brazen Serpent among the Iſraelites was a ſacred Thing, and as it were the permanent Sacrament of our future Redemption by the Croſs of Chriſt; but yet the Iſraelites were Idolaters, ſo ſoon as they began to Adore it and Worſhip it with Frankincenſe. We do not read that the Apoſtles Worſhipt this Sacrament. Chriſt indeed is to be Ador'd in the Uſe of this Sacrament, as in every Religious Performance; and in that ſenſe it is true what St. Auſtin ſays upon Pſa. 98. Let no man eat his fleſh, unleſs he have firſt ador'd; which words, Gloſſ. decret. in Can. Acceſſerunt & diſtinct. 2. of Conſecration, are interpreted of Spiritual Eating; ſo that he thence infers an Argument, That no Mouſe can receive the Body of Chriſt. But the Sacrament it ſelf cannot be the Object of our Adoration, nor can the Preſence of the Body of Chriſt in the Sacrament be the Ground of it. Such is the miſerable Servitude of the Soul to take Signs and Symbols for Realities; ſo that it cannot lift up the Eye of the Mind above the Corporeal Creature to receive Eternal Light, as St. Auſtin ſays, lib. 3. de Doctrin. Chriſt. c. 5. Without doubt Antiquity never knew what Adoration of the Sacrament meant; and as little known to them was that Modern Practice of carrying it about the Streets, or of erecting to it, in the Highways, Altars hung about with Tapeſtry, or of ſhewing it to the People at certain Hours of the Day, when the Maſs is not celebrated. At that time it was diſtributed to the People either Sitting or Standing, generally upon the Lord's Days, when it was chiefly adminiſtred; as appears out of Juſtin, Apol. 2. but never Kneeling; becauſe it was a Crime among the Primitive Chriſtians to Kneel upon the Lord's Day, as all the Learned agree. Nor do the Romaniſts deny but that there is ſome danger of Idolatry in this Adoration; becauſe that many things are requir'd in Tranſubſtantiation, which whether they are really ſo as they ought to be, is not evidently apparent to any Man. Therefore the Famous Biel, lect. 50. in Can. letter O, propoſes to himſelf this difficulty; Becauſe an Error may happen in Conſecration, by means of which the effect of the Conſecration is hindred; as if the Perſon that Conſecrates be no Priest; or becauſe he errs in Form, or becauſe the due Intention is wanting; nor can he that ſtands by, be ſure that a Tranſubſtantiation is made; no nor the Prieſt that celebrates; becauſe he is not abſolutely certain whither he be a Prieſt or no, in regard the Intention of his Ordainer is not poſitively known to him; all which things conſider'd, how can he that Adores the Sacrament, avoid the danger of Idolatry? For if he adores an unconſecrated Hoſt, which he thinks to be conſecrated, he commits Idolatry. Nor does he propound any other Remedy to eſcape this danger of Idolatry, then a Conditional Adoration; which whether it pleaſes your modern Doctors or no, I know not. Theſe are his words, Litt. R. Reſp. Secundum Alex. part. 3. quaeſt. 30. memb. 3. art. 1. ſect. 3. and after him Biſhop Thomas, and St. Bonaventure in 3. diſtinst. 9. That the Hoſt or Euchariſt upon the Altar ought to be ador'd, upon condition, that all things requiſite to the Conſecration, are ſo as they ought to be. Since then the Adoration of the Sacrament is dubious and dangerous, we of the Reformed Church are not to be accounted Enemies of the Sacrament, becauſe we do not adore it, following that courſe which is ſafeſt and voidof all danger, leſt we ſhould adore what we know not, like the Samaritans of old, John 4.

Laſtly, We cannot be traduc'd for being Enemies to any profeſs'd legal Order, whether Political or Eccleſiaſtical; ſince it is our deſire that all things ſhould be done decently and regularly in the Church, according to the Apoſtolic Precept, 1 Cor. 4. 40. And for that we preſs nothing more urgently in the Public Government, then due Obedience to the Magiſtrates, ignorant of the dangerous Axioms of your Roman Church, which tear up by the Roots the Authority of Princes, and ſubject the Heads and Diadems of Kings and Emperors to the Mitre and Feet of the Pope. Nay, we are in this Point ſo rigid in our Duty, that Bellarmin complains, That we give too much Power to Magiſtrates, c. 17. de Laicis. But becauſe we hold, That the Laws of Men do not bind the Conſcience, it is not to be taken in ſuch a ſenſe, as if we deny'd, That Men were to be obey'd, becauſe of our Conſciences; but only as making this difference between Human and Divine Laws, That the latter only bind and ſubject the Conſciences immediately and of themſelves. And Bellarmin, c. 9. de Laicis, confeſſes; John Gerſon, Chancellor of the Academy of Paris, de vit. Spirit. Lect. 4. and Jacobus Almain, a Doctor of the Sorbonn, de Proteſtat. Eccleſiae, quaeſt. 1. cap. 10. both Famous Men, and neither of them taxed with any Error in Faith.

We do not allow ſo many Rites and Ceremonies in the Church, not out of any hatred of Order and Decency, but out of a juſt abhorrence of Tyranny and Suſperſtition. The more Night comes on, the more the Darkneſs encreaſes. Multitude of Ceremonies are ſo far from helping, that they ſtifle Piety. If the Roman Pontiff preſs'd no more then only a certain Primacy among the Biſhops of the Weſt, for Orders ſake; and that by a poſitive Human and not Divine Law, he might then perhaps have ſome Pretence to complain of us, for refuſing to acknowledge ſuch a Primacy, as Enemies to Order in the Church; and yet there might be a Decency obſerv'd therein, without any ſuch Primacy, as is apparent from the Example of our Churches. But we are not to be accus'd of Deſpiſing Order, while we only reject his Authority; in regard he arrogates to himſelf an abſolute Primacy in the Univerſal Church, not only of Order, but of Power, Authority and Juriſdiction; by virtue of which he pretends to be Monarch of the whole Church jure Divino, contrary to the Saying of St. Cyprian, de Simpl. prael. A Biſhoprick is that, of which a part is held by ſeveral in particular to make up the whole.

Thus far we have diſcuſs'd the more weighty and more heavy Calumnies which are caſt upon the Proteſtants by the Romaniſts, on purpoſe to render them odious to the People, and that they may have ſome Pretence to deliver them up to the Flames of Hell. Now there are ſome other Motives of this raſh Judgment to be examin'd, that there may not the leaſt ſhadow of Reaſon remain to ſupport it. There is no Name by which we are more frequently mark'd out, then that of Heretics; and under this Title you, Mr. Prior, Anathematize us, tho' not the Firſt. For the Pope every year, in his Bull entitl'd, Caena Domini, brandiſhes his Thunder of Excommuication over our Heads, and Interdicts us from all Society with Roman Catholics; ſo that they dare not either read our Books, or hear our Sermons. Where-ever the Rigor of the Inquiſition reigns, our People are hurry'd before its cruel Tribunal, as to the Altars of Buſiris, and the Roman Doctors preſently Preach to us the Axioms of their School; That Heretics and Excommunicated Perſons, ipſo facto, loſe the Dominion and Property of their Goods and Eſtates; That they are incapable of all lawful Juriſdiction; That they do more harm in a Commonwealth then Whores; nay then Jews and Turks; ſo that 'tis better to tolerate Brothel-houſes and Synagogues then their Meetings: That for this reaſon the Pope has Power to deprive Kings of their Dignity; to abſolve Subjects from their Oaths of Fidelity given to the Magiſtrates: That a Husband may forſake his Wife upon this account, if ſhe preſume to bring up the Children, common to both, in Hereſie, altho' the Husband had condeſcended and engaged his Promiſe upon the Contract of Marriage. Laſtly, That Faith given to Heretics, may be violated without any remorſe of Conſcience.

However I maintain this Crime of Hereſie to be unjuſtly, and out of meer Calumny fixed upon Us, the word being Whether Proteſtants be Heretics. taken in that Senſe, wherein the Scripture condemns Hereſie; as when St. Paul reck'ns it among the Fruits of the Fleſh, Gal. 5. 20. and commands Titus to reject a Heretic, Tit. 3. 10. I ſay Proteſtants are no Heretics in that ſenſe wherein Hereſie is condemn'd in Scripture. Certain it is, that the Signification of this word is in general more diffus'd among the Antients, and in particular more largely us'd among the Romaniſts, and that among both they are frequently tax'd of Hereſie, who according to the Scripture are very remote from it. Firſt in general among the Antients: For Philaſtrius Biſhop of Breſcia, Contemporary with St. Ambroſe, reck'ns for Hereſie the Opinion of thoſe that attributed the Epiſtle to the Hebrews, to Clement or Barnabas; alſo the Opinion of them that affirm'd the Stars to be fix'd in their Celeſtial Globes. Whether or no were the Quartodecimans juſtly deem'd Heretics, becauſe they would have Eaſter to be preciſely celebrated upon the Fourteenth Moon? For this was the Opinion of all the Churches of Aſia the leſs, and which Polycrates, a holy Man, ſtifly maintains from Apoſtolical Tradition. And when Victor Biſhop of Rome, preſum'd, about Two hundred years after Chriſt, for that reaſon to Excommunicate the Aſiatic Churches; that is to ſay, to renounce Communion with them; Irenaeus of Lyons ſharply reprov'd him, as the Epiſtles of Polycrates and Irenaeus extant about this Matter in Euſebius, declare, Hiſt. Eccleſ. l. 5. c. 23. & 24. Was Aetius deſervedly numbred among the Heretics, becauſe he acknowledg'd no difference, jure Divino, between a Biſhop and a Presbyter? For it is not evident that the Scripture acknowledges any ſuch difference; and that St. Jerom upon cap. 2. of the Epiſtle to Titus, was plainly of the ſame Opinion; nay, and according to Medina in Bellarmin, That St. Ambroſe, St. Auſtin, Sedulius, Primaſius, and other the moſt Famous Fathers of the Church, were all of the ſame Judgment.

Then again, without queſtion, Rome does no way approve the Ancients for numbring the Angelics among the Heretics, becauſe they gave Religious Worſhip to Angels, which ſhe herſelf defends; or thoſe who by St. Auſtin are call'd Nudipedales, or Pattalorynchites; againſt the former of which it is objected, That they went Bare-foot, ſeeing that at this day this is one of the greateſt Marks of extraordinary Sanctity among you Romaniſts. The other are tax'd to have profeſs'd a certain ſort of Religious Silence, which the Carthuſian Monks however make no ſmall part of their Glory. Or the Collyridians of Epiphanius, Hereſ. 79. who offer'd to the Bleſſed Virgin little Cakes or Wiggs, in Greek call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , and gave her the Title of Queen of Heaven: Which they that now refuſe to do, are all accounted Heretics. Or the Starolatrae of Nicephorus, Hiſt. l. 18. c. 54. who, as the Name imports, worſhipt the Croſs; which moſt of you aſſert is a Duty to be done; Gretſer the Jeſuite affirming, who in that, follows Thomas, Cajetan, Valentia and Vaſquez, that it is the more common Opinion among thoſe of his Religion, l. 1. de Cruce, c. 49.

More paricularly among the Modern Romaniſts under Gregory VII. The Collation of Benefices by Princes, and by Caeſar, was call'd the Simonian and Henrician Hereſie. And as often as in Matters meerly Political any difference happen'd betwen the Kings and Emperors and the Biſhops of Rome, they declar'd them Heretics. Thus Boniface VIII, declar'd Philip the Fair, King of France, a Heretic, becauſe he ſent none of his Soldiers to the Holy War. Thus John Albret, King of Navar, was declar'd a Heretic by Julius II, becauſe he took part with Lewis XII, tho' the Quarrel was not about Matter of Faith; and by virtue of that Condemnation he loſt his Kingdom, which the Spaniard has kept ever ſince. John XXII, pronounced Lewis of Bavaria, the Emperor, a Heretic, becauſe he defended the Cauſe of the Franciſcans, at that time out of the Pope's Favour; but more particularly that of Ockam. I forbear to mention any more.

We muſt therefore reſtrain the Signification of this word, and a little more diligently examin who is properly a Heretic, to the end we may the more eaſily prove the Proteſtants not to be guilty of this Crime. An Heretic (in my Opinion) is one who for the ſake of Temporal Profit, but chiefly of Honor and Supremacy, or of Lordſhip, either founds or follows Falſe and New Opinions. Thus St. Auſtin, de utilitate ad cred. Honor. c. 1. Now in this ſenſe we are not Heretics: For tho' the Opinions were Falſe which we uphold, yet we could not be ſaid to follow them for the ſake of any Temporal Profit, more eſpecially of Honor or Supremacy, but only for the obtaining of Salvation, and upon the only Motive of our Conſciences; in regard it is plain to all the World, that God has annexed to our Profeſſion Reproach, the Croſs and Poverty; and that the Proteſtants often experience the Truth of that Sentence of St. Paul, All that will live godly in Chriſt Jeſus, ſhall ſuffer Perſecution, 2 Tim. 3. 12. Let Cardinal Bellarmin come in for a ſhare too. Why? Becauſe he has lit upon a moſt powerful means for me to demonſtrate to Mr. Prior, That We are no HERETICS. He therefore, c. 8. de not. Eccleſ. going about to prove, that there is no Church among the Greeks, notwithſtanding the continued Succeſſion of their Biſhops from the Apoſtles time; at leaſt from the Reign of Conſtantine the Great, under whom he believes the Conſtantinopolitan Church began, ſays, That the Greeks were lawfully convicted in three full Councils, the Lateran, that of Lyons, and the other of Florence, of Hereſie and Schiſm, more eſpecially of the Hereſie about the Proceeding of the Holy Ghoſt from the Son. This Queſtion about the Proceeding of the Holy Ghoſt, I do not pretend to enter into; nor do I ſee any great difference between the Latins, affirming the Holy Ghoſt to proceed from the Father and the Son; and the Greeks, alledging that He proceeds from the Father through the Son. This is that which I think worthy Obſervation, That after all the Tridentin Deciſions, whereby the greateſt part of the Opinions of our Churches were condem'd for Hereſies, Bellarmin attributes no other Hereſie to the Greeks, beſides that of the Proceeding of the Holy Ghoſt. Whence it follows, that among the Greeks, the Marriage of Prieſts, Communicating under Both Kinds, and with Leavened Bread; the Rejecting Extreme Unction, Auricular Confeſſion, Tranſubſtantiation, Purgatory, and Pontifical Monarchy, were no Hereſies; in all which the Orientals agree with us▪ Now if theſe Articles of the Greeks had bin Heretical, how comes it to paſs that the Lateran, Lyons and Florentine Councils, which enquir'd into their Errors, paſt them by? But if they were not Heretical among the Greeks in the Eaſt, why ſhould they be ſo among the Proteſtants in the Weſt? If among the Greeks it be no Hereſie, but only a Schiſm to reject the Papal Authority, and to ſhake off his Yoke, why muſt it be a pernicious and capital Hereſie among the Proteſtants? Neither is it to be doubted, but that if the Greeks would have ſubjected themſelves in the Lateran Council to the See of Rome, all the abovementioned Articles, except the denial of the Pope's Supremacy, had been allow'd them. Whence it is apparent that thoſe Articles are neither Heretical nor pernicious in Faith, nor deſtructive of Salvation; ſince it was poſſible that the Greeks retaining them, might nevertheleſs have bin true Members of the Catholic Church, and conſequently capable of Eternal Life.

But that no Man may think I am overcuriouſly romaging for my Juſtification in the Theſis's of my Adverſaries, that I may ſlip out at length at ſome Back-door, I ſhall add ſome direct Reaſons for our Innocency, which cannot be Anſwer'd.

Firſt therefore, no Man can be traduc'd as a Heretic, and branded with an Infamous Crime, unleſs it be ſufficiently apparent, that He, as the Scripture ſays, has receded from the Holy Command of God, and ſuffer'd Shipwrack of his Faith. For as St. Auſtin ſays, de unit. Eccleſ. c. 5. No Man is to be branded with an ignominious Mark, unleſs it be firſt prov'd by moſt manifeſt Proofs, that the Mark belongs to Him. And therefore formerly Councils were aſſembled, as well Provincial as General, for the Conviction of Heretics; wherein it was lawful for the Offenders to defend themſelves, and the Cauſe was ſeriouſly examin'd by the Rule of Faith, and the Documents of Sacred Scripture. Neither did Paſſion prevail among Them, but Truth and the Fear of God. But in reſpect of the Proteſtants, no ſuch thing was ever obſerv'd; for againſt them they began prepoſterouſly with Execution. The firſt Arguments of their Adverſaries, were Halters, Fire and Sword, according to the Dyſtich affixed to the Bed of Charles V, at the Auguſtan Dyet, in the Year 1530.

Whence it came to paſs, that after a thouſand ſorts of Executions, and numberleſs Martyrs conſum'd by violent Deaths; at length a Council was aſſembled, but packt, and conſiſting of none but the Capital Enemies of the Proteſtants; not to hear them calmly and mildly, nor to diſcuſs their Cauſe with Charity and Meekneſs, but to brandiſh and rattle o'er their Heads the Thunder oſ Anathema's. Neither were they ever admitted or heard in this Council, I mean that of Trent; the Hiſtory of which, if read, is ſufficient to diſplay the Juſtice of it. Nay, Rome it ſelf was aſham'd of this Council; for ſhe only publiſh'd the Canons and Decrees, but diligently ſuppreſs'd the Acts; which nevertheleſs were afterwards, through the ſingular Providence of God, brought to lightby Paul Sarpio, a Venetian, of the Order of the Servites, under the Name of Pietro Soave Polano, to the great aſtoniſhment and deteſtation of all Men, whoſe Judgments were more ſound and impartial.

In the Second place, there is no Hereſie, where there is no ſtubborn Obſtinacy, nor wilful perſiſting in the Error. This St. Auſtin teacheth us, Epiſt. 162. They who defend not their Opinion with any ſtubborn Animoſity, tho' falſe and perverſe, more eſpecially if not brought forth by the boldneſs of their own Preſumption, but having receiv'd it from their Parents, either ſeduc'd or fall'n into Error, ſeek after the Truth with induſtrious Care, ready to be corrected when they have found it, are not to be numbred among Heretics. Now the Reform'd are far from any ſuch Stubbornneſs; nothing retains them in their Religion, except the force of Conſcience through the evidence of Truth. We daily offer thoſe who accuſe us of Hereſie, to forſake the Error, if we are in any, ſo they ſhew it to us with the Light of Truth. For with that only Daughter of Heaven we are enamor'd e'en to death, who alone can recover and aſſert our freedom. If we diſcover any extraordinary Zeal and Fervor (I wiſh it were more fervent) in our Profeſſion, that is not to be imputed to any Spirit of Contradiction, but to that moſt firm Perſuaſion of our Hearts, through the Celeſtial Illumination of the Divine Word, that we are in the way of Truth. But yet a little farther.

Thirdly, As a Cat has an enmity againſt a Bat, and will Whether Proteſtants be Sehiſmatics. eat it, either becauſe ſhe takes it for a Mouſe, or a Bird; ſo you Romaniſts proſecute us Proteſtants with an implacable Hatred, and damn us to the Flames of Hell, either as Heretics, or, if that Pretence fail, as Schiſmatics. For they who deal moſt gently by us, can afford us no better then to lay to our Charge the Crime of Schiſm, the Rending of the ſeamleſs Garment of Chriſt, the Viper's Skin, and the breach of the Churches Unity. But as far as we are from Hereſie, ſo far likewiſe are we from Schiſm; and of this Crime it will be as eaſie to clear our ſelves as of the former.

Firſt therefore, tho' the firſt Authors of the Reformation had overhaſtily deſerted the Roman Communion; which cannot be ſaid, in regard that they try'd all ways to preſerve themſelves in it, with ſafety to their Conſciences; nevertheleſs they who were born after the Schiſm, and prefer the Proteſtant Communion before the Roman, becauſe they find Satisfaction of Conſcience in it, which they have no proſpect of in the other Communion, cannot be accus'd of Schiſm, nor can be cenſur'd to have loſt the hopes of Salvation, becauſe they perſevere in the Proteſtant Communion. This perhaps, Mr. Prior, you look upon as a Paradox, and yet it may be prov'd without any great difficulty. Certain it is, that formerly, under Jeroboam, ten entire Tribes, a Schiſm happening, deſerted the Communion of the Church and Temple of Jeruſalem, of which God had ſaid, My Name ſhall abide there; and having made choice of Dan and Bethel for the places of Public Worſhip, joyn'd Idolatry to their Schiſm. For the Calves at Dan and Bethel, under which they ador'd God, were moſt aſſuredly Idols. Nevertheleſs it is a Queſtion whether the Poſterity of theſe Schiſmatics, born in the time of the Schiſm it ſelf, and as it were carry'd away with the Torrent of it, are to be excluded from Salvation; ſo that they abſtain'd from the Worſhip of Idols at that time. The reaſon of the Doubt ſeems very great; for that God, long after the Schiſm, ſtill acknowledg'd the Ten Tribes for his People; ſent his Prophets to them, and entruſted them with his Extraordinary Oracles. If then it cannot be ſaid of theſe Ten Tribes, ſo notoriouſly Schiſmatical, that there was nothing remaining of the Covenant of God, and Light of Nature for them, who were as it were ſwept away with the Torrent of Schiſm; much leſs are the Modern Proteſtants to be excluded from Salvation, and formally to be accounted Heretics, tho' it ſhould be granted, that the firſt Authors of the Schiſm did ſin againſt the Rules of Charity, and overhaſtily broke the Bond of Unity, eſpecially ſeeing that the Divine Worſhip under the New Teſtament is not fixed to Rome and the Quirinal Mount, as it was to Sinai, and the Temple of Jeruſalem.

But there is no neceſſity that we ſhould over earneſtly deſire the Aſſiſtance of the Ten Tribes; our Cauſe would be but in a deſperate Condition, ſhould it ſtand in need of their Aid. I muſt confeſs, we did depart from the Church of Rome, and that another Worſhip was ſet up in the Weſt as to External Rites, then was publicly receiv'd before the time of that departure. But I deny that this departure, ſo far as concerns our ſelves, to be a Schiſm; rather I averr, on the other ſide, that it was lawful and juſt, and that they are to be accounted Schiſmatics who were the occaſion of ſo neceſſary a departure, that caus'd the Wound to Gangrene, and ſhut the Gate againſt all Peace and Reunion of the Church. For ſometimes it may be convenient to deſert ſome Societies that profeſs the Name of Chriſt, if there be taught among them any other Goſpel then what we have receiv'd from the Apoſtles. This is a thing not to be queſtion'd. Hence Apoc. 2. 6. the Epheſians are commended, becauſe they hated the Nicolaitans. On the other ſide, the Pergamenians are reprov'd, ver. 15, 16. becauſe they gave them a Toleration. Hence in the Ancient Church, the Orthodox and Catholics always very ſedulouſly deſerted the Communion of Heretics. Rome it ſelf, which now accuſes us of Schiſm, in the very Infancy of the Chriſtian Religion departed from the Aſiatic Churches upon a ſlight difference about Eaſter-day. And it is long ſince that the Romaniſts broke the Bond of Unity with the whole Eaſt. But it is not long ſince, that the Commonwealth of Venice being Excommunicated by Paul V, the Jeſuites were ſeen openly to deſert the whole Territory; ſo that they rather choſe to renounce their Temples, their Altars, and their Ordinary Worſhip, then remain in the leaſt Communion with the Venetian. So that they are not ſimply to be blam'd who ſeparate, but they that ſeparate unjuſtly and raſhly. Let us ſee then whether or no our Separation were juſt and neceſſary, that we may free it from being Schiſmatical.

Certainly it cannot be ſaid, that we ſeparated willingly and of our own accords, but conſtrain'd and expell'd by all manner of violences. In the very Boſom of the Roman Church, we importunately deſir'd a Reformation of Abuſes, which proceſs of time had multiplied, as well in Doctrin as in Diſciplin; and which the Grandees and People in the Churches of Germany, France, England, and the Low Countries, moſt earneſtly long'd for, both in the Head and Members. But what was done? They were not only not heard, much leſs heard in ſo juſt a Petition, but all ſeverity was exercis'd againſt them with Temporal and Spiritual Arms; Fire, Sword and Halters were made uſe of to extirpate out of the World thoſe whom Anathema's and the Thunder of Excommunication had expell'd from all Public Communion. Thus Excommunicated, Expell'd, and lyable to dire Perſecution, what ſhould we do? It was not ſafe to redeem your Communion at the Price of our Conſciences, by ſubſcribing to the Errors themſelves, and by receiving all thoſe School-Aſſertions which we deem'd contrary to the Rules of Chriſtian Doctrin, as Articles of our Faith. Therefore it was neceſſary that another Worſhip ſhould be ſet up, that other Pulpits ſhould be erected, and that other Congregations ſhould be aſſembled together, which was every where done by the Authority of the Magiſtrate, whoſe Duty it is to protect the Church, and ſedulouſly to take care for the Reformation of Doctrin and Diſciplin therein, if corrupted through the neglect of the Ordinary Paſtors. Becanus the Jeſuite, Analog. Vet. & Nov. Teſt. c. 26. num. 4. reck'ns up ſeveral Reformations made in the Jewiſh Church by Pious Kings, ſuch as were Aſa, Jehoſaphat, Joſia, Ezechia and Joas, who moſt certainly had ſufficient Authority to reform the Worſhip of God, and to reſtore it to its Primitive Purity. Therefore it cannot be deny'd, but that thoſe Chriſtian Princes and Magiſtrates, who in the times of our Fore-fathers, put their helping Hands to the Reformation, had a Right to labour the Inſtitution of another Worſhip, more Pure, more Holy, and more Plain then that from which they were forc'd to make a Separation, becauſe they had requir'd a Reformation of it. Moreover, tho' Rome had not forſaken us, yet there was a neceſſity of forſaking her; becauſe ſhe refuſed to reform her own Abuſes, and long contracted Corruptions. We have in this particular a moſt expreſs Command, Apoc. 18. 4. Come out of her my people, that you be not partakers of her crimes, and receive not of her puniſhments. Which Command is of ſo much the greater moment, becauſe the Jeſuites themſelves, Ribera upon the 14. and 18. Apoc. and Viegas upon the 18. interpret that to be meant of Rome, not the Ethnic, but the Chriſtian Rome, and ſuch as it is in Scripture foretold it ſhall be under Anti-Chriſt. To us alſo (ſays Viegas, ſect. 1. in 18. Apoc.) it ſeems that the ſame thing ought to be ſaid with Aretas, Primaſius, Ambroſe, Jerom, and others, (obſerve what Teſtimonies he cites and how many) that the Idolatry of it is here meant, and that Rome ſhall depart from the Faith, and ſo ſhall become the Habitation of Devils, and of every unclean Spirit, and every unclean Bird, by reaſon of her execrable Enormities, and Superſtition of Idolatry, which at that time ſhall rage far and near in the Roman City and Empire. But you would ſay, Mr. Prior, if you had any Wit, how comes it to paſs that you have now more nice Conſciences, then your Fore-fathers had before the Reformation, who dy'd in the Communion of the Roman Church, and of whoſe Salvation you are unwilling to make any doubt?

I Anſwer, firſt; That the Conſciences of others are no Rule to ours, and that every Man ought to follow his own and not anothers. Would you have me, as you deſire in your Letter, that I ſhould embrace the Roman Communion? What if I ſhould preſs you to embrace Ours, wherein ſo many Men enjoy the Tranquility of their Conſciences?

Secondly, I ſay that our Fore-fathers might with ſafety to their Conſciences perſevere in the Roman Communion, notwithſtanding they abominated the Abuſes and Corruptions of it, becauſe God had not ſhewn them a way to depart; nor were the Abuſes as yet ſo palpably intollerable, becauſe they had not as yet obtain'd the force of Law, nor were eſtabliſh'd under the Penalties of Excommunication. But the Example of our Anceſtors cannot be apply'd to us, becauſe that God ſet up the Standard of the Goſpel in another place to Us. He call'd to Us to come out of Babel, when the Opinions of the Scholaſtics were changed into Articles of Faith. So long as the time appointed for their Captivity laſted, the Iſraelites might ſecurely abide either in Egypt or Babel: But it had bin a Crime for them to have remain'd there any longer, when God call'd them forth to Liberty. He would be very ridiculous indeed, who having rich and fertile Paſtures, ſhould neglect them, and rather chuſe to carry his Flock into noxious Grounds, in hopes that his Sheep would let alone the hurtful Weeds, and only feed upon the wholſom Herbs. So were he deſervedly to be derided, who ſhould prefer the noxious and dangerous Paſtures of the Roman Church, before the well Wooded Gardens of the Reformed Churches, in hopes of diſcerning the poyſonous Weeds from the wholſom Herbage, as it is very probable our Anceſtors did.

Laſtly, I add this farther; That I do not here diſpute, Whether the Roman Communion may be retain'd, without the loſs of Eternal Salvation? This Queſtion belongs to another place. But, Whether we are Schiſmatics, becauſe we have deſerted it? Now I maintain the Negative, becauſe that Conſcience alone ſummon'd us to the Separation, without any other Conſideration; nay, contrary to all other worldly Conſiderations which perſuaded us to adhere to it. Some there are, who to convict us of Schiſm, reproach the Calling of our Paſtors, but with an Argument too weak for the Proof of ſo great a Crime. Formerly the Novatians and Donatiſts made a Schiſm in the Church, becauſe they wou'd not ſubmit to Biſhops of Places Canonically inſtituted, but ſet up Biſhops of their own chuſing, who, for that they were deſtitute of Canonical Election, wanted a lawful Calling. But there was no ſuch thing could be ſaid of our firſt Paſtors in the Work of Reformation. For they were not elected and conſtituted hand over head, in Oppoſition to others already Canonically inſtituted, as the Novatians in the Roman See oppos'd Novatus againſt the Council; but were lawfully and canonically conſtituted in their Functions, according to all the Ceremonies then us'd in the Church, and by the nature of their Calling, by which they knew themſelves bound to propagate the Truth, were conſtrain'd in their Conſciences to oppoſe themſelves againſt the Abuſes and Corruptions at that time crept into the Church, and to apply themſelves to a Reformation. But as they were lawfully Call'd, ſo they could impart that Calling to others; and by that means it is deriv'd to us, and ſo by us may be deriv'd to our Succeſſors. For they are not to be thought to have loſt their Calling, for oppoſing themſelves againſt the Abuſes of that Church wherein they receiv'd it. Nay, they had bin unworthy of it, had they not oppos'd themſelves againſt thoſe Corruptions that were ſo well known to them. For every Church that confers upon any Man the ſacred Function of the Public Miniſtry, ſeems to ſay to him, what Trajan the Emperor was wont to ſay to the Perſon whom he created Maſter of the Horſe, by the delivery of a Sword, Ʋſe this in my defence, if my Commands are just; but if unjust, make uſe of it against me. Thus a Paſtor Canonically ordaind, ought to make uſe of his Calling, to ſupport the Doctrin of the Church wherein he receiv'd it, if it be conformable to Truth; but if not, to oppoſe it.

Nor does their being Excommunicated, deprive them of their Calling; becauſe it was unjuſt, and made uſe of to ſupport the Errors which they impugned, and to keep up in the Temple the Money-Changers Tables, which they endeavour'd to overturn. Nay, the very Romaniſts themſelves confeſs, that the Character of the Clergy is indelible, and that an Excommunicated Perſon may Conſecrate, Preach, and adminiſter the Sacraments effectually. Neither is it to be ſaid, that the firſt Reformers were meer Presbyters, that could not confer their Calling upon others, in regard that Ordination belongs only to the Biſhops. For in regard the ſacred Scriptures do not ſo plainly teach us what is the difference between a Presbyter and a Biſhop; and that ſome of yours, particularly Medina, confeſs that the Function of Ordaining may as well belong to a Preſbyter as a Biſhop, you ought not to make any great difficulty in this Caſe, in regard the Diſpute is not yet determin'd.

To which I add, That in ſeveral places the Reformation began from the Biſhops, who therefore held their former Dignity in the Reformation, which they held before. And it is a wonder, Mr. Prior, that you and yours ſhould carp at the Calling of our Paſtors, to prove our want of Succeſſion of Paſtors, when your ſelves acknowledg, that any Man without Orders, without a Character, without any Call, may Conſecrate the Euchariſt. I am contented with one unanſwerable Argument. Your Durandus, in his Rationale, lib. 4. cap. 35. § 7. alſo the Author of the Curates Manual, de Sacr. Euchariſt. cap. 10. and many others, give this Reaſon for the Secreta, (i. e. the ſpeaking the words of Conſecration ſo low as not to be heard) being introduc'd in the Canon of the Maſs: Becauſe that formerly, when the Canon was repeated with a loud Voice, the People readily learnt the Rites of Conſecrating; whence it came to paſs, that the Shepherds in the Country, laying the Bread upon a Stone, and repeating over it the Canon and Words of the Conſecration, preſently changed their Bread into Fleſh. Now either this muſt be a Fable, which however you frequently make uſe of to eſtabliſh your Figment of Tranſubantiation; or elſe you muſt allow that any Man may Conſecrate and Celebrate the moſt Auguſt of all Sacraments, tho' neither Call'd nor Ordain'd, as we cannot believe thoſe Shepherds to have bin.

But as the Crime of Schiſm is falſely laid to our Charge, ſo are we moſt falſely ſaid to be without the Church, without which there is no Salvation. We have ſeparated indeed from the Roman Communion, but it does not thence follow that we are out of the Church of God, in regard that by the Grace of God we are Members of the Catholic Church, profeſſing Chriſtianity, baptiz'd in the Name of the moſt holy Trinity, in all things adhering to the Head and Foundation, Chriſt Jeſus. Cardinal Hoſius, in his Confeſſion, acknowledges, That the Church is there whereever the Belief of the Mediator is. We have a Belief of a Mediator, through the favour of God; and therefore we are hated at Rome, becaoſe we acknowledg Chriſt to be the only Mediator. Beſides that, we have not departed from your Roman Church, unleſs in ſuch things wherein ſhe firſt departed from the Word of God, and the Purity of Antiquity, adhering ſtill to the ſame Communion of Faith and Charity with Her in the Fundamentals of Chriſtianity; and knowing that we and the Members of your Communion are Brethren in Baptiſm, as the Iſraelites and Jews were Brethren in Circumciſion, tho' in External Worſhip they differ'd very much.

Nor can any probable Reaſon be invented to convince us, that any Man ought to be ſubject to the Biſhop of Rome, and retain his Communion, to the end he may be in a Church out of which there is no Salvation. So many Chriſtians as are within the ancient Patriarchates of the Eaſt, and who exceed you Romaniſts far in number, are not raſhly to be ſaid to be out of the Church of Chriſt, becauſe they refuſe to be under the Pope's Yoke. The Churches of Aſia were not excluded from the Covenant of Chriſt by the raſh Excommunication of Pope Victor, becauſe they ſeparated from him upon the difference about Eaſter-day. The Roman Clergy ſeparated from their Pope Liberius, who had ſubſcrib'd to Arianiſm, without incuring the blame of Schiſm, or the loſs of Salvation. The Famous St. Cyprian Biſhop and Martyr, whom your Church afterwards worſhipt among the reſt of her Saints, dy'd out of the Communion and Subjection to the See of Rome, divided from her both in Faith and Affection, by reaſon of his Doctrin of Re-baptizing Heretics, was very hardly thought of by Stephen Biſhop of Rome; and yet no Man hitherto made any doubt but that he obtain'd Salvation. And therefore 'tis an idle thing to exact from us Subjection to the See of Rome, to the end we may be in the Church, and obtain Salvation, eſpecially if the Papacy be now Extinct, and that there has bin no lawful Pope for a long time.

Now this is eaſily prov'd: For that I may paſs over in ſilence ſo many Schiſms by which the Succeſſion of the Popes was interrupted; So many Simoniacal Elections into that See, which are recorded in Hiſtory; ſo many Popes in the Tenth Age to be call'd Apoſtatic, and Renouncers of Chriſt, rather then Apoſtolic (upon the Teſtimony of Genebrade) I uſe a new Argument to which you Romaniſts can make no Anſwer. It is confirm'd as well by the Canon Law, as by Cuſtom time out of mind, That a Pope may conſtitute a new Law, and a new Form for Chuſing a Succeſſor; which not being obſerv'd, an Election otherwiſe made, is void. Hence Julius II, grieving that he had invaded the Supreme Authority by Simony, made a new Law concerning the Simoniacal Election of the Pope for the future; whereby he ordain'd, That any Pope who after him ſhould be Simoniacally elected, ſhould be lookt upon as an Intruder, a Magician, a Publican, an Arch Heretic, and that he ſhould by no means be acknowledg'd for a lawful Pope. But that Sixtus V, was choſen Simoniacally, is a thing which almoſt every Body knows.

For that he might be elected, he bought the Suffrages of Cardinal d'Eſte, and the Cardinals depending upon him, and covenanted with him in a Writing drawn up and ſubſcrib'd with his own Hand, that during his Pontificate, he would never make Jeronymo Matthei, who was de'Eſte's Enemy, a Cardinal, upon condition that by d'Eſte's means he obtain'd the Pontificate. Upon which being made Pope by d'Eſte and his Faction, he confeſs'd himſelf to be the work of his hands. However Sixtus forfeited his Faith to Him, and created Matthei Cardinal for all that; which Cardinal d'Eſte took ſo ill, that he ſent the Contract between him and Sixtus to Philip II, King of Spain, who in the Year 1589, ſent the Duke of Seſſa his Extraordinary Embaſſador to Rome, to give Notice to Sixtus of his Intentions to call a General Council upon the Information of a Simoniacal Election, and to require the Cardinals created by the Predeceſſors of Sixtus, and other Eccleſiaſtics, to be preſent at a Council to be aſſembled at Sevil; but becauſe upon intimation of the Council Sixtus dy'd for Deſpair, the buſineſs went no farther. This is related in a certain Book, entitled Papatus Romanus, cap. 10. pag. 200, &c. Seeing then that Sixtus was an Illegal and Simoniac Intruder, certain it is that the Papacy ceas'd in him; ſo that they who ſucceeded were no true Popes, becauſe they were elected by the Cardinals which he created; who being Intruders, as created by a Simoniac, wanted Right of Election, as well according to the Council of Conſtance, as for that according to the Rule of the Lawyers, No Man can transfer more Right to another, then he has himſelf.

And therefore the whole World ought not to be ſhut up in one City. Some are of Cephas, others of Paul, others of Clement; let it ſuffice a Chriſtian to be of Chriſt. Whoever fears God, and works Righteouſneſs in whatever part of the World he is, is acceptable to God. If two or three are gathered together in the Name of Chriſt, he will be in the midst of them. The Supernal Jeruſalem, which enjoys her Liberty, is the Mother of us all. We ſhall not be Judg'd by the Roman or Popes Communion, but by the Communion of Saints, and of Chriſt. Therefore we cannot be Schiſmatics, upon this juſt, neceſſary and ſound Separation of ours.

There are ſtill remaining, Reverend Mr. Prior, ſome other Motives of yours to this raſh Judgment which you give of us, which are now to be brought to the Touch with the reſt. There are ſome who believe, a Poſteriori, that we are deſervedly to be liſted among the number of the Damned, becauſe we ſtand Excommunicated by the Pope and the Catholic Church: But in regard theſe Excommunications do not ſtrike us, but either as Heretics or Schiſmatics, they do us no hurt, in regard we are neither Heretics nor Schiſmatics, as hath bin already ſhewn. If they are neceſſarily to be numbred among the Damned, whom the Pope has Excommunicated, of neceſſity all in Aſia the leſs, who dy'd during the Excommunication of Victor upon the Paſchal difference, muſt be by all Chriſtians excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven; and that the Sacraments, which you our Adverſaries nevertheleſs will allow, preſerve their Excellency by way of Phyſical Cauſe, and in general all Public Worſhip muſt be depriv'd of their Efficacy in all Provinces which are ſometimes ſubject to Papal Interdiction. Nor ought we to paſs over in ſilence that Obſervation of St. Jerom upon that place of Mat. 16. wherein the Keys of Heaven are promis'd to St. Peter. This Place (ſaith the holy Man) the Biſhops and Presbyters not underſtanding, aſſume to themſelves ſomething of the Pride of the Phariſees, even to Damn the Innocent, and Abſolve the Guilty; whereas God regards not the Sentence of the Prieſt, but the Life of the Offender. But according to this Saying of St. Jerom, all Caſuiſts and Canoniſts acknowledge that an unjuſt Excommunication is Invalid; and that ſuch an Excommunicate may both Adminiſter and Receive the Sacraments with a good Conſcience.

An Excommunication without a juſt Cauſe, is not valid in the Interior Court; therefore ſuch a one may Celebrate, where it is no Scandal (ſays the Jeſuite Emanuel Sa, voce Excommunicat. § 4. But Toletus, lib. Inſtruct. Sacram. cap. 10. num. 7. more poſitively aſſerts, That there is no unjuſt Sentence of Excommunication can bind, either as to God, or as to the Church. But it is unjuſt (as he ſays again § 1.) from ſome defect; which if it be Eſſential, makes it no Excommunication; and then it is not to be dreaded, neither does it bind either in the Court of Heaven or Earth: Which he confirms by the Teſtimony of ſeveral Canoniſts. If therefore we are unjuſtly Excommunicated, and as the Schoolmen Phraſe it, Clave Errante, or with an Erring Key, and that theſe Excommunications are of no force, Our Damnation cannot be inferr'd a Poſteriori from ſuch Sentences; but that they are unjuſt and null, I ſhall eaſily demonſtrate. An Excommunication is ſaid to be null, ſays Toletus, ibid. § 4. if it contain an intolerable Error, &c. Now then a Sentence is ſaid to contain an intolerable Error, when any one is Excommunicated; becauſe he does that which is Good in it ſelf, or does not do that which is in its own act Unlawful. Why then are we Excommunicated? Surely becauſe we do that which is good in it ſelf, applying our ſelves to the Word of God, and will not adhere to thoſe who would have us to be wiſer then the Scripture can make us, and refuſing to do what is evil in it ſelf, or at leaſt what we judge in our Conſciences to be ſo, and becauſe we adhere not to a Worſhip unlawful and contrary to Scripture.

An Excommunication is void, if it be pronounc'd by one already Excommunicated or Suſpended from Juriſdiction, or Interdicted, or after a lawful Appeal, ſays Emanuel Sa, as above, § 1. And Toletus has the ſame words. Now ſuch is the Excommunication which is thunder'd over our Heads. For it is long ago that the Biſhops of Rome through their Simonies have according to the Canons incurr'd the Penalty of moſt dreadful Excommunications; ſo that they are uncapable of all Juriſdiction. For an Excommunicate cannot exerciſe an act of Juriſdiction, without ſinning; nay, if it be a public Excommunication, all his Sentences are void, ſays Toletus, lib. 1. Inſt. Sacerd. cap. 13. § 4. And who can queſtion, ſince the firſt Puniſhment of a Simoniac is, ipſo facto, Papal Excommunication, as Toletus aſſerts, lib. 5. cap. 93. but that he is notoriouſly and publicly Excommunicated, who is notoriouſly and publicly Simoniacal, as I have particularly made it appear of Sixtus V, who was nevertheleſs the Author of that Bull, entitled de Coena Domini, in the Form in which it is now Extant, whereby the Proteſtants are ſolemnly Excommunicated every year by the Pope?

To this I add, That they two can have no Juriſdiction over Us, who Curſe us to the Pit of Hell, and ſo their Excommunications, tho' they two were lawful Biſhops, are void. For if a Biſhop cannot Excommunicate one that is out of his Dioceſe, or in a Priviledg'd Place, as Emanuel Sa affirms, as above, Sect. 12. By what Right does the Biſhop of Rome pretend to Excommunicate us, who never belong'd to a Dioceſe? Or to arrogate a general Juriſdiction and Authority over the whole Church of God, which he had never any thing to do with? In a word, we value not their inconſiderate, unjuſt and void Excommunications.

They are dull and ſilly Thunders that hurt no body. Such ſort of Curſes, God, for the benefit of his true Adorers, turns into Bleſſings, according to that of David, Pſal. 109. ver. 23. From ſuch Tempeſts the Damnation of the Proteſtants is no more to be inferr'd, then of theirs who formerly profeſs'd Chriſt, becauſe the Scribes and Phariſees Excommunicated them after their Solemn manner.

No leſs ridioulous are they who alledge, that the Proteſtants Concerning want of Miracles among Proteſtants. are therefore damn'd, becauſe they profeſs a Religion which wants the Seal of Miracles. Truly you Romaniſts do very well to put us in mind of your Miracles. For moſt Learned Men of your Communion complain, that the Golden Legends of the Saints are ſtuſt with Fables, and Couterfeit Miracles, as you may read particularly in Melchior Canus, producing the Teſtimonie of Ludovicus Vives, lib. 2. Locor. cap. 6. Their Frauds and Impoſtures are everywhere obvious; by which the ſaying of Lyranus upon Dan. 2. before the Reformation; Sometimes there was in the Church a notorious Deluſion of the People by Miracles counterfeited by the Prieſts and their Adherents for Temporal Gain. Thoſe Imaginary Miracles, with which the Proteſtants were to be convinced, in regard they are Signs for Unbelievers, are not only very ſeldom wrought before us, but are many times ſaid to be hindred by our preſence.

The Mexican and Japanic Prodigies, of which the Jeſuites ſo loudly boaſt, are but Imaginations, ſince Acoſta, Victoria and Canus expreſly acknowledge, that no Miracles are wrought in India to promote Converſion. And Acoſta denies that there is any uſe of Miracles there, lib. 6. proc. Ind. Salut. cap. 17. In thoſe places (ſays he) there is no need of any more then good Works, and of ſhining ſo before Men, which the Natives beholding, may glorifie the Father which is in Heaven.: This is the moſt potent Miracle to perſuade. But Francis Victoria, Relect. 5. Prop. 5. is of Opinion, That the Chriſtian Faith is not ſo ſufficiently preach'd to the Barbarians, that they ſhould be bound to believe under New Sin: For I hear of no Miracles and Signs, no Examples of a Life ſo Religious, but of many Scandals, and many Impieties. Inſomuch that Canus applies thoſe idle Relations to the common Spaniſh Proverb, Long Ways, long Lies; as if they might lie by authority, who tell Stories done or counterfeited in remote and diſtant Regions. So that if Xaverius the New Apoſtle of Japan, had had the Gift of Miracles, which is ſo eaſily believ'd of him, he ought chiefly then to have exercis'd his Gift in the Ship, which carry'd him from Malaca to Japan, where he was forc'd, nolens volens, To behold the Mariners ſacrificing to an Image of the Devil, after the manner of their Country, and imploring the Anſwers of the Image touching the Succeſs of their Voyage, which, as the Barbarians ſaid and believ'd, were ſometimes favourable, ſometimes terrible. Nor would he have needed, had he receiv'd the Gift of working Miracles from Heaven, to have ſpent ſo much time in learning the Japan Language. The words of Xaverius are theſe; So ſoon as we have obtain'd the aſſiſtance of Language, we hope that by the aſſiſtance of God the buſineſs will proceed much better; for now we only converſe among them like a ſort of Images (as not long ago, in the Tract of the Rhine, the Capuchin Marco de Aviano, to put off his Miracles, ran about, like a Barbarian, among the Germans, for no body underſtood what he ſaid) they talk much concerning us, and turn and look one upon another, while we are mute, and are conſtraind as it were to go to School again, till we have learnt the Elements of the Language. Is here, I beſeech you, any Apoſtolic Character to be found? Yet all theſe are Extant, Epiſt. lib. 1. Epiſt. Japan Adject. Com. Eman. Acoſta, of the Tranſactions of the Jeſuites in the Eaſt, and by Maffaeus the Jeſuite, ſet forth at Delingtren, Anno Dom. 1571. The Epiſtle is written by Xaverius to the Society from Congoxima, on the Firſt of November, 1549. Afterwards the ſame Maffaeus, for what reaſon I know not, left out this Epiſtle, from whence I faithfully tranſcrib'd the Quotations above-mention'd; unleſs it were that he was aſham'd of the Truth in his ſelect Epiſtles written from India, which he added to his Indian Hiſtory, Printed at Cologn, Anno Dom. 1589.

Moreover, not to ſay any thing of the Work of Reformation begun and propagated, then which a greater Miracle can hardly be imagin'd, I would fain oppoſe the two following Obſervations to thoſe that reproach us with want of Miracles.

I. Miracles are not always among them, with whom they are wrought, as a mark of Truth, when Heathens and Heretics formerly could boaſt of Miracles, and many ſhall ſay to Chriſt in that day, Lord, have we not caſt forth Devils, and wrought many Wonders in thy Name? To whom he ſhall anſwer, Depart from me, for I know ye not, Mat. 7. 21, 23. And there ſhall come falſe Chriſts and falſe Prophets, arm'd with Signs and Wonders, by which the Elect themſelves, if it were poſſible, ſhall be ſeduc'd, Mat. 24. 24. Thus Allius Naevius, the Augur, cut a Whetſtone with a Razor, in the view of all the People of Rome. And one of the Veſtal Virgins, as a confirmation of her untainted Chaſtity, took up Water in a Sieve, and carry'd it away. And Claudia, another of the ſame Order, alone without any help, with her Girdle drew along the Ship which carry'd the Mother of the Gods, which many Mariners, hawling all together, could not ſtir. Plutarch alſo, in Coriolanus, relates that the Image of Fortune ſpoke; and often, as the ſame Author relates, in the ſame Life, the Images and Statues were ſeen to Sweat, Bleed and Weep. St. Auſtin likewiſe tells us of many ſuch Portents that happen'd among the Gentiles, lib. 10 de civitate Dei. Tacitus alſo. Hiſt. lib. 4. relates of Veſpaſian, that by his ſingle Touch, he reſtor'd Sight to the Blind, and Strength to the Lame. Bellarmin. cap. 14. de Not. Eccleſ. That both their Diſeaſes proceeded from the Devil, who having ſeiz'd the Eye of the one, and the Leg of the other, hindred the Uſe of their Limbs, to the end he might ſeem to heal when he ceas'd to hurt. I do not ſee why the Proteſtants may not uſe the ſame Exception againſt ſo many Miracles which the Romaniſts ſeign by the Touch either of their Images or their Reliques. But I ſhall here furl my ſwelling Sails, Mr. Prior, being ready to explain and enlarge my ſelf, whenſoever you ſhall be pleas'd to re-aſſume and examin this Matter.

II. Miracles do not of neceſſity follow Truth. For tho' they were neceſſary in the time of Infant Chriſtianity; yet the true Religion being now eſtabliſh'd and ſetled over all the World, if not manifeſtly profitable, they ceaſe however to be abſolutely neceſſary. So that St. Auſtin, lib. 2. de civitate Dei, with very great reaſon ſaid, Whoever ſtill enquires after Prodigies, to confirm his Belief, is himſelf a great Prodigy. I forbear any more; let it ſuffice me only to produce the Fathers of the Second Nicene Council, act. 4. Why do our Images at this day work no Miracles? I anſwer with the Apoſtle; Miracles are not for Believers, but for the Ʋnbelievers. Now then if the Proteſtants embrace the Doctrin of Chriſt and his Apoſtles, the Miracles of Chriſt and his Apoſtles are ſufficient for them: Which would be neceſſary again, were they to follow ſome new and never heard of Goſpel before.

Nor does the difference, whatever it is, between the Reform'd Churches and the Lutherans, whatever it be Concerning the Differences of Proteſtants among themſelves. either in Ceremonies, or ſome Points of Doctrin, ſavour a jot more your precipitate Judgment concerning the Eternal Damnation of the Proteſtants. For you Romaniſts your ſelves acknowledge, that the Greek and Eaſtern Chriſtians would be in the way of Salvation, would they but ſubmit to the Empire of the Pope, tho' they retain'd their Ceremonies and Opinions differing in many Circumſtances from the Rites and Doctrin of the Roman Church. It is apparent from the Epiſtle of St. Auſtin to Januarius, that all the Churches did not make uſe of the ſame Rites and Ceremonies. In the Apoſtolic Churches alſo, ſoon after the firſt dawn of Chriſtianity, Diſputes and Contentions aroſe; to paſs by thoſe that fell out between Cyril and Theodoret, Chryſoſtom and Epiphanius, St. Jerom and St. Auſtin; nay, between thoſe very Men themſelves that reproach the Lutherans and the Reformed with their differences, which I would to God they were clos'd up, There is the greateſt difference among theſe Upbraiders, not only as to Ceremonials, as is apparent from ſo many Orders of Monks varying among themſelves in Habit, Rules and Public Worſhip; but alſo as to Opinions; as is evident from thoſe moſt terrible Controverſies about which your Theologiſts moſt ſharply contend and quarrel one with another; of the Authority of the Pope above a Council; of a Council above the Pope; of the Infallibility of the Biſhop of Rome; of his Power over Kings and Secular Princes; the Conception of the Bleſſed Virgin; of the ſort of Adoration due to the Croſs and Images; of Predeſtination, Grace, Free-will, and the like. So that the Doctors of your Communion ſplit themſelves into various Sects; according to which ſome are Thomiſts, others Scotiſts, others Real, others Nominal, others love to be call'd Janſeniſts, and others Moliniſts. Nay, there is not any Article of the Chriſtian Faith, about which you have not rais'd Contentions and Diſputes, if not more ſharp and eager, yet of no leſs moment then all thoſe which are ſtirring between the Reformed and the Lutherans. And that diverſity which you object againſt us, is far inferior to your Diſſentions; nor is it concerned in the Fundamentals of Chriſtianity, in which the Reformed of both Parties are plainly agreed. So that it is a kind of Miracle, that there ſhould be ſo little variance between ſo many Reformed Churches diſpers'd all over Europe, compos'd of various People and under ſeveral Princes; tho' among them there is no Church which commands over others, nor any intervening Political Tye to conſtrain them to ſuch an Agreement in Matters of Faith.

In the mean time, there is no Schiſm between ours and the Lutheran Churches, ſeeing that we neither ſeparated from Them, nor they from Us. In Poland, the Brethren of the Helvetian, Bohemian and Auguſtan Confeſſion, ſetting a laudable Example, communicated before together, by virtue of the Decree of Sendomir. And in the Year 1631, in the National Synod of France, a Decree was made for admitting the Lutherans, as Brethren in Chriſt, and Members of the ſame Myſtical Body to our Communion of the Lord's Supper, and for allowing them Brotherly Toleration in thoſe Points wherein they differ from us. And tho' they in their Anger pretend that we Err in Fundamentals, which, through the Mercy of God, they will never be able to prove; yet we judge more tenderly and better of them, ſo diſproving the Opinions which they obſtinately defend, that we deny them to be in themſelves deadly or pernicious to Salvation; or that they are ſuch as ought not to hinder Chriſtian Peace between us and them, or prevent an Eccleſiaſtical Communion which might be obtain'd between Churches not agreeing in all things, if the Foundation were ſound. Now we believe that to be a Fundamental Error, wherein there is, according to the ancient Phraſe of the Synagogue, a Denial of the Foundation, which cannot comply with true Faith and Holineſs. For neither all Truths, even thoſe that are reveal'd, are of the ſame neceſſity: Neither are all Wounds which are given to Truth, Mortal; nor is every Diſeaſe, an Epelipſie or the Falling-ſickneſs. St. Paul diſtinguiſhes between the Foundation and the Superſtructure, 1 Cor. 3. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. He that meddles with Fundamentals, is lyable to an Anathema, Gal. 1. 8. In others there is room left for Exhortation, Rom. 14. 1. Phil. 3. 15, 16. Here the Gnat is not ſcrupulouſly to be ſtrain'd at, as there the Camel is not to be raſhly ſwallowed. We break Friendſhip with thoſe that are openly Wicked, but we bear with the blemiſhes and infirmities of Friends. Nor is that preſently to be thought of the neceſſity of Faith, which yet may have a near Relation to it. And therefore you canot blame us for offering our Communion to the Lutherans, and rejecting the Papal. For that between us and them there is not only a Harmony in the Foundation of our Faith, and all the moſt ſolid and neceſſary Points of Chriſtian Religion, but alſo in common Proteſtancy againſt the Idolatry, Tyranny and foul Errors of the Church of Rome; both Sides impugning the Adoration of the Bread, Tranſubſtantiation, Sacrifice of the Maſs, Communion under One Kind, Juſtification by Works, Traditions not written, Purgatory, Worſhip of Images, Infallibility of the Pope, &c. So that it would be much better for us to arm our ſelves with mutual and brotherly forbearance againſt the continual Conſpiracies of Antichriſt, then to lay our Sides open to them through our unhappy Diſcords and Wars by which neither ſide can hope for Triumph.

Far more abſurd it would be to upbraid the Proteſtants Concerning the Number of Proteſtants who do not ſubmit to the Church of Rome. with their ſmall Number, or to infer their Damnation from that. For much more numerous is the Number of Chriſtians under the four Patriarchs in the Eaſt, and the Great Duke of Muſcovy and Ruſſia, then of thoſe who in the Weſt adhere to the See of Rome. Without queſtion the Number of the Orthodox was very ſmall, at what time, as St. Jerom teſtifies, The whole World groan'd, and admir'd to ſee it ſelf all Arian.

Scarcity makes things valuable; we are not to adhere to a multitude in Evil; nor is the broad Way to be trod, but the narrow Path which leads to Life, not pervious to many. If we muſt be excluded from Salvation for the ſmallneſs of our Number; By the ſame reaſon the Phariſees of old might have damn'd the Apoſtles, and the Heathens the Chriſtians. In the mean time, they who reproach us with our ſmall Number, and glory in their own Multitude, when they come to view the face of Europe, are compell'd to talk after another rate. Bellarmin. praefat. in Tom. 1. Controver. cannot reſtrain his fury. Who is ignorant (ſaith he) of that ſame Lutheran Pest (for Truth was a Plague to the Seat of Peſtilence, as Chriſt was the Death of Death, and a Peſt to Hell) that ſprung up not long ſince in Saxony, and ſoon after over-ran almoſt all Germany; then ſpreading to the North and Eaſt, delug'd all Denmark, Sweadland, Norway, Gothland, Pannonia, Hungary; and then with equal rapidneſs ſhooting to the Weſt and South, poyſon'd all England, France and Scotland, flouriſhing Kingdoms once; and at laſt croſſing the Alps, extended it ſelf even as far as Italy?

Nor are we to be condemn'd, becauſe we call our ſelves Reformed or Proteſtants, rather then Catholics. For we were firſt call'd Proteſtants in the public Dyet at Spire, Anno Dom. 1529. becauſe our Electors and Princes there proteſted againſt the Errors and Superſtitions of the Romiſh Church, plainly in the fame ſenſe as in the old Old Verſion of the 2 Chron. 24. 19. they who after the Death of Jehoiada oppos'd themſelves againſt Idolatry, were mark'd out and differenc'd by the ſame Name.; but thoſe Idolaters would by no means give ear to the Proteſters. So that there being no Satisfaction given to our Conſciences upon that Proteſtation, deſervedly we deſerted that Communion, which we believ'd to be pernicious to our Salvation. Nor are we therefore to be thought to have deſerted the Church: For, as St. Chryſoſtom ſays very remarkably, Hom. 46. in Mat. He does not ſeparate from the Church who ſeparates Corporeally, but he who Spiritually relinquiſhes the fundamental Truths of the Church. We have left them Locally; They have forſaken us in Point of Faith: We in departing from them, have left the Foundation of the Walls; They in forſaking us, have forſak'n the Foundations of Scripture. We are call'd Reformed, not becauſe we reform'd the Religion deliver'd us by Chriſt and the reſt of his Apoſtles; but becauſe we cleans'd it from the Ruſt of Abuſes and Corruptions which that holy Religion had contracted through length of time, the Subtilty of Satan, and the Vices of Men. And this Reformation the People, the Princes and Magiſtrates, and thoſe not a few, moſt earneſtly and importunately long'd for all over Europe: So that the Tridentine Fathers, to ſatisfie the public Demands, at leaſt in outward ſhew, were compell'd to add ſomething of Reformation to every one of their Dogmatical Seſſions. However we do not renounce theſe Names of Catholic Proteſtants, Reformed, or Lutherans, ſeeing that addition of Catholic belongs, of right, rather to Us then to you Romaniſts; for that the Doctrin which we profeſs, is the Sincere, Orthodox and Catholic Doctrin of the Chriſtian Church, as the Apoſtles deliver'd it from the Beginning. Reformed we are, in reference to the rejecting Abuſes, and human Inventions; but Catholics, as we retain the fundamental Articles of the Chriſtian Religion. Nor can this Name ſuit with them from whom we have departed in any other reſpect, then as they retain ſome fundamental Truths, which as yet are common both to them and us; but not in reſpect of their Additions and Traditions in which we diſſent from them.

In vain do you glory againſt us, of retaining this Name by Force. For, as Salvian of Marſeilles ſays, lib. 4. de Provid. What is a holy Name without Merit, but an Ornament in the Dirt? All the particular Aſſemblies of Heretics (ſays Lactantius, lib. 4. Divin. Inſtitut. cap. ult.) believe themſelves to be the chiefeſt Chriſtians, and their Church to be the Catholic. The very Turks would be called Muſſelmanni, that, is the Faithful or Catholic; but it ſuffices us to be really Catholics. Good leave therefore have you from us, O Romaniſts, to uſurp this Name; as we call the Saracens Mahumetans, who nevertheleſs derive not their Original from Sarah, as Sons of the Promiſe; but from Agar, the Egyptian Bond-woman.

Thus all the Prejudices and Foundations of your precipitate Judgment being repell'd and remov'd, Venerable Mr. Prior, you conſtitute at length the only Foundation of your Opinion upon this, That in regard that Of the Newneſs of the Reform'd Religion. Ours is a new Religion, it is impoſſible we ſhould gain Salvation by the Profeſſion. But thoſe things which now are old, were formerly new. The Chriſtian Religion is at this day New to the Chineſes and Japanners, nevertheleſs they ought not to reject it for that Reaſon. For this very ſake of Novelty, the Heathens refus'd Chriſtianity; but in vain. There is nothing more Ancient then Truth, which beheld the true World in its Infancy: But falſe Religion, the Older it is, ſo much is it the more Miſchievous.

True it is, the Reformation which we profeſs, is New and newly done; but the Rule of it, which is comprehended in the Word of God, is of great Antiquity; according to which, whatever was added of Human Invention, is ſeparated from the Orthodox and Catholic Doctrin, to the end that true and refin'd Antiquity might be retain'd. Hence the famous Peter Moulin, a Frenchman, in a large Treatiſe againſt Cardinal Perron has more then ſufficiently demonſtrated the Novelty of Popery, and the Antiquity of the Reformed Religion. Therefore our Religion cannot be call'd New, ſince that alone propounds to us things to be believ'd, which were believ'd by all Men, and every where from the Time of the Apoſtles, according to the Rule of Vincentius Lyrinenſis, and produces over and above out of the Treaſury of the Scripture, her moſt certain Documents: Where it is apparent, That all thoſe things which we diſprove in the Roman Communion, are really new and unknown to the Apoſtles and their Primitive Succeſſors.

It is a New thing, and never heard of by the Ancient Church, that the Chriſtian People ſhould be forbid the Uſe of the Cup in the ſacred Euchariſt. It was a New thing, that Boniface II, above Six hundred years after Chriſt, ſhould be the firſt who call'd himſelf Ʋniverſal Biſhop, and Biſhop of Biſhops; and long after him, that Gregory VII, or Hildebrand, ſhould preſume to lay violent hands upon the Rights of Emperors and Princes. Nothing Newer then the Papal Indulgences, which firſt gave occaſion to the Modern Controverſies at Wittembergh and Zurich; Anthony Archbiſhop of Florence acknowledging, part. 1. Tom. 10. cap. 3. That as for Indulgences, we have nothing in the Scripture concerning them, nor from the Sayings of the Ancient Fathers; and the Jeſuite Valentia agreeing, cap. 5. de Indulg. That there were certain Catholics before Luther, (of whoſe Opinion Thomas makes mention, part. 3. queſt. 15. art. 5.) who ſaid, That Indulgences were pious Frauds.

Moreover, that the Euchariſt was celebrated of old without Communicants, no Man can find in the Writings of the Antients. The Adoration of Images was not eſtabliſh'd till near Eight hundred years after Chriſt, in the Second Council of Nice; and that ſo ſlenderly, that the Decrees of that petty Council were condemn'd and rejected in two Synods aſſembled at Paris and Frankford by Charles the Great. And tho' theſe Synods were only National, hence nevertheleſs it appears that all the Churches of Germany and France, of which Nations thoſe Synods conſiſted, had not then admitted the Public Worſhip of Images. Nay, even George Caſſander infers from St. Auſtin upon Pſal. 113. That Images and Statues were not ſet up in Churches in St. Auſtin's time. Moreover Bellarmin reports of Scotus, That he did not believe Tranſubſtantiation to be an Article of Faith before the Lateran Council; that is, before Five hundred years ago. The Law of Celibacy, enjoyn'd the Clergy and the Prieſts, is a very New thing, and to which the Clergy of Leige and the Germans would not yield Obedience till about Five hundred years ſince. At length Calixtus II, who was created Pope in the Year 1119. conſtraind them all to ſubmit, which produc'd theſe Verſes upon him:

The Apoſtles never knew what Monkiſh retirement meant, which came into the World about Three hundred years after Chriſt, under Antony and Paul; but the Church was utterly ignorant of Monkiſh Beggery, till the times of Francis and Dominic, who, as all Men know, were but of late years.

I will not undertake here to unravel your whole Hiſtory, otherwiſe there would appear very little of Antiquity in it. For all thoſe Opinions of the Romiſh Church which we have rejcted, are not only new, but ſo new, that as the Abuſes multiply'd, they were diſlik'd and reprov'd by all good Men long before Luther's time; among whom there were ſome, who being offended at ſuch kind of Innovations, and conſulting the good of their Conſciences, openly deſerted your Communion; as the Wicklevians in England, the Huſſites in Germany, the Waldenſes or Albigenſes in France and Germany, whoſe public Confeſſions are at this day Extant, conformable to Ours in the principal Heads.

Nor can I forbear to add in this place a remarkable Teſtimony concerning the Waldenſes (whoſe Names for above Six hundred years has bin terrible to the Roman See) given by one Rainer, an Inquiſitor of the Faith againſt them, about Three hundred years ago, and not long ſince publiſh'd by Gretſer the Jeſuite: Among all the Sects (ſays that ſame Rainer) that are or ever were, there is not any one more pernicious to the Church (meaning the Roman) then that of the Poor of Lyons (meaning the Waldenſes) for Three Reaſons. Firſt, becauſe more laſting; for ſome ſay, that it has bin ever ſince the time of Silveſter, and others deduce it from the time of the Apoſtles. Secondly, becauſe more general; for there is hardly any Country into which this Sect has not made a ſhift to creep. Thirdly, becauſe all others are abominable to God for the Immanity of their Blaſphemies, but this of the Waldenſes only carries with it a great ſhew of Piety; becauſe they live juſtly before Men, and believe truly of God, and all the Articles of the Creed, only they blaſpheme and hate the Roman Church. But ſo much for Them.

Thus, Mr. Prior, you have what, as I was willing, ſo it was my deſire to Anſwer to your inſipid and inconſiderate Letter. Do you ſee by what has bin ſaid, that you have violated the Divine, Civil and Public Laws of the Inſtrument of the Peace of Munſter; nay, which ſhould firſt have bin ſaid, againſt the Rules of Chriſtianity, which proſcribes and abominates all ſuch Cenſures of our Neighbour worſe then a Dog or Snake? What now remains of Counſel or Remedy for ſuch an unjuſt Judge? I will tell you:

Implore of God, and beſeech your injur'd Neighbor, through whoſe ſides you have wounded ſuch infinite numbers of Chriſtians, to forgive you, and to pardon theſe Tranſgreſſions of yours that are of ſo great weight.

Endeavour induſtriouſly for the future, like the ſmitten Fiſherman, to Traffic at a better rate, and to be transform'd by renovation of Mind to this, that you may be able better to prove, what is the good Will of God ſo pleaſing and ſo perfect.

Beware of being wiſer then it becomes you to be; and with an unfeigned Charity for the future, deteſt ſo wicked and perverſe a Judgment, adhering to that which is more ſolid; and if it may be, as much as in you lyes, live at Peace with all Men, that you may not be overcome by Evil, but may overcome Evil by Good.

This pious and ſincere Counſel if you ſlight and diſregard, through Contumacy and Deſpiſing it, aſſuredly there will nothing more certainly befal you then this, That being depriv'd of Eternal Felicity (I repeat your own words) after you have finiſh'd this Mortal Courſe, you will for ever burn with your Seducers in the Everlaſting Fire of Hell. From which however the Great God of his infinite Mercy preſerve you. Amen.

Farewel, and inſtead of a New-Years-Gift, meekly and with patience accept this wholſom Anſwer and Admonition, more precious then Gold, or all the Kingdoms of the World. Live ſoberly, and live eternally the Favourer of him who is

Viſitor of the County of Weeden.