Ex Libris
C. K. OGDEN
Jacobite and Nonjuring PRINCIPLE 9j
freely examined ;
I N A
LETTER
TO THE
MASTER-TOOL
OF THE
FACTION
A T
MANCHESTER-
With Remarks on fome Part of a Book lately
published, intitled, a Chriftian Catechifm^ &c.
faid to be wrote by Dr. Dc-n.
By J. O W E N.
Quid Homines ( fuftintbitis enim me Impetufufcept/e Aftit-
nls libtrius exerentem ) Homines inquam deploratz, illicit^, ac def-
peratae Falionis t gre/ari in Deot non ingemifcendum tjl ?
M. Min. Felic. Odav.
RiJicuIum Acri
Fortiut ft tne/ius magnaf flerumq\ fecat Rts.
Hor. Sat. 10.
MANCHESTER:
Printed by R, WHITWORTH, Bookfeller. MDCCXLVII.
A
LETTER
TO THE
MASTER-TOOL,
SIR!
HAVE fomewherc read
of an Order of Knighthood
amongfl the Hottentots^
where the Perfon inftall'd
is plentifully befpatter'd in
a very ungenteel and inde-
cent Manner ; which he re-
ceives with great Alacrity,
as the more Indecency, the more Honour. In
a Light fomething analogous to this, I confider
your Treatment of me, in a late Epiftle to a
Friend. The more Abufe, the more Honour;
the more Scurrility you have given Vent to,
the more Diflinftioa you have paid me. Jaco-
A 2 bittt
107;
bites and Nonjurors I have always look'd upon
as a Race of Britifli Hottentots, as blind and
bigotted as their Brethren about the Gape, but
more favage in their Manners. A Specimen
of this from their Writings? Take one as
follows:
cc
Leave to the lew-bred O ns of the Age,
Senfe to belye, and Loyalty to rage ;
Wit to make Treafon of each Cry and Chat,
And Eyes to fee falfe Worftiip in a Hat;
Wifdom and Love to conftrue Heart and Mien*
By the new Gofpel of a Magazine."
Epiftle to a Friend, p. 26.
Your polite and elaborate Notes upon the a-
bove Lines are as follow.
cc
cc
<c
Line 335. Leave to the low-bred. Allud-
<{ ing to a furious, fanatic Preacher, in the
<c Neighbourhood of Manchefler y who has late-
" ly publifh'd fome Sermons in the Spirit here
" defcribed.
" Line 340. A aMgazi?2e. Alluding to Mr.
" Owen's mentioning me Story above-mcntion-
C ed" [i. e. Dr. Deacon's worshipping the Re-
bel Skulls nVd up on the Exchange at Man-
defter] " in his Ranting Sermon on the Thanks-
gtving-Day ; and citing for it a paltry News-
Paper, intitled the Manchefler Magazine' 9
Thefe
<c
(5)
Thefe few Traits of your Genius illuftrate
and confirm my Obfervation above; that 'Ja-
cobites and Nonjurors are but a Race of Britifb
Hottentots, as blind and bigotted as their Bre-
thren about the Cape, but more &vage in their
Manners. Why elfe fo much Rage and Viru-
lence, exprefs'd by you Sir, the Mouth and
Matter- Tool of the Faction, in the Neighbour-
hood of Manchejhr, againft a Perfon to whom
you are a Stranger ? Exprefs'd againft him ; for
what ? For blafpheming the Character of faint-
ed Traytors, and even daring to profcribe Re-
bellion. For thefe high and mighty
Crimes, I am what am I not ? A Fury j
a Fanatic k, a low-bred Fellow. Go on Sir ; a
little more of the fame Billingsgate Oratory ;
-. a few more of the fame Bear-Garden De-
corations of Language. They well become
the Caufe that you plead ; they are the ftrong-
eft Pillars that fupport, the nobleft Ornaments
that grace, and the moft concluiive Arguments
that defend it. Impudent Puppy ; Son of a
B ch ; Son of a W re ; are fome other Fi-
gures of Speech, which when decently inter-
larded with well-moHth'd Oaths, have done ex-
cellent Service to your Caufe, againft it's two
moft inveterate Enemies, the Love of our
Country and common Senfe. As you have
fome Military Friends among you, fince the
Aft of Indemnity took Place, 'tis not doubted
but you will be taught how to employ the Fi-
gures
(6)
However as Loiers are allow'd to complain,
and Culloden was a fatal Day ! if a Man cannot
{hew his Wit, yet why (hould he not fhew his
Teeth ? Believe me, Sir, I {hall never attempt
to reftrain you from the free Exercife and En-
joyment of this glorious Privilege. Hard Lan-
guage and foft Arguments, (I'll fay nothing of
the Heads that form them) can never wound
that Caufe which has Truth to fupport it. But
whilft the Enemies of the Government endea-
vour to poifon Mens Minds with all Manner
of flavifh, abfurd, and rebellious Principles,
fhall there be no Antidote difpens'd by the
Government's Friends? Shall a Man fit down,
indolent and neutral in his Houfe, while he
beholds Thieves rifling his Property, or Incen-
diaries fetting his Houfe on a Flame ? Shall
State Incendiaries ', you know who I mean, be
propagating the Flame of DifafFeftion to the
beft of Governments and the beft of Kings, and
none endeavour to extinguiih it's Rage and Fu-
ry ? Yes Sir, I dare plead the Caufe of Liberty,
of Virtue, of Religion, of Mankind, and of
my Country, in Spite of all Oppoiition. You
have invited, you have provoked me into the
Field; and I dare let you know that I am not
akin to your fugitive Hero ; that I fhall not
flinch in the Combat. I dare tell you that our
prefent Government has Enemies, and what
Kind
(7)
Kind of Men they are. Be it at Bokgne, <tf
j4vignon, or whatever other Place, that your
vagrant Idol keeps up the mock State of a Court,
I dare tell you that the Man who vifits it to
procure an Abfolution for having abjur'd Popery
and the Pretender, and fworn Allegiance to King
GEORGE, and yet calls himfelf a good
Protejlant and a good Subjcfl, either affronts
other Men's Understandings, or betrays the
Weaknefs of his own. I dare tell both you,
and your Friends, that the Features of bafi-born
Superftition, arc as different from thofe of true
Religion, as the hcdloring, fwaggering Rant of
your Party over their Cups, is different from
true Magnanimity and Courage. I dare tell
you that jtcobitts and Nonjurors fliould always
herd together, that they pine after the fame
Yoke, court thejame Chains, and meet in the
fame Center : I cannot fay, with your 'Brother
Wit and Patriot, Dr. Sacheverel, that like two
Parallel Lines, they will meet in one Center.(a)
If your Libels againft the Government and
Common Senfe, have from Time to Time efcap-
cd Notice ; if they have received no Anfwer,
'tis not becaufe they have been unanfwerable,
but becaufe they have not defirtid one. How-
ever your late Attack upon me, urges me to
examine a little into Jacobite and Nonjuring
Principles, and to give fuch an Account f
them
(a) Satlrvtrtrs Sermon, which his Impeachment was ground.
them as may be of fome Service to the Pub-
lick. The two Points I propofe, at this Time
to join Iffue with you upon, are,
Whether Jacobite and Nonjuring Principles
do not ftand juftly chargeable with Fanaticifm,
and whether this Fanaticijm is not, of all o-
ther, the moft fovereign and accomplim'd ?
And, as I diibwn the Authority of all Gofpels
but Chrift's,
Whether Cbri/t's Gofpel or the Nonjuror's
Gofpel, be the new one, and which of the two
is the more rational and authentick ?
As to the firft : J fhali not take upon me to
enquire whether the Word Fanatic boafts of a
Greek or Latin Extraction. Be that the applaud-
ed Talk of fome fublime Genius like your
own, whofe Leifure and Talents render him e-
qual to Enquiries of fuch folemn Importance.
'Tis enough for my Purpofe, that whatever its
Etymology be, the Meaning which Ufe has
flamp'd upon it is this one who covers bad
or the very ivorft Purpofes with a great Shew
of Goodnefs and Devotion. The true Spirit of
Panaticifm difcovers itfelf in fuch a wild, out-
rageous Zeal for Abfurdities, as grows even in-
to devout Madnefs. 'Tis a Spirit that raifes
Tumults and Seditions in States, without any
juft Provocation ; that diflurbs the Peace
of Societies, and folcmnly invocates Heaven to
(9)
aid in effectuating their Ruin. Fanaticijm is a
fanftify'd Phrcnzy, that pretends much to ex-
traordinary Influences and Communications; to
immediate Infpirations j to & familiar and Jul-
fome Commerce with the Deity. It receives
Dreams for divine Truths, and pafles off wild
Reveries for Gofpel Revelations. It's Lan-
guage is a lufcious, unintelligible Jargon. The
Fanatical Inamorato feel*, what he looks upon
to be, a facred Rage of Paffion fvvell in his
Bread. The Fire of Entbufiafm glows within
him, and he cherifhes and feeds it with as
much Zeal, as the Vellal Virgins of Rome did
the facred Fire in their Temple. In fhort, he
riots in all Manner of fpiritual Debaucheries,
and talks to his God as the Gallant doth to his
Miftrefs. Fanaticifm urges its Votaries to the
Obfervance of the moll abfurd and unnatural
Rites ; to cut and flam their own Bodies for
the Good of their Souls ; (a) to Jacriftce their
own Children, (b) and makes natural Delirium
to be an infallible Token of fupernatural Grace.
Such were the Fanatic Priefts of Eellona ; nay
Sir, if you read any Poetry but your own, me-
thinks you might learn that the Fanatic Priefts
of Eellona were but Types of the 'Jacobite and
Nonjuring Fanatics of our Day. Speak Juvenal
B " Sed
(a) Bellonae fervientes, vere exfecare Brachium, praecepit Studio
Crudelitatis: Caufabon in Lamp.
(b) Vid. Lucian de Dea Syria,
(1)
" Sed ut Fanaticus
<c PercufTus, Bellona tuo divinat ; et ingens
" Omen habes, iniquit, magni clariq; Triumphi
ce Aliquem capies, ant de Temone Britain
" Excidit Avirargus. (a)
Florus gives us an 'Account of one Eunus,
who by counterfeiting a fanatical Fury, bran-
difhing about the Locks of the Syrian Goddefs,
pretending to a divine Impulfe, (and indeed
moft Fanatics make God a Party in their
Quarrels), kindled a bloody War in the "Roman
Commonwealth, and induced 60000 Men to
take up Arms againft the State, (b)
A learned Writer obferves that Weigelius and
"Bebmen ; your intimate Acquaintance, 'Jacob
Bebmen, he muft mean, were the Leaders of
the Fanatics in Germany, and both thefe were
pupill'd by one Paracel/us a Phylician. Now
Sir, fuppofe I could name a modern Dr. Para-
celfus that teaches and propagates fuch Principles
as the above, that, like your Dark Lanthorn ya-
ob^ inculcates a ftrange Kind of Myftic Divinity
upon the Minds of his deluded Votaries -, that
is for raifing Tumults and Infurreclions in the
State ; whofe Religious Catechifms are
LefTons
(a> Juvenal Sat. 4.
(b) Syrus quidam Nomine Eunus (Magnitude Cladium faclt
at meminerimus) fanatico Furore, fimulato, dum Syrise DeJE co-
j^as fpeftat ad Libertatem et Ajma Servos quafi Numinum Impe-
3 concitavit. Florut Lib. 3. c. 9.
Leflbns of Abfurdity and Superftition, and
whofe political ones are the Fate of his
unhappy Sons will tell what ? who
dreams of nothing but dethroning of Britifb
Princes, and who, like theWorfhippers of the Sy-
rlan Goddefs,vvill facrifice his own Children to his
Idols. Will not you call this Man a Fana-
tick ? Would not yuvenal j would not Florus
have call'd him fo had he liv'd in their Days ?
*
But you will fay, do you take me for a
School- Boy to read Lectures to me out of fuch
moth-eaten Authors as thefe? Well Sir, to
attone in fome Meafure for putting you under
the fevere Discipline of a School-Boy, I'll wave
for a while, referring you to any more heathen-
//Z>, greek and latin Authors, and remit you to
an ILnghJh one, to learn what Fanaticism is,
and to one who lias juftly been efteemed one of
the politeft Writers of this Age.
" Fanatici/m is a Compofition of Superftiti-
" on and Enthufiafm. It overbears all Order
" and Government, all Virtue and found Re-
" ligion It implys an uncommon Pretence
c to Religion and Sanctity, arid fometimes In-
cc fpiration itfelf, with an evident Mixture of
" Madnefs or Infatuation, accompany'd, for
' the moft Part, with a Reftlefsnefs and Tur-
" bulency of Spirit, which is inconfifrent with
** the Peace of Society and any fettled Form
c< of Government. The true Fanatic is always
B 2 " moft
"
(12)
<e moft earneft about fome palpable Superfti-
" tion, which is not only no Part of found Re-
c< ligion, but even deftruclive of it He con-
<e tends with Vehemence for Opinions notori-
<e oufly abfurd, and cannot live in any Degree
<e of Charity with fuch as differ from him. <-
ce His religious Syftem is chequer 'd with Con-
ditions. He is hurry'd on by the Impc-iu-
tuofity of his Zeal, to break through all Re-
" gards of the moft facred Importance, that
<{ feem to thwart his extravagant Schemes, ne-
" ver confidering the Lawfulnefs, the Exocdi-
<c ency, or the Wifdom of the Means he ufes,
* nor attending to the Mifchiefs or fatal Confe-
c ' quences that manifeftly threaten either him-
" iclf, o, Numbers of People, or even whole
< States and Kingdoms. - The moft irnpi-
ct ous as well as the moft ridiculous Notions
ct will be received with Veneration, by Per-
" ions of a fanatical Difpolition. There was
" a Set of Fanatics for Inftance, who took a
<c Fancy to be godly and naked y in Imitation of
" our firft Parents in their State of Innocency.
<e Their Congregations were held in a warm
" Stove. They put off their Clothes at the
" Door, and the Men and Women, the Prieft
" not excepted, fat promifcuoufly upon Bench-
*' es raised one above another, without the leaft
" Covering. When their Devotions were en-
c
('3)
" dcd, they drefs'd and went to their Houfes
c< in the Sinfulnefs of worldly Garments, (a)
" How limple and inoffenfive foever, the
" Phrenzy of fome Fanatics may be, in the In-
" fancy of their Religion yet as they
" make Profclytes, it generally appears that
11 cunning and ambitious Men mix in their
" AfTemblies, and lead the poor Ignorants by
"' Degrees into Projects, for modelling the
" Laws and the Government according to their
" own wild Fancies, the firft Step to which,
" is by teaching them to queftion the Author!-
" ty of the Civil Magiftrate.
<c The Fanatics of moll Kinds, have a&u-
" ally taken the Advantage of fome great Con-
" vulfion or Divifion in the State, to broach
<c their Extravagancies, as being on feveral Ac-
<c counts the moft fuitable Seafon for favouring
" a weak or a wicked Caufe !
I might Sir reft the Matter here, and appeal,
whether from thefe Charaderiflics, Jacobite
and Nonjuring Fanaticifm doth not appear to
be of all other the moft fovereign and accom-
plim'd ? But a few more Extracts from the
fame
(a) Thefe Adamttu were a Seft that fprung up as early as
the fecond Century. They recommended the Monaftic Life,
and made Vows of Continence as our Nonjurors do, .tho' if
Credit be due to fome Hiftorians, they were Examples of the
greateft Incontineney in Practice,
(14.)
lame polite Writer, will not at this Time, and
upon this Occafion, be unacceptable or unenter-
taining to the Friends ofthzprefent Government,
whatever they may be to Tours. The
Doctors of this Church, (i. e. the Nonjurors
Church, adds he,) " tell us loudly there is no
" coming at Salvation, but thro* their Permif-
" fion. Beware oj Counterfeits, is in EffecT:
" their Cry to the People. We have a Patent
" for a Monopoly of Grace, and it is not to
" be had pure in this Nation but thro* our
" Hands." Is not this the very Language of
our Modern Pulpit Dr. Paraceljus, in hit
late Catechifm of bulky Reputation. " A full,
* e true, and comprehenfive View of Cbriflianity,
* c in Relation to Faith, Practice, Worflnp and
< Rituals, fet forth fincerely without Regard
<e to any Modern Church, Setf, or Party, as it
<l 'was taught in the Holy Scriptures, 'was de
* c liver d by the Apo files, and received by the
" Univerfal Church of Chri/i, during the four
" firjl Centuries." Well fpoken Dr.! What
could Dr. Green, the famous Stage Orator,
have faid more ! What could the eminent Dr.
lay lor, the Oculift, have faid more, as to
couching a Cataract, than this Brother Doffor
of his has faid, as to curing us of our Spiritual
Blindnefs !
There is likewife a Mixture of Madnefs in
"Jacobite and Nonjuring Schemes; C their cer-
<e tain Hopes have been long fruftrated
" but
c< but ftill thefe Nonjuring Fanaticks, are of fo
" fanguine a Complexion, that repeated Difap-
< e pointments are a Cordial to their Spirits, and
<c they grow through Delays more confident of
" Succefs j they never fo much as reflect on the
<e Medly of concurring Incidents, both abroad
<c and at Home, which are to combine in their
" Favour , any of which failing, their Chimc-
ce rical Project vanifheth into Smoke. Befides,
<e their Madnefs overlooks the Bloodfhed and
<e Confufion it muft coft to accomplish their
<e wicked Intentions ; and after all in the up-
" fhot, it is not likely they can be Gainers,
" but highly reafonable to imagine they them-
" felves would fall the foremofl Sacrifice to
" their own Infatuation.
" That they are of a reftlefs and turbulent
c< Spirit, appears by the late unnatural Rebel-
" lion, (a) in which they were fo active j by
" the frequent Riots and Tumults, they have
<l excited thro' the Nation j by the Seditious
" and Treafonable Books, Pamphlets and Pa-
<c pers, they have publifh'd ; by their virulent
" and reviling Speeches, againft the King and
" his Government ; and laftly, by the notori-
* ous Evidence of their unwearied Endeavours,
" to engage Foreign Powers to affilt their cruel
" Projeds
(a) The Effays from whence thefe Paflages are extra&ed, were
wrote foon after the 15 Rebellion: Upon comparing them with
the Conduft of our prefent Jacobites and Nonjuron, ic will be
found the Spirit of the Part/ is ftill the fame.
" Projects, for embroiling their Native Cotm-
" try in a Civil War."
As to their Abfurd Notions ; " do not the
* c Doctors of thefe deluded People teach the
e< abfolute Neceffity of Confeffion, and facer-
" dotal Abfolution 5 the uncontroulable Vali-
<e dity of human Benedictions and Denuncia-
* ' tions ; and even the Ule of Prayers for the
" Dead : And all thefe manifold Superftitions, are
" to the Deftruction of found Religion, palm'd
" upon their Difciples for the more rerm'd
* Doctrines of the Church of England! Do
e they not vehemently contend for abfurd O-
" pinions, when they write and preach, and
" talk fo warmly for the exalting of their par-
s' ticular Scheme of Church Authority, to not
te only the over ruling, but the Subverfion of
<c the Civil Power ; as likewife when they
** make the Salvation of Mankind, as well as
* e their whole Title to Chriitianity, depend
" upon fuch a Succeffion of Priefls as cannot
be proved.
" Is it not a Contradiction to common Senfe,
" to pretend to infure the eftablifh'd Proteftant
* e Church, by endeavouring to fet a declared
<c Papift on the Throne. Is it not likewife
< a notorious Contradiction to preach up the
* imminent Danger of this Church from the
" Proteftant Succeflion, which is the only hu-
" man Security {he can have.
Their
ct
" Their Zeal is as defperate as their Princi-
" pies are abfurd ; fooner than quit their mad
<c Project they will lay afide all Regard to the
" Laws of their Country, to Religion^ and to
ee every focial and moral Virtue. The hazard-
" ing of their own Lives and Fortunes, as well
<c as the ruining of others; nay the Defolation
tc of the whole Ifland, and even of Mankind,
<c would probably not give the leaft Check to
" their Fanatical Phrenzy, could they find a
" favourable Opportunity to exert it in its full
<e Vigour.
From what has been faid, it appears, " that
" the Denomination of Panaticijm, tho' the
" vulgar have been taught otherwife, is by no
" Means applicable to People of any Commu-
<e nion, who live foberly, within an orderly
" Regulation, and in due Obedience to the
" Laws of their Country. Men may degene-
" rate into Fanatics, under any Form of
<c Church Discipline, as well as they may be-
tc come Slaves under the mew of any Confti-
" tution of civil Government. Inafmuch as
" the Members of any Church approach the
" Religious Phrenzy particularized above, in-
<c fomuch do they difcolour their Devotion with
" Fanaticifm. (a)
C Thus
(a) Freethinker, publifh'd by Dr, Bwlltr, la{ Abp, <rf
'#& fr imate of Irelwd*
Thus Sir you fee I have dar'd to make Re-
prizals upon you, and have thereby transferr'd
the Scene of the War into the Enemies Coun-
try. I have retorted the Charge of Fanaticifm
in the Language of a very Mafterly Writer.
If you are flill commanded to Print away (the
Expreflion will pleafe, it is your own) it will
be neceffary for you to fummon your whole
Political Poffe to meet in a full Houfe, that
they may club Wits, and throw their Brains
into one common Shot, for the Difcharge of
this Reckoning. I have chofen a Metaphor the
moft familiar to your Party ; had the Caufe ow'd
greater Homage to Mars than to Bacchus, I
fhould have faid, it will be neceiTary to Mufler
all your Forces together, to {land upon the De-
fenfive againft fo formidable an Author.
Were it requifite to add any more, to difplay
"Jacobite and Nonjuring Fanaticifm, in it's pro-
per Drefs, it could not be done to greater Ad-
vantage than by tranfcribing the Language and
Sentiments of the Party, as publifh'd in their
own Writings. But I have no competent Op-
portunity at prefent, of doing this; however
fome Extracts out of one of their admir'd Chiefs,
the late Dr. Hicks, lie now before me ; after
having condemn'd the whole Frame of our Go-
vernment, in Church and State, He proceeds
thus ; " it is upon a wrong Bottom from the
" very firft Foundation, of it. Many falfe Max-
" ims
(-9)
ce ims, hurtful to the Church, and extremely
" detrimental to the Chriftian Religion, are
" receiv'd for Law and Truth ; as that Tythes
" may become a Lay-fee ; that Patronage is a
cc Lay-fee ; that the King is fupreme ordinary.
" The Acts of Parliament touching the Election,
<e and Confecration of Bifhops," adds he " arc
" Unchriftian, and have been the naturals well
' zs judicial Caufe of all the Mifcries in Church
cc and State, amongft us for many Years."
And as if this was not enough, his Thunder
grows louder and hotter, till at laft it breaks
upon us in Flames of infernal Fire and Fury,
They" fays he, meaning the E/labliJh'd Cler-
gy, " can perform no valid Acts of Priefthood ;
" their very Pr dyers are Sin ; their Sacraments
lf are no Sacraments; their Abfolutions are null,
'* and of no Force-, God ratifies nothing in.
" Heaven, which they do in his Name upon
cc Earth ; they, and all that adhere to them,
" are out of the Church ; they can claim no
ce Benefits of God's Promifes ; no, not of his
" affifting Grace, nor of Remirlion of Sins,
" thro' the Merits of Chrift's Blood ; nay, tho*
c| they mould die Martyrs in the Schifm, their
" Martyrdom would not be accepted ; if they
lc could die Martyrs more than once, they could
" not make amends for their Sin t with their
<f Blood.'' Here the Clergy of the Church of
England are all damn'd in a Breath : The
Hands of Omnipotence are ty'd up from flrew-
(20)
ing them any Favour ; and Salvation itfelf can-
not fave them. Heavens preferve all Prote-
Jlants, from falling a Sacrifice to the Tyranny
of fuch an uncatholick, Catbolick Church as this !
When he talks of the Priefthood, his favourite
Phrafes, are thefe, " the Kingdom of the
" Church-, the Ihrones of Royal Pri efts ; Vice*
" ge rents of the Eternal Melchezideck j Spiri-
" tual Principalities. Thou k " fays he, " may-
< eft fee the Necks of Kings and Princes, bow-
ee ed down to the Knees of Rifhops : The Em-
<e peror fubmits his Head to the Hands of the
" Priefl: Let the Bifhop be honoured as God."
Is not this pure and Orthodox Doctrine ! He
proceeds to tell us his Sentiments, (and I make
no doubt Sir, but they are yours too) that it is
lefs heinous to be prefent at divine Offices,
where Aoe Marias &c. are fa id, than to pray
for our Proteftanf Sovereigns. Nay, for my
own Part, fays he, " I had rather as a Priefl:,
c * fay Prayers in a Congregation to Saints and
" Angels, which is only forbid by a pofitive
ct Law, than thofe Prayers by which my King
" is abus'd, abjur'd, curs'd, and the righteous
" King of Kings moft horribly Blafphemed."{a)
Thefe are fome of the Doctrines of the Nonju-
rors ; fanatical ones I take leave to call them ;
that are palm'd upon Mankind for the Truth,
as it is, in Jefus. And what can we think
of thofe Perfons amongft us, who call them-
felves
(a) Collection of Dr. fliVJ's Letters, referr'd to by Dr. Ktnntt,
in his Letter to the JBp. of Carliflt.
(21)
felves Proteftants, join in Communion with
Proteftants, and yet adopt fo portentous a Syf-
tem ? What {hall we think of thofe who of*
ficiate at our Proteflant Altars, and yet are for
eftabliihing fuch Antiproteftant Tyranny , Prieft*
craft, Ab/urdities and Superftitions ? Muft they
not be Hypocrites ; as true and yet deceivers ?
Nay, rather muft they not be Athei/ts?
However, this we may fafely lay,
Their Lives make dtheijls, and their DoSrines Slaves!
But I fhould be glad to learn, iS/'r, what it
is upon your Principles that conftitutes a Fana-
tic? Will you charge Fanaticifm upon any
Set of Opinions, that are confiftent with the
Peace and good Order of Society j and with
that Obedience which is due to the Civil Ma-
gi/Irate? Doth Fanaticifm confift in wearing a
Coat or a Cloak, rather than a CafTock ? or in
wormipping God in a Structure, where there
is no Bell or no Organ ? Be tender how you
affert thefe Things, leaft you bring your Non-
juring Friends under the fame Imputation. But
Should you give fuch a fatal Stab to their Or-
thodoxy, you'll only ftand convifted of
Chance Medley, and not of premeditated Mur-
der. 'Tis taken for granted, that to charge
Nonjurors with Fanaticifm, is as ivide of your
Intention, as a Nonjuror's Creed is wide of com-
mon Senfe, and the Bible. 'Tis prefumed you
mean no more by Fanatics, than that they are
a Set of Men whom you cordially and devoutly
(22)
hatc y and would have God do fo too. But,
however, you and your Friends arrogate to
yourfelves, the Name of the true CbHftian, Ca-
tholick Church, you'll excufe me, if for on,ce
I remit you for Inftruction, I had almoft faid
to the more Chriftian, but I muft fay to the
more Catholick Pagans.
'Tis a Principle among the Perfian Bram-
mines, that whoever feeks God with Sincerity
and Uprightnefs, whether he believes him to
be the Sun, or the Moon, or fome other Being,
fhall be acceptable to him. Accordingly, fay
they, on a certain Time, a Muffulman, feeing an
Hindoo, i. e. a Pagan Prieft in Heaven, he
afk'd God how that Infidel, whom Mahomet
calls by the Name of bitter Roof, came thither ?
- The Deity anfwers : If a bitter Root bring
forth Jweeter Fruit than any of you, why
(hould I not receive him ; whereupon, the Muf-
fulman was Speechlefs. (a) Now, Sir, whilfl
you charge any of your Proteftant Neighbours,
(it would be a Solecifm in me to fay your Fel-
low P rot eft ants,) with Fanaticifm, without of-
fering any Evidence to fupport the Charge ; or
whilft you call them bitter Root in the Ortho-
dox Muffulman's Language j if thefe very Men
bring forth fweeter Fruits than you, what Au-
thority have you to condemn them? If they
are better Friends to rational Religion, to the
Civil
(a) Btddaris Phil. Tranf. Vol 3- P
(23)
Civil and Sacred Rights of Mankind, to the
Government under which they live ; better
Friends to the Conftitution, to their Country,
and to King GEORGE, than you ; or
even fuppofing that they are no better Friends
to all thefe than you ; whatever others have a
Right to do, I cannot fee with what Decency
you can profcribe them. Will you allow no
Roots to bring forth fweet Fruits, but thofe
whofe Branches have been lopp'd off by Rebel-
lion ? Where is there one of thofe you call Fa-
natics, (produce me a fingle Inftance in all
England if you can!) that, during our late
Diffractions, was even fufpected of DifafFcclion
to the Proteftant Prince that fits on the Briti/h
Throne ? Where can you produce an Inftance,
among any of our Fanatical Clergy, of one who
went on his Knees in the pub lick Streets, (as
you know who did,) to pray for the Young Pre-
tender as he paraded it thro' Salford, at the
Head of his Highland Rabble ?
Will you have any more upon this Subject ?
Compare your own Principles, and the Princi-
ples of thofe you brand with Fanaticifm, toge-
ther; and then toReafon let us appeal which
are the more Fanatical of the two ? As your
charge of Fanaticifm is directly pointed at me,
I may for once be allow'd to perfonate that
Party, you would wound thro' my Sides. 'Tis
one of my Principles, that all Party Cant, and
Watch Words, propagated with a View to di-
fturb
fturb the Peace of Society ; to inflame and ex-
afperate Men's Minds againft the eftablifh'd
Government, are the Language of Sedition,
that all fuch Seditious Cries are the Seeds of
Treafon, and want only to be cherifh'd by the
Sun- (hine of fuccefsful Faction, in order tori-
pen into Rebellion. 'Tis one of yours, that
fuch Seditious Cries are only decent Expreffions
of Zeal for the Church j and that to be a bad
Neighbour, or a bad Citizen, is of great Im-
portance towards conftituting the Character of
a good Churchman. 'Tis one of my Principles,
that if a Man fwears Allegiance to the Govern-
ment that protects him, God will not be fo
fevere as to damn him for paying it $ and that
therefore he is not oblig'd to perjure himfelf
for Conference fake. 'Tis one of yours, that
Perjury, when practis'd by Jacobites is no Sin,
nay the greateft of all Political Virtues ; and
that Jacobite Rebellion is no Act of Treafon.
'Tis one of my Principles, that mewing religi-
ous Honours to Rebel Skulls, as empty now
they are fix'd on the Exchange, as they were
when fix'd on the Shoulders that once wore
them, is falfe Worfhty in the Chriflian Senfe,
but true Nonjuring and Jacobite Devotion.
'Tis one of yours, that preferring a Prayer to
thefe up-flart Deities, is worfhipping the Lord
in the Beauty of Holinefs, is worshipping him
in Spirit and in 'Truth. 'Tis one of my Prin-
ciples, that the Church of England's greateft
Enemies
jimmies are her pretended Friends, who always
fpread abroad tumultuous Alarms of her Dan*
ger, and aflert the Body to be independent cf
ie Head that governs it 'Tis one of yours,
that the Church of England's beft Friend f are
her avow'd and open Enemies ; that damn and
hereticatc her as a Schi/matical, Antichriftian
Church ! 'Tis one of my Principles, that a Pro-
teflant Church requires a Proteftant Prince to
be her Faith's Defender j but is it not one of
Your's, ^deny it if you can) that the Puppet of
Rome, would be a Guardian Angel to' the
Churches of Britain ? Juft fo, the Sheep can
never be fafe till they are undef the Wolf's
Patronage and Protection ! The Dove can never
be fafe till the Hawk has her for his Quarry!
'Tis one of my Principles, that the Authority
of a paltry Magazine, is at all Times as in-
fallible, as that of y9ur good Friend the Pope.
But is it not one of yours, that a paltry
Magazine, inverts the Nature of Things, and
makes Truth Falfhood ; acknowledged, and in-
difputable Fafts, to be notorious and fcandalous
impofture \ Surely, Sir, it might have been a
Popifi Magazine, by it's working fuch Miracles'
as thefe ! You confefs, that Devotion has been
paid to the Gods Jpik'd up on the Exchange^
and yet, it is a Crime in me, to refer to a Para-
graph in a Magazine that fays fo. Would'
you gravel an Adverfary, engaged in a bad
Caufe? Speak Truth , nothing gravels him,
P more
(a6)
more. But I'll not prefs you on this Head
any further. As then, I difown the Authori-
ty of every Gofpel, but Chrift's 5 fufFer me next
to examine,
Whether Cbrift's Gofpel or the Nonjuror's
Gofpel, be the new one j and which of the two
is the more rational and authentic ? And now
the new Catechifm, (a) whofe pompous Title
was taken Notice of above, falls under Confi-
*
deration. It would be no difficult Matter to
unprofelyte all the learned Doffor's Profelytes,
nnd to overturn the Foundation of his Unive?--
Ja/> Catholick Church, built up at Manchefter,
would his Difciples but make this previous
Conceflion, that there is no Herefy in being
guided by common Senfe, in Matters of Reli-
gion ; that a Man may be devout, without re-
nouncing his Reafon ; very good, without being
very^//y, and fit for Heaven, without being fit
for Bedlam.
The firft Chapter I {hall take Notice of in
this new Go/pel, is, the Chapter of Tradition.
This, our Author looks upon as more facred
and infallible, than the infpired Writings, as
appears from his giving it the Preheminenct a-
bove
(a) This Catcchifm, is not only faid to be wrote by Dr. Deacon
a Nonjuring Prieft or Bifhop, and Phyfician at Manchejier, but
is acknowledg'd as his by his Friends ; which juftifies my wnfi-
Uring him as {he Author of it.
(27)
bove them, (a) 'Tis entirely foreign to my
Purpofe, to ranfack the Reveries of the Fathers*
To feek for unadulterated, found Learning, and
good Senfe among them, would be as abfurd
and fruitlefs, as to ranfack for jewels in a Dung-
hill, 'Tis allow'd, that, even in the early A-
ges of Chriftianity, Corruption grew apace in
the Church, as the rankeft Weeds always grow
in the richeft Soil. However, were it of any
confiderable importance, it might eafily be
/hewn, that in the fecond Century, and fome time
after, there was no Divinity ftamp'd upon Tra-
dition. " If you are Chriftians (in the Origi-
nal, Difciples of the Gofpel, fays one of the
Fathers) " make the Scriptures your Rule?
" but if you will talk of unwritten Traditions,
te what Bufmefs have you with us, who pay
" no Regards to any Thing, but what is writ-
" ten. (b) We affirm nothing without the Scrip-
" tures" (c) faith another, " The holy Scrip-
et tures are fufficient to propagate the Truth ;
<c and it is fufficient to believe what is writ-
" ten," is the Language of a Third, (d) But if
you would fee fome more Authorities of this
Kind, I refer you to the Margin.
D z Such
(a) Of TraJitioKt and Scriptures. Cat. p. 34.
(b) Chns de Incar. Chrijli cont. Afoll. Tom. I. p. 6*1.
(c) Clem. Alex. Strom. 1. 6.
(d) Atban. contr. Gentes et de Incarnat. Chrifti.
To the fame Purpofe. Quae pertinent ad verara Religionem quaeren-
damet tenendam divina Scriptura non tacuit. Augufl. Epift. 42.
In iis qu apcrte in Scriptura pofita funt, inveniuncur Ilia Omnia
Such is the Force of Truth, that it even ex-
torts from Bellarmine, the great Champion
of Romifi Infallibility ; the following Confef-
fion, "All tnofe Things are commited to
" Writing by the Apoftles, which are necef-
" fary for all Men, and which they generally
" preach'd to all.*' fa) But were all the Fa-
thers to be enliftcd into this Gentleman's Ser-
vice, what would that prove ? What, but
this, that thefe Fathers of the Church, as fome
affect to call them, were mere Children in Un-
derftanding. Thefe Fathers, whofe Names
are fo venerable, whofe Doctrines are fo infal-
lible, and whofe Authority is fo facred,
who, or what were they ? They were a
Set ot weak, but one would hope well- deigning
Men, who entertained ten thoufand wild and
ridiculous
Cuae continent Fidem, Morefqj vivendi. Aug. de Doft. ChrifU.
2. c. q Side describing a venerable Body of antient Chrifti-
ns, fays, Tantum ea quae in Propheticis, Evangelicis, et Apofto-
Jicis Literis, difcere poterant, obfervantes. Hiji. 1. 3. c. 4. Om-
ia ea qua; abfq; Teftimoniis Scripturarum afleruntur, percutiun-
tur Gladio Dei. Hieron in Agge. c. i. and P. Gregory the firft
fays, In hoc Volunine, cuncta quae edificant, Omnia quas erudi-
uat, Scripta continentur. Homil. ^. in Ezek. Gratian a Benedic
tine Monk, who lived in the i'2ih Century, expreffes himfelf to
the fame Purpofe. Si folus Chnftus audiendus eft, non debemus
mttendere, quid aliquis ante nos faciendum putaveric, fed quid prius,
qui ante Omnes eft Chriftus prior fue'rit, neque ehim'hujus Con-
fuetudihem fequi oportet, fed Dei Veritatem, cum djcat fine Caufa
eolunt me, Mandata et Doftrinas Hominom docentes. Qrat. Dift.
e. 8. Veritati eonfueludo cedat.-^ -Si Confuecudinem fortaffis
bpponas, advertendum eft quod Dominusdicit, ego fum Via Veri-
tas et vita, non dixit ego fum Confuetudo fed veritas.
Gratian Djftin. c. 8.
(a) Sell, de Verb. Dei non Script. 1. 4, c. 1 1.
(29)
ridiculous Fancies, foolifh and extravagant O-
pinions, which they believ'd themfelves ; and
palm'd upon others, who had Credulity e-
nough to believe upon their Authority, for the
Doctrines of Religion. They faid, and unfaid
the fame Things, folemnly contradicted each
other; inftead of arguing, they allegoriz'dj
they rav'd, inftead of reafoning ; and did all
in the Name of the Lord. " Whoever," fays
an ingenious Author, " has feen Solomon's Tem-
" pie allegoriz'd by John Bunyan, may find
f * there, a Specimen of the Sagacity and Abi-
t{ lities of the Fathers, in explaining of Scrip-
<c ture. According to John, there was not a
" Nail in that Temple but had its Typical
" Purpofe; and every Bafon, and Pair of
" Tongs prefigured fome great Myftery to come :
" In fhort, every Stone, and every Tool in the
" Temple prophefied. And in all this, the
tf poor pious Tinker treads in the Steps of the
" Fathers, without knowing it. As he had
** much more Hone/iy, and a more quiet and be*
<{ nefaent Spirit than any of themj fo he had
*' as much Invention, and was full as equal to
<c the Bufinefs of Allegory, as the beft of them ;
cc and his Fancy was not more heated than
* * theirs -, and whoever reads his Pilgrim's Pro-
" grefs, need only fuppofe himfelf reading one
of the brighteft Fathers in Engti/h, and he'll
make them no ill Compliment j for his Ima-
gination, which was a very good one, was
*< more
c<
(30)
" more regular and correct than theirs." Thefc
venerable Fathers, or if you pleafe, venerable
Mothers^ of your learned Friend's Catbolick
Church ; for thefe, he allures us, conceivd and
brought herjorth, what abfurd Doctrines have
they not taught, and inculcated in their Writ-
ings? One of them tells us, that formerly
wicked Demons, not known to be fuch, de-
bauch'd Women, defH'd Boys, and were all
this while miitaken for Gods, (a) .Or/gr/z, one
of the wifeft among them, had more Charity
for the Devil, than your learned Catechift has
for the Members of the Church of England,
and Proteftants of every other Denomination.
He believ'd that the Devil might be fayed;
whilft your Catholick Friend will difpenfe Sal-
vation to thofe only of his own Party and Com-
munion : For he affures us, that there is no
Salvation ordinarily to be obtained by any o-
ther. (b) But if fo much Deference be due to
fome of the Doctrines and Practices of the Fa-
thers, why not to all ? Origen, you'll remember
I call'd him one of the wijc(l % thro* a miftaken
Interpretation of a Text of Scripture, and a
frantic, incontinent Zeal, was literally made an
Eunuch for the Kingdom of Heaven. He got
himfelf
(a) For Want of Greek Types fubftitute the following Tranfla-
tion. Olim mali Daemones per Speftra apparentes, mulieres con-
ftuprarunt, et Pueros imminuerunt, Dziuones malos effc ne^
fciebant, Decs illos vocarcnt. Tuft. p. 10.
(b) Cat. p. i6z.
himfelf caftrated for God's fake, like the Priefts
of the Phrygian Goddefs.
Phrygio
More, Supervacuam cultris abfcinderc Carnem (a)
j
Why, doth not your learned Friend the Dr.
and his Difciples follow this Example, whiLft
they pretend fo much Devotion to the Fathers,
efpecially as he allows Matrimony to be only
like Silver, but Continence like Gold, which is
much better ? But I correct myielf ; if fo,
there would be none left to raife up a Seed of
Martyrs. But whatever Deference, any may
pay to the Opinions of the Fathers, we owe
a fiill greater Deference to Truth. The Au-
thority of St. Cyprian fhould be of very little
Weight, when it ftands in Oppofition to the
Authority of Chrift Jefus ; and having Clemens
^ilexandrinus on your Side, is nothing at all to
the Purpofe, whilft common Senfe is againfl
you. The Truth is, as a learned Church Hi-
Jiorian obferves, (b) The Church maintained
her Virgin Purity s in the Apoflle's Days, and
Error
(a) Javen. Sat. 2.
(b) Ecclefia ad hsec ufq; tempera inftar cujusdam Virginia in-
ttaram atq; incorruptam permanfifle : ad hue in obfcuro Receffu
deliteicentibus, quicur.q; redftam przdicationis evangelicz Regu-
lam dcpravare niterentur. Sed poflquam Sacer Apoitolorum Cz-
tus vano Mortis genere extinftus eft, effluxeracq; jam -<Etas Homi-
num illorum qui Divinam ipfam Sapientiam fuis Auribus aufcul-
tare merueranc : tune demum exona eft, impii error is Confpiratio,
Fraude e{ Malitu falforum Doctor am.
Eufcb, Eccl. Hift. lib. 3. c. 32.
Error could at moft but ikulk about m Cor-
ners, when it endeavoured to corrupt pure
Christianity ; but after the Apoftolical Age, all
Manner of Error and Impofture, made a rapid
Progrefs, and had a diffufive fpread. Return
we then to the Hinge, upon which this Con-
troverfy turns ; to that which is the Sheet An-
chor of our Author's Caufe. Would you know
what new Gofpel is the Mint, in which he
coins all his Superftitions ? What fhould it be,
but the Gofpel of Tradition. The Council of
Trent (a) requires, that the Oral Traditions of
the Church of Rome, Jhould be received with
tbejame Reverence and pious AJfeftion, as a writ-
ten Revelation. But your learned Friend in his
new more enlarged and improved Edition of
Popery , not only fets Tradition on a Level
with the Scriptures, but by the Precedence he
gives it in the Titles to his Leflbns, plainly fets
it above them. But why doth not our Catecbiji
fpeak out, as a Man of Integrity ought to doj
and declare his Sentiments plainly ? Why doth
he not declare, that the Scriptures are not a fuf-
ficient Rule of Faith and Manners ; that they
do not contain all that is necejfary to Salvation ;
that the Old and New Teftament Revela-
tion is of itfelf imperfeft, and wants a fupple-
mental, Traditionary Revelation, deliver'd by the
Mouth of a Nonjuring Prieft, to mend it ? The
Reafon
(a) Pari Pietatis Affeftu, ac ReveiWtia SufcipH ac veneratur.
Cone, Trid, Ssff. 4r
(33)
Reafon is obvious ; his Pills and his Super*
flitions, when gilded o'er, are fvvallow'd down
more glibly ! Were it it not for this, would
he not with the Council of Trent y (aj devoutly
curfe all who refmfe to receive his Tradition
ble! But then, what muft we do, when
find that the Pope's Catholic Church, and the
Nonjuror's Catholic Church, militate againft each
other, that the different Seels in the Romijh
Church, for Infallibility herfelf has her Sects
and Parties, are much divided in their Senti-
ments as to Apoftolical Tradition, (b) Thus fome
Romanics plead Apoftolical Tradition, for the
Ufe of Incenfe ; and others are as peremptory,
that it has no fuch Apoftolical Tradition to fup-
port it. Some pretend Apoftolical Tradition
for the Pope's Supremacy > and this Apoftolical
Tradition is by others as confidently exploded.
Some urge, infallibly be fure, Apoftolical Tra-
dition for offering the Sacrifice of Mafs for
Souls in Purgatory ; and this fame Apoftolical
Tradition is by others as infallibly rejected.
Nay, which is more, the Afian Churches a!-
ledg'd Apoftolical Tradition for obferving Ea-
Jler t in Imitation of the Jeiviflj Paffbver, on the
J4th Day of the Moon ; the Weflern Church-
es produced Apoftolical Tradition againft it.
E Each
(a) Si quis Traditiones contempferit, Anathema fit.
Cone. Trid. Seff. 4,
(b) Nulla Religionis Sefta eafdem obfervat Ccremonias, licet
eandem de Deo Sententiam ampledatur : Etenim qui ejusdam funt
f idei. iifdcm in Ritibus inter fc difcntiunt.
Sttr. Hift. Eccle. 1. ^
(3+)
Each Party in this Cafe pleaded Apoftolical
Tradition, to fanclify their Rage, and confecrate
their DhTentions, till at laft in the 4th Century,
the Nicene Council put it to the Vote, which
Apoftolical Tradition was mofl' * Apoflolical of the
two, and determined it in Favour of the We-
fern Churches. Now, if it be afk'd, what
muft a Man do amidft the Contrails of Infalli-
bility in different Churches, and amidft the
Clafliings of Apoftolical Tradition ? Why, he muft
do as well as he can. He muft believe the Pope's
Church Infallibility to be in the Right when
he is at Rome, and the Dotfor's Church Infal-
libility to be in the Right when he is at Man-
chefter, and then he is fure to be in the Right
In both Places. Now, who can doubt of the
Infallibility of Tradition, when its Evidence is
fo plain, and indifputable in Matters that the
Church determines to be of the laft Importance,
as we have now fhewn it to be ? Your learned
Friend's Patients, would they not, when their
Lives are in imminent Danger, think it fuffici-
cnt that He mould chafe -away Death from their
Bodies, as He drives away the Devi/ from their
Souls, with a mere Oral Prefcription ? Would
not his Heirs think it fufficient, that they have
an Oral Title to their Eftates ? And would not
the World be as wife, as it is now likely to be,
had his Catechi/m been handed down to Man-
kind only by the Medium of Oral Tradition ?
Beyond - all Manner of doubt it would !
An
(35)
An unanfwerabls Argument in his Service !
'Tis Demonstration itfelf, and what would
your Ranting Fanatics have more !
I mould be glad, if your learned Friend the
Catechift, would inform me, he'll eafily learn
it from the Gofpel of Tradition, how many of
the Faithful^ that is, how many Nonjurors
there were at Mancbefter in 1688, that refu-
fed Allegiance to King William ? If Tradition
be a fure Guide to go by, when its Doc-
trines are tranfmitted down thro* a long Sue-
ceffion of Ages, much more muft it be infalli-
ble in its Teftimony, in Relation to Affairs
tranfacted in the prefent Age. If we may rely
upon it's Authority, as to what was practis'd
or believ'd 1700 Years ago, much more will
it inform us as, to the determinate Number of
Nonjurors in Manchefter t in 1688 ! I do not
know of any written Records that has tranf-
uiitted down to us this important Piece of Hifto-
ricai Knowledge. Now to know what was the
State of your Friend's Catholic Church, in a
Time of general Apoftacy and Defection, is
certainly a Point of Religion, a Point of very
great Importance too ; and upon your Friend? $
Principles, worthy of the peculiar Interposition
of Heaven. -If you have no written Record?
to produce, undoubtedly you can fupply the;
Want of them in this Cafe, from the Gofpel
ofcumoritten Tradition ! What are new Go/pels
qr new Fafiions for, if they do not fupply the
(36)
Defeats and Imperfections of thofe old exploded
Caft-aiuay Go/pels and Fa/bidtis, that were in
vogue before them? Your learned Friend
the Ctitecbifti who 'tis prefum'd mud be well
vers'd in HJfpoerflte? s Writings, yet would in-
difputably allow, that he had Authority fuffi-
cient to believe, that Hippocrates was no . .
Phyfician, if it was but handed down to him
by Tradition, that his Grandmother^ Great
Grandmother^ and Great Great Grandmother
believ'd fo before him. The Miracle of Loret-
to y and you know what a jweet i j enny that
Miracle brings in to the Priefls,, is built upon
as ftrong a Foundation. A certain Countryman
recollected, that his Grandfather once told him,
that his Great Great Grandfather faw Angels
convey Santa Cafa, the Bleffed Virgin's Houfe,
over the Sea, to Loretto> when he was a Boy,
and at Work in the Fields, (a)
I might proceed to obferve, that the Religi-
pn of Tradition is fo far from being fubfervi-
ent to, that it is quite deftruclive of the Reli-
gion of Virtue and Goodnefs. That it only
teaches Men to rely on a finfcl Sanctity, inftead
of Sterling Piety and Devotion, that it an-
fwers no other End, than to make good Churchmen ,
without being good Men; and that inftead of
reforming the World, it improves and multiplies
its Corruptions 5 that a Man may put on a
white
(a) Labels, apud Harris's Collection of Voyages, Tojn. ?.
(37)
Garment, and at the fame Time wear a
black Confcience j that he may feed upon Ho-
#ey y and yet be in the Gall of Bitternefs dill !
And that he may have the Devil fir % d away from
bis Soul, and yet be afterwards more a Child of
Hell than before 1
I might further urge, that if the Religion of
Tradition had been of any real Importance it
would have been committed to Writing, ei-
ther by the Apoflles, or fome of their Imme-
diate Siicceflbrs, in order to preferve it entire
and free from all fophifticated Mixture. Are
not the Decrees of our Courts of Juftice, the
Experiments made in Natural Philofophy, and
the Hiftory of Difeafes of the human Body all
committed to Writing, in order to perpetuate
the Knowledge of them among Mankind?
Strange, that none of the Apoftolical Colledgc
had the Benevolence or Publick Spiritcdneis, to
do as much in Regard to this Religion of Tra-
dition, had a Standing Revelation been imper-
fect or infbfficient without it ! So much for
the Authority of the Gofpel of Tradition . Now
for lome of its Doftrines : I (hall fpecify but a
few. It would be an Affront upon the Under*
landings of my Readers to fpecify many.
Let us begin with the Church. The Church, fay ;
our Catechiji, " is the Aflembly of the Faithful,
<c that is, of thofe who profefs to ferve the true
" God according to the true Religion which he
" himfelf hath taught, and which they have learn-
"ed
(38)
fc ed from their Forefathers, and preferv'd /#//-
"fully without Alteration." (a)The Religion of
this One, holy. Catholic and Apojlolic Church,
you may find in the Breviaries, Rituals, and
Miffals of Rome, but no where fo compleat-
Jy as in our Doctor's new Syftem, built up-
on the Rock of Tradition. Thofe who fcpa-
rate from this Church, as the far greater!:
Part of Mankind do, the Lord have Mer-
cy upon them, for the Prieft has none.
They are Heretics and Schematics in his Ef-
teem. (b) Out of this pure Church that damns
the great eft Part of the World for Confci-
ence Sake, Salvation is not ordinarily to be
obtain' d. But why faid I, the Lord have
Mercy upon them ? It feems God cannot fave
them if he would, and the Priefl will not
fave them if he can : Who then would
not be a Member of this damning, heriticat-
ing Church ? Who would not fall into the
Hands of the Doftor, rather than into the
Hands of the Devil? But would you alk,
who are the Members of this Church, or
this Ajfemblj of the Faithful, who profefs to
ferve the true God? Our learned CatechiH an-
fwers, its Members are <c God the Father, Son,
<c and Holy Ghoftr Thefe are three of the Per-
fons, thatprofejs to ferve the true God. Item, " All
" the blejfed Angels and all the holy Men and Be-
" lievers that have been in the World ;" thefe too
" are Members of the Church : All the holy
*' Men
(a) Cat. p. 47. and i6u (b) Cat, p. 47,
( 39 )
" Men and Believers that ever Jhatt be in the
" World." Thefe too are Members of the One^
holy, Catholic, Apoftolic Church, (a) But as to You
.Members of the Church of England-, as to You
Proteftants of all Denominations ; You have
heard your Doom ! Hear again, and tremble !
You are in our Catecbift's Account Heretics
and Schifmatics from his Church, and ordina
rily that is, unlefs you purchafe it extrava-
gantly dear, there is no Salvation for you !
Unlefs you give your Confcience and your
Understanding to the Prieft, your Eftates to
the Church, and your Children to the Pa-
rifi, this Gentleman will not upon any cheap-
er Terms hire out his Salvation to you :
Whatever Friendfhip Jacobites may exprefs
for Nonjurors, fincerely I doubt not at all,
yet let thofe Jacobites who call themfelves
Members of the Church of England, know
that the Nonjurors look upon them to be all
Heirs of Deftruclion. Epifcopal Baptifm as prac-
tis'd by the Church of England, our Author calls
an heretical Adminiftration. (b) The Ordinati-
on of the Church of England, he likewife treats
as an heretical Schi/matical Adminiftration. (c^
Countrymen and Fellow- Proteftants, you know
what Judgment the Church of Rome, moft of
whofe Superftitions and Extravagancies our Au-
thor adopts and improves upon ; you know
what Judgment fhe pafles upon Heretics,
There
|a) Cut, p, 191, (b) Cat. p. 226, (c) Cat. p, 431^
v
\
(40)
There is no Faith to be kept with
There is no more Sin in killing of Heretic**
than there is in killing of Dogs. Thefe are
her Sacred Maxims, Hemp and Heretics are
the Averfion of all good Catholics^ unlefs it
be Rebellion Hemp, that has a Crown of
Martyrdom to conjecrate and blefs it.
In the famous Council of Lateran, con-'
yen'd by Pope Innocent the Third, Ann.
1215, it was ordained ; that all Secular Pow-
ers fliould oblige themfelves to exterminate
all Herefe out of their Dominions, and in
Default thereof, fuch Secular Powers to be
excommunicated, and their Subjects to be
abfolved from their Allegiance, (a) Here we
have a glaring Inftance of the Spirit of your
Friend's Mother Church, and the Spirit of
the Daughter if it be improved, doth not in
the leaft appear to be improved for the bet-
ter. --- The Decrees of this Council, were
not the Acts of a few, defpicable, unauthorized
Ecclefiaftics, but the Determinations of one
of the greateft Ecclejlaftical Conventions in the
World. It con fitted of the AmbafTadors of
mofl Sovereign Princes, the Patriarchs o f Je-
ritjalem
(a) Potefktes Seculares perpetuas vel temporales jurare tenentur
unirerfos Haeredcos ab Ecclcfia damnatos, pro viribus extermi-
nare, et temporalis Dominus non purgans terrara fuam Hasreticis,
excommunicatur, et fi perfiflcrit in excommunicatione per Annum,
nuntiatur Papse, qui fideles ejus a Juramento abfolvet et ejus Ter-
ram Fidelibus cxpone:,
Dtcrft, Gre^ lib, 5, (it. 7. C- 13,'
(4O
rttfalem and Conftantinople in Perfon, the Pa-
triarchs of Alexandria and Antioch in their Re-
prefentatives, 71 ArchbiJhopSy 340 Biflwps,
and 800 Abbots or Priors. A goodly Herd
of ghoftly Cattle ! but better/^ than taught !
or it had never been decreed in fuch an il-
luftrious Affembly, that all Secular Princes
fhould upon Oath be obliged to exterminate
Herefy and Heretics out of their Territories,
.under Pain of being treated, in Cafe of Dif-
obedience as the ivorft Heretics themfelves ,
This is the Spirit, theie are the Features of
that holv, Catholic^ and Apoftolic Church that our
learned Cat ec hi ft would eftablith. What a fo-
lemn Abfurdity is it for any Members of the
Church of England, A Church that is the
Bulwark of the Reformation, to mourn for the
Eftablimment of a tyrant on the Britift
Throne, which would bring the Eftablimment
of this barbarous, bhod-thir(ly y and butchering.
Religion with him ! For Proteftants too, to
plead Conjcience for introducing a Scheme of
Slavery and Superftition, that would do all that
it can to exterminate the very Name of Protef-
tantijm from the Face of the Earth ! , Are
thefe Men's Conferences, or their Heads the
more fojt and tender?
Proceed we to fome other Parts of fliis
new Syftem of devout Rant, and ' (firitual
Qttackery, extracted out of the new Gojpel of
Tradition. Here the good Proteflant may have
F Sacraments
(42)
Sacraments by Wholefale, Sacraments dealt out
by the Dozen. Amongft thefe, Exorcifm
muft not be pafs'd over in Silence. Exor-
ci/m> what is that ? 'Tis blowing in the Face of
the Infant or adult Per/on baptiz'd j figning
bim 'with the Sign of the Crofs, and ufing Au~
thoritative Words to drive away the Devil, (a)
Unhappy Infants that come out of their Ma-
ker's o*wn Hands, poflefs'd with the Devil ! More
unhappy Proteflants, that for Want of Exor~
elfm muft be Devil- rid all the Days of their
Lives \ by a poor contemptible Devi/, that is
to be blown and banimed out of his Domi-
nions, by the Breath of a Nonjuring Priejl \
But what if he fhould prove to be a fturdy
refolute Devi/, that is not to be Fly-blown out
of his Empire ? What muft the Priefl do
then ? Be it fo. Exorcifm, not only drives \
but fires away the Evil Spirit \ (b) Right ! It
feems, a burnt Devil like a burnt Child dreads
the Fire ! A Man would no more commit a
Kape upon his Countenance, than he would
commit a Rape upon the Fair. You muft al-
low me then Sir, to be a little ludicrous upon
proper Occafions. A little while ago, a Par-
ty of your Highland Friends were oblig'd ta
take up with Accommodations at an Inn, in
an Apartment which they were told was haunt-
ed i on this Occafion, they ordered Plenty of
\ Liquor
Catecft. p. 70; (!>) Cat. f>,
(43)
Liquor, Tobacco, and every Thing elfe Into
the Room that was neceflary to fhield them
from the Devil. Here they regaled themfclves
very freely. AJorry Fellow belonging to the
Houfe, who was the Devil that haunted it,
came in the Dead of the Night (talking in,
Chains, and perfonating an Apparition. The
Highland Po/fe were all got afleep over their
Cups, one only excepted. His Spirits being
elated with Mirth and Wine, he receives his
new Gueft very civilly thus, ' Your humble
*' Servant Mr. De'el ; pray fit down good Mr,
<e De'el j fmoak a Pipe with us ; here's a Pipe as
*' black as your Honour , Mr. De'el, you are
* e extremely welcome, I never had the Dif-
<c tinction (hewn me of your Company before."
The Fellow more amaz'd at the Highlander^
than the Highlander was at the Devi/, retires
in great Confufion. Hereupon the Highland
Hero awakes his Neighbour 5 Sawney the
De'el has been here, and what then, cries
Sawney, yawning ; . why fays the Hero, I
confoowted him fairly with a Text of Scrip'
ture ; I aik'd him to fmoak a Pipe, and the
De'el could neither ftand Fire, nor Smoak.
Now Sir, pray tell me what Gofpel did the
Highlander find this Text of Scripture in, un-
lefs he met with it, when upon his Expedition
thro' Manchetter, in Dr. Paracelfus's new Gof>*
pel y that fires away the Devil from the Soul ?
Jt mufl be fo, beyond all Queftion, Sf. Dun-
Jlan, of old, play'd fome very bold Pranks with.
the Devil of the fame Nature with this. The
Devil having long tempted, but ftill tempted
him in vaiu I at laft thought of an Expedi-
ent which he promis'd could not fail. " He
affumes the Appearance of a fine Lady, and in
that Shape renews the Temptation : And you
know Sir he muft be a Saint indeed ! more
than a Saint I He muft be an Angel, diverted
of Fle/h and Blooa, that can refift the Attrac-
tions of thofe fweet Charmers ! However >;/-
flan was even invulnerable and unconquerable
by thefe. Unnatural as he was, he took the
Jair Devil by the Nofe with a Pair of red
hot Pincers, and led her, or him, whatever
Gender you give it, round, round and round
again about the Room, till the Devil was rea-
dy to fwoon away, and roar'd out in great A-
gony and Anguifh. (a) Poor Devil, well he
'might, to be led thus by the Nofe!
Our Authors firing away the Devil from the
Soul, being a Preface to Baptifm, and one of
his folemn Seafons for the Adminiftration of
Baptifm being on Eafter Eve, would induce
one to believe, that in this, as well as in many
Inftances more he has a fecret Allufion to
n Juperftitious Imposture tranfacled on the fame
Dey, and for the fame furpoje, viz. driving a*
(a)
'( 4S )
the Devil, by the Greek and Armenian
Priefts. The Farce (or the Miracle as they ex-
prefs ft) is call'd, that of the holy Fire. It
is pretended, that on Easter Eve, a miraculous
Flame defcends from Heaven into the holy Se-
pulchre, and kindles all the Lamps and Can-
dles there, which in the Prefence of the 'Turks
and other Witnefles, had, for the Difplay of
the Miracle, been previoufly extinguished. This
devout Forgery is carry'd on by the Greek Pa-
triarch of Jerujalem, the Armenian Patriarch
of the fame, and the Coptijb Bifhop. Tbeve-
not fays, the Turks faw through the Cheat and
would have prevented it for the future, but
the Patriarchs reprefented they could not pay
them as much Money as they did, if the Pro-
fit of the holy Fire was taken away ; and there-
upon the Turks agreed to let them continue
the Juggle. The Purport of my Author's (a)
Account of it, is as follows. Coming to
the Church of the holy Selpulchre, we found it
crouded with a diftracied Mob, making hide-
ous Clamours, violently running to and fro,
crying out Huia, a Word emphatically
expreffive that theirs is the true Religion.
Their Heads being grown vertiginous, and their
Zeal en flamed into Phrenzy, they acted a
thoufand antic Extravagancies, in ten thoufand
more, as antic and extravagant Poltures. Some-
times
^) Maundreirs Journey from Altfto to Jtrufaltm p. 96. 97^
(46)
times they dragg'd each other round the Floor,
and fometimes march'd around in Mock- State
upon each others Shoulders. Sometim^ they
play'd the Part of Tumblers on a Stage, and
fometimes plac'd Men with their Heads and
Heels inverted, in fuch Attitudes as moft inde-
cently expos'd what Nature vails. When the
Proceflion begun, they marched thrice round
the holy Sepulchre, with Standards, Streamers,
Crucifixes, embroider'd Habits, and all the
Furbery Superftition could invent or furnim.
The Greeks went firft, and the Armenians fol-
lowed after. Prefently a Dove (not an Em-
blem of Innocence neither, but one properly
train'd for the Service) flutter'd into the Cupo-
la over the Sepulchre, which was received with
Shouts of Joy by the frantic Throng, believ-
ing it to be a vifible Dejcent of the Holy Gboft.
The Proceflion being ended, the Ecclefiaftics
mentioned above, advanc'd with folemn Mien
and moft reverend Pace towards the Sepulchre,
the Doors whereof had been fealed up when
the Lights were extinguifhed , under Pretence
of guarding againft all Impofture. Thefe Doors
being now unfealed, no fooner had the Priefts
enter'd in, but they (hut them again and al-
lowed Admiflion to none but themfelves.
The Acclamations of the People grew louder
and louder, as the Miracle was expected to be
drawing near its Crifis. Every one rufh'd ea-
gerly towards the Sepulchre to meet the Priefts
(47)
as they came out of it, with the holy Fire in
their Hands ; ambitious who mould be the firft
in lighting their Tapers at the celeflial flame.
The Miracle-mongers, faith my Author, " had
" not been above a Minute in the holy Se-
" pulchre when the Glimmering of the holy
" Fire was feen, or imagined to be feen thro"
" fome Chinks of the Door, and certainly
*' Bedlam itfelf, never faw fuch an unruly
<f Tranfport as was produced in the Mob
" at this Sight. Then came out the
" Priefts with blazing Torches in their Hands,
<f which they held up at the Door of the
" Sepulchre, while the People throng'd about
" with inexpreflible Ardour, every one ftriv-
* c ing to obtain a Part of the firft and pu-
" reft Flame," believing that to have moft,
wonder-working Virtues to attend it. The
lurks in the mean Time that were fet as
Guards at the Door, <c with huge Clubs laid
" them on without Mercy j but all this could
" not repel them, the Excefs of their Tran-
" port making them infenfible of Pain. Thofe
" that got the Fire, immediately apply'd it to
" their Beards, Faces and Bofoms, pretending
ct that it would not burn like an earthly
<f Flame; but I plainly faw, none of them could
tc endure this Experiment long enough to make
* c good that Pretenfion. Innumerable Tapers
" were foon lighted ; the whole Church and
" Galleries and every Place feemed inftantly
c<
cc
(48 )
f< to be in a Flame, and with this Illuminate
" on the Ceremony ended.- They within
te the Sepulchre, performed their Part with
" great Quicknefs and Dexterity. *Tis the
* c deplorable Unhappinefs of their Priefts t that
having acted the Cheat fo long already,
they are forc'd now to ftand to it, for
" fear of endangering the Apoftacy of the
" People. After the Rout was over, we
" faw feveral People gather'd about the Stone
" of Unction, who having got a good Store
" of Candles lighted by the Holy Fire, were
<e employed in daubing Pieces of Linnen with
cc the Wicks of them and the melting Wax j
<e which Pieces of Linnen were defigned for
< Winding Sheets ; it being the Opinion of
" thefe poor People, that if they can but have
<c the Happinefs of being buried in a Shroudy
" fmutted with this Celeflial Fire, it will cer~
" tainly fecure them from the Flames of Hell.'"'
Now as our learned Author's Exorcijm, is to
be practis'd on the fame Day with this fcan-
dalous Impofture, practis'd by the Greek and
Armenian Priefts, and as the Fire of the holy
Sepulchre is deemed by their fuperftitious De-
votees to be a Prefervative from the Flame of
Hell ; further, as our learned Catechijl
doth adopt many other of their ridiculous Rites,
'tis probable, to fay no more, that if his
Church was once eftablifhed here, we mould
have this Miracle of the Holy Fire tranfplanted
into
(49)
into Britain as an infallible Method
whereby to pre/erve from the Flames of Hell,
or, in our Autbtr** Phrafe, to drive away the
Evil Spirit. If the Devil be driven away foon
enough to refcue the Sinner from eternal Per*
dition, 'tis not quite fo material whether it be
done at Baptijm or at Burial. All that can
be laid, is, that the longer your holy, Catholic
and Apo/lolic Priefl has him in Play, the bet-
ter Chance he has of making a good Penny
of Satan. But perhaps He may underftand
how to make a good Penny of Satan without
requiring his perfonal Attendance. If fo,
I can but think, upon the whole, that our
Author has the Advantage of the Greek and
Armenian Priefts, and that the fooner the De-
vil is Jird away the better !
Another remarkable Kind of Exorcifm, (for I
am upon a copious Subject) is one made Uie
of by the yefuits to fanclify Regicides, and
confecrate the Affirmation of Princes. This I
am the more inclined to give you, as 'tis not
improbable, but fomethrng of the Kind was
praftis'd upon the Rebel Herd at Manchejler^
before they inlifted under the Banner of Re-
bellion, with a Defign to murder our Royal
Sovereign, his Family, our Conftitution, our
Religion, our Liberties, all together. 'Tis ex-
tracted out of a Procefs printed at Delfdf y '
by John Andrew, arid runs thus in the Au-
thor from whom I tranfcribe it, " The Per-
G
t ion perfuaded by the Jefuits to affaffinate ci-
" ther a King or a Prince, is brought by them
" into a fecret Chappel, where they have pre-
" pared upon an Altar a great Dagger wrapt
* up in LinTien Cloth, together with an Ag-
<c nus Dei : Drawing it out of the Sheath they
" befprinkle it with Holy Water, and faften
" to the Hilt feveral confecrated Beads of Co-
* ral, pronouncing this Indulgence j that as
" many Blows as the Murderer mall give with
" it to the Prince, he fhall deliver fo many
<c Souls from Purgatory. After this Ceremo-
4{ r.y, they put the Dagger into the Paricide's
<c Hand, and recommend it to him thus :
" Thou chcfen Son of God, take the Sword
*
" of Jepthe, the Sword of Sampjon, the Sword
ct of David wherewith he cut off the Head of
" Gcliabt the Sword of Gideon , the Sword of
" Judith, the Sword of the Maccabees^ the
" Sword of Pope Julius the Second, where-
" with he cut off the Lives of feveral Princes his
ec Enemies ; filling whole Cities with Slaugh-
" ter and Blood : Go, -and let Prudence go a-
*' long with thy Courage. Let God give new
*' Strength to thy Arm. After which, they
" fail down on their Knees, and the Superior
* of the Jefuits pronounces the following Ex-
<c crciim : Come ye Cherubims, ye Seraphims,
<c Thrones and Powers ; come ye Holy Angels
*' and fill up this bleffed VelTel ( i. e. the
execrable Parricide ) with an immortal Glo-
cc
cc
f5')
" ry. Do ye prefent him every Day with the
<e Crown of the blefled Virgin Mary, of the
" holy Patriarchs and Martyrs. We do not
< ( look upon him now as one of ours, but as
" one belonging to you. And thou O God
< e who art terrible and invincible, and haft
?c infpir'd him in Prayer and Meditation, to
<e kill the Tyrant and Heretic, for to give
c < his Crown to a Catholic King ; comfort we
C{ befeech thee, the Heart of him whom we
<e have oonfecrated for this Office. Strengthen
" his Arm that he may execute his Enter-
C{ terprize. Cloath him with the Armour of
^' thy Divine Power, that having perform'd his
" Defign, he may efcape the Hands of thole
*< who iTball go in Purfuit of him,, Give
" him Wings that his holy Members may fly
{< away from the Power of impious Heretics*
" Repleniili his Soul with Joy, Comfort and
<c Light, by which his Body having banifhed
" all Fear, may be upheld and animated in
<* the Midft of Dangers and Torments, This
" Exarcifm being ended, they bring the Par-
" ricide bsfore another Altar, whereto hangs an.
< Image of yames Clement, a Dominican Fryar,
(t who with a venemous Knife kili'd King
" Henry the third. This Image is furrounded
<e with Angels who protect and bring him to
" Heaven. The Jefaits (hew it him, and
" put afterwards a Crown upon his Head
11 iaying, Lord regard here the Arm and the
G 2 " Executor
" Executor of thy Juftice : Let all the Saints
*' arife, bow and yield to him the moft ho-
" nourable Place amongft them. Afterwards
" he is permitted to fpeak to none but to four
" 'Jefuits deputed to keep him Company.
" They are not wanting to tell him oft that
." they perceive a Divine Light that furrounds
*. c him, and is the Caufe why they bow
" to him, kifs his Hands and Feet, and con-
c< fider him no more as a Man but as a Saint ;
<c nay they make a Shew as if they envy'd
c< the great Honour and Glory attending him,
" and fay fighing, Oh ! that God had been
?' pleafed to make Choice of us inftead of
" you, and given us fo much Grace, that as
c< you we might be tranflated into Heaven
cc without going into Purgatory" (a) Here ends
the folemn Farce.
I muft not omit, for the Sake of my Protef-
tant Reader, the Hiftory of one Exorcifm more.
Prince Chriftopher of the Family of the Dukes
of Ratzeil being a great Devotee to the See
of Rome, and extravagantly fond of Romifb
Trincktts and Superftitions, waited on the
Pope to kifs his Holinejs's Feet. On this Oc-
cafion, his Holinefs prefcnted him with a Box
of Reliques as an Acknowledgment of his Do-
cility and Obedience to the holy See. Upon
the Prince's Return flome, the Reliques grew
into
(a) Emilliaiu's HUU Monaft. p. 206. i*
( S3)
into great Reputation, and he became famous
over all the Country. Hereupon fome Monks
came to him, pretending they had a Man un-
der their Care poffefs'd with a Devil, which
with all their holy Feats and Zeal they had not
been able to ferret out of him. They there-
fore follicited the Prince for his Reliques, to
try whether they were powerful enough to e-
ject this obftinate Devi/, to which he readily
confented. The Reliques being apply'd with
the ufual Solemnity and Devotion, the Devil
foon made it appear, that their Virtue was
too powerful for him to withftand it. With
all the Diftortion of Features, Grimace, and
Gnafhing of Teeth ufual on the like Occafions,
he quitted Poffeffion. The People prefent,
cried a Miracle, a Miracle, and the Prince ex-
alts God, and was himfelf exalted beyond Mea-
fure, for the facred wonder-working Treafure
wherewith he was entrufted.
Some Time after, the Prince with great
Zeal and Eloquence, was difplaying the bleiTed
Efficacy of his Reliques, one of his Gentle-
men prefent, betray'd his Difoelief of what he
(aid, both by the Manner of his Action and
his Smile. Being queftioned about it (after a
iolemn Promife of Forgivenefs) he ingenuoufly
confefs'd, that in their Return from Rome, he
had unfortunately loft the Box of Reliques pre-
lented to his Higbnefs by the holy Father ;
and to prevent the Storm of Difpleafure he
dreaded
dreaded in Confequence of it, he had ordered
another Box to be made as like it as he could.
This, faith he, I fill'd with rotten Bones and
other fuch venerable Trinckets ; and this, adds
he, is the Box of Reliques that your Monks and
Priefts work Miracles with.
The Prince no Doubt equally amaz'd and
confounded at the Difcovery, next Morning
fent to the Fathers, enquiring if they had any
other poffefs'd Perfon that he might contri-
bute to the Restoration of, by the Mediation
of his Reliques. Imagining they were playing
upon his Superftition (till, they were not at a
Lofs where to find a proper Perfon, to repeat
the fame Kind of Farce as had been acted be-
fore. The Prince required that the poffefs'd
Perfon might be exorcis'd in his Prefence.
But the Devil he was poffefs'd with, had In-
ftruclions what Game to play, and prov'd to be
a fturdy Devil, that would not relinquifh his
Tenure. The Monks being ordered to retire,
the Prince delivered over the poffefs'd Perfon to
the Hands of a more honeft, tho' lefsfpiritu a!
Kind of Exorcifts fome Tartars that be-
long'd to his Highnefs's Stable. Thefe were
authoriz'd to fcourge and difcipline him, till he
fhould confefs the Impofture. The Demoniac
by his horrible Grimaces and Geftures would
gladly have conceal'd the Fraud, and fancli-
fy'd the Collufion. But the Tartars renewing
their Difcipline, ihepoor Devil could not ftand
Proof
(55)
Proof againft the Violence of their Rage and
Fury. Without the Help either of Reliques, or
of holy Water^ the Man was difpoffeffed. He
confefs'd the Cheat, and afk'd the Prince's Par-
don for the . Part he had afted in it.
The holy Monks and Priefts were next fent
for, who were as yet wholly ignorant of what
had happen'd. When they came, the reftored
Demoniac proftrated himfelf in Sight of them at
the Prince's Feet, acknowledg'd that a wicked
Confederacy with the Monks was the only De-
vil that poffefs'd him, and that he never had
been poffefs'd with any other. At firft thefe
good Men, who have always been more bufy,
as well as more fuccefsful in cafting in any De-
vil of Superftition, than in cafting out any o->
ther, would have perfuaded the Prince, that
this was only the Language of the Devil, who
made Ufe of the Man's Organs of Speech with
a View to deceive them. But the Prince faith
my Author > calling for his 'Tartars to exorcife
another Devi/, the Father of Lies, out of them
too, they foon relented and confefs'd the Cheat,
but urg'd that it was a pious Fraud, and done
with a good Intention, to check the Progrefs of
Herefy in that Country. This was in the
Year 1654. Hereupon the Prince became a
Profelyte and a Patron to the reform'd Religi-
on, (a) I
(a) Arcbifliop Waki* Defence againft the JSxceftjeng qf .the
fiiihop of Meant) zd. Part, p. igb, 7.
(56)
I (hall no doubt be gravfly told upon this
Head, that Exorcifm was eftablimcd by the
Council of Carthage, (a) But I alk upon what
Foundation ? Evidently upon no other than
this ; that the miraculous Power given by
our Saviour to his Difciples, to difpoflefs Evil
Spirits, or to caft out Difeafes, for it probably
meant no more, was to be a ftanding Gift in
the Church. Casting out of Devils they turn-
ed into Allegory and Figure, to fet forth the
moral Effeds of the Chriftian Difpenfation, in
cafting out Men's Lufts and Corruptions. This
was the Origin of the Practice, and as the Prac-
tice grew thofe fuperftitious Rights, fo gravely
ridiculous, grew with it. Pity but we could
exorcife away the Devil of Superftition, which
is the moft difficult to be difpoflefTed out of
fome Men's Souls, of all others. The Name
of this Species of Devils is Legion, for read
your learned Friend's Gatechifm, and you'll find
them to be very many.
'Tis recorded among the Papifts t that St.
Graf, a Saint of great Eminence and Diftinc-
tion, exorcis'd away all the Rats found in the
County of Aofl, and three Miles round it.
Now 'tis a Tradition, that Rats, like falfc
Friends, fly from you when Danger approach-
es, and defert the Ship that leans, or the Houfc
that is ready to tumble. The young Cheva-
* .-**]
her
*
(a) Ann; 25 *(
(57)
Her 'tis faid, complained bitterly during thd
Courfc of his Engli/h Expedition, offome po-
litical Rats that had long drank and fwore
in his Service, that had fought many Cam-
paigns for him over the Bottle j but when he
invited them to join his Standard, and make
the Campaign of Danger, they all fled away and,
forfook him. Now as your learned Friend can
initiate you into all the Myfieries of Exorcifm 9
what think you, if you fhould be rewarded for
your diftinguimed Zeal, with the Poft of Rat-
catcher General to his R-- y--l H gh fs ? But
I only mention this en paJJ'ant, as a Hint that
may be of Service.
Before I difmifs this Subject, it may not be
improper to take Notice, that when the Cate-
chumen is going to receive Exorcijm, he h not
at firft admitted into the Church, but to ftand
at the Door orfomewhere near it t (a) till his Pro-
fefiions have been examined and approved of by
the fpiritual Co?nmiJjary-General of the Muflers,
This done, the holy Conjuration begins ; the -
i)il Spirit is fird cut of the Soul, a Terror is caft
itpon him, and be flies from his PojjeJJlon, (b)
and becomes a poor "Bankrupt Devil. Could
not our learned Author, inftead ofjiring a^ay
his Devil, fuffocate him as one would a Ncft
of Hornets ? Then we mould never be
plagued with him aay more : But I re-
H collect
(a) Cc. . 227. (b) Cat. p. 227,
(53)
colled: myfelf and aflc this Gentleman's Pardon.
I had not duly coniider'd the Conftitution of
his Catholic Church. A Bankrupt Devil makes
a rich Priefthood, but a J'ujfocated Devil would
make a Bankrupt Prieft.
Our learned Author having already form'd
two different Attacks upon the Enemy, and
both driven away the Devil, and fir'd him from
the Soul ; next he afts the Part of an Ecclefi-
aflical Man-Midwife, and delivers you from
Satan. And now it is, and not before, that
you are admitted into the Privilege of entering
God's Houfe. *tbe Prie/l takes the Cate-
chumen by the right Hand, (a) and brings him
into the Church, leading him into the Baptiftery
or Place where he is to be baptized, and pray-
ing that God 'would receive him into his holy
Houfiold and keep him in the fame. Being thus
admitted into the Church, he muft renounce the
Devil towards the Weft, becaufe that being di
reSllj oppojite to the Eaft, the Place of Light 9
doth fymbolically reprefent the Prince of Dark-
nefs whom he renounces, and this he is to do like
a true Ecclefiaftical Prize-fighter, with his Hands
ftretch'd out, and in Defiance of the Devil.
He is likewife to perform fome other devout
Pranks with his Face towards the Eaft, with his
Hands and Eyes lifted up towards Heaven. He
looks towards the Eaft, becaufe as Jbon as he
has
k) Cat, p. 227.
(59)
has renounced tie Devil, the Paradife of God
which was planted in the Ea/t, and out of which
our fir ft Parent was banifloed, is now open to kim y
and his turning about from the Weft to the Ea/l
is a Symbol of this. Be fides the Raft, or the ri-
Jing Sun, is an Emblem of the Sun of Righte-
ou/nejs, to whom the Catechumen is now turned
from Satan, and the Defign of our fpiri-
tual Merry- Andrew in all this is, would
you have thought it ? to make Men fenfible of
the Nature of the Cbriftian Religion. fa) But
what if our Catechumen, whiltt he is officiating
with Chrift with his Face towards the Eaft,
fhould be turning his Back upon Paradife ?
Your learned Friend has not thought fit to
inftruft us where Paradife Hood. Some of
his adored Fathers will not allow it to have had
any local Situation at all, but explain a-
waythe whole Hiftory into Allegory and Figure.
Others plac'd it in the third Heaven, and the
Mahommedans place it in the ytli. Some of the
Fathers plac'd it in the middle Region of the
Air, above the Earth, under the Earth, in fome
hidden Recefs not to be difcovered by us, in
the Tract poffefs'd at prefent by the Cafpian
Sea, under the Artie Pole, and under the E-
quator. Some have difcovered it in Afia, fome
in Africa, fome in Europe, America, in Tarta-
ry, upon the Banks of the Danube, and the
'Ganges. Others we are told have difcovered it
H 2 in
(a) Cat. p. 22$.
(6o)
in the Ifle of Ceylon, in Perfia, in Armenia, in
Mefopotamia, in Chaldea, in Arabia, in Palej-
tine, in Syr/j, about the Mountains of Z//-
&*#j and Antilibanus, near the City of
Damafcus and Tripoly, in ^Ethiopia, and
which will doubtlefs be thought as ftrange
in Sweden, or which is ftranger ftill, in
the World in the Moon, (aj Now what ligni-
fies believing in Chrift towards the Eaft, as an
Emblem of Paradife, if your learned Catechift
cannot tell us where Paradiie lay. He'll tell me
it was Eaft of Judea* Be it fo. But pleafe
Sir to inftrucl: your moft learned Friend, that
the fame Place may be Eajt of one Country
and Weft of another. If Paradife be Eaft of
Judea, 'tis Weft of Perfia. It follows then,
that if all Men mould make their Vows to God,
facing towards Paradife, which is our Author's
Intention, when he directs you to face to-
jyards the Eaft, in different Countries they
mufl face different and oppolite Ways, and
what then becomes of his Symbol Worihip ?
But is not the whole Earth the Lord's y or
doth He keep his Court only in one particular
Corner of the Globe ? Are you, in your folcmn
Devotions, to mind which Way the Wind
blows, left if it mould be in a wrong Quar-
ter, it mould obftruc~t the wafting of your
AddrelTes to the Almighty's Throne ! Your
learned Friend no Doubt will affert roundly,
that
ty Vfc. Vniv. Hijt. Vol. jft.
( 6' )
that God is not God of the Weft; for how
(hould he, when the Weft is the Symbol of the
Devil. What a pitiful Cafe then are we in, in
thefe We/tern Nations, where all but the Priefts
'who are God's Representatives, (z) muft in fome
Sort be the Reprefentatives of the Devil : At
leaft, if the Weft be the Devil's Image, as our
learned Author affures us it is, muft not the In-
habitants of the West be the Image of the Devil's
Subjects ? But why after all, fo much wheel-
ing about to the Left and to the Right, and to
the Left and the Right again, whereby a Qz-
tbolic Saint's Exercife becomes more difficult
than a Soldier's ? Pity but thefe Symbol Religi-
onifts, would now and then look towards Golgo-
tha in their Devotions j would it not exhibit
their own Likenefs, under the Symbol of the
Place of Skulls ?
I fhall be poffibly told, that the Church of
England, a Church which I have confefs'd to
be a Bulwark to the Reformation, adopts the
very Practice I have been decrying, of bowing
towards the Eaft, tho' not of renouncing the
Devil towards the Weft, in her Devotions. I
anfwer ; whatever fome overgrown Zealots may
practife, I cannot learn from the Canons or
Rubrics of the Church of England, that this
Practice is any Part of her Confritution. Tis
only a Corruption of her Worfhip, and as it is
no where prefcrib'd in the Book of Common
Prayer, is forbidden tQ be us'd in divine Scr*
vice
t) Cat. p. 63.
vice, by an exprefs Statute of ift of Elizabeth,
c. 2. which enadls, that no other Rite or Cere-
mony fhall be us'd in Time of divine Service, or
Sacraments, than thofe prefcrib'd in the Book
of Common Prayer, under Pain of Imprifon-
ment, and other Penalties and Forfeitures
therein mention'd.
Tho* our learned Doffor, has both driven
and pr'd the Devil from his Spiritual Pa-
tient> and delivered him too, yet it (hould
feem that he has not been able to foil him.
He has not been fo ill fcar'd orfcorcbed, bat
he dare return to the Charge, and renew the
Combat. Make Way then clear the Field
for another Engagement, and patiently wait for
the Iffue. Next then comes anointing with
holy Oy/, for why may there not be Holinefs
in Oy/, as well as in Water ? Bat the Ration-
ale of this ? Why, becaufe the Pagans of old
anointed their Wreftlers and Runners in their
Gymnic Games, in order to give their Bodies
greater Agility and Vigour, fo, in oar Popifh
Paganifm, we are taught to anoint the baptiz'd
with Oy/, that they may in the Spiritual Race
run fafter from the D^vil. Bsfides, will it not
give the baptiz'd th^t Lubricity or Sleeknefs,
that will enable them' fb elude Satan's Attacks,
and flip like an Eel thro' his Clutches ?(a)
Bat our Author in this, as in many other In-
ftances,
{a) Cat. p. 229. make their Limbs Supple, that their A^-
.Ugonifts nMghs take lefs hold of them .
fiances, has only exhibited to our View fomc
Outlines of his Scheme. It will be foon enough
for the Monfter to (hew himfelf in his full
Proportion, when he has fhaken off his Chains,
and you can no more refill his Rage ; that is,
when this Catholic, dntiproteftant Church is
eftablifli'd. Befides, weak, Protefiant Under-
fhndings, could no more bear a Flood of Su-
perftition breaking in upon them all at once,
than a weak Eye could bear a fudden and rapid
Flood of Day Sir John Cbardin in his Tra-
vels, has given us a very intelligible Account
of the Importance and Ufefulnefs of holy Oyl.
"Tis an unexhauftible Fountain of facred Trea-
fures to the Church, that difFufes itfelf into ten
thoufand rich and refrefhing Streams ! 'Tis an
Article that Priefts of ur Author's Complexion
trade largely in, who make Merchandize of
Souls, and fet to Sale the holy Gbofl. 'Tis
us'd in the Greek and Armenian Churches, in-
flead of Water in Baptifm, as well as for the
Purpofe of Extreme Unction.
This occafions a very great Confumption of it,
and confequently as great a Demand for it. 'Tis
faidtwo of a Trade feldom agree. . This was the
Cafe in the Inftance that follows. During the
Courfe of Sir John's Travels, a Competition of
Interefts arifing from the Merchandize of this ho-
ly Oyl, caus'd great Difputes and Contentions be-
tween the Perjian Patriarch, and the Armenian
Patriarch of Jerujalem. Not being abk to bring
their
(6 4 )
their Differences to an amicable Accommoda-
tion, thcfe two Pr*flfefe*BHhaffcj as Catholic-*
Bimops have been oft wont to do, excommu-
nicated and gave each other to the Devil round-
ly ; and not fatisfy'd with giving each other to
the Devi/, they commenc'd litigious Suits, and
gave each other to the Lawyers, as if their
Hell had been the hotteft of the two. Vaft was
the Confufion which this Affair occafion'd.(a)
Our learned Catechift has not thought it as yet
expedient to let the World know, that his Soul-
faying Oy/ is a Marketable Commodity.
However, he has dropt a broad Hint, from
whence we may infer that it is. Ble//ingo{Qy\
and of Ointment he afferts to be the fole Pre-
rogative, the unalienable Prerogative of his Ca-
tholic- Bimops. (b) And if it be fuch a gainful
Trade to fell it, whofe Prerogative mould it be
to make it but theirs ? He has not indeed
told us they may make Merchandize of it, but
flep to the Salvation Market of Rome, you'll find
how it is. Selling of Sacraments is an Orthodox
Practice there. Infallibility itfelf approves of it.
And if the facred Liquid brings in a large Re-
venue to the Priefts, muft it not be an ill O-
men to the Devil to fee his fworn and declared
Enemies, God's Reprefentatives, thus rioting irf
Wealth and Power? ~ This is fufficient to
Account for the Efficacy of the holy Qyl.
Irf
(a) Cbardin's Travels p. 333. 334.
ft) Father Paul's Council ot Trent, p. 247,
In our learned Catechi/l's LefTon upon Bap-
tifm, we have fome other very fignificative
Rites. Putting off the old Garment wore before
Baptifm, iignifies What? What mould it
fignify, but Mens putting off the old Rags of
their Corruptions. This Practice has Antiquity
to countenance and fupport it. Thus the
antient Arabs, before Mahommed's ^ Time,
caft off their Cloaths in fome Part of their
Devotions, as an Emblem of their carting off
their Sins, (a) But our Author will icarce own
that he has adopted this Rite from the Prac-
tice of the antient Arabs. Again the baptiz'd
cloathing themfelves after Baptifm with white
Garments, denotes their putting on Jefus Chrift
Then comes the Kifs of Peace, and feed-
ing upon confecrated Oyl and Honey. Unra-
vel me the Myftery of this ? In the Eaftern
Countries it feems, the Inhabitants live much
upon Milk, Oyl, and Honey, the Nature of
their Clime and Constitutions, not allowing the
Ufe of that grofs Diet which is familiar to us
in colder Regions, (b) Hence it follows,
that Oyl and Honey, which was the common
Food of the Jews, mould be the Cbriftian's
Spiritual Diet. " At this Rate," fays an
ingenious Writer , {< every Madnefs would be
" made a Myftery. , We might be made
I " to
(a) Salis Koran, p. 121.
(b) Maundreirs Journey from dleppo to Jtrufalem.
(66)
" to walk barefooted into the Church, to fig.
" nify the Sanctity of the Place, and to crawl
<f upon all four out of it, to fignify the Hu-
" miliation of our Hearts. A Match of Cud-
" gel playing every Sunday, might be inftitut-
'* ed to fignify our Spiritual Warfare, and a
" Game at Blind Man's Buff, to fignify the
" Darknefs of our Underftandings." A Pull
at Back Gammon, might be inftituted as fome
Part of your Nonjuror's folemn Devotions ; as
a proper Emblem of the Inftability of Fortune,
and the Viciffitude of all human Affairs ; and a
Sunday's Foxhunting Chace might be moft de-
voutly appointed to fignify their hunting down
their Corruptions, and unkennelling he Wiles
of the Devil. Agreeable hereto, if I am right-
ly inftructed, the Portuguese have in St. An-
thony^ Church in Lijbon, a Picture of Jefus
Chrift, and the Devil playing a Game at Putt t
or fome other analogous to it, for the Salvation
of Mankind : The Virgin Mary ftands behind
Jefus Chriftj and patts him on his Shoulder en-
couraging him to ftand his Game. And if I
remember right, Bimop Burner, in his Travels,
tells us, that in the City of Worms^ in Ger-
many, they have in one of their Churches as
holy and farcical an Emblem of Tranfubftan-
tiation. It is this, a Windmill, and the
Virgin Mary with the Infant Jejus in her Arms,
landing at the Hopper, into which (he cafts
him, and he comes out at the Eye of the Mill
in
(6 7 )
in a huge Multitude of Wafers, the holy Priefls
ready waiting to fcramble them up as faft as
they can. Thus likewife the Papifts tells us,
that their feven Sacraments are typify'd and fet
forth by the Book in the Revelations, fealed
with the feven Seals ; and by the feven Trum-
pets given to the feven Angels ; and by the
feven Stars the Son of Man had in his Right
Hand j and by the feven I /oaves with which
our Saviour fed the Multitude ; and by the fe-
ven Eyes upon one Stone mention'd by the
Prophet ; and by the feven Lamps fet on the
Candleftick of the Tabernacle ; and by Jofoua's
comparing the City of Jericho feven times,
when about to beftege it ; and by Naamans
dipping himfelf feven times in Jordan, (a)
Iraneus one of your FfiettiT* ador'd Oracles, the
Fathers, proves that there are four Gofpels, be-
caufe there are four principal Regions of the
Earth, Eaft, We^ North, and South t or be-
caufe the Building of the Church is founded
on the Gofpel, and there mud be four Pillars
to fupport a Building. Tbeopbylaci's Strength of
I 2 Genius
(a) Septem Sacramenta quae figurantur per fcptcm fignacula
quibus fuit veteris Tellamenti Pagina Sigillata. Apoc. 5. Item per
feptem Tubas, quibus Angeli cecinerunt. Apoc.S.et per feptem Bel-
las quas habuit Similes filio Hominis in dextra iua. Apoc. i. Item
per feptem Panes quibus Dominus turbas fatiavit. Mat. ^. Item
per feptem Oculos fuper unam Lapidcm. Zech. 3. et per feptcm
Lucernas Tabernaculi luper poluas Landelabro. Zach. 4. Item per
feptem Circuitiones Jeirichulinas. Joih. 6. Item per icptem Lotio-
nes Naaman in Jordanc.
Lj'nw. Prov. p. 43.
(63)
Genius foars no higher, who alledges, that
there are four Golpels, becaufe Chriftiani-
ty teaches four Cardinal Virtues ; or becaufe it
contains Doctrines, Precepts, Promifes, and
Threatnings. (a) Thus I find a National Coun-
cil, and Councils cannot err, playing as facred-
ly on the Number three. In three Cafes
a Wife may legally leave her Hbfband, if he
has a Leprofy, a {linking Breath, or be unable
to give her due Benevolence. In three Cafes
it was like wife decreed, to be lawful for a Man
to kifs his Neighbour's Wife, at a Banquet, at
a Game mention'd by the Council, and upon
Return from a Journey, by Way of Salutation.
Such were the Importance of thefe Canons,
that the King, the Archblfkop, and three Bijhops y
went to Rome, to engage the Pope to ratify and
confirm them, (b) As in the former Inftances,
fo here, there was beyond all doubt fome em-
blematical Myftery couch'd under the Number
three. Even fo our learned Author has a ftrange
Medley, a goodly Groupe of Myfteries couch'd
under .his trine Baptifmal Immerftcn. (c) The
Armenians, whofe Corruptions of Christianity
he
(a) Bayrbeyrac's Spirit of the ant. Fathers.
(b) This was held by Hoel. Ddha for Wales in 970.
Spel. Cone. 411.
(c) See Cat. p. 231. By the Defcent into the Water, is re-
prefented drift's Death. By our being totally covered with it
Chriit's Burial, and by the Rifing out of it again Chrift's Refur-
reftion. This Immerfion adds our Author, is perform 'd thrice,
which reprefents the Baptiz'd Perfon's Faith in the holy Trinity,
Chriit's three Days Burial, and his Refurredion on the third Day.
(6 9 )
he always imitates, and oft improves upon,
give you as inftrudtive and edifying an Emblem
in the following Relation. They tell you
that Jefu* Cbrift being at School to learn the
Armenian Tongue, would never pronounce the
firft Letter of their Alphabet, unlefs his Mafter
would give him a Reaion why it reprefented an
m inverted. The good Man not knowing who
the Infant Jefus was, gave him a Box on the
Ear. Well, faid Jejus without any Emotion!
fince you do not know I'll tell you ; this Let-
ter reprelents the Trinity by it's three Legs, (a)
The Matter of the Scrjpol admir'd his Know-
ledge, and fent him to his Mother, confefling
the Child was wifer than himfeif ! Not fo wile
as our learned Doftor neither.
Now by fuch Spiritual Legerdemain, fuch
Thimble and Button Logic as this, a Man may
illuftrate every Thing out of any Thing ; may
prove the very fame Thing to be either a God
or a Broom/lick.
But. to return to the Ufe of Oyl, as a prepa*
ratory Sacrament, to the Sacrament of Baptifm.
Should not our learned Author, tinder this
Head, have led his Difciples thro' a Proccfs of
Cbymiftry, in order to enable them more fuc-
cefsfully to confront the Devil ? Should he not
have inform *d them, whether Ejential, or 7
fyrettmatic
(a) Tourncfbn's Voyage to the Levant Vol. 3. p. 236.
(7)
pyreumatic Oyls are to be us'd on the folemn
Occafion ? Whether Animal, Vegetable , or Mi-
neral Oyl is moft fit for the Purpofe ? Whether it
fhould be Oyl obtain'd by Emulfion, Expref-
fion, Coction, or fevere Torture : And as fome
of our Aromatic Oyls are feldom to be met
with unadulterated, fhould he not have given
fome Rule whereby to know whether the De-
vil and the Chymifl be not join'd in a Confede-
racy, to fophifticate the facred Oyl, and there-
by rob Mankind of its Divine Efficacy and
Virtue? But I (land corrected. Thefe are
Myfteries not to be frufted with tinferlEtify'd
Laymen. It belongs only to Bi/hops and Priejh
to God's Repre/entatives, to Chrift's Vicars, to
the Prime Stewards of God's Revenues ; to the
Chief Majiers of his Houfehold ; and to his (a)
Almoners to know them. 'Tis enough for the
Afs, that he can eat his Provender without
knowing how to drefs it ; and 'tis enough for
ChrijTs Champion againft the Devil, for fuch
your learned friend calls him, (b) that he
knows where to buy holy Oyl : If he doth but
know further where, any one may tell how,
to get a Purje y to pay the Prieft for it.
However, tho' our Author has moft religioufly
kept us in the Dark, as to the Procefs made
ufe of for the Preparation of the holy Oyl, I
prefent my Reader with fome Account of it,
and Jirft how it is managed by the Armeuians.
It
^
) Cat. p, 207. (b) Cat. p. 229.
(7O
It will not be unentertaining to the good Pro-
teftant, to fee with what devout Eclat and Su-
perftitious Parade the whole Bufinefs is con-
ducted.
It is prepar'd between the Vefpers on Palm-
Sunday, and the Mafs on Holy Thurfday j which
is celebrated' on this Day on a great Veffel,
wherejn this Liquor is preferv'd. They ufe
neither common Wood nor common Coals. to
boil the Kettle, left the Sacredneis of the Oyl,
fhould be tainted by any unfanclified Drofs,
or Rubbim. Inftead thereof, they boil it with
Wood that has been blej's'd and with any
Thing thas been us'd in Churches. Old I-
mages, worn-out and decay'd Ornaments, torn
Books, are moft religiouily preferved for, and
appropriated to this facred Service. This Fire
cannot fmell very agreeably j but the Oyl is
perfum'd with Herbs and odoriferous Drugs,
which are mix'd with it. They are not or-
dinary Clerks, or your little Hackney Pettifog-
gers in Divinity, who are employed in mak-
ing this wonderful Compolition. 'Tis the Pa*
trlarch himlelf, cloathed in his Pontifical
Veftments, attended at leaft by three Prelates,
in their Pontifical Habits, who altogether re-
cite certain Prayers during the whole Cere-
mony. (%) Here is pure and undefiled Re-
ligion ! But
(a) Tournefort's Voyage to the Levant Vol. 3. p.' 2*2.
(7O
But 'tis prefum'd, your Catholic Friend has
not his holy Oyl imported hither from Arme-
nia. Befides other Inconveniences j in Times
of War the facred Treafure might fall into E-
nemies Hands, as was the Cafe with 500 Bules
of Bulls, taken on board a Spanijh Galleon.,
by the Briftol Privateer in 1709. Sixteen
Reams made up a Bale, fo that the whole
Number was computed to amount to three
Million, eight Hundred and/or/y Tboufand In-
dulgences. What a Pity, that fuch a rich Soul-
faying Cargo, mould ever have fallen into the
Hands of Heretics ! To guard againft fuch
fatal Difafters, we'll fuppofe that the Catechift
blejj'eth his own Oyl. Why then, doth he not
inform us that, according to the Conftitutions
of his Mother Church, this Oyl mutt be blefb'd
not once or twice, but nine Times together, in
order more effectually to purge away the Devil
out of it, and to exterminate its impregnated-
ejfential Pollution ? Why doth he not inftruct
us, that it is to be blefled thrice with an Ave,
Santfum Oleum ; thrice with an Ave, SancJum
Chrifma j and thrice with an Ave y SancJum Bal-
famum ? As he is faid to be one of the Catho-
lic-Church Bifhops, to whom thefe Conjecra-
tions belong, he cannot be fo much a Stranger
to the Duties of his Function, as to be un-
acquainted with thefe Maigic, Devi I- con front-
ing Rites ! Why has he not further given us
the Form us'd in exorcijing the Devil out of
the
(n)
the Oyl, which runs thus, <c I exorcift
" thee O unclean Spirit, and all Incurfion of
" Satan or Phantom, in the Name of the Fa-
tc ther, &c* that thou depart from this Oyl,
cc that it may be a fpiritual Unclion, to corro-
<e borate the Temple of the living God, that
<c the holy Spirit may dwell therein, in the
" Name &c."
And this leads me to obferve, befides the
Sacrament of anointing the Perfon to be baptiz'd
with holy Oy/, there is another as near akin to it,
as Madjtefs is to Super/lit ion ; and that is, anoint-
ing the fame Perfon with Chryfm or Ointment.
fpiritual Phyfic prepar'd one Way, or pre-
fcrib'd in one Form, will not do, we muft
try how it operates in another. An old chro-
nical Devil, it feems, like old chronical Dif*
tempers, is not eafily to be expelPd, or con-
quer'd: Every Method mutt be effay'd, in
order to ejeft him out of PoiTeffion. Tho*
we are not favour'd by our learned Author,
with the Procefs of making holy Oyl ; yet
to {hew his great Abilities in both his Pro-
feffions. he has given us the Subftance of a
C3
Prefcription for Ecclejiaftical Chrifm j or, if
you pleafe, for his fpiritual Ointment.
Only he would avoid all Shew of Pedantry 5
K other wife
(74)
otherwise in the Style of the learned Facul-
ty, it would run thus,
R 01 Olivar. Bals. Gilead. pur. ana. q. s. mifc. a. a. fiat
Unguent, fecund. Pharmacopoeiam Papalem i
Unguent. Catholic. Antidiabol. (a)
But the Misfortune is, genuin and unfophif-
ticated Balm of Gilead, how rarely is it to
be met wkh ? This Liquid flows in Summer
from the Trunk of a certain Shrub former-
ly found in that Part of the World from
whence it takes it Name. Since the Turks
were Matters of the Holy Land, they tranf-
plantcd this Shrub into their Gardens at Grand
Cairo 5 which are not only guarded with ftrong
Walls but likewife wiih Soldiers, during that
Seafon, in which the Balfbm flows If then
it be fo difficult to get at in the Holy Land,
what muft it be to procure it unfophif
ed mOurs?
You may learn from your good Friend the
D^r, or, if not from him, you may lear
from any Botany Profeffor, that the Plant called
Scabious or DeviFsM, has only fome fmall
fibrous Roots, and upon Examination, appear
as if the Mafter Root was bit off dole
the Stalk Accordingly, Tradition is my
Authority, (your learned Friend has no Right
(a) Confecrated Chrifm or Ointment is cornposM of fwcrt Og
qf Olive* and precis Balfoo, commonly ulld W^r^;
(75)
to infift upon a better) that the Mafler Root
was bit off by the Devil, in order to rob Man-
kind of its many falutary and fanatfVe Virtues.
And do you not think Sir, that 'tis owing to
this fame wicked and intriguing Devil, who
be fure hates holy Oyl, as much as holy Water \
that our learned Catechi/l's divine Balfom is
fo wretchedly adulterated, as we are told it
oft is ? No Wonder that the Dev II dreaas
holy Oyl and Ointment ; for pour Oyl upon
a Flame, and will it not rage with the great-
er Force and Fury ? Pour Oyl upon the
unextinguimable Flame ; this accounts for
our learned Author's firing away the Devil!
As I am now upon the Subject of Uncti-
on, I would not pafs over in Silence our Au-
thor's Unction of the Sick. Anointing with
Oyl, upon fome particular Occafions, 'tis al-
low'd, was antiently practis'd, both by Jews
and Heathens : Whence it derived its Origin, is
a Point at this Diftance of Time not eafy to
determine. 'Tis philofophical to fuppofe, that
their Oyl and odoriferous Ointments would, in
the warm Ea/lern Climates, operate in a me-
dicinal Way, far more efficacioufly than they
can in our colder Regions. Perhaps anoint-
ing with Oyl might be us'd, as Oyl was of
fo fubtle, delicate, and penetrating a Contexture,
that it would eafily infinuate itfelf thro' all
the Pores of the Body, would invigorate the
Motion of the Fluids, quicken the Animal
K 2 Powers,
(76)
Powers, brace the Nerves, or ftimulate the
Fibres. The Pfalmift, when he imprecates, or
rather proprieties Vengeance upon the Enemies
of the State, fays j let it come like Oyl into
his Bones. Solomon gives his Teftimony to the
fame Purpofe ; Ointment rejoices the Heart.
The Prophet Amos, likewife reprefenting the
wanton Luxury of the Jews, fays j they drank
Wine in Bowls, and anoint themfelves with
chief Ointments ; and in the Hiftory of the Sa-
maritan, his Benevolence is difplay'd by
this elegant Figure, of pouring Oyl and Wine
into the diftreffed Stranger's Wounds, which
implies, that it had a fanative, refreshing Vir-
tue ; and when the Apoftle James, fummons
the Elders (Prefbyters if you pleafe) to pray
over the Sick, anointing them with Oyl, it
feems not to refer fo much to a miraculous, as
to a medicinal Efficacy and Power. This ap-
pears the more probable, as Unction was not
pra&ifed by the Apoftles, in healing all Difea-
fes, but in fome particular Indifpofitions. Where
the Nature of the Diftemper made warm,
cordial, and refreming Medicines necelTary,
here it was proper to anoint with Oyl. In
this View St. James's Advice amounts only
to this. Pray for the Sick, and, if needful,
fupply them with Phyfick, as it becomes the
Difciples of a benevolent Lord and Mafter to
do. But whether this was the Defign of anoint-
ing with Oyl, or whether it related, as Pro-
teftants
(77)
teftants generally fuppofe, to any miraculous
Powers then fubfifting in the Church, the
Reafons for this Practice muft have long ceaf-
ed among us, and confequently the Practice
itfelf mould ceafe with them. To apply a
Precept or Example, that relates only to fome
peculiar Circumftances, as a general and ftated
Rule of Action, is the fure Way to foiter and
cberim all Manner of Superflition. If our
learned Catechift would follow the Inductions
of Sf. James in anointing the Sick, why doth
he not likewife follow the Example of our Sa-
viour, when he is fummoned to attend them,
and ride on an Afs ?
I am next to enquire of our learned Author ^
whether any Perfon~ anointed with holy Oyl,
if he recovers from his Illnefs, would be allow-
ed by him afterwards to pay due Benevolence
to his Wife ? I fufpect from the main Scope of
his Principles, that he will not allow it. 'Tis
true, if it be Benevolence, it would be unchari-
table to deny ; if it be due Benevolence, it
would be more than barely uncharitable j it
would be unjuft to detain it. However, it
was a Sentiment that prevaiPd much in the
Days of Superftition, that if any Per/on re-
covered from Sicknefs, after he hid been a-
nointed with bofyQy], he mould from thence-
forth abftain from all conjugal Commerce asul
Duty, and live in a State of wedded Widow-
hood. This Point was oft canvafs'd in our
(78)
EngUJh Councils, (a) and at laft, to prevent
the Inconveniencies arifing from fo unnatural
an Inhibition ; it was decreed, that the
Unction of the Sick mould no more be admi-
niftred but under the Extremity of Nature,
when a Perfon was paft all Hopes, and all
Probability of Recovery. This is now the
Practice in the Church of Rome ; and for the
fame Reafon it is prefum'd, in the Armenian
Churches, Extreme Unction is adminiftred to
none, till they are actually dead, (b) But as
our learned Catechift adheres to the earlier
Practice, which was attended with the unna-
tural Reftraint I have mentioned, in Cafe of
a Man's Recovery, this fufficiently accounts
for the Queftion I have urged above. Suffer
me further to afk him, whether in anointing
the Sick, he does not, as prefcrib'd by the
Council of Florence, anoint the Feet, the Seats
of the five Senfes, and the Reins as the Seat
of Concupifcence ?
But mould it be afk'd, why is it neceflary
that Oyl fhould be confecrated, before it is ap-
plied to thefe fpiritual Incantations, our learn-
ed Author anfwers, " 'Tis confecrated in
" order to be fanftified : " I thought confe-
crating it had been fanctifying it ; but it feems
I
(a) The Councils of Wonefier and Exeter in the Year 1287;
that of Wincbefttr in 1308, and that si Oxford in 1322. vid.
Spelman,
(b) Tournefort's Voyage to the Lwani, Vol. 3. p. 248.
(79)
I am miftaken. " 'Tis confecrated, or by
" folemn Defignation, appropriated to that fa-
" cred Ufe, to be fanctified and cleans'd from
" that Impurity, with which, iince the Difo-
" bedience of our firft Parents, all the Parts
" of the created World are defiled/' (a) De-
fil'd Fields, defil'd Gardens, defil'd Fruits, de-
fil'd Flowers, defil'd Temples, defil'd Houfes,
defil'd Hufbands, defil'd Wives, defil'd Vir-
gins ; and nothing pure but the Catholic Prieft,
who is God's Representative, and the Catho-
lic Pr left's Concubine. As to the Prieft's Con-
cubine, her Perfon is facred as well as the
Prieft's who fanftifies her. She is, as Pope
Paul the third allured the Duke of Mantua,
exempt from all fecular Cognizance, and fub-
ject only to Eccle/iaftical Jurifdiction. fb) From
tiie Sacrednefs of her Character and Office t one
may therefore infer, that no Defilement can,
reach her. But can you inform me Sir, whe-
ther it be a natural, or a moral Defilement,
that all the Parts (thofe only already excepted)
of the created World are polluted with ? If
our Author means the former, as from the
Connexion it mould feem he muft, wherein
doth this natural Pollution confift, and what
Certainty have we, that by Dint of Confecra-
tion, our Cburch-Chymift can extract it ? How-
ever, if Confecration be attended with fuch re-
generating
(a) Catech. p. 229. 230.'
(b) F;hcr /W's Counc, of Trt*t> p. 82,
(8o)
generating Powers, and if all the Farts of the
created World are deffid by the Fall, would it
rot be humane j would it riot be charitable,
friendly and generous, to confecrate our Food,
as well as our fpiritual Phyfick ; to confecrate
our Houfes j our Gardens, our Fields, our
Herds and our Cattle j to confecrate whole
Families, whole Villages, whole Towns, whole
Parimes, whole Counties, whole Kingdoms,
nay, and even the whole World ? ~ But,
perhaps, your learned Friend will fay, mould
this be done the old Serpent, as well as the
young Chevalier, would be banifhed out of his
hereditary Dominions ; and then the two va-
grant Adventurers might be oblig'd to herd to-
gether. For my own Part, I am at a Lofs
to conceive, how the Appropriation of a Thing
for facred Ufe, can purge away any inherent
Uncleannefs. But we have your learned Friend s
infallible ipfe dixit for it, that it can. How-
ever, thefe are Difficulties Men muft boggle
at, if they are weak enough to be guided by
Reafon and common Senfe in Religion.
" The Fall" continues our Author, t{ im-
tr pregnated all the Fruits of the Earth with
* an inherent and ejjential Pollution, as with-
<c out Confecration, by fome facred and reli-
<c gious Rites, muft render them utterly unfit
<{ to be uied in the Service of the Majefty of the
<e Supreme Being." Heavens preferve us all,
from having our Brains impregnated with fuch
an
an inherent, efftnfyl holy Delirium, as cannot
be (onfecrated away! EiTential Impregnations ',
or if you pleafe eflential Accident^ for one is
as good Senfe as the other, like Popift Protef-
tants, or Proteftant Papifts, are fuch folid Ab-
fur di tics as can be palm'd upon no Believer s %
but thofe who'll believe Contradictions to be
true ! But this Wonder -working Confecration,
that deftroys the inherent t effential Pollution of
the Fruits of the Earth, muft it not of Con-
fequence deflroy the very Nature and Subftance
of the Things confecrated ? The Fruits of
the Earth, it feems, are not jit to be appro-
priated to the Service of that God whofe
Workmanfoip and Creatures they are, till they
are new made, and regenerated by the more
Jacred Hands of a Nonjun'ng, fanatical Clergy,
Nature before the Fall was in her Virgin State,
but the Difobedience of our firft Parents de-
flowered her. However our Con[ecrator y our
Spiritual Conjurer^ I fhould have faid, (only out
of Reverence to his high Ecclejjajlical Dignities
and Function) can reftore loft Goods. He'll re*
ftore to Nature her loft Virgin- Charms and
Purity ! and conjecrate away^an impregnated- ef-
Jential Pollution.
,
As your learned Friend can ccnfecrate away
e inherent, ejj'ential Properties of Things,
could he think you conjecrate a Block of Lead,
or any other heavier and fojter Block that, (hall
be ^~, namclefs, into fome more ufejul Sub-
L ftance?
(*')
fiance ? Could he ccnfecrate it into a Statue
of Silver, which like Matrimony I mould look
upon to be very goody or into a Statue of
<?0A/, which like Continence is undoubtedly
#/2/ft& better ? (a) 'Tis not difputed but that,
at all Times, he can confecrate away the Guilt
of Treafon and Rebellion ; but that he can
confecrate away the Tyrannies and Ufurpati-
ons, the SuperfHtions, Follies and Frenzies of
his holy, Catholic, Apojlolic Church ; but that
he can confecrate Grimace into Godlinefs, wild
and monftrous Abfurdities into pure and or-
thodox Doctrine ; and devout Dreams and
Rhapfodies, into Divine Revelations. P0-
pifli Cajuifls tell us, the Pope can confecrate
Vice into Virtue, and whenever he pleafeth
unconfeerate it again. And cannot our learned
Catechift do as much, who confecrates away
an ejjential Pollution ? He may further
confecrate the Living into their Graves, but
can he, confecrate the Dead out of them ? If
he can confecrate away an ejjential Pollution,
he may do this, and more ! Shame on the
Philofophy of a Newton^ who could never
teach us how to deftroy, or confecrate away
the Eflence of Things : Had he confulted fome
of our modern Divinity "Jugglers, what Won-
ders might he not have done?
Next
.(a) Marriage like Silver is gqod, Continence like Gold is
tetter, Cat, p. 433.
Next to the Confecration of 0>7, comes the
Confecration of Water j whereby faith our
learned Catecbifa "it is rendered capable of
" wafhing away Sins and purifying Souls."
More Miracles ftill ! For a natural Element
to waih away moral Pollutions is extraordina-
ry, very extraordinary I confefs ! For the E-
lement of Water to warn away an E-
vil Thought, a Lye, Principles of Ra-
pine and Extortion, out-miracles t the Mi-
racles of Rome ! It outftrips all her fanctify'd
Legends ! But Faith to believe thefe Things,
is a Imgular Gracf, which like the Gift of
Continence is not be flowed upon all. fa) 'Twas
the Sentiment of the Roman Orator , that the
Spots of the Mind are neither to be wafh'd a-
way with Water^ nor with Length of Time, (b)
But Cicero was only a learned Pagan. He
was no Catholic Prieft, and Nonjaror. Ci-
cero knew no better. Admitting, that neither
Water nor Length of Time will ivafi away
Sin, yet it muft be confefs'd, that they'll do
more, that is, they'll prevent it. They'll pre-
vent the crying Sin of premeditated
Murder , by wafhing away the Charms of an*
tiquated Maids and Faces ! Return we then
to our Author. " Confecration doth not'*
L 2 faith
(a) Cat. p. 92.
(b) Animi Lakes nee DiuturnitatC ncc Manibus ullis elui poteR,
Ci(. de Leg. Lib, *
faith he, " change the Sub/lance, but the
M Qualities of Water." Whence comes it to
pafs, that he doth not confecrate away the
EJJence, or which is the fame, the Subftance of
Water, as well as confecrate away the Ej'ence
and Subftance of Oyl ? Is there any greater
Difficulty or Abfurdity in doing of the for-
mer, than there is in doing of the latter ?
But what means the Catecbi/t by Conjccrati-
cn's changing only the Dualities of Water ?
Will it make that hard, which was foft before ?
Give that a clear chriftalline Hue, which was
dark and dufkifli before ? Or make that frefh
and fweet, which was briny and rancid. before?
Or, doth Confecration give it fome myfterious
Divine Quality, whereby like the Philofopher's
Stone, it tranfmutes every Thing it touches in-
to Gold ? It fhould feem fo by what fol-
lows ; for after the Water has been confecrated,
or which I take to be the fame, fanttijy'd by
the Priefl y that it may be thoroughly purged
zr\& fublimatedy " the Holy Ghoft immediate-
" ly defcends from Heaven, and retting up-
" on it, fanclifies it himfelf ; and it being fq
" fandlified," twice over! firft by the Prieft^
to whom we ought to give the Precedence be
furc, and next by the Holy Gboft>
La it
(85)
" it imbibts the Power of fanftifying. (a) 1$
not this Myftery in the Superlative ? What
Pleasure would it give me to meet with fbrne
My fie Divinity Decipherer, that could explain
^ what is couch' d under fuch Ecclefia/licnl
Riddles ! But thefe Things are to be under*
flood only by the Affembly of the Faithful! (b)
They are too facfed for the profane Vulgar
to pry into.
Odi prcfafium Vulgus & arceo,
Thus much, fays our learned Author, for the
Ceremonies preceding Baptifm. Enough of all
Confcience, unlefs he could have furniihed us
with fomcthing better. Next for Baptifm it*
felf.
Adult Perfons have no Right to call God
their Father according to our learned Author ,
till they are baptized, (c) That is, God dare
not recognize them as bis Children^ till the
Prieft grants him a ^Toleration, or Letter of
Licenfe fo to do. They are none of God's
Children, till the Prieft who is God's Repre-
Jentati've
(a) Confecration works a Change, tho' not ift its ,
yet in its Qiralities and Powers, for th Italy Spirit immediate-
ly defcends from Heaven, and reiling npon it, fanftifies it by
himfelf, and it being fo fandified, imbibes the Power of fane-
tifying. Cat. p. 232.
(b) This is one Part of our Author'* Definition of bis
Church. Cat, p 47.
(0 Till Perfons are baptized, they are not allowed to call
Cod their Father, Cat. p. 233.
(86)
fintative, adopts them into a State of Sonflrip.
'Tis he that authorizes and commijfions God to
receive them ! Our learned Author feems upon
this Head to be either afraid, or ajhamed of
fpeaking his Sentiments freely. From his
Manner of Expreffion, One would fufpect that
he is inclined to purfue the fame Track of
Thinking with his Brother Nonjuror, the tru-
ly learned Mr. Dodwell. That learned En-
thufiafl fpeaks out honeftly and plainly. His
Notion is this, that the Soul of Man is nafu-
rally mortal, but that it is immortaKz'A by
Baptifm adminiftrcd by Priefts or Biiliops,
and by fuch Priefts or Bifoops only, as can
boafl of a lineal, uninterrupted Succejfion from
Chrift and his Apoftles. Thofe who are not
fo happy as to be baptized by thefe Givers of
Life and Immortality are a Herd of heretical
Beads that perifi. Unlefs this be your learned
Friend's Opinion, I cannot account for it upon
what Principle it is, that he allows none but
fuch as are baptized, to fay the Lord's Prayer,
or to addrefs God as their Father. Auftin one
of this Gentleman s fainted Fathers, afTerts
roundly, it would edify me much to hear
our learned Author do the fame, that if a
Child die in the Way as his Parent is carry-
ing him to receive the Adminiftration of Bap-
tifm, that Child is damn'd, irremediably damrfd
for ever ! (a) But whatever be the Fate of the
unbaptiz'd
(a) Father Paul's Counc. of Trent, p. 239.' ^
unbaptiz'd, or whatever Portion our learned
Catechift may out of his great Catholicifm af-
fign them, yet we are aflur'd, that Baptifm
adminiftred by a Bifhop or Prieft, that is, a
Nonjuring Prieft or Bi$op> " impreffes a Cha-
" rafter which can never be done away: What-
cc ever Crime the baptiz'd Perfon may after-
" wards commit, it will be always true to
" fay, that he was regenerated and confecrated
<c to God as his Child by Adoption," not by
Creation you'll obferve, but by Prieftly Adop-
tion \ " and he will nsver want to be baptiz'd
" again, in order to obtain Forgivenefs of his
" Sins, and be reftor'd to God's Favour.'* (a)
Rejoice O ye Saints of Rome, Rejoice O ye
AJjembk of the Faithful at Manchefler^ that you
are in PoiTeflion of fo invaluable and unaliena-
ble a Bleffing ! Ye Heretics of Britain fee what
you are deprived of for Want of being the Sons
of Superftition, and our learned Cafecbi/t's
Church ! The Privileges of Baptifm rightly ad-
miniftred, are never to be loft or forfeited. No!
fays the ranting Fanatic \ what means the Con-
fifient Doctor \ when he fays, " the Difcipline of
<c the Church confifts in a Power to deprive us
" of all the Benefits apd Privileges of Bap-
" tifm." (bj Are the Privileges of Baptifm
fuch as never can be done away, and yet, can
the Church deprive Men of all thefe Privileges
which
(a) Cat. p. 225, (b) Cat, p. Sa,
(88)
which never can be done away f 1 es, but
thefe two different Tales are told in two diffe-
rent Pages. If a Man's Jugdment be /
jallible, it doth not follow from thence that his
Memory fliould be fo too. But allowing thefc
PafTages to be contradictory, if the Ghurch re-
quires us to believe Contradictions, furely we
ought to believe them ! Have we not the Tefti-
mony of St. Bellarmine, as able a Champion
againft Herejy, as our Catechi/i is againft the
Devil-, that if the Pope fliould chance to err in
enjoyning the Practice of Vice for Virtue, or
forbidding the Practice of Virtue, the Church
is in Confcience bound to believe Vice to be
Virtue, and Virtue to be Sin. (a) And elfe-
where he afferts roundly, that Chrifl gave un-
to Peter, and confequently to Peter's SucceJJcrs^
full Power and Authority to make that a /;/,
which is no Sin ; and to make that to be no
Sin, which is in it's own Nature Sinful, (b)
As thefe are, a Catholic Churchman s Decisions,
You and your learned Friend, having fuch
Authority on your Side, will undoubtedly ex-
pect me to believe, that the Privileges of Bsp-
tifm are unalienable, and that thofe una-
Uenable Privileges the Church has an indifputa-
ble Power to alienate and take away from whom
(he pleafes, He muft be a Heretic indeed r
that
(a) Bellarm. de Rom. Pontif. Lib. 4. c. 5.
{b} Bellarra. Lib. in Barklun, <;, 13.
that will not fubmit to fuch Almighty Convic-
tion ! Would not a little Modefty teach us to
judge as King James the firft did, on a fimilar
Occafion, when he heard Council plead on the
two oppofite Sides of a Queftion ; By my Sawl
Man they are both in the Right as to their
Caufe, and take Care that they both get it.
As to the proper Officers to adminifter Bap-
tlfm : Deacons are allow 'd by the Gatechift to
baptize, but never any unhallowed Laics. Here
our learned Author improves upon the Bigotry
and Superstition of his Mother Church of Rome ;
for in Cafes of Neccfftty (he allows the Vali-
dity of Baptifm adminiftred by unclean Beafls of
all Kinds ; by Laymen, Pagans, Heretics, and
Mid wives, fa) But this would, in our Author's
Eftcem, derogate too much from the Power
and Authority of God's Representatives, the
Priefthood. Our learned Catechifl therefore,
out of his great Zeal for the Honour of God's
Rcpre/entatives, Chrift's Vicars, the Prime
Stewards of Gods Revenues, the Chief Maflers
of his Houflold, and his Almoners, (b) refcues
this Office out of all unfanctify'd Hands ; and
reforms, as He beyond all Queftion fays, but J
fhould rather fay itnproves upon^ the Corrupti-
M ons
(a) Minifter huj us Sacrament! eft Sacerdos, cui ex Officio corf
petit baptizare. In Caufa autem Ncceflitatis, non folum Sacer-
dos, vel Diaconus fed etiam Laicus, vel Mulier, imo etiara Pa-
ganus ct Hsereticuj baptizare poteft. U Abbf* Cone. Tom, 13.
p. 535- (b)Cat.p. 207.
(9)
ons of his holy Mother the Mother of Har-
lots and Abominations.
It may not be improper in this Place to take
Notice of the Enumeration our learned Author
makes, of the different Orders of Officers in
the Tradition Church he would eftablifh. .
There are, " Bifbops, Priefts, Deacons, and
" Subdeacons" whofe Province it is, to pre-
pare the Sacred Veffels and Utenfils of the
Altar, and deliver them to the Deacons, but
they are neither allow'd to Minifter c< at the
* c Altar as Deacons, nor even to come within
" the Rails of it, to fet a Paten, a Cup, or
<{ Oblations of the People thereon." Next
come the Readers, the Singers, and the Door-
keepers, (a) In fome other Churches, faith
he, there are other Orders ; fuch as Catecbifis,
Exorci/ls, and Acolythijls. (b) Thefe Acolythifts
appear to me to be a Kind of Ecclefia/Ucal
Scullions, whofe Duty it is to carry about In-
cenfe-Pots and Candlefticks, to light Candles,
Tapers, &c. Tonfure and ptfkobric are two
Orders more which fome Canonifts have added,
but are patted over in Silence by our Author.
Tonfure is the firft Step of Admiffion into
Church Dignities and Honours, and is perform'd
by the Bifhop's clipping either the Beard or
the Hair, and blejjing it with fome Prayers and
Benedictions,
(a) Vid. Spanhem Hift. Eccle. p. 739. Ct Paflim,
(b) Cat, . 428.
(9O
Benedictions, as he doth the Work. The
curious Reader may find in Father Paul's Hi-
ftory of the Council of Trent, fome laboured
Difquifitions, whether all the Holy Orders of
the Church are not fo many Holy Sacraments ?
to which I refer him, . and return to
our learned Author. The Council of Conflan-
tinople, if I remember right, prohibits any one
being put in PofTefTion of the Epifcopate, with-
out afcending gradually thro' all the federal Or-
ders, till at Lift he arrives at the Mitre. Our
learned Author, Tradition avers it, is
cloathed either with Epifcopal or Archiepifcopal
Honours. I mould be glad Sir, to be in-
ftructed, whether he arofe Step by Step from
the lowefi Order, that of an Eccle/iaflical Scul-
lion ? I am fo far from intending to eclipfe his
Merit, by putting the Queftion, that I rather
think if that be the Cafe, it gives his Reputa-
tion a fuperior Dignity and Luftre. They
make the beft Commanding Officers, whether it
be in the War againft his Friends the French,
or againft his E?2emy the Devil, who are gra-
dually rais'd by Dint of Merit, from the lowe/t
Ranks, to the highejl Military Promotions. If
our Author has fuch a Progreffion of Services
and Characters to value himfelf upon, I congra-
tulate him upon the Honour it doth him, and
queftion not but he was as exemplary in the
M 2 Capacity
(9*)
Opacity of a Church Scullion^ as he is in that
of a El (hop.
But there are another Species of Church
Officers mention'd by our learned Author, that
is IPeacpntffes. Concerning thefe, I am folli-
citous to learn, whether they too, like Bi/hops
and Priefts, are to defcend in the right Line of
Succeffion ? If not, whence derive they their
Extraction ? But I aft Pardon ; I recoiled my-
felf Thefe, efpecially if they be fair and
pretty ones, mufl needs be ~- the Angels of
his Churches !
Having glanc'd at the different Officers of
our Author's Catholic Church, return we to
reconfider it's Sacraments. Befides the two
which Proteftants acknowledge as inftituted by
Chrift, your learned friend's Church has in-
ftituted ten more ; and indeed upon the fame
Footing it might have inftituted ten Times as
many, nay, ten tiooufand Times ten more ! One
would wonder that fo folemn an Admirer of
the fathers^ doth not with St. Bernard, and
St. Auftin^ make the wafting of his Feet into a
Sacrament : (b) Tho' indeed amidft all his
Zeal for Hieroglyphic Piety, he would be at a
Lofs to inftrudt us, what wafiiing of Feet
fhould be a Sign of, unlefs it be a Sign
that they want it. But the Sacraments he
I has
(a) Father Paul's Hift. of Council of Trent, p. 234.
(93)
has given us, you are to look upon as fo many.
EC clefiaftical Conduit Pipes, that cc convey Grace
" to us." (a.) Which are they? Exorcifm ;
anointing with Oyl j the White Garment ; a afte
of Milk and Homy ; anointing 'with Cbrylm or
Oyntment-, the Sign of the Crofs j Impofition of
Jlands ; Unffiion of the Sick j Holy Orders ; and
Matrimony, (b) Excrciftn, as obferv'd before,.
drives or fires away the Devil. Anointing <witb
holy Oyl makes the Saint fupple and fleek, that
the Devil cannot grafp him in his Clutches.
The White Garment reprefents baptifmal Rege-
neration. Milk and Honey is good Ipiritual
Diet. Confirmation is a Deed of Gift, where-
by the Bifiop (or in Cafe of Neccflity the
Prieft) makes you a Conveyance of the Holy
Gbofl. " He enters into the Perfons confinn'd,
" dwells with them, and becomes the Soul of
" their Soul." (c) Chrijm or Oyntment fignifies
an internal Undtion perform'd upon you by
the Holy Ghofl. The Ufe of the Sign of the
Crofs is, <c that the Devils upon feeing that royal
" Sign, fly trembling away." (d) Impofition of
Hands is bleffing you by Divine Authority, (e)
Untfion of the Sick is for the Recovery of
Health, and for Strength to out -cudgel tiie De-
vil. (f) Holy Orders furniiheth " Jpiritual Fa*
" thers for the Church," (g) and fometimes
natural
(a) Cat. p. 69. (b) Cat. p. 69. 70. (c) Cat. p. 73,
(d) Cat. p. 418. (e) Cat, p. 421, (f) Cat. p. 422.
(g) Cat. p, 123.
(94)
'natural ones too! Matrimony makes up the
Rear in this fpiriiual Militia , rais'd to wage
War with the Devil. But tho' this Sacrament in
common with the reft conveys Grace into us j yet
as to the Grace it conveys, according to our
learned Author, we had better 'want than have
it ! For c< Matrimony" fays our Catechift,
< like Silver is good, but Continence like Gold
<c is better." (a) However tho' this be your
learned Friend's Doctrine of Perfection, (b) yet
St. Paid calls it, was he not low- bred think
you for doing fo ? the Doctrine of Devils.
In our Engli/h Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, we
read of St. Dunftan the great Patron of Mon-
kery and Superftition, caufmg the following Mi-
racle to be wrought for the difcountenancing
of Marriage amongft the Clergy. In a Coun->
cil held at Winchefler about 974, the Debates
ran high between \hzfecular Prtefts that mar-
ried and left their Eftates to their legitimate
Iflue, and the Monks, good Men ! who re-
nounced Marriage for the Good of their Souls
and the Church, and judg'd it a higher Degree
of Perfection to debauch other Men's Wives,
than to have Wives of their own. The fecular
Priefts urg'd fuch Arguments in Favour of the
Marriage of Ecclefiaftics, as had well nigh de-
termined the Council to ratify and confirm
them.
(a) Cat. p. 433." Cat, p. 222?
(95)
them. To prevent which, Dun/I an t Saint as
he was, had plac'd a proper Perfon on the
Roof of the Hall where the AfTembly met ;
who being himfelf invijible, cried out loudly
thro' a Hole.- Non bene fentlunt qui Prejby-
teris Javent. They are not Orthodox in the
Faith, who favour the Marriage of the Clergy.
Hereupon the Monks cried out a Miracle! a
Miracle ! and declar'd that nothing more was
necelliry to determine the Affair, fince it was
thus decided by the Voice of an Angel from
Heaven ! (a)
The Reader will perhaps enquire, what is
the Policy of the Church of Rome and her
Daughter ^Churches, fuch as our Author's; to
prefer a State of Celibacy to Marriage. The
Reafon is obvious ; Marriage would alie-
nate the Affections of Ecclefiafiics from the
Church and their Concubines j and fix them on
their Wives and Offspring. At the Council of
Trent it was pleaded, that Marriage would de-
ftroy the Hierarchy y prove fatal to the Pope's
Authority, and that inilead of Univer/al Bifiop,
he would come to be only a mere Bijbop of
Rome, (b)
Be fides
(a) EmiJlianes Monaft. Vid. Preface.
(b) father Paul'a Hift. p. 460, and 680.
Betides, if the Church can fir/I rob the Laity
of their Under ft andings^ by impofing unnatu-
ral Vows of Continence upon them, this is the
fure Way in the next Place to rob them of
their Eftates. If Men have no Families of
their own to provide for, whom (hall they be-
queath their Subftance to, but to God? And
who (hall be deputed to receive it for God,
but the Priefts y who are Chrift's Vicars> God's
Reprejentatives, the Prime Stewards of his Re-
uenues, the Chief Maflers of, his Houfkold, and
his Almoners. I need only exemplify this in
the Cafe of the Saint, that is, One of the Saints
of Rome, laft mention'd above. A certain La-
dy, who by the Bye, feem'd to have been link-
ed to St. Dunftan, by fome other Bonds than
thofe of Spiritual Affection, advis'd with him
what would be the beft Difpofition {lie could
make of her Eflate, to pious Ufes ? The Saint
recommends it to her, to leave it to yejus
Chrift, and to make him Chrift's Executor. It
was accordingly fettled, and Jefus Chrift not
putting in his Claim, the Executor carry'd off
all. . If Matrimony contributes to obftruct
fuch Donations to the Church, what good Ca-
tholic, that has the Intereft of God's Reprejen-
tati'ves at Heart, can approve of the Infiitu-
tion ? Allowing Marriage as a Sacrament ', doth
bring in fome Silver to your Fricjxfs Church ;
vet
(97
yet Celibacy, I'll not fay Continency, brings
in much Gold> which is certainly better*
A Writer of great Reputation gives us a very
remarkable Inftance, and Hiftory would furniih
us with ten thoufand more, of the Fruits of
prieftly Celibacy. In 1689 a Ghoft haunted the
Convent of the Monks of St. Anthony, in the
City of MarfeilUs. This Ghoft prov'd to be of
a very martial Spirit ; knock'd down every
Thing that flood in his Way, and bailinadoM
every Pcrfon that was fo unhappy as to meet
him. If a Monk ftraggted out of his Cell at
Night, the 'vigilant Ghoft Was fure to find him
out, and as fare decently to chaflife him for it.
In (hort, he dealt Blows and Terrors very plen-
tifully around him. By his Rcfentment of all
nocturnal Perambulations but his own, He
was concluded to be the Ghoft of their dtceafed
Prior-, aG^J/?ofgreat Dignity and Diftinc-
tion \ Mafles were faid to be deliver'd from
his unwelcome Vifits j and a large Reward of-
fered to any one who durft accoft him and eil-
quire what important Errand he came upon, of
what important Commiffion he was to execute 1
The Print of the Spirit's Hand was difcovered
on a Wall. Nothing but the Ghoft now en-
groffed all Attention. Every Mouth was open
with the Talk of him by Day j arid upon the
Approach of Night every Door \vv&fkut for fear
of an Interview with him. Cue Evening fome
Chairmen in the Suburbs of the Convent being
N .(urpriz'3
(98)
by a violent Shower, carried the Chaif
within the Gates of the Monaftery^ and placed
themfelves with it under a Portico, for Sanctuary
from the Weather, One of the Men having
feated himfelf in the Chair fell sfleep in it, and
never awoke till Midnight. The Gates being
(hut, inftead of giving the holy Fathers any uri-
feafonable Difturbance, he determin'd to con-
tinue where he was, and wait till the Return of
^/lorning (hould bring him a Return of his Free-
dom with it. Anon the Ghoft having opened
the Gate with a Key, advances forward in a
long fweeping black Train, walking to and fro,
as you know Sir, Ghofts do, and cough'd very
foftly. The Chairman, before hand poffefs'd with
the Thoughts, was now alarm'd much more at
the Sight of the Apparition -, opprefs'd with Fear,
he kept folemn Silence ! Prefently a Monk ap-
pears at the Window, and with a gentle Voice
a fits are you there ? Yes, anfwers the Ghoft ,
throw down the Rope. You have ftaid very
long, replies the Father ; and letting down a
Ladder of Ropes, the Spirit got into the Con-
uent) and in three Hours Time return'd the
fame Way. This Difcovery being made, the
whole Farce was unravell'd. The Monk, and
his Courtezan acting in Concert, was the Ghofl
that haunted the Place ; and the Terrors he had
fpread, was only a Scheme form'd to keep e-
very Body within Doors, and prevent his re-
ceiving any Dijlurbance or Interruption in his
Pleafures.
.(99)
Pleafures. Hereupon it grew into a. proverbial
Phrafe at Mar/eiiles t when they would ibften the
Name of a common Proftitutc, to call her St.
Anthony's Ghoft. (a)
Should it be afk'd upon fuch an Occafion as
this, what is it that denominates a Perfon a
common Proftitute ? A learned GloJJator upon
the Cannon Law anfwers, No Woman, till Ihe
nas beftow'd her Favours upon more than three
and twenty thoufand Men, demerits the Appel-
lation of a IPhore. (b) Would not a Proieflant %
look upon a lefs notorious Proftitute than this,
to be like your Friend's Church, a truly Catho-
lic Harlot? But you'll tell me, Proteflants
Principles, are much too fever e for their Mo-
rals. Let Proteftants blum for the future at
their giving Perfons infamous Names, only be-
caufe they have not committed a Rape upon
Nature. Let Prrtejlants learn, that there may
be Chaflity in Stews ; and to their Confufion,
let them confefs, that there is Charity for all
Sinners, but thofe who lin againft the Prieft>
at Rome. But to return from this Digreffion.
Remarkable is the Spirit of the Biftayans in
the Kingdom of Spain. They'll not tolerate
N 2 any
(a) Dugout's Voyage to the Levant, p. 96. 7.
(b) Meretrix eft, qu admifcrit plures, quam Vigentl tria ho-'
minum Millia,
D^cret, Diftinft. 34. c. 4,'
( 100 )
fcny Priefl to live in their Villages unlefs he
brings his Concubine to refide with him. The
Reafon of it is, becaufe they apprehend, that
Without fuch a Precaution, their Wives are in,
imminent Danger of being ravifi'd by Ecclejia-
Jiical Enchantment / (a)
Before I difmifs the Sacrament of Matrimo^
fly ; I would add, that if your learned Friend
appears any more upon this Subied:, it would
oblige me to receive from his Hands an Account
of the whole Prpcefs of the Prieft's blejjmg and
confeprating the Wedding-Sheets previous to the
Cpnfummatjon of Marriage, which is a Rite
pradtis'd by his Mother Church of Rome. This
Account muft be extremely edifying and in-
ftrucTiive. What a fuperior Relim muft it give
to every foft Enjoyment, to have the very nup-
tial Sheets hallow'd by God's Reprejentativc
for their proper Service ?
Confejion is another Chapter in your learned
friends new Gojpel, which he reads to his .D//C
ciples with great Solemnity and Devotion ; un-
der this Head our Author might have inform'd
us, that it has been a common Practice in the
Church of Rome , when Women or Boys at their
facramental Devotions have confefs'd their ha-*
ying been engag'd in Scenes of Gallantry -, or in
(a) HtyJins Cqfinog. p. t\q.l
(lor)
lewd unnatural Intrigues, for the Prieft Confeffbr
to addrefs them fince you have beftow'd
fuch Favours upon others, beftow the fame up-
on me. Pope Pius the Fourth publim'd a
Bull againft this Practice. So Catholic it feems.
was the Practice grown, Pope Gregory the Fif-
teenth publilh'd another upon the fame Occa-
fion. (a) In Confequence of that exhibited by
Pope PiuSy in Spain all Wives and Women
were firstly enjoin'd to difcover before the holy
Tribunal within thirty Days after the faid In-
junction, all fuch Priefts as had thus proftituted
and profaned the facramental Confeffions. The
fevereft Cenfures and Anathema's were pronoun-
ced againft fuch as refufed a Difcovery. This
work'd upon Super/lit ion fo far, as to bring in
fuch Crowds to give Evidence againft the Father
a
Confeffors, that twenty Secretaries and as many
Inquifitors appointed to take Depofuions were
too few for the Purpofe. Hereupon the Lords
Inquifitors allow 'd thirty Days more for receiving
and regiftering Convictions j and when thofe
Days were expir'd, they found it nectflury a
third and a fourth Time to repeat the Line In-
dulgence. This was done that Perlbn? of better
Figure might fteal an Opportunity to confefs
without the Knowledge of their Hufbands, and
^
without routing their Jealoufy, in which how-
ever they very feldom tucceeded. But after fuch
Numbers
(a) Contra Sollicitantcs in Confefiiont.
(I02>
Numben of ConvictioQS regularly receiv'd, and
legally fupported, when Judgment was expected
to have been iffued out by the holy Tribunal,
the whole Affair Was qua(ftd t and never exa-
min'd into, never heard of any more, (a)
To make Gain of Godlinefs, feems to be
the main Drift and Defign of our learn ed Ca-
ttcbifts Scheme. Only it would not have com-
ported with that View, other wile he might
likewife have inform' d' us, that in the
qtb Century > a Lady of Diftinction, a noble
Matron Sozomon calls her, (b) wickedly or weak-
b confefs'd an Intrigue that had pafs'd between
/ arf'. -Ecc lefiaftic and herfelf, which was not a
proper Subject of Confeffion. This Intrigue
becoming public, Oh ! fatal Confeffion / gave
great Umbrage to poor unfanctify'd Laymen !
It was thereupon adjudg'd inexpedient y that the
Liberty of privately confeffing Sins before the
Sacrament, which might bring fuch Reproach
upon God's Reprefentatives, mould be any
longer tolerated in the Church. Nor do I find
any Traces thereof in the Greek Churches
fmce; nor indeed doth our learned Author
plead for fuch Sacramental Confeflions. But
the Proteftant Reader will afk, is it not enough
for the Sinner to confefs to God? For the Sick
Perfon to reprefent his Cafe, to the fupreme
and
(a) C&aW/^'s Hifl. of Perfectt, p, 215,
(b) Sewn. Lib, 7. c. 16.
and Sovereign Pbypcian? and to him
. Our learned .Author will anfwer, by
no means. As in our Courts of Juliice, being
acquitted by the Judge, will not rclcafe the
Perfon arraign'd, till he has difcharg'd the Fees
of the Jay/or -, fo conferTing to God {hall not
fave you, unlefs you humbly and penitently
confefs to the fried who is God's Representative /
And who would part with fueh an invaluable
fpiritual Prerogative, as that of knowing the
Secrets of every Family and every Soul in a Pa-*
rifh ? When once God's Reprefentative, the Prieft,
is in Poffeffion of Mens Confidences., one Step
more, and that but a fhort one, puts him in
Pofleffion of their Honour, their Virtue, their
Reputations, their E/lates, their Fortunes, their
Bodies, and their Souls all together : When EC-
clefiailical Prerogative runs lo high, and common,
Senfe ebbs fo low as to fubmit to fuch Ufurpa-
tions, it doth by no Means iurprize me to lee
your learned Friend all Extacy and Trantport !
" To caft out the Devil of Luft, or to throw
" down the Pride of Lucifer, to beat down
" Satan under our Feet, or to triumph over
" our fpiritual Enemies, to cure a difeas'd Soul,
" or to keep unharm'd from the Affault of a
<c Temptation or the Infection of an ill E\*
" ample," by which he means no more th
to make Men fuperftitious Fools and Bigots, to
prevail upon them to renounce their Realba
and Underftanding, and to devote themfelves
without Referve to the Will of the Priefl,
the Power to do thefe Things faith our learned
Author, " is much more advantageous and be-
" neficial to us, that is the Priefts, than the
" Power of working the greateft Miracles." (a)
Well fpoken Priefl ! So it is ! By this Craft wf
get our Wealth, and our Devotees loje their
Senfes. Pliny tells us, and 'tis probable he wrote
only the Language of Tradition, that if a Man
be wounded by a Scorpion, going forthwith and
whifpering in an Afs*s Ear, will relieve his Pain,
mitigate his Anguifh, and heal his Wound, (b)
Now, as your learned Friend delights much in
Symbolical Reprefentations, is not this a beauti-
ful Symbolical Image of Confeffion to the Prieft ?
Is the Poifon of Vice more deadly than that of
the Scorpion ? What is to be done, but to have
immediate Recourfe to an Ajs if you can
find one for your ghoftly Doctor ? Whifper in the
Ear of an Eccleftaflical Afs, the Wound is heal-
ed, and the Work is done i
Well, Confeffion being made Your Sins
rated according to the current Price they bear in
Rome's Difpenfation- Market, and all your Jpiri-
tual Debt* being honeftly difcharged to the
Prieft, Abfolution follows of Courie. ' For-
46 givenefs
(a) Cat. p. 236.
(b) Nat. Hift. Lib, 28, c, ro.
105
" givencfs of Sins," faith our learned Divinity*
Fatfor, " is to be obtain'd in the Catholic
" Church, by the Miniftry of Bifhops and
" Priefts, who are authored Mediators and In*
" tercej/ors under Chrift for Men," (a) Journey-
men Saviours Sir, if you pleafe J " They arc
Cf Subftitutes and Vicegerents, binding and
f< loofeing, opening and (hutting with the Keys
<c of the Kingdom of Heaven," and the beft
comes laft, " their Sentence is a prejudging
" Forerunner of the Sentence to be paft on the
<c laft Day." (b) Here you fee a Man's eter-
nal Doom fix'd, by whom? By God?
No. But 'tis all the fame, by the Prieft, (jjpd's
Reprefentative ! God is no more than an humble
Executioner of the Sentence which his Reprc-*
fentative denounceth. The Prieft, whatever he
be in Name, is in Authority and Power the fu
preme God and fupreme Judge. His Voice is
a " prejudging Forerunner of the Sentence of
" the laft Day." If the Prieft condemn, {hall
God juftify ; or if the Prieft acquit, mall God
condemn ? Who then dare affront a Prieft, that
has the Keys of Heaven and Hell at his Girdle ?
Ye Generation of Nonjurors, Generation of
wife Men fliall I call you ? When you hear
your Prieft fay, Let us bow down and wor-
fhip, before the Lord QUX Judge ! Our Salvation
hangs on his facred Lips ! Let us ftand in Awe
and tremble before him !
O This
(a) Cat. p. 165, (b) Cat, p. 85,
(io6)
This Doctrine of Autboritaftw prieftly Abfo-
lution, is fuch an Infult upon Common Senfc,
as well as daring Impiety and Irreligion, that
even wife and virtuous Heathens have treated
it with fovereign Contempt and Abhorrence !
Attilius ReguluSy the Roman Conful, having
been defeated by the Carthaginians and taken
Prifoner in Battle, was fent to carry Offers of
Peace to the Romans, having firfl been folemn-
ly fworn to return to the Enemy's Camp, in
Cafe thefc Offers were rejected. The Over-
tures he was fent with, being accordingly
rejected, the Roman High-Priefts urg'd him to
violhte his Oath, and offer'd to abfohc him
from the Guilt of Perjury. But how doth he
refent the Motion ? He receives it with Indig-
nation, and rejects it with Difdain. (a) This
furely he woulid never have done, had he con-
ceived them to have been, what our Author
in his new Go/pel reveals them to be
inverted with Power to forgive all Sin, but the
Sin of - deriding the Prieft and fcoffing at
Cod's Reprefentative, for forming fuch injolent
and ujurping Claims !
Your good Friend y I am too much in Earn-
eft to call him your learned Friend any longer,
will plead that Fathers and Councils are on his
Side. Juft fo, have I known a Tyburn Con-
(a) Suppl. Livy. Dec, ii. L, 18, c, 62^ HOT. Lib. 3. Od. 5.
(io 7 )
feffor plead that Alexander and Cefar were as
great Robbers as he ! However the Truth of
the Fatt is granted ! The Council of Trent
pronounces a folemn Anathema, upon fuch as
deny the facramental Abfolution of the Prieft
to be z judicial Act. And yet, tho' all the Sa-
craments of Rome confer Grace ; by whofc
Ble fling do they confer it ? By God's ? No, but
by the Bleffing of the Prieftbood ! 'Tis the good
Intention of the Prieft that is to give EfHcacy
to the Administration, fays the Council of Flo-
rence, (a) If the Prieft be not well paid, can
you expect him to be well pleas' d ; and if he
be not well pleas' d, whatever good Words he
may amufe you with, you'll have Reafon to
fufpeft the Goodnefs of his Intention ! When
you come to be weigh'd in the Ballance, ac-
cording as the Prie/l is in good or bad Hu-
mour, Heaven or Hell will preponderate in the
Scale. Whatever you have been told before of
the Efficacy of Sacraments ; you may fafe-
ly believe what you are told now you
have the Word of a Council for it, and Coun-
cils, like Tradition, cannot err; that Sacra-
ments are no Sacraments, unlefs you are in
fuch clofe League with the Prieft as to be af-
fur'd of his good Intention to blcjs them.
02 To
(a) Ha:c Omnia Sacramenta tribus perficiuntur, videlicet rebus
tanquam Maceria, verbis tanquam Forma et Perfona miniftri con-
ferentis Sacrmncntum, cum Intentiont faciendi quod facit Eccle-
fia. Si dtfu, non pe/fkicur Sacramentum.
Lobe's Coqc. Tom 13. p. 535,
(168)
To e^pofe the Abfurdity of this Doctrine,
it was urg'd at the Council of frent, that if a
Prieft mould want a good Intention, fuch
Catholic Priefts there were in thofe Days, what-
ever there may be in ours ! all the Sacra-
ments he adminifters, muft want the facr amen-
ta! Efficacy. If he baptizes Children, or ab-
folves Penitents j fuch Eaptifm is no Baptifm,
fuch Absolution is no Abjblution t confequently
thofe who are cursed with his Admin iftration,
dying unbaptiz'd, or unabfolv'd, muft be loft
for ever ! Nay, if an Infant, that receives fuch
unintentional Baptifm^ mould afterwards be-
come a Eifkop ; as many as he ordains, have a
Nullity ftamp'd upon all their Adminflrations ;
fo that Millions may eternally perifi, thro*
the Conduct of one Jingle Prieft, in one fingle
Inftance only ! But all fuch Arguments as thefe
were ealily overut'd, tho' not fo eafily anfwer'd.
The Council was under the Pope's abfolute Di-
rection ; which occafioned this bold Pafyui-
nade upon it, that the Synod was guided in
all its Decifions by the Holy Ghoft, fent thither
from Time to Time in a Cloak- bag from
Rome, (a)
But to return to our Author. I have one
very ccnfiderable Objection againft his Doc-
trine that the Sentence pronounced by his
Catholic
(a) Father Paufs Counc. of Trent, p. 497.
Catholic Prieft, " (hall be a prejudging Forc-
" runner of the Sentence pafs'don the laftDay."
If Chriftianity be in the Right, he muft be in
the Wrong. 'Tis not Cbrift's Vicars, God's
Reprefenfatives, the Prime Stewards of his Re~
venues, the Chief M afters of his Hou/hold arid
his Almoner^ but another Sort of Men> Men
of a very different Character and Complexi-
on, 'Tis the Saints that muft judge the
World. But if this refers only to Civil Judi-
catories by Chriftian Magiftrates, oar Author
no doubt, will ftill maintain his Church Pre-
rogative^ of fitting as fupreme Judge of the
World : mould we then appeal to the Bar
of God t rather than to the Tribunal of the
Prieft^ who knows but we may fubject our-
felves to a Premunire for appealing to a fo-
reign Jurifdidlion ?
Be it afk'd what Family are thefe Priefts of,
\vhofe irreverfible Decrees fix and direct the
Sentence of the laft Day ? The Catecbift anfwers
roundly, t{ From ye/us we have an uninterrnp-
tl ted Chain of Bimops, the Sttcceffors of the A-
<l poftles down to this Time." (a) The Line of
Succeffion is as ft rait as a Ram's Horn, and
ranting Fanaficks add, as oft broke into, and
indented. However let them glory in the Name
of the Apoftles Succeffors, as well as of God's
Refrefentatives ! Did You ever read of a Pope
who
Cat. p, 47,
(no)
who directed a Painter to Draw him Peter
and Paul> and exert all the Force of his
Genius on the Occafion. The Painter draws
them with a ftrong Vermillion Blufh in their
Faces. And had They fays the holy Father
fuch ruddy Complexions as thefe ? No, re-
ply's the Virtuojb, but were they here riotv,
to fee what a Ragamuffin Race fet up for their
Succeffbrs, they would blufh with Surprize and
Slftonijhment as thefe Piffures do ! I leave Your
' Friend and his uninterrupted-Succeffion Tribe to
apply this. We have known the Times Sir,
Times that You and Your Party ftill adore,
when it was the Language of one who call'd
himfelf a Proteftant Divine, one of the Paul's
Coppock's, or Clytns of that Age, that if
the Devil bimfelf was to put on holy Order s^ he
would be injpird of the Holy Gho/i. (a) From
the whole Turn of our Author's Sentiments, I
queftion, if it were put to him, whether he
would not aflert the fame !
Praying for the Dead brings in a frefh Flow
of Treafures to the Church, and therefore muft
be^another fundamental Article in the new Gof-
pel, this Gentleman would eftablifh. " The
" Dead pray for us, and why mould we not
<c pray for the Dead ? Surely one good Turn
requires another ! But mould it be afk'd, how
know
(a) Emanl. Utty. D. D. Vid, Century of fcandalous and
lewd Minitlers, p. 2, 1643.
(II!)
know you that the "Dead pray for us ? ^*-
You have our Author's Word for it in his Cj-
techifm > and who, but a Heretic, can difpute
the infallible Word of an infallible Prieft or
Bifiop? The Authority of Tradition itfelf is
not more venerable and facred than the Autho-
rity of this our Tradition Believer! " The
cc Saints," faith he, " pray for us more after
" their Death than before." Did he, think
you, ever fee or hear them at their Devotions in
the other World ? Has he any Correfpondence
with the Saints there ? Whatever he may have
with the Saints of Rome, 'tis prefum'd he has
none with the Saints of Heaven.
Another Argument in Juftification of praying
for the Dead is, that it was the Practice among
the Antient Jews. That I deny, and call upon
our Author to prove it. It fliall be done
* - as follows. Mofesjorbids the Jews offer-
ing Oblations for, (or to) the Dead-, (a) or,
in other Words, he warns them againft apofta~
tizing- into the Idolatry of the Gentiles, among
whom it was ufual to facrifke to their dead
Idols, or Hero Gods-, therejore praying for
the Dead is a Duty prefcrib'd in the Jeivifb
Inftitution. Now Sir permit me to illuftrate
the Force of this Reafoning by one or two/>#-
ralell Inftances. God fays to Mofes thou fliall
have no other God but me ; therefore Ido-
latry
(a} Dcut. 26. 14,
(112)
iafry is of divine Appointment. Thou fhali
not worfhip any graven Image ; therefore
bowing to an Idol's Shrine is paying Obedience
to the Commands of Heaven. Was our Au-
thor think you, pupill'd by a learned Divine^
(not a fanatic one, Jor it is a Cafe that has
been argrfd in Councils^) who could prove the
Illegality of Commendams, and Nonrejtdences y
from any one Text in his Bible ? Once he was
to entertain his Audience with a Difcourfe up-
on this, you will expect me to call it proli-
fic^ rather than barren Subject ; Abraham
begat Ifaac . After having difplay'd much ge~
nealogical Learning, and holy Zeal over his
Text, he inferred from it, and fo natural was
the Inference that any one of your venerable
Church Deaconeffes would have infer r'd the
fame, the Unlawfu/nffs of Nonrefidences.
For how mould Abraham have begat Ifaac,
had he not been a Rejident with his Wife Sa-
rah? Our Catechift*s Reafoning, has more of
the marvellous in it than this, tho' I can by no
Means allow it: to be as clear and conclujtve !
Some other Authorities, Scripture ones he
calls them, he has deduced out of the Apocry-
phal Writings. In Imitation of the Council of
Trent, he has fcifted the Apocrypha into the
Sacred Canon, tho', as might be fhewn at
large, all antient Councils and Authorities are
again (I
I ("3)
againft him. (aj 'Tis prefum'd, that with the
Council of Trent likewife, he'll curje and a-
nathematize all fuch as refufe to receive thefc
Books as canonical Scriptures, and to believe
the Legends they contain to be, like his own
Catechijm^ the Language of a Divine Revela-
tion. But what has he advanc'd from them in
Defence of Praying for the Dead ? The firfl
Text he has urg'd bids as fairly to prove the
Divinity of the Alcoran, or the Truth of
Tranfub/tantiation, as it doth to prove the
Point he would eftablim. The next Authori-
ty he adduces, is taken out ofihefecond Book
of Maccabees; a fpurious Performance, com-
pil'd by an unknown Hand, by a Writer,
whoever he be, of no Reputation. But be the
Hi/tory wrote by whom it will, it is probable
that the Paragraph refer'd to is an Interpola-
tion. Jofephus, in his Account of the Defeat
of the Jamnites, never mentions the FacT: of
Judas, now under Confideration, as 'tis highly
probable he would, had the Hiftory of it been
authentic. But allowing our Author to make
the moft of the Paflage that he can ; the Pray-
ers and Sacrifices there mention'd, might be of-
fer'd and feem to be offer'd for Sin, as that
might be hurtful to the living, as was the Sin
of Achan. Yet after all fuch Apocryphal
Authority is of as little Weight with a Man
P who
(a) Vide Cofins's Canon.
(*)
ivho is guided by Common Senfe, as the Autho-
rity of your Friend's Tradition Bible.
But St. Paul who was no Apocryphal Wri-
ter, exhorts that Eucbarifts be made for all
Men, and Supplications for all Saints ; therefore
infers our Author, St. P#&/ recommends it to
us to pray for the Dead. What then, doth
St. Paid mean that we mould pray for Dead
Kings that are in Authority, as well as for
the Living ones that are ? Doth he mean that
we mould lead quiet and peaceable Lives under
the Government of dead Kings, as well as under
the Government of the Living? According to
our Author he doth ; and you know Sir, Infal-
libility cannot be miftaken. Should any Per-
ibn of Diftindtion call in all the Phyficians in
Manchejler to join in a Confultation upon his
Cafe, would not you underfland that he meant
to fummon all the dead Phyficians, as well as
all the living to attend him ? All thofe whofe
Bodies lie rotting in the Ground, as well as
any others whofe Names rot above it ? I take
all becoming Confulion to myfelf, unable any
longer to combat fuch Catholic Church-De-
monjlration as this.
Another Piece of Artillery our Catechi/l
brings out of his Catholic Arfenal, to batter
down Herefy and eftablifli Prayer for the Dead,
is that Text in St. Jebn, " There is a Sin un-
" to Death, I do not fay you fliall pray for
4CC
Jt.
c< it." Becaufe there is a very heinous ag-
gravated Sin, called here a Sin unto Death t
which we are not bound by Precept to pray
for ; therefore we are to pray for the Dead.
Remarkable are the Words of our learned Light-
foot, referring to this very Text. " When"
fays he " I fee thefe Men's Annotations on thig
< c Scripture, they often put me in Mind of
" Bfnbadad's Servant with Ropes about their
" Necks, catching at. any Word that fell from
c< the King of Ifrael's Mouth, that might be
" of any Advantage to their forlorn and loft
" Caufe and Condition. Thefe Men's popifk
" Caufe, has had the Rope about its Neck now
" a long Time, and been in a loft and for-
<c lorn Cafe ; and I cannot tell whether I
" fhould laugh or frown, to fee what pitiful
" Shifts and fhameful Scrambling they make
<{ for it, by catching at any Word or Syllable
" in the Scriptures or Fathers, and wrefling,
" and twifting, and twineing it to any feeming
" or colourable Advantage to their condemned
" Caufe, to fave it from Execution.
<e Certainly they are at a very hard Pinch for
" Proof of praying for the Dead, when they
" make fuch a Scraping in this Portion of
* c Scripture to rake it out thence ; whereas the
<c Words are as far from meaning the Living
" praying for the Dead, as the Dead praying
" for the Living: 1 (a.)
P 2 But
{a) JLightfoot's Works Vol. 2. p, 1094;
(u6)
But if we muft pray for the Dead, what are
the proper Seafons for this Kind of Devotion ?
Our Author anfwers : <{ If you would cornrne-
" morale any of the faithful departed in as fo-
" lemn and particular Manner, let it be done
" with Almfgiving, on the third, ninth> and
<c fortieth Day after the Perfon's Deceafe,
" and on the Anniverfary Day of his or her
" Death." We are told that our Pagan An-
ce/lors in this L-and, and Herodotus gives
the fame Account of fome other Nations,
as foon as any of their Friends were dead,
inftead of consigning them to their Mother
Earth, as a Prey to Worms, feafled themfelves
upon their Remains, which they look'd upon
as an Act of great Piety and Devotion. With
great Solemnity they invited their moft inti-
mate Friends to feed with them upon the Bo-*
dies of their dead Relations, to regale them-
felves with a Fricafee, cook'd out of the Re-
mains of a dead Neighbour, Father, or Bro-
ther, (aj Our Gatechijt's Prayers for the Dead,
have not that /avage Complexion which this
Kind of Devotion wears, but they are equally
indefeniible and fuperftitious. He has not
thought it expedient to entertain his Readers
with the Reaions alledg'd by the Daughters of
Superftition in Favour of the Periodical Devo-
tions mentioned above. However as I find
the
(a) Mum's Funeral Ceremonies,
the fame Practice in the Greek Churches, and
the Reafons urg'd by them in Support of the
Practice, I'll beg Leave to fupply our Author's
Omiflion.
Their third Day's Devotions for the Dead,
are perform'd for two Reafons. _. Firft, in
Confideration that the Dead Body in that /Space
of Time, begins to. change, its Form and Fea-
tures ; and next becaufe our Saviour rofe from
the Dead on the Third 'Day. Their Prayers
on the Ninth Day after a. Perfon's Deceafe are
offer'd, fay they, became by that Time the
whole Body, excepting the Heart only, which
was the chief . Seat and Inftrument of the vi-
tal Functions, is grown putrifv'd and noifome ;
and likewife Prayers are. renewed then, becaufe
one of the Times our Saviour appeared to his
Difciples, when he had rofe from the Dead,
was on the Ninth Pay after his /aid Refurrec-
tion ; and the Solemnities of the fortieth Day
are perform'd, becaufe, then the Heart and the
whole Body is become corrupt and putrified \ and
becaufe alfo our Saviour afcended to Heaven
the fortieth Day after his Refurrection. (a)
If our Author will not abide by thefe Reafons,
for the Practice he recommends, I call upon
him, to afOgn ivorfe if he can y for I defp.iir as
to his afligning any better. If this be Religion,
I no
(a) Muret's Funeral Ceremonies,
("9)
I no more wonder at the Turks, who reverence
Idiots and Madmen, as Saints and Prophets'.
Sir John Chardin, in his Travels to Per/ia,
gives us an Account of fome Funeral Ceremo-
nies of the Mingretians, in the County of Col-
&is. One of them is _ to perform, after
the Manner of our Author, Acts of Devotion
over the Dead on the fortieth Day after his
Deceaie. Their Motives to this Practice are
very fub/lantial zndfolid. I'll not prefume to
fay that our Author's are the fame. After fomc
Jrantic Lamentations, that infpire indifferent
Spectators with Pity and Horror, and which
are continued till the fortieth Day after the
Perfons Deceafe, that being the appointed Day
for his Interment ; the Bifhop fays Mafs over
him, and then moft devoutly /eizeth on his
Horfe, Wearing Apparel, Plate, and every
Thing he left behind him, and appropriates,
or, if you like the Expreffion better, con fe crates
the whole to his own immediate Service, (a)
Thus the Goods which the deceafed has left be-
hind him, become the Property of God's Re-
prefentative -, and the more there is left for
God's Reprefentatiw the better I I appeal to our
Author, whether this is not, upon his own
Principles, pure, primitive Religion !
The next Thing I would take Notice of in
your Friend's tradition Go (pel is, the Zeal he
exprefles
(a) Chardtn's Travels, p. 105;
(120)
cxpreflcs for the Commands of the Church.
" You are to obferve the Laws of the Catholic
" Church, and all the Rubrics and Canons of
* e the particular Church of which you are Mem-
" bers ; and befides thefe general Laws, you are
<c to regard the following particular Commands :
<c . To abftain from eating Blood; to offer
" to God our Tythes, Firft Fruits, and volun-
<c tary Oblations; to obferve the Feafts and
<c Fafts of the Church ; to offer and receive
<e the Eucharift every Holy Day, at leaft not
" to omit any of the great Fcftivals ; and to
" pray (landing on all Sundays, and every Day
" between Eafter and Penteco/t" (a) The ho-
neft Proteftant will afk, will it not be fuffici-
ent for -a Man if he endeavours to pay a fincere
and uniform Regard to the Commands of Goo 1 ;
tho' he mould be a Stranger, or even an Infi-
del as to the Commands of the Church ? Cannot
God fave me without the Church's Confent, or
the Church*s Interpoftion ? But let the Quari/l
confider, who fhould the Church be, but the
Priefls ; and who are the Priefls ', but God's Re~
prefentatiiies ? In an Affair of fuch Importance
therefore 'tis neither /afe nor prudent, to fay no
more, to run any Hazards. *Hndal y one of our
firfl Reformers, whofe Tranflation of the Bible
into Englijfb, was burnt in Queen Mary's Reign,
by tfie Hands of the Common Hangman, difput-
ing with a learned Papift, and mewing him
that
(a) Cat. p, 60;
( 120 )
that Popery was a mofl horrid Corruption of
Chriftianity ; his Adverfary replies, ive had bet-
ter be without God's Laws, than without the
Pope's Laws. And would not your Catholic
Friend were he put to it, as roundly affert,
that we had better negleft God's Commands, than
negledt the Commands of the Church. I make-
no Doubt but he- would. One of thefe Com-
mands I would briefly animadvert upon at pre-
fent, that is, the fecond. The Catechi/l and
his Difciple talk thus.
<J. What Refpedl are we oblig'd to pay to
God, befides worfhipping him with our Hearts
and Mouths?
A. We are to Honour him with our Subflance.
4J. What Part of our Income mufl we offer
to him?
A. The Tythe or Tenth Part.
<$>. What mufl we offer to God befides ?
A. The Firft Fruits of all our Increafe.
>. What doth God expeft from us befides ?
A. That we mould offer him fomething of
our own Free- Will.
^ How much, and when ?
A. The more and the of tern r the better.
(121)
^. To whom are thefe Tythes, Ftrjl Fruits^
and Oblations to be offer'd ?
A. To God's Reprefentatives, his Prie/ls. (a)
Here Sir you fee, that what is given to the
Prieft, is given to the Lord, and that the Prieft,
like him whole Reprefentative he is, loveth a
chearful and liberal Giver. The Tenth Part
of all your Revenues is but a fmall Matter to
give him. The Fir/I fruits of all your In-
creafe is fomething better,; but it is your vo-
luntary Oblations that muft crown all. For
your Comfort, you cannot err by giving too
much, even tho' you give away more than your
all ; for the more and the oftmer you give, the
better. Your Offspring, your Family, your
Creditors may not blefs you for it ; but the
Prieft will.
The Ecclefiaftical Flrft Fruits, that is, the
Jirft Years Profits of Bi(hoprics and Benefices
after their Avoidance, as they ftand rated in the
King s Book, was formerly in this Kingdom
paid to the Pope, but alienated to the Crown.
at the Reformation. Queen Anne^ in the third
Year of her Reign, fettled the Revenue ariiing
from fuch Fir ft Fruits^ and Tenths, as a per-
petual Fund for the Augmentation of poor Liv~
tngs, and the better Maintenance of the poorer
Oat. p. 62, (13,
( 122)
Clergy, whereby they have once more reverted
to the Church. This Grant,, however ujeful
it may be at prefent ; fhould it always be con-
tinued, the Confequences that may arife from
it in future Ages, I dread to mention;
but you, and your Catholic Friend will mention
with Pleafure. Nothing lefs it feems will fatisfy
his Appetite, and a voracious one it is, than the
Tythes and firft Fruits of all our PoffefTions.
Nor are thofe alone fufficient j , when he has
fleec'd his Flock, by 'Tythes and Jirft Fruits-,
next they are to devote the Remainder of
their Subilance to him, in voluntary Oblations.
This Gentleman's Stomach would digeft Church
Revenues, as a Wolf would Lambs, or a Kite
Chickens. I truft Sir, I can fafely pro-
phefy, that his Wifhes will never be fully gra-
tify 'd in Britain, At Paraguay, in South A-
merica, the Miffionary Jefuits have a Settle-
ment that muft be moft excellently adapted to
our Catech[/ls Taft. Thither I would recom-
mend it to him to tranfport himfelf, and if he
pleafes, he may take his R-y-1 Mafter, France's
political Foot- ball with him. This Settlement,
which is computed to contain two Millions of
Indians, is divided into 42 petty Principalities,
govern'd by that Number of Ecclefiaftical So-
vereigns, who are both Priefts and Kings. It
abounds with Sheep and bkck Cattle, Timber,
Corn, Pulfe, Flax, Cotton, Indigo, Sugar, and
Fruit, and with Silver and Gold Mines, tho'
it
( 1*3 )
it feems the Gho/tly Fathers will not own the
latter. The Inhabitants, whom they have
in the moft abject and abfolute VafTalage,
have no Property of their own, and nothing
allow'd them but Food and Rayment. Not-
withftanding this, they are an active and labo-
rious People. They bring all the Produce of
the Mines ; all the Provifiona of the Land ;
and all the Manufactures they work, into EC-
clefiajlicalWarehoiifes appointed to receive them.
Not even a Chicken of his own Rearing^ is a
poor Slave fuffer'd to eat, unlefs it be cater'd
out to him in the Courfe of the Church- royal
Allowance. The Trade thefe Holy Fathers
carry on at the Expence of their Slaves, and
the Re-venue it brings them, not to mention the
Gold Duft gathered by the Indians, out of the
Wafhes, when the Rivers ebb, is incredible.
To keep thefe Slaves in Obedience, as well as to
guard againft Livafions, they have a large ftand-
ing Military Force, and a right Reverend Ge-
neralijfimo to head them. In a Week's Time
they can collect an Army of 60,000 Troops,
to fight the Battles of the Pnejl and the
Lord, againft all Enemies or Invaders, (a)
Now 5Vr, would not our right Reverend Ca-
techi/l think you, relifh fuch a Settlement as
this, where he need not preach up Tytbes,
fir ft Fruits, and voluntary Oblations, becaufe,
all
(a) Betagh's Voyaj-e ">'"* the World 1719. p. 3*3.
di the Treafures of the Land, and all the ta-
bour of its Inhabitants, are the Inheritance of
Catholic Priefls, and their Subjefts have nothing
but the Sweat of their Brows which they can
call their own ? What pure Orthodox Religion
muft that be, which would conftitute him a
Royal Prieft ? Were he advanced to fuch
hurcb Royalty as this, and who knows but
he may, if he tries; the Scene would be
probably chang'd, and God muft then become
the Pr^e/i s Representative, inftead of the Priefts
cpndefcending to be God's!
In the Kingdom of Pegu in the Eaft, the
fuperftitious Inhabitants worfhip the Devil,
and offer their Addreffes to him by the Medi-
ation of the Prieft, whom they call, not as
our Catecbift doth, God's Reprefentative, but
the Devil's father, (a) Our Author will con-
clude, that thefe Idolaters are very much out in
their Church Heraldry, and derogate much from
the Dignity of his Heaven.born Extraction ; and
yet I confefs a Devil that is to be blown orjir'a'
out of his Dominions* one can fcarce forbear
inferring, that he is created only to Jerve a
Turn ; and is, as the Inhabitants of Pegu fug-
geft, a Devil of the Catholic Pri eft's own be-
getting.
In
[ (a) Atl, A(U p. 66a.
( "5 )
In fome of the preceding Pages it has been
obferv'd, that Baptifm gives God a Property in
his Creatures, which he had not before. Now
we come to Excommunication, which according
to our Author is an Ecclefiaftical Rite, that
robs God of all Property in his Creatures, and
makes them the Property of the Devil. This
fays he, <c is difcinguifhed by the Names of
" total Separation, and Anathema or Curfe, it
" being the greateft Curfe that can be laid
" upon Man," and in relation to it, he otv
ferves, that " cafting out of the Church"
more Myfteries or Sacraments flill ! "is an I-
<c mage of cafting out of Paradife, and to be
< paralell'd with it, that when a Man is ex-
<e communicated out of one Church, he is ex-
" communicated out of all ; and any Church
*' that receives an excommunicated Perfon de-
<e Jerves the very fame Sentence ;" that is, a-
ny Church that receives a Perfon that has been
devoted to the Devil, when the Devil rejufes
to receive him, dejerves to be given to the De-
vil itfelf. (a) " When Perfons are thus excom-
" municited, they are not only excluded from
" Communion in facred Things, but are to be
" fhunn'd and avoided in civil Commerce and
<c ordinary Conversion j no one is to receive
*' them into^ their Houfes or eat at the fame
Tuble
(a) Catech. p. 406.
(126)
tc Table with them ; they are not to converfe
<c with them familiarly whilft living, nor per-
" form the Funeral Obfequies for them when
*' dead : . They can neither have a Chrifti-
<c an Burial, nor a Chriftian Commemoration
" among thofe who are departed in the true
ct Faith and Unity of the Church." This
dreadful Sentence of Excommunication which
our humane and benevolent Author bandies a-
bout, feems to be but a new Edition of the old
Pagan Excommunication, practis'd in this Land
by the Britifo Druids, as related by Cefar.
" This Punimment" fays he " is, of all
<e others the moft dreadful, for they who lie
" under* the Sentence of Excommunication, are
" number'd among the moft reprobate and a-
" bandon'd : All mun them and fly from them
" as from a Peftilence, leaft they mould be
" tainted with the Infection. They are ex-
<e eluded from all the Privileges, and from the
" Protection of Law, and from all the Ho-
" nours of the State," (a) But fevere as this
Pagan Excommunication was, our Catholic
Chriftian' s is much feverer of the two. This
Ecclefiaftical thunderbolt as hurFd about by our
Author
(a) Sacrificiis interdicunt. Hsec Psena apud eos e(l gra-
viffima, quibus ita eft imerdiclum ii Numero Itnpiorum ac Sce-
leratorum habentur, iis omnes decedunt, aditumq; eorum fermo-
nemq; defugiunt, ne quid ex Contagione incommodi accipiant,
neque iis petentibus jus redditur, neque Honos ullus communica-
tur.
has in former Times been a dreadful
Inftrument in the Hands of fpiritual Tyrants.
However, blefleci be God and the Reformation
for it j amongft Pro tell ants 'tis confider'd at
prefent.only as rufty Armor, fitter for Parade
than Service ; fitter to be hung up in Ter-
ror, than to do any great Execution. But a-
mongft our Cafecbiji's Difciples, I am inclin'd
to believe it may have its Ufe ftill. It may
contribute to preferve and increafe that Spirit
of Devotion to Wooden Gods and Wooden Shoes,
and Prie/ls more Wooden than either, which
this Gentleman would propagate. 'Tis hard to
account upon any other Footing, how fo fo-
lemn an Admirer of early Church Antiquity t as
our Author profeffes himfelf to be, mould be
for the Eftablimment of this Kind of Church
Difcipline^ which boafts of no fuch Antiquity
tf> recommend it; for I find no Tracks of it in
the Chriflian Church, till near 200 Years
after Chrift Pope ViBor made Ufe of it as an
Ecclefiaftical Racket, wherewith to play off the
Bali of Contention.
Should it be afk'd what black and atrocious
Crimes thofe Perfons have been guilty of, a-
gainft whom your Friend's Catholic Fathers, the
Popes of Rome y have from Time to Time pro-
nounced this dreadful Sentence ? Why truly
their Crimes have been fuch as thefe :
Celebrating Rafter on a wrong Day ; Want of
Orthodoxy in the Cut of the Beard - t being
guilty
(128)
guilty of fhilofipbicalHereJy, in maintaining the
Doctrine of Antipodes j transferring a Branch
of Trade from one Country to another. Thefe,
and ten thoufand more fuch Sins as thefe, have
from Time to Time provok'd the Catholic
High Priefts of Rome, to devote obftinate OfYen-
cnders, that is, thofe who will not, or cannot
buy Grace and Par 'don , without Pity and with-
out Redemption to the Devil ! No Hell then
like an empty Purfe ; that fhuts all the Bowels
of the Catholic Priefl's Compaffion, and opens
all the Sluices of Perdition, to pour down
Floods of eternal and relentlefs Vengeance upon
the poor penny Jefs Sinner!
By the Ecclefiaftical Laws of this Realm^
Excommunicated Perfons are not allowed Chrifti-
an Burial. In the Days when Monkery and Su~
perftition reign'd like Twin Sifters, or rathar
rag'd like baleful Meteors without Controul in
our Land ; thole who died under the Sentence
of Excommunication had their Bodies caft into
a Ditch, or cover'd with a Heap of Stones,
which according to Hoveden they calPd Imblo-
care Corpus. In thofe Times it was the facred
Language of Tradition, and Tradition like its
nurfing Father the Pope cannot errj that fuch
Bodies, however expos'd to the Weather, could
not perifh, but would continue incorruptible,
as dreadful Monuments of the Divine Venge-
ance, that overtook the Contumacious Of-
fenders, (a) Abfurd and extravagant as fuel?
Pretenfions were, yet mould your Friend's Ca-
tholic Faith ever become eftablifhed in our Land,
it would not all furprize me, to fee him plead-
ing Tradition and Antiquity in fupport of ths
fame Priefl-tvor/hip Superftition.
Whilft I am upon this Subject, a Subject
that muft be very grateful to the Catechift's
*Taft, as Church Power and Authority appear
to be the darling Idols he wor flips : I would
beg Leave to tranfcribe, a Very holy and piou$
Form of Excommunication us'd in the Church
of Rome. It was wrote by Ernuflus the 5;-
fiop, one of the Succe/ors of the Apoftles in the
uninterrupted Line, tho* indeed one would fcarce
imagine fo, from his meek and merciful Spirit.
A Tranjlatlon of it (which I mail make Ufe of
here, with fome little Variation) was publim'd
in feveral Papers in 1745. It is to be met
with, not only in Sir Henry Spetmatfs Gloffary,
but like wife in the Leger Book of the Church
of Rocbe/ter, now in Cuftody of the Deari
and Chapter there.
The Account given of the Original Occafion
of it is this : An Allom Worker that belong'd
to his tiolinefs the Pope's Allom Works, was
brought over to f,ngland ) who difcover'd the
Secrets of that Trade to the Evglifk Nation,
R fe
() M&tth.
( 13)
In vengeful Commemoration whereof, the At-
lorn Workers, Englifh ones my Author muft
mean, aremoft devoutly curs'd one certain Day
in the Year as follows.
By the Authority of God Almighty, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghoft $ and of the Holy Ca-
nons ; and of the immaculate Virgin Mary,
the Mother and Patronefs of our Saviour ; and
of all the Celedial Virtues, Angels, Archang-
els, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Cherubims,
and Seraphims j and of all the Holy Patriarchs,
and Prophets ; and of all the Apoftles and E-
vangelifts 5 and of the Holy Innocents, who in
Sight of the Holy Lamb, are found worthy
to fmg the new Song j of the Holy Martyrs,
and Holy Confeflbrs; and of the Holy Virgins j
and of all the Saints ; and together with all the
Holy and Elect of God j we excommunicate and
anathematize this Thief, or this Malefactor N.
And from the Threfholds of the Holy Church
of God Almighty, we fequefter him, that he
fnay be tormented, difpos'd, and deliver'd over
with Dathan and Abiram, and with thofe who
fay unto the Lord God, depart from us, <we
de/ire not to kmw thy 'ways. And as Fire is
quenched with Water, fo let the Light of him
be put out for evermore, unlefs it (hall repent
him, and he make Satisfaction. Amen.
May God the Father who created Man,
curfe him. May the Son who fuffer'd for us,
curfe
('3')
curfe him. May the Holy Ghoft who was
given for us in Baptifm, curfe him. May the
Holy Crofs, which Chrift for our Salvation
triumphing over, afcended, curfe him. May
the Holy and Eternal Virgin Mary, Mother of
God, curfe him. May St. Michael, the Ad-
vocate of Holy Souls, curfe him. May St.
John the Chief Forerunner and Baptift of
Chrift, curfe him. May St. Peter, St. Paul,
and St. Andrew, and all other Chrift's Apof-
tles, together with the reft of his Difciples, and
four Evangelifts, curfe him. May the Holy
and wonderful Company of Martyrs and Con-
fefTors, who by their Holy Works are found
pleafmg to God, curfe him. May the holy
Choir of the holy Virgins, who for the Honour
of Chrift have defpis'd the Things of the
World, curfe him. May all the Saints, who
from the Beginning of the World to Everluft-
ing Ages, are found to be the Beloved of God,
curfe him. May the Heaven and Earth, and
all the holy Things therein remaining, curfe
him. May he be curs'd wherever he be, whe-
ther in the Houfe ; or in the Field ; or in the
Highway ; or in the Path ; or in the Wood ;
or in the Water ; or in the Church. May he
be curs'd in Living; in Dying; in Eating; in
Drinking ; in being Hungry ; in being Thirfty ;
in Fading; in Sleeping; iii Slumbering; in
Waking; in Walking; in Standing; in Sit-
ting ; in Lying; in Working ; in Refting ;
R 2
Here for Decencfs Sake I fubftitute the Or-
ginal y in the room of the Translation, -
iningendo cacando t and in Blood-letting. May
he be curs'd in all the Powers of his Body.
May he be curs'd within and without. May
he be curs'd in the Hair of his Head. May
he be curs'd in his Brain. May he be curs'd
in the Crown of his Head ; in his Temples j
in his Forehead ; in his Ears j in his Eye-
brows; in his Cheeks; in his Jawbones; in.
his Noftrils ; in his Foreteeth or Grinders ; in
his Lips ; in his Throat ; in his Shoulders ; in
his Wrifts ; in his Arms ; in his Hands ; in his
jFingers ; in his Bread; in his Heart; and in
all the interior Parts to the very Stomach ; in
his Reins ; in his Groin ; in his Thighs ; in
his Genitals ; in his Hips; in his Knees ; in
his Legs ; in his Feet ; in his Joints ; and in
his Nails. May he be curs'd- in the whole
Structure of his Members. From the Crown
of his Head to the Sole of his Foot, may there
be no Soundnefs in him. May the Son of the
Living God, with all the Glory of his Ma-
jefty, curie him ; and may Heaven with all the
Powers that move therein, rile againft him to
damn him, unlefs he (hall repent and make fulj.
Satisfaction. Amen* Amen* So be it. (a)
This Excommunication, Mutatis
is to be apply'd to one or more, or to any 6-
ther
(a) Spelra. Gloflf. p. 206,
( '33 )
ther Occafion, as well as that recited above.
Here we have a flagrant Inftance of the Spirit
of the Catholic Church of Rome t and I
wifli there be any better Spirit that reigns in
you i Friend's Catholic Church at Mane be ft er.
Even our prefent gracious Sovereign, whom
may God long preferye ! is every Year excom-
municated at Rome, in the famous Bui la C&n&,
It is withal therein ordain'd, that Catholics^
that is Believers of your, or of your Friend's
Complexion, mail not be oblig'd to attempt de-
throning him, till the Affiftance of a French
Power gives them a Profpect of Succeis in tae
Enterprize : But if they ihould make any Vo-
lunteer Attempts, and mifcarry, their Zeal (Lull
be adjudg'd IS^eritorious ; and thofe who fall
a Sacrifice to it, mall b^ enroll" d as Martyrs^
that fuffer'd in a glorious Caufe. 'Twas proba-
bly this, that tempted your lite unhappy Man-
chefter Friends, when executed for their Trt.-;:-
ions, to ape the Character of Martyrs:
this likewife Accounts for the Religious
pours fince paid them j for why may not
Wormip them, as the Inhabitants of Goa -Jo
dpes, who builds Pagods or Temples, in which
to ferve them, (a) Upon clofing the Recital of
the above truly G?//;0//V Bull,a Cannon isdifcharg-
ed, at which it is faid, the more Superrtitious
blind and bigottcd Papifls believe, all the fcV-
retics of the Earth tremble ! (b) And
(a} Tavernier's Travels in India, p. 77.
jb) Bcnnct of" NewcalUe againft Popery ,p. so,'
i
('34)
And now we are at Goa y a Learned Writer gives
us a recent Illuftration in an Inftance he met with
there, of that Spirit we have beenjuft defcribing.
A Prieft, a Catholic one you may be fare, came
to buy Fifh in the Market, and finding none
left, he demanded a Gentleman's Bargain who
had juft bought fome before, The Gentleman
civilly excus'd himfelf, alledging that he had
fome Friends to dine with him that Day. In-
ftead of admitting the Propriety of the Apolo-
gy, God's Reprefentative gave him a Repri-
mand in very fcurrilous Language; to which
he replied with becoming Dignity and Spirit.
Hereupon God's Repre/entafivf, the Prieft, let
fly the Dart of Excommunication, which pierc'd
fo deeply, that befides the Gentleman's begging
Pardon on his Knees before the Archbifhop, it
coft him above Jeven Pounds Sterling, to procure
his Abfolution, (a) and redeem himfelf from
the Power of the Devil. - K good-natur'd
and merciful Devil too ! Quoth Pafquin ; that
will relinquifh his Rights, and releafe his Pri-
foners upon any pecuniary Confiderations what-
foever ! But I dare not dwell any longer upon
this Subject, leaft I mould Wreftle down upon
rayfelf, this very Sentence I have been expo-
fing, and provoke your Catholic Friend, in his
great Catholicifm t to deal out his holy Curfes
like
(a) Hamilton's Voyage to the We ft -Indies, p, 253;
(i35>
like his Sacrcments, by WMefale ; by the Do~
zen againft me !
I could eafily point numberlefs more,
fur dities and Super /iitions y that abound in your
Friend's New Gojpel. I could give you not a
Jew Specimens only, but a large Mufter-Roll
of the Magical Forces he employs, to 'wage
War with the Devil. I could lead you through
the whole of his Church Difcipline : Shew you
what Part of the Tear you are to pray /land-
ing, if you would have God to hear your Pray-
ers : And what Part of the Tear you are to
pray kneeling, if you expect Heaven to be pro-
pitious. But I need not inftruct Tou in thefe
Things. 'Tis prefum'd Tou muft be properly
inftrucled in them already ! And what has been
already offer'd, is more than fufficient to con-
vince my Proteflant Readers, mould the Revo-
lution long mecV;tated by your Friends, take
Place j what kind of Religious Principles muffc
take Place with it. With New Governors we
muft have New Gofpels, and New Gods : And
as to Civil Affairs, we muft have all our Old
Taxes, and ten thoufand New ones befides
them.
The Lands alienated to the Crown at the
Reformation, muft likewife revert to the Church.
How elfe mould we be able to feed and fupport
Swarms of hungry Priejls, of your Friend's
Complexion? Swarms of Exorcift-De t uil-dri t u~
ing
'ing Ecclefia/ltcs, that demand your Money,
not with Piftoh levell'd at your Breaft, but
with Anathema s levell'd at your Conference,
and let you kno\V what you are to expett y if
you do not believe, that the more you give
them the better. What a happy Exchange
would it be ! I do not mean for you Sir, but
for rational confident Protefla?its y to barter a-
way their Eftates and their Senfes, for Old
Wives Fables, and New Go/pel Revelations?
But as much Fanatic as I am, 'tis hop'd
by this Time you are convinc'd, that I have no
great Fondnefs for either ! Of all Frauds, there
are none fo enormous as devout Frauds j of all'
Cheats and Impoftures, your fanclify'd ones
are the moft dangerous, as well as the moft
accompli fti'd. Know you not Sir, that what
thole who practice Slight of Hand, call Hocus
PocuS) is nothing elfe but a Corruption of the
Words Hoc efi Corpus meum y made ufe of by
the Papijis, when they pretend to tranfubftan-
tiate Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood
of Chrift ? Sojuft/ycontemptttottshzs the Church
of Rome render'd herfelf, by her Legerdemain
Practices and Pretenfions ! If your Friend the
Catechift has done the fame, let him not blame
others for pouring Contempt on his Principles,
but let him blame thole Principles that jufify
and dejerve it. To paint a Monfter in his pro-
per Colours and full Proportions, is a fure Way
to expofe him !
Relight.
( '37 )
Religion, and the Religion of Jefus Chnft
in particular, is a plain, eafy, and intelligible
Thing ; adapted not only to the Tafte of Pri?(ls t
Pbilofophers, and Poets,, but to the loweft Ca-
pacity. 'Tis plain and uniform, like the Coat
which Je/us wore. It derives a nobler Luilre
from its own Native Simplicity, than all the
Airs belonging to Super/iitious Grimace, or
Theatrical Pageantry can give it. Indeed
Religion doth not, cannot confift in Rites and
Modes, or any pretended Orthodoxy of Opini-
on, but in Reftitude of Life and Manners ; in
Purity of Converfation, and the Adornment of
our Nature. Suppofing that the Worfhip of
Saints or Angels, the Confecration of rotten
Bones, or the Bleffing of old Clouts and Rags,
were no Part of your, or of your Friend the
Cat f drift's Religion j would your Reverence for
the Deity be diminifftd? Would the Springs
of Benevolence be impaired thereby ? Or would
the Contempt of fuch devout Farce and fanfti-
Jied Fopperies, contribute in the leafl to wound
focial Affections ?
Is living upon Vegetables not from pbilofophi-
cal but from fuperjiitioits Motives, a Token
of Divine Grace ? Muft he be an Enemy to
God, who is a Friend to Englijb Beef and
Mutton ? Muft he hate his Neighbour who doth
not hate Fowl or Venifon ? Or muft he be a
bad Man who eats a good flejh Dinner ? Thefe
Sir are the Principles if I am rightly inftrudt-
ed, that prevail among fome gf your Friends,
and thefc are Principles but I forbear.
To argue cooly with an Enthu/iaft, is gene-
rally as little to the Purpofe, as it would be to
read Lectures of Philofofby to a Man in a Fe-
ver.
As it appears from the Language of our Ca-
techift, that there are no Treafures too great,
o: too grofs for thofe Church Cormorants^ his
Prie/ts to devour, for the more they Jiva/loiv the
better -, fo it feems there are no Principles
either in Church or State fo abfurd, but you
and your Nmij tiring and Jacobite Brethren can
digeil them. Sometime ago, I had the Ho-
nour to converfe with a Gentleman of your Ca-
tholic Friend's Complexion. To mew his great
Skill in Politics and Jockeyfiip, he very grave-
l\ afTur'd me, that our Breed of Horfes in this
Kingdom, was as much degenerated as our Mo-
rals, and that we had rear'd no Good ones fince
the Revolution. I could not on this Occafion
foibesx imagining, that my new Acquaintance
had been pupil'd by Mr. Addijorfs Foxhunter -,
one of whole political Maxims it was, that
there had been no Good Weather lince the Re-
idittion. (a) You'll imagine, my Curiofity
would prompt me, to learn upon what Grounds
he advanced fo extraordinary a Proportion ;
and
(a) Freeholder Number 21,
( '39 )
and Reafons he had for it too ; as good ones no
Doubt as any he could have aiTign'd, for fet-
ting up his Idol- Knight- Adventurer on the Bri-
tifh Throne ! The Papifts are prohibited by
Law, from keeping Horfes of Value ; and they,
poor unhappy Gentlemen^ vvhofe Misfortunes our
very Horfes and our Country groan under to
this Day ! were the only Graziers that could
preferve or improve our Breed. To reafon wi'h
Perfons of this Stamp, is to talk to the Winds.
Their Zeal is as blind and undiftinguifking,
but more raging and boifterous.
Amidft our late national Diftra<5tions, the
Nonjurors, confidered as an Eccle/lafiical 6V#,
and their faithful Friends and Allies that call
themfelves Church of England Ncnjurcrs, have
been treated with great Tendernefs. This, in-
flead of infpiring them with Sentiments of Gra-
titude ', -the natural Effect of fuch Treatment up-
on generous Minds, has fill'd them with dif-
dainful Iniult and Triumph. They have upon
all Occafions, enjoy'd the Protection of thofe
Laws which they daily trample upon, and of
that Government which they daily i:ifu!t. And
I am very far from envying them any Privi-
leges they enjoy, or any Liberty they can. plead
for, but the Liberty of -. cutting their Neigh-
bours Throats, and making a free People
a Nation of Staves. The leail Senfe of Gra-
S 2
( '4)
^ Generofity and Honour, would be a ftrong
Tie upon them, to preferve at leaft an exfer-
tial Shew of Decorum, towards that Govern-
ment, and that Government's Friends, which
protects them. Ingratitude wears that black and
monftrous Complexion, that an antient Lawgi-
ver look'd upon it to be too aggravated a
Crime, for human Nature to perpetrate j which
was the Reafon affign'd, why he enacted no
Laws to profcribe or punifh it. fa) But the
antient Persians who had not the fame roman-
tic Ideas of the Perfection of human Nature,
confidered Ingratitude as a Crime againft the
State, and decreed it to be punifhable by the
Civil Magistrate. Thofe who were convicted
of it, were adjudged deftitute of all Regards
to their Friends, their Parents, their Country,
and to the Gods -, and as fuch, were punifhed
with peculiar Severity and Rigour, (b) Perhaps
Sir, you would greatly rcfent it, fhould I in
Aliufion to the above, charge the Nonjuring
and Jacobite Faction, with being defKtute of
all Regards to their Friends, their Parents^
their Country y and to the Gods. However,
it would give every Lover of Proteflantifm and
Liberty true Pleafure, to fee that Faction con-
vince Mankind, that fuch a Charge is not pro-
perly fupported. Gratitude, Generofity, and
Honour, are Plants that will not thiive in
() Lycurgus. (b) Vid. Xenoph. Op.
(HO
every Soil. In Nonjuring and Jacobite Soils,
they feldom or never flourim.
Herodotus tells us, that the Scythians having
made an Expedition to 4fia, which prov'd of
long Continuance ; their Slaves in their Abfence
invaded their Beds, and upon their Return, re-
iblutely took up Arms againft their Lords and
Matters. Their Rencounters were attended
with various Succefles. At length one of the
Scythian Lords aliedg'd, it would be fcandalous
to wage War with Slaves upon equal Terms,
and propos'd that they fhould be attack'd with
thofe Whips and Scourges wherewith they for-
merly chaftis'd them. The Scheme took Place,
and Succeeded. They who had made a vigo-
rous Defence againft warlike Inftruments and
Weapons, fled in Confufion before thofe Badg-
es of Servility, whofe Smart they had been u-
fed to feel. Our 'Tribes of Difajf'e&ion cannot
pretend that They are enjlav'd, unlefs it be by
their own Vices. Their great Grievance is, that
they are not fufFer'd to enjlave others, fo as to
enrich themfclves upon the Wreck and Ruins
of their Country ! The only Whips und Scourges
known to our Conftitution arc, the Inflictions
of Juftice, temper'd with Sovereign Mildnefs.
But as to our Nonjuring and 'Jacobite Slave s,
Slaves to the Slave of France and Rome^ tho*
they dread not, yet do they not lighte-
oully de/erve the fame contemptuous Punifhment
with their Fellow- Traitors the Scythian Slaves ?
Should
Should France's Duke become Britain's King,
. O'
'tis not our "Wives only, that muft be ravim'd
from us : No, we muft be robb'd of every
Property; of our Eftates ; our Confciences 5
our Laws ; our Liberties ; and even our Lives
too ; which indeed are not worth preferving,
when our Liberties once become the Prey of
luftful Tyranny, and are devour'd by the /&-
vage Jaws of Oppreffion. But whatever thefe
Men deferve, they enjoy that Protection which
they have no grateful Senfe of, and which it
would be well for their Country, if they had
but the Hearts and Honefty to improve. Thefe
Sir are the Men, that by their fecret Confpira-
eies, and open Factions, clog and embarafs the
Meafures of the Administration ; render it ne-
ceffary to increaje the National Expence, to
countermine their deftruclive Schemes ; and then
rail moft floridly againft thofe Taxes and Debts
which themjehes only, have occaiion'd. They
do all that they can to debauch and corrupt the
Age, by their wicked Principles, and then in-
troduce a Spirit of Political Methodijm, and
bowl lamentably over our Political Corruptions !
They firft do all that they can to ruin us, and
then cry aloud and fpare no.t to complain, that
we ate an undone and ruin'd People ! Heavens
preferve the Land from being fet on a Flame
by fuch State Incendiaries as thefe ! Heavens
preferve us from falling a Sacrifice to fuch State
Crocodiles^ if I may be allow'd the Metaphor,
that
(H3)
that weep over their Country, whilft they eager^
ly labour to devour it !
I am not infenfible of its having been the
Cant Language of your Friends , that to charge
Jacobites and Nonjurors with Difaffeftion to the
prefent Government, or with any Seditious
Practices, is mere Party Rant and Ribaldry.
The Manchefter Jacobites and Nonjurors in
particular, are upon all Occafions reprefented as
the mofl loyal Subjects in the Kingdom. ^~
*Next in Loyalty be fure to thofe whofe Blood
fay you, (I venture to translate your Afterijkt
into Frenchify 'd EnglifJ^ (aj was unjufily fhed,
for being engag'd in the late Rebellion. But
Metals are known by their Weight ; Trees by
their Fruits ; and Men by their Actions : If
you are the loyal People you reprefent your-
ielves to be, whence happens it that there has
been fuch a Flufh of Joy difcover'd by Tour
Friends, I will not fay for the taking of Bergen,
that was a grand Affair ! . but for a
little Seditious Priefl, by Virtue of the Adi of
Indemnity, efcaping that Juftice which was
upon the Wing to purfue him? Whence was
it that the Bells rung on the Occafion, for
Days together ? Was it not by Way of grate-
ful 1e Deum t for the great and unde-
(a) Alluding to thefe Lines in the Epiftle to a Friend.
Not Content with Blood.
Juflly perhaps, perhaps, *** fted,
(Do them determine Judge of Quick and Dead.)
('44)
ferved Deliverance ? Whence is it that this,,
mall I call him Reverend, Teacher of Babes?
has fuch Numbers of his young Fry, as I
am inform'd he has, clad in the Livery of
Rebellion ? Is it not to convince the World,
that there is no Herefy in Scotch Plaid, when
wore only as a Badge of Romifh Superflition >
It muft be fo, unlefs you can believe, and
believe it who can ! that Plaid Politics and
Popery are this Gentleman's Averfion ? Whence
is it that your Ladies difarm themfelves of
that native Softnefs, that repnes and confecrates
all their other Attractions, and diftinguifh
themfelves by Party Drefs and Rage, in a Na-
tion where there are no Slaves by Conquefr,
but fuch as are Theirs j and no Chains but thofe
of Love and Devotion to their Charms ? Can
it be imagin'd they would purfue fuch a Courfe
were they properly apprized, that the Small- Pox
itfelf, feldom proves fo fatal and unpropitiou& 3
as the four and malignant Principles of Ja$obi-
tifm do to a fweet and lovely Face ! Whence is
too, that the Military Gentlemen at Manchefier
have been fo loudly exclaim' d againft j as if
frowning upon "Jacobite Faction, was an Inroad
upon the Constitution, and an Ad: of Trea/on
againft the State ? Are thefe, and ten thoufand
more I could mention, Charafteriftics of Loy-
alty to a Proteflant Prince and State? For
Shame Sir y let fuch Jejuitical Chicanry be no
more in Fafhion among you j at lead let it be
in
(H5)
in Fafhion no more, till you fucceed in getting
that Religion which approves of, and recom*
Mends it, eftablifh'd, Accept a Word of Ad-
vice. It doth not pretend to Infallibility, but
may have its 17/e. In Cafe of another Rebelli*
on, it may crown you with a Crown of Mar*
tyrdont, and what would you have more ? My
Advice is this. Be hone/I. Let thole ne*
ver pretend to be Members of a Proteflant
Church who labour to undermine her Jacrea
Foundations. Throw off the Ma/k, that fits
fo awkardlj upon your Faces. Appear td
be what you arc< If you cannot poifon
with your Breath^ try what your Pens cart
do. And if the Bluntnefi of your pens be un-
propitious to your Caufe, have Recourfe ttf
the Edge of your Swords. Inftead of facrifi-
cing Ink, be ready to faerifice your Blood irt
the Service. Set up the Banners of Rome and
Rebellion , and animate your priends to joirf
you. Tell them they can never exp'eft any
good Days, till we have our Laws written irt
French^ and our Prayer* in Latin* Tell themj
that if Popery takes Place, it will be your
peculiar Privilege to f ray without Under/land-
ing, to obey without Reafbn, and believ* with*
out Senfe } that you'll be allowed to pradtife,
what both King James and King Charles the
Firft t of blejjed Memory, endeavoured to effa-
blim in vain Carding and Dancing on Sun*
Jays, Tell them that the Devotion of our
(I 4 6)
reformed Churches, is a dead, dull, and fpirit-
lefs Devotion ; but that the Puppet-Shew Wor-
fhip of Rome is all Life ! all Spirit and Ac-
tion ! Tell them that this holy Catholic Church,
has a CuJlom-Houfs for Sin, and that the Rates
are fix'd, for which you may commit all Man-
ner of Wickednefs without doing wickedly*
Tell them that Popery once eftablimed in the
Land, will bring in innumerable Bleffings in
her Train that even her facred Reliques,
confifting of rotten Rags, and rotten Bones, fo
immenfely valuable to all good Catholics ! will
be more than an equivalent for the Debts of
the Nation ; and if thofe mould be fpung'd ojf y
will be in Value > tho' not in Kind^ more than an
adequate Compenfation for them ! Tell them,
that Popery will be fo far from darkening ou r
Underftandings, that it will illuminate the whole
Land ; , our Streets as well as our Tem-
ples, by the infinite Number of facred Candles
and Tapers, made ufe of in folemn Prayers and
Proceffions! Tell them, that the Priefts of
Rome will fwap Salvation for ready Rhino ;
that in the Mother Church of Rome the
moft abandorfd Sinners are canoniz'd for the
mod diftinguifh'd Saints ; and that Heaven can
ffcape none, who are rich enough to Traffic
fbr> or wicked enough to Merit it. Tell the
Devotees of your Faffion, that they, good Men !
may devoutly faft upon the moft delicate Fifb
.id Oyl, whilil your low-bred Proteftants are
glad
('47)
glad to fea/t upon infinitely lefs delicate Mor-
fels ! Tell them, that the Highland Target is
the Shield of the Faithful-, that the Scotch
Plaid is the Garment of Righteoufnefs and
Salvation; that to be executed for Treafons is
the narrow Way that leadeth to Life, tho*
confidering how many of Tour Friends have
been traveriing its By Paths, 'tis ftr? ige, and
methinks 'tis pity too, no more of them have
found it ! Tell them, that Popery, inftead of
impoverifliing and ruining the State, as Fanatics
pretend it would, will make our Fields more
fruitful^ by manuring them with Protejlant
Blood. Tell them, that if once the Catholic
Faith of Rome becomes eftablim'd in our Land,
we need not idly lavim away Money and Time,
in purchafing and in reading of Bibks,
Tell them, that the Bible has a black Mark
Yet upon it in the Council of Trent's expurga-
tory Index, as .one of thofe Books, (wicked
and Heretical ones no doubt,) that all good
Catholics mould refrain from reading of.
Tell them, that whoever is convicted of read-
ing, or harbouring a Bible in his Hoitfe, with-
out a fpecial Licenfe obtain'd for that Purpoie,
which Licenfes are granted only to /launch and
orthodox Believers ; is pronounc'd by De-
cree of Council, for ever incapable of all the
Benefits of Abfolution I Tell them, that
always worfhipping of one Deity, like always
eating of one Pifh, muft clog the Moral Ap-
Ta
petite, and difguft a delicate Taft ; that to
guard againft fuch Inconveniences, you have
in the Churches of Rome, as many Image- Gods
as there are Worfhippers ! and that in their
folemn Devotions, every Man bows before the
Shrine of that Divinity he likes beft 5 be it
that which engages his Miftrefs to look kind,
or that which renders Heaven propitious !
Tell them, how happy thofe Popifh States,
where they have no ' Merchandize, but that of
Souls ! Where they are not over-ftock'd with
Inhabitants, and confequently where there is
no Danger, if there be no Heretics to devour,
of Men's eating up one another ! Exemplify
this in the Ecclefiaftical States of Italy.
Tell them, that tho* Meagrenefs overfpreads
thofe Countries whofe delightful Vales are na-
turally rich and fertile, yet as a Counterbal-
lance to this, you are fure to meet in their
Temples with whole Crowds of fat and buxom
Gods ! Tell them, as to thefe States, as Petro~
nius fays of Greece, that under any peculiar Ex-
igency, you may fooner find out in them, a
Cod than a Man to help you ! Tell them, that
poor Britain may inherit the fame, nay, great-
er Bleffings than thefe, if Britain's Rebel
Sons, the Friends of Liberty and King
GEORGE, would but apoftatize into Grace,
and put your R-y-1 Matter in PofFeffion of a
Maintenance and a Throne! And tell them,
~ - but my Breath and my Patience fail me ;
( H9)
apply to your good Friend the Catechift, and
he'll affift you in telling them ten thoufand
good Things more !
Every Man who is a fincere and ftcddy
Friend to the Laws, and Liberties of his
Country will confefs, tha-t the Security of Pro-
tenants is their Union, their Union their
Strength, and their Strength their Glory. When
the old Britons were divided among themfelves,
Cej'ar came and decided the Controverfy, by a
Conqueft of them all. A neighbouring Common-
wealth that from refuming a Confiflency of Cha-
racter, we hope may once more become formi-
dable to your Friends, has, if I miitake not, a
Bundle of Arrows ty'd up clofely together, for
a Device in her Arms, to fignify that the Una-
nimity of a People is the true Source of their
Greatnefs. This you are well appriz'd of, and
whence but from this proceeds it, that Tou and
Tour Confederates, the Devotees and Penfwnaries
of France and Rome, induitriouliy endeavour
to play off one Party of Protejlants again ft a-
nother, to raife Dilhufts, and foment Jealoufies
among them ; to reprefent Separatist from the
Church, as engag'd in a Conspiracy to overturn
it ; to ipread fal/'e 3.\v\fcandalous Alarms among
the Populace that the Church is in Danger !
Are not thefe Methods purfucd with a View to
exajpe.rate and inflame Mens Minds againil the
prej'ent Government, to difcipline and train them
up for another Rebellion ? Divide et Impera is
your
your Maxim ; firft divide Proteflants y and next
deftroy them ! Bat we truft 5z>, that Heaven
which has fo oft baffled your Projects and blafted
your Defigns, will continue to baffle and blafl
them ftill ! We truft that the Proteftant Blood
which has been med in our Land byfavage and
rapacious Hands, will be a Cement that will bind
all Proteftants more firmly together, agaififtany
future Attempts of thofe who are fo far from
being glutted with the Blood they fhed, or fick
with the Difappointment they have met with,
that Difappointment doth but whet their Rage,
and tho' they made themfelves drunk with Pro-
teftant Blood, they ftill thirft for more ! But
whilft you are plotting the Deftruction of others,
take Heed you do not court your own : Whilft
you are erecting in your Imaginations, Racks,
Gallows, and Gibbets to convert or to chaftife
Heretics with, remember the Fate of Haman.
Putting the Cafe, which yet cannot be ad-
' mitted as Faft y that the Jacobite Faction had
fome plaufible Provocation to cherifh a Spirit of
Rage and Rancor again ft any Party of Protef-*
tants whatfoever ; yet were not thefe Men -
nemies to Proteftantifm itfelf, as well as to P ro-
te ft 'ant Dijfenters, a Senfe of common Danger,
would unite the moft divided Parties in one
common Intereft, and allay little Differences ra-
ther than exafperate and inflame them. The
Profpeft of the Stake and the Faggot united
Ridley and Hooper^ who were irreconcilable be-
fore.
('SO
fore. The Flame that threatned to confume
their Bodies, purged away the Drois of their
Zeal, and render'd it more refin'd and noble !
Amongft the old Romans it was an inviolable
Maxim, Donare Inimicitias Reipublic<z % to fa-
orifice all private Animofities and Contentions
to the Glory and Happinefs of their Country :
And were our Church of England Jacobites fin-
cere Friends to that Church whole Name they
proftitute and bla/pheme, would they not afpire
after the Patriotism of an old Roman, and Jacri-
fee every Intereft^ or every Pofjion that ftood in,
Competition with Love of the Public, and
with Zeal for the public Good ? They
undoubtedly would. But the Truth is, -
'tis that Catholic Church they would eftablifh,
that has no Salvation for any, but thofe who
are within her own Pale. Catholic has been
the Cry of their Leaders ; and fince the Doftor'b
Catechifm has been publifh'd, the' Cry of their
Mob has been the fame. They are no longer a
Nonjuring or 'Jacobite Mob they tell you ; No !
they are all Catholics, a truly Catholic Rabble.
By this Time 'tis expefted that you'll renew
your Charge againft me, and fwear by the Blood
of the Rabble Martyrs, that has been unjuflly
flied, that I am a low-bred Fellow with a Ven-
geance. Low -bred! that is as clear as that
the young Cardinal is a good Proteflant^ as plain
as the Do&rine of Tranfubflantiation. Be
it fo. 'Tis more than I ihall fay of you. Ton
> are
fire high-bred, it is acknowledged. Bred in the
Maxims of that City, feated on the feven Hills ;
bred in thehighPIaces where fpiritual Wickednefs
reigns, in the Temples of Bigotry and Super-
ftition ! Lowbred ! Bravely fcorn Sir, to have
any Thing low about you, but your Wit and
your Poetry. Thofe are low, extremely low be
fure ! (a) Thefe remind me of William Prynne,
I afk Pardon for comparing you to a fanatical
Scribbler, who in Reward of his Di (loyalty, had
his Ears as clofely clipp'd as his Mufe's Wings,
I would not infmuate, I do not mean that the
Comparifon fhould hold good throughout. But
his Poetry, as painted in the Dunciad, runs in
fmQOth and harmonious Strains like yours.
__- . one lately did not fear,
With the Mufe's Leave to plant verfe here :
But it produc'd fuch bafe rough crabbed Hedge
Rhymes as e'en fet the Hearers Teeth on Edge J
Written by William Prynne, Efqui-re the,
Year of our Lord fixteen hundred thirty three j
Brave Jerfey Mufe, and he's for his high Style,
Call'd to this Day the Homer of our Ifle.
Many
(a) The following Specimens of our Autfior's Profe-Verf<V
ivij] juftify the Obfervation above.
But among them who never wifh'd him Harm. 29
I am furpriz'd atone of his good Senfe. 41
How was it poffible to think of them. 269
Of Happinefs, all Hope of being bleft.
('S3)
Many different Cities difputed the Honour of
having given Birth to the old blind Grecian
Bard. But Oh ! Manchefler^ undif pitted, unri-
val'd be thy Glory, who haft a modern Ho~
mer, a Ballad-maker of thy own, whofe Merit
{Hall (hine in the fafl'ry Cooks, and the Annals
of Fame till minc'd Pyes and Jellies {hall
be no more.- Shall I recommend to you Sir,
for the farther Promotion and Eftablifhment
of your Poetical Glory, a Machine that is now
contriving by a very ingenious Friend of mine,
wherewith to make Verfes by the Dozen. It
may be greatly ufeful to relieve Poverty of
Meafures and Invention^ in different Claffes of
Writers ; from your Courant, three half-penny
Wits, up, I (hould rather fay down, as they
Jink in proportion to their Size, to your Quarto
live foe- penny Poetafter. By Reafon of the vaft
Erudition required to perfect fuch a Machine,
and its ftill vafter Importance, He intends to
follicit an Att of 'Parliament , to fecure to him-
fel.f the fole Right of vending it for 21 Years.
I have fomewhere met with a Precedent, for
an adl of this Nature: (a) The only good Act,
you'll poffibly fay, that has taken Place fmce
the Revolution. This will be confefs'd as va-
lid t by thofe who look upon all the Hanover-
U Succeffion
(*} See an Aft of Parliament ijth of Geo. II. to fecure
to John Byrom A. M. and F. R. S. the fole Right of teaching
his Short-Hand for the Term 0/21 Years.
('54)
Succejfion Afts, to be only fo many Ads of
TJjurpation*
But the mofl unpardonable Crime that I have
been guilty of, remains laft to be confider'd ; a
Crime that is big with all others. 'Tis not Se-
dition, Sacrilege, Perjury, Murder, or Rebel-
lion, but a Crime blacker than them all ; .
I have rag'd for Loyalty. And is not this the
worft kind of Treafon ? A Complication of
Yreafons? Ten thou j and Treafons in one? To
be chargeable with it, is to be low-bred in-
deed ! This is as demon ftrable as the Clown's
Syllogifm in the Comic Poet : " Thou art
" damn'd for not being at Court : If thou
** never waft at Court, thou never faweft good
ve Manners j then thy Manners muft be wick-
te ed ; and Wickednefs is Sin ; and Sin Dam-
ct nation. Thou art in a parlous Cafe Ske-
" pherd" Rage againft the Government, that
protects you ; that is Patriotijm : Rage for a
Royal Martyr, that upon Nonjuring Principles
could be no Cbriftian t and coniequently no
Chriflian Martyr y becaufe he wanted Chriftian
Baptifm, (which we have been oft told by
Your Friends, Prejbyterian Baptifm is not ;) -
This is pure Orthodoxy ; Rage for France, and
France's Penfion-Tooi, the Young Pre-
tender in my low-bred Style j but the Pr-nce
R-y-1 in Tours j that is, Love of our Country.
But to rage for Loyalty to a Proteflant Go-
vernment, the Tongue that can be guilty of it,
deferves
deferves to be cut out. And yet after all, if
one may whifper you a Secret ; methinks, 'tis
at leaft as defenfible and confiftent a Part, to
rage for Loyalty, as 'tis to plunder Mens Pro-
perties for the Reftoration of invaded Rights, to
take up Arms for Nonrefiftance ; and rebel for
Paffiroe Obedience.
Thus Sir, low-bred as I am, I have pre-
futn'd to intrude without Leave, and without
Ceremony, into your Company : You'll there-
fore think it high Time for me to withdraw,
and difmifs you from fo ungrateful an Attend-
ance ; and I think fo too. Whenever you fee
about to rhyme Sedition ^ again, the Prblick has
a Right to demand your Name. . Thig
Demand you'll readily comply with, unlefs Tbu
would approve yourfelf to be, what I could tell
you who^ takes you to be, a Rebel in Maf-
querade ! Permit Me in particular, to call upon
you, to challenge you, to father your Intellec-
tual Brats, and not turn them adrift like a
Baflard Race that dare not confefs their Pa-
rentage. The Affajjin that ftabs and murders
Reputations in the Dark^ who knows but by
Degrees he may commence a Fclton, or a Ra-
villiac? If you do me further Honour , as I am
in Expectance you will ; I ilmll be glad to re-
turn it in all faithful and becoming Homage.
In the mean Time, I kils your Hand, with as
much Devotion, as I would his Ilolinefs's fa-
cred and infallible 'Toe ; for Infallibity, like the
Schoolman's
( '56 ) ,
Schoolman's Soul, is, *Totum in Tofv, et Totutn
in yualibet Partc -, and am,
SIR,
Tour very bumble ',
J. O W B*fr;
P. S. Should the Reader be at a Lofs to
judge who that good Proteftant is, mention'd
in the 7th Page of this Letter, who vifited the
Pretender's Court, to procure an Abfolution,
for having fworn Allegiance to King GEORGE 5
I refer him Sir, to You, as my Interpeter.
ERRATA. Befides fomc literal Miftakes,
correct thofe which follow.
Page Line for read
42
44
52
53
56
64
66
67
19 -has - have
1 2 - by - But
21 Authors-Author's
zz--RadKeil--Radxecil
2 3 a ^ ter Reliques
place a Colon;
28 - leans leaks
23 after there, place
the Reference (b)
15 --- blot out he
Wiles of
31 -- Jerichuntis
Page Line for read
73
99
105
117
133
142
14^ - before fpiritua!
add If
10 blot out lad Comma
9 c-nas - has f
27 -- after Prieft add
's AeciTive Voice ;
jl.^ **' HS "*"*""" "" M
1 4 - feared feafted
25 - builds build
i - Duke Dupb
2; after i add it
