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<NAME>Kayla Ondracek</NAME>
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<P>SPEEDY ADVICE TO ALL Roman Catholicks; E&s;pecially, tho&s;e concerned in SCOTLAND AND IRELAND.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed and are to be &s;old by <HI>Richard Baldwin,</HI> near the <HI>Black-Bull,</HI> in the <HI>Old-Baily.</HI> 1689.</P>
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<HEAD>SOUND ADVICE TO <HI>Roman Catholicks,</HI> &amp;c.</HEAD>
<P>THough there be none in this Nation, who (upon the ac|count of Merit) oweth le&s;s kindne&s;s to your Tribe, yet (as one well acquainted with the Intrigues of both Churches) upon the account of Brotherly Love and Charity, I hum|bly pre&s;ent you with my Chri&s;tian and be&s;t Advice, earne&s;tly de|&s;iring you, &s;eriou&s;ly to con&s;ider the &s;andy Foundation of your Romi&s;h Church, and no more pin your Faith and confidence of Salvation, to the implicit a&s;&s;ertions of a pretended Authority, and u&s;urped Supremacy; to believe every Contradiction of Non&s;en&s;e, which is, or can be affirmed by the Spiritual Apo&s;tates, of &s;o abo|minable an <HI>Harlot,</HI> whom (with the <HI>Ephe&s;ians, Act.</HI> 19.28.) you term your <HI>Great Diana,</HI> and un&s;potted <HI>Mother-Church,</HI> and therefore ought to be believed without any further enquiry; though the <HI>Turks</HI> may, on as good grounds, per&s;wade the World to embrace their Religion, and their chief <HI>Mufti</HI> as well claim Chri&s;t's Vicar|age, upon the account of <HI>John</HI> of <HI>Con&s;tantinople,</HI> as the Pope of <HI>Rome</HI> can on the Succe&s;&s;ion of <HI>Peter;</HI> their Principles being neither more ridiculous, nor contrary to the Scriptures of Truth, and Apo&s;tolick Chri&s;tian Faith, than the Doctrine of the <HI>Church of Rome</HI> is at this pre&s;ent time.</P>
<P>Indeed, I my &s;elf was lulled a&s;leep, by the allurements of the Popi&s;h <HI>Syrenes,</HI> and the bewitching Sorceries of the <HI>Man of Sin</HI> (as by the impetuous current of <HI>Babel</HI>'s &s;treams) driven headlong to the brink and &s;hore of the <HI>See</HI> of <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> Abominations: But as <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> was &s;old to <HI>Aegypt,</HI> for the Pre&s;ervation of his Brethren, &s;o was I laid a&s;ide, by the permi&s;&s;ion of Divine Providence, for the &s;afety both of my King and Country. Therefore (with the
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Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul,</HI> who was once a Per&s;ecuter) <HI>knowing the terrour of the Lord,</HI> and the danger of Popi&s;h Apo&s;tacy, I per&s;wade all men to renounce <HI>the Doctrine of Devils,</HI> and embrace the <HI>Chri&s;tian Faith,</HI> freely offered to us in the Go&s;pel. And becau&s;e I would gain ground on the meane&s;t Capacities, and di&s;cover the nakedne&s;s of the <HI>Roman Harlot, in puris,</HI> or (rather) <HI>nudis naturalibus,</HI> I &s;hall (for the benefit of tho&s;e who have not money to buy, nor time to read, great Controver&s;ies) &s;et down in this &s;mall <HI>Treati&s;e,</HI> &s;ome obvious and abominable Errours of the <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> Church, in &s;uch capital and legible Characters, that they who run may read MYSTERY BABYLON, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> on the face of that impudent Harlot; and (unle&s;s they &s;hut their Eyes, Ears, and all their Sen&s;es, the Gates of their under&s;tanding) be ready to cry out, <HI>Men and Brethren, what &s;hall we do to be &s;aved?</HI></P>
<P>The fir&s;t blow that I intend to &s;trike, is at the Pope's <HI>Supremacy</HI> and <HI>Infallibility,</HI> the two great Pillars whereon the <HI>Church of Rome</HI> (or rather <HI>Fabrick of Antichri&s;t</HI>) leaneth. The fir&s;t, God hath as evidently prohibited, <HI>Mark</HI> 10.42. as he hath Murder and Adul|tery in the &s;ixth and &s;eventh Commandments; and &s;ince Papi&s;ts unanimou&s;ly acknowledge that all the Apo&s;tles received <HI>the gift of the Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> and <HI>Peter</HI> only the <HI>Keys,</HI> the <HI>Orders</HI> and <HI>Badge</HI> of his Supremacy, before they prove his Superiority and Dignity above the re&s;t of the Apo&s;tles, they mu&s;t prove that tho&s;e Keys were a thing better and more precious than the re&s;t received; yea, than the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> or <HI>God him&s;elf,</HI> which none but <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> and his Members dare to affirm. <HI>Peter,</HI> indeed, being a forward Man, Self-confident and Audacious, fir&s;t an&s;wered our Saviour's Que&s;tion, <HI>Matth.</HI> 16.16. and our Saviour (very gently) continued his di&s;cour&s;e to him, not excluding the re&s;t: But were I to give the Supre|macy to any Apo&s;tle, I would rather give it to <HI>James</HI> the Lords Brother, or to <HI>Paul</HI> or <HI>Barnabas,</HI> to whom <HI>Peter</HI> him&s;elf gave <HI>the right hand of fellow&s;hip, Gal.</HI> 2.9. or to <HI>John,</HI> who could be more intimate with Je&s;us than any of the re&s;t, as is clear from <HI>Joh.</HI> 13.23. and was termed <HI>the Di&s;ciple whom Je&s;us loved, Joh.</HI> 21.20. Yet what Fool will from thence conclude, that he hated all the re&s;t? though the <HI>Papists</HI> fooli&s;hly affirm, that becau&s;e Chri&s;t gave the <HI>Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven</HI> to <HI>Peter,</HI> he gave them to none el&s;e: He was plea&s;ed to wheedle over the re&s;t with &s;maller enduements, priviledges, and preheminence; though they received both the <HI>Father and the Son.</HI> Thus did <HI>Peter</HI> (according to the Canon of the
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<HI>Church of Rome</HI>) receive a more noble Gift, and was in&s;pired with a greater Spirit than God him&s;elf; though our Saviour &s;aith, <HI>Joh.</HI> 10.29. <HI>My Father is greater than all.</HI> Yet, for all the&s;e Keys were &s;o precious, that bloody <HI>Sodomite,</HI> Pope <HI>Julius</HI> the Second, threw them in the River <HI>Tiber,</HI> as he was marching before his Army, the <HI>number whereof was as the &s;and of the Sea:</HI> Whence <HI>Bibliander</HI> doth conclude, that Pope <HI>Julius</HI> did re&s;ign all his pre|tended Right and Power, <HI>of &s;hutting and opening Heaven and Hell,</HI> to the River <HI>Tiber,</HI> or the Fi&s;hes or other Creatures therein. For ca&s;ting away the Keys, the Te&s;timony of his Authority, he did deprive and &s;poil him&s;elf, and all his Succe&s;&s;ors, of <HI>Peter</HI>'s inhe|ritance.</P>
<P>But (to approach a little nearer to this glorious <HI>Mitre,</HI> who&s;e dazling brightne&s;s darkneth all the Crowns in <HI>Chri&s;tendom</HI>) I would gladly know how the Pope of <HI>Rome</HI> came to be <HI>Peter</HI>'s Succe&s;&s;or, and if he came hone&s;tly by his Popedom: If <HI>Peter</HI> was Crucify'd at <HI>Rome,</HI> his Succe&s;&s;ion mu&s;t be by U&s;urpation, and his Right to the Holy Chair, but a meer Robbery. But it is acknowledged by all, that the Titles of <HI>Pope of Rome, Univer&s;al Bi&s;hop, Peter's Suc|ce&s;&s;or, Chri&s;ts Vicar, and God upon Earth,</HI> were not known till (about 600 years after our Saviour.) The Patriarchs of <HI>Con&s;tantinople</HI> and <HI>Rome,</HI> did both by Letters and Legates &s;ollicit the Emperour <HI>Mauritius</HI> for the Title of <HI>Bi&s;hop of Bi&s;hops,</HI> in&s;tead of <HI>Servus Ser|vorum.</HI> But <HI>Gregory</HI> the Fir&s;t (abhorring that Bla&s;phemous Name, and calling it the Mark and Badge of Anti chri&s;t) <HI>Lib</HI> 4 <HI>Epi&s;t.</HI> 27. wrote to the Emperour thus: <HI>Exclamare compellor, ac dicere, O tem|pora, O mores! Ecce cuncta in Europae Partibus Barbarorum juri &s;unt tradita. De&s;tructae Urbes, ever&s;a Ca&s;tra, depopulatae provinciae, nul|lus terram Cultor inhabitat, &amp; tamen Sacerdotes qui in pavimento, &amp; cinere flentes jacere debuerunt, vanitatis &s;ibi nomina experiunt, &amp; novis ac prophanis vocabulis gloriantur.</HI> That is to &s;ay, I am compelled to cry out, O Times! O Manners! Behold in all the parts of <HI>Europe,</HI> all things live under the reverence of barbarous people: Towns are de&s;troy'd, Ca&s;tles are over-thrown, Provinces are &s;poiled: No Labourer inhabiteth the Land; notwith&s;tanding, the Prie&s;ts (who &s;hould lye in a&s;hes, upon the ground weeping) are &s;eeking unto them&s;elves Names of Vanity, and Glory in Pro|phane Titles. Thus <HI>Anti-chri&s;t's Title</HI> was bla&s;ted in the bud, and forc'd to linger in the birth, till <HI>Bonifacius</HI> the Third (finding opportunity by the di&s;liking which the Emperour <HI>Phocas</HI> had of
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the Patriarch of <HI>Con&s;tantinople</HI>) in&s;inuated him&s;elf in the Empe|rour's &s;avour, and obtained at his hands, that the <HI>Church of Rome</HI> &s;hould be called the <HI>Supream Head of all other Churches,</HI> and him|&s;elf Supream and Univer&s;al <HI>Bi&s;hop of all Bi&s;hops.</HI> Then <HI>Boniface.</HI> (as <HI>Platina</HI> writeth) proud of his Vain, Glorious, New Title (which he had &s;natch'd from the hand of an U&s;urper) called a Council at <HI>Rome,</HI> con&s;i&s;ting of &s;eventy two <HI>Bi&s;hops,</HI> thirty <HI>Pre&s;|byters,</HI> and three <HI>Deacons;</HI> wherein, the priviledge of <HI>Supremacy,</HI> given by <HI>Phocas</HI> to the <HI>Roman</HI> Church, was publi&s;hed. Thus he who had murdered an Emperour could make a Bi&s;hop, and add lu&s;tre to his ambitious <HI>Holine&s;s;</HI> and again&s;t the Nature both of Rea&s;on and Philo&s;ophy, give that which in him&s;elf he had not.</P>
<P>Thus was this proud &s;welling Title Midwif'd to the World, by a Tyrant who had Murdered his Ma&s;ter, the good Emperour <HI>Mauritius,</HI> with his Brother, Wife and Children. And as <HI>Bibli|ander</HI> ob&s;erveth, the <HI>Eagles three Heads,</HI> with their bloody Bills, awaked all at once, <HI>viz. Boniface, Phocas,</HI> and <HI>Mahumet</HI> the <HI>Arabian.</HI> Now con&s;idering the&s;e things, and that the <HI>Bi&s;hop of Rome</HI> oweth his Greatne&s;s and Supremacy to the Emperour, what Ma&s;ter of Ingratitude is he, to Cur&s;e, Excommunicate, Depo&s;e, and tread him under his Feet? Cau&s;e him to hold his Stirrup, Crown him with his Feet, force him to &s;tand bare-foot, begging at his Gates, Poi&s;on him, and make him lye rotting above ground, without a Grave to lye in.</P>
<P>Neither can the Pope deduce his <HI>Infallibility</HI> from <HI>Peter</HI>'s con&s;tan|cy and &s;tedfa&s;tne&s;s of <HI>Faith;</HI> for he (after he had received the Keys) both could, and did fall, and was by our Saviour, <HI>Matth.</HI> 16.23. not called <HI>His Holine&s;s,</HI> but <HI>Satan:</HI> whence I might (after the man|ner of Popi&s;h Argumentation) infer that the <HI>Church of Rome</HI> is built upon <HI>Satan,</HI> who denyed his Saviour, and was ignorant, <HI>Gal.</HI> 2.13, 14, whether it was lawful to eat with the Gentiles, till <HI>Paul</HI> informed and confirmed him in the true Faith. Yea, all Pa|pi&s;ts fooli&s;hly conclude and affirm, that, during the time of Chri&s;t's Crucifixion, none upon Earth, no not the Apo&s;tles them&s;elves, had true Faith, or believed in the Son of God, but only the B. Virgin: whence it will follow (according to the Principles of Popery) that the Church was built upon an Unbeliever, and that the <HI>Devils,</HI> the <HI>Gates of Hell</HI> did prevail again&s;t it.</P>
<P>Now then, if <HI>Peter</HI> was neither <HI>Supream</HI> nor <HI>Infallible,</HI> why doth the <HI>Pope</HI> of <HI>Rome</HI> father his Fopperies of Supremacy and infallibility
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on him? as by a Go&s;pel Line, and Spiritual <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">, could prove his Right to the Holy Chair, and throw down all his Brats of Abomination, at the Ble&s;&s;ed Apo&s;tle's Door. But if I can, by demon&s;tration, prove the <HI>Pope of Rome,</HI> his pretended <HI>Holine&s;s,</HI> an <HI>Infidel</HI> in Faith, and an <HI>Athei&s;t</HI> in Life and Conver&s;ation, I hope all ingenious Papi&s;ts will acknowledge him <HI>Fallible;</HI> for, <HI>ab actu ad potentiam bene valet con&s;equentia.</HI></P>
<P>The fir&s;t proof I &s;hall bring is a &s;hort Hi&s;tory, taken out of the be&s;t Popi&s;h Writers, which is this; <HI>Formo&s;us</HI> the fir&s;t Reigned &s;ix Years, and died <HI>anno</HI> 896. after he had made many Decretals, Acts and Church-Canons, which <HI>Steven</HI> the 6th &s;pitefully annulled and cancelled, as wicked and abominable, becau&s;e he had prevent|ed him in the Popedom, and would not allow him Concubines to his mind: Yea (to revenge his unde&s;erved quarrel again&s;t him) &s;ummoning a Council, he cau&s;ed his dead rotten Carca&s;s to be digg'd out of the Grave, and deckt with Gorgeous Pontificals, and pulling off all again, to be array'd in Lay-mens habit. Thus the dead Body being degraded and deve&s;ted of all Eccle&s;ia&s;tick Digni|ty, like a &s;uper&s;titious Fool, he cut off the two Fingers of his right hand (wherewith he us'd to hold the Sacrament) and threw them in the River <HI>Tyber,</HI> and afterwards commanded his Body to be buried among <HI>Lay-men.</HI> But <HI>Romanus</HI> the fir&s;t, &s;ucceeding <HI>Ste|ven,</HI> allowed and confirmed the <HI>Acts</HI> and <HI>Decrees</HI> of <HI>Formo&s;us,</HI> an|nulling and condemning the Canons, Acts and Decretals of <HI>Steven,</HI> as wicked and abominable. Then after the Death of <HI>Romanus,</HI> Pope <HI>John</HI> the tenth being a Favourite of <HI>Formo&s;us,</HI> made a General Col|lection of all the Writs and Proce&s;&s;es again&s;t the dead Body of <HI>Formo&s;us,</HI> and condemned the Pope <HI>Steven</HI> his <HI>Council,</HI> and all their Writings. Till <HI>Sergius</HI> the third (who had before, by the Roman Clergy, been elected Pope with <HI>Formo&s;us,</HI> but &s;uppre&s;&s;ed by Faction) digg'd up the dead rotten Body of <HI>Formo&s;us</HI> the &s;econd time; which had been in the Grave about ten Years, &s;et it in St. <HI>Peter</HI>'s Chair, drew it thence by the Heels to a block, and &s;trook off its head: And chopping off the three fingers, which <HI>Steven</HI> had le&s;t, he cau|&s;ed the rotten, &s;tinking Ma&s;&s;acred Body to be thrown into the River <HI>Tyber:</HI> And la&s;tly, defaced, anulled and condemned all his Acts and Decrees, which before had been allowed, denyed, confirmed and condemned by &s;everal thwarting and contradicting Popes. Till in the Reign of Pope <HI>Ana&s;tatius</HI> the third, about the year 913, &s;ome Fi&s;hermen found the Body of <HI>Formo&s;us</HI> in the River <HI>Tyber,</HI>
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which was by his <HI>Holine&s;s</HI> buryed &s;umptuou&s;ly; the very Images (if you can believe the famous Popi&s;h Writers) welcoming, nod|ding and &s;aluting the dead Body when it was brought into the Church. Now of nece&s;&s;ity &s;ome of the&s;e contradicting Popes were erroneous in their Judgments; yea, both faulty and Heretical, and did fall in their <HI>Faith,</HI> and &s;acrifice their Con&s;cience to their &s;pleen: For, contradicting one another, they could not all be in the right, nor affirm that whicn was true and Orthodox. For it is an undeniable maxim, that <HI>Duo contradictoria nequiunt e&s;&s;e &s;imul ve|ra.</HI> But, whatever was their <HI>Faith,</HI> I am &s;ure their <HI>Charity</HI> was thred-bare, and their <HI>Holine&s;&s;es</HI> de&s;titute of all mercy, vindictive|ly pur&s;uing their holy Father beyond the Gates of Death, and re|venging their quarrel in the very Grave. Neither was this all, for it is ob&s;erved by Popi&s;h Writers, and all others &s;ince, that after the Death of <HI>Formo&s;us,</HI> the Popes of <HI>Rome</HI> poi&s;on'd and di&s;patch'd one another &s;o fa&s;t, that there were eleven Popes within nine years &s;pace.</P>
<P>The next proof of the Pope's Fallibility in <HI>Faith,</HI> is, that <HI>John</HI> the 23d was proved an <HI>Heretick</HI> in the Council of <HI>Con&s;tance,</HI> by the&s;e words; <HI>Pope</HI> John <HI>&s;aid, and &s;tubbornly believed, that the Soul of Man dyeth together with the Body, and is con&s;umed to nothing, like the Souls of Bruit Bea&s;ts.</HI> And becau&s;e <HI>Thomas Walleis,</HI> an Engli&s;h-man, was Impri&s;oned by the Pope for reproving his Here&s;ie, the King of <HI>France</HI> &s;ummoned a <HI>Council</HI> into his Palace, in <HI>Viciana Sylva,</HI> where the whole A&s;&s;embly &s;ub&s;cribed again&s;t the Pope's Here&s;ie: And the King wrote to <HI>John</HI> to reform it, and &s;et the Pri&s;oner at liberty. The la&s;t he did to prevent threatning dangers; but of his Here&s;ie, he never would purge him&s;elf.</P>
<P>My third proof &s;hall be from Pope <HI>Gregory</HI> the VII. This man was an Adulterer, a great Sorcerer and Necromancer; and (as <HI>Beno</HI> the Cardinal writeth) when he was in his merry Fits, would ca&s;t off his Sleeves, and skip and dance like a Bear, in form of &s;par|kles and flames of fire: With which, and many &s;uch Miracles (or rather lying Wonders) he deceived and per&s;waded ignorant peo|ple, to believe that he was <HI>a Lamp of pure Holine&s;s.</HI> As al&s;o, he kept a Brazen-Head in his Clo&s;et, wherein dwelt a Spirit, where|with (in any danger) he con&s;ulted, to know the re&s;ult of his un|dertakings. But on a certain time (as he was preparing to War again&s;t the Emperour) his Dome&s;tick God gave him &s;uch an am|biguous An&s;wer, that he could make no &s;en&s;e of it: therefore took
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<HI>the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper</HI> (his &s;uppo&s;ed Deity) and &s;etting it on a Table, Conjur'd it with the &s;ame Words that he had his <HI>Brazen-Head,</HI> a little before; but the <HI>Sacrament</HI> giving him no An|&s;wer, <HI>His Holine&s;s,</HI> in a great pa&s;&s;ion, threw it in the fire, with the&s;e Words, <HI>There's a God indeed: Could the Idol-Gods of the Hea|thens give them An&s;wer in their Succe&s;s, and can&s;t thou give me none?</HI> The Cardinals then pre&s;ent, were much di&s;plea&s;ed that <HI>Hildebrand</HI> &s;hould have burn'd the God which they had made to be eaten: Therefore <HI>John</HI> Bi&s;hop of <HI>Portua</HI> (of the Popes Privy Council) made his Apology in a Sermon in St. <HI>Peter</HI>'s Church, the next Lord's Day, thus: <HI>What meaned HILDEBRAND and We to do the&s;e things, for which We all de&s;erve to be burned alive?</HI> From whence I infer, that Pope <HI>Gregory</HI> was an <HI>Heretick,</HI> and did not believe <HI>the real Pre&s;ence,</HI> and that the Sacrament was a <HI>True God.</HI> Yet this <HI>Gregory, alias Hildebrand,</HI> or <HI>Hell-brand</HI> (as &s;ome term him) for all he Poy&s;on'd &s;even Popes, to make way for him&s;elf to the Popedom, dyed at <HI>Salerne</HI> in great Mi&s;ery, <HI>Anno</HI> 1086.</P>
<P>My fourth proof is by con&s;equence, from the Words of Pope <HI>Gela&s;ius,</HI> concerning the Sacrament of the Lords Supper; who, again&s;t the <HI>Eutychians,</HI> &s;peaketh thus: <HI>Biblioth. patr. Tom.</HI> 4. <HI>Surely the Sacraments which we receive, of the Body and Blood of our Lord, are a Divine thing, &s;o that by them we are made partakers of a Divine Nature, and yet it cea&s;eth not to be the Sub&s;tance or Nature of Bread and Wine, and certainly, the Image and Re&s;emblance of Chri&s;t's Body and Blood are Celebrated in the Action of the My&s;tery.</HI> Whence it will undoubt|edly follow, that he was a <HI>Heretick,</HI> according to the Canon of the &s;econd Council of <HI>Lateran,</HI> which confirmed the Doctrine of <HI>Tran|&s;ub&s;tantiation,</HI> or el&s;e that all the Popes &s;ince have been Hereticks, who have maintained Chri&s;ts real pre&s;ence, in the Sacrament of the <HI>Lords Supper.</HI></P>
<P>My fifth and la&s;t proof &s;hall be of Pope <HI>Leo</HI> the X. who (when Cardinal <HI>Bembus</HI> moved a Que&s;tion out of the Go&s;pel) very con|temptuou&s;ly An&s;wered, <HI>All Ages can te&s;tify enough, how profitable that Fable of Chri&s;t hath been to us, and our Company.</HI> Who then dare be &s;o impudent to affirm him Infallible in Faith, who denyeth the very foundation thereof, and him by whom only Salvation can be obtained? <HI>Be a&s;toni&s;hed, O ye Heavens at this, and be horribly afraid, &amp;c. Jer.</HI> 2.12.</P>
<P>Now if this be the Fountain of the <HI>Romi&s;h Faith,</HI> and the Creed of <HI>his un&s;potted Holine&s;s,</HI> what mud and dirt is in <HI>Babel</HI>'s <HI>&s;treams?</HI>
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What Athei&s;m and Infidelity mu&s;t there be among the Crew of. the Romi&s;h Clergy? And Rabble of Bruti&s;h Prie&s;ts, Monks and Friers? <HI>E&s;t petri Sedes</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Bellarm. in praefat. ante lib. de Pontif. Rom.) Lapis probatus, angularis, pretio&s;us, in fundamento fundatus.</HI> St. <HI>Peter</HI>'s <HI>Chair is an approved Corner Stone, precious, and laid in the foundation.</HI> And again (<HI>lib.</HI> 2. <HI>de pont. Rom. cap.</HI> 31.) <HI>The Pope of</HI> Rome <HI>is the foundation of the Church.</HI> And <HI>Stapleton (Relect. princip. Doctr. in praef.) Alii nunc a Chri&s;to eorumve Doctrina, praedicatio, determina|tio fundamenti apud me locum habebunt.</HI> That is <HI>others (now be&s;ide Chri&s;t) and their Doctrine, Preaching, and Determination, &s;hall be e&s;teemed of me as a Foundation.</HI> The Begging Friers in the time of <HI>William de &s;anct. amore</HI> (as the Doctors of <HI>Paris in lib. de peric. novi&s;. temp.</HI> relate) collected all their Dreams, Fancies, and vain Traditions, into one Volume, calling it the <HI>Eternal Go&s;pel,</HI> and Preach'd <HI>The Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t &s;hall cea&s;e, and our Eternal Go&s;pel &s;hall be Preach'd and receiv'd to the end of the World.</HI> The Pope with great reluctancy, did at la&s;t condemn this bla&s;phemous Book of Abominations, and lying Wonders, at the earne&s;t Reque&s;t of the Doctors of <HI>Paris,</HI> again&s;t whom <HI>his Holine&s;s</HI> conceived &s;uch implacable hatred, that he could never after be reconciled to them, and favoured the Fri|ars &s;o much, that he both preferr'd them, and enlarg'd their Priviledges.</P>
<P>Now if any of the Romi&s;h Clergy per&s;wade a Lay-man to be|lieve as the Church believeth, he mu&s;t tell him what is the Church. For if he believe what the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> preach'd formerly, then he mu&s;t not believe the Doctrine of Popery now. Yea, if he believe Pope <HI>Gela&s;ius</HI> (whom I have Quoted) he mu&s;t not believe the pre&s;ent <HI>Church of Rome;</HI> or el&s;e if he will believe the Doctrine of <HI>Rome</HI> now, he mu&s;t acknowledge that Pope <HI>Gela&s;ius</HI> was a cur&s;ed Heretick, which will overturn the Doctrine of the <HI>Popes Infallillility,</HI> which hangeth betwixt a <HI>Po&s;&s;ibility</HI> and an <HI>Impo&s;&s;ibility.</HI></P>
<P>Now to prove the Pope Fallible, in re&s;pect of evil Works, Sin and Wickedne&s;s, his godle&s;s and bruti&s;h life is enough to declare him both a Bea&s;t and an Athei&s;t. And I really believe, that as &s;oon as ever he &s;itteth down in the old rotten Stool, which they call St. <HI>Peter</HI>'s <HI>Chair</HI> (as from an old enchanted Oracle) he is po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ed with the &s;pirit of Delu&s;ion and Errour; which driveth him headlong to all Abominations and Uncleanne&s;s. And, as an evil &s;pirit from God, troubled <HI>Saul;</HI> &s;o &s;uffereth he <HI>the wicked one</HI> to take po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of this <HI>Prince of Pride,</HI> that they who follow and wan|der
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after him, and term him <HI>His Holine&s;s,</HI> may be inexcu&s;able in the day of their accounts; in reputing him a <HI>Terre&s;tial God,</HI> whom they &s;ee an <HI>Infernal Devil.</HI> And for further &s;atisfaction, I &s;hall here in|&s;ert &s;ome Popi&s;h Pranks, and Wicked Villanies, committed by the Popes of <HI>Rome;</HI> which the Reader may judge, whether or not they can con&s;i&s;t with <HI>Infallibility</HI> and un&s;potted <HI>Holine&s;s.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Pope</HI> (or rather <HI>Pope&s;s) Joan</HI> was a <HI>Fornicatrix,</HI> and died in La|bour, bringing forth a Ba&s;tard.</P>
<P><HI>Pope John</HI> XIII. lay with his own Si&s;ters, forced his Fathers Concubines, played at Dice, drank the Devils good Health, pray'd to him for good luck, and put out the Eyes of <HI>Benedict</HI> his Gho&s;tly Father.</P>
<P><HI>Gregory</HI> VII. cau&s;ed a fellow to put great &s;tones, right over the place where the Emperour <HI>Henry</HI> u&s;ed to pray, in St. <HI>Marys</HI> Church, to knock him on the Head, by an ingenious contrivance; whil&s;t he was at his Devotion, he Cur&s;ed, and Excommunicated him, without occa&s;ion, and took his Crown from him, without any ju&s;t cau&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Pa&s;chal</HI> II. &s;tirred up <HI>Henry</HI> the V. to Rebel again&s;t his good Old Father, who at la&s;t (by his a&s;&s;i&s;tance) beat him from the Empire, and brought him to beg his Bread; &s;o that he lived and died mi|&s;erable, and was cau&s;ed to lye rotting above ground, without burying, five years, at the Pope's &s;pecial command.</P>
<P><HI>Innocent</HI> IV. called <HI>Henry</HI> III. King of <HI>England</HI> his Va&s;&s;al, Slave and Page, whom he could impri&s;on, and put to open &s;hame, at his plea&s;ure.</P>
<P><HI>Hadrian</HI> IV. fell out with the Emperour of <HI>Germany,</HI> for holding his wrong Stirrup.</P>
<P><HI>Innocent</HI> III. took from <HI>John,</HI> King of <HI>England,</HI> both his Crown and Kingdom, and gave it to <HI>Lewis,</HI> the <HI>French</HI> Kings Son, with|out any ju&s;t cau&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Cele&s;tine</HI> III. Crowned the Emperour and Empre&s;s of <HI>Germany</HI> with his Feet, and (throwing off the Crowns again with his Toe) &s;aid, <HI>I have power both to make and unmake Kings and Emperours.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Nicolas</HI> III. begot a Ba&s;tard Son, that had Claws and Hair like a Bear.</P>
<P><HI>Boniface</HI> VIII. becau&s;e <HI>Philip</HI> King of <HI>France</HI> would not &s;uffer the Revenues of his Kingdom to be tran&s;ported to Foreign Countries, Cur&s;ed both him and his, to the fourth Generation. He likewi&s;e gave Authority to Eccle&s;ia&s;tick Per&s;ons in <HI>England,</HI> to deliver the
<PB N="10" REF="7">
people to Satan twice a year. This man came by the Popedom after a mo&s;t devili&s;h and treacherous manner; for finding his Ma&s;ter, Pope <HI>Cele&s;tine</HI> the Fifth, a &s;imple doting Man, he hired one of his Bed-chamber to make a Gho&s;tly noi&s;e, in a long Reed, through a hole which he had cau&s;ed to be made privately, in the Wall of his <HI>Holine&s;s</HI>'s Chamber, crying, <HI>CELESTINE, CELESTINE, give over thy Charge, for it is above thy &s;trength and ability.</HI> The Old Man (thinking the Infernal noi&s;e had been the Voice of an Angel, &s;ent from Heaven) in &s;pite of all oppo&s;ers, gave over the Popedom on St. <HI>Luke</HI>'s <HI>Eve,</HI> and went to a De&s;art to lead an Ere|mit's life, (as <HI>Ma&s;&s;aeus</HI> writeth.) But the Impo&s;tor <HI>Boniface</HI> (who had thus cheated the &s;imple man, and gotten to be his Succe&s;&s;or, fear|ing that the people would follow him as Pope) apprehended Old <HI>Cele&s;tine,</HI> and put him in clo&s;e Pri&s;on, where he lay till the day of his Death: But <HI>Boniface</HI> him&s;elf, did not e&s;cape the ju&s;t Judgment of God, for he dyed in a mi&s;erable condition, with a guilty Con|&s;cience. This is he, of whom it was &s;aid, <HI>He enter'd like a FOX, he reigned like a LYON, and dyed like a DOG.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Clement</HI> the V. cau&s;ed his Hang-man to take <HI>Francis Dandalus,</HI> a <HI>Venetian</HI> Duke, and bind him with Chains, and throw him at his Feet under his Table, where (for very hunger) he gnaw'd bones like a Dog.</P>
<P><HI>Clement</HI> VI. cau&s;ed to Poy&s;on the Emperour <HI>Lewis,</HI> with|out any cau&s;e but Pride, Covetou&s;ne&s;s, and de&s;ire of Superiority.</P>
<P><HI>Urban</HI> VI. drowned &s;even Cardinals, becau&s;e he &s;u&s;pected that they had con&s;pired again&s;t him with <HI>Charles</HI> King of <HI>Naples,</HI> and <HI>Clement</HI> his Competitor, an <HI>Antipope.</HI> This <HI>Urban</HI> (whom &s;ome termed <HI>Turban,</HI> for his wicked and trouble&s;ome life) as he was in ha&s;te riding from <HI>Naples,</HI> with his Spiritual Court of Rogues, and <HI>Sodomites,</HI> cau&s;ed one of his Cut-throats to kill the Bi&s;hop of <HI>Aquilo</HI> his Pri&s;oner, leaving his dead mangled body on the way; becau&s;e (after his racking and tormenting) he could not ride &s;o fa&s;t as <HI>His Holine&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>Pope <HI>Sixtus</HI> IV. gave liberty to &s;everal Families of the Clergy, to defile their bodies with all manner of filthine&s;s and bruti&s;h un|cleanne&s;s, for the three hot months, <HI>June, July,</HI> and <HI>Augu&s;t.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Innocent</HI> VIII. begat &s;ixteen Children, on &s;ixteen &s;everal Women, and was &s;o bruti&s;h every way, that after his Death this <HI>Epitaph</HI> was made upon him:
<Q><PB N="11" REF="7">
<L>Octo Nocens pueros genuit, totidem&abque; puellas,</L>
<L>Hunc merito poterit dicere Roma patrem.</L>
<L>Spuricies, Gula, avaritia at&abque; ignavia, De&s;es,</L>
<L>Hoc, octave jacent, quo tegeris tumulo.</L></Q></P>
<P><HI>Benedict</HI> the XII. bought with a large &s;umm of money, the Si&s;ter of <HI>Francis Petrarch,</HI> a very beautiful Woman, to &s;atisfie his Carnal de&s;ire.</P>
<P><HI>Alexander</HI> the VI. lay with his own Daughter, on whom after her death this Epitaph was made:
<Q><L>Hic jacet in tumulo, Lucretia nomine; &s;ed re</L>
<L>Thais; Alexandri filia, &s;pon&s;a, nuras.</L></Q></P>
<P><HI>Paul</HI> III. in di&s;gui&s;e, lay with a young Gentlewoman, under pre|tence of Wooing her, by whom he had a Son called <HI>Peter Aloy&s;ius,</HI> the expre&s;s Image of &s;uch a Father: For being General of his Father's Army, he cau&s;ed his Souldiers violently to hold the Godly Old Bi&s;hop of <HI>Fane,</HI> till he in &s;pite of the poor Old Man's heart, committed that abomination with him, that is neither proper to be Written, nor &s;poken of; the Bi&s;hop afterwards dying for very grief. This Pope <HI>Paul</HI> had a Daughter named <HI>Con&s;tantia,</HI> who&s;e Husband he poi&s;on'd, to enjoy her per&s;on with greater con|venience, and with her, to wallow in uncleanne&s;s. With whom al&s;o, her Brother <HI>Peter Aloy&s;ius,</HI> in imitation of his Father, made bold to commit Ince&s;t. This Pope al&s;o kept a Li&s;t of 45000 Har|lots about <HI>Rome,</HI> which paid him a monthly Tribute for Liberty of Whoring.</P>
<P>The&s;e are Demon&s;trations of the Pope's Fallibility, and the fruits of his <HI>manife&s;t Wickedne&s;s.</HI> The&s;e are the doings of the <HI>Son of Per|dition,</HI> and the wicked Works of the Romi&s;h <HI>Man of Sin,</HI> which (to number up all, or as many of them as have been publi&s;hed in Popi&s;h Hi&s;torians) would make a book larger than twenty Church Bibles: But <HI>ex ungue Leonem,</HI> We may know by this little what the whole Volume would be, and what metal the <HI>My&s;tery of Ini|quity</HI> is made of. Are the&s;e the Works of him that hath the Spirit of God, or the Spirit of Anti-chri&s;t? Tell me ingenuou&s;ly Reader, how you reli&s;h this drop of the Cup of Romi&s;h Abominations, and if you can dige&s;t a whole Draught of it, without Poy&s;oning your Con&s;cience? Doth it &s;urfeit your Soul to a future forbearance, and force you to cry out, O <HI>Man of God, Death is in the Cup?</HI></P>
<P>The &s;econd thing that I object, again&s;t the <HI>Church of Rome,</HI> is the keeping the <HI>Laity</HI> from reading the Holy Scriptures. It is life
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eternal to know God, <HI>Joh.</HI> 17.3. but how to know the God of Truth without the knowledge of the Scriptures of Truth, I never could yet find out, they being the right way, and appointed guide, to lead us unto Chri&s;t him&s;elf. Our Saviour &s;aith, <HI>Joh.</HI> 5.39. <HI>Search the Scriptures.</HI> And it was the commendation of the Noble <HI>Bereaus, Act.</HI> 17.11. that they tried the truth of <HI>Paul</HI>'s Doctrine, by the Touch-&s;tone and Scriptures of Truth: <HI>For the Spirits of the Pro|phets are &s;ubject to the Prophets.</HI> All the Apo&s;tles wrote to the Saints in general, and <HI>Paul</HI> de&s;ired the <HI>Colo&s;&s;ians</HI> to read his Epi&s;tle pub|lickly, in the Churches, and charged the <HI>The&s;&s;alonians,</HI> by the Lord, to read his Epi&s;tle unto <HI>all the holy brethren.</HI> Now &s;hall I conclude that there are no Saints but great ones, and learned Doctors: No Church or Congregation but what con&s;i&s;teth of Learned Rabbies and Clergy-men: No Brethren but Bi&s;hops, Abbots, Prie&s;ts, Monks and Friers, <HI>&amp;c:</HI> God forbid! For as <HI>Augustine</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Conf. lib.</HI> 3. <HI>cap.</HI> 8. <HI>Men unlearned earne&s;tly contend for Heaven, whil&s;t learned Men, without understanding, wallow in fle&s;h and blood.</HI> And although <HI>Paul</HI> wrote many things <HI>hard to be under&s;tood, which the unlearned and un|&s;table wrest,</HI> yet did not <HI>Peter</HI> (who giveth an <HI>Item</HI> of it, in his &s;e|cond Epi&s;tle, 3.16.) de&s;ire his Writings to be taken from them. Meat and Drink mu&s;t not be rejected, becau&s;e of Drunkards and Gluttons. Better &s;ome men be Debauch'd, than all the World Starv'd. Better there be a po&s;&s;ibility of &s;ome's wre&s;ting the Scrip|ture, than that all the World &s;hould lye in Ignorance. Since He|re&s;ies <HI>mu&s;t be, that they who are approved may be made manife&s;t,</HI> as good they be, by this means as other ways. Yet <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tom</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Scripturarum ignoratio haere&s;es peperit.</HI> And again, <HI>Barathrum est Scrip|turarum ignoratio.</HI> Whence I may rationally infer, that the Pope of <HI>Rome</HI> &s;hutteth the Kingdom of Heaven again&s;t men, and &s;end|eth all the Rabble of vulgar Papi&s;ts (who dare not read nor know the Scriptures) in a broad way to Hell.</P>
<P>Certainly it is the ju&s;t condemnation of the World that men love to walk in Darkne&s;s, when they may walk in Light. And although the Scriptures be but a Riddle and Sealed Book to the Wicked, yet are the &s;ecrets of the Lord with tho&s;e that fear him. They are a <HI>Sun,</HI> which &s;how them&s;elves with their own Rays, if within our Horizon, giving light to the humble, dazling the curious eye, and &s;triking the ambitious &s;pirits blind: A River, wherein an Elephant may &s;wim, and an Infect wade and drink: A Fea&s;t, affording Milk for Babes; and &s;trong Meat for Men of under&s;tanding: They are
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an inexhau&s;tible Trea&s;ure, to which God hath promi&s;ed his imme|diate and continual pre&s;ence, <HI>I&s;ah.</HI> 59.21. <HI>The everla&s;ting Go&s;pel</HI> is convey'd with an Angel, <HI>Rev.</HI> 14.6. This is that Light and Sun which the Man of Sin hath put under the Bu&s;hel of prohibition; and (as it is Prophe&s;ied, <HI>Rev.</HI> 16.10.) made the <HI>Kingdom of the Bea&s;t full of darkne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>Now it is the earne&s;t de&s;ire of my Soul, that the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> grant to all her Children the priviledge of reading the Holy Scriptures, and &s;hew her &s;elf the true Mother, by feeding, and not the Step-Mother, by &s;tarving her Children; le&s;t her Flock go a&s;tray, and peri&s;h in Ignorance, and their blood be required at the Clergy-men's hands: For <HI>if the Go&s;pel be hid, it is hid to them that are lo&s;t,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 4.3:</P>
<P>My third Objection &s;hall be again&s;t the Doctrine of <HI>Venial Sins;</HI> for though &s;ome &s;ins be more heinous in the &s;ight of God than others, yet is no &s;in &s;mall or venial. The <HI>Law of God</HI> is a fiery Law, every &s;park burneth. <HI>The wages of Sin</HI> (without exception) <HI>is Death.</HI> God's Wrath and Cur&s;e hangeth over the head of every &s;in, <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.10. But &s;ince all conclude, that every &s;in, by Nature, is evil, <HI>let us ab&s;tain from all filthine&s;s both of the fle&s;h and of the Spirit.</HI></P>
<P>My fourth Objection &s;hall be again&s;t the Doctrine of <HI>Purgatory,</HI> which Papi&s;ts term <HI>a Place, or Pit of fire, Ordained by God, for purg|ing the Souls of Men after Death, from Venial Sins.</HI> But this Doctrine <HI>nititur facto &s;uppo&s;ito;</HI> for if there be no <HI>Venial Sins,</HI> then is there no Purgatory. But (in few words) there can be no un&s;anctify'd Saints, God doth not pardon by halfs; <HI>he forgiveth all thine Iniquities, he healeth all thy Di&s;ea&s;es, P&s;al.</HI> 103.3. <HI>The blood of Chri&s;t clean&s;eth us from all &s;in.</HI> It were a ridiculous piece of Non&s;en&s;e, for a King to pardon a Malefactor of his Murder, and yet cau&s;e him to be whipp'd at the Cart for his provoking Language. God doth not forgive great heinous Sins, and retain &s;mall ones; <HI>he taketh away</HI> (as &s;aith the Prophet) <HI>all our iniquities, healeth all our back-&s;lidings,</HI> forgiveth us freely, loveth us freely, maketh us pure and clean, whiter than the Snow, and pre&s;erveth us &s;potle&s;s, till we appear before him. They that continue in &s;in, in expectation of a <HI>Pur|gatory,</HI> may be mi&s;taken, and fall <HI>in the lake which burneth with fire and brim&s;tone; which is the &s;econd Death, Rev.</HI> 21.8.</P>
<P>My fifth Objection &s;hall be again&s;t the Popi&s;h <HI>Limbus Infantum,</HI> an imaginary place, where the <HI>Roman</HI> Clergy bar up all unbap|tized Infants, eternally, from the pre&s;ence of God. This is an
<PB N="14" REF="9">
uncharitable Opinion, and cannot con&s;i&s;t with the goodne&s;s, mer|cy, wi&s;dom, and fore-knowledge of God, who hath found out and ordained a &s;ufficient Remedy for lo&s;t man, which under &s;ome circum&s;tances cannot be admini&s;tred; for, <HI>fru&s;tranea e&s;t illa poten|tia quae nequit reduci in actum.</HI> Now, I hope, the Papi&s;ts will not de|ny that &s;ome Children are &s;anctify'd in the Mothers Womb, <HI>Jer.</HI> 1.5. and if &s;uch a Child &s;hould dye without Bapti&s;m, who dareth to affirm that he is &s;eparated from the pre&s;ence of that God, who hath promi&s;ed to be both the God of the faithful and of their &s;eed?</P>
<P>My &s;ixth Objection &s;hall be again&s;t Popi&s;h Bapti&s;m: For, what a bruti&s;h thing is it to adulterate the Water and Element of this Holy Sacrament with Oyl, Salt and Spittle. Is &s;en&s;ual man wi&s;er than the Omnipotent God? <HI>If he Work, who can lett?</HI> And who can &s;ay unto the <HI>King of Kings, what do&s;t thou?</HI> Every thing ought to be done in decency and order, but this na&s;ty and bruti&s;h trick is the &s;hame of Sacraments, the blu&s;h of <HI>Babylon,</HI> the impudence of Popery, and the ab&s;urdity of abominations. Will it not &s;atisfie you <HI>to eat up the good Pa&s;tures,</HI> but (with the Idol-&s;hepherds in old) <HI>to tread down the re&s;idue with your feet.</HI> Will it not &s;atisfie you to eat <HI>God's Body,</HI> Cancel the Scriptures, and debar the people from the Word of God, but mu&s;t you al&s;o &s;pit on his Sacrament, Homolo|gating the deeds of <HI>Judas</HI> and <HI>Pilate,</HI> and of tho&s;e Wicked <HI>Jews</HI> who &s;erved him &s;o when they Crucify'd him? Will it not &s;atisfie you to drink all the Wine at his Supper, unle&s;s you &s;pit in this Element of Water, becau&s;e it doth not an&s;wer your drunken Appe|tites? O wretched Hypocrites! <HI>How can ye e&s;cape the Damnation of Hell.</HI></P>
<P>And what a ridiculous wicked thing is it to Baptize Bells, Churches, and other Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Nece&s;&s;aries, in the Name of Chri&s;t; Whether is it, to mock or &s;pite the Chri&s;tian Religion? Did he ever Dye for Metal, Stones, and Wood? Were the&s;e the po&s;terity of <HI>Adam?</HI> Have Stocks and Stones, Wood and Metal, Immortal Souls? And has Chri&s;t commanded &s;ome Stones (&s;uch as are in Church-Walls) and &s;uch Metal as is moulded in Bells, and &s;uch Wood as is converted to <HI>Roods,</HI> and wherewith we Roof Churches, to be Baptized, and not every Pot and Pan, Stick and Stone, we meet with? If they have right to the <HI>Sacraments,</HI> why not to the Word? And why do you not Preach to them? Why do you not Admini&s;ter to them the <HI>Lord's Supper,</HI> &s;ince he can eat and drink with the Prie&s;t's mouth as well as other <HI>Laicks?</HI></P>
<P>My &s;eventh Objection &s;hall be again&s;t the Popi&s;h Euchari&s;t, wherein
<PB N="15" REF="9">
they pretend both to make and eat God, as is affirmed by <HI>Inno|cencius,</HI> in his My&s;teries of the Ma&s;s, <HI>lib.</HI> 4. <HI>cap.</HI> 19. <HI>Panis in Cristum tran&s;ub&s;tantiatur &amp; ita in Creatorem; &s;ic ergo Creatura quotidie, fit Crea|tor.</HI> And <HI>Bonner,</HI> in prai&s;e of the Prie&s;thood, &s;aith, <HI>The Prie&s;ts are Creators of their Maker.</HI> Truly it is mo&s;t certain, that at the Cele|bration of this Holy Sacrament, Chri&s;t in a My&s;tery is more parti|cularly pre&s;ent, than at other times: But to &s;ay that Chri&s;t, at his la&s;t Supper, did eat up all and whole Chri&s;t; and that the eat|er and the eaten were the &s;ame; and that the Apo&s;tles were Cani|bals, and did eat Chri&s;t alive; when he was dead in his Grave; and that the B. Virgin did cruelly tear in pieces, and eat up her own Son, every bit and crum; and that God in Chri&s;t (who made Men Rational, and is the Author of Order and not Confu&s;ion) did con|found the World both in Sen&s;e and Rea&s;on; and that in this Sacra|ment there is <HI>Form</HI> without <HI>Sub&s;tance,</HI> and <HI>Sub&s;tance</HI> without <HI>Form,</HI> and yet no <HI>Forma Sub&s;tantialis;</HI> and that Chri&s;t's Body is in Heaven, Earth, <HI>France, Spain, Italy,</HI> and all the World over at once; with|out Bilocation or Ubiquity: Or, (in few Words) to affirm that a Wicked Debauch'd Prie&s;t, can make that which was never unmade, <HI>viz.</HI> The Eternal ever-living holy God, and then eat up the invi&s;i|ble Deity; is &s;uch a piece of ridiculous, impudent, ab&s;urd, brazen-fac'd, bla&s;phemous, &s;elf-contradicting Non&s;en&s;e, as driveth the Turks, Pagans, and Heathens, to a&s;toni&s;hment; &s;taineth Chri&s;tia|nity, and confirmeth all ungodly Wretches in Athei&s;m and Idolatry, and ought not to be named among Chri&s;tians. For as <HI>Vigil. lib.</HI> 4. <HI>contra. Eutych.</HI> (&s;peaking of Chri&s;ts Body) &s;aith, <HI>When it was on Earth, &s;urely it was not in Heaven: And now becau&s;e it is in Heaven, certainly it is not on earth.</HI></P>
<P>My eighth Objection &s;hall be again&s;t the Church of <HI>Rome</HI>'s depri|ving her <HI>Laity</HI> of the <HI>Communion-Cup:</HI> For if our Saviour was &s;o liberal of his Body and Blood, as to give both to unlearned Fi&s;her|men, yea to <HI>Judas,</HI> (whom he knew to be both a Thief and a Traytor) I think the Romi&s;h Clergy may do the &s;ame to the vulgar, after Confe&s;&s;ion, without fear of the falling of drops of blood, or mammocks of fle&s;h; for it was no le&s;s di&s;paragement to Chri&s;t's Body and Blood, to be in the Self-murdering Son of Perdition's Belly, than to lye in a Church floor.</P>
<P>My ninth Objection &s;hall be again&s;t the Doctrine of Popi&s;h <HI>Merit;</HI> For if <HI>Man, in his best e&s;tate,</HI> be but <HI>Vanity,</HI> all his righteou&s;ne&s;s and be&s;t performances but <HI>filthy rags,</HI> and the be&s;t of men but <HI>un|profitable
<PB N="16" REF="10">
Servants:</HI> What can fooli&s;h men merit at the hand of God? Or what reward can he expect for his empty performances? Yet are the deluded Papi&s;ts &s;o &s;imple, as to affirm that many of their <HI>&s;uppo&s;ed Saints</HI> did live &s;o holily, that they left in bank a <HI>&s;uperplus</HI> &s;tock of good Works, more than merited Heaven to them&s;elves, and Wicked Kin&s;men, which now <HI>his Holine&s;s of Rome</HI> hath laid up in bank as Spiritual Revenues, to be &s;old to ungodly rich &s;inners for ready Money, to buy their Salvation, and redeem their deceas'd Friends out of <HI>Purgatory.</HI> But this principle is &s;o evidently abomi|nable, that there is no need to refute it to a Rational Man; for there can be no greater ab&s;urdity thrown at it, than its own impudence and filthine&s;s. For if Chri&s;t's Merits be infinite, and his Raiment (which he proffereth freely) be white as &s;now, what nece&s;&s;ity is there to <HI>lay out our money for that which doth not profit,</HI> and buy filthy rags which cannot cover our nakedne&s;s?</P>
<P>My tenth Objection &s;hall be again&s;t the <HI>Adoration of Images.</HI> For notwith&s;tanding that the <HI>changing the Glory of the Incorruptible God, in|to an Image made like to corruptible Man, and to Birds and Four-footed Bea&s;ts, and creeping things,</HI> was the abomination of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> whom <HI>(being vain in their Imaginations)</HI> God gave up to vile Affections; yet are not Papi&s;ts a&s;hamed to build the Sepulchers of their Fathers, painting the Immortal Deity, in &s;imilitudes of their own Invention. O Fools! Doth not God <HI>fill Heaven and Earth?</HI> Are not all Nations, before him, <HI>le&s;s than Nothing and Vanity? To whom then will ye liken him?</HI> Or, <HI>Who &s;hall be his equal?</HI> It would be reputed a &s;piteful piece of Mi&s;demeanour, if not High Trea&s;on, in any Subject to take the Picture of a Hog, Dog, or Bear, and &s;et it up in his Chamber, and call it the Picture of his King. Yet there is greater di&s;parity be|twixt God and the be&s;t of Creatures, than betwixt a King and a Bear. And what an impudent deluded thing is it in them, to pray to the Images of &s;uppo&s;ed Saints, Statues, Stocks and Stones, Gods of their own making, and not acknowledge them&s;elves Idolaters: For (&s;ay they) <HI>We Wor&s;hip not the Image or Statue, but its Repre&s;enta|tive.</HI> But, O deluded Wretches! What Fool will conclude that the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> when they Wor&s;hipped their Molten Calf, did believe that it was their real God, (which had &s;mitten <HI>Aegypt</HI> with Plagues, and divided the Red Sea before them) but only his Repre&s;entative? Yet, for their Idolatry, how many thou&s;ands fell in one day? Nei|ther is it le&s;s &s;in, to pray to Angels and Saints, than to Idols of Stone, Wood and Clay; for if there be but one Omnipotent, Om|nipre&s;ent
<PB N="17" REF="10">
God, who is only able and willing, at all times, to hear and help us. How dare you &s;light him, (who inviteth us freely,) to embrace tho&s;e, who are neither able to hear nor help? For Pa|pi&s;ts cannot deny that they pray, <HI>Holy</HI> Michael, <HI>defend us in Battel, that we peri&s;h not in the fearful Judgment.</HI> And to the <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed Virgin, O Glorious Saint, in whom I put my tru&s;t, the Mother of Grace;</HI> The <HI>Port of Salvation, my Confidence, my Refuge, and my only hope, &amp;c.</HI> And to another, thus: <HI>Let me obtain Heaven by the Blood of St.</HI> Thomas Becket; as if the blood of a Traytor were more efficacious and propitiatory, before God, than the blood of Chri&s;t. Moreover, what an abominable thing is it to pray to St. <HI>Nicholas,</HI> to protect Mariners, St. <HI>Luke</HI> Painters, St. <HI>Cri&s;pin</HI> Shooe-makers, St. <HI>Gal</HI> Gee&s;e, and <HI>Antony</HI> Pigs, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as if God, who&s;e Providence reacheth the Sparrows, were not the Confidence of all the ends of the Earth, and of tho&s;e who are afar off, upon the Seas. Moreover, it is ridicu|lous to pray to that which can neither hear nor help, and &s;ay, O <HI>Ho|ly Cro&s;s help me.</HI> And again, <HI>ange piis ju&s;titiam, rei&s;&abque; dona veniam,</HI> Increa&s;e Righteou&s;ne&s;s in the Godly, and grant Pardon to Sinners. And to an old rag to &s;ay, O <HI>Sancte Sudari! Ora pro nobis,</HI> O Holy Napkin pray for us. The&s;e are the Works of Delu&s;ion, yea, the My&s;tery of the <HI>Man of Sin,</HI> which I earne&s;tly de&s;ire and reque&s;t all Papi&s;ts to for&s;ake, and pray only to God in Chri&s;t, the only Me|diator and Advocate betwixt God and Man, as <HI>Jerom</HI> in an Epi&s;tle to <HI>Riparius</HI> Writeth; <HI>Chri&s;tians, neither adore nor Wor&s;hip Mar|tyrs, nor Sun, nor Moon, nor Angels, le&s;t they &s;hould therein rather &s;erve Creatures than the Creator.</HI></P>
<P>My eleventh Objection, again&s;t Papi&s;ts, &s;hall be their <HI>praying in an unknown Tongue;</HI> for as <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 14.9. <HI>Except ye utter by the tongue, words ea&s;ie to be under&s;tood, how &s;hall it be known what is &s;poken, for ye &s;hall &s;peak unto the Air?</HI> Yea, in this &s;ame Chapter, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 23. he compareth tho&s;e who are guilty of this foolery, to <HI>Barbarians</HI> and <HI>Mad-men;</HI> and telleth, that <HI>tongues are for a &s;ign to them that believe not,</HI> but <HI>Non&s;en&s;e</HI> to them that believe. Moreover, to be &s;poke to with &s;tammering lips, and Men of another tongue, was a Cur&s;e from God upon <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> as it is now on the ob&s;tinate <HI>Romans</HI> this day, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 28.11.</P>
<P>My twelfth and la&s;t Objection, &s;hall be again&s;t their <HI>Doctrine of Adultery,</HI> or their <HI>Clergies &s;ingle life;</HI> wherein they condemn their <HI>Sacrament of Marriage</HI> as an unholy thing, and a &s;tumbling-block, in the way to Heaven. God appointed it from the beginning, Chri&s;t
<PB N="18" REF="11">
countenanc'd it, and the Apo&s;tle recommended it as <HI>honourable to all Men.</HI> What then are they, who give the lye both to God and Man, terming it unholy and unclean, whil&s;t God hath affirmed the contrary, in as direct and plain terms as any man, yea, beyond what the Wi&s;e&s;t Orator can expre&s;s? But (&s;ince this is &s;o plain an ab&s;urdity in it &s;elf) I &s;hall not &s;pend Pen and Ink, in proving that which no rational man will deny; only &s;uffer me at la&s;t now to treat, or rather &s;urfeit your Eyes and Ears, with one abominable Story, which is this: <HI>Hudericus,</HI> Bi&s;hop of <HI>Augu&s;ta,</HI> in an Epi&s;tle, Writeth to Pope <HI>Nicholas</HI> I. that <HI>Gregory</HI> the Great bound the Cler|gy to a &s;ingle Life; but on a certain time, a Woman catching &s;mall fi&s;hes (which this &s;uper&s;titious Monk thought only lawful to be eat|en) found 6000 Heads of Infants, which had been therein drown|ed; which Monk <HI>Gregory</HI> perceiving to be the effect of the <HI>Clergies &s;ingle Life,</HI> with &s;ighing and &s;orrowing, he revoked the Canon. Yea, it is reported by the fore&s;aid Bi&s;hop, that the Clergy did &s;o burn in Lu&s;t, that they not only kept Company with Married Wo|men, and their own Kindred, but with Mankind, and the very Bea&s;ts in the Field. Another Story, the Parallel whereof you may read in &s;everal Popi&s;h Hi&s;torians, is this: <HI>Leander</HI> and <HI>Tritemius</HI> re|port, that about the year of our Lord 1470, <HI>Alanus de Rupe,</HI> a Dominican, after he had &s;een &s;everal Vi&s;ions, contrived his Work called <HI>Ro&s;arium,</HI> out of <HI>our Ladies P&s;alter,</HI> and Preach'd it in&s;tead of the Go&s;pel; which Pope <HI>Sixtus</HI> IV. confirmed, with Bulls and In|dulgences: Whereupon a certain Book was publi&s;hed, in the beginning whereof is Written, that the B. Virgin came into the Cell of the &s;aid <HI>Alan,</HI> it being &s;hut, and made him a Ring of her own Hair, and betrothed her &s;elf to the Monk, ki&s;&s;ing him, and giving him leave to handle her Brea&s;ts; and finally, to be as intimate as Man and Wife. This is he from whom &s;prang the Order of <HI>Ala|nites,</HI> and who&s;e Miracles the Popi&s;h Clergy &s;o zealou&s;ly defend.</P>
<P>I thought to have &s;poken &s;omething of &s;everal other Popi&s;h Opi|nions, e&s;pecially of Pennance, Pardons and Indulgences, but le&s;t I weary you, I &s;hall only refer you to a little Pamphlet, &s;old by the Book&s;ellers of <HI>London,</HI> Intituled, <HI>Sodom Fair,</HI> which di&s;covereth the Nakedne&s;s and Abominations of the Romi&s;h Harlot to the Life, or rather Death; from which I pray God may deliver us all.</P>
<P>I re&s;olved once, as I have &s;aid, to have given you a ta&s;te of all the poy&s;onous and counterfeit Merchandize, that is expos'd in the Market of the <HI>Man of Sin,</HI> and a touch of all his Hocus Tricks,
<PB N="19" REF="11">
and Popi&s;h Pranks: But he who readeth with an Impartial Eye con&s;idereth with an Unprejudic'd Under&s;tanding, and receiveth what I have here written in an hone&s;t Heart, will be ready to turn his back on <HI>Babilon,</HI> and his face <HI>Zion</HI>-ward, and enquire after the good old way, which is &s;et before us, in the Scriptures of the Old and New Te&s;tament.</P>
<P>Therefore it is my humble and hearty Advice, that all people be terrified at the Name of <HI>Popery,</HI> and that all <HI>Roman Catholicks</HI> open their ob&s;tinate Eyes and Ears, to &s;ee and hear the Word of Truth, and with the Noble <HI>Bereans,</HI> &s;earch the Scriptures, the Writings of the Fathers; yea, and their own Legends and Hi&s;to|rians, to &s;ee whether what the Chri&s;tian Prote&s;tant Churches affirm, be conform to the Doctrine of Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles or not: <HI>Then if Baal be God</HI> follow him; if the Pope or his Creature the <HI>Ho&s;te,</HI> his imaginary Deity be God, follow him: But if there be no God but one, all &s;ufficient, eternal, invi&s;ible, and incomprehen&s;ible, follow him, according to his own Will, and the Rule which he hath in his Word pre&s;cribed to us; but if you will neither hear, nor believe the Word of God, and Scriptures of Truth, nor the Writings of the Fathers, and of <HI>your own Hi&s;torians,</HI> then if one &s;hould come from the Dead, you will neither hear nor believe him: For they that &s;hut both Eyes and Ears, and re&s;olve to be filthy, will be filthy &s;till. And none can do more, but with the Prophet <HI>Jer.</HI> 51.8. Wail over you, and cry out <HI>We would bave healed Babilon, but &s;he is not healed.</HI> But remember what the Lord &s;aith by the Prophet <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 50.11. <HI>Behold all ye that kindle a Fire, that compa&s;s your &s;elves about with &s;parks: Walk in the light of your fire, and in the &s;parks that ye have kindled. This &s;hall ye have of mine hand, ye &s;hall lie down in &s;orrow.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="20" REF="12">
<HEAD>A WORD To the People called QUAKERS.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Gal. 4.16.</HI></BIBL> Am I therefore become your Enemy, becau&s;e I tell you the truth.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>I Intended to have &s;poken of your Opinions and Principles, but (con&s;idering that you all pretend to an In&s;piration, of the <HI>Infal|llble Spirit of Truth,</HI> and need no outward teachers) I &s;hall only humbly advi&s;e you to &s;quare your profe&s;&s;ion, and <HI>try your Spirits,</HI> by the Scriptures of Truth; for <HI>the Spirits of the Prophets are &s;ubject to the Prophets:</HI> And if you walk not after that Rule, which God hath &s;et down, in his Written <HI>Word</HI> and holy <HI>Will,</HI> it is, <HI>becau&s;e there is no light in you.</HI></P>
<P>Next, I cordially reque&s;t you to con&s;ider, that all ages, &s;ince our Saviour's days, did repute them Hereticks, who denied the &s;anctified u&s;e, and benefit of the <HI>Sacraments,</HI> which God, in Chri&s;t, hath appointed, as <HI>Seals</HI> of the <HI>New Covenant;</HI> to be an Evidence before the World, that (as we really believe in our hearts before God) we are not a&s;hamed, before men, to own him, for a Re|deemer, who&s;e body was broken, and who&s;e blood was &s;hed, for the Remi&s;&s;ion of our Sins, and Salvation of our Souls. And tho you re|pute them fooli&s;h and ridiculous, God by the fooli&s;hne&s;s of Sacra|ments,
<PB N="21" REF="12">
yea, of Baby-&s;prinkling, Bread-eating, and Wine-drinking, hath oft-times conveyed Grace, Comfort and Strength, to weary, fainting Souls. Neither can you wipe off what I affirm, by &s;aying they were but <HI>beggarly Rudiments,</HI> for young beginners, to endure but for a &s;hort &s;ea&s;on. For our <HI>Saviour,</HI> in his <HI>la&s;t Will,</HI> recom|mended them to his Apo&s;tles, as a Chri&s;tian performance, to en|dure till the end of the World. Bapti&s;m he did <HI>Matth.</HI> 28.19. <HI>Teach all Nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Gho&s;t: teaching them to ob&s;erve all things, what&s;oever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the World.</HI> Now (&s;ince <HI>Bapti&s;m</HI> is one among the&s;e <HI>all things</HI> which Chri&s;t hath <HI>commanded;</HI> to the peformance of which, he hath promi&s;ed his a&s;&s;i&s;ting pre&s;ence, to the Worlds end) it cannot be a <HI>tran&s;ient Nece&s;&s;arium &s;ecundum quid,</HI> a thing that may be done or &s;lighted; and that, but for a &s;hort &s;pace, for the Words are <HI>bapti|zing them,</HI> viz. <HI>all Nations.</HI> Now when there are no <HI>Nations,</HI> there will be no Bapti&s;m; but as long as there is any Nation, or one Man of a Nation, <HI>Bapti&s;m</HI> will never be an u&s;ele&s;s <HI>Rudiment</HI> of hu|mane In&s;titution, or that which may be thrown away as a ridicu|lous Tradition. And, as for the <HI>Sacrament of the Lords Supper,</HI> our Saviour &s;aid, <HI>Matth.</HI> 23.19. <HI>This do in Remembrance of me.</HI> Now if the time be expired, wherein we &s;hould not remember our <HI>Re|deemer,</HI> and the time come wherein we &s;hould forget him, then may we lawfully lay by his <HI>Sacrament. Sed fal&s;um prius ergo, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>The next advice, that I would give <HI>Quakers,</HI> is negative, con|cerning matters of Fact; and that is, that they neither lye, cheat, nor covet: For he that &s;aith that he is <HI>Religious,</HI> taught, and led by the Spirit of Truth, and doth &s;uch things, his &s;how of Religion is vain; he is yet blind, and not <HI>purged</HI> from the Old Man: <HI>Love not the World</HI> (then) <HI>neither the things that are in the World. If any man love the World, the love of the Father is not in him.</HI> The Prophet <HI>Micah</HI> advi&s;eth us to a good Religion, <HI>Chap</HI> 6.8. <HI>To do ju&s;tly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.</HI> Which if all would &s;tudy, before they fall by the ears in controver&s;ie, for the tithes of <HI>Mint and Rue,</HI> there would be more &s;incere knowledge in Re|ligion, more inward Peace and outward Content, and greater practice of true piety. For the Lord &s;aith, by his prophet <HI>David, P&s;al.</HI> 50.23. <HI>To him that ordereth his Conver&s;ation aright, will I &s;hew the &s;alvation of God.</HI> Now to this God, only Wi&s;e, be a&s;cribed all Glory, Honour and Prai&s;e, with Dominion, Maje&s;ty and Might, World without end. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
