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 Key for Catholicks* 
 
 To open the Jugling of the Jefuits, and 
 fatisfie all that are but truly willing to under- 
 ftand, whether the Caufe of the Roman or 
 Reformed Churches be of God ; and to leave 
 the Reader utterly unexcufable that after this 
 will be aPapift. 
 
 The fir ft Part." 
 
 uss-aA 
 
 Containing fome Argummts by which the mean* 
 eft may fee the Vanity of Popery •, and 40. Deteflions of 
 their ifraud ; with Directions, and Materials fufficient 
 for the^Confutation of their Voluminous Deceits: par- 
 ticularly refelling Bovcrim^ Ricblieu } H.T\ CWwualfome 
 Jvlajiufcnjjtsj^. 
 
 With Jome Tropofals for a ( bopele/s ) Peace. 
 
 The Second Part fheweth ( efpecially againft the French,md 
 Grotians ) that the Catholick Church is not United in any meerly 
 Humane Head,either Pope or Council. 
 
 By Richard Baxter a Catholick Chriftian,and Paftor 
 of a Church of fuch at Keiizrminjlcr. 
 
 Printed by R.pv. 
 
 and are ro be fold 
 
 LONDON, 
 for N evil Simmons, Bookfellerin Kederminjler, 
 by Kim there, and by Thomas Job a fan- at the Golden 
 Key in St. Fakli Church-yard, 1^59. At 4.S. bound. 
 
4\ 
 
 J 
 
— 
 
 1 o his Highnefs 
 
 RICHARD 
 
 Lord Prote&or 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Common-wealth of England, Scot- 
 land and Ircland^tkc. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 FfS^SPppp? Hefe Papers prefume to tender you 
 ^ their fervice, becaufe the Subject of 
 them is fuch, as it mod neerly con- 
 cerneth both us and you that you 
 be well acquainted with. The Ro- 
 man Canons that batter the Unity, 
 Catholicifm and Purity of the 
 Church of Chrift, are mounted on the frame which I 
 have here demolished. The fwords , and pens , and 
 
 A 2 tongues 
 
 Q - 
 
The Epiftle'Dedicatory, 
 
 tongues that you are now engaged againft, and which 
 you°muft expect from henceforth to aflault you 5 are 
 whetted and managed by the fenfelefs, tyrannous, un- 
 godly principles, which I have here Dete&ed. As un- 
 reafonable as they appear to the unprejudiced , they 
 arefuch as have animated theftudies and diligent en- 
 deavours of thoufands to captivate the Princes and 
 Nations of the Earth to the Roman yoke. As vain as 
 they appear to us that fee them naked, they are fuch 
 as have divided and diftracled the Churches of Chrift, 
 and troubled and dethroned Princes, and laid them at 
 the feet of the Roman Pope 5 They have abfolved 
 fubje&s from their Oaths and other obligations to 
 fidelity : They have involved many a Nation in blood : 
 O the ftreams of the blood of Saints that have been 
 fried by thefe Roman Principles, in Savoy, France, Bo- 
 hemia, Poland, German), Ireland, England, and many 
 other Lands 1 As eafie a war as here I manage, it is 
 againft thofe adverfe Principles that have armed Thou- 
 fands and Millions againft the innocent , or againft 
 their lawful Soveraigns, whom God had bound them 
 to obey : They have faftned knives in the breaftsof 
 the greateft Kings , as the lamentable cafe of Henry 
 the third and fourth of France doth teftifie : They have 
 in a few days time in Paris, and the adjoyning parts 
 of France, perfidioufly butchered Nobles and other 
 perfons of eminency, and people of all forts, to the 
 number ofneer thirty thoufand (as Tbuanm reckoneth 
 them, if not forty thoufand, as DaviUh.) The Do- 
 ctrines which I here confound, have invaded England 
 by a Sfawfh Armado^ (whether by the Popes con- 
 fent, and upon the account of Religion, lhave after 
 mewed out. of their own Writers : ) they have pre- 
 pared knives and poyfon for our Princes, which God 
 
 did 
 
"The Epiftle ^Dedicatory, 
 
 did fruftrate : they have laid Gunpowder to blowup 
 King and Parliament, and helliihly execute the fury of 
 the deluded zealots in a moment , and then to have 
 charged the Puritans with the fa& : They have in a 
 time of Peace, by a fuddeninfurre<ftion, murdered fo 
 many thcufands in IreLtnd'm a few days or weeks, :s 
 pofterity will fcave believe. They are dreadful Pracli- 
 cals,and not meer fpeculations that we difpute againft. 
 I befeech you therefore that you receive not this as 
 you would do a Scholaftick or Philofophical Depu- 
 tation about fuch things asfeemnot to concern you-, 
 but as you would inteieis your fclf in a Difputatioti 
 upon the Queftion, Whether you mould be depofed 
 or murdered as an Heretick? And whether we mould be 
 Tormented and burnt as Hereticks i And whether the 
 lives of all the Princes and People upon earth whom 
 the Pope judgeth Hereticks, mould be at his mercy £ 
 &c. fodo in this caufe. I fpeak not this to provoke you 
 to deal bloodily with them , as they do with the fer- 
 vantsof the Lord! I abhor the thoughts of imitating 
 their cruelty ! It is only the Neceflary Defence 
 of your Life, and Dignity, and the Lives of all the 
 Proteftants that are under your Protection and Go- 
 vernment, and the fouls of men, that I defire. On 
 what terms we (land withthofe men whofe Religion 
 teacherh them to ki31 us if they can , and to venture 
 their lives for it, is eafie to understand. When we 
 have no fecurity from them for our lives, but their dif- 
 ability toiieftroy us, we muft difable them or die. I 
 utter not melancholy dreams nor {landers : I have here 
 ftiewed it in the too plain and copious Decrees ot the 
 approved General Council at Latcrant that the depo- 
 fing of Princes, andabfolving their Subjects from their 
 fidelity 5 and -giving their Dominions toothers,not only 
 
 (a) for 
 
The Epijllc Dedicatory. 
 
 for fuppofed Heiefie,but for not exterminating fuch as 
 deny rranfubftantiation , rjrc. is an Article of their 
 Faith •, and no man can difown it, without difowning 
 Popery in the EfTentials.lf once they will renounce the 
 Decrees of General Councils approved by the Pope , 
 we lhall be foon agreed . S ith Coflerui Bnchirid. cap. i . 
 p./\6. On* fane Dicreta fi vcritatem, ft obfign&tiencm 
 Spirit us SancJi, fi prafentiam chnfti fpefies , idem ha- 
 bent pondus & momentum quod Sancla Dei Evtrigtfifi, 
 They believe thefe Decrees to be as true as the Go- 
 fpel. 1 need not therefore tell you that Bo^jus Ho- 
 ftenfts, and many more of them make the Pope to be 
 the Lord of all the World : Or that Bellarmine and 
 the ftronger fide do carry it, as [The common judgement 
 of all Catholick Divines , (fee what a rabble he heaps 
 up De Pontif. Rom. li. $.c. i.) that the Pope, rathne 
 fpiritualis, habet faltem indirecle pote/latem quandaw, 
 eamq-, fummam in temporal/bus. W hich cap. 6. he faith; 
 ryi ju/l fuch over Princes as the foul hath over the body 
 or [en fit iv e appetite; and that thus he may change King- 
 doms, and take them from one and give to another, as 
 the chief Spiritual Prince , if it be but necejjary to the 1 
 fafety of fouls, ] cap. 78. He gives us his proof of this. 
 And whether the Pope do take your Government to 
 be £. rthe good of fouls, I need not tell you. It is 
 the flupendious judgement of God on Chriftian 
 Princes for their fins, that they have been fo far blinded 
 as S3 endure fuch an ufurper folong, and have not be- 
 fore this blotted out his name from among the fons 
 of men. [Non licet, &c. // is not lawful (faith Bellar- 
 mwe ib. c. 7.) for Chrjflians to Tolerate an Infid './, or He- 
 retical King, if he endeavour to draw his Subjects to his 
 Here fie or ttnbelitf: but to judge whether a King do draw 
 to Here fie ornot } belongethto the Pope , to whom the care- 
 
 of 
 
The Epifl/e "Dedicatory, 
 
 of Religion is committed : therefore it belongs to the Tope 
 to judge a King to be depofed, or not depofed.] You fee 
 here it is not Lawful for fuch Chriftians as the Papifts 
 to Tolerate you : which may help your judgement in 
 the point of their Toleration. Si cbriftiam (faith Bellar. 
 
 ib.) oltm non depofuerunt Neronem Valentem Aria- 
 
 num ejr fimilcs, id fuit quia deer ant vires temporales Cbri- 
 flianis.] You have your Government and we our Lives, 
 becaufe the Papifts are not ftrong enough. They tell 
 you what to truft to. Saith Toilet (one of the beft of the 
 Jefuites, //. I. delnftrutt* Sacerd. c % 13.) [They that 
 were bound by the bond of fidelity or Oath , [hall be freed 
 from fuch a bond, if he fall into Excommunication : and 
 during thai. Debtors are abfolved from the obligation of 
 paying to tin Creditor that debt that is contracted by 
 words ] Thefe are no private uneffeclual Opini- 
 ons. Saith PopefVtfj the 5 th himfelf in his Bull again ft 
 our Queen Elizabeth, [_ Volumus ejr mandamus, We will 
 and command that the Subjects take Arms againfi that He- 
 retical nnd Excommunicate Queen. ] 
 
 But their crueltie to mens fouls , and the Church 
 of Chrift, doth yet much more declare their unchari- 
 tablenefs. It is a point of their Religion to believe, 
 th:t no man can be faved but the Subjects of their 
 Pope, as I have after proved, and is tobefeenin many 
 of their writings, (as Knot, and a late Pamphlet called 
 Que pons for Refolutionef Vnlearned Proteftantt, dec.) 
 and Bifhop Morton hath recited the words of Lindanus, 
 Falentiamd Vafqtte\. (Apol.lib. 2. c. 1.) [defining it 
 to be of Kecefsity to Salvation to be fubjeel to the Roman 
 Bifhop.'] And would not a man think that for fuch 
 horrid doctrines, as damn the far greateft part of Chri- 
 ftians in the world, theyfhould produce at leaft fome 
 probable Arguments < But what they have to fay , I 
 
 (a 2) have 
 
The EpiJleVcdicatory, 
 
 have here faithfully dttcBtd. If we will difpute with 
 them, or turn to them, the Scripture muft be no fur- 
 ther judge then as their Church expounded it : The 
 Judgement of the Ancienr, yea or prefent Church, 
 they" utterly renounce-, for the for greateft part is 
 known to be againft the Headihip of their Pope 5 and 
 therefore they muft ftand by for Hereticks Tradition it 
 felf they dare not ftand to 5 except themfelves be Judges 
 of it •, for the greateft part of Chriftians profefs that 
 Tradition is againft the Romdn Vice-cluift. The in- 
 ternal fenfe and experience of Chriftians they gainfay 5 
 concluding all befides themfelves to be void of cha- 
 rity or faving grace, which many a thoufand holy fouls 
 do find within them, that never believed in the Pope. 
 Yea when we are content to lay our lives on it, that 
 we will mew them the deceit of Popery, as certainly 
 and plainly as Bread is known to be Bread when we 
 fee it, feel and tafte it, and as Wine is known to be 
 Wine when we fee and drink it ^ yet do they refufe 
 even the judgement of fenfe, of all mens fenfes , even 
 their own and others. So that we muft renounce our 
 honefty, our Knowledge of our felves, our fenfes, our 
 reafonj the common experience and fenfes of all men, 
 the Judgement and Tradition of the far greateft part of 
 trjye prefent Church, or elfeby the judgement of the Pa- 
 pills we muft all be damned. 
 
 Whether fuch opinions as thefe fliould by us be un- 
 contradicted , or by you be fuffered to be taught your 
 Subje&s, iseafieto difcern. If they had y?/-^^, they 
 would little trouble us with Difputing. Nothing more 
 common in their Writers fcarce, then that the Sword 
 or Fire is fitter for Hereticks then Difputes. This is 
 but their after-game. Though their Church muft rule 
 Princes, as the foul ruleth the body, yet it muft be by 
 
 Secular 
 
"The Ept/ile Dedicatory. 
 
 Secular Power 5 excommunication doth but give fire J 
 it is Lead and Iron that muft do the execution. And 
 when they are themfelves difabled, it is their way to 
 ftrike us by the hands and fwords of one another. He 
 that faw England , Scotland and Ire land a while ago in 
 blood 5 and now fees the lamentable cafe of fo many 
 Proteftant Princes and Nations deftroy^ng one ano- 
 ther, and thinks that Papifts have no hand in con- 
 triving, counfelling,in(ligating 5 or executing, is mi ch a 
 ftranger to their Principles and Practices. 
 
 Obferving therefore that of all the Seels that we 
 are troubled with, there is none but the Papift that 
 difputeth with us with flames and Gun -Powder, with 
 Armies and Navies at their backs, having fo many 
 Princes, and fo great revenews for their provifion , 
 I have judged it my duty to God and his Church, 
 1. To Detect the vanity of their caufe, that their 
 fliame may appear to all that are impartial-, and to do 
 my part of that neceflary work for which yell, pa- 
 tcrculus fo much honoured Cicero ( Hifl. lib. i.e. 34. ) 
 Ne tjuorum arma viceramw, torum ingento vinceremur j 
 And 2. To prefent with greateft earneftnefs thefe 
 following Rcqttefts to your Highnefs on the behalf 
 of the caufe and people of the Lord (wherein the 
 Papifts alfo (hall fee, that it is not their Offering 3 buc 
 only our Neceflary Defence that we defire. ) 
 
 1. We earneftly requeft thafryou will Refolvedly 
 adhere to the caufe of Truth and Holinefs, and afford 
 the Reformed Churches abroad the utmoft of your 
 help for their Concord and Defence , and never be 
 tempted to own an Intereft that crofTeth the Inte- 
 reft of Chrift. How many thoufands are ftudioufly 
 contriving the extirpation of the Proteftant Chur- 
 ches from the Earth? How many Princes are confe- 
 
 ( a 3 ) derate 
 
The EpijlleDedicatory. 
 
 derate againft them '. The more will be required of 
 you for their aid. The Serious endeavours of your 
 Renowned Father for the Proteftants of Savoy, dis- 
 covered to the world by Mr. MorUnd in his Letters, 
 &c. hath won him more efteem in the hearts of ma- 
 ny that fear the Lord, then: all his victories in them- 
 felves confidered.We pray that you may inherit a ten- 
 der care of the caufeof Chrift. 
 
 2. We humbly requeft that you will faithfully 
 adhere to thofe that fear the Lord in your Domini- 
 ons. \nyonv eyes let a vile perfon be contemned ♦, hut 
 honour them that fear the Lord, Pfal. 15.4. Know not the 
 wicked 5 but let your eyes be upon the faithfull of the Land, 
 rfal. 10 1. 4,6. Companionate the weak and curable , 
 Ptmifli the uncurable ^ reftrain the f toward -,but Love 
 and cherifli the Servants of the Lord. They are un- 
 der Chrift the honour and the ftrength of the Com- 
 monwealth * It was a wife and happy King that profef- 
 fed that his Goodfhould extend to the Saints on earth, and 
 the excellent in whom was his delight, Pfal. 1 6. 2, 3 . This 
 ftrengthening the vitals is one of the chief means to 
 keep out Popery and all other dangerous difeafes. We 
 fee few underftandingGodly people receive the Roman 
 infe<5tion,but the prophane, licentious, ignorant or ma- 
 lignant that are prepared for it. 
 
 3 . We earneftly requeft your utmoft care , that we 
 may be ruled by Godly, Faithfull Magiftrates under 
 you •• and that your Wifdom and Vigiiancy may 
 fruftrate the fubtilty of Masked Papifts or Infidels 
 that would creep into places of Council, Command, 
 or Juftice , or any publick office. If ever fuch as 
 thefe mould have a hand in your affairs, or be our 
 Rulers, we know what we muft expect. TheRea- 
 fons of our jealoufies of fuch men are , becaufe we 
 
 know 
 
The EpiftUe T>edicatory '. 
 
 know that the defign is agreeable to their principles 
 and interefts i and we know it is their ufual courfe : 
 and we find that fuch men fwarm among us : we hear 
 their words , we read their writings , we fee their 
 practices for Popery and Infidelity. The jealoufies of 
 many wife men in England are very great concerning 
 the prefenc defigns of this Generation of men j and not 
 without caufe. We fear the U\{ asked Papifls and In- 
 fidels , more then the bare -faced , or then any enemy. 
 The men that we are jealous of, and over whom we 
 defire you to be Vigilant ^xt thefe Htders that purpofe- 
 ly obfeure and cover their Religion. He that wilfully 
 concealeth his Faith , alloweth me to fufpeft ir to be 
 naught: Thechiefof them are, i.The Seekers that 
 have not yet found a Church, a Miniftry , Ordi- 
 nances, or Scripture , nor fome of them a Chrifl: to 
 believe in. 2. The Paracelfi ns, Behrnenifts , and 
 other Enthufiafts, that purpofely hide themlelves in 
 felf-devifed, uncouth, cloudy terms, and pretend to 
 vifible familiarity with fpirits. 3. The Vani^ whom 
 God by wonders confounded in Kew England } but 
 have here prevailed far in the dark. 4. 1 . e fecret 
 guides of the Quakers. 5. Thofe that make it their 
 bufinefs to argue againft the Religion of all others, 
 but affert little of their own, endeavouring to bring 
 all men to uncertainties , and loofe them from the 
 faith. 6, Thofe that are ftill vilifying or under- 
 mining the faithfull Godly Miniftry 7. Thofe that 
 do fecretly or openly plead the caufe of Infidels .• 
 C which are alas, too many /whether ex amrno^ or 
 for promoting Popery, time will difclofe: ) that de- 
 ride the Scriptures, and deny the Immortality of the 
 Soul, the Refurreclion of the body , or that there 
 are any Devils, or is any Hell. 8. The Libertines, 
 
 that 
 
The Efijlla Dedicatory 
 
 that would have liberty for all that they can call Re- 
 ligion, though againft the certain Principles of Chri- 
 ftianity •, and that tell us the Magiftrate hath nothing 
 to do with mens Religion ( of which anon. ) 
 9. TheDemocratical Polititians, that are bu fie about 
 the change of Government, and would bring all into 
 confufion under pretence of the Peoples Liberty or 
 Power, and would have the Major Part of the Sub- 
 jects to be the Soveraign of the reft 5 that is , the 
 vvorft, that are ftill themoft 5 and the ignorant,that 
 cannot Rule themfelves-, and the vicious, that are 
 enemies and hinderers of piety-,and the worldlings,that 
 mind nothing but what is under their feet, and have 
 no time to think of Heaven 3 they have fo much 
 to do on earth 5 and as Attgujlim iaith , had rather 
 there were one Star lefs in Heaven, then OneCerv lt[s in 
 their Paflures: thefemuft be our Sovereigns. io.Thofe 
 that under pretence of defending Prelacy , and of 
 uniting us with Pome , do adhere to the courfe of 
 Crotius and SantfaChra, and Unchurch all the Re- 
 formed Churches, degrade all the Minifters that are 
 not of their way, while they maintain the verity of 
 the Church of Rome , and the validity of her Ordi- 
 nation, and would have the Pope to be the Prina- 
 pum Vniiatis to all the Church, and the Weftern 
 Parts to obey him as their Patriarch, yea andhim- 
 felf to be the Ruler of the whole, fo he do it by the 
 Laws of General Councils , and deprive not infe- 
 rior Bifhops of their Priviledges. Thefe ten forts of 
 men we are Jealous of ; and if -ever you advance them 
 into places of Command or Power, it will increaie 
 our jealoufies. God knows ,1 have no perfonal grudge 
 to any of them. But the Gofpel and the fouls of men, 
 and the hopes of our pofterity , arenotfocontemp- 
 
 ' tible 
 
The Epijlle Dedicatory. 
 
 tible as to be given away as a bribe to purchafe thefe 
 mens good will, or to flop their mouths left they 
 mould reproach us. As it is the common, but a poor 
 redrefs,thac after the MafTacres ofthoufands, thefur- 
 viving Proteftants have (till had from the Papifts , 
 vic t todifclaim the faft, or caft it upon fome ram 
 difcontented men ( which will not make dead men 
 alive again. ) So will it be a poor relief to us, when 
 thefe men are our Mafters , and have deprived us of 
 all that was dear to us in the world, thatweefcaped 
 their ill language while the work was doing. 
 
 4. We alfo humbly befeech you, that you will go 
 on with the purging) and encouraging of the Miniftry : 
 Calling out the Ignorant and Ungodly •, and counte- 
 nancing thofe that are Able, and Faithful]. They 
 deny their eafe,and dignity and the riches of the world 
 ( which other employments would afford ) to encoun- 
 ter with Satan and the worlds corruptions, for the hap- 
 pinefs of fouls \ And therefore the more oppofe them 
 and revile them, and unthankfully requite them , the 
 more are you obliged for the fake of Chrift, and 
 mens falvation, to aflift them. All their enemies con- 
 tending to furpafs the Devil in impudency, accufe 
 them of Covetoufnefs,Idlenefs and Ambition , as if 
 thefe were the things that they feek after in the world. 
 If our practice feconding our profeffion, be not enough 
 to confute thefe calumnies of malignant men, let this 
 be added to confute them, that we make it our earnefl 
 requeft to your Highnefs, that all fuch Ambitious, 
 Idle, Covetous, or otherwife fcandalous Minifters may 
 be caft out. You have Commiflioners in every Coun- 
 ty for this work : Require them to do it faithfully : If 
 wedefired this much againft our Reproachers, they 
 would fay we perfecuted them : We defire you there- 
 
 (b) fore 
 
The Epijlle Dedicatory. 
 
 fore but to turn this perfecution againft our felves. We 
 alfo defire you, that you will not advance us to Tem- 
 poral Honours, or Dignities, or Power •, nor make 
 us Lord Bifhops , nor to abound with the riches 
 of this world; Thefe things agree not with our cal- 
 ing: We only defire food,and rayment,and necelTa- 
 ries to fumifli us for our work , and exprefs fome 
 charity to the needy that daily expect it from us^and we 
 crave ofyou that we may be no richer. We alfo defire 
 y oUjtiever to put the fword into our hands, nor enable 
 us to execute any of our private paffions upon any ? 
 nor yet to touch mens Bodies or Eftates-, but only to 
 manage the word and Key es of the Kingdom of Chrift 
 upon mens Confciences,and Guide his Church accord- 
 ing to our office, and let it prevail as God mall blefs 
 it. This is all the advancement we defire. We have 
 doubly renounced all the world, as chriflians^ and as 
 Miniftersoi Chrift ; we have given up our felves to a 
 difficult fleuVdifpleafing work: we crave no more of 
 you but fo far tocountenance us asChrift commanded* 
 you,and the good of our peoples fouls requires. And 
 Godwill be judge between us and our malitious re- 
 proachers, whether thefe requefts are Covetous, Am- 
 bitious, or Unreafonable. 
 
 5. Wc alfo humbly crave your aidjfor the procuring 
 and maintaining an Union and Concord among all the 
 Paftors and Churches in your Dominion. All that fear 
 God are Agreed in the main: and they have a fpecial 
 Love to one another h and thefe are good preparatives 
 to their fuller reconcilement. Iknow that there is rro 
 fueh diftance in their principles, but that they may in 
 blefied Concord carry on the work of God : Our poor 
 people need this, that are offended at our fmalleft di- 
 ftanecsv All our ftrength united is too little to bear 
 
 down 
 
The Epijlle Dedicatory. 
 
 down the oppositions of Hell and Earth that we muft 
 daily encounter in our work. Your help may do much 
 ro procure our Concord, of which I ihall prefume to 
 fay more to you in another addrefs.- 
 
 6. Laftly we befeech you that Toleration may be //- 
 m'.ttd by Execution as well as by Law $ And therefore 
 that as the Approved Mini fen mud have an Instrument 
 of Approbation , and mull be refponfible before the 
 Co mmiffi oners of ejection, for any thing that forfeit- 
 ed! it •, fo the Tolerated may be trjed according to your 
 Laws of Toleration, and may have an Inflrttment for 
 their Toleration) before they have Liberty publikely to 
 propagate their Opinions to others : and that they may 
 be as refponfible before the Commidioners for ejection 
 as we. And that publikely nor privately Papifts , nor 
 Infidels, nor any that deny the eflentials of the faith 
 may not be fuffered to feduce the people. If any think 
 that this is defired by us 5 becaufe we fear the power of 
 truth,or would deprive them of any juft freedom of de- 
 bate, I pi ovoke them folidly to anfwer what is here faid 
 in the following Difpute •, and we diffwade not your 
 Highnefs if you were in any doubt ( which we do' not 
 imagine )of the truth of the Chriftian or Reformed Do- 
 ctrine, to invite us to an equal Difputation, and try 
 whether we (hall not open the (liame of Infidelity and 
 Popery ( the two great evils that threaten this land) at 
 any time. But if you are refolved of the wickednefs 
 of both thefe wayes, we have reafon to expert that you 
 fufFer not the poyfon to be adminiftred to your people. 
 Give not leave to every feducer to do his word: to 
 damn mens fouls 5 When you will not tolerate every 
 Traytor to draw yourArmies or people intoRebellion- 
 nor to every wicked man to folicite others to whore- 
 dom , murder, theft or deceit. And verily if men have 
 
 (b 1 ) le,ve 
 
The Efiftle'Dedicatory* 
 
 leave to preach againft the Scripture, Churches, Mini- 
 ftry,Ordinances, yea and againft the life to come under 
 the name of Seekers, Quakers or fuch other Seels, we 
 had far rather that they had leave to pull offthcir vi- 
 zor, and do it openly in the namcoi Papifts.Yot as Fa- 
 piftxhey will difown abundance of the abominati- 
 ons,whictuJ Seekers, &c .they propagate on defign.And 
 as plain dealing in Religion is better then jugling, fo 
 we had rather that open quiet Papifts were tolerated, 
 then thefe jugling deceivers. They that pretend to 
 know the Jemitesand Fryars, do profefs that they are 
 more common in Princes Councils and Families, and 
 in the houfes, if not the clofets of Noble men , Com- 
 manders, and perfons of publick truftor fervice, then 
 wethatlive and mean fimply do imagine. And who 
 would have thought that had not know it, that they 
 had fo infinuated into the feveral feels among us , and 
 that they were fo induftrious in their work,as the New 
 caftlc Scottiih Jew was , to be circumcifed or be- 
 come Jew, and then rebaptized , drc and all tode- 
 
 cieve i 
 
 Judge I befeech you by thefe three Reafons, how 
 far their feduftion is to be tolerated, i .That they preach 
 Treafon againft Princes and States , I have (hewed un- 
 denyably , is parr, and a principal part of their Reli- 
 
 gion. 
 
 2 
 
 _. Their doctrine cerrupteth almojl all MoraliipWhu 
 need we fuller clearer proof, then the fanfenian hath 
 given us in his My fterie offefuitifm t and much more 
 may be added. Morton hath long ago produced enough 
 to tell us what to expect from fuch men .• Apolog, Part. 
 i./.2.f.i $> As from To Set himfelf/.4.*/<r infirucJ facer d. 
 e.g. [Quantum ad intcntionem dileftionti^ non tenemur 
 (ttbprtcepto Deumplw omnibus dtligere ] Stapleton i 6. 
 
 tk 
 
T#tf Epijlle Dedicatory* 
 
 dejufltfc.io,& Vdent. L de Votis c 3. £ Hoc precept urn 
 diligendi Dettm ex tot a mcnte,doc~trlnale efl^non obligators • 
 unt] See here,a precept, and thegreateft precept, even to 
 Love God above all, is not obligatory i A ftrange pre- 
 cept ! And p. 322. he reciteth the words of TolUt, 
 ibid. /. 4. c, zi. (j* %2, teaching Equivocation upon, 
 oath before a Magiftrate, and fo maintaining perjury.. 
 And/> 327.be citeth the fame Author maintaining thac 
 Murder, and Blafphemy in a paflion and not deliberate 
 is no mortal (in,unlefs in one that is ufed to Blafpheme. 
 And p. 329. how Bcllarm. Ceftcrus, Valentin maintain 
 that Fornication in a Pried is better, or a fmalier fin 
 then to marry. The like he (hews of their doctrine of 
 Theft, Falfewitnefs, &c.p. 331, 333, &c. Thisfrom 
 him. 
 
 3. But above all their other mifchiefs^the Propagating 
 of lnfidclityhy them is the greateft : Which they do in 
 two waves. 1 . Under the Vi\ard of Infidels and Seekers 
 they plead againft Scripture and Chriftianity, inde- 
 fign to loofen men from alt Religion, and perfwade 
 them that they muft needs be Infidels or Papifts.- Veron 
 and his followers have given them full Directions to 
 manage this defign. And while, with debauched Con- 
 fciences) they thus perfwade men to be Infidels in jeft, 
 they have made abundance fuch in good fadnefs:fo that 
 upon my knowledge there are many fuch fwarm among 
 us , that fometime feemed pious perfons, that plead 
 againft Chrift anity it felf. 7, And no wonder, when 
 fome of the leading Papifts do feem to be Cbriflians in jeft, 
 and Infidels in good fadnefs tbemf elves. I (hail inftance 
 now but in their Champion, Tho. White, who in his 
 Euclid. MetapbyfStoecb. K. p r i$ m rmintaineth that 
 in a manner , or almoft all incorporated funis jhall be 
 favedby the world as the Inftrument, or clfethe world were 
 
 (b3) fob- 
 
The Epijile "Dedicatory 
 
 fubfiantially evil, anh ihe fouls that fail of Bleffednefs^non 
 fint fuffcient is ad partem eonfiderabilem totius muhitudi- 
 nti covftituendamMe that believeth this ,c.innot believe 
 Chrift > nor well perfwade men to believe in (Thrift. 
 Thfs happv news to the Pagans and Mahometans > 
 mi^ht iomewhatuifright the Chiiftians being the few- 
 eft, left they mould be that inconfider able number , but 
 that be that talks of the damnation oi fo few, its like by 
 his Arguments believeth it of none.The fame heaflerts 
 in his Treatifeof the middle flate of fouls, Rat. 5. p.41. 
 And Rat* 10. hedifputethagainft Vindictive fufiice as 
 a thing not becoming God: and p. 88. denyeth that fm- 
 ner injure God, iov tooth becaufehe (uffereth it willingly. 
 Pag. 9 5 {Tranflat. ) he faith that fouls are exempt from 
 allfuch pains as may be caufed by any outward agent-. And 
 tag. in. That God Governeth not " the world as a 
 Monarch, but' as an Engineer •, And pag. 134. he faith 
 f the punifhment of fin whether external or internal, is no- 
 thing elfe but theincreafe and exaggeration of fins in thofe 
 who are perverfe , and the decreafe and diminution of 
 them in thofe who amend ] And pag. 90. that [ the de- 
 fed! of Gods honour occafioned by Peter , was not fup- 
 pljed and repaired by any other) and fonotby Chrift. ; 
 And pag, 146. [ that Gods aim is alwajes the utmofl 
 good of every creature ] And he oft enough telsus that 
 God attaineth all his will. And is this man a Papift '. 
 or are Papifts in good fadnefs } that tell the world 
 that none but the fubje&s of the Pope can be faved i 
 and yet now the number that perim will be incon- 
 fiderable 5 and God aimeth at the utmoft Good 
 of every creature. Sure he thinks that all the Toads 
 muft be made men; and all men made Angels •, and 
 every ftar muft be made a Sun ! I (hall pafs by the 
 Books that are written againft the Creatiott,md again ft. 
 
 Scripture* 
 
The Epifile ^Dedicatory. 
 
 Scripture , and again ft Hell , fac. which fwarm 
 among us ♦, only advifing your Highnefs to take 
 heed that you venture not upon any worldly mo- 
 tives , to (land guilty before the living God of al- 
 lowing or tolerating fuch Books to be publifhed , 
 and fuch do&rines as thefe to be preached to your 
 People, to the everlafting undoing of their precious 
 fouls. 
 
 If you ask who it is that prefumetb thus to he pur 
 L?vlomtor * It is one that ferveth fo great a Mailer 
 that he thinks it no unwarrantable prefumption , in 
 fuch a cafe to be faithfully plain with the greateft 
 Prince. It is one that (lands fo neer Eternity, 
 where L<CUrus (hall wear the Crown, that unfaith- 
 full man-pleafing would be to him a double crime : 
 it is one that rejoyccth in the prefent happinefs 
 of England , and earneflly wifheth that it were but 
 as well with the reft of the worlds and that honour - 
 eth all the providences of God by which we have 
 been brought to what we are •, but dare not own 
 all the actions of men that have been the Inftrft- 
 ments,as he hath thought meet to manifeft in this wri- 
 ting , and leave upon record. And he is one that 
 concurring in the Common Hopes of greater Blef- 
 fings yet to thefe Nations under your Government, 
 and obferving your Acceptance of the frequent Ad- 
 drelTes that from all parts of the Land are made unto 
 you, was encouraged to do what you dayly allow 
 your Preachers to do, and to concur with the reft, 
 in the tenders ( and fome performance ) of his 
 fervice •, and particularly the Ceunty of Wilts who 
 have Petitioned you for the Summ of what I have 
 here expreft •, and whole Petitions I defire maybe 
 
 written 
 
The Epijlle Dedicatory, 
 
 written upon your heart. That the Lord will make 
 you a beder and frejerver of his Chucrhes here at 
 home, and a fuccefsfull helper to his Churches abroad, 
 is the earneft prayer of 
 
 Your HighnefTes 
 faithfull Subjedt 
 
 2%ich. ^Baxter. 
 
 Reader, 
 
Reader, 
 
 g*^ i 7 f^# f tfw<r /;/^^ tw/^ 4 practical efleem 
 of Truth , defiring to know it that thou 
 *$$$ ma'ft obey it,ejr with an humble mind doft 
 fludy and fray to the Father of Lights, 
 and art impartially willing to receive the 
 Truth in the Love of it that thou mat ft be 
 faved, and with diligence andmeeknefsto read and weigh 
 the Evidences that I bring thee, thou art then the perfon to 
 whom 1 recommend the fe Papers with confident cxpettation 
 of fuccefs. The Controverftes here handled are thofe that 
 have made, and fiill are making, the greateft comhuftions 
 in the Chnflian world, x^ind yet to almofl all men 
 of learning on both fides the) feem exceeding eafic. Ifel- 
 dom meet with a Learned Protefiant but taketh Popery for 
 fuch tranfparent fallacies , that he is little orno whit trou- 
 bled with any doubtings in the Suftnefs : And 1 feldom meet 
 with a Learned Fapift but is as confident on the other fide, as 
 if be fides them, all the Chriftian world were blind and mad. 
 Inter ejl and prejudice muft needs do much then on one fide 
 at lea ft. And which fide hath the great ejl worldly inter eft 
 to by as their under ft an ding , is foon decerned by one that 
 knows the Papal power, their Cardinals, Prelates, and the 
 Riches, Honours and friviledges of their Clergy, and that 
 knows our (late, ^Andifthou wilt hear the Reafons of the 
 confidence of both fides,! will tell it thee here as briefly and 
 plainly at 1 can. 
 
 We are confident of our own Religion^ becaufe we believe 
 the Cojpel : and we have no other Rule and left of our Reli- 
 
 ( c ) ghn : 
 
The Preface. 
 
 gion : And we are confident th.it Popery is a deceit^ becaufe 
 we both believe the Go/pel and the judgement of the ancient 
 andprefent churches, andbecaufe tve believe our fenfe it 
 (elf : As fur* <u rve know Bread from l : left) , and Wine ft om 
 Blood, by feeing, (a fling, Sec. foftire know rve that Popery 
 isfalfe. And if a Cont rover fie is not at an End whtn it 
 is brought to the .udgeme< > tof all the fenfes of all the found 
 men in the world ( it being about the cbjeel of ferfe ) 
 then we are pafl hope of ending contrtvttfus : And there- 
 fore 04 we will not waffle our time with every ft How that will 
 difpute with us that Snow is bl.uk , or the Fire cold, no 
 more will we trouble our (elves with tbefe men that tell us 
 that Bread is not bread,and Wine is not wine. 
 
 And if you would know the Reafons of the confidence of 
 the Papijls, I knew no, more of them but what their Wri- 
 tings and fpeeches do exprefs, and thofe I have hereafter 
 given you. Two things they are jl: 11 harping on: the fir ft 
 # > that in our way we have no aflfu ranee that the Chri- 
 ftian Religion is true, or that Scripture is the word of 
 God. Save me the labour of repetitions, and read but what 
 J have witten in the Preface to the fecond Part of the Saints 
 Reft, Edit 2.&C.) where I give you the Refolution of our 
 faith,andinmy Safe Religion^ Difp. 3. and then believe 
 them if thou can ft. 
 
 Their fecond it, that thred-b.ire J2ueftion[ Where was 
 
 your Church before Luiheri Where hath it been fuc- 
 
 cefsively in each age ? ] And here meer Sopbiflry carry* 
 
 eth it through the Papal world, to the deluding of the ftmple 
 
 that will be catcht with chaff e, and are not able to fee things 
 
 'or Names. 1 have dealt with fome of them that harped 
 
 in this firing, and never met with any thing from them 
 
 *bat fhouldfeem confiderabh to a difcerning man>fave only 
 
 'he two unanfwerable arguments of Coi\Rdence(tbat 1 fay 
 
 not Impudence ) and Loquacity. 1 hough ih&vi mora 
 
 fully 
 
The Preface. 
 
 fully flamed this gueftipn in this Bofik^I will berealfo give 
 you at the entrance, a (hort view tf the safe. 
 
 The men that ask us, where our Church and Religion was y 
 either know not {through ignorance) or will not let others 
 know ( through wickedness ) what our Church and Reli- 
 gion is. C Shew us ( fay they ) a Church in all ages that 
 held the thirty nine Articles, or that held all that the 
 Proteftants hold, or elfe they were not Proteftants i ] 
 Forfootb, we mufi receive from them a Definition of a Pro- 
 t eft ant t and then we mufi prove the fuccefsion of fuch.Know 
 therefore before you dilute about the fuccefsion, what is the 
 thing whofe fuccefsion is qucflioned. \_ A Protectant is a 
 Chriftian that holdeth to the holy Scriptures as the 
 fufficient Rule of faith and holy living, and protefteth 
 againft Popery. ~\ 7 he Proteflant Churches are Societies 
 frcfefnng the Proteftants Religion. [The proteftant Re- 
 ligion ] is an improper fpeech Jut L the Proteftants Re- 
 ligion lis a phrafe that weftullown. For [ Proteftancy ] 
 u not our Religion it felf, but the Rejection of Poptfh cor- 
 ruptions of Religions or defiling Additions, if my Reje- 
 ctions of ether mens Additions be themselves Additions, 
 then is it in the power of any Heretick in the world to force 
 me to Add to my Religion at his Pleafure. A thoufand new 
 Articles & Forms efWorfhip he ma) devife, and then mufi 
 I add to my Religion by rejclfingthimall t even as I add 
 to my Apple by wiping the dirt of it , or to my deaths, by 
 bru firing them. The Proteflants Religion is os/ly the Chriftiin 
 Religion the naked Chriftian Religion alone: The<Papifts the 
 Chrijlian Religion corrupted with abimdMuc of additions. 
 The Proteflants ever d\ Avowed at>y Confefsioy.s cf men as 
 pretended to be the Rule or Law of their Religion. The 
 Proteftants Religion is the Holy Scriptures alone ] The 
 Papifts Religion ts ail that is decreed by the Pope and Coun- 
 cils. Our Religion containtd in the Scotpture h.t'h its F.f- 
 
 (cz ) fentials 
 
The Preface. 
 
 fentials and Integrals. All the Effentials an d as much of 
 the Integrals as (in the uje of means) we are able to under- 
 ft and \we believe particularly and explicit tly. the reft rve 
 believe generally and implicit ely to be all true. So that 
 as the Paprfts will not give us leave to tike the writings of 
 Gre.fer, Bellarmine or any of ( their Doctors, yea the 
 Articles of their Divines at Thoren, Racisbone,&c. to 
 be therefore Articles of their faith, but only thefe th.it are 
 contained in General Councils approved by the Pope-, fo 
 we require the fame juflice ef them that they call Nothing 
 the Articles of our Faith, but rvhat is contained in the Holy 
 Scripture, which is the only Rule of our Religion. Do they 
 know our Religion better then we do f this is our Religion, 
 and this weftandto. 
 
 Well ! Confider now whether any thing be e after then for 
 a Proteftant tofhewyouavifible Church that hath fnuef- 
 ftvely been of his Religion. 
 
 i. The Chriflian Religion hath been in all ages ft nee 
 Chrtft in vifible Societies : The Religion of P rot eft ants is 
 the Chriflian Religion: therefore the Religion of Prote* 
 flants hath been in all age> ftme Chrift in vifible Societies. 
 2. That Religion which is contained in the Holy Scrip- 
 ture as its Rule orfuffieient Revelation>bath beenprofefjed 
 in. all ages in vifible Churches. Rut the Religion of Prote- 
 ctants is contained in the Holy Scriptures as its Rule orfuf- 
 ftcient Revelation : therefore the Religion ofProteflants 
 hath been profiled in all ages in vifible Churches. 
 
 We name the Societies from the. places of their reftdence : 
 Our Church ( as Auguftine tils the Donatifts ) begun at 
 Hierufalem, and thence was difperjed into Afia, Africa 
 and Europe^ hath continued in Sym,JEth\oip'n^Mgy^, 
 India, Greece, &c. If I could name but one Nation 
 that had been of my Religion, I fhould fufpecJ it were not 
 the true Religion. It is the Chriflian world that is in/lead 
 of a Catalogue to u<$. O 
 
The Preface. 
 
 O but, faythe$uglers> This is a General anfwer,to 
 fay you are Chriftians : there are more forts of Chri- 
 ftians then One. J Reply 5 // is the General or Cat ho- 
 lick that we are fpsaking off; and therefore if it were not 
 fuch a General anfwer t it were not pertinent to the gue- 
 Jtion : There are no wore forts of chriftians but One 5 
 that is j there is no Effential difference among them-, hut 
 there is a gradual, integral and modal difference. But may 
 not Chriftians of fcveral Degrees of Knowledge he in the 
 fame Catholick church? Our qneftionis not, [where any 
 Seel, or any particular Church hath had its Jttcccfsion .-] 
 hut [where that Catholic^ Church hath been , of which 
 we are members. ~\ And furely drift hath but One Ca- 
 tholick Church. 
 
 but, fay they, would you make men believe that 
 Ethiopians, Armenians , Greeks, &c. are Proteftants? 
 you may be afhamed of fo grofs a fidion. 
 
 1 an fiver , Is it the Name of Proteftants, or their 
 Religion, that yen would have w prove a fuccefsion of? 
 Thefe deceivers cheat abundance of poor louts by this one 
 device, even fuppoftng that the word £Proteftant] doth 
 denominate our Church from its Ejjential p.,rts , and fo call 
 for a Catalogue of Proteftants. But I would ask them, 
 whether we or they do better know our Religion? and con- 
 sequently what a Proteftant Ui if they know it at all , it 
 is from our writings or exprefsions ; For jure they will 
 not pretend without figns to knov our hearts , and that 
 better then our f elves. Ton mufl take it from as, if you 
 will know what cur Religion is, as we mu(t take it from 
 you, if wc will know yours. And therefore delude not filly 
 fouls by per {wading them that you know what our Religion 
 is better then we. if you will believe our Bocks that tell 
 yen, believe our fayings atfo } and believe me that here tell 
 ycu my own Religion. \_A Proteftant is a Chi fi an that 
 
 (c 3) pro- 
 
The Preface. 
 
 protefleth againfl Popery^ Chriftianity is our Religion: 
 Protefting againft Popery u our Negation or Rejection 
 of your Corruptions of Religion. OMen that never beard 
 of the name of Papift or Pretejlants, may be of the fame 
 Religion with us. if many Nations of the world never 
 received Popery , and we reject H\ if they never knew it, 
 and we know it anddifown it, are we not both of one Re- 
 ligion, even in the Integrals i One man never heard of the 
 Leprofte ; another catcheth it and is cured of it •, and a 
 third flyeth from it and preventeth it $ \yind I think 
 allthefe are truly men •, yea and (in tantum) found men. 
 When you call to us for a proof of our fuccefsion, either 
 you mean it, of the Efjentials of our Religion and Church, 
 or of the Negation of your Corruptions : Either you mean 
 it of }he points that we are Agreed in, or of thofe we d f- 
 fer in : Chriftianity is it that we are Agreed in $ and 
 that is our Religion, and nothing but that : Proteflancy as 
 juch, is but our wiping off the dirt, or curing the f cab that 
 you have brought upon our Religion, Is he not a man 
 as well as you that will not tumble with you in the dirt, 
 or come into your Pcflhoufc ? If we know not our own Re- 
 ligion, then we cannot tell it your, and then you cannot 
 know it : Kyind if we do know it . believe us when we 
 prof efs our own Belief : We fill profefs before men and 
 Angels, that we own no Reltgion but the Chriftian Refc 
 aion, nor any Church but the Chrifian Church, nor dre^m 
 of any Catholick Church but one , containing all the true 
 Chriflians in the world, united in fefus Chrifl the Head. 
 We vrotefl before men and Angels that it is the Holy Scri- 
 ptures that are the Liw and Rule and Tefl of our Reli- 
 gion ; And why are we nut to be Believed in this our own 
 Profefs ion, as well as yon are in yours, when you make the 
 Decrees of Popes and Council s to be your Law and Rule 
 and Tefls ? 
 
 We 
 
The Praface. 
 
 We perform therefore more then you demand. Teu ask 
 us Where was our Church before Luther ? And we 
 answer , Where our Religion was, Tou ask us - t Where 
 was that? and we tell you Where evtr the Chriftian 
 Religion was , and the Holy Scriptures were received. 
 This were enough for us in an fiver to your ^ueflion i But 
 we do more : We tell you not only where our Church and 
 Religion was, hut where there were men that owned not 
 your grand Corruptions^ no more then we : What can you 
 demand more of us , when you call for a fuccefsion of 
 Trotefiants , then that we tell you of a fuccefsion of 
 Chnftians (which are of our Religion) a nd which were 
 no Papifts, yea againfi Popery , (which therefore were of 
 our integrity) And who knoweth not that the fore fad 
 Abaffines, Armenians, Egyptians, Greeks, &c. are 
 againfi your Papal Soveraignty, Infallibility, and all that 
 is by us renounced as Ejjential to Popery ? 
 
 O but, fay thefuglcrs, thefe are not ProteOants 5 
 they differ from you in many paiticulars.] / anfwer, 
 Call them by what name fou pleafe $ they are not only 
 ChriftianS, but alfo Anti- papifts, or free from ropery, 
 and then they are of our Religion and Church. But in- 
 deed \ mufl the world be made believe that all that we Be- 
 lieve is efTential to our Relig ; on, and that m man that 
 dijftre'h from us can be of otm Religion, be the difference 
 never fo [mall f 
 
 But fay they, tell us of a Church that profeffes your 
 39 Articles. Silly deceivers J Po not thofe very Articles 
 profefs that [The Holy Sciipturecontaineth all things 
 neceflary to falvation , fo that whatever is not read 
 therein, nor maybe proved thereby, is not to be re- 
 quired of any man that it fhould be believed as an 
 Article of the Faith, or be thought requ.fite or ne- 
 ceflfary to Salvation. ~] Arc. 6. We never took thefe 
 
 Articles 
 
8 The Preface. 
 
 Articles in fit ad of the Scripture , but the Articles and 
 all Proteflants profefs the scripture to be the only Rule And 
 Tefl of their Faith and Religion. The fubftance of the 
 39 Articles may eafily be proved to have been fucceffively 
 held by the Church from the beginning •, but it is not 
 incumbent on us to prove that every word in the writings 
 of every Divine, or Church, hath been fo continued; no 
 more then you will own the writings of any Divines or Prt- 
 vincial Synods of your $wn^ as being the Rule of your Faith, 
 As you profefs that the Decrees of Popes and general Coun- 
 cil* approved by him, beftdes the Scriptures, are the Rule 
 and Tefl of your Religion •, fo do we profefs that the 
 Scriptures alone (with the Law of Nature) is the Rule of 
 ours. 
 
 But,what (fay they) will you be of the fame Church 
 with Nefiorians, Eutichians, and other Hereticks < I 
 Anfw. 1. We will not take 4///^ Nefiorians, or Euti- 
 chians, that a railer can call fucb > that never knew them t 
 nor can prove it. 2. Hereticks indeed that deny any 
 effential part of Chriflianity, are no Cbriflians, anh there- 
 fore none of the Church that we are of : but if you will 
 call thofe Hereticks that have all the effentials ef Chri- 
 flianity , becaufe they err in leffer points, we know that 
 there are fuchinthe Catholick church : We will be none 
 of them onr f elves, if we can efcape it ( yet indeed have 
 no hope of efcaping all error till we are perfect in know- 
 ledge : ) But we will not run out of the family of God, 
 becaufe there are children and fick perfons in it : Nor will 
 we for fake the Catholick Church becaufe there are erring 
 perfons in it. 
 
 O but, faith the Papijl, We acknowledge not your 
 diftinction of points EiTential and not ElTential 5 all 
 points of Faith are EiTential with us, and of neceffity 
 to Salvation. ] Anfw. Reader , thou [halt fee here (uch 
 
 impudent 
 
The Preface. 
 
 impudent and faithlefsjugling, as may make thee blufhto 
 think that Chrifiianity bath fuch profffors. i . The Out- 
 fide of their affertion damnethnelefs then all the tvdJld 
 ( that live to the ufe of Reafon ) 2 . The In fide of their de- 
 ceitful meaning is almoft clean contrary , and leavcth 
 heathens and Infidels in the Church, or in a ft ate offal- 
 vat ion as well as Chriflians. 3. It leave th no one Article 
 of faith (fjential to a Chriflianjr to one that jball he faved; 
 and leaveth the Church an Invifble things clean contrary 
 to their own afjertionsofits Vifibility,^. lisind when they 
 have thus wrangled them f elves into a wood of contradict- 
 ons and Unchriflian abfur Cities, the wife ft of them fay as we 
 fay y in the main point. All this I will now manifefl to thee, 
 1, The Out- fide of their affertion is that Every point 
 that we are bound to be live by a Divine faith 3 is funda- 
 mental, or effential to Chriflian faith , or of necefsity to 
 falvation. And if fo, then no man breathing can he [a- 
 ved : For no man knoweth all that he is bound to know. 
 And no man belie veth that which he underflandetb not : 
 It is impofsible to believe thatfuch a Proportion is a truth 
 diftinctly and actually , when I under fiand not what 
 the Proportion is. And that we all knew bntinpart y even 
 what we are obliged to know, no man will deny, but he that 
 is mad by pride or faction : All that God hath revealed 
 in his wordjsthe matterof our faith : There is no man can 
 fay, I have no culpable ignorance of any one Truth of God 
 that lfhould believe. Had we been more perfect in our 
 diligent ft udies, and prayers, and ufe of all means- and 
 had we never fmfully grieved the fpirit that (hould illu- 
 minate us, ( to [ay nothing of our Original finfull dark- 
 nefs ) there is not one of us but might have known more 
 then we do. if fin of the will and life be confident with 
 true faith, then fomefin in* the under ft anding is confident 
 with faith. But the former is true : therefore ', dec. But 
 
 (d) according 
 
io 
 
 The Preface. 
 
 according to the out -fide of their doclrine^ no man that hath 
 any (in full ignorance (and confeqttently unbehef) in his 
 utder (landing can be faved • that ts, no man in the world, 
 if he that thinks he knoweth an) thing, knorveth nothing 
 as he ought to know, 1 Cor. 8. 2. what fhall be (aid ef 
 thffemen, that think they and all the Church do know all 
 things that they ought to know, and that their understand- 
 ings have no (in f And mu(l we needs be of that faith that 
 damneth all men y and of that church where none are 
 faved f 
 
 2. As the Out -fide of their Affertions is made for a 
 bug-bear to frighten foots, fo that the In-fide ( as expound- 
 ed by many of them ) is that Heathens and Infidels may be 
 of their Church or faved^ and that nothing of the Chri- 
 an faith at all is nectary to falvation , /'; plain : For 
 they tell us that they mean , that all points are of necej- 
 fity, where they are Sufficiently propofed, and mens ignorance 
 is not invincible 5 but where there is no fufficient propofal , 
 but mens ignorance is invincible , or fuch as comes 
 not from a wilfull neglecl of means , there no ignorance 
 of the articles of faith is damnable, and fo no article ab" 
 folutely nectffary : fo that the que/Hon indeed is not Whe- 
 ther men believe or not? but Whether they are Unbelievers 
 or Heathens or ignorant perfons^ by a willfull neglect of 
 Sufficiently propofed Truth jr not f So that all that part of 
 the Heathen or lnfidell world ( how great ) that have 
 no fuch propofals oftheGofpel^may not only be faved , but 
 be better and fafer then mo ft Chriftians (if not all) who 
 certainly are finfully ignorant of fome truth which they 
 ought to know. 
 
 Obj. But (fay they) it will not ftanci with faith to 
 deny belief to God in any thing , fufficiently re- 
 vealed '. for he that beiieveth him in one thing, belie- 
 veth him in all. ] 
 
 Anfw. 
 
The Preface. u 
 
 A n fw. Very true > if they know it to be the Word of God. 
 And if this bealljbe Protefiants are ready to averreufon 
 their mofl folemn oaths , that they believe every thin? 
 withcut except ion which they know to be a Divine Re- 
 velation : and no wonder > for jo doth every man that 
 believes that there is a God and that he is no lyar. If this 
 will ferveyour turn , yon have no more to fay again ft us • 
 your months are fhpt. But may it not (land with faith 
 to be ignorant , and that through finfull neglect ^ of fome 
 revealed truth of God, or of the meaning of his word r If 
 you are fo proud as to think that all the juftified are per- 
 fect and have no fin , yet at leafl confider whether a man 
 that liveth in Heathenifm till f our f core years of age, and 
 then turns Chrifii an , is not afterward ignorant through 
 his former finfull negligence ? But dare you fay that 
 you have no finfull ignorance to bewail f Will you con- 
 fifs none, nor beg pardon, nor be beholden to Chrifl to par- 
 don it? 
 
 That they make no point of faith neceffary , while 
 they fe em to make all nectfjaty , fee but what I have after 
 cited from Franf. a S.Clara probl. 15,16, ij.andabun* 
 dance more that are mentioned there by him. 
 
 3. And that by this Protean jugling, they make the 
 Church invifible, is apparent. For what man breathing 
 hnoweth the fecrets of the fouls of others , whether tkey 
 have refilled or not refilled the light < and whether they 
 are ignorant of the articles of faith upon finfull contempt, 
 er for want of fome due means of faith, or internal capa- 
 city , or opportunity ? We are as fure that all men are ig- 
 norant of fome thing that God hath revealed to be known 
 ( in nature and Scripture ) as that they are men : But now 
 whether any one ofthefe men be free from thofe aggravati- 
 ons of his ignorance {and that in every point ) upon which 
 the Papifis make him an unbeliever, is unknown to others: 
 
 {di) When 
 
 •■■1 
 
li 
 
 The Preface. 
 
 When the Faith or Infidelity of men, and fo their being 
 in the church or out of it, mufl not be known by the Matter 
 of Faith which they prof cfs, but by the fecret phages of th*eir 
 marts > their wilhngnefs or unwillingnefs, refinance or not 
 refiftance, and fuch like , the Church then is invifible y no 
 man can [ay which is it , nor who is of it : He that profejjcth 
 not the Faith, may be a Catbolick; and be that prof effeth it, 
 for ought they'know^may be an Infidel, as being ftnfu/ly yet 
 ignorant offome one truth that is not in his exprefs confefsi- 
 on\thnt by confufion the builders of Babel marre their work* 
 4. And that the wifefi of them, fay in the main as we 
 fay, fee herein fome proofs. Bellarm. de Vcrbo Dei, lib. 
 4. cap. 11. U n theChriftian Doctrine both of Faith 
 and Manners, fome things are (imply necelTary to fal- 
 vation to all 5 as the Knowledge of the Articles of the 
 Apoftles Creed, of the ten Commandements, and of 
 fome Sacraments ; The reft are not fo neceffary, th3t a 
 man cannot be faved without the explicite Knowledge, 
 
 belief and profeflion of them Thefe things that 
 
 are (imply neceffary and are profitable toall, the Apo- 
 ftles preached to all AH things are Written by 
 
 the Apoftles which are Neceffary to all, and which 
 they openly preacht to all] fee the place, 
 
 CofterusEchirid. c. 1 . p. 49. Non infieiamur prae- 
 cipua ilia fidei capita quae omnibus Chriftianis cognitu 
 funt ad falutem Neceffaria , perfpicue fatis effe Apo- 
 ilolicis fcriptis comprehenfa j That is $ We deny not 
 that -thole Chief Heads of the Faith which are to all 
 Chriftians neceffary to be known to falvation , are 
 perfpicuoufly enough comprehended in the Writings 
 of the Apoftles. ] Judge by thefe two (to /pare the trou- 
 ble of citing more) whether they be not forced after all 
 their Cavils 3 to fay as we, in difltnguifhing of /lr tides of 
 Faith, \jind\ tkey cannot be ignorant, that the Church 
 
 . bath 
 
The Preface. 
 
 bath fiill had Forms of Trofejsion, which were called her 
 Symbols, as being the Badge of her ^Members 5 and did 
 not fufpend all upon uncertain conjedures about the frame 
 and temper of the Profeffors minds. 
 
 But if indeed it be not the want of Neceffary Articles ef 
 Faith that they accufe us of, but the want of wiUingnefs or 
 diligence to know the truth, let them prove their accufati* 
 onsy and letthefe per fons that they prove guilty bear the 
 blame. Do they think we would not as willingly know the 
 truth as they f and that we do not pray as earneflly 
 for Divine illumination ? Do we net read their Books ? 
 (/ verily think incomparably more then they do ours,) and 
 are we not willing to confer with the wife ft of them that 
 can inform us f J have often privately and public kly de- 
 fired you that if any of them can [ay more then all thefe 
 Schoolmen, Frjars and fefuites fay, which I have ready 
 they would let me hear it, that 1 may w^nt no means they 
 can afford me for my fuller information. 
 
 But yet they have not done with us, When we prove a 
 fuccefion of our Religion, by proving a fuccefsion of fuch 
 as adheredto the Scriptures, which are the Doclrine of our 
 Religion {an Argument that no Papifl under heaven an 
 confute,) they vainly tell us, that All Herericks pretend to 
 Scripture, and therefore that will not prove the point. 
 But i . Doth it follow that Scripture is not a fufficient 
 Rule of our Religion, becaufe Herettcks may pretend to it* 
 Tou take the 39 Articles for our Religion , and yet may 
 Bereticks that are far from our minds , pretend to them. 
 It's thelikerto be the Rule becaufe ail Herettcks pretend it, 
 and would borrow credit from it to their Hereftes, The 
 Law ef the Land is the Rule of onr faftice •, and yet 
 Lawyers and their Clients tha^are contrary to each other, 
 do plead it for their contrary Caufcs. The Creed it [elf 
 is pretended by Arrhns for their Hen fit \ What mufl wt 
 
 {J 3) bdve 
 
The Preface. 
 
 hive no Rule erTeflor difcovery of our Religion which a 
 Here tick c«n pretend for his impiety. What words of Cod 
 or man Art m>t capable of being miftnterprcted ? if we 
 fhould give you every day a confefsion of Faith, fome He- 
 rettcks mi^ht pretend to hold the fame : No wonder then 
 if 1 hey do (0 by the Scriptures. 
 
 2. And can any Learned Papifls be [0 ignorant, as not 
 to know that the Arrians pretended the Authority of Ge- 
 neral Conncils f and fo do many other Heretic ks ^ and that 
 the Authority of Pope and Councils are frequently pre- 
 tended for contrary opinions among them , and may be 
 pretended by many an Heretick ? And will they therefore 
 grant that the Decrees of Popes and Councils are no juf- 
 fcient difcovery of their Faith ? IfHereticks pretendingto 
 your Teft of Faith, difprovenotthatto be your Faith, 
 then Hereticks pretendingto our Rule and Jefl of Faith 
 [which is the Holy Scripture ) is no proof that it is not our 
 Rule of Faith, 
 s I do therefore conclude, that the Proof of a Succefsion of 
 C fuch Churches as have received the Holy Scriptures, is 4 
 / valid proof of a fuccefsion of Churches of our Religion, 
 ^ feeing we have no Religion (doclrinally) but the Holy 
 / Scriptures. And this as far as modefly will permit, I 
 L challenge all the tfefuiteson Earth to confute with any 
 v / folid Reafons : yet adding that we do ex fuperabundanti 
 ^ prove a fuccefsion alfo of Churches that never owned Popery, 
 /* even the greatejl part of the Chrijlian world. But let the[e 
 {- men themfelves but prove to us a fuccefsion of their 
 I Church, even fuch as they require of us 5 Let them prove 
 L that from the Apoftles days theCatholick Church{or any one 
 , Congregation of twenty men) did hold all that now their 
 C Councils and Popes have Decreed, and are efleemed Ar- 
 ticles of their Faith, and I am contented to be their bond- 
 (^ flavefor ever, or to bear a fagot , or be ufed by them as 
 
 cruelly 
 
The Preface. 
 
 cruelly as their malice can invent , or fames or their 
 Jlrappados execute. Let my Head he at their Mercy if they 
 can but prove that Succefsion of Popery, at they require m 
 to do of Proteftancy, or as I have produced of our Churches 
 and Religion. In the 15 th and i6 h Detetlion 1 have 
 more largely fpoken to them of this point, to rvhich I refer 
 the Reader. 
 
 In the very principal point o/cheir Papal Soveraignty, 
 they have nothing hut this grofs deceit to cheat the world 
 with : The Roman Emperors d.vers ages after Chrift, did 
 give the Btfl)op of Rome a Primacy in their Empire, and 
 hence thefe men would perfwade us, that even from Chr ft 
 they have had a Soveraignty overall the chriflta;) world. 
 Wink hut at thefe fmall mi flakes, and they have won the 
 Caufe : 1. Suppefe but Chrijls Inflitution to (land in 
 fteadof the Emperors. 2. Suppofc divers hundred years 
 after Chrijl , to have been in the ^4poflles days. 3 . Sup- 
 pose Vrimacy to be Soveraignty or Vniverfal Government. 
 4. But ([pea ally grant them, that the Roman Empire was 
 all the chriflian world -, and then they have made good that 
 part of their Caufe. 
 
 That there were many Nations without the reach of the 
 Ro "nan Empire, that had received the Chriflian Fatth, is 
 pa ft doubt. Socrates lib. 1 . c. 1 5 . faith that Tboptas chofe 
 Parthi a, Bartholomew chofe India ^Matthew Ethiopia , to 
 plant the Gofpel in 5 but the middle India was not 
 converted till Ccnflantines days,by Frumcniius and Ede- 
 fius>, and Iberia by a Maid.] So Eufeb.l. 3. c. 3. tells 
 us of Thomas his Preaching to the Parthi.ins^ and An* 
 drtw to the Scythians, ,] Et in vit. Conft. I. 4. c. 8. that 
 there were many Churches in Perfia, & cap. 91. how 
 Con/iantine wrote for them to the King.] Godignus 
 and others of them maintain that the Abaffines did re- 
 ceive the Gofpel f torn the beginning. BefiAes Scotland. 
 
 and 
 
1 6 The Preface. 
 
 and man j other Countries that were not under the Roman 
 V owcr. And none of thefe were Governed by the Pope. 
 
 The je three Arguments again ft the Papal Caufe, I [hail 
 here premife to more that follow. 
 
 I. If all that.part of the Chriftian world that. was out 
 of the reach of the Roman Empire, did never jubmit to 
 the Soveraignty of the Pope, then hath he not been juc- 
 cefsivelj (or at any time) the atfual Head of the V river* 
 fal Church: But the Antecedent it wofl certain : there' 
 fore fo is the Confequent, 
 
 How an old woman , the Emperors Mother of Habaflia, 
 did baffle their fefuites, by asking them Q How it came 
 to pajs, if obedience to the Pope be neceffary to falvation, 
 that they never had heard from him till now ? ] / have 
 told you after from them f elves. 
 
 If Primacy were Soveraignty, and Emperors and Coun- 
 cils were Gods , yet the Indians, Abaflines, Perfians, 
 and many more in the E aft r and the Scots, and Irifh , and 
 Danes, 4»^Sweeds 3 and Poles, and Mufcovites, and 
 mo ft of Germany in the We (I and North, Jhouldbe no fub- 
 jecJs of the Pope. 
 
 2. If the Rule and Te ft of the Faith of Papifts never 
 had a Real Beings or no fuccefsion from the Apo flies, then 
 their Faith and Church hath either no Real Beings or no 
 fuch Succefsion : But the Antecedent is true : as I prove % 
 
 It is either General Councils, or Popes, or the Church 
 E(fcntial(as they ufe to€aHit y tbat is, the Whole Body) that is 
 the Rule of their Faith, If it be General Councils \ I . They 
 had no being from the ^pe files till the Council of Nice 5 
 therefore the Rule of the Papifts Faith was then unborn, 
 2 . Tea they never had a being in the world : There was ne~ 
 *ver any thing like a General Council fince the days of the 
 Apoflles to this day* The fir ft at Nice had none , ( favc 
 one John^/Perfia, who its like was fome ferfecuted 
 
 Bifhop 
 
The Contents. 17 
 
 Bifhffp that waffled, or if one or two more its not material) , 
 but the Bifhops of the Empire, and out of the Weflern parts 
 fo few as was next to none : The following Councils , as 
 Confhntinop. 1. &c. were only out of one piece of the 
 Empire : The Council of Trent Idifdain to reckon among 
 the modefler pretenders to an Vniverfality. 
 
 2. And if it be not General councils, but the Pope that 
 is the Rule tf their Faith $ then, 1 . Their Faith hath been 
 interrupted, ye a and turned to Here fie and to Infidelity when 
 the Tope hathfo turned. 2. And why then do they tell our 
 people , that they take not the Pope for the Rule of their 
 Faith ? 
 
 3. If it be the Major part of the Vniverfal Church, 
 1. It's known that two to one are again fl them^, or at leafl 
 the Greater part : therefore by that Rule their Faith in the 
 Papal Soveraignty is falfe, 2 . And yet it would be hard, if 
 a man muft be of no Belief, till he have brought the world 
 to the pole for it 1 
 
 Argum. 3. // all the flir that the Papiftsmakeinthe 
 world for the Papal Government be but to rob Chriftian 
 Princes and C^tagi prates of their Power , then are they 
 but a f editions Stfi : But the Antecedent is apparent : For 
 theft are but two forts of Government in the church: Tht 
 one is by the Word apply ed unto the Confcience , which 
 wrketh only on the willing 5 either by General exhorta- 
 tions as in Preaching \ or by perfonal application , as in 
 Sacraments, Excommunication and Absolution : And this 
 is the work of 'the prefent Paflors, and cannot be performed 
 bj the Pope : Nor would he be content with this, to govern 
 Volunteers, The other is by Commands , that fhall be 
 feconded with force : And this is proper to the Magi fir at e. 
 But if they will be deluded to give up their Crowns and 
 Scepters to the Pope , let them (land as the objecls of th\ 
 compafsion of Spectators. 
 
 (e) '<Much 
 
,g The Preface, 
 
 Much more then 1 have here given you, I had prepared 
 of the Teftimony of A?Jtiq;iity agaizft them. But here is 
 more then they are able folidly to anjwcr , and I was 
 afraid of over- whelming the capacity of ordinary Readers. 
 1 wider /land not the French Tongue • but by the Teflimony 
 of Learned men that under ft and them, and 
 » The Rig^ Honourable cfpecially by the hefp * of 4 Noble friend that 
 *« >ri of ' l "Jcrd. ult ■: a h f VO Hch(a(cdto trankat c fomepart of them 
 
 person whofj eminent Godli- J . -' > r. J[ 
 
 nefb and Learning occifioneth ^r /»J #/f , /4« imboldemd tO A COnpdenCC^ 
 
 the loirow of his . Countrey, ^ f the t wo famous Confutations of the vreat 
 
 that W deprived of hinijiniucn. J J % 6 . 
 
 d7>s a, thefe when Piety isfo Perron, wdl [land to the perpitualfhame of 
 - much cfteemed. Popery which none of them will be ever able 
 
 to Reply to , without as great a di (honour to. their Caufe as 
 will follow their not daring to Reply : 1 'mean , Blondell's 
 Book De Primatu in Ecclefia {which overwhelms them 
 utterly with the witnefs of Antiquity) & Pet. M61Ina;us 
 de Novitate Papifmi {whtch I hope his Reverend Son of 
 his name may live to help us to in Englifli.) But if Any 
 of the Romanifts^d* dare not meddle with thofe Cham- 
 pons^ nor dafh ihemf elves upon thofe Pillars, jh&ll yet 
 vouchfafe an Anfwer to this Jmaller work^I do hereby afjure 
 htm, that if he will do > it foberly 5 in the fear of Cod, in 
 a way of clofe and f olid Arguing , he will perform a task 
 that will be very accept able to me. But niblers, fnArlers y 
 : wilier s^ and fenfelefs frAters I fhAll contemn. 
 
 'Richard 'Baxter* 
 
mmmwmwmmmm 
 
 The Contents, 
 
 C**Hap. i . Popery no way to Vnity^ page i . 
 
 J Chap. 2. Directions for them that will deal with a 
 Papift, p. 5 . 
 
 Chap. 3. Argum. 1. A gain ft Popery, by which every honeji 
 godly wants fc cured from the m^ p. 9. 
 
 Chap. 4. The fecond Argument, p. i<5. 
 
 Chap. 5. Argum. ^.Thatdepoftng Kings that will net ex- 
 terminate w ,and abfolving Subjecls from their alle- 
 giance, and giving their Dominions to others , is an 
 Article of the Papijls Faith, p. 1 7, 1 8. 
 
 Chap. 6. Argum. 4. The Church of Rome unholy in its 
 JE/Jentials, p.2i,^2,&c. 
 
 Chap. 7. Argum. 5. The Papifts of more then One Churchy 
 yet each part pretending to be the Catholic k church, 
 
 p. 26. 
 Chap. 8. Argum. <5. The Church of Rome hath d> [con- 
 tinued, p. 3 1 . 
 Chap. 9. Argum. 7. Fromfenfe •, fecurJng all men from 
 Popery that will believe their eyes, or any of their or . 
 
 others fenfes^ p. 32. H. T s frivolous anjwer re- 
 
 felled, p. 34. 
 
 Chap. 10. Deeeft. 1. Trove them but gu.lty of one Error 
 in Faith, and all Popery is confuted, p. 3 8. 
 
 Chap. 1 1. Detect. 2. y^X Doctrine [0 contrary to Scri- 
 pture and it (elf, cannot be free from Err$r, p. 39. 
 Chap. 12- Detect. 3. Agree on the way of proof , before 
 
 ( e 2 ) yen 
 
2 o The Contents.. 
 
 you difpute : Papifts wiH take neither Senfe, Reafon, 
 Scripture,nor the Tradition or Judgement of the greater 
 part of the Church for judge or proof, p. 41 . . 
 
 Chap. 13. Detett. 4. Vndtrjlaud what they mean, when 
 they call to you for a fudge of Controverfies, How far 
 4 Judge is neceflary, and who. p. 43. . 
 
 Chap. 14. Dete&. 5. They pretend ,t hat in their way there 
 it an End of Cont r over fie s, hut in ours there U none : 
 Detected, p. 46. 
 
 Chap. 15. Dete& 6. Their be Aft of Vnity, and reproach- 
 ing a* with Diviftons, Detect" ed r p. 52. 
 Chap. \6. Dete<5h 7. Their confounding the Effentials 
 and Integrals of Chriftianity Detected, p. 6$. 
 Chap. 17. Dete&. 8. Their extolling the judgement of 
 the Catholick Church Detected : It is again ft themjp.y 1 • 
 Chap. i8.Dete&.p. Some of their deluding Ambigui- 
 ties Detected. I . In the word [_Church ] 2 . In the word 
 C Pope. ] 3 . [_ A General Council. ] Bring them to Define 
 what they mean by thefe,andyou break them,. p< 73. 
 Chap. 1 p. Detect. 10. Their Confounding 1, An humane 
 Ordinance ) and a Divine. 2. CMeere Primacy with So- . 
 veraignty. 3. \^4n alterable Order with an unalterable 
 Effential, Detected, p. 8 r . 
 Chap. 20. Dete<5t. 11. The vanity of their pretending 
 Tradition delected, p. 85. How far we are for Traditi- 
 on^ p. 87. Tradition confeundeth Popery, p. 98. 
 Chap. 1 1 . Dete&. 1 2 . Their pretence that the Greeks and 
 all other Churches were once under the Pope, Detected, 
 
 p. 102. 
 
 Chap. 22. Dete&. 13. Their plea that the Church of 
 
 Rome is a True Church, and therefore we Are Schifma- 
 
 ticks for feparating from it 6 Detected, p. 1 03 . 
 
 Cha*p 23. Detedl. 14 Their pretending to fixed Vnity 
 
 and Jetfltdnefs , and that we are at, uncertainty,, 
 
 in-.. 
 
The Contents. 
 
 incoherent, and changelings, Detected, p. 107. 
 
 Ghap. 24. Dete<5h 15. Their plea that our Church and 
 Religion is new, and theirs old 5 and their calling fir a 
 Catalogue , and proof of the Succefsion of our Church 
 before Luther, Detected ; and our Church made known 
 to them, p. 115. Aud vindicated from H. Turber- 
 vile'; exceptions. Proved fully that perfons differing 
 in points of Faith are Chrifiians,and of the fame Church 
 p. I25,»27,&c. And that the Abattines, Armenians, 
 Copties, Greeks, cjre. Are of the fame Church with 
 us, proved. H. T'j proof ef their Succefsion confuted, 
 to p. 141. 
 
 Ghap. 25. Dete«ft. 16. Their jumbling all our differences 
 together , and then making leffer or common differences 
 to be the Protefiant Religion, Detected, p. 141, 
 
 Thirty two points of ropery named, which they are chal- 
 lenged to prove a Succefsion of, with my promt [e to re- 
 ceive what is fo proved, p. 142. H. J's Arguments for 
 the Succefsion of their Doctrine confuted to p. 155. 
 Papi/ls have th&je in their Church that differ in point of 
 Faith, p. j 55 . 
 
 No fuch difference between us and the mofl of the Chri- 
 ftian world as can prove us not of the fame Catholick 
 Church, proved again ft H. T. in the in fiances , i t of 
 Invocation of Saints, p. 1 5 7. 2. Praying for the dead, 
 p. 160. 1* Veneration or Adoration of Images, Crofs 
 and Reliques,Tp. 162.4. Tranfubflantiation, 5 . Sattf- 
 faction and Purgatory^ 6. ofFafls, Free-wilL &c. 
 Cha,p. 2 6.Dete<5r. 17. Their falfe interpretation of the 
 fayings of Ancients, from whence they would extdrt a 
 proof of their Soveraignty,. Detected m eight in fiances, 
 
 p. 169. 
 Chap. 27. Deted. 18. Their corrupting Councils And. 
 Fathers, and citing fitch ^ Detected, p. 176. 
 
 (/3) Chap. 
 
 21 
 
The Contents. 
 
 Chap. 28. Deted. 19. Their perfivadmg the -people that 
 
 tve are all Lyars, that nothing rve fay and write may be 
 
 regarded, p. 182. 
 
 Chap. 25?. Detect. 20. Their feigned Miracles: 184. 
 
 The ftory of the Boy of .Bilfon, p. 185. 
 
 Chap. 30. Dete<5t, 21. Their Impudent Jlaitders. The 
 
 horrid Lyes again ft Luther and Calvin, infifledm by 
 
 the Marquefs of Worcefter, and their common Writers^ 
 
 full) detected., p. 189. 
 
 Chap. 3 1 . Dete<5t. 2 2. Their quarrels at oar Tranflations 
 
 of Scripture, p. 200. 
 
 Chap. 3 2. Detect . 2 3 . Their defign to make the Minifters 
 
 od-tous to the people. Their riches and ours compared, 
 
 p. 201. 
 Chap. 3 3 . Detect. 24. Their cavils again ft our Miniflry, 
 Ordination and Succefsion, confuted, p. 2 o 5 . 
 
 Chap. 34. Detect. 25. Their pretence of the Holt- 
 mfs of their Church , and the unholinefs of ours : 
 And 1. of their Canonized Saints , p. 214, 217. 
 2.. of the fir i cine fs of their Religious Orders. 3. of 
 their unmarryed Clergie, p. 227. 4. Their Holy cere- 
 monies. 
 Chap. 35. Detect.26. 1 heir demanding of us to tell them 
 when every one of their Corruptions did begin, p. 233. 
 Their Novelty proved, p. 234,^. 
 
 A Confutation of a Papijls M. S. on this point , which 
 was fent to Mr, Millard, neer Stur bridge, p. 244. 
 Chap.36. Detect. 27. They charge us with New Articles^ 
 for denying their new Articles of Faith, and then bid us 
 prove the Succefsion of our Negatives, p. 258. 
 
 Chap. 37. Detect. 28. 7 hey conclude that theirs is the 
 frfer Religion, becaufe it is mo [I uncharitable and damn- 
 eth others, and ours the le(s fafe becaufe the more chari- 
 table, p. 2,61. 
 
 They 
 
The Contents. 
 
 They admit or fave fTeatbcns while- theywvuid damn Prtr- 
 teflants, proved, p. 265. 
 
 Chap. 38. Deteft. 25?. They win the Great cmes and mul- 
 titude by [twin* their Doctrine and-Woiftr.p to tbeflefily 
 conceits artd inclinations of ungodly men, p. 271. 
 jhewcdintwcntyinftanccs. 
 
 Chap. 59.0eted. 30. They fuk up'x intakes or barfi 
 pafjages of fome particular Divine's, and pfrfwademen 
 that tbcfe are the Protcflant R eltgfkt', p. 27^. 
 
 A Confutation of Cardinal Rrchlieu'j twelve \fccu fattens 
 or Arguments again ft the' Prof t(t ants, p.'2^o,:8r. j 
 
 Chap. 42. Detett. 35. Their pretence of a D.vir.c infli- 
 tut ion, and Natural Excellency of a vifiblc CMonarchi- 
 cal Government of the whole Church Detected, p. 297, 
 
 An Anfwerto the ridiculous Keafons of Cardinal Boverius 
 to Prince Charles, p. 297.. 
 
 Chap. 43. Detect. 34. Their new device of receiving no- 
 thing as Scripture Evidence; hut the exprefs words, 
 
 P 3°7. 
 
 Chap. 44. Deteft. 35. They choofc fuch pcrfons to difpute 
 with againfi whom they have fome notable advantage, 
 
 p. 312. 
 
 Chap. 45. Deteft. 36. Their defigns to divide m> orfow 
 Hcreftes among the Vulgar, and then draw them to fome, 
 odious praeiices, p. 313. About our late changes and 
 warres, and Herefus in England . The Proteftants,and ' 
 particularly the Presbyterians vindicated from their 
 charge of kitling the late King, p }2i. Tet the cafe 
 different from t heirs, p. 323. How Pap/ [Is have crept 
 inti mo ft parties, p. 3 27. What Herefies and Seels are 
 their proper [pawn, p. 330. 
 
 Chap. 46. Detect, 37. They Hide themfelves {in their 
 Agents and new Converts .« ) The means : Our danger 
 by the Hiders : 7 he Detection, p . 3 3 7 . to 3 45 ♦ . 
 
 Chap. . 
 
2 4 The Contents. 
 
 Chap. 47. Detect. 38. Their exceeding wduftry to 
 pervert men of Interefi and power, p.345. 
 
 Chap. 48. Dete&. 39. Their Tr eafons againft the lives 
 of Princes and the Peace of Nations , and their dijfol- 
 ving the bond of Oaths and Covenants , and making 
 Perjury and Rebellion to feem Duties and Merit oriut, 
 p. 348. proved from themselves j their recrimination 
 about the late Kings death further re felled, p. 3 5 J. 
 
 Chap. 49. Detett. 40. Their laft courfe is to turn to open 
 Hoftility, and fir up Princes to war and hlood, p. 3 5$. 
 
 Chap. 50. Some Prof of als to thePapiftsfor a{Hopelefs) 
 Peace, p. 3*4» 
 
 The 
 

 snl 25 
 
 ^ V 
 
 llieContents of the Second Part. 
 
 Qi?eft« ^ff H ether the way to bed the Divifions in the 
 Churches ofchrifl.be bj drawing them all into 
 One Vnlverfal Viftble Political body , under One Vni- 
 verfaf viftble Head $r Government ? Or -whether the 
 Catholiek Church be 'a body (0 United and Governed f 
 Ncg. 
 
 Chap. i. She wing the Occafions andreafins of this writing 
 cfpe daily xs from the Grot tans ; Mr* Pierce'* exceptions 
 waniftfled to be frivolous^ p. j79 /: Qro;ius [faking 
 Engliih to grat; fie cj^/r, Pierce, p.385. 
 
 Chap. 2. The true flate of the Contr over fie : and what 
 Confociations of Pa for s , and ttnidn of Cb arches wt 
 grant, p. 394. 
 
 Chap. 3. Our Arguments for the Negative. F if "tun Re a- 
 fons againft the Popes Soveraigntj briefly named, p. 402. 
 
 Again ft the Headjhip of Pope or General Council, Ar- 
 gum. 1 . From the nonextjlcnce ofanuniverfil Head, 
 
 a • r 1& a r , r ■ • P ', 4 ? 4 ' 
 
 Argum. 2 . It never dtdexifl, much lefs in continued juc- 
 cefsion, p. 406. 
 
 Argum. 3. A General Council unneceffary , impcfstbU, 
 and would be unjuft. p. 409. proved 'to p. 4 2 1 . 
 
 Argum. 4. If affcmbled^ it could not pojsib'.ydothewoik 
 of the Head or Soveragn, p. 42 1. 
 
 Argum. 5. None hath power to fummon a General Coun- 
 cil, p. 42 1. 
 
 Argum. 6. fopc nor Council have not the Legijlat/ve 
 
 Power, to the church Vniverfal y p. 42 3 . 
 
 (/) Argum. 
 
16 The Contents. 
 
 Argum. 7. Pope nor Council Are not the Fount An of 
 
 Power to aII Church officers, p. 42 5 • 
 
 Argum . 8. In great CAufes all may rot appeal to them, nor 
 
 can they finally decide, P* 42 5 • 
 
 Argum. g. They cannot put down other inferior officers 
 
 through the world, p. 42 6. 
 
 Argum. 10. & 1 1. Our Relation to fuch a Head not Ef- 
 
 fential to ourChriflianity, nor Are we baptized into fuch 
 
 \Hr*d ,. 1,~ 
 
 Atteaa, p. 127. 
 
 Argum. 12. Thit Head no Principle anciently taught the 
 CAtechizedy p. 428. 
 
 Argum . 1 3 . & 1 4. It is no Treafon or damning fin to deny 
 this Head, Nor Are all chriftians bound to ftudy the Laws 
 of Popes And Councils , p-H* 8,429. 
 
 Argum. 1 j. & 1 6. The Be ad of the Church muft be evi- 
 dent to aII the members : and his Laws certain, p.430. 
 
 Argum. 17.& 18. Councils and Decretals muft not be ufu- 
 aSy preached. A Vtfible He Ad not agreed on among Pa- 
 pifts : and therefore a* none, p. a j 1 . 
 
 Argum. 19. Ho fuch Head revealed in Scripture, p. 432. 
 
 Argum. lO.The Scripture appropriates the Soveraignty to 
 Chrift only $.W$. Proved-, and the objections anjwered* 
 
 Chap. 4. Opening the true grounds on which the Churches 
 Vnity and Peace muft be fought, And the means that 
 muft be ufedto AttAtnfo much A4 is here to be expected, 
 
 1. The GenerAl Grounds , P«44P. 
 
 The trueparticuUr Grounds of Peace t h twenty Propo fit tons, 
 
 p. 442. 
 
 What unity to be here expected, p«443« 
 
 The Applications of the for ef aid Grounds, or thereduthon 
 of themirito practice, p. 45 3. 
 
 The Conclufion, p. 455. 
 
SSSMitt 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 pAge 14.1-9- t.TUtina. p.30.1.9. r. F or mo f us. p. 3 1. I.19. r. Cardinals, p. f 8. 
 1. 13. r.tfttvw-time.p.yj. Lj. & i6.t.Filiuliui.8c I.9. & i^.v.Bauny. & I.13. 
 x.aman may do.p.gi.L-j.x.Baldelliis. 1.13. r. Efcobar. p. 78. 1.1 f blot out foo. 
 p.8i.l.3 blot out >M»r p.io4.1.i$. for reafoned,x. ccafed. x>.n6. 1. penult, for 0/ 
 r. ta\c. p.13 i.l.penult. x.yignerim. p. 134. I.3 6. for /zyc ,<#>, r. the fifth All. 
 vi.i/tfA.9. r. to receive fo many. &. 1. ig.r.wfJetfhe /w//>. p.157 \.$$Sor Juf.r. 
 Jof. p.i7o-l-9.for which,*. with. \>.ii) <$.[.$<;. fox this,x.bis. p I96.L36 r. e./W- 
 wi». p.io6.1.i7.foro/,r.o)-. & l.iS.for D/.r.D. p.xj3.l.7 r. when we do. \>.izo. 
 1. 36 x.Dantes. P.2.14.I.Z.& i^s.the names in the Accuf. cafe.xy.n^A.^.x .your 
 felf.\>-i$ 9.1.3 1 .r.Anathcm.i's.ip.z6 i.l.$ $ .v.not,foz nor. f. 166X17. r.that it is.l. 
 z8s.Camts.r).z67A.io.r.tocndtbe p.z88.1.i4.for left,x.left. Y-iyj. 1. 17. for 
 thcm^.the.^.^iif.v.Vaulus ^ . p .3 56.I.3 i.r.tafcbftt.p^tfz.l.aS.r.df /<t/2. p.3^.1. 
 8.for #My> x.many.&c l^^.x.Maldonalc.^.^^j.l.^o.x.thc otbe. 0fA.31.tor parties, 
 v.ftraw. p.409.1.3i.r.i« the. l$6. blot out ?i.on?. p.411.1.13 x.prcfidcd. p. 416. 
 1. 17. blot out o/ - . p.432 1.3^. for had, r. had not. p. 434. I.4. for re, r. ^f, p. 
 43 5- 1. 1. r. members, p^j.l.^.blotout a. p. 4ja.l.io. r. But when the. 
 
 , . Preface, zaze 3.1ineio. v. Religion p. 13. 1-lf. for you x. them, 
 .'nttp.?.l.xf. for Cardinal I ovcr'uu, r. Carolus Boverius. 
 
 K<$ 
 

 ks}A 
 
 
 A 
 
 Key for Cattiolicks* 
 
 To open the juglings of the 
 
 tfefuits, and fat is fie all that are but 
 truly willing to understand , whe- 
 ther the caute of the V x omme, or the Reform- 
 ed Churches, be of G ui : anJ to leave the Reader 
 utterly uncxcufabl;*, if after this he will be a Vdpjl* 
 
 C-H A p. I. 
 
 ff fcg^fe^gTO ^HE thoughts of the divided ftate of Cfcri- 
 ftians have brought one of the grcateft: 
 and eonftanteft fadnefs to my Sou] , that 
 ever it was acquainted with ; efpecially 
 to remember.that while we are quarrel- 
 ling, and plotting, and writing, and fight- 
 ing againft each other, fo many parts of 
 the world ( about five of fix ) remain 
 in the Infidelity of Heathenifm , fudaifm oc A'fdhomctattifm , 
 where millions of poor fouls do need our help ; and if all out 
 ftrength were jovned together for their Illumination and Sal- 
 vation, it would be too little. Oh horrible (hame to the face 
 
 B of 
 
Al^ey for Catholic h> 
 
 of Chriftendom , that the Nations are quietly ferving the De- 
 v>L,and the Turk is in poiTeftion of fomany Countries, that once 
 were the Inheritance of Chrift, and that his Iron yoak is ftill 
 upon the necks of the pcrfecutcd Greekj, and that he ftandsup 
 at cur doors in fo formidable a pofture, ftill ready to devour the 
 reft of the Chriftian world ; and yec that inftead of combining 
 ro refift him, and vindicate the caufe and peop.'e of the Lord , 
 we are greedily fucking the blood of one another , and tearing 
 m pieces the body of Chrift with furious hands, and dettroying 
 our felvcstofave the enemy a labour, and fpending that wit, 
 that treafure, that labour and thac blood, to da(h our felves in 
 pieces on one another, which might be nobly, and honeftIy,and 
 happity fpent in the caufe of God. 
 
 Thcfe thoughts provoked me to many an hours confideratK- 
 on, How the wounds of the Church might be yet healed ; And 
 have made it long a principal part of my daily Prayers, that the 
 Reconciling Light might (hinc from Heaven, that might in fome 
 good meafure takeup oar differences; and that God would at 
 laft give healing Principles and difpofitions unto men, efpf cially 
 to Princes and the Paftors of the Church. But the more Iftu- 
 died how it might be done,the more difficult, if not iropoffible 
 kappearM, and all becaufc of the Romane Tyranny, the Vice- 
 Chrift or pretended Head of the Church , being with them 
 become an eflential pirt of it , and the Subjedion to him eflen- 
 tial to our Chriiiianky ir felf . So that (faith Bellarmittede Ec- 
 clef.l. 3 .c 5 . ) No m.injhough he vpcnldycan be a Subjctt of Chrift , 
 that is not fub'ytt to the Pope ^ and this with abundance of into- 
 lerable corruptions they have fixed by the fancy of rheir own 
 Infallibility, and built upon • his foundation a worldly Kingdom, 
 and che temporal Riches and Digniry of a numerous Clergy , 
 twining fome Princes alio into the Intcreft ; fo that they cannot 
 poffibly yield to us in the very princ pal points of difference , 
 unlefs they w 11 denv the very Eflence of their New Chriftia- 
 nity and Church, and pluck up the foundations which they have 
 fo inrfuftrioufh laid , and lesve men to a fufpicion that they are 
 fallible hereafter, i( they {hall confefs themfclves miftaken in 
 any thing now^and unlefs they will be fo admirably felf-denying, 
 as to let go the temporal advantages which fo many thousands 
 ©f thena arc interefUd in ; And whether fo much light may be 
 
 hoped 
 
A %ey for Catholicks. 
 
 hoped for in lb dark a generation, or fo much love to God, and 
 felf-denyal in millions of men fovoid of ielf denyal , is eafie 
 to conje&urc : And we cannot in thefe^rf atefl matters come 
 over to them, unlefs we will flatly betray our Souls, and depart 
 from the Unity of the Catholick Church, and from the Center 
 of that Unity, to unite with another called the Romane Catholick 
 Church, in another Center. /Vnd if wc fhould thus caft away 
 the Truth and Favour of God, and fin againft our Knowledge 
 and Gmfcience, and fo prove men of no Faith or Religion ,under 
 pretence of defiring a Vnitj in Faith and Religion, yet all would 
 not do the thing intended, but we fhould certainly mifs of thefc 
 very ends which we fcek, when we had fold the Truth and our 
 Souls to obtain them. For there is nothing more certain, then 
 that thtChriftian World will never unite in the RomAne V'ce- 
 Chrift, nor agree with them in their Corruptions, agiinit plain 
 Scripture, Tradition, Confentof the ancient Church, againft 
 the Reafon and common fenfe of Mankind , This is not by any 
 wife man to be expected. Never did the univerfal Church, or 
 one half of it center to this day in die Romane Soveraignty : 
 And why fhould they hope for that which never yet was done ? 
 When they had their Primacy of Place ( to be the Bifhop of the 
 firft Seat, and firft of the Patnarcks ) it made the Pope no 
 more a Soveraign and a Vice-Chrift,then the King of France is 
 Soveraign to the Duke of Saxony or Bavaria -, or ihen the Se- 
 nior Juftice on the Bench is the Soveraign of the reft : and yet 
 even this much he never had but from the Romane Empire : 
 What claim did be ever lay in his firft Ufurpations, to any 
 Church without thofe bounds? It was the Empire thatraifed 
 him, and the Empire iimited his own Ufurpations. Saitb their 
 own Rtiniriu4 y ( or whoever clfe ) Cont. Waldenf. ^ataf. 
 in Biblioth. Patr. To. 4. fag 773. [ The Church et of the 
 Armenians, and ^Ethiopians , and Indians, and the reft 
 which the Apofiles converted, are not under the Church of Rome. J 
 Yea in Gregories days, they found the Churches of Brittain and 
 Ireland both ftrangers and adverfaries to their So veraigmy ,in- 
 fomnch as they could not procure them to receive their Go- 
 vernment, nor change fo much as the time of Ea(ier for them , 
 no nor to have Communion with tbemat laft : Anno 614. 
 Lanrtntitis tbeir Arab- Bifhop here wrote this Letter ( with 
 
 B 2 Mtllttm 
 
A Kfy for tatbolicks. 
 
 
 Mellitus indfti/lnj) to the Bifhops and Abbots in ail Scot- 
 land ( that is? Ireland ) [ while the Sea Apoft>)lii\ after its manner 
 diretled tu to preach to the Pagan Nations in theft Weftem parts , 
 as in the whole world ; and we happened to enter this Ifiandt called 
 Brittain , before we knew themjbelieving that they talked after the 
 manner of the tsniverf/il Church , we reverenced bsth the Brit- 
 tains and tbeScots in great Reverence of their Sanctity. But when 
 we knew the Bnttains, we xhought the Scots were better. But we 
 have learnt by Daganusf^ r BtJb>p in this forementiened Ifls.nd , 
 and by Columfoanusf/^ Abbot coming into France, that the Scots 
 do nothing differ from the Brittains in their Conv erf ation. For 
 Bt/hop Daganus coming to us, ref fifed not only to eat with us y but 
 even to eat in the fame Uoufe where we did eat. ~\ Vfher Epift. 
 Hibern.y.p.iS. 
 
 Our molt peaceable Bifhop Hall was forct to write a [[ Roma 
 irreconciliabilis. " While we are thinking of Reconciliation, 
 they are about: our ears with Plots and violence , and with 
 fwarrns of Rome-bred Sects , and are day and night induftri- 
 oufly undermining us ^ fo that by their continual Alarms, I 
 am called off to thefe defenfive wars which he re I have under- 
 taken; yet ftill refolving that the Defperatenefs of the Cure 
 (hall not make roe run from them into a contrary extream, nor 
 be out of the way of Peace, nor ncgleft any necefTary means, 
 howhopelefs focver of fuccefs. 
 
 The Work that here I have undertaken, is, i. To give you 
 briefly thofe Grounds on which you muft go , if you will keep 
 your ground againft a Papift. 2. To give a few invinci- 
 ble Arguments, which the weakeft may be able to ufe, to over- 
 throw che principal grounds of thePapifts. 3. To deteft their 
 Frauds, and give to rhe younger fort of Minifters, fufficient 
 Dirt&ions for the Confutation of all the Papifts in the 
 world. 4. To propound (though in vain) fuch terms of Peace 
 as wc can yield to. 
 
 Chap. 
 
A^ey for Qatbolkks- 
 
 Chap. II. 
 
 BEfore I mention the Grounds or Caufe that you muft 
 maintain , I muft prcmife this Advice to the Common 
 People. 
 
 i . Wrong not the Truth and your felves by an unequal con- 
 fltft. Enter not rafhiy upon Difputes with thoic that are 
 Learned and of nimble tongues , if you be ignorant , or of 
 weak capacities your felves. Though I (hill here fhew you that 
 Scripture, Church, Tradition, Reafon and Senfe are on your 
 fide, yet experience tels us how chc words of Juglcs have made 
 rai lions of men deny belief to their eyes, their tafte and other 
 fenfes. An ignorant man U foon lilenced by a fubtile wit •, and 
 many think that when they cannot anfwer, they muft yield , 
 though they deny both Senfe and Reafon by it. If any of them 
 fecretly ent ce you, defire them to debate the cafe with fome 
 able, learned, experienced Mmifter in your hearing. It is the 
 office of your Paftors to defend you from the wolves : If you 
 once defpife them or ftraggle from them and the Flocks, and 
 truft to your own Reafon that is unfurnilhed and unprepared 
 for fuch work , you may take that you get by ir, if you be un- 
 done. You need the help of Paftors for your fou ! s,as well as of 
 Phylicians for your Bodies, and Lawyers for your Eftates : or 
 elfe God would neve: - have fee them over you in his Church, 
 Let them but come on equal terms , and you (hall fee what 
 Truth can do. In this way we will not avoid a Conference 
 with any of them. But alas ! with ignorant unlearned people , 
 what mty not fuch Deceivers do ? that canperfwade fo ma- 
 ny thoufand fouls to give no Credit to their own eyes,or tafte, 
 or feeling , but ro believe a Pricft,that Bread is not Bread, and 
 W»ne is not Wine. 
 
 2. Yet I would have the weakeft to endeavour tomderfland 
 the rtafons of their Profefiion.andto be able to repell Deceivers.* 
 And co that end , I (hall here give you firft fome Diredions 
 concerning the canfe which you muft defend. 
 
 An! concerning this , Obferve thefe things following. 
 I. Uide;ftand what the Religiun is that you muft bold and 
 maintain; It is thciHCientChnltian Religion. Do not put every 
 
 B 3 Truth 
 
A J^ey for Catbolkks. 
 
 Truth among the Eflentials of your Religion : Our Religion 
 doth not ftand or fall with every Controverfie that is raifed 
 ■bout* it. That which was the true Religion in the Apoltlcs 
 dayiisours now: that which all were baptized into the Pro 
 fcfiion of, and the Churches openly held forth as their Belief. 
 Reformation brings us not a new Religion : but eleanfeth the 
 old from the drofs of Popery, which by innovation they had 
 brought in. A man that cannot confute a Papift , may yet be a 
 Chriitian, and fo hold faft the true Religion. It followethnot 
 rhat our Religion is queftionable or unfafe , iffome point in 
 Controverfie between them and us be queftionable or hard . The 
 Papifts would fain bring you to believe that our Religion muft 
 lie upon fomcof thefe Controverfics : but its no fuch matter. 
 Perhaps you will h)\Tbatthen it it not about Religion that rre dif- 
 fer from them. I anfwer ; yes : it is about the Efjcntiah of their 
 Religion , but it is but for the preferving the Integrity of ours 
 againft the Confequcnces and additions of theirs. They have 
 made them a New Religion ( which we call Popery ) and joined 
 this to the Old Religion ( which we call Chriftianity. ) Now 
 we Rick to the old Religion alone , and therefore there is more 
 eflential to their Religion, then is to ours ; fo that our own Re- 
 ligion, even the ancient Chriftianity y is out of Controverfie be- 
 tween us. The Papifts do contefsthat the Creed, the Lords 
 Prayer , the ten Commandments are true , yea that all the 
 Scripture is the word of God, and certainly true: fo that 
 our Religion is granted us as part difpute : And therefore it is 
 only the Papifts Religion that is in queltion between us, and not 
 ours. If you will make thofe lower Truths to be of the EiTencc 
 of your Religion which are not , you will give the Papifts the 
 advantage which they defire. 
 
 2. If the Papifts call for a Rule, orTeft of your Religion , 
 and ask you where they may find it , allvgn them to the Holy 
 Scriptures, and not to any Confefsions of Churches , further 
 then as they agree with that. We know of no Divine Rules 
 and Laws of Faith and Life , but the holy Scripture ( and the 
 beam of Believers have animperfe&Tranfcriptof them J The 
 Confefsions of Churches are but part of the Holy Scripture, or 
 Collections out of them , containing the points of greateft 
 weight ; And if in pbrtfe or order ( much more in matter)there 
 
 be 
 
A t\ey for Qatbolkks. 
 
 be tny thing humane, we make it not our Rale, nor are we 
 bound to make it good , no more then the Writings of godly 
 men. A point is not therefore with us an Article of Faith, 
 becaufeour ChurchesoraSynod put it into aConfefsion , but 
 
 beciufe it is in the Word of God. For a Councils determi- 
 nations do with us differ but gradually from the Judgement of 
 afingleman, in this refpecl. And therefore we give them the 
 Scripture only as the full Do&rine of our Faith, and the perftft 
 Law of God; And thofe points in ir t which Life or Death is laid 
 upon , and God hath told us, we cannot be faved without, we 
 take as the EiTentials of our Religion , and the reft as the Inte- 
 grals only. 
 
 If they ask, pyhj then wt do dr4iv up Ccnfeljions of Faith ? I 
 anfwer, i . To teach and help the people . by gathering to their 
 hands the mod neceffary points, and giving them fometimes an 
 explication of them. 2. To let our Accufers fee that wemif- 
 underftand not the Scriptures. 3 . To let PafWs and other Sub- 
 je&s know what fence of Scripture the Magiftrate will own 
 within his Dominions. 4. And to let the Pafters and the world 
 know what fence in the principal Points we are agreed in. But 
 ftill we take not our Confefiions for our Divine Rule; and there • 
 fore if there be any errour io a Con r effton , there is none in the 
 Rule of our Religion, and confequently none in the Religion 
 which we all agree in 5 but only in fuchaperfons or Churches 
 expofition of the Rule, which yet among Chriftians is not in 
 any eiTenrial Point. 
 
 3 . Underlhnd well what is the Catholic^ Church, that when 
 the Papift$a*k you what Church you are of, or call to you to 
 prove its antiquity or truth, you may give them a found and 
 Catholick anfwer. The Catholick Church is the whole number 
 of trueChritVans upon earth ( for we meddle not now with 
 thit part which is in Heaven.) It is not tyed to P'roteflants on- 
 ly, nor to the oreeks only, much lefs to the Romanics only, 
 or to any other party whatsoever • but it comprehended all the 
 members of Chnft ; and asvifible, it containeth all that pro- 
 fe r $ th Chriftian Religion by a credible profeflion. If the Chri- 
 stian Religion may be known, then a man may know that be is a 
 Chnftian, and confequently a member of the Catholick Church. 
 But if dieChnftian Religion cannot bcknown,then no man can 
 
 kt.ow 
 
8 Afyyfor Otholicks. 
 
 know which is the Church, or which is a Chriftiari. Ali ChrinV 
 ans united to Chrilt the Head, arc this Catholick Church. If you 
 tyc the Charch to your own party, and make a wrong defcrip- 
 tion of it, you will enfnare your felves,and fpoil your belief, and 
 your defence of it. 
 
 4. Run not into extream? : mix not any unfound principles 
 withyour Religion. For if youdo,thcPapifts will cull outthofe, 
 and by difgracing them, will feem to difgrace your Religion. 
 
 5. life not any unfound Arguments to defend the Truth. For 
 if you do, the truth will fuffer , and feem to be overthrown by 
 the weaknefs of your Arguments. 
 
 6. Joynnot with thofe men that caft out any Ordinance of 
 God, becaufethe Papifts haveabufed it. Reformation of cor- 
 rupted Iniritutions is not by the Abolition of them, but by the 
 Reftaurarionof them. There are few things in ufe among the 
 Papifts themfelvesas part* of worfhip , but may lead us up to a 
 good original, or tell us of fome other real Duty which did de- 
 generate intothtfe. 
 
 7. Joyn not with thofe ignorant, unpeaceable, felf- conceited, 
 womanifh, rabious Divines, or private men, that pour out un- 
 worthy reproaches at godly men among our felves,as if they were 
 Hereticks , or fuch as the Churches (houlddif-own. Forthefe 
 are they that pleale the Papifh, and harden them in their Error, 
 and offend the weak. 1 bey think they may call us Hereticks or 
 Blafphemers byauthorttv, when wecallone another fo Such 
 Railers teach them what to fay, and play their game more effe- 
 duallv then they could do their own. When they are alluring 
 the fimple people, how foon will they prevail , if they can but 
 prove their charge againit us from the pens of Protectants them- 
 felves ? 
 
 Having told you on what grounds you rauft make good your 
 caufe againit them, 1 (hall next give you three or four eafie Ar- 
 guments (fome of them formerly given you J by which even 
 the weakeft may prove that Popery is but deceit. 
 
 Chap. 
 
A K^y for Catholicks. 
 
 CH a p. I II. 
 
 Argum. I. IF there he any godly honeft men on earth befides 
 X Papifls , then Popery ufalfe and not ef God. Bat 
 there be gedly honeft men en earth befides Papifls : therefore 
 Popery is falfe t andnot of God. 
 
 The Major is proved thu«. It is an Article of the Popifh faith, 
 that there are no godly honeft: men on earth , befides. Papifts : 
 therefore if there be any fueh, Popery is faife, fBy godly honeft 
 men, I mein fuel) as have true love to God , and fo are in a fiatc 
 of falvation. ) The Antecedent I prove thus. i. Their very 
 definition of the Church doth make the Pope the Head , and 
 confine the raemberfhip only to his fubje&s, making the Roman 
 Catholick Church Cas they call it) the whole. 2. But yet left 
 any ignorant Papifts fay, I may be a Roman (fatholick^withaut be- 
 lievingthat all others are ungodly, and piailbe damned t \ will give 
 it you in the Determination of a Pope and general Council . Leo 
 the tenth, Abrog. Pragm.fanEl .B ulL in the 17 th - General Coun- 
 cil at the Liter anc, faith [_And feeing it it of neceffity to falva- 
 tion, that all the faithful of Chrifl be fubjeclto the Pope of Rome , 
 a* we are taught by the tefiimony of divine Scripture, and of the 
 holy Fathers, and it is declared in the (fonfUtuiion of Pope Boni- 
 face 7. &c. 1 And Pope Pita the fecond w -is converted from 
 being i/Endas Sylvius by this Do&rine of a Ordinal, approved 
 by him at Urge, Bull. Retratl. in the Vol. 4. of ' Binnius,p. 514. 
 £ / came to the Fountain of Truth , which the holy Dol~bcrs > both 
 Greeks and Laiine (he^o -, who with one voyce fai, that he cannot 
 be favtd that holdctb net the unity of the holy Church of Rome ; 
 and that all thofe vertucs are maimed to him that refufeth to obey 
 the? ope of Rome •, though he lye in facecloth and aftes, and fajt 
 and pray both day and night, and feem in theotUr things to ful- 
 fill the Law of God.} So that if a Pope and General Council be 
 falfe, then Popery is falfe.For their infallibility is the ground of 
 their faith, and they take it on their unerring authority. But 
 if the Pope and a General Council be to be believed, then no 
 man but a fub je& of the Pope can be faved : no , though he 
 faft and pray in lack- cloth and afhes day and night, and feem to 
 fulfill the reft of the Law of God. Its certain therefore that if 
 
 C iny 
 
i o A l\ey for Catbolicks. 
 
 any one of you that call your fclves Roraane Catholicks do noc 
 believe that all the world (hall be damned fave your felves , you 
 are indeed no Romanc Catholicks, but are Hereticks your felves 
 in their account; for you deny a principal Article of their faith ; 
 and deny the Infallibility of the Pope with a General Council, 
 which is your very Foundation. 
 
 And therefore we find that even in the great charitable work 
 of reducingthe Abajfincs, the Jefuite Gonzalus Rodericus in his 
 fpcethto the Emperoms mother laid (o great a ftrefs on this 
 point, that when fhs profeffed her fubjc&iontoChrilt betold 
 her, that [ None are fubjetl to Chrift that Are not fubjetl to his 
 Vicar ,1 [ Negavi Chrijh fubjici qui ejus vicario nan fubjicitur.] 
 Ccdignus dereb. Aba/sin. Lib. i.e. i8.in Rodcric. liter, p. 323. 
 
 And Bellarmine faith (de Bed. l.%.(.% ) that I no man though 
 he -would can be fnb'jcB to Chijl that is not fubjett to the Popc~\ 
 that is, he cannot be a Chrifttan. And therefore Card. Rich- 
 lieu ( then Bifhop of Lttjfon.) tcls the Proteftants that they 
 were not to be called Chrijlians. And Knot againft Chilling- 
 worth, with abundance more of them, aiTcrcingthatProteftants 
 cannot be faved, do eafily learn to practice this Le flon of the 
 Pope and Council. I come now to prove that your Pope, and 
 Councill, and Faith are falfe, and that others be fides you may 
 be in a flate of Charity and Salvation. ( For you confefs 
 your felves, that he that isinafhteof Charity, is in aftate of 
 Salvation. ) 
 
 I. If a man may knoVc his own heart , then there are others 
 beftdes Papifis that are in Charity, and are godly men : ( and 
 fo in a flate of Salvation ) But a man maj kn.-w his crvn heart: 
 therefore, &c. 
 
 Tne Confequence of the Major b plain by inward experience 
 to every godiy, honed: man that knoweth himfelf. If I can 
 know my own heart, I muft needs fay I love God, and am not 
 void of fincere Godlinefs and Honefty . And that I may know 
 my own heart I can tell alfo by experience.- For to know ray 
 own Knowledge and Will is an ordinary certain thing , if not by 
 intuition it fclf. And if a man cannot know whether he believe 
 and love God or nor, then no man can give thanks for it, nor 
 make Profeffionof it: nay men cannot converfe together,ifthcy 
 cannot know their own minds. And £c liar mine confeffeth that 
 
 we. 
 
A l\ey jor Qatholicks. \ \ 
 
 we may have a moral Conje&ural certainty that we have true 
 Love, and are juftifTed. And then I have a moral conje&ural 
 certainty at lealr,that Popery is falfe; becaufe I hare at lead fuch 
 acertainty that I amnot ungodry or unjuftihed. So thatlock 
 what meafurc of knowledge or perfwafionany Proteftant hath 
 that he is truly honeft and juftificd, that meafurc of knowledge 
 mull he needs have ( if he underftand himfclf ) that Popery is 
 a deceit. 
 
 So that from hence you may gather thefc four conclufions ; 
 I. That all that have mty knswledge or perflation that the j are 
 not ungodly unjuflified perfons themfilvts,and void of the true 
 Ltve of God, are quite out of danger from turning Papifts, if 
 they undcrfland but what Popery is ; and if they do not, they 
 cannot turn to it, but in parr. 
 
 Z.That never any bineftgodlj man did turn Papift in the world- 
 and this the Papifts therafelves will juftirle : For they fay ( by 
 a Pope and general Council ) that no man can be faved butt 
 Papift : and they generally hold, that all lhac have Charity and 
 arc juftificd, (hall be faved if they fo die. So that if Popery 
 be true, then no man had Charity or true Godiincfs before he 
 was a Papift .- and therefore never did one godly man or woman 
 turn Papift. And therefore let them take the honour of their 
 wicked feduced Ones. What glory is it to them that none ever 
 turned co them but ungodly people? 
 
 3 • And it followeth that the Papifts co nstfo much as defire or 
 invite any godly man to turn to them. If you underftand their 
 meaning, they call you not to turn to them, if you arenotun* 
 godly perfons. 
 
 4. And hence it follows that every one thatturneth Papift, 
 doth thereby confefs that he was a wicked man before , and that 
 he had not the leift true love to God ; that he was not jjftified, 
 but a gracelefs wretch. 
 
 In a word, all you that do but know or hops that you have 
 any faving Grace, have an Argument here againft Popery, 
 which all the fefuites in the world cannot confute. For you 
 know your own hearts better then they : And they have no 
 way to turn you to them, but by perfwadtng you that you are 
 not what you are, and that you know not what you know. So 
 that plainly this is your Argument, [ / k»of» t or I have good per' 
 
 C 2 [ytafwn* 
 
12 A J{cyfor Catholicks. 
 
 fvrafiont that Jam not utterly void of Charity or faving Grace-, 
 therefore I know, or have the fame perfrvafions that Popery isfalfe, 
 which detcrmincth that none have Charity or faving Grace but 
 Papifts. ] 
 
 2. But I proceed to a farther proof of the Minor; A man 
 may have a very ftrong Conjecture that many others that are no 
 Papifts have faving Grace •, though he had no perfwafion that 
 he hath fuch Grace himfelf. And confequently he muft have 
 as ftrong a conjecture that Popery is falte. What abundance 
 of holy heavenly perfonshave we known of all rank? among 
 us / Such is have lived in dayly breathings after God, fpending 
 no fmall part of their lives upon their knees, and in the ferious 
 and reverent attendance upon God in holy worfhip, meditating 
 day and night upon his Law ; hating all known fin, and delight- 
 ing in holincfs, and longing for perfection; and living in con- 
 ftant Temperance and Chafrity, abhorring the very appearance 
 of evill, and making confeienceof an idle word or thought, 
 devoting their lives and kbors, and all they have to God, giving 
 all their Eftatcs ( fome of them ) to pious and charitahlc ufes, 
 except what is neceffary for their dayly brcad,even mean cloath- 
 ing and food; taming their bodies, and bringing them into 
 fubjection , and denying themfelves,and mortifying the flefti , 
 and contemning ail the Honors or Riches of the world, re- 
 foivingtofufferdeathitfelf, ( as many of their Brethren have 
 done from the Papifts ) rather then fin wilfully agiinft God and 
 their confeiences : in a word, living to God, and longing to be 
 with him, and raanifefting thefe longings to the very death; 
 grieving more at any time, if they have but loft the fenfeand 
 perfwafions of the love of God , then if they had loft alt the 
 world ; and would give a thoufand worlds, if they had them , 
 for more of the Love of God in their fouls, and fuller affarance 
 of his Love and Communion with him. As far as words, and 
 groans, and tear*, and the very drift of a mans life, and the 
 expending of all that he hath, can help us to know another 
 mans heart, fo far do we know all this by otbers,that have lived 
 among us. And may we not conjecture, and be ftrongly per- 
 fwaded that thefe, or fome of thefe, or fome one of thefe, was 
 a holy jqftified perfon ? 
 
 And now Reader, if ever thou be tempted to be a Pftpift, I 
 
 will 
 
A H(ey for fcatbolicks. 
 
 will cell thee what a task thou haft : Look on one fide on the 
 Lives of holy men among us, fuch as was Mr. Dodd, Mr. Paul 
 Bayn, W.fVilliam Fenner , Mr. Arthur Hilderjbam, Mr. Robert 
 Bolton, Mr. Greenham, Mr, Hooker, Dr. Sibbs,Dr. Preflon, Dr. 
 Stoughten, Mr. Perkins, with many hundreds more ; Befides blef- 
 fed BradfordjG 'lover, Sanders, Hooper ,and the reft that laid down 
 their lives in the flames in teftimony againft Popery ; befides all 
 thethoufands that in other Nations have dyed by thePapifts 
 hands, becaufe they durft not fin againft God ; and befides all 
 the Learned holy Divines of other Nations, and the millions of 
 Godly Proteftams there ; as alfo look upon all the godly that 
 are now living, men or women, that live in moft earned feeking 
 afcer God and ferving him ; look on thofe about you * . enquire 
 of others •, read the writings of holy Divines: and then remem- 
 ber, you cannot turn Papifl till you have concluded that all thefe 
 are damned, and arc utte-ly void of faving Grace and the Love of 
 God-, If there be but one Proteftant that you know , or any 
 one of all that have been, that you take to be in a faving ftace, 
 you cannot poffibly turn Papift,if you know what you do. For 
 it is eflential to Popery to contradict all this. 
 
 Nay, this is not all : but think of all the Greek Church that 
 lyeth under the tyranny of the Turk , and of all the Armeni- 
 ans, and Abafmts,\r\& other Chriftians in the world , that are 
 more in number far then the Papifts ; and you muft conclude, 
 that not one of all thefe are faved before you can be a c Papijl. And 
 is this an eafie task to one that hath the he3rt of a man in his 
 breft ? If you are no true Chriftians your felves, dare you con- 
 clude that not one of thefe are true Chriftians? If you confefs 
 that you love not God your felves , dare you fay that among 
 the far greater part of the Chriftians of the world, there is not 
 one man or woman that loves God? This you muft fay if you: 
 will bcaPapift. f 
 
 And then on the other hand , Look- on the words of Jefus^ 
 Chrift, and fee what thanks he will give you for fuch a eenfure,, 
 Mat. 7. 1 ,2,3 ,4,5. Judge not, that ye be not judged ■ for -with 
 what judgement yejudgt.ye /hall be judged :. and with what mea- 
 fure you meet , it fhall be meafured. to you again. And. why be- 
 hltiejl thou the mote in thy brothers eye, but confidtrtfl not the beam 
 
 tkat u in thine own eye}. Tbouhypocritc\firfi cafi oHt.theh.am 
 
 C 3 tm 
 
14 odKgy for Catholicks. 
 
 out ef thine own eye , and then fb«lt thou fee clcerly tocaftoxt the 
 mote out of thy brothers cje~^ J am .4. 1 2. There is one Lawgiver 
 that u able to five and to deftroy : who art thou that Judgeft ano- 
 ther ? ] Rom. 1 4. 1 ,2,3 ,4, 1 o. [_ Him that is wcak_ in the faith 
 receive je, but not to doubtful dtfpntations. For one bclieveth that 
 he may eat all things, another who is weak, eateth herbs : Let not 
 him that eateth defpife him that eateth not \ and let not him that 
 caret h not judge him that eateth ' for God hath received" him. Why 
 art thou that judge/l another mans fervant ? to his own ma~ 
 per he ftandexh or falleth • jea he /hall be holden up , for God is 
 able to make him fiand. One man efleemeth one day above another, 
 Another eftcemeth every day alike : Let every man be fully perf wa- 
 ded in his own mind- - • But why doft thou judge thy bro- 
 ther, er why dofl thou fet at nought thy brother ? \fe /hall all ft and 
 before the Judgement feat of thrift. For it is written , as I live 
 faith tbe Lord, every knee [hall bow tome, andevery tongue /hall 
 cenfefs to God ; fo then every one of us Jballgive account of himfelf 
 to God. Let us not therefore judge ene another tny more.] Matth. 
 18.6. \_Butwhofoever foall offend one ef thefe little ones which be~ 
 Hive in mejt were better for him that a milftone were hangedabout 
 his neck^ and that he were drowned in the depth of the Sea. | Mac. 
 25.40,45,34,41. [Come yeblejfed of my Father , inherit the 
 Kingdom — For I was hungry and ye gave me meat — Verily I 
 fay unto ym, in as much at yen have done it unto one of the leaft sf 
 thefe my Brethren, ye have done it unto me. \ Andver.41. [De- 
 part from me ye curfedinto ever lafting fire Verily I fay unto 
 
 you, in as much as you did it not to one of the leaft of thefe, you did 
 it not to*me.~] 
 
 I will recite no more t Judge now by fuchpaffages asthefc, 
 how Chrift fet $ by ene of the leaf of bis fervants : and confequent- 
 ly, how he will take it of you, to judge the far greateft part of 
 his Church to be gracelefs and none of his Church, but fuch as 
 fhall be damned. And if you dare not venture on fo unreafon- 
 able and inhumane a cenfure , againft the experience of fo mnch 
 holinefs as appeared] in them before your eyes, then you cannot 
 -be Papifts : And if you dare venture on it, I leave you to con- 
 (ider, whether under pretenceof being the only Chriftians, you 
 have not done violence to the common rcafon and nature of 
 man. So much for the fecond proof of the Minor. 
 
 3. But 
 
A K^y for Catbolicks. 1 5 
 
 3. But I have yet another proof,, that many that are no 7>a~ 
 pifis are good Chriftians, and cenfecjuently, that Popery is a deceit, 
 and that is the Teftimony of many of their own Writers. I will not 
 call for their teftimony concerning our felves ( for we know 
 our felves better then they &o) but concerning other Churches 
 whom they condemn as Hercticks, or that are no fub jc&s of the 
 Pope of Rome, And I will at this time content my felf with one 
 of msny that might be cited ; and that is a Monk , Burchardus 
 that lived in the Holy Land,ar»d having wrore aDefcription of it, 
 and thofe that inhabit ir,faith of them as followech, ^.325,326. 
 [ And for thefe th.it vrc judge to be damned Hercticks, as the Ne- 
 florians, Jacobites, Maromtes, Georgians, andthelil<e y J found 
 them to be for the mcfi part good an i fimple men , and living ftn- 
 cerelj toward God and men ; they are of great abfiiKcnce^Q. 
 
 And of the llomancCachohcks he faith, page 323. \Th(re arc 
 in the Land of Promife men of every Nation under Heaven, and 
 every Nation lives after their oven Rites : and , to fpeak. the very 
 truth , to our oxen great confuJio» y there are none found in it, that 
 art vforfe y and more corrupt in manners then (fhriftians\ (he means 
 Papifts. ; 
 
 And page 3 24. he tcls us, that the Syrians, Greek?, Armeni- 
 ans, Georgians, Neftoriam, Nubians, Jubeans,Chalc'a\ins , Ma- 
 ronites, Ethiopians, Egyptians, and many other Nations &f Chri- 
 ftians, there inhabit ; and that fome are fchifmatickj not fubjetJ 
 to the Pope ; and others called Here ticks , as the Neftorians, Jaco- 
 bites, &c but (faith he) there are many in t he fc feels that arc 
 very fimple (or fine ere) knowing nothing of herefes : devoted -to 
 Chrift : macerating the flc/b with faftings, andcloathed with the 
 mo ft fimple garments , jo that they far excel the very Religions of 
 the Church of Rome. ,~] fo you hear an A dverfarics teftimony. 
 
 Well then, when a Papifl can prove to me , that I love not 
 God, contrary to my own experience of my felf: aftdwhenhe 
 can make me believe that no one of all the holy Heavenly Chri- 
 ftiansofmy acquain:arce, Minifters,or people, areinaftate of 
 charity or Juft ifiarion : and that no one Chrtftian on earth (hall 
 be faved but a Papift, then I will turn Papift : And till then they 
 donotdefiremetoturn. But I rouft folemnly pro-fefs that this 
 belief is fo difficult to me, and abhorred by my rcafon, and nry 
 whole heart , and fo contrary to my own knowledge, and to 
 
 abundant 
 
1 6 A Kjy for Catholicks • 
 
 abund^rf- evidence, and to allChriRian charity, that I think I 
 fhall as (ban be perfwaded to believe that I am not a man , and 
 that I have rot the ufeof fence or rcafon,or that Snow is b'^ck, 
 and t':c Crow white, as to believe this Elfemial point of Popery. 
 I (hould a hundred times caficr be brought to doubt whether 1 
 have the love of God my felt*, then to conclude all the Chrifti- 
 ans in the world five the Papiits, to be the heirs of damnation. 
 
 Chap. IV. 
 
 Argum.2.-T^H<tt Dotlrintisnottrue tier if God which teachcth 
 A men ta renounce allChriflian Lwe and fVorks of 
 Chriflian Love, towards moll of the Chriftiant upon earth : But 
 fo doth the DMrinetf Popery; therefore it it not of God. 
 
 If their Error were meerly fpeculative, it were the lefs •, but 
 here we fee the fruits of it , and whither it tends. The major 
 Proportion is plainly proved from fohn I 3 .$$.[_£ J this Jhall all 
 men know that ye are my Difciplesjfye have love om to another .] 
 Col. 1. 4. ltmuftbea[_L9vetoallthcSawts.~\ iTheff.4.o.2?«* 
 as touching brotherly leve, ye need not that lrcrite unto you, for je 
 you*- J elves are taught of God to love one another. ) 
 
 This fpecial Love is the Commandment of Chrift, the new 
 Commandment; without this, no mm can be a Lover of God, 
 nor be loved of him as a Member of Chrift, as you may fee f 
 1 John 3. 11,12,14,23. & 4-7,8,1 1,12, 20,21. 2 John 5. 
 fohn 13.34. & 15.12,17. 1 Pet. 1. 22. He that loveth not 
 a Chriftian as a Chriftian,with a fpecial love you may fee in thefe 
 Texcs is none of the Sons of God. And that the Paprfts 
 teach men to deny this fpecial Chriftian Love to moft Chriftians 
 in the world, I prove. They that teach men to take moft true 
 Chriftians in the world for no true Chriftians, but for Heredcks 
 or ungodly pcrfons that (hall be damned , do teach them to deny 
 the fpecial love and works of love to moft true Chriftians : But 
 thus do the Papifts - % therefore, &c. How can a man love him 
 as a Chriftian or a godly man, whom he tnuft take to be no Chri- 
 ftian, or an ungodly man? Its true they may yet iovc them as 
 Creatures, and fo they rauft the Devils •, and they may love 
 them as men, and fo chey nauft the Turks and Heathens : But 
 
 no 
 
A l\ey for Cttbolicks . 1 7 
 
 no man can love him as a member of Chrift, whom he believes 
 to be no member of Chrift, but of the Devil. And all Papiftsarc 
 bound to this uncharitablenefs by their Religion, even by the 
 Pope and general Council. And fo as Chrift bindeth his fervants 
 to Love one another with a fpecial Love ; fo the Pope and Coun- 
 cil bind the Papifts not to love the moft true Chriftians with a 
 fpecial Chriftianlove : they cannot do it without being Hercticks 
 themfelves, or overthrowing the foundation of Popery. 
 
 And here you hare a tafte of the Popifh Charity, when they 
 baaft above all things of their Charity. 1 muft protefs, it is 
 their horrible inhumane uncharitablenefs that feems to me their 
 moft enormous crime. And aifo you may fee here the extent of 
 their Good works, which they fo much Glory in. He that is 
 bound not to love me as a Chriftian, is bound to do nothing for 
 me as a Chriftian. So that they will not give a cup of cold 
 water to aDifcipIc in the name of a Difciple, unlefs he be alfo 
 a Difciple of the Pope : nor can they love or relieve Chrift in his 
 fervants, when they are bound to take them as none of his fer- 
 vants : and fo the fpecial Love and Charily of a Papift extendeth 
 to none but thofe of their own Sedt :and fuch a Charity the 
 Ouakers, aad Anabaptifts, and Familifts have as eminently as 
 they. Let them take heed left they hear, In as much as you did 
 it not to one of tht leaft «f the fe, you did it not to me. 
 
 Chap. V. 
 
 Argum. 3. "Hp Bat TtoVrtnc which teacheth men to dtftroyer 
 X. undo them rvhom Chrift hath bound them to love 
 as Chriftians, and abfolveth Subjects from their Allegiance to their 
 Prin:es t and requireth the depefing of them, and committing the 
 Government of their Dominions to others, becaufe they are judged to 
 be Hertticks by the Tope ; yea or if they will not deftroy and ex- 
 tirpate fuch as he calleth Hereticks ; I fay this Doctrine is net of 
 God, nor fuch as Chriftian Princes fheuld fmile upon. But fuch 
 is the Doctrine of Popery -.therefore, &C 
 
 I know that a Paper cntituled An explanation of the Roman Ca- 
 tholics Belief, and other the like,do feem to renounce the opinion 
 of breaking faith with Hercticks, and of prmift breaking with 
 
 D Magiftratcs 
 
i % A K^yfor Catholic Ks, 
 
 Magistrates ( It fcems they think they owe no more obedience 
 to their Magiflrates then they promile. ) But as I refer the Rea- 
 der to what King fames and his defenders have faid on this point 
 ( befides many more ) (o I (hall now give you but the words of 
 one of their own approved General Council 12. the fourth at 
 the Later ane under Innocent 3. as Binnius and others of their 
 own record ir. In the fir ft Chapter they fet down their Catho- 
 like faith, two Articles of which are, 1. That no man can be 
 faved out of their Vmverfal Church. And 2 . That the bread and 
 trine in the Sacrament of the Altar are tranfubftantiate into the 
 Body and Bloed of (-hrift, the appearances remaining. And in the 
 third Chapter they fay, £ We exc ommstnicate and anathematize 
 every herefie extolling it felf againft this holy orthedox Cat holt ke 
 faith, which we have before exponed, condemning all her t ticks by 
 
 what names foever they be called And being condemned, let 
 
 them be left to the pre fern fecular Powers, er their "Bailifs to he 
 punijhed, the Clergy being firft degraded of their Orders ; and let 
 i the goods of fuch condemned ones be confifcate, if they be Lay -men y 
 but if they be Clergy men, let them be given to the Churches whence 
 they had their fiipends. And thife that are found notable only by 
 fufpition, if they do not by congruous purgation demenflrate their 
 invocency, according to the confiderations of the fufpition and the 
 quality of the perfon, let them be fmitten with the fword of Ana- 
 thema, and avoided by all men, till they have given fuffcient fa* 
 tisf action ; and if they remain a year excommunicate, let them 
 then be condemned as heretickj. And let the fecu'ar powers, in 
 what Office foever, be admonifhtd and perfwaded, and if it be necef- 
 fary compelled by Eccleftafiical cenfure, that as they would be re- 
 puted and accounted Believers, fo for the defence of the faith, they 
 take an Oath publicly, that they will fludy in good earnefl accord- 
 ing to their power, to exterminate all that are by the £hurch dc~ 
 noted heretickj, from the Countries fubjett to their Jurisdiction. 
 So that when any one (hall be taken into Spiritual or Temporal 
 fewer, he fhallbyhisOath make good this Chapter. But if the 
 temporal Lord, being required and admomfbedof the Church, /hall 
 neglect to purge his £ ountreyof heretical defilement, let him by the 
 Metropolitan and other Comprovincial Bifbops be tyed by the bond 
 of Excommunication. And if he refufe tofatisfie within a year t 
 let it be Jignified to the Pepc f that he may from thenceforth de- 
 nounce 
 
A t\ey for (^atholicks. 19 
 
 nounce lis Vaffals abfolved from his fidelity, s.ndmay expofe hit 
 Ctnntrey tj befeifed on by fatholikes, who rooting cut th- h. reticles, 
 m *1 P J if c f s *t without contraditlicn, and may ^eep it in the purity 
 offiih; faving the right of the principal Lord, fo be it that he 
 himfelf do make no hindtrance hereabout , and oppofe any impedi- 
 ment : and the fame Lave is to be ibftrved with them that arc not 
 principal Lords. iAnd the Cat hel 'ikes- that taking the ftgn of the 
 Crof (ball fet themfelves to the rooting out of the heretic kj, jlall 
 enjoy the fame indulgences and holy priviledges, tvhicTj were grant- 
 ed to th/fe that go to the releif of the holy land. Aloreover we De- 
 cree, that the believers, receivers, defenders, and favourers of He- 
 reticks, fhall be excommunicate ; firmly decreeing, that a c ter a> y 
 fuchisnttedby excommunication, if herefufe to fatisfc within a 
 year, he fhall from thenceforth be ipfo jure infamous, and may not 
 he admitted to pub Ufa Offices or Councils, .or to the choice of fuch % 
 0or to b;»r witnefs. And he fbaUlge inteflate and not have power to 
 make a veil, nor may come to a Succeffton of inheritance. And ns 
 man fhall be forced to anfwer him in any caufe : but he Jhall be 
 forced to anfwer others. Andif he be a f#dge, his fentence fhall be 
 invalid, andui caufes fhall be brought to his hearing . If he be an 
 Advocate, his Plea flail not be admitted. If a Notary (or 
 Regifier ) the lnflrumtnts made by him fhall be utterly void, and 
 damned with the damn:d Author. And fe in other the like ca(es s 
 we command t^oat it beobferved. ~] Thus they go on further com- 
 manding Bifhops by themfelves, or their Arch-deacons, or other 
 fit perlons, once or twice a year to fearch every Parifh where 
 any Heretick is found to dwell, and put all the Neighbourhood 
 to their Oaths, whether they know or any Hereticks there, or 
 any private meetings, or any that in life and manners do differ 
 from the common converfation of the faithful, ef-c. And the 
 Bifhops that negle&thefc things are to be caft our, and others 
 put iiko their places that will do them. 
 
 And Pope Gregory 7. /. 4 Epifi. 7. exprefly ftirs up the peo- 
 ple to caft off their Princes, faying [_ And for the co-if piracy of 
 Heretickj and the King, we believe it is not unknown to you that 
 A't near them, how it may be impugned by the Catholike Bifhops 
 and Dukes, and many others in the Qerman parts : for the faithful 
 of the Church of Rome are come to fuch a nrnnber, that unlefs 
 .the King fhall come tofatisfatlion, they may openly prefefs to choofe 
 
 D Z anttbtr 
 
2 A 1(c) for Catholicks. 
 
 another King, and cbfervingfuftice^we have promifed to favour 
 them, and will k^p onr promife firm , &c- ] 
 
 The fum of all is, that all that the Pope calls Hercticks, muft 
 be condemned and deftroyed, and all Kings, Princes or Lords, 
 that will not execute his fentence and root them out, muftbe 
 difpofefled of their Dominions, and the fubjeds abfolved from 
 their fidelity ( whatever Oiths they had taken J and all others 
 that do but favour or receive them be utterly undone. 
 
 I fetch not thefe things out of the writings of the Proteftants, 
 aor from any private Doctors of their own, but from the very 
 words of a General Council confirmed by the Pope, and un- 
 questionably approved by them. And abundance the like might 
 be produced. And many ages faw this dodrine put in execu- 
 tion, when the Emperors of Germany were depofed by the Pope, 
 and the Subjeds abfolved from their Allegiance, as the many 
 volumes written in thofe times,^ind publilhed together by Gol- 
 dafths teftifie. And the King of France, or any other that tole- 
 rate any of the fuppofed Hereticks, may fee what a cenfure they 
 areexpofed to, if mecrneceflity were not their fecurity. 
 
 Perhaps fome will fay, that this Decree was not de n~de> but a 
 temporary precept. Anfto. When a precept requireth duty, it 
 may be a point of Faith to believe it. Precepts are the Objeds 
 of Faith, at leaft as they are afTertions, that the thing command- 
 ed is our duty. It is an Article of faith, that God is to be loved 
 and obeyed, and our Superiors to be honoured, and our Neigh- 
 bour to be loved, and Charity to be exercifed, &c The Crea- 
 tion, the Incarnation of Chrift, his death, refurredion, afcen- 
 fion, glorification, inter cefiion, his future Judgement, the Re- 
 furredion of the body, &c. are all matters of fad, andjet 
 matters of faith too. If pradicals be not Articles of faith, then 
 we have no Articles of faith at all •• for all our Theology and Re- 
 ligion is pradical. Do Papiits murder poor Chriftians by the 
 thoufands, and yet not fidedivina believe that it is their duty fo 
 to do? Either it is a duty, or a fin, or indifferent. If a Jin, woe 
 to their Pope and Council (and if this be no fin with them, I 
 know not why the world fhould be troubled by them with the 
 name of fin.) If it be indifferent, what then (hall be called fin? 
 If they can fwallow fuch Camels, as the blood of many thoufand 
 Chriftianf, what need they ftrain at Gnats, and flick at private 
 
 Murders, 
 
A K^y for Qatholkks. 21 
 
 Murders, or Fornication, or Lying, or Slandering any more 
 then the Jefuit-Cafuiftsdo, that arecited by the fanfnian in his 
 Myfterie of Jefuitifm ? But if tbefe Murders and depofing 
 Kings be indeed a duty, bow can they know it to be fo, but by 
 Believing? And indeed if a General Council and the Popeare to 
 be believed, who give it as with a Decernimus & firmiterfiatui- 
 mut, then itisdoubtlcfsa pointof faith : and if they are not to 
 be believed, then Popery is all but a mecr deceit. 
 
 Objeft. 2. But may we not be Roman Catholihs though we 
 joy* not -with them in this point ? Have not many fuch renounced 
 it? and fo may we. Anfw. If you renounce the Decrees of a 
 Pope and General Council, you renounce your Religion in the 
 very foundation of it , and cannot be Papifts, if you know what 
 you do •, but are in the Roman account as errant Hereticks as 
 thofe that they have tortured and burnt to afhes : though here 
 in EngLnd where c hey cannot handle you as they would do.thcy 
 dare not tell yoa fo. And if you may renounce the Decrees of 
 a Pope and General Council, when they fay, [^ It is 4 duty y or 
 lawful to extirminate all as Hereticks, that believe not Tranfub- 
 ftantiation,and tefeize upon the Lands of Princes that will not do 
 it, and to delivtr them to others that will, and abfolve their Vajfals 
 from their fidelity T I lay, if you may renounce them in this, why 
 may'not we have as free leave to renounce them in other things, 
 at groundlefs ? 
 
 Chap. VI. ^ 
 
 Ar^urr. 4. "T"' H E true Catholike Church is Holf r the fhurch 
 1. of Rome hath for many generations been unholy : 
 therefore the Church of Rome was not in any of thefe Generations 
 the true Catholike Church. 
 
 The Major Propofition is an Anic'e of the Creed profefTed 
 by themfelve«,as much as by us, Q/ "Sdieve the Holy Catholike 
 Church. 
 
 The unhoIineTs of the Church of Rome, I prove undenyably, 
 thus : If an EJfential part of the Church of Rome, even its Head, 
 hath been unholy through many Generations, then the Church »f 
 Rome hath been un'."h for many Generations : but an Ejfenti- 
 
 D 3 <*U 
 
zz A I\ey for Catbolich. 
 
 all part t even the Head, hath bun unholy : therefore, &c. 
 
 The onfequenceof the Major ispaft dcnyal. Bonum eft ex 
 c*n f \s integris. Though it will not follow that the Church is 
 Holy, becauie one Effential part is Holy, yet it clearly follow- 
 ed* that the Church is unholy, becaufe an Effential part is un- 
 holy. Asitfollowethnotthat the Body is found, becaufe the 
 Head is found, ytnc followetb, that the man (or the body ) is 
 unlound or fick, becaufe the Head is unfound or fick. As it is 
 not a Church without all its Effential parts, foit is not an Holy 
 Church without the Holinefs of al! its Effential parts. 
 
 And that they make the Pcpe the Head of the Catholike 
 -Church, and an Effential part, I am loth to prove ; I would I 
 could but entice them to deny it : for it is the principal contro- 
 verfie between rhem and the true Cathohkcs. 
 
 •And that abundance of their Popes have been unholy, I bave 
 formerly proved, and they dare not 1 hope deny ic ^ when their 
 own Hiftoriansdcfcribe their Impieties, andiheirown Writer*, 
 even thofe that are bittereft againft us, do freely confe r s it .-yea 
 General Councils have judged them and cart them our. The 
 number of thefeMonfters is fo great, that it would make a vo- 
 lume greater then I intend, but to name them and recite their 
 crimes. I will give a brief inftance of one of them. 
 
 Pope John the twenty third wa$ accufed and depofed by the 
 General Council at C*nftance y upon about feventy Articles which 
 in Binnius fake up about thirteen columes in folio .-and therefore 
 I fuppofe you would give me no thanks to trouble you with the 
 recital of them all. The firft Article was, that he was from his 
 youth, a man of a baddifpofition.immodcft, impudent, a lyar, 
 a rebell and difobedicm to his parents, and given to mod vices, 
 and then was, and yet iscommonly taken for fuch a one by all 
 chat knew him. The fecond Article was, how by Simoniacal 
 and un juft means he grew ricb.The third Article,that by Simony 
 he was promoted to be a Cardinal. The fourth Article, thai 
 feeing Lcgat at Bonowahe governed Tyrannically, im.pioufly ,un- 
 juflly, being wholly aliene from all Chriftian piety, and juftice, 
 divine and humane, &c. The fifth Article, that thus he got to 
 be Pope, and yet continued as bad, and as a Pagan defpifed the 
 worfhip of God, and if be performed any, it was more left he 
 Ihoold be totally blamed of hercfie and caft out of the Papacy, 
 
 then 
 
A I^ey for Catholic ks. i J 
 
 then for any devotion, and he hudled it up like an Hunter or a 
 Souldier. The fixt Article was, that he was the opprcflbrof 
 the poor, the perfecutor of righteoufnefs, the pillar of the un- 
 juft, and the Mmoniacal, a fervcr of the flefb, the dregs of vices, 
 a ftranger to vertue, flying from publikc confiftorics , wholly 
 given to ficep and carnal ddires, wholly contrary to the life and 
 manncrsof Chnit, the mirror of infamy, and the profound in- 
 ventor of all mifchiefs ; fo far fcandalizing the Church of Chrifr, 
 that among Chnftian Believers that knew his life and manners, 
 he is commonly called, The Devil incarnate. The feventh Ar- 
 ticle was, that being a veflei of all fins, repelling the worthy, he 
 Simonically fold Benefices, Bifhopricks and Church dignities 
 openly to the unworthy that would give moft for them. 
 
 Reader, 1 (hould but weary thee to add threefcore more of 
 tbefe Articles. Thcfe were all proved to be Notorious by Car- 
 dinals, Archbifhops,Bifhops,and many more. Yet I will crave 
 thy patience while 1 add but two or three of the laft. Ano- 
 ther was, that he came to be Pope by caufing Pope Alexander 
 and his Phyfitian Dr. Daniel defopbia to be poyfoned. Another 
 was, that he committed inceft with his brother$Wife,and with the 
 holy Nuns.and Whoredom withVirgins,and adultery with mens 
 Wives, and other crimes of incontinency, for which the wrath 
 of God cometh on the children of difobedience. Another,tha« 
 he was a wicked man, notorioufly guilty of Murder, Witch- 
 craft and oiher grievous crimes,a dilTi pater of theChurch goodf, 
 a nororious Siraonift, aud pertinacious Heretick. The next 
 Article was, that often and often before divers Prelates and 
 other honelt men, by the Devils perfwafion, he obftinately af- 
 ferted, dogmatized, and maintained, thatthere is no life ever- 
 lafting , nor any other after this ; Moreover, he faid and oblti- 
 nately believed that the foul of man doth die and it extind With 
 the body like the bruit beafts, and that the dead fhaU not rife 
 aqain at the tail day, contrary to the Article of chcRefurredion. 
 The laft and Tome. other A nicies are about his p^rfidioufnefs. *) 
 And hereupon the Council depofed him. 
 
 And now Reader I leave thee to judge, whether the Romaic 
 Chnrch hid a holy Head, when it had a Heathen and a Devii 
 incarnate} 
 So the general Council at Bafil depofed Pope Engenim 4. 
 
 at 
 
*4 
 
 AK^eyfor Catholkks. 
 
 as being r %si rebel again ft the holy Canons, a notorious difiurber 
 and fcandali profit he peace anci unit) of the Church, aSimcnifi 
 and a perjured wretch incorrigible, a fchifmatick. , and an cbftmate 
 Heretic!^. ] 
 
 Pope John I 3 . alias 1 2. was in Councill convicted of ravifk- 
 ing Maids, Wives, Widows at the Apofiolick doors, and committing 
 many murders: he drunk^a health to the Devil , and at Dice cat- 
 cdto Jupiter andWenus for help, andatlajl wai fluinin the aft 
 cf tsfdulterj. Saiih Plutina [_ he was from his youth a man con- 
 taminated with all difhonefiy and filthincfs ; and if he had any 
 time tofpare from his lufis, he [pent it in hunting, and not in pray- 
 ing»] And after he call* him [d mofi wicked man, or rather a Men • 
 fter] and faith that [ the life of this mofi wicked man being judged 
 in a Council of Italian Bifhops, for fear of them he fled and lived 
 like a wild beafi in the woods, \ till at laft he got the better again 
 by the help of his friends at Rome; till an angry man that found 
 him naught with his wife, got the better of him, and fentbim 
 to anfwerit in another world. And their own writers note 
 that this was the firft Pope that changed his name, whom his 
 followers imitated. And do you think the Head of the Roman 
 Church was then Holy ? 
 
 If it were a difputab!ematter,I would prove out of abundance 
 of their own writers, that many others of them have been moft 
 wicked wretches, common adulterers,and fornicators,yca Sodo- 
 mites, poyfoning their predeceflbrs to get the Popedom, c£r. But 
 its needlefs, becaufe they deny it nor. Barenius their flattering 
 Champion faith (tsfnnal.adan.912.) ^What then was the face of 
 the ho/) Roman Church? How exceeding filthy, when the moft potent, 
 andjtt the mofi fordid whores did rule at Rome?£jr whofe Pltafure 
 Sees were changed, Bt/hops were given, and which is a thing horrid to 
 be heard and not to be fpoken, their Lover s(or mates )were thrufi in- 
 to Peters Chair, being falfe Popes, who are not to be written in the 
 Catalogue of the Reman I 3 opes, but only for the marking out of 
 fuch times. And what kind of Cardinals, Priefis, and Deacons 
 think, you we mufi imagine that thefe monfiers did choofe , when 
 nothing is fo rooted in nature as for every one to beget his like ? 
 
 And Genebrard that fplcenifh Papift ( U.4. Sec. 1 o. ) faith [ In 
 this one thing that age was unhappy, that for netr one hundred and 
 fifty yean about fifty Topes did wholly fall way from the virtue 
 
A f\ey for Catholkks. z j, 
 
 *f their anchors , being rather irregular axd Afofiatical , then 
 Apoflolical ] So that the Church or Rome had not then either a 
 Holy or Apoftolical Head. 
 
 And Pope Adrian the fixth himfelf writcth ( De Sacram, 
 Conftr. Art. 4. ) that there have many Popes o/Rome been He- 
 reticles. And two or three fcveral General Councils did con- 
 demn Pope Honorius for an Heretick. 
 
 And if I fliould tell you but what their own writers fay of the 
 wickednefs of the Roman Clergy, in many ages - t and of the 
 wickednefs of the Roman peoplc,of the large fumms of money 
 that the Pope hath yearly for thelicenfcdor tolerated Whore- 
 houfesin Reme, you would think that the body of the particu- 
 lar Roman C hurcb were neer kin to the Head, and therefore not 
 the Holy Miftris of all Churches. 
 
 But perhaps fome will fay, that the Pope was holy becaufe his 
 Office was Holy ^though his perfen vicious. Anf. 1 J f this be theHo/*- 
 tiefs of the Catholick Church , mentioned in the Creed, then the 
 Inftitution of offices is it that makes it Holy , and while the 
 office continuetb,the Holinefs cannot be loft. 2. Then let them 
 prove their Holinefs by Saints nc more. 3. Let them not then 
 delude the people, but fpesk out, and tell them that they mean 
 fuch Holinefs as is confident with Heathenifm, or Infidelity, 
 Murders, Sodomie, and may be in an incarnate Devil 1 Is this the 
 Holinefs of the Catholick Church? 
 
 Object. But yon may have unholy per fens among jou alfo, that 
 yet fay you are of the true Church. 
 
 Anfw. But they arc no Effential put of the Catholick Church 
 which we believe j and therefore it may be a Holy Churchy 
 though they be unholy. But the Pope is an Effentiil pare of 
 the Roman Church which they believe in ^ and therefore it caR 
 not be Holy, if he be unholy. 
 
 Object. By this means )ou leave noroomfsr the Church s/Rome 
 cr any Papifi in the Catholick Church which is truly Holr. 
 Anfw. Not asPapifb : fo they can be no members of it. But 
 if with any of them Chriftianity be predominant, and prevail 
 againft the infection of Popery, fo that it pra&icallyexiinguifti 
 not Chriftianity, then as ChrifHans they may be members <_£ 
 the Church, and be faved coo, but not as Papiits. 
 
 E 
 
 Chap. 
 
2(5 A KjyforCatholkks. 
 
 Chap. VII. 
 
 Argum. 5. HP HE true Catholic!^ Church of Chrift is but 
 1 One' Th: pretended Roman [a.holicl^Church 
 is mere thsn One : Therefore the pretended Roman-Catholic k, 
 Church is not the true Qat hslicl^ Church of Chrifl. 
 
 The Major is conftrted. The Minor I prove thus, 1. where 
 the- e are two Heads or Sovereign Powers fpecifc ally diflintl, there 
 are trvo Societies, tr Churches. But thofe called Papifts, or the 
 Roman Catholtck, Church , have two Heads or S over aign Powers 
 fpecificall] diftinil. Therefore thej are two Churches. 
 
 The Major is granted by all Politicians,who do without con- 
 tradiction fpecifie Common- wealths and other Political Societies 
 from theSoveraign Powers : and fo the Monarchical, Ariftocra- 
 tical and Democratical are feveral Species. The Belgian Com- 
 mon-wealth , and the French, be not fpeciftcally the lame. 
 
 The Minor hath two {landing proofs fo vifible thathemuft 
 be blind indeed that cannot fee them. Firfr. there are the many 
 Volumes that are written by both fides for their feveral forms : 
 Bellarmine, Gretfor and the reft of the Italian fadion proving 
 that the Pope is the chief Power, and above a General Council, 
 and the feat of Infallibility, and not to be judged by any, being 
 himfelf the Judge of the whole world. And the other party 
 proving that a General Council is above the Pope, and that he ii 
 to be judged by them, and may be depofed by thcm.Ifany fay, 
 that they are but few and no true Catholicksof this Opinion, I 
 anfwer, then a General Council are but few and notrueCatho- 
 ficks, which yet i? faid by them to reprefent the whole Catholick 
 Church: For the General Council of Conflance and of Bafil 
 havt peremptorily affertcd it, and repeat it over and over; yea 
 the Council of Bafil fay, Scf. ultim. that [_ Not one of the skil- 
 ful! did ever dtubt but that the Pcpe war fubjetl to the Judgement 
 of a General Council, in things thn concern faith. *s3nd that he 
 cannot without their confent d'jfolve or remove a General Council^ 
 jea and that this is an Article of faith , which without dtfirutlhn 
 of falvation cannot be denjed,and that the Council is above the 
 Pope , defide, and that it cannot be removed without their own 
 confent, ami that he is an htretick.that is againft thefe things ) See 
 
 Bimiuj 
 
A L\ey for Qatholkks. 27 
 
 Binnius page 43. 79. 96. And Pope Eugenics owned this Coun- 
 cil ibid.page 42. And for the Council ot Conflance, 'JMartin the 
 fifth waschofenbyit, and prefentinit, and perfonally confirm- 
 ed it in thefe words [ Quedomnia &finguU determinate, concltt- 
 fa, & decreta, inmateriis fidei per prxfens concilium , concilia' 
 riter tenere & inviolabiliter obfervare volebat^cjr nnncjuamcon- 
 traire quoquo modo. Ipfaq', fie conciliarittr fall a approbate^- 
 rati fi cat , & non aliter, nee alio medo~\ (that is, what they did as 
 a Council,and not what private m embers did ) you fee then even 
 General Councils reprefenting the Catholick Church do not on- 
 ly fay that a Council is above the Pope, but make it an Article 
 of faith, and damn thofe that deny it . ( What then is become of 
 Bellarmine and the reft of their champions ? ) 
 
 But perhaps you'l fay, the j are bat few on the other fide. I 
 anfwer : yes: Not only moft Popes, and the Italian Clergy, 
 and the predominant party of Papifts, but another Gen:ral 
 Council, even that at the Lateran, under Julius 2. and Leo io. 
 exprefly determine on the contrary,that the Pope is above a Gene' 
 ral Cotmcd. So that here is not only an undenyable proof that 
 General Councils are fallible by their contradicting each other, 
 and that there is a Necefiity of re jo&ing fome of them,and con- 
 fequently that the Foundation of Popery is rotten j but alfo here 
 is oneReprefentative Catholick Church againft another Repre- 
 fentative Catholick Church, and one Council for one Species of 
 Soveraignty ,and another for another Species of Soveraignty. So 
 that undoubtedly it « not the fame Church, that had two heads 
 of feveral forts. 
 
 2. And the Nations that are on both fides to this day, are a 
 proof beyond denyall of their divifion. The French on one tide, 
 and the Italians on theother^and other nations divided between 
 both. So that the thing which they call by one name, is two in- 
 deed. 13 ut fo is not the true Catholick Church. 
 
 Objed. what though fome in England took, the King to be the 
 Soveraign y and fome the Parliament, and f com thought it was 
 in both C onjuntt', did this prove that jest were more than one Com- 
 mon wealth ? 
 
 j4nfw.Whcre the Soveraignty is mixt and not in cither alone,if 
 any one fhall fct up the one as the onlySove. aign.and lubjed the 
 other to them, they change the form of the Commonwealth, hut 
 
 E 2 do 
 
28 ^ K^y for Catholic fo. 
 
 t ' l ft: up two Commonwealths •, buc if half cake one for the 
 Sovereign, and the other half take the other for the Soveraign, 
 they plainly divide the Commonwealth into two : if they do ic 
 only in mind, and the fecret thoughts of their hearts, this can- 
 not be known to others,and fo cannot be the ground of a Socie- 
 ty .- buc if they do it by a publike content and pradice, they evi- 
 dently make two Commonwealths. What elie brought us into 
 a war which ended no: till one party wasfubducd ? Ic is not 
 poftible chat one Political body fhould have two Soveraigns fpe- 
 cifically dulinft. Indeed ic may have five hundred natural per- 
 fons intheSoveraignty (as in a Senate; ) but they are but one 
 Political perfon, or one fumma poteftas. 
 
 2. But I prove ihe Minor by another Argument, where there 
 are two three or four Heads cr Severaignt at once numerically 
 &ftinb~l y there are two or three or four Churches. But the Roman 
 Churchfrttendingto be Cathol'tke, hath had two or three or foptr 
 Heads at once numerically dijiintt ; therefore it was two or three or 
 four Churches. 
 
 The Major is a known truth to all that are verfc in any degree 
 in the dodrine of Politicks. Icisnoconly two fpecies of Sove- 
 raigncy , but two individual Sovera\gi\t that are inconfiftenc with 
 the numerical Unity of a Political body. Two, or ten,orcwo 
 hurdredroay joynin one Soveraignty, as one Political perfon 
 (aslfaidj but if there be two Soveraigns, there are certainly 
 two Societies : for if both be Supream, neither i> Subordinate. 
 The Minor is not to be denyed : for the Papifts lay their very 
 foundation on a fuppofed divifion : foriboth Peter and Paul were 
 both at once their Bifhops. And there is not many of them that 
 adventure to tell us, that Peter only was the Supream, and that 
 Paul was under him : but they make them as equals, or coord i<- 
 nate j and fomc of them fay, that Paul was the Bifliop of the 
 uncircumcifion, and Peter of the Circuracifion (and then Piters 
 Church is confined to the Jews ) And they do not tell us, thac 
 one HeadfhJp was divided between them : For then that ex- 
 ample would dired them ftill to have two Popes, or two Bilhops 
 to a Church ; fo that Peter being a Head, and Paula. Head,the.y 
 had furediftincft bodies. 
 
 But whether chey ftand to this or not, they cannoc deny their 
 many followingdivifions. The twenty third fchifme ( as wer- 
 
 nerus 
 
A Key for Qatbolkks. 29 
 
 nevus a zealous Papift in fafciculo temper, reckons chem) was 
 between Felix rhe fif.h and Eugenia* : of which the fiid Werne- 
 rus fpcaking faith, \_ That hence arofe great contention among the 
 ■writers of this matter, pro & contra, and thej cannot agree to 
 this day : for one pan faith, that a Council is above the Pope , the 
 other part on the contrary faith, No, but the Tope is above the 
 Council. G:>d grant his (fhurch peace ,&c. J 
 
 Of' the twenty fecond fchifme the fame Wernerus faith thus, 
 ( adannum I 373-) \_the twenty fecond fchifme was the wo (I end 
 moji fabtile fchifme of all that were before it. For it was fo perplex- 
 ed, that the moji Learned and Confcientious men were not able to 
 difcufs ( or find out ) to whom they fhould adhere. And it was 
 continued for fourty years, to the great fcandal of the whole Clergy, 
 and the great hfs of fouls, becaufe of Herefies and other evils that 
 then fprung up, becaufe there was then no difcipline in the Church 
 againfi them. And therefore from this Urbane the fixthttothe 
 time o/Martin the fifth, 1 k»oVc not who ftas Pope "} 
 
 After T^icoUs the fourth there was no Pope for two year sand an 
 half ^^Celeftine the fifth that fucceeded him refigning »r,Boniface 
 the eighth entered , that filed himf elf Lord of the whole world 
 in Spirituals and Temporals, of whom it was faid, He entered as a 
 Fox, lived as aLyon,ind dyed like a Dog,fait>hthe fame Wernerus. 
 The twentieth fchifme ( faith the fame Author ) was great 
 between Alexander the third, and four Schifmaticks, and it lafled 
 f event een years. 
 
 The nineteenth fchifme was between Innocent the fecond, and 
 Pe:er Ltonis : and Innocent get thebetter, becaufe he had more on 
 his fide ( faith he. ) 
 
 The thirteenth fchifme {faith Wernerus ) was between another 
 and Benedict the eighth. 
 
 The fourteenth fchifme ( faith the fame Author ) was favda- 
 lous- and full of confufton between Benedtd tit* ninth and five 
 others, -which B enedi & ( faith he ) -was wholly vitious , and t heri- 
 tor e being dimmed, appeared in a monftrous and horrid fhape; hk 
 head and tail were like an Ajfes, and the rrfl of hir body like a Bear, 
 faying, J thus appear, becaufe Hived like a beafi. ~] In this fchifm* 
 (faith Wernerus ) therewere no lefs then fix Popes at once. I. B^ 
 t\ed\<tw>a*exp(tlfed. 2. Silvcftcr the third gets in, but is caji out 
 again, and knedift re fared. 3 . But being again cafi cm , Gi'Cga- 
 
 E z ry 
 
I o a I\ey for Catholicks . 
 
 ry the Jixt u put into hit place-, who because he was igncraxt of 
 letters (and \et infallible no doubt) cant A anther Pope to be 
 Confecrated with him to perform Church Offices - y which was the 
 fourth ; which difpleafed many, and therefore a third U chofcn^ 
 (which was the fifth J infteadefthe two that were fighting with one 
 another: but Henry ( the Emperor ) coming u», depofed them a'l y 
 and chofe Clement thefecond, ( who was theYixch of all rhem that 
 were alive at once ) 
 
 But above all fchifms that between Armofus and Sergius, and 
 their followers, was the fowleft, fuch faying and unfaytng, doing 
 and undoing there was, befides the difmembring of the dead 
 Pope, and cafting him into the water. And of eight Succcflbrs, 
 faith Wernerus, Q ^ can fay nothing obfervable of them ; becaufe 
 J find nothing of them but [candalous, hecaujeof the unheard of 
 contention in the holy Apoftolike fea oneagainft another , and together 
 mutually againfl each other, ] 
 
 Reader, wouldft thou be troubled with any more of thefe Re- 
 lations ? I tell thee nothing but from their own Hiftorians, and 
 that which multitudes of them agree in .• I go not to a Prote- 
 ftant for a word. But one Pope in thofe contentious times, I 
 find lived in fome peace, and that was Silvefter the fecond, of 
 whom faith Wemerus (as others commonly) [TlwSilvefter 
 was made Pope by the help of the Devil to whom he did homage: 
 that all might g» as he would have it : — but he quickly met with 
 the ufual End, as ene that had placed his Hope in deceitful De- 
 vils, ] 
 
 Well / 1 (hall now appeal to reafon it felf, whether this were 
 one Church, that for fourty Cor fay others fifty,) years toge- 
 ther had fevcral Heads, fome of the people following one, and 
 fome another, and the moft Learned and mod Confcientious not 
 able to know the right Pope, nor know him not to this day. If 
 England were fourty years thus divided between two Kings, it 
 were certainly two Kingdoms. But the true Catholike Church 
 of drift is but one. 
 
 Ch a p. 
 
A K^ey for Ca thclicks . j i 
 
 Ch a p. VIII. 
 
 Argum. 6. """I""' H E true Catholike Church hath tuver ceafed or 
 X difcontinued, fwce the founding of it to this day. 
 The Church of Rome hath ceafed or difcontinued : ihcrefore the 
 Church of Rome u not the true Catholike Church. 
 
 I prove the Minor ( for the Mjjor they will grant.) If the 
 Head which is an Fffcntial part, hath difcontinued, then the Church 
 of Rome hath difcontinued. But the Head hath difcsntimad : 
 therefore, &c. 
 
 The Minor only needs proof : and that I prove i . There have 
 hen many yea^s interregnum or vacancy, » hen there was no Pope 
 at all- A nd where then was the Church when it had no Head ? 
 
 2. There have been long fucceflion9 of fuch as you confefs 
 your felves, were not Apoftolical, but Apoftatical. 3. Your 
 own Popes and Councils command us to take fuch for no Popes. 
 For example, Pope Nictlas in his Decretals ( fee Caranzjt 
 f a g' 393- ) f a ' tn C He that bj money or the favour of men, or 
 popular or military tumults is intruded into the Ap:flolical feat 
 without the Concordant and Canonical eletlionof the (fardinall 
 and the following religious Clergy, let him not be taken fir a Pope, 
 ■ nor Apoflolical, but for Apo^atical. ] And even of Pricfts, he 
 commandeth, [ Let m man hear Alafs of a Prieft whom he ccr* 
 taivfy knoweth to have a Concubine cr woman introduced] Ca- 
 ranza. />*£ 395. and ibid, he faith, Q Priefisthat commit fornix 
 cation, cannot have the honour of Priejihood.] 
 
 4. ttutour greater Argument is from the authority of God> 
 and the very nature of the office. An Infidel, or notorioxfiy un* 
 godly manfsnot capable of being a Paftor of the Church ( in fen« 
 fu compofito, while he is fuch) But the Popes of Rome-tat^ 
 been Infidels, and notoriouflj ungodly men : therefore they were un- 
 capable of being Pallors of the Church ( and confequently that 
 Church was Headlefs, and fo no Church. ) The Major I prove. 
 1 . Where there is not the neceflary matter and difpofition of the 
 matter .there can be no reception of the form: But Infidels and nc« 
 tonou fly ungodly men, are not matter fufficiently difpofed tore- 
 c<rive the form'of Paftoral Power: therefore they cannot receive ir 4 
 
 The Minor is proved 1 * As every true Church is a Chriftian 
 
 Church 
 
A fyyfor Catholicks. 
 
 Church (it being only aCorgregation of Chriftians that we fo call, 
 in our prcfent cafe) fo every Piflor is a Chriftian Paftcr : but an 
 Infidel or notorioufly ungodly man is not a Chriftian Paftor : 
 thercforenot a true Pallor. 2. Otherwife a Mahometan, Jew, 
 or Heathen may be a true Pope; which I think they will deny 
 themfelvcs. 3. If any Difpolition or Qualification at all be ne- 
 ceflary to the being of the Paftoral Office (befides manhood) 
 then is it neceflary, that he own God the Father, and ihe Re- 
 deemer (that is, be not notorioufly an Infidel, orurgodly.) 
 But fome qualification is acccflary .- therefore, &c. None can 
 be named more neceflary then this. 
 
 And that Popes have been fuch as I here mention,is proved be- 
 fore. Not to mention Marceliinut that facrificed to an Idol, 
 ovLiberius that fubferibed to the Arrian pnofeffion ; C for I be- 
 lieve there is an hundred times more hope of their Salvation 
 by Repentance , then of an hundred of their Succcflbrs ) 
 John the twenty fecond held that the foul dies with the body, 
 of which the Parifians and others condemned bim. John 
 the twenty third, as I (hewed before, denyed the life to come, 
 and fo was an Infidel. The Witchcraft, Poyfonings, Simony, 
 Sodomy, Adulteries, Inceft, &c. of others, are fufficicntly re- 
 corded by their own Hiftorians. 
 
 Chap. IX. 
 
 Argum. 7.*TpO the foregoing Arguments, I add the reci- 
 X tal of one formerly mentioned , for the ufe 
 of all that have the ufe of their wits and fenfes. 
 
 If a man may be fur t, that he knows' bread to be bread, and 
 spinet* be toine, when he feeth, feeleth, and tafteth them, then he 
 maybe fare th*t Popery is a deceit. (This Confequence they can- 
 not queftion ) But a man may be fure that he knoveth bread t* be 
 bnad,andwineto be wine, when he feeth y feeleth,aud tafteth them : 
 therefore, &c. 
 
 Note that I fpeak of fuch a knowledge as belongs to men of 
 found wits and fenfes, and a convenient object and medium. It 
 is the fenfes of the whole world that I appeal to, and not of one 
 or two > ic is bread and wine thac are near us, in the hand or 
 
 moutb 
 
A K^y for Qatbolkks. 35 
 
 mouth that 1 fpeak of, and not at a miles diltance: in the day- 
 light, and not in the dark. So that take the bread and wine into 
 your hand, and judge of it, and let this decide our Contro- 
 verfie. If you can cell whether that be bread or no bread, you 
 may tell whether the Papifls or we are in the right. Thofe there- 
 fore that be not learned and fubtile enough to judge by D.fpu- 
 tacionsand writings of Learned men, may yet judge by their 
 fight and feeling. Either you know bread and vine when you 
 fee it talk it, feel it, or you do not. If you do, then the Con- 
 rroverfie is at an end : for the (cafes of all lound men in the 
 world, willbeagainftthe Papifts that fay the bread after Con- 
 fecrationis no bread, and the wine is no wine. But if you can- 
 not know bread when you fee, feel, and eat it, then fee what 
 follows. I. Then we are Cure that the Pope and all his Council 
 are not at all t® be trufbd : for if fence be not to be trufted, then 
 the Pope and his Council know not when they read the Scripture, 
 and Canons, and Fathers, and hear Tradition*, but that they are 
 deceived. 2. Then we are uncertain of any Judgement that 
 Pope or Council can give : for when [hey fpokeor wrote it, we 
 are uncertain whether our eyes and ears, or reafon judging by 
 them, are not deceived in the hearing or reading of their words. 
 3. How ndiculoufly then do they call for a judge of Contro- 
 verfie?? and what a fool ifh quarrel is it that they make, who 
 fliall be the Interpreter of Scriptures, or Judge of Controverfies? 
 For what can a Judge do but fpeak or write his mind ? and when 
 he hath done, you know not what it is that you hear or read, 
 becaufe your fenfes may deceive you. Its a far harder matter to 
 underfbnd a lencence or book of the Pope or Council when you 
 read or hear it, then to kno* bread when you fee, and feel, and 
 eat it. Many thoufands know bread, that know not the Popes fen- 
 tence, nor a word of a book. 4. And by this rule, it is uncer- 
 tain whether Scripture be true, or Chriflianity the true Religion. 
 For we cannot know it but by our fences; and if they are fo 
 uncertain, all our Religion rrufr. needs be uncertain. 5. Yea we 
 cinnor tell what Revelation to deft re that fhould end our Cortr 
 troverfics and make us certain. For if God fhouid fend an An- 
 gel or other MefTenger from heaven to decide the Controverfies 
 between us and the Papifts, what could he do more but fpeak k 
 to us ai from Ciod ? and we (hould frill be uncertain of what we 
 
 F fee 
 
74 A Ksy for C&ibolitks* 
 
 fee or hear : fo that we arc left rncurably in our ignorance and 
 Controverfies,if Popery be true. 
 
 And here you may fee upon what terms we difpute with Vs- 
 pifts, and what hope there is of fatisfyingthem. We difpute wiih 
 men that will not believe their own fenles, or the fenfes of the 
 world. The damned man, Luk. 16. thought if one might have 
 been fent to his brethren from the dead, they would have belie- 
 ved. And if Abraham fay to them, If they will not hear Mo- 
 fes and the Prophets, neither will they be perfwaded though one 
 rife from the dead ; we may fay of Papiits, fure, if they will 
 not believe their own eyes, and ears, and taftc, and know not 
 bread when they fee, and feel, and eat it, how fhould they be 
 perfwaded, though one were fent to them from heaven to rcfolre 
 them ? Can we think by all our Arguments to make any matter 
 plainer to a man then that "Bread is Bread, when he feeth and 
 eatethit? If this be uncertain to them, what can you prove to 
 them, or what way can you devife to deal with them ? For in- 
 deed, if ftnft be uncertain, we hare no certainty of any thing id 
 the world. 
 
 But to this H. T. ( they fay H. Turbervile ) in his Manual 
 of Controverfies faith thus.^Anfw. Subftance is not the proper and 
 immediate objetl of fenfe, but colour, quantity, &c. Nor can fenfe 
 judge at all of fub fiance though it be under fenftble accidents, ttn- 
 lefs it be the fubjecb of thofe accidents, and have a fenftble and 
 corporal manner of being, which the Body of (fhrift neither is, nor 
 hath in that Sacrament . It hath a fpiritual manner of being , and 
 is not tht ftibjett of the accidents of bread j they are -without a fub~ 
 jcc~l by Miracle ; therefore no wonder, if fenfe be deceived in this 
 matter. Here Senfe and Reafon muft vail bonnet to faith, and fub- 
 mit to the' Authority of God revealing t and the Church propeund- 
 ing -, they are m competent Judges what Gad can do by his Omnipo- 
 tence.') Thus H.T. 
 
 Repl. And is this all that thefe Rabbies have to fatisfiethe 
 world that it is not Bread and Wine which is feen, and felt, and 
 tafted ! Let us firft take notice of the by-paflagesof his anfwer, 
 and then reply to the fubftance. i, Is not this like the reft of 
 their contradictory imaginations? That Chrift hath pot a Cor- 
 poral manner of Being in the Sacrament : and yet it is not 
 Bread, but his Body that is there: yea before W£. 207. he faith, 
 
 LWe 
 
A I\ey for Qatholicks. 35 
 
 £ We maintain not his Corporal, but real and fpiritual prefence 
 in the Sacrament. So that either they affirm that his Body is pre- 
 ferity and yet deny his Bodily prefence; or elfe they affirm his 
 Bodily prefence, bat not his Corporal prefence. Moft learnedly i 
 We fhall at laft be taught to diftmguifh between Bodily and Cor- 
 poral! But is not the Juggle in the word [_ Manner ? ] Perhaps 
 the Corporal prefence is not denyed, but the Corporal manner. 
 Anfw. 1 . Yes, in terms fts faid [_ We maintain not his Corporal 
 prefence'] 2. And can a Body be prefent, and not in a Bodily 
 manner? And why is |~ Spiritually 2 put as contradiftind ? 
 Sure when Paul faid our Bodies (hall be raifed fpiritual bodies, he 
 thought that they were neverthelcfs bodies for being fpiritual ; 
 and therefore it is neverchelefs a Bodily manner of prefence, 
 for being a fpiritual manner. But it by the Corporal prefence 
 or manner (denyed) be meant nothing but the qualities and 
 quantity by which it is fit to be the Objed of our fenfes, why 
 had we not this plainly without jugling ? To fay Cbrifi is 
 prefentin Body but not fenfibly y is plainer Englifh , then to fay 
 that he is prefent in Body but not Bodily prefent. 
 
 2. Note alfo that he calls them [ The accidents of bread) and 
 yet faith £ they are without a fnb]ecl~\ And fo doth the Expla- 
 nation of the Roman Catholike Belief ', and their ordinary writers 
 fay that the Body ofChrift is under the forms ef Bread and wine- 
 and yet fay that Bread andmne are none of the fubjett of thofe 
 forms. 
 
 3. Note alfo that he profeflfcth Tranfubflantiatien is a Mir** 
 cle, and fo every ignorant, drunken, adulterous Prieft of tbeirs 
 hath the gift of Miracles , which he worketh as oft as he con- 
 fecrateth : No wonder if Miracles be the glory of their Church, 
 and the proof of their Infallibility ; But let us come to the fub- 
 ftanceofhis Anfwer. 
 
 I. He tells you that fnbflance is not the proper and immediate 
 objetl of fenfe, but colour , quantity \&c. But I. Is not the Medi- 
 ate Objetl £ Proper ] as well as the Immediate? 2. But what ga- 
 ther you hence ? be it a Proper or improper Objed , I hope we 
 may yet have leave to believe thatReafonby the help of fenfe 
 doth judge as infallibly of Subflances as Accidents. If you 
 think otherwife, then all the forementioned confequences are 
 undenyable. You know not whether the worW faw Chrift on 
 
 F z earth .* 
 
j 6 A i\ey for Catbolicks. 
 
 earth: or whether he were crucified, dead, buried, rofe, or 
 afcended : It might be but colour and quantity which men (aw ; 
 and when Chrift told them a fpirit hath not flefti and blood as 
 ye fee me have, they might have anfwered, We fee nofltflj and 
 blood, but cohur and quantity: And Thomas had then (mall rea- 
 fon to be convinced by Jeeing and feeling , when he law but 
 colour and quantity, and felt but quantity and quality. By this 
 reafoning the world is not fure that evemhere was a Pope of Rome, 
 but the Qolou* of a Pope, or other accidents. And you know not 
 that there is any earth under your feet, or that you are a man, 
 or have a body, bccaufcyour fenfcs perceive but the accidents 
 of it. 
 
 2. But what manner of men did H. T. imagine he had to deal 
 with , when he puts off his Readers with fuch an anfwer as 
 this ? Mark Reader the unfaithfull dealing of thefe men,and how 
 grofly they abufe poor people that follow them with meer de- 
 ceits. The Queftion or Objection which he undertook to anfwer 
 WSiS,]Vhetherfenfe telling us that it is Bread after the Confecra- 
 tion he deceived ? To this he takes on him to give an anfwcr,and 
 cunningly fpeaks to another queftion,and paffeth this by. Its one 
 queftion, Whether fenfe can infallibly dijcern Chrift in the Sa- 
 crament , if be were there , or difcern that he is not there ? and 
 another queftion Whether fcnfe can infallibly difcern Bread and 
 Wine, and know whether they be there ? The laft was the queftion 
 in hand : but he fitly anfwers to the firftinftead of it ; and tells 
 US, that fen fe cannot judge of fubftance, though under fenftble ac- 
 cidents , unit fs it bethefubjecl of thofe accidents ,and have a fen- 
 ftble and corporal manner of being, which the body of Chrift neither 
 is nor hath in the Sacrament. \ And fo goes on. And what of all 
 this ? Q therefore Chrift may be in the Sacrament and you not d'f- 
 tern him by fenfe ] Well : and whats that to the queftion ? O Sir , 
 ii it not the holy truth of God that you are about t and fhould 
 you thus abufe it,and the fouls of men? you knew the queftion is, 
 Whether fenfe ( and the intellect thereby ) be infallible in judging 
 Bread to be Bread when we fee, feel and eat it ? Had you never a 
 word to fay to this ? to perfwade men that they have eyes and 
 fee not, and hands and feel not, or that the world knoweth not 
 certainly what they feem to know by feeing and feeling ? I pray 
 you hereafter deal by us as fairly as Bellarmm did (and yet 
 
 we 
 
A f\ey for Cathdich. }7 
 
 we will thank you for nothing ) who quire gave away the Ro- 
 man ciufe by granting and pleading Q that fenfe is infallible in 
 Po/itives : and therefore we may thence fay, This is a Body becaufc 
 I fee it j ( andfo this is Bread or wine becaufc I fee y feci and 
 tafteit ) but not in Negatives : and therefore we cannot fay , this 
 is not a Body becaptfe Ijee it not~] I pray you give over talking of 
 the Pope y or Church, or Religion ,or Men, if you are uncertain of 
 fubftances which are (fuppofebut per accidentia) the Ob jeds 
 of your fenfe. And take nothing ill that 1 write of you, till you 
 are more certain that you fee it, and know what you fee. 
 
 3. But you'l foy[Senfe and Reafon mufl here vail bonnet tofaitb. 
 Anfft. In the Negative cafe Ice it be granted , and any cafe 
 where faith can be faith. But if fenfe (and the Intellect there- 
 with^ fallible in TofitivesJo that we cannot know Bread when 
 we fee and cat it, faith cannot be faith then. What talk you of 
 faith, if you credit not the foundeft fenfes of all the men in the 
 world, when fenfe and reafon are prefuppofed to faith. How 
 know you that faith here contradidcth fenfe ? You'l fay, be- 
 caufe the Church or Scripture faith ; This is my Body : and that 
 there is no Bread ? But how know you that there is any fuch 
 thing in Scripture? or that the Church fo holdeth ? you think 
 you have read or heard it : But bow know you that your fenfe 
 deceived you not ? He that cannot know Bread when he feeth 
 and eateth it, is unlikely to know letters and their meaning when 
 he feeth them. 
 
 See more of my anfwer to fuch Objections in a Book entitled 
 The Safe Religion, p. 241 . to 248. 
 
 The fimpklt Reader that hath honefty and charity, is fecured 
 againft Popery by the firft Argument, which be may make good 
 to his own foul againft all the Jefuitcs on earth. And he that 
 is unable to proceed on that account,raay by the evidence of this 
 lall Argument confute any Papift living , if he be a man of fenfe 
 and reafon. And having brought all our controverfie fo low, 
 that fenfe it felf may be the judge, I (hall go no further in Argu- 
 ments thinking it vain to ufe any reafon with that man that will 
 not believe his own cye-fight,nor the fight, and feeling, and tafte 
 of all the world befides. 
 
 F 3 CH A P; 
 
1$ A j^ey for Catholicks . 
 
 Chap. X. 
 
 I .Come now to the next and principal part of my task, which 
 is to open to you their Deceit?,ardgive you Directions for 
 the difcovcry and confutation of them , that by the help of 
 thefe you may fee the Troth. 
 
 Dettll. i. Remember this ground which they have given you, 
 mat If j/oh prove them guilty but of any one Err er in points of be* 
 b*J determine:* by their Cnurch , you thereby difprove the whole 
 body of Popery , as fitch. For you pull up the foundation which 
 they build on, and the Authority into which t v eyrefolvc their 
 faith. They wili grant you, that if they arc deceived by the 
 Churchinone thing, they have no Certainty of any thing up- 
 on the Churches credit. So that if you read Pauls difcourfe 
 againft Praying in an unknown tongue, or the many precepts 
 for our reading and meditating in the Law ofGod,ortbe like, 
 and. can but perceive that the Popfti Latinc fervice, or their for- 
 bidding men to read the Scripture, &c. are contrary hereto , 
 or if you hnd out but any one of their Errors, you cannot 
 be a Papift,tf you underftand their Profeflion. 
 But it is not fo with us:for though we know that the Scripture 
 ard all that is in it is of infallible Truth, and that every true 
 Chriftian ( while fuch ) is infallible in the Eflfentials of Chrifti- 
 anity • ( for elfc he were no Chriftian ) yet we profefs that we 
 know but in part, and that our own Writings and Confeflions 
 may poflibly in forae things be befidesthe fenfeof Scripture $ 
 and there being much more propounded in Scripture to cur 
 faith, then what is of abfolute necefiity to falvation, we may 
 poffibiy after our ftudying and praying miftake in fome things 
 that arc not of the ECfence but the Integrity ofChriltianity,and 
 are necefTary to the Melius efo the ftrength or comfort,though 
 not to the being of a Chriftian.So that every Error in their faith 
 deftroyes their grounds, and fo their new Religion j but fo doth 
 not every Error of ours. 
 
 Or rofpe^kraore diftin&ly ^ let us diftinguifh between the 
 Fides <jua & qua ; their Objective faith, and our Subjeftive faith. 
 i .Their objective Faith hath Errors in it,but ours hath none by 
 their own confeffion: For theirs is all the Decrees of their Popes 
 
 and 
 
A £\ey for Cathd'u ks. 3 9 
 
 and Councils: and ours is only the Holy Scripture, which tliey 
 confefs to be infallible. Our own writings do but fhew how we 
 underftand the Scriptures, and fo whether our fubjeclive faith 
 be right or not. 2. We confefs that it is not only poflible hue 
 probable, that we are mistaken in forae lower points, about the 
 meaning of the Scriptures, and yet our foundation is ft HI fu re: 
 But they have in a fort confounded their Snb'uUive and Ob- 
 jttlive faith ; and one believes it on that account becaufc others 
 do believe it ; and fo one age or part do but feck fox thzOi? jilt oi 
 their faith in tht Aclual faith o\t\\c other. Yea 3. They con- 
 clude that every point which is of faith, that is, thats determined 
 by the Church to be fo , isoffuchneceffity to falvation that no 
 man can be faved that denyeth ir,or that doth not believe it ( if 
 fufficiently propofedj But we are afTurcd,that though all that 
 is in Scripture be moft true,yet through milunderitanding, fome 
 points there propofed to our faith, may pofiibly be denyed and 
 difputed againft by a true believer ; and yet his falvation not be 
 overthrown by it. The Papilts cry out againft us for diftinguifh- 
 ing between the Fundamentals ( or efTentials ) of Religion and 
 the Integrals : but we know it to be necefTiry. 
 
 Ch a p. xr. 
 
 Detett.z. yV7 HEN you have brought the matter thus far,and 
 ** fee that if they have one errour in faith, their 
 whole caufe is loft , then confider , whether it b" Poffible for 
 th it Doctrine which iifo contrary to Scripture , and to it fe If, to 
 be free from (ill Error. I. How contrary it isro Scripture, 1.T0 
 forbid the reading of Scripmre in a known tongue : 2. And their 
 Publick Praying in an unknown language : 3 . And their admi- 
 niftring the Lords Supper to the People by the halves, denying 
 them the Wine,and giving themthe bread only: 4 And their af- 
 firming men to be perfect without fin in this life : 5 And their 
 calling fome fins venial which deferve a pardon, and \ et arc truly 
 no fins : 6. And their abfolute forbidding their Prielis ro marry, 
 7. And faying that there is no Bread and Wine left after t he Con- 
 iccration,witb abundance the like : the very reading of the texts 
 ©ay fctisfic you.As for tberirft,fee Vtnt 6.7 $& Dent. 11.18, 
 
 10,20, 
 
40 A i\ey for Catholicks* 
 
 19,20 7/4.34.16. Pfal I, 2. Nch.S. ff-S. 34,35- ^' 12. 
 & 19. 4. & 21. 16. & 22. 3 I. Marl^iz. 10, 26. /7#j 8. 
 
 2^. & 1 3. 27. & 15. 21. 1 TJbtf. 5.27.0/. 4 16. D;ut 3 I.I I. 
 £p/>. 3. 4. A/at 24. 15. ivfi/. 1. 3. 2 77/w 3. 16. John 5 39. 
 vtftf. 17- 2, it & 18 28. 7?(?w 15. 4. zTw. 3- 15. i/«. 8. 
 1 6, 20. &: 42. 4. Rom. 7. 1. fames I. 2$. Bof.S. 1 2. 
 
 For thefecond,read 1 £V. 14. For the third, fee yl^f. 26, 
 27, 28. 1 fir. ! * 2 5 26,27,28. 1 CV. 10. 16. For the fourth, 
 fee Ecclcf 7. 20. p4w?s 3.2. I John 1.8. PA»7. 312. Luke 
 11. 4. For the fifth, fee Df#t. 12, 32. GW. 3. 10. 1 John 1.4. 
 Forthefixth, fee 1 77w. 3- 2,4, 5, 11,12. Tit. 1.6. 1 Ts'm.4 3- 
 1 Car 9. 5. For the fev en th, fee 1 Cor. to. 16. iCV.u.23, 
 26, 27, 28. v4tf- 2. 42. y4#. 20. 7. 1 1 . 
 
 2. And chat they are contrary to themfclves, appeareth : 1 . In 
 that fas I did before,) not only feveral pcrfons, bat feveral 
 Countries go feveral wayes • the French are of one way, and the 
 Italians of another, even in the Fundamentals of their Faith, 
 which all the reft isrcfolved into. 2- Their Popes have ordina- 
 rily been contrary to one another in their Decrees ; which made 
 Platinahy [Eollorving Popes do flill cither infringe er wholly ab- 
 rogate the Decrees of the former Popes ~] And Erafmns faith tha c 
 [fope John 22. and Pope Nicolas are contrary one to another 
 in their -whole Decrees , and that in things that feem to be- 
 long to matter of faith , Had we no inftances but of Sergius and 
 Formofus and their following partakers, it were enough. And 
 Celeftine* cafe puts Bellarmine to filly (hifts. 3. That their- 
 Councils contradict each other , I have formerly manifefted. 
 They confefs that the Ar rians have had many Councils as General 
 asraoftever the Orthodox had ■ and if it be only the want of the 
 Popes approbation that nullifieth their authority, then let them 
 tell us no more of Councils and of [_alltke Church] but fay 
 plainly that is hut one man that they mean. 
 
 But even their approved Councils have been contrary \ As 
 the fixth Council at Conftantinople approved by Pope Adrian^ 
 is now confclTcd to have many errors. The Council of Neo* 
 cafarea confirmed by Pope Leo 4. and by the Nicen Council 
 (as faiih theCouncilof Florence Sef.7.) condemned fecond 
 marriages, contrary to Scripture and the prefent Church. 
 The Council at the Laterane under Leo the tenth determines that 
 
 the 
 
A K^y for Qatholicfo. a\ 
 
 the Pope is above a General Council ; and the Councils of Con- 
 ftjnce and Bajil determine chat the General Council is above 
 the Pope, and thac this is «fe y? J* , andics herefie to deny it. 
 
 Ch a e. XII. 
 
 Detect. 3. TF jeu enter into Difpute with any Papift^ enquire firfi 
 X what he will take for J efficient Protf % and what com- 
 mon Principles you are agreed on by which the rtfl mujl bs decided. 
 .For men that agree in nothing at all , are not capable of a 
 difpute. For the Principles in which they are agreed, are thofc 
 that the reft mud be reduced to. And when you have made 
 this enquiry, you (hall find that the Popifh way of Difputing 
 is to forbid you to Difpute, unlefs you will firft yield the 
 caufe to them as beyond difpute : and that they are not agreed 
 with the reft of the world in any common principles to which 
 the differences may be reduced for tryal, and fo that there is no 
 fort of Proof that they will admit of as fufficient • Forif there 
 be any ground of Proof at all , it muft be i . From the fenfes. 
 2. Or from Reafon. 3. Or frqni Scripture. 4. Or from the 
 Church j but they will ftand to none of allthefe. 
 
 1. Begin at the bottom of all, and know of them whether 
 they will take that for a Valid Proof, which isfeccht from fenfe, 
 even from the founded fenfes of all men in the world, fuppo' 
 • fing a convenient ob jed and Medium ? If they will not take this 
 for Proof, how can you difpute with them ? Or what Proof can 
 be admitted, if this be not admitted ? We have this advantage 
 in dealing even with thofe Heathen tbathave blotted out much 
 of the Law of nature it felf,that yet they will yield to an Argu- 
 ment from fenfe. 
 
 Bfctif they would yield to the Validity of this proof, then 
 they give away their caufe, feeing/;*/; telleth us that it is bread 
 which we fee,and feel,andeat after the Confecration. They 
 know this ; and therefore they tnuft difown and deny this fore 
 of proof. 
 
 2. But will they then admit of Proofs from Reafon ? No,thar 
 cannot be, if proof from fenfe be not admitted. For Reafon re- '■ 
 ceiveth its object by means or occafion of the fenfes, and muft' 
 
 G needi 
 
41 >A Key for Catholicks. 
 
 needs be deceived if it be deceived .* And Reafon hath not a prin- 
 ciple chat it holds farter, then that fenfc is to be credited; that this 
 is whice or black which my own eyes and the eyes of all other 
 men do fee to be fo: and fo chat this is bread which we all fce,and 
 feel, and carte tobefo. And therefore the Papifls tell us that 
 Reafon muft {loop to faith, thar is, they will not fond to Reafon 
 when it contradideth the doctrine of their fed. 1 1 feems they 
 areinfoflie parts of their Religion unreafonable. But I would 
 know, whether they have any ReafoA to be unreafonable. If they 
 have, then why might not our Reafon be valid as well as their 
 Reafon which they bring againft Reason ? by which they contra- 
 dict themfelvcs. For if Reafon be vain , why Reafon they to 
 prove its Vanity or invalidity .'But if they have no Reafon again ft 
 Reafonjet them confefs it, and offer us none, and then their di- 
 lutes will do no harm. We eafily yield, that we have Reafon to 
 believe Gods Revelations ,about thofe things which we had no Rea- 
 fon to believe if they were not Revea'ed: And that many of 
 thofe Revelations are above Reafon, fo far as that Reafon cannot 
 difcern the truth of the thing without them ; yea it would 
 rather judge the things improbable: But yet Revelations are re- 
 ceived by Reafon, and inform Reafon,Sind not dtftroy it ; nor do 
 they fo contraditt Senfe or Reafon , as to make that credible 
 Which Senfe and Reafon have fufficient ground to judge falfe. 
 
 So that here we muft break with a Papift, even where we 
 might join in difpute with a heathen. And how will Papifts deal 
 with Heathens if they will deny the proofs from fenfe and reafon ? 
 
 3 . But will they ftand to the Validity of Prooj shorn Scripture? 
 No j For i. They take it to be but part of Gods word, fothat 
 we may nor argue K^egatively , [ It is not in the holy Scripture : 
 therefore it is not an Article of faith or aLarpofGod] For they 
 will prefently appeal to Tradition, z. And even fo much as 
 is in Scripture, though they confefs it to be true , yet they con- 
 fefs it not to be by us intelligible, and will not admit ofany 
 proof from it, but with this limication. that you take it in that 
 fenfe as the Church takes it. For they are fworn by the Trent 
 Oath[io take '* *» that fence as the Holy Mother Church doth hold, 
 and hath held it in, and never t o take or interpret it but according 
 to the unanimous fenfe of the Father s.~\ So that they muft know 
 what fenfe all the Fathers are unanimous in before they can ad- 
 mit 
 
Af\ey for Gitbolicks. 4} 
 
 mil a proof from Scripture. And be r ore that can be done, above 
 a Cart-load of books muft be read over or fearched : and when 
 that* done.they will find that moft texts were never medled with 
 by moftof thofe Fathers in their writings; and in thofe that 
 they did meddle with, they difagrecdin multitudes, and where 
 they difagree they are not unanimous •, and there the Papifts 
 are fworn to believe no fenfe at all. And if they would have 
 come down to a Major vote, it is no (hort or eafie matter to ga- 
 ther the votes. And if they know the Fathers unanimous con- 
 fent,yet mall they have the fenfe of the prefent Church too: And 
 is it not all one to make your adverfary the fudge of jour caufe y 
 as the fudge of jour Evidences and all jour proofs ? 
 
 4. Well, but at leaft may we not hope that chey will ftaid 
 to the Judgement of the Catholick.C bur ch ? And if fo, we will 
 not take it for our adverfary ? No; they will not do fo neither. 
 For 1. When they deny proof from fenfe and reafon, they muft 
 needs deny all that* brought from the Church : For the Church 
 cannot judge it felf but on luppofition of the infallibility of fenfe. 
 2. And when you argue from the judgement and practice of the 
 greater part of the Church, they prefently difclaim them all as 
 Hereticks or Schifraaticks, and will have no man be a Valid wit- 
 nefsbut themfelves. The Greeks, the ^Ethiopians, the Arme- 
 nians, the Protcftants, all are Hereticks or Schifmaticks fave 
 they-, and therefore may not be witncfTes in the cafe. So that 
 you fee upon what terms we ftand with the Papifls, that will ad- 
 mit of no proofs upon the Infallibility of Senfe or Reafon, or the 
 fufficiencj of Scripture, or the teftimenj of the Catholic^ Church, 
 but only from themfelves. 
 
 Ch a r.XIII. 
 
 Detect. 4 I 1 Nderfiand ft hat the Papifts mean when thej areflUl 
 K-& calling t» jou for a fudge ofControvcrfecs. 
 If you would difpute with them, they are prefently ask- 
 ing you, Q jyho fhall be the judge ? ] and perfwading you 
 that it is in vain to difpute without a living Judge ; for 
 every man will be the Judge himfelf; and every manscaufe 
 will be right in his own eyes, and all the world will be full at 
 
 G 2 odds 
 
44 A l\ey for Catholicks. 
 
 odds till we are agreed who fhall be the Judge. 
 
 To help you to lee the fenfe of this deceit , and then to con- 
 fute it-, i. You may eafily obferve that this is the plain drift of 
 all, toperfwadeyou to make them your judges, and yield the 
 caufeinftead of disputing it. For it is no other judge but them- 
 felves that they will admit. Yield firft that the Pope or his Coun- 
 cil is the judge of all controverfies, and then its folly r o rlifnute 
 againft them : fo that if you will yield them thecr.uic firftjthey 
 •vill then difpute with you after. 
 
 2. But what istobefaid to the pretence of the Ncceffity of 
 a Judge? lanfwer, i. Its againftall reafon and experience to 
 chink that ail enquiries ordifputes are vain, unlefs there be a 
 Judge to decide the cafe. A Judge is a Ruling decider •, not to 
 iatit fie mens minds, fo much as to preferve O der,md Peace, 
 and Juftice in the Society. But there are thouiards of cales to 
 be privately difcuffed, that we never need to bnrgco a Judge. 
 Every Husbandman, and Tradefman, and Navigator, and other 
 Artificer doth meet with doubts and difficulties in his way which 
 hclaboureth ro Difccrn, and fatisfierh himfelf with a Judge- 
 ment ofDifcretion without a Ruling Judge. We eat.and drink, 
 and clothe our felves, and follow our daily labours without a 
 Judge, though we meet with controverfies inalmoftall, what 
 meat or drink is beft for quality or quantity, and a hundred 
 like doubts. Wen do marry, and build, and buy, and fcli, and 
 takePhyfick,and difpatch their greateft worldly bufinefs without 
 a Judge. Judges are only for luch controverted cafes as cm- 
 not well bedecided without them, to the attaining of the Ends of 
 Government. 
 
 2. Is it not againft the daily pradice of the Papifts to think 
 or fay that all difputes and controverfies muft have a Judge?YVho 
 is the Judge between the Nomina!?, Reals and lormalifts > 
 the Dominicans, Francifcans and Jefuites, in all thofe conrro- 
 verfies which have Cartloads of Books written on them ? Their 
 Pope or Councils dare rot Judge between them. Do they not 
 daily difpute in thnr Schools among thcmfelres without a 
 Judge ? and (till write books againft one another without a 
 Judg.-? 
 
 3. Underftand well the ufe and differences of Judgement. 
 The fentence is but a means to the (xccmion: and Judges can- 
 
A I\ey for Catholic ks. 45 
 
 not determine the mind and will of man : but preferve outward 
 Order , it' men will not feetbe truth therafelvc. Me thinks the 
 Jefuirs that are fo eager for freewill, (hould eafily grant that: 
 the Pope by his definition cannot determine the Will of man. 
 And they fee that Heretickj remain Heretickj , when the Pope 
 hath faid all that he can : And if he can cure them ail by Jiis de- 
 terminations, be is much too blame that hedothnot. And ifa 
 mass mind be to be fettled, an Infallible Teacher is fitter then a 
 Judge, f ndgcmtnt then being for Execution, when you ask, 
 Who /bill be the 'judge} I anfwer that Judgement is either total y 
 abfolute and final : or it is only to a certain particular end, limi- 
 ted^ndfubirdinate, from which there is an Appeal. In the 
 former cafe, there is no Judge but Chrift, and the Father by 
 him. No abfoluce decifion can be made till the great Judgement 
 come; and then all will be fully and finally decided. And for 
 the Urn ted prefent Judgements of men, they are of fever al forts, 
 according to their feveral Ends. When the queftion is, wha (b ill 
 be corporally puni/hedas an Heretickj the Magiftr.it e is ftdge- y 
 For coercive puni/hment being his work, the J lament muft 
 be his alfo. But when the queftion is, who /hall be ex.ommuni- 
 catedas an Heretid^,as Gods Law hath cold us who in fpecie, and 
 fo is the Rule of decifion about individuals : fo to try individual 
 pcrfons, and cafes according to ths Law, belongs to the Gover- 
 nors of the Church : but not to the Governours of ether Churches 
 atboufand mi'esoff, thit never received fuch an aurhority, and 
 are not capable or che work : but to ihzGovemoursofthe Church 
 in which the party hath Communion , and into which he fhall at 
 any time intrude andfeekcommunion.Andrf/Vwfwhavea fudge 
 ment ofdifcerninr that are concerned in the Execution. 
 
 So that if a disputing Papift will fay that bisbjfinefs is not to 
 Difpute with you, but to Excommunicate, or hang, or burn you 
 for an Heretic^, then I confefs,its all the reafon in the world chat 
 you (hould rirft agree of the fudge. But why the Pops (hould; 
 be the Judge,! know not, unlcfs it be in his own charge. 
 
 G 3: CH A:P, 
 
46 A Key for Catboltcks. 
 
 Ch a p. XIV. 
 
 Deleft. 5, X 7 \ 7 Hen you have proceeded on thefe grounds, 
 V V the Papifts will tell you , that in their way 
 there is an End of Controverfies, but in jours there is none : F$r 
 if ) opt will not [land to ones Judgement as infallible , jou may dip- 
 pute as long as yet* live before )ou come to an End. 
 
 To dired ycu in difcuffing this part of the Deceit alfo •' 1. We 
 confefs that on earth there will be no End of all controverfies 
 among the beft : nor of the great controverfies which falvation 
 lyeth on, between the believers and the unbelievers •• that is, 
 there will be Aill Infidelity and Herefie in the world , and 
 errour in the godly themfelves. 1 . Hath it not been f in every 
 age till now ? And why (hould we expect that it ftiould row be 
 other wife ? 2 . Doth not Paul tell us that here we knew but in part s 
 and prophejie in part ? and when is it that that which is imperfeel 
 -will be done away, but when that -which is perfett is come ? While 
 we know but in part,we (hall differ in parr. 
 
 2.Hath your way put an End to controverfies any more then 
 ours ? Are you not yet at controverfie with Infidels, Whether 
 Chrift be the Redeemer. and with Heretickj -whether he be true eter- 
 nail God ? Are you not yet as full of controverfies among your 
 felves,asany Chriftians on the face ofthe earth? I do not believe 
 but in the many Volumes of your Schoolmen,Cafuifts,and Com- 
 mentators,! can fhew more controverfies yetdepending.then you 
 can find amongft any fort of Chriftians in the world jyea then you 
 can find among all other Chriftians in the world fet together. 
 
 3. And i$ there any thing in jour -way that better tendcth to 
 the deciding of controverfies then in ours ? Nothing at all ^ but 
 contrarily, you have made more Controverfies then you have 
 ended. For, 1 . We have a Certain infallible Rule to decide our 
 controverfies by, even fuch as you confefs your felves to be in- 
 fallible; Even the Holy Scriptures : but you have an uncertain 
 Ru!e,even the Decrees of your Popes and Councils, and the ma- 
 ny Volumes of the Fathers,which are at odds among tbemfelves ; 
 your very Rule is felf-contradifting, and your Judges are toge- 
 ther by the ears ( as hath been {hewed. ) 
 
 2* Our Faith confifteth in thofepoincs which are granted by 
 
 your 
 
A I^ey jor Qatholicks. 47 
 
 your felves j and fo are beyond Controverfie between us and you » 
 Buc/e/ir/lye:h alfo in a mixture of mens corruptions, which 
 will ever be controverted and condemned. 
 
 3. Oar Faith confifteth in the few ancient Articles by which 
 the Church was alwayes known ( as to its efTentials. ) Bat you 
 confound the EjfentUls with the integrals : and the lumber of 
 your necefTiry Articles is fo great , as muft needs.be matter of 
 more controverfie then ours. 
 
 4. We know our Religion, and where to find it • For it is per- 
 fect at the firft, andreceivethno additions or diminutions. One 
 generation cometh, and another goeth,but the word of the Lord 
 cndure:h forever. But you never know when you have all , be- 
 caufe you know not when your v Pope will have done defining: 
 that is an article of faith tojou one year that was none the year 
 before nor ever before. 
 
 5. We seed no Judge to decide any controverfies among us 
 in the points of Abfolute neceffity to falvation : both becaufe 
 the Scripture is fo plain in thofe points , as to ferve for 
 decifion without a Judge-, and becaufe we abhor to make a 
 controve fie of any of therR; and where there is no centrover/ic, 
 there needs no Judge. We are all agreed, through th*? plainnefs 
 of the Scripture, that there is but one, Eternal, moit Wife, and 
 Good, and Omnipotent God- and that there is one Mediator 
 between God and man, who is himfelf both God and man, that 
 was crucified, dead, buried, went to «WW, rofe again, afcen- 
 ded.imercedeth for us, and is King and Head of the Church.* 
 and will raife the dead, and judge the world, forne to Heaven, 
 and fome to Hell : Thefe and all the reft of the EfTentials of our 
 faith, and many more points that are not efTentials, are fo plain in 
 Scripture that we are part making them matter of Controverfie. 
 If any man deny an EfTcntial point of faith , he is none of u«, no 
 more then of you. But you are it feems fo deep in infidelity, 
 that vou muft have a judge to decide your Controverfies in the 
 necefTiry Articles of Faith. For whatever is defide,you msketo 
 be of fuch equal neceffity, that you deride our diftinguifhing 
 the Fundamentals from the reft, (asmaybefeen in Knots Infi- 
 delity unmaskt agiinft Cbillingmrtk ) Serioufly tell us , Do you 
 think Chnftians need a Judge , or muft put it to a Judge to de- 
 cide, whether [hrifl be the MrjpAS or not ? whether he dud and 
 
 rofi 
 
4^ a Jfyyfor Catbolicks. 
 
 rofe again sr not } whether he vi.'l judge the rror/d or net? or 
 any fuch points. If he be a Judged muft have power to oblige 
 you to fund to his Determination on which fide ibever he deter- 
 mine. And \rhat if John 22 determine that the foul is not im- 
 mortal, or John 23. that there i> no refurre&ion or life to 
 come, but a man dieth like a beaft : would you {land to this 
 decifion ? 
 
 6. If you fay that your Judge hath power to oblige you on- 
 ly on one fide, that is, when he judgeth right (and fo make 
 no Judge of him, but a Teacher) we have fuch Judges as well 
 as you,even Teachers to fhew us the Evidence of truth. 
 
 7. If you fay that you have a Judge to determine of herefes in 
 order to the Vumjhing of them b) the /word : So have we as well as 
 you , and better then you. For your Pope is a Prieft that hath 
 nothing to do with the fword, Cat lead out of his own Principa- 
 lities) : but our Princes and other Rulers are lawful Magiftrate?, 
 thn are appointed to be a terror to evill doers, Rom. 1 3 . 4, 6. 
 
 8. If you fay that you have a Judge to determine of here fie in 
 Order to Excommunication ,fo have we in every Church-'even the 
 Paftors of the Churches, who are bound to unite and aflift each 
 orher in fuch works, what is to be accounted Here fie ,the Law of 
 God fufficiently determineth : Andwhat particular perfons are 
 to be Judged heretic kj and excommun cated according to that Law, 
 the particular Paftors that are on the place can better decide 
 then a Pope that is a thoufand , or five thoufand miles off, and 
 cannot hear the witnefles. And do you not your felves decide 
 almoft all fuch cafes through the world ( that is of your fubje- 
 dion) by the prefent Paftors or Bifhops, and not by the 
 Pope ? And why may not we do fo then as well as you ? 
 
 9. But if you lay all upon your Popes or Councils Infallibi- 
 lity, I defire you but to read my third Difputatiou in a Book 
 againft Popery, called the Safe Religion-, and then believe that 
 Infallibility if you can. I ihould think my felf a miferable man, 
 if I were not my felf more Infallible then many of your 
 Popes have been. Every Chriftian ( while fuch ) is infallible 
 in his belief of the Chriftian faith ; And the Scripture is an infal- 
 lible ground of our belief. 
 
 10. Is it not a plain Judgement of God upon you, that 
 while you make the Scripture fo dark and not intelligible , 
 
 and 
 
AL^eyfor Qatholkks. 49 
 
 andcry upthe Neceftity of a living Judge, you fhouli not 
 only ("warm with differences among your felvcs , but fhould 
 be utterly difagreed, and at a lofs to know whouthu fudge of 
 Controverts, one faying it is the Pope , and another that its the 
 Council ; and what the better are you for faying, There mufl be 
 a Judge % as long as you cannot tell Who it mujl be } Its not only 
 uncertain among you whether I 'ope or Ceuncill be the Infallible 
 fudge , but alfo which is a true Pope, and which is a lawfull Cje- 
 neralfiuncil} For fourty years at Icaft together, the Church 
 could not know the true Pope, but the more learned and con' 
 fcionable men were divided : Nor is it known to this day. Fre- 
 quently the Orongeft hath carried it, and fuccefs been his beft 
 title. Nay General Councils themfclves knew not the right 
 Pope. The Council at Conftance and Baft I knew not the right 
 Pope. They of Safil thought Felix the fifth the truePope, and 
 Eugenius no Pope • But friends and ftrength confuted a Gene- 
 ral Council, and proved depofed Eugenius the Pope. And for 
 Councils thcmfelves,who knows which to take for currant and of 
 Authority? What Catalogues have you of reprobated Councils* 
 and of doubt full Councils ,and partly approved, partly reprobate , 
 and who knows which and how far \ but only that is approved , 
 that pleafeth the Pope , and that reprobate that difpleafed him, 
 and yes perhaps approved by a former Pope: So that you are 
 all in a confufion and uncertain about your true Popes and Ge- 
 neral Councils. 
 
 And if you knew them, yet what aloft are yon atjtoknow 
 their Decrees and Canons ? What a Fardel of falfe Decrctall 
 Epiftles have you thruftupon the world, as Blondell/Dalleus , 
 Reiguolds and others have fully proved. Forfooth decretals 
 thatufeatranflationof the Scripture that was formed a long 
 time after the death of the fuppofed Authors of thofeEpiflles : 
 And Decretals which make mention of perfons and things 
 that were many fcore or hundred years after the death of the 
 faid Authors. Thefe are your new Scriptures, and by thefe our 
 faith muft be regulated, and our comroverfies decided. 
 
 And your Canons are abundance of them as urxcrtain : fomc 
 of your own will have but twenty Canons of the firft General 
 Council at Nice : fome will have the new found rabble of additi- 
 ons. Much more uncertainty or certain forgery there is in the 
 
 H Canons 
 
}0 ^K§y for Catholkh. 
 
 Canons called the Apoftles : and the like we may fay of abun- 
 dance more. 
 
 And now I appeal to all the impartial Reafon in the world, 
 whether your voluminous , apocriphal , urccrtain faith thac 
 reeds a living Judge, and cannot find one, or agree upon him, 
 and that leaves your controversies ftill undecided, be a liker 
 way to peace and unity, then our (hort and plain Articles and 
 infallible Scripture faith , that hath lefs matter of contenti- 
 on , and better means to prevent it, even faithful Teachers and 
 fudges in every Church and Commonwealth , which Hull fo 
 far determine as may preferve the peace of thofe focieties, leva- 
 ing the final full Decifion of all to the Eternal Judge that is even 
 ac the door. 
 
 ii. Yea and is not Gods hand of Judgement yet more ob- 
 iervableagainftyou, that when your Popes and Councils have 
 paft their judgement, the feveral Seds are unable to under- 
 hand them? witnefs the late fentenceagainft the Jmfenifts, of 
 which the perfons that fcem to be condemned, fay, that there is 
 nofuch thing or words in all fanfenius wrirings. as the Pope 
 Jaith are in him, and condemneth as his I and the C omrovei fie is 
 as far from a decifion, as if the Pope had htl J his peace. Yea your 
 great Difputer here in England Thomas White the Novelifr, is 
 the fame for all the Popes determination. 
 - Take another inftancc in the for^mentioned Cafe, whether the 
 Tope or Council be fufream : The Councils of Conftance and Ba- 
 ftl determined it one way as de fdc, and yet thac made no end 
 of the Controverfie. The Council of Lateran and Pope Leo de- 
 termined it the other way ; and yet it is a Controverfie after 
 two contrary decifions : and fome fay one way, and fomethe 
 othe •• and fome fay, It is yet undecided C for fear of angring 
 the French by carting themoff as Hereticks. ) Another infiance. 
 The Council at BtftlSejf. 36. {fag 80. in Bimins) hath fully 
 <te'c:mined the Controverfie between the Francifcans and Domi- 
 nicans about the Virgin Maries immaculate conception : and 
 yet it is undetermined (Till ^ and Thomas white presumes to af- 
 firm? that [ Certainly there is no Tradition for it , nor any proba- 
 bility that ever the Negative -will be defined. A polog./cr Tradit, 
 pag. 64, 6^,(56. yea he carryeth it as boldly out, as if never 
 Council had made or medled with it. I will therefore recite the 
 
 words 
 
A l^ey for Catbolicks. 5 1 
 
 words of the Council, which arethcfe £ A hardquefli&nhath 
 been In divers parts, and before this hoi]/ Synod, about the Concepti- 
 on of the gloriow Virgin Mary, And the beginning of her Santlifi- 
 cation ; fome faying that the Virgin and her font was for feme 
 time or infiant of time actually under Original fin : others on the 
 contrary, faying, that from the beginning of her Creation, God 
 loving her , gave her grace by which preferving and freeing that 
 
 bleffed perfon from the Original fpot ve, having diligently lookt 
 
 into the authorities and reafons, which for many years paft have in 
 publike relation on both fides been alledged befere this holy Synod, 
 and having fe<n many otkc things about it, «nd weighed them bj 
 mature confederation, do Define andUeclwc, that the dctlrine af- 
 firming that the glorious Virgin Mary the Another of God, by the 
 fixgu'ar preventing and operating grace of God, was never aclu- 
 ally under Original fin, but was ever free from all Original and 
 aclualfin, an d yv * s holy and immaculate \ is to be approved, held 
 and embraced of all Catholikes as godly and Confonant to Church- 
 worfinp ,Catholi\zt faith, right reafon, and J acred Scripture : and 
 that henceforth it /hall be lawful for no man to preach and teach the 
 contrary ) Is not this plain Defining ? 
 
 Ob j. But this was not an approved Council Anfw. i . Ic was 
 owned by Pope Eugenia s himfelf. And here once for all I 
 prove that the Council of Bafil was approved by the Pope:, 
 for Pope Felix the fife ( one of the Deft Popes that ever 
 Remt had this thoufand years ) approved it in this point : 
 not only by accepcing their election , but in exprefs term* 
 [ f ro f e Jf lr, l firmly to held the faith of the Councils of Con- 
 ftance*^ Bafil, and to keephinvidateto a tittle, and confirm it 
 mth his foul and blood : promifing faithfully to labour to defend 
 the Cathalick^ faith ^and for the e Xtcution and obfervation of the De- 
 crees of the Councils of Conftance and Bafil, [wearing to profe- 
 cute the celebration of General! Councils, and confirmation of E(e» 
 titans , according to the Decrees of the Holy Council of BaliiJ See 
 BinniusStf.^o. pageSj. If they fay that Felix was not a true 
 Pope: I anfwer, then CMartin the fifth cbofen by the Coun- 
 cill at Conftance was no true Pope ; and then where is your 
 fuccefiion? Thefe things are plain and cannot be denyed, though 
 unconfcionable (hif:er$, that argue according to their Wills* may 
 find words to beguile the fimple. 
 
 H2 2.1c 
 
A Kjty for Catholicks. 
 
 2 It feems then your Catholick Church reprefentative is nothing- 
 if one man like it not. 
 
 One more inftance : How largely hath the Council of Trent 
 dealt about originall fin: And yet the forefaid Thomas White 
 ibid- faith thus £ // the Pee fie were taught Original fin is nothing 
 but a Difpofitien to evil, or a natural weaknefs , which unlefs pre- 
 vented brings infallibly fin and damnation', and that in it ft If it 
 deferves neither reproach nor punifhment , as long as it proceeds not to 
 aft nal fin , the heat of vulgar devotion would be cooled , &c] 
 See here a mcer Pe lagian iifue of all the Determinations abcuc 
 Originall fin, which they ftiould fwear to believe. 
 
 Chap. XV. 
 
 Deteft. 6. A NDby this that hath been faid,you may fee 
 jt\ what to think of their glorying in their Vnitj, 
 And accufir.g eur Divifions. One of the principal arguments that 
 they prevail by, is by telling the people into how many feds we 
 are divided, and that the Catholick Church is but one .- but we. 
 are many : and here they will tell you of all the names they can 
 reckon up, Presbyterians.Independants, Anabaptifts, Antinpmi* 
 ans, Arminians, Socinian$,Quakers, and what not. And they will 
 tell you that all this Divifion comes by departing from the Ro- 
 man Catholick Church ; every man being left to be of what Rer 
 ligion his fancy leadeth him to,for want of an univerfal Judge of 
 controvcrfies. And they will ask you what reafon you have 
 among all thefe Sc&s to believe one of them rather then another? 
 So that they would pcrfwade you that there is no way for Unity 
 but by turning to be Papifts, that we may be united in the Pope 
 oiRome. 
 
 To all this deceit ( for it is no better ) we give them our full 
 anfwer in thefe Proportions, i. It is no: every kind of unity 
 that is defirable : but Unity with truth, and honefty, and fafety. 
 Itseaficrtoagrcein evil then in good : for evil findeth more 
 friendfhip with corrupted nature, and hath morefervantsinthc. 
 world. The wicked are more agreed, and far more in number, 
 of one mind.then the Godly are. The Mahometans are far more 
 agreed; and that in a far greater number, then the Papifts are. 
 
 The 
 
A I\ey for Catholic ks. 5 J 
 
 The Devils have fome agreement in their way: They are all 
 agreed to hate Chriftand his members , and to feck night and 
 day whom they may devour. It is eafier to agree inaPapifts 
 work then in ours : To center carnally in a (infull ( and oft a 
 molt wicked) manj to agree in certain forms and ceremonies, 
 which flefh and blood is glad to delude themfelves with, inftead 
 of theLifeof faith and Love ^ itseafieto agree in fucha carnal 
 religion. Tofpire thehbour and time of ttuciy and fearching 
 after truth , and to caft their fouls upon the faith of others, eren 
 the Pope or a Council, this is an eafie thing for lazy ungodly 
 men to agree in •* But to make the Truth our Own,and get the 
 Law of Chrift written in our own hearts, and to live upon ir, 
 and walk in the light, and embrace all thofe tiuths that are moft 
 againft our flefhly inclination and intcreft,this is not foealie for 
 corrupted nature to agree upon. 
 
 2. Chrilt hathtoldus that it is a little flock, to whom he gives 
 the Kingdom, Luke 12.32. and that tbe gate is flrait^and the way 
 narrow that leads to life ^and few there be that find it •, and the gate 
 is wide and the way broad that leads to deflrulliort, and man) there 
 be that enter at it. And therefore it is no great wonder if error 
 and fin have the greater number. 
 
 3. An J yet for all this I dire boldly fay that there is a far more 
 excellen: Unity and Concord among the true Reformed Catbo- 
 licks , then among the Papifts , and that they do but cheat poor 
 fouls with the falfe prccence of unity . And this I fhall make ap- 
 pear to you as followeth. 
 
 1 .As I have faid before,they are utterly divided and difagreed 
 about that very power in which they fhould unite, and which • 
 they pretend rauft agree them in all other things. One half of 
 them are for the Soveraignty of a Pope , and the other of a Ge- 
 neral Council : and that as a point of f*itb. So that there is no 
 poflibility of Union with them, that are divided in the very 
 point in which they invite us to Unite with them. If the 
 eye be dark how fhall the body fee ? If they cannot agree about 
 that power that they fay rauft agree tbem in all things ci'e, what . 
 hope of an agreement with them ? 
 
 But for our parts we are all agreed that Chrift only is the head 
 of the Church,and in him we all unite. 
 
 2*Witb u?, they arc ufuaJly but here and there a ftragling pec- 
 
 H 3 fon 3 , 
 
c 4 J l\ey for Q& t bolkks* 
 
 fon , or fomc few half-witted felf- conceited Novices that fall 
 (ff and difagree from us in any thing that deftroyeth falvation t 
 But with the Papilts, Princes arc againft Princes, and Nations 
 againft Nation?, and which is much more, General Councils 
 againlt General Councils, even in the Foundation of their faith. 
 So that let the General Councils be never fo full and learned, 
 and jufily called, yet if they be again'! the P< pes Soveraignty 
 ovc- ihem, the other party call them but Cenciliabnla, falfe 
 Councils and Conventicles. Of how greatmomentthisdirferer.ee 
 is, let the learned Cajetaneba a witnefs, who in his Oration in 
 the Council at the Laterane, under Leo 10. inveighing againft 
 the Councils at Pifa, Con/lance and 2? /i/*/, makes one to be Babel, 
 and the other ftrufalem. 
 
 3 . As 1 proved bjfore,the Papifts are divided into two fevera! 
 pretended Catholick Churches, by making thcmfelves twoSove- 
 raigns ; but fq are not we: For we have but one Head Jefus 
 Chrift. That" they are two Churches (befides what isfaid ) 
 hear the words of (fajetane in the forcfaid Oration ( in Bin. p. 
 552.) \This Novelty of Pi fa , fprungup at Conftance, and 
 vanifljed. AtB&Ciiit fprungup a^ain and is exploded : and if 
 you be men , it will n tvalfobe reprejfed as it was tinder Eugenius 
 the fourth. For it comet h not from heaven, and therefore will not 
 be lafiing. Nor doth it embrace the ^Principality of that Onejreho 
 is in the Church triumphant \andprefervtth the Church militant \ 
 and which the Synod of Pila ought to embrace if it camefrem hea- 
 ven, and not, as it doth t to rely on the Government of a multitude. 
 The Church of the Pifans therefore doth far differ from this 
 Church of Chrifi. For one is the Church of believers ; the 
 other of Cavillers : One of the houfhold of God ; the other of the Er- 
 rone us'. One {is the Church ) of Cbrifiian men: the other of 
 fuch as fear not to tear the coat of Chrifi , and divide the my- 
 fiical members of Chrifi from his myfiical btdy. ] This was 
 fpoken in Council with applaufe. And can 'hereyet be greater 
 diviiions thenthefe? 
 
 4. They have been utterly divided about the very power of 
 choofing their Pope, in whom they muft unite. In one age the 
 People dofehim : In another the Clergy chofehim; fometime 
 both together : For a long time the Emperours chofe him : At lafl 
 only the Cardinals chok him. And fometime a General Council 
 
 hath 
 
A ftey for Qa tbolicks. 5 5 
 
 hath chofen him. Our CAthoticl^Cburcbhaih no fcch uncertain 
 Head, but one chats the fame yefterday today and for ever. 
 
 5. They have often had two or three Popes at once , and one 
 part of the Church hath followed one, and another the other : 
 yea ( as is faid for forty years together , none knew the true 
 P"pt ) faith Cajetane abifup. [ Of the Schifm of that time there 
 yixre three fi accounted Popes , that mm of them might be efteemed 
 the Succtffjr of Peter either certain, or withmt ambiguity. J For 
 many iges one part hath been running after one , and the 
 other after the other , or driving about them. But we are all 
 agreed in our Head without Controverfie. 
 
 6. They have killed multitudes of perfons in their divifions 
 about the choice of their Pope fas in Danafus choice ) And 
 they have had many b'oody wars to the dividing of the Cburcb 
 about their Popes and between Pope and Pope. This was their 
 Unity. It would makeaChriltianafhamedand grieved to read 
 of the lamentable wars and divifions of Chriftendom, cither 
 between or about their Popes. 
 
 7. Their Popes and Chriftian Emperor, Kings andPrincei, 
 have been in yet longer and more grievous war?. 
 
 8. They have fet Princes againft Princes, and Nations againfc 
 Nations in warsaboucthe fattfe* of the Popes for many ages 
 together : and it is too fcldom otherwife- 
 
 9. They have fet Kings and their own fubje&s together in 
 wars, as Englandmd almofl; all Chriftendom hath known by 
 fad experience. 
 
 10. They' have Excommunicated Princes, and encouraged 
 their fubje&s to cxpell them, and to murder them: hence were 
 the inhumane murders of Henrj the third, and Htnry the fourth, 
 Kings of Fntnce ; and the Powder Plot,and may Treafons in Eng- 
 UnA: Thisis their Unity. 
 
 1 1 . They center and unite the Church in an impotentjnfuffi- 
 cicnt Head, that is not able to do the O^ceofa Head, to the 
 hundredth part of the Church,and therefore cinnot poffibly pre- 
 fervc unity. But our Headisall-fufficient. 
 
 72. They fee up not only a Controverted head , which ill 
 the Churches never agreed to, nor ever will do,, but alio 
 a falfe ufurpingHead, which the Churches dare not and ought 
 not to unite in.. Whcreaj Jtfus Chrilt is beyond conro- 
 
 vcrfie : 
 
5 6 A Kjyfor Catbolicks. 
 
 verfic the juft and lawful! Head of the Church. 
 
 13. Your Agreement and Unity is with none but your own 
 fed : and is this fo great a matter to boaft off ? you divide your 
 felves from moft of the Catholick Church, and caft them off is 
 Hereticks, orSchifmaticks; and then boaft of a Unity among 
 your felves. And fo may the Quakers, the Anabaptifts , the 
 Socinians, 89 well as you: Or if you magnifie your Unity from 
 thegrcatnefsof your number that agree, the Greek Church al- 
 fo is numerous •* and yet in this we far exceed you. For the 
 true Catholick is in Union with all the Members of Chrifton 
 earth. We lay our Unity on the EfTentials of Chriftianity, and 
 fo are united with all true Chriftians in the world : even with 
 many of them that reproach us : when you laying your Unity 
 on I know not how many doubtfull points , yea, on you know 
 not what your felves, can extend it no further then to your fed. 
 Which is the more notable and glorious Unity ? to be United 
 to the truly Catholick body,containing all true Chriftians in the 
 world,or to be at Unity with a fed, which is the Iefler and more 
 corrupted part of the Church ? 
 
 14. With what face can Papifts glory in their Unity, that 
 are the greateft Dividers of the Church on earth? Who is it 
 that condemneth the greateft part of the Church , and profe- 
 cuccth that condemnation with fire and fword , or fo much 
 vchemence,as the Papifts do ? when they havemoft audacioufly 
 divided themfelves from all others, and arrogated the title of Ca- 
 tholicks to themfelves, they call this abominable Schifm by the 
 oaraeof Unity. If you fay that the Reformers have divided 
 themfelves from all others too : I anfwer,notas from Hereticks, 
 or no members of the fame body with us, as you do : but only as 
 from unfound miftaken Brethren : And therefore properly we 
 are not divided from them, but only from their miftakes. We 
 think it not lawfull to join with the deareft Brethren in finning, 
 or in that worfhip ( by perfonal local communion J where we 
 cannot keep our innocency : Butyetwe hold the unity of the 
 Spirit with them in the bond of Peace ; and arc one with them in 
 til the fubftance of Chriftianity,and holy worfhip. Even where 
 diftance of place, or circumftantiall differences keep us from 
 Communion in the fame Affemblies : yet our fcveral Affem- 
 ,E*iieshaveconvnunion in faith, and Love, and the fubftance of 
 
 worflvp 
 
A I^ey for Qatholicks. 57 
 
 tvorfhipasto the kind , fo that our divifion from order Chrifti- 
 amis nothing to the Papifts. 
 
 15. But yec when any differ from us in any poin: EflTentia! to 
 our Religion ( that is, to Chriftianity,^ they are none of us 
 nor owned by us • and therefore you cannot fay that we are at 
 d rference among our felves, becaufe fome Apoftates have fain 
 off from us. You will not allow us to fay you have many 
 feds, becaufefomeof you have turned Socinians , or becaule 
 thoufands of yours have turned to the Reformers, in the dayes 
 of Luther, Calvin, &c. And why then fhould thofe feds be 
 numbred with us thatare not ofus.but went out from us? If men 
 turn Inrldels,Seckers, Quaker?, Socinians, &c. they arc not of us 
 no mo r e then of you. I f you fay that we bred them ; Ian- 
 fwer, no more than you breed them, when they turn to the fame 
 feds from you •• Nor no more then you bred the Lutherans, far 
 better men. They went out from you, and ye: you bred them 
 not 1 But on the other fide, you chenfh thofe as part of your 
 Church , which differ from you in your fundamentals • fo that 
 the Pope dare not unchurch or difown thera(as the French, &c.) 
 but fo do not we. 
 
 16. Our Unity is in Pojitives, and theirs is in Negatives: Ous 
 is a Unity in faith ; and theirs is in ntt believing the contrary: 
 And fo dead men, may have a fuller Unity in the grave then the 
 Papiftshave. 
 
 1 7. Our Union is Divine, having a Divine Head and Center, 
 and Divine Do&rine and Law in which we agree. But the 
 Papills is humane, having a carnal Head and Center, and Hu- 
 mane Decrees and Canons for its matter and Rule. 
 
 1 8. They have not fofure a means of retaining men in their 
 unity as wc have : Let experience be Judge of this : For where 
 one hath forfaken our Unity and Communion , I fuppofe hun- 
 dreds , if not thoufands, have forfaken theirs, as France ,Btlgia, 
 Germany, Sweden, Denmark^, Poland, Hnngarj, Tranfilvania, 
 England, Scot land Ireland, &c. can witnefs : and if themfelves 
 might be believed, the Greek Church, and all, or almoft all the 
 Chriftians elfe in the world have gone from their unity. And yet 
 will they glory in the effe&ualnefs of their means of unity? Why 
 then did they not retain all thefe Nations in their unity ? 
 
 19 Moreover, indeed they have very little Religious unity at 
 
 I all 
 
A K^yfor Catbdicks. 
 
 all among them ■ for ics force and terror that keeps men in their 
 Church : And who can tell under fuch violence how many fticK 
 to them in Confcience and willingly ? He that will forfake their 
 Religion in Spjiinjuuil be tormented and burnt at a flake, and 
 in other Countreys where they have full power, he mufl be ac 
 lcaffc undone. So that i .Theirs is a unity of bodies more then 
 of minds : 2. And their union is not procured by the Pope as 
 Pope; but by the temporal f\*ord, which the Pope hath ufurped 
 over ibmc countreyi, and which deluded Princes ufe by his pcr- 
 fwafion in other Countreys. What a fugling deceit then is this, 
 to pcrfwade poor fouls , that the only way to unity is Co Center 
 in the Pope of Rome, and that this is the moft effectual means of 
 ending differences .' when in the mean they make fo little ufe 
 of it, and place fo litcleconfidenceinictbemfelYes, but uphold 
 their unity by the MagiftrAttsfrtord ? And if this be the way.wc 
 have AfagiftrAte: among us as well as they, that can as effectu- 
 ally compcll men to unity ,as far as their Judgements tell them ic 
 is fit : And befides this force, it is the riches and preferment of 
 their Clergy ,with their immunity from fecular power ; & the like, 
 that is the means of their unity. But it is the light of holy Scrip • 
 rure opened by a faithfull Mmiltry,and countenanced by Chrt. 
 ilian Magiftracy without tyranny, that is our means of unity. 
 
 If the Papal Headfhip be focffe&uall a means of unity as they 
 pretend , and if chey are fo much of a mind as they fay, let them 
 give us leave but to preach one 12. moneths in SpAt» and Italy 
 if they dire: or let them give men leave without fire and fword 
 to choofe their Religion. 
 
 20. And yet befides all this , and after all this tyranny , they 
 have more difference among therofelves then we have, or then 
 all the Chriftians that I hear o f in the world. And to hide the 
 Infamy of cheir differences, they tolerate them, and extenuate 
 them. For differences in Difcipline, and order of Worfhip 
 they allow abundance of feds called Orders, that men and 
 women may choofe which they pleafe. And the voluminous 
 differences of thair Schoolmen, Cafuifts and Commcntators^hcy 
 fay are not in matters of faith. But call them what you will, 
 they are many of them greater differences then arc with us. I 
 pray read over the UnftnUns Myfterie of Jefuitifm, and take 
 notice of the di&ercnces between the Jefuites and them in Cafe- 
 
 Divi- 
 
A t\ey for Qatbolicks. ) 9 
 
 Divinity, and judge whether they be fmall. And lee it not 
 offend your ears if I recite fome of their Differences in that Pa- 
 piftsown words, as he cites the Jefuites, and tells }ou where to 
 find what he faith. 
 
 Pag. 89. Filintius the Jefefte hold?, ih&t if a man hivepur- 
 pofely wearied him/elf with fatisfjirg a whore, that be wight be 
 dsfpenfed with from faffing on afaflingday^ he is not obliged to 
 faft, But the Janfenians think otherwife. 
 
 Bafilius Pontius & Bmnylht Jefuites teach, that a man may 
 feek_an opportunity of finning primo& per (e, when the jpirituahr 
 temporal concernment of our [elves er our neighbours incline th him 
 thereto , But the Janienifts think the contrary : Fag. 91. 
 
 Eman. Sa the Jefuite holds, that [_a man do what he con- 
 ceives Jawfull accord ng to a probable opinion, though the contrary 
 be the mo* e certain : And for this the Opinion of one grave Dotlor 
 is fuffcient .~\ And Filintius the Jefuite held [that it is lawful I 
 to follow the lefs probable opinion , though it be the Ufs certain , and 
 that this it the common opinion of modern author jj Pag. 95. And 
 yet the Janfenifts are agamft ir. 
 
 Layman the Jefuite holds, that £// it be more favourable to 
 them that asi^advice of him, and more dt fired, it ts Prudence to 
 give them fuch advice as is held pr ob able by fume knowing y erf on , 
 though he himfelf be convinced that it is abfolutely falfe.j But the 
 Janlcnifls arc againft this. Pag. 96. 
 
 Bunnej tie Jefuite holds \_thatwhen the patient follows a pro- 
 bable epinWt, the cenfeffor is bound to abfolve him, though his 
 judgement be contrary to that of the penitent : and that he fins 
 mortally if 'he deny him abfolution~\ Mjficr.of fefuit.pag.97.hui 
 uie Jinfemfls deny this. 
 
 Father Reginaldus and Cellot hold, that [the modern Cafuifls 
 in queftions of Morality are to be preferred before the anticnt 
 Fathers, though they were nearer the Apojiles times] Pag. 98 But 
 the Janltnifts think otherwife. 
 
 Pope Cjrtgiry the fourteenth declarcth Murderers unworthy 
 to have San&uary in Churches. But the Jefuitsand Janfenifts 
 agree not who are the Murtherers. The 29 Jefuites in their 
 Praxis page 600. by murderers underftand thofe who have 
 taken money to kill one treacherouflj : and that thofe who kjU without 
 receiving any reward, but do it only to oblige their friends, are 
 
 1 2 not 
 
i o A i\ey for Catholic ks. 
 
 not called murtherers. ] B.yt the Janfer.ifts think otherwife 
 ;'No marvail if you cannot underhand thcScriprurc withoui' 
 a judge, when you can no better underftand your fudge, ro rot 
 what he means by a murtherer.) 
 
 Vafyutz, the Jefuite faith [that in this £lue(lir,r t ,rich mm Art 
 obliged to give aim; out of their fuperfluit);though the affirmative fo 
 true, "jet it willfeldom or never happen, that it is ebli^atsry in po *f 
 ifpratlice\ Pag. 105. But the Janfenifts think otherwife. 
 
 ValeniU the Jefuite, Tom. 3. p. 2042. holds, tint [ If a mUn 
 give money not as the price of a Benefice, but as a <,Maive to 
 reftgnit,it is not Simony ,t hough he that refigns do lo'k.at the 
 money as his Principal end] and fo Tanner us , p. 115. But the 
 Janlcnifls think otherwife. 
 
 father Gafpar Hurt ado faith [that an Incumbent nuty with* 
 an mortal Jin wifh the death of him that hath a penfion out of his 
 living, and a fen his fathers death ; and may rejoyce when it hap' 
 pens,fo it proceed only from a conftderation of the advantage accrew- 
 ing to k im thereby, and fist out of any perfmal hatred ] pag. 136. 
 But the Janfenills believe not this. 
 
 Layman the Jefuit, and Pet. Hurtado : thinks that a man may 
 lawfully fight a due 11 y accepting the challenge to defend his honour 
 or eft ate, Pag. I 38. But the J^nfenift thinks otherwife. 
 
 Sanchez and Navarrus allow a man to murder his adverfary- 
 ftcrctly, or difpauh him at unawares to avoid the danger of a duel I : 
 p. 140. And mtolina, thinks you may k'H one that0f«ngjuily. 
 informs a gain ft; us in any Court : and Reginaldus, that v>u may 
 hill thefalfe witneffes which the p r ofecutor brings ; And Tanner us 
 and Emanuel Sa, that yon may kill both witneffes and judge which 
 conff-ire the death ofan,m>:ocent per fen.] But fo think.not the Jan- 
 fenifts. 
 
 Henriquez faith [one man may kill another who hath given him . 
 a box on the ear, though he run away for it, provided he do it not out 
 of hatred or revenge, and that by that means a gap be open for ex- 
 ctffive murther, deftrutlive to the State, tsfnithe reafon is, a man 
 may as well do it inpurfuance of his rcpattlion, as his good:; and , 
 he that hath had a box, on the ear isaccounttd difborseurable till he 
 hath hilled his enemy."] And A^orius faith, Is it lawful I for a per- 
 fon of quality to kill one that would give him a box on the ear, or a . 
 
 bang with afticl^ ? fomtfay not But, ot hen affirm it lawfully 
 
 ani 
 
A I\cy for Catholkks. 61 
 
 ar.dfor mj part 1 thinb^k probable, when it cann:t be Avoided ether' 
 wife : For if it were not, the reputation o-' innocent perfons were /fill 
 expefed to the infslcncy of the malicious, ,] fag. 142, 1 43 , ) 44. 
 many other are of the i'line mind , in Co much tine Father Lffius 
 faith f/r is lawfully bj thtconfent of all Cafuijh, to kjll him that 
 irould qive a box on the ear, or aklAV with a flic l^, when a man 
 cannot otlocrwife Avoid it p. 145. .Father Boldellus faith It is lawful I 
 10 iyllhim that faith toyou\_thoa ljc(l}ifa man can>iot right himfelf 
 otherwife. | And Lcfftus latch [_If you endeavour to mine my 
 reputation bj opprobrious fpeeches before tcrfons of honour, and that 
 J cannot avoid them otherwife then by hilling yon , may I doit ? 
 According to moAern Authors I may •> nay though the crime 
 yon lay to my- charge be inch M) I am really guilt) of,itb:ing 
 fupptfedto have been fo fecretlj committed ,1 hat you cannvt difcover 
 it by ways ofjttftice. Tis proved if when yon would take away 
 my reputation by giving me a box on the ear, it is in my power 
 to prevent it by force oftvms, the fame defence is certainly lawfully 
 •when yon would dome the fame injury with y-ur tongue- B 'fides , 
 a man may avoid the affrtnt of thofe whofe ill language he cannot 
 hinder. /« a word, htnour is more pr scions then life, bat a mm maj 
 kill in defence of his life, ergo, he may kill in defence of his hsnsttr^ 
 vag. 146. But the J.inienills are againlt all this. 
 
 Efcombar faith, that regular ly it is lawfnllto kjll amznfor the 
 value of a crown, according to Molina, p. 151. Father Amicus 
 faith [ It is law full for a Church- man. or a Religious man tok^ll 
 A.detratler that threatens to divulge the fctndal.us crimes of his 
 community or himfclfwhen there is no oth r me«ns left to hinder him 
 from doing it, as if he be readj to fcattcr his calumn es, if nn fud- 
 denly difpatched optt of the wajj p. 15 2, 1 5 3 . And Caramcvel in 
 his Fundamental rheologie tikes it for cerrain, and thence 
 concludes, '. hat [_a Priefl not only may kill a detraclor en certain 
 occafions , but fometimes ought to do h And ye: the pecvifh Janfeniit 
 believctn none of this. 
 
 But I muft ftop : you may read in the faid Janfenians Myfteric 
 of Jefuicifm, a volurnn offuch pafTagesof the Je!uire«,ai owing 
 men to give and receive the Sacrament when they tomctbac 
 day from Adultery : and allowing a man to eat and drink as 
 much as he can with his health; and difcharging men from a 
 Ncccflity of Loving God, un!efs it be once in thtrir lives, or as 
 
 I 3 oibecs, 
 
6i J^Ksy for Catholich* 
 
 others fay, upon Holy-daies, or as Hurtado de Afendc^a, once 
 ayear,oras^o»/»^, once in three or four years, or as Henri- 
 (juez., once in five years, or as Anthon. Sirmond, not at all, fo we 
 do not hate him, and do obey his other commands , with abun- 
 dance more. 
 
 Now Reader I would here leave it to thy consideration, 
 whether all thefe differences among the Papifts are fo fmall as co 
 be no matters of faith. And I intreat you to read over the 
 forementioned Book, (the Myfterie of Jefuitifm) and then judge 
 whether Papifts or the Reformed Cathoiicks are more at unity 
 among themfelves. 
 
 Well 1 but fuppofe the loving of God, the avoiding murder, 
 bribery, and the like, be no matter of faith at Rome, yec 1 have 
 not done with them fo. I defire to know whether the holj Scrip- 
 ture be matter of faith or net? They dare not deny but it is. 
 Well 1 and what is the Scripture, but the words m figna, and the 
 fenfe or matter m res Jignificata > And are the Papifts agreed 
 among themfelves about either of thefe? no: For the words, 
 its well known how fomeofthe beft Learned of them have flood 
 for the preheminence of the Hebrew and Greek Texts : and 
 others, and the moft, for the vulgar Latine. And that vul- 
 gar Latine Translation hath been altered and altered again 
 by them. And after many others comes VopeSixtttf the fife, 
 and makes it fo compieat, that the Church is required to ufc his 
 Edition -, yet after him comes Pope dement the eighth and mends 
 it in many hundred, if not thoufand places, and im poles this upon 
 the Church ; which of thefe Popes was Infallible ? I urn fure they 
 much differ in their Translation*. 
 
 And for thc/?»/*offcripture, though men muft fwear to take 
 Scripture in the Churches fenfe, yet will not any Pope or Council 
 to this day, tell us the fenfc of them, either by giving us an in- 
 fallible Commentary t or by deciding the many thoufand differen- 
 ces that are among their Commentators. Do not all thefe Com- 
 mentators forfwear themfelves, having fworn (thofc that lived 
 fince the Council of Trent) to expound Scripture in the fence of 
 the Church, and only according to the unanimous confent of the 
 Fathers. And why doth not the Pope decide thefe controverts ? 
 feingie is their happinefs to have fucha Judge of Controversies 
 to keep them all of a mind ? 
 
 But 
 
A f\ey for Catholic h* (Sj 
 
 But perhaps they will fay, that allthefe Scriptures hemt mat' 
 ten of faith. No / where are wc then ? what is matter of faith 
 ifScripturebenot? And if all be nor, how (hill we know which 
 is? But at Icaft , tell us, Is no one of all thofemany hun- 
 dred or thoufand Texts which your Commentators differ 
 about any matter of Faith? If not, then fure you have no 
 Faith. If it be, then furcly the Papifts differ among therafelves 
 in matters of Faith. It is not a few Texts that Lyras exeepter 
 and Bftrgenfis differ about, to name no more. And of the fore- 
 /"aid Editions of the Bible by Pope Sixtus,tnd Clement, fee Dr. 
 fame's Bellnm Papale, vel Concordia difcors. 
 
 Ch ap. XVI. 
 
 Deteft. 7. T> Y what hath been faid, you may difcern hot* t$ 
 X_y deal with them, when they would indujtrioujly con- 
 found the Ejfentials ani the Integral parts of our Faith', lot this 
 is another of their juglings. 
 
 They cannot endure to hear us diftinguifh the fundamentals 
 ( chat is, the Ejfentials ) of our Religion from the reft : and 
 therefore they call out to us for a Catalogue of our fundamen- 
 tals j and would perfwade us that whatfoever is matter of faith, 
 is of Necefllty to falvation to be believed, and thofe are dam- 
 nable Hereticks that deny them, and therefore we muft not 
 mike any fuch difference. Sec Knot again ft Chil/ingworth. Their 
 delign in this is to perfwade peop'e that the world muft be whol- 
 ly of their mind in matters of faith,or elfe they cannot be faved. 
 And by this trick they would prove that theProteftantsand 
 many other Churches are all Hereticks, and therefore have no 
 place in General Councils, and are no parts of theCatholick 
 Church. But let us confider how judicioufly they proceed. 
 
 1. Wemuftdefire the Papifts to tell us whether Chriftianity 
 bz any thingor nothing? If any thing, it hath its EfTcnce.-and 
 2. Whether this EfTence of Chriftianity be Knowable or not ? 
 If nor, then they cannot know a Chrithan from another : and 
 they cannot know the Church from other Societies. If it be 
 knowable, then its EfTence muft needs be knowable. 3. And 
 we would be informed by them, whether all true ChriiUans io 
 
 the 
 
64 A l{cy for Catholic ks. 
 
 the world are of the fame Oarore or degree of knowledge and 
 cxplicire belief ? If they be, then there'* no difference betu-crn 
 Fathe-s nnd Babe*, Strong and Weak, Pricft and People ^ and 
 then the Jefuices have no more Knowledge or Faith then the 
 f-mpldt woman of their Church : but if there be a difference, 
 then 4. We would know whether the Effencc of Chriftianity be 
 vjsryed according to thefe degrees. If fo , then there arc as ma- 
 ny forts of Chnfthnity rn the world, as there be degrees or" 
 Faith ; which they have more wit, I fuppofe, then to affirm. If 
 not, then the Efftnce of Chriftianity isdiftinguifhable from the 
 Integrity or fuperadded Degrees, which is the thing that we con- 
 tender. 5. We defirealfo to know whether the Apodles did 
 not go on to teach their people more, after they had made them 
 Chriflam, in a ftate of falvation. And whether the Prieirs, Fry- 
 ers, and Jcfuits will give men up, and teach them nothing more 
 when they have made them Cbnftians. I know they will fay, 
 There's more to be taught. And if fo, then the Effentials of 
 Chriftianity are diftinguiiliable from the Integrals or Degrees. 
 6. Aad we would know elfehow they will underftand that in 
 Hf£. 5. 1 0,1 1 ,12,1 4. ar.d6.i,2. [ For when for the time ye ought 
 to be Teacher 3^ ye have need that «ne teach you again nhich be the 
 firft principles of the Oracles of God, and are become fuch as have 
 need of mi/l^and not ef ftroxg meat' For every one that ufcth mil\ 
 is unskilful in the Vcord of righteoufnefs, for he is a bah. But 
 firoKg meat belongetk to them that are of full age, who by reafon of 
 ufe have their fenfes exerciftd to difcern good and evil : therefore 
 leaving the Principles of the dotlrine of Chrift, let ui go on to fer- 
 fettion, not laying again the foundation , &c. ~\ Tell us now whe- 
 ther the Apoftle do not here diftinguilh between babes and 
 flrong men; milk and itrong meat •, the principles or foundati- 
 on and perfection ? 7. And we would know of them whether 
 all that is Revealed by God be of abfolute Ncceflity to every 
 mansfalvation that do or may hear it ? If fo, then no man can 
 be faved that knoweth not all that God hath revealed; and then 
 no one in the world can be faved • for here we know but in part. 
 And their own Commentators differ about the word of God, 
 wh:ch flieweth that they are imperfect in the Knowledge of its 
 fenfe. And their Pope knows ic not, or elfe he is (hamefully to 
 blame, that will not tell it the world, and reconcile his Com-,- 
 
 men- 
 
At\eyfor Qathollcks. fy 
 
 memators and Difputers . Bat if all revealed be not of Abfoiutc 
 Neceffity, then we may have leave to diftinguifti between points 
 abfoluely Neceffiry, and the reft, 8 . And we would know whe- 
 ther all fhill be damned, that know not as much as the moft 
 Learned anJ Wife? if nor, thenflillwc may hive leave to di- 
 ftinguifti. 9. Further we demand, whether any ignorance or 
 error that is culpible, will ftand with Charity and Salvation ? If 
 not, then who (hall be faved ? If yea ; then we may ftill diftin- 
 guifti the points of AbfoluteNeceflity from the reft. 10. We 
 demand alfo, whether the whole holy Scripture be the word of 
 God ? If (o f then whether we ought not to believe it all as far 
 as we can underftand it ? And if Co t whether it be not all, de 
 pde matter of Faith ? If not, they muft tell us, what part of 
 Gods word is to be believed, and what not. If yea ; then cer- 
 tainly men may err de pU in points of Faith , and yet have 
 Charity, and be faved : as their difagrecing Commentators, 
 Cafuifts andSchooImc.ido. 11. We wcu!d know whether the 
 matters t hit their Divines are difagreed in, be Revealed by God, 
 or things unrevealed? If not revealed, do they not defer ve to 
 bekicktoutof the world, for troubling the world fo with un- 
 revealed things r If they be Revealed, are they not Revealed to 
 be believed, and (ozredefidei 12. And we would know whe- 
 ther there be not fome things EJfential to true Obedience, and 
 fome things not EflTcncial? If not, then no (inner hith fincerc 
 Obedience, andean be faved .If yea ; then why may not the 
 fime be (aid of faith? 13. Alfo we would know, when they 
 baptize the Adult, whether they require any profeflion of the 
 faith from them or not? If not, tbeymayas well baptize In- 
 fidels or Heathens. If they do, then what is that profeftion? 
 Is it a profeftion of every particular truth that GoJ hath re- 
 vealed to be believed ? No Aire ; for then none but Doftors muft 
 be baptized. Nor they neither. Or is it a profefsion of fome 
 particular Truths only? If of fome only, why of thofe more 
 then the reft, if they be not thjEfTentialsdiftinguiftiablcfrorn 
 the reft? And do they make men true Chriftians by baptizing 
 them, or not? If they do, then fure the Baprifmal faith muft 
 contain all that is EfTential to Chriftianity. 14. We defire alfo 
 to be informed by them, what is the ufe of the Churches Creed, 
 and why they have ufed frequently to make confefsion of their 
 
 K faith: 
 
66 A fyyfor CdthQltcks* 
 
 faith r Was it not the whole faith Efltntial to Chriftianity which 
 they confcft ? I f not, then it was not fit to be the badge of the 
 Church ^ or of the Orthodox : if yea • then it feems thofe 
 Creeds had in them the effentials diftirguifhed from the reft. 
 
 15. we would know whether every thing delivered or defined 
 by any General Council, beof fueh ncccflity tofalvation,that 
 all muft explicitly believe them all that will be laved ? If fo, 
 then whecher any Papift can be faved, feeing they underftand 
 them not all ? If nor, then Aire a diftin&ion muft be made. 
 
 16. Andwe would know how they can countenance ignorance 
 fo much as they do, if all things revealed be of equal ncccility 
 roiajvation. ij. And what mean they to diftinguifti ot Im- 
 plicit and Bxplicite faith ? Is it enough to believe as the Church 
 believes, and not know what in any particular? then it is not. 
 <fc/5"<:fc,orneccffiry to falvationto believe the refurrcftion of 
 Cbrift, or of man, or the life to come. For a man may believe 
 that the Church is in the right, and yet not know that it holdeth 
 spy of thefe. Is it enough to believe the formal obj\& of faith 
 (which with us is Gods veracity,) without the material ? Or is it 
 enough to remain Infidels, and only believe that the Church are 
 true Believers ? If you hold to this, you make no aft of faith, 
 but ont( the believing that the Church, that is y the Pope or Council 
 Art true believtrs) to be of NeceiDty to falvatioo. But if 
 thercbcfomethingthatisNeceiTarytobe atlually fthat is ex- 
 pMtcly) believed, then muft not that be diftinguifhed from the 
 reft and made known ? 18. Whence is it that you denominate 
 men fidelej, believers with yon? Is it from a Pofitive faith, or 
 for not holding the contrary} If the Utter, then Stones,and Beafts, 
 and Pagans, and their Infants may be believers. If the former t 
 then that Pofitive faith from whence all believers are denomi- 
 nated muft be known. 1 o., Is not that true faith and all that is 
 cflential to Chriftianity, which doth cpnfift with faving grace or 
 fto ufe your phrafcj with true Charity ? If not, then either 
 InfidelsandnoChriftians may have true Charity, or elfe true 
 Charity may be in the unjuftified ; or both .• If yea, (which 
 doubtlcfs you will yield ) then fure men of lower knowledge 
 and faith then Doftors, may have true Charity •; and therefore 
 true faith. 20. Laftly, I appeal to your own confeflions. 
 ^^4rw'« often diftinguilheth between the noir** that all muft 
 
 of 
 
A Key for fcatholicks. 6j 
 
 ofNeceflity explicitly believe, and the reft. And Sum* in 
 three parts. Thorn. Difp. 43. Sift. 4. faith of che Article of 
 Chrifts defcending into Hell [If by an Article of faith we under- 
 ftand a truth which all the faithfutl are bound explicitly to know 
 anj believe, f» I do not think^it necejfary to reckon this among 
 the Articles of faith, becaufe it is not altogether neciffary for all 
 men] Here you fee that Snarez diftinguifheth between Articles 
 ofNeceflity toall, and thofethat are not : and that he excepts 
 *ven the Defcent into Hell from this number of Articles Necefla- 
 ry to all I might cite many more of your writers, but the thing is 
 well known. 
 
 But perhaps you'l fay, that thsugh all that *7 deride, be not 
 wcejfary to be believed explicitelybj all, -jet implicitelyit muft. I 
 *Anf. 1 . that which you call Implicite believing is no believing 
 that point, but another point : yea a point that doth not fo much 
 as infer that I for it followeth not [the Church U infallible , 
 therefore Chrifi defcended into Hell.) 
 
 2. And we believe all that is defidc with an Implicite faith 
 as well as you ; Bat it is an Implicite Divine faith, and not 
 humane: For we are fure that All that Cod faith it true ; and 
 this Diyine unit} is the formal objed of our faith. And we 
 believe that all that is in Scripture is true, and that all that 
 was ever delivered by the infpiration of the Holy Ghoft it 
 true. 
 
 Object. But aft that is de fide it fo neceflary, that it will not 
 ft and with falvatian to believe the contrary, or deny or dif- believe 
 any point §f faith. Aufw. 1 . That cannot be true, For no man 
 can prove that a point may not be denyed and difputed againft 
 by a true Believer as long as be is ignorant that it is true, and 
 from God : the fame ignorance that keeps him from knowing fr, 
 may caufe him to deny it, and gainfay it. 2. Do not your own 
 differing Commentators, Schoolmen and Cafuifts ( on one fide 
 atlcaft) difpute voluminoufly againft fome Truths of Divine 
 revelation ? If you change a mans mind from the fmajlcft error 
 by difpute, do you lake that to be a change of his Hate from 
 death to life ? tAEnaas Sylviut thought a General Council vvaa 
 above the Pope .- but when he came to be Pope Pius the fecond,he 
 thought the Pope above a General Council 5 was this a change 
 iroa death to life ? It feems by hit Bull of Retra Nation, he 
 
 K z thought 
 
48 A t\ey for Catholicks. 
 
 thought fo, bat fo did not feveral General Councils : was the 
 Catholick Church Reprefentativc at the Councill of Bafil, or 
 Confiance, or Ptfa in a ftate of dea:h and damnacion for believing 
 the Pope to be fubjett to a General Council ? or was the 
 Council at Z,4terane(anoiher Reprefentativc Catholick Church^ 
 in a ftate of death for holding the Contrary ? Muft either Pope 
 Jdbn the twenty fecond, or Pope Nicolas be damned becaufeof 
 the contrariety of their Decree! ? If the Council of Tofetane the 
 firft ordain that he that hath a Concubine inftead of a tt>i/e, (bc\ll 
 net be ksftfrom the Sacrament, doth it prove them all in a Hate of 
 death? If Btllarminc confefs that the fixth General Council 
 at ConftantintfJc have many errors, doth it follow that the 
 Catholick Church reprefentativc was in a damnable (late Hf 
 the fecond Council at Nice maintain the corpcreitj of dngeh, 
 and the firft Council at the Latarane maintain the contrary, doth 
 it follow that one of them was in a ftate of death ? I think not : 
 (though I am Aire it proves a General Council fallible , when 
 approved by the Pope, and therefore Popery a deceit.) 
 *Bellarmine fometime tells uiof the change of his own 
 mind. 
 
 And the Retractations of Anflin ($. better man) tell us 
 of the change ef his mind in many things ; And yet it fol- 
 lowed not that he was in a ftate of death and unjuftiHed 
 before. 
 
 Object. Sfit all that is dc fide is tfNtceJpiy to the Salvation 
 •j '[owe, though not of all. Anfw. I. If that be granted, yet 
 you muft grant ui leave to diftinguifh between Points necefTiry 
 to be believed by all , and points that are not thus neceflary to all. 
 2. But in what cafe is it that you mean, that other points are of 
 Neceffi ty to fome ? i - Is it to thofe feme that know them to be 
 of Divine Revelation ? weeafily grant you that: But that is 
 notbecaufethe7A>^themfelves are fimply ncceflfiry to Sal- 
 vation, bot becaufe a Belief of Cods veracity ,and the Truth of all 
 that be Revealeth in general, is of neceflity : and he that Be- 
 lieveth that God ii True (verax) cannot chufe but believe all' 
 to be True which he knows God revealeth. He that thinketh. 
 God to be a Lyar, io one word.doth not believe his ver achy ; and ■ 
 fo hath no Divine faith at all. And thcrcforeyou need not fear 
 left any one fliould be guilty of not bclicyiog that which they 
 
 know 
 
A I\ey for Catbolkks . 69 
 
 know is the word of God, but thofe chat take God to beaLyar, 
 and that is thofc that take him not to be God , and fo are Athe- 
 ifts. Butftillthe thing of Abfoloce neceflicy is but firft to 
 believe in General that God is true in all his word, fecondly and 
 to believe the truth of the eflfential points of Chriftiaruty in 
 particular (embracing the Good propounded in them.) Now 
 its true thu fecondanly all known Truths are of nccefiity to be 
 believed, beciufc elfc our General belief of Gods veracity is not 
 fincere. But yet wc muftfay that anrecedently even to thac 
 perfon,thefe luperadded truths were not of Neceffity to his Sal- 
 vation to be believed, beeaufe they were not of fucii Necefsity to 
 be Known; and if they had not been known, you would fay your 
 felves there had not been fuch Necefsity of Believing 
 them. 
 
 But if you go further, and fay, thar all that tvert obliged to \noyv 
 tbtm , or that had opportunity jr the Revelation f the truth, and jet 
 did not, «nd thereupon deny them culpably, Are in a (jute nf death \ I 
 deny that, and (hall prove it falfe. Its true, thnt a reilfnll 
 rcfufing the Lig ht, beeaufe men love darS^e/s rather then light. , 
 is a certain fign of a gracelefs wretch. Bat evirj culpable igHt- 
 ranccand unbel ef is not Damning ignorance or unbelte c . 
 
 1 . Otherwile no man fhould befaved : For no man is void of 
 culpable ignorance>and consequently ofcu l pab!e unbelicf.Had we 
 never been wanting in the ufc of mcans,ihert's no man but might 
 have known more then he doih.ls there any one cf you tbar. dare 
 refufe to ask God forgivenefs of your ignorance, unbelief, or 
 the negligence that is the culp3b'ecaufe of them, or that dare 
 fay, you need no pirdon of them ? 2. If you plead for venial 
 fin, how can you deny a venial unbelief upon venial ignorance? 
 But then I pray you learn more wit and piety, 1 . then to fay 
 that your venial unbelief or fin is no fin, fave as Analogically 
 fo called- or 2. thentofayitdeferves a pardon, or deferver 
 not cverlalling punifhment. But if you will caH it venial, 
 beeaufe being confident with the true Love of God and habitual 
 Holinefs,and faring faith, the Law of Grace doth pirdonir, and 
 not condemn men for it, thus we would agree with you that 
 there is veniallfin •, but then you mud yield us that there is venial 
 unbelief. 
 
 3, And wceafily prove all this from chc Law of God. If 
 
 K3 is 
 
7o *A Key for Cathdkks. 
 
 is the nature of the preccpcive pare to conftitute Duty only, 
 and the violation or" that is fin : But it i$ the fenction, the 
 promife and threatning that Determines of the Reward and 
 Penalty: Now it is only the old Law of works that makes the 
 Threatening as large as the prohibition, condemning man for 
 every fin .♦ but fo doth not the Law of Grace. The precept 
 fhll commandeth Perfect obedience, and fo makes is a duty ; but 
 the promife maketh not perfect obedience the condition of Sal- 
 vation ; but Faith, Repentance and fincere Obedience, though 
 imperfect. The Law of Nature ftill makes evcrlafting Death 
 due to every fin: But it is fuch a Due as hath a Remedy at 
 hand provided and offered in the Gofpel ; and is actually rerae- 
 dyed to all true believers. So that as it is not every fin that 
 will damn us, though damnation be due to ic ( becaufe we 
 have a prefent Remedy \ ) fo it is not every culpable ignorance 
 or unbelief that will damn us, though ic deferve demnation, 
 becaufe the Gofpel doth not only not damn us for ir, but 
 pardons it , by acquitting us from the condemnation of the 
 Law. All this may teach you , not only to mend your 
 abominable doctrine about Mortal and veniall fin, but alfo 
 io difcern the reafon why a man may deny fome points of 
 faith thatarenotoftheeflenceof Chriftianity,and yet not be 
 damned for it, becaufe the Law of Grace doth not condemn him 
 for it, though he be culpable, becaufe the Law of Grace may 
 command further then it peremptorily condemneth in cafe of 
 difobedience. Ic is the Promife that makes faith the Condition of 
 Life, though it be the Precept that makes it a duty : Now it 
 favethnotas a performed Duty directly, (becaufe the precept 
 gives not the Rewardj but as a performed Condition : And there- 
 fore unbelief condemneth not effectually as ameer fin directly \ 
 but as fuch a fin as is the violation or non-performance of chat 
 condition. But it is noc * belief of every thing that is prece- 
 ptively de fide, which is made the condition of life. 
 
 Chap. 
 
A t\ey for Catbulicks. 7 1 
 
 Chap. XVII. 
 
 DeteB.S. A Notber of their Juglings is, toextoll tht ]udge- 
 l\ ment of the Catholic^ Church as that which 
 mufl be the ground of faith , and the decider of all Controverfies '. 
 And to this end they plead againft the fufficiency of Scripture, 
 and bend all the force of their arguings and defigns, as if all their 
 hope lay in this point, and as if it were a granted thing thjst the 
 day if theirs, and we are loft, if the Catholick Church be ad- 
 mitted to be the Judge. Hence it is that they cry cutagainll 
 private faith and opinions , and call men to the faith of the 
 Church, and perfwade the poor people, that the Church is for 
 them, and we are but branches broken off. 
 
 Well, we are content to deal with them at their own weapon, 
 and at that one in which they put their truft. For our parts 
 we know that the true Catholick Church ( nor any member 
 of it, in fenfu Comfefito) cannot err in any of the Effcntu's 
 of Cbriitianky ( for then it would ceafe to be the Church : ) 
 But we have too much reafon to Judge that it is not free from 
 errrorin lefTer things, But yet for all that in:he main caufe 
 between the Papifts-and us, we refufe not their judgement. Nay 
 we turn this Canon againft the Canonecrs , and eafily prove 
 that the Papiits caufe is utterly loft, if theOiholick Church be 
 Judge. 
 
 Bttt is it the Ancient Church ,or the frefent Church that mufl 
 decide the caufe ? Well 1 It (hail be which you w»ll. For the molt 
 Ancient Church in the Apoftlesdayes ,,weare altogether of its 
 belief, and.itand.toitsdecifion in all things-; and if you -prove 
 we miftake them in any thing, we fhall gladly receive inftru&ion 
 and be reclaimed. To them we appeal for our Effemials and In* 
 tegrata And for force following ages, we will be tryed by them 
 in the- articles of our faith,and in the principal c jntroverfies we 
 have with the Pa p.fts. 
 
 Tea, but this lyill not ferve their turn : It is the Ifrefcnt r htirch 
 that mufi judge or none : For fay they , if the ancient Church had 
 power, fohath the freftnt ; and if the ancient Church had. pofftf- 
 fion of the truth , how (hall we know it but bj the prefent f V 
 anfwer, i. Wcmay know it by the Record* of thofe times far 
 
 furer 
 
7X Al^ejforCatholicks. 
 
 furer tbeaby the reports of men wi;hout writing; Conrrover- 
 fies or numerous myHerious points arcforrily carryed in the 
 memories, efpeciallyof the moft. even of the Teachers. And 
 for the Record?, one diligent skilfull man will know more then 
 ten thoufand others. One Bdror.ius, Alb *{}'%* a»s t Petty us , 
 among the Papifts, and one Vfber, Blondell.SulmafiMs, Gdtakjr, 
 &c. among the Prote(Unts, knew more of the mind of an- 
 tiquity , then a whole Country btfides, or perhaps then fomc 
 Generall Councils. 
 
 2. Well/ but if you appeal to the greater number, to them 
 (hall you go. You mull be tried by the prefent Church ; Why 
 then you are condemned. Is it the lefTer number ,or the great- 
 er, or the better that mud be judge ? You will not fay thclef- 
 er,asfuch: If you do, you know where you are. If you fay, 
 the Better part (hall be judge : who (hall be Judge which ii the 
 Better part? we arc ready to prove the Reformed Churches the 
 Better part : and if we do not ,wc will give you the day, and lofe 
 our caufe. But I fuppofe you will appeal to, the Greater part. 
 Content I Then the world knows you are loft. The Greeks, 
 Mofcovites, Armenians, AbaiTincs.and all other Churches in Aft 4 1 
 AfricA and Europe arc far more then the Papifts t and your own 
 pens and mouths tell us that thefe are againft you. Many of 
 them curfe you as Hereticks or Schifmaticks ; the reft of them 
 know you not,or refufe your government.They all agree againft 
 your Popes univerfallHeadftiip or Soveraignty, and fo againft 
 the very form of your new Catholick Church •* So that the 
 world knows the Judgement of the far greateft part of Chrifti- 
 ans on earth to be againft you in the mam,fo that you fee what 
 you get by appealing to the Catholick Church. 
 
 But I know you will fay .that all thefe arc Schifmaticks, or He* 
 reticks,and none of the Catholick Church: But they fay as much 
 by you.fome of them, and all of them abhor your charge ; and 
 how do you prove it ? and who (hall be Judge whether they,, or 
 you be the Catholick Church ? You tell us of your fucceffion, 
 and ofrwenty tales that are good, if you may be Judges your 
 felves;but fo do they fay as much which is good if they be Judge*. 
 When we offer to difputc our cafe with you, you ask us wha 
 Jhall be Jnd^e, and tell us the Catholick, Church mttfi be Judge : 
 But who (hall be Judge between you and them which is the Ca- 
 tholick 
 
A Key for Qatholkks. 
 
 n 
 
 tholick Church ? you will nor let us be Judges in our own caufc, 
 and why then (hould you ? Are we Protcftants the Ifjfer number 
 as to you ? fo are you to al! the relt that are againft you. And 
 what reafon have we to let the lejfer number Judge over the 
 Greater ? If ftill you fay, becaufeyou are the Better, let that 
 be firft tryed •, but no reafon you (hould there alfo be the 
 Judges. 
 
 So that the cafe is plainly come to this, Either the Papijls muji 
 fraud to the Greater number, and then the controverfie is at 
 end : or they mud (haroefully fay, we mil not difpute with 
 you,mleft wc may be the fudges our felves, though the fewer. 
 Or elfe they mutt lay by the r talk of a Judge, and difpute it 
 equally with us, by producing their cvidecce,which we arc ever 
 ready for. 
 
 Chap. XVIII. 
 
 Dctetl. 9. ~ TH E moft common and prevalent Deceit of the 
 A Papifts is. bj ambiguous terms to deceive thofc 
 that cannot force them to dijlir.guijh, and to make jou believe they 
 mean one thing, when they mean another , and to mock^ you with 
 cloudy words. I (hail here warn you to look to them therefore 
 efpecially in three terms, on which much of their controverfies 
 lies, that is, the words Church, rope, and Council. For there*! 
 but few underftand what they mean by any one of thefc 
 words. 
 
 i* When you come to difpute of the Church with them, fee 
 that you agree firft under your hands of the Definition of that 
 Church of which you difpute. And when you call them to De- 
 fine it, you will find them in a wood, you will little think how 
 many feverall things it it that they call [ the Church :] For 
 example, fomctime they mean the *hele Bocy, Paftorsand Peoplt : 
 but more commonly they mean only the Pafiors. which are the 
 far fmalleft part. And fometime they mean the Church Reallund 
 fometimesonly the Church Reprefentative, as they call it in a Ge- 
 ncrall Councill. But whether they mean the Paftors or People, 
 they exclude all faving the Pope of his fubjedb, and fo by the 
 [ rA&]mean but a fartorfttl. Sometime in the Queftion 
 
 L about 
 
74 A Ksyf or Catholicks* 
 
 about Tradition, fome of the French take the [Church] for the 
 community , (ai fathers deliver the do&rine of Chrift to their 
 childrenjC^fOAnd fometime they take it in its Political! fence, for 
 a holy fociety,cor,fiftingofa vifible Head and members : But then 
 they agree not of that Head, fome fetcing the Pope highift, 
 and fome the Council/. But frequently they take the word 
 \Church~\ for the fuppofed Head alone , as in moft queftions 
 about Infallibility, Judging of Controverfies, expounding 
 Scriptire, keeping of Traditions, defining points of faith, &ci 
 Tbey fay , The Church muft do theft : but commonly they mean 
 the fuppofed Head. And one part mean a General! founcilhmu the 
 Jefuites and Italians,ar.dpredominant part do mean only the Pope : 
 fo that when they talk of the whole Catholick£hurch,m& call ^ou 
 to its Judgement, andboaftofits Infallibility (you would littfa 
 think it^they mean all this while but one poor fwfull man: and fuch 
 a man as fometime hath been more unlearned then many of 
 your fchool boys of twelve or fourteen years of age ^ and 
 fometime hath been a Murderer, Adulterer, and (if General 
 Councils, or the common vote may be believed) an Here- 
 tick, an Jnfidel, an Incarnate Devil. This man is their 
 Church, as Gretfer^Btllarmine ,and the reft of that drain profefc. 
 
 So that if you do but force them to define and explain what 
 they mean by the Church, you will either caufe them to open 
 their nakednefs, or find them all to pieces about the very fubjed 
 oftheDifputc- 
 
 2. So alfo when they ufe the name of [^ Pepsin difputation, 
 make them explain themfelves, and tell you (in a Definition). 
 what they mean by [_a Popef] For, though you would think 
 this term were fufficicntly undcrftood, yet you (ball find them 
 utterly at a lofs, and all to pieces about it. Let us confider 
 diftindly of the Efficient, Matter, and Form. i. As to the 
 efficient caufe of their Pope, there muft concur a Divine Jnftitu- 
 tion {'which they can no where (hew^ and a call from man {& 
 Nemo dat quod »o» habet, what man or men have power to make 
 a Head to the Catholick Church.) But whether they will call ic 
 an Efficient Caufe t ot only zCatifa fine qua n»n y Election and 
 Ordinatitn muft go to make a Pope. Now either they mil put 
 thefc into their Definition* or not. l(nor, know of them whether 
 4 msii without ElehionttdOrdinatien may be Pope: If fo, what 
 
A %ey for Qatholicks. 7 5 
 
 wakes him one f If'ToffrJJion, then he that can conquer Rome, and 
 fie down in the chair is Pope ; If not pojff/fi 'on, what then? and why 
 may not any man fay, I am Pope ? well : but doubtlefs they will 
 tell you that Election, or Ordination,or both, is Neccffary. If fo, 
 then firft for Eletlien, is it NecefTiry to the being of a Pope, than 
 fome certain perfonsElett who have the Power, or will anj Sleclors 
 ferve whofoever? If any will ferve, then every Monaftery or 
 every Panfli may choofeaPope: If there muft be certain Au- 
 thorized Ele&ors, fee that thole be named in the Definition : or 
 at leaft declared. And then firft know whether thefe Eleclors 
 are imporvered to that work by Divine LaW, or bj Httmane : If 
 by Divine, let them (hew it if they can. In Scripture they can 
 never find who mult choofe the Pope. And their Tradition (if 
 that were a Di vine law) hath no fuch precept, as appeareth by 
 thealterntions and divers waye*. And if it be but by a Humane 
 Eccle/iajica/l Canon, then it fecms the Papacy is fo t< o : for the 
 Power received can have no higher a caufe then the Power giving 
 or authorizing. 
 
 2. When you come to know who thefe Electors muft be, you 
 open their nakednefs For fir ft if they fay,lt muft be thtCariinals, 
 ask them, where then was the Pope when there were no Cardi- 
 nals in the world ? And whether that were a Pope or not that 
 was chofen by the whole Romane Clergie} or whether thofc 
 were Popes or not that were chofen by the People ? Or thofc that 
 were chofen by the Emperours ? or thofc that were chofen by 
 Councillt ? If they tell you thac it muft be the Romane Clergie ; 
 Know whether the Cardinals be the whole Romane Clergie , 
 who are Biftiops of other Churches, or whether they arc not 
 meerly Titular, at leaft many of them ? And whether the People, 
 the Council, or the Emperours were the Romane Clergy ? If they 
 would pcrfwadeyou, that either the people, or the Empcrour,or 
 Council did not ele& the Pope, but only fhew whom the Ro- 
 mane Clergy fhould ele&, interpofing exorbitantly fome un- 
 juft force, with the Due Ele&ion, then all currant Hiftory cryeth 
 flume againft them, and we will lay the Difpure on that with 
 them readily, though it were with Baronius himfelf. Nothing 
 almoft is more evident in the Papal Hiftory, then that there have 
 been at leaft thefe five ways of election among them. Let them 
 put it upon this ilTuc with us when they will. 
 
 L2 If 
 
7 6 A l\ey for Catholkh. 
 
 If they allow of any of thcfe as valid, which ever it be (as they 
 muft, or give up their fucceflionj then i. We would know 
 by what Law of God the Emperour of Germany may choofe 
 a Head for the Catholick Church, any more then the Emperour 
 of Habajfia, or the King of France or Spain ? 2. And we would 
 know when the Emperour hath chofen one, and the Clergy ano- 
 ther (if not fome others a third) whether both were not true 
 Popes, if both parties were authorized Elt&ors ? And if yet the 
 People choofe one, and the Roraane Clergy another, and the 
 Cardinals alone a third, and the Emperour a fourth , and the 
 Councill a fifth, mud all thefe ftanJ, or which of them, and 
 why ? Or if they tell you that it muft be the particular Roman 
 Church} then i . If the people of that Church choofe one,and the 
 Clergy by major vote another, and the Cardinals a third, which 
 is the true Pope ? 2. And then the fucctfiionis gone however : 
 For they were no Popes that Emperors or Councils chofe. 
 
 2. If they (hall tell you that it is not Election but Confccrati- 
 on that makes a Pope, yea or that Confceration is of Neceffity 
 withEledion ; then I. Demand of them lahethtrit be any ore 
 Tfhofoever that may Confccrate , or whether this high power be 
 confined to certain hands? If any may ferve, or any Bifliops, 
 then he that can get three drunken Bifhops to confecrate him 
 may be Pope. And then there may be an hundred Popes at 
 ©oce. But if it be confined to certain hands,2. Let it be put down 
 in the Definition, or at leaft declared who thofe are that muft 
 ordain or confecrate him. 3. And if they fay, that It mttfl be only 
 the Italian Bifheps thatmujl confecrate^ then 1. Know of them by 
 what Law of God they have power to confecrate a Head to the 
 univerfal Charch,when all nations are agreed that cjttodpertinet ad 
 omnts, ab omnibus traftari debet. 2. And by what Law they can 
 create or Generate a creature of a more noble fpecies then them- 
 felves, as if a bcaft (hould beget a man ? Or whether this prove 
 not,thatasa Bifhop at firft was but Presbyter prima fedis ,([\ketht 
 fore man of a JoryJ and thence fprong an Arckbtjbop, who 
 was EpifocofHS prima fedis , and thence a Patriarchy who was 
 Architpifcepas prima fedis ; fo in procefs of time, when Pride 
 grew riper, the Pope grew to be Pat riarcha prima fedis , but 
 not till long after , the Head or Governour of the univtr? 
 [all Churchy nor Patriarch* Patriarcharum \ no more then 
 
 the 
 
A I\ey for Catbolich . 77 
 
 the Archbjhops or Bifcfs were at firft Epifcopi Epifcopo 
 rum. 
 
 But if chey can fhew us no law of God empowr'ng thefc fpcci- 
 all confecrators, any more then o:hers, then where is the Papacy, 
 that dependeth on it ? There is nothing in Scripture to empower 
 the kalian Bifhops any more then the Galiicane, Germane, or 
 Allan, to Confecrate a Head for the Cachoiick Church. 
 
 3 . But fuppofe there were, yet we mult be refolvcd whether 
 it befome or all the Italian Bifhops that mud do it ? I f but fome,. 
 which be they? and how it their power proved ? If all or 
 any, then I. What fhall we do when forne of them confecrate 
 one Pope, and fome another, and fome a third, which ha h fallen 
 out : which of thefe is the Pope ? If Confecration give the 
 Power, then all are Popes. 2. And ftill the Papal fucceilion 
 is overthrown while many Popes had no Confecration by Italian 
 Bifhops. 
 
 Thus you may fee what a cafe the poor Jefuits or Fryars will 
 be in, if you put them but to infertthe neceffi.y Electors and 
 Confecrators in their Definition of a Pope. 
 
 2. Burthatsnotthe worft, you muft req'iire them?* put hit 
 mcejfary Qualification in the Defciption. For if no Bi"p--fitir,i 
 of the Matter be neceflfiry, but ex quolibct ligno fit mcrcn-tnx 
 Romanns^ then a Jew or other Infidel may be Pope: wh c!i 
 they will deny. And if any Difpojititn of the fubjccl be of nc- 
 ceflity to the deception of the form, then caufe'rhem to put 
 it down. And then j. It is either trueGcdlinefs : and then 
 farewell Papacy . 2. Or it is common honefiy and fobriety : and then 
 ftill farewell Papacy. 3 . Or it is learm-g and. knowledge: and then 
 ■d ' IpkonfuskCaflro,, and others of their otfn will bear winicfs 
 that fome Popes underftood not their Grammar, and one good 
 man being (faith Wtrnerus) rucLxs litcrarum, was fain to gee 
 another Compopc to fay his offices, (though it happened that 
 they could not agree, and fo a third was chofen , and his eh< ici 
 difliked, and a fourth chofen, till there wa< fix chofen Popes alive 
 atonce.j 4.If4^benecefTary,thcn the Children Popes (one 
 atleafl; have interrupted the fuccefiion. 5. Yci, if the Mafcu- 
 line Gender be bat Neceflary, Pop* Joan hath interrupted the 
 fucceffion, un!efs between forty or nfty of their own Hifrori- 
 4ns deceive us, 6. but all this is the i'mallcft part, the Qjcllion 
 
 Is m 
 
78 "4 K?y f or Catbolicks. 
 
 K whether faith in Cb rift be ofNcceJJtty to a Pope ? If fo, then 
 whac will you fay to f >hn the twemy third, that denyed the life 
 to come, and to thofeihac have been guiltv of Herefe t So thac 
 by thac time they have put the neceflfiry Qualification of 
 a Pope into their Definition, you fhall find them hard pat 
 to ir. 
 
 3 . But yet the worft is behind. They be not agreed about 
 the very form of the Papacy : For fome fay, He is the Head of 
 /ill the Catholick.Cburch But others with the General Councils 
 of Conflance and Bajil fay, that he is the Head only of the fmgular 
 Members, but a fubjetl to the Catholick^Cburchreprefentedin a 
 Council t which receiveth its power immediately fromChrift, fo 
 thac you may fee what a cv.fe they will be in, if they be buc 
 forced to tell you what they mean by a Pope , and to Define 
 him too. 
 
 3 . And if they ufe the name of a General Council, call them 
 to Define what they mean by l General Council : fome of them 
 will fay, It mu(l be a true Reprefentative of the whole Catholick, 
 Church : fo thac Morally they are all Confenting to what is there 
 done. Buc then the doubt remainech whether there be aNe- 
 ceflkr ofany certain Number of B (hops ? If not ; it feems the 
 whole Church may agree that twenty,or ten,or two.or one (hall 
 rcprefent them, and be a general Council. But if this muftnot 
 hold, then Afuft All the Bifh-'ps of the world be there or only fome , 
 and how many ? Binnius faith, Vol. 1. pag. 313. that [_a gene- 
 ral Council is that where all the Bijbaps of the while world may and 
 ought to be prefent, nnlefs they bt lawfully hir,dred y and in which 
 none but the Pope o/*Rome by himfclf or his Legates, is wont to pre- 
 fide.~\ And vol. 3. pag. 229. It is when all the Church is mo- 
 rally Reprefented, the Pope preftding.~\ Buc what a lofs arc we here 
 at? 1. How prove they that only B>Jbops ftiould be members of 
 a Council, and noc Presbyters? 
 
 2. Bu r if that were granted them (without proof and contra- 
 ry ro pra&ile) yet we are at a far greater lofs to know what 
 aBifhip Uchat mull here be a member ? Ishconly the Primus 
 Presby rorum in a pr<sbyterie?Or is he thcRuler of a Presbyterie, 
 (tht B u g the people ?j Or is he the fole Ruler of Preibyters 
 and? ' r And is he to be in every Parish where are divers 
 ■esb <s ? oi only vtxtvtrj Clajfis or /rj/rr Synod 1 or only in 
 
 every 
 
A t\ey for Catbolicks. 79 
 
 every County, or Province? Or fhall che old Rale ftand, that 
 every Citjmufl have sue} Iffo, ih«n are not all our Corporations 
 true Gtics ? And fo by any of thefe Rules, there have been few 
 General Councils in the world. And what word of God is 
 there why London^ Worcefter, Canterbury fhould have Bifhops • 
 zn&Shrtrvibttrj Jpfwich ,P 'limomb and hundreds fuch fliould have 
 none? fo that if (he very matter of your Councils befo humane 
 and disordered, wlnt is the Council cosrjpofed of fuch ? As raoft 
 of 'hem ulc the term Bifiop, you would put them as hard to it to 
 Define a Bijhap al noir , as to define a Pope. 
 
 3. But fuppofe they help you over this rub, yet by their 
 Definition they null many General Councils, becaufe the Pope 
 prefided not there : even the firft General Council it fclf at 
 Nice ( wharfoever they bolily feign to che contrary. ) 
 
 4. And by this Rule, either wc never had a General Council, 
 or but few : For inftance, At the firft Seflion of the Council of 
 Trent (the laft and moft famous CouncilJ there were but four 
 Archbifhops, and twenty two B (hops, taking in the Titular 
 Bifhops of Zs'pfal, Armacb, and Worcefler. And at divers other 
 Sellions afcer, bat eight, or nine, or very few more. In the 
 fourth Sefiion which Decreed to receive Tradition with equal 
 pious affcftion and reverence as the holy Scriptures, and which 
 giveusafalfe Catalogue of the Canonical Books, there were but 
 the Popes Legates, two Cardinals , nine Archbifhops (titular 
 and all ) and forty one, or forty two Bifliops ('titular and all.) 
 Now we would fain know whe: her this was the whole ChurJi 
 morally reprefemed ? and whether thefe twenty two, or forty 
 onewere all thcBifhops of the world, or the hundreth part 
 of them ? Yea whether all the Bifhops of the African, 
 A[ian , and other Churches could and ought to have been 
 there ? 
 
 If they fay that moil of the Bifhops of the world are Here- 
 ticks or Schifmaticks, and had norhing to do to be there, we arc 
 fure that this is but the impudent cenfure of a [id, that un- 
 churcheth moft cf Chrifls Church, for far !efs fuul s then 
 it felf is guilty of : But how is this heavy cenfure pro- 
 ved ? 
 
 5. Nay to make fhort of it, its plain by this Definition, that 
 t Getter aI Council is but a name (ac leaft lince the dales. 
 
 when 
 
8o A Kjyfor Catbolicks. 
 
 when the Cbarchlay in a nirrow room) and thn no fuch thing 
 is co be expefted in the world. For i . If all Bifhops, or half 
 come thither, what fli;!! their poor flocks do the while? 2. How 
 many years muft they be travailing from America, Ethiopia^ 
 and all the remote parts of the Chriftian world t 3. So much 
 flapping, and provilion, and fo many thou.fand pound a man is 
 r.ecefTiry fttf the Convoy of many, that abs 1 he poor Bifhops 
 be not able to defray the hundreth part of the charge. 4. Abun- 
 dance of them are fo aged and weak, that they are unfit for the 
 journey. 5. Their Princes arc fome of them Infidels, and fome 
 at wars, and will never give them leave to come. 6. They muft 
 pafs through many Kingdoms of the enemies, or that are in wars, 
 that will never fuffer them to pals. 7. 1 he redioufneis, and 
 haz irds of the journey, with change of air is like to be the death 
 of moft of them, and fo its but a plot to put an end to the Church. 
 8. The length of General Councils is fuch (fome of them being 
 ten years, and fome (as that at Trent) eighteen years) that io 
 many Bifhops to be fo long abfent from home, is but to give up 
 the Church to Infidelity or Impiety 'unlefsthe Bifhops be fuch 
 things as the Church can fpare. ) 9. When they cpme together, 
 they cannot many of them underftand one another,becaufe of the 
 di verfity of their languages. 1 o. And the Number would be fo 
 great, that ten or twenty Council- houfes or rooms would not 
 hold them : fothat they could not Converfein one AfTcmbiy : 
 fo that a true General Council no w, is but a name to amufe thofc 
 that think the world is no bigger then a man may ride over in a 
 weeks journey. 
 
 6. And yet even this Definition of Binnius is ridiculous ; 
 For he makes it enough that all the Bifhops of the world may 
 and ought to be there, whether they be there or not. But then 
 what if lazlnefs or danger detcrr them or detain them? Is that 
 a Council where Bifhops ought to be and are not? How many 
 muft defatto be prefenr, any or none * Prove if you can that forty 
 Bifhops are a General Council-,, becaufc the reft ought to be 
 there. And who fhall be judge of each mans cafe, whether he 
 cotdUox ought to have been there ? will you judge men before 
 they are heard, or their caufc known? Your faying that they 
 ought to have been there, is no proof. 
 And yet Bimuj hath one exception \unltfi lawfully kindred] 
 
 Good 
 
A I^ey for Qatholicks. 8 1 
 
 Goodwill! If all the bifhop* in the world be lawfully hin- 
 dered, itfeemsitis a General Council when no body is [here: 
 You fee now what you put the poor Papifts too, if you put them 
 to define a General Councilor te\\ you what they mean bythac 
 word. 
 
 And therefore I again advife you • let them not befool you 
 with empty or ambiguous words. And when they are all to pieces 
 among themfelves,let them not make you believe they are united 
 by agreeing in One word, when they are fcveral things that are 
 meant by that one word. 
 
 Chap. XIX. 
 
 Dete&. io. \7 \ 7 Hen they go about from Councils or 
 V V other Hiftory to prove rhe Soveraignty 
 of the Pope, let them not cheat you by confounding, I . An humane 
 Ordinance with a Divine : 2. Andan alterable psint of Order with 
 an unalterable ejfential part of the Church : $.0r a nicer Primacy 
 in the fume Order or office with a Governing Soveraignty t or a diffe- 
 rent Order or office. 
 
 Firft therefore we would learn of them, whether the prehe- 
 minenceand order of the five Patriarchal Sees, began not about 
 the firft General Council to belookt after, but was fetled fome 
 while after • For till there were General Councils ( fuch as were 
 fo called ) there was no great occafion of determining which 
 fliould have the firft, fecond,or third feat. 
 
 2. Or when ever the time was, yet we enquire, whether thefc 
 other Sees as of ferufalem, Antioch, Alexandria^ foroc of them 
 were not Patriarchal as loon as Rome ? and whether Councils 
 that fpeak of priority or pofteriority,do not in the feme manner, 
 and on the fame grounds, and to the fame ends give Alixandridy 
 and Antioch, their places , as they give to Rome the tni\ place ? 
 Surely we find them fpeaking of them as martersoftbe fame 
 Order and nature, hyir^Rome fliall have the firft place or fear, 
 Ccnftantinople the fecond , Alexandria the third, tsfntioch the 
 fourth, and jerufalem the fifth. 4. And therefore we enquire 
 whether all thefe have not the fame hjnd of right to their pr eh emi- 
 nence, whether it be Divine or Humane. And chat the very fonn- 
 
 M dation 
 
8z A Kzy for Catholicks* 
 
 dationof this Patriarchall order, )\*of Romes Patriarchall 
 Primacy, (which was the preparative to itsuniverfal Soveraign- 
 ty) was not a meer humane invention, given on occafion of the 
 Jmperiall feat at Rome, and not any infucucionof Chrilt to Pe- 
 ter and his SuccefTors, I defireyou not to cake from mv word - t 
 but all that will not be fool'doutof all Hiltoncal! verity by 
 Popifh audacity , let them take it from the exprefs words of the 
 fourth great approved General Council, viz.. of (falcedcn, which 
 the p«or Jacobites and o:her Churches of the Eaftand South 
 arefo reproached for reje&ing. In Aft. 16. Binnii pag. 154. 
 thefc are their words [Definitiones Santhrum Pat rum (cquenm 
 ubiq\ & Rcgulant, & quA nunc reUtta funt 1 50. Deo amantiffi- 
 rmrum Epifcoporum, qui congregati funt fub pia memorix. Impe- 
 ratore mapre Theodafio in Regia civitate Conftantinop. Nova 
 Roma , cognofcentes & nes eadem definivimus de privilcgiu ejuf- 
 dim SanBiffimA Confiantinop. EccleftA nova Rom*. Etenim fedi 
 Seniiris Roma, propter Imperium civitatis illius ( N. B. ) pa' 
 tres confequcnter privilegia reddtdirunt. Et eadem intentione per^ 
 moti 150. Deo amantiffimi Epifcopi aqua fancliffim& fedi nova 
 Rom* privilegi a tribuer tint \ r at ionabi ii t er ju die antes Imperio & 
 Senatu "Urbtmornatam aquis Senioris Regie Roma privilegi^. 
 frtd. 1 i. C. [We following ahvay the Definitions of the holy fa- 
 thers and the Canon, and knotting thofethat mw have been read 
 of the hundred and fifty BiJhops y mofi beloved of Go^ that were 
 Congregated under the Emper-ur of pious memory Theodofius 
 the Greater jn the Roy all (fity Conftantinople ( ntw Rome,) have 
 our fe Ives alfo defined the fame things - concerning the 7riviledges 
 cf the fame mofl holy Church of Confiantinoplet new Rome. For 
 to the feat of old Komt^becaufe of the Empire of that City, the Far 
 thers csnfequently gave the Trivilcdges. And the hundred and 
 fifty Bifbops mofl beloved of God, bung moved with the fame inten • 
 tion have given equal I PriviUd^ s to the mofl holy Seat of New 
 Rome: reafonablj judging, than the City adorned with the Em- 
 pire and Senate , foall enjoy equal Priviledges with old Regal 
 Rome. ] 
 
 I do not ftand to note that this Council was called by Cbfan 
 tian .-that his Lay Officers were called the Judges, or how light 
 the Council made of Rome when they faid | Qui contradicunc 
 Neftoriani font : qui contradicunt. Romam ambuhm \ Bin. p. 98.. 
 
 Nor, 
 
A I\ey for Qathdkks. 8* 
 
 Nor do I ftand fo much on ir, that they gave Conjlantlnople 
 equal priviledgcs. But it may confound all the Papal Juglers on 
 earth to find an approved General Council affirming, i. Thai 
 /W<r.fPnviledges ( even its meer primacy ) were given by the 
 Fathers. 2. And that becaufe it was the Imperial City. 3 . And 
 therefore on the fame reafon they do the like by Confiantinoplc. 
 4. And that the General Council of Confront, had gone before 
 them on thefe grounds .- fo that you have the vote of two of the 
 firft four great General Councils, that it was not fo from the 
 beginning, nor an Apoftolical Tradition, but the ad of the 
 Rithers, becaufe of the Imperial City. If a General Council 
 canerr, Popery isa deceir. If it cannot err, then the very Pri- 
 macy of order in the Pope was then but new, and humane, on 
 a Carnal ground, done by man, that might do the like by other?, 
 and therefore undo this again. 
 
 But fay they, Pope Leo confirmed net this. Anfw. 1. Still 
 then the Church Reprefentative it feems may err, and the Pope 
 only is infallible. 2. Leo and his Delegates were offended ac 
 AnatoliushlsYihng, and the equaling him with Reme : but they 
 never excepted one word (that ever I found ) againlt the faying, 
 thatif Vcas becaufe ef the Empire that Rome by the Fathers had 
 the Primacy given it. 
 
 And the Reafon given by themfelves ConciU Conflunt. Can. 5. 
 is, Q £*<:*#/<? Conftantinople*" j- new Rome] But Binnius faith 
 that Rome receiveth not the Canons of this Council neither, but 
 only their condemnation of Mscedonius. And he faith [ that 
 every Council hath juft fo much ftrength and authority as the Apo- 
 fioUcle^feat beftoweth on it. Fer ( faith he ) unlefs this be ad- 
 mitted, no reafon can be given why fame Councils of greater num- 
 bers of Bipjops were reprobated ; and others of a fmaller number 
 confirmed ) Bin. Vol. 2. p. 515. 
 
 What would you have more Sirs ? Do you not fee yet what 
 the Popifh Catholick Church is • and what they mean when they 
 mouth it out to you, and ask you whether your private Judge- 
 ment be fafer or wifer then that of the whole Church, or of all 
 the Chriftian world? You fee they mean all this while but one 
 man , whom Gretfer and others plainly confefs they call the 
 Church. So that indeed ic is General Councils, and all the Chri- 
 ftian world or Church chat are the ignorant) fallible, and ofc er- 
 
 M 2 ring 
 
84 A K?yf or Catbolicks. 
 
 ring part ; and it is one man, (that fometime is reputed an 
 incarnate Devil by a General Council too ) that is the unerring 
 Pillar of the Church, and wifer then all they. Do you not fee 
 that they make ameer nothing or mockery of General Coun- 
 cits, any further then they pleafe the Pope ? And can you exped 
 tfrat any thing fhould pleafe them that isagiinft his Greatnefs, 
 or, as Julius the fecond calls it, [ his holding the place of the 
 great God, the CMaktr of all things, and all Laws? ~] What a vile 
 abufe is it then of the Pope to trouble the world by the meetings 
 and Confutations of General Councils, when he can fit at Rome 
 and contradid them infallibly, and, Good man, is fain to fave 
 theCatholick Church from the Errors that General Councils 
 ( the Reprefentative Catholick Church) would elfe lead them 
 into : and therefore could he not with lefsado infallibly make us 
 Laws, Canons, and Scriptures without them ? For fure that 
 which the Pope can do agaittfl a General Council, he can do 
 without them. If he can Infallibly contradid a General Council, 
 and Infallibly Rule us ^^7 to their Judgement, he may no 
 doubt Infallibly Rule us without them. And therefore of late 
 times they have learnt fo much wit, that you may look long 
 enough before you fee a General Council. And I think the 
 Council of Conftance were no better Prognofticators then Wil- 
 liam Lilly, nor no more effeduall Lawgivers then wat Tjler, 
 when they Prognosticated or Ordained Decennial Councils ; 
 And I will be judged by all the world. 
 
 And here alfo you may fee what account the PapiOs make 
 even of the firft General Councils. Its all one with them to 
 Judge others Hereticks for contradiding efpecially the four firft 
 General Councils ( compared to the four Evangelifts) as the 
 Scripture itfelf-" and yet ('who would have thought it ) they 
 profefs themfelvesto rejed the Canons or Decrees of both thefe, 
 ihe firft of Conflantinofle, and that of Calcedon in parr. 
 
 And, now 1 think on it, by this priviledgc I cannot fee but 
 the Pope is priviledged from all poffibility of being an Heretick 
 perfonally. But thefe things are on the by, I return to the point 
 in hand, which is to prove to you ,that not only the Rorrrfli U li- 
 ver fal Monarchy and Vice- godhead, but even its Patriarchal 
 Primacy was no Apoftolical Tradition, but an Humane Inftitu- 
 "tion 3 founded on this Consideration, that Rome was the Imperial 
 Seat and City, . 5. And 
 
A K^.y for Catholic ks. 85 
 
 5. And Humane ic mult needs b«r. 1. For we find that Coun- 
 cils did not declare it as any part of the Law of God, but Or- 
 dain it as an act of their own. 2. We find them adding ihe Pa- 
 triarchate of Csnfiaminople , which was a new fcit , neither 
 Patriarch nor Bifhop refidmg there in the Apoftles dayes, or long 
 after. 3. Yea we find them giving this new Patriarch the fecond 
 place, and once making him equal with eld Rome, which they 
 would never have prefumed to do, if they had thought that 
 the Patriarchfhip of tsl lexandria, Antiocb, or Rome had been of 
 Divine Inftitution : for what horrible arrogancy would that 
 have been, when the Holy Ghoft by the Apoftles had made 
 Alexandria fecond, and tAntioch third, and Rome firft, for a 
 Council to fet Conftar.tineple before two of them, and equal with 
 the firft r 
 
 6. A^.d therefore we have reafon to think that if Patriarchs 
 be defirable creaiures, there may more and more new ones now 
 be made, as lawfully as Conjta*tinople was. 
 
 7. And wc do not think that a General Council or Pope can 
 make a man of one Nation to be Patriarch of the Church in 
 another Nation, that perhaps may be in wan with the Prince of 
 the firft Nation : but that each Prince with the Church under 
 their Power, hath more to do in it then either Pope or Council. 
 And if Portugal and France fet up Patriarchs at home, they do 
 as lawfully as cbe Patriarch of Qonflaniimple was fet up. 
 
 8. And therefore we muft needs judge, that to difobey the 
 Pope,or withdraw from his fubje&ion ( if he had never forfeit- 
 ed his Patriarchfhip by theclaira of an Univerfal Headship) were 
 no greater a fin, then to difobey or withdraw from the Patri. 
 arch of Alexandria, Antioch, or Constantinople : either the Go- 
 vernment by Patriarchs and Arch-bifhops is of Gods ordaining 
 and approving, or not : if not (as raoft of the Proteftams 
 hold ) then it is no fin to reject any of them. If it be of God, 
 then to reject any of them ( though in fimple error J is a fin of 
 difobedience through ignorance , but is far from proving a man 
 to be no member of theCatholick Church : for fure Patriarchs 
 are far from being EiTemial paasof the Catholick C hurch. 
 
 For, 9. We conclude, as in the Papifts own Judgement, the 
 Catholick Church may be without the Patriarch of Ccnftanti~ 
 xop'e, Alexandria , or Antiocb j fo may it therefore without the 
 Pope of /<!<?;»*. M 3 Chap- 
 
%6 A I$vy fur Catbohcks. 
 
 Chap. XX. 
 
 Duett, ii. "THE pre.it endeavour of the Papiftsisto *d- 
 1 vanct Tradition : The Council of Trent Sef.4.. 
 hath equalled it with the Scriptures, ai to the pious affcttion and 
 rivtrtacc wherewith they receive it. On pretence 01 this Tra- 
 dition they have added abundance of new Articles to the faith, 
 andaccufe U9as Hereticks for not receiving their Traditions: 
 And this is a principall d. fferer.ee betwixt us, that we take the 
 Scriptures to befufficienr, to acquaint us with the will of God, 
 as tlie Rule of faith and holy living : and they take it to be 
 but part of the word of God, and that the other part is in unwrit- 
 ten Tradition, which they equal with this ( as afore. ) For the 
 maintaining of Tradition it is that they write fo much to the dis- 
 honour of the holy Scr:p:ure , as you may find in Rti&yrorths 
 Dialogues, and Tho. Whites Defercc of thcm,and many others ; 
 fo like to the Arguments and Language of the Seekers and Infi- 
 dels, that we can fcarcdy know whom we hear when they fpeak 
 to us. 
 
 For thedifcovery of their defperate fraud in this point, and 
 the right confuting of them: 1 .You muft dift inguifti them out o f 
 their confufion : 2. You muft grant them all that is true and 
 juft, which we (hall as ftiffly defend as they : 3. You muft rejed 
 their errors and confute them : And 4. You may turn their own 
 principall weapon againft them, to the certain deftrudionof 
 their caufe. 
 
 Of all thefe briefly in courfe. 
 
 1 . For the firft two I have fpoke at large in the Preface to the 
 fecond part of the Saints Remand in the determination in the firft 
 part of my Book againft Infidelity. But breifly to touch fomeof 
 the raoft neceffary things here,i .We muft diftinguifti the Traditi- 
 on of the Scripsures,or the Scripture docTrine,fromtheTradition 
 of other do&rines, pretended to be the reft of the word of God. 
 2. We muft diftinguilh betwe< n a certain proved Tradition, and 
 that which is improved and uncertain,if not grofly feigned. 3 . We 
 muft diftinguilh between the Tradition of the whole Catholick 
 Chur cb,or the greater part, and the Tradition of the lefler more 
 corrupted fclfilhpari ( even the Homan part.) 4. We muft di- 
 
 flinguifli 
 
A I\ey for Catholic h. 87 
 
 ftinguifh between a Tradition of neceflary do&rine or practice, 
 and the Tradition of mutable Orders. 5. And we muftdiftin- 
 guifh between Tradition by way of Teftimony, of Hiftory, or 
 by way of Teaching Miniftry,snd Tradition by way of Decifive 
 Judgements to the Uoiverfal Church : fuflfcr them not to jum- 
 ble all thefe tog.ther , if you would not be cheated in the 
 dark.. 
 
 2. And then concerning Tradition.we grant all thefe follow- 
 ing Proportions, ( fo that it is not all Tradition that we deny.,) 
 
 1. We grant that the Holy Scriptures come down to us by 
 the certain Tradition of our fathers and Teachers ; and that what 
 the feeing and hearing of the Apoltles was to them that lived 
 with them, that Tradition and bcliefof certain Tradition is to 
 us, by reafonofour diftance from the time and place.- So that 
 though the Scripture bear its own evidence of a Divine anchor, 
 in the Image and fuperfcription of God upon it,yet we are behol * 
 den to Tradition for the Books themfelves, and for much of 
 our knowledge that thefe are the true writings of the Apoftles 
 an J Prophets, and all, and not depraved, &c> 
 
 2. We thankfully acknowledge that the Effentials of the 
 faith, ( and more ) hath been delivered even from the Apoftles 
 in other wayes or forms, beiides the Scriptures : as 1. In the 
 I'rofcjfidns of the Churches faith. 2. In the baptifmal Covenant 
 and figns ,and whole admini ft ration. 3. In the Sacrament of the 
 Lords Supper. 4. In Catechifms or C 'a tec hi zings. 5. In the 
 prayers and praijes of the Church. 6. In the hearts of all true 
 believers, where God hath written all the Efftntiaisof the Chri- 
 fltan faith and Law : So that we will not do as the Pa pi Us. per- 
 vciflydo: when Goddelivereth usthcChnftian Religion with 
 two hands, Scripture fcompleatly ) and ) Verbal Tradition, ( in 
 the efTentials ) they quarrel! with the one hand ( Scrip ure ) 
 on pretence of defending the other : fo Will not we quirrell 
 with Tradition ( the other hand : ) but thankfully confefs a 
 Tradition of the lane Chriftianity by unwritten me^ns. which 
 is delivered more fully in the Scripture • and this Tradition is 
 in fome refped fubordrtate to Scripture, and in forne refpeft 
 co-ordinate, as the fpirits left hand as it were, to hold us out 
 the truth. 
 
 3 . We confefs that the Apoftles delivered the Gofpel by voice 
 
 as. 
 
88 ^Ksy f or Catholicks. 
 
 as well as by writing, and that before they wrote it to the 
 Churches. 
 
 4. By this preaching we confefs there were Christians made, 
 that had the doctrine of Chrifl: in their hearts, and Churches ga- 
 thered that had his ordinances among them, before the Gofpel 
 was written. 
 
 5. And we confefs that the Converted were bound to 
 teach what they had received to their children, fervanti and 
 others. 
 
 6. And that there was a fetled Miniftry in many Churches 
 ordained to preach the Gofpel as they had received it from the 
 Apoftles before it was written. 
 
 7. And that the faid ordinances of Baptifm, Catechizing,Pro- 
 feftions, Eucharift, Prayer, Praife,e£r. were inftituted,and in ufe 
 before the Gofpell was written for the Churches. 
 
 8. And that when the Gofpel was written,as Tradition bringeth 
 it to us, fo Minifters are commiffioned to deliver both the Books, 
 and thedodrineofthis Book, as the Teachers of the Church, 
 and to preach it to thofe without, for their converfion. 
 
 9. And that Parents and Matters are bound to teach this do- 
 ctrine to their children and fervants •* yea if a Minifter or other 
 perfon were caft into the Indies or Jmerica without a Bible, 
 he muft teach the dodrine , though he reraembred not the 
 words. 
 
 1 o. We grant that to the great benefit of the Church, the wri- 
 ters of all ages have in fubferviency to Scrip-.ure delivered 
 down the Sacred Verities, and Hiftoriansthe matters of fad. 
 
 11. And that the unanimous Confent of all the Churches,ma- 
 nifefted in their conftant profeffions,and pradices,isa great con- 
 firmation to us. 
 
 12. And fo is the fuffcring of the Martyrs for the fame 
 truth. 
 
 1 3 . And the Declarations of fuch confent by Councils is alfo 
 a confirming Tradition. 
 
 14. And the Confeflions of Hereticks, Jews and other Tnfi- 
 dels , areProvidentiall and Hiftorical Traditions, for confuma- 
 tion. 
 
 i5«And we profefsthat if we had any Certain proof of a Tra- 
 dition from the Apoftles of any thing more then is written in 
 
 Scrip- 
 
A t\ey for Qatholicks. 89 
 
 Scripture, we would receive ic ; All this we grant them for Tra- 
 dition. 
 
 3 . But in thefe points following we oppofe them. 1 . We take 
 the holy Scriptures as thcCompleat universal Rule or Law of 
 faith and Holy living , and we know of no Tradition that con- 
 tained another word of God ^ Nay we know there i$ none fuch 
 becaufe the Scripture is true, which aflerteth its own fufficiency. 
 Scrip tare, and unwritten Tradition are but two wayes of ac- 
 quainting the world with thtfame Chriftian doftrine ; and not 
 with divers parts of that Doclrine , (0 as that Tradition (hould 
 add to Scripture : yea contrarily it is but the fubftanceof great- 
 eft verities that are conveyed b\ unwritten Tradition: but that 
 and much more is contained in the Scripture,wbere the Cbriftian 
 do&rine is compleat- 
 
 2. The manner of delivery in a form of words, which no man 
 may alter, and info much fullnefs and perfpicuity, is much to 
 be preferred before the meer verbal delivery of the fame doclrine. 
 For r . The Memory of man is not fo ftrong as to retain as much 
 as the Bible doth contain , and preferveitfafefrom alterations 
 or Corruptions • Or ifone mm were of fo ftrong a memory.no 
 man can imagine that all or moft (hould be fo: Or ifone Gene- 
 ration had fuch wonderfull memories, we cannot imagine that all 
 their pofterity (hould have the like. If there were no ftatute 
 Books, Records, or Law-books in England y oiiT Laws would be 
 but forrilykept, and obeyed and executed. 
 
 2. If all the world had fuch miraculous memories, yet men are 
 apt to be negligent either in learning or keeeping of holy do- 
 ctrine ; All have not that zeal that (hould excite them to fuch 
 wonderfull diligence without which fuch a treafure could not be 
 prefer ved. 
 
 3 . When matter and fo much matter, is comroited to bare me- 
 mory without a form of unalterable words , new words may 
 make an alteration before men are aware.* The change of one 
 word fometimes doth make a whole difcourfe feem to have ano- 
 ther fenfe. 
 
 4. There are fo many carnal men in the world that love not 
 the ftri&nefs of that doftrine which they do profefs , and fo 
 many hereticks that would pervert the Holy Doctrine, that it 
 would purpofcly be altered by them if it could be done, andic 
 
 N might 
 
9 o A Z\ey for Catholicks . 
 
 might much moreeafily be done , if it lay all upon mens memo- 
 ries ; For one party would Get their memory againft the others, 
 and ( *$Jt was about Etfter a publick matter of f;ct ) tradition 
 would be fet againlt tradition : efpecially when the far grea:er 
 part of the Chtjrch turn Hereticks, as in the Arrians daycs, then 
 Tradition would be moft at their keeping and interpretation ; 
 and if we had not then had the unalterable Scriptures, what 
 might they not have done ? 
 
 5. A whole Body of Doctrine kept only in Memory, will be 
 foon difjoynted and diflocate ; and if the matter were kept 
 fafe, yet the method, artd manner would be loft. 
 
 6. And there could not be fuch fatisfactory Evidence given to 
 another of the Integrity or Certainty of it, as when it is pre. 
 ferved in writing. We fhould all be diffident that the Laws of 
 England were corrupted, or that Lawyers might combine to do 
 it at their pleafure, if there were no Law Books or Records, but 
 all lay in their memories. If they were never fo faithfull, yet 
 they could not give us fuch evidence of it . 
 
 I do not think any man of common reafon can heartily believe, 
 that all the holy Truths of God, Hiftorical, Doctrinal, Practi- 
 cal, Prophetical, &c. could ( without a courfe of miracles, or 
 extraordinary means ) have been kept through all ages, as well 
 without writing, as with it. 
 
 7. And if writing be not neceflary, why have we fo many 
 Fathers, Hiftories, and Canons? And why do they fetch theirs 
 Tradition from thefe, and ridiculoofly call tbem unwritten ve- 
 rities? Are they unwritten, when they turn us to fo many vo- 
 lumes for them ? And if mans writing be neceffary for their 
 prefervation , me thinks men fhould thankfully acknowledge 
 that God hath taken the bell way in giving it us in his own un- 
 alterable phrafe: 
 
 3. If they do prove that fome matters of fad are made known 
 to us by Tradition that are not in the Scriprure, or- that any 
 Church Orders or Circumftancesof worfhip then ufed are fo 
 made known to us, ( which yet we wait for the proof of j it. 
 will not follow that any of thefe are therefore Divine Inttiruti- 
 ons, or univerfal Lawes for the unchangable obligation of the. 
 whole Church. If there be fome things Hiftorically related in 
 die Scripture, that were obligatory but for a feafon, and ordain • 
 
 ed 
 
A If\ey for Catholicks. p i 
 
 ed occafionally, and ceafed when the occafi on cea fed ('as the 
 Lovc-feafts, the Kifs of Love, the wafhing of feec, the abftaining 
 from things ftrangled and blood, the anointing the fick, the Pro- 
 phefyingsoneby one, mentioned i Ctfr.14.31. miraculous gifts 
 and thesr exercife, &c) then it will not follow, if they could 
 prove that the Apoftles fafted in the Lent, or ufed the fign of the 
 Crofs in Baptifrae or holy Ordinances, or confirmed with a Crofs 
 inChryfme, &c. that therefore they intended thefeas univerfal 
 Laws to the Church, though I fuppofe they will never prove that 
 they ufed the things thetnlelvc;. 
 
 4. We will never take the Popes Dccifion or bare word for a 
 Proof of Tradition : nor will we receive it from pretended Au- 
 thority, but from rational Evidence. It is not their faying, me 
 are the authorized keepers of Tradition, that (hall go with us for 
 proof. 
 
 5. And therefore it is not theTeftiraony of the Papifts alone, 
 ( who are not only a lefTcr part of the Church, but a part thac 
 hath efpoufed a corrupt intereft againft the reft) that we (hall 
 take for certain proof of a Tradition: but we will prefer the 
 Teftinonieof the whole Cacholick Church before the Romifh 
 Church alone. 
 
 6. They that can produce the beft Records of Antiquity, or 
 rational proof of the Antiquity of the thing they plead for,, 
 though they be but a few Learned Antiquaries, may yet be of 
 more regard in the matter of Tradition then miilionsof the 
 vulgar, orunlearned men: fo that with us, univerfal Tradition 
 is preferred before the Tradition of the Romijhfttl, and Rational 
 pr»of of Antiquity is preferred before ignorant furmifes. But 
 where both thefe concur, both univerfal confent, and records or 
 other credible evidence of Antiquity, it ismoft valid. 
 
 And as for the Romifh Traditions which they take for the 
 other pirt of Gods word : 1. In all Reafon they rau ft produce 
 their fufficient proof that they came from the A poftles, before 
 we can receive them as Apoftolick Traditions. And when they 
 have done that, they muft prove that it was delivered by the 
 Apoftles as a perpetual univerfal do&rinc or Law for the whole 
 Church .• and when they have well proved both tbefe, we fliali 
 hearken further to them. 
 
 2. Either thefe Traditions have Evidence to prove them Apo- 
 N 2 ftolical, 
 
pi d i\eyfor Catbolkks. 
 
 ftolical, or no Evidence. If none, how can the Pope know them ? 
 If they have Evidence, why may not we know it as well as the 
 Pope ? at Icaft, by the helps chat his charity doth vcuchfafe the 
 world. 
 
 3. If there hi any Proof of thefe Traditions, it is either fome 
 Antient Records or Monuments ; and then our Learned Anti- 
 quaries m?.y better know them then a multitude of the unlearn- 
 ed : Or it is the Pra&ice of the Church: And then 1. How 
 (hall we know how long that practice hath continued, without 
 rccourfeto the writings of the ancients? The reports of the 
 people is in many cafes very uncertain. 2. But it it may be 
 known without the fearch ofAntient Records,then we may know 
 it as well as they. 
 
 4. If the Pope and Clergy have been the keepers of it , have 
 they in all ages kept it to themfelves or declared it to the Church? 
 { I mean to all in common ) If they have concealed it, 1. Then 
 it (ecms it belonged not to others. 2. Or elfe they were nnfaith- 
 full and unfit for the office. 3. And then how do fuccecding 
 Popes and Clergy know it ? If they divulged ir,;hen others know 
 it as well as they. We have had abundance of Preachers from 
 among the Papifts, that were once Papifts themfelves, as Lnthtr^ 
 Jl>lelantthon^ZHinglitis£ahin, Beza y Peter Martyr, Bucer, &c. 
 and yet thefe knew not of your truly Apoltoltcal Traditions. 
 
 5. And it mars your credit with us, becaufe we are able to. 
 prove the beginning of fome of your traditions,or a time when 
 they had no being, fince the death of the Apoftles. 
 
 6. And alfothat we are able to prove the death and burial 
 tof many things that have gone long under the name of Tra- 
 ditions. 
 
 7. And when we find fohme an account from your felves 
 of the true Apoftolical Traditions: You are fo confounded be- 
 tween your Ecclefiafticall Decrees aud Traditions, and your 
 Apoftolical Traditions, that we defpair of learning from you 
 to know one from the other •• and of feeing under the hand of 
 his Holinefs and a General Council a Catalogue of the true 
 Apoftolical Traditions. And fure it feems to us fcarce fair 
 dealing that in one thoufand and five hundered years time, (if 
 indeed there have been Popes fo long ) the Church could never 
 have an enumeration and defcripdon of thefe Tuitions, with 
 
 tie 
 
A f(ey for Catholicks. $> j 
 
 the proofs of them,, Had you told us which are Apoftolick 
 Traditions but as fully and plain!y,as the Scrip:ures which you 
 accufe of infuffieency and obfcurity,do deliver us their parr, 
 you had difcharged your pretended truft. 
 
 8. And it is in our eyes an abominable impiety , for you to 
 equal your Traditions with the holy Scripture, till you have 
 enumerated and proved them. And it makes us the more to 
 fufped your Traditions, when we perceive that they or their 
 Patron? have fuch an enmity to the Holy Scriptures, that they 
 ctanoc be rightly defended without cafUng fome reproach upon 
 the Scriptures, Bucthis we do not much wonder at : tor ic is 
 no new thing with the applauders of Tradition. We find the 
 eighth General Council at ConJ}antincple t Can. 3. decreeing, thac 
 \ the Image of C hrifl be adored with equal Honenr with the Holy 
 Scripture, ] B ut whether that be an Apoltolical Tradition , we 
 doubt. 
 
 9. And if General Councils themfelves, and that of your 
 own, fhould be for the Efficiency of Scripture; what then is 
 become of all your Traditions ? Search your own Binnius, pa^e 
 299. whether it part not as fouud doctrine at the Council 
 of Bafil ( m RagufiiOrat.) Sup. 6. £ that faith and all things. 
 necejfary to falvation , both matters of belief and matters of pra- 
 ctice , are founded in the literal fenfe ( of Scripture, ) and only 
 from that may argumentation betahen for the proving of thrfe things 
 that are matters of faith, or mctffarj to falvation ; and net from 
 thofe parages that are fjiok.cn by allegory , or other (pirhual fcnce~\ 
 Sup. 7. \_ The Holy Scripture in the literal fenfe foundly and well 
 underflood , is the infallible and m r >ft fufficicnt Rule of faith ] 
 Is not here enough againft all other Traditional Articles of faith ? 
 A plain rnnn would think fo. Yea , but Binnius notcth thit he 
 rneaneth tbu explicitely or implicirely it is fo. Well / I confefs. 
 the beft of you are flippery enough : but let us grant this ; 
 ( for indeed l;e foexplaineth himfelf afterward : yet thats no- 
 thing for Tradition. He there maintained] that Scripture is the 
 Rule of faith ( not partofthe Rule) [_ For ffaihhcj v.'hn 
 the intellect hapneth to err, as in heretickj, its ntcrjfary that there 
 be Jome Rule, by the deviation or conformity to which thcintr 1 11 
 may perceive that it doth or doth rot err. Fife it would be fill /». 
 doubt and ftufiuatc - ■ - ■- it appeareth that no hnm.inefci- 
 
 N 3 cr.ee 
 
94 A K y ey for Catholic ks. 
 
 ence is the Rule of faith. Ic remaincth therefore that the Holy Scrip- 
 ture is this Rule of faith. This U the Rale, John 20. wkerr be 
 fai:h, thefe things are written that you might beliive, that fefus 
 is the fort of God , and believing m ght have life in bis name. 
 And 2 Pet. 2. Ton have a more fare word of prophecy to which 
 ye do well that ye attend as to a light , &c. And Rom. I?. 
 pyhatfoever things -were written , were written for our learn' 
 
 ing, dec. And its plain that the forefaid authorities are of 
 
 holy Scripture \ and fpeak^of the holy Scripture, &c. The fecond 
 part alfo is plain, becaufe if the ho'y Scripture were not a fuffi- 
 eient Rule of faith, it VfGuld fallow that the Holy Ghofl bad in- 
 ffifficiently delivered it, reho is the author of it : which is by no 
 means to be thought of Gcd whoje worlds are all perfetl. More- 
 over if the Holy Scripture were wanting in any things that are 
 r.ecejfary to falvation, then tbofe things that are wanting might 
 Ian] ally and defervedly be fuper added from fame thing el/e ( ali- 
 unde ) or if any thing ftere Superfluous, be diminijhed. But this 
 ps forbidden, Rev. 22. From whence its plain that in Scripture 
 there is nothing defeSlive, and nothing fuper fiuous , which it agree- 
 able to its author , the Holy Ghofi, to wbofe Omnipotemy it agree- 
 etb that nothing deminntely ; to his wifdom that nothing fuper- 
 fluoufly ; ard to his Goodnefs that in a congruous or der \ be provide for 
 the Neceffity of our falvation, Prov. 30. 5, 6. The word of God 
 u a fiery buchjer to them that hope in him: Add then not to his words 
 lefl he reprove thee, and thou be found alyar. ] How like you all 
 this in a Popifti General Council ? and in an Oration againft the 
 Sacrament in both kinds. 
 
 Well / but perhaps the diftin&ion unfaith all again ? No 
 fuch matter; you fhallhearit truly recited. He proceeds thus 
 [_ But for the further declaration of this Rule at to that part , it 
 muft be known, that the fufficiency of any dctlrine is neceffarily 
 to be underflood two wayes j one way Explicitly, another fray Im- 
 plicit ely. And this is true in every Dotlrine or fcience , becaufe 
 no declrine was tverfo fuffciently delivered, that all the Concluft- 
 ens contained m its principles , were delivered and expreffed expli- 
 cit ely and in the proper terms : andfo it is in our purpofe : becaufe 
 there is nothing that any way or in any manner ( N. B. ) pertain^ 
 etb to f« ith aid falvation , which is not moft fufficiently contained 
 in the hdj Scripture explicitly or implicite/r. Hence faith 
 
 Auilin 
 
A IQy for Qatholicks. 9 c 
 
 Aultin £ every truth is contained in the Scriptures, latent or pa- 
 tent, as in other fciencet Speculative, or Aloral and Civil \ the 
 (fondufions and determinations are contained in their principles, tic. 
 
 and the deduction is by way of inference or determination « ^ 
 
 This is the plain Proteftant Do&rine. There is nothing any way 
 neceflary to faith or falvation, but what is contained in the 
 Scriptures, either exprefly, or as the Conclufion in the premifes. 
 Good (till 1 we defire no more. Let holy Reafon then difcern the 
 Conclufion in the premifes, and let us not be fern for it to the 
 Authority of Rome ; nay fentfor fome thing elfe, that is no Con- 
 clufion deducible from any Scripture principles : we grant Tra- 
 dition or Church practices are very ufeful for our berter under- 
 ftanding of fome Scriptures. But what is this to another Tradi- 
 tional word of God ( Prove your Traditions but by inference 
 from Scripture, and we will receive them. 
 
 Yet let us hear this Orator further clearing his mind [Adding 
 U a Dotlrine may be under flood four wayes. I . By way of explica- 
 tion or declaration. 2. Byway of fupply. 3. By -way of amplia- 
 tion, 4. 'By way of deftrutlion, or contrary. The fir ft -way is necef 
 far j in every fcience and doctrine, and fpeciaUy in Holy Scripture • 
 not for it f elf which is mo ft fujficieit , andmsfl cleare in it felf 
 but for us : ( This we all yield ) The fecond way is nccejfjiry to 
 fciences dimir.utely and inefficiently deliver edby their author s , for 
 their fupplement : fo Ariftotle is fupplcmented by Albertus Magnus, 
 &c. The third way, fpecially if it be not exceffive^ is tolerable to 
 
 the t* ell being, though it be not necejfary. The fourth way -af- 
 
 fertwely is to he n jetted as Poyfon—- Thus are the authorities to 
 be underftood, that forbid to add to t er dimini/h from the Scripture,. 
 Dw a UC.|l2,3 2. 
 
 Well! by this time you may fee, that when fuch do&rine as 
 this for Scripture fufficiency and perfection as the Rule of faith 
 and life, admitting no addition as neceffiry but explication, nor 
 any other as tolerable, but moderate ampliation (which indeed 
 isthefame,^ I fay, when this doctrine pall fo lately in aPopifh 
 General Council, you may feethatthe very Djdrine of Tradi- 
 tions equaled with Scripture, or being another word of G d, 
 necefTary to faith and falvation, containing what is warning in 
 Scripture, is but lately fprung up in the world. And fure the 
 Traditions themfelves be not old then, when the conceit of them 
 came buc lately into the world. 
 
 4,Wcil:. 
 
y- 
 
 -/ I\cy for C'Uholicks. 
 
 4 Well ; I have done the three firft part? of this task : but the 
 chief is yet befend, whehisto fhe-.v i How lictle the Papifls 
 gee by iheir Argument from Tradition. 2. And how much 
 tl'.cy lofe by it : even all their caufe. 
 
 1. Two things they very much plead Tradition for .-the one 
 is their private dodrines and practices, in which they difagree 
 from ocherChriftians : and here they Iofe their labour with the 
 jud cious. 1. Because they give us no fuffieent proof that 
 their Tradition is Apoftolical. 2. Became the difTent of other 
 Churches (lie weth that it is r.ot univerfal : with other Reafons 
 before mentioned. 
 
 2. The other Caufe which they plead Tradition for, is the 
 Do&rine of ChrHttanity it fc!f. And this they doindefignto 
 lead men to the Church of Rome \ asif wemuit beno ChriOans, 
 unlefs weareChriitians upon the credit of the Pope, and his 
 Subjeds. And here I ©fTer to their Confederation thefe two 
 thing?, ro fhew them the vanity of their arguing. 
 
 I. We donotftriveagainftyou in producing any Tradition 
 or Teflimony of Antiquity for the Scripture, or for Scripture 
 Do$rme .- we make as much advantage of fuch juft Tradition as 
 you. What do fuch men as white ,Vane^ Creffy, &c. think of, 
 when they argue fo eagerly for the advantage of Tradition to 
 prove the Scripture and Chris! isn faith ? Is this any thing againft 
 us ? Nothing at all. We accept our Religion from both the 
 hands of Providence that bring it us ^ Scripture and Tradition: 
 we abhor the contempt which thefe partial Difputers caft upon 
 Scripture i but we are not therefore fo partial our felves as to 
 refufeany collateral or fubordinatc help for our faith. The more 
 Testimonies, the better. The belt of us have need of all the ad- 
 vantages for our faith that we can get. When they have extol- 
 led the Certainty of Tradition to thehigheft, we gladly joyn 
 with them, and accept of any certain Tradition of the mind of 
 God. Andladvifeallthat would prove themfelves wife defend- 
 ers of the faith , to take heed of rejecting Arguments from 
 Providences, or any necefTary Teftiroony of man, efpecialiy 
 concerning matter of fad, or of rejecting true Church Hifto- 
 ry, becaufe the Papifts overvalue it under the name of Tradition, 
 left fuch prove guilty of the like partiality and injurioufnefs to 
 the truth as the Papifls are. And whereas the Papifts imagine, 
 
 that 
 
A K^y for Catbolich . $7 
 
 that this mutt lead us to their Church for Tradition, I anfwer 
 that in ray next observation, which is, 
 
 2. We go beyond the Papifts in arguing for juft Tradition of 
 the Chnftian faith, and we make far greater advantage of it then 
 theycando. For i. They argue but from Authoritative Deri- 
 fion by the Pope, under the name o/ Ci.un.n- iradition ('except- 
 ing rhe French pi i iy ) whereas we argue from true Hiftory and 
 certain Antiquity, and prove what we fay. 
 
 Where note J. That their Tradition is indeed no Tradition: 
 for if it mull betaken upon the credit of a man as fuppofrd In- 
 fallible by fupernatural ( if not miraculous J endowment, tnb 
 is not Tradicionbut Pophefie. And if they prove the man to 
 be fuch a man, its all one to the Church whether he fay that 
 £ This was the dpjft'es dcclrine, or, This I deliver mj ftlf to jou 
 fromGed.] For if he were fo qualified, le had the power and 
 credit of a prophet or Apollle himfelf. Ani therefore they rauft 
 prove the Pope to be a Prophet, before their kind of Tradition 
 can get credit : and when they have done that, there is no need 
 of it : this their honcft Dr. H-Jden was ware of, upon which he 
 huh fo hindfomely canvafTed them. 
 
 2. No:e alfo that fuch ;is Dr. Holdcn, Crejfy y Vane, white and 
 other of the French way chat plead for Tradition, mean a quite 
 oiher th ngchen the Jefuited Italian Papift meanes • and while 
 they plead for univerlal Tradition, they corns nearer to the Pro- 
 te'lants, then to their brethren, if they did not contradict them- 
 fehe?, when they have Jone, by making meer Romifh Tradition 
 to be miverfat. 
 
 3. Note alfo, that when Paplfts fpeak of Tradition confufed- 
 ly, they give us jufrreafontocill them to Define their Tradi- 
 tion, and tell us what they mean by it, before we difputc with 
 them upon an ambiguous word ; feeing they are fo divided 
 among themfelves, that one party undei Hands one thing by it, 
 and another another thing \ which we mud not fuffer thefe jug- 
 lers to jumble together and confound. 
 
 2. Another advantage in which we go beyond the Papifts for 
 Tradition, is, that as we argue not from the meer pretended fu- 
 pernatural I n fa 11 bility or Authority of any, as they do, but 
 from rational Evidence of true Antiquity •, fo we argue not 
 from a fttttr pjrtj as they do, but from the Vnivtrfal Church : 
 
 O As 
 
98 A Key for Catbolicks. 
 
 As far as the whole Church of Chrift is of larger extent and 
 greater credit then the Popifh party, fo far is our Tradition more 
 Credib'ethen theirs. And thitisefpecially in three things. 
 
 1 . The Papifts are fewer by far then the reft of the Chnftians 
 intheu;nriH a nA rhe teftimony of many, yea of ail, is more 
 then of apart. 2. The Papifts above other parties have efpoufed 
 an intereft that leads them to pretend and corrupt Tradition, and 
 bend all things to that intereft of their own, that they may Lordt 
 1! over all the world : But the whole Church can have no fuch 
 Intereft and Partiality. 3. And the Papifts are but one fide ; 
 and he that will judge rightly, muft hear the other fide^fpeak 
 coo. but the Tradition that we make ufe of, is from all fides 
 concurring ; yea Papifts themfelves in many points. 
 
 Yea our Tradition reacheth further then the Univerfa! Church : 
 for we take in all rational Evidence : even of Jews, Heathens, 
 and Hereticks, and Perfecutors, that bear witnefs to the matters 
 of fad, and what was the dodrine and practice of the Ch:ifti- 
 ans in their times, and what Books they made the ground of 
 their faith : fothat as trueUniverfal impartial naturally- or- rati- 
 onally-infallible Hiftory or Teftimony.differeth from a private, 
 pretended-prophetical afTertion, or from the Teftimony of ore 
 party only • fo doth our Tradition cxcell both the forts of Po- 
 pifh Tradition, both that of the Papal, and that of the Coiir- 
 cill party. And now judge who may better boaft of or extol 
 Tradition, they or we ; and to what purpofe,£Wj/)\ White, and 
 fuch men do bring their difcourfes of Tradition. 
 
 2. But yet we have not fo done with them, till Tradition 
 have given them their mortal ftroak. You appeal to Tradition, 
 to Tradition you (hall go. But what Tradition mean you? The 
 Tradition of tbc Catholick Church ? And where is this to be 
 found and known? but in the profeflion and practice of the 
 Church, and in the Records of the Church. Wvll then / of 
 both thefe let us enquire. 
 
 The firft and great Q ueftion between you and us, is, Whether 
 the Pope be the Head and Soveraign Ruler of the -whole Catlolicl^ 
 Church: and then whether the Catholic!^ Church and the Reman 
 Are of equal extent ? What faith Tradition to this ? 
 
 i; Let us enquire of the pre/em Church: and there we have 
 fcbeprofeffion and pradice of all the Greek Church -, the Sy- 
 rians., , 
 
A %ey jor Qatbolicks. y p 
 
 rians, the Mofcovites , the Georgians, and all others of the 
 Greek Religion difperfed throughout the Turks Dominions 
 with the Jacobites, Armenians, Egyptians, Abaflines, with alf 
 other Churches in Europe, &c. that difclaim the Headfhip of 
 the Roman Pope ; all thefe do with one mouth proclaim that the 
 Church of Rome is not, and ought not to be the Miftrifsof the 
 world, or of all other Churches, but that the Pope for laying 
 fuch a claim is an ufurper, if not the AntiChrift. This is the 
 Tradition of the Greeks ; this is the Tradition of the Abafsines : 
 the far greateft pare of the Church on eirth agree in this. Mark 
 then what is become of the Roman Soveraignty, by the verdi<Jfc 
 of Tradition; even from the vote of the greateft part of the 
 Church. Rome hath no right to its pretended Soveraignty. Baby- 
 hn is fain by the judgement of Tradition. 
 
 If you Inv? the faces agsin to fay that all thefe are Hereticks 
 or Schifraatkks, and therefore have no vote, weanfwer. If a 
 minor party, and that fo partial and corrupt, fecking Dominion 
 over the reft , may ftep into the Tribunal, acd pafs fentence 
 ag.iinft the Catholick Church, or the greateft part of it, blame 
 not others, if on far better grounds they do fo by that part. And 
 for fhame do not any more hereafter ufe any fuch felf-condemn- 
 ing words, as to ask any Se&, \_ How dare you condemn the fa- 
 tholick^ £hu>-ch ? D)jou thinly all the Church is forfaken butyw, 
 &c?] Andletusask you, as you teach your followers to ask us, 
 £ If we rnafl turn f rem the Vniverfal Church to any Sell, why 
 rather to yours then another ? why not as well to the Anabaptifls 
 or other party- as to the Fapifts ? ] 
 
 But your common faying is, that the Greekj y Proteftants, And 
 nil the reft were once of your Church t and departing from itjheycan 
 have no Tradition but ysurs , for their fpring is with jeu. To 
 which we anfwer. i. The vanity of this your fidion (hall by 
 and by be snfwered by it felf. 2 . You fay fo,and they fay other- 1 
 wife : why (hould we believe you that are a fmaller, partial and 
 corrupted part? 3. Well then let us go to former ages, fee- 
 ing it is not the prefent Church whofe voice you will regird 
 ( only by the way, I pray forget nor, 1 . That you do ill then to 
 call us ftill to the Judgement of the prefent Church, and dare 
 notftand to it. 2. And that you do ill to pcrfwade men that 
 the greater part of the Church cannot err, if you fentence the 
 
 O 2 greater 
 
i oo A L<\ey for Catholicks . 
 
 greater pare as Schifmaticks or Revolt ers. ) But how fhall we 
 knowthe way and mind of the ages/v»y? ? If by the prefent age, 
 then the greater part giveth us in their fence againft you. If by the 
 Records of thofe times, we are content to hear the TefHmony of 
 thefe. And firft when we look into the Antierits thcmfelves, v.e 
 find them generally againft you ^ and we find in that which is 
 antiquity indeed,no footfteps of your ufurped Sovereignty, but 
 a contrary frame of Government, and a confenc of antiqiricy 
 againft it. 2. When we look into later Hiftory we find, how 
 by the advantage of Romei temporal greatnefs and the Emperors 
 refidence there your greatnefs begun, and preparation was made 
 to your ufurpation, and how the tranflation of rhe imperial 
 Seat to Confiantinople made them your Competitors, yea to be- 
 gin in the claim of an univerfal Headlhip j and we find how ic 
 being once made a queftion, you got it by a murdering Emperor 
 refolved on your fide for his own advantage. We find that ic 
 was long, even till Hildebrands dayes, before you could get any 
 great poffefii on, for ail this fentence. Ic would but be tedious 
 here to recite our Hiftorical Evidence : we refer youto.what is 
 done already by Go/daft us and Bijhop Uftier de flatu & fuccefs. 
 Ecclefiar. and in his Anfwer to the Jefuits Challenge and in his 
 Difcourfe of the Antient Religion of Ireland, &c. fpecially by 
 Blonde I in his French Treatife of Primacy, and Dr. Field, and 
 many others that have already given you the teftimony of Anti- 
 quity. More then you can give a reafonable anfwer to, I have 
 produced in my Book called the fafe Religion. In plain Englifh, 
 inftead of Apojlolical Tradition for jour Soveraigntj ; we find 
 that eight hundred years after the dayes of Chrift, you had not 
 neer fo much of the Catholick Church in your fubjefiion, as 
 you have now; that at four hundred, or five hundred, if not till 
 Jix hundred years after Chrift you had no known part of rhe 
 world that acknowledged your univerfal Sovereignty •, but only 
 the Latinc Weftcrn Church fubmitted to the Pope as their Patri- 
 arch, and the Patriarch prima fedis , the firft in order among 
 the Patriarchs t and that before the dayes of Conftantine and the 
 Nicene Council, he was but a Eifhop of the ricbeftandmoft 
 numerous Church of Chrift ians .- and we fee no proof that of an 
 hundred years after Chrift he* was any more then the chief Pres- 
 byter of a particular Church. 
 
A I\ey for £atbolicks . i o i 
 
 If all this will not ferve) we have National Evidences beyond 
 all exception, that the Ethiopian Churches of Habajfia, the In- 
 dians , Perfians, &c. were never your fubje&s to this day. Thai 
 England, Sc otland, and Ire land here in your Weftern Circuits, 
 were not only long from under you, but refitted you, maintain- 
 ing the Council of Calcedon againft you, and joyning with the 
 Eaftern Churches againft you, about Eafter day, &c. And that 
 the Eaftern Churches and many great Nations, (as 7 'endue , Nw 
 bia,&c.) that now are revolted, were never your fubje&s, and 
 fome of them had little to do with you . 
 
 And yet if all this will not ferre, wchaveyour own Confe/H- 
 ons. I hive elfewhere mentioned fome : Canus Lac. Tbeol. lib.6. 
 cap. -J. fol.zoi. frith [ Not cnlj the Greekj, but almofr all the rcjl 
 of the JSiJbops of the whole world, have vehemently fcught to dcflroj 
 the Priviledge of the Church of Rome : and indeed they had on 
 their pde t both the Arms of Emperors, and the greater number of 
 Churches : and jet they could never prevail to abrogate the Power 
 of the one Pope of Rome"] Mark here whether the Carhol-ck 
 Church was then your fubje&s, when the greater number of 
 Churches, and moft of the Biftiops of the whole world, as well 
 as the Greeks were againft you, and vehemently fought againft 
 your pretended priviledges. 
 
 Rainerius ( fuppofed ) contra Waldenfes Catal.in Biblisthecs 
 TatrumfTom.^. pag.lll- kith [ The Churches of the Armenians, 
 and Ethiopians, and Indians* and the reft which the Apoflles con- 
 verted, are not under the Church of Rome. ~] Read and blufh , and 
 call Baronius a parafite. What would you have truer or plainer ? 
 And what Controverfie can there be, where fo many Nations 
 thcrafelves are witnefles againft you ? And you may conjecture 
 at the numbers of thofe Churches by what a Legate of the Popes 
 that lived among them, faith of one Corner or them, Jacob, a 
 Vitriaco Hijlor. Orient, cap.jj. that the Churches in the Eafter ly 
 parts of Afia alone exceeded in multitude the Chriflians both cf the 
 Greelejtnd Latine Churches ] Alas, how little a thing then wi5 
 the Roman Catholick Church ! 
 
 If all this were not enough ,the Tradition of your own Ci- 
 tholick Church is ready to deftroy the Papacy utterly. For that 
 a General Council is above the Pope, and may judge him and a 
 him % dud that is de fide , and that itt Hertjie to dtny it } and th.it 
 
 O 3 All 
 
i o i A Key for Catholicks. 
 
 all this is fo Jure thAt ne unquam aliquis peritorutR dubitavic , 
 no wife man ever doubted of it , all this is the judgement of the 
 General Council of Ba/il, with whom that of Cenftance doth 
 agree; And whether thefe Councils were confirmed or not, 
 they confefj them lawfully called and owned, and extraordina- 
 ry full : and fo they were their Catholick Church Reprefenta- 
 tive^ and fo the Popes Soveraignty over the Council is gone 
 by Tradition : but thats not the worft. For, if a free General 
 Council ihould be called , all the Churches in the world moft 
 be equally there reprefented •• And if they were fo, then down 
 went the ufnrped Head-fhip of the Pope : For we are fure 
 already that moft of the Churches in trie world are againft it : 
 and therefore in Council they would have the Major vote. And 
 thus by the concefiion of the Roman Reprefentative Catholick 
 Church the Pope is gone by Tradition. So that by that time they 
 have well considered of the matter,me thinks they fhould be lefs 
 zealous for Tradit.on. 
 
 Cha p. xxr. 
 
 Deleft. 12. A Nother of the Roman frauds is this : They 
 jT\ perftvade men that the Greeks, the Troteflants y 
 and all other Churches, were once under their Papal 'foveraignty y and 
 have feparated t hem fe Ives without any juft caufe : and therefore 
 we are all fthif matters ; and t her eforef ore have no vote in general 
 
 Councils, &C. ■ 
 
 A few words may fcrve to (hew the vanity of this accufationJ 
 i . Abundance of the Churches were fo ftrange to you,that they 
 had not any notable communion with you. 2. The Greek 
 Churches withdrew from your Communion , but not from 
 your fubjeftion. If any of the Patriarcks or Emperours of 
 Cowftantinople did for carnal ends at laft fubmit to you , it was 
 •not ttll lateiy , nor was it the aft of the Churches, nor owned , 
 noroflongcontinuacce. So that it was your Communion and 
 not your fubje&ion that they withdrew from. 
 
 2. And as for us of the Wellern parts, we anfwer you, 1 .We 
 that are now living, our Fathers , or our Grand-fathers, were 
 not of your Church: and therefore we never did withdraw. 
 
 2. There 
 
A h\?y for Catbolicks. 10? 
 
 2. There were Churches in England before the Roman Pow- 
 er was here owned : And therefore if it was a fin to chance , 
 the firfl change was tbc (in , when they fubj'e&ed themfelves to' 
 you j and not the later, in which they returned to their ancient 
 ftate. 
 
 3. And for the Germanes or Engliflior whoever did relin- 
 qmih yuu , thc y k« : , c „ t roo( j rca f on f or j r> as f or [he relinquifh- 
 ing of any other iin. If they did by the unhappinefs of ill 
 education or delufion , fubroit to the ufurped Soveraignty of 
 the Pope they had no reafon to continue in iuchan error. Re- 
 pentance is not a Vice, when the thing Repented of is a vice. 
 Juftifie therefore yourufurpation, or elfe ii is in vain to be an- 
 gry with us for not adhering to the ufurper, and the many 
 corruptions that he broughc mto the Church. 
 
 Chap. XXII. 
 Detecl. 
 
 f. 13. A Nother deceit that they minige w.t, ae 
 -ZjL confidence, is this; fay they, If the C% , 
 of 'Rom; be th; true Chxrcb: then jours is not the true Chtt-ch , 
 and then you are Shifmstickj in feparatingfrom it. But the Church 
 of Rome is the true Church ; For you will confefs it was once a 
 true Church : when Paul wrote the Epiftle to the Romans •' anX 
 if it etafed to be a true Church , tell us when it ccafed, if jou 
 can : If it cea-fed to be a true Church , it * as either bj he- 
 re (ie , or Schifm or Apofiacj : but by none of thefe : there- 
 fore t &c. 
 
 A man would think that children and women (hould fee the 
 palpable fallacy of this Argument ; and yet I hear of few that 
 the learned Pa pifts make more ufe of. But to Uy open the 
 fhameof it in brief 1 anfwer 1. The deceit lieth in theambiguity 
 of thewordQcWr/;.]Asto our prelent purpole, obfervethic 
 it hath thefe ieveral ftgnifications. t. It is lakea oft in icri- 
 pture for one particular Chwch , ajfociatedfor prrffna! c-mmun - 
 onin GodsWorfhip. And thus there were many Churches in a 
 Countrcy, as fueled, Galat ia, &c. 2. It is taken by Hccieh.-.uV 
 cal writers often for an Affociatten of many of thefe Churchu for 
 Communion by their Pafiors - t fuch as were Diocelau, Provincial, . 
 
 Nation^ 
 
104 A K e > f cr Catholicks. 
 
 National Churches • whereof mofl: were then ruled by AfTero- 
 blies, where a B. (hop, Archb.fhcp , Metropolitan or Patriarck 
 ( as they called them; did prehde. 3. It is taken oft in Scrip- 
 ture for the Body of Chnjf, the bolj Catholic^ or Vniverfal 
 Church containing all true Believers as myfiical , or all Profef- 
 for j of true fait has vifible. 4. 1 1 is taken by the P<j. pills oft for 
 one particular Church which is the Miftris or Ruler of *U "hr 
 Churches. 
 
 And now I come to apply thefe in anfwer to the argument. 
 1. If the Queftion be of a true particular Church , we granc 
 you that toe Church of Rome was a true and noble Church , 
 in the daies of Paul and long after •, and thus Paul owneth ic 
 in his Epillle as a true Church. And tothequeftion when it 
 ceafed to be a true Church: I anfwer, 1. What matter is it to 
 us whether it be reafoned or,nor any more then whether Corinth, 
 EphefuJ, Colof, Th<§al~ ica * or Jerufaltm be true Churches 
 or ceafed? Inr^ i,t y we regard them all : but othcrwife what 
 is it tothf ^'thor falvation of the world,whetheri?o«7f or any 
 one r Fcne ^ c De vet a true Church, or be ceafed? I know rot 
 v ,«i whether there be sny Church at Colofs or Philippi,or(ome 
 other places that had then true Churches: And doth it there- 
 fore follow that I am not a rme believer ?what would you fay 
 rofbch a fellow that fhould argue thus concerning other Chur- 
 ches , as thefe men do of Rome} and fay, e. g. [_ If Philippic 
 be a true (fhuch f then England are no true Churches , Jf it be 
 ttct, wken did it ceafe to be a true Church}^ Would you not an- 
 fwer him, [ What u it to me whether Philippi be a true Church or 
 not ? Aiay not we and they be both true Churches ? How prove you 
 that ? And whether it be ceafed or not ceafed^ doth no whit concern 
 my faith or f/i/vation , further then as my charity is to be exer- 
 ciftd towards them ~] So fay we of Rome; It was a true pirti- 
 cular Church in the Apoftles dayes. And if it be (till a true Church 
 what hinders but we may be (0 to } But whether it be fo or nor, 
 is little to me. It concerneth not my faith or Salvation to know 
 whether there beanyfuch place as Rome on earth , or whether 
 it wereconfumed long ago. If a man were fofimple as to be- 
 lieve a report that Rome was deftroyed by Charts of Bourbon, 
 and never inhabited, or had a Pope fince, he were but fucha 
 Heretickas VoytZackarj and Biflnp Boniface made of Virgi* 
 
 bus* 
 
A t\ey for Qatbolicks. i o 5 
 
 Httsfor holding there be Antipodes ( chough further from the 
 South. ) 
 
 2. And if you take the word Q Church ~] in the fecond fence, 
 for aDioeefanor Patriarchiall Clwrch, or AfTbciation of Chur- 
 ches ; fuppofing fuch forms proved warrantable,the famcanfwer 
 lerveth as to the fir ft. 
 
 3. But ( to come to the true fUte of our Controvcrfie ) 
 If by [_a true Church ~] you mean either of the two laft , thac 
 is , 1 .The whole XJniverfal Church : O* 2. A Miftris Church 
 tbatmuft Rule all the reft, it was never fuch a true Church in 
 Pauls dayes. 
 
 And therefore here we turn this argument of the Papifts 
 againft themielves. If the Church sf Rome were neither the 
 ft hole Catholic^ Church , tor the Aiiflris of all other Churches 
 ■when Paul wrote his Epiflle to :bem,tbsn it is not Jo now, nor ought 
 to be fo Accounted. But the forme is paved? i. That the Church of 
 Borne was not the whole fatholickjChurcb then,no man thati well 
 in his wits on doubt, that reads what a Church there was ac 
 JemfaUm, what a Church at Sphefus, and Philadelphia ,Smjrnx 9 
 Tbyatira^Laodicea, Ccrivtb, and abundance more. Prove thac 
 all or any or thefe were parts of the Church of Rome if you can. 
 2. Where dothPaul once nsme them either the CatholichjChnrch^ 
 or the UWiftris er Ruler of all Churches .' or give the leaft hint 
 of any fuch thing? or mention any Pope among them whom 
 the whole world was to take to be their Soveraign Head ? Is it 
 not an incredible thing that Paul ( and all the ApoftlesJ would 
 forget to make any mention of this priviledge,or teach them how 
 to ufeir, or teach other Churches their duty in obeying the 
 Church of Rome, if indeed they had been made tbeMiftris Church? 
 Men that can believe what they lift.may fay what they lift. But 
 for my part I will never think fo hardly of Paul and all theApo- 
 fties,as to accufe them offo great oblivion or negligence. And 
 therefore I conclude, Rome was neither the Univerfal Church,nor 
 the Miftris Church then (nor many an age after ) and therefore 
 it is not fotobe accounted now. So that you fee how eafily 
 this filly Argument (hews its (haroe. 
 
 Buc ( though it concern not our main queftion) I (hall tell 
 t!. cm further, that the Matter of the Roman Church muft be 
 dtltmguiftied from it! New Political Form, For the Matter, 
 
 P fa 
 
i o 6 A l$ey for Catholicks . 
 
 fo many of its members is are trut Chriftians , are part of the. 
 C at holicl^ Church of Chrift , though noc the wW<: And for< 
 the/orm, I. There is the form of its fttitrall parts , and the firm 
 ef the whole. The form oftmy parts of the Roman Church 
 that are Congregations or particular Churches of true Chrifli- 
 ant, may maKe thofe parts true Churches : that is , there may 
 be many a true Parifh Church that yet live under the Par-all 
 Yoak. But as to the Political! form of their Roman Cathul c\ 
 Church , as it u a Body Headed by one c Iain-sing an Vmv.erf/tU 
 Monarchy fo the form is falfe and Antichnftian, and therefore 
 the Church as Papall 7 muft be denominated from this form ; i 
 can be no better. 
 
 And this is our true anfwer to the que{\\on,vhcthcr the Church 
 if Rome be a true Church ? There are I doubt not among them 
 many athoufand true members of the Cat he Ikk, Church , and 
 there may be true particular Churches among them, having u ue 
 Paftors and Chriftian people joyned for Gods worfhip (tLour/h 
 I doubt there is but few of them but do fearfully pollute it : 
 and I am confident that falvation is much more rare and difficult 
 with them,then it is with the Reformed CathoIicks;yet that many 
 among them are true Chriftians and favedj am fully perfwaded, 
 efpecially when I have read fuch writings as Gerfens, Guil.Pari- 
 ften/is, Ferus, Kempus,&c.) And I think the better of BtlUr- 
 mine himfelf for faying of Kempis de imitatione Chrifli £ Ego 
 certe ab adolefcemia & ufq-, in feneclam hoc opufculum fitpilfime 
 vclvi-, &revelvi,& fempermihi novum apparuit, cy- nunc etiam 
 mirifice cordi meo fafit. Beilarm. deScriptsr. Eccl.pag. 298.] 
 
 But the Pope as a pretended Vnherfal Monarch is a falfe l 
 Bead, and confequently their Papall Church, as fuch, is a falfe 
 Antichriftian Church, and no true Church of Jefus Chnft. 
 
 And ( by the way ) I conceive you arc thus to underfhnd a 
 claufe in a late oath of Abjuration drawn up by the laft Parlia- 
 ment to be offered to the Papifts, vi*. that Q the Church o/Rome 
 is mt the true Church ]] that is, 1 . Not the whole Catholic^ 
 Church, butpartofit, as they are Chriftians. 2. Nor atrue, 
 Church at all as P^pal, and fo formally as the Not? komiji* 
 Church, But all this is little to our main Qucftion,. 
 
 € tf A P{ 
 
A I\ey for Catholic ks . i 07 
 
 Chap. XXII J. 
 
 Detect. 14. A Mother great Endeavour of the Papifts is, t$ 
 J.jL make me* believe that they only have a fix- 
 ednefs, unity, confjfency and fetlednefs in Religion : but live are 
 fill at uncertainty and to fee k., incoherent , not tyed together bj 
 any certain bond , but fill upon diviftons , and upon change : 
 And they inHancethus {_ A while ago jou were Lpifcopal, and 
 then Presbyterian , and now you arc nothing , but every one goes 
 hu own way % . Awhile ago you wor flipped God in one manner, in 
 Baptifmg, Marrying, Burying^ Common Prayer, the Lords Sup- 
 per ; and now you have all new. Where u the Church of Eng- 
 land noft I fome of jou are for one Government , and fome for 
 another ; the Lutherans have fuperir.tendents , the (falviniftj 
 arc Presbyter ans : And what names of reproach do the Epifcopal 
 give the Presbyterians ? and the Presbyterians take them to be An- 
 tichrijiian. Some of you are Arminians • fome Calvinifts ; fome 
 fay Chrtfl dyed for all, and fome fay %o ; fome are for fuflificatien 
 only by thrifts Pafftve Righteoufnefs , and fome alfo by hi* 
 Active; with other fuch differences even in thefe fundamental^ 
 points. 2 
 
 1 repeat their words Juft as I have heard they make ufe of 
 them with the people, and now I (hall open the deceit of them in 
 particular Anfwers to each part. 
 
 And 1. For the matter of unity, I have fpokenof it before, 
 and dare leave it to all the world that are judicious, whether 
 the Papilrs or we are more unanimous, or more divided. Only 
 tothelnftancesof dividon, Khali fpeak further now. i.For 
 the matter of Church Government, we are all agreed in the 
 fubllanceofit ( except a verv few ftraglers • ) As concerning tbe 
 duty of Penitence, Confeffion, Reftitution, Contrition, ami 
 of the excommunicating theobtlinste, and Abfolvingthe pe- 
 nitent, ct-c. All this we agree is the duty of the Presbyters; and we 
 agree that thefePresbyters may have a Prefident.only fome think 
 that the Prefidenr is ejufdemordinis,ot the fame order, differing 
 but in dcgree,and bath no power ;«>•? divin« y but whit the Pref- 
 by ten bave,buc only ther xercife is refrained as to the Presby- 
 
 P z ters. 
 
io8 A$\$y for Catbolicks. 
 
 ters,bywr«i but others think chat the Prefident is a Bifhop 
 eminently of another order, having not only the exercife, but 
 the power above the Presbyters. And is this difference fo 
 great abufinefs ? And do not thefe cheaters know,that if for 
 this they would reproach us, they mud do fo by themfelves? 
 Know they not that among their own Schoolmen there is the 
 fame difference , or in moft points the fame ? And know th-v 
 not that if difference! in Ceremonies or Modes fhould unchan h 
 us, or difgrace us, it would fall as foul on the whole Catholick 
 Cburch,and that in the very primitive times?Did they never read 
 of the difference between the Afian and the Roman Churches , 
 about the celebration of Eafterd&y , and how Polycrates and 
 the reft did plead Tradition againft the Church of Romes Tradi- 
 tion j and how Irctuttu did reprehend the Bifhop of Rome for his 
 uncharitable cenfure of «the Churches for fo fmall a difference ? 
 And how Polycarpanddnicetus Bifhop of Rome could not agree, 
 as building upon contrary Traditions ; but yet maintained Chri- 
 ftian peace •, as Enfebius out of Irenam his Epiftle to Vitlor 
 telsus,/^. Hift.Eccl.cap. 26. And the Englifli and Irifti 
 Churches long after that adhered to the Afian way ; even after 
 the Councill of Nice had ended thecontroverfie on the Roman 
 fide. And who knows not how many more controverfies greater 
 then thefe of ours have been among the Churches of Chrift , 
 without their unchurching or dfparagement to Religion. 
 
 And for the Doctrinal Controverfies mentioned, moft of 
 them lie more in words then in fence, and all of them arc far 
 from the foundation , though they be about Chrift, who is the 
 Foundation. If one Of your pidure-drawersmiftake the comple- 
 xion of Chrift, or if one fhould fay he was not buried in a fheet, 
 thefe are errours about Chrift that is the foundation, and yet 
 far from the foundation. Thofe of us that fay Chrift djed fir 
 alj t and thofe that fay he dyed not for all , do agree as your 
 School-men do, that he dyed for all, as to the fufficiency of his 
 death and price: but he dyed not for all as to the ahluall rfici- 
 ency of pardon and falv at ion : Is not this your do&rine r and is 
 not this ours? and are not you as much difagreed about it as 
 we ? whatclfe meant the late decifion againft thejanfenifts ? 
 and what meaneth the prefent perfecution of them in France} 
 And yet have you the faces to make this a reproach of us? And for 
 
 the 
 
A f\ey for Catholkks. 109 
 
 the right eoftfnefs ofCbrift y we are commonly agreed that it is both 
 bis Obedience and Paflion that we are juftified and faved by : 
 though we are cot all of r. mind about the reafon of their fe- 
 veral intcrefts ; which difference is fo far from unchriftening us, 
 that it makes no considerable odds among our felves, who arc 
 cenforioos enough in cafes of difference. 
 
 And for different forms of worfhip, furethefemen do wil- 
 fully forget what a number of Offices and Mafs books have 
 been among themfelves and other Churches? and whac a num- 
 ber of Letanics or Liturgies of fevcral ages and Churches they 
 have given us in the Bibltotheca Patrnm t but more of this anon. 
 2. And as for the changes and tmfixednefs which they charge 
 us with, we are.contentcd that 1 . Our principles. 2. And our 
 faciifes be compared wirh the Pepifts , and then let even .mo- 
 deft and judicious enemies be judges which of us are more fix- 
 ed, or more mutable. 
 
 1. For our Principles : we rake only Chrift to be the chief 
 Foundation of our Faich^smd his infp red Prophets and Apoftlcs 
 to be the fecondary foundat on : whereas the Papifts build 
 upon many a moft ungodly ignorant man , becaufe he is 
 the Pope of Rome. And which of thefeis the firmer founda- 
 tion? 
 
 2. We take nothing for our Rule but the fure word of God 
 contained in the holy Scripturestbut the Papifts take the Decrees 
 of all Popes and Councils fjr their Rule : Oar Rule they con- 
 fefi to be Divine and infallible : Their Rule we affirm to be 
 humane and fallible. Which then is like to be more firm.? 
 Our Rule (thefacred Scrp.uresin the Originall languages, 
 as to the words, and the matter of themes to the fence ) the Pa- 
 pifts them felves ennfefs unchangeable ; but whether they will 
 fay as much of their own, I will try by two or three Inftances. 
 1. What an alter tion Pope Sixtus, and Pope Clement made 
 in the Vu'gar Latine Bible, which is one part of their Rule, 
 I told you befo-e, and Dr. fames his Bellum Pavale trill tell 
 yon the particulars. 2. The other part is their Decrees, of 
 which Pope Leo the ten'h in Bulla contr. Luth. in Binnius , 
 page 655. faith \_ the holy Popes onr prcdecc^rs never erred in 
 their Canons and Conflitmi»ns ] And yet hear what Pope 
 Jftlius the fecoud faith in his General Councill at the Late- 
 
 P 3 rane 
 
MO 
 
 A Key for Catholicks. 
 
 rsne with their approbation, Cant, pragmat. fani~L monitor. 
 ' r Biw.ntt^ vol. 4. pag. 560. \_ Though the Inflitutisns of J acred 
 
 Canons t hr>lj Fat hers, and Popes of Rome and their Decreet 
 
 be judged immutable, as made by Divine lit fair aticv j jtt the Pope 
 of Roane, who, though «f unequal merits, holdah the place $f the 
 Eternal King y and the Maker of all things , and all Laws on earth , 
 muj abrogate thefe Decre's when they are abufed. ] 
 
 You fee here from the mouth of Infallibility it felf ( if the 
 Roman faith have any ) of what continuance we may judge 
 their Immutable Decrees to be of, which are made as by Divine 
 infpiration : they are Immutable till the Pope abrogate them, who 
 being in Gods place, though of unequal merits ( O humble con- 
 feflion r ) is of power to do ir. 
 
 3 . We have a Rule that was perfetledby C^rifi and his %Api~ 
 files, to which nothing can be added, and therefore we are ac 
 a Certainty for our Religion : for we have a fure and perfect 
 Rule from Heaven. Nothing may be added to it, or taken from 
 it. B : Jt the Papifts do profefs that the Determinations of the 
 Pope or Councill may make a point (and fo five thoufand points, 
 for there is no certain number ) to be de fide articles of faith, and 
 necefTary to falvation, though not in fe y yet quoad nos, as to us. 
 ( And what it is for a Law to be obligatory in fe, and not 70W 
 nos, is hard to underltand. ) So chat the Papifts never know 
 when their faith is perfect and grown to its fullftature. For 
 ought they know a thoufand more Articles yet may be added. 
 And yet thefe men of uncertain growing faith, have the face to 
 perfwade men that we are mutable, and they are fixed. You fee 
 our feveral Trinciplet : now to our Prattices. 
 
 For our parr, 1 . We never changed our Head, our Lord, our 
 Faith, or one Article of our Faith : if malice it felf be able to 
 charge us with changing the fmalleft Article of our Faitb, let 
 them fay their worft : we change not our Rule, the holy Scri- 
 ptures, nor one claufe or fentence of it, but endeavour the 
 prefer vat ion of the fame, which at the firft we received. In our 
 contefts with the Papifts, our great offence is at their mutation 
 from the antient Rule and way; we contend but for the faith 
 once delivered to the Saints : the old tray with us is the good tvay : 
 ^ve abhor a Religion that is new fprung up, or is lefs then one 
 ihoufand five hundred and fifty years {landing at leaft. If we 
 
 change 
 
A t\ey for Qitholicks. 1 1 1 
 
 change in any thing, it is but by repenting of our former change- 
 ablenefs while our Nation was Popiftv, having then changed from 
 the Apoftolick fimplicity, we change from that finful change, 
 ana return to the antient way ag.iin. And if we have made any 
 further changes fince our ftrlt change at the Reformation, it is 
 but a perfecting the change to Antiquity, and Apoltolick fim- 
 plicity which we then begun. R&tne was not built in a day, and 
 is not pulled down in a day. The work of Reformation ii but or.e 
 change; though u be not done all at one time. If we rind fomc 
 fpotiof Romifh din uponus, that efopedusat our firit wsfh- 
 ing, it is no dangerous mutability yet to w;.ih it oC If a man 
 converted by favino grace he not per c&ly rid of ill his forrrer 
 (in the firft dsy of his Conveifion, fhould he be reproached as 
 mutable for Hnving againtlit all his life afcer, End calling k oiF 
 by degree* ?.«> he is abLrlfa man did bar recover by degrees from 
 there'icksof his difeafe,they will not therefore reproach him as 
 mutjb'eflffiefweep theduil or d.rr out of his houfe every day, 
 they Wili not fay. He is mutable and knows no: where to rcfr. 
 Thefe men might as well reproach us as mutabie, hecaufe we rife 
 in the morning and do not (till lie in be^-or hecaufe we go to bed, 
 at night , and do not ftay up ftill. 
 
 But what is it that we are changeable in ? we have chanced 
 none of thefubftanceof worfhip : did we baptize before, and 
 do we no: fo ftiil ? Did we pray or adminiHer the Lords Supper 
 before, and do wenotlb ftill? what is the change? why, i.We 
 before tifed i he c smitten Trayer bet ^ and now we do nut. 2 . Before 
 » e nfed ffJtjrrsMt the br.ria of the dead, which now are omitted. 
 3. Before we ufdthe Crcfs a*d S»rplice,*nd IfnteUddt the Sacra- 
 ment, which art now emitted. Ar.dvchzt then ? therefore roe have 
 changed $ttr Religion. Even as a man chargcth his tloaths by 
 brufhing them, or his houfe by fweeping it, or bit face by wafli- 
 ing it. Dothv'femen think us fofottifhas to place our Religion 
 in thefe Circarr.da: ces ? God h?thbid us Pray continually : but 
 hehath not to!d us whether we ih ill ufe a Prayer book or not, 
 but left that to mens nece(fi ties or conveniences to determine of. 
 And doth ft man change his Religion or Y/^rih; 1 ©f God, if he 
 either begin or ceafe toufca Book? If any man had fa little. A-it 
 Or Religion, as to place their Religion in a Prayer bock, ics no 
 great lofs to them if they have k>ft their Religion, when the 
 
 Praj qr 
 
1 12 A K^yjor Catholkfo. 
 
 Prayer book is taken from them. We doubt not but Prayer 
 books are profitable to fome, and hinderances to others : force 
 fhould ufe them, and fome fhould not : bnt whether we ufe tbem, 
 or not ufe them, is no pirt of our Religion at all, but ameer 
 Accident, or common help and appurtenance. God hath not 
 told preachers whether they fhall ufe any Notes for their memo- 
 ry in Preaching : to one ic is en hinderance ; to another an help. 
 Do:h a man change his Religion when be changeth acuftome of 
 ufing Notes ? God hath not told us what Chapter we fhall read , 
 or what Pfalm we (hall fing, or what Text we fhall Preach on 
 this day or that day. What if one age think it beft that fome 
 Pallors give Laws to all the reft.tbat they fhall read no Chapter; 
 preach on no Tcxt,and fing noPfalm but by their direction: and 
 the next age think it meecer to leave it to each Minifter,as think- 
 ing it unfit to Ordain fuch Miniftcrs that have not wit enough to 
 choofe their Text, or Chapter, or Pfalm according to occaiiom. 
 Will you fay that here is a change ofReiigioi ? Thefe outfide 
 Hypocrices ceil the world what a thing they take Religion to be, 
 and in what they place it. What if one man nfean hour-glafs 
 in preaching, and another ufe none? What if one read a Chap- 
 ter with fp;&adcs,and another without ? or if one preach in a 
 Pulpic, and another below : or if one preach in a white garment, 
 or another in a black :or if one (land at the Sacrament, and 
 another fit , and another kneel : Are we therefore of feveral 
 Relgions? or is this any part of the wor (hip it fclf? Do we not 
 ail now either Hand, fit,or kneel at the hearing of a Sermon, as 
 we pleafe? Do we not kneel or itand at Prayer as we pleafe ? 
 Yea do not men commonly in ringing Pfalmsof Prayer or Praife 
 to God, fit or fhnd as they plcafe ? And what if we do foac 
 the Sacrament ? Is it not all one ? Or doth (landing, kneeling 
 or fitting make another Religion, or any part of it? And for 
 Marrying, Burying, Baptizing,and the reft, we have altered no 
 part at all of the worfhip of God ; but order them in that man- 
 ner as feemeth raoft convenient. What ignorant fouls are thefe, 
 that think that the ufing a Prayer book, or praying without 
 book, or the ufing this gefture, or that, thefe words, or thofc 
 wo'-ds that are to the fame fence, doth make different Religions 
 or Ordinances of worftvp? Thefe are tricks that none but the 
 lottifhly ignorant will be deluded with, thas know not what 
 
 Religion 
 
A t\ey JorJ^atholich. i i 
 
 Religion or worfhir* is. They rmy as well fay, If I change my 
 Le&yre-day from Thurfday co Fndsy, that 1 change my Reli- 
 gion or the worfh'pof God. Thefe are our great changes. 
 
 Well! will you now hear whether the P.'.pifls or we be the 
 greateft Chavglings ? i. Some jttft changes they have made 
 rhemfelves, that they know well enough are as great as ou'S. 
 It was fo common in theantient Church to Pray on' j landing on 
 every Lords day, and not to kneel at all in any part of the rvorjhip 
 of that day , that it itas taken for an univerfal Tradition, and to 
 kneel was taken for a great fin, and condemned by General 
 Councils many hundred years after Chrilr. ; and yec the Church 
 of Rome, and other Churches as well as we, havecaft off this 
 pretended Tradition, vio!a r ed thisDecreeof General Councils, 
 snd foriaken (his univerfal Cuftom of the Church, And the 
 Papifts receive the Eucharift kneelir.g, for all this Law and 
 Cuftome. 
 
 In the primitive Church, and iaTertullians day es, a Common 
 Fcift of the Church was ufed with the Lords Supper, and the 
 Sacrament taken then. But now this Cuftom is alio changed. 
 It was then the Cuftom to fing ex tempore in the Congregation to 
 Gods praife. But now Rome it felf hath nofuch Cultom. Ic 
 was once the Cuftom to give Infants the Lords Supper : but now 
 Rome it felf hath caftoff chat Cuftom. Onccit was a Canon 
 that Bifbsps mufl not read the bool^r of Gentiles, ( Concil. Car- 
 thag.4.) which yet Paul made ufeof,and the Papifts now do too 
 much value.Abundance men changes might be mentioned, great- 
 er then ours,in which we are juftificd by the P.p fls themfelves. 
 
 2. But they have yet other kind of changes then thefe. They 
 have changed the v ry Efftnce of the C At holick^(htirch (in 
 their efteem ; ) they have changed the Offices, the Dodrine, 
 the Difcipline, the Wc-rfhip, and what rot, as though they had 
 been born for change, to turn all upfide down. 
 
 In the Primitive times, the Church had no univerfal Monarch 
 but Chrifl : but they have fet up a new univerfal Monarch at 
 Rome. 
 
 In the primitive times the Catholic]^ Church was the ZJnivtr- 
 fality of Chrifiians : and they have changed it 10 be only the 
 fab jells of the Pope. 
 
 In the Primitive times Rome Was but a particular Churchy as 
 
 Q_ J*- 
 
ii4 d K. e ) f or C^thlicks . 
 
 ■ — — __ _ _ . ^,- 
 
 Jerufalcm and other Churches were :buc they have changed ir, 
 co be the Alt fir is of all Churches. 
 
 For. many hundred years after Chrift, the Scripture was takjn 
 to be a fufficient Rule of faith j but they have changed it to be 
 but part of the Rule. 
 
 In the ancient Church all forts Were tarnefily exhorted to read, 
 or hear, and jiudj the Scripture in a kntvtn tongue : but they have 
 changed this into a defperace reftrainc, proclaiming it the caufe 
 of all Herelics. 
 
 In the antient Church the Bread and Wine was the Body and 
 Bioad of fhrifi Reprefer.tative and Relative :. but they have 
 changed it into the real Body and Blood. 
 
 Heretofore there was Bread and Wine remaining after the 
 words of Confecraticn : but they have changed fo, that there 
 remaineth neither Bread nor Wine, but the qualities and quaru 
 tity, without the fubftance, and thismuft bebslieved, becaufe 
 iheyfay it, againft Scripture and Antiquity, and in defpight of 
 fenfe ic fclf. 
 
 In the antient Church the Lords Supper yvasadminiftredin- 
 both kinds i bread and mne to all: but they have lately changed 
 this into one kind only to the people, denying ihem one half 
 of the Sacrament. 
 
 Of old the Lords Supper reas but the Commemoration of the 
 facrifice of Chrifi upen the Crofs y and a Sacrament of our Com-r 
 munion with him and his members : but now they have changed 
 it into a propitiatory facrificefor the fins of thequ ck and dead: 
 and in ic they adore a piece of Bread as very God, with Divine 
 worfhip. 
 
 Of old, men were taught to make daily confeffion of fin^and beg 
 pardon ,and when they had done all, to confefs themfefves unpro- 
 fitable fervants : but now they are fo changed, that they pretend 
 not only to be perfed without fin, and to Merit by the Condig- 
 qity of their works with God, but to fupererogate and be more 
 perfect then innocency could make them, by doing more then 
 their duty. 
 
 Of old thofe things were accounted fins deferving Hell, and 
 needing the blood of Chrift for pardon, which now arc changed 
 into venial [ins, which properly are no fins, and defer vcxa more 
 then temporal paniihgrcne, . 
 
 Qf. 
 
A i\ey for Catbolicks . 115 
 
 O f old the Saints had no proper merits to plead for themfeives ; 
 and now men have fome to fparc for the buying of fouls out of 
 Purgatory. 
 
 Of old the Paftors of the Churches were fubjed to the Rulers 
 of the Commonwealth ; even every foul y not enly,fer n?rath y btit 
 for Confidence fake was obliged to be fubjed;but now all the 
 Clergy are exempted from fecular Judgement, and yet the fecu- 
 lar power is fubjed to them : for the Pope hath power to depofe 
 Princes, and difpoiTcfs them of their Dominions, and put others 
 in their rooms, and diflblve the bon^i of Oaths and Covenants, 
 in which the fubjeds were obliged co them, and to allow men 
 to murder them by tabbing, poyfoning, chr. Jf you do not be- 
 lieve me, flay but till 1 come to ic, and Khali give you yet fome 
 further proof. 
 
 Would you have any more of the Popifli Changes ? Why 1 
 might fill a volume with them.ShouId I but recite all the changes 
 they have made in Doctrines , and all that they have made 
 in Church Ordersi and Difcipline, and Religious Orders and 
 their D.fcipline, and in Worfhip, and Ceremonies, I (hould be 
 over tedious : their very Liturgy or MafT-book hath been chang- 
 ed, and made by changes, fuch abundance of additions it hath 
 had fince the beginning of it. What changes Sixtus the fifr, and 
 Clemmkhe eighth made in their Bibles, I told you before : at 
 alfo what changes they have had in the election of their Popes. 
 
 And now I am content that any impartial man be judge whe- 
 therPapiftsor the Reformed Churches are the more mutable and 
 unfetled in their Religion ? and which of them is at the greater 
 certainty, firmnefs, and immutability? 
 
 Ch a p. XXIV. 
 
 Detect. 15. \ Nother fraud of the Papifts, which they place 
 a\ not the leaft of their confidence in, is this:? 
 They perfiwade the people th At our Church and Religion it but new, ) 
 of the other dayes invention : and that theirs if the only old Religi- ) 
 on. And therefore they call upon us to give tkcm a Catalogue of the v 
 profejfors of our Religion in all ages ; which they pretend we cannot 
 do : and ask. *s where our Church was before Luther ? 
 
 Q^2 TO 
 
i\6 ^ Kj?y for Catbolich. 
 
 To this we fliall give them once more a brief, but fatisfado* 
 ryanfwer. T. We are fo fully aflfured that the oldeft Religion is 
 thebeft, ( fince the da^eof the Gofpell) that we are contented 
 that our whole caufe do fiand or fall by this tryall. Let him be 
 efteemedof the true Religion, that is of the oldeft Religion. 
 This is the raiin difference between us and the Pnpifts : We are 
 for no Religion that is not as old as thedayes of i he A poll I es : 
 but they are for the Novelties and Additions of Popes and 
 Councils. Their own Polidore Virgil de Inven. Reran*, p. 410. 
 lib 8.C. 4. calling us a Sed, doth give you a juft defcrip:ion 
 of us \_ltalicey>tia patla loqmn&i, &c. i.e. Having once got 
 leave to fpea^ that feci did marvailou/lj increafe in a fljort time j 
 which is called Evangelically becaufe they affirm that no Law is 
 to be received which be loageth to falvatio» t but what is given by 
 Chrifi or the Apeflles.~\ Mark what they confefs themfclves of 
 our Religion : And yet thefe very men have the face to charge 
 us with Novelty ; as ifChrift and his Apoftles were not of 
 fufficient Antiquity for them. Our main quarrel with themis, 
 for addmg new inventions in Religion , and their principil bufi- 
 nefs againft us is to defend it,and yet they call theirs the eld Iieli' 
 gion, and ours the new. 
 
 Our Argument lieth thus. That which is mofl conform to the 
 Doilrine and Practice of fhrifl and his Apoflles, is the truly An- 
 tient Religion and Church. But our Religion and Church is mofl 
 conform to the dotlrine and pratlice of the Apofiles : therefore 
 it is the truly antient Religion and (fhurch. The Major they will 
 yield: For no older Religion is dcfirable , further then as the 
 Law of Nature and Moral Determinations of God are fliil in 
 force. Ifuppofe they will not plead for Judaifm. For the Mi- 
 nor, we lay our caufeuponit, and are ready to produce our 
 evidence for the Conformity of our Religion and Churches to 
 the dodrine and practice of the Apoftles. 
 
 That Relfgion which is moil conform to the Holy Scri- 
 ture is moll conform to the doctrine and practice of Chrifi: 
 and his Apoftles : But our Religion ( and Churches ) is 
 mofl: conform to the holy Scriptures ; therefore, &c. They 
 can fay nothing againft the Major , but that the Scrip- 
 ture is Infufficient without Tradition: But for that, 1. We 
 have no Rule offdith but what is by therafelves confcifed to be 
 
 true : 
 
A F^ey for Catbolicks. 1 1 y 
 
 true : They acknowledge Scripture co be the true word of God y 
 So that the Truth of our Rule is Juiliried by therafilves. 2. Let 
 them fhew us as g:>od Evidence that their Additional Articles of 
 faith or Laws or life came from the Apoftles , as we do that 
 the Scriptures came from them, and then we (hill con fefs that 
 we ome fhort of them: Let them take theControverfics be- 
 tween us point by point, and bring their proof, and we will 
 bring ours, and let that Religion carry it that is Apoito!ic3ll : 
 But we are fure that by this means they will be proved Novclifl- 
 For i. Their Traditions in matter of faith fupendded to the 
 Scripture, are meer Hsreticall or Erroneous forgeries , ,ird 
 they can give us no proof that ever they were Apoftolicall. 
 2. The Scripture sffirmeth it? own fufficiency j and therefore 
 excludeth their Traditions. 3. 1 (hewed you how in their own 
 General Council at Bafil, the Scripture Sufficiency was defend- 
 ed. 4. 1 have {hewed you in my Book called the S.ife Religion y 
 that the ancient Fathers were for the fufficiency of Scripture. 
 
 5. Their Traditions are the opinions of a dividing fed:, con- 
 trary to the Traditions or do&rine of the prefent Catbolick 
 Church.- the far greater part of Chrillians being again!! them. 
 
 6. We are able to fhew thit the time was for fome hundred years 
 after Chrift, when raoft of their pretended Traditions were un- 
 known or abhorred by the Chriftian Church, and no fuch thing; 
 were in being among them. 7. And we can prove that the 
 chief pointiof Controveriie mantained a^ainftus, are not on- 
 ly without Scripture, but againft it, and from thence we have 
 full particular evidence to difprove them. If the Scriptures p - 
 true, as they confefs them to be , then no Tradition can be 
 Apoltolicall or true that is contrary to them : For exam- 
 ple : the Papifts Tradition is, that the Clergy is exempt from the 
 Magiftrates judgement ; But the holy Scrip;ure faith [L't everj 
 foul be fubjefl to the higher power , Rom. 1 3 . 1 , 2. 3 , 4, 5 • The 
 PapiOs Tradition is for ferving God publicity in an unkrw-zn 
 tongue . But the holy Scripture is fully againir. it. Their Tra- 
 dition \s ag-iinftZ ty mens reading the Scripture in a known tongue, 
 without Special l.iccnfe from their ordinary : But Scripture 
 and all antiquity is ag.iinlt them. The like we may fay ofmany 
 Other Controverfies. 
 
 So that tbefe ieven wayeswe know their Traditions to be 
 
 Q^ 3 deceit . 
 
 I 
 
n 8 A t\ey for Catkoluks* 
 
 .deceitfull • becaufe they are i . Unproved. 2. Againft the fuffi- 
 cienCy of Scripture. 3. Againft tl'.fir own former confeflions. 
 4. Againft the concent of the Fathers. 5. Contrary to the judge- 
 ment of moft of the Catholick Church. 6. We can prove that 
 once the Church was without them. 7. And they are many of 
 them contrary to exprefs Scripture. 
 
 And if Scripture will bat (hew which of us isneereftthe do* 
 ftrine and practice of theApoftles,tben the controverfie is ended, 
 or in a fair way to it : For we provoke them to try the caufe by 
 Scripture,and they deny it : we profefs it is the Rule and teft of 
 cur Religion ; but they appeal to another Rule and teft. And 
 thus you may fee which is the eld Religion •* which will be fome- 
 whs: fullyer cleared in that which followeth. 
 
 II. And that our Church and Religion hath been continued 
 from the diyes of Chrift till now, we prove thus. 1 . From the 
 promife of Chrift, which cannot be broken. Chrift hath pro- 
 mifed in his word, that that Church and Religion which is moll: 
 conform to tfce Scripture, (hall continue to the end : But our 
 Church and Religion is moft conform to the Scripture • there- 
 fore Chrift hath promifed that it ftiall continue to the end. 
 
 2. From the event. The Chriftian Religion and CathoJick 
 Church hath continued from the dayes of Chrift till now. But 
 ours is the Chriftian Rejigion, and Catholick Church : therefore 
 ours hath continued from the dayes of Chrift till now. The 
 Major they will grant: the Minor is proved by parts; thus. 
 j. That Religion which hath all the Eflentials of Chriftianity, 
 and doth not deny or deftroy any Eflcntial part of it, is the 
 Chriftian Religion : but fuch is ours : therefore, &c . 2. That 
 Religion,which the Apoftles were of, is the Chriftian Religion .* 
 But ours is the fame that the Apoftles were of : therefore, &c. 
 3 . That Religion, which is neerer the Scripture then the Romilh 
 Religion, is certainly the Chriftian Religion.' But fo is ours.- 
 therefore, &c. 4. They that believe not only all that in particu- 
 lar that is contained in the Ancient Creeds of the Church, but 
 alfoin generalUllthatisbefidesin the holy Scripture, are of 
 the Chriftian Religion : But thus do the Reformed Churches 
 believe, &c. 
 
 2 . And for our Church ; 1 . They that are of that one holy 
 Cathokek Church, whereof Chrift is the h.ad, and all true 
 
 Chri- 
 
A f\ey for Qatholicks . up 
 
 Chriftians arc members , are of tie true Church : ( For 
 there is but one Catholick Church .- ) Butfoarewe: there- 
 fore, &c. 
 
 2. They that areSancTified, Juftified, have the love of God 
 in :hem, are members of the true Catholick. Church : But fuch 
 are ail that are finccre ProfefTors of our Religion : therefore, &c. 
 But all this will not ferve them without a Catalogue , and tel- 
 ling them where our Church was before Luther: To this wc 
 further anfwer j we have no ptculiar Catholick Church of our 
 own • for there is but cm, and that «our Church : Wherever 
 the Chnftian Church was, there w?sour Church. And where- 
 ever any Chrijiiant were congregate for Gods wor(h : p,there were 
 Churches of the fame fort, as our particular Churches. And 
 wherever Cbriftianity was, there our Religion was : For we 
 know no Religion but Chriftianity. And would you have us 
 give you a Catalogue of all the Chriftians in the world, fnce 
 Chrift ? Or would you have us as vain as H.T. in his Mr.r.u- 
 all , that names you forne Popes, and about twenty proftfTorc 
 of their faith in each age, as if twenty or thirty men were the.- 
 Catholick Church : Or as if thofe men were proved to be 
 Papifts by his naming them? This is eaiicbut filly difpurirp. 
 
 In a word. Our Religion is Chriftianity. i. Chriftianity 
 hath certain EfTentials, without which no man can be aChriiriao; 
 and it hath moreover many precious truths,and duties neceflary 
 xecejjitate pracepti^niaKo nccfjfitate nteMi y to the better beina of 
 a Chriftian. Our being*.* Chriftians is in the former ; and our 
 ftrexgtbind increafe and better-being is much in the latter. From 
 the former ,Religion and the Church is denominated. Moreover,, 
 2. Our impliciteand a&uallexplicite Belief (ss the Papifts call 
 them) mutt be diftinguifhed - y or, our General and our parti- 
 cular Belief. 3. And alfo the Pofitives of our Belief muft be 
 cUftinguiflied from the implyed Negatives ; and the expref* Ar- 
 ticles themselves, from their implyed Confedaries. 
 
 And nowpremilin^ thefe three diftinftione, I (hall fell you 
 where our Church luth been in all Ages fince the birth of, 
 Chrift. 
 
 1. In the dayes of Chrift and his Apoftles our Church was; 
 where. they and all Chriftians were : And our Rcligon w*$. 
 
 withi 
 
no A J^eyfor Catholicks. 
 
 with them in ail its parts , both Effential and perfective. Thac 
 ir, we now relieve r. All to be true that was delivered by the 
 Apoflles as from God , with a General fs : th , 2. We believe all 
 the Effcntials and as much more as we can underftar.d , with a 
 Particular faith. 3 . But we cannot fay chat with fuch a particu- 
 lar faith we believe all that the Apollles believed or delivered ; 
 for then we muft fay that we have the fame degrceof under- 
 ftandingasthey; and that we underftand every word of the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 2. In the dayes of the Apoftles themfelves , the ConfiElaries, 
 and implied Verities, and Rejections of all Herefies were not 
 particularly and exprefly delivered either in Scripture or 1 ra- 
 dition ( as the Papifts will confefs. ) 
 
 3 . In the nex: ages after the Apoftlcs, our Church was the 
 one Catholic!^ Church, containing all true CJorifliatts ,Hcadtd by 
 fefus Chrift : and every fuch Chriftian ( too many to number ) 
 was a member of it. And for our Religion , the Effential 
 parts of it were contained both in the Holy Scriptures , and 
 in thePublick Profeflions , Ordinances, andPra&icesof the 
 Church in thole ages, ('which you call Traditions : ) and the 
 reft of it, even all the doctrines of faith and univerfal Laws 
 of God, which are its perfective parts, they were fully contain- 
 ed in the holy Scriptures. And fome of our Rejections and 
 Confeftaries, were then gathered and owned by the Church, as 
 Herefies occafioned the expreffing of them .- and the reft were 
 all implyed in the Apoftolical Scripture doctrine which they 
 preferved. 
 
 4. By degrees many errors crept into the Church : yet fo, 
 thit 1 . Neither the Catholick Church, nor one true Cbnftia*i 
 { in fenftt compofito at Icaft ) did rcjed any effential part of 
 Chnftianity. 2. And all parts of the Church were not alike 
 corrupted with error, bnt fome more, and fome lefs. 3. And 
 ftill the whole Church held the holy Scripture it felf, and fo 
 liad a perfect General or Implicite belief ^ even while by evill 
 confequences they oppugned many parts of their own pro- 
 fefiion. 
 
 5. When in procefs of time by claiming the univerfall Sove- 
 raignty fame had introduced a new prctendedCatholickChurch, 
 
 (fo 
 
A K^y for Qatbolicks. \ i \ 
 
 (fo far as their opinion took ) by fuperadding a New Head and 
 form, there was then a twofold Chwch in the Weft; the Chriftian 
 as Chriftian headed by Chrift ; and the Papal as Papal Head- 
 ed by the Pope ; yec fo as they called it but one Church ; and 
 by this ufurped Monarchy as under Chrift endeavoured to make 
 but one of them, by making both the Heads Effextial, when 
 before one only was tolerable. And if the Matter in any pare 
 may be the fame , and the fame Man be a Chriftian and a Pa' 
 pift, and fo the fame AfTemblies : yec ftill the forms are various * 
 and as Chrift ians and part of the Catholick^ Chnrch , they are 
 one thing: and as Papifts, and members of the feparating fe& % 
 they are another thing. Till this time there is no doubt of our 
 Churches Vifibility. 
 
 6. In this time o( the RomifhUfurpation, our Church was 
 vifible in three degrees , in three feverall forts of pcrfons. 
 I. It was vifible in the loweft degree among thePjpifts therafelves, 
 not at Papifts, but as Chrift ans. For they never did to this 
 day deny the Scriptures, nor titeAncient Creeds, nor Baptifm, 
 the Lords Supper, nor any of the fubftance of our Pofitive Ar- 
 ticles of Religion.They added a New Religion and Church of their 
 own,but ftill profefled to hold all the old in confiftency with it. 
 Wherever the truth of holy Scriptures and the ancient Creeds 
 of the Church were profefled, there was our Religion before 
 Luther: But even among the Papifts the holy Scriptures and 
 the faid Creeds were (vifibly ) profeffed : therefore among them 
 was our Religion. 
 
 And note here that Popery it felf was not ripe for a corrup- 
 tion of the Chriftian faith profefled , till Luther s oppolition 
 heightned them. For the Scripture was frequently before , by 
 Papifts held to be a moft fufficicnt Rule of faitb, (as I (hewed 
 before from the Council otBaftl' ) and confequently, Tradi- 
 tion was only pleaded at confervatory and expofuory of the 
 Scripture; but now the Council of Trent hath in a fort equalled 
 them. And this tbey were lately driven to, when they found 
 hat out of Scripture they were unable to confute or iupprefs 
 the truth. 
 
 2. At the fame time of the Churches opprefilon by the Pa- 
 pacy , our Religion was vifible ( and fo our Church : ) in a 
 more illuftrioMs fort ,among the Chriftians of the moft of the world, 
 
 K Greek', 
 
122 A F\ey for Catbolich . 
 
 Greeks, Ethiopians, and the reft, that never were fubjeft to the 
 ufurpationor Rome, but only ( many of them) took him for 
 the Tatriarch prima fedis, but not Epifcopus Ecclefia Catholics, 
 or the Governour of the Univerfall Church. So that here was 
 a viilbility of our Church doubly raure eminent then among 
 the Romanics : I In that it was the far greatest part of the 
 Catholick Church that thus held our Religion, to whom the Pa- 
 pifts were then but few. 2. In that they did not only hold the 
 fame Pofuive Articles of faith with us, but alfo 2mong their 
 Rejections , did R.ejc€t the chief of the Popifo errors as we do. 
 Beftdcs many particular points named in my Safe Religion,:hcy 
 Reje&ed with us, the Popes Catholick. Monarchy, the pretended 
 Infallibility of the Pope or his Councils : the new form of the 
 Papall Catholick^ (fhurch , as Headed bj him, with other fuch 
 points ; which are the very fundamentall controverfies between 
 us and the Papifts. So that ( befides that the Papifts themfclves 
 profefs our Religion) the major part of the Catholick. Church 
 did profefs it, -with the Rejection of the Papacy and Papall Church ; 
 and fo you may as eaiily fee where our Religion was before 
 Luther^ as where the Catholick Church, or moft of Chriftians 
 were before Luther. 
 
 3. And befide both thefe, our Religion was profeffed with a 
 yet greater Rejection ofRomifh corruptions, by thoufands,and 
 many thoufands that lived in the Weftern Church it felf, and un- 
 der the Popes nofe,and oppofed him in many of his ill endeavours 
 againft the Church and truth, together with them that gave him 
 the hearing, and were glad to be quiet, and gave way tohis 
 tyranny, but never confented to it. 
 
 Concerning thefe we have abundant evidence, though abun- 
 dance more we might have had , if the power and fubtilty of 
 the Papall faction had not had the handling of them. i.We 
 have abundance of Hiftories that tell us of the bloody wars 
 and contentions that the Emperours both of Eaft and Weft 
 have had with the Pope to hinder his tyranny-, and that they 
 were forced by his power to fubmit to hiro,contrary to their for- 
 mer free profeffions. 2. And we have abundance of Treatifes 
 then written againft him, both for theEmperoursand Princes, 
 and againft his do&rine and tyranny : fome ftore of them 
 Goldafiut hath gathered • And intimations of more you have 
 
 in 
 
A I\ey for Catbolicks . 1 1 J 
 
 in their own expurgatory Indices. 3. And we have 
 the hiftories and profefiions of the Albigenfcs, Waldenfcs, Bohe- 
 mians and others that were very numerous, and if Raynenus 
 fay true, they affirmed ( about the year one thoufand o.:e 
 hundred ) that the-' had coutinued fintethe Apoflles , and no 
 other Originall of them is proved. 4. Particular evidence 
 unanfwerabl'e is giver in bv Bifhop Vfl.nr de Succef. & ftatu 
 Eccl. and ^Anfwcr to the fcfuites, and the Ancient Religion ef 
 Ireland, and in Dr.Field,snd Morneyes Aljflerieof Iniquity ^and 
 of the Church, and Illjricus, and many others. 5 # EvenGe- 
 nerall Popifh Councils have contended and born witnefs againft 
 the Popes fuperiority over a Councill. 6. And in that ard 
 other poims whole Countreyes of their own are not yet brought 
 over to the Pope. 7. They have ftill among therafclves Domi- 
 nicans, Janfenifts, cjre. that are reproached by thejefuitesas 
 fiding with Calvin in many Controverfies, as Catharinus and 
 many more in others, Moft points of ours which we oppofe to 
 Popery, being maintained by fomc or other of them. 8. But 
 the fulleft evidence is the certain hiftory or knowledge of 
 of the cafe of the common people and Clergy among them, who 
 are partly ignorant of the mam matters in Controverfies be- 
 tween us (as we fee by experience of multitudes for one, to 
 this day ) and are generally kept under the fear of fire, and 
 fword, and torments ; fo that the truth ofthe|Cafe is this : the 
 Roman Bifhops were afp*ing by degrees to be Arch-bifliops, 
 and fo to be Patriarchs, and fo to have the firft feat and vote, 
 and to be called the Chief fifoops or Patriarchs, and at laft they 
 made another thing of their office, and claimed (about fix hun- 
 dred years or more after Chrift ) to be miverfal Monarch s or 
 Governoursof all the Church : But thoughthis claim was foon 
 laid, it was comparatively butfew,evcn in the Weft, that made 
 it any Article of their faith, but multitudes fided with the Princes 
 that would have kept the Pope lower , and the moft of the Peo- 
 ple medled not with the matter, but yielded to necefficy,and 
 gave place to violence , except fachas the Albigcnfcs, Bohemi- 
 ans, wickltffls and the reft that more openly oppofed. So that 
 no man could judge of the multitude clearly, which fide they 
 were on, being forced by fire and fword, and having not tbc 
 freedom to profefs their minds. 
 
 R 2 So 
 
1^4 d fyy f or Catholich. 
 
 So that in fumm, our Religion was at frrft with the Apoftles, 
 and the Apoftolick Church : and for divers hundred years after, 
 it was with the univerfal Chriftian Church : And fince Remts 
 ufurpation, it was even with the Romanifts though abufed,and 
 with the greater part of the Catholick Church that renounced 
 Popery then, and fo do now ; and alfo with the oppofers of the 
 Pope in the Weft under his own nofe. You fee now what Suc- 
 ceffion we plead, and where our Church and Relig ; on it ill 
 was. 
 
 If any deny that we are of the fame Church and Religion 
 with the Greeks, Abafsines, and moft of the Chriftian world, 
 ( yea all that is truly Chriftian J leafilyproveit. i. They that 
 are Chriftians joyned to Chrift the Head, are all of the fame 
 Church and Religion ( for none elfe[are Chriftians or united to 
 Chrift, but the Church which is his Body ) But the fincere 
 Greeks, Abaflines, tfr. and we are Chriftians united to Chrift 
 the Head : therefore we are all of one and the fame Church and 
 Religion. 
 
 2. They that believe the fame holy Scripture, and differ in 
 no eflcntial part of the Chriftian faith, are of the fame Church 
 and Religion : but fo do both we and atl true Chriftians : there- 
 fore we are all of one Church and Religion. 
 
 3. They that are truly regenerate, and Juftified, hating all 
 known finjonging to be perfe&,Loving God above all,and feek- 
 ing firft his Kingdom and Righteoufnefs, and accounting all 
 things but as dung in comparifon of Chnft, thefc are all of the 
 true Catholick Church.and the true Chriftian Religion: but fuch 
 are all that are fincere, both of the Greeks, Abafiincs, &c . and 
 the Reformed Churches ; as we prove, 1. To others by our 
 Profefsion and Pra&ice, by which only they are capable of 
 judging of us. 2. To ourfelves infallibly againft all theEne- 
 mies of our falvation in Hell or Earth, by the knowledge and 
 acquaintance with our own hearts, and the experience of the 
 work of God upon tbem. All the Jefuites in the world cannot 
 perfwade me that I love not God, and hate not fin, and prefer 
 not the Love of Chrift before all the world, when I feel and 
 know that I do ; till they can prove that they know my heart 
 better then I do. 
 
 4. If Chrift Confent to it, and vec Consent to it, then we are 
 
 all 
 
A K^ey for Catholicks. \ i ) 
 
 all f that arc fincere in their profefsion ) of the true Catho- 
 lick Church and Religion ( for if he confent and we confent, who 
 is there that is able to break the match >) But Chr ill confenteth, 
 and we confent : as we prove by parti, i . His confent is cxprcf- 
 (cd in his Gofpel, that whoever believetb in him fhould not perifl, 
 but have everlafcing life ; and whoever will, may drin\ of the 
 waterof life f reel), z. And our confent we openly profefTed at 
 Bapcifme, and have frequently renewed, and our own fouls 
 are acquainted with the fincerity of it, whatever any that know 
 not our hearts may fay againft it. 
 
 5, All that arc truly Baptized , and own their Baptifmal 
 Covenant, are vifible members of the true Catholick Church.* 
 ( For it is the very nature and ufe of Baptifme to enter us into 
 that Church : ) Bnt Greeks, Abafiines, Georgians, Armenians, 
 &c. and Proteftants, are all truly Baptized, and own their 
 Baptifmal Covenant : therefore we are all of the true Catholick 
 Church. 
 
 What is ordinarily faid againft *Kf fucceffion of our Church, 
 I haveanfwered in my fafe Religion. I now add an anfwer to 
 what another, vi^.H. Turbervile'xn his Minuall faith againft; 
 us in the prefent point. The cafinefs of his Arguments, and the 
 open vanity of his exceptions , will give me leave to be the 
 (horter in confuting them. 
 
 His firlt Argument ( pa%. 43.) is this. [The true Church 
 
 of God hath had a continued Succeffion from C hrifi But the 
 
 Protefl ant Churchy and fo of all other Sectaries, hath not a con- 
 tinued Succeffion from Chrijl to this time : therefore , &C ] 
 tsfnfve. 1. I pray thee Reader be an impartial Judge what this 
 man or any Papift ever faid with fenfe and reafon, to prove that j 
 the Eaftern and Southern Churches have no true Succeffion. 
 Let them talk what they pleafe of their Schifrae, the world 
 knows they have had as good a Succeffion as Rome. Are they 
 not now of the fame Church and Religion as ever they have 
 been? All the change that many of them have made, hath been 
 but in the entertaining of fome fopperies, common to Rome and 
 them. And if any of thefe (which you call Sectaries ) can 
 prove their Succeftion, it deftroyes your Argument and Caufe. 
 Me thinks you fhould not ask them, where their Church was 
 before Lnt her ? 
 
 R 3 2. But 
 
i z 6 A Key for Catholkks. 
 
 2. But how doth this Difputer prove his Minor, that we have 
 no Succcffion ? Only by a flark falfhood : forfooth [_ by 
 the Cenccjfion of the mcfi Learned Adverfaries, who freely and 
 unanimously Confefs, that he/ore Luther made his feparation from 
 the Church of Rome for nine hundred or one thouf and years toge* 
 ther, the whole world tiras Catholic/^, and in obedience to the Pcpe 
 x>f Rome. 
 
 Anfw. O horrid boldnefs ! that a man that pleads for the 
 fan&ityof his Church, dare thus fpeak fo notorious an untruth 
 in the face of the world ! At this rate of Difputing, the man 
 might have faved the labour of writing his Book, and have as 
 honeftly at once have perfwaded his DifcipJes, that his Adver- 
 saries unanimoufly confefs that the Papifts caufe is beft. What 
 if the fifteen cited by him had faid fo, when I can bring him 
 one thoufand rive hundred of another mind, and cite him fifteen 
 for one of another mind, is that the unanimous confefsion of 
 his Adverfaries? But unlefs his Adverfaries were quire befide 
 tbemfelves, there is not one of them could fay ashefeigneth 
 them to fay. For doth not the world know, that the Eaitern 
 and Southern Churches, far exceeding the Romanifts in num- 
 ber, did deny obedience to the Pope of Rome ? Would this per- 
 fwade his poor DifcipJes that we all confefs, that there are, or 
 were no Chriitians in the world but Proteftants and Papil'U ? 
 His firft cited Confefsion is Calvins [ that all the Weflern 
 Churches have defended Popery~] A fair proof.' Doth this Dif- 
 puter believe in good fadnefs, that the Wcfiern Churches are all 
 the world* or a fixtb part of the world ? But this is the Popifli 
 arguing. What Calvin fpeaks of the Weftern Churches, that is, 
 the prevailing power in each Nation of them, he interprets of 
 all the world. So he deales with Dr. White, who exprcfly in the 
 words before thofe which he citeth, affirmeth the vihbility of 
 the Churches of Greece, Ethiope, Armenia, and Rome ■, but only 
 faith, that at all times there hath not been vifiblediftind: com- 
 panies free from all corruption : which one would think every 
 penitent man fhould grant that knows the corruption of his 
 own heart and life. It would be tedious to ftand to fliew. bis 
 odious abufe of the reft .• when they that fay moft of the word 
 [world] butasitisufed, Lukz 2. i. fomuch of his firft argu- 
 ment. 
 
 Hijr 
 
A f\ey for Qa tholicKs . 127 
 
 His fecond is this, tvithout a continued number of Bifbops,Priefts t 
 Laicks , fucceeding one another in the profcffion of the fame faith 
 from Chrifl and his Apofiles to this time, a continued fur ciffion can- 
 not be had ' But Protefiants have no continued number, &c. 
 
 ssfnfvc And how proves he the Minor } No how at all ; but 
 puts us todifproveit •, and withall gives us certain Laws,whica 
 we will obey when they grow up to the honour of being rea- 
 fonable. His firft Law is, clnt[j-V> mufi name none but only fuch as 
 held explicitly the thirty nine Articles , all granting and denying 
 the fame points th;.t the late Protefiants of England granted or 
 
 denied for if they differ from them in anyone material! point, 
 
 they cannot be efleemea Protefiants 1 Anfw. A learned Law ! And 
 whit call you [_ a material point ?J You nny yet make what 
 you lift of it. if they differ in any point Ejfentiallto Chrifti.t 
 nity , we grant your impofition to be necefTary. But there is 
 not the leaftChronologicall, or Geographically other truth in 
 Scripture, but is a Material! Point, though not EJfential. 
 Muft you needs know which thefe EJftntials are ? In a word : 
 Thofe which the Apoflles and the ancient (fhnrch pre-rcquired the 
 knowledge and profcffion of, unto Baptism. And becaule all your 
 fond exceptions are grounded on this one poin-, I fhail crave 
 your pitierce,while I briefly, but fufficiently prove that Men that 
 err, and that in points materially may yet be of the fame Church 
 and Religion> 
 
 Argum. 1. If men that err in points material (that is, pre- 
 cious truths of God , which they ought to have believed. ) 
 may yet be true Chriftisnszod hold all the Eflfentials of Chrifti- 
 anity: then may they be of the fame true Church and Reli- 
 gion : But the former is true : therefore fo is the later. The 
 Antecedent is proved,in that all truths which may be called Ma- 
 terial!, are not of the tfTence of Chriltianity. 
 
 Argum. 2. The Apoftle Thomas cried in a Material! point 
 ( which is now an eflentUll \ when he would not believe C hrifts 
 Refurredion -.and^et was a member of the true Church : there- 
 fore, crc. 
 
 Argum-i. ThePipifl; errin material points, andyetthink 
 themfelvesofthe fame rue Church: therefore they muflcon- 
 fefsthatd -ffering in Material points may be the cafe ot members 
 ofthsfame true Church. For proof of the Minor, I demand: 
 
 Are 
 
1 2 8 A I\ey for Catbolicks. 
 
 Are none of the points Material that have been fo hotly agi- 
 tated between the Jefuites, and Dominicans and Janknifls? the 
 Papal! party, and the Council! party ? The Thomifb, Scotifts, 
 Ocl jmifls,^. Atle^ft review thejefuite Cafuitts cited by the 
 Jan liftsMyilerieof Jefuitifm ; and rell us whether it be no 
 whic Muerial Whether a man may kill another form Crown ? 
 or may \llboth fudge and witnrjfes to avoid an unjnft fentence} 
 Or whether a man fbottld go with good meanings into a Whore- 
 houfe t per [wade them to /,< , -nee , that hath found by experience 
 that W> n he comes there he is naught with them himfelf} Or whe- 
 ther an n may lawfully lie and calumniate to put by a calumny} 
 Or fpeak^ ^//ty with mentc.ll refervations ? Or forbear loving 
 Cod many jtars together, tf not all his life? Are thefe points 
 no whit Aiatmali You know that one part of you ( with a 
 Pope and Generd Council ) are fordepofirg Heretical Kings, 
 and murthering and (tabbing them, and others of you difavow 
 it : Is th\s no -whit material r Ar.d yet you are all of one Church 
 and Religion. A hundred more of your differences I could name. 
 Argum.Af. From inftances of the Fathers that have erred 
 in CMarcrial points , and yet are taken to be of the fame 
 Church and Religion. How many Churches differed about 
 Jiafter day ? what abundance of errors are in your Clementine j, 
 and other fuch writers owned by you ? fuflin Martyr was 
 a Millenarie : Numbered divers Infidels with Chriflians; 
 thought that Angels lived by meat , and generated with 
 Devils, &c. AthenAgoras thought that fecond Marriages were 
 comely Adultery and that the Angels fell by the love of women, 
 and begot Gyants of them t Crc.Iren<£tts hath the \ikc:Theophilus 
 Antioch.worfe : Tertullian and Orrigtn you will confefs had 
 yet worfe , Clem. Altxand. was for the falvation of Infidels 
 and Heathens : againft fwcaring and many fuch , befides thofe 
 before mentioned. Greg.Thaumaturgus hath divers, if the 
 confefiion and other works be his that are afcribed to him. 
 Cyprian, Ftrmilian , and the whole Council at Carthage were 
 for rebaptizing thofe baptized by heretick<; Againft all Wars 
 and Oaths Laclantitis ( with many more ) was a Millenary, 
 and hath too many great errors. I have no delight to rake into 
 rheir faults ^ but if it be neccflary 1 (hall quickly prove many 
 and great errors by fourty more of them at the lcaft. And yec 
 
 ail 
 
A i^ey for Qatholicks. 1 2 9 
 
 all thefe or moll, are confefTed by you to be of one Church and 
 Religion. 
 
 Argum. 5. From your own Confeffions. Be liar mine Jib.i.de 
 Beat. SS cap. 6. faith chat he feeth not how the fentence of Juftin, 
 lrenaeus, &c. can be defended from error . Of Tertullian he faith, 
 There's no truji to be given to him : lib. 4. de Rom. Pont. c. 8. 
 Eufebius he faith was aadiiledto the Heretickj. Cyprian he faith 
 did feem to fin mortally : de Rom. Pont. lib. 4. cap, 7. Auguftine 
 isaccufed by many Jeluitcs for going too far from Pelagias. Hit' 
 rom is ofc pluckt by you. And (o are many more of the Fathers. 
 And yec you confefs fome of diem at leaft were of the true 
 Church and Religion. 
 
 Argum. 6. if there be no perfeft concord to be expecled till 
 we come to the place of perfect knowledge and happinefs, then 
 it is not perfed concord, that is recefTary to prove us of the 
 fame Church or Religion But the Antecedent is alas too far paft 
 doubc. Therefore, &c. 
 
 Argum. -j. If the godly and learned Doctors of the Church 
 (and all men) have fome ('alas how many) culpable er- 
 rors in matters of Religion (yea of faith, if you call that de 
 fide, which we are obliged to believe) then thofe that have fuch 
 errors may be of the fame Church and Religion : But the An- 
 tecedent is fo true and evident that I think none but a blind 
 proud Pharifee will deny himfelf to beg of God daily to par- 
 don and heal his culpable errors. So much to prove that men of 
 errors and differing minds ( if not about the eitence of the 
 Church)maybeofthefame Church. 
 
 2. But why is it that they muft all needs explicitly held the 
 thirty nine Articles f 1. 1 pray you tell us, whether all your 
 own Church do explicitly hold and believe all your Articles? 
 that is, all that Popes and General Councils have defined oc 
 declared. Dare you fay that one of five hundred, of five chou- 
 fand,doth explicitcly believe all this? And why then is it ne- 
 ceffiry in our cafe that all muft explicitely believe all thofe Arti- 
 cles } 2. Yea with us it is far more unneceflary. For we take 
 not thofe Articles for the Rale of our faith, but only the holy 
 Scripture •* And therefore you may as well tell us that no man 
 is of our Religion , that did not write or fpeak all the fame 
 words that fe well, Reignolds, Perkins, or fuch other have writ- 
 
 S ceo 
 
]o A I$ey for Catholicks . 
 
 ten in their whole works. 3 . Its eafie to prove for all that, that 
 the fenfe and fubftance of thofe Articles have been owned by the 
 Churches in ail ages. 
 
 3 • But what if we grant your conclufion, that [ elfe they can- 
 not be efteemed Prottfiants^ what of that t As if none but Pro- 
 tejiam s were of the fame Chnrch and Religion with us. Sure 
 you think we make a fed of our felves like you , and exclude 
 all others from the Church and Salvation as you do! The word 
 [Proteftant] is not thefirft denomination of our Religion from 
 its eflence ; for fo we call our felves £ Chriflians ] only ; But it 
 is a title that accidentally accrcwed to our Religion, from our 
 Protecting againft your innovations and corruptions y and our Re- 
 jecting the errors contrary to our Religion which you had in- 
 troduced. Now thofe that were not involved in your errors 
 as our forefathers were, but lived at a further diftance from 
 you, might have no occafion to make fuch a Proteftation j and 
 yet be of the fame Church and Religion as we are. 
 
 Now to your particular Laws. 1 . Saith H. T. [ Let him 
 not name the Wsldenfes : for they held the Real prefence, that the 
 Afojlles tvere Lay men, that all Magiftrates fall from their 
 dignity by any mortal Jin , that it it not lawful to frvear, Sec and 
 Waldo lived but in one thoufandone hundredandjixty. 
 
 Anfw. 1. We have better afiurance of the faith of the Wal- 
 denfes in their own publifhed Confcftions, then from the mouth 
 of their Ad ver fanes. 2. The Lutherans hold the real prefence, 
 and yet are of the fame Religion and Church with us. 3 . The 
 Apoftles were Lay-men in the Jews account and fenfe, as not 
 being Priefts or Levites, but not in Chriflians account that be- 
 lieved their miffion : and thus thought the Waldenfes . 4. They 
 thought that Magiftrates and Minifters do by Mortal fin forfeit 
 all the right and title to their office , from which themfelves may 
 have comfort and juftification in judgement : But they never 
 thought that they were not to be obeyed by others , or that 
 their adions were not valid for the Churches good. 5. Many 
 of the ancientelt Fathers thought it unlawful 1 to fwear at all,tbac 
 yet are cited by you as of your Church. But the Walden- 
 fes are flandered in thefe points. 6. Though Waldo was but about 
 one thoufand one hundred and (ixtyjet the fame Religion and 
 Church under other names 9 and before thofe names were fad* 
 
 ned 
 
A I\ey for Catbolicks . I } i 
 
 ned on them, was much elder, as Rajnerius may fatisfie you. 
 So chat for all this , the Waldenfes and we are of one Church 
 and Religion. 
 
 He adds {_ Let him not name the Hujfites y for they held Mafs % 
 Tranfttbflantiation and feven Sacraments^ that the univerfal 
 Church con ftjled onlj of the predeftinate, &cc.~] Anfw. O what 
 a fort of men have we to deal with? The Council of Conflance 
 burnt fohnHufi to a(hes for faying that there remained the fub- 
 fiance of Bread and Wine after Confecratien. and thatTranfub- 
 Jlamiation was a new word to deceive men with 3 as Binnius him- 
 felf cxprcfleth among their accufations of him : And among 
 the articles for difcovery of the Huflkes, one was whether 
 they take it to be a mortallfinto reject the Sacraments of Confir- 
 mation , extream untiion and marriage* ~\ And yet now Httfs 
 is burnt for it , the poor lay-Papifts are perfwaded by their 
 deceivers, that the Hufines were for Tranfubftamiacion and 
 (even Sacraments. Why then did a General Council accufe or 
 receive accufation and witnefs againft him for the contrary? 
 2. That the univerfal Church asinvifible, and as taken in the 
 firit fignification,containeth none but the truly fan&ified (and 
 fo predeftinate ) we believe as well as Httfs • though in the 
 fecond Analogical fignification , the Church as vifible, con- 
 tained all the ProfefTors of faith and Holinefs , whether 
 fincere or not. 3 . And that they were condemned by the Coun- 
 cil of Conflance, and Httfs and Hierom burnt after they had a 
 fafe conduct , doth (hew that the faith of Papifts is perfidr 
 oufnefs, ( for whyfhould the people be more juftthen a Ge- 
 neral Council ? ) but it (hews not that we and they are not of 
 the fame Church or Religion •' you condemned and burnt thofe 
 of our Religion too : therefore you thought at leaft that we are 
 ncer kin. 
 
 ButH.T. proceeds with his precepts Q Let him not name the 
 Albigenfcs : for they held all marriages to be unlawfull, and all 
 things begotten ex coitu to be unclean: They held two Gods , &C.J 
 Anfw. Thefe are not only fuch faifhoods by which you uphold 
 yourcaufe, but the more ir.excufable and fhamelefr, by how 
 much the more frequently and fully deteded long ago. and yet 
 continued in. 'T errin y Vigucrius and many others might have pre- 
 vented your error: efpecially Bifhop VJherde Succef. Etclcf. 
 
 S 2 cap. 6, 
 
\yi ^ Ksy for Catholicks. 
 
 cap. 6,7,8,9, & 10. who hath given you enough cut of your 
 ownwritersto have fatiificd you ; and (hewed you,, thatitwai 
 frorothe Adrians and Manichees, inhabiting thofe Coun'.reyes 
 among them, that the heavy charges of Bernard , Eckbertus 
 Schonaugienfis and others were occasioned. And fee by him 
 there ciced what the fame Bernard faith againft your Church of 
 jfo;w,and then judge which he fpoak bsrdlier of. 
 
 As for the Cathar.fU rex; added , the/ were not the Puritan 
 Waldenfesas you fpcak,but part of the Manichees : and if fuch 
 as they are defcribed, we are content to lofe their names^nd are 
 not ambitious to be reputed tl eir SuecefFor*. 
 
 He adds [ Let f.im not name the Wickjifunj ; for they held; 
 
 that all things came to pafj by fat all necefdfj ; That Princes anal 
 
 Afagiftrates fill fom their dignity and power by mort.il' fin. J 
 
 Anfw.Vfz know by many afjvkklifi own books printed and ma- 
 
 nufcript what his judgement was, what ever your Council at 
 
 Conftance sccufehim of. It was a Divine Necessity oppofed to 
 
 unctrtairtj , and to the determination of an unruled trill, that 
 
 he mentioneth. And do not your Jefuites lay as heavy a charge 
 
 on the Dominicans fometimes? and with as great caufe may 
 
 many of your Schoolmen be declaimed for this as Wickjife, if 
 
 you will undcrftand him, and them. Wickjife was known to 
 
 obey and teach obed ence to Migiftrates. But is it not a fine world,. 
 
 when tvickjife muft not be of our Church becaufehe is fuppofed 
 
 to deny the power of Migiftrarcs in mortal fin? and yet the 
 
 Pope and his Council determire tint Princes or Lords that will 
 
 not root out fuch a? the Pop,: cals Ftereticksmuft be caftoir, 
 
 and their Countrey given to others it feems you cake tvickjife 
 
 tobefome kin to your felves. Bur we doubt not but he was 
 
 of the CaihoJick Church and Religion, and therefore of the 
 
 fame with us. 
 
 H. T. adds Q Let h m not ha\ne the Grecians ' for thty re) tied 
 the Communion of Prefefiants. Cenfur. Ecd. Orient. They v. ere 
 at leafl [even hundred or eight hundred year in Communion with 
 
 the Church of Rome. they were united to the Church of Rou e 
 
 again in the Council of Norence - They held Tranfub'fiantiatio» % . 
 (even Sacraments ^unbloody Sacrifice, Prayer to ?a'i#! s % and far the- 
 dead • 
 
 Anfv? If one Patriark, or twenty men re ] r & our Commu. 
 
A K^ey for Qatholicks. \ri 
 
 nion, whats that to the Millions of Greek Cbnftians that never 
 rejected it ? And whats that to all Patriarcks before and af- 
 ter that rejected it not? Did fjril reje&our Communion, 
 that hath publifhed a Proteftant confeflion, and was fo malig- 
 ned, and treacheroufly dealt with to the death , and faifly 
 accufed to the Turks by the Jefuites , for his conftancy f 
 2. Do you think the world knoweth not by whatinducementi 
 you drew a few poor men at Florence to fubferibe to a certain 
 union with you r and what death the Patriark dyed ? and how 
 the Greeks refentedhis fad? and what a return they made to 
 your Church? I pray perfwade your (elves that they and wc 
 and allarePapifts. 3. If the Greeks did difclaim Communion 
 with us, they arc neverthelels of the fame Church and Religion 
 with us, for all that. Paulind Barnabas were both Chrifti- 
 ans when they parted in difftntion. If<»ne ne ghbour in anger 
 call another Traitor unjuftly, and fay he will have no Socety 
 with him, they may be both the Kings fubjefts and members 
 of one Common wealth for all that. 4. \s to the Greeks opi- 
 nions, and the Papifts falfe accufations of them, I have fpuken 
 already againft pretended Veridicusxn my Safe Religion. It is 
 not you nor all the Jefuitcs on earth that can prove the Greeks 
 and us tobefodiftant, as not to be of the fame Catholick Re- 
 ligion and Church, 
 
 You add £ Let him not name the Egyptian's : for tbej held 
 Tranfub^amiation and unbloody Sacr ifi ;e, as is manifeji b) their 
 Liturgies ; but denjed the procrjfion of the Hoi] Ghoji from the 
 Son, and held but one will in Chrift. Godignus de reb. Abaf. lib. 
 1 .cap. 28.3 *s4nfw. 1. Godignus talks not of the Egyptians- 
 but the Abaffines. This learned man it feems,is fo home-bred, and 
 confined to the Roman Church , that he little regirdeth the 
 reft ofthe Chriftian world ; or elfe he would have known a dif- 
 ference between the Egyptians and Abafmes: He is likely to 
 know well the true Catholick Church that while. 2. You can- 
 not prove that they hold Tranfubftantion. Nor fhall your 
 bare naming their Liturgy make us believe it. The I 
 Liturgy you tell us not where to find, nor I fuppofe do you 
 know yourfelves. An Ethiopick. Liturgy your compilers off he 
 Biblioibcca Patrum have given us, Tern. 6. But 1. It hath nq 
 mention of Tranfubftantiation in ir, that I can find, but onlv a 
 
 S I 
 
lj4 A I^ey for Catholicks. 
 
 Hoc eft Corpus, &c. which we fay in our Adminiftration as well 
 as they. 2. And I find that Liturgy To concrary to the reports 
 of your own writers concerning the pradice of the Ethiopians, 
 ( as about the Elevation, Confirmation, &c.) that I rauft needs 
 conclude, that either the Liturgy or much of it is forged, or 
 that the generality of your own Relators of their pradice are 
 grofly deceived, and do deceive, (which is not likely, becaufe 
 they are many, and write at feveral times, and it is againft them- 
 felves. ) 3. And as for the proceffion of the Holy Cjhofi, and the 
 denyalof two mils in Chrift, fome of your own writers pro- 
 fefs, that the former in the Greeks,and the later in many others, 
 is found to be but a verbal difference, the fame words not fig- 
 nifying the fame thing in their efieem as in ours. 4, However, 
 if they would but become the fubjeds of the Pope, they might 
 be of your Church for all this s and therefore feeing they are 
 the fubjeds of Chrift,wc (hall take both Ethiopians and Copties 
 to be of the fame Catholick Church with us, for all thefe and 
 many other of their errors. 
 
 Laftly faith H. T. [ Let him not cite the Armenians: for they 
 hold but one nature in Chrift , and that his fleftj was changedint9 
 his Divinity, and were condemned by the Council of Calcedon. ] 
 
 Anfw. The Armenians area confidcrable part of the Catho- 
 Jick Church. Bimius in the life of Eugenius the third faith, their 
 Catholick ( fo call they their chief Bifhop) hath infinite, that 
 is, abtveathoufand Bifhop under him. Oth. Frifingenfis hath 
 the like. 
 
 1. Though they held but one nature in Chrift, it was not by 
 permixtion or confufion of the natures, as Eutiches imagined, 
 but Conjundion or Coalition : Nicephor. Hift. Ecclef. lib. 18. 
 .cap. 53. And divers of your own writers fay the difference is 
 found to be but in words. And even all this they now deny 4 as 
 you may fee in their own Confeffion published not eighty years 
 ago, Artie. 26,2.7,2%, 29 y %o.&.Q- 2. That they charge the hu- 
 mane nature of Chrift into the Divinity, is your flmder, and 
 therefore no good argun?ienr. 3. That they were condemned by 
 ( the five Ads, or in any Ad of) the Council of Calcedon, is 
 another untruh • fure you go much upon truft, that dare ven- 
 ture to fluff your book with fuch falfhoods. But the belt is, 
 your firaple Papifls Know not but all is true: they mud believe 
 
 you. 
 
A J^ey for (atholicks? i 3 5 
 
 you, and cannot difprove you. The Armenians then and we 
 arc of one Catholick Church and Religion, notwithftanding 
 all your forgeries and vain exceptions. I know that one or two 
 petty Councils chid tbem for not mixing water with wine in the 
 Eucharift ; and more then that , the Canons of the Qeneral 
 Council called Quinifixti do condemn the fame error as theirs, 
 and alfo their deputing the Sons of Priefts fuccefsively to the 
 Priefthood, and not fhaving their hair*, and their eating eggs 
 and chcefe on Saturdayes and Sundayes in Lent. But 1. We 
 fear not to fay that we are of the fame Church with men that 
 err more then not (having , or then eating eggs and cheefe 
 comes to, or any of this. 2 And remember that this is one of 
 your Reprobate Councils. 3. And one that the third time 
 ( when two General Councils before had done it) did Canon. 36. 
 ^\\t aejualiaprivilegia, equal priviledges to the Seat of Conftan- 
 tinople as Rome had. So that I think you will have no mind of 
 this General Council. And if any other have judged them 
 Eucichians, though I renounce that opinion, yet I mud tell 
 you, that my Charity covereth far greater errors in the Papifts, 
 or elfc I could not take them for Chriflians. If theQueftion had 
 ever been ftarted in a Council, whether mans foul and body are 
 two Natures or but one, its ten to one but it would have made 
 another hcrefie, and yet perhaps the real difference have been 
 no more then it is now there is no Controverfie about it. But 
 H. T. addeth [ Troreftants pretence to the fathers of the firft 
 five hundred years, is very idle ; becaufe were It true, as it is mo ft 
 falfe, that thofe Fathers were Troteftants, jet could not that fuf- 
 fice to prove them a continued Succeffion of one thoujand fix hun- 
 dred years. ] 
 
 Anfw. 1. It fufficeth qs if thofe Fathers were Chriflians, as 
 we are, though having no ufurper of an univerfal Monarchy 
 to Proteft againft, tbey were not to be called Proteftants. 2. IE 
 is an idle pretence indeed, to go about to prove a Succefsion of 
 one thoufand fix hundred years, by the b ire in fiance of five 
 hundred years : but your idle head hath forged more idle preten- 
 ces then this, by way of calumniation. Buiyetwe may prove 
 the Antiquity of our Rcligfbn from thofe Fathers, and the No* 
 velty of yours, and a Succefsion for thofe five hundred years* 
 and for the reft^ if the whole Chriftian world had been big 
 
 enough * 
 
1 1 (5 A Kvy for Qa t belie ks . 
 
 enough for you to fee, you might havedifcerned our Evidence 
 of a Farther Succefsion. 
 
 He ?-dds [_Z. Becattfe thofe of the fixth age mufl needs k» rift 
 Vfhitt was the Religion and Tenets of them that lived in the fifth 
 <*%*■* fy whim they wccinfirticled y and ftith whom they daily con- 
 vcr'.ed better then our Protefiants can now do j who have Protefied 
 en their falvatiun, that it was the very fame nith theirs, received 
 from thim by word cf me tit h, &c. ]] 
 
 Anfw. i. Any tbing will ferve for the firople that will be- 
 lieve you. But I pray you tell us whether it were all or feme 
 of the fixth age that made this folcmn Proteftation that you 
 mention. If all or mod, or the ten thoufandth man, tell us 
 where we may find that Protefiation. If a few, they were not 
 the fixth age. 2. If Pope B •■niface alone was not the fixth age> 
 tell us where that 8ge did Proteft on their falvation, that the 
 Bifhop of Rome was taken by their Fore fathers for the univer- 
 lal Monarch and Head of the Church ( beyond his bare Prima- 
 cy of ore'er) 3. What ag<; hath pro'efted on their falvation, 
 that the Roman prohibition of reading Scriptures,, or of re- 
 ceiving the Eucharift in both kinds, or other points anon to be 
 mentioned, were the Religion of their Fore-fathers, and fo 
 from age to age? 4. I pray you tell us whereto find this Pro- 
 teftation of the tenth age, which Genebrard, Bel/armine y 8nd 
 others of your own fo complain of, as having not learned men, 
 nor any Council, but Apoftatical Popes and an ignorant wicked 
 Clergy , that fufpeded a man of Herefie if he underftood 
 Greek or Hebrew, and of Magick or Conjuring, if he medled 
 with Mathematicks ? 5. It is legible in the writings of the fixth 
 Age, chat they did fetch the dodrine of the fifth age from their 
 ■writings ,&nd not only from word of mouth. What elfe mean 
 the prefervation of thofe writings and thofe numerous citations 
 out of them ? Nay more ; they would nottruft their memories 
 in a General £"c«w«7 for the Canons of the Chttrch ; no nor for 
 the Canons of the next preceding Council, no nor for the Com- 
 mon Creed; but had all read and repeated out of the writing 
 b:forc the Council when there was ©ccafion. And let Confci- 
 ence be free to fpeak truth for a Tew fentencev, and tell us in 
 good fadnefs, whether you believe that the Oral Tradition 
 of all the Church did preferve the Knowledge of Aug»fiines % 
 
 £pifhmHs lt 
 
A j^ey for Catbolicks, \y? 
 
 Epiphamns,Chryfoftemes, &c. dodrine, fo much as their wri- 
 tings do ? Is the dodrineof Acju nas^ Scotus, Gabriel^ &c. yea 
 the Council or' Trent preferved now more certainly in mens 
 memories, then in writing ? If fo, they have better memories 
 then mine thac keep them, and they have better hap then I that 
 ligh: of fuch keepers. For I can fcarce tell how to deliver my 
 mind fo, in any difficult point, but one or orhcr is mifunder- 
 itandmg and mifreporting it ^ and by leaving out or changing 
 a word, perhaps make it another muter : fo that I am forced 
 to refer them to my writing* : and yet there by negled they 
 mifmterprct me, till I open the book it felf to them. 
 
 6. Either the Fathers of the fifth age are intelligible in their 
 writing:, or nor. If they be, then wc may underhand them I 
 hope with induftry. If they be not, then i. Muchlefswere 
 their tranfientfpecches intelligible. 2. And then the writings 
 of the fixth age be not intelligible, nor of any other : and fo we 
 cannot understand the Council of Trent (as the Papiftsdo not 
 that controvert i:s fenfe voluminouily, ) nor can we know the 
 Churches judgement. 
 
 7. By ) our leave, the Roman Corrupters take on themfo 
 much Power to make new Laws and new Articles ©f Faith .]uo4d 
 fios, by definitions, and to difpenfc with former Laws, that unlefs 
 they are all Knights of the Port, they can never fwear that they 
 had all that they have from their Fore-fathers. 
 
 8. Well / but all this is theleaftpartof my anfwer. But I 
 grant you that the fixth age underftood and retained the do- 
 ctrine of the fifth age, and have delivered it to us. But that 
 there were no Hereticks or corrupters, you will not fay your 
 felves. Well then I the far greateft part of the Catholick Church 
 did not only receive from the fifth age the fame Chriftian Reli- 
 gion, but alfo kept themfelves from the grofleft corruptions of 
 the Pope and hii flatterers, that were then but a fmall part • And 
 thus we nick to the Catholick Church fucceeding to this day,and 
 you to an ufurper that then was newly feton theThrone of uni- 
 verfal Soveraignty. So that your chief Argument treadeth Po- 
 pery in the dirt.becaufe the greater part of the Catholck Church 
 not only in the fifth and fixth age, but in the feventh, eighth, 
 nineth , tenth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and fixteentb 
 ages, have been aliens or enemies to the Rjman univeifal 
 
 T Monarchy : 
 
i J 8 A I(ey for Catbolicks . 
 
 Monarchy: therefore if one age of the Church knew the mind 
 of the former age, better then the Pope did ,we may be fure thac 
 the Pope is an ufurper. 
 
 The third Argument of H. T. is, that the Fathers of the firfl 
 five hundred years taught their tenets • therefore its iwpoffible they. 
 fiouldbefortheProteflants. Ar.fw.\. Proteftanrs arc Chrilti- 
 ans, taking the Holy Scriptures for the Role or their faith. If 
 the Fathers were Chriftians , they were for the Protettants , 
 but its certain they were Chriftians. If you could prove thac 
 they were for fome of your miftakes, that would not prove 
 them againft the Proteftantsin the doctrine of Chriftiamtvand 
 the holy Scriptures ; and fo that we are not their SuccefT>rs in 
 Chriftianity , and of the fame Church, which was it that you 
 fhould have proved , but forgot the queft ion. And of this we 
 flull fpeakto you more anon. 
 
 Well! by this time I have fufficicntly fhewed thefuccefiion 
 of our Church : and continuation of our Religion from the 
 Apoftles , and where it was before Luther, and given you the 
 Catholick Church inftead of a dozen or twenty names in each 
 age, which it feerns will fatisfiea Papift 5 but yet we have not 
 done with them, but require this following Juflice at their 
 hands. 
 
 Seeing the Papifts do fo importunately call to us for Catalogues 
 and proof of our fucceflion, Reafonand Juftice rcquircth that 
 they firlt give us a Catalogue of Papilts in all ages, and prove 
 the fuccefiion of their Roman Catholick Church: which they 
 can never do while they are men. 
 
 And here I muft take notice of the delufory ridiculous Cata« 
 logue wherewith H. T. begins his Manual* His Argument 
 runs thus [] That is the only true Church of God, ft hich hath had 
 a continued fuccefftonfrom Chrifi and his Apoftles, to this day, (ve- 
 ry true') But the Church now in Communion with the Sea of Rome 
 and no other, hath had a continued fuccej/ion from Chrifi and his 
 
 Afoftles to this time : therefore, &c. ] For the proof of the 
 
 Minor he giveth us a Catalogue. And here note the mifery of 
 poor fouls that depend on thefe men, that are deluded with fuch 
 ftuff, that one would think they fhould be afhamed the world 
 ffaould fee from them. 
 
 i. What if his Catalogue were true and proved, would it- 
 
 ftrove. 
 
A I{ey for Catholic ks . i j p 
 
 prove the Exclufiory hat [ no other Church : ] had a fucceflion ? 
 Doth it prove that Conftantir.gpte, or AUx&ndrU had no fuch 
 fucceflion , becaufe the llomanifts had it ? where is there ever a 
 word here under this Argument to prove that exclulive part of 
 his Minor ? 
 
 2. And note how he puts that for the Qneltion that is not the 
 Queftion between uj. A fair beginning/ The Queftion is not 
 abjur Churches in Communion witbyeu , but about Churches in 
 jubjeltioH to you : But this is but a pious fraud , to fave men by 
 decievingthem. The Ancient Church of Rome had the Church 
 of Hierufalem . Corinth.Phili^i, Epbcftii^nd many a hundred 
 Churches in Communion with her /.hat never were in fubjeflion 
 to her. 
 
 3 . And if che Papifts can but prove themfelves true Chriftians, 
 I will quickly prove that the Protcftanrs are in Communion with 
 them {till, as Chriftians.by the fame Head (Chrift) the fame 
 fpirit, baptifm, faith, lovc,hope, &c. though not as Papifts, by 
 fubje&ion to the fame ufurper. 
 
 4. Our queftion is of the Vniverfal Church : And this man 
 nameth us twenty or thirty men in an age that he faith were pro- 
 feflfors of their Religion ; And doth he believe in good fadnefs 
 that twenty or thirty men are either the univer fall Church } or a 
 iufficient proof that it was of their mind ? 
 
 5. But principally, did this man think that all, or any befides 
 their fubje&s had their wits fo far to feek,as to believe that the 
 perfons named in his Catalogue were Papifts , without any 
 proof in the world , but raeer'y becaufe they are lifted here by 
 H. T. ? Or might he not to as good purpofe havefaved his la- 
 bour, and faid nothing of them ? 
 
 6. But what need we go any further ? we will begin with him 
 at his firft Century, and fo to the fecond, and if he can prove 
 that JefusChrift, or the Virgin Mary t or John Bafti ft , or the 
 Apoftles,or any one of the reft that he hath nimed,were Pa- 
 pifts, (much more all oftheraj I am refolved prefently to 
 turn Papift. But unle.s the man intended to provoke hisrea^ 
 der to an unrevercnt laughter about thisabufeof holy things, 
 one would think he fliould not have named John Baptifi , that 
 was dead not only before Rome bad a Church,but alfo before the 
 time that BelUrmine and his Brethren pretend that Peter re- 
 
 T 2 ceived 
 
1 4 o A Kjyfor Catbolicks. 
 
 ceived bisComnvfjion, to be theuniverfall Head. And did noc 
 this writer know that Proteftanrs can give him the fame names 
 as for them ? and if printing them be proof, their proof is as 
 good : If it be not, what proof fhall we have? Our proof is 
 the Holy Scriptures, written by the Infpiration of the Holy 
 Ghoft in thofe times. Therce we prove chat the firft Church 
 held the fame belief as we have : yea, though it be not incum- 
 bent on us, we will thence prove that the Catholick Church was 
 not then P. pills. Whyelfedo we flill appeal to Scriptures, and 
 they refafe to Hand to the tryal of it any otherwifethen as 
 expounded by the Pope, but that we arc confident, find they 
 d Ardent of them > We know tbeApoftles faith from the Apo- 
 't!cs ^ but the Papifts will not know it but from the prefent 
 Church of Rome. 1 hey tell you the Apoftles were for them ; 
 but how know we that? Why by the teftimony of the next 
 t ge : and where isthatteftimony ? Why the third age received 
 it; and how is that proved? Whybecaufe the fourth ar,e was 
 of their mind; And how prove you that? Whv in tbeupfhor, 
 becaufe the present age is of their mind: Wh^ but moft Chri. 
 ftiansof the prefent age, are againft them: yea, butrhey are 
 none of the Church: It is only the prefent Church of Rove. 
 Well .' but the pre'ent Church of Rome reprefenred in a Gene- 
 ral Council may err. I, but the Pope cannot in Cathedra and in 
 app'oving a Council!. So that thefuram is this : IfthePope 
 himfelf may be ;udge,the Apoftles werePipifts : Butif the Apo- 
 ftles may be heard themfelves, they were none. 
 
 I make no doubt ( though Btllirmine deny it,) tut other 
 Churches can prove as good a fucceifionas the Romane, as to 
 Bifhops^ And poor Bel'armite after all is fain to give up 
 this Mark a§ infurficient to prove a true Church. Lib. 3 -de 
 Ecc/ef.cap. 8. Dico fecunlo, Argumentum a fuccefsione legitime 
 adferri a nobis fracifue ad frtbandim n«n ejfe Ecc/ejiam ubi 
 mneft hac f/tccefsio, quod qui dem evident eft: ex quo tamennon 
 eoiligitttr ttecetfario, ibi ejfe Ecclcftam nbi eft fuccejfio. By his 
 own confeflnon then> fuccefiion will not prove the Romanifts a 
 true Church. 
 
 Bui as to a fucceffion of Religion , and a continuation of the 
 Catholiek Church, for my part, I am fo far from declining ic. 
 In argumentation, thatlbere.folemnly profefs to all the Pa- 
 
 pifls. 
 
A t\ey for (^atbolicks. \ 4 1 
 
 pifts that ftiall read thefe words, that, AS SOON AS I 
 SHALL SEE ANY CERTAIN PROOF, BY 
 CATALOGUE OR ANY OTHER WAY, THAT 
 THE CATHOLTCK CHURCH, HATH SUC- 
 CESSIVELY FROM AGE TO AGE BEEN 
 PAPISTS,IWILL TURN PAPIST WITHOUT 
 DELAY: AND I CHALLENGE THEM TO 
 GIVEUS SUCH PROOF IF THEY CAN. 
 
 Nay if they will prove that in the firft age alone, or the 
 fecond.or third alone,the Catholick Church were Papifts, I am 
 -Jfn rcfolved to turn Papift : Nay I am mod confident they can- 
 not prove that in any one age to this day, the Catholick Church 
 were Papift?. 
 
 And as to H Ts. Catalogue, I rcrurnhim fuither snfwer, 
 that no one named by him in the firfl sge hrd any one of 
 their errors: And no one named by him to the year four hun- 
 dred, ( I may add, tothe year fix hundred, if his falfe catalogue 
 be truly corrected) was a Papift; fo well hath he pre v:d the Po- 
 p fhSucceflion. 
 
 But for the plainer opening of this, I fhall add thedifcuffionof 
 another of their deceits* 
 
 Ch a p. XXV. 
 
 DtttEl.16. A Nother notable fraud of the Papifts, is, to 
 XjL confound all their own errors and corruptions 
 together , and then to inftance in feme of thofe errors that are 
 common tothemrrith feme ethers, and to omit the Ejfentiatl parts 
 of Popery : And fo they would make the world btlieve, that if 
 they prove the Antiquity of any points in difference between 
 them and us, they do thereby prove the anr:qukv of Popery 
 ( and foof tbefucceffion ) And fothev would mike our Reli- 
 gion alfo EflentiaMy to confift inevery in r enour difference be- 
 tween us. 
 
 Suffer them not therefore thus to juggle in the dark, bur di- 
 ftinguifh between the Effentials of Popery , or the m.-in d»ff»« 
 rence between them and u«, and the other errors, which are 
 not proper to them alone, 
 
 T Jj Thut. 
 
14* A I - k s - 
 
 Thus BilLirmir.: ctftfn his jogltng lib. 1- de Ecclef. cap. 9. 
 where he p'.eadeth Aoriqu'ttv of Do&rine as a Note of the 
 true Church : And ( faun he ) J*m an bus modis y Scc- Tn> 
 ypnjes fte may by this Mark prove our Chnrch. I. By jhtwin* 
 ■the fentences of the Ancients y b) which ive confirm all oar tenets, 
 and refute cur adversaries. Bin this way ( lath he ) is mofl 
 prolix , ar.d dbmoxiutti to many calumnies and cbjcclions. ( Mar* 
 Papifo,ind take lieed of appealing to Antiquity.) The other way 
 ( faith he ) is fhmer andfttrer, by jhewingfrfl from the confef- 
 fion of the adv.rfayics, that our tencnts are the doUrim of all the 
 dnne»ts,&:c.] And indeed if the weaknefs or raftineU of any 
 Proreftants be the Papifts fttengt^ \i s (\ mt f or us to be more 
 prudent ; but if it be the Papifts unhappinefs that cannot under- 
 stand the antiems in the smients, but only from the Pope or the 
 Proteflants, the Fathers art fain into the hands of Babies as 
 well as the Scriptures •, and the Proteftants have too little wit if 
 they Will join with the P^peinan abufive interpreting the Fa- 
 thcrs for the Papifls. And thus BelUrmine proceeds to cite 
 Calvin, and the Cencuriils, as giving them the Fathers. But 
 wherein? Forfoorh in the point of Frec--iri!l t Limbt4s, Concupi- 
 fcence.Lint, Lay baptifm in necefsity, &c. And therefore by 
 our Confefsions Antiquity is for thePapifts. And this is their 
 fhorteil and furefl way. ( The core fools we then. ) Is not 
 here great diffidence in the Fathers, when they have more con- 
 fidence in our layings then their writings ? 
 
 But this jugling will not ferve the turn. Take up the Ef- 
 fcntials of Popery, and prove a Gatholick fuccefsion of them, 
 and you fhall win the day. In Explication of my former profefsi- 
 ons, I here again folemnly promife and proteit,thac [WHEN 
 EVER I SEEA VALID PROOF OF A CA- 
 THOLICK SUCCESSION OF THESE FOL- 
 LOWING POINTS, I WILL PRESENTLY 
 TURN PAPIST: OR OF ANY ONE OF THEM, 
 I WILL TAKE-UP THAT ONE.] And I provoke 
 the Papifts that boait of Tradition, Succefsion and Antiquity,co 
 do this if they are able. 
 
 1. Lee them prove a Catholick Succefsion, or continuation 
 s point, thitThePope of Home is appointed by Chrifttobe 
 tver fall Monarch) Soveraign^ovcrmhr^ Head of the £V 
 
 thelic\ 
 
A FQy for Qatholicks . 145 
 
 tholic\ Church, and the Vicar of (fhrifl on earth, and holding 
 the place of God himfelf whom all muft obey. 
 
 2. And that the true and only Cat ho lick. Church is a Society 
 thus headed and Governed by the Pope, and that no man is a true 
 member of the Catholick. Church, that is net the fubjetl cf the 
 Pope as univerfal CMonarch : Nor can any other befaved,as being 
 without the Church. 
 
 3. And that the (fhurch of Rome is by Cjofo appointment the 
 Aiiftris of all other Churches. 
 
 4. And that the Pope of Rome is Infallible. 
 
 5. That we cannot believe the Scriptures to be the word of God, 
 or the Chriflian dotlrine to be trtn, but upon the Authoritative 
 Tradition of the Roman Church, and upon the knowledge or belief 
 of their Infallibility : that is , we muji believe \n the Pope as In- 
 fallible , before we can believe in Chrifl ( ft ho is pretended to give 
 him that infallibility. ) 
 
 6.That no Scripture is by any man to be interpreted but accord- 
 ing to the fence of the Pope or Roman Church^andthe unanimous 
 conftnt of the Fathers. 
 
 7. That a General Council approved by the Pope cannot err ; 
 but a General Ceuncil not approved by the Pope may err. 
 
 8. That nothing is to us an A> ti le of faith till it be dccU-edby 
 the Pope or a General Council ; (thsugh it was long before declared 
 by Chrifl or his Apojlles as plain as they can fpeukj. ) 
 
 9. That aGeneral Council hath no more validity then the Pope 
 giveth it. 
 
 1 0. That no Paflor hath a valid Ordination, unlefs it be derived 
 from the Pope. 
 
 1 1 . That there are Articles of faith of Ntceffity to our Salva* 
 tion, which are not contained in the Holy Scriptures, nor can be pro- 
 ved by them. 
 
 1 2. That fuch Traditions are to be received with equal piout 
 affeflion and reverence as the holy Sc-iptures. 
 
 13. That Images have equal honour with the Holy Go. 
 
 fP'l- 
 
 I4« That the Clergy of the Caiholick^Church ought to ffrcar . 
 obedience to the P pe as Chrifl s Vicar. 
 
 1 5. That the Pope fhsuldbea temporal Prince. 
 
 16. That the Pope and his Clergy ought to be exempted front' 
 
 the- 
 
! ^ ± ^ /^g for Q<x i bolicks . 
 
 the government of Prir.ccs,aad Princes ought not to judge anipx- 
 nijjj the Clergy, till the Po'c deliver them to their power, havm* 
 degraded than. 
 
 i 7. That the Pope may difpofjefs Princes of their Dominions, and 
 oive them to others, if thofe Princes befuch as hejudgeth kirctickj, 
 or will not exte minate Hereticltj. 
 
 lR.That in [ach c*fe> the Pope may difcharge all the fub jells 
 from '.heir allegiance and fidelity. 
 
 1 9. That the Pope in kis own Territories, and Princes in theirs , 
 mujf burn or otherwife put to death , all that deny Tranfubftanti- 
 ationjhe Popes Soveraignty^r fuchdMrines as are afore exprejfed , 
 when the n ope kath fentenccd them- 
 
 ZO.That the pecple fhjuld ordinarily be forbidden to read the Scri- 
 pture in a known tongue j except fome few that have a licenfefnm 
 the ordinary. 
 
 2 1 . That public^ Prayers, Trayfes and other puhlickworfhip of 
 God, fhndd be performed conjlantly in a language not under ftoodby 
 the People ; tr only in Latine, Greeks or Hebrew. 
 
 2 2. That the Bread and wine in the Eucharift, is Tranfub- 
 t ami ate into the very body and bloob of Chrifi ^ [0 that it is no more 
 true Bread or Wine , though our eyes , t aft \ and feeling tell us that 
 it is. 
 
 23 That the confecrated ho(l is to be rvorfhipped wi;b Divine 
 rporjhip, andcalledour Lord God. 
 
 24. That the Pope may oblige the people to receive the Eucha- 
 rift only in one kind ,and forbid them the Cup. 
 
 25. That the /ins called venial by the Papifts,Are properly nt 
 fins, and defer ve no more but temporal puni/hment. 
 
 26. That we may be perfect in this life by this double perfection. 
 1 . To h*ve no ftn, but to k,eep all Godt Law perfectly. 2 . To fu~ 
 
 pererogate, by doing more then is our Duty. 
 
 27. That eur works properly merit falvation of God, byway 
 of Commutative fuflice, or by the Condignity «f the -works as 
 proportioned to the Reward. 
 
 28' That Prit ft s Should generally be fordidden Marriage. 
 29. That there is a fire called Purgatory^ -where fouls are tor' 
 mented, and where fin is pardoned^ in another -world. 
 
 3 o. That in Baptifm there is an imphcite vow of obedience to 
 the Pope of Home. 
 
 1 1. That 
 
A l^ey for Catholich. 145 
 
 $i. That God is ordinarily to be wor flipped by the Oblation of a 
 true proper propitiatory Sacrifice for the living axd the dead , rrbere 
 the 'Prieft only jh all eat and dr. nk. the body and blood of Chrift , 
 r:ij le the Congregatim look on aid partake not. 
 
 32 That the Canon of Scrpture is the fame that is dec'a"edby 
 the Council of Trent . 
 
 I will oafs by abundance more to avoid tedioufnefs; And I 
 will nor flay to enquire which of thefe are proper to the Papifts. 
 Dud am refolved loro receive many of them as they can prove 
 a Catholick facceftion of ^ that is, that they were in all ages the 
 Do&rincofthe Uiiverfil Church ; Andl crave rhe charity of 
 fuch a proof from fome Papilt or other , if they have any cha- 
 rity in chem j and that they will no longer keep univerfal Tradi- 
 tion in their purfes. 
 
 And I would defire H.T. to rcvife his Catalogue, and in- 
 ftead of twenty or thirty dead and filent names , that fignirie 
 romoretlien Blanks or Cyphers, he would prove that both 
 thofe p^rfons and the Catholick Church did in every age hold 
 thefe thirty two forementioneddoArines. And whenhith done, 
 then let him boaft of his Catalogue. Till they will perform this 
 task, let them nevermore forfhame call to us for Catalogues 
 or proof of fucceflion. But if they are fo unkind that they wiii 
 not give us any proof of fuch a Catholick fucceflion of Popery, 
 we (hall be ready to fupererogate, and give them full proof 
 of the Negative, -That there hath been no fuch fucceffton of thefe 
 thirty two point f,]a.s foon as we can perceive that they will ingeni- 
 oufly entertain ic.though indeed it hath been often donealready. 
 But certainly it bclongeth to them that fuperinduce 
 more Articles of Faith, to prove the continuation of their own 
 Articles through all age? ; of which anon. 
 
 Well/ but one of thefe Articles at \caft(the Popes Sovereignty) 
 H. T. will prove fucceffively, if you will be credulous enough. 
 In thefirftage he proves it from Peters words, AEi. 157, 8, o, 
 10. God chofe Peter to convert Cornelius and hi- csmpany : there 
 fore the Pope is the Vnivtrfll Monarch. Are you not ail con- 
 vinced by this admirable argument ? But be forgot that Bellar- 
 mine, Ragufms ( in Cor.cil. Bafil. ) and others of them fay, 
 .that no Article can be p oved from Scripture , but from the 
 proper liter -all fence. To lay fomewhat mare, he unfeafonably 
 
 U talks 
 
J 4 ^ ^ /^O' / or Catholtcks . 
 
 *a!ksof the Council of Sard's and (^ulcedon y an. 4C0. & 45 r, 
 left the firft age have but a blink p. 
 
 In the fecond age he hath nothing but the names of a few thatf 
 never dreamt of Popery, and a Canon ( wh ch you mull believe 
 was the Apofll'es) th.it Prices mafi communicate. Of which we 
 are well contenr. 
 
 In the third Age he nameih fifteen Blfhops of Rome, of whom 
 thelaft wasdepofedfor offering intenfe to Saturn,] upiter, &c. 
 But not a fyllable to; prove that one qf thele Biftiops was the 
 univerfal Monarch: Much lefs that the Catholick Church was for 
 fuch Monarchy. But to excufe the matter ,' hetelbyou, that 
 the fecond and third Age produced no Councils (the greater de- 
 ceiversthen are the Papiits that have found us Councils then) 
 and fo you have no Catholick fuccefilon proved. Tea, but he 
 faith, they have [ucceffions of Popes^MJtrtjrs and Ccnftffors, which 
 ij fufficient for their pur pfifes. See the. ftrength of Popery I Any 
 thing is fufficient for your purpofes, \t kerns. Rome had Btfhop.-, 
 therefore they were the Univerfal Ruler* of the Church; A 
 flrong confequence ! Rome had Martyrs and ConfcfTors : there- 
 fore it was the Miftris of all Churches. Who can refift thefe 
 arguments? But why did you not prove that your Confeflbrs 
 and Martyrs fufTered for attcfting the Popes Soveraignty I 
 If they fuffcred but for Cbriftiantty .," that will prove them 
 but Chrifti3ns,andnotPapin:s. Thus you feeto theconfufion 
 of the Papifts , that they have nothing to (hew for the fucceflion 
 or antiqaity of Popery for the three firft Ages. Yea worfe . 
 then nothing : For here he comes in with fome of the Decre- 
 tals forfooth of fome of their Bifhops. Decretals unknown, tili 
 a while ago in the world, brought out by Jfidore Af ere at on . 
 but with fo little cunning as left them naked to the fhame of the 
 world ; thefalfhood of them being out of therafelves fully p:o- 
 ved,by Blondell^Reignolds, and many more,and confeffed by fame 
 ofthemfelves. Here yon fee the firft foundation of Papal fuccefo 
 Hon ; even a bundle of fi ft ions, lately fetcht from whence they! 
 pleafe to cheat the ignorant part of the world. 
 
 But in the fourth and fifth ages B. T. doth make us amends 
 for his want of proof from the three firft. But fuppofe he do ; 
 whats that to a fuccefiion .while the three firft ages are ftrarg^ 
 ft) Popery f Well / but lets hear whzr he hath at laft. His firft 
 
 proof 
 
A f\eyfw Catholkks. 147 
 
 proof ( after a few filcnc nann.es ) is from the Council tf Nice ; 
 And what faith that?why i Jt defined that theSon of Godis cenfub- 
 ftantiall te his Father, und trjie God And wha;s t hat to Popery ? 
 2 But it defined the Popcj Soveraigniji But how prove you that ? 
 Why it is in the thirty nin.h Arab. Canon. O what Conferences 
 havcthofe men that dire thus abufe and cheat the ignorant i 
 As if the Canons of the firft General Council bad never been 
 known to the world, till the other day that Alphonftis Pifanns 
 a Jofilice publifheththem our of Pope Julius and I know not 
 what Arabick book. Thcfe men that can m^ke both Councils 
 and Canons at their pleafure above a thousand }ears after the 
 fuppofed time of their exigence, do never need to want authori- 
 ty. And indeed this is ^cheaper way of Canon-making in a 
 coiner, then to trouble all the Bifliops in the world with a great 
 deal of co!j and travail to make thern. But if this be the founda- 
 tion, tm& building is anfwerablc. Their Bi (hep Zofimm had 
 not been acquainted wish thcfe new Articles of an old Council, 
 when he put his trick upon the fixth Council of Carthage, where 
 for the advancement ofhis power (though not toanuniverfall 
 Monarchy, yet to a- preparative degree ) he layeth his claim 
 from the Council of iWctyis faying \_Placuit ut ft Epifcopm ac 
 c»fattisJfterit,Scc] which was that If an (jetted Bifisop appeal 
 ro Rome, the Biftcp of Rome appoint feme of the next province ts 
 judge ; »r if yet he'dejtre his captfe to be heard ,the Bifhop of Rome 
 Jh ail appoint a Presbyter hit Legate, &c. ] In this Council were 
 2i7.Bi(hops,yf«rf/wbeing prefident,and Attguflinc being one. 
 They told the Pope that they would yield to him till the true co- 
 pies of the Council of Nice were fearched ; for thofe that they 
 had feen had none of them thofe words in, xbatZofimus alledged. 
 Hereupon they fend abroad to theChurchesoftheEaft,toCc»*, 
 flantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, &c. for the ancient Canons. 
 From hence they received feveral copies, which all agreed j but 
 none of them had either Zoftmns forgery in- nor the forged 
 claufe which Bellarmm muft have in; much lefs the eighty 
 ■Canons of Pifanus the Jefuite, or this one which H T. doth 
 found his fucceffion on , but only the twenty Canons there men* 
 tioned, which have no: a word for the Popes Soveraignty. 
 
 And here note 1 . That Zofimus knew not then of Pifanus Ca- 
 cons, or dfe he would have al'edged them ; nor yet of Bellar- 
 
 U a mines 
 
148 A I\ey for Otbolicks. 
 
 mines new pare of a Canon for the Primacy of the Bifliop of 
 Rome. 2. That Zofimus himfelfhad not the faith, the wit or the 
 memory, to plead either Scripture, Apoftolical Inflitution, or 
 Tradition, for his priviledge^but only a falfe Canon of the Coun- 
 cil of Nice : as looking no higher it fecms for his authority. 
 3. How early the Roman Bifliops begun both to afpire , 
 and make ufe of forgeries to accomplifh it. 4, That there 
 wasnofuch Apoftolick or Church Tradition for this Roman 
 power, as our Matters of Tradition now plead for ; which all the 
 Catbolick Church mud know. For the wholeCounci'.wiih all the 
 Churches of Cenfiantinople, Alexandria, Antiocb, &c. th.t is, 
 in a manner all five Rome were ignorant of that which Zofimm 
 would have had them believe, and Bcllarmineand H. T. would 
 have us to believe. 5. Note alfo how little the Church then be- 
 lieved the Popes infallibility. 6. Yea Note, how upon tta recep- 
 tion of the feveral Copies of the N ; cene Canons, they modeflly 
 convi&ed Zoftmut of falfhood : And how the Council refolved 
 againft his ufurpation. See in the African Council?, the Epiflle 
 of Cjril and Alexandra, and Atticusof.Cenflant-nop'e: and 
 theEpiftles of the Council to Boniface and CeUfline. In 
 their Epiftle to Boniface before they, had received their nn- 
 fwers from other Churches about the Nicene Canons, they 
 tell him that the) believed thej Jhould not fhfftr that Arro- 
 gancy [ nonfumus iflum typhum pajfuri ~] But to CeUfline they 
 conclude more plainly, though modeftly Q Presbytirorum cjrtos}\ 
 Crfec[uentium,&c.i.e. \ Let jour holintfs , as befeemeth you, re- 
 fill the wicked refuges of Presbyters and the Clergy that follow 
 them ; becaufe this is not derogate, or taken from the African 
 Church by any Definition of the Fathers ; and the Nicene Decrees 
 mofl plainly committed both the infer -our C^rjy , A*d Bifhops 
 themfelves to the Metropolitans. For they did mofl prudently, and 
 ■mtfl juftly provide , that all bujinejfes (N.B. all ) fieuld be 
 ended in the very places where they begun ; and the Grace of the 
 holy GhoflVt ill not ( or Jhould not ) be Wanting to each province * 
 which equity Jhould by the Triefts ofChrift be prudently obferved, 
 and mofl conjfantly maintained: Efpecialh, becaufe it is grantid 
 to every one to appeal to the Councils of their cttv> Province , 
 or to a V 'niver fall Council , if he be of ended with the judge- 
 ment of the Cegnitcrt. Vnltfs thtre jhould be any one that can 
 
 think : 
 
A l\ey jor Qitbolicks. 149 
 
 thinks that our God can infpire a jxftice of trjall into an] one man 
 ( N. B. ) and deny it to innume; s.b'e Friefi s that are congregated 
 in Council/. Or how can that judgement thus pafi beyond fea 
 be valid, to which the neceffary ferfens of the witnefs could not be 
 brought, cither becanfe of the infirmities of fex/r of age \maiy other 
 impediments intervening. For that any ( '. e. Legates ) Jh uld be 
 fent as from the fide of yow hclinefs,rv, find not cenfiituted by any 
 Synod of the Fathers. Btcaufe that which you fent us bj onr ftl> 
 low Bijhopv- u([\nu^ as done by the Nicene Council in the truer 
 Councils, received as the Niece, ( fent from holy C ynl our fel- 
 low Bi/hcp of the Church of A 'ex in dm , and from venerable 
 Atticus the Bifij-.p of Conftantinop'e, out of the Authenticity (Re- 
 cords,) which alfo heretofore were fent by us to Boniface yjur 
 predeceff J r i Bifhop of venerable memory, by Innocent a 'Presbyter^ 
 a>.d Marcellus Subdeacen, by whom they were from them to us di- 
 rected, ) imvhich we could find no fwh matter, \s4nd do not ye fend 
 your Clergy executors to potent men ; do not ye field to it ; /eft we 
 feem to bring the fmoaky ^rrogancy of the world ( or fecular ar ■ 
 rogancy ) into the Church of Chrifi, which preferreth the light of 
 fimplicity ard day of humility fir them that dc fire to fee God. For 
 of our brother Fauftinus, we arefecure, that the fafe brotherly cr^- 
 rityinynr ho lint (fits honefiy ani moderation y can fuffer him to fay 
 m longer in Africa. 3 
 
 Well faid Aureliui I Well faid A U gufiine ! Well faid all you 
 African Fathers'. Hid others P.uckas clofeto it asyou 3 th.2pa. 
 pacy had been kept from the Univerfail Monarchy. 
 
 Note here i. That this Counc 1 lookt no higher for the pow- 
 er of the Pope and other Metropolitans, then to the Council of 
 Nice , and thought it a good argument, that th^ Pope hid no 
 fuch power, becaufe no Council had lb fubje&ed the A r rican 
 Church.- And therefore they never dreamt that Chrift or the 
 ApofHes had given it him. 2. Note that they evince the Nullity 
 of his pretended power out of the N. cere Council. 3. Note that 
 they took him not to be above a Council, having power to dif- 
 penfe with its Canons. 4. Note that by the Nicere Council, not 
 fome, but all bufinefs muft be ended where thev begin, and this 
 Council fo inter prered 1 hem : and therefore rbcrt/s noappeals 
 to the Pope. 5. And that he that faith otherwife unjuftly chugtth 
 the Holy Ghoft to be wanting to tht( hu'eh. 6. Thacihsor- 
 
 U. 3 der 
 
i j o A I\ey for Catbolicks. 
 
 der is to be held faft. 7. That they took icfor a fufficienc rea- 
 for. againft appeals to ^cwi?,becaufe all might appeal to a provin- 
 cial or general Council. 8. Note that rhey thought it a thing 
 not to be imagined by a man, that God fiiould give his Spirit to 
 any one man> even to the Pope,to enable him to try and judge, 
 and deny it to a Council, General or Provincial. This fecmed 
 to them a thing that none fhould imagine, (o that they little 
 dreamt of the Roman infallibility or power of Judging all the 
 world. 9. Note alfo that they thought the Popeto beuncapa- 
 ble of this univerfal judgement, were it but by diftance, and the 
 natural impediments of age, fex, and many the like that muft 
 needs hinder the neceffiry witnefTes from fuch a voyage or 
 journey. So that they give an Argument from Natural necef- 
 fity againft the Popes pretended Soveraignty and judgement. 
 
 10. Note alfo that they plainly make fuch judgements to be in- 
 valid for want of necefifiry witnefs and means of profecution. 
 
 1 1 . And whereas the Pope might objed that he could prevent 
 all this by his Legates, they flatly reje&that too, and fay they 
 find no fuch thing Conftituted by any Synod : fo that they 
 both re je&cd the Popes trying and judging by Legates in other 
 Metropolitans jurisdiction ; and they took it for a Efficient 
 ground to do fo , that there was no Council had fo conftituted; 
 little dreaming of a Scripture conftitution, or Apoftolical Tra- 
 dition. And if the Pope may neither judge them by himfelf 
 nor his Legates, he may fit ftill. 12. Next they convince the 
 Roman Bilhop of fending them a falfe Canon of the Nicene 
 Council 1 3 . And they (hew us here what way the Pope then 
 took to get and keep his Power .• even by fending to the fecular 
 commanders of the Provinces, (in whom they had fpecial intereft: 
 by their rcfidencc at Rome, ) to execute their wills by force. 
 14. And note how the Council plainly accufeth them for this, 
 of introducing fecular Arrogancy into Chrifts Church, that bet- 
 ter loveth fimplicity and humility and light. 15. And note 
 how plainly they require the Bifhop of Rome to do fo no more. 
 16. And how plainly they tell him that Fattftinus his ftayany 
 longer in Africa will not ftand with that honefty and modera- 
 tion of the Bilhop of Rome which is neceffary to the fafety of 
 brotherly charity. 
 
 1 J give you but the plain paflages of the Council as they lie be-, 
 
 fore 
 
A I^ey for Qatholkks . 1 5 j 
 
 fore you, and fcrucno forced confequences from them. And 
 now let Binnius and his brethren go make women and children 
 believe tbac it was not Appeals to l\otv.c,but a trouble feme mam.tr 
 »f tryalthtt die Council was againfV. And let H. T. tell men 
 that take him for infallible^ aNieene Cinon for the Popes Su- 
 premacy and Monarchy. And Ice him periwzde ideots and. do- 
 tards that the Catholick Church in the lounh and fifth ages 
 for the univerfal Government of the Pore. Ai d fo J p. J 
 to his nexr proof. 
 
 Saith H. T. [The fir/l Conftanmcp.Council d creed: ' 
 of Conftantinople to be chief next the Bifhop of Home. ] 
 
 An fa. i. You fee then that Primacy was but the Initiation of 
 Councils, for order fake. 2. You fee then that it was grounded 
 on a fecular reafon; for fo faith the Canon [becaufcitis mrt 
 Rome. ] 3. You fee then that the Popes Primacy was but hono- 
 rary , and gave him no univerfal Government. For the p . i~ 
 micy here granted to Conflantinsple , gave them no Govern- 
 ment over Alexandria, Antioch^&cc. 4. Yea exprefly the fe- 
 cond Canon limits all Bifhops without exception to their own 
 Diocefs. And Jo doth the third Canon, exprefly affirming 
 £ that according to the Nicene (Council in ever) province, the pro- 
 vincial Council ought to adminifler avd govern all things.'] See' 
 now what a proof here is of Catholtck luccefficn of the Roman 
 Monarchy / Nay how clearly (till it is difproved to that time. 
 The next proof of H. T. is from the third Atl of the firfi 
 Council of Ephefus, thatVstCTj/et lives and exercifes judgement im 
 his Succejforj ] AnfaWz turns us to look a needle in a bottle of 
 hay. That Council is a large volume, containing fix Tomesii 
 Binrdus , and not divided into Afts. But I (uppofe at laft 
 I have found the place, Tom. 2. c 15. where the words 
 \_thit Peter \xai the Headof the Ap(,files~\ though nothing to 
 their purpofe, are neither Ipoken nor approved by the Council ,. 
 but only by Philip a Presbyter, Celejlines Legate. And the 
 Council, though fpecially moved by his concurrence to cx:oll 
 Cclejline to the highett,yct r.Never [pake a word of his Govern- 
 ing power or Soveraignty , but only his concent : And when 
 they mention the Roman Church, it is only their co-cen; which 
 they predicate. 2. And theyextoll Cyril equally widi Ctle/finc 
 [Novo Paulo Ccl'flw ( they forgot Btter ) Novo l>Auh Ct- 
 
1^2 A I{ey for Catholicks. 
 
 rillo: . Vntt Celeftinsds , Vntis Cyrillus,'] &c. 
 
 The next wicnefs brought is the Council of Calcedtn^as caU 
 ing Leo ZJniverful A r chbifiop and Patriarch of old Rome, and 
 fenttnee is pronounced againjl D.ofcorus in the names ofL-0 and 
 Saint Peter. ] Anfw. i. Thisi* but one of your common frauds. 
 It was not the Council that called him univerfall Archbfhop, 
 but two Deacons in the fuperfcription of their Libel^viz.TWo- 
 d'jras and Ifchirion. And were they the Cathoiick Church? 
 2.ByQ Vniverfal Archbifljop~\ its plain that they meant no 
 more then the. chief in dignity and order of all Arcbbifiops ; and 
 not the Governour of all. 3. I have fhewed you before that 
 this very Council in its Canons not only give the Biftiop of Con- 
 ft anthople equal priviledges with the Bifhop of Rome , but ex- 
 prefly lay that Rome received this primacy of trder a patnbus, 
 from a Council \becaufc it was Sedes Imperii, the feat of the Empe • 
 rofir. I thought 1 had given you enough of this Council before. 
 Sure I am when Bellarmine comes to this Canon,he hath nothing 
 to fay for his caufe, but plainly to charge this famous fourth 
 General Council with lying or fal(hood,and to fay, that the 
 Pope approved not this Canon. But approved or not approved, 
 if this was the Catholick Church representative, furelarnthat 
 their teftimony is valid to prove that there was then no Catho- 
 lick reception of the Roman Monarchy as of God, but contrarily 
 a meer primacy of Dignity and Honour given it newly by men. 
 In the fix:h age he had not one Council to pretend it feems for 
 the Roman Sovcraignty, for he cites none, but about other mat- 
 ters (of which anon. ) 
 
 In the feventh age (which he calls the fixtb) though then 
 the Soveraignty was claimed by Boniface fit citeth no Council for 
 it niether. 
 
 In the eighth age ( from the year feven hundred ) he cites the 
 fecond Council of Nieces approving anEpiftleof Pope Adrian^ 
 wherein he faith that the Roman Church is the Bead of all Chur- 
 ches. ~] Anfw. 1. But whether ^r/<*»himfelfby the Head meant 
 the chief in Dignity, or the Governour of all, is a great doubt. 
 2. But whatever he meant, the Synods approving bis Epiftle for 
 Images, is no proof that they approved every word in it. 3 . Yea 
 Tharafius feems to imply the contrary, calling him or\y J'eteris 
 Rom-t primas & tefiatorum principum fucceffor ; as if his Sea 
 
 had 
 
A E^ey for Catholich. 
 
 [ J? 
 
 had the Prmledge only of being the Primate of Rome and noc 
 the Ruler of the world. 4. But if this Council did ^ as it did 
 not) openly own the Papal Soveraignty, it had been no great 
 honour to him : For as in their decrees for Images they con- 
 tradi&ed two Councils at Conflantinople - t and that at Frank- 
 ford contradi&eth them j fo might they as wellcontradid the 
 Church in this.- Even as they defined Angels to be corporeal 
 which the Council of Later anc afterward contradicted. But the 
 plain truth is, it was the fcope of Adrians Epiftle as for Images 
 which they exprefTedtbemfelvcsto approve. And that their 
 Image-worfliipitfelfhath no Catholick fuccefiion, me thinks 
 they (hould eafily grant, confidering not only, 1 . That there is 
 nothing in the firft ages for them. 2. And that Epiphanitts 
 and many before him fpeak exprefly againft it. 3.Butfpeci- 
 ally that there have been more General Councils of thofe ages 
 againft them then for them, and that before this of Nice de- 
 creed for them , the reprefentative Catholick Church ( ex- 
 cept (till the Pope be the Catholick Church ) did condemn 
 them. 
 
 I fuppofe by this time you will think it needlefs for me to 
 follow H. T. any further in his Catalogue. I am content that 
 any impartial fober perfon judge, whether here be a fatisfa&o- 
 ry proof of a Catholick fucceflion of the Papal Sovtraignn 
 when through fo many ages, they bring not a word for any fuc- 
 ceflion at all ; much lefs that it was owned by the Catho- 
 lick Church : and leaft of all that all the reft of Popery was 
 fo owned. 
 
 ObjecT But at leafl fome other points of Popery are proved by 
 H.T.to have [uchafttccejfion. Anfw.Peruk his proofs and freely 
 judge. Two of the thirty two Articles which I mentioned be- 
 fore he fpeaksto : The one is that Bijhops, Prieflsand Deacons 
 fbould abftainfrom their Wives , or be degraded. - ] But I. The 
 Council which he cites for this, is but a Provincial Council in 
 Spain in the fifth Age : and whats rhis to Catholick fuccef- 
 (ion ? 2. The Evidences for the Antiquity of Priefts marriages 
 ere fo clear and numerous, that I will not thank any of tbem 
 to confefs their doftrine a Novelty. 1 Cor.9. 5. Have we not 
 power to leadabtttta Sifter ^aWife as well as other -4poJlles % andas 
 the br"hrcn of the Lord and Cephas ? I hope they will not deny 
 
 X chat 
 
154 ^K§yf or Catholick* * 
 
 that Peter had a Wife ? I Tim. 3.2,4.^ Bifhop muft be blame - 
 
 lefs, the husband cf one Wife One that ruleth well his own 
 
 boptfe , having his children in fubjetlion With all gravity. 
 ver. 12. Let the Deacons be the husbands of one wife', ruling 
 their children^ and thtir own houfes well, Tit. I. 7. If any be 
 blamelefs, the husband of one Wife, having faithful! children^ 
 
 ■ The Ancient Canons called the Apoftles, fay, Can. 6. Let 
 
 not a Bifhop or Presbyter put away his orvn Wife on pretence of 
 Religion. And if he rejeft her, let him be excommunicated : but 
 if he perfevere, let him be defofed. ] Let Bellarmine perfwade 
 thofe that will believe him, that this Canon fpeaks but of deny- 
 ing them maintenance: Canons as well as Scripture are unin- 
 telligible to thefe men. The Canons at Trull, of the fifth 
 and fixth Council, do exprefly expound this Apoftolick Ca- 
 non as I do here : and they profefs it was the Apoftles con- 
 cefsion then to the Bifhops to marry : and they themfelves 
 forbid any to feparate Prielh from their Wives, and profefT.-dly 
 oppofe the Roman Church in it, Can. 12, 13. For this Bellar- 
 mine, Hb.2cap.27. de Pont if Rom. reproachetrr them , and 
 thats his anfwer. Forfooth, the Pope approved not thefe (fanons s 
 j. Let Adrians words be read, and then judge. 2. What if he 
 did not ? Our enquiry is of Catholick Tradition and fucceflion, 
 and not of the Popes opinion. But its eafie to bring much more 
 for this. 
 
 Another point that H. T. proves ,is, The fame Canon of Scrip- 
 ture which they own : And for this he brings one Provincial 
 Council, Cartk 3. as in the fixth Age. An excellent proof of 
 Catholick fuccefsion through all Ages. But have we not bet- 
 ter proof of the contrary ? Let him that would be fatisfiedper* 
 life thefe records and judge. Eufeb. Ecclef. Hift.l. 3 . cap. 9. 
 vel. 10. and there Jofeph. li. I. cent. Apion.Conftitut. Apoftol. 
 Cwhofoever was the author ) lib. 2. cap. 57. Canon. /Jpsft.. 
 tilt. Dionyf. Eccl. Hier.cap. 3. Melet. in Eufeb. Ec*l.Biflor. 
 lib. 5. cap. 14.. Origen in Niceph. hift. Ecclef. lib. %. cap. 16. 
 Ori^. Philocal. cap. 3. Eufeb. Hift. 1. 6. cap. 2$. Tertul. cont. 
 Mj.rcion. Carm. lib. 4. cap. 7. Athanaf. Tom. 2. Efifl. 39. Et 
 inSympf. Sacr.fcrip. Hilar. Pitlav.Explanat. in Pfalmos. Cy- 
 ril. ( vel. fohan.) Hierofol. Catech. 4. Ccncil. Laodic. C an S9» 
 Epiphan. baref. 8 . & 76". & de Menfur, & ponderib. Greg. 
 
 NAtJanz* 
 
A l(ey for Qaibolicks. \ j j 
 
 Nazianz. Carmin. deveris & genuinis libris SS. Amphiloch. in 
 Ba)fam.pag. 1082. Hieronym.in Prolog, in lib. Reg< & Prol. 
 in lib. Sslom.Et Epift.ad Lttam. & faffim.Ruff.nHs in Symbolum. 
 But what need I cice any more.when Dr. C *fi» hath done it in a 
 volume purpofely ? where this allegation alio of the third Cone. 
 Carthag. is anfwered. 
 
 AND now having (hewed you that Pa pifts cannot prow 
 any Catholick Succefiion, or Continuations Tradition 
 of their Religion, let us coniider of their filly (hifr,by inftancing 
 infome by -points common to thera with others. Of which 
 I (hall fay the lefs becaufe I have fpoke to it already in my Safe 
 Religion. 
 
 And before I mention any particulars, remember that Ib&Ye 
 proved before that ignorance or difference about many points 
 notefTential toChriftianity, may confift with our being of one 
 Religion and Catholick Church, and therefore fuch differences 
 are nothing to the point of fucceflion of the Catholick Church 
 or Religion. This is plain to any reafonable man. And that 
 the Papifts may fee that for their parts they have nothing to fay 
 againft it, I (hall add to what isfaid, that they tolerate or plead 
 for the toleration of greater differences among themfelves , 
 which yet they affirm to confift with the unity of faith. I will 
 now give you but an inftance or two. 
 
 Thejefuits maintain, that if a man do but believe in their 
 Pope and Church as infallible, he may f not only as fome fay, 
 be ignorant of fome Article of the Creed it felf,and yet be a 
 true Catholick,yea and befaved, butalfo) believe a falfe Arti- 
 cle as from God and the Church : The former is commonly 
 taught not only by fuch as JW«,that fay the Article of Chrifts 
 Defcent into Hell is not to all of Neceflity to Salvation, bue 
 by many others in the Do&rineof Implicite faith. The later 
 claufeyoumay fee among others in Franc. lAlbmims the 
 Jefuite, Corollar. pag. 250. where bis obje&ors put this cafe 
 [ Suppofe twenty Bifbops preach to a comtrej man a falfe Article, 
 as if it were fpokjn by God and the Church : that propofal of 
 the twenty Biftopsisfo fujficientjbat the Countrey man prudent- 
 ly formth an evident practical judgement , and morally certain, 
 
 X 5 n 
 
i c (J A K^y for Catholich . 
 
 to believe with a fpecttlative affent the Article propofed by the 
 twenty Bifhops, for the Authority of Cjod as the formal reafon. 
 Three absurdities fetm hence to follow. I . That the Countrey man 
 fiould be obliged under mortall fin, to believe the twenty Bifhops, 
 and fo the precept of faith fhould bind to believe a falfhood. Z-The 
 Countrey man fhould be in Gods Grace without faith. In Grace, 
 becaufe he commits no mortal fin , yea he obeys the command of 
 beluving : Ttt without faith, becaufe he believes a falfhood op- 
 tofite to faith, and fo lofetb faith. 3. GoA fhould concur to de- 
 ceive- 'To the firft Albertinus anfwereth that its noAbfurditj 
 
 that the command of faith do oblige to believe a falJhood,it being not 
 per k,but per accidens.,To the fecond he faith,that the Countrey 
 man doth not lofe his grace or faith, becaufe the falfhood believed 
 is not formally eppofite to the true faith ( but materially ) 
 
 Here you fee that a man may hold an Article oppofite 
 
 to the faith materially, and yet not only be a true Cbriftian in 
 grace and faith, but alfo in fo doing obey by accident the 
 command of believing, fo be it he believe in their Church. And 
 if that be h, with what face can thefe men fay,that our Church 
 or Religion is new,or not the fame with the Greeks, &c» when 
 we have the fame formal Objetft of faith, and differ in no 
 Effrntial Material point ? See here their lubricity and parti- 
 ality. 
 
 One Inftance more : The fecond Council of Nice that 
 decreed for Image- Worfhip , doth yet exprcfly decree thai 
 Latria , Divine worfhip is to be given only to God ; Thomas 
 Aquinas f urn. 3. ^25. art. 3. & 4. purpofely maintained 
 that Latria, Divine worfkipis to be given to the Image efChrift % 
 and to the Crofs that he dyed en ; and to the fign of that Crofs. 
 Here is an Article of their faith cxprefly contradicted : And 
 yet Aquinasis a member of their Church; And if any fay, he 
 it no member, its proved paft doubt , for the Pope hath Cano- 
 nized him for a Saint : So that now it is a part of their Religi- 
 on to take him for a true believer : And Albertinus hath ( as 
 he thinks ) proved, that though in many other matters of fadr 
 the Pope be fallible , yet in the Canonizing of Saints he is infal • 
 Jible, becaufe of fome promife of Gods fpeciall afsiftance ( if one 
 knew where to find it. ) Abundance of fuch Inftances might be 
 brought that prove, that the Papifis own men as true believers^, 
 
 that 
 
A Kjty for CatboUcks. 157 
 
 that deny or contradict Articles' of their faith.But what need we 
 rnore,then that France and thoufands elfwherc are yet members 
 of their Church,that deny the Laterane and Florentine definition 
 for the tropes Supremacy above a General Council ? and when 
 cjoft Papilis hold that Angels are incorporeal, contrary to the 
 definition of the faid fecond Council of Nice. And therefore 
 by their own law, nay much more, we may well fay that thofe 
 were of our Religion that differed from us in nothing that is in 
 deed or our efteera Effencial to the faith. Now to a few parti- 
 culars. 
 
 i . The Papifts tell us that £ Fulk confejfeth that Hierora, 
 Auftin, Arobrofe, &c. held the invocation of Saints ] H.T.p.49. 
 Anfa. 1. If any hold that they (hould defire the departed Saints 
 to pray for them, as ttiey do the living, we have reafon enough 
 to take it for their error, but its no proof that they are not of 
 the fame Church and Religion with us : As long as they give 
 no part of that adoration or honour to Saints which is proper 
 to God the Father, Son, or HolyGhoft, it is not inconfiftent 
 with true Faith andChriftianity. 
 
 2. But yet werauft tell you that the Primitive Church was 
 nnacquainted with the Romilh prayer to Saints. Till the end 
 of the fourth Century they are not able to prove that ever three 
 men ( if any one) were for any prayer to the Dead at all, 
 except fuch a conditional fpeechinan Oration as Greg. Nazi- 
 anzen hath £ If holy fouli have any care or feeling of fuch things 
 as thefe, receive this Oration~\ Orat. 11. I intreat the Reader 
 that needeth information of the way of Antiquity in this poinr, 
 to read Bifhop Vfhers Anfwer to the Jefuite on this point, page 
 418, &c. Where he faith that [_ for nine parts of the firfi four 
 hundred years, he dare be bold to fay that the Jefuite is not able to 
 produce fo much as one true teflimony out of any Father whereby 
 it may appear that any account at all was made of it"] Where 
 he citeth the full exprefs words of the Fathers of thofe firfl 
 ages againft praying to Saints,as Origen in Jus. Horn. 16. And 
 in Rom. lib. 2. cap. 2. And Contr. Celfum lib. S.page 432,43 3, 
 406, 4 1 1 , 4 1 2 . & lib. 5 . pag. 239. Tertullian Apol. cap. 3 o. 
 Tertullian and Cyprian of Prayer ; Athanafus Orat. 4. Cont . 
 Arrium pag\ 259, 260. Ecclef. Smyrn. apud Eufeb. Bifl. lib.4. 
 &c. I am loth to recite what is there already given you. 
 
 X 3 3 . And 
 
1 5 8 A t\ey for Catbolicks. 
 
 3 . And when Prayer to the deid did come in, how exceedingly 
 it differed from the Romifh Prayers to the dead, I pray you 
 read there in the fame Author. 4. And alfo of thofe Adorati- 
 ons and Devotions offered by the Papifts to the Virgin Mary % 
 Idefireyou to read in the fame Author, and Place, enough 
 to make a Chriftian tremble, and which for ray part I am noc 
 able to excufe from horrid Blafphemy or Idolatry , though I 
 am willing to put the beft interpretation on their words that 
 reafon will allow. 
 
 5...The Reafon why in the old Teftament men were not wont 
 to pray to Saints, Bellarmine faith w&sfrcaufe then they did not 
 enter into heaven nor fee God. Bellar. ie fantt.Beat. li. 2. cap. 1 9. 
 So Suartz in the third part, Tom. Z.difp.^2. Sett. 1. But 
 abundance of the chief Do&orsof the Church for divers Ages 
 were of opinion that the Saints are not admitted into Heaven 
 to the clear fight of God before the day of Judgement ( as mod 
 of the Eaftern Churches do to this day ) therefore they could 
 not be for thePopifti Prayer to Saints. 
 
 And here again obferve, that men may be of the fame faith 
 and Church with us.that differ and err in as great a matter as 
 this. The Council of Florence hath now defined it, that depart' 
 ed fouls art admitted into Heaven to the clear fight of Qod\ And 
 yet Stapltton and Francif. Pegna. a Cafiro, Medina, Sotus,*?- 
 firra that Jrenaus , fujlin Martyr , Tertullian , Clemens Ro- 
 manus,Origen , Ambroft,ChrjfoJlom6, Auftin, Ltftantius, Vitlo- 
 rinus,Prttdentius> Theodoret, Arttas y Oecttmenius % Theophilaft t 
 Euthjmius, yea and Bernard,h& ye delivered the contrary fen- 
 tence. See Staplet. Defenf. Ecclef. author, cont . pyhitak^lib .1 . 
 cap, 2. with Fran. Pegna in part. 2. Director. Inquifttor. 
 com. 21. 
 
 Now as all thefe muft needs be againft the Popifh Invocation 
 of Saints, fo they were againft that which is now determined 
 to be de fide-, Whence I gather Con the by) 1. That the Ro- 
 mifh faith increafeth,and is not the fame as heretofore. 2 . That 
 they had not this Article by Tradition from any of thefe Fa- 
 thers, or from theApoftles by them(unlefs from the Scriptures.) 
 3. That men that err in fuch points as are now defined by 
 Councils to be defide, are yet accounted by Papifts to be of 
 their Church and faith : And therefore they may be of ours , 
 
 not- 
 
A I\ey for Catbolicks . i « o 
 
 notwithftanding futherroursasthisinhand. 4- Ami notealfo 
 by this ta{t,whether thePapifts be not a perjured generation, 
 that fwear not to expound Scripture but according to the unammsus 
 confent of the Fathers. 
 
 6. The Council of Laodicea condemned them as Idolaters 
 that prayed to Angels, Can. 35. ( which Caranz,a, Crab, and 
 other Papirts have turned into Angulos ; whofe ralfificadon 
 you may fee fully dete&ed by the faid Bifhop VJber, ibid. pjg. 
 470,471,472. Read there alfo the full Teftimoniei of Greg. 
 Nijfen , Athanaftus % Epiph*niut,&c. againft praying to Saints 
 and Angels , and the dete&ion of Bellarmines fraud, that pre- 
 tendeth the Fathers to fpeak of the Gentiles Idolatry when 
 they mention the Virgin Mary and the Saints, and fay exprefly 
 they were not to be adored. 
 
 But for all this, H. T. Manual.page 291 t &c. hath Fathers 
 for this Adoration of Angels and Saints. And who are they ? 
 Thefirft is Dionjftus : to which I anfwer, 1. There is never a 
 fuch a word in the place cited in Dionjftus , in the Book that [ 
 have at hand, printed Lugdun. 1572. 2. We are for praying 
 the Saints to pray for us too, that is, thofe on earth : And the 
 words cited by him , mention not the Saints in heaven . 3 . That 
 Dionjftus is not Dionjftus but a fpurious Apochryphal Book : 
 Not once known and mentioned in the world till Gregory the 
 greats dayes, ( fix hundred years afcer Chrift ) as Bellarmine 
 him felf faith Lib.de Serif tor. Ecclef.de Dionjf. And lib. 2. de 
 JHonach. cap. 5. 
 
 The fecond is flem. Apoftol. Conflit. 5. Anfv. 1. The 
 words fpeak only of honouring the Martyrs , which is our 
 unqueftioned duty ; but not of Praying to them. 2. Its 
 an Apochryphal forgery, and neither the Apoftles nor Clf 
 ments Work which fie citeth ( bat any thing will ferve thefc 
 men : ) Let him believe Bellarmine de fcriptor. Ecclef. pag. 
 38, 39. where he proveth it, and faith that [_ in the Latme 
 Church , thefe Conftitutions are of almoft no account , and the 
 Greeks them fe Ives Canon. 2.Trul. rejtel them as depraved by He- 
 reticles, and that the receiving of them is it that mifleadeth the 
 Ethiopians. ] See more againft them in Cook^s C enfura,pag, 
 J7> I 8, 19. and Rivets Crix.Suc, Q-DaUus in Pfeudepigrap. 
 The third Teftimony of H. T. is from J;*fiwi fecond Apol. 
 
 Atf*. 
 
6o A I{ey for Qatholicks . 
 
 tsinjvr. It i»u©t Praying to Angels that fufiin feemcth to intend, 
 but giving them due honour, which we allow of. His intent is 
 to ftop the mouths of Heathens that called the Chriftians impi- 
 ous for renouncing their Gods : To whom be replyeth,that we 
 jet honour the true God y and his Angels>Scc- 
 
 His Tcftimony for the third age is only Origen (and yet none 
 of Origen) Firft in his Lament. Anfw.l. Origen there mcnti- 
 oneththe Saints, but not the dead Saints. It may be all the 
 Saints in the Church on earth whofeprayeri hedefiretb. 2. If 
 this fatisfie you not, at lead be fatisHcd with this , that you 
 cite a forgery that is none of OWge*/ works. Not only Eraf* 
 rnus faith that \_ This Lamentation was neither written by Orf- 
 gen, nor tr anflated by Hierom, but is the fiction of fome unlearn^ 
 cdman, that by this tricl^devifed te defame Origen: ) Buti?4« 
 ronius Annal. Tit. 2. ad an, 25 3- f- 477- witncfTeth that Pope 
 Gelafius numbers it with the Apocryphals. 
 
 But B. T. hath a fecond teftiraony from Origin, in Cantic. 
 Bom. 3 . Anp», 1 . That fpeaks of the Saints prayer for us, bui 
 not of our prayers to them one word, which is the thing in 
 queftion. 2. But Erafmus and others bave (hewed that nei- 
 ther is this any of Origins works. Sixtus Senenfis faith, that 
 fome old Books put Hieroms name to it: And Lombard and 
 Aquinas cite pafTages out of it as Ambrofes. 
 
 You fee now what Testimonies B. T. hath produced foe 
 the firft three Ages, even till above four hundred years after 
 Chrift. And yet no doubt but this is currant proof with the 
 poor deluded Papifts that read his Book. 
 
 2. The next exception to be confidered is , fraying for 
 the Dead : which they fay the ancient Church was for. 
 
 Anfw. 1. Wc are for the Commemoration of the holy lives 
 tnd fufferings of the Saints : and the firft fort of the ancients 
 prayers for them began here, as the occafion. 2. We are foe 
 chankfull acknowledgement of Gods Mercies to the departed 
 Saints, and to the Church by them. And the firft prayers for 
 them were fuch aithefe. 3. Bifhop VJbtr hath copioufly pro- 
 ved that they were Saints, fuppofed to be in Heaven or Para- 
 dife, and not in Purgatory, that were then prayed for : and 
 therefore that it was not the Popifli praying for tormented 
 fouls that was then pradifed ; And therefore their prayers 
 
 * h fr 
 
A K^yfor Catholic ks . 1 6 1 
 
 then were befides Commemorations and Tharkfgivmgs, the pe-^ 
 titioning of all thofefollowirg Mercies for them which are not 
 to be received till the refarrc&ion.- Be l/armine himfelf proving 
 that though we we certain that the bit fed fouls fhall have a raifed 
 ghrified body, and be jufiified in the lajt Judgement , jet may it be 
 frayed for , becaufeit is jet future. Now we are far from being of 
 another Church or Religion then thofe that hold fuch an opini- 
 on at this. Saith V/bcrpag. 224. when he had cited many tefti- 
 monies £ In thefe and other prayers of the like kindle may defcry 
 evident feetftcps of the primary intention of the Church in herfup- 
 plications for the dead : Vt>hich was that the whole man ( not the 
 foul feparated inly ) might receive public]^ rem<jfion of fins, and 
 a folemn acquittal in the judgement of t hat great day ; and fo ob- 
 tain both a full efcape from all the Confequenccs of fin ( th; lafi 
 enemy being now deflroyed, and death f^c allowed up in viclory ) 
 and a perfefl confummation of blifs and happinefs : all which are 
 comprised in that Jhort prajer of $. Paul/or OneHphorus {though 
 made for him while he was alive) \_The Lord o rant unto him 
 that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day J Tea, divers 
 prayers for the dead of that kind are ftill retained in the Roman 
 office s\of 'which thegreatSpanifh Docler John Medina thus writeth- 
 Although I have read many prayers for the faith full deceafed , 
 which are contained in the Romw Afijfal, jet have I read in none 
 of them that the Church doth petition , that they may more quickly 
 be freed from pains • but I have read that in feme of them petition 
 is made, that they may be freed from ever lofting pains. ] Again 
 there be other prayers f faith Medina) wherein petition is made, 
 that God would raife the fouls of the dead in their bodies unto bli r s 
 at the day of judgement. ] 
 
 Yon fee then, that our Queftion is not whether the dead 
 maybe prayed for : but what prayers may be made for them. 
 And therefore to find that about three hundred years after 
 drift ( moreorlefs) men begun to pray for. the dead, is no 
 proof that they were not of our Church or Religion- or th.t 
 therefore we want fucceffion. It was not a praying to be 
 fooneroutof Purgarory that then was ufed, as Papifts do, but 
 a Praying for the mercies promifed at the Refurre&ion •* And 
 thus wethinkitlawfull to pray for the dead -, were it not for 
 
 V tbc 
 
\6i A f\ey for fatholich. 
 
 the accidental evil that m-ght follow with [hem that will mifun- 
 derftandandabufeit. 
 
 And its further to be nored, that as Pcgni, Siafleton ar,d 
 others confefr,theFathers,Greekand La? ire, before mentioned, 
 did believe that men had not their perfect Joycs till the Refurre- 
 ftion- and therefore they had the far hrongcr motive to pray 
 for the dead. And if Proteftants had not been partly of this 
 mind (faveonly that we put not the foul into hidden recep- 
 tacles , nor anywhere but with C Drift ) Bellarmine bad not 
 found fo much occafion of that unworthy calumny againft 
 Calvin for the words cited by him in his Infth. as if he denyed 
 the beatifical vifion, if not the immortality of the foul : Even 
 becaufe he took not our blifs to be perfecl till the Refurreclion, 
 butfomefthat fhort of what we frail then be. Now feeing the 
 Fathers were fo commonly of that mind, and the Greeks and 
 Ethiopians are ft ill of that mind, and B 'e liar mine faith Luther 
 and Calvin are of that mind, you may fee that neither in that 
 nor the point of praying for the dead asufedby the ancients, 
 is our diftance fo great as to weaken the proof of our fuc- 
 ceflion , or make us to be of two Churches or Religions. 
 
 And here you may fee the differences between the Prayers for 
 the dead which are ufed by the Papifts , and by the Eaftern 
 Churches to this day. And yet if upon private unfound opinions 
 any fliould go foraewhat further in this point, it followeth not 
 that fuch error changetluhe faith.l defire theReader [hat would 
 have a ful'er fight of the face of Antiquity in this point, to 
 read BifhopZ/V&fr °^ ic m ^e forementioned Anfwer to the 
 Jefuite. 
 
 3. Another point that they much challenge us about, is, The. 
 Veneration or Adoration of Images, Reliques, and the Cro/s , to 
 which I may join, peregrinations to p'acescfteemcdbjf them to be. 
 of eminent helinefs. Concerning Peregrinations , you may fee 
 by a plain Epiftle of Gregory Nyjfen ( in the end of his printed 
 works,but in the midft: of a M.S. In Paris Library ) written 
 purpofely againft going on Pilgrimage to Jem/alem, what is to 
 be thought of thi*. He advifeth even the retited Monafticks 
 even in tbofe Countreyes that were near fudaa^io forbear fuch 
 pilgrimages as dangerous andur.ncctff?.ry s ar.d not at all com- 
 manded 
 
A i\ey for Qa tholich. \ 61 
 
 manded in the Scripture. The Papifis did as long as they could 
 pcrfwade the world that this Bpiitle was rone of Gregories, and 
 when they were made afhamed of that , they would expound ic 
 as prohibiting Pilgrimages to none but the Monafticks : And 
 fureifit fliould be forbidden them, then much more fhould 
 others be forbidden, that have not the leifure, and pretend not 
 to the devotions which thefc pretend to. Read but the Epiftle 
 it felf without either Mdin&ns his notes on our fide, ©r Gret- 
 fers frivilous anfwers, and judge as thou feeft caufe. 
 
 As for Images , we allow the Hiftorical ufe of them, and 
 the fencing them up in Churches the Lutherans a!low,and we dif- 
 like it only as dangerous and a needlefs fnare, but take not 
 our felves to be of another Church or Religion from thole that 
 are otherwife minded : No nor from thofe that Reverence them 
 aschey refped the perfons whom they fignifie. But its one 
 thing to ufe Images, and another thing to ufe them Popifilj, 
 which is to make them mediate objects of Divine worfloip, yea to 
 worfllip the very Image it felf, andtheCrofs and the fign of the 
 Croft with the fame worfhip as we do him that is fgnified by them : 
 So that we confidently affirm , i.That the Primitive Church 
 did make no ufe of Images stall in the worfhip of God; no 
 nor endure them in the place of Wor flip. 2. Th?.t when they 
 were firft brought in,the Popifti ufe of ihem was ltill renounced 
 anddetefted. Clemens Alexandrians Prop eptic. ad Gent, faith 
 that Q We are plainly forbidden u ufe that dcceitfull Art] ( of 
 
 painting or image- making ) And \_Wehavenofcnf\ble 
 
 Image made of any fin fib le matter , but J itch an Image as is to 
 be conceived with the under (landing \ Origcn agamft Celfui kb. 
 7 '.page 37 3 , 384, 386. 387. is large and plain againlt this ufe 
 of Images, as the Proteitants are. And the Eliber. Ccncil. 
 C. 36. iaith Q Placuit pitluras in Ecclefa cjfe non dibere, xe 
 ejuodcolitur, ant adoratur in parieiibc.s dip ngatur* It fecmeth 
 good to us, that pictures ought not to be in the Church, Itfl that 
 which is wcrjhipped or adored fbsuld be painted on Walls j Some 
 Papills would fain find a fenfe for this *, anon contrary to 
 the words: But Melch Canus plainly f?i:h, [hat the Council 
 d dnot only imprudently but tmpitufly make this law to take 
 Images, Loc. Theol. lib. 5. cap. 4. cone. 4. I flull cite no more t 
 but increac the Reader that is willing to be informed how iruch 
 
 Y 2 Antiquity 
 
164 A f\ey for Catholic ks. 
 
 Antiquity was againft the P.ipifts in the points of Images, to per- 
 ufe only DalUus de Imaginibus, and Uftier in his Anfwer to the 
 Jefuite and Sermon to the Parliament : And I provoke the Pa- 
 pilh to confute what is in them Pledged if they can. 
 
 B. T. hath no better fhifc to falve their credit ( Manual 
 page 3 1 9, 3 20. ) then to fee their own Schoolmen and General 
 Conncil together by the ears. The fecond Council of Nice 
 ( that did moftfor Images ) did openly renounce the rdoring 
 them with Divine honour, and Tharaftus foiemnly profefTed 9 
 Duntaxat in unum verhm Dium latriam & fidem fe referre & 
 reponere ] They did refer and repofe faith and divine Vcorfljip in the 
 true God alone'] But Aquinas f urn. l.q. 25. <*. 3 . & 4. main- 
 tained ( as I before obiervedj that the Image ef Chrift ,and the 
 Crofs and the fign of the Crofs are to be Vcorjh pped with Divine 
 nor/hip.'] And what faith H.Turbervile to this? Why \This 
 is ameer fchool opinion and not of faith with us: ZJrge not there- 
 fore whatfome particular Divines fay, but hearken to the Doctrine 
 
 of Gods Church. ] Very good I Is not this fo grofs a kind of 
 
 jugling, that would never down if devout ignorance and impli- 
 cite faith had not prepared the ftomacks of the people ? 1 . You 
 fee here t hat to contraditl the Determination of a General Council, 
 is not of faith with them. But ic is not againft your faith ? Do 
 you give leave to raeer fchool opinions to contradict General 
 Councils? See here what's become of the Popifh faith ? If the 
 Determinations of Councils be not Articles of faith with you, 
 then you have no faith, but give up your caufe : And if they 
 be, then Aquinas and his followers are Hereticks. 2. And then 
 fee wbats become of the Popes Infallibility in Canonizing Saints, 
 that have fainted Thomas Aquinas that proves a Heretick by 
 your Law -* fo that your caufe is gone whxh way ever you turn 
 you. 3 . And then fee what it is to pray to Saints ', when fome 
 of them are mude Heretickj by your own Laws. 4. And then 
 alfo fee, atwhatUaity the Church of Rome is among them- 
 felves, when ic is the very common do&rine of their learned 
 Schoolmen , whxh concradi&etb a General Council : Are 
 vou not well agreed thit while? 5. And lallly note what a 
 Holy Church you have, when the common fort of your moft 
 learned Divines are thus made Hereticks : See Bifhop Vjhers 
 allegations of Th. drundels Provincial Council at Oxford, 1 408 , 
 
 ez 
 
A t\ey for Qatbolicks, \ 6 5 
 
 ex Guil. Linewood lib 5. And Jac. Naclantttsin Rom.cap. i.fol. 
 42. faith [_ We mufi not only confefs, that thefaithju'l in the 
 Church do Wor/hp before the Imagers fome came Ion fly Jpeal^, 
 but that they adore the Image , wit ho/it arty fcruple •' yea and that 
 they worfhip it with the fame worjhip as the Prototype: fothat 
 if it be worfhipt with Divine worfmp, the Image mufi have Di- 
 vine worfhip ~\ And Cabrera in 3. part. Thorn, eju. 25. 
 
 Art.$.difp. 2. num. 15. there cited by VJberJ&ith that it is of 
 faith that Images are to be worflApped in Churches and without', 
 and we muft give them figns of fervitude and fubmiffion , by em" 
 bracing , lights, offering incenfe, uncovering the head } &c. z.That 
 Images are truly and properly to be adored, with an intention to 
 adore thtmfelves^andnot or.ljthe famplars reprefented in them* 
 This Conclu/ion is againfl Durandus and his f ol lowers, who fe opi- 
 nion hy the Aioderns is judged dangerous ', rajb y and favouring of 
 Here fie: andM. Medina reporteth that M. Victoria reputed tt he- 
 retical : but cur conclufien is the common one of Divines. If 
 Images be improperly only adored, then they are not to be adored 
 ftmply andabfolutely, which is manifefl Here fte. And if Images 
 were to be worfh'pped only by way of Remembrance , becanfe 
 they make us remember the famplars, which we thus adore as if 
 they were prefint^ it would follow that all creatures are to be ado- 
 red with the fame adoration as God which is abfurd* 5 The 
 
 Opinion of Sainc Thomas , that the Image mufi be worfhipped 
 w ththejame atlef adora:ien, asthefamplar which it represent - 
 eth,is mo{i true ^mojl pious, and very confonant to the decrees of 
 faith 3 Thus Cabrera, who adds that this is the do&rine of 
 Thomas and all his Diiciples and almoftailtheold Schoolmen, 
 and particularly o(Cajetan,Capreolus, Taludanus,Ferrarien- 
 jis, Antoninus, Soto, Alexand. Alef. Albertus Adagnus, Bona- 
 vcr.tura, Richardus de mediavilla, Dlcnyftus Carthufianus .Afa- 
 jor, AdarfiUns, Thorn. Waldcnfis, Turrecremata, Clicktovxu:, 
 Turrian^Vafquez, &C. And Az, r rius laith \_ It is theconflant 
 opinion of Divixef,~} Inftitut. Afors.1. torn. I. lib. 9 cap. 6. 
 Yea in the Roman Pontifical published by the Authority of 
 Clement the eighth, it is exprciTed , that [The Legates 
 Crofs (ball have the r ght hand, becaufc Divine worflAp is due to 
 tt See here whether the Pope himfelf be not an Heretick,and the 
 Pontifical contain not hercfie , and the whole rabble of the 
 
 Y 3 Schoolmen 
 
166 A J\ey for Catbolicks. 
 
 Schoolmen hereticks, by contradicting the determination of the 
 General Conncil at Nice 2. which H. T.citeth, artd the do- 
 ctrine which he faith is the dodrine of Gods Church, fuc:i is the 
 faith and unity of the Papifts. 
 
 Bat they will fay ftill that though all thefe worfhip the 
 very Crofs and Images themfelves, and that with Divide worfhip, 
 jet there be feme of a better mini , that do but worfhip God 
 by the Image, fuch as H. T. &c Anfw. And do you think thac 
 rational Pagans did not know as well as you that their Images 
 were not Gods themfelves,and fo worfhipped them not as Gods, 
 but as the reprefenters and inftruments of fome Diety ? Lac- 
 tantiusJnflit.lib.2.cap.2.brings them in faying thu$[iVe» ipfi,&cc. 
 We fear not them , but thofe whom they reprefent^and to whofe 
 names they are cenfecrattd {_ And Armbius thus £ Deos per fi- 
 mulachra veneramur : It is the Gods that we worfhip by Images ] 
 And Auguftint thus reporteth the Pagans fayings [in Pfal. 
 96. Non ego lapidem, &c. / do not worfhip that ft one , nor that 
 Image, which is without fenfe'] And in Pfal. Pfal. 113. cono.z. 
 [ Nee fmulachrum,nec dxmoniumcolo, &c. I worfhip neither the 
 Imager nor a Spirit in it ± but by the bodily likenefs I behold the 
 fign of that which I ought to worfhip. ] Yea that many of them 
 renounced the worfhippingof Devils, appcareth by Augufiints 
 repottof their words, in Pfal. 96. [Non colimus mala d£mo- 
 na, Sec. We worfhip not evil fpirits : It is thofe that you call 
 Angels, that we worfhip, who are the powers of the great God t 
 and the Minifters of the great God~\ To whom Auflin anfwers 
 [ Would you would worfhip them ( that is, honour them aright J 
 then you would eafily learn of them not to worfhip them ] And 
 doubtlefs few could be fo filly as to think there were as many 
 fupiters or Af olios as there were Images of them in the world. 
 So that you fee here that fome of the Pagans as to I mage- wor- 
 fhip difclaimed that which the Papifts afenbe to them, viz. Di^ 
 vine worfh-p. 
 
 Oh but faith H. T. tell us not of particular Dottors, but of the 
 Dotlrine of Gods (fhurch. , Anfw. What not of Saint Thomas ? 
 What I not of the Army of School Divines before mentioned ? 
 What ! not of the \_ Communis fmentia Theologorum : I the 
 common judgement of Divines ? for fo they call it j What ? 
 not of chat which is defide, or confon*nt to it , and whofe con- 
 trary 
 
A I\ey for Catholic ks. 167 
 
 trary is here fie, or favours of Berefies f (l\ chey fay of Dttrandus 
 opinion ) wlnt ! notcf Vo^t Clement the eighth and the Ro- 
 mane Pontifical? (fag. 672.) wonderful! areall thefcnobody 
 in your Church ? O admirable harmony that is in your united 
 Church ! 
 
 But you can agree to leave out thefecond commandment 
 left the very words fhould deter the people from Image 
 worfhip ; and to make an irratioml divifion of the tenth to blind 
 their eyes. And yet you cry up the Teftimony of the Fa- 
 thers, when you are fain to hide one of the ten commandments, 
 fo that thoufands of your poor feduced followers, know not 
 that there is fuch a thing. No wonder if you caft away Gregory 
 Nyjfen'sEp\{[\esigiiin{[ Pilgrimages ; and Epiphanius his words 
 (in the end of his Epiftle to foban. Herofol.) againft Images; 
 and id'afejuez, fin 3 Thorn. difp.'io$. c. 3.) contrary to the 
 plain words do fain that it was the Image of a prophatte or common 
 man that Epiphanius pa/d'aWtf •, <?«^A).Cope (Dial. 5. c. 21.) 
 fay, that the epiflle is counterfeit and not Epiphanius* s : and if 
 BelUrmine (de lmag. c. 9 .) and Baronius {ad an. 392. J fay 
 that this part of the Epiflle is forged : and if Alphonl, a Caftro. 
 (com. Haeref. de Imag. ) reproach Epiphanius for it as an 
 IconocUfl : fo well are you agreed aifo in the confutation of the 
 Fathers Testimonies, that any way will ferve your turn, though 
 each man have his feveral way. Fair fall Vafquez, that plainly 
 confcfTeth, that indeed the Scripture doth forbid not only the wor- 
 ftip of an Image for God, but alfo the tver/hiping of the true 
 God in anlmage '. but faith that this commandment is now re' 
 pealed, and therefore under the Gofpel rve may do otherwife. 
 {Vafcj. li.2. de Adorat. Di/p- 4. c. 3. S t ft. J^.j^.&c.^. 
 Sell'. 84. 
 
 But of this point I (hall fay no more now but this. 1. Many 
 Chnftian Churches do reject Images from their Churches and 
 worftvp as well as Proteflants. 2. More rejc& Aatues that reject 
 not pi&ures. j.Many that keep them, worfhip not them,ror God 
 in them, or by them.as by a mediate object. 4. General Councils 
 have been agiinft Images, that want nothing but the plcafure of 
 the Pope to make them of as good authority as the C ouncil that 
 was for them. 5. That Council that was for them (Nice 2.) con- 
 demned the Schoolmen and Pope Clement himfelf as Hereticks, 
 
 for 
 
68 J Key for Catbolicks. 
 
 for worshiping them, or the Crofs with Divine worfhip. 6. I 
 again urge any Papiti to anftverDalUus bcok rationally that can. 
 7. To fpare me the labour of faying more of the judgement of 
 the ancient Catholick Church agunftthePopifh ule of Images, 
 I defire the Reader to perufe what Cajfander an honeft Papift 
 hath written to that«nd, Confttltat. de Ima-r. et fimnlac. who 
 begins thus [Ad Imagines vero fanclorum qn.d sttinet, certum 
 eft, initio pr<edicati Evangeiu aliquanto tempore inter Cbriftianot, 
 prtfertim in ecclefiit ,imaginttm ufum nonftiijfe, tit ex Clemente & 
 Arnobiopatef. Tandem piElur as in ecclefiam admijfas tit rerum 
 
 gefiarttm hiftoriar.i cxprimentes &c. -— J And he produceth 
 
 abundance from antiquity againft the prefent Popifh ufe of them.' 
 
 4. Another point in which the Papifls pretend to better 
 Countenance from Antiquity then we,is the point of the Corporal 
 presence with Tranfttbflantiation : But of this there is fo much 
 laid by multitudes of our Divines, that I (hall now fay no more, 
 but defire the ftudious to Read at leaft Biftiop VJhers Anfw. to 
 the Jefuite of it, and Edmundus Abertinus de Eucharifiia: a 
 Treatife fo full of evidence from Scripture, Reafon, and the 
 judgement of the Fathers, that I boldly challenge all the Papifts 
 in theLWorld to give a tolerable anfwer to it, that is a better 
 then that is given. 
 
 When we have thus (hewed them the fiream of Antiquity to 
 have been againft them, they pafs us by, and thruft into the igno- 
 rant peoples hands, a few mufty fcraps ofabufed words, which 
 are anfwercdand cleared over and over : Thus doH.T. D. Bail], 
 and others. 
 
 5. In the point of Satisfaction and Purgatory, befides what 
 Sadeel t £hAmier?Lnd others have faid, VJher and the forefaid 
 DalUus in a full Treatife have (hewed the Paptfts nakednefs from 
 Antiquity, fo that raodefty fhould forbid them to pretend the 
 Fathers for them any more, if any modefty be left. 
 
 6. About their Fafts (though that be no efTential of Religion,) 
 both the time,manner &c. is fo fully fpoak to by the faid Dallatts 
 in another juft volume de Jejuniis, that Popery in this alio is 
 openly condemned by the Fathers in the view of the impartial 
 confiderate world. 
 
 The point of Free will, and molt of the reft in which they 
 imagine that we diflentfrom Antiquity or the jEaftern Churches, 
 
 I 
 
A I\ey for Catbolich. nfc 
 
 I have fpoak to already in my firft Book againft Popery. I had 
 thought to have gone throughthe reft particularly, at leaft the 
 reft mentioned by H. T. and D. Baily ; but rinding them fo 
 frequently and fully handled already, I will forbear fuch labour 
 
 in v<in 
 
 in vain. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 Betetl. 17. A Nother of the Papifts Deceits, and one of the 
 ±\ Principal that they fupport their caufe with, 
 i«, Afalfe interpretation and Application ef all the fayings of the 
 Father s 9 ^tohich the) can but force t$ a (hew of countenancing their 
 fupremacy. That you may find out their jugling in this, I 
 fhall (hew you fome of of their Footfteps more particular- 
 
 I. Any claim that their own ambitious Bifhops have made t& 
 a further power then was due to them, they ufe as an Argument for 
 their univ erf al {over aignty : when as we deny not but that there 
 was too much pride and Ambition in their Prelates ("which is all 
 that this will prove -, ) even in fome that otherwife might be 
 good men. We deny not but that Zofimus would fain have 
 extorted a confeffion of his ufurped power, and a fubmiffion to 
 it from Aurelius^Augufiine^nd the reft of the isffricane Council. 
 But yet he could not do it. We confefs that Leo the firft, and 
 Gregory the firft,and others, were very bufie for the extending 
 of their power : And that the Romane Bilhopi were long en- 
 deavouring to have put the halter on the *4fricanes heads, yea 
 and long about the French before they got them under. And 
 (hall thefe partial ambitious men be the witnefTes ? And becaufe 
 they would have had more power, doth it follow that it was 
 their due ? 
 
 2. Again, if they find that any Mfirejfed Churches or Bifhops have 
 butfent to Rome/or help, they prefently gather thence that they tsel^ 
 the Pope to be £hrifts Vicar General. As when Chrjfoftome fent 
 to Innocent, and Ba/il and the reft in the Eaft did fend fo oft for 
 help into the Weft, when as the reafons were but fuch as thefe ; 
 1. Becaufe' Rome during the Emperors refidence there, was the 
 place where life or death was laft pronounced on every mans 
 
 Z caufe 
 
\yo A K^yjor Catbolicks. 
 
 caufcby the fecular power; and therefore the Bifhop of Rome 
 had the greater opportunity to befriend other Churches. 2. And 
 afterwards Rome had a great iecular influence on the Empire. 
 3.. And becaufe in the divifions of the Eaft about Arrianifme, 
 they thought the countenance of the Orthodox in the Weft 
 mi°ht have done foraewhat to turn the fcales. 4- Becaufe the 
 Bifhop of Rome being taken for the Patriarch of the firft place, 
 his voice might do much againftan adverfary. 
 
 I will delay you now which no more inftances, then thofc 
 ofBafits time from the Eaft. Eufebins, Meletius , Bafil, and 
 the reft of the Orthodox, being both peftered with the Arrians, 
 and all to pieces alfo among tbemfelves, do fend for help to the 
 Weft.( Baftl. Spifl. 69. )But to whom ? and for what? Not to the 
 Bifliopof&wfonly, nor by name, but equally to the Biftiops 
 of Italy and France, without any mention of the Roraane pow- 
 er. And it was not that the Pope might decide all by his fove- 
 raign power , which certainly was fo neer a way to their relief, 
 lhat no wife man can imagine them fo mad as to forget it, 
 if it had been a thing then known and approved of. But only 
 they defire that fome may be fent to help them to be the ftronger 
 party in a Synod, or at leaft fome one to comfort them, and put 
 fome countenance on their caufe. And Epifl. 70. Bafil writeth 
 bimfelf fin the name of the reft ;) but to whom [To the Bifhopt 
 tfYrariQe and Italy."] And France before Itafa without taking 
 notice of an unherfal Head of the Church at Rome . And what 
 doth he fo importune them for ? not that the Pope would decide 
 the controverfie: but that they would acquaint the Emperour 
 with their ftate (becaufe the Weft had an Orthodox Emperor, 
 and the Eaft an Arrian) or fend fome to them to fee how it ftood 
 with them : fo that it was but either help from the Eroperor.or 
 (Countenance from the number of Bifliops (becaufe they were 
 over voted quite at home) that they defired. So Epift. 74. Baftt 
 again writes, [totheBi(b3p.\oftheWeft; ; (and fo no more to 
 the Romane B.fhop then the reft J and he giveth thefe as his 
 Reafons^r. (fakh he) what we herefpeak^ is fa/petted, as if we 
 
 /poke through private contention. But for jfou.tbe further joti 
 
 are remote from them bj habitation, fo much credit yeu have with 
 she peop/s, whereto is added that the grace of God helpethyottto 
 treHsvttheopprejfed : A»difMwy tf pn. ummmsuflj decrse- the 
 
 famt 
 
^ K?y fa Catbolicks, \? x 
 
 fame things ft is manifefl that the multitude ; will produce a certain 
 reception of your opinion.^Wonder full/ if there were thena Vicar 
 General ofChrift at Rome, that it never came into their mind to 
 crave his decifion or help, as fuch ? 
 
 O but fay the Papitts, that was becaufe they had to do only 
 with the Arrians , that cared for no authority that was 
 againft them. Anfo. i. But would thefe Arrians have fo 
 much regarded the votes of the French and Italian Bifliops, yea 
 or a (tw men fent from them, and yet not regard the Head of 
 the Church ? The Arrians fure had heard of this Headfliip, if any 
 had. And would not the Orthodox defirc fo much as a word 
 from Rome for thii advantage / 2. But it is falfe that they were 
 only the Arrians that they called for help againft. They 
 exprefly fay, that it was alfo becaufe they were divided among 
 themfelves, (by perfonal quarrels.,) How importunately doth 
 fregory Njjfen afterward call for help from others, and telleth 
 Flavianus in his Epifi. to him, of their mifery as if all were loft ? 
 And the only fad initancewa», that Helladius (counted a«ood 
 Bifliopj had proudly negle&ed him, and made him ftand at his 
 doorfwhen he went to vifu himja great while before he was Jec 
 in ; and then did not bid him fit down ; and then did not fpeak 
 to him firft but two or three ftrange angry words. This was the 
 great bufinefs. But to proceed with Bafil. Epifi. jj. he falls 
 to chiding the Weftern Biftiofs, for not fending to them, nor 
 regarding them and their communion : and to touch their pride, 
 headdeth, [We have one Lord, one faith, one hope; Whether yon 
 think, your felves the Head of the univerfal Church : the head 
 cannot fay to the feet, 1 have no need of you ; or if you place your 
 felves in the order of other Church-members, you cannot fay to us 
 rve need you not.~\ And would you here believe that the Papifts' 
 have the faces to cite this paftage of Bafil , for their Head- 
 fhip , becaufe here is the word Head ! When as its plain, 
 1. That Bafil by the Head means but the chiefefl part, and 
 not the foveraign potter. 2. That he fpeaks to all the 2?»- 
 pjops oft he #>v/?,and not only to the Roman e Bifcop. 3. That 
 he doth it as a fmart reproof of their arrogancy, and not in 
 any approbation at all. But any thing will ferve them. 
 More from Bafil I (hall have occafion to mention a- 
 non. 
 
 2.2 3. Note 
 
1 7 z A t\eyfor Catbolicks. 
 
 3 Nore atfo 4 tha: when the Papifts find but any Herefie con- 
 demntd by the Bijhop of Rome , they cite this as a teftimony of 
 thetr Sovtraignty. As if other Patriarch and Bifhops condemned 
 them ro: as well as they ^ Or as if we knew no that the Church 
 defired the moft general vote againft Hereticks, and therefore 
 would be loth to leave fo great a B .(hop out. 
 
 4. And when they find the Pope excommunicating forreign Bi- 
 fhops, they cry up this as a Tefiimony of his Headjhip : As if we 
 did not know, 1 . That to refute Communion with another 
 Church or Bifhop is no ad of Jurifdi&ion over them. 2. ThaB 
 other Bifhops have made bold aifo to excommunicate the Pope : 
 TJenow but recite thofe words of Nicephorus lib. 17. cap, 26. 
 which you ufeto glory in (as many do in their own (hame^ 
 [^yigilius ( faith he) proceeded to that infolency, that he ex- 
 communicated Mennas for four moneths. ssind Mennas Si the 
 fame by him : But Juftinian being moved to anger with fuck 
 things, fent fome to lay hold on him. But Vigiiius being afraid 
 cf himfelfyfled to the Altar of Sergius the Martyr , and laid 
 hold on the Sacred "Pipes, would not be drawn away till he had 
 pul y d them down — ] But by the Mediation of the Emprefs 
 Theodora, the Pope was pardoned, and Menna and he abfol- 
 ved one another. A fair proof of the Vicarfhip 1 3. And fo it 
 was, that Pope Honorius was condemned for an Heretick by 
 «wo or three General Councils.* 
 
 5. Alfo when they meet with any big words of their own Popes 
 {as 1 command this or that) they take it for a proof of the Vi- 
 carfbip : As if big words did prove Authority. Or as ifwc 
 knew not how lowlily and poorly they fpoke to thofe that 
 were above them. As Gregory the firftfor inftance,was high 
 enough towards thofe that he thought he could matter ; but 
 what low fubmifti ve language doth he ufe to fecular Governors 
 that were capable of overtopping him ? And what flattering 
 language did his fucceffors ufe to the moft bafe murderers and 
 ufurpers of the Empire ? 
 
 6. Another Roman deceit is this ; when they find any mention 
 of the exercife of the ( now thriving ) Roman Power, over their 
 own Diocefs or Patriarchal circuit , they would hence prove his 
 nniverfal Power over all. And by that Rule the Patriarch of 
 Alexandria or Conftantinoyle may prove as much. 
 
 7. Alfo 
 
A K^y for Qaholicks. 1 7 3 
 
 7. Alfo when they meet with the parages that fpeaf^ of the 
 elevation of their Pope to be their firft Fatriarchjn the Roman Em - 
 tire, or any Power that by the Emperors was given him, they cun- 
 ningly confound the Empire with the world, andefpccally if they 
 find it called by the name cf the world • and they Vccnld perfwade 
 you that all other XZhriftians and Churches en earth, didafcribe 
 as much to the Bifhop o/Rome , as the Roman Empire did.Us true 
 that he was in the Empire acknowledged to be firft in order 
 of dignity , becaufe of Rome the feat of his Epifcopacy ; efpe- 
 cially when General Councils began to trouble themfelves and 
 the world about fuch matters of precedency. And its well 
 known from the language of their writers, as well as from the 
 words of Luke 2. I. that they ufually called the Empire all the 
 world: And from fuch paflages would the Papiils prove the 
 Primacy at leaft of the Pope over all the world. But put thefe 
 Juglers to if, to prove if they can,that beyond the Rivers Ale- 
 roes and Euphrates, and beyond the bounds of the Roman Em- 
 pire, the Pope did either exercife Dominion, or was once fo 
 much as regarded by them, any more then any other Bifliop, 
 except there were any adjacent lflandor Countrev that had 
 their dependence upon the Empire. I hope they will not deny 
 that the Church extended much beyond the Empire. (Though 
 our Hiftory of that part of it be much defective. ) And let 
 them prove if they can, that ever any of thofe Churches had 
 any regard to the Roman Bifhop, any more then to another 
 man. Let them tell you where either the Empire of the Abaf- 
 fines or any other out of the line of the Imperial power, was 
 any whit liite-fub jed to the Pope. 
 
 8. But their chief fraud is about names and words. When they 
 •meet with any high complemental title given to the Bifhop of Rome, 
 they frefently conclude that it fignifieth his Sovcraignty. Let us 
 inftance in fome particulars,and (hew the vanity of their conclu- 
 sions from them. 
 
 1. Sometimes the Roman Bifhops are called [ Summi P«nti> 
 fees, ~\ the chief Popes .* and hence fome gather their Supremacy. 
 But I fuppofe you will believe Baronius ( their chief flatterer ) 
 in fuch a cafe as this. And he tells you in Mtrtyrolog. Roman. 
 April. 9. that [ Fuit olim vetus ille ufus in Ecclefia, tit Epif- 
 copiomnes, non tantum Pontifces,fcd & fnmmi Pontifices dicercn- 
 
 Z 3 tur*' .", ; 
 
174 a %sy f or C at ^ u ^ s - 
 
 tur- i. e. It yeas the ancient enftom of the Church to call all 
 
 Bijhopsnnt only Pantifices Popes , but chief Popes'] .And then 
 citing fuch a pafT.ige oiHierom Epift. 99. he addcth [ Thofe 
 that tt'iderfland not this ancient cufiom of fpeech, refer thefe words 
 to the Popedom of the Church of Rome. ) 
 
 2. As for the names Papa, Y>ope,Domtnus, Tater SauBijJimus, 
 bedtijfimus, dei amantijfimus, &c. its nccdlefs to tell you that 
 thefe were commonly given to other Bifhops. 
 
 3. And what if they could find that Rome were called themo> 
 ther of all Churches f I have formerly (hewed yoia, where Ba- 
 fil faith of the Church of Ctfarea , that it is as the mother 
 of all Churches in a manner. And Hierufalem hath oft that 
 Title. 
 
 4. Sometime they find where Rome is called Caput Ecclefi- 
 arum , and then they think they have won the caufe. When 
 if you will confult the words , you (hall find that it is no more 
 then that Priority of Dignity which (not Chrift, but) the Em- 
 peroursand Councils gave them , that is intended in the word. 
 Its called the Head, that is, the chief Seat in Dignity, without 
 any meaning that the Pope is the univerfal Monarch of the 
 world. 
 
 5. But what if they find the Pope called the Archbi/hop of 
 the Cathohck. Church, or the Vniverfal Bifiep ? then they think 
 they have the day. I anfwer, indeed three flattering Monks at 
 the Council of Calcedon, do fo fuperfcribe their libels; but 
 they plainly mean no more then the Bifhop that in order of dig- 
 nity is above the reft j And many particular Churches are ofc 
 called Catholic^ Churches. There's difference between [ A Ca- 
 tholic}^ Church ] and [The Catholic^. Church.] And the Bi- 
 fhop of Confiantinople had that Title, even by a Council at 
 Conflant. an.$i%, before the Bifhop of Rome had it publikely, 
 or durft own it : It was fetled on the Patriarch of Confiantinople 
 to be called the Oecumenical or Vniverfal Patriarch. Who 
 knoweth not that Emperours gave fuch Tides at their pleafure ? 
 fufiinian would fometime give the Primacy to Rome, and at 
 another time to Confiantinople, faying [^Conftantinofolitana Ec- 
 clejia omnium aliarum efl caput : The Church of Confiantinople 
 is the Head of all ether Churches. ] An.Dom. 5 30. C. de Epif- 
 costs. I, 1 . lege 24. And its known that this fufitnian that fome- 
 time 
 
A l\ey for Catholicks. \jz 
 
 time calls Rome the Head , did yet when the fifth General 
 Council had condemned Vigiliut Pope of Rome, permit Theodo- 
 ra his Emprefs tocaufehira tobefetchtto Canftantinople, and 
 drag'd about the ftreet in a halter, and then bamfhed, till they 
 had forced him to fubfenbe and fubmit to the Council .• even 
 as they had depofed Pope Silverius his predeceffjr. And 'Baro- 
 nius himfelf mentioneth a Vatic ane Monument which as it calls 
 Agapetus Epifcopirum princept on one fide, !o dotfi it call 
 Atema [" the Apoftolicl^ Vniverfal Bifkop : J Which Baroniut 
 faith, doth mean no more then that he wis Vniverfal over 
 his own Provinces : aad if that be fo,any Bilhopmaybcc 
 Vniverfal. And do not thefe men know what Council of C ar- 
 thage decreed that theBifhop prima fedis fliould be called neither 
 Summits Sacerdos , nor Princeps Sacerdotum, vel alia aid hu- 
 jufmodi, tantum Epifcopns prima fedis ; i.e <\ ! ot the chief Prie ft , 
 or the chief of Pri efts but the Bi/hopof the fir ft- feat] And how 
 long will they fhut their eyes againft the 1 eltimony of two of 
 their own Vopes ,'P elagius and Gregory the firft that condemned 
 the name of Vniverfal 'Biftjop } 
 
 Sometime they find the Church of Rome called Apvfto- 
 lick^ , and fo were others as well as that , as is commonly 
 known. 
 
 And fometime the Pope is called the Pillar of the Church ; 
 And what of that ? fo are many others as well as he-, as all the 
 Apoftles were as well as Peter ? The Church is built on the Foun- 
 dation of the Apoftles and 'Prophets. That the Payors of the 
 Church were ordinarily called the Pillars and props of ir, as by 
 Nicephorus GildasfTheodoret, Bafil, Tertullian, Dianjfius, Hie- 
 torn, Augu(iine y &c. you may fee proved in Gataktrs Cinnus 
 page 39S,396. 
 
 Andlaftly, when the Papifts read their Popes called the Sue 
 cejfors of Peter, they take this as a proof of their Sovereignty. 
 Whereas J.Peter himfelf had no fuch Soveraignty. 2. They 
 fucceed him not in his Apoftlefhip. 3 . They are called Pauls 
 Succejfors as well as Peters. 4. Others are called Peters Sue* 
 cejfors too as well as they, by the Fathers. 5. And other Bi- 
 fhops ordinarily are called the Apoftles Succejfors , and other 
 Churches called ApofltlickjChurches* 
 Khali only fee before them, the words of one man atthi* 
 
 timet, 
 
176 AK^yfor Catholich* 
 
 time, ( Hefychii Hierofol. apud Photium Cod. 269.) and de- 
 fire chem to tell me whether evermore were raid of the Pope, 
 yea or of Petersen he faith of Andrew, calling him [ Chori 
 tApftolici primogenitus, frimitns defixa Ecclsfia columns , Pe- 
 tri Petrus, fundamenti fundamentum j principii principium vtl 
 frimitU, qnivocAvit Antiquum vocAretur, Adduxit priufquam 
 adduceretur ] i. e. £ The fir ft begotten of the ^ poftolick^Chorc, 
 the fir ft fixed Pillar of the Church ; the Peter o/Pecer, or the 
 Rock. °f Peter, the Foundation of the Foundation - y the Principal 
 of the Principal, who called before he was called, and brought 
 ( others ) to ( Chrift ) before he was brought to him ( by any 
 ethers. ) 
 
 And the fame Hefychius faith of James apud Photium Cod. 
 275. £ n£« lyn.ufAta.o-a y &c. i. e. with what Praifes may 1 
 fet forth the fervant and Brother of Chrift, the chief Emperour 
 ( or Commander or Captain ) of the New Hierufalem ', the 
 Prince or chief of Priefts , the Preftdent or Principal of the 
 tsipoftles , the Crown or Leader among the Heads , the princi- 
 pal Lamp among the Lights •, the principal planet among the 
 Stars •, Piter fpeaketh to the people ; but James giveth the Law 
 ( or fets down the Law ) ] Can they (hew us now where 
 more then this is faid of Peter himfelf > Much lefs of the 
 Pope? 
 
 Ch a p. XXVII. 
 
 Detect. 18. A Nother of the Principal Deceits of thePapifts, 
 AKiSytbe forging and corrupting of Councils and Fa~ 
 thers, and the citation of fuch forgeries. Be carefull therefore 
 how you receive their Allegations, (ill you have fearched and 
 know the Books to be genuine, and the particular words to be 
 there, and uncorrupted. 
 
 They have by their greatnefs obtained the opportunity of 
 pofleffing fo many Libraries, that they might the eafilyer play 
 this abominable game. But God in mercy hath kept fo many 
 monuments of Antiquity out of their hands,partly in the Eaftern, 
 and partly in the Reformed Churches, as fnffice to difecver 
 abundance of their wicked forgeries and falfifications. 
 
 Of 
 
A K^y for Catholic fo. . j ?- 
 
 Of their forging Canons, yea feigning Councils thaTnever 
 were, (as Concil. Sinucffan. Concil. Rom. fab Si/veftr. SeeBifhop 
 VJhers Anfwer to the fef. pag. 12,13. As alfo of cheir forging 
 Conftantints Donation^nd lfidore Mercators forging of a fardell of 
 Decretals ; and of their falsifying and corrupting in the Dodrinc 
 of the Sacrament, the works of Ambrofe, ofChryfoft. for the 
 Author opens Imperfetli,) of Fulbertus Bijbop of Chartres • of 
 Rabanus of Adentz, of Bertram, or" Ratr -annus , &c. Read I pray 
 you the words detecting their horrible impious cheats. 
 
 But their Indices expurgaterii will acquaint you with much 
 more. And yet their fecreter expurgitions are worft of 
 all. 
 
 What words of Peters Primacy, and others for their advan- 
 tage, they have added to Cyprian de unitate Ecclefu, fee in fer. 
 Stephens his Edition of it, where much more additions to Cyprians 
 works are dcteded out of many Oxford Manufcripts. 
 
 Andreas Schsttus the Jefuite publifhing Bajils works at 
 Antwerp Lat. A. D. 1616. with Jefuitical fidelity, left out 
 the Epiitle,in which is this pafTage following, which fhould not 
 be Jolt .• fpeaking of the Weftern Bifhops he faith [verify the 
 manners of Proud men do ufeto grow more infolent, if they be ho- 
 noured. And if God be merciful to us,, what other addition have 
 we need of} But if Cjods anger on us remain, what kelp can the 
 pride of the Weft bring us ? when they neither know the Truth, nor 
 can endure tofpeak. it • but being prepoffeffed with falfe fufpicions t 
 they do the fame things now, which they did in the cafe o/Marcellus 
 contentioufly difputing againft thofe that taught the truth, but 
 fer Here fie , confirming it by their authority. Indeed J was 
 willing (not as reprefenting the pablike perfen of the Baft) to write 
 to their Leader ( Daraafus ) but nothing about Church matters, 
 but that I might intimate that they neither knew the truth of the 
 things that are done with us y nor did admit the way by which they 
 might learn them. And in general, that the; fhould net infult over 
 the calamitous and afjlicled, nor thinly that Pride did m.-ihe for 
 their dignity, when that one fin afone is enough to make us hatefull 
 to God'] fo urBjfil'm thatEpiftle left out by the Jefuite ; in 
 which you may Jee the Roroane power in thofe daies, in the 
 confeiences otBafiUnd fuch other Fathers in the Eaft. 
 
 And ( by the way ) how Tertuflian reverenced them, you 
 
 A a may 
 
178 A K^ey for Catbolicks. 
 
 may fee lib. de ptidicit. pag. 742 . where he calls Zepherinns, as 
 we fay, sHto naught : And the Afian Bifhops condemning of 
 Viclor, with IrcnxHt his reproof of him; Cyprians and Fir mill' 
 ans condemning Stephen'. Marcdlinns his condemnation by 
 all: Libtrius his being fo oft Anathematized by Hilary Piilav. 
 the refiftance of Zofimtts and Boniface by the Africans, &e. 
 fhew plainly in what efteem the now-infallible univerfal Head 
 was then among the Fathers,and tn all the Churches. But when 
 the Papifts come to the mention of fuch pafTages, what juglings 
 do they ufe ? fometime they filencethera : fometime they pafs 
 rhemoverin a few words that are buried in aheap of other 
 matters .- fometime they bring in fome forgeries to obfeure 
 them. But commonly they make a no fe of wax of Councils and 
 Fathers, as well as of Scripture, and put any ridiculous fence 
 upon them that (hall ferve their turns, though perhaps 
 fix men among them may have five or fix Expofitions. 
 
 AnEpHtleofCw/of ferufalem to Aufiinis forged by one, 
 that their Molanus calleth A barbarous impofler ( Hifior. Imag. 
 I. 3. c. 36.) about the miracles of Hierom; where Purgatory 
 and other errors are befriended. When as Ciril himfelf dyed 
 thirty years before Hierome. And yet Bins field, Suare*. and 
 other of the mod learned Papifts (tick not to make ufe of tbii 
 forgery for all tbar. 
 
 But it would be tedious to recite their particular forgeries. 
 The ftudious Reader may find many of them difcovered up and 
 down by B\(hopVfier and other of our Writers. And for his 
 fuller help.I advife him to read Dr. Retinoids de Libru Apocryph. 
 and Dr. Th. fames his corruptions of the Fathers,and Scultttut 
 his medulla patrum t yea of the Papifts themfelvet, read Sixtus 
 Senenfis his Bibliethec. and r BtlUrm. de Scriptorib. Ecclef. and 
 Pojfevines Apparatus, and Erafmus cenfures on the Fathers 
 which he dealt with ; But efpecially let him not be without 
 Cooks cenfura Pat rum, and Blondell on the Decretals ; to which 
 alfo add Rivets Critka Sacra , and Dallaus de Pfeudepigra- 
 phts. 
 
 Of their abominable Legends I (hall fay nothing, but that the 
 wifer fort of themfelves are afhamed of them. And if any Anci- 
 ents have abufed the Church by fhamelefs forgeries, the Papifts 
 snake ufe of fuch as confidently as if they were the word of Cod. 
 
 Fox 
 
AK^y for Catholicks. 179 
 
 For inftance, Let any man but read over the Booki of Bafil Bi- 
 (hopof Seleucia(i( it be bis indeed jof the life & Miracles ot The- 
 cla, and try his faith upon it, whether be be able to believe that 
 *lhec\a ft oodfo long at the window to hear Paul while all thofe daily 
 applications and orations were made to her f that Denial and Her- 
 mogenes were there toftir up the people again ft Paul as a deceiver , 
 under the cloal^of being his companions ; that any of t ho ft Orati- 
 ons recited are true, when the Author like a profejfed fabler ufeth 
 to fay [I fuppofe thus or thus they (aid: j f ^ af her Mother 
 Theoc3Ci,4»^ her lover Thamiris were on thefudden fo cruel as to 
 burn her, while they are faid J r o much to burn in Love to her ; 
 that when Thecla had formed her body like aCrofs,a»clcaft her 
 felfinto the flaming pile , the flames in reverence of the Crofs, 
 became at a Chamber to her , covering her like a vault from 
 the peoples fight, and not approaching her ; and that the earth 
 making a grievous mife,thefhowrs and hail deftroyed the people , 
 and Thecla went her way without obfervance, finding Paul and 
 Onefiphorus hid in a Sepulcher at prayer for her : that Paul 
 permitted her to cut her hair, and change her habit, and become his 
 fellow travailer; that Alexander the Qovtrnour was fo inflamed 
 With her beauty at Antiocb,* ven before /became in full fight of the 
 people in the City Gate, that he could not forbear , but prefently 
 muft leap upon her like a mad dog; that jhe tore his Cloak., **d 
 threw off his Crown t and fo faved her Virginity; that for this 
 ftiewas caft andtyedto wild beafts, and the Lyons couched to her, 
 and one Lyonefs fought for her, and killed the reft that affaulted 
 her; that yet they turned more upon her : that Jhe leaped into the 
 Fijh pond among the devouring Sea Calvs; and thatfi'e from 
 Heaven came down into the Water, and there made her a chamber, 
 andfavid her from thofe Sea-beafts ; that Falconilla J s foul ap- 
 peared to her Mother Tryphaenaro beg ThztWi prayers that Jhe 
 might be admitted into heaven^ telling her how much Thecla was 
 admired in Heaven. ( She knew who was admired in Heaven 
 before (he could be let in •' ) that at Thecla's prayers flse was 
 admitted into heaven ; ( but cell* us r.ot where (he was before . ) 
 that when Thecla Vras again tied to wild bulls , and fire fet to their 
 pofteriorsto enrage them , the fire killed them, and burnt the bonds \ 
 andfie'toae unhurt. That Thecla again putt on mans cloaths , 
 andfeekj Paul j ( whether (he wore breeches I find not- ) that 
 
 A a z Paul 
 
1 80 A t\eyfor Catbolicks. 
 
 Paul hereupon pronounceth her an Afojile ( a predeceflbrof Pope 
 Joan) and ordaintth her to go and preach the Go/pel • and ap' 
 pointethher to one Pagan City (as if either women were Apo- 
 ftles.or ordained to be preachers of the GofpeUthat by Paul 
 were forbidden to fpeak in the Church: or Apoftles were con- 
 fined to a City : ) that /he fixed at Seleucia^W there converted 
 and baptized many , and at lafi ( after many miracles ) did not 
 die, but entred alive into the earth, which opened it fe If for her 
 in the place where the holy Table flood 5 that after her death /be 
 •wrought thofe one and thirty miracles that fill a fecond Boo\^ % 
 and many more ; appearing to this Bafil, and encouraging him 
 when he was weary, to go en in the writing of her praifes, and 
 plucking him by the ear-, and fo curing his headach , which elfe 
 would have prevented hisOratim in her prd'fe the next day $ 
 with abundance more that are more ftrange then this. « 
 
 I have inftanced but in this one cafe of Thetla , becaufe ic 
 would be endlefs to tell you of all the reft of their fidions 
 (were I acquainted with tbem all ) Nor do I mention this as one 
 of their Legends, no nor as a piece of Metaphrases ', but as the 
 works of St. Bafil ( not Bafil the great ) an ancient Father. 
 Now either this is Bafils work, or it is not. If it be not, then 
 you fee whattruft is to be given to the Papifts Antiquities, and 
 fuppofed Fathers ; For this is one of them, and this flory vin- 
 dicated by Petrus Pantinus , yea by no lefs a roan then the 
 Great Baronius, the Mafter of Antiquities , who Annal.Tom. 
 1. ad. An. D. 47. bringe'ha whole Army of Fathers to atteft 
 the Ads of Thecla^nd approveth of this of Bifils,%r\& the 
 like ai Metaphrases. Two Teftimonies trouble him fhrewdly. 
 One is no later then Tertullian, who ( de Baptif. cap. iS. ) 
 faith thus Q But if any women read the pretended writings of 
 VixA, and defend the example o/Thecla, for womens Liberty to 
 teach ani baptife, let them know that a Presbyter i» Afia, that 
 framed that writing, putting Pauls name inftead of his own^was cafi 
 etit of his place, being convicted of it, and con fef sing that he Aid 
 it in We to Paul.] 
 
 The other is Bieroms teftimony de Script. Ecclef. who cit- 
 ing the fore-cited words , faith 1 The travails therefore o/Paul 
 jHtdThech,and the whole fable of the baptized Lyon y we reckon 
 among Apocryphal writings: For hew can it be that the infeparable 
 
 com' 
 
A Z\ey for Qatbolkks. 1 8 1 
 
 companion of the Apofile ( Luke ) was ignorant of this only among 
 all his matters ?] 
 
 But yet Baronius thinks that thefearenot the fame Book; 
 that Tertullian and Hierom fpeak againft : and why fo ? Becaufe 
 I.Here is no mention of Theclaes breaching and, Baptizing, r.or 
 of the Lyon baptized, 2. Becaufe fo many Fathers attefi the fiery. 
 But the fir ft is a vifib!e falfhood, contrary to the exprcfs words 
 of theftory, which feign Paul to have fcntherto preach as a 
 true Apoftle, and mention her baptiz ; ngthe people of Selettcia. 
 And for the baptized Lyon, perhaps Hie rom fpoke de baptifmate 
 fanguinis : and meant the Lyon that dyed in the defence of 
 Thecla: And in that ptace Thecla is brought as calling Death 
 a Baptifm: However that word which might eafily be miftaken, is 
 no great difproof that this is the fame ftory. And for the Fa- 
 thers Teftimony, as we believe that a famous Martyr called 
 Thecla there was, from whence the occafion of the ftory rofe, 
 fo it doth but (hew how unfit the Fathers are to be the 
 Authors of our Faith , or to be efteemed infallible, that fo 
 eafily believe and recite the forged ftorics of an Afiatick 
 Presbyter , even when Tertullian had before revealed the 
 deceit. 
 
 But if really this Book was written by Bajiiof Seleucia^nd 
 was not fpurious,then we yet further fee, that they that reft upon 
 the Holy Scriptures alone for the matters of their faith, do take 
 a furer wifer way , then they that build all on the credit of fuch 
 credulous imprudent fabulous Fathers as this author was. 
 
 By this little tafte you may fee how their Records and Tefti- 
 monies from Antiquity are to be trufted'.Even as Zofimtts reporc 
 of the N'cene Canon to the African Council was, who proved' 
 it a forgery,and fo rejected it,when the writings are only in their 
 keeping, and their intereft calleth them to deprave them, they 
 are little to be trufted ; who dare venture to corrupt thofc that 
 are in the hands of the Chriftian world. 
 
 Aa 3 Chap. 
 
t8i A H\ey for fatholicks. 
 
 Chap. XXVIII. 
 
 Detect, I p. A Nother of the Popifti devices is, when they 
 jLJL have laid their own cauft upon fo many forge- 
 ries > And uphold it by fo many falfe reports , to make the people 
 believe that it is we that are the lyars, and that we are not to be be- 
 lieved™ any thing that, we fay of them: and that we mifrtport 
 the lathers, belye the Roman Catholickj , and therefore no man 
 (hould read our Bookj,or difconrfe rrith us,fo as to afford us any 
 credence. So that indeed they get as much by mcer pcrfwading 
 the people that we are Lyars , as by any way that I know. 
 We cannot tell them what is in their own Writers, but the igno- 
 rant people are commonly taught to fay , we Jlander them. 
 Though we cite the book,and page,and line, and tell them thai 
 they were printed at Rome, or Colin, or Antwerp, or Paris , 
 by men of their own Profeffion, yet they believe us not, for 
 they areinftru&edto hold us for lyars, that we may beunca- 
 pable of doing them good. If we cite any of the Fathers, they 
 cell us that we mifalledgc them, or have corrupted them, or they 
 fay no l'uch thing. If we (hew them the books publiftied by their 
 own Doctors, and licenfed by their Superiors, and printed by 
 Papifts, yet they will not believe os. And fo they arc taught the 
 eaficft way in the world to repell the truth, and confute thofe 
 that would do them good. It is no more but fay,;** lye ,and all's 
 done. 
 
 In fuch a cafe as this, what is there to be done ? Ignorance 
 and Incredulity thus purpofely conjoyned , are the wall of 
 brafs that is oppofed to oar endeavours.To what purpofe (hould 
 we fpeak to them that will not hear ? In fuch a cafe I know 
 but one of thefe two wayes. i. To endeavour to revive the 
 ftupified humanity andRcafon of thefe men : and ask them, 
 Is Religion the work of a man or of a beaft ? Of a wife man, 
 or of a mad man? Is it a Reafonable or an Unreafonable courfe ? 
 If it be Reafonable , why then will you go without Reafon 
 upon other mens bare words ? But if you are fo little men as 
 to venture your fouls without Reafon, me thinks you (hould not 
 venture againft it? Would you reft on the bare word of one 
 of thefe men , if it went againft Reafon? If (o t then you re- 
 nounce 
 
A Key for Qatbolicks. , 8 j 
 
 nounceyour manhood. Butfuppofeyou will be fo unreafon- 
 *ble,yet I hope you have your five fenfei ftill ? What if a Prieft 
 fhall tell you that the Crow is white , and the fnow is black, 
 or that you fee not when you know you fee, will you believe 
 him ? If you will believe them before your eyes, and tafte, and 
 feeling , then I have done with you ^ who can difpure with 
 flocks and ftones, or menfo far forfaken of God , as to re- 
 nounce all their fenfes ? But if you will not believe a Prieft 
 againft your eyes , and other fenfes , then why do you be- 
 lieve him that Bread is not Bread, and Wine is not Wine, 
 when the eyes, andfmell, and tafte of all men fay it is? And 
 if your fenfes tell you that your Priefts deceive you in one 
 thing , me thinks you (hould not be fo confident of them 
 in ocher things , as to believe and hearken to none bur. 
 them. 
 
 2. If this will not ferve , try whether you can procure 
 their Priefts to difcufs thofe points before the incredu- 
 lous people , that fo they may hear both (ides fpeak toge- 
 ther. Gee a conference between them, and fome experienced 
 judicious Divine. But this will hardly be obtained. For if 
 it be todifpuce with one that is able, they'l prefently pretend 
 a danger of perfecution : and no promife of fecunty will fa- 
 tisfie them. But if it be a weak unexperienced man that 
 chailengeth them , then they will venture , and take the 
 advantage. 
 
 If nothing elfe can be done , it is the beft way to offer 
 them fome fmall Book againft Popery to read. If they are 
 fo captivated that they will neither Hear nor Read, and their 
 Leaders will not be drawn to a D.fpute , I know not what 
 to do but leave them, and let them take what they gee by their 
 unreasonable obftinacy : They are unworthy of truth that fee 
 no more by it. 
 
 Ch a p. 
 
184 ^K^yf or Catholicks. 
 
 Chap. XXIX. 
 
 Dad}. 20. \ Nother of their deceits is bj pretended Mi- 
 £\ racks. If they do but hear of a Wench that 
 hath the ftranguUtut uteri, or furor uterinus , or fuch hjfterical 
 PriJJiQns in any violent degree , they prefently goto caftthe 
 Devil oat of her, that fothey may make deluded people think 
 that cbey have wrought a Miracle. And ufually the Countrey 
 people , and perhaps the difeafed woman her telf, may be fo 
 much unacquainted with the difeafe, as verily to believe the 
 Priefts,that they have a Devil indeed : and fo turn Papifts when 
 the cure is wrought, as thinking it was done by the ringer of 
 God. The nature of this difeafe is to caufe fuch ftrange fymp- 
 toms, that moft ignorant people that fee them, do think that 
 the perfons are either bewitched , or have a Devil. Ac this 
 very time while I am writing this, I am put to difTwade a man 
 from accufingone of his neighbours of witchcraft, bscaufe his 
 daughter hath this difeafe, and cryeth outofher. Left thePa- 
 pifti get further advantage by this ignorance of the people, 
 Khali acquaint them briefly withfomeof the fyroptomsofthis 
 difeafe. It ufually feizcth upon young women between the Age 
 of fevenceen and thirty two years t And moft commonly on 
 thofe that arc of a found complexion,fomewhat fanguine,or at 
 leaft, fle(hlyandftrong, and but feldom on the weaker fort 
 ( in this manner. J When it is but a meer flrangulation, wo- 
 men commonly know it , by the rifing to their throat, and fwel- 
 ing,and the like .* But when it comes to the difeafe we mention,it 
 caufeth them to fall by fits into fudden trances, and fwoons .♦ 
 in which at firft ufually they feem ftupid as dead, if it be in a 
 colder body , but after they grow to violent motions , and 
 ftrivings,and ragings , fo that its as much as two can do to hold 
 them. And when the fit is over, they are well again. Some- 
 time there will be motions like convulfive in the head, the hands, 
 and the fingers diftin&ly : fo that you (hall fee one hand vio- 
 lently moved to fome part of the body, fo that it wjll be hard 
 to remove it. Sometime one finger fet double, and then ano- 
 ther, and after that another, fo that it will be hard till the fit 
 is over to fee them (trait. Ufually the body toft up and down 
 
 with 
 
A I\ey for Catholicks . i g c 
 
 with raging madnefs. And fome of them will continue a year 
 or two.or leven in this cafe, daily falling in fuch fits as one would 
 think (houlddeftroy or weaken them prefently, and yet after 
 the fits, be alraoftas well as ever, and their iirength doth not 
 much decay. If they hear any mention of a Witch, they will 
 likely take a conceit that they are bewitched » and then in their 
 fits they will cry out upon the Witch,and if they fee her, they 
 will fall into a fit. If they get but a conceit that they are PofTef- 
 fed with a Devil, (by hearing the mention of others that were 
 pofTefTed ) they will by the power of corrupted fancy, piay the 
 parts of the poftdkd, and rage, and rore, and I wear, and fpeak 
 as in the peribn of the Devil, and take on them to -prophefie, or 
 tell of fecrets. All this I have known : and I have eafed fome 
 cf them by medicine in a few moments, and cured them (at that 
 tiraejinafewdayes; So that I could eafily have made the com- 
 mon people believe that I had caft out a Devil , if I had but 
 had the defign and confeience of a Papift. A while ago a neigh- 
 bour Mintfter told me of a neighbour that was handled thus. 
 I told him what difeafe it was, and advifed him to perfwade 
 her to a judicious Phyfitian. But the next I hear of her was, 
 thatnegle&ing the Phyfitian, (he was cured by fome Papift 
 Prieft , and thereupon was turned Papift. And no doubt bfft 
 among themfelves it is reported for a Miracle. 
 
 The famecourfe they take alfo in fomediftra&ions and other 
 difeafrs. And fometime perfons are trained up by them todif- 
 femblsand counterfeit a lunatickor pofTeflcd ftate. 
 
 And here becau/e H.T. in his Manual, ^85, 86. doth 
 
 plead their Miracle?, I (hall revive the memory of one of the 
 
 great Miracles that was done among their Profeiites in the Pa- 
 
 rifh of Wolverhampton 1 though I have mentioned it heretofore. 
 
 I have the Book by me ( Printed at Lcndonby F. K. for Will- 
 
 Barret ,1622. )and have fpoke with many perfons that knew the 
 
 Ador himfelf , being yet alive ; fo that J fuppofe that no Papift 
 
 about Wolverhampton will deny it, what ever they do elfewhcre. 
 
 AzBilfon in the Parifli of Wolverhampton in St afford -fare 
 
 there was a Boy named William Perrj, Son of Tho. Perry , who 
 
 feemed to be bewitched or poflefied with a Devil : (aboutthir- 
 
 teen years old , but of fpecial wit above bis ags. ) In his fits he 
 
 feemed co be deaf, and blind, writhing his mouth slide, conti- 
 
 B b nuilly 
 
1 8 6 A £\ey for Catholicks . 
 
 nually groaning and panting, and when he was pricked, pinched^ 
 whipped, be feemed not to feel. He Teemed to cake no food 
 rhac would digeft k but with it caft up rags, thred, ftraw, pimi&c. 
 his belly almoft as flat as his back, his throat Iwel'd and hard, 
 his tongue ftiffand rolled up towards the roof of his mouth, fo 
 that he feemed alwayesdumb, fave thatoncein a fortnigh: or 
 three weeks he would Tpeak a few words. It was thought be 
 was bewicchsd by one Joan Cock' , becaufe r. He would 
 difcern when that woman was brought into the room, chough 
 it were fecretly done, as was tryed before the Grand Jury at 
 Stafford. 2. He would not endure the repeating of the firft verfe 
 of fohn t [In the beginning was the word, ehr.] but other texts he 
 would endure. When the Parents had been a while wearyed 
 with him, and the Countrey flockt in to fee him, a Prieftofthe 
 Romiih Religion was invited to cure him. The Prieft exor- 
 eifed , him praying in Latine over him,hanging a (tone about his 
 neck, walhing him with Holy water, Witch water, and anoint- 
 inghirawith Holy Oyl, c*v. which feemed to eafe him, and 
 make him fpeak , and foraetime cure him for ihetime. They- 
 Hallowed all his meat and drink.* He would not fo much as eac 
 Raifins.or fmell to flowers,unle(sthey were bleft by the Prieft : 
 He cold them that while the Puritans flood by him he faw the 
 Devil aflault him in the (hape of a black bird. The Prieft re- 
 quirechthe chief fiend to fliewhimfelf : then the boy puts out ■ 
 his tongue fwel'd: The Prieft comraandeth him to (hew the Peo* 
 pie by the fheec before him , how he would ufe thofe that 
 dyed out of the Roman Catholick Church. Whereupon he puis, 
 and bites,and toffeth the fheet,tili the people cry out and weep. 
 Then he comraandeth the Devil to tell him, how he did ufe Z»- 
 then^Cahin and fohn Fox : and he playeth thefame part more 
 fiercely then before. Then the Prieft commands him to fhew 
 what power he had of a good Catholick that dyed out of mortal 
 fm : and then he thruft down his arms , and hang\i down 
 his head, and trembled. The Eoy promifeth when his fit is 
 over, that the will live and die a Catholick, perfwading his pa- 
 rents and friends,^. On this manner three Priefts one after 
 another followed the cure, ftiil fucceeding, but yet not curing 
 him, that they might draw the Countrey to a longer obfervance 
 of them, ( and preachc to thera inthehoufe ) and that the Mi- 
 
 irtcte 
 
A I\ey for Catholicks. 1 87 
 
 ade might be the more famous. For furfooth there were many 
 Devils in him, they faid, to be caft our. And it ftopt the cure, 
 becauie the Mother would not promifc them to turn Papift if 
 they cured him. But in the mean time the fuppofed Witch is 
 brought to tryal at Stafford Afflict, 1620. before Judge Way- 
 burton and Judge Davits : But in the end the Judges defired Bi- 
 fhop A'forton \hen prefent to take care of the Boy: who took 
 him home to his Caftle at EcclePiall, and a p cer certain weeks 
 time ( the Bilhop being abroad) the laid Biihop comes to the 
 Boy ,and tells him that he underftood that he could not endure 
 the firft verfe of foh», and faith he, the Devil underftandeth 
 Greek as well asEnglifh, being a Schollar ofalrsoft fix chou- 
 fand years (landing , and therefore he knows when 1 1 eci:e that 
 verfe in Greek : And fo calling for a Greek Teftamenr, he read 
 the 12. verfe ^ and the Boy thinking it had been the firlt, fell 
 into his fit; And when that fit was over, the Bifhop read the 
 firft verfe , and then the Boy had no fie , thinking it had been 
 forae othef verfe. And thus they proved him a deceiver, and the 
 Boy was much confounded, but pretended more diftra&ion • 
 and then that he might get away,he complained of extream fick- 
 nefs , and made water in the Urinal, as black as ink, groaning 
 when he made it : But the third day afcer,they efpyed him mix- 
 ing ink with his Urine, and nimbly conveying away the Ink- 
 horn. And when they came in upon him, and found him in 
 the conveyance, he broke out into tears, and was fuddenly 
 cured, and confeffed all, how he had been taught bis art, and 
 how he did all, and confeffed that his intent was to be cured by 
 aPriefr, and to turn Papift ( and whether riiey have catcht 
 him again or no, I know not;, for I hear he is a Quaker in Brifiol, 
 or at leaft.arevilerof the Mimftry ) The Bifhop took his ex- 
 amination at large, OBob. 8. & 1 3 . 1 620. If any doubt of the 
 ftory, they may befatisfied yet by the Boy himfelf, or by 
 the Reverend Bifhop yet alive , or by any of the neigh- 
 bours in Bilfon that were at age there but thirty feven years? 
 ago. 
 
 But before the Bifhop haddifcovered the knavery, one of the 
 Conjuring Priefls writes the Narrative of the bufinefs ( which 
 if printed with the reft) and is Entitolcd [_ zA Faithful Relation 
 of the proceedings of the fat ho lick. Gentlemen with the Bsj of 
 
 Bb 2 Bilfoa, 
 
mm 
 
 1 88 jifyyforCatholich. 
 
 Bilfon, /hewing, Sic."] And they begin with [ Not to us Lord, 
 but to thy Name give the Glory ! ] And fo they proceed to make 
 their report of it, for deluding the people, as a Miracle. And 
 the writing washy a Papift Gentleman examined, actefted upon 
 Oath to be received from one Mr. Wheeler ^ dec. But when they 
 hesrd of the Difcovery, they were afliamed of their faithful 
 Relation. At laft, the Bifhop brought the Boy at the next 
 fummers Affixes, 7«/; 26. 1621.10 ask pardon openly of God, 
 and the woman accufed by him, and of the Countrey cheated 
 by him, and there wasan end of that Poptfh Miracle. Abun- 
 dance more fuch I could give you out of certain records- but 
 I recited this for the fake of H. 7". and the Papifls of Wolver- 
 hampton. 
 
 And for your Miracles; I befeech you, if you regard not 
 us, yet open your ears to a Jefuite that fpcaks the Truth. Jofeph 
 Acojla ( de temporib- novi/f. lib .3 ,c . 3 . ) \_To all the Miracles 
 of Antichrifi, though he do great ones, the Church /hall boldly 
 oppofe the Belief of the Scriptures : and by the inexpugnable Tefti- 
 mony of this Truth , /hall by moft clear light difpdl all his agings 
 as Clouds. Signs are given to Infidels, Scriptures to Belie- 
 vers; and therefore the Primitive Church abounded with Mira- 
 cles, when Infidels were to be called : But the lafk y when the Faith- 
 ful are already Called, /hall reft more on the Scripture, then on 
 Miracles. Tea 1 wiH boldly fay, that all Miracles are vain and 
 empty* unlefs they be approved by the Scripture j that is, have a 
 doBrine conform to the Scripture. But the Scripture it felf u of 
 it felf a moft firm Argument of Truth. ~] 
 
 And the fame Acojla confefleth in his Indian H^ory, that 
 they do no Miracles in the Indies ('where the boaft is. ) And if 
 they did, it would confirm Chriftianity, but not Popery. 
 
 Yea if Miracles be fo much to be lookt at, why will you not 
 give us leave to obferve them ? The fame Miracles that you boaft 
 of, do teftifleagainftyoUjif they be true. Toinftancenowbut 
 in one. Profper makes mention of a Miracle ( which Thyram 
 de Dtmoniac. pag. 76. and many more of yours recite, ) that 
 was done by the Sacramental Wine •• A perfonpsjfe/fed by the De- 
 vil was cured, (after many other means ufed in vain) by the 
 Ur inkjng ef t he Wine in the Eucharifi.' And doth not this Mira- 
 dejuftirie us that give thepeople the Wioe, and condemn you, 
 
 that 
 
A IQyfor £atbolicks. 
 
 thatrefufeto give it them ? Many other Miracles I could recite, 
 that the Fathets fay were done by the Sacrament in both kinds 
 received, which condemn you that forbid it. 
 
 &-. 
 
 Ch a p. XXX. 
 
 Detttl. 21. A Nother of the Papifts waies of deceiving i$, by <Jj 
 
 -/A. impudent Lyes an i Slanders againjltkiir Ad- ^J 
 verfaries ; which they vent with fuch confidence, that the [educed 
 people eaftly believe them. They that are taught to believe their 
 Priefts againft their own feeing, hearing, feeling, tailing and 
 fmellmg. muft needs believe the vileft Lyes that they are pieafed 
 to utter, in cafes where the miferable people are unable to dif- 
 provctbem. I will give you but a few of that multitude of In- 
 fknees that might be given. 
 
 i . In a Manufcript of the Papifts which I lately received from 
 a Neighbour of Stur bridge, as fent from Wolverhampton, there 
 are thefe words.with which they conclude [Luther having richly 
 fupped, and made his friends merry with his facete conceits, died 
 the fame night. This u teftified by Cochlcus in vitahutherl. And 
 John Calvin, a branded fodomite^ con fumed with lice and worms, 
 died blafpheming and calling upon the Devil. This is regifired by 
 SchluflelburgeWBolfeck; thefe were the Ends of the Parents 
 of the Protefiant andPresbjkris.n pretended Reformed Religions, 
 
 And as if their own tongue muft fentence them to Hell, in 
 the vety words before.they lay [All Lyars, their part /hall be 
 in the pool burning with fire andbr.mflcnejvhich is thefeconddeath~\ 
 And fo make Application of it to the Proteftants, as being Ly- 
 ars; and when they have done, conclude with the two forecited 
 impudent Lies of Luther and C-tlvin. The like words of (falvin 
 hath the late Marquefs of Wortefier ( or Dr. Baity for him ) in 
 his Papers to King Charles ; the whole writing being fluffed 
 with fuch impudent Lies, that one would wonder that humane 
 mture (hould be capable of fuch wickednefs, and that the filly 
 people fhould fwallow down fuch heaps of falfhood. And it is 
 not thefe two alone, but multitudes of Papifts that have written 
 thefe Lies of Luther and Calvin. Thyraus the Jefuite in his 
 Book de Dtmtmacis, part, i . cap. 8. fag. 21 . tells o* this ftory s 
 
 Bb 3 tU4* 
 
\ 
 
 190 A t\ey for Qa tholicks . 
 
 that the fame day that Luther dyed, there rots at Gheola a Town 
 in Brabant many per fons pojfejjed of Devils \ that waited on their 
 SaintDymn^ for Deliverance, and were all that day delivered', 
 but the next day they were all pojfejfed again •, whereupon the Ex' 
 crcifl or fome body asked the Devils where they had been the day 
 befere • and they anfweredy that they Were commanded by their 
 Prince to be at the Funeral of their fellow Labour tr Luther. And 
 for proof cf thm, Luthers own fervant that was with him at his 
 death, looking out at the windo^c, did more thin once, to his great 
 terror , fee a company of ugly fpirits leaping and dancing about 
 without : andalfo that the Crows followed the Corps all the way 
 with a great neife. ] 
 
 O wonderful patience and mercy of God, that fuffereth fuch 
 abominable Lyars to live, and doth not caufe fome fudden 
 vengeance to befall them.' Reader, I will tell thee now the cafe 
 of thefetwofervants of Chrift that are thus reviled ( even as 
 their Matter was before them, that was faid to do Miracles by 
 the power of the Devil. ) 
 
 As for Luther, he was oft taken with a great pain in his breaft, 
 about the mouth of the ftomack, and thought his Death when 
 st came would be fudden -, which made him fay, Feri Dwine, 
 feri clementer, quia ipfeparatusfum '.ftrike Lord^flrike merciful- 
 ly, for 1 am ready } Having preached his laft Sermon at Witten- 
 berge, Jan. 17. he took his journey the 23 . to Count Alansfelds 
 Countrey, whither he was called. When he came thither, he was 
 grown fo weak, that they almoft defpaired of his life -, yet by the 
 ufe of fomentations he had fo mucheafe, as that he preached 
 fometime, and did other work from Jan. 29. to Febr. 17, The 
 1aft day of his life, though he was weak, yet he fate at the table 
 with them, and at Supper hisdifcourfe was upon the Queftion, 
 Whether we (hall know one another in Heaven? which he 
 affirmed and proved, in that Adam knew Eve as foon as he faw 
 her, that (he was flefh of his fkfti:and therefore much more 
 Khali we know one another in Heaven, &c. After Supper, he 
 withdrew himfelf as he ufed, for private prayer; but the pain 
 of his breaft increafed on him. When he had taken a medicine, 
 he lay down on a Couch and flept fwectly two hours, and then 
 went to his Chamber, faying to thofe about him {_Pray God to 
 freferve the Doftrine of the Gofpel to m ; for the Pope And Council 
 
 •i 
 
 M 
 
A l^-for Catbolicks. i$\ 
 
 of Trent have ftrange Contrivances. ~] When he was laid down 
 and had flept a while he awakened, and found by the increafe of 
 his pain, that he was near his End, and fpoketo God as follow- 
 ech in their bearing £ my heavenly Father, the God and Fa- 
 ther of our Lord Jefus Chrift, the God of all Confolation, I thank, 
 thee that thou haft revealed to we thy Son Jrftis Chrift, in whom I 
 have believed, whom J have prof effed, whom I have loved, whom I 
 have (felebratei (or Honoured) whom the Pope of Rome and 
 the rtft of the rabble of the ungoJly do perfecute and reproach : I 
 befeech thee my Lird fefus Chrift receive my foul. O my heaven- 
 ly Father, though I amtak^n from this life, and though my body 
 muft now be laiddoven, yet I know certainly that Ifijall abide with 
 thee ft r ever, and that none can take me out of thy hands. J Then 
 he faid \_ So God loved the world, that he gave his onh begotten 
 Son, that whoever believeth in him,(hould net perifb,but have ever- 
 Ufting life ] Then he repeated part of the 68. Pfalm : and 
 when he had drunk a medicine thac was given him, he laid [/ 
 go hence : I now return myfpirit unto God J prefently adding [Fa- 
 ther, into thy hands I commend my ffi'it , thou haft Redetmed me 
 O God of Truth ) And fc?he dyed as if he were fetting himfelf 
 to fleep, without any fign of further pain .-but when they faw 
 him dying, Dr. fenat and Calius cryed to him {_ Reverend Fa- 
 ther-, do you- die conftant through- Chrift in his doElrine which you 
 have hitherto preached ? ~\ And he anfwered [Tea ] and never 
 fpoke more. When he was dead fat Iflebe) Count Mansfield 
 would have kept his body, but the Duke of Saxony would not 
 fuffer him, but caufed it to be brought back to wittenberge, and 
 ihe're with great folemnity interred. 1 
 
 This is the true reporc in brief of Lathers Death, delivered 
 to the world by thofe that flood by him, and were eye witneffe* .' 
 A:id yet thefe impudent Lying Papifts have perfwaded their fol- 
 lowers that the Devils were feen dancing about him , that when 
 hefhauldbe baryed there was a horrible thunder, and the body 
 was taken away out of the Coffin by the Devil , and a (link of 
 Brimftone left behind , with more fuch (luff as this, which 
 they have printed, and which one would think the Father of 
 Lies fhould oe ainamed of. 
 
 And for Calvin, not only thofe before mentioned, but alfo 
 'flelju.f , Surius, Frateolt4j J Demschares,L'ndan«s i SanUeftm, 
 
 Cahitrus > 
 
192 A Key for Catbolicks. 
 
 Cahierus, and others publifh to the world, not only that he 
 was an Epicure, but a Sodomite, and was burnt on the (boul- 
 der for Sodomie with a hot iron at Noviodunum where he was 
 born. Yea Leffim the Jefuite impudently calls Chrift to wit- 
 nefs,that (hall judge all men according to their works, that he 
 doth not devife thefe things of his own brain,bat from good 
 authors, and forty years currant fame. And his Authors are 
 thefe Papifts, Bolfecus, Brigerds^Stapleton , Carnpian , Dura- 
 us, Swim, and Reginaldus. Hath Hell any greater calum- 
 nies then thefe to fill the mouths or writings of men with- 
 all ? 
 
 Reader,! (hall (hew thee what credit thefe men are of by this 
 inftance. As for the time when they fay he was ftigmatized for 
 Sodomie, it was when he was a Papift, and therefore if it had 
 been true, it had been a greater dishonour to them then to us. 
 But its a meer forgery of the Devil and a Fryar. Hierom 
 BolfecJ^a. Fryar , feemed to turn Proteftant, and coming to 
 Cr«y*t/*,he began to preach the Pelagian do&rine there , and 
 openly contend sgiinft the Paftors in the Congregation • and 
 being confounded by Calvin, the Magiftrates imprifonedhim, 
 and banUhed him for fedition. Then he betakes himfelf to 
 the neighbour Towns, to play the fame game there : but the 
 Magiftrates of Bern alfo banifti them out of their C'ountrey. 
 Whereupon he turned Papift again , and when Calvin was 
 dead, he wrote all thefe abominable lies of him , and all the 
 reft (with Schlttjfelburgihs the Lutheran, an enemy ofCahins) 
 do take up the report from this one Lying heretical Papift : and 
 fo it becomes a currant fame with them, as if it were as true 
 ^s the Gofpel .• Whereupon our writers call to them , provoke 
 them, challenge them to fearch the Records at Noviodunum, 
 where they fay the thing was done , and prove that ever there 
 wasfuch athing, or elfe bear theopen fhame of Lyars. But 
 they can bring no proof, but call on us todifproveit: When 
 the City are Papifts , and haters of Calvin, But after all 
 this , as God would have it, the Papift Dean of that City, cal- 
 led Jacobus le Vaffeur, publiiheth at Paris, 1633. the Annals 
 of their Cathedral Church, and therein pouring out his hatred 
 ?.gainft Cahin 9 and faying what he can againft him, doth yet. 
 Got of their records clear him of all thefe accufations, and lets 
 
 the 
 
A I\ey for Catholkku 19$ 
 
 the world know that there was never any fuch thing , and that 
 they had no crime at all againft him , but that he turned from 
 thePapifts- and that the Major or chief Governour oftheCity 
 went away with Calvin , when he was forced to fly from his 
 native Countrey. He recites all the paflfages of Calvins. life 
 there, but profeiTeth that they had no more againft him. Thus 
 God confounded the Lying Papifts by one of themfelves , and 
 the Records of that City, where they faid the thing was done. 
 And yet they believe one another, and carry on the Lye to this 
 day. 
 
 Mr. Rob.AmftrowtheryChaphin to the King of England* Em- 
 bafTadors with the Emperour,being at Vienna, heard the Jefuites 
 and other repeating confidently this flander of Calvin, Where- 
 upon he opened to them this Evidence againft it j and fatisficd 
 them of the falftiood , fo that they told him, they never knew 
 fo much before,and promifed him they would never mention it 
 more. 
 
 If any would fee the very words of their own Records , 
 and Doctor Vaffeur , he may read them in Rivets Sum. 
 Contr. againft Bail) , and again in his fefuita Vafulatt: t 
 Cap. 2. 
 
 And as for the life of Calvin after he forfook thePapifts, 
 if you will but believe that the City of Geneva, and all the 
 Minifters and others that were about him, in his life ard at his 
 death , did know better then Bolfeck, a fugitive Apofta<e Pa- 
 pift that was his enemy, and then far off, you may fee at large 
 in Melchior Adamus ,and Beua,thc defcription of fuch a fliining 
 burning light as Rome hath not toboaftof. He was a man 
 of admirable wit, judgement, induftry, and piety. When he had 
 forfaken his own Countrey for the Gofpel lake, and taken up in 
 geneva , and planted the Gofpel there, with Fartllus and fire- 
 tus y at laft the ungodly part getting the Head, the Minifters 
 were banifhed. And fo he fetled in in another Ciry. The four 
 Bayliffs of Geneva that bmiflied the Minifters, within two years 
 were ruined by the judgements of God. Cne of them accufed 
 of fedition, feeking to fcape through a window, fell, and was 
 broken to death. Another was put to death for murder. 
 The other two being accufed of Mal-adminiltrarioi, fl d and 
 were condemned. Calvin \iCenz for and intrested to return 
 
 Cc to 
 
i p 4 ^ &y f or Catholicks . 
 
 — _ > , — , — ___ , 
 
 to Gentva : which by importunity, and Ewers perfwafion, he 
 yicldethto. There was he continually raolefted by the ungodly, 
 and loved by the good. The Malignaots whom be would re- 
 train by Difcipline from Whoredom, drunkennefs,and other 
 wickedncfs, were Hill plotting or raging againft him,and called 
 their Dogs by his name. But fhame was ftill the end of their 
 attempts. His revenge was to tell them ^ I fee I fbottld have 
 but forry wages if Iferved mxn : but its well for me that J ferve 
 him that alway performeth his promifes to his fervants ] As 
 for his work,he preached every day in the week each fecond 
 week, andbe(idesthat,he read three dayesa week a Divinity 
 Le&ure. And every Thurfday he guided the Presbytcrie ^ and 
 every Friday at a meeting he held an Expofitory conference and 
 Le&ure : fo that the whole came to alraoft twelve Sermons 
 a week. Befides this, he wrote Epiftles to moft Countries of 
 Chriftendom {'m Europe) to Princes,Dtvines and others; And 
 he wrote all thofe great volumes of moft Learned judicious 
 Controverfies,Commentaries,and other Treatifes, which one 
 would have thought might have been work enough for a man 
 that had lived an hundred years, if he had done no other* And 
 many Hereticks he confuted, and fomc convinced and reduced. 
 He fet up among the Minifters a courfe of teaching every 
 Family from houfe to houfe,of which he found incredible fruit ^ 
 For all this his labour he endured the affronts,contradic%ioM,and 
 reproaches of the rabble, yea and fometime hath been beaten by 
 them : becaufe he would not adrainifter the Sacrament to un- 
 godly men , that were rulers in the place , he was at firft ba- 
 ni filed , and after threatned, and continually molefted by them, 
 and railing fellows fee to preach and write againft him. And 
 whether he were an Epicure, you may foon judge : He alwayes 
 ufed a very fpare dyet i and for ten years before his death did 
 did never tafte one bit, but at fupper, as his conftant courfe. 
 fo that every day was with him a better faft then the Papifts 
 ufeto make on their faftingdayes. By this extreara labour, 
 fpea king, and fafting, and watching ( for he dictated his wri- 
 tings as he lay in bed much, ) he overthrew his body , and 
 falling firft into a Tertian, aud then into a Quartan, after that 
 he fell into a Confum prion, with the gout and ftone, and fpit- 
 sifigof bloody and thedifoafein the Hemorrhoid veins, which 
 
A £{ey for Catbolicks. 195 
 
 at Iaft ulcerated by over much fafting,fpeaking,sincl ufe of Aloes; 
 befides the head-ach which wai the companion of his life, in 
 thefeficknefs he would never forbear his labour, but when he 
 he was perfwaded to it , he told them , that he could not 
 bear an idle life. And when he was near to death was (till at 
 work, asking thofe that intreated him to forbear, Whether they 
 resnldhave God find him idle} Under all thefe pains of Goui 
 Stone, Collick, Head-ach, Hemorrhoids , Confumprion, &c. 
 thofe that were about him tettified to the world that i hey never 
 heard him fpeak a word unbeieeming a patient Chriflian. The 
 worft was that oft repeated word \_ How long , Lord ! how 
 long ! ] as being weary of a miferable world- WitneiTes he had 
 enough; for he could fcarce have reft, for people crowding to 
 him to vifit him. On Mar. 23. he went among the Mini- 
 fies to their Meeting, and took his farewell of them there. 
 The next day he was wearyed by it : but the twenty feventh day 
 he was carryed to the Court to the Senate of the City, where he 
 madeafpeech to them, and took his farewell of them, with ma- 
 ny tears on both fides. April. 2. he was carryed to Church, and 
 flaid the Sermon.and received the Sacrement. Afccrward the 
 Senate of the City came to him , and he made an heavenly Ex- 
 hortation to them. On /fyW/25. hedidared his Will, which 
 I would his fhnderers would read. His Library itfelf, and all 
 his goods being prized, came fcarce to three hundred Crowns. 
 May 11. he wrote his farewell to Farellus. Maj 19. all 
 the Minifters came to him, with whom he fa:e,and did eat, ?.nd 
 cheerfully take his leave of them. On the twenty feventh of 
 May his voice feemed tobeftronger, andfo continued till his 
 laft breath that day, which was with fach quietnefsa? men com- 
 pofe thernfeives to ileep. The next nigh- and day the City Ma- 
 giftratcs, Minifters, SchoIIars, people and fir angers, were taken 
 up in weeping and lamentation. Every one crowded to fee the 
 Corps, among whom the Queen of Englands EmbafTicfor to 
 France was one. He was buryed according to this defire in the 
 common Church yard, without any Monument or Pomp • 
 and Intb left behind him fuch a Name, as in defpighe of all 
 the Devils in Hell,and all the Pap fts on earth, (hall be precious 
 till the coming of Chrift ; and fuch writings hath he left as are 
 
 Cc 2 the 
 
96 A I\ey for Catholkks- 
 
 the comfort of the Difciples of Truth, and the ftiameof the 
 reproaching Adversaries. 
 
 Reader, this is that Calvin that is fo hated by the bad, and 
 loved and honoured by the good 1 whom thefe Papifts have 
 called an Epicure and Sodomite, and faid that he diedblafpheming, 
 And calling upon the Devil, and was eaten with lice and warms* 
 Is not God exceeding patient, that will fuffer fuch wretches to 
 live on the Earth ? What man could they have named fince Ah- 
 guftine , yea fince the Apoftles dayes, that was more unfit for 
 fucb a (Under then Calvin ? Yetbecaufe one man Bolfeck^thit 
 was banifhed and turned Papift, and lived then I know not in 
 what Countrey, hath written thefe things againft him, the reft 
 of them, even as much as the late Marquefs of Worcefter, take 
 them up as confidently,as if the infallible Chair had uttered them. 
 
 But yet if thou think this Enemy Bolfecl^is more to be believ- 
 ed then thofe that lived with -Calvin, and the City of Geneva, 
 that had continual accefs to him, I will give thee fuch a Tefti- 
 mony as (hall fharae the Papifts, that have a fpark of modefty. 
 Hear then whit other Papifts themfelves fay that knew better 
 what they faid, or made more Confcience of their words,, 
 
 Florimmdus Raimundas a Papift of Bordeaux ( or the Jefuite 
 Richeome that wrote in his name) writing for the Pope and 
 againft Calvin, hath thefe words of him. [Vnder a dry and 
 lean body he had a (harp and lively wit, ready in anfwering; bold 
 in attempting j a great f after- even from his youth , Whether for' 
 
 his health to overcome the bead'ach, or for his ft tidies There 
 
 is fear ce a man found that ever matched Calvin in Labours: for 
 the fpace of twenty three years , in which he remained in the Epifco- 
 facy of Geneva, he preached every day once, and twice on the Lords 
 day of times. And every wee\ he read publkk^ Letlures of Divi- 
 nity - ( be fides) and every Friday he was at the conference of the 
 Paftors : The reft of his time he fpent either in writing Books, or 
 <anfwering letters, ] 
 
 Reader, is this Teftimony from a Papift like the reft ? But yet 
 thou (halt have more. Papirius Maffonius a Learned Papift, and 
 Schollar to Baldiom. one of Calvins Enemies, wrote Calvins 
 3ife •, and he faith of him, £ No day almofl pajfed in which he 
 didjtot preach to th Citiz>$ns, Thrice every eight dates as long a s 
 iztj.imdi he ■ profejfed (or publikelj taught ) Divinity {in the 
 
 £ cheats -, ) 
 
A K^y for QatholkKs. i p^ 
 
 Schsols ; ) being Laborious, and alwayes writing or doing fame- 
 
 thing.. of a weak, body, but room by patchings , reading, 
 
 writing, meditations, difeafes, bufimffes, preachings. He tookyery 
 little jleep; and therefore much of his work* he diilated in bed to 
 his fervant that wrote them from h'u mouth. He did eat but once 
 a day : and confejfed that he found not a more prefcnt or farer Re- 
 medy for his weahnefs of ftomacl^ and head-ach. His cloathing 
 
 was of fmall price, to cover him rather than adorn him. At 
 
 Worms and Ratisbone he cxercifed the (Irengtb of an excellent 
 wit with fo great applaufe of the Germane Divines, that by the 
 judgement of Melanchthon and his Ajfociates ; by a peculiar 
 ■priviledge he was called The Divine. He wrote as much and 
 as well as any man of the contrary parties , whether you re- 
 fpetl number, acutenefs, language, jharpnefs, emphafts, orfubtil- 
 ty : notamanofmdl his Adverfanes, whether Catholickj, Ana- 
 baptijis, Lmh!f%tH 9 Arri^ns, or the forfakers of his Party, that 
 wrote againfl him, dtd^feem to match him in gravity of writing, 
 and weight of words a-.d fiarpnefs. in anfvotring his principles. 
 Healmoft terrified Pigtuus himfilf difcourfmg of freewill, and 
 Sadaletus. ] Thefe are the words of a Learned Papift. 
 
 Bui this is not all. Abundance of* Pa pi ft s tell us of a ftory 
 how C<*/^i» hired oneinGfwi^to take on him dead, that he 
 might have the honour of raifing him from the dead. This the 
 JeiuiteT.hyraus de D<tmoniacis writes, and many others, and it 
 goes among them for a currant truth ; and all from the report 
 of Bolfeck. But, as God would have it, Pap. Alajfonius con- 
 futed this alfo, and faith, that his Mafter Baldwinus knew no- 
 thingof it, who lived at Geneva, and after turned Papifr, and 
 C alvins enemy : and other reafons he giveth to difprove this and 
 the other flinders that were raifed of Calvin, faying, that they 
 were but fcriptores plebii, maledicendi ftudio, &c. vulgar Wri- 
 ters, that ftudy or love to reproach or f peak evil, that vend thefe 
 things. And io much (hall ferve againft the Pipifts Lies againlt 
 Z,tithtrand Calvin. 
 
 If you would fee more of that heap of Lies- confuted, wh'ch 
 the Marquefs of Worccfter gave in to King Charles, read Mr, 
 Chr. Cartttrights Reply to them, where part of them ( and but 
 partj aredete&ed, 
 
 And aa they have done by thefe, fobyo:hers alfo. When 
 
 Gc*-, Bc^jt : 
 
198 A f\ey for fcatbolicks . 
 
 Beza was eighty years of age, a falfe report came to the Papifts 
 that he was dead. Whereupon Claudius Puteanus with his fefu- 
 itical Companions wrote a Book, that at his death he turned 
 Papift and renounced his Religion : fo that the old. man (that 
 lived feven years longer ) was fain himfelf to write againft them, 
 to prove that he was not dead, nor turned P-pift: Thefe be the 
 means by which men are reconciled to the Church of Rome . 
 
 They have printed alfo a ftory that Covins own Son being 
 bitten by a mad dog, was fent by his Father to one of their 
 Saints Images for Cure, when no other means would fervei and 
 being cured, he turned Papift : when as the world knew that Cal- 
 vin never had a Son. Alfothcy tell us of a faying of Lathers, 
 that [ This Caufe was not begun in the Name of God, nor will it 
 be ended in the Name of God] This Luther fpoke of Eckius and 
 the other Papifts,as himfelf profefTeth in his Ani«er to Eurftrus, 
 Tom. 1./0/.404. And thefe fhamelefs Lyars confidently pubhfh 
 that he fpoke this of himfelf, as the Maiquefs of jvorcefter to 
 King Charles did. 
 
 Another faying of his they as impudently abufe, viz. [ // 
 the wife will notjet the Maidceme, ] perfwading the world, that 
 Luther would have a man lye with his Maid, if his Wife refufe : 
 whereas he only labours to prove, that Defertion is a forficient 
 caufe of divorce; and that if the Wife refufe, (he fhould be 
 warned again and again before others and the Judges,and in Cafe 
 of utter refufal and defartion,K«j?k may be rejected, and HrJIer 
 the Maid taken te Wife: which many a Papift is ready to juftifte. 
 
 Yea they annex that Luther would have men Contain but five 
 dajes'y when as he vehemently deteftelhit, and urgeth the con- 
 trary, telling them that God no doubt will enable them to be 
 Continent, if they will ufe his Means, Tom. 5. ferm. de Matri- 
 mon. They forgot that the 5. fuppofititious Epift. of their Cle- 
 ment pleading for the Community of all things, adds {_ In.omni' 
 bus autemfunt fine dubio & Conjuges ] [Among thefe All no doubt 
 but Wives and Husbands are contained. ] 
 
 Of the horrid Lyes of Genebrard, Poffeviue, and other Papifts 
 againft Peter Martyr fBeza, Calvin and others, fee Dr. Reynolds 
 ad Anglica. Seminar, ante lib. de Idololatria Rom. Eccl. § . 5 .fag. 
 20,21,22,23. 
 
 When the fall of their houfe at Blackjfrjars had killed their 
 
 Priefis, 
 
A %ey for Cdtholicks. 199 
 
 Priefts,and fuch abundance of the people that were hearing him 
 inthemidftof the Sermon, they printed a Book to perfwade 
 the people beyond fea, that it was a company of the Hereticks or 
 Puritans that were killed at the hearing of one of their preach- 
 ers : Dr. Gouge tells you when and where it was printed, and 
 many read it. 
 
 When the Gunpowder Plot was in hand, they had con- 
 trived prefently to give it all abroad that the Purirans did it: 
 Read Mr. Samuel Clarke of it in his Mirror of Gods Judgements, 
 Fol.and you (hall find this fully deteded. 
 
 When Fifber the Jefuite had hefd his conference with Dr. «> 
 Fe*tley,zn<i Dr. jyhite^ there being prefent two Earls, one of f 
 them (the Earl of Warwick. ) having bufinefs fhortly after 
 beyond fta, fell unknown into Dr. Weftons company at Saint 
 0«*r/,who prefently tells it him for news, how F/yfor had con- ' 
 founded the Protcftant Dodors,and that two Earls and fo many ; 
 people were turned by it to the Church of Rome • not knowing t 
 that he that heard him was one of the two Earls, and that there J 
 were not fo many people there, and how they were confirmed « 
 againft Popery by that Difpute. And when the Earl of War- j 
 wick, brought home this jeaft, Dr. Wejion hearing what fport . 
 was made with it in England, writ a fimpleexcufe for his Lying, 
 which I have at hand, but find it had been better for him to have y 
 faid nothing. 
 
 Should I recite but half the forgeries of this nature, by which 
 the Priefts and Jefujtes cheat the poor people, I mult be volu- 
 minous. 
 
 But alas, their very worfhipof God is much of it compofed 
 of Lyes, and is not that like to be acceptable worihip ? How 
 their Offices and Legends are ftufc with ficlions, Camus and 
 many of their own confefs. And Caffander faith that fo few of 
 the re liquet in all Germany would be found true ones if examin- 
 ed, that its better quite take off the yco;h from the veneration of 
 them. Inftancing in one of old that was worfhipped as a 
 Saint , and upon enquiry was found to be th e bones of a 
 Thief. 
 
 <sfgobardus Bifriop of Lyons ( faith Vfher ) complained 
 about eight hundred ye^rs ago,. that the Sntiphonary ufed in 
 hit Church had maiy ridicuhus and phantaftical things in it : and 
 
 that 
 
200 
 
 A I\ey for fatbolich. 
 
 that therefore he correEled much cf it, cutting off 'what feemedfu- 
 perfluous, or light, or lying, or blafphemous. Agobard. ad Cant, 
 Lugd. de Correct. Antifhon. pag. 396. And noc long fince Lin- 
 danes made the like complaint, that Q Not only Apochrypbal 
 matters out of the Go/pel of Nicoderaus and ether toyes are tbrufi 
 in, but even the fecrtt prayers, ( yea, alas for fhame and grief \ 
 the very (^anon varying, and redundant) are defiled withmofi 
 filthy faults. ] 
 
 Reader , I will trouble thee no more with flirring in this 
 puddle ; but only warn thee, as thou loveft thy foul, cruft it noc 
 on the' bare reports of fach Lyars , but try before thou 
 truft , and give not up thy fenfe and Reafon to men 
 that make fo little, or fo ill a ufe of their own. If thou 
 refufe this Council; fay not but thou waft warned. 
 
 Chap. XXXI. 
 
 Detebl. 22. A Nother of their Deceits is by quarrelling voith 
 XjL our Tranflations of the Bible A and making the 
 people believe that we have fo corrupted it,that it is none of the 
 word of God, and fo they openly fcorn it, and deride it. 
 
 As to this point, though Learned men can foon confute them 
 by vindicating the Text as in the Original Languages, and then 
 vindicating our Tranflation ; yet the common difputant need 
 not put them and himfelf to fo much trouble. If really they will 
 but let the Law of God contained in the Holy Scripture be the 
 Rule by which our difference (hall be tryed and decided , we 
 will cut fhort the reft of the controverfie , and take it wholly 
 together, and we will ftand to the Vulgar Latine , which is ic 
 that themfelves applaud. We are content that this be the Rule 
 between us. Yea rather then they (hall fhift ofTthc unlearned 
 by thefe tricks, we will admit of their own Tranflation, which 
 the Rhemifts have ( with little friendfhip to our caufe ) com- 
 posed. Only we muft intreat them that their Commentaries and 
 conceits be not taken into the Text as part of the Word of 
 God. So that this quarrel! is quickly at an end. The Scri- 
 pture is fo full againftthem, that ro Tranflation that makes 
 it noc another thing, can make it to be on their fide. 
 
 C H A I'. 
 
A I^y for Catholic ks. 201 
 
 Ch a p. XXXir. 
 
 Dctctt. 23. A Nother of the Defigns of the Papifl* is, t» 
 XX bring all the faithfnll Paflors of 'the Churches 
 into contempt, or fafpicion At lea(i with the People jhatfo they may 
 Aran them to refufe our helps, and the Papifts may deal with 
 them alone , whom thej know they are eafily able to over-reach. 
 Though our people have not that abfolute Dependance upon 
 their Teachers as theirs have, yet an ordinate Dependance is 
 NecefTary to them, or elfe God would never have appointed 
 Teachers and Pallors for bis Church. The Papifts dare not 
 truft their followers fomuch as to read a Bible in their vulgar 
 tongue. Much lefs to Read our writings againft their errors 
 and impieties : No nor their Priefts and Fryars ordinarily to 
 read them : No nor commonly to read the writings of their 
 own Party: No not thofe, nor the ftrongeft of thole that are 
 written againftus: for fear left the objection fhould prove too 
 hard for the anfwer j or left they fhould underftand the truth 
 of our doctrine in fome meafure. Sr. Edw: Sands in his 
 Europt Specttl. profefTethhow hard he found it, to meet with 
 the Works of Bellarmine himfelf in any Book-fellers fhop in 
 Venice or other parts of Italy. But our people have all leave to 
 keep and read the Papifts writings : We dare venture them upon 
 the light upon equal termi : But yet we know them to be infuffi- 
 cient,for the molt part, to defend even plain and neceflary truths 
 againft the Cavils of adversaries that overmatch them in learning 
 and other abilities. Now left we fhould but afford them our afli - 
 ftance,the Papifts principal defign is to bring them into falfe con- 
 ceits of the Minifters,and make us odious to them; that they may 
 neglect our help , and the eafilyer hearken to other Teachers. 
 And if they can but prevail in this defign, the day is their own, 
 and the fouls of our unhappy people are like to be undone. 
 
 And the more is it to be feared, left atlalt they fhould this 
 way prevail, both becaufe of the fin that lye;h on our fclvenn 
 tooreferved and negligent a doing of our work ; and becaufe 
 of the great obftinacy and unprofitableness of the people , that 
 hate the light, and unthankf'ully defpifeic, or will not obey it > 
 and work by it while they may. 
 
 Dd The 
 
202 A Key for Catholicks. 
 
 The defigrre of the Papifts againft che Miniftry are thefe 
 i. They principally endeavour to delude the Rulers of the Land" 
 andfetthera againft them, of which more anon. ■ 
 
 2. They are very bufie to procure an overthrow of their 
 eftablilhed maintenance: To which end they animate all feds 
 to rail againft Tythes. 
 
 3 . They labour by feoffs and nicknames to make them odious. 
 As they were the Author* or chief fomenters of the old fconn 
 under the name of Puritans, fo ire they of many more of late. 
 If in Court, or Parliament , City or Councrey ; you hear men 
 fetthemfelves of parpofeto fcorn or vilific the Miniftry , its 
 very probible tha: they are either fecrec Papifts, or their de- 
 luded ferviter?. If they fpeak of men that regard the Miniftry, 
 and be nor hardened as they to a defpifing of Chrift in his fer- 
 vants, they call fuch \_ Pricft ridden ] and the Pallors they 
 fcornfully call [_ fac^Preityten , Drivines , "] and many 
 other feoffs are at hand , to ferve the ends of the Devil 
 and the Pope , by alienating the Affe&ions of the people 
 from their Teachers , that fo th«y may devour them &t 
 pleafure. 
 
 4. Another of their wayes of reproach is,by telling the people 
 what ocHous divifions are among us , and how many minds 
 we are of, and how oft we change, and fuch like reproaches, 
 by their mouthing it they can make fomethingof; while they 
 never tell them how much more changeable they have been, 
 and what divifions are among themfelves^ncomparably beyond 
 all oun. Nor do they ever tell them how far we are united, 
 and bow fmall the differences among us are , and fuch as 
 muftbeexpe&ed while we all know but in part. 
 
 5. Another reproach that the Papiftscaft on the Miniftry, is 
 Grecdinefs, Covetoufnefs,ind beng hirelings. And therefore 
 they put thefe into the mouths of Quakers and o:her Sectaries. 
 And whats their ground ? Forfooth becaufe we take Tyrhe?, 
 or other fet maintenance. Becaufe we have food and raymenc, 
 and our daily bread. I have faid enough of the Caufe it felf 
 in my feveral writings againft the Quakers. Ifanydou>: whe- 
 ther the Papifts be their Teachers,orof the fame mind , befides 
 many greater Evidences, the Manufcript from Wolverhampton 
 before mentioned maybe full fatisfa&ion. This tells men that 
 
 [for 
 
A I\ey for Catholic ks . 20; 
 
 f for filth) lucre fitly rve /cratch itching cars with detritus of li- 
 berty J and thus it learnedly vcifirleth. 
 
 With PhafngveorJs thef fcratch -ill csrs that it 
 That Mammon ( rehom thryferre ) may make than rich. 
 For the j are Jltercenari:s> that mil be hir'd 
 To yrcach rvha: htlri tts are by men dt fir*4> 
 
 Anfw. I mull profefs unfeignedly that the cxperienceof fuch 
 horrid i wickedneh of men, is a great help to n»y fai-h againft 
 all temptations that ever would provoke me to doubt whe- 
 ther there be a Hell ; When 1 lee and hear that unreafon- 
 able villany 1 that I (hould fearer have believed humane na- 
 rurc could hive been capable of, if Cod or fuch experience 
 hid not told it me. But when I fee Abominations before my 
 eyes as incredible or horrid as Hell it fe!i~almofr,it filenceth temp- 
 tations to fuch unbelief. 
 
 Reader, I will give thee a brief companion between the 
 Papifts Priefts and the Minifters of Chrift, that thou nuiil 
 fee whether thefe men be fit to rail at us as Mercenaries ,and fuch 
 as are the fervants of Mammon. 
 
 Its a well kaown ca-ls that the Minifters of this Land, and of 
 all the Reformed Churches commonly do many of them want 
 neceflfaries, and fome want food and rayment, andthereftof 
 them for the moft part have little more : Or if one of an hun- 
 dred have two hundred pounds a year, irsten to one but taxes 
 and other payments bringeth it fo low, that he hath no fuperfl ji- 
 eie*. And fome that have not Wives or Children, do give all 
 that they can gather to the poor ■ and fome upon my knowledge 
 give more to charitable ufes, then they receive for the work oi:' 
 their Miniftry, living on their own means. And they have them - 
 felves been the means of taking down the Lordly Prehcy and 
 Riches of the Clergy ; and though they would not have had the 
 Lands devored to the Church to have been alienated, yet they 
 would have had it fo diftributcd as might but have reachc to 
 have made the maintenance of Minifters to be an hundred 
 pounds a year. Tim was the height of their Covetoufnefs and 
 Ambition, as you call it. 
 
 And now will you take a view of the Popilh Clergy, for 
 Greatnefs, Rkhes, andNumeroufnefs. 1. For Greatneis , the 
 
 D d 2 Pope 
 
2 o 4 A K e y f or Catholicks . 
 
 Pope who is their chief Prieft, pretendeth to the Government 
 of all the Chriflian world. Emperors and Kings have kift his 
 feet, and held him the Airrup. One Emperour was forced to 
 wait bare foot at his Cues a long time in pitience, till he plcafed 
 to open them. Another beirg r orced to proftrate himfelf to 
 him, the Pope fee his foot upon his neck, profanely abufing the 
 words of the Pfal.9 1.13. He /ball tread on the Lyon and Adder, 
 &c. Divers Princes hath he depofed : He hath claimed a Supre- 
 macy in Temporals and Spirituals, and his more moderate flat- 
 terers fub;e& Princes to him in crdir.e ad fpiritualia. General 
 Councils approved by him, decree rhac he (hall Excommunicate 
 and depofe Princes, that will not extirpate tho r e thit he calleth 
 Hereticks, and (hall commit the Government to others, or give 
 their Countreys to the firft that can feize on them ; and abfolve 
 all their Vaflals from their Allegiance, fin defpight of Oaths 
 and Gods Commands. J He is a Temporal Prince himfel/,having 
 large Dominions. He hath fo numerous a Clergy in the Coun- 
 treys of all Popifa Princes, as makes him great and formidable 
 tothem. His Cardinal Priefls are equal to Princes, and greater 
 then many Princes are. 2.. And for their Riches and Numbers, 
 to fay no more of their Pope and Cardinals, they have fuch mul- 
 titudes of Arch-bifhops, bifhops, Priefls, Abbots, triors, Fry- 
 ars, Jefuites, and fuch others, as rake up a great part of the 
 L'ind where they live. I will at this time give you but one 
 Inflance, and defireyouto compare it with our Mincers and 
 their maintenance : and that i» of the Popifh Clergy in 
 Trance. 
 
 Their own writers tells us as followeth. 'Bodin (a Judge in 
 Trance) faith, ( as BejlinGeograph. fag. 148. reciteih it ) 
 That the Revenues of the Clergy there are twelve millions, and 
 three hundred thoufand livres, which is one million and two hun- 
 -<red thoufani pounds of our Snglipj money per annum-, and that 
 they pofefs feven parts of twelve of the whole revenue of the King- 
 . dom s which is above half. Hut we will take up with the lower 
 reckoning of the Book called Comment, deftat. and faith Beylin, 
 this tells us that the Clergy have near a fourth part of the very 
 Lands of all the Kingdom, beftdes the- Offerings , fchurchings, 
 Burjais, Dirigej, and fuch like Cafua It ies, which amount to as 
 9mh\M tktir Rents y ( So- that there is another fourth part,which 
 
 comes 
 
A l\ey for Catbolicks. i o J 
 
 comes to half the Kingdom ) upon which Sr. Edwin Sands 
 computes their revenue at fix mil liens yearly ; And for the num- 
 ber, that one Kingdom hath thirteen Arch-bifheps y iv\ hundred 
 and four Bifbops, a thou/and four hundred and fifty Abbies, five 
 hundred and forty Archpriories -.twelve thoufani three hundred and 
 twenty Priories, five hundred fixty feven Nunneries : feven hun- 
 dred Convents ef Fryars : two hundred fifty nine Commanderies of 
 Malta; be ftdes all the Colledges of the fefuites. And the Parifh 
 Priefts are an hundred thirty thou fand of all forts. And whereas 
 the Kingdom is fuppofed to have about fifteen millions of peo- 
 ple; the Clergy and their Miniflers are judged to be three milli- 
 ons of them. 
 
 Judge now like men of reafon and impartiality, whether the 
 tongues of thefe men be fit to call us Mercenaries, or Hireling., 
 or luch as preach for filthy lucre. Or whether ever greater im- 
 pudence was manife(ted by the vileft Son of Adam , then for 
 inch men that Lord it over Emperors, Kings and Princes, and de- 
 vour the wealth of the Chriftian world, to call poor Minifters 
 of Chrift, Covetous, or Hirelings, that are content with food 
 and rayment, and a mean education of their chilJren, and that 
 have done fo much to take down the Lordlinefs and Riches of 
 the Clergy. Judge of this dealing; and if you had rather have 
 the Popifh Priefthood, with the numberlefs fwarm of Fryari and 
 feveral orders, you may take them , and fay, you had your 
 choice. 
 
 Cha p. XXXIII. 
 
 22tffff,24* A Nother of their defigns, Conjunct with the 
 
 Ji\ laft mentioned is, to ferfwade the worlithat 
 
 they only have a true Miniflry or Prieflhood, and an Apoflolical 
 
 Epifcopacy t and true Ordination: and that we and all other Churches 
 
 have ni true Miniflers , but meer Lay men undr the name ef 
 
 Miniflers, becAufe we have no juft Ordination. And how prove 
 
 they all this? Why, they fay, that they have a Pope that is a 
 
 True Succeflbr of Saint Peter , but we have no Succeflion from 
 
 he Apoftles, and therefore no juft Ordination, becaufe no man 
 
 an givetbat Power which. he hath not. And we are Schifmaticki 
 
 Dd 3 feparated 
 
io6 A Key for Catbolicks. 
 
 Separated from the Church, and therefore our Ordinations are 
 i:\valid: And ferae of our Churches have no Bifhops, and 
 therefore fay they, we have no true Mtniftry there, nor are tbey 
 trueChurc!.e>. The fe are their Reafon?. 
 
 In I which I fhall firll refer the Reader to my Second 
 
 fleet for th: Miniftrj in fnfificarkn of their Call ; Where thefe 
 ileafons are confuted, and our calling vindicated : and I (hall 
 forbear here to repeat the fame things agiin •• Alfo I refer you 
 for a fuller A.ifwer to the Lmdon\ Jus Divinum Mini- 
 
 fterii, and to Mr. Tho. Balls Book for the Mifliftry ; and Mr. 
 Mafons ¥»Qok\t\ vindication of theMiniftry of thofc Reformed 
 Churches that have not Prelates, and to 1'oitlus Defper. Cauf. 
 2. Though we need not fetch our Ordinatioa from Rome , 
 yet, as to them , we may trui/ fay , that if they have any 
 true Ordination and Miniftry , then (b have we : For our fird 
 Reformers were Ordained by their Bifiiops , which is enough to 
 flop their mouth?. If they fay that our Schifm hath cut off our 
 power of Ordination, I anfwer ad hominem, that ( though it is 
 tbey that are indeed the Notorious SchifmaticksjetJ if we were 
 what they falfly fay we are, it would not null our Ordination, 
 Confirmation,orfuch other ads. And this is the Judgement of 
 their own writers. I (hall at this time only cite the words of 
 one of them, and of many in that one ; and that is Thorn, a fe- 
 fu de Converfione Gentium, lib. 6. cap. Q. Where he affirms it to 
 be one of the Certainties agreed on [_ that Schifmaticl^s lofe not, 
 Korean lofe any fpiritual power ccuftfiing in the fpiritual Caret- 
 fter of Baptifm, or Confirmation of Orders'- For this is inde* 
 likle y 4s Dr.Thomis teacheth here t An.*' and Turrecremata con- 
 fir met h, Ub. 4. fum.part. i.e. 7. andSilvefter verb Schifmatfci; 
 audit appeareth by Pope Urbans Can. Ordinationes,g. q. I. Who 
 judgeththofe to be truly ordained, that wire ordained bj Sckifma- 
 ticall Bi/bopf : tslnd from Auftin lib. 6. deBapt. Cont. Dona- 
 nft.cap. 5. Where he faith that [' A Separatift may deliver the 
 Sacrament as well as have it. ] He next addeth that jet fnch are 
 deprived of the faculty of Lawful I ufing the Pewer which thej 
 have , fo that it 'will be their fin to ufeit, though it be nn a nul- 
 lity if they do ufe it • and that thus thofe are to be underftood 
 that (peak, againfi the Ordination, Confirmation, &c. $f Schif- 
 matickf; yi£. that it is titiUwfull,be*aufe their power is fttfpended 
 
 by 
 
A Key for Qatholkks. 1 07 
 
 by the Church , but not a Nullity , bccaufe they have the Tower • 
 pag 316. Be puts the Queftion \_ whether Schifmatical Trcf 
 byters and r Bifhjps do want the Power of Order , or only want 
 furifditlion ? ) »y4ndhe anfwireth out of D. Thom. 2 2. q. 39. 
 art. 3. that \_thcy want furifditlion, and cannot tAbfolve, Ex- 
 communicate , or grant indulgences , and f) they cannot cUS. 
 
 and give Benefices, and make Laws- But yet they have the 
 
 holy 'Power of Orders 1 and therefore a fchifmaticall Bifhopdoth 
 truly make and cossfecrate the Eucharifl, truly Confrm,truly Or- 
 dain ; and when he Eletleth and promoteth any to Ecclefia(lical 
 Orders, they truly receive the Charatler of Order, but not the 
 Vfe, becaufethey are fufpended , if knowingly they are ordained 
 by a. Schifmatical Bifhop. ] He next asketh, [_ Whether this pu- 
 mfhment depriving them *f J urifd(ttion i takj' place With allSchif 
 matickj] And an fivers that {_ feme fay that before the Council of 
 Conftance this punifbmtnt belonged to all notorious Schifmaticks, 
 but not to the unknown ones : but fi>>ce that Ccuncill, it takes place 
 only on tkofethat are exprefly and by name denounced, or manifefi 
 flrikers of the Clergy ~\ Others fay otherwife: But he hlmfelfan- 
 fvoers, that [ // a fchifmxtick^ be tolerated , and by the common 
 error of the people be taken f»r lawfully there's no doubt but all 
 bis atlsof J nr if diction are valid, which we /hall affirm alfo of 
 Heretic^ : "Bfit if a Presbyter or Bifijop be a manifefi Schifma- 
 ticks, then feme fay that thofe alls that require furifditlion art 
 invalid; but others fay that th:y are all valid in cafe the Schif- 
 maticks be not by name excommunicated, or a manifefi firiker of 
 the Chr&J 1 Thus far Thom.a fefu opening the judgement Of 
 the Papiiis Doctors themlelves in tbe point. 
 
 And by the way, our new fupc.prelatical Brethren that de- 
 grade others that want their Ordination,yea or commands, and 
 nuliifie their Ads, fhould learn not to go beyond the Papifts 
 themfeives, if they will go with them. 
 
 Andobferve, thst it is hut their own Canons, that is, their 
 own wills, that the PapifU here plead when the Council of Con- 
 fiance hath fo altered the bufiads. 
 
 2. Though this that is faid is enough as to tbe Papifts,yet I 
 add for fuller fatisfadion, that their farce JJ Ion is interrupted; 
 and ihuu: fore they are mofi unfit to be our fudges in this* They 
 have nfaib long fchifms in which no man knew who was the- 
 
 right 
 
2 o 8 A f\ey for QatbolicKs . 
 
 right Pope, nor knoweth to this day ; and (o long removes and 
 vacancies, and fuch interpofitions of various wayes of choofing 
 their P.^pe , and interruptions by Hercticall Popes , con- 
 demned by General Councils; befides Murderers, Adulterers, 
 Symonitls,and fuch as their own Writcrsfas GVw^rJj exprefly 
 h)\JVcre not ApofloUcal^bm Apcfiatical ; yea Popes that by Ge- 
 neral Councils have been judged or charged with infidelity 
 ic felf ( as I have formerly proved , / that there's no- 
 thing more certain then that their fuccefilon hath been in- 
 terrupted. 
 
 3. They cannot be certain but its every age interrupted,and 
 that theres no true Pope or Bifhops among them,becaufe the in- 
 tention of the Ordainer or Confecrator is with them of necef- 
 fity to the thing ; and no man can be certain of the Intention 
 of the Ordainers. And therefore Bcllarmine is fain to take 
 up with this, that though we cannot be furethat he is a true 
 Pope , Bifhop , or Presbyter that is ordained , yet we 
 are bound to obey him. But where then is the Certainty of 
 fucceffion ? 
 
 4. What fucceffion of Epifcopal Confecration was there in 
 the Church of Alexandria^ when Hierom ( Epifl . ad Evagri- 
 *tm) tells us that [_ At Alexandria /><wMark the Evangelifl 
 even till Heraclus and Dionyfius their BiJhops,the Presbyters 
 did alwayes name one man that Bifhop whom they chofe from 
 among themfelves, and placed in a higher degree. Even a* tf an 
 Army make an Emperour ,or the Deacons choofe one ofthemfelves, 
 whom they k?or» t@ be indujlriofis^and call him the chief Dea* 
 coh. ] Thus Hierom fhews that Bifhops were then made by 
 meer Presbyters. And in the fame Epiftle he proves from Scri- 
 pture, that Presbyters and Bifhops were then all one. And if 
 fo, there were no Prclatical Ordinations then at all. And your 
 Medina accufing Hierom of error in this, faith, that Ambrofe y 
 uttiftin^SedtiUus^ Prima/ius, ChryfoftomyThecdortt, Oecumeni- 
 us t Theophilacl, were in the fame herefie, as Bellarmine himfelf 
 reportethhiro, So that Presbyters now may either ordain, or 
 make themfelves Bifhops as thofe of Alexandria did, to do it. 
 Andjas Hierom there faith, [All are the fttccejforj of t he Apoftles,] 
 and our Bifhops or Presbyters are fuch, as much, at leaft, as 
 yours- yet Apoftles as\Apo!tles have no SuccefTor $ at all/9t BeU 
 
 larmine 
 
A I\ey for Catholic ks . 209 
 
 larmine well teacheth, lib.$. deTontif. cap. 25. fa\ing, [Bifhops 
 de nst properly faceted the Apoflles, becaufe the Apoflles were not 
 ordinary, but extraordina-y,andas it were, delegate Paflors^ who 
 have no Succcffors. Bifliops have no p*rt of the true Apoflolick^ 
 Authority. Apoflles could preach in the whole world, and found 
 Churches \ but fo canntt Bifisps. The Apoflles could write Cano- 
 nical Booths, but fo cannot Bifhops. Apoflles had the gifts of tongues 
 and miracles , but fo have not Bifhops. The Apples had furif- 
 diElicn'over the whole Church, but fo have not Bifhops. And there 
 is m Sttcceffton, but to a Prcdeceffor : but Apflies and Bifiops 
 were in the Church both at once, as appcareth by Timothy, Titus 
 Evodius, and many more. If therefore Bi flops facceed Apoflles, 
 towhatApoflledidT\t\isfuccced} and whom did Timothy fuc- 
 ceed ? To conclude, Bijhops fucced Apoflles , but in the fame man- 
 ner as Presbyters fuccced the feventy two Difciples . But its 
 
 manifefl that Presbyters do not properly fuccecd the feventj two 
 Difciples \ but only by ftmilitude. For thofe j event y two Difciples 
 were not Presbyters, nor did they receive any Order or furifdiilion 
 from Chrifl. Philip, Stephen and others that were of the feventy 
 two had never been after Ordained Deacons, if thtj had been Pref- 
 byttrs before ] Thus Bellarmine. 
 
 See now what's become of the Popifh Apoftolical SuccefTors 
 among their Bifhops ? And thefcopeof all this is to prove, that 
 all Bifhops receive their Power from the Pope • and fo their fuc- 
 cefsion is confined to him alone :' and therefore rs oft as there 
 have been interruptions in the Papal Succefsion, fo oft the Suc- 
 cefsion of all their Church was interrupted. 
 
 But if B (hops fucceed not Apoftfes, and hare not any of the 
 Apoflolick Power, who then doth the Bifhop of Rome fucceed ? 
 Why, Bellarmine hath a ftiift for this .- but how forry an one i: 
 is, you fhall hear, caf. 25. he faith that [ThcPope o e Rome 
 properly fucceedrth Peter, not as an Apofile, but as an Ordinary 
 Paflor of the whole Church,~\ Let us then have no more talk 
 of the Apoftolickfeat, or at lead no more Arguing from than 
 name. You fee then that Peter was not the Ur.iverfal Vicar as 
 an Apoftle, nor doth the Pope fo fucceed him. And do you 
 think this doth not giveaway the Vicarfhip? Which way here- 
 after iy^Jl they prove it f 
 
 But an Objection falls in Bdlarmims way, 'hat [ If 'this 
 
 Ee be 
 
2 io A Ksy for Catbolicks. 
 
 be fo, then none of the Bijhops of Africk, Afia, &c. were true 
 Bifhops, that were not made by the Pope : To which he anfwers ( as 
 well as he can ) that its enough th^t the Pope do Confecr ate them 
 jMtdiatet], by making Patriarchs and Arch-bifhsps to do it : and 
 fo Peter did Conflitute the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, 
 who thus receiving authority from the Pope, did Rule almofl all 
 Afia and Africk] But i. That Qalmoft J marrech the whole 
 Caufe. For where now is the univerfal Headftiip? 2. Did Bel- 
 larmine think in good fainefs that Alexandria and Antioch were 
 made at firft the feats of Patriarchs, having as large Jurifdidion 
 as afterward they attained? 3. How will he prove that Peter 
 made thefe two Patriarchies, and that not as an ApofUe, but 
 as an Ordinary Vicar General? 4. Who made the Patriarchate 
 of Confi amino pie, and gave them that vaft Jurifdidion ? Did 
 Peter many hundred years after his death? Or did the Pope of 
 Rome, that tooth and nail refifted, and ftill fought to diminifh his 
 Power? Or rather d.d not the General Councils do it by the 
 Emperors Commands, the Pope excepting and repining at it. 
 5. Who made the Patriarch of feru/alem ? and who made 
 /rfwfj Bifhopof ferufalew? did Peter ? And who made Timo- 
 thy and Titus Bifhops ? did Peter or Paul} And who gave Paul 
 that Power f not Peter certainly. Reader, do not thefe men jeft 
 with holy things ? Or is it like that they believe themfelves ? 
 
 6. Bellarmine confeffeth that the Poteflas Ordinis, & interi- 
 ors junfditlionis are both as immediately from God to every 
 Bifhop as to the Pope, cap.22. And why then fhould it be de- 
 nyedof the power of exterior Jurifdidion ? 1. Is one part of 
 the Effence of the Office given by the Pope, and the reft with- 
 out him > 2. And what if it be proved that exterior and interior 
 Jurifdidion of a Paftor is all one ? Though the matter of obe- 
 dience be exterior, yet the Jurifdidion is exercifed only on the 
 foul diredly, in one cafe as well as another j it being the mind 
 on wrrch the obiglation lyetb, and the Paftoral Rule is powerful 
 p.nd effedual: and further then you procure confent, you are 
 defpifed : For its the Magijiratej work to ufe violence .- Bifhops 
 as Bifhops can but perfwade and deal by words with the inner 
 man. 
 And thus you fee what is become of the Papifts Succeffion* 
 5. Moft of the Minifters in England, till within thefe few 
 
 years 
 
A l^ey for Catholich* 1 1 1 
 
 years were ordained by Bilhopj If that were of Necelficy, 
 they have it. 
 
 6. He that is ordained according to the Apoftles directions, 
 or prefcript in Scripture, ha'.h the true Apoilolicai Ordination ; 
 
 but fo arc we Ordained; therefore,- The Apoftles never. 
 
 Confined Ordination to Prelates , much lefs to thofe Prelates 
 that depend on the Pope cf Rome : The Biftieps to whom the 
 Apoftles committed this Power, src the fame that are called 
 Presbyters by them, and they were the Overfeers or Paftors 
 but oFone (ingle Church, and not of many Churches. And 
 fuch are thole that O dain among us now. Gregpr. Nuz\anz.en. 
 Or at. 1 8 • faith thus [ 1 wnld there were no Prefi iencj , nor Prero- 
 gative of Place , and Tyrannical Privilcdges ; that fo we might 
 be k»orvn only by vertae, (or metr defer t : ) But now this Right 
 fide, and Left fide, and Aiiddle, and Lower Degree, and Prefiden- 
 cy, and Concomitaxcy, have begot us many Contritions to no pur- 
 pa fe, and have driven many into the Ditch, and have led them 
 Arvaj to the region of the Qoats.] 
 
 What Hierom faith, both in his Epiftle to Evagrlus, and on 
 Tit. cap 2. is commonly known. The many plain Teltimonies 
 of Anfelmn are commonly Cited , as plain as Hieroms Alphonf 
 elCaftro adyerf. Htref lib. 6. innom. Efifccp. had more inge- 
 nuity then to joyn with them elm would wreft H'uroms words 
 to a fence fo contrary to their raoft plain importance. Tertullian 
 cip.ij. de Bapt. thought Lay- men in Necefliy might Baptize, 
 ( and fo doth the Church of Rome now. J Why then may no: 
 Presbyters in fuch ci cafe at lead: Ordain ? when, as he there faith) 
 i Quod ex tcjxo accipitur, ex &quo dart potcfl | And ibid, he faith, 
 that it is but propter Ecc left h onorem, that Bifhops Rule in fuch 
 matters, and chat peace may be kept, and Schifm avoided. But 
 thaiprobati quique /f*zVf.rdid exercife Difcipline in the Affem- 
 bly, he teftitiethin Apolget. 
 
 Mr. Prin harh cired you abundarc; of Fathers that were for 
 the parity of the Mmi{try,or againit Prelacy jure Divino. 
 
 J/idore r Pe'»ftat.lib. 7,. Epiji. 2Z}. ad Bitracem Epifcopatum 
 
 j ugi ent em faic h [_ And when I have /hewed what difference there is 
 
 between the ancient Afiniftrj, and the pre fern Tjrannj, why do you 
 
 r.ot Crown and Praife the Lsverj of equality ?j 
 
 . If you would fee more of the Antients leaking P.esbyters to 
 
 Ee 2 be 
 
212 A Key for Catholicks. 
 
 be Bifhops, and Confenting with Hierom , read Sedulius on 
 Tit. i. An((lm.C AntUAr xn Enarrat.in Phil. I . i . 2W<* on Acl. 20. 
 Al'wnus de Divinis ofticiu y c.3$,Z&. and on fohnlib.^. Col 547.' 
 &c. ^- .£/>*7?. 108. And that Presbyters may Ordain Pref- 
 byters, fee Aofelmn on 1 Tim. 4.. 14. And Lnfinut. in Condi. 
 Colon, defacr. Ordin.foL 1 96. fee alfo what's (aid by our Mart. 
 Bucerfcript. Anglic. pag.2$ 4 ,.255 ,259 , 29I. & fecju. & Pet. 
 Marty. Lie. Comma. CUf.\. Loci. fell. 23 />*£. 849. And 
 fVickjffi* Arguments inWaldenfis Pafftm. And your own Caf- 
 fiixdtr CoKfiilt. Artie. I 4. faith j /; « agreed am:ng all, that of 
 old in the Apoflles dayes, there was no difference between Bifhops 
 and Presbyters, but afterwards for Orders fake, and the avoiding 
 of Schifm, the Bijbjp was fet before the Presbyters.] AndOckam 
 determined, that by Chritls InfUcutionall Priefts of what de- 
 gree foever are of equil Authority, Power and Jurifdi&ion. 1 
 
 Re) Mold Peacock^, Bifhop of Chichrfier wrote a Book de Mmi- 
 (Irorum&qitalitate, which your party caufed to beburnr. 
 
 And Richardus Armachanas , lib. 9. cap. $. ad JQueft. Annex. 
 faith [] There is not found in the Evangelical or Apoflolical Scri- 
 ptures any difference between Bifhops and fimple Priefis y called 
 Presbyters ; whence it follows, that there is one Power in all y and 
 ecjuall from their Order. ] & cap. 7. anfwering the Qucftion, 
 Whether any Priefi may Confecrate Churches, dec. he faith [ Priefts 
 may do it as well as Bifhops, feeing a Bifhop hath no more in fuch 
 matters then any fimple Priefi : though the Church for reverence to 
 
 them appoint that thofe only do it, whom we call Bijhops It 
 
 feems therefore that the re (trillion of the Priefi s Power was not in 
 the Primitive Church , according to the Scripture. ] 
 
 I refer you to three Books of Mr. Print, viz. his Catalogue ; 
 his Antipathy of Lordly "Prelates, &c. and his unbifboping of Ti- 
 mothy andTitus j where you have the Judgements of many 
 writers of thefe matters. And alfo to what Ihavefaid in my 
 Second Difputation of the Epifcopal Contr over fie s , of purpofe on 
 this point. 
 
 7. The chief error of the PapilTs in this caufe is exprefTed in 
 their reafon, \_No man can give the Power that he hath not : J 
 wherein they intimate, that it is Man that giveth the Minifterial 
 Power : whereas it is the gift of Chrilt alone : Man doth 
 but defign the psrfon that (hill receive h , and then Chrift 
 
 giveth 
 
A l\ey for Qatholicks. in 
 
 giveth it by bis Law to the perfon fodefigned .• and then man 
 doth invert him and iolemnize hii introduction. As a woman 
 may choofe her an husband, but it is not fhe that g:verh him 
 the Power over her, but God who determineth of that Power 
 bv his Law, affixing it to the perfon chofen by her, and her 
 adion is but a conditiony/wf qua non, or caufe of the capacity of 
 the matter to receive the form. And fo is it here. When do but 
 obey God in a right choice and defignition of the perfon, his 
 Law doth prefently give him the Power, which for orders fake 
 he rauft be in a folemn manner inverted with. But matters 
 of Order may poffibly vary •, and though they are to be ob- 
 fervedas far as may be, yet they alwayes give place to the 
 Ends and fubftanceofthe work, for the ordering whereof they 
 are appoineed. 
 
 8. Temporal power is as truly and necefTanly of God, as 
 Ecclefiaftical, and it was at flrft given immediately by him, and 
 hechofcthe perfon; And yet there is no Neceffity that Kings 
 muft prove an uninterrupted Succeflion. God ufeth means now 
 in defigning the perfons that (hall be Governors of the Nations 
 of the earth : But not alway the fame means : nor hath he tyed 
 himfelf to a fucceftlve Anointing or Eledion : elfe few Kings 
 on earth would hold their Scepters. And no man (from any 
 diverfity in the cafes ) is able to prove rhat a man may not as 
 truly be a lawful Church. governor,as a lawful Governor of the 
 Commonwealth, without an uninterrupted fucceffion of Mini, 
 fterial Collation. 
 
 9. If BelUrmine be forced to maintain that with them it is 
 enough that a Partor have the place, and feem lawfull to the 
 people, and that they are bound to obey him, though it fhjuld 
 prove otherwife. Then we may as weil rtand on the fame terms 
 as they. 
 
 10. In a word, our Ordination being according to the Law 
 of Chrift, and the Popes fo contrary to it, we are ready at any 
 time,more fully to compare them, nnJ demonrtrate to any impar. 
 tial man, that Chrift doth much more difown their Ordination 
 then ours, and that we enter in Gods appointed way. Mr. 
 Eliot in New Engltnd may better Ordain a Paftor over the 
 Indians converted by him , then leave them without , or 
 fend to R*me t or Engl^td for a B fhopj or for Orders. But 
 
 Ec 1 again 
 
2i4 A l\ey for fythohch. 
 
 again I muft refer you of this fubjed to the Books before 
 mentioned . and cbe Sheet which I have written.lett I be over- 
 
 mentioned , andche Sheet 
 tedious. 
 
 Chap. XXXIV. 
 
 DeteU. 25. A Nother of their Deceits is, In pretending the 
 jC\ Holinefs of their Churches , and Miniftry, and 
 the nnhelinefs of ours. This being matter ot fad, a willing and 
 impartial mind may the e;ifier be fatisried in it. They prove 
 their Holinefs, i. By the Canonized Saints among them. 2. By 
 the devotion of their Religious Orders, and their ftriclnefs of 
 living. 3 . By their unmarried Clergy. 4. By their farcifying 
 Sacraments and Ceremonies: In all which they fay that we are 
 wanting, and fo far wanting, that being out of the Church, there 
 is no true Holinefs among us. 
 
 When in the Preface of my Bookagainft Popery, called The 
 Safe Religion, I rn.d truly fpoken my experience, that I had ne- 
 ver the happinefs to be acquainted with any Papift of a ferious 
 fpiritual temper, and holy life , but only fome of a Ceremonious 
 formall kind of Religion, and but with very few that lived not 
 in fome grofs fin, I was paflionately cenfuredby iomeof the 
 Papifts, as one that condemned all for fome. When as 1. 1 only 
 fpoke of my own acquaintance. 2. And I added with?!l,thu yetl 
 was confident that God had his fervants among them, though 
 I had not the happinefs to know them. 3 . And is it not a ridicu- 
 lous bufinefs, that tbefe fame men (hould be fo pafiionare with 
 me, forfpeakingbut the truth , concerning the ungodlinefs of 
 fome of them, when at the famecime they make it an Article 
 of their faith.and an effcntial point of Popery, That no cue Prote' 
 'ftant hath charity fir can be faved ; yea s thatno Chriflian in the 
 world is [anttified really t and can be faved, but a Papift. O the 
 pirtiality of thefe men / 4. Yea when they necerlicace us to 
 mention their ungodlinefs, by calling us to it, and laying the 
 ftrefs of all our caufe upon the point: yea laying the very Chri- 
 ftian faith it felf upon the Holinefs of their Church. For we 
 mart not know that Scripture is Gods word,or that Chriftiani- 
 cyisthe true Religion, till we flrft know that the Church of 
 
 Rome 
 
A fyy for Qa tholkks. 2 \ c 
 
 flow* is the trueChurch.that we may receive it on their credit : 
 And we mull know that they are the true Church by being the 
 only Holy people in the world. I muftprofefs that if my faith lay 
 on this foundation , I know fo much of the falfhood of ir, 
 that I muft needs turn infidell : and I can no more be- 
 lieve this , then I can believe that the fnow is not white. 
 
 They confef* ( I thank them for nothing) that their com- 
 mon people are bad; but yet fay they, [ there is fome good ones 
 among us , Inter hsereticos autem nullus eft bonus- but among 
 the heretickj not one is good ] So faith [ Thorn, a Jcfttde con~ 
 verf. omn Gent.pag.%1 1 - And faith H.Turbervile Manual p. 84. 
 [ But 1 never yet heard ofanj Protectant Saints in the world. J 
 O wonderful! perverfenefs of the hearts of Sectaries ! Owon- 
 derfuil Patience of God I Did not this mans heart tremble or 
 fmite him to write fo horrid, fo impudent a reproach againft fo 
 many precious Saints of God ? Durft he thus attempt to rob 
 the Lord of the fruit of his blood ? and to vilifie his Jewels ? 
 and as R*bfiak<th, to reproach the Ifrael of God ? co attempt to 
 pluck them out of Chrifts hand that are given him by his 
 Father; and to (hut them out of heaven , that are redeemed 
 and made heirs by fo dear a Price-, and to fpit in their faces 
 whom Chrift hath walhcd with his blood ? Did he not fear that 
 dreadfull threatningof Chrift, Mm 18.6. [ bat who [0 /hall of- 
 fend one of thefe little ones that believe in me, it were better for 
 him that a milfione were hanged about his neck y and that he were 
 droVvr.edinthe depth of the Jea. 1, Though I fee fo much impie- 
 ty among the Papifts, I dare not fay, I dare not think that God 
 hath not fome Holy encs among them. Its dangerous con 
 demning thofe that Chrift will Juftifie • and making his members 
 to be the members of the Devil, andabufingfo grofly the apple 
 of his eye. If I fee a man live wickedly, 1 dare fay that he is of 
 a wicked life ^ but I dare not fay that All are fo, unlefsit be 
 among men, whofe principles I am fare are ineonfirtent with 
 godlinefs , and I know that they hold thofe principles practi- 
 cally or prevalently. And therefore I mult fay again, that I 
 have been acquainted with fome Papifts, learned and unlearned, 
 The unlearned few of them knew what Chriftianity was, nor 
 whether Chrift were God or M5tn,MaleorFem«le,nor whether 
 everhe was the King, Prophet or Pricft of the Church, norfor 
 
 whsc 
 
2i6 AK^yfor Catkolkks. 
 
 what end he dyed, nor what faith, or repentance is ^ but were 
 infidels under the name ofPapifts, or Catholicks. The learn- 
 ed and unlearned live in fome grofs fin or other, either all or 
 neer all that I have been acquainted with. The better fort would 
 ordinarily fwear, £ by their Lad],and bj the Mafs. ] and fome- 
 time greater oaths. The reft were fome fornicators or adulterers, 
 fome drunkards or revellers, and gamefters, or fuch like : And 
 never had I the happinefsto be acquainted "with one that would 
 fpeak experimentally and favounly of the work of Graceupon 
 his foul , of ii e life of faith, of communion wich God, and of 
 the life to come ^ but their Religion lay in being the Popes fub- 
 jeds, and in fafting on Fridayes and in Lent from fome forts of 
 meat, and in faying over foraany Ave Ma> i«, Pater Nojlers, 
 or the like-, and in obferving dayes , and hours, and Cere* 
 remonics. Yet I again fay, I fully believe that there be 
 better among them , though I am not acquainted with 
 them. 
 
 But if thefe men that [_ never heard of a Proteftant Saint ]and 
 that conclude [there is no one faved but aPapift^} and build their 
 falvationon this as an Article of their faith, had known but 
 thofe that I have known , and yet know , they would either 
 have been of another mind, or have been left uncxcufable in a 
 malicious reproaching of the Saints of the moft high. I blefs 
 the Lord that lean truly fay, that I know many and many, 
 that ( as far as the heart of another can be known, by words 
 and a holy life) do live in much communion with God •, whofe 
 fouls are daily longing after him-, and fome of them that have 
 vacancy from worldly neceffities, fpending much of their lives 
 upon their knees, having had many a fpecial excraordinary re- 
 turn to their importunate requtfts : whofe delight is in the Law 
 of the Lord, in which they meditate day and night ( which is 
 lockt up among the Papifts.) Whofe hearts fmite them for 
 vain words or thoughs, or the lofs of a few minutes of time : 
 that live in exemplary humility, meeknefs and felf-denyal, bear^ 
 ing wrongs patiently , and doing good to as many as they can, 
 as the fervants of all ; contemning the Riches and Honours of 
 the world, mortifying the flefh , and fome of them longing 
 so be diflblvedand to be with Chrift.in whom the world never 
 )mcw either once druakennefs,fornication, or one rafh oath, or 
 
 any 
 
J I\ey for Qatholicks. 2 1 7 
 
 any other grofs fin, ihatlcould ever hear of. And is it certain 
 that allthefe (hall be damned, becaufe they believe not in the 
 Poper'Niy is it not cerrain byPromife chat all fuch Hull be faved? 
 I mud again profef?,tbat when ihc Papi'is lay their faith and 
 caufe on this, that rheir Church is Holy , andours and all other 
 are every man mholj, its almoft all one 10 me as if they faid that 
 no men but Papifs have feuls in their bodies , and la'd their faith 
 on this ; and as !oon I think flnould I believe them, if this were 
 their belief. Its a good prefervative ngiinft Popery, when a 
 man cannot turn Pa pill without putting ouc'Tiiscyes, and re- 
 nouncing his wit, and reafon, and common experience, as well as 
 his charity; yea without denying of what he knoweth by his 
 own foul 1 
 
 But let us come to their Evidences. i.They fay, We have 
 no Canonized Saints. I anfwer I. All the Apoftles and Saints 
 of the firft ages were of our Religion ^ and many of them 
 have been beholden to the Pope for Canonizing them. 
 
 2. Wehaveno ufurper among us that pretendeth Infallibly 
 to know the hearts of others , nor to number Gods Saints. But 
 with us, the Holy Ghoft maketh Saints ,and their lives declare it- 
 and thofe that converfe with them difecrnit , fo far as to be 
 highly confident , and men difcern it in themfelves,fo far as to be 
 Infallibly ( though not perfectly ) certain. 
 
 3«Itfeemsthe Pope takes Saints to be rare with them, that 
 they mull be named and written with red Letters in an Alma- 
 nack : And H. T. Man. fag. 84. is fain to fend us for proof to 
 their Chronicles and Martyrologies •, and he n3meth four 
 Saints that they have had, viz.. Saint An fin the A4onk, Sainr. 
 Bennet, Saint ZXw*Wr/;,and Saint Francis. Now we a M know 
 that none but Saints are faved , and that withop/t holincfs none 
 can fee God , Ihb. 12. 14. So that it fcerr.s ii- fan&ky 
 befo rare among the Papifb, falvation mud be rare 
 
 But as for us, we make it our care to admit none but Saints 
 to our Church Communion: though we preach toothers to 
 prepare them for it: For we believe that the Church is a Holy 
 Society, and find Paul calling the while Churches that he writes 
 to, by the title of [ Saints, J and we believe it is [ the Commu- 
 nion of Saints'] that is thetc to be held. And if we had no more 
 iaintsinone County at once, yea infomeoneParifhac orce 
 
 Ff then 
 
z 1 8 A I{ey for Catholicks . 
 
 then would fill up the Popes Calendar , Co as to have one for 
 every day in the year, we fhould betake our felves to bitter 
 lamentation. 
 
 Whereas the Church of Rome takes in all forts of the unclean, 
 and is fo impure and pollucedafociety, that is a wonder how 
 they (hould have the face to boa't of their holinefs to men that 
 live among them and know them. Thoufands of their members 
 are ftarfc^nfidels, as not knowing the Eflentials of th? Chriftian 
 Faith. Its known here in Inland, that abundance of them 
 know not who Chrift was, but that he wm abetter man than 
 Saint Patrick^: Bifhop Vjhtr faw it and lamented it, that they 
 perifhed as Heathens for want of knowing Chriftianity it felf, 
 while they went under ihe name of Catholicks •• and therefore he 
 would have perfwaded the Popifh Priefts to have Confcnred that 
 they fhould be all taught a Cacechifm of the common principles 
 that we are agreed in ; but he could not procure it : when Dr. 
 Jo. White asked one of them in Lancajbire y who feffts Chrifi 
 yea*} (he anfwered, that \_fnreit was fome good things or elfe it 
 Jhsuldwt have been put into the Creed. ~] 
 
 And how much fwearing, whoredom, drunkennefs, and other 
 wickednefs is in theirChurch,is known not only by the complaints 
 of their own writers, but by the too common experience of 
 Tnvailers. We have known Papifts that have turned from them 
 by the experience of one journey to Rsme, and feeing what 
 is there. And for Church cenfures by which any of thefe fhould 
 be-purged out, they are hid by, and referved for other ufes, even 
 as thunder- bolts for the Popes Adverfaries, and thefervants of 
 Chrift whom they take for Hercticks; and for Princes whom 
 the Pope would have depofed and murdered. Thefe things are 
 not meer words, but the lives of many Kings and Princes have 
 been the facrificeof the Roman Holinefs. 
 
 And what need^you any further proof that their Church is 
 as the common wildernefs, and not as the Garden of Chrift , and 
 is a Cage of all unclean birds, then that they adually keep them 
 ail in their Communion. It made my heart rife at their hypo- 
 crifie and fllthinefs/o read one fentence in one of the moft learn- 
 ed, and fober, and honeft of all their Bifhops that have written, 
 and that is Albasjlmtm Obfervat. J-pag. I. faith he \Siquu 
 unqttam hocfectilo, ( qmAnefcin An acciderit ) Cwmtinionefuit 
 
 privatm y 
 
A f\ey for Cat hoik ks. 2 1 9 
 
 privates, folafuit EuchariftU percepticne : in reliquis [ha vita 
 partibus , qaam ante Excommunicationem habuit. : candem cum 
 c<tterisf.delibtiscon[uetndinem,&u[um retinuit.] That is \_If 
 ever any one man in this age was put from the Communion ( which 
 I know not whether fuch a thing hath come to pafs, ) it was only 
 from the receiving the Eucharifl ; in the other parts of his Life, 
 he retained the fame familiarity andconverfe with other believers, 
 which he had before his Excommunication. ] 
 
 Here you fee from a credible Bifhop chat lived in the thickeft 
 of their Llergy in France, that he knew not that any one perfon 
 in the age thac he lived in, was ever kept from the Lords Sup- 
 per ; but if he were, yet thac was all : he was ftill a member of 
 their Church, and familiar with the reft. Let the Chriltian world 
 then obferve by their pra&ice, what an abominable hypocritical 
 concert they mike, for to prove the Power of Church-govern- 
 menc to be only in theirPop? ,and the Prelates to whom he giveth 
 it ; and when they have done, do make no more ufeof the 
 Power which they fo pretend to, as not to exercife the Cenfures 
 of the Church upon one orTendor there in an age. How were 
 that man worthy to be thought of, or to be ufed, that would 
 fet all the world on fire by contending, that no Schoolmafter or 
 Phyfitian fhould be fuffercd in the whole world, but hirufelf and 
 fuch as he giveth power to : and when he hath done, will not by 
 himfelf or his fubje&s and dependants teach or heal one perfon in 
 an age ? were fuch an one meet to live on the earth ? Or fhould 
 we judge that man in his wits that would believe him? O what 
 a Itye is the Roman Society '. what dunghills are in their Aflera- 
 blies ? and yet muft not che Shovel or the Beefom be ufed once 
 in an Age r what ! no weed pulled up ? no fuperfluous branch 
 cutoff? Is this che ufeof all the Canons of their Church con- 
 cerning Excommunication, and abltemion? Muft the Chriftian 
 world be at fuch a vaft expence, to maintain (o rich and nume- 
 rous a Clergy for this ? And muft we caft out our Paftors to 
 receive fuch as thefe ? when we fhould be afhamed, if we had 
 notixercifedmoreof the cleanfmg power of the Keyes in one 
 Parifh Church, then Albafpin&us knew of among the Papifts 
 i a whole age. 
 
 But perhaps there is little of this filth among them to be caft 
 out; He that readech their own writers, or liveth among them, 
 
 F f 2 and 
 
2zo' A K^ey for Qatbolick. 
 
 and Teeth their lives, will hardly think fo. He that had but ken 
 the Murders of their Popes for the obtaining of the Popedom, 
 orhowPope^p^»rsgedagiinfttheCarca!s of Pope Formo- 
 fus, drawing it out of the grave, and charging its Pontifical 
 habit to a fecular, and cutting off his ringers • or he that had 
 feen Pope Chriftopher catting the Cor.p; of Pope Leo the fife into 
 the River Tiber; or Pope Sergitts keeping the faid Chriftopher 
 bound in prifon •, or VopzBsnifice the feventh putting out his 
 Cardinals eyes-, would fcarce believe chat the Holy Seat of Pe- 
 ter wereindeed Holy .• (all which Platina and o;hcrs of their 
 own writers give us nonce of. ) He that reideth B.t'onius him- 
 felf telling us (To. 10. <s>?. 897. » 6.) how Pope Stephen the 
 feventh defiled St. Vetcrs feat with unheard of facriledge, not to be 
 named, and ( ftci.^.ib.) and how the Princes of Tufcia were 
 brought into Peters Chiir and Chrifls Throne, being monftrotis 
 men, of moft filth) lives, and dfperate manners, and every -way 
 moft fi'th/.j He that (hill read the fame flittering Cardinal, 
 faying, {(fan. goo. fecial ) [_that ugly monflers were thruft into 
 the Papacy, that it was dawbed with dung , infected with ftinhs, 
 defied with filthinefs , and collowed by thefe with a perpeutal 
 infamy ] And {an. 912. feci. 8. ) [that at -Rome, the meft 
 ■powerful and the moft fordid whores did Rule ; at whofe will the 
 feats were changed, Biftjops were made, ani, which is horrid to be 
 heard, and not to be fpoken, their fweet-hearts falfe Topes were 
 thrnft into Peers feat. 1 And [_that for an hundred and fifty 
 years the Popes were wholly fain from the vertm of their Prede- 
 cejfors ; being disorderly, and Apojlatical, rather then Apoftolical, 
 not entringby the door, but by the back-door] faith a palllonate 
 P.ipift, Genebrard t Chron.l4.an 901. I fay he that fhall read 
 thefe impartially, will lcarce thnk the Head of their Church 
 hath been Holy, which is an EiTential part of it, (nor that 
 their fuccefsion is uninterrupted. ) 
 
 But if befiderthefe you would read but Nic. ClemwgU, Al- 
 varus Pelagius de plantlu Ecclefi ( lib. 2. art. 2. fol. 1 04.) 
 and many fuchlike; or their Poets Mantua*, Pantes, &c. or 
 Petrarch, Mirandtila, &c. you would think the Holmefs of 
 Rome fhould be the pooreft proof in the world of their being 
 the oiily Church, 
 
 Their 
 
A K^y for Ca t bolick s, 221 
 
 Their .Ejpenfeut and others recce that Difticb, 
 
 J'ivere qni capitis fantle difcedite Rom.l : 
 Omnia cum liceant t non licet effe brnf-m. 
 
 Tlatina faich ( in vita ALircellini ) [_ Our vices are fo in- 
 creafed t that thiy have fcarce left us any place for mercy With 
 Cod. Horv great is the (fovetoufnefs of the Priefis \ especially ef 
 thoft that rule all ! how great In [I ! how great ambition and : 
 bow great ignorance of themfelves, and of the Ch^iftian doctrine ! 
 how little Religion , and that rather countirfcit , then I 
 how corrupt manners ! even fuch as in the profhan r fi fecalar 
 men were to be detefted ! its not worth the [peaking • when 
 they fin fa openly and fo publicly , as if they foug'tt Pratfe 
 byi: 
 
 Their Claudius Efpenfaus on Tit.pag.*]%. fai'.h |[ Where is 
 there under the Sun a greater libertj t clamor , impunity of all 
 evil; that 1 fay mt infamy and impudency ( then at Rome : ) 
 verily it is fuch as no man can believe but he that hath fcen it , 
 and no man can deny it that hath fcen it 2 This was written fince 
 the Council of Trent. 
 
 And in the Council of Trent, their Cornelius Mufs, a Bifrnp 
 there, and the wonder of his age among the Papitts, faun (hat 
 [there was no monflers of filthinefs, or fink^. or plague of unclean 
 nefs, with which both people and Prieff was n.-t deft led : In the very 
 Sancluary of God, there was no fljame,no modify, no kope or re- 
 gard of good In ing: bat unbridled and untamed lufl, finemlar 
 audacioufntjs, incredible wickednefs.^ And afcer more of the 
 Ike he adds, j Would they had not fain from Religion to fuperfli- 
 tionfrom faith to infd:lity, from Lhrifi to Ant'.ckrifl,yta as men 
 that had no fou's , fromGodto Epicurus or Pythagoras , faying 
 in an impious heart, and an impudent rncuth, there is no God. And 
 yet now of a long time, there hath been no Taflor th<trronld re- 
 quire, ( or feek, them again ) / fay there was none to feek them , 
 becaufethey all fought their own things , but mt one the things of 
 Jefus Chrift2 The fame Bifhop Cornelius Mufsvu-- the Council 
 writes thus ( To. 2. Serm 2. Bom. V. £j*adr. ) Q The Roman 
 Name is hateful/ with all Nations • and fee I pray yen how lit- 
 tle efltem the (fhurch it felf is of , becanfe of the fcandals that 
 
 F f 3 are 
 
12 2 A fyy for Qatholicks . 
 
 are heard, , ft en and felt. I fpea\ not now of enemies that 
 call it Babylon, Hell , the Whore , and fay it is the fm\^ of 
 all Errours : But 1 fpeal^ of friends that groan and daily 
 figh within themfelves, faying^ holy City , how art thou thus 
 profaned'. glorious City \ that art thus be come vile ; thus con - 
 temned^ and neglected. ~\ Theleand many more i'uch Teftimonies 
 of their own writers. Rivet .and many of ours have oft let before 
 them. 
 
 Gfiicciardine their Hiftorian faith, that [ Thofe are cal- 
 led Good Popes , whofe Gocdnefs is nst worfe then other mens 
 wickednefs. ] 
 
 And if you think that now the matter is much mended, read 
 but C 'laud. Efpenfaus in Tit. i. pag.j$. complaining that the 
 promifes made by the Pope of Reformation, at the Council of 
 Trent were all broken, and nothing done but deceit and (hews. 
 And of Pope Sixtus the hhhBellarmine gave out his judgement, 
 that he thought when he dyed, he went to the Devil, faying, 
 [ Mi** f tne p<£nitentia vivit, & fine panitentia moritur, precul- 
 dubio adinfernum defcendit] [_He that lives Without Repentance, 
 And dyeth without Repentance^ undoubtedly goes to HelL~\ And 
 faith Wdtfon of him ( in Quodl.b. pag. 56, 57.J BellarmmeyW 
 to an Englijh Dotlor [_ Concept is verbis t quantum capio, quantum 
 fapio, quantum intelligo, Dominus nofler Papa defcendit ad infer- 
 num ] \_ n/lsfar as I canre&ch , as far as I have any wifdom, as 
 far as I underfiand, in plain terms, our Lord the Pope is gone to 
 Hell. ] But which way he went thither, all the world knows 
 not, but Harthol. Morifot.'m the Life of Henry the Great of 
 France jap. 17. faith [ That when the Spaniards perceived his 
 contrivances to forfake their party, left he jhould join with the ene- 
 my ^they caufedhim to be fir angled in the night by a Franeifcan, or 
 one in a Jidonks habit j and the next day gave eut that a Domeflick^ 
 Devil had fir angled him , and to make good the report , a Book^ 
 was written of his life, and printed, where all the wickednefs ef Pope 
 Alexander the fixth is charged on him. 3 
 
 And how the Popes are ftill chofen by impious Juglings and 
 combinations Rivet tells you out of your own champion, Car- 
 dinal Perron, his Legation es & Negotiat. And of the faying of 
 Cardinal Ojfatus ad D VUle roy Epifi. 87. concerning Pope 
 Clement the eighth, efteeraed one of the very bett oi them, who 
 
 perfwaded 
 
A I^ey for Catholicks. 22, J 
 
 perfwaded the King of France to join with the Spaniard in the 
 Invafion of Envlmd \ and when the Cardinal anfwcred that the 
 King of Frame vras under an Oath of Peace with tbs jQuecn of 
 England, the Pore ( their belt Pope ) replyed, that [the Oath 
 7»Js made to an Heret.ck^ ; but he was bound by another Oath to 
 God and the Tope | and added that |_ that Kings and other Sove- 
 rai^n Princes tolerate themfelves in all things that make for 
 their commodity: and its now come to pafs that it is not imputed to 
 them, nor tal^n to be their fault ; ] and he allcdged the faying 
 of Francifc. Man <t Duke ofVrbine>thua Noble man, or Great 
 man that is not the Soveraign,is blamed and counted infamous 
 of all men, if he keep not hu faith • but f up re am Princes may 
 make Covenants, and breal^ them again without any danger 
 to their credit , and may lye , betray , and commit fuch like 
 praBifes. ^ 
 
 Thefe are your beft Popes I Poor men / that can forgive other 
 mens fins, and pardon them the pains of Purgatory,and cannot 
 fave their own fouls from Hell ! Are they not like to Govern the 
 Univerfal Church well, that can no better Govern themfelves, 
 or that one City where they dwell? And are not thefe men 
 worthy to be cor.fultcd as infallible Oracle?, by thofe that dwell 
 at the Antipodes, though it coft them their lives to fail or tra- 
 vail to them? Can he be aChriftianor be faved thatbelieveth 
 not in one of thefe men ? Or can any man receive the Chriflian 
 faith or Scriprures,till he firft know thefe good men to be Chrifts 
 infallible Vicars? 
 
 And how many thoufand Whores are licenfedat Rome, how 
 fumptuoufiy they livc,what revenues come to the Pope by them? 
 many of your own mention. And though fome of you write 
 for it, and your Pope (till maintained it, yet Mariana one of 
 your Jefuites (though he was for King-killing) condemneth this, 
 lib.de Speclacu/t4,cap. 16. And your Claud. E fen ft hs lib. 3. 
 de Continentia. cap. 4. fees in out with a wicnefs, lamenting 
 Rome, as if it were turned all into one Whore- houfe ; and be- 
 wailing it, that the Jews fhouldfo far fhamc you,th3t no one 
 of their children may play the harlots , unlets they firft turn 
 (Popiflij Chriftians and be baptized, arid then they have thier 
 fiberty. 
 
 Of the gun that comes to che Pope and Prelates by the Si- 
 
 raoniacall 
 
214 A K e y f or Catbolicks- 
 
 tnoniacall M-rker of benefices, lave me the'abour of reciting, 
 and read bur N-ccl.Clemangis Archidiaconns Baiofenfis Trail, 
 de Amatibus nun foiveadis , & ssilvarus PeLgius de Tlantln 
 Ecclef lib. 2. Art 15. & I. I, art, 67. & Claud. Efpcnfctiu in 
 Tit. 1. /><*£• 68 & CardineL Cufanum de Concord. Cathol. lib. 
 2. cap. 40. & Adurc. <>s4nt de Dom. SpuUttnfem. de Rtpub. 
 Ecclef. lib 9.C.9.& Bud<zumli. %.de Ajfe •, & Duarexum f.C. de 
 facris Ecchf. Mmift. lib. 5. c. 8. & paffim^Rivet will dired you 
 to many more. 
 
 Yea that the odious (in of Sodomie was common, or too fre- 
 quent with many of the Clergy, and Popes thcmielves ( glutto- 
 ny , drunkcnnefs and whoredom bein£ the common fmaller. 
 fins ) fee the fame Rivet manifefting at large out of the cxprefs 
 complaints of Maphaus y Alvatus Pelagius, and many more of 
 their own writers. Hoffrneifter cited by Grotius Difcuffio Apol. 
 Rivet, p. 72. Q At cum Epfcopi quidam ignorant, quid Sacra- 
 menu vox ftgniftctt ; cum ipfos pndent fact amenta per ft ipfos 
 conferre , cum omnia apud ipfos ftnt venalia , cum Ecclejiam 
 defraudent fuis facramentalibus qu<e vocant , qn<e potcfl Sa~ 
 cramentis apud fimplici ores reverentia t fam quod ad 
 Parachos & Ecclefiaftas quod attinet , vix centeftmus quifq; 
 de facramentis ullam facit mentionem in fuis ad plebem con* 
 
 ciombus • hie ex ignorantia , ille ex negligentia. Gra- 
 
 viffime peccatum eft ab Epifcopis ncftris , dum numeran- 
 tur potius ordinandi, quam examinantur : & quantum quis 
 nummorum tantum & favoris habet apud quofdam. j£ua hie 
 premo prudens teller intelligit. Nolim enim hie referre quales 
 Epifcopos , Decanos, fanonicos , Paftores , &c. Nobis fubinde 
 intrudat potius quam ordinet Romana Curia , Regum item & 
 Prin.ipum auU • qui omnes juxta jocum cujufdam , jamiliam 
 fuam fatiant ( ft modo tales beftia fatiari pojfext ) muneribus 
 
 f aC ris Ab t quorum ftabulis , e cu/ina rapimtur ad 
 
 Sacerdotia. qui, quidSacerdos fit, neperfomnmm quidem cogita- 
 runt , homines qui profeffionefunt indigni. ~\ 
 
 Papirius Majfonius that wrote the Deeds of the Popes for 
 their honour,and fought his Reward from Sixtus Quintm, faith 
 (De Epifcop urb. lib. 6. in Gregor. 13. ) [_ No man doth now 
 a dajes loo\fr Holinefs in Popes » thofe are judged the be ft % 
 
 that 
 
A Kgy for Catbolicks. 2*5 
 
 that are a little good , or left naught then other Mortals ufe 
 
 t0 Pope Tius the fecond was one of the beft that your Papal 
 feat a long time had ; and yet in his Epiftle to his Father 
 (Epifl.i% ) that was angry with him for fornication ,he faun, 
 
 VAtsdolerete i.e. Ton fay youareforryform; crime, that 
 
 J begot a fon in fin ( or bafiardy. ) I know not what opinion. 
 you have of me. Certainly you that are fte/h jour f elves did not 
 beget a fon that is made of (tone or iron. Tou know what a 
 Cick. yot* were your felf. And for my fart I am not gelded, mr 
 one of them that are frigid ( or impotent) Nor am I an hypo- 
 crite, that Ifljoulddefire rather to fee m good, then to be good. I 
 ingenuoujlycenfefs my error, for am not holyer then David, nor 
 wiferthen Solomon. Its anantientand ufual fin ; / know not 
 who is without it. ( A holy Church you are that while J This 
 plague is fpreadfarand nter,if it be a plague to make ufe of our 
 naturals, though I fee it not, feeing Nature , which doth nothing 
 amifs , hath bred this Appetite in all living creatures , that 
 mankind fiould be continued. ] This was he that was the 
 glory of your Papacy, that knew none without this beaftiy 
 fin. 
 
 And Orichovius tells Pope Julius the third, that Pope Paul 
 the fecond his predecejfor had a Daughter in the eyes of all 
 men. 
 
 And of this Pope Julius the third, nupbrius h\mk\f faith, 
 that £ Being a Cardinall he followed voluptuoufnefs as by fiealth , 
 but being wade Pope, and having what be would have, he cajl away 
 all care , and gave up himfelf to hU mirth and difpofition ] 
 Of whom Thuanus faith ( Htfi. lib. 6. ) that he was very 
 infamous as a £ardinall , but after pafkhU life in greater in. 
 famy- ] 
 
 And ^Ivarus Pelagius , ( lib. 2. art. 73- fol. 241 , &c. ) 
 lamenting Whoredome as a common fin, but fpeci..lly of the 
 Clergy , tells us that the caufe is, becaufe [_ Commonly the 
 Religious of that age were Gluttons or belly Cods , Arrogant, 
 Proud, incomparably beyond fecular men y converfng with women, 
 &c. And drink^ more wine in their Religtiw ft ate then before, and 
 are commonly carnal. And that the Monkj had their female De- 
 votarits,wnirfirlnm,hy the I relates lictnfe they converged. And be- 
 
 Gg i*& 
 
226 d £\cy for Qatholich* 
 
 ing fern to p reach , they go to p lay the whoremwrers : And that 
 there was (caret any one of the Holy Nuns without her car nail 
 male Devotarj, by fthich they broke their firfl faith with Chrifi, 
 &c. ] This was your Holy Church. 
 
 And /*. 2. art. 28. he fohhThat mofi of the Clergy mix them- 
 ft Ives with gluttony, drunktnnefs and whoredom, which is their 
 common vice , and mofi of them give themfelves to the unnaturall 
 
 vice ( Sodomie) Thus continually, yeaanipablikely do they 
 
 offend againfl that holy chafiity which they promt fed to the Lord j 
 befidesthofe evils not to be named which in fecret they commit, 
 which Papers will not receive , my pen can Vrrite. ] Abundance 
 more he hath of the fame fubjetf, and their putting their choic- 
 eft youth into houfes of Sodomie. This book of Alvarus 
 ? (latins Bellarmine calleth Liber inftgnis ( de Scriptor. Eccle- 
 ftafi.) 
 
 Math. Paris (-in Henr. 3./?. 819. ) tells as of Cardinal Hu- 
 gos farewell fpecch to the people of Lons when he departed 
 with the Popes Court [Friends, ( faith he) ftnee we came to 
 this City we have brought y est great commodity and alms. When 
 we came hither Vre found three or four whore houfes , but 
 now at our departure we leave but one • but that one reach- 
 eihjrom the Eafl (jate to the Wefi Gate. ] O Holy Popi ! and 
 Holy Church I 
 
 But (fofierus the Jefuite eafily anfwers all that I have faid, 
 Enchirid. cap. 2. de Ecclef. that [ The Church lofeth not the 
 -name [ Holy ] as long as there u but One thats truly Holy. J 
 Anfw. Is thi9 your fan&ity ? I deny your conclufion, For 
 1. If the Head be unholy ,an eficntial part is unholy -, and there- 
 fore the Church cannot be Holy. 2. One perfon is not the 
 Matter of the Church , as one drop of Wine caft into the 
 fea doth nor make it a fea of Wine ; and one Italian in England 
 makes not England Italian : nor one Learned man make England 
 Learned. 
 
 And let the Papifh obferve, that it isfrom the very words of 
 their own that I have fpo-ken of them what is here recited, and 
 not from their adverfarie?. And therefore I (hail be fo far 
 from believing the Gofpel upon the Account that their Church 
 it Holy that recommendeth it, or from believing them to be 
 uhe only Church of Chrift 9 becaufe of their Holinefs , that I 
 
 muft 
 
A Key for Qatholicks. 
 
 227 
 
 mult blefs God that I live in afweeterair and cleaner Society 
 and fhould be loath to come cat of the Garden into the Channel 
 or fink to be made clean or fweet,butfay,that the travatler learn- 
 ed more wit, chat lefc us this Refolucion, 
 
 Roma vale ^ vidi • fat is efl vidiffe ; revert ar 
 Cttm UnoAHt meretrix, fcnrra cinadutero. 
 
 T 
 
 HE fecond Proof which they bring of the Holinefsof 
 their Church, is, the firitl life of their Fryers , as 
 Carthufians, Francifcans, and others. Anjw. Having been fo 
 long already on this point, I will be butfhore on this branch. 
 In a word, 1 . 1 have no mind to deny the Graces of the fpirit in 
 any that have them. Though travellers tell me lamentable (to- 
 nes of your Fryars, & Gnil. de Amore, and his companions 
 laid much more , and many other Popilh Writers paint them 
 out in an odious garb, yec I do not doubt but God hath his 
 fervants among them. 
 
 2. But I rauft tell you that this alfo fhews the Pollution of 
 your Church in comparifon of our Churches; that Holinefs 
 and Religion are fuch rarities, and next to Miracles among you, 
 that itmuftbecloiftrcd up, or confined to certain orders that 
 are properly called Religious, as if the People had no Religi- 
 oufnefs or Holinefs. When our care and Hope is to make ail 
 our Parifli Churches far more Religious and Holy then your 
 Monafteries or Convents : Yea were not this Church much 
 more Religious and Holy whece I live,I think I ftiould have fraall 
 comfort in it. 
 
 3- HpHeir third Proof of the Holinefsof their Churches, is,. 
 JL their unmarried Clergy. Anfa.i.l will not ftir too 
 long in this puddle , or elfe I could tell you out of your own 
 writers of the odious fruits of your unmarried Clergy. Only 
 ( becaufe the efTential parts of your Church arc they that neer- 
 lieft concern your caufe ) I will ask you in brief, whether it 
 was not Pope John the eleventh that had Theodorafox his whore? 
 whether it was no Pope Sergiw the third that begot Pope John 
 
 G g z the 
 
218 A J^eyfor Catholkks. 
 
 
 the twelfth of M^ro/ia ? whether John the twelfth, alias the. 
 thirteenth (faith Luiiprandfts, and others of your own J did 
 not ravifh maids and wives at the Apofiolick doors, and at laft 
 was killed in the Aft of Adultery ? whether ic were not Popq 
 Innocent of whom a Papift wrote this diftich t 
 
 Otto Nocensputrss gcnult, totidtmq; puelUs. 
 Hunc merlto potuit dicer e Roma pattern* 
 
 And whofe Son was Aloifus, made Prince of Parma by Pope 
 Paul the third? And for your Archbifhops, Biftiops, Priefts, 
 &c. I fhall now add but the words of your Dominions Soto de 
 Jnftit. & fare e}U.6.art. I . cited by Rivet, [we do not deny (faith 
 he ) that in the Clergy, fuch as keep Concubines, and are Adul' 
 terert , are frequent. J 
 
 2. We have many that live unmanned, as well as you, but 
 not on your terms. 
 
 3 . We know that Paul d'treStedTimothy and Titus to ordain 
 him a Bifhop that was the Husband of one Wife, and ruled well 
 his houfe, having his children in fub je&ion ; and that the Church 
 a longtime held to thisdoftrine.and that Greg.Nyjfen was a mar- 
 ryed Bifhop. But if you are wifer then the Spirit of God, or 
 can change his Laws, or can prove the Holy Ghoft fo mutable 9 
 as to give one Law by Paul and other Apoitles, and another by 
 tbePope, we will believe you, and forfake the Scripture, when 
 you can fo far bewitch us, and charm us to it. 
 
 We believe that a fingle life is of very great Convenience to 
 a Paftor, when it can be held .• and that Chrifts Rule muft be 
 Qbferved [ € very man cannot receive this faying, but he that can 9 
 let him receive it ] And whether Minifters be Marryed or not 
 Marryed (as many now living in the next Parifbes to me arc 
 not, no more then my felfj itisaftrangethingwith us to hear 
 of one in many Counties that was ever once guilty of fornicati- 
 on m his life : and if any one be but once guilty in the Miniftry, 
 he is caft out, though he fhould be never fo penitent, as any 
 man that readeth the Aft for ejecting fcandalous Miniflers and 
 Schoolmafters may fee. As alfo you may there fee, that if he 
 were but once drunk^ if he fwear, curfe, or be guilty of other 
 feandalous fins, he is caft out without any more ado. And none 
 
 are 
 
A Z\ey for Qatholicks. i z? 
 
 arefoearneft for the through-execution of this Law as the Mi- 
 nifters. If aMinifter do but go into an Alehoufe, except to vi- 
 fit the fick,or on weighty bafinefs, it is a fc?.nda!ous dung among 
 us : we do not teach as the Jefuites cited by the fanfemft Mm~ 
 taltMfihzt a man may lawfully go imo a Whorel.oufe tc exhort 
 them from Whoredom, though he hath found by c 
 that when he comes among them he is overcome, and p:?.\es the 
 Whoremonger with them. 
 
 Left the vices of your Clergy fhould be laid open and punifti- 
 ed, you exempt them from the fecular power, and wiil noc 
 have a Magiftrate fo much as queftion them for whoredom , 
 drunkennefs, or the like crimes. It is one of Pope NiceUj De- 
 crees f/ej Caranza;ug.3 95.rccue;them .) that [No Lay mm 
 mujl judge A Prieft, nor examine any thing cf hu life. A-.d no 
 fecular Prince ought to judge tee faUs of anj Bifljips or Pried s 
 whatfoever] And indeed that is the way to be wicked quietly, 
 and fin without noife and infamy. But for our parts, we do not 
 only fubje&our felvesand alloura&ions to the tryal of Prin- 
 ces and the loweft Juftice of Peace, as far as the Law gives him 
 power, but we call out to Rulers daily to look more ftridly to 
 the Mmiiiry, and furTer not one that is ungodly or fcandalous in 
 the Church. And if one fuch be known, our Godly people will 
 all fee againft him, snd will not reft till they cad him oat (in 
 times when there is opportunity for it) and get a better in his 
 Head. The whole Countrey knows the Truth of this. 
 
 If you fay, as the Quakers do, that yet the mod among us 
 are ungodly ; I anfwer, that Thofe among us that are known 
 ungodly and fcandalous are not owned by us. nor a:? members 
 of our Church, or admitted to the Lords Supper, in ihof. "on' 
 gregationsthatexercife Churchdifcipline • but they are only 
 as Catechumens, whom we preach to and uifrud, if not call 
 out. 
 
 Your eighth General Council at Conftantixople, Can. 74. de- 
 creed, that [ Minifters mttfl not fall down ft Princes, nor eat at 
 their Tables, nor debdfc them/elves td them ; bnt Emperors mttfl 
 take them as EqnaU ] But we are fo far from ertablilhin* Pride 
 and Arrogancie by a Law, that though we hate # fervi!e fkttery 
 and mari-pleafing, ye;, wethink it our duty to be the fervants of 
 all, and to condefcend to men of low eftate, ?nd much more to 
 
 G g 3 honour 
 
2 >o A I\ey for Catbolicks- 
 
 honour our Superiors , and God in them. 
 
 The fame Council decreed, Canon. 2 1. that [None mufi com- 
 pofe any Peculations againfi the Pope]No marvail then if all 
 Popes go for Innocents. But we are lyable to the accufations 
 of any. 
 
 And becaufe you charge our Churches with Unhclinefs, and 
 that with fuch an height of Impudency, as I am certain the 
 Divel himfelf doth not believe you, that provokes you to it; 
 even that there is not One Good among us, nor one that hath 
 Charicy,norcanbe faved ( unlefs by turning Papift, ) 1 (hall 
 therefore go a lirtle higher, and tell you that I doubt not but 
 the Churches in England wherellive, are purer far than thofe 
 were in thedayesof Attguftine, Hiercm, &c. yea and that the 
 Paftorsof our Churches are lefs fcandalous then they were then • 
 what if I (hould compare many of them even to St. Attgujiine, 
 St. Herom, and fuch others, both inDo&rinc and Hohnefs of 
 Life ? (hould 1 do fo,I know you would account it arrogancy : 
 but yet I will prefumeto makefome comparifon, and leave you 
 to Judge impartially if you can. 
 
 As for the Heavenlinefs of their writings, let but fome of 
 ours be compared with them, and you will fee at leaft that they 
 fpake by the fame fpirit : and for their Commentaries on Scri- 
 pture, did we mifs it as oft as Ambrofe, Hierom and many more, 
 we (hould bring our felves very low in the eiteera of the Church: 
 Even your Cajetane doth more boldly cenfure the Fathers Com- 
 mentaries then this comes to. 
 
 And as to our lives , the Lord knows that I have no pleafure 
 in opening any of the faults of his Saints, nor (hall I mention 
 any but what are confeffed by therafelves in Printed Books, and 
 mentioned by others ; and to boaft of our own Purity I take to 
 be a deteftable thing, and contrary to that fenfeof fin that is 
 in every Saint of God. But yet if the Lords Churches and fer- 
 vints are flandered andjreproached as they were by the Hea- 
 thens of old, the vindicating thera is a duty which we owe to 
 Chrift. 
 
 Thofe Minifters that I Converfe with are partly Marryed, and 
 partly unmarryed. The Marryed live foberiy, in Conjugal Cha- 
 ftity, as burning and (hining lights before the people, in exem- 
 plary Holinefs of Life. The unmarryed alfo give up themfelvei 
 
 to 
 
A j^ey for Catbolicks. 1 1 1 
 
 to the Lord, and to bis fervice : and I verily think that of many 
 fuch that converfe with me, there is not one that ever defiled 
 themfelves by incontincncy, and I am confident would be ready 
 to take the moft folemn Oath of if, if any Papift call them to 
 if. And for the people of our Communion, through the mercy 
 of God fuch fins are fo rare, that if one in a Church be guilty 
 once, we all lament it, and bring chem to penitence, or difown 
 them. 
 
 And were the Churches better in the third, fourth, ftft, fix:, 
 or following Ages? I doubt nx. And I judge by thefe d.fco- 
 veries. i. By the fad Hitfones of the Crimes of thofe times. 
 
 2. By the lamentable complaints of the Godly Father*, of 
 the Biftiops, and people of their times. What dolefull com- 
 plaints do Baftl, Gregory Nazianz. and Qreg. Nyjfen, and Cbrj- 
 fofiom, /2*/?i«,&c.raake? fit were coo long to recite their words.,) 
 What complaints made Gildas of the Brittifh Church? What 
 a doleful defcript ion have we of the Chriftian Paftors and People 
 inhisdayes, from Salvian, through his whole Book de Guber- 
 nat.} 
 
 3. I judge alfo by the Canons, and by the Fathers directions 
 concerning Offendors. For example • Gregory Mag. faith of 
 drunkards [ j^uodcum veniafuo ingenio funt relinquendi, ne dtte- 
 riores fiant ft a tali confueindinc evellantur.] And was this the 
 Roman Sandity even then t And was this St. Gregories Sancti- 
 ty ? that Drunkards mult be lee alone with pardon, left if they 
 be forced from their cuftome, they be made wotfe ! Then fair- 
 fall theMiniftersof England : if (uch advice were but given by 
 one of us, it would frem enough to call us out of our Miniftry. 
 We dare not let one drunkard alone in our Church communion, 
 where Church-difcipline is (ez up. 
 
 So Augufiine faith [that Drunksnnefs is a mortal fin, Si fit 
 affidua, if it be daily or ufuat. And that they mud be dealt with 
 gently and by fair words ,and not roughly and jharply. ] If one of 
 us (hould make fo light o r Drunkennefs, what (hould we be 
 thought? I cite thefe two from Aquinas 22. f. i$o.art.i.^.ad 
 4" &art.2. 1. 
 
 Many Canons determine that [_Priefis that will not fart tvirh 
 their Concubines > /hall be fufpended from officiating^ till they let 
 them go. J Whereas with m, a man deferveth to be ejected, that 
 
 (hould 
 
2}i A Kj) for Catholich' 
 
 ihou\dbavea Concubine but one night in his life. 
 
 GratianDiflincl.s^.ckQihc.iy. of a Tolttane Council, fay. 
 ing, that he that bath not a Wife, but a Concubine in her Jlead, 
 Jhall not be put from the Communion. His Corrector reciteth the 
 whole Canon thus Q If any Believer b*ve a wife and a Concu- 
 bine, let him not Communicate. But he that hath tts Wife, and 
 hath a Concubine infiead of a W>fe, may nst be put from the Com- 
 munion : only let him be content rvith one woman, either Wife or 
 Concubine, which be will. He that liveth etherwife, let him be cafi 
 off, till he give over, and return to penitence. ] 
 
 InanEnglifli Council at Berghamjled an. 697. the feventh 
 Canon is this [ Jf a Prieji leave his Adultery , and do not naughti- 
 ly defer Baptifm, nor is given to drunkennefs, let him keep his Mi- 
 niftrj, and the priviledge of his habit] Spelman,/M£. 195. King 
 Alured in the Preface to his Laws tells us, that except Treafon 
 and Deftrtion of their Lords, the Councils of the Clergy did lay 
 but fome pecuniary multl on other fins, Sptlm. pag. 3 62 . 
 
 All this (hews that the Church then was much more corrupt 
 then ours now in ^England. 
 
 Yea the beft of the Fathers had fuch blots, that I may well 
 make their Confeffions another difcovery, that our Churches are 
 as pure and holy as their?. I will name but few of the chief, 
 becaufe I would not rake into their faults needlefly, who are 
 pardoned, glorified Saints in Heaven. St. Augufiine whilst he 
 leaned to the Maniches had a baftard, and confeffoh himfelf . 
 guilty of fornication. Sr. Hierom that was fo vehement for 
 Virginity, and lived a Monaftick life, doth yet confefs that he 
 was not a Virgin. St. Bernard^hit lived fo Contemplative a 
 life, in his Serm. de beat a virgine pofl ferm.% . de Affumpt. confef- 
 ftth,fe carere virginitate, that he lacked his virginity. And 
 though Bellarmine ( defcriptor. JEccclef. pag. 224. ) do from 
 that only reafon queftion whether it be Bernards, yet it is in the 
 fecond Tome among his undoubted writings, and this r eafon is 
 a poor difproof. 
 
 Now if one of our ordinary Minifters fhould be but guilty 
 of fuch a fin, though but once, and that before Converfion, no 
 doubt but it would lye heavye on their Confciences; and I ana 
 fure it would leave fuch a blot on their names, that were never 
 likely to be worn off while they live. 
 
 When 
 
A I\cy for Catholic ks . i } J 
 
 When wc tell the ?& pi {Is of their Licenfing Whore«houf« at 
 i?<?j»f, Bofjonia,&c. they commonly fly to the words of Auftin\ 
 ltb.de Or dine, faying £ Aafer Mcrctncei de rebus humerus, Qr 
 turbaveris tmnia libidinibru^ i . e. Take axvaj whores frc m among 
 men , arid jou rr ill dftnrb all things with lufts. \ Tftbugh this 
 was written when Anftrn was but a young convert and it feems 
 that he after changed his mind, yet this (hews that ourtirms 
 are far from the abominations of thole j and our Pai'tors are far 
 more llrift thdri An ft in then was. 
 
 4. As for the Hoiinefs of their Church by Ceremonies, ss Holy 
 Water, Holy Oi!,Re!ick<, Altars, and an hundred inch i hings,! 
 think it not worth the fpeaking of: all things are fan&irted to us 
 by the word and prayer. We devote our felvcs and all that wc 
 have to God,and then to the^ure all things are Pure.WevegWd: 
 no Ordinance of God thac we can know of and enjoy. He u 4 
 jfiKt) and fcekttb fuch at mil worftsif him in fpirit and truth. 
 This is the Holinefs that we look after. But for numbrir.gof 
 Beads,and V^ Maries^ and going pi!grimage?,and fuch in* 
 ventiOhs of arrogant men, we place m Holinefs in them , as 
 knowing that Ood defirethnota Mimical or HiHrionical wor- 
 ship ; and that none knows what will pleafe him lb well as 
 bimfclf. 
 
 Chap. XXXV. 
 
 Detett. 26. A Nother of their Deceits xijby calling us to tell 
 A them Vrhen every one of their Errors did firft 
 begin y and what Pope did bring them in , or clfe they willmt Jk . 
 but they are from the Apfftlcs. 
 
 To this B'fhop Vfier and abundance of our writers hivean- 
 fwered them at lar^e. J (hall therefore fpeak but thefe fcw,but 
 fatisfa&ory words. 
 
 1 . It belongs to you to prove the continuance of your Opini- 
 ons or Priftirts , more then to us to prove the Beginning. 
 2. It fofficech ttm we prove that there was a time when your 
 errors were not in the Church, and that we can do from the 
 Scriptures and the Fathers, and oft have done. 3 . You know 
 j our felvcs of abundance of changes which you know not who 
 
 Hh did 
 
2 1 4 A l\eyfor Catholkks. 
 
 did firft introduce. Who firft adminiftred the Lords Supper in 
 one kind only ? dare you fay that this was from the beginning? 
 Who firft laid by the Handing on the Lords day , and uled 
 kneeling ? ( forbidden ^W«. 20. ConciL Nicen. 1. and in other 
 General Councils. ) Alvarm Ttlagim de plancl. Ecclef. li.2. 
 art. z.fol. 1 04. faith [ The Church bewaileth the fins of the people , 
 but fpecially of the Clergy as greater then the fin of Sodom : For 
 roe fee that faith and Juftice have forfaken the earth. The Holy 
 
 Scripture andfacred Canons are accounted as fables He's 
 
 now a man of no knowledge that inventeth not 2Tovelties.'] You 
 fee that then Novelties were brought in. The lame Vincentitu 
 Lirinenfit comp'aineth of- And not only complaineth of, but 
 givech Direction what to do in cafe that [ Novella aliejua 
 cextagiq, non jam portinnculam tantum , feJ totam Pariter Ec- 
 clefiam commaculare conetur? If any mvell contagion fh all en- 
 deavour to ftain not only a part of the Church ,but the rvhole Church 
 alike? ] And then hisadvifeis to appeal from Novelty to Anti- 
 quity , and not to the Pope or the prefent Church. And 
 withail he addeth that This Direttion is but for Q new herefies at 
 their firft rifing , before they faljifie the rules of ancient faith 
 ( that is, before they corrupt antient Writers, or can pretend 
 to Antiquity) and before by the large spreading of the venome, 
 they endeavour to corrupt the volumes of our anceflors. But di- 
 lated and inveterate Herefies are not to be fet upon this way, 
 becaufe by the long trad of time, they have had a long occali- 
 on of dealing Truth : and therefore we muft convince fuchan- 
 tient herefies and fchifms by no means but by the only Authority 
 
 of the Scripture, if there be need, or avoid them ] Lirinenf 
 
 cap. 4 tire. 
 
 Were rhere not abundance of Novelties introduced , when 
 Auguftine ad fanuarium faid that £ They load our Religion with 
 jervile burdens, which Goi in mercy would have to-be free , with a 
 very few and mofr manifeft Sacraments of Celebration , fo that 
 the condition of the few j w 04 more tolerable, that were fub'] ell to 
 L'gall Sacraments, and not to the preemptions of men ] Thefe 
 words of Auftin your own fob. Gerfo* reciting ( de vita ffirit . 
 animt.letl. 2. par. 3. ) addeth of hisown [ Situo tempore >&c. 
 If in thy dayes thoudidfl thus mourn, Oh wife Auguftine, what 
 wouldft thou have faid in our time : where according te the variety, 
 
 and 
 
A Key for Catbolicks . 235 
 
 and motion of 'heads , there is incredib'e variety and diffonant multi- 
 plicity of fuch fervile burdens , and as thou talleft them, of humane 
 preemptions. Among which, as fo many fnares of fouls y an>i entang- 
 ling nets , there's fcarce any man that walkjfecurt, and is njt taken 
 {or catcht. ) ] 
 
 How think you now in the Judgement of Augnfline and Ger. 
 [on- y whether there have any Novelties been brought into the 
 Church; and whether all your Preemptions and burdens, and 
 ( as Gerfon calls them) halters for fouls, have come from the 
 Apoftles,or are your own? When all is thus overcome with 
 Novelty, do you make any queftion whecher any thing be 
 new ? 
 
 It feems that Bernard thought that humane Traditions were 
 too much befriended, when he thus defcribech the AfTcmblies 
 that heapprovetb, Epifl. 91. [_Sucha Council ( do I delight 
 in) in which the Traditions of men are not obfl mate ly defended, 
 or fuperjiitioufly obferved ; but the} do diligently and humbly 
 enquire, what is the good, and well pleafing , and perfetl will ef God. j 
 
 And it feems to me that General Councils by error intro- 
 duced Novelties, when Later Councils were fain to undo what 
 the former had done : For fo doth bleiTed Au<>nftir.eyrofeh 
 they did, faying , De Baptif cent. Donat. lib. 2. cap. 6. £ And 
 Councils themfelves that are gathered through feveral Regions 
 or Provinces \do without any fcruple yield to the authority of more 
 plenary Councils that are gathered out of the whole (fhriflian world\ 
 and thoft fame plenary Councils do often yield ( or give pUce ) 
 the former to the later ; when by fome experiment of matter s^that 
 which was /but u opcned,and that which lay hid is known Sure here 
 are alterations made even by General Councils that correct 
 one another. 
 
 And what (houid hinder the Introduction of Novelty when 
 General Counci's do fo often err ? Nay if fuch Councils be 
 Morally and Interpretatively the whole Church, as the Papifts 
 fay, then the whole Church doihcrr in the reception of fome 
 Novelty, before they declare it by their decrees. If you fay, 
 that General Councils cannot err, nor introduce fuch Novelties, 
 your Champion BellarminezrA many of your own .will give you 
 the Lie: faith he De Concil. lib. 2. cap. 11. Q Ne % poteft, &c 
 It cannot be anfwered that thofe Councils erred facaufe they vt re 
 
 Hh 2 y Mg 
 
2j6 A K$y for Catholkks. 
 
 nst law full ( that is the Arrian and other Heretical General 
 Councils ,at that at Sirm'ium^Millanie, Ariminum, Ephcfuj, fe- 
 veralat Conflantinople difTallowed by the Papifts ) For to meft 
 of them there was mthingwanting but the Pcpes ajfent. Tea 
 the feconJ At Ephefus was altogether like that at Bafil : For 
 both were called by the P»pe ; in both of them the Popes Legate 
 was preftnt- at the beginning: from both of them the Popes Le- 
 gate (hortlj after went a^ay : in both of them the Pope was excom- 
 muni uted ; and yet that the Council of Ephefus erred,tbeadvcr~ 
 faries will not deny ] Hence he concludeth that [_ the chief Power 
 Eccleftafical is not in the Churchy nor in the Council, the Pope be- 
 ing removed forrnalUer vel fuppletive. "] 
 
 AnHwhat fhould hinder, when there is but one mans vote 
 sgainft ir,even the Popes, but thatNovelty and error may enter 
 at any time ; and when that one man is ofc fo wicked and He- 
 retical as he is. For General Councils are but a mecr name and 
 mockery. The packing of them (hews it : the Paucity and non- 
 Univerfality of them fhewsit.The Management of their affairs 
 fhewsir. They do nothing fincethe Papal reign, but what the 
 Pope will ( excepting the condemned Councils j They have no 
 Bving till he Will - t nor make any Decrees but what he Will : 
 Nor are their Decrees of any further power, then heispleafed 
 to give them. So that his Will is the fenfe of the General 
 Council or univerfal Churcb. I need not turn you for this to 
 Sleidan, or V ergerms.Biihip of Trent , that tell us the Holy 
 Ghoft came to that Council in a Ctoaic -bag from Rome : nor 
 to Efpenftcits inTit. i-pag. 42. feting Be liar mine fpeaks it out, 
 Be Ccncil. lib. 2. cap. 1 1 . faying, [ We muft know that the Pofe 
 is wont to fend Legates infrttcled concerning the judgement of the 
 Ap&jlolick^ feat , Vrith this Condition , that if the Council do 
 con fen- to the Judgement of the Apoflolicl^feat % it /ha' I be form- 
 ed into a Decree ; If not, the forming of the decree fijtll be de* 
 f erred till the Pope o/Rotne, being advifedwith, /hall return his 
 an[wer~\ And faith BelUrmine de Concil. lib. 2. cap. II. \_ In 
 the Council fl/Bafii, Sef. 2- it was decreedby common consent, to- 
 gether with the Popes Legate, that a Council is above the Pope ; 
 which certainly is nor? judged erroneous j And the Council of La* 
 urafrind Florence decreed the contrary. And Pighius faith, Til. 
 trarch. Ecclef. I 6. that [the Councils of Conttance and BafiJ 
 
 went 
 
A Jf\ey for Catholkks. 257 
 
 went about by a new tricky andpemicioni example to dtftroy the 
 Ecclefiafl'xcal Hierarchy, and infiead of it to briny ' in ike Demi- 
 nation of a prcmifcueus confufed popular multitude , that it to 
 raife again Babylon it felf,fabjetting to themfelves , or h the com- 
 munity of the Church , ( which tbey falfly pretended' that they 
 Reprefrm ) the very Head and Prince of the whole' Church ; and 
 him that is the Vicar of Cbrifl himfelf in this his Kingdom, and 
 thu againfi Order a*d Nature , ngainfi the clearefl light of Gofpil 
 :i , Again/} a. I Authority of Antiquity, and agjinft the un~ 
 di'.ibted Faith attd Judgement of the Orthodox Church it ftif. ]] 
 
 Mark Pa^ifcs 1 General Councils with the Popes A 7 undo may 
 bring in Novelties in faith, againft the cleareft light of the 
 Gofpel, and ihz full Confent of Antiquity • ard 
 Councils affirmed their opinions to be de fide, and the contrary 
 to be Heretical and Damnable, and contrary to all Antiquity, 
 You fee then that Novelties are amor!£ you in matters o; faith. 
 And the French to th'sdsy are guilty of thofe Novelties, and 
 alfo charge their Adverfaries with Innovation. 
 
 Nay what will you fay, if General Councils ihemleive? are 
 but Novel i-cs, though they a f e the foundation of the faith of 
 one half of the Papifts ( as the Pope is of the other ) I fay re: 
 fo, but judge whether vour Champion Pighius fay fo,H'er arch, 
 Ecchf. lib. 6 cap. I. fol. 230. where he faith that {_ Concilia 
 univerfalia non habent Divinam , dec. General Councils have 
 net a D'vir.e or Supernatural Original, but meerly an humane 
 Originals and are the Invention of Conftantine a Prince, profita- 
 ble indeeJfometimes to find out in Cor.trtverfie ,rvhich is the Ortho- 
 dox and Catholic/^ trjtth, though to this they are notnecejfary; 
 feeing its a readyer way to advife with the A pofteli defeat ] How 
 now Sir> ? is your Keprefentative Church the foundation of 
 your faith, a Novelty of foxfiantines invention-, and yet are 
 you n the old way, and mull we be put to prove you to be Ne- 
 ve-lifts ? 
 
 Do you think thofe Popes did go the Old way, of whom 
 Alvarns Pe/agius fpeafcs ( de planttu Ecclef.art. i.f.-lib.i.) 
 that [they fuccteded in authority, but not in Sanclity, intruding 
 themfelves, procuring, bargaining, Rebuilding Toners and Fa- 
 tten in Baby lor.. that is. in Rome according to Hierr m] Scm 
 innovation fure th«y were guilty of that ft re-edified #.-£7/0??. 
 
 Hh i ' So 
 
i$8 AJ^tyfw Catkolicks* 
 
 So that this is my firft proof that you areNovelifh; from 
 the General Accufations of others, and ConfeiTions of your 
 own. 
 
 2. Another proof that changes may be> and yet the time 
 and Authors be unknown , is from the inftance of other 
 Churches that have been corrupted or fubverted by Innovati- 
 ons, and yet the time and authors are unknown. You accufe 
 the Churches in Babaffta of many errors your fclves ; and you 
 are not able to tell us when they came in, or who introduced 
 them. The fame may be faid of the Georgians, Armenians, 
 Egyptians, yea and of the Greeks and Ruffians. Can you tell 
 us when, and by whom each error was introduced that corrupt- 
 ed the Churches mentioned in the Scripture ? asCorinth y Pbi- 
 lippi,Cot°fi>TheJfalomcd,Epheruj,Laodic<ea, and the reft : you 
 know you can give us no better an account of this, then we can 
 of the Authors of your Corruptions, nor fo good. 
 
 You know that among the Primitive Fathers, whofe writtngs 
 are come to our hands, many errors had the Ma/or vote, as that 
 of the Corporeity of Angels , ( which your fecond General 
 Council at Nice owned ) and their population with women before 
 the flood, the Millenary conceit ■, and many more which you con- 
 fefs to be errors. Tell us when any of thefe came in, if you can 
 ( unlefs you will believe that Papias received the Jaft from fohny 
 and then itsnaerror. ) Who did firft bring the Afian Churches 
 to celebrate Eafter at a feafon differing from yours? Who fitft 
 brought the Brittains to it ? Nay we know not certainly who 
 firft Converted many Nations on earth, nor when they firft re- 
 ceived their Chriftianity .-and how then fhould we know when 
 they firft received each error? 
 
 And we find that good men did bring in Novelties • and what 
 was by them introduced as indifferent, would eafily by cuftom 
 grow to feem NeccfTary .♦ and what they received as a doubtfull 
 opinion, would eafily grow to be efteemed a point of Faith. 
 The Presbyters and whole Clergy of Neoc&farea were offended 
 with Baftl for his Innovations , viz.. for bringing in a new 
 Pfalmodie, or way of finging to God; and for his new order 
 of Monafticks: and they told him that none of this was fo in 
 Qregories dayes ; and what anfwereth -Bafil ? He denyeth not 
 the Novelty of his Pfalmodie, but retorts again on them, that 
 
 their 
 
A J^ey for Qatholicks. 239 
 
 their Letany alfo was new, and not known in the time of Gre- 
 gory (Thaumaturgus) yea, faith he, How £««w you that thefe 
 things were net in the dayes of Gregory * For you have kept 
 nothing unchanged to thisdaj of all that he was ufed to ] you fee 
 what chopping and changing was then in the Church among all 
 forts, when fuch an alteration was made in left then forty years. 
 Yet Bafil would not have unity to be laid on any of thefe thing* , 
 but addetb, [_But we pardon all thefe things, though God will 
 examine all things : only let the principal things be fafe~\ Bafil 
 Epifl.6^. Ifidore Pelufiota lib. i.Epifi. 90. faith, that £ the 
 Apoftles of the Lord ftudying to reflrain and fupprefs unmeet lo- 
 quacity, and Jiewing tbemfelves Aiafiers of mode fly and gravity 
 to us, did by wife Council permit women to fi»ginthe Churches. 
 But as all Gods documents are turned into the contrary, fo this is 
 turned to dijfolutcnefs, ani the occsfion of fin. For they are not of- 
 fered with deep compunilion in finging Divine Hymns j but abu- 
 fingthe fweetnefsof the finging, to the irritating and provoking of 
 iufl, they take it for no better then fiage-play fongs :] therefore he 
 advifeth that they be fuffered to ftng no more. 
 
 Here you fee 1. That changes had happened about many 
 Divine things. 2. That headvileth himfelf the introducing of 
 this novelty, that women be forbidden ringing in the Church, 
 becaufe of the abufe, though he confefs it a wife Apoftolick Or- 
 der. So that for Novelty by good men to creep into Gods wor- 
 fhip, isnotftrange. 
 
 3. Moreover the Nature of the thing may tell all the world, 
 that neither you nor we can be accountable of the beginning 
 of every error that creepeth into the Church : For 1. The 
 diftancc of time is great. 2. Hiftorians are not fo exad : and 
 what they tell us not, neither you, nor we can know. 3. Much 
 Hiftory is perifhed. 4. Much is corrupted by your wicked for- 
 geries, as bath been of: proved to you. 5. Mixtures of Fab!e9 
 have hindred the credit of much of it. 6. Nations are not in- 
 dividual perfons, but confift of millions of individuals : And at 
 it is not a whole Nation that is converted to the faith at once, 
 fo neither is it whole Nations that are perverted to Hercfie at 
 once, but one receivcth it firft, and then more and more, till it 
 over-fpread the whole. Paul faith that fuch dodrine eateth like 
 t Gangrene j and that is by degrees, beginning on one part, and 
 
 proceeding 
 
2 4 G A K^y for Qatholicks . 
 
 proceeding to the reft. 7. As I faid before; that which isat firft 
 received bur as an Opinion and an Indifferent thing, muft have 
 time to grow into 3 Cuftom ; and thru Cuilom mskethita 
 Law, 2nd makes Opinionsgrow up to be Articles of Faith, and 
 Ceremonies grow to be NecefTary things You know thac this 
 is the common way of propagating opinions in the world. 
 
 4. I have in another Book (hewed you out of many of your 
 own writers, ihc rife of divers of your viinities. And Vfber 
 hath told the Jefuice more : and fo he hath told you of your 
 thriving to your prefent height, in his Book de fuccefs. & ftatu 
 Ecclef. And fo hath Mornay in his Myflrriesf Iniquity , and 
 Rivet in theDefenfeof himagainft Ccff'eretlus • and Pet. Molt- 
 vaushzzh purpofely written a Book de Novitate Papifmi, & 
 Antiquitate veri Chrijlianifmi, (hewing the Newneis of Popery 
 in the feveral pirts of it. To thefe therefore I remit you for An- 
 fwer to th ; s Objection. 
 
 5 . Can you tell us your fclves, when many of your doctrines 
 or practices fprung up ? When took you up your Sabbaths faft, 
 for which you have been condemned by a Council ? You know 
 that when the twentieth Canon of the Nicenc Council was 
 made, and when the Canons at Trull, were made, it was the 
 Pra&ice of the Church through the known world, to pray and 
 perform other worfhip Handing, and to avoid kneeling on tbe 
 Lords Day. Tell us when this Canon and Tradition was firft 
 violated by you, and by whom r" It was once the cuftom of your 
 Church to give Infants the Eucharift j who firft broke it off? 
 It was once your practice to Communicate in both kinds .-who 
 firft denyed the Cup to the Laity? At firft it was only a doubt- 
 ful Opinion, that Saints are to be Prayed to, and the dead pray- 
 ed for, which came into mens minds about the third or fourth 
 Century ? But who firft made them Articles of faith ? Ad- 
 gttfline began to doubt, whether there were notfotnekindof 
 Purgatory; But who fir It made this alfo a point of faith ? Who 
 was it that firft added the Books of the Maccabees and many 
 others to the Canon of Scripture, contrary to the Council of 
 Laodicaa, and all the reft of the concent of Antiquity, which 
 Dr. Reignolds, Dr. Cofin and others have produced ? Who was 
 it that firft taught and pradifed the putting an Oath to all the 
 Clergy of the Chriftian Church within your power to be true 
 
 to 
 
A I\ey for Catkolkks. 241 
 
 to the Pope, and to obey hiro as the Vicar of C.hrilt ? Who 
 firft txught men to fwear, that they would not interpret Scri- 
 pture, but according to the unanimous Confent of the Fathers? 
 Who was the rirft that brought in the do&rine or name of 
 Tranlubftantiation ? and who firft made it an Article of faith? 
 Who rirft made it a point of faith to btlieve that there are juft 
 ieven Sacraments, neither fewer nor more? Did sny before the 
 Council of Trent fwear men, to receive and profefs without 
 doubting, all things delivered by the Canons and Oecumenical 
 CouBcils, when at the fame time they caft off themfelves the 
 Canons of many General Councils, and fo are generally and 
 knowingly perjured? ( as e. £• the twentieth Canon of A r tce 
 forementioned ) Thefeand abundance more you know to be 
 Novelties with you, if wilfulnefs or grofs ignorance bear not 
 rule with you ; and without great impudence you cannot deny 
 h. Tell us now when thete rirft came up , and (atisfie your 
 felves. 
 
 One that was afterward your Pope ( ^neas Sylvius, Epift. 
 288. faith, that before the Council of Nice, there was little refpeel 
 had to the Chttrch of Rome ; You lee here the time mentioned 
 when your foundation was not laid. 
 
 Y our Learned Cardinal Nicol. Cufanus, lib. de Cwcord. Ca- 
 thol.c. 13. &c, tells you how much your Pope hath gotten of 
 late : and plainly tells you, that the Papacy is but of Pofitive 
 rights, and that Triers are eqnall, and that it is fubjeclional con- 
 fent that gives the Pope and Bt flips thdr Majority , and that the 
 distinction efDioceffes, and that a Bijhop be over Presbjters, are of 
 Pofitive right , and that Chriftgave no more to 1'eter than the refi f 
 and that if the C on 2> r( & ate Church Jbould chnfc the Bijhop of 
 Trent for their Prcjident and Head, he fiould be more properly 
 Peters Succeffor then the Bijhop e/Romej'Tcil us now when 
 the contrary do&nne rirft arok ? 
 
 Gregory devalcn'ia ( de leg.uft Euchar. cap. 10. Cells you 
 th.lt the Recti'vittg the Sacrament in one kind, began mt by the 
 decree of any Bifcop, but by, the very nfe of the Chu> ches; and the 
 confent of believers .-and telsyou, rhat it is unknown whin that 
 Cttflom firft begun, or g»t head, but that it was General in the 
 Larine Church , not long before the late (fouvcil of Conusance, 
 And may you not fee in this, how other points came in ? 
 
 Li If 
 
241 a K?y f or C at ^ ^ 5 ' 
 
 liVoytZoftmus had but had his will, and the Fathers of the 
 Carthage Council had not diligently difcovered,fhamed, and re- 
 fitted his forgery , the world had received a new Nicene Canon, 
 and we fhould never have known the Original of it. 
 
 Its a confiderable Inftance that Vfber brings, of ufing the 
 Church fervice in a known tongue. The Larine tongue was the 
 Vulgir tongue , when the Liturgy and Scripture was firft writ- 
 ten in it ( at Ronu and far and neer it was underftood by all. ) 
 The fervice was not changed, as to the language: but the lan- 
 guage it felf changed -, and fo Scripture and Liturgy came to be 
 in an unknown tongue ; And when did the Latine tongue 
 ceafetobe underftood by all ? Tell us what year, or by whom 
 the change was madeffaith Erafmus ( Decl.ad cenfur. Parif.tit. 
 12. § . 4 1 v) [ The Vulgar tongue wot not taken from the people, but 
 the people departed from it. 
 
 5. We are certain that your errors were not in the times of 
 the Apoftles 3 nor loog after , and therefore we are fure that they 
 are Innovations. And if I find a man in a Dropfie,or aConfump* 
 tion.I would not tell him that he is well, and ought not to 
 feek remedy, unlefs he can tell when he began to be ill , and 
 what caufed it. 
 
 Yon take us to be Heretical : and yet you cannot tell us when 
 onr errors did firftarife.Will you tell us of Z^er ? You know 
 the Albigenfes whom you murdered by hundreds and thoufands, 
 were long before him ? Do you know when they begun ? 
 Your Reinerim faith that fome faid , they were from Sil- 
 vefiers dayes, and fome faid fince the Apoftles ^ but no other 
 beginning do you know. 
 
 6.. But to conclude, what need we any more, then to find 
 you owning the very do&rine and pra&ife of Innovation ? 
 When you msintain that you can make us new Articles of faith, 
 and new worfliip, and new difcipline, and that the Pope can 
 difpenfe with the Scriptures , and fuch like , what reafon have 
 we. to believe that your Church abhorreth Novelty ?, If you de- 
 ny any of this, I prove it. 
 
 Pope Leo the tenth among other of Lathers opinions, reckon- 
 ed and oppafeth this as Hereticall {_ It it certain that it id nor in 
 ■ike hand of the Church or Pope, to ?nake jirjicles of faith ] ( i» 
 Bull* com, Lmhi-) 
 
 i The 
 
jt fyyfor Qatbolicks. 241 
 
 The Council of Conftance that took the fopreraacy faftly 
 from the Pope , did unjuftiy take the Cup from thelaity in 
 tbe Eucharift, [ Licet in primitive Ecclefia hujufmodi Sacra, 
 mentum reciperetur a ftdelibtts fub utraj^ ffecie, i. e. Though in 
 the primitive Church this Sacramtnt was received by Believers 
 under both kinds.'] 
 
 The Council otTrent (ay Jeff. 21 .cap. 1,2. that [tlm power was 
 alway in the Church : that in difpenftng the Sacramtnt s,favina the 
 fitb {lance of them it might ordain or change things ^as it jbonldiudn 
 mo ft expedient t» the profit of the receiver. ~| 
 
 VafcjHe^To. 2. Dijp.216. N. 60. faith £ Though we Jhould 
 grant that this was a precept of the Apoftles , nevertheless the 
 Church and Pope might on jftjl caufes abrogate it : Far the Power 
 of the Apoftles was no greater then the power of the Church and 
 Pope in bringing in Precepts.] 
 
 Thefelcited in another Treatife againft Popery, page 565. 
 Where alfo I added that of Pope Innocent [_ Secundum plenitudi- 
 nem poteftatis, &c. By ' the fulnefs of our power, we candiftenfe 
 with the Law above Law~\ And the GJofs that ofc faith f The 
 Pope di/penfethagainft the Ape file; againft the Old Teftament. 
 The Pope difpenfeth with the Gofpell interpreting it] And Gretror. 
 de yalent. faying ( Tom. 4. di/p, 6. q. 8. ) [ Certainly fome' 
 things in later times are more rightlj conftituted in the Church 
 then they were in the beginning ] And of Cardinal Per on s faying, 
 lib. 2. Obf. 1. cap. i.pag. 674. againft King James, of the Au- 
 thority of the Church to alter matten conteined in the Srripture.- 
 and his inftance [ of the form of Sacraments being alterable ; and 
 the Lords command [Drinl^ ye all of it] mutable and difpenf able. 
 And Tolets [ Its certain that all things inflituted by the Apoftles 
 Were not of Divine right. ] Andradins (Defenf.Gcr.cil.Tnd.lib. 
 2. pag. 236. [_ Hence it is plain that they do not err that fay 
 the Topes of Rome may fometime dfpenfe with Laws made by 
 
 VmXandthe four fir ft Councils ] And Bzaviut Q The Ro- 
 
 manChurch uftng Apoftolical power , doth according to the Con- 
 dition of times , change all things for the better J And yet will 
 you not give us leave to take you for changers and 
 Novelifts i 
 
 But let us add ro thefe witneffes , force more of your wor- 
 thies, Auguft. Triumph, de A 'neon. cj. 5 . art. 1 . faith [To make a 
 
 1 1 2 nevo 
 
244 A fyy f or Catholicks . 
 
 new Ct eel, belongs only to the Pope, becaufe he is the Head of the 
 Chriftian faith, by whofe authority all things belonging to faith 
 awe confirmed and firengthened — — ~\ Et Art.Z. \_ As he may 
 make anew Creed, fo he may multiply new Articles upon Arti" 
 cits J And ( in Prtfat.fum. ad Johan.lz. ) he faith that [_ the 
 Popes power is Infinite, becaufe the Lord is great, and his firength 
 great , and of hts greatnefs there is no end J And q. 36. ad. 6, 
 he faith chat [the Popegiveth the Motion of Direclion , and the 
 fenfe of Knowledge into all the members of the Church ; For in 
 
 him we live and move and have our being And the Will of 
 
 GoA. , and confecjuently the Popes Will,who is his Vicar, is the fir ft 
 andchiffcaufeof all motions corporall and Spiritual.] And then 
 no doubt may change without blame. 
 
 Abbas Panormitan, in cap. C. Chrism de h<eret»n.2. faith, 
 [_The Pope can bring in a nerv Article of faith ~} And Petr. He 
 Anchor an. in idic. ^The Pope can make nerv Articles of faith , 
 that is, fuch as now ought to be believed, when before they ought 
 not to be believed. ] 
 
 Turrecremat. [urn, de Eccl. lib. 1. cap. 203 . faith that Q the 
 Pope is the Meafure ,and Rule,andSeience of things to be believed. \ 
 And Auguft.de Ancona (hews usthat the Judgement of God is not 
 higher then the Popes, bm the fame, and th*t therefore no man may 
 appeal from the Pope to God \ (qu. 6. art. 1 . ) And therefore 
 be not offended, if we fuppofe you to have changes. 
 
 A Confutation of a Topifr Manufcr'tpt on this point* 
 
 Juft as I was writing this, I received another Popiih 
 
 M. S. fent from Wolverhampton to Sturbridge, to which! 
 fhali return an anfwer before I go to the next point. 
 
 Pap. M. S. An Argument f»r the Church. 
 
 IT will not be denyed but that the Church ef Rome was onct 
 4 mo ft pure, excellent \ftourifhing and Mother Church; and 
 her faith renowned mthe whole world, Rom. 1. 8. 8^6. & 1 5. 
 
 Whiles 
 
A I\ey for Catbolkks. 245 
 
 Whites Dif. p. 555. King James fpeech to the Parliaments 
 Whitaker in his- An/wer to Dr. Sanders, Fuik. cap. 21. Thef. 
 7.ReynoIds in his fifth Conctufio*. 
 
 This Church could not ceafe to befuch, but fhe mufl fall cither by 
 Apoftacy, Here fie , or Schifm* 
 
 Apoftacy is not only a renouncing of the faith of Chrift ; but 
 of the name and Title ofChriftianity. No man will fay that the 
 Church of Rome h*d fuch a fall, or fell fo. 
 
 Here fe is An adhejiou or fafl cleaving to fome private or ftngU- 
 tar Opinion, or error in faith, contrary to the generally approved 
 doSlrine of the Church. 
 
 Jf the Church of Rome did ever adhere to any fingular or new 
 ipinion, dij agreeable to the common received doctrine of the Chri- 
 ftianftorld, J pray you fatisfie me in thefe particulars. 
 
 1 . By re hat General Council was fhe ever condemned t 
 
 2. Which of the Fathers ever writ againfl her ? 
 
 3 . By what Authority was fhe otherwtfe reproved ? 
 
 For it feem-t to be a thing very incongruous, that fo great a 
 Church fhould be condemned by every private perfon , who hath a 
 mind to condemn her. 
 
 Schifm is a departure or diui/ion from the unity of the Church, 
 whereby the boni and Common on I. eld with feme former Church is 
 broken anddiffolved. 
 
 If ever the Church 0/ Rome divided her felf from any body ef 
 faithfull Chriftians, or broke Communion, or went forth fr$mthe 
 Society of any Elder Church , I pray you fatufie me in thefe 
 •particulars. 
 
 2 . Whofe company did fie leave ? 
 
 2. From what body went /be forth ? 
 
 3. where wai the true Church fhe forfook^ ? 
 
 For it appears not a little flrange , that a Church fhould fo 
 accounted Schifmatical, when there cannet be affignedany other 
 Church different from her (which from age to age fine e Cbri/ls 
 time hath continued vi fib le) from whence fhe departed. J 
 Thus far [he Papifts Manufcripr. 
 
 An 
 
246 A Key for Catholich 
 
 *An A nfwer tithe foregoing Argument. 
 
 IF the Author of this Argument thinks as he fpeaks, its a cafe 
 to be lamented with tears of blood , that the Church of 
 Chrift(houldbeabufcd,andthefoulsofmcn deluded by men of 
 fo great ignorance. But if he know that he doth but juggle and 
 deceive, its as lamentable that any matter of Salvation (hould 
 fall into fuch hands. 
 
 1 .This Argument I have before anfwered,D*^#. 1 3 .The word 
 Church here is ambiguous,and either fignifieth, 1 . A particular 
 Church,whichisanAfFociation ofChriftiansfor perfonal Com- 
 munion in Gods worfhip.. 2. Or divers fnch Affociations or 
 Churches AfTociated for Communion by their officers or dele- 
 gates, for unity fake. 3. Or elfe it mayfignifie fomeoneMi- 
 ftris Church that is the Ruler of all the reft in the world. 4. Or 
 elfe it may fignifie the Univerfal ( Catholick ) Church it felf, 
 which containeth all the particular Churches in the world. 
 
 The Papift {hould not have plaid either the blind man or the. 
 Jugler by confounding thefe , and never telling us which he 
 means. 1. For the firft,we grant him that Rome was once an ex- 
 cellent flour idling Church : And fo was Ephefus t Hierufalem , 
 Philippi, Colojfe and many more. 
 
 2 . As to the fecond fence it is humane,or from Church cuftoro, 
 fo to take trie word Church i for Scripture, that I find doth not 
 fo ufeic: Butforthethlng,we are indifferent .-Though it can- 
 not be proved that in Scripture times Rome had any more then a 
 particular Church •, yet its all one as to our caufe. 
 
 3 . As to the third and fourth fenfes, we deny, as confidently 
 as we do that the Sun is darknefs, that ever in Scipture times 
 Rome was either a Mother to all Churches, or the Ruler and Mi- 
 itris of all, or yet the Univerfal Church it felf. Prove this, and 
 J will turn Papift. 
 
 But there's not a word for it in the Texts cited, but an intima- 
 tion of much againft it. 7^/caIleth Rome a Church , and com- 
 mendeth its faith.True,but doth he not fo bv the Thejfalowans, 
 ColojJians^EphefiM^ Philippics, &c and John by the fykita- 
 delphiam y Per gamut, Thjatlra and others, as well ? And will 
 
 not 
 
AI\ey for Catbolicks. 247 
 
 not this prove thttRome was but fuch a particuIarChurch as one 
 of them f 
 
 The citation of Proteftants are done it feems by one that ne- 
 ver read them, nor would have others read them •, which makes 
 him turn us to whole books to fearch for them, if we have no- 
 thing elfe to do, and to mifcited place*. But we know that all 
 our Divines confefs that Rome was once a true and famous par- 
 ticular Church, but never the U.niverfall Church, nor the Ruler 
 oftheworld,or of all other Churches, in Pauls d&yes. Would 
 you durft lay your caufe on this, and put it to the trya) ? Why 
 elfe did never Paul make one word of mention of this Power and 
 honour, nor fend other Churches to her to be Governed ? 
 
 And now I pray confider to what purpofe is the reft of your 
 reafoning? Whatis it to me, whether Romebe turned either 
 Apoftatc, Heretical, or Schilmatical, any more then whether 
 Jerufalem,£phefus, Pbilippt, or any other Church be fo fain ? 
 If you are not fain I am glad of it; if you are lam forry for it ; 
 and fo I have done with you(unlefs I knew how to recover you.) 
 Would you not laugh even at the Church of ferufalem that was 
 trujy the Mother Church of the world, if they fhould thusrea- 
 fori £ We Are not fain away : therefore vee muft Rule over all the 
 world, and no man is a £hriflian that doth not obey w- ? ] This is 
 the fport you make in the cheating of fouls . 
 
 Well j but let us follow you, though our caufe be not con- 
 cerned in it. i.I anfwer,that we accule you not of renouncing 
 thenameofChriit. 2. We muft needs fear, that according to 
 to your own definition of Hereiie, you are guilty of many 
 Hercfies. 
 
 AndtoyourQucftions,Ianfwer. 1. 1 pray you tell us what 
 General Councils did ever condemn one half of theHerefiei men- 
 tioned by Epiphanius ^Atiguftine or PhilaJfrifttfWls there ever a 
 grearer rabble, of Herefies then before ever a General Council 
 was known : and were they dead andburyed before the firfl 
 General Council was born? 2. Did you roc fmile when you 
 wrote tbefe delufory o^eftions ? How can a General Coun- 
 cil condemn you,or any great part of the Church : forinftance 
 the Greeks, &c If you be not there its not a General Council/ 
 And will you be there to condemn your felves ? you have more 
 wit andJefr grace then fc And I pray , what General Coun- 
 
 < 
 
248 A Key for Qa tbolicks . 
 
 cil did ever condemn the Greeks, for thofe many errors charged 
 on them? !f the Greeks.chemfelves were not there, it was not 
 a General Council • fo confiderable a part sre theyoftbe 
 Church. And what General Council hath condemned the Abaf- 
 fines, Egyptians, <#r. 
 
 3. Do you think General Councils are fo ftark mad or hor- 
 ridly impious,as to condemn fo many Kingdoms with-one con- 
 demnation , lor Herefie i Why, they know that men muft be 
 heard, before they be condemned,and a Kingdom confiftethof 
 many millions of fouls. And ic is not enough to knew every 
 mans faith, if we know the faith of the King, or Pope, or Arch* 
 bifhop, or Biftiops : And how long (hall they be examining each 
 perfon in many Kingdoms? 
 
 4 But yet I can fay more of your Church then of others. 
 He that kills the Head, kils the Man: Your UfurpingHead is 
 an EfTential part of your New-formed Church : But your 
 Head hath been condemned by Councils; therefore your Church 
 in its eflential part hath been condemned by Councils. Do you 
 not know that all the world (as well as- the feigned Council 
 Sinmfan.-) condemned your Pope Afarcellinus for Offering to 
 Idols ? Know you not that two or three General Councils ^pn- 
 demned Pope Bomrlm as a Monothelitc ? Yes : no doubt yoa 
 know it. Know you not that the fecond GeneralCouncil ofEphe- 
 ffu condemned and excommunicated your Pope? And that the 
 Council of Bafil called by him did the like ? If you do not, fee 
 Bellarmines parallel of them de Conciliis lib. 2. cap. 1 1. Do I 
 need to tell you what the Council of Confiance did 3 Or for what 
 John 22. alms 23 . and John 13. and other Popes were depofed 
 by Councils ? 
 
 2, And for Fathers, do I need to tell you how many con- 
 demned Mdrceltinns^Liberius, Honorius and others? How oft 
 Hilary Piclav. ( infragmtntisin recit. Epijt. Liberii ) doth cry 
 out Anathema tibiLberi, prevaricator : prefuming to curfe 
 and excommunicate vour Pope. Need I tell you what Tertullian 
 faith againft Zephernim : Yea what ustlphonfm a Caftro and di- 
 vers of your own fay againft Liberius, Honorius, 4naflafius y 
 Celeftme ^ and tell us that many Popes have been Her (ticks? 
 A" leaft give us leave to believe ( Po$e Adrian the fixth him- 
 Hlf. Head Dam. Bannes in 2 m 2* q. 1. Art. 10. Where he 
 
 proves 
 
cks. 249 
 
 prov< - , chat a Pope may be an Heretic^, 
 
 and laugh hundred \eais would 
 
 prove u«e<*> • life . which write that Pope Honorius was 
 
 COndemi in H*rei ck by three Popes, viz,. Agatho, Leo 
 
 the fecond, and Adrian the fecond. 
 
 3. But p. 'baps yop'l fay, elm though jour Popes have hen 
 condemned bj Councils ,yit fo have not your maintained dotlrines. 
 Anfm. Ye*, that they hsve too. D.dnotthc Councils at Co* 
 fintinoyle condemn the Do&rine of the fecond Niccne Council 
 for Image-word ip, and thcCouncil at Frankford do the like ? 
 Andthofetwo ztConftantinopfe were as much General as your 
 Council of Trent was, and much more. 
 
 And yet that fame Council at Nice did condemn the dodrine 
 of St. Thorn. Aquinas, and your Doctors commonly of wor- 
 fhippingthelmageof Chrift, andCrofs, and fign of the Crofs 
 with Latria, divine worfhip. 
 
 And did not \ our General Councils at Laterane and Florence de- 
 clare that the Pope is above a Council,and that they cannot dc- 
 pofe him ? eye. And yet your General Councils at Conjlance and 
 Baftl determine the contrary as an Article of Faith,and exprcfly 
 affirm the former to be Heretic See then your own do&nne, 
 even in a fundamental point condemned by General Councils of 
 your own ( which fide foever you take, the Popes, or the Coun- 
 cils. ) 
 
 And did not the fixt Council of Carthage, of which Sit. An- 
 £*/?>»* was a principal member, not only deteft Pope Zofimns 
 forged Canon of Nice, but alfo openly and prevalently refill 
 and rejed your Ufurpation, and refufe your Legates and Ap- 
 peals to you? If you would cloak this, believe your own Pope 
 Boniface, Epiji. ad Eufalium, faying [ Aurelins femetime Biflicp 
 of Carthage, wr& his Colleagues, did begin, by the Devils inftt- 
 gation to wax proud again]} the Church of Rome in the times of 
 our Predeciffors y T>on\hcc and Ce leftine. ] 
 
 And if you have learnt to except againft this Epiftle, fee 
 yourBifhop Lindanus juftifyingir, Panopl. I. cap.&9 Or a: 
 Jeaft believe your Champion Harding ag&inil jewels Challenge, 
 art4.fel~l.i9> T After the whole African Church had perfevered 
 in fchifm the [pace of twenty years, and had removed thtmfelves 
 from the obedence of the A pofolick_ feat, being [educed by Au- 
 
 Kk reiius 
 
z 5 o A Key for Catholkks. 
 
 relius Bifhopof Carthage. \ Again note, that /**)?»» was one of 
 
 them. 
 
 Butyou'lfay, that this was not a General Council : Anfw. 
 True ; for when part rifeth againft part, it cannot be the whole 
 that is on either fide. 
 
 Moreover do you not know that the Greeks have condemned 
 you oft? And truly their Councils have been much more Ge- 
 neral then yours at Trent was, whereabout forty Bifhops alter- 
 ed the Canon of Scripture, and made Tradition equal with it. I 
 think verily this one County would have afforded a far better 
 Council of a greater number. 
 
 But Vic once more name one General Council that hath con- 
 demned your very foundation- and that is the fourth General 
 Council at Calceden before mentioned , Atl. 15. Can. 28. & 
 Atl. 16. where you may find, 1. That the ancient Priviledges 
 of the Roman Throne were given them by the Fathers ( in 
 Council) 2. That the Reafon was, becaufeito»fwas the Im- 
 perial City. 3. They give Equal Priviledges to the feat of Con- 
 ftantinople, becaufeit was now become New Rome. 4. That 
 the Roman Legates would not be prefent at this ad. 5. But the 
 nexc day: when they did appear, and pretended that this ad was 
 forced, the Biftiops all cryed [ No man was compelled : Itsajuji 
 decree ; we all fay thus - y we all approve it : Let that ftand that 
 is decreed j its all right.] 
 
 6. Here fpecially note that this General Council thought they 
 needed not the Popes Approbation for the validity of their De- 
 crees, when they pafs them, and take them for valid, even corc- 
 traryto the will of the Pope. Speak you that bear the leaft re- 
 verence to a General Council. Did this Council think that their 
 Decrees were invalid, if the Pope approve them not ? You fee, 
 if you be not wilfully blind, they did not. And who is now to 
 be believed ? Bellarmine and his party, and the prefent prevalent 
 party of the Papifts, that fay, Councils not approved by the 
 Pope are invalid or without authority ; or theCouncilof Calce- 
 don that thought othcrwife ? 
 
 7. Note that the Popes Legates called this [An humbling, a#d 
 deprejjing^ and wronging of the Papac J , and therefore entred their 
 dijfent : % Bellarmincs Confejfion lib. 2. de Pontif. cap. 17. Bin- 
 mm notes on this Council. Baronius an<4$J • 
 
 3. Note 
 
A £\ey for Catholic ks . 251 
 
 8. Note alfo that the fhifts of Bellarm. Binnint, Barotitis, 
 Becanus, Gretfer, &c. are apparently falfe, that fay this Canon 
 was furreptitioufly brought into the Council ; for <s£tius y All. 
 1 6. openly profefTed the contrary, and all the Bfhops pro'fclTed 
 tbeir content to the laft. 
 
 9. Note alfo that this is one of the four Great Councils which 
 thePapifts themfelves compare to the four Gofpels^ and in it 
 were fix hundred and thirty Fathers. 
 
 10. Note alfo that this great Council is againft them, and on 
 the Proteftant fide in the very foundation of all our differences 
 Whether the Roman Priviledges be jure divine or bumano ? A nd 
 though it be but the Priviledges, and not the now.ciaimed Vicar- 
 fhip that was in Queftion, yet the Conclufion is the ftronger 
 againft them, becaufe the leffer was denyed. 
 
 But their laft fhifc is, that this Claufe or Canon was not ap- 
 proved, and fo is Null. 1. Mark then you that wrote this Ma- 
 nufcripr, chit we have General Councils againft you • but we 
 want the Popes Approbation. And in good fadnefs was that 
 the meaning of your Queftion [ what Council, that is, what 
 Pope condemned our Church ? J Can it be expe&ed that this one 
 man fhonld condemn himfelf ? or can you be no Heretick till 
 then? 
 
 2. But let it be fo this once. Did not your Pope approve of 
 this Council, when Gregory the firft did liken it with the other 
 three to the four Gofpels ? and faid of this [Tota devotione Com* 
 fletlorx integerrima approbation CHftodie"] I embrace it with my 
 whole devotion - y J 'keep it with moft entire approbation'] Greg. I. 
 Regifl.l. 1. Epift.z^. cited in the Decrees, Difi. 15.C.2. I 
 think this is exprefly- a full Approbation, not without excepting 
 any part only, but excluding all fuch exceptions. And the like 
 Approbation of GeUfms in the Roman Council is cited there 
 alfo in the Decrees, ibid. pag. 3 3 . 
 
 I did alfo before inftance the fixt General Council againft 
 you, approved by Pope Adrian in his Epiftle to Tharafms in the 
 fecond Nicene Council. 
 
 And indeed it is no hard matter to prove you condemned by 
 your own Popes alfo. If you could but underftand the plaineft 
 words in a matter that is againft your opinions and wills, there 
 needed no talk to per fwadc you that Pope C-regory the firft con- 
 
 Kk 2 demned 
 
2 5 2 A Key for Catholkks . 
 
 declined the Title of Vniverfal Bijhop or Patriarch, profefting 
 earneftly that he was the forerunner of Antichrift that would 
 ufurpit. But the plain truch is, as fad experience teachech us, 
 no words of Fathers, Popes or Councils, much left of Scripture, 
 areinte'Iigible to you, when your wills are againft the matter. 
 But we may truly fay of you, that lay all on the will of the 
 Pope, as Anftins Obfervator,your Lodovicus Viyes freely fpeak- 
 eth : infchol. in Augu^. lib .20. de fait. Dei t cap.l6 . ) [Thofe 
 are taken by them for Editls and Councils , which make for them 
 ( or are on tbeir fide ; ) the reft they ho moreregard then a meet- 
 ing of women in aworkjooufe or a wafking place. ]] Do you un- 
 derftand this language of one of your own (buttoohoneft to 
 have much company. ) 
 
 Well ; but you have a third Queftion \_ By what Autho- 
 rity Veas fhe othermife reproved ? ~) Anfw. By the Authority 
 of that Precept, Ltvit. 19.17. and many the like. By the fame 
 Authority that Paul reproved Peter, Gal.z. and withftood him 
 to the face : by fuch Authority as any man may feek to 
 quench a fire in his neighbours houfe, or pull a man out of the 
 water that is drowning: or as any one Pallor may reprove 
 another when he finneth. By the fame Authority as Iremns 
 rebuked Victor, and the Afian Bifhops withftood him, and as 
 Cyprian and the Council of Carthage reproved Stephen -, and 
 the reft aforecited did what they did. By as good Authority 
 as the Church of Rome condemneth the Greek Church, doth 
 the Greek Church and many another condemn the Church of 
 Rome. 
 
 3 . The next cafe is about the Roman fchifm. To your Que- 
 ftion?, Ianfw«, 1. To Queftion whether Papifts be Schifraa- 
 ticks, is to queftion whether Ethiopians be black. Do.you noe 
 at this day divide from all the Chriftian world, fave your felves ? 
 Do you not unchurch moft of the Chriftians on earth ( O 
 dreadful preemption 1 when Ghrift is fo tender of his ince- 
 reft and his fervants, and is bound as it were, by (o many 
 promifes to fave them and not forfake them.) You ask, what 
 Church you left ? and when was it ? and who fe company } Senflefs 
 Queftions. By a Church if you mean the Univcrfal Church,, 
 there is but One in all rand therefore One Univerfal Church 
 cannot forfake another .• but when part of it forfaketh the other 
 
 part,. 
 
A t\ey for Catholicks. 2 5 j 
 
 part, and arrogateth the title of the whole to themfelves, da 
 you doubt whether this be Schifm ? If you mean a particu- 
 lar Church : How can Spain, Italy, France , and many more 
 Kingdoms go out of a particular Church, that contain fo many 
 hundred particalar Churches in them ? No more then London 
 can go out of Pattls Church. The Cathofick is but One con- 
 taining all true Chrifttans on earth : and you have been guilty of 
 a moft horrid Schifm, as ever the Church knew. For i. You 
 have fet up a Church in the Church : An Univerfal Church in 
 the Univerfal Church : A new form deftructive to the old. Your 
 Pope as Chrift-reprefentative is now an Effcntial part of it, and 
 no man is a member of it, that is not a member of the Popes 
 body, and fub je<9: to him. So that even the Antipdes and the poor 
 Abaffwns that know not whether the Pope be fifh or flefh, or 
 never heard of fucha name or thing, muft all be unchriOened, 
 unchurched and damned, if you be Judges. Yea and BelUrmine 
 tells us ( which indeed your Church Conftitution doth infer) 
 that all that are duly baptized, are interpretatively or implicitely 
 baptized into the Pope. 
 
 2. And as you have devifed a New Catholick Church : fo 
 you hereby caft off and difown all the Chriftians of the world 
 that be not of your party '.determining it as defide> that none of 
 them can be fa ved ; who yet had rather venture on your Curfe 
 and Cenfure, then into your Herefie and Scbifm. 
 
 3 . And hereby you fix your felves in this Schifm, and put us 
 (that unfeignedly long for peace ) out of all Hope of ever 
 having Peace with yourbecaufe you will hearken to it on no 
 terms, but that all men become fubje&s to your ufurping Re- 
 prefentative-C.hrift, which we dare as foon leap into the fire as 
 do. Do you know now where the Church or Body wss that you 
 forfook ? It was all over the world where ever there were any 
 Chriftians. 
 
 Were it not a great Schifm, thnk you, if a few Anabaptifta 
 fhould fay, We are the whole Church, and all others are Here- 
 t'tckj or Schifmatickj ? Or was it not a great Schifm of the 
 Donatifts to arrogate that title to themfelves, and unchurch fo 
 many others? And what Church did they forfake e AHghftinc 
 tells them over and over what the Catholick Church was that 
 they withdrew from ? even all true Chriftiani. difperfed over 
 
 K k 3 she- 
 
254 ^K*yf or Catbolicks; 
 
 the earth : Or that Church which begun at Hierufalem, and 
 thence diffufed it feif through the world. But he never blames 
 them for feparating from the Univerfal Roman Head or Vicar : 
 but from the Church of R<me,zs a confpicuous combination of 
 particular Churches. Op tatus and he do blame them for with- 
 drawing, asalfo from other Churchci. 
 
 What if John of Conftantinople in profecution of his title 
 of Univerfal Patriarch, had concluded as you, that none in the 
 world are Chrifls members but his members, nor of the Church, 
 but his fub je&s, had not this been a notorious fchifm ? Tell us 
 then what Church he had forfaken, and anfwer your felf. 
 
 But your laft Caution in a pare nthefis, doth condemn your 
 felves. What I Muft that Church that'* true be vifible from 
 Chrifts time ? then as Constantinople, nor moft other were never 
 true Churches ( which is falfe) fo Rome it felf was never a 
 true Church (which is falfe alfo ) Did you think that there 
 was a Church at Rome in Chrifts time ? Sure you are not fo ig- 
 norant. By this Rule there (hould be no true Church, but that 
 at ferufalem, and thofe in Jndta. 
 
 Butfuppofe you had faid [ftnce the Apoflles time ] This alfo 
 bad excluded moft Churches on earth. But if you mean the 
 • Univerfal Church, we grant you eafily, that it hath been vifible 
 ever fince Chrifts time : but not alway in one place or Country. 
 Is not the greater pare of Chriftians in the world, whom you 
 fcbifmatically unchurch , a vifible company ? Doubtleff you 
 know they are. Yea the Abajfmes and many Churches that 
 being out of the Roman Empire, did never fo much as fubmit to 
 your Primacy of Order, nor bad you ever any thing to do with 
 rhem ( more then to own them as Chriftians ) yet now are con- 
 demned by your Arrogancy, becaufe they will not begin in the 
 end of the world, to enter into a new Church, which they nor 
 their fore-fathers had ever any depend ance on. Ic was a fhrewd 
 anfwer of an old woman, that the Emperor of HabaJJia*s\Ao- 
 ther gave to Gonzaluj Rodericks the Jefuite, preffing her to be 
 fub jed to the Pope as the Vicar of Chrifr, or elfe (he could 
 not be fubje& to Chrift [ Neq*e ego, inqttit ilia, neqne met fantt* 
 Petro obedientiam negamus : in eadem nnnc [ttmus fide, in qua ftti- 
 mus ab initio : ea fi reft* non erat, cur per tot at ate s ac [tenia nemo 
 rtpertus eft, qui no: errr antes commonertnt] i.e. We are in the 
 
 fame 
 
A i\ey for Qatbolicks. i j < 
 
 fame Belief as we were from the beginning : If ic were not 
 right , why did roman in fomany ages warn us of our er- 
 ror till now ? ] Mark here a double Argument couchc againft 
 the Pope, One from Tradition, even Apoftolical Tradition , 
 C for Godignus himfelf faith, that no man doubts but Ethi- 
 opia received the faith from the beginning f even from the 
 the Eunuch and St. Aiathew. ) The other is , that fure that 
 Pope that cannot in fo many ages look after his flock, no notfo 
 much as to fend one man to tell them that they erred till about 
 one thoufand five hundred years after Chrift, was never intend- 
 ed by Chrift to be the Univerfal Governour of the world. 
 What ! will Chrift fetany on an Impofiiblc work ? Or make 
 it fo ncceftary to people to obey one that they never fo much as 
 hear from? But what faid the Jefuite to the old woman ! Why 
 he told her [" Non potuiffe Romanum Pintificemrfui totius fhrifti 
 Eccleftapaflor cftjrateritis retro annis, Dott ores in Abaffiam mit~ 
 tere t eh qmd Aiahumetani omnia circumdarent y nee ullum ad 
 ipfos additum rtlinquerant. Nunc vero aperta jam Maritima 
 ad sSEthiopiamvia, id praftare quod nequivit prius~] thatis 7 
 {_ The Pope of Rome who is the Paftor of the whole Church of 
 Chrift, was not able in the years paft to fend Dodors into Ha- 
 b*jfia t becaufethe Mahomitanscompiffedall, and left not any 
 paffageto them. But now the feas are open, he can do that 
 which he could not before] Liter. Gonial. Rodtr. in (Jodign. 
 de Rib. Abafs. lib. 2. cap. 18. pag. 324. A fair anfwer, 
 As if Chrift had fet either thePope,or the AbaJJines an impof- 
 fible task : and appointed a Governour that for fo many hun- 
 dred yean could not govern : or the people muft be fo many 
 hundred years no Chriftians , though they believed in Chrift,till 
 the Pope could fend to them ? And how fhould thefe and all fuch 
 Countries fend Biftiops to a General Council? 
 
 As your own Canus Loc. Theol. faith of the Jcfuites , 
 fofay I of your New Church [ Vocati eftit ad ftcietatem fe- 
 fu Chrifti , qua fine dubio fociet*j cum Chnfti Ecclcfia fit, 
 qui titulum ftbi ilium Arrogant^ hi videant , an Hareticqrttm 
 more penes fe Ecclejiam exijicre mediant i>r. i. e. Ton are 
 called to the focittj of fefus Chri/ifn^icb focietj being »«• 
 dottbtedly the Church of Chrift, let xkem fee to it, that arro- 
 gate this title to th;mfelves y whether tbrj do not imitate hcrctickj 
 
x j6 A I\eyfor Qatholkks- 
 
 by a Lying affirmation that the Church is only with them. lib. 4.C.2. 
 fol. ( mihi) 116. 
 
 But we do not hence conclude that all tbat have lived and dyed 
 in^'our profeflion,have been no members of the Church, becaufe 
 that yonr Church is guilty of Herefie , and notorioufly of 
 Schifm. For we know that millions that live among you confenc 
 not to your ufurpations ; Nay do not fo much as underftand 
 your errors thereabout. And fome hold them but Noci#nallyas 
 uneffr&ual Opinions*. And every one is not a Heretickthat 
 holdeth a point that is judged Heretical, and which is Herefie 
 in another that holdeth it in another fort. And there are errors 
 called Herefies by moft,which are not deftru&ive to the EfTenti- 
 alsof Chriftianity, but only to fome Integral part. And there 
 is a fchifm that doth not unchurch men, as well as a fchifm that 
 doth ( of which, this is no place to treat.,) But ad hominem, me 
 thinks your own writers put you hard to it, who conclude ( as 
 Bellarmine and many more do, though Alphonfus a, Cajlro and 
 others be againft it ) that Hereticks and Schifmatieks are no 
 members of the Church. And Melch. Cams ( Loc. Thiol, lib. 
 4. cap. 2. fol. 1 lj. ) faith that [ that Heretic kj are no farts of 
 the Church, is the common cone I ft/ten of all Divines , not only ofthofe 
 that have written of late , but of them alfo that by their Antiquity 
 are eftecmedthemoft Noble j This is attijled by Cyprian, Au- 
 guftine, Gregory, the two Councils of Lateran and Florence : 
 Rightly therefore did Pope Nicolas define that the Church is a colle- 
 ction of Catholickj.~] If this be true, it is an Article of faith •• 
 And then Alphonfus a Cajf. and all of his mind are Hereticks and 
 loft men. And I pray you note what a cafe you are in. Two Ap- 
 proved General Councils have determined that a Heret ick is no 
 itiemberofthe Church.- But multitudes of your own writers, 
 and Pope «s4drian,&nd many more of your Popes have judged 
 that a Pope may be a Heretick .• and cbnfequently no mem- 
 ber of the Church. And confequently judge whats become of 
 your Church , when an Eflential part Of it is no part of the 
 Church. 
 
 Your common fliifc ( which Canm ibid, and others fly to) 
 isjthat He muft be a judged Heretic^ before he is difmembred. But 
 1 . Sure tbat is but for manifeftation to men/or before God he is 
 the fame, if men never judge him. 2 . Where the cafe is notori- 
 ous. 
 
A f\ey for Catholicks . 257 
 
 ©us,the orTendor is ipfojure cut off. 3. Then it is in the Popes 
 Power co let whole millions of Hereticks to be dill parts of the 
 Church. And fothe world (hall be Chriftians or no Chriftians as 
 he pleafe;aad why may he nor let Turks and Infidels on the fame 
 grounds be parts of the Church i 1 For he may forbareco judge 
 them,if that will ferve.4.Thenali the Chriftians in the world chat 
 the Pope hath not yet judged and caft out , are members of the 
 Church: And then millions and millions are of the Church that 
 never were fubje&s of the Pope. If you fay , It is enough 
 that there is a General condemnation of all thac are guilty as 
 chey are : I anfwer,then itis enough co cut offa Pope,thac there 
 was a General condemnation againft fuch as he. 
 
 5 . But if all this fatisfie you not , yet I told you before , 
 tbac two or three Councils and three Popes did all judge Pope 
 Honortm guilty of Herefie ("and confequendy both Popes and 
 General Councils have judged that a Pope may be an Heret ck ) 
 therefore you have been judged Heretical in your Head, which is 
 an eflfencial part of yonr Church. 
 
 And thus I have fhewed you what is the fchifm of the Church 
 of Rome , which being buc a part , hath attemprcd to cut off 
 all the reft , and fo hath made a new pretended Catholick 
 Church : Asa pari of the Old Church which confiftcrh of all 
 Chriftians united in Chrift, we confefs all thofe of you, fitll co 
 beapart,chac deftroynotthisChriftianity.-Bucasyou are new 
 gathered to a Chrift.Reprefentative.or Vicar General, we deny 
 you to be any Church of Chrift. If you be Church members or 
 laved.it muft be as Chriftians •, but never as Papift?. For a Papift 
 may be a Chriftian,but not as a Papift. 
 
 And if yet you cannot fee the Church that you feparate from, 
 open your eyes and look into much of Europe , and all over 
 Afia aimoft where are any Chriftians : look into vstrwrnia, 
 Palefline , €gjpt , Ethiopia, and many other Countries, and you 
 (hall find that you are but a fmaller part of the Church. If you 
 will not believe what I have before proved of this , hear what 
 your own fay. Anton. MarinArins in the Council of Tre%t com- 
 plainech [that the Church is /but up in the Corner s of Europe , 
 And jet Domiftick^tncmits trifef hat waft e this portion/but up in 
 a comrr.~^ 
 
 Sonnius Bifbop of Antwerp ( in Democrat. Relig. Chrift Un. 
 
 L 1 lib. 
 
258 A t^ey for Qatholtch. 
 
 lib. 2. TraU. 5 • c. 3 . J faith [ / pray you what room hath the Ca- 
 tholick Church now in the hab. table world } fcarce three elnes long 
 incompariftnof that vafinefs which the Satanical Church do:h 
 
 poffefs. ] 
 
 it yec ) ou boaft that you have the fame feat that formerly you 
 had; I anfwer fohave the Bifliops of Conflantir.ople, Alexandria, 
 and others whom you condemn : And we fay as Gregory Na- 
 zianz..O rat.de laud. Ath ana jit £ It is afucceffton ofG»dlinefs that 
 it properly to be efieemed A fucceffton : For he that profejfeth the 
 fame ddlrine of faith , it alfo partaker of the fame throne ; But 
 he that embraceth the contrary belief* ought to be judged an adver- 
 faryjhough he be in the throne. This indeed hath the name of fuc- 
 cejfton ; but the other hath the Thing itfelf,and the Truth J And 
 henexcaddethfuch words as utterly break your fucceflion in 
 pieces : faying [For he that breaketh in by force ( as abundance 
 ofPopes did) isnot tebeefteemed afucceffor} but rather he that 
 fufftreih force : nor he that breaketh the Laws: but he that is cho- 
 fen in manner agreeable to the Laws : nor he that holdeth contrary 
 tenets ; but he that is endued with the fame faith : Vnlefs any 
 man will call him a " ucceffor , as we fay a. ficknefs fucceedeth 
 health ; or darknefs fucecedeth light , and a florm fucceeds a 
 calm, {or madnefs or difiratlion) fucceedeth prudence] Thus Na- 
 zianz. pag. 377. 
 
 We conclude therefore with one of your own (Lyra Glof. 
 in Math. 16. ) Q Becaufe many Trinces and chief Priefis ( or 
 Popes ) and other inferiors , have been found to Apoftatize.the 
 Church conftfieth in thsfe perfons in whom is the true knowledge 
 and confrffion of Faith and Verity 3 And fo much to this empty 
 Manuicnpt. 
 
 Chap. XXXVI. 
 
 Deiett.z*]. A Nothcr of their Deceits is this ; To charge W 
 a /I with introducing New Articles of faith or 
 points of Religion , becaufe we contradict the New Articles Khich 
 they introduce ; and then they require us to prove our dottrines which, 
 are but the Negatives of theirs. 
 
 We receive no Dodrines of faith or worfhip but what was 
 
 delivered 
 
ji Key for Qatholicks. 2-9 
 
 delivered by th.: Apcftles to the Church; Thefe men bring io. 
 abundance of New ones, and fay without proof, chat they re- 
 ceived them from the A potties. And becaufe we refufe to re- 
 ceive their Novelties, they call our Rejections of them [_ the 
 D.Et tno of wr Religion ■, ] and feign us to be the Innovators. 
 And by this device, it is in the Power of any Herenck to fo:cQ 
 the Church to take up fuch as thefe men call New points of 
 faith, IfaPapift (hall fay, that betides the Lords prayer Chnft 
 give his Difciple* another Form, or two,or three,or many j or 
 that he gave L hem ten New Commandments nor mentioned in 
 the B:ble , or that he of: defcerded after his Afcenhon and con- 
 verfed with them,or that there are many more worlds of men 
 bjfides this earth •, or that Chrift initituted twenty Sacraments , 
 how fhould wc deal with thefe men, but hy denying their fi&ions 
 as finfull Novelty, and rejecting them as corrupt additions to the 
 Faith? And were this any Novelty in us ? And (hould they bid 
 us prove in the exprefs words of Scripture or antiquity , our 
 Negative Proportions, [that Chrift gave but one form of pray. 
 er,that he did not ofc defcend,that he gave no mo r e Dccilogues, 
 Sacraments, &c. ] Is it not a fufficient proof of any of thefe, 
 that they are not written; and that no Tradition of them from 
 the Apciftlesis proved; and that they that hold t'e Affirmative, 
 and introduce the Novelty , mud prove, and not we ? Our 
 Articles of faith are the fame., and not increafed, nr>r any 
 new ones added : But the Papilts come in with a new faith as 
 large as all the Novelties in the Decretals and the Councils,and 
 thefe innovations of theirs we reject Now our Rejections do 
 not increafe the Articles of our faith, no more then my beating 
 a dog out of my houfe, or keeping out an enemy, orfweeping 
 outthefilth,doth enlarge my boufe,or increafe my family They 
 do not take all the Anathema and Rejections in, their own 
 Councils, to be Canons or Articles of faith. 
 
 For example, The Pope hath made it an Article of fai-th, 
 that no Scripture u to be interpreted I'm according to the unani- 
 memconfent of the Fathers. Th:s werejeft, and make it no Ar- 
 ticle of our faith , but an erroneous Novelty. Do we hereby 
 make a new Article ? becaufe we reject a new one of theirs, 
 (yea a part of the Oith of their Church made by Pope P*- 
 &i after the Council of Trent ) 1 If this be an Article , prove it 
 
 LI z If 
 
1 6 o A I\ey for Catholicks. 
 
 if you can. 2. If ic be a Truth, and no Novelty, I pray yoa 
 tell us which be Fathers, and which not ? and help us to know 
 certainly when we have all, or the unanimous Confent. And 
 then tell us whether every man is noi forfworn with you that in- 
 terprets any text ofScripturc before he have read all the Fathers, 
 or any text which fix of them never expounded ; or any text 
 which they do not unanimoufly agree on? And \ et(t hough it be 
 not our neceffary r?.sk ) we can eafily prove to you, that this is a 
 New Article of your devifing. i. Becaufe elfe no manmuft 
 expound any Scriprure at ail before thefe Fathers were born. 
 For how could the Church before them have their unanimous 
 confent ? And 2. Becaufe that otherwife thefe Fathers themfelvei 
 wanted an Arricle of faith , unlefs it was an Article to thero, 
 that they mull expound no Scripture but by their own Con- 
 lent. 3. Becaufe thefe Fathers do few of them expound a!l,or 
 balf,or the twentieth part of the Scripture. 4. Becaufe they 
 took liberty to difagree among themfelves,and therefore do not 
 unanimoufly confent in abundance of particular texts. 5. Be- 
 caufe they tell us that they are fallible, and bid us not take it 
 on their truft. 6. Becaufe the Apoftles have left us no fuch rule 
 or precept , but much to the contrary. 7. Your own Doctors 
 (for all their OatbJ do commonly charge the Fathers with 
 error and mifexpounding Scripture, as I (hewed before , Canm 
 and many others charge Cajetan (a Cardinal and pillar in your 
 Church ) with making it his pra&ife to differ from the Fathers, 
 and choofing expofitions purpofely for the Novelty ; fro more 
 fuo, as his cuflom : And when be hath highly extolled Cajetan * 
 ( I oc. Theol lib.j.pag. 223. J he adds,that [jet his doBrine rtas 
 Affiled with a Leprofte of errors \bj an affetlion and luft of Curi- 
 ojitj , or confidence on his mt, expounding Scripture as he lift, 
 happily indeed for the moft partjbut infome few places more acute- 
 ly then happily , becaufe he regarded not antient Tradition , and 
 yeas not verft in the reading, of the Fathers , and would not learn 
 from them the Myfteries of thefealed book ] And in another place 
 he blames him,that he alway followed the Hebrew and Greek 
 text . And many other Papifts by him and others are blamed 
 for the fame faults : Andradiut, and more of the later plead for 
 it. And yet thefe men are counted members of your Church,tbat 
 go againft an Article of your new faith and Oath. 
 ^ 5 So 
 
A I\ey for Qatholicks. 1 6 1 
 
 So Tranfubftantiation is one of your New Articles in that 
 Oath. Do we make a New one now if we rejed it .' Or need 
 we be put to prove the Negative ? And yet we can eafily do it : 
 And Edm. Albertinus ( among many others ) hath done it 
 unanswerably. 
 
 Another of your Articles is, that [ it belongeth to pur Holy 
 Mother the Church to judge of the true fence of Scripture ] And 
 you mean the Roman Church; and that they mult judge of ic 
 for all the Chriftian world. Prove this to be the Antienc doctrine 
 if youcan. Ifwercjed this Novelty, are wc Innovators? or 
 need we prove the Negative? And yet we can do ic, and have 
 oft done it at large. Did Athanafius^Bafil, Nazian^.n,Njffen % 
 Augufiine y Hicrom,Chryfoftome t Epiphanius^ and the reft of the 
 Fathers, lend to Rome for the fence of the Scriptures which they 
 expound, or did they procure the Popes Approbation before 
 any of them publiflied their Commentaries ? You know fure 
 that they did not. 
 
 The like may befaid of all the reft of your New Articles, and 
 Pra&ifes: We ftand our ground. Some of your Novelties we 
 rejed as trifles, fome as fma Her errors, and fome as greater: 
 but ftill we keep to our antient faith, ofwhichthe Scripture iia 
 full and fufficient Rule ( as Vincentius Lirinenf. uin fufra ) 
 though we arc glad of all helps to underftand it, we fay withTVr- 
 tulliandecame Chrifli, cap. 6. Nihil deeoconftat, quia Scriptura 
 
 ncn txhibet. Non probant, qui* non Script urn efi His qui 
 
 infuyr argument ant Hr ms reftftemus. 
 
 Ch a p. XXXVII. 
 
 D:tt&. 28. A Nother of their Deceits is this : They make 
 JLJL advantage of our charitable Judgement of 'them , 
 andofthiir uncharitable judgement of us and all other Chnjliant % 
 to affright and entice people to their feci. They f-vy that rre can' 
 nor befaved , nor an) that are not of the Romm Church : But we 
 fay that a Papifl may befaved'- They fay that rue want abundanee 
 of the Articles of faith that are of neceflity to falvacion : Wc 
 fay that the Papifts hold all that is neceffary to ;V;vation .* Lu- 
 ther faith th:t the Kernel of true faith is yet in the Church of 
 
 LI 3; Rom?; 
 
2 6i A Kjy for Catbolicks- 
 
 Rome • therefore fay they, Let Protejiants take the (hell. And 
 hence'they make the fimple people believe, that even according 
 to our own Confefiions, their Church and way isfafrrthen 
 
 our*. 
 
 Ihiveanfwered this formerly in ray [Safe Religion, - ] but 
 yet (hall here once more (hew you the nakednefsof this De- 
 ceit. 
 
 i. The Papifts denying the faith and falvation of all other 
 . Chriltians, doth no whit invalidate our faith, nor (hake our fal- 
 vation. Our Religion doth not ceafe to be true, when ever 
 a peevifh adverfary will deny it, or accufe it. Men are in never 
 the more danger of damnation, hecau'e a Papift or any ether 
 partial Se&ary will tell them that they fhali be damned. We 
 believe not that the Pope hath fo far the Power of the Keyes of 
 Heaven, as ihat he can keep out whom he pleafe. We have a 
 promife of falvation from Chrift , and then we can bear the 
 threatning of a Pope. When Bellarmine judgeth Pope Sixtttt 
 damned himfelf, its ftrange that he (hould have a power before 
 todifpofeof Heaven for others, and (hut out whom he pieaied, 
 that mult be (hut out himfelf. TheNovatians, Donatifts, Ana- 
 baptifts,or any fuch Seft,that held the fubftance of theChrifti- 
 an faith, might have pleaded this Argument as well as the P&~ 
 .pifts : for they alfo have the courage to pafs the femence of dam- 
 nation upon others, if that will ferve turn; and we have the 
 Charity to fay, that fome of them may be faved. 
 
 2. If by the Papifts own confefiion, Charity be the life of all 
 the graces or holy qualities of the foul, and that which above 
 ail others proveth a man to be Juftified, and in a Rate of falvati- 
 on, then judge by this Argument of their own, whether our 
 churitablenefs, or their uncharitablenefs be the better fign : and 
 whether it be fafer to joyn with the charitable or the uncharita- 
 ble ? yea with them that are fo notorioufly uncharitable, as to 
 condemn the far greateft part of the Church of Cbri/t, raeerly 
 becaufe they are not Papilts. 
 
 j. When we fay that a Papift may be faved, it is with all thefe 
 Hpitation*. i. We fay that a Papift as a Chriftian may be faved, 
 but not as a Papift. As a man that hath the Plague may Live; 
 but not by the Plague. %. We fay that Popery is a great enemy 
 end binderance to mens falvation; and therefore that thofe 
 
 among 
 
A I\ey for Catholicks . 263 
 
 among them that are faved, muft be faved [rem Popery, and not 
 by it. 3. We fay, that therefore filvation is a rarer thing among 
 the Papifts, then among the Reformed Catholicks : where it is 
 moft difficult, it is like to be moft rare: many more of the Or- 
 thodox are like to be faved then of the Papiils. 4. And we fay, 
 that where Popery prevaikth againft Chriltianity, and fo much 
 mafterethche heart and life, that the Chriftian dodtrine is not 
 Practically received, there is no falvation to be had for fuch 
 without Converfion.Thus is it that we fay a Papift may be faved, 
 And for mv part, I will not be the more uncharitable to them, 
 lor fear of giving them advantage. I know H attains hath 
 written a Book to prove them no Christians, and Ptrktns huh 
 written another to prove, that a Pap ft cannot go beyond a Re- 
 probate : and I mult needs fay fo too, of all thofe in whom Po- 
 pery is predominant pradically, and overcometh Chriltianicy. 
 But yet I doubt not, but God hath thoufands among them that 
 (h.ill be favca : partly or the common people chat are forced to 
 forbear conrradicling rhe Priefts ; and that underftand nor, or 
 receive nut all the mylleries of their deceit : and partly among 
 the Fryars and Jefuites, where fome of them take in the vemm 
 but fpecuiatively ; or not predominantly and practically give 
 theraielves to Mortification and an holy Life : though I have 
 known none fuch, yet when I read the writings of Gerfon^Kem" 
 pis, TloAultrus , Ferut, Burbanfon, Bcncdiflus Anglus % the Life 
 of Mounfieur de Rent], and fuch others ( though I fee in fome 
 much of error, and meer aflfe&ation, yet ) I am eafily perfwa- 
 ded to believe, that rhey had the fpirit of God, and that there 
 are many more fuch among them. But I fhould be forry if Ho- 
 hnefs were not much more common among us, and freer from 
 the m:xtu:c ; of err< r md afFe&atiofr. 
 
 4- And fc ■■!■ our faying that thej have the Ketml, and fo much 
 as is aeajfarj to falvaticn^ it is true-, but it is the fame Kcrntl 
 thac we hold : and we hive it undefiled and unpoyfoned, and 
 the Papifts mix it with the venom of their Errors. He thac hath 
 all things in his meat and dri^k that I have in mine, may yec make 
 it worfethen mine,if he =vill putdungor poyfon in it. When 
 yoa have all things nealTiey in a precious Anrido'e or other 
 Meiicine, you may foon marra!!, by puttingin more then all, 
 as tbePapiUsdo. 
 
 The 
 
164 ^K^yf or Catholkks* 
 
 The plain truth is, chc Papifts and Reformed Catholicks are 
 both Chriftians, andChrithanity is enough to fave them that 
 roar it no:, but keep it pradically and predominantly :even as 
 a man that takes poyfon, and he that taketh none, are both of 
 them men : and he that takes the poyfon may be faid to have all 
 the fame parts and members as the o:her , and yet not be fo likely 
 to live, as he that lets it alone ; And I cannot fay but many that 
 take it may recover .- and if you ask me which be they ? I fay, 
 All thofe that timely caft it up again, or elfe whofe ftrmgth of Na- 
 ture prevaileth againfl it, andkeepeth it from maflering the Heart 
 or vital Powers, /hall be recovered and live : but thole in whom 
 the poyfon prevaileth and is predominant, (hall die. So all thofe 
 Papifts that fo receive the Errors of Popery, as either to caft 
 them up again; or that they are not predominant to the fub- 
 duingof the power of Chriftian Faith and Holinefs, (by keep- 
 ing them from being fincere, and pra&ical, and predominant ) 
 thefe (hall be faved, but not the reft. 
 
 Now if upon thefe grounds, any man (hall think that Popery 
 is the fafer way , becaufe we fay, that they have all that is necef- 
 fary to falvation ( obje&ively in their Creed ) and that a Pa- 
 pift may be faved ^ upon the fame terms that man may be per- 
 f waded that it is fafeft taking poyfon, becaufe that he hath all 
 the parts of a man that takes it, and pofflbly nature may pre- 
 vail, and he may live. But yet I (hall choofe to let it alone. 
 
 5 . The fame Papifts that fay,that a Protcftant cannot be faved, 
 do yet maintain that an Infidel may be faved, or one that be- 
 lieveth not the very Articles of the Chriftian faith. You will 
 think this ftrange. But I will a little infift on the proof of ir, 
 to thefe ufes. 1. That you may fee, that their cenfures proceed 
 from meer defign or partiality. 2. That you may fee , that 
 they make believing in the Pope to be more neceflary then be- 
 lieving in Chrift, or in the Holy Ghoft. 3. That you may fee, 
 how holy their Church is that admitteth of Infidels. 4. That 
 you may fee, on how fair grounds they deny, that we may be 
 one Catholick Church with the Fathers,(7ra^, Egyptians^ Abaf- 
 ftnes y Armenians, Waldenfis, &c. becaufe of fome differences ; 
 when yet they themfelves can be one Church with Infidels, or 
 foch as deny the Articles of the Creed, or at ieaft believe them 
 not. 5. And that you may fee, how well their Religion hangs 
 
 together, 
 
A K^y for Catkolicks. 265 
 
 together, and aifo how well they are agreed among themfelves, 
 even about the efTentials of Chriftianity it felf, whether chey be 
 of Necefiky to falvation or nor. 
 
 I before cited the words of Albertims the Jefuite. I (hill 
 now give you many more, and more fully, which Franf. a Sun^la 
 Clara hath gathered to my hands in his Dens, Natura, gratia, 
 Prsblem.i$.& l6.pag.109 &c. 
 
 And 1. pag. 1 10. he tells us himfelf that [the Doflors com- 
 mon!} teach, that a juft and probable ignorance ought to excufe : 
 and that it is probable, when one hath a probable foundation (or 
 ground) as a Country -man, when he believes that a thing is Uw- 
 Jull, drawn by the Teflimonj of his Parifh Prieft or Parents'. 9r 
 when a man feeing reafons that are probable on both fides, doth 
 choofe thofe which feem to him the more probable, which yet indeed 
 are againjl the truth, to which he is etherwife well affetled : in this\ 
 cafe he err eth without fault , though he err againjl the truth, and 
 fo labour of the contrary ignorance ] [ Hither tj it to be reduced, 
 when the Articles of Faith are rot propounded in a due manner, 
 as by frivolous reafons, or by impious men: for then to believe , 
 were an act of imprudence, faith Aquin.2.2.q. i. ar.4. ] 
 
 So that if the truth of Scrip:ure be fo propounded as to 
 feemmoft improbable, it is no fin to disbelieve it .-and if fuch 
 areexcufed,asby a Parent or Parifti-Prieft are feduccd, and 
 that have not a due propofal of the Truth, then it mult follow, 
 that the Heathens and Infidel* are innocent , that never had 
 Chrift propofed any way to them, and by their Parents have 
 been taught Mahometanifm, or Paganifm. But what if I can 
 prove, that even the want of a due propofalisa punifhmenc 
 for their fin? and that they ought themfelves to feek after the 
 truth ? and that it is long of their own fins that necefifiry 
 truths do feem imp r obablcto them ? will fin excufe fin ? 
 
 And pag. 1 1 1. l:e telleth us, ( That as to the Ignorance of 
 things neceffary as means ( to falvation ) the D.tlors differ - % 
 for Soto 4.2.5. q. J • & I, denatur. & grat.c. 12. And V<?ga Id. 
 c. 20. fup. Trid. will have no more cxplicite faith required now 
 in the Law of Grace, then in the Law of Nature. Tea Vega Leo 
 citato, and Gab. 2. d 21. (]u. 2. art. 3 . & 3 . d.Jll ;. tjtt, 2. thinly 
 that in the Law of Nature, and in cafes in the Law of Grace, a 
 mammy be favsdwith cnlj 7{atural Knowledge , and that the 
 
 M m habit 
 
i66 A £\ey for Catholicks. 
 
 — — i — , — , . . — 
 
 habit of faith u not required. And Horantiu* (being of the contrary 
 opinion ) faith , that thej are men of great name that are agaxnft 
 him, whofe gravity and great and painfull (Indies moved him, not to 
 condemn them of hcre/ie, in a doubtful I m.itter y not jet judged"^ 
 (O happy Rome that hath a judge chat can put an end co all 
 their concrovcrfies ! And yet cannot determine whether it be 
 NecefTtry to falvation to be a Chriftian ! ) 
 
 [_ Yea ( faith S. Clara) Alvarez de Auxil. dijp. $6. with 
 •thers^ feems to hold that to fuftificationu nst required the £#oW- 
 ledge of afupernatnral object at all. Others fay that both to Grace 
 and to Glory an explicite faith in Chrifi is necejfary, as Bonavenc. 
 3 . d. 2 5 . and others. Others fay that to falvation at lea ft an ex* 
 plicite faith in the Gefpel , or Chrifi is required, though not to 
 Grace or J unification. And this U the commoner in the Schools, as 
 Herera declareth^ andfolloweth it. ] 
 
 And for Scotns S. Clara faith [ I take him to be of that opinion 
 that is not necejfary as a Alt an s to Grace or Glory to have an expli' 
 cite Belief of Chrift or the Gofpel.(ui 4.d.3 .<J-4.) he feems at large 
 to prove. ] 
 
 Pag. 113. he addi £ what is clearer , then that at this day, the 
 Gsfpellbixdeth not, where it is not authentically preached j that is, 
 that at this day men may be faved without an explicite belief of 
 Chrifi : for tn that fence fpeaks the Dotlor concerning t he Jews* 
 tsini vrrt/j what ever my illnftrions Afafter hold,w>th his Learn' 
 ed M after Herera , I think, that this was the Opinion of the Do- 
 tlor fScotUS,J andthc ctmmonone , Vchichalfo v ega, a faith* 
 ful Scotifi followeth ; and Faber 4. d. 3- Pecigianis 3. d. 25, 
 q. 1. and of the Thomifts Bannes, 22. q. 2. a. 8. Cano, and 
 others. ] 
 
 And he gathers it to be the mind of the Council of Trent $tf. 
 6. cap. 4. and adds pag. 113. [ Its effectually proved by the Do- 
 ctor , frem John 1 5. If I had not come andfpokf to them, they had 
 not had fin : 1 know the Dotlors of the contrary opinion anfwer,that 
 fuch are not cendemned for the fin of Infidelty precifely^ but for 
 other ftns that hinder the illumination and fpecial help of God. But 
 verily the Djtlor there argueth, that the Jews might by circumcifton 
 be clean fed from Original fin t and faved without the Gofpeli and 
 accordingly he may argue as to all others, to whom the Gofpel is 
 xot authentically promulgate: ElfekU reafon would not hold. And 
 
 om- 
 
A i\ey for Catbolkks . 2 67 
 
 our mo ft 'grave Corduba !.2.qu. Theo!. q. 5. fub^ribet to this 
 
 opinion , faying • ■ [we the promulgation of the Gsfpel, an 
 
 Exp'icite Belief of (fhrifl is mcejfary • except with the twine bly 
 ignorant, to whom an implicite fuffceth to the lift of grace, but whe- 
 ther it fuffice to the life of gl»ry, is a probleme \ but it is more pro- 
 bable that here alfo an implicite faff: eth ] 
 
 Pa?e 114. he add^h theconienc of Medina re reUa in Be- 
 urn fide, lib. or. cap. nit. and, of Bradwardine fol. 62. that an 
 Implicite belief of Chrifl is fuff^ient tofalvaticn. 
 
 And pag. 1 15. he laich that this is the way to the end dtbates 
 of them that th!nl^ the Articleofthe Trinity, of Chrifl, of the in- 
 carnation, &CC. are neceffary to falvation, though not to Juftifca- 
 tion 1 and anfwering them, he faith that [_fuch are not formal') 
 -without the Church. | You fee then formal' j Infidels are in their 
 Church and may befaved, in his opinion. 
 
 And p.<g. 1 1 6. af.cr a blow at Vellofillus heciteth alfo Vicloria ' 
 Relet! ■ 4 de Indif. & Richard.de Med. Villa, 1.1%. art. 3 . 90. 1 . 
 and others for this opinion: And cells you what his implicite 
 faith is [ to beleve as the Church btlieveth. ] 
 
 And page 118. heanfwerech from Scotus the Queftion,#^- 
 therfuch perfons may hold the contrary error to the truth that they 
 are ignorant of ': and faith, No, (out of Scotus : ) while it is 
 preached but in fome one place, till he krtow it to be believed as a 
 truth by the Church , and then he muft firmly adhere to it. Which 
 the charitable Fryar applieth to England as excufable for not be- 
 lieving fome of their Articles. And he cireth Pctigianis faying, 
 [] If a fimple old woman flail hear a falfe ofinion from a falfe 
 Prophet , ( as that thefubfl^nce of the breadremains with Chnflj 
 body in the Eucharifi ) and believe it : doth /he fin becaufe of this } 
 No : This were too hard and cr /tell to affirm. 3 
 
 Pag. 1 io.heciteth /f^/^andagreeth with him,f thatfnehas 
 have no knowledge of thefe things to ftir them up, are not bound fo 
 much as to feeh^information. ~] 
 
 Andp,*£. 120. he cites Vega lib. 6. cap. 18. fsyingthat as 
 £ Ignorance purse negationis about many Articles of faith, may 
 be without fault : fo there is the fame reafon of Ignorance pra- 
 "vae difpofitionis.]] Which he maintains agamft Cjerfon and Hupo. 
 And S. Clara adds of his own [ To ffeak^ my fenfe freely", I 
 think^that the common people committing the mfe Ives to the injiru- 
 
 Mm 2 £lion 
 
2 68 A f\ey for Catbolkks . 
 
 Bion of the 7aflor/ % trufiing their knowledge and goodnefs, if they 
 be deceived , ' it Jhall be accounted Invincible Ignorance, or pro- 
 bable at leafi : So Herera : which excufeth from fault. Tea 
 fome DoBorsgive fe much to the Inftrutlisn of Dotlors, on whom 
 the care of the flocle^ Ijeth , that if they teach hie & nunc that 
 God would be hated, that a rude Parifhoner is bound to believe 
 them* 3 
 
 And io f age 121. concludeth that he hopeth many of us are 
 faved. 
 
 Page 122. he citeth the concent ofAzorius,To. i« /. 8. Jaft.c. 
 6. and Corduba again. 
 
 And fag. 1 2 3 .faith [_It feemeth to be the common Opinion of the 
 Schools and Dotlors at this day, that the Laity erring with their 
 Teachers or Paftors, a> e altogether excufed from alt fault : yea 
 by erring thus many wayes materially, the j merit , for the all of 
 Cbriftian Obedience, which they oWe their teachers, as Valentia 
 faith, Tom. 3. difp. i. q. 2. pag. 5. and others, with Angles, 
 Vafquez, &c. 
 
 Pag. 124,125. Piker Cajetan,hcchts Zanchez,teacbing that 
 thofe that are brought up among Heretickj are not bound presently 
 to believe, And yet are not to be accounted Heretickj , till they refufe 
 
 Belief fuffcie fitly propounded to them ~\ And he cites Alph. 
 
 a C a ft ro <, ar, d Simancbas, Aragon, and Tannerus, and Faber for 
 the lame. 
 
 And pag. 126. he cites Eman: Sa, affirming that even among 
 Catholickj many are excufed from the explicite knowledge of the 
 Trinity and Incarnation , fpeciallj if there want a Teacher *• For 
 what ( faith he ) Jhall we fay that an infinite number ofChrifli- 
 ans ,otherwife good people, per'tfh, that fcarce know any thing aright 
 cfthe Mjflerie of the Trinity and Incarnation ; Tea judge perverf. 
 Ip( or falfly ) of them, ifyouaskjhem . ? ] And cites Rozella and 
 Medina of the lame mind. Laftly gives alfo the judgement of 
 Gr. Valentia fully, for hit opinion, Analyf. fid. lib. 2. cap. 3. 
 lit. D. 
 
 In the fixteenth Prob!eme/>4g* 1 27. he puts another Queftion, 
 "Whether the Law of Nature and Decalogue may be unknown with- 
 out fault ? And faith that though Alex. Ala/ay, No, yet Q It is 
 the more common and received Opinion , ( citing Adrian, Cor- 
 dub a J Herera , & alios communiter •), tbatjherc maybe fitch- 
 
 invincible 
 
A I\ey for Catholkks* 1 69 
 
 nvincibl t ignorance in re(ptc~t of the Lav* of Nature and the 
 Decalogue, jf 
 
 Andnote for the underftanding of all this,that th /s which they 
 call an Implicite faith in Chrift, is m atlttal faith in Chrift at all, 
 He that only believes as the Church believes ,and knows not that 
 the Church believes in Chrift, in the Refurre&ion of Chrift, &c 
 hath noa&ual belief in Chrift or the Refurredion at all. Ignoti 
 nulla fides: If I believe that one ofyouistrue of bis word, it 
 doth not follow that 1 a&ually believe the particular proporti- 
 ons which I never heard. This which they call an implicate Belief, 
 is nothing but the explicitc a&ual belief of the Formal Ob jedt of 
 Faith, Divine or Humane , as that God is True , or the 
 Church True and infallible; but it is no belief at all of the par- 
 ticular material ob/ed. 
 
 And note that every one in the world that believeth that there 
 is a God , muftneeds believe that he is no Lyar ; and fo hath in 
 God an Implicite belief. Now if this will fave men, without a 
 particular belief in Chrift, then Chriftianity is not necelTary : 
 Every Turk, and Jew, and Infidel that beltevethinGod, may 
 then be faid to have an Implicite faith in Chrift , in the Popifh 
 language ; becaufe he believeth all that God revealeth to be 
 true •, But if an Implicite faith in God will notferve, how 
 fhould an implicite faith in th; Church fervej unlefs the Church, 
 that is the Pope,be better then God. 
 
 Sec here, whether they make any more of the Chriflian faith 
 thenameerfhooinghorn, to draw and keep men to their fide. 
 By a General Council and the Pope it is determined that no man 
 canbefaved out of their Church; as headed by the Pope: To 
 believe in the Pope is of Nccefiuv to Salvation j but to believe 
 in Chrift.in his Jnc*rnation,Death,Refurre&ion, is not fo. An 
 Implicite faith in the Pope or Church , yea or erring Doctors 
 may fave, and men may merit by following them in error • buft 
 an Implicite faith in God himfelf will not fave, if we believe not 
 in the Pope. So that if we were Infidels we might be faved , fo 
 we wereofthe Church of i?*>»*, and believed in the Pope: but 
 the Holieft Chriftian that believeth cxplicitely inGod,and all the 
 Articles of the faith>cannot be faved,if he believe not in thePepr, 
 Do you think they believe thefe Doctrines themfelvcs ? or rather 
 frame them to the building of their Kingdom f' 
 
 Mm 3 And 
 
27 o A K^y for CatholickS' 
 
 And what a wonder is it chat Learned Do&ors fee not 
 their own contradi&ion ? they fuppofe a man to believe in 
 the Pope, or as the Church believeth, and yet not to believe 
 in Chut ! And is not the Church effentially a company of 
 Chriftians ^ the fpoufe , and body , and fchool , and King- 
 dom of Chnft? And is not the Pope eflcntially the pretended 
 Vicar of Chrift ? How then can they believe in Thrifts Vicar, 
 or Chrifts Schooler Kingdom,or follower*., before they believe 
 in Chrift hirofelf ? 
 
 And by all this you may perceive the Holinefs of the Ro- 
 man Church, and the nature of that Difcipline or Church Go- 
 vernment that all the world muft needs fubmic to,or be damned* 
 Even fuch as takes in Infidels and all,and layeth the Church as 
 common to the world,for as many as will but believe in the Pope 
 and Clergy. 
 
 You fee here alfo another myfterie opened r that a man may 
 have enough to JuftifieJiim , that yet will not fave him.* For 
 cnoftofthem are here faidtohold that a man may be juftified 
 without an expiicite faith io Chrift, or that the knowledge of 
 Chrift is not neceflary to his Juftification , but to his falvation it 
 is C Though the other half fay, that its neceflary to neither) 
 And if a man die in a Juftified State , muft he be condemn- 
 ed ? when Paul faith, Rem. 8. 30. jvhomhejuflified, them ht 
 alfo glorified. 
 
 You fee alfo here what their Baptifm doth , that can ex 
 cpere operate infallibly put away the (ins of all thefe Infidels, 
 and fo the Eucharift, &c. And yet they muft not be faved 
 for all that their fins are all done away. O what a Maze 
 is the Romifli Divinity / And you fee how well they are 
 agreed about thefe fundamentals , when half of them think 
 that an ABual belief in Chrift is necetfarj to falvation, and 
 not to fttftification ; and others that its necejfarj to both : and|a 
 great part that its necejfarj to neither. And you fee here the 
 benefit of having an Infallible Living judge of controverts, and 
 expounder of Scriptures : and how admirably he hath ended all 
 their differences. 
 
 And again I fay, If formally thefe Vnbtlievert arc in their 
 Catholick Church,they (hall give us leave to fay that the Greeks 
 and other Eaftern and Southern Chriftians are in the fame Ca- 
 tholick 
 
A %ey for Qatkolicks. 27 r 
 
 tholick Church as we are , when we differ not (o much. 
 
 And when they have made the Non-belief of Artcksof the 
 faith confident with falvation, they will never while they breath 
 be able to confute him that on the fame grounds affirroeth the 
 contrary belief confident with falvation,in cafe of the fame wane 
 of teaching and fufficient means. 
 
 And by this time I hope you fee of how fmall moment the 
 Popifli Cenfures are , when they judge that a Protcfiant cannot 
 be fared. 
 
 Its true that S.flara here judgeth otherwife : but 1. Its faid 
 his Book was burnt or condemned at Rome for it. 2. He allow- 
 cth Infidels as much. 3. Andheprovethhirafelfa Heretickby it 
 at Rome j feeing a General Council and Pope have determined the j 
 contrary, even that it is neceflfary to falvation to be a fubjed of 
 ihePopeof/?ow<\ 
 
 Chap. XXXVIH. 
 
 Detett. 29. A Nother of their Deceits, and I think the moft 
 JljL fuccefjfull of all the reft i% Their futing their 
 J) Mrines.and Government and JVor(b':p to theflefhly humours of the 
 ungodly ; bj which means the Grcateftand the Mofl are alwayes 
 Itke to be on their fide : When on the contrary our DoflrinCjDi- 
 fciplincand worfhip is all fo contrary to C3rnalintereft and con- 
 ceits, that we are ftill like to lofe the moft,if not the greateft, and 
 confequently to be a perfecuted people in the world. This is their 
 unanlwerable Argument ; By this means they captivate the Na- 
 tions to their Tyranny. TheMoft are every where almoft li* 
 centious,fenfual, worldly and unfan&ified" Wife men and ; od- 
 ly men are few in comparison of the reft of the world. And it is 
 the multitude commonly that hath the ftrength, and the Great 
 ones that have the wealth. So that I confefs I take it for a won- 
 der of mercy , that they are not Lords in every Coancrey, and 
 that the Reformed Catholicks benotufed every whereas they 
 be in Spain And Italy. For where they have but opportunity 
 to (hew themfelves , the Principles and PraSifes of the Papifo 
 
 art- 
 
272 A Kgyfor Qatholicks. 
 
 arefuch.as will be molt likely to win the Rabble rout to them , 
 and make them Mafters of the multitude, and of all except a 
 few believing Heavenly perfons: ( For the flock if little tbac 
 muft have the Kingdom. ) And then, when they have got the 
 multitude thus to follow them , and clubM the reft into prifons, 
 or burned them in the flames, they reckon of this as one of 
 the fureft Evidences that they are the Catholick Church, becaufc 
 forfooth thej are the greater number ( in the Countries where 
 they have advamagejand it is but a few whom they were able to 
 perfecute or burn as Hereticks that were againfl them. The very 
 Argument of the Jews againft Chrift and his Difciplcs. 
 
 The Reafons why they have not by this Policie won the Chri- 
 ftian world to their fide, are ( under God, the great Defender 
 of the innocent) thefe four ; i.Becaufe in the Eaftern and 
 Southern Churches they have not had opportunity to lay theic 
 fnarcs,as they have had here in the Weft .* And alfo thofe Chur- 
 ches have too many corruptions and negleds at home for the 
 gratifying of the worfer fort. 2. Becaufe God hath been pleaf- 
 edin fome places fo toblefs the endeavours ofthefmaller part, 
 ss to enable them againft the multitude to preferve fome liberty. 
 5 . Becaufe God hath fometime given Wife and Godly Princes to 
 the people, that will not be cheated with the Popular deceits. 
 .4. And principally becaufe that the Papal Tyranny is diredfy 
 contrary to Princes Rights, fo that its only thofe that areblind- 
 ed by ignorance, or ftrengthened by an extraordinary league 
 with Rome, or forced by the multitude of Popifh fubjeds and 
 neighbour^ that put their necks into the Romifh yoke. For 
 what by the Popes pretended Power in temporaI$,at leaft in ordi- 
 ne adfpiritualia y and what by his excommunicating Princes, and 
 his pretended power to depofe them and give their kingdoms to 
 another, and to abfolve their fubjeds from their oaths and fide- 
 lity , (which is an Article of their faith, agreed on by the Pope 
 and General Council, Later. Jub. lnnoc. 3 . cap. 3. ) and what 
 by his exempting the Clergy from their Princes Power, and 
 B/hat by the pilling their Countries for money, and what by 
 their dodrine and pradifes of murdering Princes that are not 
 of their mind, by thefe and many other Evidences, they have 
 awakened many of the Princes of the earth to look about them, 
 and confidently to befriend the Truth againft thefe Tyrannous 
 
 Ufurpers. 
 
A J<\ey for Catholic ks. 273 
 
 Ufurpers. Had it not been for thefe helps under God, we had not 
 been like to have a name where they can reach, nor to have had 
 liberty to breath in the common air. 
 
 It would be a voluminous work to (hew you how all the 
 Do&rines, Government, and worfhip of thePapifts is futed to 
 the humor of the fenfual multitude, and fitted to take with un- 
 godly men. I (hall but inftance in twenty particulars ( which 
 are far from all. ) 
 
 1 . The Reformed Catholicks hold, that none (hould be taken 
 into the Church by Baptifm, unlefs themfelves,or their Parents, 
 if they be Infants, do make Prafeffion of the Chriftian faith,and 
 of an holy life, for the time to come, and feem to underftand 
 what they fay and.do, and be feiious in it j which exafperateth 
 the grofly ignorant and ungodly, when we deny them this Pri- 
 viledge of Believers. But the Papifts admit of the ignorant, 
 ungodly, and fuch as believe not explicitly in Chrift, as you 
 heard even now j and fo pleafe the people , and fill their 
 Church. 
 
 2. The Orthodox hold, that Baptifm giveth Remiffion of 
 fin to none but true believers and their feed. The Papifts per- 
 fwade many millions more, that all their fins are not only par- 
 doned, but actually aboli(hede x opere operato, in their Baptifm, 
 which is comfortable News to fuch ungodly fouls. 
 
 3. The Protectants fay, that Original fin liveth after Bap- 
 tifm in fome degree; though it reign not, or condemn not thofe 
 that are true believers-, and that Concupifcence, that is, all 
 inordinacy of the fenfual appetite, or inordinate inclination to 
 fenfual obje&s is a fin. The Papifts tell them that when once 
 they are baptized, there is no fuch thing in them as Original fin, 
 and that Concupifcence is no fin at all. 
 
 4. The Orthodox hold, that none are to be admitted to the 
 Eucharift and Communion of the Church therein,but thofe chat 
 believe actually (orprofefsfotodoj the Articles of the faith, 
 and underftand the nature of the Sacrament, and live according 
 to the Laws of Chrift. But thePapifts give it to all, and drive 
 men totheSacrament.^ (0 that Albaf^'miut before cited, faith, 
 he know9 not whether ever any one was kept away in his 3ge. 
 
 .5. The Proteftants hold, that men are not to be let alone in 
 fcandalous fin, but admonifhedprivarely, and then openly before 
 
 N n the 
 
274 A f\ey for fotholich* 
 
 the Church, and if yet they Repent not, and Reform not, to 
 becaftout-, and not to be abfolved or re-admitted, without a 
 Publick Confeflion and Penitence anfwerable to the (in : And 
 this wicked people hate at the very heart, and will not endure. 
 But the Papifts have got a device to pleafe them by Auricular . 
 fecret Confeflion to a Prieft, where if he will but confefs and 
 fin and fin and confefs again, he may have a pardon of courfe 
 without any open fhame or true Reformation, lfwedurft but 
 imitate the Papifts in this one particular, we fhould do much to 
 pleafe the people that are now exafpersted .-for 1 find, that al« 
 moftanyof them will confefs in fecret that they have finned, 
 that will not endure the open fhame. 
 
 6. The Proteftants hold, that every fin deferveth death, 
 and that every breach of theLawisfuch a fin ; ( though God 
 will not infliA the Puniftiment on them that have a pardon ) 
 But the Papifts tell us of a multitude of fins that are but venial, 
 that is, fins thatdeferve pardon, and yet deferve not Hell, and 
 are indeed no fins , but analogically fo called. And they make 
 thofe to be fuch venial fins, which Proteftants account abomina- 
 bly grofs; as fome lying, fome f wearing in common talk, fome 
 drunkennefc, fome fornication, and the like, are with them but 
 venial fins, which are properly no fins ( And yet here alfo they 
 are by the ears among themfelves, fome faying that venial (ins 
 are properly fins, and moft denying it ) Yea all fins that are 
 not deliberated on, are with them but venial fins. So that if they 
 will but fufficiently brutifle themfelves byfufpendingtheexer- 
 cife of reafon, and will fwear, curfe, murder, without delibera- 
 tion, they are then free from (in and danger. And how eafie and 
 pleafingisthisto the ungodly ? Thofe are but Evangelical Coon- 
 fails with the Papifts, that are thePrecepts or Laws of Chrift to 
 the Proteftants. 
 
 7. The Proteftants teach men ,that it is their duty to feek the 
 underftanding of the holy Scripture, and to meditate in it day 
 and night 1 but the Papifts do forbid the Common people to read 
 it in a language which they undcrftand, and fave them all that 
 labour that Proteftants put them on ; Nothing can win the peo- 
 ple more then cherifhing them thusinfloth and ignorance. 
 
 8, The Proteftants fay, that a man cannot be juftifled or 
 fstyed without aa adual faith in Chrift for being the Infant of a 
 
 believer; 
 
ji 'l\ey for QatholkKs. 275 
 
 believer Dedicated roChrift) and that this faith rauft extend 
 toallthingsthatareEfTentialtoChriftianity. But what the Pa- 
 piftsfayof thejuftification and Salvation of Infidels, if they be- 
 lieve in the Pope, you heard in their own words in the laft Be- 
 teftioH. A comfortable doctrine to the unbelieving world, to 
 whom God hath fpoken no fuch Comfort. 
 
 We confefs that thofe that never had the Gofpel, are under 
 the Law of nature or works, and that the penalty of this is fuch 
 as God can in fome cafes difpenfe with ( or elfe we could not be 
 faved by Cbrift ) and fo that all Pagans are not under the Perem- 
 ptory undifpenfable threatningof the Gofpel againft final Priva- 
 tive unbelievers : But yet, though God may pardon fome of 
 thefe, he bath made them no promife that he will ; and therefore 
 they can have no pofitive hope grounded on a promife ; nor can 
 any man fay, that Gedwill fave any of them, or that he mil not ; 
 it being certain that they are under the condemnation of the 
 Law, which God can difpenfe with, inwayes of fecurity to his 
 Juftice and Ends, but uncertain whether he will or not; and 
 therefore is to be left among his unrevealed things. The true 
 believer is under a certain promife of falvation. The unbeliever 
 that hath had the Gofpel, or might have had it and would not, is 
 under the Gofpel fentence of damnation, which is certain and 
 irreverfeble, if he die in that Condition. The negative unbeliever 
 that never had or could have the Go fpelf\s under the Condemning 
 fentence of the Law (of works or nature,) that is, his fin Be- 
 ferveth eternal death -, but this fentence is not peremptory and in~ 
 dlfpenfable ; but yet it is fuch as God wiH not difpenfe with rafh-S 
 ly, but on terms that may fecure his Ends and Juftice. This is 
 the true mean between extreams in this weighty point. 
 
 9. TheProteftantsfay, that all our beft works are imperfect, 
 and the fin that adhereth to them deferves Gods wrath, accord- 
 ing to the Law of works, though he pardon it by the Law of 
 Grace : and that when we have done all, we are unprofitable 
 fervants, and properly Merit nothing of God for the worth of 
 our works,or in Commutative Juftice. But the Papifts take thofe 
 very works to Merit heaven, ex Condigno, and (for here they 
 are by the ears again ) fay fome of them, by the Proportion of 
 the work^andin Commutative Jujfice y vthkh the Proteftants fay, 
 deferve damnation for their finful imperfections, and therefore 
 
 N'n 2 need 
 
27 6 A K?y f or Catholkks . 
 
 need a pardon through the blood of Chriih Yea they cake thefe 
 works to be perfed, and the man to be perfect, and fay, that by 
 fuch works as thefe, they may Merit for others as well as for 
 thcmfclvjs. And bow eafie and plcalmg is ibis to proud cor- 
 rupted Nature ^ 
 
 10. The Proteftants think, that no Faith Juftifieth, but that 
 which is accompanyed with unfeigned Love and Refolution for 
 (Obedience. But the Papifts make a Faith that's feparated from 
 Charity, and joyned with Attrition, to be fufficient for admifli- 
 on to the Sacrament, which fhall be inftead of Love or Contri- 
 tion, and fo fhall put away all fin. 
 
 1 1 . The- Proteftants knowing that God is a Spirit, and will be 
 worfhipped in Spirit and truth, do teach people a fpiritual way 
 of worfhip, which Carnal men are undifpofed to, and unac- 
 quainted with. But the Papifts do accommodate them by a mul- 
 titude of Ceremonies, Images, and a Pompous hiftrionical kind 
 of worflhip, which is eafie and pleafant to flefhand blood. To 
 have an Image before them , and Copes, and Ornaments, and 
 abundance of formalities, and to drop fo many Beads, and be 
 faved for faying over fo many Ave Maries ,or fuch like words ; 
 what an eafie kind of Religion is this, and how agreeable to 
 .lefti and blood ? How much eafier is it to fay over their offices, 
 then to Love God above a!!, and defire after Communion with 
 himinthefpirit, and to delight in him, and to pray in Faith, and 
 jieavenly fervour? 
 
 1 2. Proteftants tell men of Hell- fire,as the remedilefs punifti- 
 mencof thole fins, which Papifts fay deferve but a Purgatory : 
 and they have hopes of coming out of Purgatory j but there's 
 none of coming out of Hell. 
 
 13. Proteftants tell them of no hope of eafe or pardon of 
 (in after this life, if it be not pardoned here. But Papifts tell 
 them, that when they are in Purgatory, the Pope hath power to 
 pardon'them, and the faying of fo many Ma fTes for their fouls, 
 may eafe them, or rid them out j and the Merits of other folks 
 may deliver them. 
 
 14. Proteftants tell them, that they muft be holy for them- 
 felves : buc Papifts tell them, that they may hire another man to 
 fay their prayers for them, which may ferve turn. 
 
 35. The Proteftants do ingenugufly tonfefs, that they have 
 
 00.-. 
 
A I\ey for Catbolicks. 
 
 *77 
 
 noway to e«d all Controversies in this life, but that we have a 
 fufficien: way fo far to decide them as is nrceffrry to the'peace of 
 thefohl, of the Church, and of the Commonwealth ; but no way 
 for a final abfolute Decjfion, till the day of Judgement, The 
 Paftorsof the Church are to be Judges, lb far as they are to 
 execute: And the Magiftrates are to be Judges fo far as thev muft 
 execute : And every Chriftian hath a judgement of Diictrning 
 fo far as he is to execute. But the abfolute final judgement is 
 referved to the laft day . when God will fully end our contro- 
 vcrfies. But this fatisfyeth not men that would have all in 
 hand, and the fentence part before theAfiizes: And therefore 
 the Papifts better fit their humour, and tell them and they 
 do but tell then,) of an End of all their controverfies at hand • 
 of an eafie cheap remedy by believing the Infallible Pope 
 and Council ; and fo putting an end to all divifions and 
 doubts, 
 
 1 6. The Proteftants would have none but feeming Profefling 
 Saints in their Churches . But the Papifts Canonize a Saint as 
 a wonder; and (hut them up in Monafteries, and c^U a few 
 [Reltgioiij'] that are feparated from other Chriftians, as Chri- 
 ftians formerly were from the world : which brings the peoplj 
 to think that Holinefs and Religion is not necelTary to all buc 
 to a few Devotaries that will be better then they are commanded 
 to be. 
 
 1 7. The Protectants bind men to keep their vows, and fidelity 
 to their Governors ; But the Papifts tell them that the Pope 
 hath Power to free them from their fidelity, and difpenfe with 
 their oaths. 
 
 1 8 . The Papifts teach men to faft : by eating the pleafantefl; 
 meats : but the Proteftants ufe a total abltinence while they faft, 
 unlefs in meer neceflity. 
 
 19. The main bufmefsand adminiftration ofProteflant Pa- 
 itors,is againft thatflefli that is predominant in the unregenerate , 
 and therefore muft needs be diftaftefull to the multitude of the 
 ungodly. Our preaching is to open mens fin and mifery, and 
 caufe them to perceive their loft condition, and fo to reveal to 
 them a crucified Chrift, and then to fet them on the boiy felf- 
 denying heavenly life that Chrift hath prefcribed them. And to 
 fpeak terrour to the rebellious, and to caft the cbftinace out of 
 
 Nn 3 our 
 
A Kjy for Catbolicks. 
 
 our communion, and co comfort none as the heirs of heaven, 
 cither in life or at death, b'Jtonly the truly fan&ified and re- 
 new**'* fou\. ButfortbePapifts,their Preaching in moft places is 
 bat fcidome-, but they have a Mafs in Latine: And as the old fay- 
 ing is, £ Tke Mafs doth not bits. ] It galleth not a guilty con- 
 fcience to lee a Mafs, and here a many of Prayers which be under- 
 ftandeth not : And when they do preach , when they fhould 
 fhew wicked men their mifery , they flatter and deceive them 
 too often by their falfe doftrine : They cannot humble them in 
 the fenfc of their Original (in and Mifery,for that they tell them 
 was quite extinct and done away in Biptifm : And for their 
 following fins, Abfolution upon their cuftomary confefiions , 
 hath done away all the guilt at leaft: fo that here is no Mifery 
 for the Miferable fouls to fee : but like a Ctnftables present- 
 ment at a Seflions, an Omnia bene: Unlefs perhaps fome grofs 
 actual fin be apparent among them : and then they (ball have 
 an Oration againft it , to drive them to auricular confeffion, and 
 to receive the Body of Chrift, and be Abfolved. And fo do 
 they by Ceremonies and Sacraments ex of ere operato quiet the 
 Confciencesofunfan&ifiedmen, and humour them in all their 
 rites and cultoms, and atlaft turn tbera to Heaven or Purgatory 
 with an Abfolution, andExtreamllnc%ion. And howpleaf- 
 ing a Religion this is to the ungodly people, thofe Miniflers can 
 tell, that fee the rage of fuch , againft thofe that deny them 
 even better Forms and Ceremonies when they defire them ; 
 to pacific their Confciences inftcad of real Holinefs and 
 Obedience. 
 
 20. Laftly, how the Jefuites have fitted their wbole frame of 
 Moral doSrine and Cafe Divinity to humour the unconfeiona- 
 ble , Mnultusthe fanfenift will fully fhew you through the 
 whole ( fore-cited ) Mjfterie of fefuitifm. Thofe that would 
 cfcape any worldly trouble or danger, the Jefuites have a help 
 at hand for, even their do&rine of Equivocation, and Mentall 
 reservation ( which makes the Popes Difpenfation with oaths 
 andproraifesneedlefs. ) What accommodations they have for 
 him that hatha mind to Murder his adverfary, to calumniate 
 another, to take life without Ufury, to forbear reltoring ill- 
 gotten goods,to commit fornication , to rob another, and many 
 the like, you may fee in their own words cited in the faid Book. 
 ~ " Yea 
 
A K^y for Catholicks. 279 
 
 Yea what comfort they have for a man that loveth not God, Co 
 he will not hate him. Truft not my report,but read the Book; 
 for its worth the reading. 
 
 So that we fee the advantage that the Papifts have to fweep 
 away the vicious ignorant multitude, and then to boalt that they 
 are the Catholicks,and we but Schifraaticks, becaufe they are the 
 greater part ; and then they are armed alfo by the Multitude,to 
 opprefs us by their violence. 
 
 Now what remedy to ufc againft this Fraud, I cannot tell, but 
 only to deal plainly and faithfully, though it dodifpleafe, and to 
 adminifter Gods Ordinances as he prcfcribeth,though never fo 
 diftaftefull to flclliand blood 5 and foto commit our felves to 
 God, and truft him with his Church and caufe , who is able to 
 preferve it , and is mod engaged to appear for us, when we lay 
 all upon him, and have none to truft but himfelf alone. Let us 
 not hearken in this cafe to fie fh and blood that would advife us 
 to remit the reins of Difcipline , and to bend our Adminiftrati- 
 ons to fome plealing complyance with carnal minds. We di fen - 
 gage God when thus we begin to fhift for our felves out of bis 
 way. But withall we muft acquaint thofe Princes that are 
 faitbfull to Chrift, how much it is their duty in this cafe to af- 
 fiftus-, not by any cruelty to the Papifts (that I defire rot) 
 but only by quieting the ungodly part of our People in a {rate 
 of Catechumens , or expectants, or a Learning condition fitted 
 to their ftate-, and to reftrain fuch in the mean time as would take 
 advantage of their difcontents, to feduce them by plealing licen- 
 tious do&rines to their undoing, 
 
 Cha p. XXXIX. 
 
 Detett. 50? A Nother of their frauds is, by culling out all 
 jLJL the harjb, unhanfome p^Jfagcs, or ptiftakes that 
 they meet -with in my Proteftant Writers, and charging. II thefe 
 upon the Froteflant Religion, at if they were fa many ^Articles 
 of our Faith', or at leajl were the common dotlrities ofeur (fharchcu 
 They will not give us leave to do fa b; them, when yet we 
 have much more reafon for it. For i.They teach the People 
 thai they are bound to believe as their Teachers bid them : and they 
 
 reproach, 
 
2 8 o A f\ey for Qatholicks . 
 
 reproach us for confefiing that we are not inali points of Do- 
 ctrine infallible : And yet we ftill confefs this fallibility, and fay 
 in plain terms , that we know but in part. 2. Divers of their 
 particular Doctors that weufe to cite, are fuch as the Pope 
 hath Canoni^dfor Saints : and they tell us that in Canonizing 
 he is infallible : And therefore an Infallibly Canonized Saint 
 mud not be fuppofed to err in a point of faith. 3 . They boaft fo 
 much of Unity and Concent among themfelves, that we may the 
 better cite particular Do&ors. And yet we think ourfelves 
 bound to ftand to their own Law in this , and to charge nothing 
 on them as the faith of their Church but what their Church doth 
 own : and therefore while they refufe to ftand to particular Do- 
 Bors,we will not urge them to it.-for its good reafon that all men 
 fhouldbethe Profeflbrs of their own belief. 
 
 But what reafon is there then that we may not have the fame 
 meafure from them which they exped ? We profefs to take no 
 man, nor Council of men, for the Lords of our faith , but for 
 the Helpers of our faith. They tell us , that they know not 
 where to find our Religion. We tell them it is entirely in the 
 written word of God , and that we know no other Infallible 
 Rule ^ becaufe we know no other Divine Revelation ( fup- 
 pofingwhat in Nature is revealed.) They tell u$ that, All He* 
 retickjdo pretend to Scripture , and therefore this cannot be the 
 Tefl of our Religion ? I anl wer,that fo all cavillers, and defrauders 
 and extortioners, may pretend to the Law of the Land,to undo 
 poor men by quirks of wit , or tire them with vexatious fuits •* 
 And yet it follows not that we mnft feek another Rule of Rigbr, 
 and take the Law for inefficient : And what if Hereticks pre- 
 tend to Tradition, to General Councils and the Decretals of the 
 Popes ( as you know how frequently they do ) Will you yield 
 therefore that thefc are an infufficient Rule, orTeftof your 
 own Religion? Open your eyes, and judge as you would be 
 judged. 
 
 But I will come to fome of the particular Opinions which 
 they charge us with. And becaufe I know not a more weighty 
 renowned Champion of their caufe then Cardinal Ricbleiu(then 
 bjfhop ofLucion : ) I (hall take notice of his twelve great er- 
 rors which he fo vehemently chargeth on the Reformed Chur- 
 , 34 contrary to the Scripture. And fure I fhall do muc! 
 
A f\ey for Catbolicks. 1 8 1 
 
 to make ciesnour Churches, if I fully wipe off all the pretended 
 blots o( errour, thar ip wife a m3n could charge upon them. In 
 his Defenf. contra fcript. 4. Miniflr. Charenton. cup. 2. p.ig. 1 2. 
 &c. he begins his enumeration thus. 
 
 1. {" The Scripture faith, Jim. 2. that a man is not fttftifLA 
 by Faith only ; but you fay, that he is Juftified by Faith alone, 
 and by Faith only, which is found in no place of Serif ture \ and do 
 you not then refifl the Scriptures ? J 
 
 An'w. 1. We believe both the words of Paul and James, 
 tb»t a man is fuftificA by Faith without the Deeds of the L-iw, and 
 
 faved through Faith not of workj, left any man Piould boafi, 
 
 Rom.3.28.Ephef.2.8,9.and alfo ihua manis fujli fed by works, 
 and not by Faith only> Jam. 2 Did not this Learned man know 
 that we believe all the Bible? why then fhould he charge us 
 with denying that which we retain, and publickly read'in our 
 Churches as the word of God ? Did he think thar. we let fo 
 much by Luther s, or any mans writings, as by ihe Bible ? 2. But 
 if he can prove that we underOand not thefe words aright, 
 he fhould have evinced it better then by the ufe or the 
 words \_ Faith alone ~] For our Churches by [ Faith alone ] 
 do prof, fs openly to mean no more then Paul doth by [Faith 
 without workj ] And can they find fault with Paul? 3. in- 
 deed we are not all agreed upon the fitted: Notion of thein- 
 tereft of Faith and works in our Judication : but our dif- 
 ference is more in words and notions then nutter , of which 
 fee my Diput. of fuftificatu.n. 4. And why do you not 
 quarrel with your own Cardinal Contarenut de fujlif. and 
 others of your own, that joyn with us in the dodrine of Jufti- 
 fication. 
 
 Hisfecond Accufarion is, [The Scripture faith , that wc can 
 Love God with all the heart : you fay, that no man can Love God 
 with all the heart, which is no where read in Scripture : and yet 
 do you not re ft ft the Scriptures ?~] 
 
 Anfw. 1. Unprofitable Confufion ! we diftinguifh between 
 Loving Godwith all the Heart, as it fignifieth the fincerity and 
 predominant degree of Love, and fo every true Chfiltian hath it; 
 and as it fignifieth fom< extraordinary degree abrue this meer fm- 
 cerity ; and fo fome eminent fironger Christians have it , and 
 as it fignifieth the higheft Degree , which is our duty, and which 
 
 O txclndeth 
 
z 8 2 A fyyfor Catholicks. 
 
 exclude' hall ' finfml imperfetlton : And thus we lay. '.bit no man 
 a&ually doth Love God perfectly in this life : nor do we think 
 he fpeaks like a Chriftian, t^at dare fay, Lord I Love thee fo 
 much, that IwW. r,'ot be beholden to thee ts forgive the imperfetlio* 
 of t»y Love, or to help we agatnjl any fmfnl imperfeElion of it. 
 Your own Followers whom you admire as the higheft Lovers 
 of God, do oft lament the imperfe&ions of their Love ( as 
 At. de Renty, for infhnce, in ruVLife. ) But now if the question 
 bcon'yof thep^,anaVnotthe4c7, we fay, that the Potentia 
 natural's isin all : and the Potentia Atoralis, which is the HaWr, 
 is in the fanftified : bat this Moral Power is not perfeft it fclf, 
 that is, of the higheft degree, and without any finful imperfecti- 
 on ; though ye: it hath the perfection of fincerity, and in fome, 
 the perfection of an eminent degree. And will not this content 
 you ? 
 
 His third Accufation is, [ The Scripture faith, that the Eucha- 
 rifi is the Body and 'Blood of Chtift^withthe adjmtlionof thofe 
 words that fignifie a true Body and Blood: joh fa] that it is not 
 Chrifis Body and Blood, but only a figure, Jign^andtefiimony, 
 which the Scripture no where faith. ,] 
 
 Anfw. i . The Scripture laith not that it is his Body and 
 Blood fnhfiantiall } y, or by Tranfubjfantiation: And we fay not, 
 as ^ou fe gn, that it is not his Body and Blood, but a figure , &c. 
 For we fay, that it is his Body and Blood Sacramentaly and Re' 
 pre r entative!j : as he that perfonateth a King on fome juft ac- 
 count, is called a King j and as in a&ions of Inveftiturcand 
 Delivery ; the delivering of a Key is the delivering of the 
 Houl'c, and the delivery of a twig and turf, is the delivery of 
 the Land; and the deliverer may fay, Take, this is my Houfc, 
 tloii ps my Land, which I deliver thee. If you be among mmy 
 Images in a room, you will not blame him that faith, This** 
 ?eter,andthuisP&\i\,aHdthisistheVirgin Mary. 2. The Scri- 
 pture often calls it Bread after the Confecration ; which you 
 condemn us for.- therefore we are taught to call it fo. 3. The 
 Scripture faith, 1 Cor. iq. 4. [That Reck^was Chrifi J and 
 he faith, [ I am the door, John 10.7. 1 am the true Vine, John 
 15. !. ] David faith, [ / am a worm and no man, Pfal.22.6.] 
 we believe all this. Butmuftwebe therefore reproached, if we 
 fay, (hajc David was a ma»\ that the Rock was Chrifi typically s 
 
 that 
 
A I^ey for Catboltcks . 282 
 
 that he was a Vine and Door Metaphorically only ? And yet 
 thefe are as plain as, Tloij is my Body, and This is my Blood. 
 
 His fourth Accufation is, [The Scripture faith, that Baptifm 
 faveth us, and that we are cfeanfed and regenerate by the xvafhino- 
 of water : On the contrary joh fay, that Baptifm doth neither fave 
 us, nor regenerate hj, but is only to us a fymbcl of falvation y ablu- 
 tion, and regeneration , which is no where faidin Scripture. ] 
 
 Anfw. A childifh conreft about words I we fay, that two 
 things go to our full poflfeflion of our ftate of Regeneration, 
 Ju(tification,and Cleaning: One is our fundamental Right ,which 
 the Tromife of the Gofpel gives us upon our Heart confent or 
 Covenant with God : the other is our Solemn Invefliture : in 
 regard of the former, we are Chriftians, and Regenerate, and 
 J ulhfied before Baptifm : In regard of the later, we are made 
 Chriftians, regenerate, juftified , faved by Baptifm. This we 
 commonly hold, and fo never denyed what you falily fay we 
 deny. As a man is made a King by his Coronation, that yet in 
 a fort was one before; or as Marriage makes them Husbmd and 
 Wife by publickfolemnization, that were fundamentally fo be- 
 fore by Private Covenant ; oraspofTefiion is given by a Key, 
 a twig and a turf ( as I faid ) of that which a man had right to* 
 before • fo are we folemnly inverted with thofe benefits by 
 baptifm, which we had a fundamental Title to before. Do not 
 your own writers confefs this of a man that is Baptized many 
 years after he had Faith and Charity? Do you think Cornelius 
 and the reft that had the Holy Ghoft before Baptifm, All. 10. 
 had not Juftification before? Do you think that Conflantine 
 the great was unpardoned, unregenerate and noChriitian till 
 he was Baptized? Or rather would you make quarrels againft 
 your own Confeffions ? 
 
 His fifth Accufation is [ Scripture faith, that Prieflsdo forgive 
 fin : on the contrary you fay that they do not remit them ) but only 
 teftifie that they are remitted, which the Scriptures no where fay, ,] 
 
 Anfw. As if TejH^cation could not be a Remiffion. We fay, 
 that whofe fins the Paftors of the Church remit, they are remitted. 
 Do you not know that thefe very words we r e ufed to every 
 Presbyter in our Ordination here in England ? We fay 1 . That 
 Paftors do as Gods EmbsfTadors, proclaim his General Conditi- 
 onal Pardon unto all. 2. That they are Gods Minifters to make a 
 
 O 2 particular 
 
284 A K?) f or Catholtcks . 
 
 particular App!ica:ion , and delivery of pardon in Baptifra , 
 onfupp)fitionthatthe Baptized be qualified for pardon. 3. That 
 they are as his Minifters, to make the fame Application by De- 
 claration and Delivery in the Abfoltition of the Penitent ; on fup- 
 pofition that their penitence be fincere. 4. And as Church Gover- 
 nour«,they may on good confiderations fometimes remit fome 
 hambl.ngdilgraceful ads that wereimpofed on the penitent for 
 the teftification of his repentance, and the fatisfadion of the 
 Church. And are notthefe four conceffions enough ? Or are 
 you minded to pick quarrels , that your felves and others 
 may have fewel for the rancour and uncharitablenefs of your 
 minds ? 
 
 But indeed we do not think that any man can primarily as 
 the chief Agent forgive fins ; but God mutt be the firft par- 
 doner ; Nor that any man can pardon the fins of the dead,and 
 abate or fhorten the pains of the foul in a fire called Purgatory. 
 Here we leave you. 
 
 And verily if the Pope have power to remit but the very tem- 
 poral punifliment , he is a cruel wretch that will not forgive 
 men , even good men, the torments of the Gout, and the Stone, 
 and an hundred difeafes • nay that will not remit them to him- 
 fclf, no nor the pain* of death, when he is fo loath to die : ( But 
 I forgot that the Pope hath no body to forgive him, becaufc 
 none above him) He that connot remit the punifhments which 
 we fee , and feel, how (hall we believe him ( without any 
 Divine Testimony )that he can remit a penalty that he never faw 
 nor feit, nor nomanelfe, that can be proved. 
 
 H s fixch Accufation is [_ Scripture faith J f a Virgin marry jhe 
 ftnneth not : but yon fay that the'jufl fin in all works : which Scrip- 
 ture mentions not- ] 
 
 A»fn>. 1. Doyou believe in your Confcience that the Scrip- 
 ture meaneth that aVirgin finneth not at all in any circumftance 
 or defed in the manner or Concomitants of her Marriage ? 
 Then I pray tell your Nuns fo , that if they marry they fin not. 
 Tell Priells fo, that iff ^7 marry they fin not. Your own rea- 
 fon can exped no other fenfe in the words, but that Marriage, 
 asfptch, it no fin to the Virgin. And this we grant: But yet if 
 you think that in this or in any other work, you fee God as 
 apprehenfively , and believe as ftrongly, and reftrain every 
 
 wand ring: 
 
A Key for Catholicks. 1 8 
 
 wandring thought as exadly , and Love God as much as vcu 
 are bound to do by the very Law of Nature it felf ; fo tbac 
 you are perfedly blamelefs, and need not be beholden to the 
 blood of Chnft, to the Mercy of God , to the Spirit of Grace, 
 either for the forgivenefs of thefe failings •, or the cure of them, 
 you fhew then a proud Pharifaical fpint , unacquainted with 
 it felf and with theGofpel. Do you goon and fo\,LordI thanl^ 
 thee that I am not at other men'- and I will rather fay, Lord be 
 mercifullto me a [nner : and which (hall be rather juitified, 
 Chnrthatb told us. The ltreams cannot be perfectly fin!ef$, till 
 the fountain be fo : and [" who can fay , I have made mj heart 
 clean , 1 am pure [rem my fin ? Prov. 20. 9. J Q For there is 
 not a juft man upen earth , that doth good , and finneth not, 
 Eccl.j. 20 J Chjrift teUeth us that the fruit will be like the Tree, 
 the adions like the heart : and therefore an impcrfed Heart will 
 have im per fed duties. If you dare fay there is no remnant of 
 fin in your hearts you have fo much of it that hindereth you 
 from Jeeingit. Humility and felf-knowledge would foon end 
 this controverfie. We fay not that all our works are fins, that is, 
 either materially forbidden, or dene in trie kfdne[s, and from vi- 
 cious predominant habits ; But that the fame works which Ma- 
 terially are good , are tainteJ with our finfull imperfedions , 
 hiving not in them that meafure of knowledge, faith, love, tire 
 as we ought to have ; and therefore that we muft beg pardon 
 for our imperfedions , and fly to the blood and merits of 
 Chrifr. , through whom God will accept both our works and 
 us, for all the imperfedions, which he pardoneth to us of hi* 
 grace. 
 
 His feventh Accufation is [Scripture faith that there are wickc 
 edmen and reprobates , that believe in Chriji : But you contend 
 that they believe not , but have only a Jhadotvof faith : which no 
 Scripture [ait h. ~] 
 
 An f -0. Again , a quarrel about the name of faith , unworthy 
 fcrious men ! We fay that Reprobates do believe, and we fay 
 that they believe nor, taking belief in different fenfes. We be- 
 lieve whit ever the Scripture fiith , even that the Devils be- 
 lieve and tremble: and yec as Believers and Chriftians are all one, 
 we arc loath to call the Devils Believers and ( hriftians ,but vou 
 may do it, if\ouplea f e. As £«?/«/figmfiech a barcuneffedu- 
 
 Oo 3 all- 
 
,g6 J^eyfor Catkolich. 
 
 all convi&ionor [uperficial Affent which you c&Wfides informs, 
 
 foweilill contcfs that the wicked may believe. Bat us Belief 
 
 fignifieth our Receiving of Chr/fi^nd Coming to hint, and be- 
 
 in? planted into him as his members , and taking him heartily as 
 
 Chnfi, our Lord and Saviour, and fo becoming Christians and 
 
 Difciples 4 . as it fignifieth fuch a faith that hath the promife of 
 
 pardon of fin, of Adoption, and of Glory, fowefay that the 
 
 wicked have but a (hew or fhadow of it . And this is the fenfe of 
 
 the words of Calvin, P. Atari yr 7 Beza,and Dantus , whom 
 
 you cite. And do you not thifik fo your felves ? Indeed you know 
 
 not what to believe in this, as I have (hewed in Poftfcript to my 
 
 Difput. of Sacraments. 
 
 His eighth Accufation is this [Scripture faith, that there are 
 Come that believe for a time, And after at another time believe 
 •not. Ton deny that there are any that believe for a time, and 
 then fall from faith, and that he that once believeth doth ever 
 lofe that faith, which is not in any Scripture to be found. ] 
 
 Anfro.lt is too light in ferious matters, to playthusupon 
 words, i • We (till maintain that there are fome that believe but 
 for a time,and afterward fall away : but we fay it is but with an 
 uneffe&ual or common affent that they believe,fuch as you call 
 fides informis. Your accufation therefore is falfe. The femen vita 
 and faith that Calvin fpcaks of , in the place which you cite, is 
 meant only of a faving faith , fuch as you ct\\\ fides charitatefsr* 
 mat a. If any of you think that faith is called charitate formata, 
 or juftifying or faving faith , only by an extrinfecal deno- 
 mination , from a concomitant, and that there is no difference 
 in the faith it felf between that of the unjuftified and of the 
 juftified > you areraiftaken againftall reafon. Your own Phi- 
 lofophers frequently maintain that the will ( which is the feat 
 of charity ) followeth the practical dictates of the Intellect 
 ( which is the feat of Affent.) And therefore according to thofe 
 Philofophers , a Practical Belief muft needs be accompanyed 
 with charity. And thofe that deny this , do yet maintain that 
 a powerfull clear Affent of the Intellect will infallibly pro- 
 cure the determination of the Will^though every affent will not, 
 and though it do it not NecefTarily. So that on that account 
 ( and in common reafon ) there muft needs be an intrinfick dif- 
 ference between that Affent which prevaileth with the will to 
 
 determine 
 

 determine it felf, and that which cannot fo prevail : And there- 
 fore your unformed and your formed faith, have fome intrinfick. 
 difference. 
 
 2. the Lut her arts that are half the Proteftants, do think that 
 juftifying faith may be loft. So that (be it right or wrongj you 
 cannot charge this on them all. 
 
 3. The reft which be not of their mind, do hold a brotherly 
 communion with them ; and therefore take not that poiuc to be 
 of fo much moment as to break communion. 
 
 4. Are you not at odds among your fcl ves about perfeverancCN* 
 fome laying ic firft on mans freewill, and fome with Auftin, 
 afcertainin^ perfeverance to the Ele&,becaufe E!e&, and laying 
 it on Gods free Gift ^ and fome Jefuites and School men affirm- 
 ing that the confirmed irv Grace are not only certain to per- 
 fevere, but that they necefTarily believe and are faved, and 
 cannot mortally fin ( ftrange dodrine for a Jefuite I ) Of all 
 thiscontroverfieof perfeverance, I defire the Reader to fee a 
 few fheets called An Account of my judgement hereabout. When 
 I wrote thofe I knew not whom Alvarez, meant ( lib. 1 o. Dijp, 
 204. pag. 419. §. 1. de Auxil. ) When he difputed againft 
 this fore of men : But fince I find it in his Refponf. adObjetl.Lib* 
 2. cap. 9 pag. 522, &c. Where he tells us that it is the Jefuite 
 Greg, de Valentia,Tom. 2.difp.S. ej. 3. punil. 4. §.2. &Tom.t . 
 d 1. q. 23. puntt. 4. \\ 7. Vbi docet non folum ejfe pruletloj 
 Ht falventur , fed ut necejfario falventur, ac per confeqntns non 
 pojfe ptccare Mortalittr , & Necejfario perfeverare in gratia, 
 ac eatenm nonlibere, fed necejfario falvari. 
 
 And alfo that he meant Alexand. Alef. 3-p.q. 9. Et Almain 
 in 3. d. 11.^. 2. Qui ajferunt confirmatos in Gratia r.on habere 
 Jibertatem,&c. J$U4m fententiam AieSna impugnat.l.p.ej.T/J. 
 art. 4. 
 
 This is more then Proteftants fay , And yet will you 
 qaarrell ? 
 
 His ninth Accufation is this Q Scripture faith , If thou wilt 
 enter into life , keep the commandments : Tan fay that there is 
 no need of keeping the Ctmmandments, and that he that faith, it- 
 doth deny Chriflanu Abolijh faith, of which the Scripture fp eaketh' 
 not a word. ~\ 
 
 A*fw t Still confufion playes your gaaQe , and you ftrive 
 
 attract 
 
288 A f\ey for Qa tvmuks . 
 
 about wc rdf. We diflinguifh between the kiepingof that Law 
 of Works, or Nature , which made perfetl cbccL trice the only condi- 
 tion of Life : and the keeping of the L-.iw e/Mofcs as fuch , and 
 the keeping of the LawefChrifl. For the two ririt , we fay 
 that no man can be juihtied by the works of the Law. Is this a 
 doubt among PdpiOs, that believe Pauls Epiftles ? But as for 
 the Law of Chrijl 3 as fuch % wemuft endeavour to keep it per- 
 feclly ( chats neceflary neceffitate pracepti; ) and rauft needs 
 keep it fincerely [ neceffitate medd ) if we will be faved. This 
 a!i Proteflants that ever I fpoke with are agreed in : And dare 
 any Papill deny it ? If we be not all ( nor you neither) agreed 
 on the fenfe of that text of Scripture, yet arc we agreed on the 
 dodrine, and yet you quarrel. 
 
 His tenth Accufation is [Scripture faith, that feme that were 
 ilium' nated and made partakers of the Holj Ghofl, did fall , and 
 crucifie again to themfelves the Son of God- Butjou defend t th At 
 whoever is once partaker of the HoljGhofl , cannot fall from hit 
 Grace : which Scripture fpeaketh net. ~\ 
 
 slnfw. The fame again : and a meer untruth 1 We fill main- 
 tain that thofe words of Scripture are of certain truth. But 
 wedifUnguifh between the common and the fpeciall gifts of the 
 Spirit. The common gifts may be loll: we never denyed it : 
 The fpecial gifts that accompany falvation , fome of us judge 
 are never loft: others ofui think are left only by tho e that 
 are not predeftinate, as Auflin thoughr,and your Dominicans 
 think. And what caufe is here of your quarrel! ? 
 
 His eleventh Accufation is this [ Scripture faith that God 
 takttharvaj, undblotteth out our iniquity as a cloud'- and puts 
 our iniquities far from us , as the Eaft is from the Wefl, and 
 maketh tu as white as f how ; Teu fay, that he takes not away , nor 
 blotteth out our fin, but only doth not impute it , and doth not make 
 m white as f*ow t but leaveth in us the fault and nncleanefs of fin ; 
 which Scripture no where fpeakj. J 
 
 tstfnfw. This is half faljbood t and half confufion, raked up to 
 make a matter of quarrel with. i. Itsfalfe that we fay, He doth 
 not take away , nor blot out our fin, nor make us white as [now : 
 Do notaliProteftants in the wottd affirm all this? 2. There are 
 thefe things here confiderable. 1. The Ad offin. 2. The Ha- 
 bit, 3. The guile, or obligation to punifhment. 4. Thecul- 
 
 pabilicy, 
 
 
J. i\ey for Qatholicks. 2 80 
 
 pability, or reatus culpa. 1. As for the Acl, how csn you for 
 (hamc fay, th.it God takes it away, when it is a tranfient all that 
 is gone of it felf as foon as acted, and hath no exigence, as Sco- 
 tus and all your#own take not ce. 2. As to the Culpability^ 
 you will not fure for fhsme fay, that God lb put away e'.f. 
 Davids Adultery, astomske it reputable as a virtue, or not a 
 vice. 3. As to the Reatus ad p&nam, the full Guilt, we man. 
 cam that it is done quite aw-iy : and it your eyes be in your head, 
 you may fee that it is in regard of this guilt and punifhweot 
 that the Scriptures mentioned by yotr fpeak ( or principally 
 fpeak at lealt ) For I pray you tell u«, what eife can they 1 
 when they fpeak of adual fins that are part long ago, and have 
 noexiftence. Learned wranglers 1 would you make us believe, 
 that Grace is given to David to put away the Ad of h s Mur- 
 der and Adulrery-> fo that it may be quid pr&terit urn , g* nen jam 
 exijiens ? a thing paft and gone, which it is without grace? 
 fo that when you feign us to fay, that godtak.es not away fin, but 
 only not imputeth it , you feign us to make fynonymal terrm to 
 he of different iences. He takes them away by not imputing 
 them. 
 
 4. But if you fpeak not of the fence of a particular Text, 
 but of the Aiatter in difference, it can be nothing but the habit 
 of iinthat you mean, chat we fay, that God takes not array. And 
 here you play partly the Calumniators,and partly the erroneous 
 Pharifees. 1. You Calumniate, in feigning us io deny, that habi- 
 tual [mis done away. Becaufe our Divines fav, that it it not the 
 work of meer pardon ( which we call Juittiication ) to put it 
 away, therefore you falfly fay, that we hold it is not put away 
 at all : whereas we hold ( without one contradicting vote tha; 
 ever 1 read or heard ) that all that are fuftified, are SanFnfied, 
 Converted, Regenerate, Renewed, and wuft live an kly life-. And 
 1 hat all thtir finsare (o far deftroyed, that tbev (hall no: have 
 dominion over them .-that Grofs and Wilfull fin theyforfake, 
 and the lealt infirmities, they groan, snd pray, and ftrive rg^init 
 tothelal>,and then obtain a perfect conquelt. 2. But if you 
 m:zn,thatr\o degree of habitual sr di/pcftiive f.n, or abfence of 
 h:ly qual ties remaineth'xn th£juitified foul, it is a Pharafaical 
 error, yea worfe then a Pharifecdurft have owned. And it fectus 
 this h your meaning ,by the words of Calvim which \ ou u':e. 
 
 Pp And 
 
290 A l\eyforCdtholicks. 
 
 And dare you fay that you ha»e no fin to rehir, or purge, or 
 pardon ? Are you in Heaven already ? The whole have no need 
 of the Phyfitian, but the Tick: and have you no need of Chriftto 
 heal your foul ? would you be no better then you are ? O proud 
 fouls! and ftrange to themselves and the purity of the Law ! 
 Kith not the Holy Ghoft pronounced him a Lyar and Self de- 
 ceiver, that faith he hath no fin, I Jeh.l.S.lO. In mwy things we 
 offend 4//,J.im.3.2. 1 fhailbut recite to you two Canons of a 
 C ril, which if youufe the Lords prayer, are fit for you to 
 confider. Concil. Mtlevit. cont. Pelagianos Can.'] '. [Item placu- 
 tt, ut quicunj { dixerit in Oration; Dominica ideo dicere fanclos y Di- 
 mitte nobis Debita nefira, nt non prefeipfis hoc dicant, quia non eft 
 u \am necejfaria ifla^fed pro aliis, qui funt in fuo populo pecca- 
 n !,& ideo non dicere unumquemque fanZtorum , Dimitte mihi 
 debit a me a. ; fed Dimitte nobis debita r>o{fra y tit hoc pro aliis pot'uts 
 quam profe Jufius petere intelligatur, Anathema, fit. 
 
 Can. 8. ItempUcuit, ut quicunque verba ipfa Dominica Orati- 
 on'u, ubi dicimus, Dimitte nobis debita nofira, i(ta volunt h SanUis 
 aid, Ut humiliter, non vtraciter hecdicatur, Anathema, fit. ffluys 
 enim ferat Or a* tern, & non hominibus, fed ipji Domino mentien- 
 tem, cjm Ubi is fibi dicit dimitti velle, & Corde dicit, qua ftbi di- 
 mittantur debita non habere ? ] 
 
 V . u fee here the Council curfeth all thofe as intolerable Ly- 
 srs, that fay the Lords prayer, defiring him daily to forgive or 
 remit rhcrllns, and yet think that they have no fins to forgive, 
 yea or that every Saint bath not fuch fins. What can a Papift 
 fay CO th<f, but by making Councils as void of fence, as they 
 feign the holy Scriptures to be ? 
 
 His twelfth and laft Accufation is this [ The Scripture faith, 
 that Bltfftdnefs is the Reward, the Prize, the Penny, the wages of 
 Laborers, and the Crown of Righteoufnefs : you contend that its 
 meerly the fret lift of God, and not a ReWard, which no Scripture 
 doth affirm J 
 
 Anfw. A n>eer Calumny, and perverting of Calvir.s words, 
 who ohen faith, as we conftantly do, that Eternal lift is given as 
 a Rewar) a»d Crown of Righteoufnefs. But we diftingujfti be- 
 tween the Aftof God'm his Gofpel Promife, which is a Conditio- 
 nil Dtcd of Gift of Chrift and Life to all that will Accep: them, 
 and the execution of this by Judgement and Glorification. And 
 
 we 
 
A I\ey for iatholu ks. 291 
 
 we fay char it was Anteccdentcr meerly of Gods free Grace that 
 be nude fttch a Ded of Gift ( the blood of ChfUt be:ng the 
 piu chafing caufe, } and nothing of our works had a haftdin 
 thvf procurement ( Dare you deny this ? ) Bik that our Jnfii- 
 fication .n Judgement, and our Glorifi:ation, which are the Exe- 
 cution of the Law or' Grace, do make our works the Renfon ; 
 not as having merited it ex proportion oper is, or in Commutative 
 fujlice , but as having performed the condition of the free Gift, 
 and fu being she perfons to whom it doth belong. And this is 
 the fenfeof Scotm and of onehalf of the Paptfts, ( for (till you 
 are together by the ears ) who fay that M^ri: of Ccndignitj 
 is but ex pafto by venue of Gods Prom if*. 
 
 And now I ieaveitto the Confciencc of any fobcr Pi pill, whe- 
 ther we be guilty in any one point that this g eat Cardinal 
 chargeth us with t And whether Papiits and ProteAants were 
 not in a fair way for reconciliation , if we differed not more in 
 other things rhen inchefe? 
 
 And here again I rauft let them know , thit Scripture only 
 is the Rule and Telt of our laith and Religion. Their Po/idor 
 Virgil in this fpeaks truly of us, faying [The} are called Evan- 
 gelical, becaufe they maintain that no Law is to be received in 
 matters of Salvation , but what is delivered by C\orifi or his 
 Apefiles^ ( fo laplefs and pucidis their fcornofthe Evange- 
 lium qttititum. ) If therefore Luther , Calvin , or any man 
 (peak many word amifs , blame the roan that (poke it for that 
 word; but blame not all, or any others for it, if^ouaremen. 
 Anflm Retracted his own errors, and which of us dare Juili- 
 fie every word that hath fain from our mouths or pen, before 
 God? How many hundred points do Schoolmen and Com- 
 mentators charge on one another as Erroneous, among your- 
 felves? (hall all the error* of the Fathers be charged ontheCa- 
 tholick Church, or all your writers errors upon yours ? 
 
 And that we do well to ftick to the Holy Scriptures as the 
 fufficient Rule, we are the more encouraged to think, by the 
 conceffions of our adverfariesofgreatcftNote ( as well as by 
 theTeftimony of the Scripture it (elf, and the concent of the 
 ancient Do&ors of the Church , and the unproved nefs of 
 of their pretended addttionals. ) Among others even this 
 great Cardinal Richliea faith thus, pag. 38. [Nos ant cm nulUm 
 
 Pp 2 aliam, 
 
291 a K?y f oy C at ^ tc ^- 
 
 aliam,&C.\.e. As for uswtpttt (orajf,rt ) no ether Rule but 
 Scripture, neither of another fort, nor total: Tea we fay that it k 
 the Whole Rule of our Salvation : and that on a double account , 
 both becaufe it containeth immediately and formally the fumm of 
 car falvation ; that it, all the Articles that are neceffary to mans 
 falvation, by necefftty of means ( N. B. ) and becaufe it medi' 
 ately containeth whatfoever we are bound to believe, as it fends us 
 to the Church to bcinfirutledby her, of whefe infallibility it cer- 
 tainly con(irmeth us- ] 
 
 Note here thic 1. He grants us that all Articles neceffary to 
 our Salvation, as Means, are immediatly and formally in the 
 Scripture.- And then furely they may be faved that believe no 
 more then is in the Scripture: 2. That we are to believe no 
 Church but that which rhe Scripture fends us to, and to believe 
 its infallibility no further then the Scripture doth confirm if. 
 And that the Scripture is our whole and only Rule. O that all 
 Papifts would ftand to this ! But let them not blame us now for 
 ftandingtoit. Had this Cardinal! done no more by Policie and 
 Power then by Difputing againft the Reforraation,he might ea- 
 fily have b:en dealt with. 
 
 Chap. XL. 
 
 Detecl. 31. A Nother of their frauds is, By ranking the Prote- 
 1~\ ftants among the rabble of Setls and Here fie s 
 that are in the war Id, and then asking ignorant fouls, If you will 
 needs be of any feci , how many are here before you ? and 
 what reason have you rather to be of the Protefiants y then of 
 any othtr ? 
 
 Anfto .Indeed this queftion is worth the confidering by aPapift, 
 or any ft&ary ; but the true Catholick is quite out of the reach 
 of it. The Church of Chrift is One.and but One. This one Ca- 
 tholick Church containeth all the true Chriftians in the world. 
 This is theChurch that I am a member of,which is far wider then 
 the Roman Church. The Church thatlprofefs my felfa mem- 
 ber of, containeth three parts ; 1. The mo$ fonnd and healthfull 
 
 parti 
 
A l\ey for Catholicks. 29$ 
 
 part-, and that is the Reformed Churches- 2. The meji unfound in 
 doclrine , though pofTeft of many Learned men ; and ;hat is the 
 Papifis them/elves - y ( not ds P 'apijl s (imply, bur as Qhrijiians, 
 though infeded with Popery. ) 3. The middle part > which is 
 founder then the Papifts in dodrine, but lefs learned ; and be- 
 low the Proteftants in both : and that is all the Greek* and other 
 Eaftern&nd Southern Cheches that are no fubjedsof the Pope. 
 All thele, even all true Chriftians, are members cf the Church 
 that 1 belong to, though fome of them be more found , and fomc 
 be leprous or lamentably polluted. Tothefel may add many 
 particular lefTer k&s t that fubvert not the foundation, as fome 
 Anabap:ifts, and divers others. And will you ask me now why 
 I will not be of another fed,as well as of the ProteftanB ? Why, 
 my anfwer is ready : ASed divided from the body, I abhor -^ 
 I am of noSeS, It is the Unity, Univerfality and Antiquity of 
 the Church that are its honourable attributes in my eyes. Pro- 
 ttftants that unchurch all the reft of the world, and count them* 
 felves the whole Church of Chrift, do in fome fort make them- 
 felve* aScd : But where is there any fuch ? I know none fuch, 
 nor I hope ever (hall do : And therefore I may fay that Prote- 
 fhnts are no more a fed,then the Patients in an Hofpital that are 
 alraoft healed, or then the higher form of Scholars in a fchool, 
 or then the Merchants or richer fort of Tradefmen in a City - 
 And fuch a Sed God grant thst I may be of, even one in the 
 * hurch that fhall be of founded: underftanding , and of pureft: 
 worfhip, and of the moft careful), holy,honeft life; But ftill I 
 {hall acknowledge them of the loweft form, even them that-learn 
 the A. B.C. to be in the fame School with me : And if they 
 ( Papiftsorany others ) will declaim me, that (hill not un- 
 church me, as long as Chrift difchims me not : Nor fhail it pro« 
 vokeme to difclaim them any further then I fee Chrift leading 
 me the way.So that the Papifts mjy fee that if they will deny the 
 Church that I am of,they muft deny their own,and a 1 the Chri- 
 ftian world. 
 
 But how will they anfwer this themfelvesr'Serioufly I profefr, 
 that befides their other errors, it is one of the g r eateft reafons 
 whyldare not be a Papift, becaufethen I know I muft be 
 a Sedary. What is a Papift but as meer a fedary as any that 
 rctaineth a name in the Church ? They are a company of men 
 
 P? 3 
 
294 Af\eyfor Catfolkks. 
 
 that have fe:up a Humane Ufurping Head or Vice-chrift over 
 the Cathoiick Church, owning him therafelve^ and unchurching 
 and condemning ail the Church that will notownfrm. The 
 Church tint I am of is neer thrice as big as the PapUts Church 
 is. Theirs is but a piece,and a polluted piece, that would divide 
 it feif from all che reft by condemning them. 
 
 And now I would feriouily delire any Papift living to refolve 
 thequeftson, if he will needs be of a kh , and rorfake the Uni- 
 verfal Church, why of the Popifh fed rather then another? If 
 becaufe it is thegreateft;,I anfwer, itslefs then the whole. If 
 becaufe it is the pureft, it is one of the molt impure : If for An- 
 nuity , it is founded ( as Papal ) upon Novelty. If becaufe 
 it is the Richeft, their money perifh with them that roeafure the 
 Church and truth of Chrift by the Riches and fplendor of this 
 world. For my part I cannot help you out of this fnare. 
 
 Chap. XLI. 
 
 Detett. 32. \ Nother of their juglingsis, By-working upon 
 XJL the peoples natural affettiws, andaskjngthem^ 
 Where they thinks all their fore-fathers are that dyed in the com' 
 munion of the Roman Church} Dare they thinkjhey are all damned* 
 Intimating that its cruelty to fay their anceHors are in Hell °, and 
 if they fay they be in Heaven, then there is but one way thither, 
 and therefore you mud go the way that they went. 
 
 But a weak underftanding may eafily deal with this kind of 
 Sophiftry,if it be not mattered by affedion. For 1. What if we 
 grant that many of cur fore-fathers that dyed Papifts are in 
 Heaven? Doth it follow that we rauft therefore be Papifts ? 
 No •* becaufe it was not by Popery that they came to Heaven , 
 but by Chriftianity. What if many recover and live that eat not 
 only Earth and Dirt, but Hemlock or Spear- wort, or other poy- 
 fons ; rauft I therefore eat them ? Or doth it foiiow chat there 
 is no other way to health ? 
 
 2. Our fore-fathers were all faved that were holy , juftified 
 perfons, and no others. But among fo many and great impedi- 
 ments as Popery caft in their way, we hare great reafon to fear 
 that far fewer of them were faved , then are now among the 
 
 Reformed 
 
A t\ey for Qatholkks. 1 9 J 
 
 Reformed Churches. And mufti needs go that difficult way to 
 Heaven , beciufe that fome of them get thither ? Muft I needs 
 travail a way that is commonly befet with thieves, becaufe fome 
 that go that way dofcapethcm ? This is our cafe. 
 
 3 .If this were a good way of Reafonjng,then may all the Hea< 
 thens, Infidels, Mabo.7ietan§,ufe it, that have been educated in 
 darknefs. And indeed it is the Argument which the barbarous 
 Heathens ufe, when theGofpelis preached to them; [ what 
 thinks jou, fay they, is become of our fathers f If they were faved 
 without the Gcfpel , fo may we. ] The ftory of that Infidel 
 Prince is common, that being ready to go co the water to be 
 baptized, ftept back, and asked, where art ail my Anceftors norv ? 
 And when he was told that they were in Hell, and that the Chri- 
 ftians go to heaven, he told them then he would be no Chriftian, 
 for he would go where his Anceftors are. 
 
 4. If this be good reafoning, then we may nfe it much more 
 then you . For we would ask you , where be all our fore- fathers 
 that are dead iinee the Reformation f and where be all thofe 
 that dyed between theRefwre&ion ofChrift and the appearing 
 ofPopery, or the prevailing 01 r it in the world } And wherebe 
 all that die in the Eaftern and Southern Churches, that are no 
 fubjedsof the Pope of Rome} Havewc not as little realon to 
 think that ail thefe millions of men are damned, as to think fo 
 of our Popiih Anceftors. 
 
 5. Why (hould we be more foolifh for our fouls then for our 
 bodies ? I would not be poor becaufe my Anceftors were fo r 
 Nor would I have the Stone or Gout becaufe ray Anceftors had 
 them ; Nor will I fay thac they are no difeafes , for fear of dif- 
 honouring my Anceftors that had them. And why then (hould 
 I willfully lick up any Popifti errors , becaufe my Anceftors 
 by the difadvantage of the times and of their education were 
 caft upon them. 
 
 tf.Itis not our fore fathers but God that we muft follow. 
 It is he, and not they, that is the Lord of our faith and of our 
 fouls. It willnotexcufeus in judgement for difobeying God, 
 to fay that our fore-fathers led us the way ; Nor will it eafe us 
 in. Hell to fufTer withour fore-fathers. Chrift rel!sus,Z»^e 16.. 
 of a Rich man that in Hell wouid have had hi* brethren warned, 
 left they (hould follow him : But thefe men would have us r<> 
 
 follow 
 
q6 A Kjy for Catbolicks. 
 
 fellow our fore- fathers, even in their fin againft God. Whereas 
 the Scriptures conftantly make it an aggravation of a peoples fin, 
 when thev follow their fathers in it,& take not warning by their 
 fulls. The femjb Chriftisns were redeemed from the vain conver- 
 Jation received by Tradition from their fathers, I Pet. 1. 1 S.Stephen 
 tells the 'fiws y Ac~t.7.$ 1,52. \_Asyour Fathers diJ,fo do ye: which of 
 the Prophtts have not your Fathers perfecuted>]Cbr[{i condemnech 
 the fews for allow. ng the deeds of their fathers. LhI^. i 1 .47,48. 
 Mat.zi . 3 2. Nay God askcth wicked men where their fathers are, 
 with a dean contrary meaning to this qucftion of the Papifts, 
 ^Zich.I.4,5 5 6.7"«r/j unto me faith the LordofHofls.be not as pur 
 
 fathers unto whom the former Prophets have cry ed t Tum jour 
 
 fathers, where are thej y and the Prophets , do the) live for ever}~^ 
 
 Ez;k. 20. 18,27, 30. [Ifaidunto their children, wal\ je 
 
 not in the Statutes of your Fathers , neither ohftrve their judge- 
 ments, wr defile your felveswhh their Idols : I am the Lordymr 
 
 God, walk^ inmy Statutes 3°* Sayuntothehoufeof[(r&e\ % 
 
 Thus faith the Lord God ; Are ye polluted after the manner 
 of your fathers ? and commit ye whoredom after their abomina- 
 tions ? jer.44.9. \_Have ye forgotten the wickednefs of your fa- 
 thers They are not humbled even to this day ]Thc iS.of Bzek. 
 
 is almoft all of this , thac the fon that followeth hts father in 
 his fins, fhatldie, and he that takes warning andavoideth his 
 fathers fins, (hall live. A hundred morefuch texts there are. 
 
 7. Our fore- fathers might befaved that finned in the dark, 
 and yet we be damned if we will follow them in the Light, or at 
 leaft we fhall be beaten with more (tripes then they, if both muft 
 perifh. They had not our means, or liberty : If they had feen 
 and 'heard what we have done, many of them would have re- 
 pented long ago in fackdoth andafhes. Shall we fin wilfully 
 after the knowledge of the Truth, becaufe our fathers finned ig- 
 norantly for want of information? 
 
 Ch a p. XLII. 
 
 Detect. 3 3 . A Nother of their frauds is, By pretending to a Di- 
 
 J7\.vine Inflitution and Natural excellency of a vi- 
 
 fihk Monarchical government of the Church, And fo they 
 
 would 
 
A K^y for Catbolicks. 297 
 
 would derive it from ?cter,from Chrifi yes from Nature, *nd God 
 the Author of Nature. 
 
 All their writings take this as their ftrength. I fhalJat this 
 time tie my felf to Boverius his Cheating ConfultatUn , de Rati* 
 one ver*fidei,&c. aA faro turn Principcm, intended for thj per- 
 verting of our late King then in Spain. 
 
 In bis Tart. I . Reg.6. he aflferteth that \befides Chrifi the in. 
 vifible Head of the Church, there is a necejfitj that we acknow- 
 ledge another certain vifible Head fpibrogate to Chrift, and in (I i* 
 tuted of him , without which none can he a member of fhrifi, or 
 any way fubftfi alive."] (Yet Cardinal Richlieu will not have 
 the Pope called Another Head.) 
 
 He begins his proof with a cheat, as grofs as common, even 
 an abufeof Cyprians words, /. i.Ep. 3. where C;/>W4* fpeaks 
 for the neceflity of obeying 0«f in the Church, meaning a par- 
 tic ular Church, (as the whole fcope of his Epiftle teftifiethj .♦ 
 And this man would make them fimple believe that he fpeaks of 
 the Vniverfal Church. 
 
 His Reafons proceed thus : Firfi (p. 128. Sec.) he tells «/, 
 thit^the invifibleGod thinks meet to Govern the world by vifible 
 menT\ Anfw. And who denies that Chrift alfo governeth his 
 Church by men ? 
 
 But he concludeth hence \_Num alia rations , &c. Shall we 
 believe that Chrifi doth govern his Church in another way then 
 God governcth the whole World ?~\ Anfw. Reader, doth not this 
 man give up thecaufe of the Pope, and fay as much againft 
 it fundamentally as a Proteftant ? Saith Boverins [We mufi 
 not believe that Chrifi doth govern the Church in another 
 way then God doth govern the world,] But (faith common fenfe 
 and experience ) God dsth not govern the whole world by any 
 one ( or t#o , or ten ) Vniverfal Vice-monarch : Therefore 
 Chrifi doth not Govern the Church by any one Vniverfal Vice- 
 monarch. 
 
 His next ReaCon is, \_Becaufe Chrift was a vifible Monarch 
 once on earth himfelf. And if the Qhurch had need of a vifible 
 Monarch thin.it hath need of it fiill.] Anfw. 1. Here the Rea. 
 der may fee, that it is to no lefs then to be Chrifts fuccefTor , or 
 a Vice-chriir, that the Pope pretendeth. And then the Rea- 
 for, if it were of any worth, would as well prove, that there 
 
 Q^q rauft 
 
ip 8 A I\ey for Qatholick- 
 
 mutt be one on earth ftill that may give theHolyGhoft imme- 
 diately, and make Articles of Faith de novo, and Laws for the 
 Church (with promife of Salvation) and may appoint new Of- 
 fices and orders in the whole Church, &c. And why not one 
 alfo to live without (in, and to die for our fins, and rife again, 
 and be our Saviour ? And why not one to give us his own body 
 and blood in the Sacrament ? 
 
 2. Chrift himfelf doth oppofe himfelf to all terreftrial inha- 
 bitans , faying, Omtsyonr Mafter, even Chrift.] And what 
 then ? why Be not je called Mtfters ? But he that is greateft 
 among yon, Jb.dl be jottr fervant. And Be not je called Rabbi, 
 for one is your Mafter, even Chrift , and all je are Brethren,'} 
 Mac. 23. 8.9, 10, 11, 12. where moft evidently he fhews 
 thac net her Peter , or any of his own Difciples were to be 
 called Matters, as Chrift was, nor was any fucb to be on earth, 
 and fono Vice chrift ; yea that all his Apoftle* being Brethren, 
 were not to be Matters one to another, but fervants : fo thac 
 here is a plain bar put in agamft any of Peters Mafterfhip or 
 Hea.fh pof theUiiverfal Church. 
 
 3 . We do on thefc and many other Reafons, deny your con- 
 fluence. It follows not that we muft {till have a Chrift on 
 earth, becaufeweonce had. 
 
 4. Cbrift hath chofen another Vicar ( though invifiblej as 
 Tcrtullian calls him : and that is, the Holy Qhoft, whom he fent 
 to makeiuch fupplyas was neceflary, by various gifts propor- 
 tioned tothefeveral ftates and members of the Church. 
 
 5. If Chnlt would have left a Vice-cbrift upon earth, which 
 (hould have been an Efpntial part , even the Head of his 
 Church-, he would doubt lefs have plainly exprefied it in Scri- 
 pture, anddefcribed his Office and Power, and given him di- 
 rections to exercife it , and us directions how to know which is 
 he, and to obey him : But there is not a word of any fuch mat- 
 ter in the Scripture, (nor Antiquity,) when yet it is a point 
 ('if true ) of fuch unfpeakable importance. 
 
 6. You might at well feiga , that if it were then nectfTary to 
 have twelve or thirteen Apoftles, itisfoftill: and if then it wa* 
 neceflary to have the gift of tongues and miracles, it is fa (till : 
 which yet the Pope himfelf is void of. 
 
 7. It is not enough for your filly wit, to lay its fit that Cbrift 
 
 have 
 
A Key for Qatholkks. 299 
 
 have a Sttccejfor , therefore he bath one : but lee him that claim- 
 eth fo high an honour as to be the Vice-chrift , produce his 
 Commiffion,and prove his claim if he will be believed. 
 
 8. Chrift is ftill the vifible Head of his Church, ken in Hea- 
 ven, and as much feen over all the world , except Judea and 
 Egypt , aseverhewas. When he was on earth, he was not vi- 
 fible at Rome, Spain, Afia,&c. He that is Emperor of the 
 Turkifh Monarchy, perhaps was never perfonally an hundred 
 miles from Conftantinople. The King of Spain is no vifible Mo- 
 narch in the W( ft- Indies. And if all the world except fudea 
 might be without a Prefent C hrift , then why that may not as 
 well as the reft, youmuft give him an account, if you will tie 
 him to be here refidenr. 
 
 9. And yet if the Pope would ufurp no more Power then 
 Chrift exercifed vifibly on earth, it would not be all fo bad as 
 it is or huh been. He would not then divide inheritances , nor 
 be a temporal Prince, nor wear a Triple Crown, nor keep fo 
 glorious a Court and Recinue,nor depofePrinces,nor deny them 
 tribute, nor exempt his Prelates from it, nor from their judge- 
 ment Seats, nor abfolve their Subje&s from their fidelity, &c. 
 nor trouble the world as now he doth .♦ He would not exercife 
 the power of putring any to death : much lefs would he fet up 
 Inquifitions, to burn poor people for reading the Scriptures,or 
 no being of his mind. 
 
 Pag. 13 3. He makes Chrift the vifible Pope while he was on 
 earth, and tells us that Promulgating the Co/pel , finding Apa~ 
 files , infiittiting Sacraments , &c. were Pontificalia munera, 
 Papal Offices. Anfw. And indeed was Chrift a Pope ? and is 
 the Pope a Chrift ? Jefus I know, and Peter and Paul I know : 
 but this Vice-chrift I know not. I f indeed the Vice-chrift have 
 power to do thefe Papal works, to promulgate a new Gofpel,to 
 fend out Apoftles , to inftitute Sacraments, &c. as C hritt did, 
 let us but know which be the Popes Sacraments , and which be 
 Chrifts; which be the Popes Apoftles, and which be Chriftj- and 
 which is the Popes Gofpel, and which is Chrifts, and we (hall 
 ufe them accordingly. The LawandTeftimonj will help us to 
 difiinguifh them. 
 
 Pag. 134. He comes to prove that Chrift hath a Succrjfor ■ 
 and his firft proof is from Mic. 2. Let the Reader pcrufe ir.and 
 
 Q.q - judge 
 
joo A K?yf or Catbolicks. 
 
 judge without any help of mine, what proof there is that the 
 Pope is a Vice-chrift. 
 
 The next is in Hofea x. which fpeaketh of the return 
 of the Jfraelites from Captivity. Let the Reader make his 
 bed on it for the Pope , for I think it not worth my labour 
 to confute the Papifts impudent perverting fuch Texts as 
 thefe. 
 
 By the way he tells us fas Card. Richlieu and the reft com- 
 monly do) that [jts no dijhonour to Cbrifi to have a Deputy, no 
 wore then for the King of England to have a Deputy , or Vice- 
 kjngin Ireland.] Anfa. i. But our firft queftion is, Whether 
 de tz&ofuch a thing be t Prove that Chrift bath Coratniffioned 
 a Vice-chrift, and we will not prefumeto fay that he hath dif- 
 honoured himfelf. 
 
 2. Though it ftiould not difhonour Chrift, it is fuch a tran- 
 fcendent honour to man, as we will not believe that any man 
 hath, that proveth not his claim. It was no difhonour to the 
 Godhead to be united to the manhood of Chrift in Perfonal 
 union; but if the Pope fay, that the Godhead is thus united 
 to his m?nhood, verily I will not believe him. 
 
 %. Though we fhould not haveprefumed to queftion Chrift 
 if he had done it, yet we muft prefume to tell the Pope that he 
 is guilty of difhonouring Chrift by his ufurpation. i. Becaufe 
 he fets up himfelf as Vice chrift , without his Commiflxon; 
 and takes that to himfelf, that is, Chrifts Prerogative. God 
 faith, This is my beloved Son in whom J am weft- p leafed, Hear 
 him] And the Papifts fay of the Pope, Thu ii the Vice'chrifi y 
 Hear him] 2. Becaufe the Power of a King is more communi- 
 cable, then the Power of Chrift, it being fuch as is fit for one 
 meer man as well as for another. But the Power of Chrift is 
 fuch as no meer man is fit for. The capacity of the Sub je& is 
 Confiderable as NccciTary to the reception of the form of 
 Power. He that is God as well as Man is fit for an Univerfal 
 Monarchy, when he that is meer man is not. From whence we 
 argue thus. 
 
 If there was never fuch a thing by Gods inftitution as a 
 meer man to be the Chrift or Univerfal Head o/the Church, 
 then there is no fuch thing to be imagined now : But there never 
 was fuch a thing ; Therefore there is no fuch- ■ — ~ 
 
 Chrift 
 
A l\ey for Catholicks. joi 
 
 Chrift that was the vifible Head was God and Man : when 
 the Pope is fo, we will believe in him as his Succeflbr. 
 
 4. It would mine the Church to have built on fo fandy a foun- 
 dation , and to have laid fo much work on one that is fo unable 
 to perform it. Doubtlefs common reafon tells us, that if God 
 made any one man the Monarch of the whole world (efpecially 
 leaving his Comraifiion as obfeure, as the Popes is, were it any) 
 and (hould not give him a divine or fupra-humane ftrength to 
 execute it, it would be the confufion of the world. I am rot 
 well acquainted with the Power of Angels ; but I hope without 
 dilhonouring them , I may fufped, that the due managing of 
 fuch anil niverfal Monarchy is above their abilities .• At lea It I 
 am confident, it is an honour that their Modefty and Reverence 
 of Chrift will not permit them to own, as the Pope doth. If 
 this Vice-chrift be not a falfe Chrift, he may apply that of Heb. 
 1 . [Being made fo much better then Angels, as he hath by in- 
 heritance obtained a more excellent name then they : For unto 
 ■which of the Angels [aid heat anytime'] thou art the Succeflbr 
 of Chrift, thou art the Univerfal Head of the Church ? Whether 
 the Pope will be called the Vice-fon of God , the Vice-faviour, 
 and fay, [Let all the Angels rror /hip him; fit then on mj right 
 hand., &c] I leave to his modelty to confider ? But I muft 
 profefs here to the Reader, that though my modefty and con- 
 fcioufnefs of ray weaknefs, hath made me fo fufpicious , left I 
 underftand not the Apocalips , as to fufpend my judgement, 
 whether the Pope be the Antichrift , the Beaft, &c. yet the 
 reading of their ferious imraodeft arguings, to prove the Pope 
 to be the Vice-chrijlon Earthy doth exceedingly more increafe 
 myfofpicion that he is 7^ Amichriji. For to be Peters Suc- 
 ceflbr, as aflrftApoftle, is a' contemptible thing in thefe men 
 eyes. This is not it that they plead for. Bellarmine (ubi fupr.) 
 exprefly tells us, that the Pope fuccceds not Peter as an Apoftle. 
 No, it is as a Vice-chriji to the whole Church, as "Boverins here 
 profetfedly maintaineth. And this they make the Foundation 
 of their Catholick Church, and the acknowledgement of it Ef- 
 fential to every member of it. Which I even tremble to read 
 and think of. 
 
 Next Boveritts comes to bis proofs from the New-Teftarrenr. 
 And thofe are the fame that I have anfwered (as Bellarmine s) 
 
 QLCJ3 in 
 
302 A Key for Catholicks. 
 
 in my [Safe Religion^ and are an hundred times anfwered by our 
 writers , and therefore the Reader may excufe me, if I put him 
 to no long trouble about them. 
 
 The firftistheold \_Tues Petrus, &inhancVevc&m. &c] 
 Anfw. i . He doth not fay [ Thou art Chrift, or the Vice-chrift,or 
 my Succejfor , or the Vniverfal Monarch of the Church : No 
 fuch words at thefe. 2. Ic is Chrift himfelf here that is called the 
 Reck_, and not Peter, cj. d. [Thy name is Peter who confejfeft 
 me, in allufion to which I tell thee, that I whom thou haft confef- 
 ftdamVetva, the Rock^ upon which I will build me a Church t 
 rvhich the gates of Hell Jhall not prevail againft.] As the Apoftle 
 faith of the fpiritual Roc^ i Cor. 10. That Rockjvas Chrift.'] 
 So may I of this. 
 
 3 . But if it had been fpoken of Peter, ic had been no more 
 then is fpoken of the otherApoftles,on whom as on a Foundation 
 the Church is faid to be built Jefus Chrift himfelf being the head 
 corner {tone, Eph. 2. 20. 
 
 But what need we more.if we put nor out our eyes,then to 
 find in all the New Teftament, that Peter was never called or 
 taken for a Vice-chrift by the Apoftles, ( unlefs Secundum quid, 
 as every EmbafTader of Chrift is that ("peaks his meflage in his 
 ftead. 2 Cor 5. 19,20 J and that he never isfaidtoexercife any 
 UniverfalGovernment over the reft of the Apoftles ,norfo much 
 as give them a Law, or Convent them before biro, or fend them 
 out , or do any more in Ruling them, then they in Ruling him, 
 nor fo much as Pauld'xd in rebuking him to his face for difor. 
 derly walking,^. Gal. 2. Yea when Paul catls them o*>-»*//that 
 tided with Peter, though but in the fame over-valuing way as 
 others did of Apolhs and Paul , faying [_I am o/Paul, and I 
 am of Apollo, andl urn e/Cephas,] l Cor. I. 12. He faith 
 to them that faid [_ 1 dm of Chrift ] [ Is Chrift divided Q as 
 {hewing that he was the common Univerfal Head and Mafter of 
 chemall. But when he mentioneth meer men , he hath no fuch 
 word : He faith not £ Is Peter divided ] But implying all in 
 one,he faith [ Was Paul crucified for you , or were yee baptized 
 into the name c/Pau!? J And [ Who then us Paul,<*»d who is Apollo? 
 ( implying alfo, Who is Peter) but Minifters by whom ye believed 
 as the Lord gave to every man, 1 Cor. 3 . s0^ ee 1 Cor. 4 6. 
 
 Pag. 144, Boveriu* playes his game with Metaphors and Simi- 
 litudes* 
 
Alf\eyforCdiholicks. $oj 
 
 litudes, and faith [ The Church is Chrifts Kingdom, an Army, a- 
 Sheeyfold, a Houfe y a Ship^or Noahs Ark^i ani rvhats a Kin^m 
 without a vifible King : »r an Army without a Vifible G neral : 
 or a Flocl^ without a vifible Shef heard: or a Hottfe without a 
 Houjholder : or a Ship without a Pilot ? ]] Anfw. I . The whole 
 earth is Gods Kingdom! Andean he not Govern it without a 
 Vifible Monarch t Why then did the world never hear of luch a 
 man? Yea the whale world is the Kingdom ofChrift himfelf, 
 though not in that fpecial fort as his Church is : For all Power in 
 heaven and earth is given him Mat. 28. 18, 19. and for that end 
 he Djed,Rofe and Ri vivedjhat he might be Lord of the Dead *nd 
 Living, Rom. 14. 9. Anil he is made Head over ail thing* to the 
 Church, Eph.i. 22,23. And hath this Kingdom an Umver- 
 fal Vifible Monarch? Yes; the Pope is the man: Long hath 
 he laid claim to it- Princes, you fee whofc hands your Crowns 
 and Kingdoms are in : Deceive not your felvcs,they are the 
 Popes: For certainly they are all Cbrifts v and if he be to be be- 
 lieved, heisthe Vicechrift,and fo fucceedeth him in the Monar- 
 chy of the world. But then why doth not this fimple Pope lay 
 claim to the Empire of Indoflan, and Tartarie , and China , 
 and ConftaminopU , as well as of thefe fmaller Kingdoms of 
 Surepe ? 
 
 2. And for the Metaphorical title of an Army, I anfwer, It 
 fufficeth that it hath an Univerfal General in Heaven , that can 
 command it twice as well there as the Pope can on earth, yea 
 and is as Vifible to the Antipodes, yea to me, as ever the Pope 
 was. All the world is Gods Army ; But I will not fay that the 
 Pope or any man is Generall of it (faveChnft) nor will I call 
 him, The Lord of Hop. 
 
 3. And for the Sheepfold ofChrift, he hath appointed parti- 
 cular Shepheards to watch for the feveral parts of the flock. 
 But if one man were telook to all the ftieep in the world, he 
 would make fuch work as the Pope would do with the flieepof 
 Chrift. It youttll us dill that Chnft is out of fighr, I anfwer, 
 He is even at hand : he is coming : he will not be long ; In the 
 mean time it is the duty of every Paftor \_ to feed the fak. of 
 
 God that is amsng them — not as Lords over Gods Heritage 
 
 ( as the Vice-chnlt would be : ) and when the chief Shipheard 
 doth appear, wefhall receive the Crown, ] 1 Pet. 5, 1,2, 3, 4. Pe- 
 ter 
 
304 A K^y for Qatbolicks . 
 
 ter never dreamed, poor man. that he was the chief Shepheard 
 himfelf. 
 
 4. For the Metaphor of a Family, Ianfwer,That God can 
 Govern all the Families in the world : and when the Pope can 
 do fo, then all the world (hall acknowledge him the Matter of 
 the Family. Till then we have learned that the whole Family of 
 Heaven and Earth is named of God, and of the Redeemer- God- 
 and-Man : but not of the Pope of Rome. 
 
 5. And for thefimilitude of a Ship, Ianfwer, One man can 
 Govern a fhip of the common fize-, but a (hip as big as all the 
 world, I think no man but Chrift can govern : And fo confi- 
 dent ami in this opinion, thatlprofefs I will not be in that 
 fhip as big as the world which the Pope (hall undertake to Go- 
 vern , if I do but know how to get out of it. 
 
 Pag. 146. He goes on to tell us,tbat even the bruits have 
 their Governour s, and inftanceth in the Bees. Anfw. I am not 
 well acquainted with Irrational Govermurs or Governments : 
 but ferioufly it is no Article of my faith , that one Bee can Go- 
 vern all the Bees in the World: Nor one Ape all the Apes in the 
 world. Lee it fuffice the Pope that every particular Church 
 be a Bee-hive , and every Hive have its proper Governour. 
 
 Next be again tells Prince £harlt [ that r»e [hould not deny 
 that to the Church which we fee is necejfary to all humane Socie- 
 ties ] Anjw. Was this man in his wits I Have all Societies , or 
 any Society an Univerfal Humane Governour ? Who is it that 
 is the Univerfal Chancellor of all the Academies on Earth ? 
 Who is it that is the Ruler of all the Colledgesof Phyfitiansin 
 the world? I know what Schoolmafter we have in our own 
 School here ; but I never heard of an Univerfal Schoolmafter 
 for all the world ; nor for all England : who is the Uni- 
 verfal Governour of all the Companies of Merchants in the 
 world ? Or who is the Univerfal King ? 
 
 In the Conclufion he gathers up all into feven reafons, Why 
 the Church /hould have a Vice-chrifi [ I .That the militant Church 
 might be like the triumphant, mho have one Invifible Head. ] 
 lAnfn. 1 . Chrift is vifibJe to the Church in Heaven. 2. When 
 you have proved that any meer man is Chrift,or Head in Hea- 
 ven, then we will grant that a meer man (hall be Chrift and 
 Head on earth. 3 . Earth is not yec fit to be conformed to Hea- 
 ven 
 
A E\ey for Catbolicks . 305 
 
 vcn in its Government. 4. Is it not the trueft conformity, thai 
 Heaven and Earth have one and the fame Lord, though vifible 
 to them and not to us, yet ruling us by vifible officers ? 5 . But 
 tf-this will not ferve, lets have on earth a vifible Government : 
 therefore let us have no Pope that is invifible to almoft all 
 the world ; but Pallors that are vifible in their particular 
 Churches. 
 
 The fecond Reafon \%[That the militant Church differ not from 
 it [elf \ but as each particular Church hath one Vifible Head or 
 Pafior, jo the whole fljould have. ~} Anfrv. i . Content,if the Pope 
 can (hew as good a Comraifiion for the whole, and be as able 
 to Govern the whole, and will really be prefent with the whole, 
 and vifible to thera. 2. Is the world unlike it felf,ifall the world 
 have not one King, as every particular Kingdom hath ? Or one 
 Schoolmafter,as every particular School hath ? 
 
 The third Reafon is [ For prefervinr Vnitj. ] Anpw. i . And 
 well it is done by you ? And what unity will you keep at the 
 Antipodes? Orinthevaft dominions of Heathen and Mahome- 
 tan Princes,where Chriftians are difperfed, but you come not 
 neerthem? 2. We have a better unity already in One God 3 
 One Chrift, One Spirit, One Gofpel, One Baptifm, One Hope , 
 &c. 3 . The Mahometans have more unity then you. 
 
 The fourth Reafon is [_ To fulfill the dotlrine of the Prophets 
 andChrifi. 'Arfrv. You (hould have better (hewed fuch a doftrine 
 before you had made ufe of it as a reafon. 
 
 The fifth Reafon is [ That the Chrifiian Church may be like 
 thefewifo] Anfv. When the Chriftian univerfal Church is no 
 bigger then the Jewifh, that one may Govern it as well , we 
 will hearken to you : Let the Pope undertake no larger a 
 Circuit. 
 
 The fixth Reafon is [ That there may be Come one Snp>-eam 
 judge to punijh Bi(hop y and define matters of faith , call Councils , 
 extinguijh hcrefics and/chifms,] Anfrv. i. One (Thrift is enough 
 for the Catholick Church for all thefe ufes. I find the Articles 
 of faith as well defined by Chrift, as by the Vtce-chrift. I 
 havefearcht the writings both of Chrift and theVice-chrift, 
 and in my poor judgement there is no comparifon between 
 tbem; nor hath the Pope one jot mended the Scripture. 2. Ard ^ 
 
 for Hcrefies andSchifms,Chrift hath extinguiflit many , bat 
 
 Rr 
 
 *- 
 
5 o 6 A K?y f or Catholich . 
 
 for ought I fee the Pope rather increafech them. In good fad* 
 nefs,did God fend John the twency fecond alias the twenty 
 third^o extinguish Herefie% wuh all thofe Abominations and 
 ail that Infidelity that was chirged on him by a General Coun- 
 cil ? And was John the thirteenth a Vice chrift to extinguish 
 Herefiesby all that diabolical villany that he was depofedfor 
 by a Council ? 3 . And for calling Councils , they have learnt 
 more wit, fince Conftance and Ba/ilhzve let them know what 
 Councils mean to do by them. Unlefs they can pack up forty 
 or fifty ( or what if it were an hundred,or two hundred ) as 
 they did at Trent, to fay their leflon , as it was brought to 
 them from Rome, and to call themfelves a General Council 
 for fo'ks to laugh at them. Is this all that we mud have a 
 Vice-Chrift for? How many General Councils did the Pope call 
 for fix. hundred years after Chrift ? Tell us without Lying , and 
 let us fee why he was created. 
 
 The feventh Reafon is £ That the Divine Jnfiitution of Chrift, 
 ani the plain Scripture about Peters Primacy may take place. ] 
 Anfa. 1. Where (hall a man that hath eyes find your pretended 
 inftitution ? The blind may fooner find it by the half. 2. Prima- 
 cy and Monarchy are not all one. And Bellarmine can tell you, 
 that its one thing to be the firft Apoftle.and another thing to be 
 the Vice-chriftto the Church Universal. Peter was none fuch. 
 3. No nor was he properly any more the Biftiop of -flow* then 
 of many another place. Antioch c'aims the inheritance by 
 birth- right , as Peters firft fuppofed feat, and ferufalent before 
 them both. 
 
 Well, Reader thou feeft now how Babel is builr,and what is 
 the ftrongeft fluff that the learned Spaniards had to aflaultPrince 
 Charls with : For verily I have not bawkt their ftrength : And 
 were it not for the lofs of precious time to you and me,I would 
 quickly thus (hew vou the vanity of abundance more of their 
 moil applauded writings. 
 
 Chap. 
 
A K^y for Catbolicks. J07 
 
 Cha p. XLIII. 
 
 DeteB. 34. A Nothcr of their Devices is, to take nothing 
 JTjk as Evidence frem Scripture, bnt the Letters 
 or txprefsftords. 
 
 They will not endure to hear of confequences,no nor Synoni* 
 inal eKpreflions. Be //arming himfelf faith ( de verb. Dei,/tb. 3 . 
 ca P' I' ) [ C onven * t * nter ms & advtrfarios,tx fob literati fen* 
 fu, petidebere argument a efflcacia : nam eum fenfum qui ex ver' 
 bu immediate colligitur, certnm eft fenfum ejfe fpiritus fantli.) 
 But this may admit a fair interpretation. It was Cardinal Fero* 
 mus in his Reply againft King James that is judged the devifer 
 of this Dectit ' but Gcnterim and Vtronitt* the Jefuites hare 
 perfected it. I (hall fay but little of it , becaufe it is already 
 dere&ed and refelled by PapiI Terrius 16 18. and Ifaaccw 
 Chwinm 1623. andiV/V. Vede/ius 1628. at large. Yea Vedelius 
 (hews,f^. 6. p. 50. &c. that it was hatcht in Germany by the 
 Lutherans for the defending of Confubftantiation,and from them 
 borrowed by the Revolter Perron. 
 
 For our pirts, the cunning Sophifters (hall find us very Rea- 
 fonable with them in this point .- but if they be fain out with 
 Reafon it felf, there's no way to pleafc them bul by turning 
 bruits. And we will not buy their favour at thofe rates. 
 
 Our judgement in this point, I (hall lay down diftin&Iy , 
 though briefly,as followeth. 1 . The Holy Scripture is the Do- 
 ctrine, Teftament and Law of (Thrift. And we (hall add nothing 
 to it, nor take ought from it. The ufeof it as a do&rine, is to 
 inform us of the will of God in the points there written. The 
 ufe of it as a Teftament, is to fignifie to us the laft will of our 
 Lord concerning our duty and Salvation. The ufe of it as a Law, 
 is to appoint us our Duty and Reward, or Pur iflimenf^nd to be 
 the Rule of our obedience, and in a fort, the Rule by which we 
 (hall be judged. 
 
 2. All Laws are made to Reafonable creatures, andfuppofe 
 the ufe of Reafon for the underftanding them. To ufe Reafon 
 about the Liw,is not to add to the Law. 
 
 3. The lubjed mult have this ufe of Reafon to dfcern the 
 llr 2 fence 
 
308 Al\eyforCdtbolicks. 
 
 ferccof the Law that, he may obey it. And the judge mull 
 Rationally pafs the fentence by it. 
 
 4. This is the Application of the Law to the fad and perfon : 
 And though the fad and perfon be not in the Law, yet the Ap- 
 plication of the Law to the fad and perfon is no addition to 
 it. Otherwise toufe any fuch thing would be to add to it. 
 
 5. As thefadisdiftind from the Law fo muft the fentence 
 of the Judge be, which refults from both. 
 
 6.Tofpeakthefame fence or thing in equipollent terms, is 
 not to add to the Law in matter or fence. 
 
 7. Yet we maintain the Scripture fufficiency in fm gtnere^ in 
 terms and fence \ So that we (hall confels that equipollent 
 words are only Holy Scripture as to fence, but not as to the 
 termf. 
 
 8. Bat there is no Law but may many wayesbe broken, and 
 noDodrine but may be divers wayes oppofed. And therefore 
 though we yield that nothing but the exprefs words of God 
 are the Scripture , for terms and fence , yet many thoufand 
 words may be againft Scripture, that be not there exprtfly for- 
 bidden m terms. 
 
 9. The Law of Nature is Gods Law, and the Light of Nature 
 is his Revelation. And therefore that which the Light of Na- 
 ture feeth immediately in Nature, or that which it feech from 
 Scripture and Nature compared together, and foundly con« 
 dudeth from the fe prcmifes, is truly a revelation from God. 
 
 10. The Conclufion folioweth the more debtle of the Pre- 
 mifes,in point of evidence or certainty to us. Where Scripture 
 is the more debile , the:e the conclufion is of Scrip:ure faith: 
 but where the fad or Propofition from the Light of Nature is 
 more debile, there the conclufion is of Natural Evidence : But 
 in both , of Divine difcovery. For there is no Truth and 
 Light but from God the Father of Lights. This is our judgement 
 herein. 
 
 Now forthePapifb , you may fee their folly thus; 1. If no- 
 thing but the bare words of a Law may be heard in Tryals, then 
 all Laws in the world are void and vain. For the fubjeds be not 
 all namei in them; nor the fad named: And what then have 
 witneffs, and jurors, and judges to do ? The Promife faith : He 
 that belicveth fhillbe favni: But it doth not fay that BelUr- 
 
 mfat 
 
A J$ey for Qttbolkh. 309 
 
 mine or Veronius believeth : Doth it follo-w that therefore 
 they may make no ufe of it for the comforting of their fouls in 
 the hopes of Salvation: The Threatning fauh, th* t he that 
 believeth not is condemned : But it faith not that fuch er f*ch a 
 man believeth not : fhould they not therefore fear the threat^ 
 ning? 
 
 2. By this trick they would condemn Chrifl himfclf alfo \ as 
 adding to the Law in judgement. He will fay to them , / rvas 
 hungry and je fed me not, Sec. But where faid the s cripture fo, 
 that fuch or fuch a man fed not Chrifl: ? It needs not : Chrifl 
 knows the h€t without the Scripture. The Scripture is fufficienc 
 to its own ufe, to be Rule of Obedience and Judgement: 
 but it is not fufficientto every other ufe which it was never 
 made for. The Liw faid to Cain, Thoh /halt not murder. But 
 it faid not to him , Thou hafi hilled thy brother, therefore thott 
 /halt die. It was the Judges part to deliver this. 
 
 3. By this trick they would give a man leave to vent any 
 Blafphemy, or do any villany, changing but the name. But they 
 (hall find that the Law intended not bare words, but by words 
 to fignifie things : And if they do th: things prohibited , or 
 hold the opinions condemned , what ever names or words 
 they cloaththem with, they (hill feel the pumfhtnent. 
 
 4. By this they would leave almoft nothing provable by 
 the Scripture , feeing a Papiir or Heretick may put the fame 
 into other terms, and then call for the Proof of that. For ex- 
 arap'e, they may ask where God commanderh or inftitureth 
 any one of the Sacramenrs in Scripture? And when we telf 
 them where Baptifm and the Lords Supper were inflitured, they 
 may reply, that there is no mention of Sacran ents; and foturn 
 real Controverlies into verbal. 
 
 5. Yea it feems by this they would makca'l Tranflitions to 
 be of little ufe. And a man might lawfully fin in Engli/b, be- 
 caufe God forbid it only in Hebrew and Greek. 
 
 6. If this be the way of it, let us remember that they muft 
 in Reafon ftand to their own Rules. Let them tell us then what 
 Scripture faith, that Ptter yeas the Vicar of Chrift, or the Head 
 of the Catholic!^ Church : or the Bifbop of Rome, or that the 
 Pope u his Sucre for , or that the Pope is the Vice-chrifl , or 
 Vniverfal £i/bop. Where is there exprefs Scripture for 
 
 Rr3 an" 
 
u o AK^yfa 0*t/?oJicta . 
 
 any of this ? Yea f<> much ai BtlUrmints Literal fcnfe. 
 
 7. And whv vto not thefe blind and partial men fee , that the 
 fame cour& alfo rauft be taken with their own Laws ? And that 
 all th^" Decretals and Canons are infufficient , according to 
 tKri'e Rules, lis eafic for any Heretick to form up his Error into 
 other words then thofe condemned by Pope or Council : And if 
 you go again to the Pope , and get him to condemn thofe new 
 cxpreffions, the men in Mexico may ufe them long to the de- 
 triment of the fouls of men, before the damnatory fentence be 
 brought to them. And when k comes, they can again word 
 their Herefie anew. The fanfenifls in France (hew how well 
 the Popes decifion of wordy Controvcrfies is underftood, and 
 doth avail. But really if they will hold that no part of the 
 Popes Laws oblige but in the literal fenfe, or that none offend 
 that violate not the Letter, they willm3kea great alteration in 
 their affairs. And perphaps any of their fub je&s may Blafpheme 
 the Pope himfelf in French, Butch, Irifb, Bnglifb , Slavonian, 
 &c. becaufc he forbids it only in Latine j For if Tranflationsbz 
 not Gods Word, then they are not the Popes word neither. A 
 pretty crochet for a Jefuite. It is mendacium, and not a Lye, 
 that the Pope forbids. It is faidthata Traytor or Murderer 
 may be hang'd : but it is not faid that fuch or fuch a man (hall 
 be hang'd j or that he was a tray tor or murderer. 
 
 Their common inftance is, [The Scripture no -where calls it 
 felf the whole word of God j nor no where tells us which be £anc 
 nical Btoks , &c. and jet thefe are Articles of Faith.~\ Anfw. 
 1. The Scripture doth call it felf the Word of God , and fignifie 
 itsownfufficiency,an. feveral Books have particular teftimonies 
 to be Canonical. 2. Though fecondarily fo far as Scripture 
 affirmeth its own Divinity,it be to be beleivedcyet Primarily,thic 
 this is Gods Word, and that thefe are the Books, and that they 
 are not corrupted, and that they are all, &c. are poinrs of know- 
 ledge antecedent in order of nature to Divine Belief of them. 
 There are two great Foundations antecedent to the Matter of 
 Divine Faith. The one is Gods veracity j that God cannot lie : 
 The other is, His Revelations ; that This is Gods Word : The 
 firft is the FormalObjecl of Faith : The fecond is a Necejfary 
 Medium between the formal objeel and the fubjecl ; fine qua 
 fton, without which there is no poifibility of Believing. The Ma- 
 terial 
 
A l\ey for Catbolich. 3 1 1 
 
 terial objecl called the Articles of Faith, prefuppofe both tbefe.as 
 points of Knowledgc,proved to us by their proper evidence. And 
 that this is All the Word of God, is ameer Confequence , from 
 the actual Tradition of this much and no more. 
 
 To giveyouanundertyable illuftration by inftance. Let us 
 enquire which be the Adminiftring Laws of this Common-wealth. 
 And we fhall find that I. The Authority of the Law-givers 
 is ncneof them .-, for that is in the Ccnfiitution, before the Admi- 
 niftration ; and it is the formale ebjetlum of every Law, which 
 is more noble then the Material objeft : 2. And the Promulga- 
 tion of thefe Laws, is not it felf a Law ■ but a necejfary Medium^ 
 fine quo non, to the a&ual obligation of the Law. 3 And that 
 there is no other Laws but thefe,i$ not a Law ; but a point known 
 by the non- promulgation of more. 4. And that all thefe Laws 
 arc the fame that they pretend to be, and that they are not 
 changed or depraved (ince, this is not a Law neither ,but a Truth 
 to be proved by Common Reafon, from the Evidences that may 
 be brought from Records, Practifc, and abundance more. 
 
 So i$ it in our Cafe. 1. That God is True, and the Soveraign 
 Reflor, is firft a point to be known by evidence-, the one being 
 the formal obje& of Faith, and the other the formal objecl of 
 obedience : and eafily proved by Natural Light, before we come 
 to Scripture. 2. And that this is Gods Revelation , or Promul- 
 gation of his L*w, is a point alfo firft to be proved by Reafon, not 
 before we fee the Book or hear the Word, but out ef the Boole 
 or Doctrine it felf, (propria luce) together with the full Hifto- 
 rical Evidence,and many other reafons, which in order of Nature 
 lie before our Obligation fide divina to believe. So that this is 
 not Primarily an Article of Faith , but fomewhat higher, as be- 
 ing the Necefftry Medium of our believing. 3. And that 
 there is no other Law, or Faith, is not Primarily a Law or Ar- 
 ticle of Faith , but a Truth proved by the Non- Revelation or 
 Promulgation of any other to the world. He that will prove us 
 obliged to believe more, muft prove the valid Promulgation or 
 Revelation of more. 4. And that thefe Books are the fame, 
 and not corrupted, is not directly and primarily an Article of 
 Faith , but an Hiftorical verity to be proved as abovefaid. 
 And yet fecondarily, Scripture is a witnefs to all or mod of thefe, 
 and fo they are de fide. But of this I refer the Reader for fuller 
 
 fatisfaftion 
 
312 jiKgyfor Catholicks* 
 
 fatisfa&ion to my Preface before my fecond Part of the 
 Saints Rtfi. 
 
 And thus it 'a manife(t,that it is an unreafonable demand of the 
 Papifts to call for exprefs Scripture, for thefc that are not Articles 
 of Faith in proper fence. 
 
 Ch a p. XLIV. 
 
 Detttt. 35. /^\NE of their Practical Deceits confifteth in 
 V-/ the chwfing of fuch perfons to difpttte with, 
 againfi whom they find that the] havefome notable advantage. 
 
 1. Commonly they deal with women and ignorant people in 
 fecret, who they know are not able to gainfay their falfeft,fillieft 
 reafonings. 
 
 2. If they deal with a Minifter, it is ufually with one that 
 hath forae atleaftof thefe difadvantages. 1. Either with feme 
 young or weak unftudyed man, that is not verft in their way 
 of Controverfie. 2. Or one that is not of fo voluble and 
 plaufible a tongue as others. For they know how much the 
 tonguing and toning of the matter doth take with the com- 
 mon people. 3 • Or with one that hath a difcontented people, 
 that bear him Come ill will , and are ready to hearken to any 
 one that contradi&eth him. 4. Or elfe with one that hath fixe 
 upon fome unwarrantable notions , and is like to deal with them 
 upon terms that will not hold. And if they fee one hole in a mans 
 way of arguings, they will turn all the brunt of the Contention 
 upon that, as if thedifcovery of his peculiar Error or weaknefs 
 were the Confutation of his Caufe. And none give them greater 
 advantage here,tben thofe that run into fome contrary extreasn. 
 They think to be Orthodox by going as far from Popery as the 
 fartheft; About many notions in the matter of fuflification, 
 Certainty of Salvation , the nature of Faith, the nfe of Works, 
 &c. they will be fure to go with the furtbeft. And a Jcfuite 
 will defire no better fport, then to have the baiting of one that 
 holds any fuch opinion, as he knows himfelf eafily able to dif- 
 grace. One unfound Opinion or Argument is a great difad- 
 vantage to the moft learned Difputant. Molt of all the inful tings 
 and fuccefs of the Papifts , is from fome fuch unfound paflages 
 
 that 
 
J L^eyfor Qatholkh. 
 
 1*3 
 
 that they pick up from fome Writers of our own (as I faid 
 before. J And they fee all thofe together , and tell the world 
 that This is the Prottflant Religion. Juft as if I (hould give 
 the Description of a Nobleman trom all the blcmifhes that ever 
 I (aw in any Nobleman. As if I hive feen one crookjbackt 
 another blind , another lame , another dumb , another deaf 
 another a whoremonger, another a drunkard, &c. I ffcould fay, 
 that A Nobleman is a whoremonger , and drunkard, &c. that 
 loath neither eyes, nor ears, nor limbs to bear him, &c. So deal 
 they by Proteflants; And what a Character could we give of 
 Papifts on thefe terms r 
 
 But I would intreat all the Miniflers of Chrift to take heed 
 of giving them any fuch advantage. By over-doing, and run- 
 ning too far into contrary extreams, you will fooner advantage 
 them, and give them the day, then the weakeft Difputants that 
 ftand on fafer grounds. Inconfiderate hear, and felf- conceit- 
 ed nefs , and making a fadion of Religion , is it thatcarryeth 
 many into extreams : when Judgement, and Charity, and Ex- 
 perience, are all for M deration, and ftanding on fafc ground. 
 A Davenant, a Lud Crocius, a Camera, a DalUus , &c. will 
 more fuccefsfully confute an Arminian , then a Maccovius 
 
 a fo it is here. The world fees in the Anfwer of JCmt, what 
 
 an advantage Chillingworth had by his- Principles ; when the 
 Jefuite having little but the reproachful flander of a Socinian 
 name andcaufe to anfwer with, bath loft the day , and (hewed 
 the world how little can be faid for Popery. 
 
 Chap. XLV. 
 
 Detctt. 36. A Nother of their Practical frauds is in feeding 
 jL\ to Divide the Proteflants among them f elves % 
 or to breaks them into Setfs, orfojfon the dutlile fort with Here- 
 ftes, and then to draw them to fome odious pratlifes , to caft a dif- 
 grace *» the Proteftant Caufe. 
 
 In this and (uch He'hfh pradifesasthis, they have been more 
 fuccefsful then inall their Deputations. But whether the Caufe 
 be of Heaven or Hell that mud be thus upheld , I leave to the 
 confiderate to judge. 
 
 S f Whac 
 
j 1 4 A I\ey for Catbolicks . 
 
 What i hey have done abroad in this way, I leave others to 
 enquire thac are more fie j But we all fraarc by what they have 
 done at home. 
 
 Yet this I may well fay, that if their own fecular Priefts are 
 to be believed , (as Watfon&nd many more ) It is their Jefuites 
 thac ruve fet many Nations in thofe fUmes, whofe caufe the 
 world hath not obferved. And I may well fet down the words 
 of a Pneft of their own, JohnHrown, aged feventy two, in his Vo- 
 luntary Confeffion to a Committee of Parliament , as it is in 
 M . Print Introduft fag. Z02. 
 
 Saith he [ The whole Chriftian world doth acknowledge the pre- 
 diSlion which the ZJniverfttyof Paris doth forefee in two feveral 
 Decrees they made Anno 1565. When the Society of Jefuites did 
 labour to be members of that Vnivtrfity : Hoc genus hominum 
 nitus eft ad internum Chriftianae Reipublicae & fubvertionem 
 literarum. They were the only caufe of the troubles which fell out 
 in Mufcovic, when under pretence to reduce the Latine (fhurch ,, 
 awl plant themfe Ives, and deflroy the Greeks Church, the poor King 
 Demetrius and his J3ueen,and thofe that followed him from Polo- 
 nia were all in one night murdered by the monfirous ZJfurper 
 of the Crown , and the true progeny rooted out. They were the 
 only caufe that moved the Swedes tota\e %Arms againft their law- 
 full King Sigifraund, and chafed him to Poland : and neither he 
 nor his fuccejfors Were ever able to take pojfeffion of Sweden. For 
 the Jefuites intention was to bring in the Romijb Religion, and root 
 out Proteftants. They were the only caufe that moved the Poloni- 
 ans to take Arms againft the faid Sigifmund , becaufe they had 
 per/waded him to marry two fibers, one after the other ; both of' 
 thehoufeof Auftria. They have been the fok caufe of the war 
 entered in Germany ftneethe year one thoufand fix hundred and 
 nineteen, as Pope Paulus 15. told the General of their Order t cal- 
 led Vicelefcus, for their avarice pretending to take all the (fhursh 
 lands from the Huffttes in Bohemia to themfelves ; which hath 
 caufed the death of mmy thoufand by fword, famine and peftilenct 
 in Germany. They have been the caufe of civil w a* s in France, 
 during all which time moving the French King to take Arms 
 againft his own fubjefls the Proteftants, where innumerable peo- 
 ple hav.t loft their lives , as thefiege of Rochell and other places 
 ' will give fufficient proof. For the Jefuites intentions wtre to fet 
 
 ihsir 
 
A f^ey for Catholic h. J 1 5 
 
 their fociety in all Cities and Towns conquered by the Kin?, and 
 quite to abolifh the Protefiants. They were the caufe of the war. 
 der of the lafl King of France. They were the only projectors of the 
 Gunpowder Treajon^ and their Penitents the aclors thereof. Thty 
 were the only caufe {namely Father Parfons ) that incenfed the 
 Pope to fend fo many fulminate Breves to thcfe Kingdoms , to hin- 
 der the Oath of Allegiance and lawfull Obedience to their temporal 
 Prince , that they might flill ffh in troubled waters. Their dam- 
 nable dottrine to dejlroy and depofe Kings , hath been the caufe of 
 the Civil war s , likely to befall the/e Kingdoms jf God in mercy do 
 not (lop it ] So far the Popifti Prieft. 
 
 You lee here, if their own pens are to be credited, thofc very 
 Actions of the Swedes, Germans, French, which they caft as a 
 reproach in the face oftheProteftant^fasyou may fee in a Book 
 called The Image of the two Churches) were indeed their own, 
 and co be laid ac their own doors. I omit abundance of better 
 proof, becaufe I will give them the words of none but them- 
 fdves in this. 
 
 How far they were thecaufes of the old broils in Scotland, 
 Knox, and Spotfwood^ad all their later Hiflories will tell you. 
 
 How buiie they were in Englandin Queen Elizabeths dayes , 
 the Popes Bulls, and the many Treacheries committed figni fie. 
 Even in Kiagfameshii dayes, who wrote againft them, they 
 fo far -prevailed , as to caufe him to fwear to thofe Articles for 
 Toleration of Popery,in order to the Spanifh Match, which 
 you may read in Prins Introducl. pag. 44, 45 . Yea fo far as to 
 prevail with King fames before the Lords of his Council to fay, 
 that £ BU Mother fujfered Martyrdom in thU Realm for the 
 profeffion of the C alholickReligisn •, a Religion which had been pub- 
 likely prof 1 fed for many ages in this Realm , confirmed by many 
 great and excellent Emperours , and famous in all Ecclefafiical 
 Hiflories , by an infinite number of Martyrs, who had fealedit 
 with their blood ■■ that the Catholickj well knew that there was 
 in him a grand sffellion to the Cath^licf^ Religion in fo much that 
 they believed at Rome that he did but d<fjemble his Religion to 
 obtain theCronn of England : That now he hal maturity confi- 
 deredthe penury and calamities of the Roman Catholickj , who 
 were in the number of his faithfull fubjetls, and was refolved to 
 relieve them -, and therefore did from thenceforth take all his Ro- 
 
 S f 2 man 
 
316 A K^ey for fcatholicb '• 
 
 man Catholick fubjetts into his pretetlion , permitting them the 
 liberty andentire exerrife of their Religion, and liberty to celebrate 
 the M*[s with other Dvine offi r es of their Keligion without any 
 inqHif\tion,procefs or msltftationf om that daj forwards. ]] And fo 
 he goes on reftoringchenn to thesreftates, commanding ail Offi- 
 cers co hold their hinds, and for wha;caufefoever it be, not to 
 attempt co grieve or moleft the faid Catholicks neither in pub- 
 lick or pnvae»n the liberty of the excercifc of their Religion, 
 up -o pain of heins reputed guilty of highTreafon, &c.]Prin 
 tibifup. p 3 o & Mcrcw. Gal. To. Q. p. 485. 
 
 So tar prevailed t hey with Prince Charts our late King, as to 
 caule him ro wrrc that Letter to the Pope which you may read 
 Merctir. Franc. To. 9. An. 1623. p. 509, 510. and in Print 
 Jntrodutl.p. 38 which I have no mind to recite : and alfo 
 they prevailed with him to fwear to the Spanifh conditions, 
 and alfo thar he would £ permit at all times, that any Jhould 
 freely profofe to him the Arguments of the Catholick, Religion, 
 ■without giving any impediment : and that he would never di» 
 retlly or indintlly permit any to ffeak. to the Infanta agahft the 
 fame. } 
 
 What a hand the Papifts had in the late Innovations ,and wars 
 in England, and Scot/and, and Ireland^ too evident. How they 
 defigned the reducirg of England to the Pope in the Spanifh, 
 and after in the French match, and how in profecution of it, 
 they had their Nuntio's here at London , and ere&cd their hou- 
 fes ofjeluites, Capuchins, and Nuns ^ how far they inftigated 
 the Court and Prelates to filence,and fufpend, and banifh God- 
 ly Miniiters, and to enfnare them by the bowing to Altars , by 
 the Book for dancing on the Lords dayes, and many fuch things- 
 how far they urged chem onagainftthe Scots • I had rather 
 vou would read in Mr. Prins Workj ofDarknefs brought to Lights 
 and C anter b Hr * e *Trjall, and his Romes Aiafler piece, and his 
 Roy all Favorite, then hear it from me : And if any reader be 
 diftffefted to the retrofit, let them at leaftperufe impartially 
 the Evidences produced by him. 
 
 It was^ one of their own Religion,who inremorfe of Consci- 
 ence opened the Plot in which they were engaged, to Andreas 
 ab Habernfuld,Phyf\tian to the Queen of Bohemia^ who told it 
 Sv.WiLBsfwell^hs Kings Agent ac Uagm^ which was to fubvert 
 
 the 
 
A I\ey for Catbolicks, $ 1 7 
 
 the Proteftant Religion , and fee up Popery, and reconcile us 
 to Rome ; and to that end ro attempt the perverting of the King, 
 andtoengageus in a war wirb Scotland, and if the King would 
 not be perverted, then to poyfon him. 
 
 Thejefuites ( of whom four forts were planted in Lor,don t ^^-^[J 
 and had built them aColledge, hiving Cardinal Barbarino for 
 their Protector ) crept into all Societies, and a&ed all parts, 
 (fave the peace makers, )and being a forefeetng Generation,they 
 lookc further before rhem then the fhore witted men whom 
 they ovcr-reacht. When they had by the Countenance of the 
 Queen got lb confiderable a ftrcngth at the Court , and fo 
 much incereft in the Prelates.and influence on all Ecclefiaitical 
 affairs , they fct afoot the forefaid innovations in worfhip, 
 agai rt the Lords Day, &c and the forefaid persecutions of 
 faithfull, yea and conformable Minillers -, and ftiil they went 
 Dilemnrnically to work , thinking to make fure which way 
 ever things went, to effects their ends They fee that either their 
 firft attempt would prevail Without opfofition or not: //it do, 
 then the Calvinijls, and Puritan, and Protefiant Treachers w II 
 be removed , andthe places filled with Armenians , and masked 
 ¥&p\fc, and ignorant menjtnablcto rtfifithem, and dntlile world- 
 lings, that willalWay be on the granger fide , and their en fa will 
 be eafily attained. Bat if there be any Oppofition, Afar muring , 
 Difcontents, either it will provoke the Difcontented to open De~ 
 fence and Refifiance, or not : If not, their Difcontents will hart 
 none but themfelves. If it dejhen either thty will be crufht in 
 the beginning, or able to bring ie to a war. If the fir (I ; then we 
 Jball have the Day. and this to boot, that thej will lie under the 
 Odium of Rebellion, and be trod the lower, and be the lefs able ever 
 to rife : and we /hall be able with eafe to drive on the chanae to a 
 higher degree t in Oppofition to fo odtout a party. But if they be able 
 t»mikea war of it, either they will be conquered, or conquer, or 
 drake Peace. The lafi is mo(l unlikely, becaufe fealoufies and 
 Engagements will prefently be mulriplyed, fo that An apparent 
 necejfity Will fe em to lie on each pa*ty not to trufl t he other : And 
 the flames are eafier to be kept in, then kindled : And if fo unlit^* 
 ly a thing fhould come to pafs,yet it mufl needs be to our adv.in'^ge.. 
 lor we will openly all appear for the King, andfs in England and 
 Ireland we /ball be confiderable '• He will remember th.it he w/u 
 
 S I 3 beJfl: 
 
j 1 8 A Key for Qa tbolicks . 
 
 htiftby us , and look on the Proteftants and Turitans as Rebels, 
 and take hit next advantage again ft them, or at leafl be at a great' 
 er diftance frcm them then before : For fuck a war will never out of 
 hu mind, nor will he thinl^himfelf fafe till he hath di fabled them 
 from dung the like again. But if one fart conquer it will be 
 the King, or the Puritans (for fo the Proteflants mufl now be cal- 
 ed ) If the King prevail , then will the Puritans be totally trod 
 down, and we by who ft help the vi Story was got , flail certainly be 
 incomparably better then we are, if not hate prefentlj all our will. 
 For our fidelity will be predicated: the Rebells will be odious : So 
 that their very names will be a fcorn 4 and there will be no great 
 reftftance of us ( For faith Mr. Middteionin his Letter to the 
 A. B. of Cantcrb. in Prim Introduce, p. 142, 1 43. The Jel'uitc 
 fat Florence , lately returned from England, who pretends to 
 have made aftrid difcovery of theftatc of England as it ftands 
 for Religion ) faith, that the Puritans are (hrewd fellows* but 
 thofe which are counted good Proteftants are fair conditioned 
 honeftmen, and think they may be laved in any Religion. ) 
 But if the Puritans gee the day (which u a moft unlikely thing ) 
 yet fhall we make great advantage of -it ; For l.T key will be un- 
 fettled ani all in pieces , andnotkriow how to fettle the Govern- 
 ment '. And faith the fefuites Letter, foundin the A. B, o/Cant. 
 Study <»Prins Jntrodud. pag. 89, 90. [ Our foundation muft 
 be Mutation: this will caufe a Relaxation -, which fervesas fo 
 many violent difeafes, as the Stone, Gout, &c. tothefpeedy 
 deftruftion, &c. ~\ 2. We fhall necefsitatt the Puritan Prote- 
 ftants to keep the King as a Prifoner , or tlfe to put him to death ; 
 If they keep him as a Prifoner, his diligence , and friends, and 
 their own divi/ions , will either work, his d'liverauce , and give 
 him the day again by eur helper at leafl will keep the State in a con- 
 tinual un fettle dnefs , and will be an Odium on them. If they cue 
 hitn off ( which we will rather promote , left they fhould make 
 ttfe of his extremities to any advantage) then I. We fhall procure 
 the Odium of King-killing to fall upen them , which they are 
 •wont to c aft upon us and fo fha.ll be *ble to disburden our felves. 
 2. And we fhall have them all -o piece sin diftraElions. For 3 . Either 
 they will then fet up a new King, or the Parliament will keep the 
 power, changing the Governm nt nto a Democracy. The firji can- 
 not be done without great cencujftons , and ntw wars j and we 
 
 fall 
 
A Key for Catbolicks. 3 1 p 
 
 /ball have opportunity to have a hand in all. And if it be done y 
 it may be much to our advantage. The fecund hi// arparct/y by 
 fattions and diflraclicns give us footing for co- tiuual attempts* 
 But to make all fure, we will fecret/j have our party among the 
 Puritans alfo^ that we may be fure to maintain our Intertft which 
 way ever the world go~\ The event with common realbn and many 
 full difcovenes (hew, that this was the frame of the Papifts pio:. 
 And what power and intereft they had in the Kings Armies 
 and Counfels in the wars, is a thing that needs no further difco- 
 very. But had they any Intereft in the Councils and Forces of the 
 Parliament? Anfvo. It will be expe&ed that he that aflcrtcth 
 anything in mattersof this moment, fhouid prove it by more 
 then moral evidence of greateft probabilities ; and therefore I 
 fha!l be fparing in my AfTertions : but yet I fhall fay in general , 
 that though the bufinefs would be troublefome, chargeable and 
 tedious, to call together the WitnefTes that are necefiiry, yet 
 Witneffes and Evidences may be had, to prove that the Papifts 
 have had more to do in our affairs, then raoft men areaware of, 
 without any pofitive Aflertions •, therefore I defire them that 
 canfeeacaufe initseffc&s but to follow thefe ftreams till they 
 find the Fountain, i. Whence came thofe motions againft 
 the Miniftry and Churches into oar Councils ? Whence was it 
 that (o many men of note did call the friends of the Miniftry 
 ^Prief ridden fellows] and the Minifters [Jack Presbyters] to 
 teach the Nation to bring them intofcorn? 1 well know that 
 all this came from Hell. But whether by the way of Rome, I 
 leave to your inquiry. Yea, whence was it that motions have 
 been made to pull down all the Miniftry at once ? Was this by 
 Proteftants ? 
 
 2. Whence came the do&rine contended for by Sir H. K 
 and others, againft the Power of the Magiftrate in matters 
 of Religion , and for Univerfal Liberty in Religion ? I know 
 the Papifts are not for fuch liberty inSpai*, or any where,, 
 where they can hinder it: but with all I know, that it is one 
 of their fundamentals, that fuch matters belcmg onlv to the 
 Pope and Prelates, and Magiftrates muft but be their Executi- 
 oners; and I know that its truly the Magiftrates Power for 
 which the ufurping Pope contendeth : and I know tha! the 
 Papifts are raoft Zealous for Liberty of Confcience in England, 
 though deadly enemies to it elfewhere. 3, And 
 
no • A %jy far Catbolich 
 
 3. And whence came the Hiders Body of Divinity, that hath 
 infe&ed fo many high and low? How come fo many called 
 Seekers to feera to be at a lofs ; whether there be any Scripture, 
 Church, or Miniftry? or which be they ? 
 
 4. How came we contrived into a war with Scotland and 
 Holland, when we could keep Peace with Spain f with them, 
 or us, or both, there was fomeforrycaufe. 
 
 5. How came our Armies fo corrupted with principles of 
 impiety, Licentioufnel's and Anarchy, that fo many turned Le- 
 vellers ( to fay nothing of all the reft) , and rofe up againft 
 their Commanders , and were fain to be fubdued by force, 
 and fome of them (hot to death, and many cafhiered ? &c. 
 
 6. How came it to pafs that Papifts have been discovered in 
 our Armies, and in the feveral parties in the Land ? 
 
 7. And where are thefwarms of the Englijh Jefuites and 
 Fryars, that are known to have emptyed therafelves upon u* 
 from their Colledges beyond Sea > 
 
 8. How came it to pafs, that the Petitions of the Proteftant 
 Presbyters of London, and of other Proteftants for the Life of 
 the King, could not be heard ? but that the Levelling party car- 
 ryed on their work, till they had fet the forreign and domeftick 
 Papiftson reproaching the Proteftants as King- killers ? and had 
 (though very faifely) turned the odium of that horrid kind of 
 crime upon the innocent Protcftants,which the Papifts are known 
 to be molt deeply guilty of; And now in all Nations they make 
 the ignorant people believe, that the death of that King was the 
 work of the Proteftants or Presbyterians, and the blot of their 
 Religion. 
 
 9. Whence came it to pafs, that Levelling went on with con- 
 tinued fuccefs till che Houfe of Lords, with the Regal Office was 
 taken down, and an engagement put (on all tbofe du&ile fouls 
 that would take it) to be [[True to the Common-wealth, as 
 eftabliflied without a King or Houfe of Lords ?] 
 
 l o Whence came ic that the Weekly News Books contained 
 the Lerters of the Agents of the Agitators from France, telling 
 ns how good men the Jefuites were, and how agreeable to them 
 in their principles for a Democracy , (which they vainly call a 
 _Repub ick, as if there were no Common- wealth, but a Demo- 
 cracy) and telling us what exceeding meet materials for fuch a 
 
 Common- 
 
A Key for Qatholkks. 
 
 3" 
 
 Common- wealth the Jefuites would be. The Agencies of 
 particular men. with Jefuites I fliall purpofelyomit. 
 
 ii. Whence came it that all the maddeft dividing parties had 
 their liberty ^ and the reproach and envy was moft againft the 
 united Mmiftry? and if the Lord Prote&or bad nocftepe in, 
 they had been likely to be taken down. 
 
 12. And whence came it that Stxhj % and others, that have 
 been Souldiers in our Armie?, have confederated with Spain to 
 mnrder the Lord Prote&or ? And whence came their Jefuitical 
 Treafonable Pamphlets ffuch as Killing no Murder) provoking 
 men to take away his life ? 
 
 Much more may be propofed tending to a difcovery, how far 
 the Papifls have crept in among us, and had to do in our affairs. 
 But I think God hath yet much more in feafon to difcover.Truth 
 is the daughter of time. 
 
 As concerning the death of the King, I fhall not meddle at 
 this time with the Caufe, nor meddle with the Reafons brought 
 for it or againft it. But, fuppofe as bad of it as you can, the 
 Providence of God hath fo contrived it, that nothing but ig- 
 norance or blind malice can lay it upon the Proteftants, Epi- 
 fcopal, or Presbyterian,, that ftrovefo much againft it, andfuf- 
 fered fo much for it as they have done. When many on the 
 other fide, charged the Scots, and the imprifoned Minifters of 
 Londtn^ with thofe that were put to death , for going too far 
 on the other fide , in raanifefting their diftaftes : Of which I 
 take not on me to be judge, but mention it only as Evidence that 
 clears them from the deed. 
 
 And to vindicate the Proteftants openly before all the world, 
 and to all pofterity, from that Fad, it is moft publikely known, 
 i. That both Houfes of Parliament in their Proteftations en- 
 gaged themfelves and the Nations , to be true to the King. 
 2. That they openly profefled to mannage their war for 
 King and Parliament : Not againft his Perfon or Authority, 
 but againft Delinquents that were fled from Juftice, and againft 
 evill Counfellors. 3. That the two Nations of England and 
 Scotland did i n the midft of the wars fwear in the Solemn League 
 and Covenant to he true to the King. 4. That the Commit- 
 tees , Commanders , Minifters and people through the Land, 
 profefled openly to go only on thefe terms, as managing but a de- 
 
 T t fenfive 
 
3 2 2 A K^ey for Qa t bolicks . 
 
 fenlive war againft the Kirgs mifcarriages , but an Offenfivc 
 againft Delinquent fubjects. $. In that it was known that 
 the Army was quite alcered ( not only by a new modelling, 
 bat J by an inteltinc Jefuitical corrupting of multitudes of the 
 Souldiers, before this Odious fad could be done. 6. And it 
 was known, that the corrupted part of the Army , though the 
 fewer, did foexcell the rett in induttry and activity, that thereby 
 they hindered their oppofition. 7. And it is known that the 
 Jefuited part (that afterward fo many of them turn'J Levellers) 
 did draw into them the Anab*pifts , Libertines , and other 
 Sects, upon a conjunction of Interefts, and by many fly pre- 
 tenfes, efpecially tying all together by the predicated Liberty 
 for all Religions. 8. And yet after all this, the world knows 
 they were fain before they could accomplifh it , to Matter the 
 City of London, to Matter the Parliament, toimprifonandcaft 
 out the Members , and to retain but a few that were partly of 
 their mind, and partly feduced or over-awed by them, to joyn 
 with them in the work. 9. It is known that before they were 
 put out, and imprifoned by the Army , the Commons voted 
 the Kings Conceflions in the Treaty to be fo far fatisfactory,as 
 that they would have proceeded on them towards a full Agree- 
 ment. See Mr. Prins large Speech in the Houfe to that end. 
 And if they had not fuddenly been fecluded and imprifoned, 
 they had agreed with the King. 10. And it is well known to 
 all that dwell in England, that before and fince the doing of 
 it, the thing is difowned, diflatted and detctted by the main 
 Body of the EngHJb Nation, Nobility, Gentlemen > Minifters 
 and people: Yea, to my knowledge multitudes that are now 
 firm and loyal to the prefent Power, fuppofing it to be fet over 
 os by God, (and therefore would abhor the like pract i fes againft 
 them^ do yet deteft that fact that intervened and made way to 
 it. So that experience may fatisfie all men , th.3t Proteftants, 
 even thofe called Puritans, were the Enemies, and not the Aft- 
 ers of \t. ii- And it is well known how the Proteftant Mini- 
 tters that bad engaged in the war for King and Parliament, were 
 fo great Adverfaries to r he putting of the King to death , that 
 theyoppofed if, and d,fl\vaded from it, and thereby drew the 
 Odinm of the Corrupted part of the Army upon them ; and that 
 the ZWc^Minilkrs unanimoufly concurred in an Addrcfs to 
 
 the. 
 
s.* *-\fJ jvr mi^WHIXJ, J*} 
 
 the Lord Fairfax to prevent ir, and printed their abhorrence 
 of it, andpublifhed it to the world: And that many of them 
 were imp'ifoned, and Mr. Love beheaded , and many others 
 put to death , or other fuffehngs, for being againft thefe defigns, 
 and endeavouring to oppofc the progrefs of them. 12. And 
 laftiy, it is known, that the Kingdom of Scotland difowned it 
 from firft to laft, and fo far proceeded in oppofition to it, and 
 in adhefion to the ancient line, at coft them the miferies of a 
 grievous war, and a conqueft of their Kingdom. I fpeak but 
 of the matter of fad that is known to the world. So that 
 it is againft all humane Reafon and Equity, that when we 
 have all fworntothe contrary, and endeavoured it , and the 
 Parliament men of one Kingdom are fecluded, andlmprifoned 
 for it, and the other Kingdom conquered for it, and the Pro- 
 teftants ftill generally difown it, that yet it ftiould be charged 
 on the Proteftants, or their Religion , that they put to death 
 their King. This is moft unreasonable in juftice j efpecially from 
 tbofe men that were thecaufers of ir. 
 
 I do therefore leave it here to pofterity ('having been my 
 felf a member of the Army four years, or thereabouts) that it 
 was utterly againft the mind and thoughts of Proteftants , and 
 thofethat they called Puritans % to put the King to death ; the 
 twelve Evidences fore- mentioned are undenyable Arguments 
 that it was the work of Papifts y Libertines, Vanifts y and Ana- 
 baptifls, and that the Proteftants deeply fuffered by oppofing 
 it ; at the face of Scotland and England fadly teftifie to this 
 day. And yet (though we have fuch open Evidence that this 
 cannot be charged on our Religion or us), I muft needs adde, 
 that every wife man fees that the Cafe it felf much differs from 
 the Papifts. If the Body of a Common-wealth, orthofe that 
 have part in the Legiflative Power, and fo in the Supremacy, 
 fhould unwillingly be engaged in a war with the Prince, and 
 after many years blood and deflations, judicially take away 
 his life as guilty of all this blood , and not to be truftcd any 
 more with Government, and all this they do, not as private 
 men , but as the remaining Sovcraign Power , and fay they 
 do it according to the Laws •, undoubtedly this cafe doth very 
 much differ from the Powder-plot, or Papifts murdering of 
 Kings, and teaching that its lawful for a private h8nd to do 
 
 T t 2 it, 
 
J — r 
 
 ir, if he be but an Heretick , or be but depofed,yea or excom- 
 municated by the Pope. A roar and a treacherous murder are 
 not all one : Nor is a part of the Sovereign Power all one with 
 a private hand, or forreign Prelate, pretending to a Dominion 
 over the lives and iUtes of Princes , and over the Kingdoms of 
 the world, and that the Vice- chrifi, and Vice-God on earth. 
 
 It is a grievous cafe that the Senate or Body of a Nation 
 fhould think themfelves necefiitated to defend themfelves, and 
 the Church and State againft their Prince,or any that ad by his 
 commands. It will ftrongly tempt them to think that the end 
 is to be preferred before the Means j and that it ceafeth to be a 
 Means which is againft and deftrudive to the End: and that it 
 is cffentiall to a Governing Power to be for the common good : 
 and therefore that it is no Authority which is ufed againft it: 
 It will tempt them alfo to think that God never gave power to 
 any againft hicnfelf or above his Laws , or againft the Ends of 
 Government. And a Senate or the Body of a Nation will be 
 apt to think themfelves fit todifcern when the publick fafety is 
 dangeroufly afTiulted • and will hardly be brought totruftany 
 One to be the final Judge of their Nrcefiity , as thinking fuch a 
 publike Neccffity proves it felf, and needs no judge but fence 
 and reafon to difcern it. And if they alfo think that the funda- 
 mental Conftitution of the Government doth make the Senate 
 the higheft Judge of the fafety or danger of the Republick, and 
 fo that the Law is on their fide, and that it is Treafon againft 
 the Common- weakh(and as Politicians fay,againft theMajeftas 
 Realis ) to rife againft them h the temptation then is much the 
 ftronger. And where the Legiflative power, and higheft Judici- 
 all power is by the Conftitution of the Government divided be- 
 tween the Prince and Senate, and fo the Soveraignty divided, 
 many will be ready to think with Grotim dejare Belli Jib, I. §. 
 1 3.p or. that the Prince invading the Senates right, may juftly 
 be refilled, and may lofe his right • Quod locum ( faith Grotim ) 
 habere ctnfeo, etiamft ditlumfit, belli poteftatem penes Regem fo- 
 re ' Id enim de bello externo intelligendum eft : cum alioqui quif- 
 ejuis Imperii fummi jus pa Y tern kabeat , ttonpejpt, non \m habere % 
 earn partem tutndi. Quod ubi fit , poteft Rex etiam fuam Im- 
 perii partem belli jure amittere. ] And indeed when a war 
 m once begun, the difficulty of re-uniting is exceeteg great: 
 
 If 
 
A I\ey for Catholich. 325 
 
 If a Prince engage cither hired ftrangers,or fugitives, or home- 
 bred delinquents, or others, to rife up againft the Senate or peo- 
 ple, either its lawfull to Defend themfelves by Arms $ or not.- 
 lfnot (efpecially if they have a (hare intheSoveraignty) then 
 is his power abfolute and unlimited , and neither Laws nor any 
 thing below are any fecurity againft his will to the common fafe- 
 ty ( The contrary whereto our late King declared in his nota- 
 ble Anfwcr to the nineteen Propofitions. ) But if their Defence 
 be lawful!, then if their Souldiers muft know before hand, that 
 if they do purchafe a vi&ory by their blood , when they have 
 all done they muft be all Governed by him whom they have con- 
 quered , andlyeat his Mercy, they would hardly ever have 
 an Army to defend them: For who will do the utmoft that is 
 poftible to exafperate him that he knows muft rule him when all 
 is done ? I fpeak not this by way of Juftirication , or any way 
 deciding fuch cafes as thefe , but Leaving that (as a controverfie 
 that I am not here to decide ) to the judgement of others, I 
 only (hew the world again that there's a great deal of difference 
 between fuch a war and conqueft of a Prince by the Senate and 
 Body of the people, and their allowing Popes to depofe them and 
 alienate their Dominions, and private men to rebell, and to mur- 
 der them, if the Pope confent,or excommunicate them. Whe- 
 ther they were in the right or wrong , I am not the judge , but 
 furely it was the judgement of the Parliament, thit upon the 
 Divifion , the power was in them to defend themfelves and the 
 Commonwealth, andfupprefsall fubje&s that were in Arms 
 againft them ^ and that thofe that did refift them, did refift the 
 higher powers, fet over them by God , and therefore were 
 guilty of the damnation of refifters : And this they aflured the 
 peop'ewas the Truth. And the forecited conccfiions of the 
 King, (againft the nineteen Propofitions ) acknowledging their 
 part in theLegiflative power and defence of the people, ( which 
 is known to be the higheft part of Soveraignty, ) did much in- 
 cline many to believe the Parliament : Efp.cially knowing that 
 they had fo long exercifed the faid Legiflative power, and that 
 we were all governed by Laws of their making. So that thofe 
 that did obey the Parliament, did verily think that they obeyed 
 the higheft power that upon the divifion was left in the Com- 
 mon-wealth ; and that they had the Laws on their iide t and 
 
 Tt3 <ki 
 
326 ^ K$y for Catbolicks. 
 
 did adhere to the Common good, which is the end of Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 And as they have thuscaufed our wars, and miferies,md fcan- 
 dals , fo have they continued to multiply feds among us of 
 all forts •, fo that there is fcarce a fe& but is a fpawn of the 
 jefuites andFryars-, and fcarce an honeft party but they creep 
 in among them to work their ends. And here I fhall briefly 
 mention fome of the parties with whom they have infinuated 
 to work their ends, and then fome of the feels that they have 
 bred or animated. 
 
 i. As for the old Englifh Bifhops and conformable Minifters, 
 who were of the faith and do&rine publikely here profeflcd , I 
 confefs I find but little evidence thai ever the Papifts had much 
 to do with them , faveonly to inftigate them againft the Puri- 
 tans , and draw fome of them to acomplyancewith mchas did 
 out- go them. Yet in their times Bijhop Goodman of G beefier was 
 fufpeAed to be a Papift, and fo profefled himfelf by his laft Te- 
 ftament at his death, fince the wars. 
 
 2. As for the Tresbperiam ,1 do not fee any reafon to think that 
 ever the Papifts had any intereft in them of any men, there being 
 none that they more hate then thefe two forts ( the old found 
 Epifcopal men, and the Presbyterians ) But yet both in France 
 and Scotland they have cunningly wrought upon them ab extra , 
 alarming them into difturbances by the wild-fire which they 
 bave caft in. 
 
 3 . As for the new Epifcopal party that followed Grotitu 
 ( ArmintKi in doftrine ) and the Greek Church, and were for 
 a reconciliation with Rome , on thofe terms ( which doubt- 
 lefs Rome would never have yielded to ) the intereft that the 
 Papifts had among them, and influence that they had on them 
 or their proceedings, is evident from what is faid before; and 
 much from the copious Proofs produced by Mr. Prin in his 
 forementionedBook { Canterburies Tryal^with the IntroduEl. ) 
 The Jefuites Letter cited by Prinjb.pag.%9. faith [ Not* we have 
 ■planted that Soveraign drugg Arminianifm , which we hope will 
 purge the Proteftants from their herefte,andit ftouri/heth and bears 
 fruit in duefeafin.~] The Articles exhibited in Parliament againft 
 many of the Biftiops will tell you by their works who were the 
 inftigatorsofthem. Ofthemfelvcslknow of none but g»od- 
 
 man 
 
A J^ey for Qatbolicks. ^7 
 
 man that hath profefled himfelf a flat i°apift ; and I (hall not 
 think it my duty to fufped any one roan of holding an Opinion 
 which he profcfTeth not himfelf, unlefs the evidence be very 
 ilroog to move fufpicion. But that many PapiIU were a* work 
 with them in that pretended Reconcilement , Franclf. a S.Clara 
 and divers others put us paft doubt. And that Papilts crept into 
 places in the Church under the garb of conformable Arminiar.s, 
 is too well known. It is no wonder therefore that Dr. Bailj t 
 Dr. Gcffe, Dr. Vane, Hugh Paul de Crcffj , and many more 
 of them did opnely revolt when the game leemed to be fpoilcd 
 that was plaid underboord. It had been far lefs hurt to us I think 
 if all the reft had been as open. 
 
 As for the King himfelf that was their Head,if any conjedure 
 that he was a flat Papift,as I have heard many rafhly fay, I think 
 there is much evidence to confute them. 1. That very Letter 
 to the Pop: ( forementioned ) on which the fufpicion is raoft 
 grounded, if you mark it exactly , doth intimate no more then 
 8 defirc of a union and Reconciliation, with fome additions that 
 may bear a tolerable fence. 2. His own Profeflion of the Prote- 
 ftant Religion is fufficient evidence. 3. His Deputation with 
 theMarquefsofVWrf/rVr eleareth it. 4. Hisfpeechat death, 
 and Papers fince publilhed clear it more. So that I think we 
 may be confident that he was no nearer to Rome then was the 
 reconcilable part of the Greeks .• and that he defired no more 
 then Bifliop Bromhal, and other of his Bifhops offer them, to 
 have the Church governed by Patriarcks, and the Pope to be 
 Principium Vmtatis, &c. If any would know wha: Party Grotitu 
 was of, I defire them carefully to perufe but thefe places in his 
 writings ( which I have cited elfewhere ) Difcuf. Apokg.Rhet. 
 fag. 255. & pag. 7. & vot. pr« Pace, pag. 1 . 2, 3. And of his 
 friends in England among the Bilhops in Airland all France ,in 
 Germany and Poland. See Difcuf. Apol. Rtzet. pag. 1 6 and my 
 Difcovery ofGrvtius Religion. 
 
 Yea for my own part I am perfwaded, that thePapifts were 
 as much afraid of King Charls and tbeOo//'*»defign,asof any 
 thing that of longtime hath been hatcht agamft them. They 
 are not all of a mind at home. The French and mode- 
 rate party no doubt applauded the defign , and liked 
 fuch writings a? S. {Urt's , aud would g'adiy have married 
 
 England 
 
328 A Key for Catholicks* 
 
 SngUndixA France in Religion. But others ( the Italian , 
 Spanifh Jefuited party ) might eafily forefee what danger 
 was in brewing for thero. Had France , England, Sweden, 
 Denmark. , and the German Lutherans agreed together , to bear 
 down the Calvinifts as nnreconcilable on one fide fas Grotifts 
 intimates it neceffary ) and the Italians and their adherents that 
 te: up the Pope above a Council,on the other fide, it would have 
 made the Pope afraid, as no doubt he was. Tor though he was 
 glad that we would draw neerer him,and make him the Head in 
 any fort , yet he knew not how to flop fo great an inundation 
 as was like upon the union to over-flow him. And hence was the 
 malice of the Jefuites againft the life of the King (andwithall 
 that he was fain into fuch hands where he was like to do them lit- 
 tle fervice. ) Secret. Windebankj Letter recited by Prin t ubifup. 
 tells us that it was the jefuites that were the death of Father Le- 
 ander 3nd fo were the Enemies of Francif. S. Clara and hw 
 Book, ( which caufed it to incur a Roman Cenfure) So that 
 with one part of them that it the beft way, which the- other is 
 more afraid of then of Proteftants. We fee it by the Janfenian 
 conteft. We fee it in that Cajfander, Erafmus, Vives,&c. are 
 excellent Catholicks with fome of them, and Heretical and vile 
 with the reft. 
 
 4. The perfecuted Nonconforroifts of the Proteftant party, 
 though they were raoft adverfe to the Papifts,yet had fome of the 
 Popifh brood at laft crept in among them, not onlytofpie out 
 their minds and wayes, but to head the party, and fow among 
 them the feeds of further difcontent and error, and to mike 
 them a Nurfery for various fe&s.For every where by their good 
 wils the Jefuites will have fome. If you ask me for my proof of 
 this,I (hall at this time give you but thefe two. 1 .The fruits that 
 Iprung up from among them,and the manner of Production, (of 
 which more anon. ) 2. The words of the Jefuites Letter recited 
 by Mr. Prin,Introd. pag.90. Q / cannot choofebut laugh to fee how 
 fome of our own coat have re-incountred themfelves : jon would 
 fcarce know them if jsu faw them ; and it is admirable how in 
 fpeecb andgefiure the] all the Puritans : The Cambridge Schollars 
 to their wofull experience {hall fee , we can atl the Puritans a lit- 
 t le better then they have done the jefuites : they have abufed our 
 (acred Patron St, Ignatius inje(i t but fte will make them fmart 
 
 for 
 
A K^y for Catbolicks . 329 
 
 foritinearnefl. I hope Jofiwill excttfemj merry digreffion, for 
 I confefs to jou lam at this time tratifporteA with py^ to fee how 
 happily allinfiruments And means y as well great as leffcr co-op tr ate 
 toottr purpofes.~\ Yet cannot I hear of any conhderable infe- 
 ction among this party that way before Sir Henry Yarn's 
 dayes. 
 
 5 . How far they crept into all Societies under the name of ln- 
 Jependa»ts,is opened by fo many already in Print,that I (hall add 
 no more of it. 
 
 6. And its a thing notorious, that they have crept in among 
 the Anabaptifts, and fomented that Se&. The ftory of the 
 Scottifh Mifiionary that pretended himfelf a Jew,and gave the 
 Anabaptifts the glory of his Conversion, and Rebaptizing at 
 Hexham, and was difcovered at Newcajile , is publifhcdand 
 commonly known : (whether he be yet inPrifon,or releaft t [ 
 know not. ) And too many more have more cleanly plaid their 
 game. And though many of rhc more fober Anabaptifts would 
 not be fo ufefull to thePapiftsas they expe&cd, yet multitudes 
 of them too far anfwered their expectations. 
 
 If you aik now what the Papifts get by all this , I anfwer, 
 you fee in the Inftance but of this one fed, and the produces of 
 it. 1. By this means our Councils, Armies, Churches have 
 becn'iivided, or much broken. 2. By this trick they have en- 
 gaged the minds and tongues of many (and their hands if they 
 had power ) againft the Miniftry,which is the enemy that ftand- 
 eth in their way. 3. They have thus weakned us by the lofs 
 of our former adherents. 4. They have found a Nurfery or 
 Seminary for their own Opinions , which one half of the Ana- 
 baptifts too greedily receive. 5«By this they have prepared thern 
 for more andworfe. 6. By this means they get an Intereft in 
 our Armies, or weakned our own. 7. By this they have got 
 Agents ready for mifchievous defigns ( as hath been lately too 
 manifeft. ) 8. By this they havecaft a reproach upon our Pro- 
 feffion, as if we had no unity or confidence , but were vertigi- 
 nous for want of the Roman pillar to reft upon. 9. By this they 
 haveloofned and difafTe&ed the common peo pie, to fee fo ma- 
 ny minds and waies, and hear fo much contending , and have 
 looft them from their former ftedfaftnefs, and made them ready 
 for a new impreffion. 10. Yea by this means they have theop- 
 
 U u portunity 
 
30 A I\ey for Catbolicks . 
 
 portunity of Predicating their own pretended unity,and hereby 
 have drawn many to their Church of late. AH this have 
 they got at this one game. What then have they got by all 
 the reft ? 
 
 I (hall next tell yon of foroe of thofe Herefies or parties among 
 us, that are the Papifts own Spawn or progeny j Either they 
 laid the Egg, or hatched it, or both. 
 
 And i.ltismoft certain that Libert inifm or Freedom for all 
 Religism, was fpawned by the Jefuites, who hate it in Spain and 
 Italy, but love it in England. I have met with the masked 
 PapiRs my fdf that have been very zealous and bufie to pro- 
 mote this Liberty of Confcience ( as they deceitfully called it. ) 
 For by this means they may have Liberty for themfelves,and 
 Liberty to break us in pieces by feds, and alfo Liberty under 
 the Vizor ofaSedary of any tolerated fort, to oppofe theMi- 
 niftry and doctrine of truth. 
 
 2. But the principal defign that the Papifts have upon our 
 Religion, at this day, is managed under a fort of fuglers, who 
 all are confederate in the fame grand principles, and are bufie 
 at the fame work, and are agreed to carrvitonin the dark,and 
 with wonderfull fecrecydo conceal the principal part of their 
 opinions ^ but yet they ufe not all one vizor, but take on them 
 feveral (hapes and names, and fomc of them induftrioufly avoid 
 allrfames. The principal ofthefe Hiders are thefe following, 
 i. The Vani, whofe game was firft plaid openly in America in 
 Net England, where God gave in his Teitimony againft them 
 from Heaven upon their two Propheteffes , Mrs. Hntchinfin , 
 ani Mrs. Dyer: The later brought forth a Monfter with the 
 parts of Bird, Beaft, Fifh and Man,which you may fee defcribed 
 in Mr. Welds Narrative, with the difcovery , the concomitants 
 and Confequents. The former brought forth many (neer 3 o.) 
 monftrous births at once, and was after flain by the Indians. 
 This providence fliould at leaft have awakened England to fuch 
 a Godly Jealoufie , as to have better tryed the doftrines which 
 God thus feemed to caft out, before they had fo greedily enter- 
 tained tbem, as in part of Lincoln/hire, Cambridge jbire , and ma- 
 ny other parts they have done. At leaft it fliould have wakened 
 the Parliament to a wife and Godly Jealoufie of the Counfels 
 anddefignsofhimthat was in New England, theMafterofthe 
 
 game. 
 
A I^ey for Catbolicks. 3 3 * 
 
 game, and to have carefully fearcht how much of his do&rme 
 and defign were from heaven ,and how much of chem he brought 
 with bim from Italy , oratleuft was begotten by the Progeni- 
 tor of Mongers, Such extraordinary providences are not to be 
 defpifed. They had a great Operation in Nero England among 
 thofewiie and godly men that law them, or were recr them, 
 and knew the waves or them that God thus certified againfr. 
 That which healed them fhculd have warned us. But God had 
 a judgement for us, and therefore wc were lefc in blindnefs, to 
 overlook that Judgement that fhould have warned us. They 
 are now dilpe; led in Court, City, and Country , and what God 
 will fufTcr them , and the Papifis by them further to do, time will 
 difcover. 
 
 2. The next fort of Htders,&re the Paracejians ,\VcigeliAns ,and 
 Bchmexifts,who go (he Urns w.iy in the mam with the former, 
 and are indeed the lame party, bur think meet to take another 
 name, and fetch coeir vizor from Jacob Bchmtn : of their life of 
 Community, and Challity, and Viiibleconverle ( as they pro- 
 fefsj with Angels, you may Tee fomewhat in th>; Narrative of 
 Dr. Pordidge of himfelf, together with Mr. Fowlers o him. The 
 m »i\ clean and moderate piece of their doctrine that hath been 
 larely publi(h?d,is Mr. Browlejes way to the Sabbath of Reft j or 
 Treaxife of Regeneration. 
 
 3 Another fort of the Hiders are thole oiled Seekers, among 
 whom! bavere;ifon to believe the Pjpifts hive not the leaft of 
 their ftrength in England** this day. They pra&ife the leflbn 
 that Boveritu in Apparat. adConfnltat. taught Prince Charts 
 long ago £ Frimttm eft, ut quottiam vera EeUgio tibi inqnirenda 
 eft, anteqaant ad earn inveftigandam acvedas, omnem print Religi- 
 onem apud te fnfpetlam habeas '• lubeatq,tamdin a Proteftantium 
 fide ac RfJigimie .mi mum *c volant at tm fmfpendere, quamaiu in 
 
 veriinquijitionc vffartt ] We tnuft fu'pecl all Religion 
 
 itfeems, and be full of no Religion , if we will become Papifis. 
 A fair begininglWe mail then be unchnftned.and iuipect Chrifi: 
 and Scripture , that we may beelpouled to the Pope. x\nd 
 this is the Papitls work by the Seekers, to take us off from all.or 
 from our former Religion, and blot out all the oldimpreflions, 
 thit we may be capable of new. And if they canaccomplifh 
 this , they have us at a fair advantage, tor he that is not a 
 
 Uu 2 Aark 
 
; 3 2 A Key for Catholicks. 
 
 ftark Atbeiftor Infidel, but believes that he hath a foul to fave 
 or lofe, muft needs know the Neceflity of feeking his Salvation 
 in fome Religion or other .- and therefore take him off from 
 this, and you muft needs bring him to fome other ; And he that 
 could prevail to take him oft his old Religion , is likelieft to 
 have fo much intereft in him as may alfo prevail to bring him 
 to another. And thePapift thinks that on the pretence of Unity, 
 Antiquity and Univerfality ( of which indeed they have but a 
 delufory (hew) they can put as fair for him that is once indiffe- 
 rentasany other can. 
 
 Of thtfe Seekers there are thefe Sub-divifions, orSe&s. The 
 firft and moft moderate do only profefs themfelves to be Seelters 
 for xhttrue Church and Miniftry ; holding that fuch a Church 
 and Miniftry there is, but they are at a lofs to know which is it. 
 A likely thing it is indeed, that men that take themfelve9 for 
 extraordinary wife, fhould think there is exiftent fuch a Church 
 and Miniftry as they predicate , and yet have no conje&urc 
 which it is. As if they fhould believe that there is fuch a crea- 
 ture as the Moon, but be not able to know it from the Stars. 
 
 The fecond fort of Seekers are to feek whether there be any 
 Organized Political Church , or any Miniftry, or any Ordi- 
 nances proper to a Church at all, or not. Not denying them, 
 but Doubting and Seeking ; that fo when they have found them 
 at Rome ,they may prote but Finders , and not grofs changlings : 
 And withall they yield that private men may Declare the Word, 
 and pray together, and read the Scripture. The moft rational 
 and modeft that hath wrote for this way, is the Author of [Afi- 
 ber Word to a Serious People~]h likely thing indeed it is, that fo 
 rational a man fhould heartily believe, that Chrift hath planted 
 fo excellent a Miniftry, and Church, and Ordinances ashimfelf 
 defcribetb, and to thofe ftanding nccefiary ufes which he men- 
 tioneth,even inftead of Chrift, to take men into the holy Cove- 
 nant, and yet that all fhould be left but foranAgeor two, and 
 that ever fince there is no fuch thing, or at leaft, no certainty of 
 it. The Stile (hews us that this Author is no fuch dotard as to 
 think as he fpeaks. 
 
 3 . Another fort of Seekers arc thofe that do not only Dmbt 
 of, but flatly deny any Miniftry , and Political Churches, and 
 Church-ordinances on Earth, as things that are loft in an V»i+ 
 ver-fal Apoftacy. 4« Ano- 
 
A %ey for Qatholicks. 3 ^ 
 
 4. Another fort of Seekers do not only doubt of ', or deny 
 thefe Particular Churches and Ordinances , but alfo they arc to 
 feekfor the Vniverfal Church it (elf, and the htly Scriptures ; 
 yea many of them not only jgueftioning them, bat flatly main- 
 taining, that we have no certainty that the Scripture is true , or 
 that we have the fame that was written by the Apollles, or that 
 there is fuch a thing asatrueMiniftry, or State of Chnftianity 
 in the World. Hence it is that fome of them pour out fo 
 many reproaches againft the Miniftry and the Holy Scriptures, 
 as you may find in Clem. Writer ,in two ignorant Pamphlets, that 
 havefcorninthe very Titles, as well as through the bulk ; one 
 called, The fus Divinum of Presbyterie ; and the other Fides 
 Divina : In which he maintaineth the caufe of the Infidels.The 
 opinion which this fort of men openly profefs, is, that no /w- 
 ticular man is bound to believe the Go/pel, but thcfe that have 
 themfelves feen Miracles te confirm it : and therefore in the firft 
 ages when Miracles were wrought, thofethat fa w them were 
 bound to believe in Chrift, and at the fecond coming of Chrifr, 
 when again he fhall be wirnefTed by Miracles, it will again be- 
 come a duty to be Chriftians : but not to others that fee no Mi- 
 racles, however they may hear of them. This doctrine Clem. 
 Writer hath profefled to me with his own mouth. But I may 
 not cenfure him to be fo weak as to believe himfelf. It's pofii- 
 ble that fuch a filly foul may be found , that fhall think that 
 Chrift came into the world to fet up Chriftianity as the true 
 Religion for thofe only in an Age or two, or more, that faw Mi- 
 racles ; but it's unlikely that a man that hath any confiderable 
 ufc of his reafon ftiould be fo filly. Who will not defpife Chrift 
 that thinks he came on folowadefign? Who would not be an 
 Infidel , that thinks ten thoufand Infidels are faved for one Chri- 
 ftian? Yea who can be himfelf a Chriftian , that thinks that 
 he is no: bound to be a Chriftian, becaufe he fees not Miracles } 
 It's moft evident therefore that this is but a Juggle, and that 
 fuch are either Infidels or Papifts. Infidelity is the thing pro- 
 fetfed, and therefore that we take them for Infidels, they cannot 
 blame us: But jet in Charity I hope (and not without caufe ) 
 that fome of this Profefiion are but Papifts-^ though others ! 
 have found to be defperate Infidels. 
 
 A fifth fort called Seekers alfo there are, that own the Cburc 
 
 Uu: an 
 
and Miniftery , and Ordinances; but yet fuppofe themfelves 
 above the-ii : for they think that thefe are but the Adrainiftra- 
 tions of Chrift ro men in the paflage zo a. higher fia<e t and that 
 fuch as have received the Spirited have the Law once written 
 in their hearts, are under (as they call it) the fecood Covenant, 
 and fo are part the lower form of Ordinances, Scripture, Milline- 
 ry, and vifible Churches 
 
 And a fixth fort of Seekers there are that think the whole 
 company of believers fhould now be over, grown the Scripture, 
 Miniltry and Ordinances ; For they think that the Law was 
 the Fathers Adminiftration, and theGofpelMiniftry and Sacra- 
 ments are the Sons Adminiftration , ind that both thefe are 
 now paft, and the feafon of the Spirits Adminiftration iscome, 
 which all mutt attend, and quit the lower forms. The David- 
 Qeorgians were the chief that taught the world this lefTon, their 
 Leader taking himfelf to be the HolyGhoji. All thefe forts of 
 Seekers are bred orcherilhed by the fefuitesand Fryars. And 
 the truth is. when a man is made a Seeker , he is half made a Pa- 
 pift : Asa Dog when he hath loft his Matter will foilow almoft 
 any body that will whittle him ; fo when men have loft their 
 Miniftry, Church and Religion, they are eafiiy allured to the 
 Church of Rome : For they are a body as confpicuous to a carnal 
 eye as any other. And who will not rather be of the Roman 
 Church and Religion then of none ? 
 
 4. Another fort of Hiders are the Quakers ; an impudent 
 Generation, and open enough in pulling down; but as fecret 
 and reserved as the reft in averting and building up. Whatin- 
 tercfts the Papifts have in breeding and feeding this Seft among 
 us, bath been partly proved from the Oaths of WitnefTes, and 
 Confefiions of Fryars, and fomewhat I havefpoken of it in 
 three feveral Papers againft them. The Do&rine of this 
 fourth fort is the fame, or fcarfe difcernable fromthereft. 
 
 5.„ A fifth fort of Hiders , are thofe Enthufiafts, that fliun 
 the affected bombafted language of Behmen % and fuch like, but 
 yet give us much of the body of Popery, Headed by an infal- 
 lible Prophetick Spirit, infteadof the Pope. Such as the Au- 
 thors of the Book againft the Affemblies Confellion, owned by 
 Parker , but faid to be written by a London Do&or : And many 
 fack Do&ors I know and hear of abroad in England. They 
 
 take 
 
A t\ey for Catbolicks. 335 
 
 take on them to be adverfarics to the Pope ; but they arc friends 
 to his Doftrines, and maintain the neceftuy of an infallible 
 living Judge, and fend us to Prophets for this infallible judge- 
 ment. And could the Papifts bring men once to this, it's an 
 cafie matter to ftrikeofT the the feigned Prophetick head , by 
 difgracing fuchas meer fantafticks , and to feton the ancient 
 Papal Head, which only will agree with the Body which they 
 have received. So much of the Libertines and the Hiders of 
 their Religion, (of feveral forts). 
 
 3. Another fort that are fpawned by the Papifts. are ftark 
 Heathens, Atheifts, or Infidels ; Thefe carry their judgement as 
 to the pofirive part as clofe as any of the reft, and are grown 
 in England to a far greater number and ftrength then is com- 
 monly imagined. Ic is not only Leviarhanor his Ocean that 
 is guilty of this Apoftaiie , (however they ufe the name of 
 Chrift) but abundance that lurk under feveral names. A great 
 while I knew not whit to make of this clofe Generation j but 
 now I have found out that which fhould make a believing ten- 
 der heart to bleed : even grofs Infidelity, caufing them fecretly 
 to fcorn at Chrift and the holy Scripture,and the life to co.Tie,as 
 bitterly as ever Julian did : And this is crept fo high , and fpred 
 fo far , that it is dreadful to thofe few that are acquainted 
 with its prog^efs. Some that have lately profefled to turnPa* 
 pifts (for what ends I know notj are known to be ftark Infidels s 
 And fome that have long gone for leading men wi:h them, 
 have fatisfled us by their writings that they are Romxnifts of 
 the moft ancient ftrain ^ even of the Roman Religion that was 
 ancienter then Peter and Paul. And many of the unfetled fort 
 of Proteftants, are fo far forfaken of God, as to Apollatiz.eto 
 the fame condition. M^ntahus the fanfeman takes the Jefuites 
 for falfe unworthy calumniators, for giving out that they have 
 long had a defignat Port-Royal to overthrow theGofpel, and 
 fet up Infidelity and meer D;ifm. ButI am furethey deferve 
 much harder words of us in England, between them , for do- 
 ing fo much to deftroy the Chnftianityof many , in order to 
 the fetting up of Popery. I do not charge it all and only on the 
 PapiLls. I know the Devil hath more forts of Inftruments then 
 one: But that they have had a notable hand in this Apofiafic, 
 we have good rcifonto fatisfie us. Not that they deiire that 
 
 men 
 
33^ ^K*yf or Catholickf. 
 
 men fhould be abfolutely and finally Infidels: But i. they 
 would make the world believe^ that all muft be Infidels that will 
 not receive the Chriftian Faith upon the Roman account and 
 terms: And in order to this they induftrioufly feek to difgrace the 
 Scripture, and overthrow all the grounds of the Faith of fuch 
 as they difpute with. And fo make them Infidels in order to 
 the proof of that their affirmation. 2. And then they think that 
 they muft take them off all Religion (as Boverins afore cited) 
 to prepare them for the Popifh Religion. 3. And the malice 
 of fome of them is fuch, that they had rather men were Infidels 
 then Proteftants; or at leaft they will venture them upon Infi- 
 delity in the way , rather than not take them off from being 
 Proteftants. And no wonder, when they allow Infidels fo much 
 more charity then Proteftanrs, as to their falvation,as all the Au- 
 thors cited by S, CUr* before do fignifie : And when Rome 
 burneth Proteftants, but giveth toleration for Jews. And thus 
 by thefe Devilifti devices , the Hiders in England that keep 
 clofe their Religion, are difcovcrcd at laft to be one part of 
 them Infidels or Heathens, and another part of them Papifts. 
 And no wonder if they would lately have introduced the Jews 
 here into England, and if they have fo many other defigns to 
 promote this Apoftafic. 
 
 4. Another fort that Popery hath here hatch or cherifhed 
 are the Socinians ; a Se& with whom both Papifts and Heathens 
 do joyn hands , as the Bond of their Conjunction. Yet I know 
 that they were not bred at firft by Popery : and I know that 
 the genuine Papift that holds faftthe Articles of their Faith, 
 muft needs difown the Socinian : But however it comes to pafs, 
 I am furc there ate too many of late (felf«conceited men, inno- 
 vatcrs in Pbilofophie ) that have reduced their Tbeologie to 
 their novel Philofophie, and expounded Scripture by fuch con- 
 ceits as fait with the Socinians. 
 
 I (hall fay nothing of the Millenaries, the Levellers, and many 
 fuch like. But here in the clofe, I would defire any Papift that 
 is confeious of the promoting of any of thefe fore- mentioned 
 abominations, to tell us whether this be like to be the way of 
 God ? Or whether Peter or Paul did ever take fuch a^ourfeas 
 this to plant the Gofpel, or build up the Church ? And whether 
 it be like to be the Caufeof God that muft be maintained by fuch 
 
 means? 
 
J I<\ey for QatholicKs. , >* 7 
 
 means ? Is not their damnation juft, tha<tfay, Let us do evill 
 that good may come thereby ? Should not the means be fuitcd 
 to the end? Hath the glory of God any need of a lie? This 
 courfe will never ingratiate your opinion! with any wife con- 
 siderate men. This is but working with the Devil for God : 
 like one that doth confult with a Witch or Conjurer to find 
 the goods of the Church when tbey areftoln. Dj you think 
 God needs the Devils help? Or is it like to be help that comes 
 from him? But the truth is, it is your bad Caufe that requires 
 thefe evils means : and it is your bad hearts that fet you on work 
 to ufe them : Though you think perhaps that you do God fer- 
 vice by it , yet you know not what Spirit you are of. Chrift 
 ownethnot fuch ways as thefe, and therefore his fcrvancs will 
 not own them. 
 
 Chap. XLVI. 
 
 Detett. 
 
 37- A Nother Practical fraud of the Papifts is, 7» 
 JT\hiding themfelves and their Religion, that the j 
 way do their veork^ with the more advantage. 
 
 1 (hall tell you briefly, i. The way by which they do this, and 
 2. The advantage they get by it. And 3. Help you to deceft 
 them. 
 
 1 .The principal means by which they conceal themfelves b Br 
 thrufling themfelves into all Setts and Parties, and putting on the 
 vizor of any fide, at their caufe requireth. It's well known that 
 formerly we had abundance of them that went under the name 
 of Proteftants , and were commonly called by the name of 
 Church-Papifis: But there is great realbn to think that there 
 are more fuch now. Some of them are Prelatifts, and fome of 
 them call themfelves lndependants : fome creep in smong the 
 *AnAb*ptifts ; and fome go under the cloak of Armir.i.ms , s nd 
 fome of Socinians, and fome of Millenaries , and all the other 
 Seds before- mentioned. They animate the Vanifls , the Bth- 
 nsenifis, and other Enthtifiafis, the Seekers, the Quakers , the 
 Origenifts, and all the fuglers and Hiders of the times : I: is they 
 that keep life in Libert inifms y and in Infidclit/ itfclf. Among 
 
 X x every 
 
358 A Key for Catholtcks. 
 
 every one of thefe parties you may find them , if you have the 
 « kvH ofur.masktngthem. 
 
 2. Another way of Hiding, themfelves is, by having a Difpen- 
 fathnto come toany efour Ajfemblies y or join in wot fhip with 
 anv par:y, good or bad : Or elfethey will prove it lawful! with- 
 cue a Dil'psnfation , where the Pope interdi&eth it nor. And 
 their way is thii : that all the old known Papifts , efpeciallv of 
 the poorer fore, (hillbeftill forbidden to come to ourAflem- 
 blies , left they bring the blot of levity and temporizng on their 
 Religion and left there (houid not be a vifiblc party among them 
 to countenance their caufe. But the New profelites , efpecially 
 fuch as are of any power and interefi: in the world, and may do 
 them more ferviceina masked way, and can fairly avoid the 
 Imputation of Popery , thefe (hall have leave to come to our 
 Afferablies, when their caufe may make advantage of it. That 
 you may fee I feign not all this of them, fbefides the proof from 
 cerrain experience which we daily fee ; let me lay before you 
 theDecifionsof one of their principall DireFlors y \n this work 
 of propagating thtir faith y and that i$, Thorn, ajefu de Qonverf. 
 gentium. How far they are for favouring of Heatbeni and 
 Infidels, and Liberty of Confcience for them ( for all their cru- 
 elty to Proteftants ) you may fee him, lib. 5. Dub. 4. fag. 207. 
 Where he tells you that the fentence commonly received in the 
 Schools is,that it is not lawfull for Chriftian Princes to ufeany 
 force againft Infidels, for fins againft the Law of Nature it felf: 
 and citeth Cajetl.Vitloria,(^ovarruv. Greg, devalent. And him- 
 felf decides it in the middle way of Azoritu y [ That Pagans may 
 not be punifhedfor defpi (trig the honour and worfhipof God, though 
 they m*y for not giving every man his own, and for theft, murder , 
 falfe veitmfs, and other ftns that are againft mens right'J Compare 
 this with Sir H. Vanes doftrine of Liberty. 
 
 And lib. 5. part. 1 .Dub.6.pag.2io. he teacheth that [ A 
 C Atholick H v *ng among Heretickj may ( when the fcandalizing 
 of others forbids it not ) for fear of death , go to the Temples of he- 
 rtiic\s y and be among them in their meetings ', and ajfcmblies,be- 
 caufe of it felf it it a things inherent • Tor a man may for many 
 caufes go to the Temples of her eticks, and be among them in their 
 affemblies , as that he may the ea flyer and more effe&ually and com' 
 modigufly confute their errors, or on other jufi cccafiens, ( unlefs 
 
 accidentally 
 
A fyy for Catbulicks. 3 39 
 
 accidentally it fcandalizA others.) Tea as Azorius faith } he may 
 do it to obey a Prince jbough he be an heretic k, when he feareth the 
 loft of hi j honour, maintenance er life : For in this he only obey ah 
 his Frince'. efpecially if among the faithful I fthat is, the Papifts) 
 hs openly affirm, that he doth it only to obey his Prince, and not to 
 profefs the heretical fell : For by that open alteration he 
 avoideththe offence and danger of Catholickj , and well declineth 
 the unjuft vexation of the Prince. J 
 
 And th3C Pa pills may eat flefb on dayes when their Church for- 
 bids it , to hide themfehes among heretickj , he determineth 
 in Dub. 5 . p. 2 1 8 , 2 1 g. So that toe Papifts are abundantly pro- 
 vided for their fecurity , againft fuch as would difcover them 
 when it ftandsnot with their ends to difclofcthemfelves. 
 
 3. Another moft effectual way of Hiding themfehes is, by 
 Equivocation or mental refervations , which we ufe to call Lying, 
 when they are examined about their Religion, their Order's or 
 their actions. Lying that hurtech not another, they com- 
 monly maintain to be but a venial fin , which fay moft of 
 them, is properly no fin at all. And to equivocate or referve 
 one half of your anfwer to your fc!ves,fay the Jefuites,is not Ly- 
 ing, nor unlawful!, in cafe a mans intereftrequireth him to do 
 it. See the words of their own Cafuifts cited for this by Man- 
 taltm the Janfenift. Were it a thing that needed proof, I 
 would give you enough of it. Thorn, d fefu the Carmelite, ubi 
 fup. Dub. 4. pag. 218. fecureth them fufficiently : His Quefti- 
 on is Q Whether one that denyethitwhen he is asked of a Heretic^ 
 whether he be a Prieft, or a Religious man, or whether he heard Di- 
 vine fervice,do /in againft the confeffion of faith ? 1 He anfwereth, 
 [No : for that is no denying himfelf to be a Chrifiian , or Cat ho • 
 lick^: For it is lawful] to diffemble or hide the per f on of a Clergy 
 manor a Religious man , without a lye in words , lefi a man be 
 betrayed and in danger of hit life ; and for the fame caufe he may 
 
 layby his Habit, omit prayers, &c. becaufe (N.B. ) hu+ 
 
 mane Laws for the moft part bind not thefttbj lis confcicnce, when 
 there u great hazard of life, as in this fafe Azorius hath well 
 taught. Jufl. Mor. Tom. i . lib. 8 . c . 27.] So that by the confenc 
 of moft , there is no danger toaPapiilinany fuch cafe from his 
 own confeffion. 
 
 Another way of Hiding their Religion and themfelve s, is by 
 
 X x a fidfc 
 
240 ^ i^y /or Qatholick* 
 
 falfeOaths , which we called, wilfull perjury, but the Jefuitcs- 
 take for a Lawfull thing, when a mtma.il Refervation or Sqnivo- 
 cation fupplyeth the want of verbal truth, as their words cited 
 by the fortrnentioned Janfeuian, teftirie, And who will ever 
 want fo eafie, fo obvious , fo cheap a Remedy againfl all dan- 
 ger of perjury, as a mental Refervatimis ? 
 
 Yea chat the Pope can fufficiencly difpenfe whhany of their 
 OatI s of fidelity or Allegiance,or the like,l (hall (hew you un- 
 der the laft Detection. The Parliament, hath impofedon them an. 
 Oath of Abjuration,but do they nor know how little the Clergy, 
 andfuchas have their countenance will ftick at that, fuch Nets- 
 are too wide to catch them in. Hear the words of one of their 
 OWnPriefts ( Jo. Browns Voluntary Confeff. in Prins Utrodutt,- 
 p. 203 . ) faith he, [_ Its ftrange to fee the Stratagems whichthej 
 ptft wiih their penitents concerning the Oath of Allegiance I If 
 they be poor, they tell them fl'tly, (when they are demanded to ta\e 
 the Oath ) that it is damnable, and no wayes to be allowed by thi 
 £hurch : If the J be of the richer fort % t hey fay they may do as their ■ 
 confeience will infpire them. *s4nd there be fome ef them that 
 make no confeience at all, to have it taken fooft as the j are de- 
 manded. ] What would you have more, then fuch dilcovcries 
 by tbemfelves? 
 
 z.Btit what get they by this Hiding of 'tbemfelves? 'Jrifw.i .They- 
 hereby fecure ihemfelves from danger.2.They do the more eafily j 
 prevail for the multiplication of their fed: : For worldly perfons 
 would not fo eafily flock into them without fome fuch fecurity 
 from furTcring. 3. They.preferve thofe that are come over to- 
 them from revolting.by the difcouragement of furTering,efpecial- 
 )y the Rich and Honourable. 4.They angle for fouls with the lefs 
 fufpition, when they fland behind the bufli ; Papifts are become^ 
 fo diftafted with the people by the Powder. plot,and many other 
 of their pranks , that they may take more with them , if they 
 come.raasked under another name. . 5. By this means they may 
 openly revile and oppofe the Miqiftry, and Ordinances , and 
 Churches, and Proteftanc do&rine , without difturbance by the 
 Magiftrate. A Papift in. the Coat of a Quaker , an Anabap- 
 tift, a Seeker , or the like, may rail at us and our do&rine in 
 the open Streets, and Market place, and call us.all to naughe^ 
 and teach abundance of their own Opinions, without a con* 
 
 crook 
 
A I\ey for Catholich. J 4 1 
 
 troul. And many a poor foul will take an Anabaptift Papift, or 
 Seeker into their bofome, and familiarly bear them, and eafiiy 
 fwallowdown what they fay, that would be afraid of them if he 
 knew them to be Papifts. 6. By this means they haveeafier 
 accefs to a greater number then openly they could have. 7. And 
 by this means they may infinuate into our Counfels , and know 
 allourwayes, and how to refill us. 8. But above all , by this 
 means they may be capable of any office and truft among us. 
 They may be Miniflers , or Juftices of Peace : They may be 
 Parliament men, and Leaders in our Councils, and have the 
 condud of our affairs : They may have a great influence on the 
 reft that know them not ; They may come to have pDwer in our 
 Armies. And if once the Masked Papifts come to make our 
 Laws, or guide our Councils and Affairs, and influence or 
 command our Armies, you may foon know what would become 
 of Proteftants : Kings and Parliaments, Prelates and Presbyters 
 (hall all go one way , if they can accorriplifh it : Its eafie there- 
 fore to difcern that their principall Artifice* fyeth in Hiding 
 themfelves (To be it (till there be a vifible body of their open 
 profeflbrs. ) And for my own put, I think I have good reafon 
 to fear left the Papifts are far ftronger at this day in EngLni 
 that are unknown , then that are known: and that wear the 
 Vizard of Seekers, Vanifis, and other Sefts, then that appear 
 barefaced •* Yea I believe that our danger of the open Papifts 
 is nothing in comparifon of our danger from thefe juglcrs. 
 Andlconfefs I think an ingenuous open Papiftfhould have a 
 great deal more gentle dealing from our Migiftratei, then thefe 
 Deceivers that hive fuch ftrerching Consciences. lor ray own 
 part I muft confefs I feel a great deal of charity in my heart for 
 a confcier.tious plain dealing Papift ; and I would never be guil- 
 ty of cruelty or rigor to them. But this j*g//»g in the matters 
 of God and Eternal life , my very foul abhors. 1 have been fee 
 upon by thefe fuglersmy felf, and by fome of themoft renown- 
 ed of them; but as foon as I perceived any of them purpofely 
 cboofetbe dark, and bide themfelves mafTefted cloudy terms 
 ormethods, 1 was moreaverfefrom their documen«,and took 
 them for men that were either enemies to truth, or elfe had not 
 received it into honeft hearts ihemfelves. Trurh is moft beauti- 
 ful! in ics nakednefs • J< loveth plain dealing. and abhorreth' 
 
 X x 3 fraud* 
 
342 a K?y f or C at ^ lc ^ s • 
 
 fraud. Ic takes chat for its greateft friend, thac layes it mod 
 naked to the view of all, and that for its enemy that purpofely 
 obfcureth it. We have all fuch a natural inclination to trutb,that 
 he fcarcedefervesthenameofaman, much lefs of a Chriftian, 
 that would not embrace it if he knew ir. Did I think that the 
 Papiftsbadtbe truth, the Lord knows I would run afcer there, 
 and follow them till I had learned it : If ever any of them would 
 work on me, they rnuit come bare faced : for I naturally abhor 
 a Jugler in Religion,and a friend of darknefs. 
 
 3 . But how /hall thefe Hiders be Detetted ? Anfa. l .You have 
 caufe to fttfpett all that ufe a Musk^ , and purpofely hide their 
 minds. To fufped them I fay, to be Papifts or worfe : They 
 walk not in Gods way that walk in Darknefs : It is the Kingdom 
 of Satan that is the Kingdom of Darknefs, and it is be that 
 is the Prince of Darknefs, and hisfervants that arc the fonsof 
 Darknefs. Me thinks a man that intendeth Deceit, what ever 
 his end be , fhould not Cake it ill to be fufpe&ed for a deceive-. 
 God is fo good aJnafter that no body fhould be afliamed of 
 him. Truth is fo amiable, that the genuine Tons of Truth are 
 not aftiamed of it. Its no true Religion thataitureth not men 
 of tha: which will favc them harralcfs, and bear them out againft 
 all the malice of earth and hell, and repair all loffes that they 
 can fuftainin the defending of it. Qui nonvult intelligi, debet 
 negtigi. He that would not be fully underftood, (hall never 
 be my Teacher, nor be much regarded by me. And therefore 
 the V*nt and Sttril language of Paracelfian Bchmeniits, and 
 Popifh juglcrs , doth ferve with me for no other ufe but to 
 raifemeinto fafpicion of their Defignsand Dodrines, and to 
 fignifie iVaine ind Steril mind. Who will not fufped that 
 Tradefmans wares that choofeth a dark Shop, and refufetb to 
 open his wares in the light ? I know that Scripture hath its diffi- 
 culties, and ftrong meats. But that is from our incapacity of 
 undemanding higher points, till we arc prepared by 'the low- 
 er : It is from the altitude of the matter , and not that God 
 doth envy us the truth, which he pretendeth to reveal : If a 
 Prophetic be purpofely obfeured , which concerneth not the 
 world fo neerly, yetfo are not the Doctrines that our life or 
 death lyeth on. But faith Clem. Writer to me., ( recited in 
 bis laic Book againft me J [Wo/fldjM not hide jw minder Re- 
 ligion 
 
A I\ey for Catboticks. 343 
 
 Jigion in Spain ? Anfw. i. No: I would not- whenever I 
 found my felf capable of ferving God moft by the difcovery ; 
 which is the common cafe. 2. Till then, I would not put on 
 the vizor of any thing that I knew te befalfe^ and make ufe 
 of Pofitive Jugling and Diflembling to hide my Religion. 
 3. If Chrifliansagainfl Infidels, or Proteftants among Papifts, 
 had thought this difiimulation lawful] , there had not been fo 
 many thoufandsof them martyred or murdered as were. 4.Whae 
 Opinion is it that brings men in England into any great danger 
 at this day? Either your Opinion muft be Atheiftical ,or at 
 Ieaft Infidelity, if youfappofe it will bring you now into any 
 great fu&ring •• or if it be fome fmall matter that you fear , it 
 feems you think not your Religion worthy to be open'y owned 
 in fo fmall a danger. Tie never be of a Religion that is not 
 worthy my opened confeflion, even to the death, when there is 
 fo much danger. 
 
 2. The Jugling Papifts may be known by this, that they are 
 alwayes looTcning people from their Religion , and leading 
 them into adiflikeof what they have been taught; that they 
 may be receptive of their new Impreffions. And therefore of 
 any one Scd in England , there is none to be fo much fuf- 
 peded of a fpiritof Jefmtifm, as the Seeders of all forts. 
 
 3. The Jugling Papifts may be much detected by this, that 
 they are all upon the Deflruttive part in their Difputes, and ve- 
 ry little on the Ajfertive parr. Thev pull down with both hands, 
 but tell you not what they will build up,till they have prepared 
 you for the difcovery. They tell you what they are againft. 
 But what they are for, you cannot draw out of them. As if 
 any wife man will leave his houfe or grounds till he knows 
 where to be better .- or will forfake his ftaff that he leaneth 
 on , or thefood that he feedeth on , till he know where to have 
 a better provifion or fupport. Do they think wife men 
 will be made irreligious ? They deil by the poor peop!e,as one 
 that fhould fay to paflengers on Shipboard [ What fools are yen 
 to venture your lives infuchafbip that hath fo much encumbrance 
 and danger , and fo many flaws, and but a few inches between 
 you and death, a»d is guided by fuch a Piht as may betray you ,, 
 or caft away your lives for ought you know ? ] They know now 
 thn none but mad men will be pcrfwadrd by mch words as thefe 
 
 to 
 
2 44 A K?y f or Catbolicks- 
 
 to leap inco the Sea to fcape thefe dangcrs.-and therefore they do 
 this but to make men willing to pafs into their fhip,and take them 
 for our P lots. If you are wife therefore hold them to it , and 
 leap not over-board , but keep where you are, till they have 
 (hewed you a fafer Veffel and Pilot : which they can ne- 
 ver do. 
 
 When I did but privately defire of CI. Writer that he would 
 acquaint me with that truth that he thought me ignorant of, and 
 that we might privately and lovingly confider how far we were 
 agreed, and where we differed, that we might debate the cafe, 
 and try who was in the right, he refolutely denyed to have any 
 debate with rae,or to open any of his judgement,but pag 46. re- 
 proacheth this very motion, as proceeding from [my aims of a 
 mottflrotu fkape and ugly lookj ] fo raonitrous a thing doth it 
 appear to thefe deceiving Juglers, to tell men what Religion they 
 are o c , and would have us to receive, when they will freely re- 
 proach the Religion which we profefs. 
 
 4. And you may ftrongly con je&ure at the quality of thefe 
 Juglers, by their conltant oppofttion againd the A-liniftry. It is 
 Miniflers that are their eye- fore ; the hinderersof their King- 
 dom : Could they but get down thefe,the work were done , the 
 day were their own : And therefore their main bufinefs > what- 
 ever vizor they put on, is to bring the people into a diflike or 
 contempt of the Miniftry. If they feera Quakers ^ they will 
 rail at them : If they feem Seekers.they will difpute againft their 
 calling : If they feem the gentleft Behmenifts, they have their 
 girds at them, to acquaint the world that they are mifguided by 
 them. But at firft , they will not let you know which is the 
 true Miniftry, if ours be not ^ or which is the true Church, if 
 ours be not . Here they leave you, 
 
 5. The Jugling Papift, what vizor foever he wears, is com- 
 monly putting in for his own opinions, of the Neceffny of a 
 fudge of Controverfies y an Infallible (fhurch , a ft ate of perfect ien 
 here , the magnifying of curewn inherent Right eoufnefs^ without 
 any great efteem of f unification by tht -forgivenefs of fin: and 
 many fuch like. 
 
 6. Papifb have Rill an aking tooth at. the Authority and fuf- 
 ficiencyof Scriptwe ; and therefore on one pretence or other, 
 are ftill difgracing and impugning it, and leading men afide to 
 fome other Rule. 7. Papifr s 
 
A ^ey for Catholic ks. 3 4 5 
 
 7. Papifts have ftill an enmity againft the l l J tr*er of the Ma- 
 giftrate in matters of Religion: For in fuch matters their Vice- 
 chrijl muftbetheonlv Judge. Whereas indeed, by that tirr.e 
 the Magtftrate hath judged , Who is Punifhable by the S*or4 t 
 and the Pa/lors and "Particulars Churches have judged , Whit 
 uexcommunicable, (which are their undoubted works,/ there is 
 nothing left for a Pope to do.Sufped them that arc for a Liberty 
 for all -, or atleaft for all that are no worfe then Papifts. They 
 thit fet opea this door intend to creep in at it themfelves at lafr. 
 
 8. And it is afufpicious fign when you find men enemies to 
 the Unity, Peace and Settlement of our Churches , but would 
 (till keep us indivifionanddiftra&ion. And yet fome of thefe 
 men will lament our Divifions, and cry upllnity, but they will 
 fecretly hinder it, or do nothing to attain it. 
 
 9. And ic is fomewhat fufpiciou* to fee men hang loofe from 
 all our Churches in their pra&ife , and joyn with none, nor 
 communicate in the Sacraments. If they know not Sacraments 
 and Church-communion to be both our Duty, and the Means 
 of our ftrength and comfort , it is doubtful whether they are 
 Chriftians or Infidels. But if they know this of the Neceflity 
 and ufe of Sacraments, and Church-communion in general, and 
 yet joyn not with any of our Churches herein, tt*s a fhrewd 
 iufpicion that they have an eye upon fome other Church. For 
 lure a tender confidence would not be many years in refolving 
 of fo great and practical a point , no more then he would live 
 many years without prayer, on pretence of being unfatisfied 
 in the mode of Prayer. 
 
 10. And yet on the contrary fide, there are fome Jugling 
 Papifts , efpecially in our Councils, Civil and Ecdefiaftitk, thac 
 play their game by over-doing , and making every thing to be 
 Popifhand Antichriftian , to drive us into eXtrearrjs, and into 
 opinons in which we may eafily be bafled. And id not a little 
 that they have won of us at this game. 
 
 Chap. XLVII. 
 
 DeteQ. 38. \ Nother of their Practical Frauds i«, In their ex* 
 
 l~\ ceeding indujtryfor the perverting of men of Port* 
 
 tr &Intercft > tfiAt are Ukelj to do much in helping or hindering them* 
 
 Y y Swarms 
 
346 A l\ey for Catholicks. 
 
 Swarms of them are bufiedayand night, for the feducing of 
 Princes, and Nobles, and Rulersof all forts, and of Comman- 
 ders in the Armies. Of their diligence abroad we may know 
 fomewhat by their fuccefson divers of tlcGerman Princes and 
 the lace Qaeen of Swede*, and on many of the Nobles of Frame, 
 and fuch others. 
 
 At home we have fmarted by the fruits of their induflry. 
 What abundance of aiTiuks were made on the la'eKing? from 
 his going to Spain, and the Popes Letters to him there , and to 
 the Bifhopof Cenchen to take care for his fedu&ion , and fo 
 all along to the laft, I need not mention. And what Noblemen 
 or Perfons of Intercft in England lay not under aflaults and! 
 folxications in thofe days ? And are all the Jefuites and Fryarjs 
 dead ? Or have they not ftill the fame caufe and induflry a$; 
 then ? Is the Court, or Councils of the Land, or the Nobility;, 
 Gentry or Army now free from their fraudulent folicitations. ?> 
 How far they have prevailed time will fullicr reveal : but what 
 they will endeavour we may eafily judge. And certainly the: 
 number of Seekers and fuch other Seels among them, doth tell; 
 us that they have not loft their labour. 
 
 If thefe lines fhall fall into the hands of any of our Rulers or 
 Commanders, I intreat tbem for the fake of their fouls, and the 
 Common wealth, to be prudent and vigilant in a matter of fuch 
 confequence. I do not intend to intreat them from error unto 
 truth without fuflicient light and evidence : But that which I 
 defire is but rcafonable • 1. That you would not be too confi- 
 dent of your own underflandings to deal with fuch Jgg'ers in. 
 your, own ltcength , without affiftance. They have made it 
 their ftudy all their days, and are purpofely trained up to de? 
 ceive : whereas you are much wanting in their way of ftudy, 
 and much unfurnifhed to refi(t,how highly foever you may think- 
 of your felvci. 
 
 2. That you would read a little more the learned folid wri- 
 tings of our Divines againft the Papifls, fuch as Dr. Fields, 
 Crakfnthorps, Vfhers, ChiMngworths, Jewels, Rivets, Ckamt- 
 cr;, Ames y Reigno{ds,whktakerj; and fuch Ike, beginning with 
 Sir Hxmfrey Linds Via Dvia,& via Tnta,(& du P/effis of the 
 Church.and his Myfterie of Iniquity, and Dr. John White, Sec-) 
 3;- That you will not hearken to Papifls fecretly, nor masked, 
 
 nor 
 
A I(ey for Catbolicks. 3 47 
 
 nor coming to you by indiredand Jugling ways; but open 
 their perfwafions , ?.nd call to forae able ftudyed Divines to 
 deal with them in your hearing, if needs you will hear them, 
 that To you may hear one fide as well as the other. 
 
 4. That you take heed what Retainers,Scrvants,or Familiars 
 are about you : For fome that pretend to be acquainted with 
 thefe men, are much miftaken, if they be not more frequent at 
 your elbows, and in your Bed-chambers, then many do ima- 
 gine. If they cannot be of your Councils, and your neer atten- 
 dants , they will rather be your Porters, or the Grooms of 
 your Stables, then they will be kept out. We fear not any 
 thing that they can do in an open way, in comparifon of their 
 fecret whifpers and deceits, when there is no body to gainfay 
 them. Had they the Truth, we (houldbeglad to entertain it 
 with them. It is not therefore Truth in their mouths that we 
 are afraid of: But feeing theNations and our Pofterity have 
 fo much dependance on your Integrity , we call for fo much 
 Juftice at your hands, as that you will not caft open your ears 
 toeachdeceiver,efpeciallyin fecret, or on unequal tearms : Lei 
 not all our peace and fafety be hazarded by the felf conceit- 
 ednefs , or imprudence of you that are our Rulers. Seeing it 
 is you that muft give us Laws, or fet the Vulgar the pattern 
 which they are fo much addi&ed to imitate ^ We adjure you 
 in the Name of the raoft High God, that you be not too for- 
 ward and facile in hearkening to Seducers , and corrupting 
 thofe Intellects which the whole Nation hath fo great an In- 
 tereft in : and that you be not henceforth as children toft to 
 and fro, and carryed about with every wind of doftrine by the 
 the fleighcof men, and cunning craftinefs whereby they lie in 
 wait to deceive, Eph. 4 14. But we befeechyou mark tbern 
 which caufe Divisions and offences contrary to the do&rine 
 which you have learned, and avoid them. For they that are 
 fuch, ferve not the Lord Jefus Cht ift, but their own belly, and 
 by good words and fair fpeeches deceive the hearts of the fira- 
 ple, Rom. 16. 1 7 # 1 8 . Hearken not to everyone that faith, Lo 
 here is Chrilt, or Lo there is Chrift ^ here is the Catholick 
 Church, or there is the Catholick Church: As if Chrift were 
 divided , or the Catholick Church were more then Ore ? On 
 it were confined to a Se& or Party , whether Papal or any 
 
 X y * •tber, 
 
3 48 A B\ey for Catboltcks . 
 
 other , and did not contain all Chriftians through the world ? 
 All parts of this Church are not equally pure, but all are Parts : 
 Be you of the pureft part, but do not therefore take that part 
 for the whole .- much lefs the polluted part. Have companion on 
 the difeafed and tumified part : but do not therefore fo far doat, 
 as to love the tumor or difeafe, and fay that none is the Church 
 but this. We are willing te be as Charitable to that Proud 
 Throne of Rome^nd ufurping Vice-chrift, as will ftand with the 
 (afety of our fouls and of the Church. But God forbid that we 
 fliould therefore be fo blind, as to run into their Peft-houfe, and 
 drink the pay fon by wjiich they are thus tumified & intoxictaed. 
 Look on their Principles, and fee what an afped they have 
 on Chrift, on the Cacholick Church , and upon Princes ? Look 
 back on their Pradifes, and fee what their Principles proved in 
 the fruits ? Yea what need we go further for a warning, then 
 to remind you of that which one would think fhould be deep 
 and frefti in your minds •, even what they have brought upon 
 Kings, Queens, Lords, Prelates, and this whole Land ? But this 
 leads me to the next Dcte&ion. 
 
 Chap. XLVIII. 
 
 Dttett. 39. "T^HE laft of their Practical frauds fat home) 
 1 and the moftdefperatc xs^Their Treafons againft 
 the lives of Princes , and the Peace of Nations , and their dif- 
 folvi»g the bonds of Oaths and Covenants , and making Perjury 
 and Rebellion to feem to be Duties and Meritorious works. 
 
 It would be a voluminous task to relate the Hiftories of the Pa- 
 pal Trefons : How the Roman Vice-chrift having laid a claim to 
 both Swords , Spiritual and Temporal , hath plaid the Tray tor 
 againft the (?m^Emperors,difpofTeffing them of the Weft • and 
 againft the Emporors oliGermanj y ftirring up their own fub je&s, 
 and the Chriftian Princes and States againft them; fetting his foot 
 on the neck of one , and making another w.ait barefoot long 
 at the Roman gates ■ and keeping many of them in wars. 
 It was this Horrid Treafon and Tyrannical ufurpation over all 
 the Chriftians Princes, that caufed all thofe Treatifes on that 
 fubjed wrote againft him, in theDefenfe of Princes and their 
 
 Rights, 
 
A I(ey for Catbolicks. 349 
 
 Rightt, which Mich. Qcldtftus hath preferves and conjoyned 
 in divers Volumes. It was this that caufed England, Denmark^ 
 Sweden, and fo many other Princes, to be thereaJier to fhake 
 off his yoke. Kings are not Kings where the Pope is fully 
 Pope; except only the Houfeof Auftria , whom he is forced 
 to grarifie, as the only prop of all his tyrannic France that 
 hath fo much flood for its Liberties , hath felt the fruits of the 
 Roman Principles, and League ; and two of their mod renowned 
 Kings fucceffively hive been bafely and inhumanely butchered 
 by thcra : And to this day the numerous fwarm of the Popes 
 dependant Clergy, doth not only devour, as is thought, about 
 a third part of the Land*, but alfoaws and fwiies the Prince* 
 Even in Ireland before our wars, a Bifliop {Bedle in his Let- 
 ter to Laud in Print Introduct. tag. 102 J doth open the 
 Power of thcClergie, and their infolencies as fuch, that he con- 
 cludes \_HU Majefiy is novo with thegrcatefl part of this Conn' 
 trey as to their hearts and confeiences, King , but at the Popes 
 defcretion) And in another Letter to the faid Archbifhop (ibid. 
 fag. 112 ) h* faith [/ that know that in this Kingdom of his 
 Aiajeflyjhe Pope hath another Ktngdom far greater in numbered 
 as I have heretofore fignified to the Lords fuftices, and Council 
 {which ftnee is juftified by themfelves in print) conjiamly guided 
 and diretled by the order of the new Congregation , de propa- 
 ganda fide, lately eretled at Rome •] fee the reft. 
 
 Do 1 need to tell England of the many treacheries fince the 
 Reformation againftour Princes? Or who it was that would 
 have depofed as well as Excommunicated Queen EHz,*beth, 
 and expofed her Kingdoms to the will of others ? Or who \z was 
 that wrote againft King fames his Title to the Crown t Or 
 who were the Adors of the Hellifh Powder- plot ? Or who it 
 is thit hath been (till blowing the fire, and calling all into d«- 
 fturbances for their ends? Do I need to mention th.'ir ap 
 proving of the Murdering of Princes, and the pretence of power 
 to difpenfe with oaths of Allegiance and fidelity, and who hath 
 a&oallyfo oft pretended to difobligetbe fubjecV, and expofc 
 Princei and their Dominions to the firlt occupant ? I know 
 that many of the feculars in England difowned this do&rme : 
 3at i. So never did the Pope, but hath owned and pra&ifedir. 
 2. By difowning it, they difown Popery it felf, if tbey know 
 
 Yy3 ^h«t 
 
}jo AK^yfor Catbolicks. 
 
 what they dor For it is an Article of their Faith, andfoEffen- 
 tial to their Religion , as explicitly held • and is determined by 
 a Pope and an approved General Council , even 12. the fourth 
 at Lateran under Innocent the third , as I before recited the 
 words at large in the third Argument againft them here. 
 
 I know fome of the Papifts would perfwade the world that 
 it was none but Mariana the Jefuite that wrote for King kil- 
 ling : and that it was firft condemned by themfelvcs. But the 
 Parliament of Paris tells another ftory of them, as it is recited 
 by Thmntu (who was Prefident and then prefent ) Hifi. lib, 
 130. ad. an. 1 604. And Rivet names them Cjuignardus ( thac 
 wrote in praife of the murder of Henry the third,) and of Od» 
 Pichenatus , Barterius fuborned by Varada, &c. And Albine- 
 m the Jefuite did hear the Murderer of Henry the fourth con- 
 fefs before he did the fad , and put off the examiners with this 
 anfwer , that God had given him that fpecial gifl to forges 
 when once he hadabfolved afinner whatfoever was confeffed 
 by him. And why was it that France did expel the Jefuites., 
 and fet up a Pillar of Remembrance of their villanies, till Henry 
 the fourth would needs grarifie the Pope by calling them in 
 again , and told the Parliament , that the peril of it fhould 
 be on him ; and fo it was ■, for it coft him his life. And why did 
 the fame Parliament of Paris , Novemb. 1610. condemn Bel- 
 larmines book againft Barclay, as an engine of trcafon and re- 
 bellion? And the Theological faculty of Parts, April. 4. 1616. 
 condemned Santarellns Book as guilty of the fame villany, 
 (tarring up people to Rebellion anj King-killing? And May 
 i2.theUniverfity confirmed it: And March 13. the Parliament 
 condemned the Book to be burnt. 
 
 And it's worth the reading which Rivet recites of the An- 
 fwcrsof thejefuitesin Paris, when the Parliament askc them 
 their judgement of that Book, viz,. [Seeing tbtir General load 
 approved the Book^, and judged the things that are there written 
 to be certain, whether they were of the fame mind ?~\ They an- 
 fwered that j~ Living at Rome he could not but appnve what was 
 there approved of . ] [But fay the Parliament, What think jou? 
 Say the Jefuites, the clean contrary. Say the Examiners , But 
 -what would you do if jou were at Rome? Say the Jefuites, That 
 which they do that *re at Rome. At which faid fome of the 
 ~~~ " " E*f!! am ent, 
 
A ^eyfor Qatholicks. 3 5 x 
 
 Parliament, what 1 havethej one Cen/cience at Rome, and ano- 
 ther at Paris ? God blefs nsfrom fuch conftjfors as thefe. ] 
 
 Butyet foraeofthePapiirs will feem fo honeft^s to fay that 
 private men may not kill a King till he be depofed. Very true ! 
 But withall it is their currant dodrine, that if once he be excom- 
 municate, he is thennoKing,yeaorif hebeanHerctick; and To 
 being no King, they may kill the man, and not kill the King. 
 This is the jugling of thefe feeming Loyall fab je&s. You may 
 fee it in their own writings j Suarezadverf Seel. Anglic, lib. 6. 
 cap. 4. Sell. 14. & cap. 6. Secl.zz, 24. rfr Abortus fefnita 
 Jh/iit. Moral. part. 1./. $.c. 13. He that would fee more of 
 their mind in this, let him read the Mjfterium Patrum Jefuita> 
 ?#w>andthe fanfenians mjfltrie offefnitifm, and Bi(hopiJo£. 
 Abbot s.Antilogia ad Apslsg. Eudamojohan : But what need we 
 more then the Decrees of a Pope and General Council, and the 
 practice of the Church of Rome for fo many ages ? 
 
 And for the t\>pes power to abfolve them from all oaths of Al- 
 legiance and fidelity, the forefaid Pope Innocent and his approved 
 General Council have told the world enough of their mind to 
 put us out of doubt of it. 
 
 But ( leaving abundance of forreign tnftancesj I (hill men- 
 tion but one or two at home. The Papifts have lately had the 
 confidence to affirm that the Powder-plot and the Spanifh inva- 
 fion in one thoufand five hundred eighty eight were not^pon a 
 qjarrell of Religion, nor owned by the Pope. King^wf-f hath 
 laid already fo much againft them in thefe point*-, that I think it 
 needlefs to fay any moref efpecially alfo after Bifhop Abbots An* 
 tilogia) but only here to produce one Teftimony of their own , 
 concerning the Spanifh Invafion. 
 
 Cardinal Offatus in hi* 87. Epift. ad D de Vdle-roj % te\s us that 
 Pope flementihe eighth ( one of the beft of all the late ones ) 
 did prefs for the King of France to join wkh Spain in the Inva-- 
 fion of England , and the Cardinal anTwcred that tie King was 
 tiedbyanOAth to theQuecnof England', to which the Pope 
 replyed, that [[ The Oath was male to an Henti ^ , but he was^ 
 bound in another Oath to God and the Pope'] adding wi;hall[ that 
 Kings and other Princes do permit themfilves all things for tole- 
 rate chemlelvts mail things) which m^kr for their commodity : 
 and that the matter is gone fofa r x that it is net ( or (hould not be) 
 
 imputed 
 
35'^ A £\ey for Qatbolicks . 
 
 imputed to them, or taken for their fault • and he alledgi A the fay- 
 ing of Francifcus Maria Duke o/Urbine, that indeed every one 
 doth blame a Noble man, or Great man that is no Soveraign, if 
 he keep not hit Covenants, ( or fidelity , ) and they account him in- 
 famous ; but fupream Princes may without any dagger of their 
 reputation, make Covenants and breast hem, Ije \betraj , and perpe- 
 trate other fuch like things'] This was good Pope clement the 
 eighch. And can we look for better from the reft ? You fee what 
 Oachs and Covenants are with them. 
 
 A nd that the defign was ftill carried on againft the Queen up- 
 on account of Religion,and the Realm to have been invaded by 
 the Spaniard on that account, and that the principal point of che 
 Plot was to prepare a party within the Realm that might adhere 
 to the invaders^allthis with much more Sir Francis Walfingbam 
 ( that well knew) hath teftiried to Monfieur Critoy in his Letter, 
 Cabal, fart. 2. pag. 39. 
 
 Thuanus a Moderate Papift ( and a mofi knowing and impar- 
 tial Hifiorian ) tells you ( lib. 89. p. 248,249. ad an. 1 588.) 
 that, [the Spaniards pretended to undertake the expedition only 
 for Religisnfake , and therefore too kjtvith them Martin Alarco Vi' 
 car general of the Holy In<juifuion,with abundance of Capuchins 
 and Jefuites : and that they had with them the Popes Bull, which 
 they were topublifh asfoonas thej landed, andthat Cardinal Allan 
 was appointed as the Popes Legate to land at the fame time , and 
 with full power to fee to the reftoring of Religion. And that the 
 faid 'Bull had thefe expreffions : that the Pope, by the Forcer 
 given from God by lawfull fucceffion of the Catholic^ Church, for 
 the defetlion of Henry the eighth who forcibly fefarated himfelf 
 andhis people from the communion of foriftians, Which was promo" 
 ted by Edward the fixth and Elizabeth,??/;*? being fertinaceotu and 
 
 . impenitent it the fame Rebellion and Ufurpation therefor* 
 
 ( the Pope ) incited by the continual perfwafions of many, and by 
 the fuppliant prayers of the English men themf elves , (N.B.J 
 hath dealt with diverfe Princes , and fpeciallj the mofl potent 
 
 King of Spain todepofe that woman, and pumjh her pernici- 
 
 jhu adherents in that Kingdom 1 Read the refl t hire ; for 
 
 Jiheugh wicked ,its worth the reading. The 'Pope there faith, that 
 Pope Sixtus before h mprefcribed the fifteen, and totk^from her 
 Ml her Dignities t Titfes y and Rights to the Kingdom of England 
 
 and 
 
A £{ey for Cat bulk ks. 3 5 3 
 
 and Ireland, abfolving her fubjccls from the Oath of fidelity and 
 obediince '- He chargetb all mi n on pain of the wrath of God, that 
 thej cfford her no favsur, he/p, or aid, but nfe all their flrength 
 to bring her \o punifbraent ^ and that all the En&lifh join with the 
 Spaniard as focn as he is landed: offering rewards and pardon of 
 fins, to them that will lay hands on the Queen ; andfo fhtwing on 
 wh.-tt Conditions he gave the Kir.gdom to Pbilip ef Spain. This 
 and more you may fee in Thuanns. 
 
 And yec fome of our Joglers that fay they areno Papifb, 
 p.rfwade the world that Papiits hold not the depofingof Prince*, 
 norabfolving their fubje&s from the Oaths of fidelity ; and 
 that the Spamfli invafion was meerly on Civil sccoums, and that 
 they expected not any Englifh Papifb to a Aid them; with other 
 fuch impudent aflfertions. 
 
 Even Dominicns Barnes (oneofthebeft of them) inTkom. 
 Zl.qu. il. art. 2. faith that \_Quando adift ev dens «omu,&c.i.e. 
 When there is evident knowledge of the crime, fubjetls may lawfully 
 exempt tbemfelvesfrem the Power of their Princes t before any de- 
 claratory fentwee of a judge, fo they have but firingth to do it. J 
 Adding toexcufethe Hngiifh Papifts for being no worfe, thac 
 Q Hence it follows that the faithfull ( Papijls ) of England and 
 Saxony are to be excufed , that do not free themfelves from the 
 power of their Superiors , nor make war again]} them : btcanfe 
 commonly they are not ftrong enough to manage thefe wars , and 
 great dangers hangover them.] Princes may fee now how far the 
 Papifts are to be trufled '• Even as far as they are fufficiently 
 difabled. 
 
 And their tSJugufl. Triumphm faith ( de Totefl. Ecclef. cjh. 
 46. art . 2.) [ Dubium non efi quin Papa poffit omnes Reges t cum 
 Jubefl caufa rationabilis deponere] i.e. Q There is no doubt but 
 the Pope may depofe all Kings, when there is reafcnable caufe fir 
 it'] Is not this a Vice chri(l y and a Vice-god with a witnefs ? 
 
 Add but to this, that the Pope is Judge when the caufe is Rea- 
 fonable^ ( for no doubt but he raul\ judge,ifhe muft execure j) 
 and then you have a Pope in his colours, even in hisUniver/- 
 fal Soveraignty Spiritual and Temporall. 
 
 And ( as I faid before from Suarez, and others ) when the 
 Pvpe hath depofed a King,any man may kill him. I will not trou- 
 ble youwicb.4/rf?74«*'.f directions for poyfoning him, or fe- 
 
 Zz "1 crttly 
 
,a A t\ey for fcatholicks* 
 
 cretly difpacch'ing him ( de Reg. i*fiit. lib. i. cap. 7. ) Snare* 
 his moderate conclufion is enough (Defcnf. fid. Cathol. li. 6 c.4. 
 feci. 14.) [_ Poft fentextiam, &c. After fentence paft he is alio- 
 otthir deprived of his Kingdom, fo that he cannot by jufi title 
 puffs it ; therefore from thence forward he may be handled as a 
 niter tyrant \ and confiequently anj private manmay kill him ] 
 O Learned Suarez, I No wonder if you and your Profeffion be 
 dear to Princes ; and if Henry the fourth of France took down 
 the Pillar of your infamy, and received you into his Kingdom 
 and Heart again? No wonder if the Venetians at laft have re- 
 admitted you, to procure fomeaid againftthe Turk. 
 
 I will conclude with one Teftiraony of a Roman Rabbi (cited 
 by Bifliopivyfor, who knew his name, but would not do him 
 the honour to name him.)It is, B.P. I§t»<f. Epiftol. J.R. impref. 
 an. 1609. Who hath excufed the Powder-Plot from the Impu- 
 tation of cruelty* , [ becaufe both Seeds and Root of an evil herb 
 muflbe deftrsyed] and doth add aderifion of the simplicity of 
 the Kmg in impofing on them the oath of Allegiance, in thefe 
 moft memorable exprefiions , worthy to be engraven on a 
 Marble Pillar [ Sed vide in tanta aftutia, quanta fit [implicit as I 
 &o But fee what ftmplcity here is in fo great craft / When he had 
 placed all hitftcurity in that Oath, he thought he had framed fuch 
 a manner of oath, with fo many circumflances , -which m man 
 could any -way dijfolve with a fafe conference. But he could not 
 fee, that if the Pope diffolve the Oath, all its knots, whether of 
 being faithf ull to the King, or of admitting no Difpenfation,are 
 Accordingly diffolve d. Tea 1 will fay a thing more admirable. 
 Tou howl believe, that an nn)ufi Oath, if it be evidently known 
 to be fuch , or openly declared finch ,\ obligeth no man. That the 
 Kings oath U ur>jnfi, is fufficiently declared by the Pafor of the 
 Church himfelf. Tot* fee now that the Obligation of it is vanifbed 
 into fmoa^and that the bond which fo many wife men t bought was 
 made of iron, is lefisthenfiraw. ] 
 
 Thefe are the words of Papifts themfelves. From their pub- 
 lished writings we tell you their Religion. 
 
 I know they will here again tell us abundance of falfe accufa- 
 tions of the Proteftants, fuch as [ the Image of both filches ] 
 heapeth up ; and they will tell us of our war, and killingthe 
 JILing /^England. But of this Ihavegiven them theiraniwer 
 
 before. 
 
A I\ey for Qatholicks. 35c 
 
 before. To which I adcf, 1. The Proteftantdo&rine exprcfl*;d 
 in the Confeflionsof all their Churches, and in the conftant 
 ftream of their writers , is for obedience to the Soveraign Pow- 
 ers, and againft rcfifting them, upon any pretcnfes of Hesefie, or 
 Excommunication,or fach like. 
 
 2. The wars in England were raifed between a King and Parlia- 
 ment, that joynedtogether,did conftitutetbe Higheft Power; 
 and upon the lamentable divifton ( occafioned bythePapifts, ) 
 the people were many of them uncertain which part was the 
 Higher, and of greateft Authority : fome thought the King,and 
 others thought the Parliament, as being the Rcprefentative body 
 of the people ( in whom Politicians fay is the Afajeftas Realis') 
 and the Higheft Judicature , and having the chief part in Lcgi/la- 
 tien y and Declaration what is juft or unjuft, what is Law and 
 what is againjl Law. Had we all been refolved in England which 
 fide was by Law the Higher Tower , here had been no war. So 
 that here was no avowed refifting of the Higher PewersNonz 
 but a Parliament could have drawn an Army ofProteftantshere 
 under their banner. 
 
 3. Andwithall that very Parliament ( confiding of Nobles, 
 Knights, Gentlemen and Lawyers.who all declared to the peo- 
 ple, that by Law they were bound to obey and affift them) 
 did yet profefs to take np offenlive Arms only againft Delin- 
 quents, or rather, even butdefenfive againft thofe men that 
 had got an Array to fecure them from Jufticc; And they ftill pro- 
 fefTed and vowed fidelity to the King.wbich, as I have (hewed, 
 they roanifcftcd to the laft of their power.till they were imprifon- 
 ed and fecluded. Read Mr. Prins Speech for Agreement with 
 the King : and read the writing of the London Minifters present- 
 ed to the General, and publiflied againft the Kings death : and 
 Read the Vindication of the fceluded members . and read the 
 Pafljges of the war with Scotland , and of the Iroprifonmcnc 
 of many London Minifters , and of the death of Mr. Love and 
 others : and tell roe whether you can do men greater wrong 
 then to defame them for being caufcrs of that which they dif- 
 owned , though it coft them the lofs of Liberty, Eftate, or 
 Life. 
 
 4. And really if you take either Vanifts or Levellers ( who 
 were the chief agents in this) for Protcft ants, you may as well 
 
 Zz 2 fay 
 
35^ A K?yf or Catbolicks. 
 
 fay that Papifts a--e Proteftants. The world knows that the Pray- 
 ers, the Petitions, Protections, ard other endeavours of the 
 Proteftants, even the P*e by terian*, was for the preven ng the 
 death of that King, how ever many oftrum difliked his courfe, 
 and joyned with the Parliament againft his adherents. This 
 is the very tru:h , which they that have been eye witneffes 
 all along have good reafon to know, whatever any Papift fay, 
 to the contrary. 
 
 5 . And what Proteflants be they that give power to any man 
 on earth to depofe Princes, and give their Kingdoms to others ; 
 or to difoblige all their fubjeft?, and warrant them to kill them, 
 and difpenfe with oaths , and turn them all into fmoak and ftraw. 
 as yours do? 
 
 Renounce your treacherous Principles, and we willceafe 
 to charge you with them. Let a General Council and Pope but 
 Decree the contrary to what the forecited Pope and General 
 Council have Decreed, or elfe do you all declare that you think 
 this Pope and Councill erred, and then we will (hake hands 
 with you ; for then you will either ceafeto be true Papifts , 
 or at leaft become tolerable members of humane focieties. Why 
 doth not the Pope himfelf at leaft condemn thefe do&rines, if re* 
 ally he difown them ? The cafe is too plain. , 
 
 Chap.XLIX. 
 
 Dtteft.qo. *T* Heir laft courfe when all other fail, is, To turn. 
 X from Fraud to Force, and open Violence, ft irring^ 
 up Princes to wars and bloodfhed, that they may deftroy the pro- 
 feffors of the Reformed Religion, as far as they are able, and do 
 that by flames and fword, by halters, and hatches, which they 
 cannot do by Argument ? Hence have proceeded the bloody 
 butcheries of the poor Waldenfes and Alhigenfes^ formerly and. 
 now again of la'e ; and the wars in Bohemia, the League and 
 wars , and Mafljcres in France , the defolacing wars of 
 Germany, the plots.invafions and wars in England: Moftofthe 
 rhmes in Qhriftenhm of late ages have been kindled for the Pope 
 biy his Agents, that he might warm him by that fire that others 
 are confumed by. Hence his own precenfes to the Temporal. 
 
 Sword. 
 
A l\ey for Caiholicks. 3 5 7 
 
 S#ord, and fo many volumes written to juftifie it, and fo many 
 Tragedies afted in the execution. And yet thefe men cry up 
 Antiquity and Tradition. I wonder what Bifhop in all the 
 world for above three hundred years after Chrifr, did ever claim 
 orexercife the temporal fword, as much as to be a Juftice of 
 Peace?nay it was their judgement that it did not belong to them. 
 Neither the Pope nor any Bifhop on earth, as fuch, hath any 
 thing rodo with the coercive p^wer of the fword • nor may noc 
 inflid the fmalleft penalty on body or purfe , but only guide 
 men by the Word of God ; and the utmoft penalty they can in- 
 fL&is, to excommunicate them. And they have nothing to 
 do to deftroy men, when they have excommunicated them , 
 nor tocaufe the Magiftrateto do it : but rather fhould frill en- 
 deavour their Converfion. Syne fan Epifiol. 57. againft An- 
 drogens faith as followeth \_ ernnhi-nhtxC, Sec. To join together 
 fee ular government with the Priefiho$d,ij to tje together things that 
 are incoherent ( or fuch as cannot be tjed together ) The old timet 
 made the fame men Priefls and Judges : For the t^Egyptians and 
 Hebrews did long mal^e ufe of the Government of Priefls. But af- 
 terward , asfeemstome, when Gods w^rk began to be done in an 
 humane manner , Godfeparated the two forts of life , and one of 
 them was made f acred , and the other appointed fsr Rule and Com- 
 mand. Forfomehe turned to thefe Adateriall ( or common, fecu- 
 lar ) things , and feme he ajftciated with himfclf: The former 
 were appointed for fecular bttfmefs ; the later for prayer. But 
 from both doth God require that which is homfl ( or Cjood. ) why 
 then do fl thou revoke this ? Why wilt thou conjoin what God hath 
 fiparated ? Vrho wouldft net have tu indeed to do the wo*k. of fecu- 
 lar Rulers , but by dang it to deprave ( or marr ) it ; then which 
 what can be more unhappy ? Doft thou need a Ruler ? ( or Patron) 
 Go to him that manageth the Lzws of the Commonwealth. Do;f 
 thou need God in any thing ? Go to the Bijh^p ( or r Prieft ) of the 
 City: not that thou Jhilt be fure there to have all that thou dcfireft % 
 but that 1 will affird thee the be ft uffi lance that I can {or will do 
 mybeft.in it. ) So far Syncjius '■ Which 1 wonder how Petavitts 
 could pafs over without fome JiftoningobfervAnon , confider- 
 irtghowlowit treads the Roman Kingdom. But Bxronim had 
 the cunning as to ex'nd even from hence foTie advan ago to his 
 caufe, even tofh;wthe Power th;c Pallors have to exco ruTiuni. 
 
 £ z 3 cate 
 
35 
 
 8 A Kjy for Catbolicks- 
 
 cate Rulers (ad An. 411.) as Sjnefius with the Council did 
 Andromcus. But 1 . He went not out of his own circuic to play 
 the Bifliop in other mens Diocefs. 2. Muchlefs did he take up 
 the Temporal Sword againft him, butdifdaimethanddetefteth 
 any fuch thing. Why doth not the Pope when he hath part 
 his Excommunications, content himfelf that he hath done his 
 part; but he muft excite Princes, yea force them to execute his 
 rage, and fall upon the Lives and Dominions of fuch Princes as 
 he will call Heretical ? He knows how fraall account would 
 be made of his brutiih thunderbolts, if he had not a fecular 
 Arm to follow them : Nay why is he and many of his Cardi- 
 nals and Bjftiops, fecular Princes themfelves? Why joynethhe 
 thofe Functions of Magiftracie and Priefthood which Synefus 
 here tells us God hath feparated , and made incoherent in one 
 and the fame perfon ? Let the Pope ufurp what Ecclefi- 
 aftical power he pleafe, he would not fo much difturb the 
 Church by it, if he did not fecondie by another power. It is 
 violence that he trufteth too. He knows if it were not for 
 Arms and Violence, he would foon befpewed out by the Chrifti. 
 an world. And yet many of his followers that feem more mode- 
 rate , confefs he hath nothing to do as Pope with any but the 
 Spiritual Sword (which works no further then Confcience doth 
 confentand yield.,) And yet his Kingdom ftandeth on thofe 
 legs , which the do&rine of thefe more moderate men do 
 difown. 
 
 The fame do&rine alfo Bernard taught the Pope himfelf. 
 Ad Eugen. P. R. de Confiderat. I. 2. Saying [Quid tibi dimiftt 
 S. Apofie-lus ? &c. What did the holy Afoftle leave thee ? Such 
 as I have faith he , that give I to thee : And -what was that? 
 One thing lam fureof; it was not gold, nor Jilver, when he /aid 
 himfelf, Silver and gold have J none- If then cartji claim thit 
 
 h *V ot ^ er ***?** f e h* %t ^ e » ^ ut mt ^ Apoftolical right : 
 For he could mt give thee that which he had net : fuch as he 
 had t he gave, a care of the Churches, but did he give thee a domi- 
 nation f Hear himfelf [Not as Lords (or Ruling as Lords) 
 faith he, in the Clergy (or heritage ) but as examples of the 
 flock. And left thou thinks that he fpoke it only in humility, 
 and not in verity, it is the voice of the Lord himfelf in the Gofyel : 
 The Kings of the Gentilts rule tmer them , and the] that have 
 
 fmer 
 
A I\ey for Catholich. 359 
 
 power over them ,as called Benefactors t (or Bounteous) and he in- 
 ferreth [Burfjou flail sot bt fo~\ It is plain , that Domination 
 u forbiddtn the Apoflles. Go thin therefore ', and ufurp if thou 
 darejt, either Jpofllefbip while ft thou Rule ft as a Lord, or a Lordly 
 Rule {or Domination) while thou art Apeftolich^. Plainly thou 
 art forbidden one of the two : If thou wilt have both alike, thou 
 lofejf both.] So far Bernard. By whofe verdict the Pope and 
 his B (hops are deprived of boih •, by grafping at both 
 long ago. 
 
 Nay the Pope makes himfelf a Temporal Prince in every 
 Princes Dominion on earth, where he is able to do it, and takes 
 all the Clergy out of their Government into his own. So that 
 actually he hath difpofTcffed them of part of their Dominion 
 already, by taking fo confiderable a part of their fubjc&s from 
 under their power, yeaandthofe that have fo great an influ- 
 ence upon all the reft : What by publick Preaching,and Church- 
 governing, and fecret Confefling, and dependance on them for 
 the Sacraments, one would think it fhouldbe no hard matter 
 for a Rtmifb allowed numerous Clergy, to be Matters of any 
 Kingdom where they are. And thus Princes are more then 
 half conquered already , without a war. If any believe not 
 that the Pope doth not thus exempt his Clergy from the f.cular 
 power, it isbecaufehe knows not their moltnotorious princi- 
 ples and praftifes. Nay even in England , in King Charles his 
 Articles for the Spanifh match, the Pope had the confidence to 
 demand this Prerogative, and therefore himfelf added to the fix- 
 teenth Article, which freed them from Laws about Religion, 
 [€ccle/iafticiverb nullit Ugibus fubjaceant, nifi fuoram fupcrio- 
 rum Ecc/eftafticorum] that is [Ecclefiaftich^ perfons ftall be 
 under no Law, but of their Superiour Eccleftaftickj (or Church' 
 men) \ Is not this plain Englifh ? See Vrins Jntrodatt. p.6. So that 
 no Church-man mud be under any Law of the Land,or Govern- 
 ment of Secular Princes. And when they have fuch a ftrength 
 in our own Garri Tons, a forreign Enemy is eafily let in. To 
 the exciting of whom they will never be wanting, having their 
 Agenti in one garb or other at the eats of the Princes and 
 S:ates in Chriftendom , and of mod of the Great and Noble 
 perfons that are deeply intercffed in (he Government. Yea, and 
 with Infidel Princes lometime?^ Cjrtl the Patriarck of ConflAn- 
 
 tinopk 
 
360 A K^y for QatbolicKs . 
 
 tinofle proved, to the lofs of his life, for being fo much agairil 
 the Papills. And the more caufe have all Chnftian Princes and 
 States to be vigilant againfttbefeircendiaries , 1. Becaufethey 
 truft to War and Violence , and build their Kingdom on ir, and 
 therefore ftudyitdayand night. 2. And becau'e ifeey have 
 fuch afrieof politick Jefuites all abroad continually upon the 
 defign ; whofe contrivances and endeavours are day and night 
 to bring Princes and Nations to their will,and to kindle divifions 
 and wars among them to attain their Ends. Titty make a trade 
 of thisimployment. And expert prepared men, that follow a 
 bufinefs all their days, are like enough to make fomething of 
 it at laft ; efpecially while others flccp, or filently look on, and 
 let them alone to play their game. If the Papills can but get 
 into the Saddle, either by deceiving the Rulers, or Commanderf , 
 or by bringing forreign force againft us, they will give us leave 
 to difpute, and write, and preach againft them , and laugh at 
 us that will ftand talking only, while they are working : And 
 when the Sword is in their hand , they will foon anfwer all our 
 Arguments, with a fagot, a hatchet, or halter; Smithfield 
 confuted the Protectants, that both the Umverfities could not 
 confute. Their Irquifition. is a School where they difpute more 
 advantagioufly then in Academies. Though all the Learned 
 men in the world could not confute the poor Albigtnfes , jval- 
 dtnfes and Bohemians , yet by thefe Iron Arguments they had 
 men that prefently ftopt the mouths of many thoufands, if not 
 hundred thoufands of them:Even as the Mahometans confute the 
 Chriftians. A Strappado is a knotty Argument. In how few days 
 did they confute thirty thoufand Proteftants in and about Paris, 
 till they left them not (onearthj a word to fay. In how few 
 weeks fpace did the ignorant Irijb thus ftop the mouths of many 
 thoufand Proteftants ? Even in Vlfter alone, as is ftrongly 
 conje&ured , by teftimony on Oath , about an hundred 
 and fifty thoufand men were mortally filenced : Alas we 
 now find that the poor Irijb commonly know but little more 
 of Chrift, but that he is a better man of the two then Saint 
 Patrick. : And therefore how long might they have been before 
 they could have filenced fo many Proteftants any other way ? 
 There's nothing like ftone -dead, with a Papift. They love not 
 to tire therafelves with Difputes , when the bufinefs may be 
 fooner and more fuccefsfully difpacchc. Well, 
 
 
A i\eyfor Qatholicks. j 6 \ 
 
 Well, feeing this is the way that tbey are refolved on, and no 
 peaceable motions will ferve for the preventing it, all men that 
 have care of the Church and Caufe of Jefus Chrift , and the 
 happinefs of their pofterity, have caufe toftandon watch and 
 guard : Not to be cruel to them ( leave that to themfelves, ) 
 but to be fecured from their cruelty. I fhould be abundantly 
 more earned then I am, to prefs all men to fuch a patience and 
 fubraiffion in Caufes of Religion, as leaves all to God alone, 
 but that we all fee how the Papifts are ftill at the dore with the 
 Swords in their hands, and watching for an opportunity to 
 break in. And if in modeftywe ftand ftill and let them alone, 
 they will give us free leave when they have the day, to call 
 themTraytors, or perfidious, or what we pleafe. Let loofers 
 talk: Let them have the Rule, and then make the beft you 
 can of your Arguments. If they can once get England and 
 other Proteftant Countries, into the cafe of Spain and Italy, 
 their Treachery (hallnotbecaft in their teeth ^ for they will 
 leave none alive and at liberty to do it. When we fee in good 
 fadnefsthat it is Navies,and Armies, and ftabbings of Kings, 
 and Powder-plots,and MalTacres that we have to difputc againfr, 
 it'£ time to be able to Anfwer them in their own way, or we 
 lofetheday. It is not a good Ca»fe, or wit, or learning, or 
 honefty, that will then ferveturn. 1 know God is al-fufficienc 
 for his Crmrcb,snd in him muft be our Truft ; But he requireth 
 us to expe& his blefling in the ufeof lawful probable means. 
 He can give us Corn without plowing.and fowing : but we have 
 little reafon to forbear thefc and expeft it : He can Convert men 
 without preaching : But yet the blefling of God doth prc- 
 fuppofe Fault planting , and Apollo's watering. He can Rn!e 
 and Defend us without Magiftrates, but it is not his appointed 
 way. And he can fave ui from deceitful bloody men, without 
 our care, and vigiiancy ,and refinance : but it is not his ordinary 
 appointed courfe in which he would have us look to him for 
 deliverance. 
 
 And therefore in the Name of God let Princes and Parlia- 
 ments be vigilant : for they watch for the outward fecurity of 
 the Church and Common- wealth fas Minifters do for our fpiri- 
 tual wel-fare ) as thofe that muft give account. And let the 
 people take heed what Parliament or Magiftrates they choofe : 
 
 Aaa Ani 
 
6z A Key for Catkolkks. 
 
 And let all that love the Oofpel, and the profperity of the 
 (.hriftian world, and of their pofterity, have their eyes in their 
 head, and take heed of that bloody hand, that hath in England, 
 Scotland, Ireland, France, Savoy, Low- countries, German/, Be 
 hernia, &c. already fpilt fo many ftreams of Chriftian blood. If 
 the Wife, the Learned, Moderate Lord duPUffis, was fo zea- 
 lous for the Lawfulnefs ofNectjfarj Defence, as Grotitu chargcth 
 bira, as to put it into \\\%Tefiament, (whom he makes alfo the 
 Author of Junius Brutus, I know not on what ground ) doubt- 
 lefs he knew with whom he had to do, and thought that every 
 Guijian League was not a Law of God or of the King. 
 
 Some Princes think that it is their fafeft way to pleafe the 
 Pope and Jefuites, and fo will bePapifts , on the terms as fome 
 of the Indians worfhip the Devill, becaufehe is fo naught, that 
 he may not hurt them. But thefe men were wifer, if they un- 
 derftood, that the malice of Infernal Spirits is not to be avoided 
 by pleafing them , but by refilling them. They are too bad 
 to be ever pleafed by any means, but what will be your utter 
 mine : And they are notftronger then the Devil himfelf, who 
 will flie if we refift him. 1 f the beft were not the mofl Powerful, 
 what would become of the world ? And if God be ftronger 
 then the Devil, he fhould rather be pleafed then the Devil j for 
 be is ab!e to defend you from the Devils difpleafure : and he is 
 moft able to hurt you if you be difpifers of his power : which 
 Juftke will effc&more certainly on the bad, then Satans malice 
 can do upon the good. Men think themfelves wife, that fhift for 
 their fafety by carnal and unlawful means.- But they (hall all 
 find at leaft , that plain honefty is the beft policy , and the 
 favour of God the beft fecurity, and a life of faith the moft 
 prudent life; and that drifting for your felves in unbelieving 
 ways, is thegreareft folly. It is thedefign of the Papitls by 
 the ftrokesof Clement s,Ravilliackj.Vauxes, and fuch others, to 
 terrifie Princes, that they may not dare to refift them, but may 
 fee that they have no hold of their live* while they are under 
 their difpleafure. But yet fuch as bare moft difpleafed them 
 have fcaped beft. It is recorded by one, that the great King 
 Henry of France, being perfwaded to ftand it out againft the 
 Jefuites , anlwered , Q Give me fecurity for my Life then ] 
 And what a fecurity did he find in his unbelieving way } 
 
 A>thou» 
 
A I\ey for Catholicks . j 6 j 
 
 A thoufand pitties it is that Proteftant Princes fhould not 
 be united among themfelves, that they might be (lengthened 
 for their joynt Defcnfe ; But that the envious man fhould be 
 able fo far to over- wit them , as to fow among them the feeds of 
 war, while they fleep, or r elfi(hly mind their own affairs and 
 interefts : And a greater pitty and fhame it is, that the Mi- 
 nifters of the Gofpel of peace (hould be the caufes of thefe di- 
 vifions, or (hould not do their beft to heal them : But it is the 
 greateft fhameof all to us, that fo many years experience of 
 the calamitous effcds of our Divifions, and fo much induftry of 
 many worthy peaceable men, fhould do no more to a fuller 
 Reconciliation then yet is done. The names, and pacifying La-f 
 bors of fuch as Dttrttis , Davenaut , Hall, MsrtQ* , Vflnr} 
 Haj»e y Dr. Moritt, AmjraUus, Hottonu.^ Conradns , Bergiuj % 
 fohannes Berlins jGeorgius Calixius, f ertm: Burroughs ,and many 
 more that have laboured for peace, do live as Monuments of 
 their honor and our difhonor, and do reflect much frame upon 
 the faces of t hole Reformed Minifters and Churches that after 
 all this are fo much unreconciled ; yea, that a e not by the flrong- 
 eft motives and perfwafives, fo much as excited to zealous en- 
 deavours for the healing of our fad divifion ; no nor fome of 
 them retrained from che pafiionace profecution of their in- 
 crcafe. 
 
 If yetanyPapift, believing fuch falfe Hiftories as [the Image 
 of bsth Churches] doth contain, or really finding any Proteftants 
 culpable, (hall fay, that we are as bad as they in wars or cruelty, 
 and that Illiacos intra muros peccatur, & extra. I again re- 
 ply, I. That true Hiftory and experience tells the world , that 
 there is no comparifon between their execflive cruelties and 
 ours. 2. Yet it is none of mydefire or intent, to defend any 
 perfonor people that have been truly guilty in the leaft degree. 
 3. Our do&rine is againft that which theirs doth own. 4. If 
 either our Doctrine or pra&ife have been amifs, we defire re- 
 proof and information, and are willing to reform them. The 
 Word of God being our only R.ule, if it appear that we have 
 in any point mifunderftood it, we defire nothing more then to 
 be rectified , and then we (hallconfefs our former faults before 
 the world, and promife reformation. For our Principles fix us 
 not in Sin or Error. But thePapiflsare fixed in their Errors, 
 
 A a a 2 and 
 
n<54 d K^y for Qatholtck. 
 
 and think there is a necefiity lyeth on them never to amend. 
 Now the Pope and a General Council hath "already decreed 
 that the Pope may depofe Princes, and Abfol.ve their fubje&s, 
 and give their Lands to others ; to amend this abominable error, 
 is with them to give away all their caufe,and to ceafe to be 
 Papifts. So that all Princes and People muft neccflarily defpair 
 of their amendment. 
 
 Chap. L. 
 Seme Prof ofals for a ( bopehfs ) Petce. 
 
 IT is A Defenfive conflict that I have been hitherto managing; 
 This work is put upon us by our adverfaries. But in the 
 condufion I will add a few words of that whith enticethby 
 its amiable afpeft , and which we gladly follow, without im- 
 portunity or constraint. And were our Power but anfwerab.'e 
 to our Defies , we would foon put an end to thefe contentions 
 of the Church, without the hurt of any of the Diflenters : Yea 
 dii there appear but any confiderable Hopes of fuccefs , I 
 Ihould venture to be more large in Propofals to that end. But 
 when wifer men, of greater intereft can do no good , and the 
 cafe appeareth as next to defperate, a few words may fuffice to 
 fatisfie my own confeience , and to pleafc my mind with the 
 mention of a Peace , and to help fomc others to right Di- 
 fpofitions and Defires,though we have never fo little expc&ation 
 of facets. 
 
 And in order to what follows, I mufl firft defire every Reader 
 rightly to underftand the meaning and defign of all that I have 
 hitherto faid. It is but to be a necefTary help to the Difcovery 
 of the Truth, and the confutation of the contrary errors, and 
 the juft defence of the doctrine ofChrift, and of his CRurchcs. 
 I folemnly proteft that it is none of my defign or defire, i.To 
 make any believe that the Difference is wider between us and 
 the Papifts then indeed it is. Nay I am fatisfied that in many 
 do&rin&l! points it is not fo great as commonly it is taken to be 
 fety many, if not mofl,on both fides : as in the points of certainty 
 
 of 
 
A l?\ey for Catbolicks. 365 
 
 of Salvation, of Pardon, of Justification, of Works, of faith j 
 and in alraoft all the controverfies about Predeftination , 
 Redemption, Free-will, the work of Grace, &c. The 
 Dominicans in fence a^ree with the Calvinift ( as they call 
 theraj and the Jefuitei with the Lutherans and Arminians i and 
 fo in divers other points. The divers underftanding of words 
 among us, and the weaknefs and paffions of Divines, and a bafe 
 fear of the cenfures of a party 4 hath occasioned may on both fides 
 to feign the differences to be much wider then indeed they are : 
 fo that when an Alvarez,, a r Bannes i a Gibienf, have fpoken tb# 
 fame things as the Proteftants do , they are prefently fain to 
 pour out abundance of unworthy (landers againft the Prote- 
 ftants , for fear of being accounted Proteftants themfelves. And 
 to (hew their party how much they differ from us, they muft 
 feignustobemonfters, and to hold that which commonly we 
 abhor : And fome Proteftants are too blame alfo in fome mea- 
 fnreinthis kind. This unchriftian dealing will gripe the con fci- 
 ence, when once it is awakened. Let me be rather numbred with 
 thofe that are ambitious to fecm as Like to all the Churches of 
 Chrift, and as much to agree with them, as honeftly and pofii- 
 b!y I may, what party foever diftafte that union and agreement. 
 And let my foul abhor the defire of appearing more diftant and 
 difagreeingthen we are, what cenfures fo ever I may incur. 
 Our ftudents would not fo ordinarily read Aquinas ^Scotus , 
 Ariminenftsfiurandus^&c. if there were not in them abundance 
 of precious truth which they efteem. How neer doth Dr. H;/- 
 de» come to us in the fundamental point of the Refolution of 
 our faith / How neer come totheScotifts to us in fence, abouc 
 the point of Merit? and jVAlAtnfis and others yet neerer? How 
 neer comes Centarentti to us ( and many more ) in the point of 
 Juftification ? How neer comes Cardinall Cajetan to us in the 
 Liberty ofdifTentirg from the Fathers in the Expofition of the 
 Scriptures ? and fo dot! Waldonate and many another. How 
 neer comes Cardinal Cttfanus ( lib.de Concord. ) to us, even 
 in the Effential point of di'erence, about the Original and 
 Title that Rome hath to its fupremacy ?• How neer comes Ge'rfon 
 to us in the point of Venial and. Mortal fin ? perhaps as neer as 
 we are to our felvcs. How neer come the Dominicans and Jan- 
 (enians to us in the points of Predelli nation, Grace and Free- 
 
 An ^ will? 
 
166 sfK*yf°r Catbolkks. 
 
 1 i 
 
 will ? For my own pare , I fcarce know a Proteftant that my 
 thoughts in the fe do more concur with, then they do vfcirh fan- 
 femHs, ( that is indeed, with Angftftine himfelf. ) Therl are ve- 
 ry few points of the Proteftant dodrine, which I cannot pro- 
 duce fome Papift: or other to atteft ( and eafily thus be evf n with 
 Mr. Brerelj , upon fairer terms then he deals with us. ) \ 
 
 a. I do alfo proteft that it is none of ray defire or iefign, 
 to create any unjuft Cenfurei of the final ftate of Paplfts in 
 any Readers •* nor to perfwade men that they are all damned ,or 
 that there are no honeft godly men among them. When I ftead 
 fuch writers as Gerfo» t Barbanfon y Ferns , and others , I am 
 fully fatisfied that there are many among them ( how many 
 God only knows ) that truly fear God, and are fandified gra- 
 cious people, with whom I hope to dwell forever. And there- 
 fore I think it my Duty not only so forbear unjuft Cen- 
 tres of them , but alfo to love them with that entire fpeci- 
 all Chriftian Love by which Chrift would have us known to 
 be his Difciples ; and to perfwade all others to do the like. 
 Though ftill I am conftrained to fay , that in my fmall acquain- 
 tance with them, I find no comparifon between the Englifli 
 Papift* and our Churches in point of Holinefs. I would they 
 were much better. 
 
 3 . 1 do alfo proteft that it is not my defire or defign to make 
 any innocent Papift to be accounted guilty of the faults of others 
 which hedifowns. 
 
 4. Nor is it any of my defire or defign to provoke the Magi- 
 ftrate to any cruelty or in juftice towards them ^ nor to lay 
 any penalty on them, but what is truly of neceffity for the 
 fafety of himfelf and the Common- wealth, and a juft reftrainc 
 of them from perverting others , and doing mifchief to the fouls 
 of men, as I fliall open more at large anon, 
 
 5 . Nor is it any of my defire or defign to make the generality 
 of them unjuftly more odious with Rulers or People , then the 
 tneafure of their corruptions do deferve: Or to hide any of their 
 vertues, or deprive them of any honour which is their due. 
 This much my confeience witnefleth of my intents 4 though I 
 know the partial will hardly believe it.when they feel themfelves 
 fmart by that Contradiction which they have made neceffary 
 for oar own defend, And this I thought neceffary to premife, 
 
 before 
 
A I\ey for Qatholicks. 3 $7 
 
 before I Jay down the following Propofals, that prejudice and 
 paffiondonot turn away men eyei , orcaufe them to mifin- 
 terpret them.For it is prejudice, partiality, and fa&ion,thathath 
 hitherto fruilraced all fuch Propofals and attempts. 
 
 Chap. LI. 
 
 THere are five feveral Degrees of Peace which lye before 
 us to be attempted between the Roman and Reformed 
 Churches : We (hall begin with the higheft, and upon fuppofiti- 
 on of the failing of our Defigns for that,corae down to the next , 
 and fo to the Loweft. 
 
 1 . The firft Degree of Peace to be Intended and Defired is, 
 That we may fofar Agree \ at that we may hold per fonal Commu* 
 nion in the fame Ajfemblies s in the worfhip of God, and live under the 
 fame particular Paflors. 
 
 2. If that cannot be attained , the next Degree defirable is , 
 That we may hold a fathilicl^ Chriflian Communion in fiver al 
 A ffemb He sounder feveral 'T aftors, acknowledging each other the 
 true Churches of Chrijl and joining in Synods when there is need s or 
 at leafi, giving each other^as Christian Brethren, the right hand of 
 TelUwfhip. 
 
 3. If that may not be attained , the next Degree defirable i«, 
 That we may take one another for Chriflians and Churches of 
 C hri ft, though under ftich corruptions m we think^we are bound to 
 difown by denying the prefent exercife of Communion : aswede 
 with particular Vfftndors , whom we only fufpend, but not 
 condemn. 
 
 4. If this much may not be had , but we will needs excom- 
 municate each other absolutely , the next degree of Peace de- 
 firable is, That we may at teafi fofar regard the common truths 
 that we are agreed upon, and the fouls of the people, as to confult 
 en certain terms on which We may mo ft peacably mannage our diffe- 
 rences, With the leafi hatred, and vio-'ence , and difturbance of the 
 *peace of Chriftcndom , and with the leufi impediment to the gene' 
 rail fuccefs of thofe commsn truths that we are a'l agreed in. 
 
 5. If this may not be attained , the lo weft Degree defirable 
 if, That at leafi w: may take each ether for more tolerable adver- 
 
 f aria 
 
 5 
 
j68 A Ksy for Catbolkks. 
 
 faries then Mahometans and Infidels are , and therefore may ■ 
 make a common Agreement to ctafe our wars and blood- jhed , and 
 turn all our Arms againfl the great and common enemy of the 
 Chriflian name. 
 
 Were it not for the Dcvill, and wicked minds, all thefe might 
 be attained : but if men be not themfelves incarnate Devils, we 
 may expsct the lift. And underhand that the terras of the loweft 
 Degrees <;re all implyed in the Higher. 
 
 And now for the Higheft and mod defirable Degree of Peace, 
 viz.. That we may meet in the fame Aflfemblies, under the farce 
 Pafcors, there is fo little probability that ever itfhould beac- 
 complilhed, and withail the various apprehenfions of Chrifti- 
 ansdoth make it fo ncceflaryto bear with one another in this, 
 that I (hall fay but little of it, as knowing that I am like to lofe 
 my labor. Only this much concerning the terms. 
 
 Ifjou will impofe no more in pint of Belief, as neceffary to 
 Salvation, but what is contained in the holy Scriptures, yea and in 
 the three Creeds ', and four firfl General Councils >, and mil leave 
 the Paflors of the particular Churches to worfbip God according 
 to the Rule of the holy Scriptures, prudentially themfelves deter mi~ 
 tiing of meer Circumfiances left to their determination ; according 
 to the general Rules, of Order , Decency and Edification , and 
 bearing with a difference herein according to the different Jfate of 
 the Churches or judgement of the Paflors, this is the only probable 
 way to bring us to this higheft degree of Peace. Though accord* 
 ing to this courfe, men fhould be left to fome liberty to joyn 
 with what particular Congregation they fee beft , and fo would 
 moft commonly joyn with thofe that are neereft to their own 
 judgement •, yet the minds of mod would be fo mollified by mu- 
 tual forbearance, and by being fatisfied in the way that is thus 
 commonly agreed on, that they would not fcruple to joyn with 
 one another in worfhip in the feveral Aflemblies. 
 
 And here I (hall further add , that if thefe terms cannot be 
 « yielded to, yet all that will yield to the terms of the next De- 
 gree of Peace, may be admitted into our Ajfemblies, though we 
 cannot joyn with them in theirs. For the Papifts have much 
 more in the manner of their worftiip to keep us back, then we 
 have in ours to keep them back. For their errors lie in Excefs, 
 and they fuppofe ours to lie but in Defetl. Now Confcience 
 
 may 
 
A fyy fcr Catbolicks. S 69 
 
 may well yield co perform one part of a duty when it cannot per- 
 form the reft : But it can never yield to commit one actual fin, 
 by doing what is forbidden by God. E.G. If the Papifts think 
 that we linfully omit the Sacrament of extreara undion, they 
 may neverihdefsbe prefent at the Sacrament of Baptifm. If 
 they think we preach not all the truth that we oughr, they may 
 neverthelefs hear and receive that which we do preach. But in 
 their Affemblies we mull do thofe pofitive actions which our 
 Confciences tell us are fins againft God. And therefore unlefs 
 tbey will yield ('as they will not J to the abovementioned term*, 
 we cannot joyn in their AfTemblies ^ but upon the terms in the 
 next Chapter we can admit them into ours. 
 
 But if the Churches have not a neceflary Liberty in this, they 
 will never agree, but be ftill breaking into pieces, or perfecuting 
 one another, to force men to joyn with fuch AfTemblies as belt 
 pleafe them that bear the Sword. Though we readily grant 
 that to hear and learn the principles oT Religion, and fubmic to 
 the ftate and duty of Catechumens, men may with lefs inconve- 
 nience be forced, and ordinarily fhould fo be. 
 
 Chap. Lll. 
 
 THe fecond Degree of Peace defirable , below the former, 
 is , That if we cannot live under the fame p articular P4. 
 ftors, and joyn in the fame Affemblies, jet we may hold a difiant 
 Catholick. Communion infeveral Affemblies y without condemning 
 or perfecutinv one another j and may afford the [fecial Love of 
 Chrifiians to each other. 
 
 This will not be done as long as we take each other for Here- 
 ticksjand therefore the caufes of thofe cenfures muft be removed, 
 partly by a neerer agreement in our Principles, and partly by a 
 greater Moderation in our Cenfures of one another. And this a 
 man would think among Chrifiians might be obtained. The 
 terms on which it mud be had are thefe. 
 
 Suffer us to confine our felves in Worjhip and Church-govern- 
 ment to the Word of God j And the Determination of our particular 
 Churches or Pafiors tbont meet Cinumfl minis left to their de- 
 ft b b termination, 
 
^7 o A i{ey for Qatholich. 
 
 termination, And do you confine your [elves Accordingly, or not ex- 
 tending your pratlife beyond the Canons of the four firfl General 
 Councils , and the reft called QCanones E' clefise Umverfalis] 
 (pubhfbedby Juftelliis, Tillius, or ths Codex Dion^iii Exigui) 
 ar.dfor matters of Faith, roe will all profefs to receive the Scri- 
 pture, and what ever is contained in the faiJ Councils and the 
 three Creeds, and to in ft ft upon no more ai neceffarj. And on thefe 
 terms wc may live in Love as Brethren. 
 
 Here note, I. That in matter of Faith we will not be bound 
 to take more then is in theScrip:ure, and yet we will take all as 
 aforefaid that is in the Creeds, becaufe we are perfwaded that 
 there is no more then is in the Scripture. 2. We will not tie 
 each other to profefs on what Grounds we receive the Doctrine 
 of thefe Creeds and Councils. If you receive it as Tradition 
 fuperadded to Scripture, and if we receive it as being the fame 
 with Scripture Dodrine, or a meet Expofnionof it , we will 
 leave each otherin this without examination to their liberty, as 
 [one as it is the fame things that we believe. 3. In matters of 
 " (hip and G 'over nment we may not be compelled to take in all 
 is in all thefe Councils-, but only we will prom'ife not to go be- 
 yond them, and take in any more, and fo fhall you: (0 that if 
 forae of us confine our felves to the Holy Scripture, and others 
 will go further, as far as all thofe Canons do extend ; we will 
 yield to live as Brethren in Chrift ian Love, and forbear the cen- 
 tring of one another. And herein you may well condefcend to 
 us, when in many things you have ca(t off the Canons of thofe 
 Councils your felves ; and abundance of them concern not our 
 times or Countries, and fo many of your own Writers confeft 
 that all things necefTiry to Salvation are in the Scriptures, and 
 that Canons are mutable, and Churches may varyjn thefe leOTec 
 things. 
 
 Cha p. LIIL. 
 
 C^Ouldthe former terms of Peace be yielded to, it would be 
 j happy for the Churches • and I am perfwaded were it not 
 for the Italians, the French would yiHd to them.. And fome 
 Proteftams will go further, andyie 1 :o Rome-, that if PapuV 
 
 wilt 
 
J. l^ey for Qatholicks. 3 y \ 
 
 will confine their Faith, and Government, and Worftiip but to 
 tho'e limits as the Greeks, Armenians, Ethiopians, &c. do, they 
 will readily hold this Catholick Communion with them. But 
 then we murt (till remember, 1 . That we will not be bound to 
 approve ofall that they do. 2. Nor (hall they go about to force 
 all others to rife up to their pitch j nor do as the Englifli Bifhops 
 would have done, to filence and caft out all thofe Mimfters that 
 will not go beyond the Scriptures. You (hall bear with all that 
 will be Ruled by the Scripture , and we will bear with all that 
 will not go beyond the faid General Council*, or (fodtx Ca^num 
 Ecclefa univerfdu : Yea, and admit fuch to our Soc e*y and 
 Aflerablies. 
 
 But now fuppofing that Rente will not yield to this ('though 
 me thinks France and o:her Nations may do it without them) 
 the next Degree defirable is, that ( At leafi we may take cne ano- 
 ther for Chriftians and Churches that have fuch corruptions , as 
 jet leave m good hopes of the fahation of multitudes, though rr- 
 fuppofe falvation more rtre and difficult where thofe corrttf 
 are , then where the) are not, and though we are fore 
 fufpend that Communion with fuch which with found membi 
 fhould hold.] 
 
 And indeed the obtaining of this much Peace , requireth no 
 more but Cbriftian Charity condu&ed by a right underftanding 
 of each other. And for my part I have already this much peace 
 with the Church of Rome, and fo have many millions more of 
 Protectants as well as I : and I think the generality of them : But 
 Rome hath not fo much Charity for us : But we ftiall not an- 
 fwer nor be condemned for other mens uncharitablenefs. I need 
 not therefore propofe any means for that peace which we have 
 already attaired to, or may if we will. But then let this be ac- 
 compinyed by the following forbearances. 
 
 Chap. L I V. 
 
 THE fourth Degree of Peace definble , whether the faft 
 mentioned be attained or nor, is, [That we maj fo far lay 
 hour hatred wrath, an^'ft riving about the Controverted prints, 
 as to confult together of tat terms on which we maj manage our 
 
 B b b 2 d jferences 
 
37 x A K?y f or C* tholicks . 
 
 differences with the leaft dijfwbance 10 the Peace of ChriJIendcm, 
 and the leafl difadvantage to the Truths that we are agreed in, and 
 to the peiples fouls. ~~\ 
 
 Religious Reafon muft needs confefs the Reafonablenefs of this 
 propofal in the General : But all the difficulty lyeth in the parti- 
 culars. If you ask me what the particular terms are on which we 
 fhould agree, lanfwer, There are many at hand, that Reafon 
 rnuft needs approve of -, but becaufe there is no likelyhood of ac- 
 cepting them, I (hall fpare the labour of propofing them. And 
 the rather, becaufe we have much ado to agree on this much 
 among our felves, or the Papifts among themfelves : with what 
 hope can we move that the Agreement (hould be Univerfal? But 
 this much I may propofe, J . That a Consultation of the Agents of 
 Chriflian Princes and Divines might do much to further fhch a> 
 thing. And till thatcanbe had , fomefewof the more Peaceable 
 Princes and Divines fhottld lead the way, and give the rtfi a good 
 example. 2. And that anVniwrfal Liberty of Confcitnce, with 
 necejfary refiritlions, might be a probable way. 
 
 Where note, I . That it is an Vniverfal Liberty only that we 
 move for, or at leaft en equal terms. It is not that the Papifts may 
 have Liberty in England, and we have none in Spain and other 
 Countries. The Auchorof the Image of 'both Churches maketh a 
 long and fubtile perfwafive for Liberty of 'Conference : But where 
 would he have it> Let them take this equal motion,and yield to it 
 if they dare. Let the Proteftants have liberty in Italy ,S pain glan- 
 ders, Portugal, Auftria, Bavaria, &c. and we (hall confent that 
 the Papifts have as much Liberty in England, Holland, Sweden, 
 Denmar^&c. Butitmuft in reafon be on equal terms. Yet this 
 advantage we know they have, that their Agents and Midiona- 
 ries are incomparably more numerous then ours, by reafon of the 
 multitude of their Fryars, Jefuites, &c. and their dodrines are 
 morefuitabletocorrupted'naturc, and carnal intereft, and the 
 people are more engaged by worldly obligations to their ways : 
 And yet we are fo confident of the Power ofTruth 5 that I would 
 this Propofal were accepted. The Bible it felf without any 
 Preachers , would fhrewdly (hake the Kingdom of the Pope, 
 where men have liberty to ufe ir. 
 
 2. The limitations of this L'berty are, i.That one party have 
 no more of it then the other. 2. That it extend not to allow a 
 
 diflurbance 
 
A l\ey for Catholich. 37, 
 
 difturbance of Minifters and Churches in Gods Worfhip,nor any 
 unpeaceable tumultuary proceedings. 5. That no Party be tolera- 
 ted under this prctence,to teach any thing againft the EfTentials 
 or Neceflfary points that we are agrred on, nor any thing that is 
 againft the peace of the Coraraon- wealth, or live j, or dignities of 
 the Governors thereof. 
 
 Two parties among our felves will difl'ike this propofal. 
 I. Some will fay, If Liberty be dt fir able ■, why way not we grant 
 it in England, though Spain, Italy, &c. will not ? 
 
 Anfw. This Liberty is mt Durable for itfelf, but as a means 
 to that end which is fo Defirabie. And therefore it is no further 
 defirable then it tendeth to that end. And a partial Toleration of 
 them, that tolerate not us, is fo far from being fuch a means, as 
 that it is the next way to deflroy the end that wedefire , it will 
 but put our necks under their feet, and open our bofoms to their 
 Swords, and fo make our defired Peace impofiible. No friend of 
 the Geipel and Reformed Churches will profecute that motion. 
 2. Others w'AlSiyJt is unlawful to grant fuch a Liberty to Pa- 
 pifls, becaufe it isfalfe dotlrine which they will preach , and Ido- 
 /atryjpbieh they will exercife j and we muff not do evill that good 
 may come by it. 
 
 Anfw. We may do no evill, but we may oroit that which at 
 another time is a duty,in a feafon when it is no duty. To punifli 
 fuch offenders is a pofitive duty, which at all times is not a duty, 
 butunfeafonably performed is a fin. For a Magiftrate therefore 
 to punifli fuch offenders, when it apparently tendeth to hinder 
 the progrefs of the Gofpel.and overthrow the peace and fafety of 
 the Chriftian State, is not a Duty, bur f a fin. Would any of thefe 
 Objedors be againft aMagiftratesreleafing of a Jtfuiteout of 
 Prifon.in exchange for a faithful Minifter of the Gofpel,efpecially 
 of many; as prifoner* are commonly exchanged in war ? If not, 
 why fhould they be againft the releafing of fuch a mm to higher 
 ends, even to fave mens fouls t To give Liberty hbm to Permit, 
 or n it to Hinder, or not to Punifh : i>nc therefore is but the not- 
 doing of a work when it is unfeafonable (as Sacrifice is when 
 God reqaireth Mercy.) And he that may Permit , or forbe.tr to 
 punifh, may on a juft reafon promife foto do. So that this is but 
 forbearing the punifh ng of Papi.ts , wh-.n we canoot punifh 
 the.n without the exceeding hurt of the ( hurcb, and wrong to 
 many thou'znd fouls. B b b 3 i'u: 
 
3 7 4 A Kjy for Catholicks- 
 
 Bud know 1 fpcak all this in vain i for the Pope will never 
 confenc that Proteftants (hall fow their feed at Rome .left it quick- 
 ly unncaft him. But in the mean time let the Papifts here con- 
 fcfs if they be reasonable, that we have no reafun to give Liber- 
 ty to them.'trut will give none to us, of upon unequal terms. 
 If they claim a fpecial Title to it, as having the juftercaufe, we 
 derire no mere then a fair try all of that, and lee them that have 
 the jufter caufe take all. 
 
 3. Another particular that ftnuld here be agreed on is this, 
 ( whether rhe former be confented to or not -, ) That on both 
 fides where the Teachers have any Toleration or forbearance , thej 
 maybe forced by the Magi fir ate ta teach the Ignorant people that 
 adhere to them , the great Articles of the Chrijlian faith ( both 
 words and fenfe ) Vhichwe are all agreed in. Which was Bt- 
 fhop Vfiers motion to thePapift Priefts in Ireland. For faith 
 he, among the Papifts the people arefnffered to perifh for want of 
 knowledge •, the vulgar fuperftitions of Popery not doing them half 
 that hurt t that the ignorance cf thofe common principles of faith 
 doth, which all trtte Chriftians are bound to learn] ( Serm.at Wan- 
 ted, page 33.) 
 
 4. Another necefTary particular to be agreed on i$, that 
 weufe not b'tter invetlives agaiifteach other, mr uncharitable 
 cont endings, e fpecial ly in the ears of the ignorant people that have 
 not yet learned the common truths which we agree in : but that our 
 Debates be managed only in fuch Ajfemblies as are capable of 
 them, and in a fober Christian way. 
 
 5. Another is , that fuch Magiflrates that will not grant To- 
 leration,may yet on both fides avoid cruelties* and infill no more pc 
 nalties for matters of meer Religious worfinp, then neceffity /hall 
 require : and that herein thej may agree upon fome equality in the 
 feveral Nations. And in this let Spain, Italy, Aufiria, and .the 
 reft, for fliame confent, to be as moderate as the Turk, and to 
 (hut up the doors of their bloody Inquilition. 
 
 6. Let us all agree to renounce all Treachery and unfaithfulnefs 
 againfk the Soveraign Powers, and all feditious difturbances of the 
 Peace of Common wealths. 
 
 7. Let thofe afford us the common Love of men t that think, us 
 not capable of the fpecial Love of Chriftians : and fo lee us Love 
 our Neighbour! as our felves , and ftudy co do good, and 
 
 do: 
 
A K^y for Catholicks. 375 
 
 not hurt to one another • and give over plotting to undermine 
 one another, anddeftroy oneanothers civil intereft, and get 
 our Neighbours under our feet. This much well practiced , 
 would dofomethmgtothe peace of the Chriftian world. 
 
 Chap. LV. 
 
 T-HE lowed Degree, that none but incarnate Devili one 
 would think fhould refift is this ; that if we will needs live 
 as enemies, yet we may remember that we have all greater enemies ; 
 and therefore let its give over our years , and let every Nati- 
 on be quiet I) governed by their own Laws and Sovereigns, and let 
 its all join together againft the common enemies offchrift. 
 
 We cannot but know that much of Chrifts interell: lyeth in 
 our hands, and that if either party were devoured by the Turk, 
 it would be a heavy blow to the Cbriftian caufe : If God 
 (liould fuflkr that proud enemy to come and make a third 
 among us, to end our quarrels, we muft juftifie him in his 
 judgements; andmufttoour perpetual fhime confefs that by 
 our proud and paffionate contending?, and unpeaceblcnefs, 
 and felf-feeking , we did betray the Chriinan caufe. O 
 wonderfull ftupidity and impiety of great men , and Learned 
 men , profeiTing fo much zeal for God, that they can no more 
 agree, nor bear in Love and Compafiion with each other, nor 
 ceafe their w.irs, when a raging potent enemy (lands over them, 
 ready to devour them both. Le: the Venetians take the honour, 
 and wethefhame: However their own Intereft may engage 
 them , yet materially their wars are more honourable then 
 ours. The Pope is eager for a General Peace among his 
 fubje£b,that they may be ftrengrnhencd to devour us : But it 
 wereanhonefter defign , that would give him more comfort at 
 laft, to mediate a Peace among all ChriiHans, that in this at leaft 
 they might be one, tooppofe the Turk, and refcue the Heritage 
 of Chrilt which he hath opprefled. 
 
 And O whua blefTed thing it were, if the Jefuites, Fryars 
 and Proteftauts could but agree , to joiatogether for the con- 
 verfion o- the poor Indians. And either preach in the fame, or 
 fcveral Countries, without feeking the deftru&ipn there of one 
 
 another- 
 
3 7 5 i4 i<(ry for Qa tkolicks . 
 
 another ^ yea and afford each other help : that the Englifh, Hol- 
 landers, and others might fend Preachers as well as Merchants 
 into the Indies j and we might there contribure our endeavours 
 topropagtte theGofpel, though in our different wayes, not 
 envying, hating and hindering each other •• but remembring we 
 all confers one Chrift, though not one Vice-chrift. 
 
 ConclufioH. 
 
 I Have caft out thefe Propofal* meerly to acquaint the peaceable 
 Chriftian , what he (hould defire, that the frame of his heart 
 may be right before God : and not with any expectation that 
 they fhould be fo regarded as to procure what they drive ar. I 
 am norfo weak, or ignorant of the inconfiderablenefs of the Pro- 
 pofer, or of the felfifhnefs and ungodlinefs of the world. But yet 
 I may lawfully take the comfort of the moft uneffe&ual defircs 
 and endeavours that are honeft. 
 
 And for thofe that would have us Reconciled upon the Groti- 
 an terms, or upon the French Foundation of a General Coun- 
 cil, and would have all forced, as our Bifhops attempted to 
 come over to their way , and deny Liberty to the reft, that can- 
 not thus clofe with them -and all that think that the Church mud 
 have forae Vifible Head or Soveraign to unite in, I (hall (hew 
 them their errour in a diftinA Difputation, which I am publifh- 
 ing nest to this, asafupplement; and therein I (hall give them 
 fuch further Propofals for a juft Reconciliation , as men that are 
 Studious of Peace may profecute, with hope of forne fuccefs. 
 
 And becaufe I have lately met with a Paper called [ An Ex- 
 fUnation of the Roman Catholic!^ Beliefs ] &c. which pretend- 
 eth to much moderation, in divers points • I purpofe next to en- 
 quire, whether it mean as it pretends, that if it do, we may give 
 it welcome ; if not, we may Detect its Fraud : For as I (hould 
 much rejoice to hear of fo much amendment of the Roman Be- 
 lief,which I thought had been fuppofed by themfelves to bein- 
 corrigiblej So Imuft confefs that I am fo much for plain and open 
 dealing, that I think it my duty to help to bring their works into 
 the Light, and try how they agree with the Truth and among 
 themfelves j that men may judge of them as tbey are. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
The Second Part : 
 
 PROVING 
 
 That the Catholicism Church 
 
 is not a political Body Headed by 
 any Earthly Soveraign , nor any 
 fuch Unity to be Defired or en- 
 deavoured, by any that would not 
 Blafpheme, Divide and Deftroy, 
 under the pretence of Unity. 
 SPECIALLY 
 
 Diredled againft the Sovereignty 
 
 ( and Nccefsicy too ) of General Councils : 
 ro the followers of Grotim , and others of that 
 Party, that at leaft would give them a Part in the 
 Soveraignty with the Pope. 
 
 And propounding the true grounds and 
 means of the Churches Unity and Peace, 
 
 By Tticb. ^Baxter. 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 Printed by Robert White, for Nevil Simmons, Book- 
 feller in Kcdcrminjler, Anno Hem. 1659. 
 
V9 
 
 OTSS**^S^S7.SwXS7.^ySS^ , 7.X3^S^^c^S5 
 
 
 W^» 
 
 IA 
 
 S®$^|iv®q^*w5*^V ? $*® 
 
 *3 
 
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 e?tfj« 
 
 $ 
 
 ^«5/2. Whether the way to heal any 
 
 Divifions in the Churches of Chrift be by 
 drawing chem all into One Univerfal Vifi- 
 ble Political Body, under One Univerfal 
 Vifible Head or Government ? Or Whe- 
 ther the Catholick Church be a Body fo 
 United and Governed ? tfyg* 
 
 Chap. I. 
 
 Shewing the Occasion and Reafons of this Writing, e[pccl- 
 ally as from the Grotians j which are Vindicated p om 
 the frivolous exceptions of Mr. Tho. Pierce. 
 
 HAVE «lready in the fir ft Part of this Book 
 ( and formerly in another ) difproved the 
 Popes Univer fa! Headfhip/trd anfwered what 
 BelUrmixe, Boverins, end Tome others fay for 
 rill! MftPi the maintaining of it : And it is a work already 
 . ^^^w^k done fo fully by Chawie^WhitAker^mi many 
 other* , but cnoft triumphantly and copiouflv by D*viA BUndell 
 in a French Trcatife in Folio de primttPt in Ecclefia agairft Car- 
 
 C c c 2 dinal 
 
380 A £\eyfor Catholtcks. 
 
 dinal Perron, that I need not , and therefore intend not to fay 
 much hereupon that fubjed. But this Difputation I principally 
 intend, 1. For the fubverting of ihtFoundationof Pofery^ which 
 is the fuppofition , that the Viftble Catholick^ Church muft needs 
 be united in fame Humane Vifible Head. 2. To confute the Opi- 
 nion of the moderate fort of French Pa pifts and Grotiant , that 
 take a General Council to be the Legiflative Head , and the Judi- 
 cial Head while they are in Being ^ and the Pope ruling by the 
 Laws ofCounci!s,to be the ordinary Judicial Head. 3. To de- 
 liver fome perfonsfrom a dangerous Temptation, that by Gro- 
 tins , or his followers here in England arc drawn into a conceit 
 thac theCatho'ickChurchisfuchaBodyas we here deny, and 
 think that the unity that the Scripture fo comraendeth to us can- 
 not be attained without anllniverfal Vifible Head-'which Temp- 
 tation of theirs is much increafed by obferving the differences of 
 Opinions in the world j which every good man doth lament , 
 as we do all the (ins and frailties thai on earth accompany 
 us in the ftate of imperfection. As I blame not thofe that defire 
 perfed Knowledge, orHolinefs; but blame thera that promife 
 it to the Church on Earth , when it is the prerogative of Hea- 
 ven ; and much more fhould blame him that would fay we (hall 
 beperfedl} Wife and Holy if we will but be of this Opinion, 
 that the Church hath an Infallible Humame Head • even fo I 
 blame not them that defire perfeft Concord ( the Confequent 
 of perfed Knowledge and Holinefs ; ) for this is to defire Hea- 
 ven : But I blame them that promife us this Heaven on Earth ; 
 and them much more that tell us we (hall have it if we will but 
 believe that a Pope or Council is the Univerfal Head ; and fo 
 will condemn the Church on Earth, becaufe it hath not attain- 
 ed that Celeftial perfection, which they have once fancied that 
 it may and fhould attain. 
 
 Concerning Gretius his opinion, defign and great endeavours 
 to reduce the C hurches to Popery, under the pretence of a Con- 
 ciliation, I have lately by the Invitation of Mr. Thomas Pierce 
 given in my Evidence ( I think beyond all further queftion ) 
 out of his own writings, in bis frequent and exprefs aflertions. 
 And Rivet in hhDialyfij and his Afologet. and other writings hath* 
 fufficiently confuted him. The miftakes of many in their judg- 
 ing of Grows y are caufed by their fuppofition, that the man was 
 
 (he 
 
A I(ey for Catholicks. 381 
 
 the fame in his firft Conciliatory cntcrprifei, and in his iaft, 
 which is not true. He oft profeffeth his mutations himfelf, and 
 how apt he was todiflike that which he bad but lately thought 
 orfaid: At firft he thought but of Reconciling the Proteftants 
 among themfelves : But afterwards his defign was to Reconcile 
 them with the Papifts , and that by drawing them all to be Pa- 
 pills, that is, to unite in the Pope of Rome as t&c Univerfal Go- 
 vernour,ru!ing according to Canons and Decrees j and this he 
 thought was the only way to the union of the Churches. 
 
 The Truth of this, andtheMifchiefs of the Enterprife, muft 
 be apprehended by him that will underftand ray endeavourj 
 in this difpute,andcfcape the fnare thats laid for their perverfi* 
 on. And for the Truth of it, I refer you to my forefaid wri- 
 ting of the Grotian Religion. Since which it pleafed Mr. Pierce 
 to publifti a (beet containing ( not any thing that bath the leaft: 
 aptitude to perfwade a rational man thatGrotianifmisnot Po- 
 .pery, but ) forae Rcafons why he doth not, at leaft, as yet per- 
 form the vindication, with a General profefiion how eafily he 
 can do it, and make me a Winding (heet, at leaft as futable as 
 that which I made for Popery ( which when he hath confuted, 
 I (hall better know his mind and ftrengih) This with two or 
 three frivolous Exceptions, and many fwelling words of Vanity, 
 with certain Squibs and empty jecrs,according to the manner of 
 rhe man, is the matter of his Advertifement.Nothing coul^bave 
 been eaficr for him then to fay Q or almofi tofaj t that 1 am very 
 liable^ in every line ] and that his advantages are too many find 
 that I am an advocate for the crimfon fins of others >and an enco- 
 miafi of my own. Nothing more vain then his oftentation of 
 the milddtfehargeof his Cenforfhip , and his fenflefs intimation 
 that I take the Virtues of Epifcopal Divines ', for glittering fins r 
 when he never had a word from me of fuch a fence or tendency. 
 (But Grotians will now be but B pi [copal Divines ,and their g/itte- 
 ringfins t rr\u(i be their Virtues. )heczufc I had acknowledged how 
 civilly he dealt with me (no doubt on a.fuppofitionthat I was 
 neerer his conceits then thofe that he had fo copioufly reproach- 
 ed,) he takes it as an acknowledgement of his moderation, as if 
 it were the proof of a mans moderation, that he can give a civil 
 word to any.and a while refrain abufing one, while he is abufing 
 many. I am thankfull co him that (pits in moft mens faces, that 
 
 Ccc 3 be 
 
}8 1 J ]$ey for Catkolich. 
 
 be fpeaks to, that he fpitteth not in mine -, when I give a civil 
 roan no fach thank*. When I commend a roan for not belying 
 me , reproaching me, or other wife abufing me, as he doth 
 others, I fhouldfufpe&he would take it for a difpraife : For I 
 ufe not to thank good men for doing me no mifchief. His valu- 
 ing the fecurity of his own eflate above Davids or Peters ( that 
 had fuch fpecial Teftimonies of their Holinefs , and Promifes 
 from God, before theirs falls, ) and his defending his Malignant 
 fins as vermes, his venemous reproaches of Puritans and Presby- 
 terians as Proteftants frightned out oftheir wits,menoffedition 
 and violence, and a bloody Generation, with abundance of the 
 like , and then relling us that he meant no Puritans but fuch (as 
 if one (hould fay, the Armmians area perfidious bloody Gene- 
 ration ^ and then fay, Its well known that he meant no Armini* 
 ans but fuch, ) thefe and fuch like paiTages (hew the quality of 
 the man and his Advertifement. He that durft openly and fre- 
 quently charge his adverfaries with (landers , and yet tell 
 the world , that I £ pretend that the difference between him 
 and his Antagcnifls is mterlj Verbal^ (becaufe I faid [ that Moft 
 of our contentions about thofe points are mere about words then mat m 
 ter,and that fuch eager men as he and his Antagomft y do make them- 
 felves and others believe that we differ much more about them then 
 ■we do. ] Is this equipollent to \_ a difference meerlj verball } ] ) 
 this man its like dare do the fame by others. 
 
 Butitisthebufinefs of Grotius upon which lam to meddle 
 with him. And firft he hhb^thaton the fame Reafins as 1 conclude 
 himaPapift, Imuft conclude him a P rot eft Ant , unlefs 1 thinks 
 as hardly of the Auguftine Confeffun as of the found/ of Trent. ] 
 Anfw. I (hall yield it, when you have proved £ that a Prote- 
 ftant is one that holdeth to the Council of Trent, and the New Creed 
 by PopeVlus, made long after the Auguftine Ccnfejficn, and that 
 the Common Government in -which all the CatholickChurch muft 
 unite, is the Vniverfal Head/hip of the Pope, governing accord- 
 ing to the Canons and Decrees , And that the Auguftine Confeffton 
 is fo to be expounded ( bj fair means or foul ) as fball be 
 Agreeable to t or conftftent with all this. ] We ufe not to call fuch 
 men as thefe Proteltants, but Papifts, but if this be your meaning 
 when you call your felf a Proteftant, you (hould have told us 
 fooner.if you defire to be known. 
 
 ' He 
 
A %ey for Qatholkks. j 8 j 
 
 He faith f the proof of which we wait for ) that I [ miflake 
 at once the whole drift «/"Grotius his excellent Difcuflio Apol. and 
 that 1 tranflate not his Latine into Engli/h, or lamely, &c. ] 
 Anfw.i. Nothing more eafie, then to tell me I miftake / Are 
 not his words plain enough,and frequent enough to open to us fo 
 much of his mind as I have charged him with? Let the Readers 
 of his words recited by me, be the Judges : ( For him that will 
 believe you, either to fave him the Iabonr of reading, or againft 
 his eye fight , he is not one of them that I write for • but 
 (hall have Liberty for me to be deceived. ) 2. That I tranf- 
 lated not the words of Grotius, was purpofely done,foredeeming 
 that fuch men as you would have faid they were miftranflated, 
 and that they were not his own but mine : I am fure now that I 
 giveyoubuthisown ; And if you think him wronged if the En • 
 gli(b Reader know him not, by a Translation, I pray you trans- 
 late the words yourfelf; for I fuppofe you will lead quarrel 
 with your own. Buttopleafure you, I will Tranflatc fas well 
 asl an) the paffage which you choofeour todefend,andafew 
 more. Difcftf Apol. pag. 2 5 5 . £ Thofe that knew Grotius^ew 
 that he alwayes wifhedfor the reflitution ofChrijlians into One and 
 the fame body : But he fometime thought \ even after he was known 
 to the mojl Illufiriom Vairius, that it might be begun by a Con- 
 junction of the Proteflants among thtmfelves : Afterwards hefaVr 
 that this was altogether ttnfeafible-,becaufe,be(ides that the genius of 
 almofi all the Calviniftsis mefl alien from all peace , the Prote- 
 flants are not jojned among thtmfelves by any Common Government 
 of the Church ; which are the caufes that the parties made cannot 
 be gathered into one Bodj of Proteflants •, yea and that more and 
 more parties are ready to rife out of them. Wherefore Grotius now 
 abfolutelj judgeth, and many with him, that the Proteflants can- 
 710 be joined among themfelves j unlefs at once they be joined to them 
 that vohertto the Sea of Rome : without which there can no com- 
 mon Government be hoped for in the Church. Therefore he wifheth 
 that the divu Iff on which fell out, and the caufes of that divulfitn 
 7»xy be taken away. The Primacy oftheBifh:>p of Rome accor- 
 ding to the Canons is none of the fe t as Melanchton confejfetb.] » 
 think this is the Enghfh or" Grotius words (be it fpoken with a 
 Salvo to the preheminenceof Mr. P«ra>/Tran fating faculty. ) 
 But here he hath a quarrel, and that fo raomen'ous,asto be 
 
 his 
 
3S4 a K^y f° r C at ^ tc ^ s ' 
 
 his grand, if not only inftance of my mifdealing ■, and fo be hath 
 written enough againjl the Contagion of my Volume 1 A happy 
 generation / that can make what they will true or falfe by af- 
 ferting it,and can give therafelvesthe viSory at their pleafureby 
 triumphing , and by wiping their mouths, can make themfelves 
 innocent ! and by faying any thing,or fuch a nothing as this,can 
 prove Popery to be the Proteftant Religion, and make many 
 Worftiipful Gentlemen of their mind , that were of their mind 
 before they knew it, iroplicttely believing in them, and in their 
 Church.Wellbut what is my mifcarriage?Why \_the later part of 
 ihefe words, which are the chief, Mr. Baxter takes no notice of in 
 the SngUfh account which he renders of them. ] Anfw. I . He 
 fuppoled that you and all that he wrote this for underftood La- 
 tine , though in Anfwer toanEnglifh Cavill, he wrote hisDif- 
 courfein Englifti. And he that Translated none of the fen- 
 tence, thought it no injury , to give account in Englifhbut of 
 part. 2. But open your eyes, and look further into his words, 
 and fee whether you wrong him not , by leaving out the reft 
 of his account, as much as he wronged Grotius : And look into 
 your own advertifement, and fee whether you recited not Grv- 
 f'mt his words your felf without a Tranflation, committing the 
 fame error which you reprehend, while you do reprehend it. 
 But faith the Bpifcopal Divine, ( for fo he will needs be called ) 
 ^Heis deeply filent as to the caufes of the breach which Grotius 
 did wifb might be taken away , and which he charged the Va- 
 pifis with. | Anfw. i .Was I deeply filcnt that Grotius would have 
 the caufes taken away r What ! When I recite his very words ? 
 Or was I deeply filent of the particular caufes r" Do you mean 
 Here, or Throughout t If Here, fo I was deeply filent often thou- 
 fand things more, which either it concerned me not to fpeak,or 
 I had not the faculty of expreffing in one fentence. Ifyou 
 mean Throughout , you read without your eyes,or wrote either 
 with a defedive Memory or Honefty. Read again, and you 
 (hall find that I recite the caufes. 3. But did I not ail that my 
 task required , by reciting the Negation of thecaufes [Jtwas 
 not faith Grotius, the Primacy of the Bifhep of Rome according to 
 the Canons ?] And I fhewed you partly, and the Canons (hew 
 you fully , that 'hat Primacy is the Univerfall Headlhip, which 
 Proteftants ( I mean not Roman, Grotian Proteftants) have ever 
 
 ufed 
 
A I\ey for Catholic ks . j 8 * 
 
 ufed to call Popery. But faith Mr. P. Grotius chargeth the 
 P*pi(ls with it. j Axfw. I . True / but the Proteftants much more, 
 as making many more faults by their withdrawing from Rome 
 then they mended. 2. And he chargeth not that which we have 
 called Popery with it, though he crnrgc the Papifts with ic. That 
 fome fwsoi the Papifts did oceafion it, he confefteth,andall the 
 Pap.fts thatever I fpoke with of it do confefs. ButI am refer- 
 red for thefe caufes charged on the Papifts , to Grot. Votum 
 pag. 7, 8. and thither l J ie follow Mr. 7. thit I may know 
 how much he chargeth en the Papifts himfelf. And there I find 
 that the things thit grotius found faulty in the Papifts,were but 
 thefe two. 1. That to the true and ancient dodrine, many 
 quirks of the Schoolmen that were better skird in Arifiotle then 
 the Scriptures, were introduced, out of a liberty of difputing, 
 not out of the Authority of Univerfal Councils. And the Opi- 
 nions ftablifht in the Church were lefs fitly explicated. 2. Thac 
 Pride and Covetoufnefs, and manners of ill example prevailed 
 among the Prelates, &c. And really did you think that he is 
 no Papift that is but againft the Schoolmens Opinions , and 
 the Prelates Pride, Covetoufnefs, and Idlenefs ? and hold- 
 eth all that they call the Decrees of General Councils? Hath 
 not the Council at Lateran and Florence decreed that the 
 Pope is above a General Council ? and the Council at 
 Later An decreed that Princes are to be depofed , and their 
 Subje&s abfolved from their fidelity , if they exterminate 
 not Hereticks ( fuch as Proteftants ) out of their Domini-. 
 oni ? Is he no Papift that holds all that is in the Council of 
 Trent , if he be againft fome School-points not determined , 
 and againft the Prelates Pride ? Well Sir, I underftand you bet- 
 ter then I did : And though you thought meet ( that your 
 words might be conform to one another , and not to truth ) 
 to fay that I called you Arminian and Pelagian, I purpofe ( if 
 I had done fo) to call you an Arminian no more : But I befeech 
 you cry not out of perfecution till the men of your mind will 
 give us leave to be Re&ors of Churches in their Dominions, as 
 you and others of your mind are allowed to be in thefe. And 
 demand not of Mr. Hickman the bread he eats, nor the money 
 he receives, as if it were yours, till we can have licenfetobe 
 
 D d d main- 
 
86 . A Key f or C at ^ K ^- 
 
 maintained Re&ors , or at leaft to cfcape the Strappado in your 
 Churcb. 
 
 But I promifedyou foraemoreof (jretim'xn Englifh to flop 
 your mouth, (or open it whether you [cz caufe : ) and you (hall 
 have it. Difcuf.pag. 14. [ Grotius diflinguifheth between the 
 Opinions of Schoolmen which obl-ge no man {for , faith Me!chi- 
 Or Canus , oar School alloweth us great liberty ) and therefore 
 could give no juft caufe of departing (as the Proteftants did ; ) 
 and between thofe things that are defined by Councils, even by that 
 of Trent : The *s4 els of which if any man read nith a mind pro- 
 penfe to pence , he will find that they may be explained fitly and 
 agreeably to the places of the holy Scriptures, ani of the ancient 
 Dotlors, that are put in the Margin. Andifbefides this, by the 
 care of Bifbops and Kings , thofe things be taken away which con* 
 travel that holy doctrine , and were brought in by evil man- 
 ners, and net by authority of Councils , er Old Tradition, then 
 Grocius, and many more with him, will have that with which the j 
 maybe content r\'Xh\s\$ Cjrotius'wi Englifh. Reader,is it not plain 
 Englifh? Durlt thou or I have been Co unchiritabIea3tohave 
 faid without his own confent , tbat Mr, Pierce would have 
 defended this Religion , and that we have Redfcors in Eng<- 
 land of this Religion? and that thofe that caii themfelves Epif- 
 copal Divines, and feduce unftudied partial Gentlemen", are 
 crept into this garb, and in this do aft their parts fo happily? 
 If words dofignirie anything, it here appears, that Grotius 
 bis Rebgon is that which is contained in the Council of Trent 
 with ail the reft, and the reform^ ton which will content him is 
 only againft undetermined School- Opinions,snd ill manners that 
 Crpfs.the doctrines of tbs Councils, i'le dothePapiftsfomuch 
 right as to fay I never met with a man of them tbat would not 
 fay as much : Efpecially taking in all Old Tradition with all the 
 Councils (how much together by the ears, now matters not/ 
 asGW*'#.f dorh. 
 
 Yet more, Difcuf. p. 1 8 5 . He profeffeth that he will fo inter* 
 pret Scripture [ God favouring him, and pious men being confult* 
 id, that he crofs mt the Rule delivered both by himfelf, and by the 
 Council of 'Trent, &c. ] 
 
 Pag. 2 3 9. The. Auguftine Confeffion commodiou/ly explained, . 
 k$h fcarce any thing which may not be reconciled with thofe Opt- 
 
 mpnjj 
 
A Key for C<rtbolkks. 5 87 
 
 nions Which are received with the Catholickf, by Authority of 
 Antiquity and of Synods, as may be known oat of Caflander and 
 Hoffraeilter. And there are among the fefuites alfo that thinly 
 not otherwife. 3 
 
 Pag. 71. Hetels us that the Churches that join with Rome 
 have not only the Scriptures, hut the Opinions explained in the 
 Councils , and the Popes Decrees again /? Peligius , &c. [They 
 have alfo received the Egrcgiom Conflitutiens of Councils and 
 Fathers , in which there is abundantly enough for the correction 
 of vices : but all ufe them not as they ought. They lye for the 
 mofi part hid in Papers, as a Sword in the Scabbard. And 
 thu it it that all the Uvers of piety and peace would have cor reeled.] 
 And gives us Borromaus for a prefidenr. 
 
 Pag. 48. I Thefe are the things , which thanks be to God the 
 Catholicksdo not thus believe ; thsugh many that call themfelves 
 Catholic \sfo live as if they did believe them : but Prot eft ants ( fo 
 live ) by force of their Opinions , andCatholickj bjthe decay of 
 Difcipline. ] 
 
 P a g-95« What was long ago the judgement of the Church of 
 Rome, the Mifiris of others, we may befttyowbytheEpiftlesof 
 the Roman Bi/hops to the Africans and French , to which Grofi- 
 us will fubferibewith a mofi willing mind 2 Rome you fee is the 
 Aliftris of other Churches. 
 
 Pag 7. [Theyaccufe the'Bullof Pius Quimus , that it hath 
 Articles be fides thofe of the Creed. But the Synodof Dort hath 
 
 more. 'But thofe in the Bull are new, as Dr.RiVet will have it. 
 
 But very many learned men thinks otherwife , that they are not 
 new, if they be rightly underflood : and that this appeareth by 
 the places both of holy Scripture , and of fuch as have ever been 
 of great authority inthe Church, which are cited in the Margin 
 of the Canons of Trent. 
 
 Pag. > $.[dnd this is it which the Synodof 'Trent fait b,that in that 
 Sacrament JefiisChrij},true God s &truly man is really & fub Man- 
 ually ccnteined under the form of thofe fen fib'e thin?!, yet not accor- 
 ding to thenaturall manner of exifting^bm Sacramentally t and by 
 that way of exiting , which though we cannot ex pre ft in words, 
 yet may we by cogitation illuflratcd by f^.th be certain that to 
 God it is pojfble \ And the Council hith found words to 
 CXprefs it [ that there is made a change of the whole fub fiance of 
 
 Ddd z the 
 
}88 AKtfforCatholicks. 
 
 the bread into the Body, and the whole fub fiance of Wine into the 
 Blood, which converfion the Catholick, Church culleth Tranfub- 
 Jlantiation. 
 
 Pig. 79. [}Vhen the Synod of Trent faith, that the Sacrament 
 is to be adored with Divine warfbip, it intends no more but that 
 the Son of God himfelf is to be adored J 
 
 He add no more but that which tells you who is a Papift 
 with the Grotians, and who is none. Pag. 15. [In that Epiftle 
 Grotius by Papift s meant thofe that without any difference do ap- 
 prove of all the fayings and doings of Popts , for honor or lucre 
 fake, as is ufual^\ 
 
 Ibid. He cells us that by Pap fts, he meaneth not them [That, 
 faving the right of Kings and Bifhops, do give to the Ttpe or 
 Bifbop of Rome, that Primacy which ancient cuftom and Canons, 
 and the Edifts of ancient Emperors and Kings affign them, which 
 Primacy is not fo much the Bifhops , a* the very Roman 
 Churches, preferred before all other by common confent (It* swell 
 
 it hath fo mutable a foundation ) - 'fo Liberius the Bifbop 
 
 being fo lap fed that he was dead to the Church , the Church of 
 Rome retained us right, and defended the caufeoftheVniverfal 
 Church^ 
 
 This and much more I had given the Reader before in La- 
 tine, but becaufe Mr. P*>rathinks,ihatl wrong Grotitu if you 
 have it not in Englifh, I have born fo much refpeS to his words, 
 and to the Reader, as to remove the wrong, and thus far tofatif- 
 fie his defire 
 
 Having told you fome of the Occafion of this writing , I 
 (hall add fomewhat of the Reafons of it ; but the lefs, becaufe I 
 have given you fo much of them already in my forefaid Difcove- 
 ry of the Grotian Religion. 
 
 1. My principal Reafon is that before exprefTed, that Po- 
 pery may be pulled up by the very roots : For Italians, 
 French, and all build on this, that the Church muft have one 
 vifible Head. 
 
 2. That I might take in thofe parties of the Papifts , that I 
 have paft by or faid lefs to in the former Part of the Book. 
 
 3. Becaufe I fee what Influence the concei: that I difpute 
 againft bath on the minds of many well-meaning lefs judicious 
 people. 
 
 4- Becaufe 
 
A t\ey for Qatholicks. 589 
 
 4. Becaufe I perceive in part what influence the defign of 
 Grotius had upon England^ in the changes that were the occafion 
 of our late wars ; He faith himfelf Difcuff. pag. 1 6. [ That the 
 labor j of Grotius/or the Peace of the Church were not difp leafing 
 to many equal men, many k*ow at Paris, and many in all France, 
 many in Poland and Germany, and net a few in England , that 
 are placid and lovers of peace : For as for the now- raging Brown- 
 iftj, and others like them : Vrith Vchom Dr. Rivet better agreeth 
 then with the Bifhops o/England, who can defre to pleafe them, that 
 it not touched with their venom . ? J So that he had Epifcopal Fa- 
 dors herein England. And whereas fome tell me, that Gre- 
 tim was no Papift, becaufe he profefTed his high efteem of the 
 Church of England, and fay they, had Church-preferment here 
 offered him, and thought to have accepted it. I anfwer 1 . Ei- 
 ther it was Grotius in the firft Edition,or the Church of England 
 in the fecond Edition then in the Prels, that this rauft be lpoken 
 of, if true. 2. Was not Francifcns aSanftaCIara, (M\ the 
 Queens ghoftly Father,) a Papift, for all he reconciled the Do- 
 ctrine of the Church of England to that o(Romt ? Grotius and 
 he did plainly manage the lame defign. 3. Mr. Pierce afTures 
 you by his Defence , that Grotius hath ftill his followers in 
 England of the party that he called the Church of England : 
 And is it any more proof that Grerius was a Proteftant for 
 joyning with them, then that they are Papifts that joyn with 
 him ? Is not his Doctrine here given you in his Snglijhed word* ? 
 Do you doubt whether the Council of Trent were Papifts? This 
 makes me remember the words of the late King to the Marquefs 
 ofjVorcefier : when theMtrbuefs came into the room to an ap- 
 pointed conference about religion with bim,& leaned onD. Bay- 
 ly'i arm } he told the King that he came leaning on a Doctor of 
 his own Church : and the King replyed, My Lord, 1 know not 
 whether I fhould think the better of you for the Doctors fake, 
 or the worfeofthe Doctor for your fake 1 for to this purpofe) 
 And indeed the Doctor quickly fhew'd, by profefling himfelf a 
 Papift,whatan Epifcopal Divine he was .« And I think we haveas 
 fair advantage to refolve us, whether to think the better of 
 Grotius for the Church of Englandshke, or the worfeoftfo r e 
 that he called the Church of England, and that were of his mind, , 
 for Grutius fake. 
 
 Ddd3 Ia> 
 
3$>o A fyy for Catbolich 
 
 In a late Treatife De Antiqua Ecclefne Brittanica Ubertate 
 Diatribe, written by LB. a Divine of the Church of EngUnd, 
 and printedat Bruges, 1656 pag. 34,3 5- The/. 4. it is aver- 
 red \_That fince the ancient libertj of the Britifh Church was 
 bj the confentof the whole Kingdom refumed, remaining Catho. 
 lick, in all other things, it may retain that Liberty without Ufing 
 its Cathilicifm , and without any note of Schtfm or Herefie J 
 This Liberty then was the Reformation. And this he faith was 
 maintained by Barnes, a Papift and BenediEline Mon^and Priefi 
 in a M.S. entituled Catholico-Romanus Pacificus, c. Land that 
 for this fober wsrk.of his the Peaceable Afonl^, though of un- 
 blamed life , and unjfotted fame, wasfnatch out of the mid ft of 
 Paris, and jlript of his habit, and bound on a Horfe-bach^ like a 
 Calf, and violently carried into Flanders, andfo to Rome and 
 fe to the lnejuifitien, and then put among the Bedlams, where 
 he dyed ; and not contented with his death , they defamed him to 
 have dyed mad \ Though Rome give Peace no better entertain- 
 ment , the Learned Author thinks that France will ; and there- 
 fore adds concerning the French Church, [Quacum F-i^iCa^ 
 optanda foret e damnum veteris redintegratio cencordia, quam con- 
 flat plus mille ab hinc annis amiciffime intercejfiffe inter Ecclc- 
 ftam utram^ Gallicanam & Brittanicam, etiam turn cum Ee- 
 rie fa Britta.nica non communicabat cum Romano, , e£* certe fi 
 utracj; pars abfcf, prejudicio, fefe mutuo intelligeret , & part 
 extrema de rigore fuo vellet remittere, ea Britttnica Ecclefia cum 
 GaUicanaconcenfto non foret adeo improbabilis,atq\ prima fronte 
 videtur Scclefiam utramq; vel alterutram ignorantibmf\ I add 
 this but to fhew the Judgement of thofe on whom the judgement 
 of Grotius had any influence , for a Communion with the 
 French, as if we little differed from them. Still profefling that 
 I would run with the forwardeft to meet them upon tolerable 
 terms ; And that the remembrance of ihe moderation, wifdoro, 
 charity of the Caffandrian party in France ('that refifted the 
 violence of the reltlongin vain, and lamented the maflacres, 
 and were oppreflfedby themj is very grateful to my thoughts 
 and ihenamesof many of them very honorable inmyefteem. 
 And it grieves me that Grmus called by Mr. Pierce a Prote. 
 ilanr, (hould fo far out* go them in Popery, whom the fame man 
 confcfTeth to have been Papift?. He goes much further then 
 
 Caffander ; 
 
A IQy for Catholich. j 9 1 
 
 Cajfander : Much further then Thuanus , that fo plainly and 
 truly openeih abundance of thePopilhevills that Cjrotins pa- 
 tronizeth ^ and fo long and fuccefsfuJly did his part to keep out 
 of France the Authority of the Council of Trent, which was 
 part of Grotius his Religion. And how far he went beyond th3t 
 excellent man Michael Hofyitalius , the Head of that party ((o 
 much commended by Beza as well as by Thnanus) and Foxittt, 
 and others, is eafie to manifelt. 
 
 5. And I am the more provoked alfo to perform this task, be- 
 came I fe-eby many more as well as Mr. P. that the dcfign is 
 ftillonfoot: and that the Papifts that are got foftrong in Eng- 
 land, under the mask of the Va*i y the Setktrs t \ht Infidels, the 
 Quakers, the Behmenifts, and many other Seels, have fo much 
 addicion to their {trerg:h by Greuans that go under the mask of 
 [E ifcepal Divi»es.~\ Which yet I ftiould the lefs be troubled ar, 
 if France, Savoy, England, Holland, Poland^ Bohemia , and all 
 parts where they prevail, did not acquaint os by bloody, tor- 
 menting, thundering.fhroing evidence,how they ufe their power 
 where chey dare. 
 
 6. And itmovcthme muchalfo to confider the confequence 
 of the point in hand. It is not a raeer fpeculation , but a point 
 fo pra&cal, that the right decifion and underftanding of it , is 
 as much as the Peace of millions of fouls, yea of all theChurcheC 
 and Common- wealths in Chriftendom is worth. All that have 
 any thirg of the love of God alive within them, are foraewhat 
 fenfibleof the finfulnefs andmifery contained in the divifions 
 and difcord of Believers ; and therefore they mult needs be fo- 
 licitous for the Cure, and lay out therofelves and all they have 
 or can do to accomplifh it , if they knew the way. And the 
 more zealous any man is for Pe.*.ce, the more rciolutely will he 
 carry on his work, and bear down all opposition that would 
 hinder him in tbat which he thinks the way of Peace. x'Vnd 
 when perfons thus difpofed by humanity and grace , (hall be 
 quite miftakeo in the very thing they feek , even in the Nature 
 of the Churches unity tnd peace, they will think therofelves 
 bound with ail their zva\ and diligence, to endeavour the doing 
 of an evill work , and to accomplifh a work neither poflibic. 
 nor defirable. And it is not hard for a man of an indifferent 
 wic to fore-fee what tir,chiritablentfs, difcoropofure of minds^ 
 
 off 
 
2<pi AKgyfor Catholicks. 
 
 of Churches and Common- wealths, and abufing and endanger- 
 ing of fouls, is like to be the fruit of fuch miftakes about the 
 Churches Unity and Peace, And as the School ufeth to fay 
 ('from Boetius and Anfelm) Malum mnefi nifi a bono & prop- 
 ter bowr» t fo it will be like by experience to be made a proverb, 
 that Bel/ant & difccrdia non funt nifi a pacificij & propter pa- 
 cent : The greateft difcords and wars will be from the Love and 
 Endeavour of Unity and Concord,and for the obtaining of them 
 by impoflible means. Thefe following evills may eafily be 
 fore fee n. 
 
 i. If men raiftake about the Nature of the vifible form of 
 the Catholick Church, and its unity, it is like to pervert their 
 judgements in many other weighty points of Religion. For 
 when they have received this Error as a Truth, then they will 
 be exceedingly inclined to bend the reft of their opinions to 
 it, and contrive them into a Confiftent Form. For Truth would 
 to* Truth, as Fire would to Fire, and Water to Water. Yea ail 
 that it flexible within them (hall be bended to the intereft of this 
 conceit. 
 
 2. As foon as ever any man hath received this opinion of the 
 neceffity of an Univerfal Vifible Head , or common Govern*, 
 mencof the whole Chruch, he iseitheraPapift, or of an opi- 
 nion equivalent in folly, tyrannie, and impiety, to Popery. For 
 if fuch a Vifible Head mnft be, there is no other that can pretend 
 to it with Reafon or Honefty any more then the Pope : Nor 
 is it our quarrel againft Rome, that their Bijhop rather then ano- 
 ther (houldbethis ufurpingHead, but that they would have 
 fuch a one at all I It is not who (hall be the man, or power, but 
 whether there (hall be any fuch man or power that we difpute. 
 This Error about the Neceffity of an Univerfal Vifible Head, 
 is the very thing that turneth moft to Popery, and this is the 
 common argument that is mannaged by deceivers to that end, 
 as their writings commonly declare. 
 
 3. And then when men are drawn over to bePapifts for the 
 avoiding of Schifm , and the obtaining of Unity, they are un- 
 awares involved in the moft defperate Schifm ; which I have 
 proved that party to be guilty of : f and with it drink in the 
 dregs of all the Roman abominations .) When men have fct up 
 anew Church-form, byfetting op a new Head and Center of 
 
 Unity, 
 
A Key for £atbolicks. 3 9 > 
 
 Unity, and then judge of all particular Churches and Members 
 by this ftandard, itleadeth them unavoidably to ftparate from 
 ail the Churches and Christians upon earth, that confpirc not 
 and center rot with them in their new devifed Head. 
 
 4. And by this means Charity is much deltroyed in mens 
 fouls, (and he that hath lcaft of Love, hath leaft of God) and 
 the Preachers and Paftors turn all their ftudies into matter of 
 Controrerfie, and their laj^ors into wranglings , and all under 
 pretence of Catbolick tfnity ; And having not charity, they 
 prove not only founding brafs , and tinkling Cymbals in their 
 mod learned labors, but too often burning brafs (like Perillus 
 Bull,) and military Trumpets, and all this under pretenfe of 
 Charity, when they have deitroyed it. Hence is it that uncha- 
 ritable cenfures are fo common, and the Lambs of Chrift fo 
 often doathed in the skins of Wolves, by the Wolves that have 
 by exchange put on the skin of the Lamb. Scarfe a man that 
 croflechor difpleafeth (that is, diflenteth from, ordifobeyethj 
 the uncharitable Clergy, butheisftigmatized for anHeretick, 
 and charged with almoft as much wickednefs,as their mouths are 
 wide enough to utter ,and the ears of other men to hear. What 
 horrid things have they fpoken of the poor Waldenfes and Albi- 
 genfes, and 'Bohemians ? Of Luther , Oecolamfaditu , Calvin, 
 and who not? Though I have had applauding flattering Let- 
 ters from fome of them that tryed whether I were flexible and 
 du&ile, yet I doubt not but I (hall hive my (hare my felf before 
 they have done with me:& I wonder I hear not of it before now. 
 Hence among other reafons its like that Mr. Pierce became fo de- 
 dicate of Charity, astodifgorgehis foul of fo many bitter re- 
 proaches and calumnies againft the Puritans and Presbyterians, 
 whomlf he know not,he nnneth but as Paul did, but if he know, 
 he terrifleth us from his principles by the fruits-'that which (hews 
 the want of Charity, (hews the want of faving Gracerand conse- 
 quently the want of right to Glory. Hence it is that the greatefl: 
 Schifmaticks arethecommoneft accufers of their Brethren with 
 fchifra, Pharifaically faying, I thank thee Lord that I am not as 
 other men, norasthefe Schifmaticks. Hence alfo it is that fo 
 many leaimed well-meaning Papifts do fo pervert their ftudies 
 and endeavors, and abufe and lofe (and worfe then lofe) their 
 wits and parts to draw men to their way - t compaffingSea and 
 
 Eee 
 
394 A K?y f or Catkoltcks. 
 
 Land to make a Romi/h Profclite, efpecially of a Prince, or 
 roan of power, intereft, or ability to ferve them. What pains 
 take they to draw Nations to their minds, and to embroil the 
 world in contentions and confufions to attain tbeir ends ? What 
 horrid perfections, Maflacres, and barbarous inhumane cru- 
 elties have multitudes of men of learning and good parts and 
 natures beeningagedin, by the very Principle tha: I now con- 
 fute, and for the promoting of their kind of Unity and Con- 
 cord, in wicked and impofsible ways' 4 **- 
 
 7. Bcfidesthis, it takes men off fromfeeking the true Peace 
 of the Church, while they miftakingly purfue a falfe peace. The 
 Devil, the cunning Enemy of Concord, hath not a more effe&ual 
 way to take men off from the ways and means of holy Con- 
 cord, then by darting them a falfe game, and caufing them to 
 lay out all their labor to build a Babel> when they fhould be 
 building Zion. Oh what a blefled ftatt might the Church be 
 in if all the Jefuites, Fryers, Prelates, Priefts and others, had laid 
 out that labor for a righteous poflible Unity and Peace, in Gods 
 appointed way , which they have vainly and impioufly laid 
 out to unite the world in a Vice-chrift or Vice-god ? 
 
 Fore feeing, and at prefent feeling many of thefe calamitous 
 confluences to the Church, I think it of exceeding moment, 
 that mens judgements fhould be rectified chat are milled, con- 
 cerning the nature of the unity of the Church : Still profefiing 
 that to me they are the deareft Chriftians , and neareft to my 
 hcarr,tbat are moft for Unity and Concord,fo it be in Chrift,and 
 upon righteous poffible conditions. 
 
 Chap. II. 
 
 The true State of the Controverfie , and how much m 
 grant. 
 
 HAving given you an account of the Occafion and Mo. 
 tivesthat produced this Difputation, I (hall now briefly 
 date the Controverfie between as. And becaufe the terms are 
 all plain, and my fenfe of them explained in the fore-going 
 
 parr, 
 
 
A %ey for Catbolicks. }<? 5 
 
 part, I (hall think no more here neccflary, then to tell you in 
 certain Propofirions, How much we Grant , and How far we 
 are Agreed, and then to tell you what it is that we deny , and 
 wherein we differ. 
 
 Prop. 1 . We are Agreed that Chrift hath a true Catholick 
 Church on earth, and ever hath had fince firft he planted ir, and 
 ever will have to the end of the world, and that the gates of 
 Hell (hall not prevail againftit, or hath it ever had anlnterci- 
 fion for a day or an hour ; and that this Church is fo far Infalli- 
 ble, as that ir never was, nor ever will be ignorant of, or erro- 
 neous againft any Article of faith, or part of obedience that is 
 of abfolute Necefiity to falvation ( otherwife by that error 
 it fhould have cealed to be the Church of Chrift. ) 
 
 Prep. 2. We are agreed that this Catholick Church in re- 
 fpe& of the Internal faith and charity of the Members, and 
 their Communion with Chrift by the quickening Spirit on his 
 part, and holy fincere returns of devotion on theirs, may be 
 called, Mjflical, or Invifible. The thing is utterly undenvable, 
 though fome Papifts in the perverfnefs of contentious Difpu- 
 tations fcem to deny it- And doubtlefs when they aflcrt that 
 Chrift hath no Invifible Church, they muft mean it (Imply, and 
 not quoad h<ec interiors, or elfethey fpeak againft all fenfe and 
 Realdn. No fc*» is fimply Invifible r but every man cu to bit foul 
 is Invifible. 
 
 Prop. 3. We are Agreed that this Catholick Church in re- 
 gard of the omVrard Profeflion of this Inward Faith and Holi- 
 nefs, and in regard ofthe difcermble numbers of perfons making 
 this Profefsion, hath ever been vifible, fince firft it began to be 
 vifibie : And that the vifibility hath never had any intercifion. 
 If ibmeProteftanss fay otherwife, it's clear that this is all that 
 , by the common judgement of Proteftants is maintained , viz. 
 That Chriftians, and the Catholick Church containing the Pro- 
 fefsing Chriftians through the world, have ever fince their hrft 
 planting had a vifible being-, but yet i. That the Vifibility was 
 not fuch but that Herettcks (as the Arnuns did) might make 
 a controverfie of it, whether they, or the true Chriftians were 
 the Church indeed , and by their greater numbers or Power 
 might blind men, that they (hou'd not fee which was the true 
 Church. 2. And that in the Catholick Church fome parts may 
 
 Eee2 be 
 
3 ; 6 A I\ey jor Qatholick. 
 
 be much more corrupt, and others much more pure -^ and the 
 Purer pirt be fo much the lefler, and opprefled and vilified by 
 the more corrupt, that themoft put fhould not difcerntheic 
 Purity , but takethem fas they did ihejyalde*>ftj) for He* 
 recicks. 3. And that two parts or more of this Catholick Church 
 may fo fall out among themfelves, as chat one of them (hall de- 
 ny the other to bt part of the CatboLck Church, when yet they 
 really for all that cenfure remain part* of it, as much as they.* 
 And hereupon may growaconteft between them, which of the 
 two is the true Catholick Church, and one part may fay, It is we 
 and not youj and the other may fay, It is we and not you : and no 
 man (hall be able todifcern which of the two is the Catholick 
 Church, becaufe it is neither of them, but each are a part. 
 4. And though the Bodies of the members are vifible, and their 
 Worflvpping a&ions Vifible , and their Profeffion audible , 
 yet the faith Profeffed is not Vifible ; nor the Truth of their 
 Profeffion,or of their Chrillianity.or Church ^ Truth being the 
 ob jeft of the Intellect, and not offence. 5. And though the true 
 members of the Church do know the true Church, and fo it is 
 apparent unto them , ycc rooft that are not members of it, do 
 p.ot know it. Arrians and Mahometans know us to be men 
 profeffing fuchandfuch Articles of faith : but they know not 
 that to be the true faith, nor us to be the true Church,but judge 
 the contrary. In this fence ( contained in thefc Propositions ) 
 it is that Proteftants deny the Church to have been alwayes Vi- 
 fible, and not as the Pa pills commonly miitake them. 
 
 Prop. 4. We are agreed that this Catholick Church is but 
 One : Thercarenot two Vifible, nor two Myftical Catholick 
 Churches .- Nor are the Myfticall and Vifible, two * Bel: 
 Urmine might havefpared all his labour that he hath beftowed 
 in vain upon this point, to prove that the Vifible and fnvifible 
 are not two Catholick Churches. The Proteftants are further 
 from that Opinion then thePapifts : and it is morefuitable to 
 the Popifh Inrereft and Caufe to be of that Opinion , then to 
 the Proteftan's. If it were not that they are paft learning , by 
 the advantage of their Infallibility, and efpeciallyof one man, 
 and one fo mean, condemned by them, and that it is unlawfull 
 to be a Teacher of Error, I couldtell thera of a new device by 
 the advantage of this diftin&ion of Catholick Churches, for the 
 
 modelling 
 
AK^y for Catholicksm $97 
 
 modelling their miftakes into a more fpecious plaufible form , 
 then now it appearethin to the reft: of the Churches. But we 
 are glad of their company in any Truth, and therefore will not 
 difagree from them in that which makes againft themfelves. 
 
 One Obje&ion I once heard a Learned Anabaprift caft in our 
 way, viz. There may he a Vifible Church of hypocrites •' therefore 
 the Myjlical and Vifible may be two. Anfre. But the Queftion 
 was of the Catholick Church, and not of a particular Church. 
 Weconfefs that fome members of the Catholick Church are My- 
 ftical and Vifible in the feveral refpects before mentioned .' and 
 that fome are Vifible and not Myftical , or as Bellarmine well 
 calls them, Dead Members y and net Living ; and that the Church 
 as yifible, is more comprehenfivc then the Church as Regenerate, 
 cr Invifible , and yet all but 0»t Church , though it have 
 more members in it in one refpeft then in another; And we 
 confefs that its poffible for twenty or an hundred of thefe Dead 
 members to conftitute a particular Church by themfelves 
 ( though it is not ufual for Vifible.Churches to be without Liv- 
 ing members:) and fo there may be a particular Vifible Bead 
 Member ( Analogically called a Member,) or a particular li- 
 ttle Church that is thus Dead ; and thefe be parts of the Catha- 
 ick Church as Vifible. But yec there is not two Catholick Chur- 
 ches, One Vifible, and the other Invifible, one alive and the other 
 ZXW.Ina Corn field thee are, 1. Good Corn. 2. Stricken, blafted 
 Corn,that hath a name and (hew,but in deed no Corn. 3. Tares, 
 darnell,cockle,and fuch weeds.U is called ,AField as itconteineth 
 them all : It is called £ a for» field ] only from the Com. The 
 Univocal proper parts of a Corn field ,is the Corn onlyHhe Vifi- 
 ble and Analogical parts are alfo the blafted ears: The darnel and 
 cockle are no parts, but noxious accidents. There are not two 
 fields of Corn, one of trucCorn. and the of other blafted ears : 
 And yet theCorn field,taken largely and Analogically, hath more 
 parties in it then true Corn : and you may perhaps have fome 
 particular fheavs that are wholly of that which is blafted.: 
 which you will call a flieaf of Corn Analogically only : but a 
 (heaf of weeds you will not at all call a flieaf of Corn. 
 Even fo in the Catholick Church , there are fincere 
 Chriftnns which are true and living members ; and there are 
 Hypocrites which are Analogically members v and there are lo- 
 cally mixed many that by denying eflential points of the Chri- 
 
 Eec 3 ftii* 
 
 I 
 
398 A K^y for Qatholich . 
 
 itian raith , or by notorious Impiet", do declare themfelves to 
 be weedi, and no members of the Church at all. 
 
 Prop. 5 . We are alfo Agreed that this One Vifible Catholick 
 Church, is One Political Holy Society, as united in Jefus Chrift 
 the Head , who teacheth and ruleth it by hisMinifters and other 
 Officers , in the feveral parts, according to the neceffity of 
 each. We call it One Political Society, i . Principally becaufe 
 that all the Church is united in this One Soveraign, or Head , 
 the Lord Jefus ; and therefore it is called his body. 2. They 
 have all the fame holy do&rine of faith, and Law to live by , 
 and be judged by. 3 . They have all Church Officers of the fame 
 fort under Chrift to teach and govern them. 4-They have all the 
 fame kind of Holy Ordinances, as Reiding, Preaching, Praying, 
 P.aife, Sacraments, &c. appointed them by the Lord. 5. They 
 are all engaged in One and the fame Holy Covenant to the 
 Lord : More might be mentioned ( and (hall be God willing, 
 in a peculiar Treatife of Caiholicifro,or the Catholick Church) 
 AndthoughChrift himfelf be not now feen among lis, yet may he 
 truly be called a Vifible Head. For 1. He fometiroe lived vifibly 
 on earth. 2. And is now the Vifible King of all the Church, as 
 he is in the Heavens.Though we fee him not, the Celeftiall Inha- 
 bitants do. It is but little of the world that feeth the Pope,any 
 more then they fee Chrift: If one unfeen to us may be a pretend- 
 ed Vifible Head, the other may be truly fo. So that the Body, 
 Head,Laws, Worfhip,^r. being Vifible, fo is the Policy. 
 
 Prop. 6. We are agreed alfo, that all thefe Chriftians,and par- 
 ticular Churches, are obliged by Chrift, even by the very Law 
 of Nature , and the ends of their calling , and the General 
 Laws of the Gofpell, to live in as much Love, and Unity, and 
 Peace as they can; and to hold as full andextenfive communi- 
 on as they can : that is, as far as their work rcquireth , and 
 their Capacity will permit and enable them ; thole that are co- 
 habitansand members of one Congregation, muft hold local 
 commnnion in that Congregation , unlefs Neceffity prohibite. 
 Thofe that through diftance are uncapable of joining in the 
 fame Affemblies , (hould ye: be conjoined, 1. In the fame Lord, 
 Faith, Baptifm, Covenant, Profe/Iion. 2. In the fame bond of 
 Chriftian fpecial Love. 3. In the ufe of the fame fort of holy wor- 
 ship, as to the Subftance, though they differ in circumftanccs , 
 
 as 
 
A I\ey for Catholicks. 399 
 
 as in the Word , Prayer , Praifes, Sacraments, &c 4. And 
 in one fort of Church Officers and Government. And as far 
 as we have to do with each other, ail this (hould be manife- 
 fted, and we fhould readily own one anorher as Brethren and 
 true Churches, notwithftanding fetter differences. 
 
 Prop.j. Tothefe ends it is meet that theBifhops or Paftors 
 of the Churches fliould hold in way of Affociation, as frequent 
 Affemblies as is needfull.for the maintaining of mutual Love and 
 Correfpondency, and right underftanding of eachother,and to 
 manifeft their unity, and aflift each other in the work of God, 
 that it may be the more fucccfsfully carried on by united ftrength 
 againft all oppositions. 
 
 Prop. 8. Thefe Affociations (hould fo far know the members 
 Aflbciated, as is neceffary to the holding of a Chriftian Commu- 
 nion with them , and therefore (hould not admit all into their 
 Affociation, but fuch as either produce the Evidences of found 
 faith and Holy life , or literat communicatorUs , certificates 
 from credible members of their communion, that the perfona 
 are fit for their Communion. 
 
 Prop. 9. Thefe Affociations are principally for the Union 
 and Communion of Churches, and therefore muft apply them- 
 felves to the maintaining and promoting of Unity. 
 
 Prop. 1 o. Such Affociations (hould therefore have their fet 
 times of frequent meeting in Synods, for Ordinary help of one 
 another, befides extraordinary meetings on extraordinary occa- 
 sions, which none (hould negled. 
 
 Prop. 1 r. We agree that fuch Affociatcd Paftors may have 
 their Moderators either pro tempore , or ftated as the caufe re- 
 quireth. And that it is no great master whether he be called 
 a Prefident, Bifliop, Moderator, &c. in which all (hould have 
 liberty, fofar as that the peace of the Church be not caftaway 
 for fuch names. 
 
 Prop. 1 2, We arealfo agreed that whatfoever (hall be concluded 
 in order to the Union and Communion of Churches, in any of 
 thefe Synods, the particular Affociared Members rauftobferve, 
 they being thereto obliged , by Vertue of thole General pre* 
 cepts thet require us to do all in Unity and Concord, and with 
 one mind and mouth to glorine God , and to avoid divifions, 
 &c. Except they be fuch things as cannot be obeyed, unlefs we 
 
 violate 
 
400 A l\ey f or Catbolkks. 
 
 violate the Law of God. Thus for the Canons, chat is, Agree- 
 ment of Iefler Synods or greater are obligatory. 
 ) Prof, i 3 . We are alfo Agreed, that when ever the good of 
 the Church requireth it, there may be Greater Afiemblies alfo 
 held , confiftingofmany of thefe conjunct, or fpeciall mem- 
 bers delegate by the reft •' And that this courle fhould extend as 
 far as our capacity will allow in needfull cafes. 
 
 Prop. 14. Laftly we (hall grant , that where Paftors cannot 
 through diftance or other Impediments, hold Synods, or any 
 particular Churches cannot fend any competent members to fuch 
 Synods, yet may they, when its needfull, by mefTengers certifie 
 each other of their faith, profefiions , pra&ifes, and particular 
 doubts and cafes , and fo hold communion, in fome degee; 
 owning each other as Brethren in one Lord, and by fuch inter- 
 courfe of MefTengers and Letters as we are capable of, aflifting, 
 and feeking afliftance from each other ; As Baftl&nd the reft of 
 the Eaftern Biftiops did to theWeftem in their diftrefs while they 
 had hope. And the faith of all the Churches that are neer enough 
 for any externall communion, being thus known, their Liter a 
 ContmnmcatorU may be valid and fatisfa&ory, when any mem- 
 ber paffcth into other parts. 
 
 Thus far I hope we are Agreed : This much lam fure wc 
 hold our felves : But now the difference folio wtch. 
 
 We hold that this Univerfal Church ( whichisoneinChrift 
 their Head, as the world is one Kingdom in God the abfolute 
 SoveraignKing) is by Chrift diftributed into many Congre- 
 gations,^ fperfed over the face of theEarth, and that thefe as 
 feveral Corporations in one Ktngdom.have all their particular 
 Governours and Order. All forcible Government we afcribe 
 to the Magiftrate, and deny it to the Paftors of the Church. 
 And that teaching and Guidance which is called Ecclefiaftick 
 Government,we fuppofe is the work of every Paftor in his flock, 
 and the Ordering of the communion of Churches, by Canons, 
 Agreements ( and their execution in part) is the work of 
 Synods. And as in this Kingdom, all the Free-fchools are go- 
 verned by the Schoolmafters, who are all under the Prince and 
 Laws, without any General Schoolmafters to Teach,or Overfee, 
 and Rule the reft, ( and without Synods too, though they may 
 
 meet 
 
A J^ey for Cttkolkks. 401 
 
 meet when their mutual Edification requires it, ) and yet all the 
 Schools in England are in Peace, becaufe no Archfcoolmafters 
 prefume to rob the Magiftrate of his power : Even lb we judge, 
 that ifPaftors do but Teach and Guide their feveraIlflocks,and 
 the Magiftrate keep and ufe his power of forcible Government 
 that is, in feeing that they do their Offices faithfully , and no 
 Archpaftors prefume to take the power of theMagiftratesouc 
 of their hands, the Churches may have quietnefe and peace : 
 ( ftill allowing a greater Neceftity of Communion, and fo of 
 Synods, among Churches then among Schools, and referving 
 the rod to theiecular power. ) And we concieve , that molt of 
 the ftir that Popes and Popifh Prelates hare made about 
 Church Government, hath been but to rob the Magiftrate 
 of his due, and to become themfclves the Church-Magiftrates 
 through the world. 
 
 But that the Church hath any Political! Univerfal Head but 
 drift alone, either a Vice-god, or Vice-Chrift , either Pope 
 or Council j that any one is as Pope Julius faith of himfelf , 
 \_intbt fUce of God, the maker of all things and Laws, 2 ^is 
 we deny j That the whole Church on Earth, is foonePoIitt* 
 cal Society , as to be under any one terreftial numericall Head, 
 whether perfonal or colle&ive, Pope, Council, or Patriarks, 
 having power of Legiflation , or judgement over tbe whole, 
 and by whom each member is to be Governed, this we deny : 
 and think it as abfurd (and much more finfull ) as ro affirm that 
 all the world muft needs have oneVifible Monarch under God to 
 reprefent him^ and that he is r.o fubjed to the God of Heaven, 
 that acknowledged not this Vifible Univerfall Monarch. We 
 deny that theChurch is fucha Society.- We deny that it hath 
 fuch an Head •. We deny that it hath any fuch univerfal Humane 
 Laws : We deny that the parts of it are to be conjoyned by the 
 fubordinate Officers ( Cardinals, Patriarks, Arcbbiftiop?, or 
 what ever ) of fuch an ufurping Soveraign. We affirm that no 
 Chrifiian fhould fancy or afTert that any fuch Head and Order 
 for unity is appointed by Chrift ; or that it is Dcfirable , or 
 Rome to be the better liked of becaufe it pleadeth for fach 
 an Order, or vainly boafteth of fuch of an unity ^ or that any 
 fhould dareto contrive the promotingofir. Yea we maintain 
 tint iuch fancies and contrivances arethemoft notable means of 
 
 Fff * the 
 
Aoi A J^eyfor Catbolicks. 
 
 thsdtvilion, or defolation of the Chucbes ; And that it is the 
 notable hinderance of the unity of all the Chriftian Churches, 
 that fuch a falfe Head and Center of unity is fe: up, and an 
 Impoffible Impious unity pleaded for, and furioufly fought by 
 fire andfword, infteadof the true defirable unity : And that 
 the Churches will never have true unity and peace if thefe 
 principles of theirs be not difgraced and difowned, and the true 
 principles better underftood. 
 
 Ifhall now give you fome Arguments for our Aflfertion , 
 and then in the End (hall give you the true Grounds and Means 
 ofunity. 
 
 Chap. I II. 
 Our Arguments for the Negative, 
 
 IN the management of the Arguments for the Negative, I 
 (hail principally deal with them that would Head the Church 
 with a Council, that is, would make the Church to be autono- 
 micall, and be the Soveraign, orchiefGovernourof it felf,or 
 the Church Reprefentative of the Church reall ( as. they ufe 
 to call them.) As to them that Head it with the Pope , I have 
 faid enough already , and others much more, efpecia'lly Blon- 
 Aell unanfwerably. Yet I fhall partly take them alfo in my way , 
 though I deal principally with the other. 
 
 And thefe brief Arguments may ferve to confute the Vice- 
 chriftftiip or Soveraignty of the Pope. 
 
 i . There is no fuch Head Inftituted by Chrift. The Scripture 
 pretenfes for it I have before confuted,and they are; fo poor, 
 that they vanilhofthemfelves. 
 
 2. The Popes Soveraignty is againft the Judgement of the 
 Ancient Fathers, and pra&ife of the Primitive Church, as I have 
 proved in this and a former Book. 
 
 3 . It is againft Tradition,as brought down to us by the great- 
 eft part of the Church on earth by far, as is before proved. 
 
 4. It is againft the Judgement of the far greateft part of the 
 prefent Catholick Church, as is proved. 
 
 5. It is the the raeer effe& of pride and tyranny .* a plain dc. 
 
 fign 
 
A K^y for Catholkks . 402 
 
 fign to fet up one man over all the world for hisgreatnefs,and 
 their hurt. 
 
 6. ThepretenfeofthisSoveraignty is the confequent only of 
 Jft>jw«greatnefs,and the will of Emperours, that to conform the 
 Ecclefialtical ftate to the civil,did give a Primacy to the Biftiop of 
 Rome within the Empire. 
 
 7. It is a meer Impofiibility for one man to be the Soveraign 
 of all the Churches in the world, and do the work of a Sove- 
 raign for them. He had need of many millions and millions of 
 Treafurc to defray the charge ( which Peter had not. ) While 
 he pretends to govern all the world, he doth but leave them un- 
 governed, or not by him. How can he govern all thofe Chur- 
 ches in the Dominions of Infidels, that will not endure his Go- 
 vernment ? There are more then all the Paplfts in the world now 
 from under his Government voluntarily, that could not be go- 
 verned by him if they would. 
 
 8.Thereare yet vifible many great Churches that were planted 
 by the Apoftles,or in their dayes, and never were under Romis 
 Soveraignty to this day,as the tyEtheopians^PerftansJndians^ni 
 molt that were without the verge of the Roman Empire. 
 
 9 There is no ufe for fuch an Head, as I (hall (hew anon , of 
 Councils. 
 
 10. There is not fo much Reafon for it, or poflibility of it, as 
 that One man muft be King or Monarch of all thf world. Con- 
 iidering that fpiritual Government requireth refidcncy , and 
 can lels be done by Deputies then temporal : And that 
 Princes are truly Church-Governours alfo in their kind and 
 way. 
 
 11. It is an intolerable ufurpation of the Power of all 
 Chriftian Princes and Pallors, who conjunctly in their feveral 
 wayes are intruded by God with the Government of the Chur- 
 ches under them. 
 
 12. To make fuch a Soveraign, is to make a new Catholick 
 Church, that Cbrift never made. 
 
 13. And its the moft notorious fchifm, dividirg themfelves 
 from all the Catholick Church, thatare no: their fubjcds. 
 
 14- And inhumane cruelty to damn all ( as much as Hea- 
 thens atleaftj that believe not in the Pope., be they never fo 
 holy. 
 
 Fff2 15. To 
 
40 4 A I\ey for Qatbolicks. 
 
 1 5, To fet up a Vice- god (as Pope fuliut paraphraftically cal- 
 led himfelf)and a Vice- chrift on earth over all the ChurchCas the 
 Papift commonly do, maintaining that the Pope is the Vicar of 
 Chrift ) is to fet up an Idoll ,. and a name of Blafphemy , 
 againft Jefus Cbrift,whofc prerogative it is to be the fole Univer- 
 fal Head ^ And therefore he muft needs be an Antichrift, whe- 
 ther he be The Antichrift or not. This much to the Pope. 
 mini on " Ther - ^ "Catholic^ Chureh of Chrift is not one Viftble Poll' 
 1T//0.3. e. tic al body , as joyned to one Vnivtrfal Viftble Head or Sow 
 faith , raign t (faveonfy Chrift : ) And confequently it w not the way to 
 ^"im! ^ eA ^ *^ e ^^ >tirc ^ ei Mvi forts, to Arm all into fuch a bodj t or endea* 
 particular vour fuch an Vnion. 
 Churches 
 
 of the wh°le world confidered together under the fupream Head, Chrift Jefus, dif- 
 fpenfing them all by himfelf,& adniniftring them fcveralIy,not by any one oeconomis, 
 but by the feveral Bimops as inferiour Heads of Unity to the feveral bodies fo confti- 
 mted by the feveral Apoftles in their plantations; each of them having an uvrsnuicr, 
 a feveral Jiftinft Commiflion from Chrift immediately, and fubordinate to none, but 
 the fupream donor or plenipotentiary. ] 
 
 This I make good by thefe following Arguments,which reach 
 both the Italian Papift^that would have ihe Pope to be the Head 
 or Soveraign ; and the French and Ca(Tandrian,who would have 
 a General Council to be the Head, and the Pope only to be the 
 chief Patriarch, and the Principium Vnitatis : For if I prove that 
 the Body is not one, as Headed by any except Chrift, I (hall fay 
 enough againft both thefe opinions : But yet as is faid,it is prin- 
 cipally againft the later (who are for the Hcadfliip of a Coun- 
 cil ) that I (hall direct my Arguments - t becaufe they are the 
 bufic lleconcilers, and becaufethe reft arefo largely confuted 
 already on both (ides. 
 
 Argument 1. That which is the true form of the Catholic^ 
 Church of Chrift , it retaineth de fado at this day : But it retain- 
 ethnot a Political Vnion under a Viftble Terr eft rial Vniverfal 
 Head : therefore this is not the true form of the Catholic^ 
 £hurch. 
 
 Or, what the Catholick Church is quoad effentiam^ that it is 
 alfo quoad exiftentiam' But it is not inch a Body quoad exiften* 
 tiam\ therefore not quoad ejfentiam. 
 
 If any will grant the concludon, quoad ejfentiam velfomam> 
 
A Kgy for Catboiicks* 40c 
 
 and fay that this Policy ,Head and Union are not eflentiai to the 
 Church, but Separable accidents tending only ad melius rjf?, he 
 will give away his caufe : For the Pars Imperans and j>*rsfnbJLi • 
 ta are the two eflentiai parts of a body Politick, or Republick, 
 whether Civil or Ecclefiaftteal , as a foul and body are the 
 parts of man : and if it want either part, the eflenceis deftroy- 
 ed ; It hath loft its Political form. But I need not ftand on this, 
 becaufethe cafe is paft controverfie , and I know not of any 
 that make the objection , or will go on fuch terms : I am fure 
 thofe do not that I have now to deal with. Another thing there 
 may be that is called a Church , without this Form or Headjbut 
 not this fame thing or body that now we fpeak of. 
 
 The Major propofition I prove thus: The Church of Chrift 
 is a true Church at this day , or retained) its eflentiai parts: there- 
 fore it rctaineth its form. If its eflentials were not in exigence, 
 the Church were extin&,or did not exift : But that the Church is 
 not extinft or nulled , the opponents will eafily grant,and the 
 promife of Chrrft will eafily prove ; The gates of Hell (hall not 
 prevail agiinitit. 
 
 The Minor I prove thus j IftheCatholick Church be now 
 Headed with one Vifible Head ( befideChrift, J then it is either 
 the Pope or a General Council. But it is neither of tbefe. 
 That it is no: the Pope, the French will grant. And 1 . Its prov- 
 ed at large by many a volume of Proteftant writers -, and 2. By 
 the prefent vifible ftate of the Church ; The greateft part of the 
 Church on Earth ( and all thofe in Heaven ) difown the Uni- 
 verfall Soveraignty or Headfhip of the Pope j The Creeks, Abaf- 
 fines, Armenians, Proteftants, &c. 
 
 That it is not a General Council appeareth, in that there is 
 no fqch thing in Natural or Moral Exifttnce. Not in Natu* 
 ral exifttnce •, For where is it ? when called ? how long have they 
 fate ? But this none will affirm. 
 
 Not in Moral exigence ; For there is no fuch thing pretend- 
 ed, nor poffible. I confcfs the Common wealth is not diflblved 
 at the death of the Prince ; becaufc a Succeflbr being determined 
 of by Law (as in hereditary Government,) there is one hath 
 prefently right to the place, though he want folemn admittance s 
 orifele&ive, yet RexTterrmoritur , both becaufe the fucceflbr 
 hath an Intentional MotmI hfag in the Fundamental Law, and 
 
 Fff3 tta- 
 
406 AKgyfor Cttbolicks. 
 
 the Intention of the Ele&ors conjundly , and they prefently 
 makeana&oal choice, orelfe the power fo far as is neceflary 
 for execution, falls in the mean time into the hands of fome 
 Truftees of the Republick, while they are electing, and thefo- 
 veraign is in fieri : Or if it be in fome diffolvable body , whofc 
 a&ual Seffion is intermitted, yet they are dill in Moral being, 
 and ready toaflemble, andtheSove.aigncy for fo much as is of 
 ordinary exercife, even over the Univerlal body, is in the mean 
 time in the hands of fome other Aflerably > who therefore may 
 be faid to partake of theSoveraignty. 
 
 But none of this is fo in the prefint cafe . Here is no Gene- 
 ral Council ordinarily in natural being j and therefore in the 
 vacancy not in Moral being: There is none that pretendeth 
 to be in Moral being : For the Council of Trent , which 
 was the laft pretended General Council , is diffolved ; and the 
 Pope would not take it well if any (hall call another without 
 him: and no time is appointed for it : The Decennial Council 
 determined of at Confiance, is an empty name : and that Decree 
 did but ferve to prove, that really General Councils are not the 
 Supream Governors of the Church : For no one obeyeth them 
 in that. And whether ever the Pope, or any one elfe will call a 
 General Council again , we cannot tell. So that now there is 
 none •, nor we know not whether there ever will be. But further. 
 Argum. 2. That which is the Head, or form of the Catholic!^ 
 Chttrch (or any way Necejfary to its Being or Unity) hath ever 
 been found init, or at leafl within this thou f and years, or at leafl 
 in the primitive purer ages , or fometime at leafl : Brit a true 
 General Council is not always in being, nor ever wot within this 
 thouf and years, no nor in the purer ages, nor ever at all: there- 
 fore it is no Head of the Church, nor necejfarj to its unity. 
 
 The Major will not be denyed. The proof of any branch of 
 the Minor may ferve turn : much more of all. i. That a Ge- 
 neral Council hath not been this forty years in being, all men 
 will confefs. If the Church have been Headlefs forty years, or 
 wanted any thing Neceflary to its Being or Unity, then was it 
 fo long no Church, or many Catholick Churches , which are 
 known untruths. 
 
 2. If the Church have had any General Council within this 
 fcfaoufand years, it was either that of Trent, that of Canflance, 
 
 Btfil, 
 
A l\ey for fcatholicks. 4 07 
 
 Bafil, Florence, the Z**«r,w, &c. But none of thefe were fuch. 
 For 1. there were no Biftiops from the mod of the Chriftian 
 world. I have told you before how few at Trent did the moft 
 egregious parts of their work ('few more then forty : ) The 
 Churches of Sjria , Armenia, Ethiopia , and the moft of the 
 Chriftian world , were never fo much as fairly invited to be 
 there. If at Florence the Patriarch of Conjlantinople, and two 
 or three Greeks more were prefent, what's that to all the Chur- 
 ches of the Greek. Profeffion through the world ? befides all 
 others. The ancient Councils called General, contained All the 
 Bifhopsthat could and would come. For all were to be there, 
 and not one Bifliopchofen by two hundred, or by a Prince, in- 
 ftcad of two hundred. But at thefe later Councils were neither 
 all, nor fo much as any Delegates (though butchofenby hun- 
 dreds to reprefent them ) from moft of the Churches of the 
 world. Befides the packing and fore-refolutions of the Popes, 
 that ruled all,and many other Arguments that nullifie thefe pre- 
 tended General Councils. I fay not that all of them were ufe- 
 lefs; but none of them were any more like to Oecumenical or 
 Universal, then Italy and its few fervants arc like to all the Chri- 
 itian world. 
 
 And that the Ancient Councils were not General, I mean, 
 the four firft, or any like them, I eafiiy prove. 1. From theOri- 
 ginalofthem, and the Mandates, arid the Presidents , and Ra- 
 tifications, and Executions. It was the Roman Emperors that 
 called them, and that fent their Mandates to the Lieutenants and 
 other fecular Officers to fee to the execution, and to the Biftiops 
 to be there : It was the Roman Emperors- that by therafclves or 
 their Lieurcnants, were'prefent to Rule them all according to 
 the proporrion of fecular intereft. It was the fame Powers that 
 Ratified them, and what they ratified went for currant, and 
 their Ratification was fought by theBifhops to that end. It 
 was the fame Power that banilhed them that obeyed not, and 
 compelled men to fubmit to them. Nowlet any man of Reafon 
 tell me, what Power Ccnflantine, Tbeedvfins, Mtrrixn^ or any 
 Roman Emperor had to furamon the Biftiops that were fub- 
 je&s in rhe Dominions of all other Princes through the 
 world? What Authority had they out of their own Do- 
 minion ? 
 
 2. Yea 
 
408 A fyyfor Catholtcks. 
 
 2. Yea de fatto, the cafe is known, i. That they did not 
 fummon the Bilhops of other Princes Dominions. 2. That 
 thofe Bilhops (at leaft no confiderable number were there.) 
 What Mandates or Invitations were fent to all the Churches of 
 India, Ethiopia, Perfia, or the parts of Parthia t Armenia , Ire 
 land, Scotland fix. that were out of the Roman Power ? Who- 
 ever thofe one or two were that Snfeb'w calls Bilhops of Per/is, 
 Parthia, Armenia, it's a plain cafe, that there were no due Re- 
 prefcntatives of all or any of thefe Churches there, that were 
 .without the verge of the Empire. No Brittipi, Irijb, (chat is, 
 
 then Scottijh) Bifhops were there, nor any from abundance 
 other Churches. And the other Councils after that at Nice % 
 .make lefs pretenfe to fuch a thing. So that it is moft evident thai 
 General Councils then were but of the Bilhops of the Empire, 
 or the Roman world , unlefs a Bilhop or two fometime might 
 drop in that lived next them. And was the Church no wider then 
 the Empire ? Let Baronimhimfctf be judge,that tells you of the 
 Churches planted by theprimitive ?r etcher s, in India,PerJta,znd 
 many other parts of the world. Let Godignns be judge,that con- 
 feflfcth the Ethiopians had the Gofpel iince the Apoftles days 
 (and I pray in what age were they Papifts? ) Let Rajnerimht 
 judge, that faith the Churches of Armenia and others planted by 
 the Apoftles were not fubjed to the Church of Rome ? Lei the 
 Antiquities of Brit tain and Ireland be evidence. But the cafe is 
 undenyable. All this noyfe then of General Councils comes but 
 from a fuppofuion that the Roman world was the whole CPiri- 
 itian world. A fmall miftake ! We home-bred Ruiticks may 
 •Shortly be as well able to prove that a London Convocation was 
 ja General Council I Pighius pleading for the Pope, faith plain- 
 ly, that General Councils were the devife of Conftantine. And 
 xbe Popes themfelves do fetch the molt fpecious Evidences for 
 their primacy from the Decrees or Edids of Emperors , Valen^ 
 ti&ian, Gratian and others. And what power bad thofe Emperors 
 at the othes fide of the world ? 
 
 3 . And then before the Nicene Courjcil.what General Coun- 
 cils were there fince the Apoftledays ? None doubtlefs that the 
 world now knows of. It'sfenfelefs enough to think that 350 
 Roman Bi/hops at the fecond Council of Kict+ or the 1 50 Bi- 
 ihops in the third Council at Cwftantwple, or the 1 6$ Bilhops 
 
 at 
 
ji J\ey for Qatholkh. 409 
 
 at the fecond Council at Conftfintinopte, or the i5oBi(hops ac 
 the firft there, were the Univerfal Church of Chrift ? But it 
 will be more ridiculous to fay, that the new-found Concilium 
 Stnuejfanum , imagained without proof to meet in a certain 
 C3ve , for the depofuionof an Idolatrous Pope, were a Ge- 
 neral Council. Where then was the Head , the unity , the 
 form of the Church for 3 00 years? Was it governed all that 
 time, think you, by a General Council? yea or ever one day Circe 
 the Apoflles ? 
 
 Well, but was there ever fuch a thing at all? Indeed men 
 have a fairer pretence when the Church was contained in a fa. 
 mily, or a City, or a narrow fpace, to call the meetings of the 
 Apoftles or other Chriftians then , by the name of a General 
 Council, but they are hard put to ir, if this be all. The great 
 Inftance infiftedon is the Council, Aft. 15. But were the Bi- 
 fhops of all the Churches there ? or fummoned to appear ? Acl. 
 14.23. they had ordained them Elders in every Churchy but 
 few of them were there, Timothy, Titus, abundance were ab- 
 fent. It's plain, that it was to the Apoflles and Church at Bie- 
 rufalem as the Fountain, and beft informers that they fent. Not 
 becaufe thefe were the Univerfal Church , but becaufe they 
 were of greateft knowledge and authority. If it could be 
 proved that all the Apoftles were there , it would no more 
 prove them a General Council, then that the Deacons of one 
 Church were ordained by a General Council, Aft. 6. And Mat- 
 thias and fufius put to the Lot by a General Council , AH. 1. 
 and that Chrift appeared to a General Council after his Refur- 
 redion , and gave the Sacrament of his Supper to a General 
 Council before his death. So that it is raoft evident from the 
 event, that Chrift never made a General Council the Head or 
 Governor of his Church j and that there never was fuch a thing 
 the world, much lefs continually. 
 
 Argum. 3. The form or unity ( no. nor the well- bring) of 
 the Catholic^ Church, etefendethnot on that Which it either tin- 
 necejfary, u"juft y er naturally or morally impojfibfe : But a true 
 General Council is none fuch: It cannot be', er if it Were it would 
 be unnecejfary andunjufi. Therefore it is n r >t the Head or Saver aign 
 Governor of the Church, en which its being , unity, (or well being) 
 doth defend. 
 
 Ggg I have 
 
4 1 o A Kgy for Catholicks. 
 
 I have nothing here to prove bu: the Minor. And i . I fhall 
 prove the Jmpoflibility. 2. The non-neceffity. 3. The un- 
 jufticeofa General Council : andfo that no fuch thing is to be 
 expeded. 
 
 A true General Council confifteth of all the Paftors or BI- 
 {hops of the whole wdrld ; or fo many as Morally may be called 
 All. A General Council of Delegates from all the Churches, 
 muft confiftoffomany proportionably chofen, as may fignifie 
 the fenfe andconfentof all, orelfeitisa meer name and (ha- 
 dow. Both thefe are Morally, if not Naturally Impoflible : as I 
 prove. 
 
 j. Prom the diftarce of their habitations, fome dwell in Me. 
 fopotamia, fome in Armenia, fome in Ethiopia, force in Mexico, 
 the Philippines, or other parts of the Eaft and jve (I- Indies: 
 fome at St. Thome's, fome difperfed through moft of the Turks 
 Dominions. Now how long muft it be, before all thefe have 
 tidings of a Council, and fummonsto appear, or fend their De- 
 legates? Who will be at thecoft of fending meflengers to all 
 thefe ? Will the Pope ? Not if he be no richer then Peter was. 
 How many hundred thoufand pound will itcoft before that all 
 can have a lawful furamons ? And when that is done, it will be 
 long before they can all in their feveral Nations meet.and agree 
 upon their Delegates, and their inftru&ions. And when that is 
 done, who fhall bear their charges in the journey ? Alas,the beft 
 of the Churches Paftors have bad fo little gold and filver, that 
 they are unable therafelves to defray it. A few Bifhops out 
 of each of thefe diftant Countries, will confume in their journey 
 a great deal of money and provifion. To provide them (hip- 
 ping by Sea, and Horfes, and all other neceflaries by land , for 
 fo many thoufand miles, will require no fmall allowance. 
 
 And then conlidcr, that it muft be voluntary contribution 
 that muft maintain them. And moft love their money fo well, 
 and know fo little of the need of fuch journeys and Councils, 
 that doubtlefs they will not be very forward to fo great a con- 
 tribution. 
 
 And it is not to be expecled that Infidel Princes will give 
 way to the tranfporting of fo much money from their coun- 
 tries on the Churches occafions, which they bate. 
 
 But fuppofe them furnifhed with all neceflaries , and (jetting 
 
 forward ; 
 
A l\ey for Catholkks. 4 1 \ 
 
 forward ; How long will they be in their journey ? Shipping 
 cannot always be had : Many of them muft go by land : It 
 cannot be expe&ed that fomeof them (hould come in lefi than 
 three, or four, if not feven year* time to the Council. And will 
 ever a General Council be held upon thefe terms ? 
 
 2. Moreover the perfons for the moft part are not able to per- 
 form fuch journeys Bifhops are Elders : Moft of them are aged 
 perfons. The wifeft are they that are fit to be trufted in fo great 
 a buiinefs by all the reft : And few attain that maturity but the 
 aged: Efpecially in the moft of the Eaftcrn & Southern Churches 
 that want the helps of Learning which we have. And will the 
 Churches be fo barbarous as to turn out their aged faithful Pa- 
 ftors upon the jaws of death ? Some of them are not like to live 
 out fo long time as the journey , if they were at home. They 
 muft pafs through raging and tempeftuous Seas, through De- 
 ferts and enemies, and many thonfand miles where they muft 
 daily conflict with diftrefs. It were a fond conceit, to think 
 that ( without unufual providences^ ten Bilhops of a thoufand 
 fhould come alive to the Council, through all thefe labors and 
 difficulties. 
 
 And moreover, it's known how few bodies will bear the Seas, 
 and fo great change of air ; How many of our Souldiers in the 
 Indies are dead, for one that doth furvive ? And can ancient 
 Bifhops, fpent with ftudies and labors, endure all this ? Moft 
 ftudious painful Preachers here with us ire very fickly, and fcarfe 
 able to endure the fmall incornmodities of their habitations : And 
 could they endure this ? 
 
 3. Moreover abundance of the Paftors of the Churches live 
 under Mahometans and other Infidels, that will not give them 
 leave to travail fo far into the Countries of Chriftian Princes on 
 fuch occa (ions. They hate us and our Religion. They are oft 
 at war with us,and then would hang thoie Bilhops aslnteliigen- 
 cers that (hould offer to come among us, 
 
 4. And they muft many of them pafs through the Countries 
 of other Princes, that are Infidels, and oft in war with the parts 
 which they come from or go to. And it cannot be expected 
 that in fuch cafes they (hould allow them paftage through their 
 Countries. If one do, all will not ; When poor Lithgoft had 
 travailed nineteen years, he was tortured, ftrappado'd and dif- 
 
 G g g z joynted, 
 
4 2 
 
 A K^y for fatbolicks. 
 
 joynted, and mide a cripple at Malaga in the Spanifb Tnquifiti- 
 on. And thanked God and the Englijh EmbalTador that he fped 
 fo well. 
 
 5. Even at home in Europe, the Princes are fo commonly 
 in Wars fas are France^ Spain, Venice, Sweden, Denmark^, Po- 
 land, the Emperor, Brandenbttrgh y Holland, Portugal, England^ 
 Tranfylvania,8cc. at this very day) that there is not the leaft 
 probability that they fhould all or half confent to have fo many 
 of their fubjeds pafs into their enemies Countries to refide (o 
 long. Jciloufies raifedby particular Intcrefts would make it 
 Treafon. 
 
 6. Moreover many Princes underftand that the Pope hath no 
 power to call fuch Councils, nor any man elfe .- and they know 
 the defignof the Pope to fubjed the world to himfelf. And 
 therefore they will abhor that their fub jeds fliould travail fo 
 far at his call, that hath fuch defigns, for at another mans 
 that hath no authority to call them.) This hath made the Em- 
 peror of Habajfia fo refolutely refift the Popes pretentions fas 
 Godignns, Mafi&n$, and others do declare) Few Princes will 
 endure to have their fubjeds brought under a forreign 
 Power. 
 
 7. And if you fuppofe all the Bifhops come to the Council, 
 the very number out of all the Chriftian world, f to make any 
 thing like a General Council,) would be fo great, as would be 
 unfit for one, or two, or ten, or twenty Council houfes or Af- 
 femblies. 
 
 8. And they would be uncapablcof conferring, through di- 
 verfity of languages. Few of the Abajpnes, Egyptians, Syri. 
 am, Armenians, or of moft of the world, understand and fpeak 
 any language that would commonly be underftood and ufed in 
 a Counc.il. Nor is it pofliblc to do it by Interpreters. For fo 
 many Interpreters cannot be ufed to tell all that underftand 
 not,vihat every man faith,and to expound their minds to others. 
 I his would wafte an age in a Council] fo that fuch a Council 
 would be a very Babel. 
 
 o. And Councils ufe to be fo long , that it cannot be ex- 
 pected that after fo many years journey, old men fhould live 
 to fee theiflue, or do any great matters there. Eighteen years 
 at Trent would confume a great many of the Bifhops : How 
 
 many 
 
A Z\ey for Catbolicks. 41 3 
 
 many even of the Popes own Legates dyed before that Council 
 could be finifhsd ? 
 
 10. And if tbeyftiould live to fee the end , can you dream 
 that they ftiould live to perform the like tedious dangerous 
 journeys and voyages to bring back the Decrees of the Coun- 
 cill to their Churches ? Judge now whether fuch Councils arc 
 not Naturally Impofiible. 
 
 I will add but this. No men can be compelled. And to make 
 all the world at once agree to fo difficult a task, and agree up- 
 on the time and place, muftbe a Miracle. One will be for it, 
 and another agiinft ir. One for one time and place , and 
 another for anocher,through moft of the world. We fee how 
 hardly any two Princes can agree upon times , places, and all 
 circumftances in their Treaties. 
 
 2. Let us next enquire , of what Necefiky fuch a Council is. 
 If it be Neceffary for Church government, it is either to make 
 Laws, or to execute them. But for neither of thefe : therefore 
 they are not NccefTary. 
 
 1. Chrift hath made us Laws already fufficient for falvation. 
 And I hope he hath notconftituted foloofe a Society, and left 
 his Body to fuch mutations, as that they mult fo frequently have , 
 new Laws. And if it rauft , fure it muft be from their Sove- 
 raign, who hath referved theLegflative Power to himfelf as 
 his Prerogative. Legiflation is the higheft aft of Supremacy, 
 and chief rlower in the Crown of Soveraignty. The Church 
 is Chrifts fubje&s, and (hall fubjecls make their own Laws? 
 Scripture is fufficient. If this be all that we need General Coun- 
 cils for , to make Univerfal Laws to the Church, we can fpare 
 them as well as Traytors in a Common-wealth. 
 
 And for Execution of Laws , it is either Magifterial , by 
 force of the Sword; and this they have nothing to do. with, 
 if being the Princes right. Or it is for the Excommunicating 
 Church offenders : And to caft them out of particular Chur- 
 ches is the work of the Paftors of thofe Churches. Others can- 
 not know the perfons, aud hear the caufe. If all Church- 
 caufes (hould come to a General Council, Millions of men 
 muft be attending them at once. 
 
 And if it be to judge who fhall be caft out of the Communi- 
 on of the Churches , and what Churches themfelves are to 
 
 Ggg3 b « 
 
4t 4 ^K e yf or Catbolicks. 
 
 be excommunicated , cbc Synods of neighbour Paftors are to do 
 a?rr.ucriofrhacas is to be done. Where then is cbeNecefluy 
 of fuch Councils at fuch rites? Auguftine faid thit drurken- 
 nefs in his time was grown fo ftrong, thu there rauft be a Coun- 
 cil to fupprefs it. Could they do fuch feats as to cure Drun- 
 kennefs , Whoredom , Covetoufnefs , Pride , I would be for 
 
 them. 
 
 3 . It a General Council were called , it mud be a moft m]njt 
 AfTerably. For, i . It would be guilty of cruelty and deftroy- 
 ing the Church of Cbrift , by killing fo many of the Paftors as 
 a fore fa id. 
 
 2. It would be guilty of cruelty and Church deftoying by the 
 ftarving and defertion of the flocks at home. What will become 
 of the poor peoples fouls, when they are left to the Wolves, to 
 Hereticks, and Deceivers, and to the temptations of their own 
 flefh, and the world, being for ten or twenty years, or for ever 
 deprived of their Paftors under precenfe ofa General Council ? 
 Bafil in his feventieth Epiftle tells theWcftern Bifhops, that 
 they of the Eaft could not come to folicite their own caufe with 
 them. For, faith he, If any one of as {N.B. ) do for the lcaft 
 moment leave his Church, he prefently leaveth his people to 
 deceivers. And on this ground he (hews that they could not 
 fo much as fparc Bifhops to be meer Meffcngers to them; 
 Much lefs could they have fpared a fofficient number to ftay 
 feven or ten years together. If any think that fuch Necef- 
 fities are unufuall , be knows not the world. And Coun- 
 cils are raoftufefullifever,whenneceffitiesaregreateft. 
 
 3 . In Councils things are carried by Votes : and fo ^Abajfia, 
 Armenia, Mexico, and places fo remote that they can fend but 
 one or two, would be out- voted by that corner of the world 
 where the Council is called, that can fend in proportionably 
 an hundred for one ; and fo under the name ofa General Coun- 
 cil , a faction might promote any herefie or carnal intereft, 
 and no Churches would be fo enflaved as thofe that fend at the 
 deareft rates. Italy and a few more parts, at Trent, would 
 over-vote all the Churches of Eaft and South, and fct up what 
 intereft or opinion they pleafe .* And fo if one corner of the 
 Church can err, all may err, for all the Council .■ Where there 
 is an equal intereft, there fhould be an equal power in Councils : 
 which will certainly be otherwise, 4. If 
 
A ^ey for Qatholicks. 4 1 y 
 
 4. If the Pope be he that muft call General Councils, we fhaii 
 have none, till it will ftand with his intereft. And ifhe have not 
 the power of calling them, no one tlfe hatJi,for none pretcndeth 
 to it. And if they rnuft be called by univerfal confent, three 
 hundred years is little enough for all the world to treat of ihe 
 time, place, and other circumftances, and confent. 
 
 5. And if the Pope muft call them, he will eafily by the very 
 choice of the place , procure the accomplishment of his own 
 defigm. 
 
 6. Tbofe that think it the Popes prerogative to call a Council, 
 do alfo affirm ( as I before (hewed in the exprefs words of Bin- 
 runs and others ) that a Council hath no more power then the 
 Pope will give them , and that when they are convened by him, 
 and have done their work, it is all of no Validity , if be allow it 
 not: If he approve one half, that half is valid , and his appro- 
 bation will make fheir Decrees the Articles of our faith ; when 
 as the other half which he difapproveth (hall not be worth a 
 ftraw. And is it not a moft foolifh thing for all the world to 
 put themfelves to fo much charge to defray the expenfes of their 
 Bifhops, and hazzard their lives, and lofe their labours at home 
 for fo many years, and hazzard the Churches by their abfence, 
 when for ought they know the Bifhops of the whole Chriftian 
 world do but lofe all their labour, and nothing (hall be valid if 
 they pleafe not the Pope of Rome ? And is it not moft abomi- 
 nable juftice in him thus to put all the world to trouble, and 
 coft,and hazzard the Churches and the Paftors lives,for nothing, 
 when if the infallible fpirit be only in himfelf.be might have done 
 the work himfelf, and favedall this coft and labour. 
 
 7. By what Juftice (hall all the Catholick Church be obliged 
 by the Decrees of fuch a General Council } Is it by Law, or Con- 
 trad: ? If by Law, it is by Divine La w,or by Humane, if by 
 Divine, let it be (hewed that ever God made fuch a Government 
 for the Catholick Church, and then take all. If by Humane 
 Laws, it is impoflible , and therefore not to be affirmed. For 
 no Humane Sovereign hath power to make Laws for all the 
 world. If you fay if it by contrad, then i . All thofe Nations 
 that thought not meet to fend any Bifhops to the Council, will 
 be free. 2. And fo will all thofe be that fent Bifhops who dif- 
 fented from the reft. For contract or Confent bindeth none 
 
 but 
 
4i5 A Kjy fa Catbolich. 
 
 but ContradersorConfenters. And To England is rot bound 
 -by the Council of Nice, Efbtfut^Calctden^Cortftaminople, &c. 
 8. By what Jultice (ball any people be required to fend Dele 
 gatr$,onfuch terms as thefe to Councilor to ftand to their dc- 
 rini.iOns when they have done? When our faith and fouls are 
 precioufer things then fo boldly to caft upon the truft of a few 
 Delegates fo to be chofen rnd employed ? What Biftiops other 
 Countries will choofe, we know nor. And for our own, i . In 
 almoft all Countries it is the Princes that choofe, or none muft 
 be chofen but who they will, which is all one. 2r If the Biftiops 
 choofe , its thofe that are higheft with the fecular power that 
 will have the choice, who perhaps may choofe fuch as are con- 
 trary to the judgement of moft of that Church that is thought 
 so choofe them. Moft Nations havea Clergy much at difference. 
 The Remonftrants and Contraraonftrants in Holland would not 
 have chofen like members for theSynod.In the Biihops days men 
 of one mind were chofen here in England to Convocations : The 
 next year we had a Learned Aflferobly that put down the Pre- 
 lacy, for which a Convocation had formed an Oath to be impof- 
 ed on all Minifters but a little before. And why (hould the judg- 
 ment of the Prelates be taken for the judgement of the Church 
 of England , any more then the other, when for number, learn- 
 ing and piety ( to fay the leaft) they had no advantage (laying 
 afide ignorant, ungodly men, in point of number. ) Till the 
 Spanifti match began to be treated on , the Biftiops of I^AW 
 were ten,if not twenty to one Auguftinians, Calvinifts, or An- 
 tiarminians : Now the Arminians would be thought the 
 Church of England , and their doctrine , agreeable to the 
 doftrine of that Church. Would they not accordingly have 
 differed, if they had been fent to a General Council ? How bit' 
 terly are the Articles of the Church of Ireland decryed by the 
 Arminian Biftiops fince fprung up both in Ireland and England? 
 fo that if Delegates be fent to any Council, they may fpeak the 
 minds of thofe that fent them, ( which perhaps is the King.or a 
 fmall prevailing party, ) but not of the reft : ( which perhaps 
 may the beft and moft. ) If Jeremiah of Constantinople be of a 
 Council , he will go one way. If Cyril be of a Council, he will 
 go another way : And his counterfeit Succeffor undo what he 
 did. 
 
 9. No 
 
A IQy for Catbolicks . 417 
 
 9. No Church that fendeth three or four Biftiopsto repre- 
 fcma thoufandortwothoufandPaftors, can be fure how thofc 
 Biftiops will carry ic when they come thither. For ought we 
 know they may betray our caufe, and crofs their inOrudions : 
 They may be perverted by the reafonings of erroneous men, or 
 bribed by the powerfull : And to caft our faith on fo (lender an 
 a(Turance,is little wifdom. 
 
 10. If confent only bind us to the Decrees of Councils (to 
 fubmittothem as our Rule, ) then is Pefterity bound that 
 did not confent as their Fathers did, or are they rot ? If not , 
 we are free ? If yea , by what bond ? And then why do not the 
 Grotians in Ireland and England obey the Antiarminian Decrees 
 of the Churches in both ? Did not the Church of England fend 
 Bifliop Carlton ^'(hop Hallfi\(hop Davenant ( afterward a Bi- 
 (hop) Dr.Ward.Dr .Goad,and Balcanquall Eplkopil Divines to 
 the Synod of Dorr, and fo England wsls* part of that Synod? And 
 yet the Gretiansar.d Armenians think not themfelves bound to 
 receive the Doftrine of that Synod, nor to forbwr reproach- 
 ing it. 
 
 n. It is unj'uft that any (efpecially moft ) of the Churches 
 fhould be obliged by the votes of others , and opprefTed by 
 Majority, meerly becaufe their diftance, or poverty ,or the age, 
 or weaknefs of their Paftors difableth them to fend any , or an 
 equal number, or to defray the charge of their abode > &c. Ah 
 if good Pope Zacharj^ot Archbifhop Boniface had confidcrcd 
 that the eiTence or unity of the Church did confift in a General 
 Council, that mull be fetched partly from the Antipodes, they 
 would have thought better on it before they had excoramuni- 
 c&tedyirgili us tfor faying that there were Ar,tipodes,or quod alt- 
 us mundtu >& dii homines fmt fab terras. Dr. Htjlin tels us 
 in hisGecgraphj^Lib.i. pag.Z%- that Bede ( de ra'.ione tempor»m t 
 cap. 32. J callechita fable that there are Antipodes, and not 
 robe believed •• and adds that AugH$\m ^Lxtlantius ,and forne 
 other of the Learned ofthofe better times condemned it as a ridi- 
 culous incredible fable, whofe words ( faith he ) I could put 
 down at large, did 1 th;nk it neceffary. ] And did that age 
 d r eam that the Being or Unity of the Church , or the falvation 
 of the Believers foul depended on this Article, that a General 
 Council, partly called from the Antipodes muft be the Churches 
 
 H h h Head 
 
4 1 8 A K^y for Qatholkh • 
 
 Head or Governours ? or that the Pope at leaft rouft be ac- 
 knowledged and obeyed by every Chriftian foul that will be 
 favedatthe Antipodes? And Sir Frtdcis Drake and Cavendijh 
 would not hare been fo famous for coenpafling the world,ifmen 
 hid underftood,that when the Gofpel is fpread through the 
 earth, fo many poor old Bifhops muft ordinarily take half fnch 
 Journies or voyages to do their bufinefs. If the Decree 
 of the Council of Conftance had been executed, to have had a 
 General Council every ten years, many would fcarce have bad 
 time to go and come. But the charitable Church of Rome hath 
 found out a Remedy, not only by the rarity of their Councils 
 ( let them decree what they will to the contrary ) but alfo by 
 condemning the raoft of the Churches,and the remoteft,as Here- 
 ticks, and fending them to Hell , to fave them a journey to the 
 General Council. 
 
 1 2. Moreover fuch Councils are un juft, becaufe of the multi* 
 tude of Bifhops that muft there meet and cannot be heard fpeak. 
 As the cafe ftandeth already, there are many more Bifhops in 
 the world then can meet, and (peak, and hear in one, or two, or 
 three Aflemblies : And many thoufand more may be made. If 
 1 fhould fay that all the Re&ors of particular Churches, whom 
 they call Parifh Presbyters, are Bi(hops,and have votes in Coun- 
 cils, they would eafiiyer deny it then difprove it, or invalidate 
 the proofs already brought: But (to proceed on their own 
 grounds ) me thinks they that make him a Bifhop who hath 
 Presbyters and Deacons under him , fhould admit all thofe 
 Paftors of particular Churches that have Presbyters under 
 them, as their Curates, which are many. Or if they fay that 
 only Cities muft have Bifliops, yet muft they on their own 
 grounds admit a Bifhop for each City : And if every City in a 
 few Kingdoms in Europe had a Bifhop in the Council, there 
 would be no room for all the reft of the world. But how prove 
 they that Countrey Parifhes may not have Bifhops ? Why may 
 not (on their own grounds ) every four or fix parifhes have 
 one ? Hath God forbid it ? where ? and when ? fure they will.not 
 fey it is of Divine inftitution that a Bifhop have juftfo many 
 Parifhes and Presbyters under him, and neither more norlcfs. 
 The number is confeft to be left undetermined. And what if 
 Chriftian Princes, Bifliops and people agree to fettle Bifliops in 
 
 every? 
 
A l\ey for Catholicks. 4 1 9 
 
 every fuchfmail number of Parifhes, by what Law can they ex- 
 clude them from a General Council ? If they fay, by the Canons 
 of former Councils j 1 anfwer i.Thofe Canons are contrary 
 to Scripture. 2. They contradid one another. 3 . They them- 
 selves do not obey the Canons of many fuch Councils. 4. Thole 
 Councils have no power ro makeLawsjmucb lefsLaws thatfhall 
 reach to this time and place. But they will fay Pauls command to 
 Titus X. J, 5. and the example Atts 14. 23. isonly of ordain- 
 ed Eiders or Biftiops in every City; therefore they may not or- 
 dain them any where but in Cities. But I deny the consequence. 
 Moft ancient interpreters by Elders, A8s 14. 23. Understand 
 racer Presbyters : And then it would as much follow that Pref- 
 byters mull be ordained no where but in Cities : What if I can 
 prove that theApoftles never gathered a folemn AfTembly of 
 Chriftians for Divine Worfhip any where but in Cities ; or 
 that they never adminiftred the Lords Supper anywhere but in 
 Cities? will k follow that therefore we oughc not to AfTemble or 
 adminifter the Sacrament any where but in Cities ? But what if 
 this were granted? they cannot deny but every corporation, fuch 
 as moft ofourBurroughs and Market Towns in England are ,may 
 truly be called Cities in that Scripture fence. And if every fuch 
 City had a Bifhop,Even England, France, Germany, and Italy,* 
 little fpot of the world, would make Bifhops enough for two or 
 three Councils,and more then could AfTemble and do the work. 
 Twofhfts they have againft the over-greatnefs of the num- 
 ber. One is the conrfenow taken : to have but one Bifnop 
 over many Cities, and a very large Circuit of the Countrey. 
 
 The other is,to depute one out of many from every Counttey 
 to reprefent the reft ; and fo it (hall be a Representative General 
 Council, though not a Real. But for the firft, 1 . Who hath au- 
 thority to make fuch diminutions? 2. What if thofe that are 
 fuppofed to have that authority, fhall be otherwife minded? 
 3. Its apparently againftthe word of God , and tendeth to the 
 fruftratingofthe Office that true Bifhops fhou Id be forare. By 
 their own Rule, each City fhould have one. And let Brerewods 
 Enquiries, or any fuch writers help you to con je&ure bow ma- 
 ny that would be. 
 
 And for the other way, 1. A Reprefentative General Coun- 
 cil is another thing, quite different from a Real. 2. What word 
 
 Hhh 2 of 
 
4 i o A l\eyfor Catholicks. 
 
 ef God have they to prove fuch a Reprefentative Council? 
 
 Doubdefs none : And will they give us a Church form.and center 
 
 of Unity, meerly of their own brains,uponfuppofition that it is 
 
 prudential ? 3. Men are of exceeding different degrees of 
 
 underflanding, and of different judgements actually : fo that 
 
 iff. g. England (hould fend one.or two,or ten men to reprefent 
 
 the reft to a General Council, its more thenpofllble that they 
 
 may give their judgements in-many points fo far contrary to the 
 
 minds of thofe that fent them,that twenty or an hundred to one 
 
 • at home may be againft them. For we cannot fend our under - 
 
 ftandings and all our reafons with them to the Council when 
 
 we fend them. And fo no man can fay that any fuch Council 
 
 doth exprefs the mind of the greater part of the Church. 4. By 
 
 this rule you may reduce a General Council to a dozen men, 
 
 or to the four or five Patriarks : For all the reft may choofe 
 
 them as their reprefentative*. 5. But its not to be expe&ed that 
 
 all the Churches (hould be fatisfied of the lawfulness or fitnefs 
 
 of fuch fubftituaons and reprefentations : And therefore they 
 
 will not confent or eled men for fuch a power and work : And 
 
 who may juftly force them ? 
 
 1 3 . Moreover fuch Councils are un juft, becaufe there can be 
 no juft fatisfa&ion given by men that liveatfovafta diftance, 
 that this great number that come thither are truly Bifhops : 
 yea or Presbyters either. Its not poffible under many year^ 
 time, fo much as to take any fatisfadory account of their ordi- 
 nation, and abiding in that office, and the truth of their depu- 
 tations or elections. And when ( in their ele&ed Reprefentative 
 Councils ) there will be perpetual controverfies between feve- 
 ral parties (as there is in Parliaments) whether it be this man 
 or that which is truly elected, in how many years will all thefe 
 be decided, before they begin their work? So that I may well 
 conclude .laying all thefe feven confederations together, the di- 
 ftance of places, the age and ftate of the Bifhops, the ftate of 
 the Civil Governments which they live under, their neceffiry 
 labours at home, and the ruine that will befall their Churches 
 by fo much abfence , the diverfity of their languages , the 
 multitude of the Bifhops , and the difficulty of knowing the 
 Ordination and Qualifications of perfons fo remote to prove 
 sheir capacity, I fay all thefe together do plainly (hew that fuch 
 
 General 
 
A I^ey for fatbolxks. 4 2 1 
 
 General Councils are impofiible and un juft : and therefore not 
 the ftanding^Government or form of the Churcb,or the center of 
 its Unity. 
 
 Arguna,4- As the Sjnodit felfis impoffible t needlefs ,and unjufi ; 
 fo it is lmpoffible that they fhould do the work of a Head or Sove- 
 reign Power t if they could Affcmble : therefore they are not appoint' 
 ed thereunto. 
 
 The Antecedent is partly manifeft by what is faid from their 
 different languages and other confiderations. Moreover 1 . The 
 perfons that will have appeals to tbem,and canfes ro be judged(if 
 really they will do the work of a Soveraign Power and Judge) 
 will be fo many millions, that there will be no room for them 
 
 It was 
 
 one 
 
 about their doors, nor any leifure in many years to hear their of ^ 
 caufes. If you fay, It was not fo in former Councils, I anfwcr, Reafons 
 that is becaufe they were not truly General, or were called in of the 
 fuch times when the Church did lie in a narrow compafs , and Counciiof 
 not in fuch remote parts of the world • and becaufe they were £*vf3J to 
 aflembled indeed but occafionally,to advife uponand determine to prove ' '" 
 fome one particular mans cafe , or few , and never took upon the invali- 
 them to be the Soveraign power or head of the Church, or its ef- dit T of c ' ie 
 fential form or Center of Unity. 2.Tbefe millions of perfons ? a P l 
 that have fo many caufe?, will have fo far to travail, that it will memTup- 
 putthemto great coft and labour to come and attend and bring on appeals 
 all their witnefTes. And if they be not founder bodyed then from other 
 ourEnglifh Souldiers, the poor people of Mexico and other Countncs 3 
 parts of thofe Indies ( to look no further ) will be a great part t h"vk_ 
 of them dead by the way before they can reach the General nefsnecef- 
 Council, e.g. if it fhould be in :hzm\dft. of Europe. 3. And the (ary to a 
 Council will not be competent Judges of fo many caufes which i uftc kcifi- 
 by diftance muft needs be much unknown in many weighty no/eof 
 Circumlknces, wbofe cognifance is neceffary. 4. And laltly t 
 fuch Councils will fit fofeldom, that the work will be undone. 
 Argura. 5. IfGed had intended that fuch a Council fhould have 
 been the form of his Church y or the neceffary (Jovernour of it, he 
 would have acquainted m with his will concerning fome certain 
 Pofter tofummon them, or would have authorised fonte or other to 
 call fuch a Council ) But he hath not acquainted us with his will 
 herein, nor authorized any to call fuch a Council t therefore it ' 
 
 Hhh 3 tws 1 
 
^X2 A fyyfor Catboltcks. 
 
 was not his intent that itfiouldfo the form or nectjfarj Governour 
 of hU Church, 
 
 Eicher this Council mud meet by an Authoritative call, or by 
 confent. If by fuch a call, who muft call them ? TbeAf^pre- 
 tenl'etothis Authority is voluminoufly and unanfwerably con- 
 futed long ago ; and its well known, what ever Baronita fay, 
 that the ancient Councils were called by the Emperors^and many 
 fince have been called by Emperours and Cardinals. And if you 
 fay that it belongs to the Emperour, I anfwer, what hath he to 
 do to fummon the fubjeds of the French, Spaniards, TttrJej, 
 ts£thiopian, &c ? And by this it appears that we never had true 
 Univerfal Councils : They were but General as to the Roman 
 wOrld, or Empire. For ( who ever precided ) ir is certain that 
 the Emperours called them. And what had Conftantine,Mar» 
 tian, TheodofiHs y or any Roman Emperour to do,to call the fub- 
 jetfs in India, Ethiopia, Terji a, &c. to a Council? Nor de 
 fatto, was there any fuch thing done. Is it not a wonderfull thing 
 that the Pope and all his followers ftiould be,or feem fo blinded 
 to this day, as to take th^ Empire for the whole earth, or the Ro- 
 man world for all theChriftian world I yet this is their all. If 
 you fay that it muft be done by the cenfent of Princes, then either 
 of Chrifiian Princes or of all. If of the Chriftian only, you muft 
 exclude the Biftiops that are under Mahometan and Heathen 
 Princes, and then it will be no General Council - t efpecially if it 
 be now as it was in the time of Jacob a Vitriaco the Popes Legate 
 in the Eaft, who faith that the Chriftians of the Eafterly parts 
 of Afta alone, exceeded in number the Chriftians both of the 
 .Greek and Latine Churches. And whether it be all Princes, or 
 only Chriftian Princes that fhould confent, who can tell whether 
 ever it will be ? God hath not proraifed to lead them to fuch 
 a confent: And they are unlikely of themfelvcs, as being many 
 and diftant, and of different interefts and apprehenfions , and 
 ufually in wars with one another, fo that if an age (houldbe 
 fpent in treating of a General Council among them,its ten to one 
 that the treaty will be in vain , and its next ro an impoffibility 
 that all fhould confent. Befidcs ; no man can (hew a Comraiffion 
 from God to enable them, and only them to fuch a work. 
 
 But if you fay that it muft be done by the confent of the Bijhopj 
 ^hemfelves, the Impoffibility ( moral) is apparent, who will 
 
 be 
 
A K^y for Catbolicks. 423 
 
 be found that will be at the coft and pains to agitate the bufinefs 
 among them? Notne can appoint the time and place but by 
 confent of the reft. Who doth it belong to, to travail to the 
 Indies, ts£thiopia, *s£gypt, Palefline , and all the reft of the 
 world, to treare with the Biftiops about the time and place of 
 a Council? And how many lives muft he have that (hall doit? 
 And when he findeth them of a hundred minds , what coarfe 
 fhall he take , and how many more journies about the world 
 muft he make.to bring them to an agreement? But I am afhamed 
 to beftow more words on fo evident a cafe. 
 
 Argum. 6. The He Ad or Sovereign of the Church ( as of every 
 bod] Politicly) hath the Legijlative Power over the whole. The 
 Pope or a General Council have not tht Legiflative Power over the 
 whole. Therefore the Pope or general Council are not the head or 
 Soveraigns of the Church. 
 
 The Major is of unqueftionable verity in Politicks. Le- 
 giflation is the firft and chief work of Soveraignty. 
 
 The Minor is proved, 1. Ad hominem by the confeflion of the The Pa- 
 chief Opponents, Cjrotiut de lmperiofummar.potefl. doth pur- piftscon- 
 pofely maintain it : and fo do others .- ( See of this Lad. Moli- {j fs that 
 uatu new Bookfuppofed againft the Presbyterians : his Para- council 
 nefu. ) 2. It is the high Prerogative of Chrift the true King cannot 
 andSoveraign of the Church, which none muft arrogate. He make new 
 W3s faithfull in all his houfe as was Mofcs. His Law is perfect : A ™ cles oi 
 It is fufficient to make the man of God perfeft : even a fuffici- £f**"*"^ 
 ent rule of faith and life: No man muft aid thereto, nor take ms only ! !"■ 
 ought therefrom , but do whatfeever he hath commanded , Deut. And they 
 12. 32. To tht Law and to the Tefiimonj : if they fpeak not&Y thc y 
 according tothefe ) it is becaufe there u no light in them t lfa. c *iy*f~ h , 
 
 8 - 20 - m Tradition 
 
 Object. But men may make Bylaws under Chrifl and £#thedo- 
 Laws.Anfw. True : but as thofe are in this cafe no proper Laws, ftrjne: 
 fo no man or men may make them for the Unverfal Church. For V 
 the bufinefs ofthofeLawsis only to determine ofcircumftance$ teac |. 
 which God huh made neceflary ingentre, and lefc to the deter- 
 mination of men in fpecie : And we may well know that there 
 was fome fpecial reaton why Chrift did not determine of thefe 
 himfelf. And the reafon is plain j even becaufe that they depend • 
 fo much on the feveral flaws, capacities, cuftoms,c>f. of men, > 
 
 r that - 
 
4*4 ^ K*yf or Catholicks* 
 
 that they arc to be varied accordingly in feveral times and 
 places. If one (landing Law would have fitted all the world,or 
 all ages in thefe matters, Chrift would have made it himfelf. 
 For if you fay he makes fome Laws, and negled othen that arc 
 of the like kind, and might as well have been done by himfelf , 
 you make him imperfed and inefficient to his work. And if 
 it be not fit that one Univcrfal Law be made for the world, 
 then a Council mull not make ir. 
 
 And as the fufficiency of Chrifts law,fo the nature of the things 
 declares it, that thefe matters muft not be determined of by an 
 univerfal Law. Should there be anuniverfal Law to determine 
 what day of the week, or what hour of the day every Lecture 
 or occasional Sermon (hall he on ? Or what place every Con- 
 gregation fhall meet in ? Or where the Minilter (hall ftand to 
 preach ? Or what Chapters he fliould read each day ? Or what 
 Text he fliould preach on ? or how long ? Whether by an hour- 
 glafs or without ? in what habit of apparrel particularly ( when 
 many a poor man muft wear fuch as he can get) yea or what ge« 
 (lures or poflures of body to ufe ( when that geflure in one 
 Countrey fignifieth reverence, which in another rather figni- 
 fieth negleft ) with abundance the like. 
 
 And the fame is plain from the nature of the Pafloral office. 
 Every Biftiop or Paflor is made by Cbrift the Ruler of the flock 
 in fuch cafes,and they are bound to obey him, Btb.ii. 17. And 
 therefore a General Council muft leave them their work to do 
 which Chrifl hath put upon them, and not take it out oC, their 
 hands : efpecially when being in the place, and feeing the varie- 
 ty of circumftanccs, they are more competent Judges then a Ge- 
 neral Council at fuch diftance. 
 
 The plain truth is, Chrill hath left them none of that work 
 to do which belongeth to a Head or Soveraign, but they make 
 work for themfelves, that there may feem to be a Neceffity of a 
 power to do it. The Church neederh none of their Laws. Let 
 us iiave but the Holy Scriptures, and the Law of Nature, and 
 the civil Laws of men , and the guidance of particular Pallors 
 fro tempre, and the fraternal Confutations and Agreements of 
 Councils, not to make any more work, but to do this forefaid 
 work unanimously; and the Church can bear no more; there 
 »s nothing left for Legiflators Hcclefiaflical to do. We can (pare 
 
 their 
 
A J^ey for Catholicks. 425 
 
 their Laws, and therefore their power and work. Their bufi- 
 nefs is but to make fnares and burdens for us j and therefore we 
 can live without them, and cannot believe that the felicity, or 
 unity ,or eflence of the Cburch confifteth in them. 
 
 Argum. 7. All the" inferior officers do derive their prwer from 
 the fupream. All the other officer s of the Catholic^ Church do 
 not derive their power from the Pope or a General Council: therefore 
 a Pope or General Council are not the fupream. 
 
 The Major isanunqueftioned Maxime in Politick?. Itsef- 
 fentfal to the Sovereaign to be the fountain of power to all under 
 him. Yea if it be but a deputed derived Soveraignty,/ec/W#?» 
 quid fo called, as the Viceroy of Mexico , Natlcs, &c. yet fo far 
 he muft be the fountain of all inferiour power. 
 
 The Minor is maintained by moft Chriftiansin the world. 
 Every Bifhop or Presbyter hath his power immediately from 
 JefusChriftasthe Efficient caufe, though man muft be anocca- 
 lion, or caufa fine qua non, or per accident. The Italian Bifhops 
 in the Council of Trent could not carry it ag linft tlie Spaniards, 
 that the Pope only as Head was immediately jure divino^nd the 
 reft but mediante Tapa. 
 
 Moreover it is eafie to prove out of Scripture that God never 
 fetupany Soveraign pawer in his Church ( perfonal or colle- 
 ctive; to be the fountain ofall other Church power, nor fendech 
 us to have recourfe to any fuebfor it. Nor can they proyefucha 
 power, on whom it is incumbent. 
 
 And laftly its moft eafie to prove defaftos.hat the Bifhops or 
 Presbyters now in the feveraKhurches in the world, did nor re- 
 ceive, and do not hold their power from any fuch vifible Head, 
 whether Pope or Council. Though the Popelings do, yet fo 
 do not all the reft of the Chriftian world. Whoauenot there- 
 fore no Minifters or no Church of Chrift , whatever thefe 
 bare affirmers and pretendets may imagine '. Nor are all 
 the Minifterialadions in the world null , which are not done 
 by a power from him. And even the Papifts themfelves will few 
 of them pretend to receive their feveral powers of Priefthood 
 from a General Council. 1 his therefore is not the Soveraign 
 power, or head of the Church. 
 
 Argum. 8. The Head or Soveraign Power hath the finally de' 
 cifive judgement, And in great cattfes all muft, or may appeal ta 
 
 Ii i thtm> 
 
^ 2 6 d K?) f or Catholick* 
 
 them. A General Council hath not the finjtl/y decifive judgement* 
 nor may all men in great caufes appeal to them. Therefore a Gene' 
 r/:l Council is not the Head or Soveraign power. 
 
 The Ma jor is undenyable. The Minor is proved, i. In that 
 it is not known, nor hath the world any rule or way to know 
 in what cafes we muft appeal to a General Council, and what 
 not; and what is their proper work. 2. In that an appeal to 
 them isanabfolute evafionof the guilty , and in vain to the 
 innocent, becaufeof the rarity of fuch Councils, or rather the 
 nullity. 3 . Becaufe the profecuting of fuch an Appeal is impof- 
 fible to moft of the world (as is before (hewed,) and were it 
 poftible, it would be fo tedious and laborious a courfe , that its 
 ridiculous in moft to mention fuch Appeals. 
 
 Argum. 9. The Soveraign or Head of the Church (at of 
 every Body Politick ,) hath power to deprive and denude any 
 other of their power. The Pope or General Council hath mt 
 power to do fo : therefore they are not of the Head or Soveraigns 
 of the Church. 
 
 The Major is a known principle in polity : He that giveth 
 power, can take it away : And it's confeffed by the Opponents 
 in this cafe. 
 
 The Minor I pro Ye, 1. Becaufe elfe it would be in the power 
 of the Pope or Council, whether Chrift (hall have any Miniftry 
 and Church or not. They may at leaft make havock of it at 
 pleafure. But that's falfe. 2. As is before faid, we receive not 
 our power from them : therefore they cannot take it from us. 
 3. The Holy Gboftdothmakeus Over- fecrs of the flock, Aft. 
 20.28. andlayaNecefiityon us, and denounce a woe againft 
 us, if we preach not the Gofpel : and hath no where given us 
 leave to give over his work, if the Pope or a Council (hall forbid 
 us. 4. And they can (hew no Commiffion from Chrift that 
 giveth them fuch a power. 
 
 Arg. 1 0. If it Were the form or Effence of the Church to have 
 a humane vifible Head, then our Relation to fuch a head would he 
 ffential to our Memberfhip or Chriflianitj, But the Confequence 
 u falfe : therefore fo is the Antecedent. 
 
 The falfenefs of the confequent is apparent, 1. In that it cru- 
 elly and ungroundedly unchrifteneth all that do not believe in 
 fuch a vifible Head : That is , thegreateft part by far of the 
 
 Chriftian 
 
j41$eyfor Qatholicks. 42? 
 
 Chriftians in the world; And 2. By the enfuing argument :And 
 the neceflity of the confequer.ee is evident of it fejf. 
 
 Argum. 1 1 . Iffuch a vifible Bead were ejfential to the Churchy 
 ar.dfo to our (^hriftUnitj y th(njhottldrvt all be Baptized into the 
 Pope or a General Council , a* truly and necejfarilj at vfe are bap. 
 tized into the Church. But we neither are nor ought to be [o 
 baptized into the Pope or a General Council ; therefore they are not 
 ejfential to the Church or our Chrijlianitj. 
 
 The Major (viz, theConfcquenceJ is clear, and not denyed 
 by thePapifts, who affirm thac Baptifm engageth the baptized 
 to the Pope. He that is united to the body , is united to the head : 
 he that is lifted into the Army, is lifted to and under the Gene- 
 ral. He that is entred into the Common-weakh,is engaged to the 
 Sovwaign thereof. 
 
 But that we are not baptized to the Pope or a General Coun- 
 cil, isproved, i. Becaufe neither the form of Baptifm, nor any 
 word in Scripture doth affirm fuchathing. 2. No perfons in 
 Scripture times were fo baptized : Men were baptized before 
 there was a Pope at Rome , or a General Council. And afterward 
 sone were baptized to them, atleaftfor many hundred years : 
 otherwife then as they were entred into the particular Church 
 of Rome , who were Inhabitants there. 3. Never any was bap- 
 tized to Peter or Paw/, or any ofthe Apoftlcs . fairh Paul,l Cor. 
 1. 1 J. was Paul crucified for you, or were ye baptized in the 
 name of Paul ? They muft be baptized into the name of no vi- 
 fible Head, but him that was crucified for them. 4. The A- 
 poftle fully refolveth all the doubt, 1 ["or. 1 2. deferring the body 
 into which we are baptized, ver. 13. And heentitleth it from 
 the head, Chrift, vcrf. 12. but acknowledged no other head, 
 ei'.her co-equal with Chrift, or fubordinate : The higheft ofthe 
 Other members are called by Paulbut eyes and hands, and thus 
 Apoftles, Prophets, Teachers, Miracles, gifts of healing, help«, 
 Governments, are only faid to be fet in the Church, as eyes and 
 hands in the body y but notour the Church as the Head or So- 
 veraign Power: ver. 17^8,19,28,29. fo that though he thac 
 is baptiz:din'0 the Churcb,is baptized into an Org3nical body, 
 and related to the Paflors.as to hands and eyes t yet not as 
 to a head , nor as to a representative body neither. And me 
 thinks neither Pope nor Council fhould pretend to be more then 
 
 Iii2 . Apoftles, 
 
4 1 8 A I\ey for Qatbolicks . 
 
 Apoftles,Prophets,and Teachers, and Governments. If the form 
 of baptifm had but delivered down the authority of the Popeor 
 a Council, as it did che authority and name of the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghoft, Tradition would have been a tolerable Argu- 
 ment for them, though Scripture had been filent. But when the 
 Baptifmal Tradition itfelf iifilent, and it is a do&rine fo mon- 
 ftruoufly ftrange to the Primitive Church , that all the bap- 
 tized are baptized to the Pope or a General Council, I know 
 no remedy but they muft both put up their pretenfes. 
 
 Argura. 12. The S fence of the Church into which they were 
 baptized, was part of the doctrine which the Catechumeni were 
 taught , (aniallatage fhould learn) before their baptifm. The 
 SoveraigKt) or Headfhip of Pope or Council was no part of the Do- 
 Urine which (by the Primitive Church) f&f Catechumeni were 
 taught \ and ought to learn, before their baptifm- Therefore the So- 
 viraignt) or Headjhip of Pop or Council was not then taken to 
 be of the £ fence of the Church. 
 
 The Major is evident, i . In that the Catholick Church was in 
 the Creed : and it's efientials there briefly exprefled in thofe 
 terms [Holy Catholicise 'hurch, and Communion of Saints."^ 2. In 
 that Church Hiftory fully acquainteth us thatit was the pradice 
 of the Catethilts and other Teachers to open the Creed to them 
 before they baptized them, and therein the Article of the Catka* 
 lick. Church, and the Commmtion of Saints. 
 
 The Minor is proved by an induction of all the Records of 
 thofe times, which in grofs may now fuffice according to our 
 prefent intended brevity to be mentioned. There is no one 
 Writer of many hundred years , no not Origen , Tertullian, 
 Irentnt, or any other that purpofely recite the Churches be- 
 lief which the Catechumeni were taught, nor Cyril, for John) 
 Hierofol. or any other who open thofe Articles to the Catechu- 
 mens, that ever once mention the Doctrine of the Headfhip 
 of the Pope or Council, when they open the Article of the Ca~ 
 tho/ick,Church ; nor yet at any other time. If they affirm that 
 they did, let them prove it if they can. 
 
 Argum. 13. AsitishighTreafonina Republic^ to deny the 
 Soveraign, and to be cut of from him, is to be cut off from the Com' 
 men wealth ; fo it would be a damning uncbrijfening Jin to deny 
 the Headfhip of the Pape or General Council, if they were indeed 
 
 . the 
 
A F\ey for Catbolicks. 429 
 
 the Head of ths Church. But it is no fttch damning unchri- 
 ftening fin : Therefore they are not the Head of the Church. 
 
 The Major is plain from the Nature of ^overaigncy. The 
 Minor is certainly proved, 1. Becaufe it is never mentioned 
 in Scripture, nor any ancient Writer for many hundred years, as 
 a ftate of Apoftafie, nor as a damning fin, nor as any fin, to de- 
 ny the faid Headlhip of the Pope or Council. 2. Becaufe elfe 
 moftofthe Chriftians of the world at this day are Apoftates 
 and unchriftened \ Or if that fcem a tolerable condufion to 
 the Romanifis; Yet 3. Becaufe then Chrift had ns Church for 
 fome hundreds of years , which I know they will not think 
 fo tolerable a condufion •, For to dream that the ancient Chri- 
 ftians did know any Head of the Church but Chrift , or were 
 engaged in loyalty to the Pope or Council, is a difeafe that few are 
 iyable to, except fuch as are Grangers to the writings of. thofe 
 times , or fuch as read them with Roman fpe&ades, refolved what 
 to find in them before hand. 
 
 Argnm. 14, zAll Chriftians are bound to ftudy or labor to 
 be acquainted with the Laws of the Soveraign power ef the 
 Church : All Chriftians are not bound to fludy or labor to be ac- 
 quainted with the Laws of Popes and Councils : Therefore the 
 laws of Popes ancL Councils are not the Laws of the Soveraign power 
 of the Church. 
 
 The Mi jor is proved, in that all fubje^s muft obey the Laws 
 of the Soveraign power : But they cannot obeyrthem unlefs they 
 know them. Therefore they are bound to endeavour to know 
 them. 
 
 The Minor is proved, 1. In that they being written in L*tine 
 and Gretlt^ which a very fmall part of the Chriftians of the world 
 do underltand, and their Teachers not fufficiently expounding 
 them, and they being more copious and voluminous, moreob- 
 fcure and uncertain (of which nextj then for all private Chri- 
 ftians to underftand , the people cannot learn thefe , laving 
 enough to do to learn Gods Word. 2. The Papifts that deny 
 t he ufe of the Holy Scriptures to the people in a known tongue, 
 and deny theneceftity of underftanding them, will fure fay the 
 fame of their Decretals and Canons,unlefs they mean to fet them 
 up above the Scripture, as well as equal them thereto. 
 
 Argum. 15, The Soveraign Head of jhevifible Church and 
 
 I i i 3 Center 
 
43° A Kjy for Catholicks. 
 
 Center of our unity, muft be widen; , that all the Chriftian world 
 may know it r The Pope And General Council are not fuch. There- 
 fore neither of them are the Head of the Viftble Church. 
 
 The Major is confefled by the Opponents j and it's plain \ 
 becaufe men cannot obey an unknown power. 
 
 The Minor is known by common experience. For many a 
 year together ( by Bellarmines confeflion j learned and wife 
 men could not tell which was the true Pope j yea their Council* 
 could not tell. Moftof the Chriftian world to this day can- 
 not difcern his Commiflion for that power which he pretendeth 
 to. A true General Council now no man can know , becaufe 
 it is a non ens. 1 heir pretended General Councils are fo ravelled 
 in confufion, that they arc not agreed among themfelves whicb 
 are indeed fuch, and which not: but many are reje&ed, and 
 many fufpe&ed (of which Beltarmixe givtth us a lift) andthofe 
 that one receiveth, another re jedeth; and the moll by far are 
 rejected by raoft of the Chriftian world. And when fome would 
 take up with the four firft, and fome with fix , and fome with 
 eight , the Papifts deridingly aik them , whether the Church 
 hath not as much authority now as it had then? And how (hall 
 the Chriftian world know whether it were a true General Coun- 
 cil or not ? Of which fee the difficulties firft to be refolved,which 
 I have recited in ray Difputations againft Popery. 
 
 Argum. 1-6. The £an>s of the Soveraign Power of the Church 
 muff be certainty elfe how (hall we know what to obey) The 
 Laws of Popes and General Councils are mt certain : There 
 fore,8cc. 
 
 The Minor is proved by experience. The Popes Decretals 
 are many unknown, and many proved forgeries (by Blondell 
 ubi fuf. and many others^ beyond all queition: and none of 
 them proved Laws to the Church. The Canons of the firft 
 Council of Nice are not agreed on among the Papifts. Many 
 others are proved forged : Many are flatly contrary to each 
 other (as I have (hewed ubi fup.) and how then (hall Chriftians 
 know what to obey? The ancient Canons condemned thege- 
 fture of kneeling on the Lords day (and confequently then at the 
 Lords Supper J the reading of the Heathens Books, and many 
 fuch things which are now taken for lawful : The later Councils 
 that contradict the former, dofeemto moftof more qaeft^n- 
 
 able 
 
 
A Key for Catbolicks. ^ i 
 
 able authority then they. And what Councils are to be re- 
 ceived and what re,ecled, they are not agreed among them- 
 felves, nor have any certain Rule to know by on which they 
 are agreed : Nor will their Popes or Councils yet refolve them 
 this great queftion. So that Chriftians are at a lofs concerning 
 thefeLaws, and know not which of them they are obliged by, 
 and which not. 
 
 Argum. 17. // the Pope or Council be the Head of 'the Church, 
 then muft their Laves be preached to the people by their Teacbr 
 ers. But the Laws of Popes and Councils need not be preached t% 
 the people b) their Teachers : Therefore, &c. 
 
 The reafon of the Major is, becaufe the Laws that they muft 
 obey in matters fpiritual in order to falvation,the Minifters muft 
 preach to (hem. But thefe are pretended to be fucb; There- 
 fore, &c, 
 
 As to the Minor, 1. It would be but an unhanfome thing in 
 their own hearing , for Preachers to take their Texts out of 
 the Canons or Decretals , and preach tbefe day afcer day to 
 the people : which yet they have need to do many a year , if 
 the obedience of them be our neceflary duty. 2. Minifters 
 are commanded to preach only the Gofpel, and it is faid to 
 be fufficientor able to make usperfed, and build us up to fal- 
 vation. Therefore we need not preach the Canons or Decretals. 
 
 Argum. 18. While a Viftble Head cannot be agreed on even by 
 thofe that would have the Church united in fuch a Head , it it 
 all one to them as if there were no fuch Head, and the union ftillis 
 unattainable by them, 'But even among the Payifis themfelves 
 4 Vifible Head is not , cannot be agreedon : Therefore, Sec 
 
 What good will it do to fay we muft center fome where^ 
 and know not where , and obey fome body , and know no: 
 who ? The Italians and Spanifh make the Pope the Infallible 
 Head, and fay a General Council without him may err, and is 
 but the body. The trench make the Council the Head , and 
 fay the Pope may err •, and that the infallibility (fuch at they 
 plead for^ is in the Council. It is not 4 Head, imt this Head 
 in fpecie , that is , the form of the Church , if any fach 
 be ; And therefore they muft needs ( according to their 
 own principles^) be of divers Churches , while they place the 
 Soveraignty in fereral forts and perfons. Till they better 
 
 agree 
 
a 1 1 A t\ey for Catholtcks. 
 
 agree among themfelves in their Fundamentals and EiTentials 
 or the Church, we have fmall encouragement to think of uniting 
 on any of their grounds. 
 
 Argum. 19. 7 he Soveraign Power or Htadjhip over the 
 Church is a thing undoubtedly revealeed in the Holy Scripture I 
 (Tor we cannot imagine that the Scripture fhould be filent in fo 
 weighty a point, without intolerable accufation of it. ) The 
 Soveraign Power or Head fhip of Pope or Council is not revealed 
 in the Holy Scripture. Therefore, &c. 
 
 They have not yet produced a Text to prove either of them. 
 Thofe produced by the Italians for the Popes Headlhip , arc 
 difdaimed by the French, as meaning no fuch thing ; and our 
 Writers have largely manifefted their abufing of the Text. So 
 have they done or thofe that are brought for the Headfliip of 
 Councils. Thefe texts are fpoke tofo fully by Chamier, whi- 
 takjr, Amefius, and abundance more, that I think it in vain to 
 do it here again. That of 1 Tim. 3. 15. that the Church is the 
 pillar and ground of Truth, doth not Ipeak a word of a General 
 Council, nor a word of Headfliip ; The whole Church united 
 in Chrift, is the P.llar and Ground,that is, the certain Receptacle 
 and retainer of the Truth, the Law of Chrift being written in 
 their hearts, 
 
 None feems more to favour their conceeit then Ephef.4. 15,16. 
 which Grotius fattens on. But even that is againft thero,and not 
 for them. For 1 It is Chrift and only Chrift that is here faid to be 
 the head , and all other parts contradiftinguifhed, and excluded 
 from Headfhip,and the Body is not faid to be-united in them. 
 2. And it is by aiTociation, and mutual communication of their 
 feveral gifts,that the parts are compacted together,andedifie the 
 whole ? and not by meeting in anyone, and deriving from it. 
 Objed. But were not the Apejiles General Officers, and fo the 
 Church united in General officers f Anfw. This is little to the 
 Q^elhon. For 1. the Apoftlcs had one among them to be the 
 Soveraign or Head of the reft,bnt were of equal power. 2. Nor 
 did a major part of their whole number make fuch a Head for 
 the Church to unite in, nor do we read that ever a Major vote 
 carryed it among them againft a Minor; for they were all guided 
 by the Spirit. Yet its true that they met ofter together then 
 a General Council can. 2. The Apoftles as extraordinarily 
 
 qualified 
 
A Key for Catholkks. 433 
 
 qualified,and as the Secretaries of the Spirit, have no fuccefTori : 
 But the Apofties as ambulatory unfixed Minifters, had even 
 then many companions : For Barnabas, Luke , spoils , and 
 abundance more, did then go up and down preaching, as well 
 as the Apofties-, yet had not any one of them a fpecial charge 
 of Governing all the Churches : nor yet all of them united in a 
 body: For the Apofties called not the Evangdifts and other 
 fellow workers toconfult in Councils about the Government 
 of the whole •, But both they and their helpers, did feverally 
 what they could to teach and fettle the Churches. 3. Who be 
 they now that are the Apofties fuccefTors ? If all the Birtiops in 
 the world, the_cafe is as we left it. If any fmall number of 
 Primates or Pftriarcks, how fhall we know which and how ma- 
 ny? If they be not twelve, why fhould one Apoftle have a 
 fucceflfor, and not others ? But there are no twelve only that 
 lay claim to thefuccefiion. And if you go further , who can 
 limit, and fay who, and how many they be , and how far the 
 number maybe increafedor decreafed, and by whom? In Cy- 
 prians dayes he and his fellows in the Council at Carthage de- 
 clare that all Bifhops were equal, aud none had power over 
 other. And fo thought others in thofe times. Nor was there 
 then any number of Bifhops that claimed to be the folefuccef- 
 fors of the Apofties, to rule all the reft. And if they had, when 
 the Church increafeth,the Rulers muft increafe. But this is not 
 to the main point. 
 
 Argum. 20. The Scripture doth appropriate the Vniverfal 
 Headfbip t» Chrifl only, and deny it to all others: therefore nei- 
 ther Pope nor Council are the Vniverfal Hedi, 
 
 Eph. 5.23. 1 1 is the peculiar Title of Chrift to be Head of the 
 Church, to whom it muft be fubjed, 1 Cor. 1 1 . 3 . The Apoftle 
 would have us know that the Head of every roan is Chrift, and 
 the head of the woman is the man,and the Head of Chrift isGod. 
 So that there is a particular Head overfome parcell of the bo- 
 dy below Chrift : but to be the U niverfal Head of every man, is 
 the proper Title of Chrift. In 1 (for. 12. the unity of the body 
 and diverfity of the members is more largely exprefled then any 
 where elfe in Scripture ; and there when the faid unity of the 
 body had been fo fully mentioned, the Apoftle comes to name 
 the Head of that Unity, ferf. 27. which is only Chrift, [ Not* 
 
 Kkk ye 
 
4^ ^K^yfor Catbolich 
 
 re are the body of Chrift ,and members in particular ]] The Church 
 is never called the body of the Pope , or of a Council , but the 
 body of Chfift: yea (as was even now faid) in the next words the 
 tApoftUs, Prophets, and Teachers are enumerated to the particw 
 lar members, contradiftind from the Head, fo far are all, or any 
 one of them from being the headthemfelves. And in Col. 2. 
 i o, 1 7, 1 9. it is Chrift only that is called the Head, and the body 
 is faid to be of Chrift, and he only is mentioned as the Center of 
 its Unity £ And not holding the Head, from which all the body bj 
 joints ', and bands having nottrifbrnent miniflred and knit together, 
 increafeth with theincreafe of God. ]] And Col. 1 . 18. And he u 
 the Head of the body, the Church. ] If any fay thi£ you cannot 
 hence argue Negatively that therefore no one elfe is the Head, 
 I anfwer, They may as well fay, when it is affirmed that {the 
 L^rd he is God ] you cannot thence conclude that Baal is not God. 
 The Apoftle plainly fpeaks this of Chrift as his peculiar honour ; 
 And he fpoke to men that knew well enough that natural bodies 
 have but one Head,unlefs they be Monfters : And he would not 
 fooftinfift on this Metaphor, intending fo great adifparity in 
 the fimilicude, and never difcover any fuch intention • So 
 in Ephef. 1. 22. He gave him to be Head over all things to 
 the £hureh , which is his Body , thefulnefs of him that fillet h 
 all in all. ~} 
 
 And in Ephef. 4, the Apoftle pnrpofely exhorteth us to the 
 observation of this unity -, and purpofely telleth us by a large 
 enumeration wherein it doth confift : but in all he never men- 
 tioneth the Pope or a Council : yea he plainly excludeth them, 
 Verfi^fcc. [Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the 
 bond of peace :There is one body, and one fpirit ,even as you are called 
 in one hope of your calling,One Lord, Ont Faith,One Baptifm, One 
 God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in 
 you all : But unto every one of us is given Grace, according to the 
 meafure of the gift of Chrift — — — He gave feme Afoftles , and 
 feme Prophets, and feme Evangelifts, andfome Paftors and Teach' 
 ers,for the perilling of the Saints, for the work of the Miniftry, 
 for the Edifying of the body of Chrift, till we all come in the unity 
 
 of the Faith, &c. — J fo then you fee there is but one Lord 
 
 of the Church j therefor* the Pope or Council is not Lord ( in 
 namejor deed. ) PsM,A.poftl(j^ Prophet^ Pfiftor^&n&Doftorst 
 
 are 
 
A Kgy for Qatbolkks. 4 ^ 
 
 arc the member contradiftirguiftied from this One Lord , and 
 whofediverfityispurpofely mentioned, they being the matter 
 or parcels that mutt have their onity in fome other, but net 
 the Church to be united in them. Here is then no mention 
 among all thefe [_ Ones ] of one earthly Head, whether Pope 
 or Council, not of One Apoflk that was the Head of the reft. If 
 fuch a thing had ever come into the Apoftles mind, he would 
 fure have mentioned it on fuch occafions as thefe, and not have 
 quite forgotten it •, yea and contradict itfo evidently. 
 
 I Qor. 6. 15, 17. Oar bodies are the members of Chri ft / not 
 of the PopeJ and he that is joined to the Lord is onefpirit ('not he 
 that is joined to the Pope. ) 
 
 Gal. 3. 28 .We are all one in Chrifl Jefns ( not in an earthly 
 Head ) Many and many times doth the A poftle exhort them to 
 be of one mind, andacord, and take heed of fchifm, and maintain 
 peace, andhereproveth the r divifions at large : yet doth he ne- 
 ver mention fuch a fin as dividing from an earthly Head, nor 
 ever once direct them to a Pope or General Courcil as the Cen- 
 ter of their unity, or the necelTary means of curing divifions. 
 Peter bimfelf exhortcth them to be all of one mind, I Pet. 3.8. 
 but never to be all united in him as their head. The Apoftie 
 Paul is punctual in defcribing the Officers of the Church, and 
 the peoples duty to them.But he never defcribeth a Pope,or any 
 earthly Head of that Church : nor ever telleth the people of 
 their duty to fuch : And if fuch a fuppofed fundamental fhould 
 be quite forgotten by men tlfit belieived it, and taught others 
 that which was neceiTary to be believed , it were incredibly, 
 ftrange. That Paul writing to the Romans fhould never mind 
 them of the honour of their Sea, or their duty to their fuper- 
 eminent Pi elate, was his forgetfuinefs or unbelief. And furely 
 he wou'd never have fo fharply reproved them of Corinth for 
 contentions, in faying I *wo/Paul , andlof Apollo, and 1 of 
 Cephas, and I of Chrifl, if hehad thought they rauft have been 
 united ix Op W ; without once telling them of fuch a means of 
 union and reconciliation. He fait h [ Is Chrifl divided ?]] as much 
 as to fay, you rauft be all united in him : but he laich not 
 [ // Cephas divided ? ] but plainly makes the exalters oi Ccphae 
 a party that was guilty of divifion, and Chap. 3. 3,4,5. tells 
 them plainly that this (hewed that they mr; carnal. Andfpeak- 
 
 K k k 2 ing 
 
4} 6 A K?y for Qatholicks . 
 
 ing of all others in bis own pcrfon and Aptllos, faith [ who 
 thtn is Paul,«r who is Apollo^wr Minifters by whom ye believed /] 
 They had not then learned to anfwer [ Why Cephas is the Head 
 of the Church. ] And i Cor. 4 6. He fpeiks as if it were purpofely 
 to a Papift [_ All thefe things, brethren, I have in a figure t ran f- 
 f erred to my J elf and to Apollo for jour fakes : that ye might learn 
 in us not to thinly ( of men ) above that which is written : that 
 no one of joube puffed ftp for one againfl another ] What not for 
 Peter} no not for Peter himfelf. And doubtlefs Paul did not 
 believe his fupremacy, when he (o prefuraed to reprove him to 
 his face, Gal. 2. So 1 Cor. 10. 16, 17. there is mention of 
 our bc\ng all one bread,and one body : but thats becaufe we are 
 all partakers of that one body of Chrift, and not becaufe we .are 
 united in the Pope or any other. 
 
 Moreover when the Difciples drove who (hould be greateft , 
 Chrift exprefly rebukethfuch thoughts, andinftead of grant- 
 ing any of them thatdefire, hedenyethittothem all, Mat. 
 22. 25, 26. Luke 22. 26. The Kings vf the Gentiles rule over 
 them ^and are called gracious Lords, but with jouitfhallnot befo.~} 
 Bellarmine indeed can merrily hence gather that there mult be 
 one appointed to be the greateft, becaufe Chrift faith , He that 
 will be Greateft, let him be tke fervant of all. ] This is to make 
 good their charge againftthe Scripture 3 that it isanofeofWax 
 by their prefumptuonsabufeof it; as fomemen would prove 
 the Apoftacy of the Saints, by their own Apoftatizing , when 
 yet they prove it not , though they ruine themfelves. Did not 
 .Chrift by thefe words reprehend their feeking of a Supremacy ? 
 And yet doth he grant it ? 
 Oh but it is only Tyranny that Chrififorbiddeth them./4*fw.Th&t 
 which Chrift acknowledgeth in the Kings of theNations, without 
 reprehenfion,thatisitwhich hedenyethto his Difciples. But 
 it is not Tyranny but Dominion which Chrift thus acknowledg- 
 eth in,and alloweth to the Kings of the Nations : therefore it is 
 not Tyranny but Dominion which he forbiddeth to his Difciples; 
 That which Chrift here fpeaketh of the Kings of the Nations, is 
 fomewhat common to all Kings,and fo as Kings. But Tyranny 
 was not common to all Kings, nor to them as Kings : there- 
 fore it is not Tyranny that he fpeaks of. Moreover its plain that 
 it is a Greatnefs in Ddireand Affedacion that is the fubjeft of 
 
 Chrifts 
 
A J^ey for Catholic h. 457 
 
 Chrifts fpeech.and not an allowed fupremacy,and that he forbids 
 this Supremacy in the following words, [ Let him be thefervant 
 of all~] q. d. Q 1 allot* in my Kingdom to the Preachers of the Go- 
 (pel no other Greatnefi or fuperkritj above others, but what con- 
 Jifteth in hi line fs, and humility, and doing good,andfo in dif claim- 
 ingof Ruling CJreatnefs. ] In Luke 9. there's mention of [ him 
 that was Itafl, &c.~\ It follows not thence that one was appoint- 
 ed to be the loweft. And if the will of Chrift were known to 
 them that one (hould be the Suprearo, and this was Peter, what 
 need they ftrive any further about it; or why doth he not re- 
 buke them for refitting their Suprcam ? 
 
 Again I fay, that I cannot fee how it can ftand with the wif- 
 domor goodnefs of Chrift the Law-giver of his Church, or the 
 perfe&ion of his Laws, or how it can be any way probable, 
 that he (hould be wholly filent of fo great a point as the Head- 
 fliip and Center of the Churches Unity ; never giving us either 
 the Name or Titles of fuch a Head, nor the feat of his Empire, 
 nor appointing him his work, nor directing him how to do it 
 when he hath the greateft work in the world to do ( as 
 thefe men fuppofe ) and fuch as furpafTeth the ttrength of 
 man, yea of a thoufand men ^ never giving him any advice and 
 dire&ion for the determining of his very many occurrent diffi- 
 culties; nor once giving us any of his power, nor telling us of 
 his prerogative, nor telling us what officers he (hall appoint un- 
 der him,and how ; nor once telling any man of his duty to obey 
 him; never telling us any thing of the fucceflion of this So- 
 veraign in whom it (hall refide •, nor once telling us hiftorically 
 of the exercife of any of his power *. I fay that not a word 
 of this (hould be mentioned by Chrift or his Apoftles, even when 
 there was fo great occafion, when Peter was among them, when 
 there was driving for fupremacy , when the Churches were 
 lamentably contending abou: the preheminence of their teach- 
 ers, and fome were for one, and fome for another, andfome 
 for Cephas hirafelf ; and when fo many herefies arofe, and haz- 
 zarded the Churches, as among the Corinthians, Galathianspnd 
 others there did ; This is a thing fo hard to be believed by one 
 that bclieveth the wifdom and love of Chrift, that I muftfay 
 for my part, it furpafleth my belief. Efpecially (as isfaid) 
 when alfo (0 much is (aid againft the Supremacy contend- 
 
 Kkk 3 ed 
 
4}8 A t\eyfor Catholicks. 
 
 ed for. All tbislfpeakofany earthly Head, whether Pope or 
 , Council. 
 
 Objed. But ( fay the Papifts ) you can allow Princes to -be the 
 Heads of the Church : why then not a Pope ? Anfw. We acknow- 
 1 ledge Princes and Paftors over parts of the Church , but noc 
 over the Church Univerfal. Every Corporation may call the 
 Major or Bayliff a fubordinate Head of that Corporation, but 
 not of the Kingdom. 
 
 Objed. There may be a Prorex , a Viceking ' and why nit 
 then 4 Vicarious Head of the Catholic^ Church ? Anfw. I . Be- 
 caufe a Kingdom is not h big as all the world , or all that is and 
 .maybe Chriftian. 2.BecaufeaKing having Dominion, bath 
 power of doing all that by others that he cannot do himfelf: 
 But a Paftor being a Minifter, hath no fuch power given him, 
 ; but muft do his work himfelf. 3. Becaufe the work of theMiniftry 
 requires far more labour and attendance. So that it is an utter 
 Imopffibility that any man (hould be able to do the work of a 
 fupream Ruler of all the Chriftian world, yea or the hundreth 
 part of it, as it muft be done. 4. And laftly, becaufe Cbrift hath 
 made no fuch Prores, or Vice-head : and none can have it with- 
 out his commiflion. 
 
 ObjeA. But the £ivil power hath been exercifed by an £mpe- 
 rour over more then all the Chrifli an world : And why then may 
 not the Ecclefiaflical? Anfw. I. Its notorioufly falfe that ever 
 Emperour had fo extenfive a Dominion. 2. The Gofpel muft 
 be preached over all the world ; and therefore we muft confider 
 the poflible future extent of the Church, and not only the pre- J 
 fent exiftent ftate. 3. There arc many millions ofCbriftians 
 mixt in the Dominions of Infidel Princes among other Religi- 
 ons, which makes the Government of them the more difficult. | 
 4. 1 (hewed before from the nature of the work many other diffi- 
 culties, which make a difference. 
 
 Objedr. Monarchy it the be/i Government ^ therefore the 
 Church muft have it. Anfw. The Monarchy of God is beft : 
 but among men it is according to the ftate of the Rulers and fub 
 je&. One way is better in forac cafes, and another in others. 
 2. For one man to be Monarch of all the Chriftian world, is 
 not beft, when by taking a thoufand times more upon him the 
 he can do. fcewillmineioftgadofruliogwell. 3. You may a 
 
 wel 
 
"~*~ jJ^eyforLatbolicKs. 439 
 
 well fay An UntorfeTcivil Monarch over all the world is beft ; 
 therefore fo it muft be : but when will yon prove that ? Bnt if 
 I miftake not in ray conjeaure, it ii the thing that the Jefuitei 
 have lately got into their heads, that the Pope mult have the 
 UniverfalSoveraigmy Ecclefiaftical and Civil ; that fo anllni- 
 verfal peace may be in the world. - . 
 
 Obi. There was but One High Prieft before Chnfi. Anfto. i .No 
 more there was but one Temple-, Will you therefore have no 
 more? Nor but one civil Monareh in that Church : Would you 
 have no more ? I partly believe it. 2. It was eafie for one to 
 Rule fo fmall a Nation as fttdta in comparifon of all the world. 
 3. Prove you the Inftitution of your Supremacy, as we can 
 prove the Inftitution of Aarons Priefthood, and the taking of it 
 down again.and we will yield all. 4. That Priefthood was a Type 
 of Chrift the Eternal Prieft, and is ended in him ,as the Epiftle to 
 the Hebrews fhews at large. 
 
 Object. There is a Monarchy among Angels and Devih* 
 Ak[w. i.Itsahardftv.fc when you muft go to another world 
 for your pittern: But for your Argument fetcht from Hell, 
 I will leave it with you : but for that from Heaven, I fay,theres 
 no proof of it. And if there were, till you can prove that 
 our work and fitnefs for it is the fame as Angels , and that 
 the Lord hath appointed the fame form here, you have faid 
 
 nothing. 
 
 But becaufe this Queftion is largely handled by abundance 
 
 of our Learned Writers,! (hall fay no more to it here, but con- 
 clude, that by this which is already faid in brief, it is manifeft , 
 that 7 beCathclick. Church of Chrift is not one Vi fib U Political- 
 Body, as joined to anj One Vniverfal Vifible Head or Soveraign, 
 befides Chrift. ' 
 
 If any being driven from this hold, (hall fay, that yet there 
 are feveral Patriarcks that Govern the feveral Provinces of the 
 Cbriftian world , though there be no head but Chrift. I anfwer, 
 1. Iftherebeno earthly Head and Center of unity, then I have 
 thg main caufe. Thcfc Patriarcks may and do at this day, un- 
 reconcilably difagree among themfelves. This therefore will 
 rot fervefor a unity. 2. When ( as is aforefaid ) you have 
 well proved the Inftitution of thefe Patriarcks, and how many . 
 they be,and who , and the power of Princes to casta new ones, 
 
 (and 
 
44^ JKsyforCatkolicks. 
 
 ( and not to forbear it.and to pnlidowiTXTTu ^ 
 
 you have anfwered the foreeojno aZuZ oU on "0«nd w hen 
 as extend to Patriarchal PoSo 8 .«"T ,a f, n,,n V of th ™ 
 (hip, then wen,allr,ke .Kl'r in7r. U V U , nV " fa,H "''- 
 the mean time, I fuperfede ,, h avlnn T, T fidcration - 1« 
 neceffary to take off men from "£n ' bU * bia >l*tok 
 pro«eh,ng of Church., upon .fiTer o„ TJc ° ^Yu^ !* 
 tore annuity of the atLJka^ch ^r" ^ Na " 
 
 under One Eahhlyvifible Head ! ""' 0ne >" 
 
 Chap. I v. 
 Owning the true Grounds on which the ChurrU,. * , : j 
 Peace mufibe [ought, and the^ansthat^tK^d 
 to attain fo much a, is here to be e X feaJ. ^ 
 
 Orf. T» VTifthi, hmtthwaj of th Church, Vnit, 
 tut of the way ™f""*pttojuJpetl that vte are 
 
 i nc h o U pc,^e." hal,te " y0aWhat -*4£& Seine* 
 
 '' T" E ^ ft Gene / al Ground is this [P lacl m dH,li„ e r, 
 j « frejtnea. J The wifdom that is from above, is firft 
 
A tQyfor Qatholicks. 44 , 
 
 Pure, then Peaceable, Gemle,eafie to beintrcated,e>c.7*«.3 . A 
 man may be faved chat cannot attain Peace with men: and there- 
 fore we are commanded to feck it as an uncertain good, Rom. 
 12. 1 8. If itbepoflible, as much as inyoulyeth, livepeacably 
 wich all men : But no man can be faved without Holinefs, 
 Heb. 12. 14. Follow Peace with ail men, and Holinefs, without 
 which no man (hall fee God. There is a kind of Unity among 
 Devils. For if Satan were divided againft Satan, how could 
 bis Kingdom (land ? Mat. 12. There is a Peace in a (late of 
 
 mifcryandfin, which hindereth mens recovery. For when the 
 flrong man armed keeps his hoafe, the things that he poflefleth 
 are in Peace. It is a ftate ofgreateft danger on earth to 
 
 be United inevil,and to have Peace in a way of fin. And there- 
 fore it is no wonder if there be more lovers of Peace then of Ho- 
 linefs , and more that will cry out of our Divifions thenofouc 
 ungodlinefs, and more thu cry out offo many Religions, then 
 of irreligioufnefsand ungodlinefs. For nature may make a man 
 in love with Unity and P^ace , but not with Holinefs • for 
 with that it is at Enmity. Hence it is that we hear fo many 
 Worldlings, Swearers, Drunkards, Whoremongers cry up uni- 
 ty, and cry down fo many minds and wayes : And hence it is 
 that fo many, fuch wicked livers do turn Papifts on fuppofition 
 that there is more unity with them. And fo the Popifh party 
 among us arc the fink into which the filth and excrements of our 
 Churches are emptyed. 
 
 2. The fecond General Ground. From hence it followeth 
 that the firft clofure of the members of the Church muft be up- 
 on principles of Faith and Holinefs : and therefore only between 
 the Profeflbrs of Faith and Holinefs. And therefore we ought 
 not to be folicitous of obtaining a Unity with open ungodly 
 men ■ For what Communion hath light with darknefs ? or 
 what concord hath Chrift with Belial? If men will not agree 
 with us in the great Principles ofGodlinefs, nor joinwi'husin 
 avoiding prying fins, and living anHoly life ; it is they that are 
 tbe Separatifts, and withdraw from our communion. If they 
 will not come to us in Piety, we muft not come to them in 
 Impiety. And to attempt a union with them in Government 
 and Ceremonies,when we cannot bring them to a Union wi h us 
 in fceming Godlinefs , is as vain as to attempt an Aflfochtion 
 
 Lll with 
 
4 4* Jfyyfor Catholkks. 
 
 with tbc dead, and to make a marriage with a (Unking Corps. 
 It is therefore but a carnal ftir that Papifts, and fome Recon- 
 cilers make to have a Union fo Genera! , as (hall take in the moft 
 impious rabble that ought to be excommunicated, and Ihould 
 conjoin the living and the dead. And therefore in fome cafes 
 we are all called to feparate , by him that callethusin othec 
 cafes to unity : And he tels us that he came not to fend peace , 
 ( with fuch ) but divifion. 
 
 3. The third General Ground. Unity and Peace are fuch excel- 
 lent things, and fo much depend upon Love and Holinefs, and 
 fuppofe alfo fo much Illumination, that the perfection of them 
 is referved for Heaven: and as it is but a fmall meafurc of Illumi- 
 nation,and Love and Holinefs that is here attainable,in compari- 
 fon of that which we (hall have in heaven ; fo it is but a fmall 
 meafure of Peace and Concord : And therefore though our de- 
 foes and endeavours (hould go as high as we can, yet our expe- 
 ctations on earth muft not fly too high. This hath been my 
 own error. I have not furficiently confidered , that perfect 
 Peace, as well as perfect Holinefs is the prerogative of Heaven* 
 and that true Peace will be imperfect while the Light and 
 Vertue which is fuppofed to it is imperfect. And it is a blind 
 abfurd conceit of them that wonder we have not perfect 
 Unity, when yet they murmur at Piety, and think a little may 
 ferve the turn,and any (in is tolerable thats directly againftGod^ 
 but not difunion. 
 
 So much for the General Grounds : The Particular Grounds 
 are thefe following. 
 
 I . Ground 
 
 IT is the Prerogative of the Lord Jefus to be the 
 only Head and Soveraign of the Church. And 
 his will revealed is our Law, and in him only mud we center : 
 and not in any Vicarious Univerfal Head: And from him mud 
 all receive their power : and all mud worfhip God according 
 to his praefcript. £^.4. 3,4, $,-<$• I.2Z, 22. Mat. 28* 
 i8jio. Col. 1. 18, AtlsAr- 12. & 3.22. &j. 37. Mat.i.ij, 
 I C w ' $- 5> 22. 1 Cor. 1. 12. Gal. 2. 9, 10. 
 
 2. Gr. The Holy Scripture* with the Law of Nature, are the 
 only Laws of Chrift ; unlefsas he may poffibly by extraordi- 
 nary 
 
A t\ey for Qatbolicks. w 
 
 nary Revelation, oblige forae perfon to a particular duty, not 
 contrary to that word, but left undetermined,: which yet is fo 
 rare a thing that men muft not raftily prefuraeof fuch a matter, 
 lTim.i.l.Gal.i. 7,$ ,9.1/4.$. 20.1 Cor. 4. 6. 2 Tim. 3. 1 I.Deut. 
 12. 32. Mat. 15. 9, 11. 
 
 3. It is the prerogative of Chrift himfelf to be the fupream, 
 abfolute and final Judge of the fence of his own Laws, and of the 
 caufes that are to be tried thereby. 
 
 And therefore ic is treafonable folly to attribute any of this to 
 man: and to cry out for an Abfolute Judge of Controverfies 
 here on earth: when one faith, This is the fence of Scripture,and 
 another faith that is the fence : faith the Papift, £ But who 
 (hall be Judge ? ] To which I anfwer, How far man is Judge , 
 I fhall tell you in the next: but the Abfolute Judge,and the final 
 Judge is only Chrift. He that made the Law is the proper Judge 
 of the fence of his own Laws : Do you not know that Chrift will 
 come tojudgemenr, and that all fecrets muft then be opened by 
 him, and he muft decide what man cannot ? Man is to Judge but 
 in tantum ; ad hoc - y fecundttm qmci j limitedly ^ fo far as he 
 mul execute j but Chrift only Judgeth entirely, finally and 
 abfolutely, 2^.4.3,4,5. iT/w.5.24. Jam. 4. 11,12. 
 1 Tet. 1. 17. & 2. 23. lCtr.2. 15.^^23.3.1^.13.9,10, 
 11,12. Mark 7.9, 13. 
 
 4. All Councils whether Generator Provincial, or Claffica), 
 which confift of the Biftiops or Paftors of feveral Churches 
 met together, are appointed and to be ufed diredfcly, but gratia, 
 Vnitatii^&Communionii Chriftiana, and not directly gratia re 
 giminis for the Governing of Paftors , in order to Unity and 
 Communion,and not as a Regimental , as to the Paftors. This 
 Propofition which is of exceeding confequence,was voluntarily 
 afferted to me, without my own asking his opinion , by that 
 Learnedjudicious man Arch-Bifhop VJher ; a man well known 
 to be acquainted with the Judgement and practice ofrheArti- 
 cnts, if any other whoever. His words were thefe, [_ Councils 
 are not for Government, but for Unity- not as being in order 
 of Government over thefeveralBiftiops; but that by confu- 
 tation they may know their duty more clearly, and by agree- 
 ment maintain Unity ; and to this end they were anciently ce- 
 lebrated] Himfelf a Primate,rccom mended co others thefe mo- 
 
 LU2 derate 
 
444 ^ Key for Qatholkh. 
 
 derate Principle?. And this midtile way of Reverend VJher is 
 the true healing Mean, between them that would have properly 
 Governing Councils, and them that would have none, or think 
 them needlefs, or but indifferent things. 
 
 But yet (as is before mentioned in the tenth Propofition)con- 
 fequentially we arc obliged to perfocra the Agreements or thefc 
 Councils, if they be agreeable to the General Rules of the Scri- 
 ptures, or if our performance be not forbidden by the Word of 
 God-, Becaufeweare under the General obligation to do all 
 things in as much unity, concord and peace as we can, Gal. 2, 
 per totHtn. I C or - 3.5, 22 - 2 Cor. I 3.1 1.& 1 Cor.l.iO. & 4.6. 
 Mat.zo. 25. Phil. $.16. &4.2. Mat.2Z.$,9 t io. 1 Pct.$.$. 
 
 And I grant that Paftors are related to the Univerfal Church, 
 as well as to a particular, and are to have a common care of the 
 whole, though they have a fpecial charge only of their parti- 
 cular flocks. Therefore many Paftors in a Synod are Paftors as 
 well as disjunct, and therefore their ads are authoritative Go- 
 verning Acts as to the flock. But 1. to the Paftors themfelves, 
 they are not properly Governors, no more in Synods then our. 
 2. And as to the flocks, they are notinadire&fuperiour order 
 above their particular Pallors ; but only from their concord 
 are accidentally more to be regarded and obeyed then a (Ingle 
 Paftor, asaColIedgeof Phyfitians is more to be regarded then 
 a fingle Phyfitian , not as being of higher authority , but of 
 greater credit, in cafes where men muft be trufted. 
 
 5. A Council confiding ofBifhops or Paftors that by diftance 
 are not uncapable of ordinary local Communion , whether it 
 be a General Council fas they are commonly called, which are 
 not fuch properly,) or National, or Provincial, 1. As they arc 
 Chriftians fingly , have a Judgement of Difcerning , what is 
 found Doctrine, and whom to judge Catholicks and fit for their 
 Communion : And 2. As they are fingle Paftors, they have the 
 fadgeme nt of Dlrettion, what Do&rine to recommend as found 
 to their people (limited to the SuperiourDire&ion of God by 
 his Word J and whom they muft hold or not hold Communion 
 with; And this is an Authoritative Direction , which may be 
 accompanyed with a Commanding, as an Herald or Purfevant 
 may command in the Princes name.' 3. And as they are many 
 Paftors in Council atfembled, they have a Jtfdgemtnt of Ccncora, 
 
 or 
 
A t\ey for Catholkh. ^ 
 
 or Power to enter foiemnly into Confultarions for mutual in- 
 formation, and then into Agreements, for the right perform- 
 ance of their duty, in recommending that which is found Do- 
 ctrine to their people, and receiving the true members of the 
 Catholick Church, and rejecting fuch as are to be rejected. 
 
 So that the moft General Councils of true Paftors ceteris pa* 
 ribus,&re to be moft reverenced by the Princes and people, and 
 in cifes where they are fure it is lawful to follow their Agree- 
 ments, though they be not fatisfied of the neccfllty of it a n*- 
 tttra ret, they ought to follow them on the account of unity 5 
 and alfo in cafes mecrly doubtful to them in point of Doctrine, 
 to be ballanced by their judgements rather then by the Judge- 
 ment of fingle Paftors, and more then by any other humane 
 judgement ceteris paribus : which exception I add , becaufe a 
 imaller Aflfembly , yea a fingle Paftor or private man, fpeaking 
 according to the Word of God, is to be believed and regarded 
 more then the greatcft Aflembly contradicting the Word : yet 
 we are not eafily to think, without evident proof, thitoneman 
 (hould be rather in the right then fo many; feeing it is eafier 
 for one to err then fo many, and thepromifes are more to the 
 publick, then any fingle perfons, fo far as they can be known to 
 others : And yet an Affembly of an hundred , or twenty , or 
 ten apparent humble, holy, Judicious men, is likelier to be in 
 the right, and more to be regarded , then an Aflkmbly of a 
 tboufand ignorant unlearned wicked Bifhops. One clear eye 
 may fee further then ten thoufand purblind ones, Ati.6.%.isitt. 
 5.34. i Thef.2.14.. 1 Cor.ii.i6, & 14.33. & 10.32. 
 
 6. As the propereft amter for fuch General ATemblies to 
 Confult and Agree upon, is General things ^ as, Wha: Doctrine 
 is found.and whatunfound in General; what perfons in General 
 fit for the Churches Communion,and what unfit, &c. fo fmaller 
 Ademblies that are capable of ordinary perfonal Communion, 
 and know the perfons and circumfrances of the cafes, are fitted 
 to confult and agree whtther fuch or fuch particular perfons are 
 fit for their own Communion; yea and for their Churches 
 Communion in difficult cafes ; And alfo may confult and agree 
 what Doctrines and practifes to recommend to their own peo- 
 ple, as moft agreeable to the Word of God : And thus far thefe 
 two forts of Synods may be faid to have a power of Judging ; 
 
 LII3 wS& 
 
44 5 A K e ?f or Catbolicks. 
 
 viz.ad W,in order to fuch agreements and pradice^fl.6.5,6. 
 itow. 15. 26,27. 2 /Tor 8.19. 
 
 7. The Poftors of particular Worfhipping Churches, are the 
 Authorized Guides, Rulers or Teachers of thofe Churches, and 
 each Member thereof; and muft firft difcern in their own minds, 
 and next (if they be many over a Church ) Agree among 
 themfelves, and then teach the people, what is to be believed 
 and pracTifed, and with whom in General, and in Particular to 
 hold Communion, and whom to avoid, and may charge the peo- 
 ple in Chrifts name to obey their juft dire&ions^ and when they 
 have done, muft themfelves execute their own part herein fas 
 by avoiding the Rejected, and not delivering them the Symbols 
 or Sacrament of Communion, &c.) And though they muft 
 confult with neighbor Churches for carrying on the work of 
 God in unity, and to the beft advantage of the Common caufe, 
 yet are they not under the proper Government of them, or any 
 Aflfemblies (Ecclefiaftical,) though obliged in all juft things to 
 Agree with them. So that Canons as Canons, I mean the Con- 
 clusions of fuch Afiemblies, are but properly Agreements, and 
 not Laws, though by confequence they may be faid to oblige, 
 or rather we by "another Law obliged to accord and pra- 
 dife them, fl^/13. 17. I The/. 5. 12, 13. 1 Cor. 4. 1, 2. 
 ^#.20.28. 
 
 8. The work of Councils how large fo ever, is not to make 
 new Scriptures to be the Rule of our Faith and Life, nor to make 
 new Articles or Doctrines of Faith, nor to frame God a new 
 Worftiip in whole or in part ; But by Confultations and Agree- 
 ments to ftrengthen each other , and Direft the people in the 
 faith of Chrift, and the maintaining and propagating the Do- 
 ctrine of the Holy Scriptures , and doing thofe duties in the 
 Worftiip of God, and in Righteoufnefs and Mercy to men.which 
 the Scriptures do impofe, and in agreeing upon thofe Modes 
 and Circumftances of Worfhip which God hath made ne- 
 ceflary in genere, andlefttooccafional humane determination 
 in (pecie : Nor may they under this pretence, either tontradtel 
 the juft determination of the Magiftrate concerning fuch Cir- 
 cumftance9, or impofe any enfnaring, needlefs Ceremonies upon 
 the Church ; but only order the ferviccof God according to 
 the General Directions of the Scripture, and the Light of Na- 
 ture, 
 
 
 , 
 
A K^yfor Catholkks: 
 
 447 
 
 ture, which by the confideration of the cafe may help to difcern 
 the fitteft order. It is therefore a ftrange afTertion of foroe, that 
 Governours have nothing to do if they may not appoint new 
 Ordinances or Symbolical Ceremonies on the Church, and make 
 new Laws , feeing God hath done the reft already. As if it 
 were nothing to fee to the execution of Gods Laws? Or as 
 if this were not the fitteft work for fuch kind of Rulers , whofe 
 Rule is only by Minifterial Guidance ? Or as if the de:ermination 
 of NecefTary Circumftances requifite ex nathrarei, were not 
 enough for them to do, befide what is written ? There being no 
 more necefTary to the reducing of the Laws of God into pra- 
 ctice : Me thinks meer fervants and EmbafTadors fhould not be 
 very forward in makingLaws, if they underftand their office, 
 fam.4> 1 2. Heb.%. 1 0,16.(747.3.15. Dem. 12.12. £z,ek.- 2.7. & 
 5.10,11. 1 C<?r.3.5.&4.1,2. 2C01M.24. iCor. 6.12. 
 
 9. Thofe necefTary Circumftances in Religious Worfhlp 
 which are of humane determination, and left undetermined by 
 God, are unfit matter for General Councils or remote AfTem- 
 blies to make (landing General Laws of: For 1. the Nature of 
 the things are fuch as are mutable, and unfit to be fixt, but rauft 
 be frequently varied as occafions require. 2. The occurr- 
 ing circumftances will be the fitteft guide to determine them. 
 3. They may be meet in oneCountrey or Church, which arc 
 unmeet in another. 4. Upon fuch reafons God himfelf hath left 
 them undetermined: Therefore he lefc them not to any fixed Ge- 
 neral determination. $. The Paftors that are in the place are the 
 fitteft Judges of thofe occafions that muft determine them. 6. And 
 it is the office, and in the Commiftion of thofe Paftors to be the 
 Guides of their own a&ions and Congregations. 7. And Coun- 
 cils are not their Lords.So that all this laid together, may tell us 
 that it is rather the work of particular Paftors or Bifliops,and of 
 neereft Aflbciations in thofe cafes where Concord is requifite 
 then of Provincial, or National, or General Councils to deter- 
 mine of fuch Circumftances. For example: The command of 
 preaching, reading, adminiftring the Sacraments, finging Pfalms, 
 &e. do imply that I muft have fome thue and place to do them 
 in: I muft ufe fome gefturc,vefture, necefTary utcnfils , but it 
 tells not what in particular : I muft read fome particular Chap- 
 ter, Pfalm, &c . or fo much of it : Now common prudence will 
 
 tell 
 
448 A I\ey for Catkolicks- 
 
 tell me what to do in thefe cafes my felf, or elfe I am not fit to 
 be aPaftor, orentrufted with (0 great a work as Gods publick 
 Worfhip , or the care of fouls. Shall a Conncil now make 
 Laws that all the Minifters in the World, or in this Nation, (hall 
 precch only onfuchaday, and only at fuch an hour, and in 
 this or that part of the Church, and only on foch Texts fuch 
 days, appointing them a Text for every day • or that they (hall 
 ufe only fuch words in praying and preaching as is written for 
 them ; or (hall pray or preach juft fo long ; or (hall fing only 
 fuch a Pfalm, in fuch a tune, ufingonly fuch doaths , and fuch 
 geftures, with an hundred the like? This is to make themfelves 
 Matters of the Church, and ufe their power to the deftru&ion 
 of Miniftry, Worfhip and Church, and not to the Edification 
 of it. The prefent ftate of the flock, by fin ; or affliction, or the 
 like, may make fuch a Text fifteft for roe to preach on, and fuch 
 a Chapter to be read, or fuch a Pfalm to be fung , when by the 
 Impofitions of proud ufurpers I am commanded to ufe the con- 
 trary, viz,. Subjedsof Joy, in a time of Humiliation, or of Hu- 
 miliation in the time of Joy, &c. Many the like inconvenieocies 
 might eafily be manifell. Thefe unneceiTary Impofitions are 
 the Engines of Divifion, ,4ft. 15.28. Rom. 14. throughout. Rom. 
 15.1,7. Phil. 3. 15,16.^^.23.4. & 11.28. 1 Cor. 6. 12. 
 
 2 Cor. 1. 24. 
 
 10. Where fome Impofitions by Magiftrates or Agreements 
 
 by Minifters in fuch Circumftances are thought lawful or fit,yet 
 muft not the Churches Unity or Peace be laid upon them: So 
 that if through the weaknefs of Chrittians they could not per- 
 ceive the lawfulnefs of thero.but did think they (hould fin againft 
 God if they ufed them, it is a cruel dividing courfe for Magi- 
 frrates hereby fore penalties, or PaOors Excommunications to 
 feek to drive them upon that which they think is the way to hell, 
 or the wrath of God, when in the Judgement of the Impofer 
 it is a thing indifferent : The peace of the Church and of Confci- 
 ence is more worth then a Ceremony, and better kept by gentle 
 recommending fuch things (if fit.) and a tender rebuke or check 
 to the weak, then by forcing all to that which they neither can 
 nor need to ufe. But fome fay, if all may ufe what way they 
 wiil/vhat order fhall we have ? I anfwer • therefore nuke no un- 
 neceiTiry Laws ; caft not a foot- bail of contention before them : 
 
 Thefe 
 
A Key for Catholicks. 449 
 
 Thefe prefumptuous Impositions are the fire brands of the 
 Church. For example : we had here a Law that MiniRcrs 
 fliould read only fuch a peece of a Chapter called an Epiflie and 
 Gofpel fuch a day ( which yet I would not difobey : ) here now 
 arofe contention about it : The fame Miniftcrs werelefcat li- 
 berty what Text to preach on : and this liberty made no breach 
 in the Church. Minillers were commanded to wear a Surpl!ce,and 
 this railed contention : But what kind of har,or cap, or fhooes,or 
 hofe to wear, they were left at liberty , and this made no con- 
 tention , nor occafioned any undecency. The Lords Supper 
 was to be taken on'y kneeling : and this raifed contention : But 
 they were left at liberty whether to kneel, or ftand, or fie at 
 Sermon, or reading, or fingingPfalms, and this bred no unde. 
 cency nor divifion. They were enjoyned to bow at the name of 
 Jefus in the reading of the Gofpel only ; And thi9 raifed divifion. 
 But they were lefc at liberty to bow or not to the Name of God, 
 Chrift, Lord, &c. and to the Name Jefus in Sermon, ortheEpi- 
 ftle, or the fame Gofpel read in the whole ( haprer : and this 
 bred no divifion, nordifcontent : Lay the Churches peace up- 
 on no new humane Impofitions , if you would have it hold. 
 Perufe Rom. 14. and the other Text laft cited , 1 Cor. 6. 1 2. 
 
 11. The Churches Pesce or Unity muft not belaid on any 
 bare words of mmsdevifinq. U'j no: a work for Councils or 
 Prelates to form the Chnftian doctrine in new methods and 
 terras, and then to force others to fubferibe or ule ;hofe very 
 terms; If the fame men that refufe this, be willing to fub- 
 feribe to the whole Scripture, or to a Confellion in Scripture 
 terms, you may force h m to no more. 
 
 Objett&ui Hereticks will fubferibe to Scripture. Anfa. i.They 
 muft wreftit then, or wreft their Confciences: x\ndby eichcr. 
 or both thefe ftiifts, they may alfo fubferibe to any of your 
 Confeffions. 2. If hi* Herefie be latent in his mind, you know 
 it not, nor can call him an Heretick,nor doth it hurt the Church : 
 If it he publifhed or preached to others, let civil Governors 
 queftion him for corporal punifhment, and let the Affociate 
 Paitors queftion him to his Reformation or R- jeftion. You 
 will have a better ground to reject him for delivering falfe- 
 hood in his own words, then for not fubfcnbing to Truth in 
 wor .'*, when be fubferibed the fame Truth in Gods Wo-d?. 
 Mmm There 
 
4 5 o ^ /£<?)> /or Catbolich- 
 
 There is no Unity to be expcded , if you will fo far depart 
 from the Scripture ft; fficicncy, as to make any more for fenfe 
 orphrafe, of abfolute neceflity to our peace. By phrafe or 
 terms, I mean either the fame numerically (as in the Original J 
 or equipollent (as in tranflationf. ) And I fay not that it's 
 neceffary to the unity of the Church , chat everj ward in 
 Scripture (Original or TranfiationsJ be fubfcnbed to ; (for 
 fo'me may doubt of the corruption of a word or Book) But 
 that no more is neceffary. If all Scripture be not of that degree 
 of Neceflity, much lefs humane additions, Ifa 8.20. iTim* 
 3.17. 2Tirt).i.ii. 1 Cor.9 5. 1 Tim.6.20. At~l.20.12. 
 
 1 2. The Churches Unitv & Peace muft not be laid upon all Di- 
 vine Truths : as not on leffer darker points,which neither the be- 
 ing nor well-being of Chriftianity is concerned info much as to 
 reft upon them , 'Phil. 3. 15, 16. Rom. 14. 15, 17, 20.Heb* 
 5.11,12,13,14. 1 Cor.-j.19.GAl. 5.6. & 6.15. Col. 3. 11. 
 
 13. We ought to love and efteem as Chriftians and mem- 
 bers of the Catholick Church all thofe that profefs to believe the 
 Effentials of Chriftianity, and to be fanftified by the Spirit of 
 God, and lead a holy upright life •, To they make a credible pro- 
 feffion, not evidently contradi&ed by words or deeds : though 
 thefe perfons may differ from us in many lower points of Do- 
 drine, Worfhip or Government, l Cor.i.z.Eph. 6.24. Gal. 6. 
 i5 f i6.Phil-3.i6.Rom.l$.i,2. & 14.1,2. 1 CV.8.9. 
 
 14. We ought fo to manage the Worfhip of God in our par- 
 ticular folemn Affemblies, that no fober peaceable Chriftian may 
 be repulfed or forced from our local Communion, through diffe- 
 rences in thingsof indifferent nature, Htb$>. 5. Mat. 15. 9. Rem* 
 14 13. & 14 1. 2 0.11.3.^7.4.23,24. 
 
 15. If any Churches differ from us in Ceremonies or fraaller 
 thing*, or if any particular Chriftians differ, fo that they can- 
 not in conscience hold local Communion with us in the fame Af- 
 femblies for Worfhip (£. G. if we fit at the Lords Supper, and 
 they dare not take it without kneeling : if we fing a verfion of 
 the Pfalms which they fcrup'e to joyn in • If we permit none 
 co joyn that will not conform in difputable things J in fuch cafes, 
 though it be flrft our duty to do our beft to remove ail offences, 
 yet if that cannot be done, we may and ought in feveral Affem- 
 blies to take each^oiher for Brethren and of the fame Catholick 
 
 Church, 
 
A £\ey for Catbolicks. ^ T 
 
 Church,fo be it we all hold the fame eflentials of Faith and God- 
 linefs , and walk accordingly ^and efpecially if we alfo hold thofe 
 weighty fuperftru&ures, that the welfare of the Church is moft 
 concerned in. 
 
 Though here were few or no inflances of thii cafe in the day9 
 of the Apoftles, when divifions were not fo great as now, yet the 
 general rules in the fore- cited Texts do prove it. 
 
 \6. Ecclefiaftical Minifterial Government (by whomfoever 
 excrcifed) muft not degenerate into a fecular coercive Govern- 
 ment ^ nor may we ufe carnal weapons, nor meddle by force with 
 mens bodies or eltates ^ nor yet can we oblige the Magiftrate to 
 doit, meetly to execute our cenfures , or without fufficienc 
 Evidence to prove it his duty ; nor can we oblige the people 
 againft the Word of God , clave errante : fo that neither Bifliop, 
 nor Council hath any fuch power as is properly decisively Judi- 
 cial obliging to execution, be the fentence right or wrong : But 
 our people muft know that though we be their Guides or Ru- 
 lers, yet are we butMinifters.and that they have a higher pow^c 
 to regard, and muft not obey us again, \ the Lord, but in and for 
 him. The Power ofPaftors therefore is not like Magiftrates, or 
 absolute Judges (as is faid before but like a Phyfuian in his Ho- 
 fpiral, orinaninfe&ed City among his Patients, and like a Rea- 
 der of any Science to voluntary Scholars, in his School ; and as an 
 EmbAflfidor to them to whom he is fent. So that our Govern- 
 ing being but by the W>>rd,and on the Confcience, is of the fame 
 nature with our Directing, i Pet. 5.3. Luke 22.25,26. 3 f 9 h. 
 9.10. 1 Cor. 4. i } 2. 
 
 17. Magiftrates are Governors of the Church even ss a 
 Church, and ofChriftians as Chriftians, though not AbfoluteJyJ 
 nor in the fame refpeds,by the fame means ,& to the fameneerelt 
 Ends.as Paftors. MagiH rates muft force us to our duty, and pu- 
 ni(h us if we be wicked or negligent, evenas Patters, nnd caft us 
 out of our Benefices, and deny us encouragements , if we be in- 
 efficient : fo that #d hoc the Magiftrate is the only Judge what is 
 found doctrine, and what herefie, what MiniHers are fufficient or 
 infufficient, culpable or not-, I fay. adhoc, fofaras to Judge 
 who (hall have publick Liberty and Countenance, and who (hall 
 be puniftied, retrained and difcountenn need : Thusfarthe Ma- 
 ftrate is Judge in Religion • fbefides that Judgement of Choice 
 
 Mmm2 which 
 
which every private man hathj And therefore the Princes of the 
 Chriftian world fliould hold fomecorrefpondencies like General 
 Councils, among themfelves by their agents for carrying on the 
 work ofChrift,and much of the unity and profperky of Chrifti- 
 anslyethon their hands,i/4. 49.23. Pfal.z. 12.&W.1 3. 1,2,3,4. 
 lKing.2.27^5. &2 King, 1 8.4. & 2X^.23.8,20. 2 Chron. 
 14.3,5. fojb.i.%. 1 Tim.2.2. 
 
 18. Yet are the Paftors of the Church in their places Rulers or 
 Guides of Princes and Magiftrates ; that is , we Guide them by 
 Doctrine and Church difcipline, at they Rule us by force. The 
 Paftors are the Judges of Herefie and Vice, ad hoc thus far, fo as 
 to judge who (hall be Denounced by themfelves unmeet for the 
 Churches Communion - y and Judges of found Do&rine fo far as 
 to refolve what is by themfelves to be taught to the people : and 
 Judges of that Magistrate fo far, as to determine whether he be a 
 fit fubjed for their Adminiftrations and Communion. For every 
 man is to judge when he is to ad and execute ('in thefe cafes ^) 
 and therefore when the Qaeftion is, Who is to be tolerated or 
 forcibly reftrained, the Magiftrate is the only Judge,and the Mi- 
 nifter but a teacher : But the Queftionis, whomfhould I admit 
 or not admit to my Communion, and whom fhouldl perfwade 
 and require the Church to avoid or to receive ? Here the Paftors 
 are the Judges ; And when the Qaeftion is, Whether the Paftor 
 go according to Gods Word or not, here the people have fudi- 
 ciumDifcretio»u,&nd cannot be forced j though they ought to 
 obey where they fee not fufficient reafon to the contrary, Mat, 
 28.18,19. H^.13. 17. 1 Tbef.$. 12. iCVr.4.i.Z«iti2.42,44. 
 1 S*m.22.i8.Dan.9.8 t io. 7^.20.23. 2 C&™».36. 14,1 5,16. 
 
 19. The honor and power of the Paftors is for their work .♦ 
 And fo great is that work, that as to flefhly accommodations, it 
 layeth us under abundance more trouble, then the power and ho- 
 nor affordeth us relief from. All true Paftors therefore fhould be 
 fo far from driving for Power ,& Greatnefs,and Rule,and extent 
 of their Diocefs as matters of ad vantage , that they fhould ftill 
 look on their Power but as Power to threfti, or plough,or fow^or 
 reap; a Power to give alms to all the poor in the Town, to vmt 
 all the Pick, to cure madmen that will abHferae, &c. fuch a 
 Power to labor and fuffer in doing good. And thus he that will 
 be.thc Greateft, but think ofnootucr kind of greatnefs, but a 
 
A E^ey for Catholic ks. 453 
 
 power to become the fervantof ail : If men had thefe true ap- 
 prehenfionsof the Epr'copal office, they would be no more for- 
 ward in contending for power and large Diocefles , then now 
 they are in contending who (hall Inftru A moft of the ignorant, 
 or go to the poor ungodly families to further their reformation ; 
 or intre9t,befeech,exriort moit of the obftinate from man to man; 
 or who ftiould relieve the rnoft of the poor of all the Countrey 
 about. And if this be it they contend for, they may Rule without 
 a Commifiion from the Prince: Who will hinder them,that hath 
 any fear ofGod? 1 CV.4.9,10,1 1,12,13,16. ytf#. 20. 18. to 
 the end. 2 Cor. 1.24.^^^.10.44. 1 Thef.2 9. Luk.10.2. 
 
 20. No man is called by God to more work then he can pof- 
 fibly do, nor fhoulddefire and undertake more. And therefore 
 if Prelates, and Councils, and Popes would but confeionably be- 
 think them of the work,what it is,and how to be done,& of what 
 weight, and how ftrid will be the account , and then confidec 
 how they can do it, our differences would quickly be at end : For 
 though godly men would put off no fervice they can do , yec 
 when they lookt on the undertaking of thefe Impoffibles, they 
 would tremble to think on it. All confcionable men are fenfible 
 of their weaknefs, and the weight of the work, and fay who is 
 fuffkient for thefe things •, And I dare fay the ftrongeft of them 
 all would feel the weight of the burden of one Parifti , and be 
 readyer to beg and feek about for help, then to contend for a 
 a larger Diocefs, unlefs as the meer neceffity of the Church for 
 wsnt of laborers might call them to labor in other parts. Duty 
 fuppofeth Authority , and Authority fuppofeth ability and op- 
 portunity ; even natural ability and menial qualifications, PfaL 
 I $1.1,2. 2 Cor. 2.16. 
 
 BY this much you may fee what Unity may be expeded in 
 the Church on earth. 1 .A unity of internal Faith and Love B , 
 and Spirit among all real Chriftiam. 2. A Unity of Profeftion, all 
 profeffing the fame Belief,that is of the word of God inGeneral; 
 ani of the Creed and Effentials of Religion in particular j and as 
 many more of the particular truths as they can reach, 
 
 3 . A Unity of Profeflbrs in local communion in the fame Af- 
 femblies in Gods publick Wor(hip, in the Word, Prayer,Praifes, . 
 Sacraments, &c Where they cohabice,or have opportunity for 
 fiich communicr. M m m 3 4, Among.. 
 
454 A K^ey for Qatholtck. 
 
 4. Among thole that are out of our reach, or being neerus, 
 yet differing in fame (mailer things, where a difference is tolera- 
 ble, we may yet in word, writing and deed own each other as 
 Brethren, and combine for the promoting of the common good, 
 and the commonly received truths and duties. So that we have 
 in thefe four, the unity of the fpiritin the bond of Peace : One 
 Body : ( the Catholick Church comprehending all properly cal- 
 led Chriftians ) One Spirit < The fandifying Spirit of Chrift : ) 
 One Hope of our calling (One Promife or Gofpel, and One 
 Heaven and End: ) One Lord ( even Chrift the only Head of 
 the Church.? One Faith ( Both objective, in Scripture, and 
 the Creed .- and fubjedive, fpecifkal, which is our Reception 
 of Scripture dodrine, and of Chrift with his benefits : J One 
 Baptifm (entnngall one and the fame Covenant with Chrift, 
 to be his, and take him for our Lord and Saviour , renouncing 
 the world, the flefti and devil, and fignifying this by external 
 wafhing in the ntme of that Father, Son,and Holy Ghoft. ) One 
 God and Father ( Our Creator, Preferver, our End and Happi- 
 
 t\th) £/>^4-3,4, 5- 
 
 And is all this Nothing to you that feemed fo much to Paul} 
 that unlefs you have alfo an Earthly ,Univerfal Head,and an Uni- 
 ty in Ceremonies ( wherein all mult be of your mind, and con- 
 form to you as if you were Gods ) you will revile at our divisi- 
 ons, and run to Rome for further Unity. 
 
 HAvinglaid down thofe Grounds or Principles on which 
 the Unity and Peace of the Church muft be built, there 
 appears not any great need of adding any more for the 
 reducing thefe to pradice ; if thefe were but received , the 
 way of pradice would be obvious. But briefly 1 (hall lay 
 down thefe few Propofitions,implyed in thofe expreft before. 
 
 1. Let every man profefshis belief of the Holy Scriptures 
 in General ; and in particular of all that Scripture hath expreft 
 to be of Necefiity to Salvation : bv denouncing death to them 
 that have it not ; And let them alfo Profefs to confent that 
 God be their God, and Chrift their Saviour , and the Holy 
 Ghoft their Sandifier, and that they renounce the flefb, the 
 world and Devil, refolvingto live a holy life. And let this be 
 by a credible way of Prolefling. And all that do thu?, let us 
 
 efteerrj, 
 
A Kg) for Qatholkks. 
 
 45J 
 
 eftecm,love,and ufethem as Chriftians, till they fome way plain- 
 ly difown thisProfefiion. 
 
 2. Lee every fuch BaptizedProfefTor,owning alfo the Miniftry 
 Church and Worfhip Ordinance?, plainly required in Scripture* 
 be a member of fome particular Church, where he may worfhip 
 God in the Communion cf Saints. 
 
 3 . Let thofe that make not the forefaid Chriflian Profe/fion 
 be excluded the number of Chriftians,and thofe that own not 
 the Fundamentals of communion, (the Churcb,Miriiit.ry,Word 
 Prayer, Praife, Sacrament of Communion ) be taken as unmeet 
 for actual communion with us, though yet we cenfure them not 
 to be no Chriftians. 
 
 4. Let thofethat are obftinate and impenitent in any Errors 
 contrary to the faid Profeflion and Ordinances, or in adual 
 grofs fin, or discovering an ungodly heart, be rejected by the 
 Church, after due admonition and patience. 
 
 5 LetallthePaftors Aflfjciate, and hold conftant correfpon- 
 dency according to their neernefs and opportunity, for helping 
 and ftrengthening each other, and unanimous carrying on ths 
 workofChrift. 
 
 6. Let thefe AfTociations have Handing Prcfidents, where the 
 peace of the Church.requireth it. 
 
 7 Let no particular Pallors fee up any thing in Gois pub- 
 lick Worfhip which is not NeceflVy , and may tend to make 
 divilions by driving tender Confcences from his communion. 
 
 S Let AfTociations forbear making Laws to others, and im- 
 pDfingas Governours, and let them make Agreements for cer- 
 tain Duty, and not Laws that pretend ro make new duties- and 
 let them Agree on nothing unnecefftry. 
 
 9. Let them ftudy Holinefsas much as Peace, an! keep clean 
 themfelves ar.d their focieties as far as they can, and look ac la- 
 bour and furTering,ar,d not at any other tonourand p wcr,buc 
 what is for duty ; and let them look abroad and help the 
 dark parts within their reach, and lay out themfelves freely and 
 indullrioufly for God, and have the chief regard tothemoft 
 publick good. 
 
 10. Let him that is juftly caftoutof one Church, be receive! ' 
 by none into communion till he be reconciled ; r and if they fu- 
 fped that he is un juftly caftour, let him not be received till 
 
 the 
 
*-a A Key for Catholicks. 
 
 the Church that caft him out be heard, and the injury or his Re- 
 pentance manifeft. 
 
 1 1. Let thofe that cannot hold local communion, becaufe of 
 fome (mailer pra&ical difference ( as geftures,words, &c. ) and 
 yet agree in the forefaid Profcflion , and Fundamentals of 
 Communion • yet own each other profeflfedly as Brethren , and 
 maintain Love and communion in ocher refpe&s. 
 
 1 2. Let all differing Chriftians confult and agree how to hold 
 their differences, fo as may leaft prejudice the common truths 
 which all receive, and as may leaft hinder the falvation of the 
 ungodly, or offend the weak. 
 
 13. Let none judge or defame each other till they arc heard, 
 and fee they have fufficient caufe by certain proof : And then 
 admonilh them, and bring the caufe to the Affociation , before 
 they proceed further. 
 
 14. Let the correfpondency of Paftors extend as far as there 
 is Capacicy, Opportunity,and need. We cannot correfpond with 
 the Antipodes, nor much with the Ethiopians, nor fuch remote 
 parts •* there is feldom opportunity , and feldora neccflity of 
 actual correfpondence with forreigrrNations:But yet when pub- 
 lick occafions require ir, (the publickeft cafes being the weighti- 
 er J we (hould by Delegates or Meffengers from feveral Aflbcia- 
 tion.% perform our duties in all fuch correfpondencies, whether 
 in Councils or other wife. 
 
 1 5 . If any members of our Churches travail into other parts , 
 they (hould take Certificates or Communicatory Letters, that 
 they may be admitted to the communion of the Churches where 
 they travail or abide. 
 
 16. The chief confultations for General Peace and effectual 
 promoting the healing of the Churches, and the propagation of 
 the Gofpel into the unbelieving parts of the world, fhould be 
 done by Cbriftian Princes by their Agents: and though Mini- 
 Hen are fit to be ( partly ) their A gents in fuch confultations, 
 yet not meerly as Paftors, but as fit men employed by their 
 Princes. He that lives to fee but this much reduced to pradife, 
 will fee a better unity and peace in the Church, then ever was or 
 will be attained by an earthly Head and Judge of the Uoiverfal 
 Church, whether Pope or Council, or then the Agreement of 
 •the five Patriarks, and the later Primates and Metropolitans 
 will procure. Let us be content with one Head, and one Heart; 
 ^ .and 
 
i 
 
 A !\ey for Catbolicks . 457 
 
 and center there •* but chough the fingers and toes be more, we 
 can well bear it. Take up with the Holy Scriptures as the fuf- 
 Hcient Rule i Let the Profcflion of that be the mark of a be- 
 liever: and all fucb believers betaken to be, as they are, the 
 Catholick Church •, and no faction Schifmatically and prefurop - 
 tuoufly confine it to themfelves; Let this Intellectual Unity of 
 faith, befeconded witha cordial Unity of Holy Love, to Chrift 
 and his Members : ( that fo our Unity may begin at the Head 
 and Heart, and not perverfly at the fingers and toef offmaller 
 matters, or at the hair and rails of Ceremonies and indifferent 
 Modes • ) Let this be roanifefted in Profcflionsof Love,and pub- 
 lick ownings of the Catholick Brotherhood, and of Chriftians 
 as Chriftians • and by publick declaiming all felfifhncfs , and 
 partiality , and private Interetis, and all reproachful! words and 
 writings , and by a&ual communion as far as we can. Let the 
 Worfhip of God be performed in fucb holy fimplicity that none 
 maybedriven from the facred Affembliesj and let the peo- 
 ple be fuffcred to go the fame way to heaven as Peter and P*ul 
 did go themfelves,and l«d their bearers in •, Let us not be am- 
 bitious of Church Unirftr Communion with thofe that ought 
 to be caft out of the Church, and whom we are in Scripture 
 commanded to avoid •, but let the three attributes of [] ^olp 
 Cattjolulr, and £pottoltcal ] be Hill affixed to the G&urcD 5 
 and be practically confidered ; and thofe confederations ifTued 
 in [ SDrjc Communion of flints ] And then we (hill have 
 fo much Unity and Peace.as may honour tbe Cbriftian Religion, 
 and ftrcngthen di in the way to our VerfeB Peace, which is not 
 tobeexpefledinthis dark, difeafed,iropcrfec% world. This is 
 the way, and none but this. 
 
 But is there any hope that while men are as they are, fuch 
 healing Truths fhuld be received and obeyed ? Yes: by here 
 and there a man; who (hall have the Peace of their peaceable Af- 
 fe&ions and Endeavours • but not by the moft either of the peo- 
 ple or thePaftorsjlet the evidence of the truth be never fo clear. 
 Who can exped any great fuccefsof fucb Propofals, that know* 
 the world ?(till the time ccmc when Light (hall go forth with an 
 abfr-Jute refolution to prevail. ) God is one ^ and all that Deny 
 tbemfehetind center in him.mult needs be One:Buty*//is as va- 
 rious and numerous as Perfons are. And this/? //is the tteart of 
 
 N n n the 
 
45 8 A Kgy for QatholicKs . 
 
 theNatural man,and the fonter of all the unfan&ified. And every 
 felf is a grain of Stud, tbats hardly made coherent with ano- 
 ther. The Darkefl n\\n<lj*feffc«nceited:&nd the pooreft child or 
 beggar iifelf-affetted ; and high and low, Princes and people have 
 fclf-interefts y whxh draw them feveral waves. And in the fan&ifi- 
 cdthis/W/is mortified but in part, and is the firft living, and 
 ftrongeft, and laft dying fin,ia all ^ and giveth ftrength to all the 
 reft. What hope then of Unity, while every man hath a numeri- 
 cally different CWr^Principle, & End,and fofew forfake it,and 
 devote themfelves to God the common Center, and End of the 
 Saints? and thofe few fo Imperfectly; permitting felf to live and 
 do fo much within them. And though the Papifts have devifed a 
 way to make this fand into a rope i or cement innumerable/f/z/* j 
 together , by finding out fuch a Carnal Head and Center where 
 every man may find his own Carnal Inter eft involved in the In- 
 terefl of that Head and his body; and fo m^y have a carnal unity 
 of a multitude of carnal ones to glory in ; Yet Chrift is another 
 kind oiHead andC*»fw,condemning and deftroying carnal felf, 
 and commanding all his followers upon pain of damnation to de- 
 ny it, though to nature it be the dearewhing in the world. No 
 wonder therefore if the number of his Aanerents be few, and the 
 unity of thofe that center in him,be lefs confpicuous and glorious 
 in the world.With ftrong Df/ww therefore,but Low Expeditions 
 I propound thefe terms of Unity to the Churches knowing how 
 many thoufand of iheDar^indfelfifb will not only negled them 
 and reject them,but rife up againft them(if they come into their 
 hands) with no fmall fclf-conceitcd confidence and fcorn. 
 But t heChurch it the Lords,who bath purchafed it by his blood; 
 his Intereft in it is more then mine;& it is infinitely dearer to him 
 then to me;& his wifdom is fitted to difpofe of the fuccefs of our 
 endeaTours,&to determine of the feafon and meafures of its cure: 
 He is the Phyfitian,and hath undertaken the work, and in the fle- 
 et ft way and time will perfect it, and be the fi niftier as well as the 
 Author of our faith. The eye of the chief She pheard is even now 
 ■pon all his fcattered flock.and of thofe that arc given him to be 
 faved, be will lofe none- he is neither inefficient for them, nor 
 carelefsofthemjbut will gather into one the Elect that are d if. 
 perfedj and prefentthem all pure,unblamable, and fpotlefs to bis 
 Father at the laft; and as much as they feera now Co us,to be un- 
 
 curably 
 
A fyy for Catkolkks. 45 n 
 
 curably divided, we (hall then fee them perfectly healed and uni- 
 ted,and made up One Glorified Body of our Head. For that blef- 
 fed Marriage day of the Lamb,and the Glory of the Ntft feruf*. 
 km, we therefore Pray, and Hope, and Wair,in our paflagc 
 through this finful and diftra&ed world. 
 
 'HPHere are three common fayings in which I am much de- 
 
 -*- lighted that conduce to the Illuftration of what I have faid. 
 
 1 . Servanda in Necejfariij Vnitas ; In non-neceffariis libertas : 
 in utrij^j char it as. Vulg. 
 
 2. Contra Rationem nemo fobritu; Contra Scripturam nemo 
 Chrijliamu $ Contra Sccleftam nemo pAcificus. Auguft. 
 
 Scripture is the reft of Chriitianity, and mud (hew us found in 
 the faith ; though the Church may (hew us Peacable. 
 
 dtera *\ —. Homo Scculii^. -.Citiioliens ar> — .S«ndu« ' 
 
 y ^ J V 5pecuJjtiMis J ^Chwiutivnf 
 
 .VttinRm ^>Qj«rit^rhilofophii v^Inrenit./TheoIogit ^P«fsid«t*^Rcligio 
 • Fclicitttem •■' C.N'atur» .) Caiftorki J C-ChjriWi. 
 
 Therefore to feek for Unity, Verity or Felicity, by the lofs or 
 deduction of Sanctity, Religion, Charity ; is really to renounce, 
 oppofe and lofc them. 
 
 Satisfaction to certain CALVMN1ATORS. 
 
 I Am informed from London, and feveral parts of the Land , that fome 
 of my Books having lately been fold at exceflive rates by the Bookfcl- 
 lers, it is fomewhat commonly reported that it is caufed by my exceflive 
 gain, which fay they,is at leaft three or four hundred pounds a year. I thank 
 the Lord that doth not only employ me in his fervice, but alfo vouchfafe mc 
 the honor and benefit of being evil-fpoken of for doing him the beft fervice 
 that'I can, MJf.?.Ti,n. I Pef.4.i3,i4,l?,l6. Blefled Augujline waspuc 
 to vindicate himfejf by an oath, from the infamy of a covetous defign, 
 which was raifed by one godly woman, upon a diforderly a&ion of other 
 men, and to that end he wrote his nf.Epiftle. I find no call to ufe his 
 oath ^ but yet 1 judge it my duty to imitate him in patience,and in rercumg 
 the flanderers from their fin, that they abufe not their fouls by uncharitable 
 furmifes, nor their tongues by falfc reports. To which end I give them this 
 true information : The two firft Books I printed, 1 left to the Bookfcllers 
 Will ■> for all the reft, I agreed with them for the fifteenth Book, to give to 
 Tome few of my friends 3 hearing that fomc others agreed for the tenth, Some- 
 time 
 
4^o 
 
 time my fifteenth Book coming not to an hundred,and fometime but to few 
 more,when of Practical Books 1 needed fometime 8oo.to give away.Becaufc 
 1 was fcarce rich enough to buy fo many,I agreed with the Bookfeller,(my 
 Neighbour,) to allow 1 8- d. a Ream (which is not a penny a quire,) out of 
 his own gain towards the buying of Bibles, and fome of the practical Books 
 which he printed, for the poor : Covenanting with him, that he ihould fell 
 my Controverfal Writings as cheap , and my Practical Writings fomewhat 
 cheaper then books are ordinarily fold To this hour I never received for my 
 felf one p;nny of mony from them for any of my Writings, to thebeft of my 
 remembrance: but if it fell out that my part came to more than I gave my 
 friends, 1 exchanged them for other Books : My accounts and memory tell 
 mc not of •" .li that ever was returned for me on thefe accounts, which was 
 on literary occafions : fo that my many hundreds a year is come to never a 
 p^nny in all, but as abovefaid, in fome exchange of Books. And the price I 
 Let on my Beoks which I exchanged for theirs at the dearelT rates, is as fol- 
 loweth, [Treat, of Converfion, r.s. Treat, of Crucifying the World, i.s. 
 Difput. of Juftificat. i.s. 4-d. The Call to the Unconverted, 8.d. Difput. 
 of laving Faith, f .d. Of the Grotian Religion, 6.d. Directions for found 
 Conveifion, i.s. 8.d. Difput.of Right to Sacran\erKs,Sdit. fecund, i.s. 4-d.] 
 Thefe arc all my bargains and my gains. And I chofe the honefteft Bnok- 
 felleis that I could meet with,according to my fmall meafure of wit and ac- 
 quaintance •, who told me, they ftill made good their Promifes. And now 
 cenforious Slanderer, tell me, what thou wouldft have had me to have done 
 more ? If 1 had got Food and Rayment out of my own hard labors , had it 
 been unlawful or dilhonourablc, when Bookfellers get fo many hundred 
 pounds by one Book, that never ftudied nor fpent their time and coft for it ,, 
 as Ih.vedone ? And yet doft thou reproach me that receive not a groat? 
 But becaufc I will not oblige my felf to the fame courfe for the future, and 
 that thou mayft kno.v at what rates 1 ferve thee , let me tell thee, that in 
 thefe labors early and late my body is wafred,my precious time laid out, and 
 fomewhat of my Eftate, and fomewhat of the labor of my friends. I can- 
 not have twenty quire of my writing well tranferibed , under fifty pounds. 
 And who (hall pay for thisj or maintain mc in thy fervice ? I have troubled 
 a Neighbour-M'.nifter i n rhe tedious work of tranferibing my Characters 
 ( for fome books,) for which, neither he nor 1 had ever one penny. Thefe 
 perfonal matters are unfavory to me, and I take it for a great injury that 
 thou putteft upon me a neceflity of mentioning them. But I have yielded 
 this once to thy unrighteous importunity , that thou mayeft hereafter learn 
 what to believe and utter, and make more confciencc of thy cenfures and 
 ret orts. And that thou mayft have the utmoft relief that 1 can procure thee 
 for the time to come, 1 (ball agree with my Bookfellers, to fell all that I 
 publim at three farthings a lheet.and to print the price of every book at the 
 bottom of the Tide page. 
 
 FarmeUj. 
 Oftober \ t, 
 
 Richard Baxter. 
 

 
 
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