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<DATE>2014-08-26</DATE>
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<NAME>Anne Simpson</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
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<HEAD>A LETTER To the CONTINUATOR OF THE Pre&s;ent State of our Controver&s;y.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Laying open the <HI>Folly</HI> of his <HI>Extravagant Boa&s;t|ing,</HI> and the <HI>Malice</HI> of his <HI>Willfull Forgeries.</HI></HEAD>
<BYLINE>By <HI>John Sergeant.</HI></BYLINE>
<LICENSE LANG="eng">
<P><HI>With Allowance.</HI></P>
</LICENSE>
<P N="1">1. SIr, what you are I do not <HI>know;</HI> nor have any rea&s;on, from your carriage, to think you are much <HI>worth</HI> the knowing; and you did very prudently to mask your &s;elf under the di&s;gui&s;e of a <HI>private and ob&s;cure hand,</HI> to hide the blu&s;hes which common &s;hame would otherwi&s;e force even into a fore|head <NOTE PLACE="marg">Epi&s;t. Dedi|catory.</NOTE> of the blacke&s;t complexion. It is ea&s;y to di&s;cern by your furious Zeal, your Fal&s;ifying humour, and your Patronizing &s;o fiercely that party which maintains that <HI>All Chri&s;tian Faith</HI> which is held now <HI>may be Fal&s;e,</HI> that you are far from the Prin|ciples of a Genuin Church of England-man, farther than a good Benefice may perhaps give you a Vocation, but rather &s;ome hot|brain'd <HI>Calvini&s;t</HI> in <HI>masquerade,</HI> parboil'd by the &s;calding zeal again&s;t Popery into a &s;tanch Prote&s;tant, which like Lob&s;ters change their <HI>hew</HI> and <HI>outward appearance,</HI> but not their <HI>Nature.</HI> The Character you have given your <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">y your behaviour
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<PB N="2" REF="4"> in your 41&s;t. page; is that you are a <HI>Willfull</HI> and <HI>Bold</HI> Calum|niator; who, tru&s;ting to the ea&s;y <HI>Credulou&s;ne&s;s</HI> of your Friends, and relying on the Great <HI>Noi&s;e</HI> your Numerous party are able to make, value not a &s;traw what <HI>manife&s;t Fal&s;hhoods</HI> you pub|li&s;h. And, which is the <HI>wor&s;t</HI> Quality of a <HI>Lyer,</HI> that you are a <HI>Carele&s;s, Open,</HI> and <HI>Confident</HI> one. If this can be plainly made good again&s;t you, I am &s;ure your rude and Unchri&s;tian carriage towards me ju&s;tifies me for letting the world know you are guilty of the&s;e Faults of the Fir&s;t Magnitude. What prejudice this may do to your De&s;cants all along upon other pieces writ by Catho|licks you are to look to, and &s;hould have better con&s;ider'd when you thus <HI>&s;acrific'd</HI> your <HI>Con&s;cience</HI> to your <HI>Malice;</HI> for if this be prov'd upon you, it will here &s;tand upon <HI>Publique Record,</HI> and like your fellow<HI>-Knights of the Po&s;t,</HI> you are never to be believ'd in any thing you &s;ay either here or hereafter. Certainly Sir, a little more Temperance had done your Cau&s;e far more Right: For every man of an ordinary Prudence will vehemently &s;u&s;pect your &s;harp Reflexions are meerly <HI>Romantick,</HI> &s;eeing you make the Prote&s;tant <HI>Knight</HI> &s;till beat the Popi&s;h <HI>Gyant.</HI> What man of common Rea&s;on will, do you think, believe you, that the Catholick Party have in none of their Books &s;p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ke a word of Sen&s;e, or tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> (as you tell the Reader with much a&s;&s;urance) <HI>never was Cau&s;e more intirely baffled:</HI> Nay, in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Epi&s;t. to the Reader.</NOTE> the full career of your ranting exaggerations, you aver without Fear, Sh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">me or Wit, that <HI>your very Footmen them&s;elves e&s;teem them|&s;elves an equall match for Je&s;uits;</HI> and le&s;t the Credit of your <HI>Learned</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid.</NOTE> <HI>Footmen</HI> &s;hould &s;ink, or the &s;ober part of the world &s;hould look upon them as &s;elf conceited Puppies for having &s;uch a <HI>high E|&s;teem</HI> of them&s;elves, you hold them up by the chin, and tell us very &s;adly, that <HI>you think they have &s;atisfy'd the World they are not mi&s;taken</HI> in this opinion of them&s;elves. Now, all this while <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid.</NOTE> there was but <HI>one</HI> Footman, who&s;e name, to <HI>ridicule</HI> a Roman-Catholick writer, was prefixt to a pamphlet, which in all like|lihood might have been written by &s;ome &s;uch &s;hamming Gentle|man as your &s;elf. I wonder you did not add <HI>Prote&s;tant Broom-men, Kennell-rakers</HI> and <HI>Chimney-Sweepers;</HI> for none can doubt but &s;ome of the&s;e may have as much Knavi&s;h wit as a <HI>Footman.</HI> But it was your Kindne&s;s to Catholiks not to tyrannize too much o|ver them, on depre&s;s them with &s;uch ignoble compari&s;ons; and therefore you did them the <HI>honour</HI> to allow them fit <HI>matches</HI> to run a Controver&s;y race with your thrice <HI>Reverend Foot-men.</HI> And, by your Di&s;cour&s;e, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> <HI>high honour</HI> too; for you tell us p. 45.
<PB N="3" REF="4"> that the R. F. <HI>Sabran is now grown more famous in the world from his new Antagoni&s;t the Footman.</HI> I hope I may u&s;e your own words &s;o I apply them better; and tell the Reader that I admire at <HI>the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P. 20.</NOTE> <HI>heat and bitterne&s;s of that little Satyr,</HI> your ridiculou&s;ly-malici|ous &s;elf.</P>
<P N="2">2. Notwith&s;tanding your <HI>Ill performance,</HI> I frankly acknow|ledge that a <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> of what Books have been writ <HI>pro</HI> and <HI>con</HI> in our Controver&s;ies is a very laudable <HI>De&s;ign;</HI> and had you ob|&s;erv'd the impartiality of an <HI>Hi&s;torian</HI> by onely relating what had been done in that kind, and then referr'd your <HI>Reader</HI> to the <HI>Books</HI> you mention'd, and left <HI>him</HI> to judge of the performances on both &s;ides by tho&s;e Books them&s;elves, you had de&s;erv'd a due Commendation. But you could not content your &s;elf with mat|ter of <HI>Fact,</HI> but would needs enter upon the matter of <HI>Right</HI> too; and this, with Reflexions wholly made up of Vapour, In&s;olence, &s;illy Amplifications, Ironies, Invectives; and oftimes open Fal|&s;hoods. For example, <HI>Never did man &s;et pen to Paper</HI> (as <HI>F. Sa|bran) with &s;uch a &s;tock of Ignorance and Confidence together.</HI> p. 4. <HI>who&s;e &s;tock is Confidence.</HI> p. 45. <HI>He has neither Learning, nor good manners,</HI> ibid. One would wonder, by the way, Sir, where <HI>your</HI> Breeding lies. But as for the <HI>Repre&s;enter,</HI> he is quite &s;tript of Hone&s;ty and Wi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> both.<HI>&mdash;He &s;eems</HI> (&s;ay you) <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o <HI>have &s;truggled a little with him&s;elf before be could get the better of his Con&s;cience.</HI> p. 11. <HI>The Confidence of this vain man&mdash;He</HI> (his Prote&s;tant Anta|goni&s;t) <HI>has though fit to give him up as a priviledg'd per&s;on, who is pa&s;t either Sen&s;e or Mode&s;ty, or hopes of being reclaim'd,</HI> p. 12. That is, in more hone&s;t term, his Antagoni&s;t acknowledges him&s;elf <HI>baffled,</HI> and I perceive by your p. 4. that you are about <HI>giving up F. Sabran</HI> too upon the &s;ame &s;core. Again<HI>&mdash;That hone&s;t &s;incere man that cannot endure fal&s;e dealing, but was dropt down from hea|ven to be the Scourge and Cen&s;or of a Licencious age&mdash;by a &s;trange kind of Metamorpho&s;is from an Angell of Light transforming him&s;elf into a Spirit of Darkne&s;s.</HI> p. 43. And la&s;tly, that <HI>He is an A&s;s in a Ly|ons Skin.</HI> p. 44. Pray good &s;weet angry Sr. lay a&s;ide your Pa&s;&s;ion a whiles; and do but con&s;ider a little how ridiculous you make your &s;elf, and clap the long ears on your own noddle. Had you <HI>profe&s;t</HI> your &s;elf a <HI>Ther&s;ites,</HI> and a ma&s;ter of Invective Rhetorick, none would have wonder'd at you for following your Vocation; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">t the Je&s;t is, you will needs make your &s;elf all this while a <HI>Ma&s;ter of Ceremonies,</HI> to teach others <HI>good manners,</HI> and yet <NOTE PLACE="marg">P. 45.</NOTE> the Academy of Scolds at Billing&s;gate cannot furni&s;h one with ba&s;er and fouler Language. Were you writing again&s;t the per|&s;on,
<PB N="4" REF="5"> and had at the &s;ame time <HI>prov'd</HI> his Demerit an&s;werable to your words, then indeed <HI>Smart</HI> language, &s;o it be <HI>True,</HI> may &s;ome times <HI>pa&s;s,</HI> nay be <HI>needfull;</HI> but to fall upon him &s;o &s;evere|ly in an undue occa&s;ion, and with &s;uch a furious career of ex|travagant railing, does too vi&s;ibly proceed from the <HI>Impotency</HI> and <HI>&V;nea&s;ine&s;s</HI> of your <HI>Pa&s;&s;ion.</HI> Could a mad Dog &s;peak, I know not (tho' you perhaps may) what wor&s;e language he could foam out than <HI>A&s;s</HI> and <HI>Devil.</HI> Whence <HI>I Congratulate to the Gentleman</HI> the happy <HI>omen,</HI> that he could de&s;erve <HI>the heat and bitterne&s;s of</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P. 20.</NOTE> <HI>&s;uch little Satyr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> Thus our impartiall Hi&s;torian treats the <HI>one</HI> party; But on the <HI>other</HI> he be&s;tows all along the Magnificent <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">i|tles of <HI>Excellent, Learned, Ingenious, Incomparable,</HI> and all-<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o|be Reverence<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> them with his <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ermagant Hyperbolical Com|mendations. And now, Reader, is it a Straw's matter whether &s;uch a Writer prai&s;es or reviles a man; or rather are not his <HI>E|logiums</HI> a <HI>Di&s;grace,</HI> and his <HI>Invictives</HI> a high <HI>Honour</HI> and <HI>Commen|dation</HI> in the opinion o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> any <HI>Moderate</HI> Reader?</P>
<P N="3">3&punc; <HI>My</HI> turn comes next; and any man will &s;ee how Dr. St. and his good Friends are nettled, by your pelting me &s;o unmercifully.</P>
<P N="4">4. Your Fir&s;t Fal&s;hood is, that I begun to <HI>carry on this Con|trover&s;y</HI> after the Reflector had writ <HI>his.</HI> This I affirm to be <HI>&V;n|true;</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P. 40.</NOTE> Fo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, the <HI>Fir&s;t</HI> Catholick Letter was al&s;o <HI>mine.</HI> And, tho' my Name was not to it, yet I &s;till <HI>own'd</HI> it for <HI>mine</HI> in my follow|ing pi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ces. Which if you <HI>read,</HI> you could not but <HI>&s;ee;</HI> if you did <HI>not,</HI> you are a &s;trange di&s;regarder of Truth or Sincerity, to pa&s;s &s;uch <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters">n Cen&s;ures upon Books you never &s;o much as <HI>read.</HI> And, if this were &s;o, as I much fear, it puts me into &s;ome doubt whe|ther you ever read <HI>any</HI> of the Catholick Books you <HI>Cen&s;ur'd</HI> &s;o <HI>deeply;</HI> but, like a right Hone&s;t man, right or wrong, &s;hot your bolts at random.</P>
<P N="5">5. Your Second Fal&s;hood is, that Dr. <HI>St.</HI> has reply'd to my fir&s;t Four Letters; And this is a mo&s;t Notorious Banger. For, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid.</NOTE> fir&s;t, in is &s;hown in my Fifth Letter Page by Page to every Exa|miner's Eye, from p. 154. to p. 173. that he has omitted &s;o much as to <HI>take notice of</HI> (much more to <HI>An&s;wer)</HI> Thirty Nine parts of Fort of my Fir&s;t and Third Letters. Next, <HI>he</HI> owes me an An|&s;wer to the Second. Thirdly, he has not an&s;wer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d one word to my <HI>Fourth.</HI> And &s;o <HI>two</HI> or <HI>three</HI> &s;hamele&s;s <HI>&V;ntruths</HI> mu&s;t &s;erve f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r an <HI>An&s;wer</HI> to tho&s;e <HI>four</HI> Treati&s;es. Which, I &s;uppo&s;e, is <HI>the modern way of Controver&s;y</HI> you told us of p. 20 However, you tell us p. 40. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> Dr <HI>St's</HI> peece was an <HI>Excellent Di&s;cour&s;e;</HI> that is, 'tis one of your <HI>Gee&s;e</HI> metamorphos'd to a <HI>Swan,</HI> by your glo&s;s
<PB N="5" REF="5"> commendations. However, it di&s;cover'd my <HI>Vanity,</HI> &amp; that's enough in all Con&s;cience. But Sr, are You a Chri&s;tian, even in a Latitudi|narian &s;en&s;e, who call it <HI>Vanity</HI> to a&s;&s;ert that the Faith now held by Chri&s;tians is truly Chri&s;t's, and con&s;equently <HI>True,</HI> or that it has Grounds to prove it True that it did de&s;cend from him, which is the Grand Conte&s;t between Dr <HI>St.</HI> and me? And on this occa&s;ion let me ask you how you dur&s;t tell the World in the Ti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">le to your Dedicatory, that a Book writ to maintain the <HI>Po&s;|&s;ible Fal&s;hood of Faith,</HI> is writ <HI>In Defence of the Church of England;</HI> as if it were <HI>her</HI> Doctrine, that <HI>all Chri&s;tian Faith may be a Lye;</HI> or how a Chaplain to an Arch-Bp. dur&s;t approve a Pamphle<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">, that makes that Church guilty of that half Athei&s;ticall Tenet, which her be&s;t Writers and mo&s;t Genuin Sons ever abhorr'd. But<HI>&mdash;Haec e&s;t hora vestra &amp; pote&s;tas tenebrarum.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. Your Third Fal&s;hoo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> is, that I writ <HI>Contradictions,</HI> which has been confuted <HI>at large</HI> in an elaborate Di&s;cour&s;e (Fifth-Cath. Letter p. 8. to p. 18.) where every particular Contradiction objected is &s;olv'd b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> a clear &s;tate of the Que&s;tion; which the Learned Dr. would needs mi&s;take throughout his whole An&s;wer. However, <HI>it was expected this would have &s;topt my mouth.</HI> But alas, when <HI>vain</HI> men <HI>promi&s;e</HI> to them&s;elves Unrea&s;onable things, how &s;trangely their Expectations <HI>fail</HI> them! Tis not <HI>Non&s;en&s;e</HI> cl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d in <HI>fine words,</HI> nor all the Spitefull Reflexions of men, who, I &s;ee plainly, have not the lea&s;t value for Truth, that can &s;hock me or fright me from defending it.</P>
<P N="7">7. Your Fourth Fal&s;hood is, that the <HI>Blackloi&s;t Here&s;y was now like to be brought on the Stage again;</HI> meaning, that my Doctrin about Tradition was <HI>peculiar</HI> to Mr. <HI>Blacklow.</HI> The contrary to which I have &s;hown to every hone&s;t Reader's eye in a particular Trea|ti&s;e <HI>(Clypeus Septemplex</HI> p. 209. to p. 250) and the very Reve|rend F. <HI>Warner</HI> in his <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">See Third Cath Letter. p. 21.</NOTE> <HI>Anti-Heaman</HI> tells Dr. <HI>Burnet</HI> he <HI>di&s;co|vers his Ignorance</HI> in &s;aying it was <HI>newly invented.</HI> La&s;tly, my Fifth Letter p. 24. has Fore&s;tall'd this objection. But no Sincerity is to be expected from &s;uch willfull A&s;&s;erters of baffled Fal&s;hoods. Di&s;prove a Calumny never &s;o evidently, all they do, in &s;tead of invalidating our Rea&s;ons or Te&s;timonies, is <HI>to &s;ay the &s;ame over again</HI> with a &s;teel'd Impudence, as if <HI>nothing</HI> had been alledg'd again&s;t it.</P>
<P N="8">8. Your Fifth Fal&s;hood is, that I have formerl<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <HI>eat my words.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P. 41:</NOTE> Your Sixth, that I did this, <HI>when I was cited to Rome to be cen|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r'd for tho&s;e dangerous Hereticall Propo&s;itions which I am <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ow a|ain breaching in England.</HI> Both of which are mo&s;t <HI>Impudent &V;n|truths.</HI>
<PB N="6" REF="6"> This appears both by the kind <HI>Monitio</HI> &s;ent me from <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> <NOTE PLACE="marg">* Clypeus Septemplex. p. 10.</NOTE> <HI>Sacred Congregation,</HI> where 'tis manife&s;t they were aware that I had <HI>declar'd</HI> my &s;elf to &s;peak <HI>[de Regula Externa Fidei &s;eu de Tra|ditione Eccle&s;iae]</HI> of the <HI>Extrin&s;icall Rule of Faith</HI> or <HI>the Tradition of the Church.</HI> As al&s;o, that in the circum&s;tance of our Contro|ver&s;y I had maintain'd <HI>[debere eam e&s;&s;e evidentem] this Rule ought to be Evident.</HI> All which they allow'd, and requir'd no more of me but only that <HI>Mindfull of the words of the Apo&s;tle [I am a Deb|tor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the Wi&s;e and to the &V;nwi&s;e] I would clear &s;ome Propo&s;itions contain'd &s;omething ob|&s;curely in my Books,</HI> by rea&s;on of the ambiguity of the word <HI>Evi|dence, viz.</HI> whether it was meant of the Evidence of the <HI>My&s;teries,</HI> or of the <HI>Motives</HI> to Faith; which Mi&s;take bred the whole Mi&s;un|der&s;tanding. This I did by a hundred In&s;tances, and mo&s;t preg|nant and convincing Rea&s;ons in my <HI>Declaratio;</HI> and, this done, tho&s;e <HI>&s;evere&s;t</HI> Judges of <HI>&V;n&s;ound</HI> Doctrine, remain'd <HI>&s;atisfy'd;</HI> and to your greater confu&s;ion I have the Original of the <HI>Monitio</HI> and the other Records in my hands &s;till. For farther Evidence that I was neither put to <HI>Eat my words,</HI> or <HI>Retract</HI> the lea&s;t tittle in my books, nor was ever <HI>Cited to Rome,</HI> I could al|lege tho&s;e Right Reverend Per&s;onages, Bi&s;hop <HI>Leyburn,</HI> and Bi&s;hop <HI>Gifford;</HI> of which the former was at <HI>Rome</HI> all the time of the Conte&s;t: the Other, though at <HI>Paris,</HI> yet was ac|quainted with all the particulars of it: As al&s;o tho&s;e Reverend Divines mention'd <HI>Fifth Cath. Letter. p.</HI> 21. who examin'd the Propo&s;itions chiefly objected; and atte&s;ted under their hands that their Sen&s;e was <HI>not</HI> in my Books but the direct contrary: I could produce likewi&s;e Multitudes of <HI>Other</HI> Per&s;ons, both Di|vines and Lay-men, of <HI>unblemi&s;ht</HI> Credit, who can witne&s;s the &s;ame. And yet this Frontle&s;s man thinks to out-face the world with an open and manife&s;t Lye, to &s;econd Dr. <HI>St</HI>'s wilfull For|geries; though he knows how I an&s;wer'd in my <HI>Clypeus Septem|plex</HI> and <HI>Vindiciae</HI> what the Dr. for want of better Stuff, did cite out of his Friend <HI>Lominus,</HI> and that in the Fir&s;t Section of my Fifth Catholick Letter I <HI>particularly</HI> &s;hew'd by unque&s;tionable Authority every tittle of Dr. <HI>St</HI>'s Calumnies to be mo&s;t Fal&s;e: and, la&s;tly, what Approbations from the mo&s;t Knowing and mo&s;t Orthodox Catholicks of the be&s;t Quality my Books have had. Which done I clo&s;e <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Fifth Cath: Letter. p. 30.</NOTE> my Di&s;cour&s;e with this Recapitula|rion [The Sum of my pre&s;ent Defence is his: Eight Divines of <Q REND="margQuotes">great Repute, appointed by the Arch-Bi&s;hop of <HI>Paris,</HI> and ad mitted by my Adver&s;ary him&s;elf, do unanimou&s;ly atte&s;t that
<PB N="7" REF="6"> the Sen&s;e condemn'd is not in my Books, but the contrary. My Judge clears me; The Cen&s;u<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ers are commanded to make me Satisfaction. The Highe&s;t T<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ibu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">al <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">llows my Plea and acquits me. Primates, Arch-Bi&s;hops, B<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ps, the <HI>Sorbon,</HI> E|minent Divines, and even tho&s;e who take ano<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">her way in their Writings, approve and commend my D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ctrin, and mo&s;t of them in very high and extraordinary expre&s;&s;ions. My own Su|periour does the &s;ame; nay, even tho&s;e who were formerly <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ghly prejudiced, declare them&s;elves &s;atisfy'd in it. So that poor Dr. <HI>St.</HI> is left alone to ballance again&s;t all this weighty Authority; with one <HI>Lominus,</HI> a meer <HI>&V;topian</HI> or Man in the Moon; on who&s;e &s;ole <HI>No-Authority</HI> he grounds all his &s;en&s;le&s;s <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">umnies.]</Q> All which particulars were &s;hewn there at large. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">enforce tho&s;e <HI>Te&s;timonials,</HI> I added <Q REND="margQuotes">[I de&s;ire the Reader to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ffect that tho&s;e Judg<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">s, Approvers and Commenders of my <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ooks and Doctrin liv'd generally in <HI>diver&s;e</HI> and far-di&s;tant <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ions, were of <HI>different</HI> Faculties and Univer&s;ities, of <HI>different</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">cations, <HI>different</HI> Orders, and (to &s;ome degree) of <HI>different</HI> Principles &amp; Intere&s;ts, <HI>diver&s;e</HI> of them utterly unknown to <HI>Me,</HI> or I to <HI>Them.</HI> So that, 'tis impo&s;&s;ible to imagine that any thing but the force of <HI>Truth,</HI> &amp; the <HI>Integrity</HI> of my way of proving the Certainty of our Faith, as to its having been taught by <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> could make them <HI>con&s;pire</HI> to <HI>allow</HI> or <HI>abet</HI> my Books &s;o <HI>heartily</HI> and <HI>&V;nanimou&s;ly.</HI> Nor could there be any Human inducements to make them &s;o &s;trangely partial to a <HI>Private</HI> man, every way incon&s;iderable, and of <HI>no</HI> E&s;teem at all but what my <HI>Writings</HI> and <HI>Principles</HI> gave me.]</Q> And now, Rea|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">dmire at the Impudence of this man, and be Judge thy &s;elf <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">her he has not for&s;worn all Common Hone&s;ty, and renounc't <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">e, who, after all this and much more read by him in the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">he is here Cen&s;uring, does, before any man <HI>has</HI> di&s;prov'd <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ttle of it, or (I am &s;ure) <HI>can,</HI> in this very book of his, where <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> pretends to give a faithfull account of the Contents of each <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">e, and of the performances of each of our Controverti&s;ts, not <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ot acquaint</HI> the Reader with this my Defence, but <HI>without</HI> Authority, nay <HI>again&s;t</HI> &s;uch an Unconte&s;table Authority, ven|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">o throw about his <HI>head&s;trong</HI> and willfull Forgeries; as that <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">adicted</HI> my &s;elf, <HI>Eat my Words,</HI> was <HI>cited to Rome;</HI> that what <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">e in my Letters is held there a <HI>dangerous Here&s;y,</HI> that no <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> of <HI>Sen&s;e</HI> will <HI>be hired to read three Pages in my Books, &amp;c.</HI> An <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ent &s;ig<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> of a <HI>Nonplu&s;t</HI> Cau&s;e, which puts its Defenders to &s;uch <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> &s;hifts as to have recour&s;e to Empty Vapour, Huge Noi&s;es, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> Notorious Li<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">ld it.</P>
<P N="9"><PB N="8" REF="7"> 9. You proceed and tell us next, that <HI>my Letter has met with as few Readers as I have Admirers.</HI> Here al&s;o there want &s;ome Grains of <HI>Truth,</HI> for I am inform'd there are not a Hundred left of my <HI>Fifth Letter;</HI> and &s;ending to buy &s;ome of my <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> I was told there were &s;o few left that they are rais'd to double the price they were vended for in the beginning. Yet your <HI>Comfort</HI> is, <HI>there is no danger in the World of my La&s;t Letter's doing any mi&s;chief,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P. 41.</NOTE> <HI>&s;ince</HI> you <HI>do not believe it po&s;&s;ible to hire any man of Sen&s;e to read three pages in it.</HI> Alas, poor Gentleman! I doubt not but you have a &s;trong Faith, which &s;o blinds you that you cannot &s;ee how ridiculous you make your &s;elf and your Friends. You gave us to under&s;tand by telling us Dr. <HI>St. declinei</HI> the Task, that he <HI>de&s;pairs</HI> of <HI>An&s;wering</HI> that Letter <HI>fairly</HI> and upon the Square; and yet, when 'tis &s;o clearly Vi&s;ible that the <HI>Regret</HI> that you <HI>cannot</HI> an&s;wer it <HI>vexes</HI> and <HI>galls</HI> you to the heart, you, like a right plea|&s;ant man, pretend to be much <HI>Comforted</HI> that 'tis not <HI>worth the An|&s;wering.</HI> A very cheap and ea&s;y method to confute <HI>all</HI> the Books in the World. But, Sir, I am to tell you very <HI>Di&s;comfortable</HI> news; which is, that the be&s;t Witts of our Nation, (to whom chiefly I write) men not a jot inferiour to your Great Dr him&s;elf, have not only read tho&s;e Letters of mine, but given &s;uch a Character of them for <HI>&V;nan&s;werable,</HI> as is not mode&s;t for me to repeat. And I have been told from a per&s;on of worth, that the very Reverend <HI>F. W.</HI> after his peru&s;ing &s;ome of my Letters, did honour them with this <HI>Elogium,</HI> that they <HI>had laid Dr. St. &s;o flat that he would never be able to ri&s;e again.</HI> And, I am &s;o confident of the Goodne&s;s of my cau&s;e, that I do here <HI>promi&s;e</HI> Him and the World very faithfully that I &s;hall make his words good; or ra|ther, by what fol<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ows here, it will appear I have done it <HI>alread<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&punc;</HI> For you tell us, that <HI>A very Learned Per&s;on, in compa&s;&s;ion,</HI> as you <NOTE PLACE="marg">P. 41.</NOTE> <HI>&s;uppo&s;e, to the poor head&s;trong-man, hath undertaken to An&s;wer <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> only my Fifth Letter, but the other Di&s;cour&s;es of the Romani&s;ts a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> Tradition.</HI> As much as to &s;ay, the Dr. has enough of me. I <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> confe&s;s, Sir, this would be <HI>very Learned</HI> indeed; for he mu&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> the main pa&s;&s;ages, either <HI>confute Fir&s;t Principles,</HI> upon which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">+&s;i&s;t, or el&s;e (which is equally impo&s;&s;ible) &s;hew that they d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> &s;tand engag'd again&s;t Dr. <HI>St's</HI> Di&s;cour&s;e. I know you can e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> <HI>nick-name</HI> any thing an <HI>An&s;wer,</HI> though never &s;o trivial or <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> from the purpo&s;e. But that we may hold to the Point <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e you are flinching from, I will &s;ave your <HI>very Learn<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">+&s;on</HI> a great deal of trouble; and, if he can but <HI>&s;hew</HI> us th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> Chri&s;tian <HI>now</HI> living has any Rea&s;on that <HI>concludes</HI> the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">
<PB N="9" REF="7"> holds is the &s;ame which <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> and his Apo&s;tles taught, but by means of Tradition, I promi&s;e him I will be his Convert. This is the point in hand, and pray, Sir, let it be your care that your <HI>very Learned Per&s;on</HI> do not <HI>very Learnedly</HI> run quite away from it into Impertinent Digre&s;&s;ions, as the <HI>mo&s;t Learned</HI> Dr. <HI>St.</HI> did; for, if he does, I &s;hall not be &s;o <HI>very &V;nlearned</HI> as to follow his Ramble.</P>
<P N="10">10. But is it not very plea&s;ant that you &s;hould talk of <HI>Com|pa&s;&s;ion</HI> to <HI>me</HI> who have left your Dr. in &s;uch a <HI>pitifull</HI> and <HI>mi&s;era|ble</HI> Condition, that he thinks it not Creditable for him to pro|ceed further with me <HI>him&s;elf?</HI> I &s;uppo&s;e he <HI>left me off,</HI> as the Repre&s;enter's Antagoni&s;t did Him, or, as you Phra&s;e it <HI>(p.</HI> 12.) <HI>has thought fit to give me up, as a Privileg'd Per&s;on who is pa&s;t hopes of being reclaim'd;</HI> the true <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> of which every Prudent Rea|der will gue&s;s at. It would have done well tho' to have mingled a little <HI>Charity</HI> with his <HI>Compa&s;&s;ion;</HI> for, certainly, he had done a great Cure to have &s;et me to rights: For I mu&s;t confe&s;s I am &s;o <HI>head&s;trong</HI> as &s;till to maintain that <HI>Errour Nonplus</HI> has &s;hewn clearly that the Stupendiou&s;ly Learned Dr. <HI>St.</HI> has <HI>never a Prin|ciple</HI> to help him&s;elf with: and the Dr. owes a Cure to this &s;tiff-neck't humour of mine, &s;ince he contributed to it by <HI>mo|de&s;tly</HI> declining now the&s;e fifteen Years to an&s;wer that Book, or clear him&s;elf from being <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> Man of No Principles.</HI> I am &s;o <HI>head&s;trong</HI> too, that I will not let all the pre&s;ent Faith of Chri|&s;tianity be held <HI>Po&s;&s;ible to be Fal&s;e,</HI> or (which is the &s;ame) <HI>not-True.</HI> Nay, I am &s;o <HI>head&s;trong,</HI> that, when I &s;ee plainly that &s;carce <HI>one</HI> of my <HI>Rea&s;ons</HI> are &s;poken to <HI>candidly</HI> and <HI>fairly,</HI> nor &s;o much as <HI>one</HI> of them <HI>an&s;wer'd,</HI> I will not depart from my <HI>Conclu&s;ion,</HI> becau&s;e the Incomparable Dr. <HI>St.</HI> prevaricates, flouts and fal|&s;ifies. You &s;ee, Sir, of what nature my Di&s;ea&s;e of <HI>head&s;trong|ne&s;s</HI> is; and, if the <HI>more-then-very-Learned</HI> Dr. <HI>St.</HI> cannot cure me him&s;elf, I much fear your <HI>other</HI> Per&s;on, who is no more but <HI>very-Learned</HI> will &s;carce do any good of me.</P>
<P N="11">11. However, 'tis a Kindne&s;s that an An&s;wer is <HI>promis'd</HI> me; But by <HI>Whom?</HI> I peremptorily <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Fifth Cath. Letter. p. 153</NOTE> Challeng'd the Dr. <HI>Him&s;elf</HI> who is my proper Adver&s;ary; and is he &s;o &s;hy to <HI>meet me</HI> and <HI>vindicate him&s;elf,</HI> when &s;o many <HI>heavy</HI> Charges lie upon him, and particularly that <HI>heavie&s;t</HI> of making All Chri&s;tian Faith <HI>Po&s;&s;ible to be Fal&s;e</HI> or (which is the &s;ame) <HI>not-True?</HI> Can he have <HI>any</HI> bu&s;ine&s;s that <HI>more nearly</HI> concerns his Credit then <HI>this</HI> does? Or does he hope that <HI>another</HI> Per&s;on can know his
<PB N="10" REF="8"> <HI>Thoughts</HI> and <HI>Rea&s;ons,</HI> and, &s;o, <HI>defend</HI> him, <HI>better than Him&s;elf can?</HI> Neither of the&s;e can with any Sen&s;e be thought or pre|tended. 'Tis manife&s;t then that he is at his Wit's end how to Reply pertinently; and therefore, &s;eeing him&s;elf pre&s;s<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">d clo|&s;er and clo&s;er, and all his witty Eva&s;ions di&s;cover'd, he very fairly quits the Field, and &s;ets on &s;ome <HI>perdu</HI> Bungler, furni&s;ht with &s;ome Wit and a Plau&s;ible Invective Style, but little or no Sen&s;e; and who has as little Credit to lo&s;e as I &s;hall get Ho|nour by me<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">dling with him&punc; and this for no other end but that it may be <HI>Trumpeted aloud</HI> to the world in your next <HI>Con|tinuation,</HI> now <HI>Incomparably J. S.</HI> has been <HI>An&s;wer'd.</HI> Or, in ca&s;e he be of any Repute in the eye of the world, yet for fear of danger he &s;hall keep him&s;elf invi&s;ible in his Mi&s;ty Cloak, with|out owning <HI>his Name,</HI> but come out upon the Stage <HI>Maskt,</HI> as your <HI>Continuating</HI> &s;elf does; and then (as your &s;elf al&s;o, &s;ecur'd after the &s;ame manner, has now done) he may without blu&s;h|ing, tell his Readers as many <HI>Fal&s;hoods</HI> as he plea&s;es, and yet <HI>&s;ave his Credit;</HI> for then, like a Slander got among the Go&s;&s;ips, none knows <HI>on whom to fix it.</HI></P>
<P N="12">12. Well, but how will this <HI>very Learned Per&s;on</HI> An&s;wer me? Why, you tell us he will an&s;wer me in</P>
<P><HI>An Hi&s;torical Di&s;cour&s;e concerning Tradition.</HI></P>
<P>Incomparable! I demand an An&s;wer to <HI>nine</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">r <HI>ten Treati&s;es,</HI> and particularly to my <HI>Several Rea&s;ons</HI> alledg'd in them, of which, God be prais'd, there is good &s;tore; and this <HI>very Learned Per&s;on</HI> will undertake to <HI>An&s;wer</HI> them <HI>All</HI> in a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">. Was it ever heard of &s;ince the World &s;tood, that <HI>Intrin&s;ical Ar|guments</HI> or <HI>Rea&s;ons</HI> are to be <HI>an&s;wer'd</HI> by <HI>Hi&s;tories?</HI> Or, can the&s;e men give the world a Clearer Demon&s;tration that they are per|fectly baffled, than to trick-off the <HI>Direct An&s;wers</HI> they owe to my <HI>Arguments</HI> by &s;uch an <HI>Indirect Wile?</HI> Every Reader &s;ees what a <HI>Candid</HI> and <HI>Clear</HI> Method I ob&s;erve in all my An&s;wers to the Dr. I take his Books and Rea&s;ons <HI>end-ways</HI> as they lie in order <HI>Page by Page;</HI> &s;o that if I <HI>run a&s;tray</HI> from the Que&s;tion in hand, or <HI>omit</HI> any thing of weight, 'tis ea&s;ily <HI>di&s;coverable,</HI> and I may be pre&s;ently <HI>caught,</HI> for they know <HI>where</HI> to have me. On the other &s;ide my Adver&s;aries can never be brought to follow any <HI>&s;uch</HI> Fair Method: But they fall to write a Treati&s;e about &s;ome Subject, which by the common words in the Title looks a little a kin to our bu&s;ine&s;s; and then they catch at &s;ome pa&s;&s;a|ges here and there incidentally &s;catter'd and di&s;orderly Col|lected;
<PB N="11" REF="8"> and, the true Sen&s;e and force of them, which they had as found in their due place, and the Tenour of the Di&s;cour&s;e being <HI>lo&s;t</HI> or <HI>perverted,</HI> they fall to play upon tho&s;e words; but where the An&s;wer is to <HI>all the Particular Rea&s;ons</HI> contain'd in my Book, we may go look. Something is &s;leightly and wittily &s;aid to a <HI>few &s;craps</HI> of it, but the <HI>Main,</HI> or the <HI>Book it &s;elf,</HI> is left un&s;poken to. This untoward Method has been exactly fol|low'd by Dr. <HI>Tillot&s;on</HI> throughout his <HI>Rule of Faith,</HI> and in his <HI>Preface to his Sermons;</HI> and the &s;ame is mo&s;t Religiou&s;ly ob|ferv'd by Dr. <HI>St</HI> in his late pretended An&s;wer to &s;ome of my Letters; and particularly in his <HI>Examination</HI> of the Council of <HI>Trent,</HI> where he runs quite away from the whole bu&s;ine&s;s, as is &s;hewn, <HI>Fifth Cath. Letter. p.</HI> 152 153.</P>
<P N="13">13. But, &s;ince this odd kind of Hi&s;torian has undertaken to pay Dr. <HI>St</HI>'s Debts, 'tis but fitting I &s;hould give him a <HI>atalogue</HI> of them.</P>
<P><HI>Imprimis,</HI> He owes me an An&s;wer to the many Arguments in <HI>Faith Vindicated,</HI> demon&s;trating that the Rule by which we are to know <HI>what hri&s;t taught,</HI> mu&s;t be <HI>Impo&s;&s;ible to be Fal&s;e,</HI> or <HI>Infallible.</HI> This was apply'd in the <HI>Inferences</HI> at the End of that Treati&s;e again&s;t the two Great Doctors; and it was &s;hown there (I dare tell them) <HI>&V;nan&s;werably,</HI> that unle&s;s they can confute <HI>That</HI> Book (which I am &s;ure they dare not fairly <HI>Attempt)</HI> all they <HI>do</HI> write or <HI>can</HI> write of Controver&s;y is at once quite overthrown. Since if it be made good that Chri|&s;tian Faith <HI>mu&s;t</HI> have <HI>&s;uch</HI> Conclu&s;ive Motives or <HI>&s;uch</HI> a Rule to <HI>e&s;tabli&s;h</HI> it, and <HI>recommend</HI> it to tho&s;e who are to embrace it, and they have <HI>none &s;uch,</HI> nay <HI>di&s;claim</HI> the having <HI>any &s;uch Rule,</HI> they can never prove it <HI>True,</HI> that any thing which them&s;elves, or any el&s;e, do now hold, is indeed Chri&s;t's Doctrine.</P>
<P><HI>Item,</HI> he owes me an An&s;wer to <HI>Errour Nonplu&s;t,</HI> which prov'd him to be <HI>A Man of No Principles</HI> and to the &s;everal Di&s;cour&s;es again&s;t each of tho&s;e pre<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ended Principles of his re|&s;pectively: for which I have le&s;s rea&s;on to forbear him any lon|ger, becau&s;e he has in this long Term of Fifteen years, (at lea&s;t,) <HI>Endeavour'd</HI> to clear &s;ome <HI>other</HI> debts, but never went about to pay me <HI>one &s;ingle Farthing;</HI> which was very <HI>&V;ncon&s;cionable.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Item,</HI> He owes me an An&s;wer to my <HI>Method,</HI> Printed at the end of <HI>Errour-Nonplu&s;t;</HI> which compri&s;es the &s;umm of my Doctrine about Tradition, and reduces it to <HI>Fir&s;t Principles;</HI> which, therefore, &s;ince &s;uch <HI>Principles</HI> will not be brought to <HI>Contradict</HI>
<PB N="12" REF="9"> <HI>One another,</HI> Dr. <HI>St.</HI> is the <HI>mo&s;t proper</HI> man in the World to <HI>Op|po&s;e</HI> and <HI>An&s;wer,</HI> as having <HI>No Principles at all.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Item,</HI> He owes me an An&s;wer to my <HI>Fir&s;t</HI> and <HI>Third Letters:</HI> in regard he has omitted to &s;peak to <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">See Fifth Cath. Letter. p. 154. 155. 156 and p. 164. to p. 173</NOTE> <HI>Thirty Nine</HI> parts of <HI>For|ty</HI> in them; and his pretended An&s;wer to the &s;ingle <HI>Fortieth</HI> part, has been &s;hown in my Fifth Letter to be <HI>none.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Item,</HI> He owes me an An&s;wer to my <HI>Second Letter;</HI> <NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">bid. p. 156. to p. 165.</NOTE> the Re|flecter, being, (poor man!) <HI>non-&s;elvent.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Item,</HI> He owes me an <HI>Full An&s;wer</HI> to my <HI>Fourth</HI> Letter laying open the <HI>Vanity</HI> of his In&s;ignificant <HI>Guildhall-Hall Sermon;</HI> to which he <HI>has</HI> hitherto &s;aid <HI>Nothing.</HI> I add, <HI>nor ever can,</HI> with the <HI>lea&s;t</HI> &s;how of Rea&s;on.</P>
<P><HI>Item,</HI> He owes me a Compleat, Di&s;tinct and Direct an&s;wer to my whole <HI>Fifth Letter,</HI> &amp; all the <HI>&s;everal</HI> Di&s;cour&s;es in it; to which, if we may tru&s;t you, he now declines to &s;peak.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, he owes me an Account why, in his <HI>Appendix</HI> to Dr. <HI>T's Rule of Faith,</HI> he undertook to confute <HI>Tradition,</HI> and yet wilfully <HI>mi&s;took</HI> the <HI>Nature</HI> of the Thing he was to <HI>impugn;</HI> as is &s;hown <HI>Fifth Gath.</HI> Letter, p. 6. and 7. which renders that whole Appendix <HI>In&s;ignificant.</HI></P>
<P N="14">14. Now, Sir, &s;ince 'tis Impo&s;&s;ible that all the Books con|cerning Tradition can with any &s;en&s;e be &s;aid to be <HI>an&s;wer'd,</HI> till the <HI>Particular Rea&s;ons</HI> they in&s;i&s;t on be <HI>di&s;tinctly</HI> reply'd to; and 'tis ridiculous to expect this from a <HI>Hi&s;torical Di&s;cour&s;e,</HI> I &s;ee we mu&s;t &s;et our hearts at re&s;t and expect no An&s;wer at all but only &s;ome &s;leevele&s;s Di&s;cour&s;e by a very large <HI>Synecdoche,</HI> or rather a far-&s;tretcht <HI>Catachre&s;is,</HI> mi&s;call'd an <HI>An&s;wer.</HI> Howe|ver, I &s;hall demand this Ju&s;tice of you, that you would put down all the&s;e particular Treati&s;es as <HI>unan&s;wer'd</HI> in an Appen|dix to this your <HI>Continuation of the pre&s;ent State of</HI> the <HI>Controver&s;y</HI> (as you <HI>ridiculou&s;ly</HI> call it, by the &s;ame figure as the French Par|&s;on call'd the Devill <HI>The man of the Sin)</HI> And do not brag that Dr. <HI>T's Rule of Faith</HI> is not yet reply'd to; for, be&s;ides what has been done already, I am <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nform'd it will be <HI>punctually</HI> and <HI>particularly An&s;wer'd:</HI> And, to requite your kindne&s;s, I hope by that time you write your next, to help you with &s;ome o|thers to furni&s;h out your Narrative, and make you &s;tand in need of &s;ome new Fal&s;hoods and Invectives to &s;ave the Credit of your Freinds, who are &s;o laudably and meritoriou&s;ly em|ploy'd in maintaining that the faith of all Chri&s;tians in the world may be a <HI>Ly.</HI> If your <HI>Hi&s;toricall Di&s;cour&s;er</HI> fails of this perfor|mance,
<PB N="13" REF="9"> I &s;hall not leave the Point or the Que&s;tion to dance af|ter his impertinent Voluntaries. It will, in that ca&s;e, be an a|bundant &s;atisfaction to the world that I &s;how by detail what he has left unreply'd to, &amp; &s;till in&s;i&s;t upon a <HI>full</HI> &amp; direct <HI>An&s;wer</HI> to my &s;everal Rea&s;ons or Di&s;cour&s;es. But pray tell him that <HI>&s;corn-full Jeers</HI> and <HI>Open Fal&s;hoods,</HI> tho' never &s;o briskly, and <HI>confident|ly</HI> deliver'd, are no competent <HI>An&s;wers</HI> to <HI>Arguments,</HI> and I have rea&s;on to fear he will bring <HI>no other,</HI> or rather I am &s;ure he <HI>cannot.</HI></P>
<P N="15">15. I would gladly find &s;ome way to &s;ave your Friends this va&s;t Labour, and excu&s;e them from this Impo&s;&s;ible Task: Wherefore, &s;ince 'tis Unmercifull to pre&s;s <HI>poor Deb|tors</HI> to pay more than they are <HI>able,</HI> therefore <HI>out of Compa&s;&s;ion to your head-&s;trong Party,</HI> I will come to this fair compo&s;ition with them; that if Dr. <HI>St.</HI> can an&s;wer me but <HI>one &s;ingle</HI> Argument which I will bring to prove, that he <HI>cannot,</HI> by his Principles, maintain it to be True, that what you or <HI>Any</HI> now hold is <HI>Chri&s;t's Doctrine,</HI> nor con&s;equently that the pre&s;ent Chri&s;tian Faith it &s;elf is <HI>True:</HI> Al&s;o, if he can bring but <HI>One</HI> Argu|ment him&s;elf, which (according to his Principles) does <HI>conclude</HI> that what <HI>he</HI> or any <HI>other</HI> Chri&s;tian now holds, <HI>is</HI> Chri&s;ts Do|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">trin, and, &s;o, <HI>True,</HI> I will pardon the <HI>Va&s;t Sums</HI> he owes me, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nd quit all &s;cores between us; nay more I will acknowledge <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ll the Guilded Bubbles in your frothy Books to be &s;olid &s;en&s;e, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">nd make you Publick Satisfaction for having oppos'd you hi|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">herto. I hope the Reader will think there was never in the world a <HI>kinder Creditour,</HI> con&s;idering the <HI>long</HI> &s;croll of <HI>what</HI> he is indebted to me for, and <HI>how long</HI> much of it has been due. Your Argument I am to expect. Mine is ready; premi&s;ing <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ir&s;t this Lemma, that</P>
<P><HI>[What's True is</HI> (in our ca&s;e) <HI>Impo&s;&s;ible to be Fal&s;e.]</HI> For, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">e are not &s;peaking here of <HI>future Contingents,</HI> or of &s;uch ca&s;es where the Changeablene&s;s of the matter may <HI>vary</HI> the Truth of the Propo&s;ition as affirm'd at <HI>Pre&s;ent,</HI> but of what <HI>has</HI> deter|minately <HI>pa&s;t</HI> or <HI>not pa&s;t;</HI> whence what truly <HI>has been Taught</HI> by Chri&s;t is impo&s;&s;ible now <HI>not to have been Taught by him.</HI> This Evident Truth fore-laid, I argue thus.</P>
<P>No Proof from Rea&s;on that <HI>does not Evidently conclude,</HI> nor Te&s;timony that is <HI>Fallible,</HI> can prove a thing <HI>Impo&s;&s;ible to be fal&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore no &s;uch Proof or Te&s;timony can prove a thing to be <HI>True.</HI> Lemma.</P>
<PB N="14" REF="10">
<P> But Dr, <HI>St.</HI> allows no <HI>Conclu&s;ive Evidence</HI> previous to Faith, that <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> taught &s;uch or &s;uch a Doctrine, nor any Te&s;timony but what's <HI>Fallible.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore Dr. <HI>St.</HI> cannot prove it <HI>True,</HI> that the Faith which <HI>he</HI> or any other Chri&s;tian holds is <HI>bri&s;ts Doctrine;</HI> nor con&s;equently, that Chri&s;tian Faith it &s;elf is <HI>True.</HI></P>
<P N="16">16. The Conclu&s;ivene&s;s of this Argument I undertake to make good, let him attaque it where he will. Here is no Sham, Jeer, Ill Language, nor any of your or his little Tricks, but plain <HI>downright Rea&s;on.</HI> And, &s;ince I am forc't by your Indi|rect carriage to <HI>Rigorous Di&s;cour&s;e,</HI> I expect from him the Rigo|rous Duty of a Re&s;pondent; viz. to <HI>Deny, Grant</HI> or <HI>Di&s;tingui&s;h</HI> the &s;everall propo&s;itions, and he &s;hall have the &s;ame Return from me. I &s;hall expect at the &s;ame time when he &s;peaks to this Di&s;cour&s;e, <HI>his</HI> Argument; <HI>concluding</HI> (by his Principles) that what <HI>Him&s;elf</HI> or <HI>Any Other</HI> Chri&s;tian now holds, is indeed Chri&s;ts Doctrine; and, &s;o, <HI>True.</HI> And, if he refu&s;es to afford me that moderate Satisfaction, he rejects my kind offer of &s;uch a fair Compo&s;ition: and &s;o he will &s;tand yet engag'd to give me pertinent and di&s;tinct An&s;wers to all tho&s;e Treati&s;es and the &s;everall Arguments contain'd in them which &s;trike at his Te|nets: And if he thinks it his Intere&s;t to joyn i&s;&s;ue with me in &s;uch clo&s;e and rigorous Di&s;cour&s;e, I do here promi&s;e him, that there &s;hall not be one word of <HI>Raillery</HI> (to which I am unwilling|ly drawn by his and his Friends carriage) nor the lea&s;t kind of <HI>Excur&s;ion;</HI> but <HI>Pertinent</HI> and <HI>Plain</HI> Arguing, according to the Rules of exact Logick; and the &s;ame I &s;hall expect from <HI>him.</HI> In order to which I make him this <HI>Fair Offer,</HI> that, which of us &s;oever <HI>deflects</HI> into any <HI>Irregular</HI> Method, other than di|rect <HI>Arguing</HI> or <HI>An&s;wering,</HI> &s;hall be held to be <HI>Nonplu&s;t,</HI> and to have <HI>Lo&s;t his Credit.</HI> Every hone&s;t man will &s;ee that this Pro|po&s;all is both <HI>Fair</HI> in it's &s;elf, and <HI>Equall</HI> to both &s;ides; and ar|gues a Sincere Intention in the Propo&s;er that <HI>Truth may appear.</HI> And therefore, if he <HI>di&s;-accepts</HI> this <HI>Offer</HI> or <HI>declines</HI> this <HI>Method,</HI> it will become manife&s;t that he is <HI>utterly <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">,</HI> as he is a Main|tainer of the Cau&s;e depending between us.</P>
<P N="17">17. By the way I de&s;ire to know from the Dr. why this <HI>one</HI> Argument of mine has not given a <HI>Full An&s;wer</HI> to both his Books again&s;t the <HI>Councill of Trent,</HI> nay, to all he <HI>hath</HI> written or <HI>&s;hall</HI> write, in the Judgment of every Intelligent man. Or <HI>why</HI> tho&s;e Di&s;cour&s;es which the Authour him&s;elf is forbidden by his own
<PB N="15" REF="10"> Principles, to affirm that they <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ontain a word of <HI>Truth</HI> in them, can de&s;erve any An&s;wer at all. Indeed, if he will renounce his &s;hallow Principles, and beginning on a new &s;core, undertake to &s;hew, that &s;uch or &s;uch a <HI>Rea&s;on</HI> is <HI>Conclu&s;ive,</HI> or &s;uch a <HI>Te&s;ti|mony</HI> is <HI>Infallible,</HI> He might, in <HI>that ca&s;e,</HI> pretend to <HI>prove</HI> that to be <HI>True</HI> which is built upon them, and &s;o de&s;erve an An&s;wer; otherwi&s;e what man, that is not over-courteous, will take him|&s;elf to be oblig'd to reply to Great Books, in which, by the Authors own Confe&s;&s;ion, no man living knows whether there be &s;o much as <HI>one word</HI> of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ruth in them? Whence follows Evidently that Dr. <HI>St.</HI> ought in true Rea&s;on either to take up better Principles, or to leave off Writing Controver&s;y; nay, even to leave off the Defending his own former Books. For 'tis a &s;trange and de&s;perate piece of Magnanimity for a Writer to maintain that to be a <HI>Truth</HI> which his own Principles force him to confe&s;s he knows not but it <HI>may be Fal&s;e;</HI> that is, <HI>he knows not</HI> whether it be <HI>True</HI> or no?</P>
<P N="18">18 If you or your Friends continue re&s;olute to pur&s;ue this Impertinent Topick that my Doctrine about Tradition is held by the Governours of our Church to be Un&s;ound in Faith, you &s;tand oblig'd to prove, Fir&s;t, that the <HI>only</HI> Book you rely <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">, <HI>viz. Lominus,</HI> is <HI>Authentique,</HI> and to be Credited, notwith|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">anding that the Grave&s;t Te&s;timonies in the Catholick Church <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;umm'd up above) by their Carriage and Expre&s;s words have declar<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> the direct contrary. And withall, you are to let us know particularly <HI>who</HI> it was that <HI>Authenticated</HI> that Book, who <HI>Licen&s;ed</HI> or recommended it to the Pre&s;s? What Printers, Authors, or Places <HI>name</HI> is to it; and to tell us the Rea&s;on <HI>why</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">t was not <HI>own'd,</HI> or <HI>allow'd</HI> by Authority, being Printed in <HI>Paris,</HI> where the Laws enjoyn all the&s;e particulars under great Penalties. And if it have not <HI>the&s;e</HI> Qualifications which hone&s;t Writings may have, then you are to &s;hew in what it differs from a <HI>Libell;</HI> as likewi&s;e to acquaint the World why you thought fit to rely on &s;uch a Book to prove my Doctrin <HI>&V;n&s;ound,</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">ather than on the Grave&s;t Authorities of all &s;orts in the Roman Catholick Church, atte&s;ting the contrary under their hands &s;o <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">blickly.</HI> Next, you are to <HI>di&s;prove</HI> what has been <HI>alledg'd</HI> by me <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> the Fir&s;t Section of my <HI>Fifth Catholick Letter,</HI> to confute that Calumny, where &s;uch a Concurrence of Rea&s;ons &amp; Te&s;timonies <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span">e produc't, that it would &s;hame Impudence it &s;elf to conte&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> And, la&s;tly, you are to &s;atisfy the world how, if this were
<PB N="16" REF="11"> &s;o, it could be po&s;&s;ible that I &s;hould now <HI>&s;till</HI> write and <HI>main|tain</HI> the <HI>&s;ame</HI> Doctrin, &amp; yet <HI>no</HI> man, but your &s;elves, <HI>accu&s;e</HI> me. If all this, which would convince even <HI>Sceptici&s;m</HI> it &s;elf, will not &s;top your Mouths, I offer your &s;elf a Friendly meeting be|fore &s;ome Per&s;ons of Honour of both Communions; where I &s;hall produce the well-atte&s;ted Originals and Authentick Re|cords (yet in my hands) belonging to that matter; which will &s;hew you to your eye what Notorious Fal&s;hoods you have Printed again&s;t me. Why &s;hould you not, <HI>if you have &s;poke Truth,</HI> pull off your Vizard, and <HI>appear</HI> to <HI>ju&s;tify</HI> it? Why &s;hould an <HI>Hone&s;t</HI> Man in an <HI>Hone&s;t</HI> Cau&s;e be &s;o &s;hy to <HI>&s;hew his Face?</HI> Or, if the Con&s;ciou&s;ne&s;s of your Forgeries make you <HI>a&s;ham'd</HI> to do it in your <HI>own</HI> Per&s;on, at lea&s;t appear by a <HI>Proxy.</HI> If all this will not keep you from ob&s;tinately per&s;i&s;ting to oppo&s;e <HI>known Truths,</HI> I can only &s;ay you are wilfully <HI>po&s;&s;e&s;t</HI> with a Spirit of <HI>Lying,</HI> and de&s;erve to be <HI>Po&s;ted.</HI></P>
<P N="19">19. I am &s;orry you would needs force me to u&s;e &s;uch plain Language: Were your Demerits the Effects of Frailty, Hu|manity would teach me to compa&s;&s;ionate them. But, being both perfectly Wilfull and Wicked to boot, I &s;hould wrong Truth and be Unju&s;t to my &s;elf, if I had not call'd your Faults by their <HI>own Ill Names,</HI> and I have done no more. Pray de&s;ire the Dr. and his Friends, for Truth's &s;ake and their own Credit, that they will not &s;o plainly convince the World, that they decline <HI>An&s;wering</HI> and fall to <HI>Bantering;</HI> and withall a&s;&s;ur<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> them that if they vainly hope to avail them&s;elves of <HI>open Ly<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"></HI> I &s;hall not want means both to <HI>clear</HI> my &s;elf and to <HI>expo&s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"></HI> to the <HI>Scorn</HI> and <HI>Shame</HI> of Mankind. So wi&s;hing you hear<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> and Charitably what you mo&s;t need, <HI>Sincerity,</HI> I re&s;t&punc;</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Humble Servant, <HI>J. S.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
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<DIV1 TYPE="colophon">
<P>LONDON, <HI>Printed and Sold by</HI> Matthew Turner, <HI>at</HI> Lamb <HI>in</HI> High-Holborn. 1688.</P>
</DIV1>
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