A Key for Catholics, Treatise 1 · Chapter 34
CHAP. XXXIV.
Detect. 25. ANother of their Deceits is, In pretending the Holineſs of their Churches, and Miniſtry, and the unholineſs of ours. This being matter of fact, a willing and impartial mind may the eaſier be ſatisfied in it. They prove their Holineſs, 1. By the Canonized Saints among them. 2. By the devotion of their Religious Orders, and their ſtrictneſs of living. 3. By their unmarried Clergy. 4. By their ſanctifying Sacraments and Ceremonies: In all which they ſay that we are wanting, and ſo far wanting, that being out of the Church, there is no true Holineſs among us.
When in the Preface of my Book againſt Popery, called The Safe Religion, I had truly ſpoken my experience, that I had never the happineſs to be acquainted with any Papiſt of a ſerious ſpiritual temper, and holy life, but only ſome of a Ceremonious formall kind of Religion, and but with very few that lived not in ſome groſs ſin, I was paſſionately cenſured by ſome of the Papiſts, as one that condemned all for ſome. When as 1. I only ſpoke of my own acquaintance. 2. And I added withall, that yet I was confident that God had his ſervants among them, though I had not the happineſs to know them. 3. And is it not a ridiculous buſineſs, that theſe ſame men ſhould be ſo paſſionate with me, for ſpeaking but the truth, concerning the ungodlineſs of ſome of them, when at the ſame time they make it an Article of their faith, and an eſſential point of Popery, That no one Proteſtant hath charity, or can be ſaved; yea, that no Chriſtian in the world is ſanctified really, and can be ſaved, but a Papiſt. O the partiality of theſe men! 4. Yea when they neceſſitate us to mention their ungodlineſs, by calling us to it, and laying the ſtreſs of all our cauſe upon the point: yea laying the very Chriſtian faith it ſelf upon the Holineſs of their Church. For we muſt not know that Scripture is Gods word, or that Chriſtianity is the true Religion, till we firſt know that the Church of Rome is the true Church, that we may receive it on their credit: And we muſt know that they are the true Church by being the only Holy people in the world. I muſt profeſs that if my faith lay on this foundation, I know ſo much of the falſhood of it, that I muſt needs turn infidell: and I can no more believe this, then I can believe that the ſnow is not white.
They confeſs (I thank them for nothing) that their common people are bad; but yet ſay they, [there is ſome good ones among us, Inter haereticos autem nullus eſt bonus: but among the hereticks not one is good] So ſaith [Thom. à Jeſu de converſ. omn Gent. pag. 531. And ſaith H. Turbervile Manual p. 84. [But I never yet heard of any Proteſtant Saints in the world.] O wonderfull perverſeneſs of the hearts of Sectaries! O wonderfull Patience of God! Did not this mans heart tremble or ſmite him to write ſo horrid, ſo impudent a reproach againſt ſo many precious Saints of God? Durſt he thus attempt to rob the Lord of the fruit of his blood? and to vilifie his Jewels? and as Rabſhakah, to reproach the Iſrael of God? to attempt to pluck them out of Chriſts hand that are given him by his Father; and to ſhut them out of heaven, that are redeemed and made heirs by ſo dear a Price; and to ſpit in their faces whom Chriſt hath waſhed with his blood? Did he not fear that dreadfull threatning of Chriſt, Mat 18. 6. [but who ſo ſhall offend one of theſe little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a milſtone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the ſea.] Though I ſee ſo much impiety among the Papiſts, I dare not ſay, I dare not think that God hath not ſome Holy ones among them. Its dangerous condemning thoſe that Chriſt will Juſtifie; and making his members to be the members of the Devil, and abuſing ſo groſly the apple of his eye. If I ſee a man live wickedly, I dare ſay that he is of a wicked life; but I dare not ſay that All are ſo, unleſs it be among men, whoſe principles I am ſure are inconſiſtent with godlineſs, and I know that they hold thoſe principles practically or prevalently. And therefore I muſt ſay again, that I have been acquainted with ſome Papiſts, learned and unlearned. The unlearned few of them knew what. Chriſtianity was, nor whether Chriſt were God or Man, Male or Female, nor whether ever he was the King, Prophet or Prieſt of the Church, nor for what end he dyed, nor what faith, or repentance is; but were infidels under the name of Papiſts, or Catholicks. The learned and unlearned live in ſome groſs ſin or other, either all or neer all that I have been acquainted with. The better ſort would ordinarily ſwear, [by their Lady, and by the Maſs.] and ſometime greater oaths. The reſt were ſome fornicators or adulterers, ſome drunkards or revellers, and gameſters, or ſuch like: And never had I the happineſs to be acquainted with one that would ſpeak experimentally and ſavourily of the work of Grace upon his ſoul, of the life of faith, of communion with God, and of the life to come; but their Religion lay in being the Popes ſubjects, and in faſting on Fridayes and in Lent from ſome ſorts of meat, and in ſaying over ſo many Ave Maries, Pater Noſters, or the like; and in obſerving dayes, and hours, and Cereremonies. Yet I again ſay, I fully believe that there be better among them, though I am not acquainted with them.
But if theſe men that [never heard of a Proteſtant Saint] and that conclude [there is no one ſaved but a Papiſt,] and build their ſalvation on this as an Article of their faith, had known but thoſe that I have known, and yet know, they would either have been of another mind, or have been left unexcuſable in a malicious reproaching of the Saints of the moſt high. I bleſs the Lord that I can truly ſay, 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; whoſe ſouls are daily longing after him; and ſome of them that have vacancy from worldly neceſſities, ſpending much of their lives upon their knees, having had many a ſpecial extraordinary return to their importunate requeſts: whoſe delight is in the Law of the Lord, in which they meditate day and night (which is lockt up among the Papiſts.) Whoſe hearts ſmite them for vain words or thoughs, or the loſs of a few minutes of time; that live in exemplary humility, meekneſs and ſelf-denyal, bearing wrongs patiently, and doing good to as many as they can, as the ſervants of all; contemning the Riches and Honours of the world, mortifying the fleſh, and ſome of them longing to be diſſolved and to be with Chriſt, in whom the world never knew either once drunkenneſs, fornication, or one raſh oath, or any other groſs ſin, that I could ever hear of. And is it certain that all theſe ſhall be damned, becauſe they believe not in the Pope? Nay is it not certain by Promiſe that all ſuch ſhall be ſaved?
I muſt again profeſs, that when the Papiſts lay their faith and cauſe on this, that their Church is Holy, and ours and all other are every man unholy, its almoſt all one to me as if they ſaid that no men but Papiſts have ſouls in their bodies, and laid their faith on this; and as ſoon I think ſhould I believe them, if this were their belief. Its a good preſervative againſt Popery, when a man cannot turn Papiſt without putting out his eyes, and renouncing his wit, and reaſon, and common experience, as well as his charity; yea without denying of what he knoweth by his own ſoul!
But let us come to their Evidences. 1. They ſay, We have no Canonized Saints. I anſwer 1. All the Apoſtles and Saints of the firſt ages were of our Religion, and many of them have been beholden to the Pope for Canonizing them.
2. We have no uſurper among us that pretendeth Infallibly to know the hearts of others, nor to number Gods Saints. But with us, the Holy Ghoſt maketh Saints, and their lives declare it; and thoſe that converſe with them diſcern it, ſo far as to be highly confident, and men diſcern it in themſelves, ſo far as to be Infallibly (though not perfectly) certain.
3. It ſeems the Pope takes Saints to be rare with them, that they muſt be named and written with red Letters in an Almanack: And H. T. Man. pag. 84. is fain to ſend us for proof to their Chronicles and Martyrologies; and he nameth four Saints that they have had, viz. Saint Auſtin the Monk, Saint Bennet, Saint Dominick, and Saint Francis. Now we all know that none but Saints are ſaved, and that without holineſs none can ſee God, Heb. 12. 14. So that it ſeems if ſanctity be ſo rare among the Papiſts, ſalvation muſt be rare
But as for us, we make it our care to admit none but Saints to our Church Communion: though we preach to others to prepare them for it: For we believe that the Church is a Holy Society, and find Paul calling the whole Churches that he writes to, by the title of [Saints,] and we believe it is [the Communion of Saints] that is there to be held. And if we had no more Saints in one County at once, yea in ſome one Pariſh at once, then would fill up the Popes Calendar, ſo as to have one for every day in the year, we ſhould betake our ſelves to bitter lamentation.
Whereas the Church of Rome takes in all ſorts of the unclean, and is ſo impure and polluted a ſociety, that its a wonder how they ſhould have the face to boaſt of their holineſs to men that live among them and know them. Thouſands of their members are ſtark Infidels, as not knowing the Eſſentials of the Chriſtian Faith. Its known here in Ireland, that abundance of them know not who Chriſt was, but that he was a better man than Saint Patrick: Biſhop Uſher ſaw it and lamented it, that they periſhed as Heathens for want of knowing Chriſtianity it ſelf, while they went under the name of Catholicks: and therefore he would have perſwaded the Popiſh Prieſts to have Conſented that they ſhould be all taught a Catechiſm of the common principles that we are agreed in; but he could not procure it: when Dr. Jo. White asked one of them in Lancaſhire, who Jeſus Chriſt was? ſhe anſwered, that [ſure it was ſome good thing, or elſe it ſhould not have been put into the Creed.]
And how much ſwearing, whoredom, drunkenneſs, and other wickedneſs is in their Church, is known not only by the complaints of their own writers, but by the too common experience of Travailers. We have known Papiſts that have turned from them by the experience of one journey to Rome, and ſeeing what is there. And for Church cenſures by which any of theſe ſhould be purged out, they are laid by, and reſerved for other uſes, even as thunder-bolts for the Popes Adverſaries, and the ſervants of Chriſt whom they take for Hereticks; and for Princes whom the Pope would have depoſed and murdered. Theſe things are not meer words, but the lives of many Kings and Princes have been the ſacrifice of the Roman Holineſs.
And what need you any further proof that their Church is as the common wilderneſs, and not as the Garden of Chriſt, and is a Cage of all unclean birds, then that they actually keep them all in their Communion. It made my heart riſe at their hypocriſie and filthineſs, to read one ſentence in one of the moſt learned, and ſober, and honeſt of all their Biſhops that have written, and that is Albaspinaeus Obſervat. 1. pag. 1. ſaith he [Siquis unquam hoc ſeculo, (quod neſcio an acciderit) Communione fuit privatus, ſola fuit Euchariſtiae perceptione: in reliquis ſuae vitae partibus, quam ante Excommunicationem habuit, eandem cum caeteris fidelibus conſuetudinem, & uſum retinuit.] That is [If ever any one man in this age was put from the Communion (which I know not whether ſuch a thing hath come to paſs,) it was only from the receiving the Euchariſt; in the other parts of his Life, be retained the ſame familiarity and converſe with other believers, which he had before his Excommunication.]
Here you ſee from a credible Biſhop that lived in the thickeſt of their Clergy in France, that he knew not that any one perſon in the age that he lived in, was ever kept from the Lords Supper; but if he were, yet that was all: he was ſtill a member of their Church, and familiar with the reſt. Let the Chriſtian world then obſerve by their practice, what an abominable hypocritical conteſt they make, for to prove the Power of Church-government to be only in their Pope, and the Prelates to whom he giveth it; and when they have done, do make no more uſe of the Power which they ſo pretend to, as not to exerciſe the Cenſures of the Church upon one offendor there in an age. How were that man worthy to be thought of, or to be uſed, that would ſet all the world on fire by contending, that no Schoolmaſter or Phyſitian ſhould be ſuffered in the whole world, but himſelf and ſuch as he giveth power to: and when he hath done, will not by himſelf or his ſubjects and dependants teach or heal one perſon in an age? were ſuch an one meet to live on the earth? Or ſhould we judge that man in his wits that would believe him? O what a ſtye is the Roman Society! what dunghills are in their Aſſemblies? and yet muſt not the Shovel or the Beeſom be uſed once in an Age? what! no weed pulled up? no ſuper fluous branch cut off? Is this the uſe of all the Canons of their Church concerning Excommunication, and abſtention? Muſt the Chriſtian world be at ſuch a vaſt expence, to maintain ſo rich and numerous a Clergy for this? And muſt we caſt out our Paſtors to receive ſuch as theſe? when we ſhould be aſhamed, if we had not exerciſed more of the cleanſing power of the Keyes in one Pariſh Church, then Albaſpinaeus knew of among the Papiſts in a whole age.
But perhaps there is little of this filth among them to be caſt out: He that readeth their own writers, or liveth among them, and ſeeth their lives, will hardly think ſo. He that had but ſeen the Murders of their Popes for the obtaining of the Popedom, or how Pope Stephen raged againſt the Carcaſs of Pope Formoſus, drawing it out of the grave, and changing its Pontifical habit to a ſecular, and cutting off his fingers; or he that had ſeen Pope Chriſtopher caſting the Corps of Pope Leo the fift into the River Tiber; or Pope Sergius keeping the ſaid Chriſtopher bound in priſon; or Pope Boniface the ſeventh putting out his Cardinals eyes; would ſcarce believe that the Holy Seat of Peter were indeed Holy: (all which Platina and others of their own writers give us notice of.) He that readeth Baronius himſelf telling us (To. 10. an. 897. n. 6.) how Pope Stephen the ſeventh defiled St. Peters ſeat with unheard of ſacriledge, not to be named; and (ſect. 4. ib.) and how the Princes of Tuſcia were brought into Peters Chair and Chriſts Throne, being monſtrous men, of moſt filthy lives, and deſperate manners, and every way moſt filthy.] He that ſhall read the ſame flattering Cardinal, ſaying, (Can. 900. ſect. 1.) [that ugly monſters were thruſt into the Papacy, that it was dawbed with dung, infected with ſtinks, defiled with filthineſs, and collowed by theſe with a perpeutal infamy] And (an. 912. ſect. 8.) [that at Rome, the moſt powerful and the moſt ſordid whores did Rule; at whoſe will the ſeats were changed, Biſhops were made, and, which is horrid to be heard, and not to be ſpoken, their ſweet-hearts falſe Popes were thruſt into Peters ſeat.] And [that for an hundred and fifty years the Popes were wholly faln from the vertue of their Predeceſſors; being diſorderly, and Apoſtatical, rather then Apoſtolical, not entring by the door, but by the back-door] ſaith a paſſionate Papiſt, Genebrard, Chron. l. 4. an. 901. I ſay he that ſhall read theſe impartially, will ſcarce think the Head of their Church hath been Holy, which is an Eſſential part of it, (nor that their ſucceſsion is uninterrupted.)
But if beſides theſe you would read but Nic. Clemangis, Alvarus Pelagius de planctu Eccleſiae (lib. 2. art. 2. fol. 104.) and many ſuch like; or their Poets Mantuan, Pantes, &c. or Petrarch, Mirandula, &c. you would think the Holineſs of Rome-ſhould be the pooreſt proof in the world of their being the only Church.
Their Eſpenſaeus and others recite that Diſtich,
Vivere qui cupitis ſanctè, diſcedite Româ:
Omnia cùm liceant, non licet eſſe bonum.
Platina ſaith (in vita Marcellini) [Our vices are ſo increaſed, that they have ſcarce left us any place for mercy with God. How great is the Covetouſneſs of the Prieſts! eſpecially of thoſe that rule all! how great luſt! how great ambition and pomp! how great ignorance of themſelves, and of the Chriſtian doctrine! how little Religion, and that rather counterfeit, then true! how corrupt manners! even ſuch as in the prophaneſt ſecular men were to be deteſted! its not worth the ſpeaking: when they ſin ſo openly and ſo publikely, as if they ſought Praiſe by it.
Their Claudius Eſpenſaeus on Tit. pag. 75. ſaith [Where is there under the Sun a greater liberty, clamor, impunity of all evil; that I ſay not infamy and impudency (then at Rome:) verily it is ſuch as no man can believe but he that hath ſeen it, and no man can deny it that hath ſeen it] This was written ſince the Council of Trent.
And in the Council of Trent, their Cornelius Muſs, a Biſhop there, and the wonder of his age among the Papiſts, ſaith that [there was no monſters of filthineſs, or ſink, or plague of uncleanneſs, with which both people and Prieſt was not defiled: In the very Sanctuary of God, there was no ſhame, no modeſty, no hope or regard of good living: but unbridled and untamed luſt, ſingular audaciouſneſs, incredible wickedneſs.] And after more of the like he adds, [Would they had not faln from Religion to ſuperſtition, from faith to infidelity, from Chriſt to Antichriſt, yea as men that had no ſouls, from God to Epicurus or Pythagoras, ſaying in an impious heart, and an impudent mouth, there is no God. And yet now of a long time, there hath been no Paſtor that would require, (or ſeek them again) I ſay there was none to ſeek them, becauſe they all ſought their own things, but not one the things of Jeſus Chriſt] The ſame Biſhop Cornelius Muſs after the Council writes thus (To. 2. Serm 2. Dom. V. Quadr.) [The Roman Name is hatefull with all Nations; and ſee I pray you how little eſteem the Church it ſelf is of, becauſe of the ſcandals that are heard, ſeen and felt. I ſpeak not now of enemies that call it Babylon, Hell, the Whore, and ſay it is the ſink of all Errours: But I ſpeak of friends, that groan and daily ſigh within themſelves, ſaying, O holy City, how art thou thus profaned! O glorious City! that art thus become vile; thus contemned, and neglected.] Theſe and many more ſuch Teſtimonies of their own writers, Rivet and many of ours have oft ſet before them.
Guicciardine their Hiſtorian ſaith, that [Thoſe are called Good Popes, whoſe Goodneſs is not worſe then other mens wickedneſs.]
And if you think that now the matter is much mended, read but Claud. Eſpenſaeus in Tit. 1. pag. 75. complaining that the promiſes made by the Pope of Reformation, at the Council of Trent were all broken, and nothing done but deceit and ſhews. And of Pope Sixtus the fifth Bellarmine gave out his judgement, that he thought when he dyed, he went to the Devil, ſaying, [Qui ſine paenitentia vivit, & ſine paenitentia moritur, proculdubio ad infernum deſcendit] [He that lives without Repentance, and dyeth without Repentance, undoubtedly goes to Hell.] And ſaith Watſon of him (in Quodl. b. pag. 56, 57.) Bellarmine ſaid to an Engliſh Doctor [Conceptis verbis, quantum capio, quantum ſapio, quantum intelligo, Dominus noſter Papa deſcendit ad infernum] [As far as I can reach, as far as I have any wiſdom, as far as I underſtand, in plain terms, our Lord the Pope is gone to Hell.] But which way he went thither, all the world knows not, but Barthol. Moriſot. in the Life of Henry the Great of France, cap. 17. ſaith [That when the Spaniards perceived his contrivances to forſake their party, leſt he ſhould join with the enemy, they cauſed him to be ſtrangled in the night by a Franciſcan, or one in a Monks habit; and the next day gave out that a Domeſtick Devil had ſtrangled him, and to make good the report, a Book was written of his life, and printed, where all the wickedneſs of Pope Alexander the ſixth is charged on him.]
And how the Popes are ſtill choſen by impious Juglings and combinations Rivet tells you out of your own champion, Cardinal Perron, his Legationes & Negotiat. And of the ſaying of Cardinal Oſſatus ad D. Ville roy Epiſt. 87. concerning Pope Clement the eighth, eſteemed one of the very beſt of them, who perſwaded the King of France to join with the Spaniard in the Invaſion of England; and when the Cardinal anſwered that the King of France was under an Oath of Peace with the Queen of England, the Pope (their beſt Pope) replyed, that [the Oath was made to an Heretick; but he was bound by another Oath to God and the Pope] and added that [that Kings and other Soveraign Princes tolerate themſelves in all things that make for their commodity: and its now come to paſs that it is not imputed to them, nor taken to be their fault;] and he alledged the ſaying of Franciſc. Mariae Duke of Urbine, that a Nobleman, or Great man that is not the Soveraign, is blamed and counted infamous of all men, if he keep not his faith; but ſupream Princes may make Covenants, and break them again without any danger to their credit, and may lye, betray, and commit ſuch like practiſes.]
Theſe are your beſt Popes! Poor men! that can forgive other mens ſins, and pardon them the pains of Purgatory, and cannot ſave their own ſouls from Hell! Are they not like to Govern the Univerſal Church well, that can no better Govern themſelves, or that one City where they dwell? And are not theſe men worthy to be conſulted as infallible Oracles, by thoſe that dwell at the Antipodes, though it coſt them their lives to ſail or travail to them? Can he be a Chriſtian or be ſaved that believeth not in one of theſe men? Or can any man receive the Chriſtian faith or Scriptures, till he firſt know theſe good men to be Chriſts infallible Vicars?
And how many thouſand Whores are licenſed at Rome, how ſumptuouſly they live, what revenues come to the Pope by them? many of your own mention. And though ſome of you write for it, and your Pope ſtill maintaineth it, yet Mariana one of your Jeſuites (though he was for King-killing) condemneth this, lib. de Spectaculis, cap. 16. And your Claud. Eſpenſaeus lib. 3. de Continentia. cap. 4. ſets it out with a witneſs, lamenting Rome, as if it were turned all into one Whore-houſe; and be▪ wailing it, that the Jews ſhould ſo far ſhame you, that no one of their children may play the harlots, unleſs they firſt turn (Popiſh) Chriſtians and be baptized, and then they have thier liberty.
Of the gain that comes to the Pope and Prelates by the Simoniacall Market of benefices, ſave me the labour of reciting, and read but Nicol. Clemangis Archidiaconus Baioſenſis Tractde Annatibus non ſolvendis, & Alvarus Pelagius de Planctu Eccleſ. lib. 2. Art. 15. & l. 1. art. 67. & Claud. Eſpenſaeus in Tit. 1. pag. 68. & Cardinel. Cuſanum de Concord. Cathol. lib. 2. cap. 40. & Marc. Ant. de Dom. Spalatenſem. de Repub. Eccleſs. lib. 9. c. 9. & Budaeum li. 5. de Aſſe; & Duarenum I. C. de ſacris Eccleſ. Miniſt. lib. 5. c. 8. & paſſim, Rivet will direct you to many more.
Yea that the odious ſin of Sodomie was common, or too frequent with many of the Clergy, and Popes themſelves (gluttony, drunkenneſs and whoredom being the common ſmaller ſins) ſee the ſame Rivet manifeſting at large out of the expreſs complaints of Maphaeus, Alvarus Pelagius, and many more of their own writers. Hoffmeiſter cited by Grotius Diſcuſſio Apol. Rivet. p. 72. [At cum Ep ſcopi quidam ignorant, quid Sacramenti vox ſignificet; cum ipſos pudent ſacramenta per ſeipſos conferre, cum omnia apud ipſos ſint venalia, cum Eccleſiam defraudent ſuis ſacramentalibus quae vocant, quae poteſt Sacramentis apud ſimplici ores reverentia? Jam quod ad Parachos & Eccleſiaſtas quod attinet, vix centeſimus quiſ que de ſacramentis ullam facit mentionem in ſuis ad plebem concionibus; hic ex ignorantia, ille ex negligentia.—Graviſſime peccatum eſt ab Epiſcopis noſtris, dum numerantur potius ordinandi, quam examinantur: & quantum quis nummorum tantum & favoris habet apud quoſdam. Quae hic premo prudens lector intelligit. Nolim enim hic referre quales Epiſcopos, Decanos, Canonicos, Paſtores, &c. Nobis ſubinde intrudat potiùs quam ordinet Romana Curia, Regum item & Principum aulae: qui omnes juxta jocum cujuſdam, familiam ſuam ſatiant (ſi modo tales beſtiae ſatiari poſſent) muneribus ſacris—Ab equorum ſtabulis, è culina rapiuntur ad Sacerdotia, qui, quid Sacerdos ſit, ne perſomnium quidem cogitarunt, homines qui profeſſione ſunt indigni.]
Papirius Maſſonius that wrote the Deeds of the Popes for their honour, and ſought his Reward from Sixtus Quintus, ſaith (De Epiſcop. urb. lib. 6. in Gregor. 13.) [No man doth now a dayes look for Holineſs in Popes: thoſe are judged the beſt, that are a little good, or leſs naught then other Mortals uſe to be.]
Pope Pius the ſecond was one of the beſt that your Papal ſeat a long time had; and yet in his Epiſtle to his Father (Epiſt. 15.) that was angry with him for fornication, he ſaith, [Ais dolerete—i. e. You ſay you are ſorry for my crime, that I begot a ſon in ſin (or baſtardy) I know not what opinion you have of me. Certainly you that are fleſh your ſelves did not beget a ſon that is made of ſtone or iron. You know what a Cock you were your ſelf. And for my part I am not gelded, nor one of them that are frigid (or impotent) Nor am I an hypocrite, that I ſhould deſire rather to ſeem good, then to be good. I ingenuouſly confeſs my error, for am not holyer then David, nor wiſer then Solomon. Its an antient and uſual ſin; I know not who is without it. (A holy Church you are that while) This plague is ſpread far and neer, if it be a plague to make uſe of our naturals, though I ſee it not, ſeeing Nature, which doth nothing amiſs, hath bred this Appetite in all living creatures, that mankind ſhould be continued.] This was he that was the glory of your Papacy, that knew none without this beaſtly ſin.
And Orichovius tells Pope Julius the third, that Pope Paul the ſecond his predeceſſor had a Daughter in the eyes of all men.
And of this Pope Julius the third, Onuphrius himſelf ſaith, that [Being a Cardinall he followed voluptuouſneſs as by ſtealth, but being made Pope, and having what he would have, he caſt away all care, and gave up himſelf to his mirth and diſpoſition] Of whom Thuanus ſaith (Hiſt. lib. 6.) that he was very infamous as a Cardinall, but after paſt his life in greater infamy.]
And Alvarus Pelagius, (lib. 2. art. 73. fol. 241, &c.) lamenting Whoredome as a common ſin, but ſpecially of the Clergy, tells us that the cauſe is, becauſe [Commonly the Religious of that age were Gluttons or belly Gods, Arrogant, Proud, incomparably beyond ſecular men, converſing with women, &c. And drink more wine in their Religious ſtate then before, and are commonly carnal. And that the Monks had their female Devotaries, with whom, by the Prelates licenſe they converſed. And being ſent to preach, they go to play the whoremongers: And that there was ſcarce any one of the Holy Nuns without her carnall male Devotary, by which they broke their firſt faith with Chriſt, &c.] This was your Holy Church.
And li. 2. art. 28. he ſaith [That moſt of the Clergy mix themſelves with gluttony, drunkenneſs and whoredom, which is their common vice, and moſt of them give themſelves to the unnaturall vice (Sodomie)—Thus continually, yea and publikely do they offend againſt that holy chaſtity which they promiſed to the Lord; beſides thoſe evils not to be named which in ſecret they commit, which Papers will not receive, nor pen can write.] Abundance more he hath of the ſame ſubject, and their putting their choiceſt youth into houſes of Sodomie. This book of Alvarus Pelagius Bellarmine calleth Liber inſignis (de Scriptor. Eccleſiaſt.)
Math. Paris (in Henr. 3. p. 819.) tells us of Cardinal Hugo's farewell ſpeech to the people of Lons when he departed with the Popes Court [Friends, (ſaith he) ſince we came to this City we have brought you great commodity and alms. When we came hither we found three or four whore houſes, but now at our departure we leave but one: but that one reacheth from the Eaſt Gate to the Weſt Gate.] O Holy Pope! and Holy Church!
But Coſterus the Jeſuite eaſily anſwers all that I have ſaid, Enchirid. cap. 2. de Eccleſ. that [The Church loſeth not the name [Holy] as long as there is but one thats truly Holy.] Anſw Is this your ſanctity? I deny your concluſion. For 1. If the Head be unholy, an eſſential part is unholy; and therefore the Church cannot be Holy. 2. One perſon is not the Matter of the Church, as one drop of Wine caſt into the ſea doth not make it a ſea of Wine; and one Italian in England makes not England Italian: nor one Learned man make England Learned.
And let the Papiſts obſerve, that it is from the very words of their own that I have ſpoken of them what is here recited, and not from their adverſaries. And therefore I ſhall be ſo far from believing the Goſpel upon the Account that their Church is Holy that recommendeth it, or from believing them to be the only Church of Chriſt, becauſe of their Holineſs, that I muſt bleſs God that I live in a ſweeter air and cleaner Society, and ſhould be loath to come out of the Garden into the Channel or ſink to be made clean or ſweet, but ſay, that the travaller learned more wit, that left us this Reſolution,
Roma vale; vidi; ſatis eſt vidiſſe; revertar
Cum leno aut meretrix, ſcurra cinadus ero.
2 THE ſecond Proof which they bring of the Holineſs of their Church, is, the ſtrict life of their Fryars, as Carthuſians, Franciſcans, and others. Anſw. Having been ſo long already on this point, I will be but ſhort on this branch. In a word, 1. I have no mind to deny the Graces of the ſpirit in any that have them. Though travellers tell me lamentable ſtories of your Fryars, & Guil. de Amore, and his companions ſaid much more, and many other Popiſh Writers paint them out in an odious garb, yet I do not doubt but God hath his ſervants among them.
2. But I muſt tell you that this alſo ſhews the Pollution of your Church in compariſon of our Churches; that Holineſs and Religion are ſuch rarities, and next to Miracles among you, that it muſt be cloiſtred up, or confined to certain orders that are properly called Religious, as if the People had no Religiouſneſs or Holineſs. When our care and Hope is to make all our Pariſh Churches far more Religious and Holy then your Monaſteries or Convents: Yea were not this Church much more Religious and Holy where I live, I think I ſhould have ſmall comfort in it.
3. THeir third Proof of the Holineſs of their Churches, is their unmarried Clergy. Anſw. 1. I will not ſtir too long in this puddle, or elſe I could tell you out of your own writers of the odious fruits of your unmarried Clergy. Only (becauſe the eſſential parts of your Church are they that neerlieſt concern your cauſe) I will ask you in brief, whether it was not Pope John the eleventh that had Theodora for his whore? whether it was no Pope Sergius the third that begot Pope John the twelfth of Maroſia? whether John the twelfth, alias the thirteenth (ſaith Luitprandus, and others of your own) did not raviſh maids and wives at the Apoſtolick doors, and at laſt was killed in the Act of Adultery? whether it were not Pope Innocent of whom a Papiſt wrote this diſtich?
Octo Nocens pueros genuit, totidem que puellas.
Hunc merito potuit dicere Roma patrem.
And whoſe Son was Aloiſus, made Prince of Parma by Pope Paul the third? And for your Arch biſhops, Biſhops, Prieſts, &c. I ſhall now add but the words of your Dominicus Soto de Inſtit. & Jure qu. 6. art. 1. cited by Rivet, [We do not deny (ſaith he) that in the Clergy, ſuch as keep Concubines, and are Adulterers, are frequent.]
2. We have many that live unmarryed, as well as you, but not on your terms.
3. We know that Paul directed Timothy and Titus to ordain him a Biſhop that was the Husband of one Wife, and ruled well his houſe, having his children in ſubjection; and that the Church a long time held to this doctrine, and that Greg. Nyſſen was a marryed Biſhop. But if you are wiſer then the Spirit of God, or can change his Laws, or can prove the Holy Ghoſt ſo mutable, as to give one Law by Paul and other Apoſtles, and another by the Pope, we will believe you, and forſake the Scripture, when you can ſo far bewitch us, and charm us to it.
We believe that a ſingle life is of very great Convenience to a Paſtor, when it can be held: and that Chriſts Rule muſt be obſerved [Every man cannot receive this ſaying, but he that can, let him receive it] And whether Miniſters be Marryed or not Marryed (as many now living in the next Pariſhes to me are not, no more then my ſelf) it is a ſtrange thing with us to hear of one in many Counties that was ever once guilty of fornication in his life: and if any one be but once guilty in the Miniſtry, he is caſt out, though he ſhould be never ſo penitent, as any man that readeth the Act for ejecting ſcandalous Miniſters and Schoolmaſters may ſee. As alſo you may there ſee, that if he were but once drunk, if he ſwear, curſe, or be guilty of other ſcandalous ſins, he is caſt out without any more ado. And none are ſo earneſt for the through execution of this Law as the Miniſters. If a Miniſter do but go into an Alehouſe, except to viſit the ſick, or on weighty buſineſs, it is a ſcandalous thing among us: we do not teach as the Jeſuites cited by the Janſeniſt Montaltus, that a man may lawfully go into a Whorehouſe to exhort them from Whoredom, though he hath found by experience, that when he comes among them he is overcome, and playes the Whoremonger with them.
Leſt the vices of your Clergy ſhould be laid open and puniſhed, you exempt them from the ſecular power, and will not have a Magiſtrate ſo much as queſtion them for whoredom, drunkenneſs, or the like crimes. It is one of Pope Nicolas Decrees (as Caranza pag. 395. recites them) that [No Lay man muſt judge a Prieſt, nor examine any thing of his life. And no ſecular Prince ought to judge the facts of any Biſhops or Prieſts whatſoever] And indeed that is the way to be wicked quietly, and ſin without noiſe and infamy. But for our parts, we do not only ſubject our ſelves and all our actions to the tryal of Princes and the loweſt Juſtice of Peace, as far as the Law gives him power, but we call out to Rulers daily to look more ſtrictly to the Miniſtry, and ſuffer not one that is ungodly or ſcandalous in the Church. And if one ſuch be known, our Godly people will all ſet againſt him, and will not reſt till they caſt him out (in times when there is opportunity for it) and get a better in his ſtead. The whole Countrey knows the Truth of this.
If you ſay, as the Quakers do, that yet the moſt among us are ungodly; I anſwer, that Thoſe among us that are known ungodly and ſcandalous are not owned by us, nor are members of our Church, or admitted to the Lords Supper, in thoſe Congregations that exerciſe Church-diſcipline; but they are only as Catechuments, whom we preach to and inſtruct, if not caſt out.
Your eighth General Council at Conſtantinople, Can. 14. decreed, that [Miniſters muſt not fall down to Princes, nor eat at their Tables, nor debaſe themſelves to them; but Emperors muſt take them as Equals] But we are ſo far from eſtabliſhing Pride and Arrogancie by a Law, that though we hate ſervile flattery and man-pleaſing, yet we think it our duty to be the ſervants of all, and to condeſcend to men of low eſtate, and much more to honour our Superiors, and God in them.
The ſame Council decreed, Canon. 21. that [None muſt compoſe any Accuſations againſt the Pope] No marvail then if all Popes go for Innocents. But we are lyable to the accuſations of any.
And becauſe you charge our Churches with Unholineſs, and that with ſuch an height of Impudency, as I am certain the Divel himſelf doth not believe you, that provokes you to it; even that there is not One Good among us, nor one that hath Charity, nor can be ſaved (unleſs by turning Papiſt,) I ſhall therefore go a little higher, and tell you that I doubt not but the Churches in England where I live, are purer far than thoſe were in the dayes of Auguſtine, Hierom, &c. yea and that the Paſtors of our Churches are leſs ſcandalous then they were then; what if I ſhould compare many of them even to St. Auguſtine, St. Hierom, and ſuch others, both in Doctrine and Holineſs of Life? ſhould I do ſo, I know you would account it arrogancy: but yet I will preſume to make ſome compariſon, and leave you to Judge impartially if you can.
As for the Heavenlineſs of their writings, let but ſome of ours be compared with them, and you will ſee at leaſt that they ſpake by the ſame ſpirit: and for their Commentaries on Scripture, did we miſs it as oft as Ambroſe, Hierom and many more, we ſhould bring our ſelves very low in the eſteem of the Church: Even your Cajetane doth more boldly cenſure the Fathers Commentaries then this comes to.
And as to our lives, the Lord knows that I have no pleaſure in opening any of the faults of his Saints, nor ſhall I mention any but what are confeſſed by themſelves in Printed Books, and mentioned by others; and to boaſt of our own Purity I take to be a deteſtable thing, and contrary to that ſenſe of ſin that is in every Saint of God. But yet if the Lords Churches and ſervants are ſlandered and reproached as they were by the Heathens of old, the vindicating them is a duty which we owe to Chriſt.
Thoſe Miniſters that I Converſe with are partly Marryed, and partly unmarryed. The Marryed live ſoberly, in Conjugal Chaſtity, as burning and ſhining lights before the people, in exemplary Holineſs of Life. The unmarryed alſo give up themſelves to the Lord, and to his ſervice: and I verily think that of many ſuch that converſe with me, there is not one that ever defiled themſelves by incontinency, and I am confident would be ready to take the moſt ſolemn Oath of it, if any Papiſt call them to it. And for the people of our Communion, through the mercy of God ſuch ſins are ſo rare, that if one in a Church be guilty once, we all lament it, and bring them to penitence, or diſown them.
And were the Churches better in the third, fourth, fift, ſixt, or following Ages? I doubt not. And I judge by theſe diſcoveries. 1. By the ſad Hiſtories of the Crimes of thoſe times.
2. By the lamentable complaints of the Godly Fathers, of the Biſhops, and people of their times. What dolefull complaints do Baſil, Gregory Nazianz. and Greg. Nyſſen, and Chryſoſtom, Auſtin, &c. make? (it were too long to recite their words.) What complaints made Gildas of the Brittiſh Church? What a doleful deſcription have we of the Chriſtian Paſtors and People in his dayes, from Salvian, through his whole Book de Gubernat.?
3. I judge alſo by the Canons, and by the Fathers directions concerning Offendors. For example; Gregory Mag. ſaith of drunkards [Quod cum venia ſuo ingenio ſunt relinquendi, ne deteriores fiant, ſi à tali conſuetudine evellantur.] And was this the Roman Sanctity even then? And was this St. Gregories Sanctity? that Drunkards muſt be let alone with pardon, leſt if they be forced from their cuſtome, they be made worſe! Then fairfall the Miniſters of England: If ſuch advice were but given by one of us, it would ſeem enough to caſt us out of our Miniſtry. We dare not let one drunkard alone in our Church-communion, where Church-diſcipline is ſet up.
So Auguſtine ſaith [that Drunkenneſs is a mortal ſin, Si ſit aſſidua, if it be daily or uſual. And that they muſt be dealt with gently and by fair words, and not roughly and ſharply.] If one of us ſhould make ſo light of Drunkenneſs, what ſhould we be thought? I cite theſe two from Aquinas 22. q. 150. art. 1. 4. ad 4m & art. 2. 1.
Many Canons determine that [Prieſts that will not part with their Concubines, ſhall be ſuſpended from officiating, till they let them go.] Whereas with us, a man deſerveth to be ejected, that ſhould have a Concubine but one night in his life.
Gratian Diſtinct. 34. citeth c. 17. of a Toletane Council, ſaying, that he that hath not a Wife, but a Concubine in her ſtead, ſhall not be put from the Communion. His Corrector reciteth the whole Canon thus [If any Believer have a wife and a Concubine, let him not Communicate. But he that hath no Wife, and hath a Concubine inſtead of a Wife, may not be put from the Communion: only let him be content with one woman, either Wife or Concubine, which he will. He that liveth otherwiſe, let him be caſt off, till he give over, and return to penitence.]
In an Engliſh Council at Berghamſted an. 697. the ſeventh Canon is this [If a Prieſt leave his Adultery, and do not naughtily defer Baptiſm, nor is given to drunkenneſs, let him keep his Miniſtry, and the priviledge of his habit] Spelman, pag. 195. King Alured in the Preface to his Laws tells us, that except Treaſon and Deſertion of their Lords, the Councils of the Clergy did lay but ſome pecuniary mulct on other ſins, Spelm. pag. 362.
All this ſhews that the Church then was much more corrupt then ours now in England.
Yea the beſt of the Fathers had ſuch blots, that I may well make their Confeſſions another diſcovery, that our Churches are as pure and holy as theirs. I will name but few of the chief, becauſe I would not rake into their faults needleſly, who are pardoned, glorified Saints in Heaven. St. Auguſtine whileſt he leaned to the Maniches had a baſtard, and confeſſeth himſelf guilty of fornication. St. Hierom that was ſo vehement for Virginity, and lived a Monaſtick life, doth yet confeſs that he was not a Virgin. St. Bernard that lived ſo Contemplative a life, in his Serm. de beata virgine poſt ſerm. 5. de Aſſumpt. confeſſeth, ſe carere virginitate, that he lacked his virginity. And though Bellarmine (de ſcriptor. Ecccleſ. pag. 224.) do from that only reaſon queſtion whether it be Bernards, yet it is in the ſecond Tome among his undoubted writings, and this reaſon is a poor diſproof.
Now if one of our ordinary Miniſters ſhould be but guilty of ſuch a ſin, though but once, and that before Converſion, no doubt but it would lye heavye on their Conſciences; and I am ſure it would leave ſuch a blot on their names, that were never likely to be worn off while they live.
When we tell the Papiſts of their Licenſing Whore-houſes at Rome, Bononia, &c. they commonly fly to the words of Auſtin, lib. de Ordine, ſaying [Aufer Meretrices de rebus humanis, & turbaveris omnia libidinibus, i. e. Take away Whores from among men, and you will diſturb all things with luſts.] Though this was written when Auſtin was but a young convert, and it ſeems that he after changed his mind, yet this ſhews that our times are far from the abominations of thoſe; and our Paſtors are far more ſtrict then Auſtin then was.
4. As for the Holineſs of their Church by Ceremonies, as Holy Water, Holy Oil, Relicks, Altars, and an hundred ſuch things, I think it not worth the ſpeaking of: all things are ſanctified to us by the word and prayer. We devote our ſelves and all that we have to God, and then to the Pure all things are Pure. We neglect no Ordinance of God that we can know of and enjoy. He is a ſpirit, and ſeeketh ſuch as will worſhip him in ſpirit and truth. This is the Holineſs that we look after. But for numbring of Beads, and Ave Maries, and going pilgrimages, and ſuch inventions of arrogant men, we place no Holineſs in them, as knowing that God deſireth not a Mimical or Hiſtrionical worſhip; and that none knows what will pleaſe him ſo well as himſelf.