Concerning the Right Use of the Fathers in Controversies, Title page – Dedication
A TREATISE CONCERNING The Right Uſe OF THE FATHERS, IN THE Deciſion of the CONTROVERSIES that are at this Day in RELIGION
Written in FRENCH BY JOHN DAILLE, Miniſter of the Goſpel in the Reformed Church at PARIS.
Hieron. Apol. adv. Ruffin.
Fieri poteſt, ut vel ſimpliciter erraverint (Scriptores Eccleſiaſtici) vel alio ſenſu ſcripſerint, vel à librariis imperitis eorum paulatim ſcripta corrupta ſint. Vel certè, antequam in Alexandria quaſi Daemonium meridianum Arius naſceretur, innocenter quaedam, & minùs cautè locuti ſunt, & quae non poſſint perverſorum hominum calumniam declinare.
LONDON, Printed for John Martin, and are to be ſold by Robert Boulter at the Turks Head in Cornhill. M.DC.LXXV.
To the Noble LADY, ANNE MORNAY, Lady of Tabarriere, and Baroneſs of St. Hermine, &c.
MADAM,
IT is now almoſt four Years ſince that your Son, the late Baron of St. Hermine, acquainting me with what manner of Diſcourſe He was ordinarily entertained at Court, by thoſe who laboured to advance the Roman Religion, the rather to make him diſguſt the Reformed, told me, That the Chiefeſt Argument which they urged againſt him, was, Antiquity, and the General Conſent of all the Fathers of the Firſt Ages of Chriſtianity. And although of himſelf He underſtood well enough the Vanity of this Argument of theirs; yet notwithſtanding, for his own fuller ſatisfaction, He deſired me that I would diſcover unto Him the very Bottom and Depth of this Buſineſs. This therefore I did, as Exactly as poſſibly I could, and gave Him my Judgment at Large in this Particular: Which Diſcourſe of mine He was pleaſed to like ſo well, that conceiving ſome hopes from thence, that it might happily be of uſe to others alſo, I ſhortly after put Pen to Paper, and digeſted it into this Treatiſe You now ſee. It having therefore been Compoſed at firſt for His Service, I had reſolved alſo with my ſelf to have Dedicated it to His Name; purpoſing, by this ſmall Piece of Service, to teſtifie to the World the Continuation of the Affection I bare to His Progreſs in Piety. But that deadly Blow which ſnatched Him from us in the Flower of His Age, about two Years ſince, at the Famous Siege of Boſledue, having left us nothing of Him now, ſave onelyonly the Spoils of His Mortality, and the Memory of His Vertue, together with our Great Sorrow for having enjoyed Him here ſo ſhort a time; I am conſtrained, Madam, to change my former Reſolution. For, to Dedicate my Book to Him, in the State wherein He now is, in Heaven; following the Example of many, both Ancients, and Modern Writers, who have not ſtuck to direct their Diſcourſes from hence below, to thoſe whom God hath taken up into Heaven; I cannot perſwade my ſelf, that the Practiſe is either Lawful, or Fit. For, beſides the Vanity of the Thing, ſhould we hold Diſcourſe with one, who, being at ſo great, and almoſt infinite a Diſtance from us, cannot poſſibly hear what we ſay; I ſhould account it alſo, if ſo be He could hear us, a Point of extreme Inhumanity, I had almoſt ſaid, Impiety, to diſturb that Perfect Reſt His Bleſſed Soul now enjoyeth; which hath now no more to do with our Debates or Diſcourſes here below, but ſees the Truth now in a moſt pure Light, and enjoys that Everlaſting Bliſs wherewith our Saviour hath out of his Mercy crowned His Faith, and Perſeverance in the Fear of His Name. I ſhall therefore content my ſelf with cheriſhing, and preſerving, whilſt I live, the precious Memory of His Worth, the Excellency of His Wit, the Soundneſs of His Judgment, the Sweetneſs of His Nature, the Fairneſs of His Carriage, and thoſe other Choice Parts, wherewith He was accompliſhed; but above all His ſingular Piety, which clearly ſhone forth in His Words, and Actions, till the hour of His Death.
And Madam, as for this ſmall Treatiſe, which was at firſt conceived and compoſed for Him, I thought I could not, without being guilty of a piece of Injuſtice, preſent it to any other, but Your Self: ſeeing it hath pleaſed God, notwithſtanding the Common Order of Nature, to make You Heir to Him, to whom it belonged. This Conſideration only hath emboldned me to preſent it to Your Hands; knowing that the Nature of this Diſcourſe is not ſo ſuitable to that Sorrow which hath of late caſt a Cloud over Your Houſe; it having pleaſed God, after the death of the Son, to deprive You of the Father; and to the Loſs of Your Children, to add that alſo of Your Noble Husband. But, my deſire of avoiding the being Ʋnjuſt, hath forced Me to be thus Ʋncivilly Troubleſome: ſeeing I accounted it a kind of Theft, ſhould I have any longer withheld from You that which was Your Right, by this Sad Title of Inheritance. Be pleaſed therefore, Madam, to receive this Book, as a part of the Goods of your Deceaſed Son; which I now honeſtly reſtore, in the view of the whole World, after ſome times Concealment of it in my Study. This Name, I know, will oblige You to afford it ſome place in Your Cloſet, which is all that I can at preſent deſire. For, as for the reading of it, beſides that Your Exquiſite Piety (which is built upon Infinitely much Firmer Grounds, than theſe Diſputes,) hath no need at all of it; I know alſo, that Your preſent Condition is ſuch, as that it would be very Troubleſome unto You. And if You ſhall chance to deſire to ſpend ſome hours in the Peruſal of it; it muſt be hereafter, when the Lord, by the Efficacy of His Spirit, ſhall have comforted Yours, and ſhall have allayed the Violence of Your Grief: to whom I pour out my moſt earneſt Prayers, that He would vouchſafe Powerfully to effect the ſame, and to ſhed forth His moſt holy Grace upon You, and Yours; and that He would by His great Mercy preſerve, Long, and Happily, that which remaineth of that Goodly, and Bleſſed Family, which He hath beſtowed upon You. This, Madam, is one of the moſt Hearty Prayers of
Your moſt Humble, and Obedient Servant, DAILLE.