A SERMON Preached in the SAVOY, July 11. 1675.  
By Mr. DE LUZANCY, LICENTIAT IN DIVINITY, On the Day of his ABJURATION.  
englished.  
LONDON, Printed by W. Godbid, and are to be Sold by Moses pit, at the Angel over against the Little North-door of St. Paul's Church. 1675.  
Where you may have the same Sermon in French, as it was Preached.   

To the Right Reverend AND Honourable Father in God, HENRY, Lord Bishop of OXFORD, Dean of His Majesties chapel.  
My Lord,  
A Person of the highest Rank and Honour, to whom I cannot deny any thing, having obliged me to publish the Discourse I delivered the day of my Abjuration. I thought myself bound in duty to address it to a Bishop; these being the fittest Judges of such things, whom God has placed in his Church, instead of the Apostles, to hinder Her departing from the conduct of His Rules and Spirit.  
I had no need of long considering, my Lord, to make choice of you, among so many Bishops, full of Zeal and Learning God has blessed England with. He has endued you with all the parts of an excellent Bishop, and your Honour is no less to be commended for the holiness of your Life, than for the vastness of your Knowledge.  
I shall not speak, my Lord, of the greatness of your Birth: It is known by all the World, and is the least of the Blessings God has favoured you with.  
The Glory of a Father killed in the Service of a King, who can never be remembered by his Subjects without admiration and grief; and the deserts of a Brother highly placed in the World, are not the things you put the greatest value upon. You are more concerned for the interests of the Church, and you do for Her what they have done for the State. You repair the Church, for whose defence they fought: and you are no less distinguished by the virtues that make men Saints, than they have been by those that make Hero's.  
'Tis a Right, my Lord, by the consent of all done you, and we wonder as much, at the modesty you keep in a dignity so eminent as the Episcopal Function, and that uniform and irreprehensible conduct the Apostle requires in a Bishop, that appears in all your actions.  
'Tis also the judgement of the best enlightened Monarch in the World, and His Majesty having made you Dean of His Royal chapel, and keeping you always by His Sacred Person, shows the high esteem he has for you. He was willing that the Court you had instructed by your Learned Sermons, should be edified also by your example, and that, that elevation which so many times discovers the faults of others, might cause your great parts to shine the better.  
'Tis for this same reason, my Lord, I take the freedom to present your Honour with this Discourse, I dare hope you will receive it, with that goodness you have shown me, and which engages me my whole Life to be with a profound respect,  
My Lord, 
 Your Lordships most humble, 
 Most obedient, and 
 Most obliged Servant, 
 De LUZANCY.   

The Abominations of the Church of Rome, discovered in a Recantation-Sermon, lately Preached in the French Church of the Savoy; whereunto are added many curious Particulars of the Practices of the Papists beyond the Seas. By Franc. De La mot, late Preacher of the Order of Carmelites, newly converted to the Church of England. Translated into English, Sold by Moses pit, at the Angel over against the little North-door of St. Pauls, 1675. Where you may likewise have the same in French, as it was Preached.   
St. JOHN, Chap. 8. v. 32. 
Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  
I Appear in this Pulpit, Brethren, to perform the greatest and noblest act of my Life. I come to pay a public Homage to Truth, and for ever dedicate unto it, that knowledge and freedom I have received from it.  
When men are overcome by others, and either by strength of Discourse, or power of Arms, are forced to yield; the acknowledgement of their defeat is grievous to them, and they lessen, as much as they can, the Glory of their Enemies: But when truth has subdued them, they are willing all the World should take notice of it; and instead of looking upon their being conquered as an unhappiness, they account all those that are not subdued by it, extremely miserable. Thus the Apostle is not ashamed of his blindness and his chains. He would have all the World know, that he persecuted the Church; and as if his own Confession was insufficient, the Holy Ghost has mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, the Scales which fell from his Eyes; 
Act. 9.18.  to the end, that he who glories, might glory in the Lord, and that this picture of human weakness, 
1 Cor. 1.31.  might serve to the exalting the Power and Glory of the Almighty.  
I speak it here therefore openly. I was Born in the Romish Church, I have studied her doctrine, I have been prepossessed with her Opinions, 
Gal. 1.14.  and have had no small Zeal for the Traditions of my Ancestors. But I say at the same time, and I am come hither to declare it, that that same Voice, which sounded in the Ears of the Apostle, has also sounded in mine, and that the same Grace has touched my Soul: That Jesus Christ has applied to my Eyes the blessed Unction of his Word, 
John 9.11.  as heretofore to those of the man that was born Blind,( of which the Gospel speaks so excellently) and that I am come, and have washed them, and that now I have received my Sight.  
I aclowledge, Brethren, that I feel a great pleasure within me, in making this public declaration; for besides that in so doing, I witness my Faith to you, I also know the sweet disposition of your Souls. You have upon Earth a due sense of God's Mercies, 
Luk. 15.17.  as the Angels have in Heaven: You rejoice no less at the conversion of Sinners, than at the perseverance of Saints: and you return thanks unto the Father of Mercies, and the God of all consolation, when he augments the fruits of your righteousness.  
'Tis to the increasing of this Holy joy which fills your hearts, that I purpose to set out in this Discourse the Reasons that brought me to this change; They are included in these words, ye shall know the truth.  
I sought after this Truth with all the diligence I could. I begged of God he would open the Eyes of my Heart: For it is through the Eyes of our Heart we must see the Truths of Salvation; for those of the Mind are never able to bring us to that height of clearness which is necessary for us.  
It must be received as an undoubted principle, that Truth is found in the Christian Religion, and no where else. Nature, says St. Austin, 
Augustin. in Joan. tract. 13.  has proclaimed, 'twill set you free, but has not done it; The Law has proclaimed, I will set you free, but it could only promise that freedom, and could not give it: Philosophy itself, and Paganism have proclaimed, I will set you free, but this great benefit was reserved for the Grace and Preaching of the Gospel. Now Christian Religion is divided in the Western parts of the World, into two contrary Societies, the Romish, and the Protestant. Both say, I will set you free; Both agree in their general Principles; Both are dispersed through vast Kingdoms; Both have able Defenders: but they differ in some particular points, and each shuts against the other the gates of Heaven. One stands indicted for adding, the other for diminishing.  
Nevertheless after an exact and disinterressed inquisition, every one must be forced to confess, that 'tis in vain the Romish Church says, I will set you free; since that Truth is not received by her, by which we are set at liberty. This proposition seems strange, that a Church, which speaks of nothing more than of Truth, should be unacquainted with it; that an assembly of Bishops, of Doctors, of Men raised up to high digrees in the World, that a Society maintained by all the means human wisdom can invent, should be without the true Light; and instead of being free, be captive under thousands of errors; notwithstanding the wonderful propensity all men have to Truth; notwithstanding the inquiry all Christians make after it, in a thing so essential, and of so high concernment as our Salvation, and after so many conferences, disputes; and writings.  
But this wonder will cease, if we consider that the Romish Church has ever brought two invincible obstacles to the Truth. The one, in seeking it where it is not to be found, and not seeking it where it is to be found; The other, in mixing of foreign Opinions with the Truths, she could not but know. These two things will be made appear to you, in both the parts of my Discourse. And to obtain your attention the better, I shall speak without heat against the Church I have left, and abstain from drawing before you the hateful picture of her disorders. Private mens manners have no relation at all to the Faith. Truth should be defended with reasons and not with railings.  
St. Paul bids us avoid all contention, and it would be against his Spirit, which is that of the Religion I now embrace, not to keep to the strictest rules of Modesty and Christian charity.  

THE FIRST PART.  
Let us begin then, Brethren, with the first of these things, to evince to you, that the Roman Church has not known the Truth, because she has not sought it there where it is to be found, and has sought it where it is not to be found.  
The Holy Scripture is the only Fountain of all Truths necessary for Salvation: It includes all within itself, and is that Treasure, out of which the Man of God takes all things new and old: 'Tis the foundation and rule of our Salvation: It entirely comprehends all the Words of God, who having in the former times spoken by the Patriarks and Prophets, has at last spoken in the fullness of times by his own Son, whom He appointed the Heir of all things, by whom also He made the Worlds.  
But how great soever and unchangeable the testimony of the Lord is in itself, the Roman Church has not received it as such; she has sought after other assurances, and other foundations for her salvation, than the Word of God, and as if this Divine Word had need of the testimony of men, she has joined the authority of Tradition with that of the Scripture. To colour this( which upon the first view must appear odious to all men) it has been found necessary to give to the first that weight that the other has of itself, and pretend that Tradition is not less the Word of God than the Scripture, with this difference only, that the last is written, and the first trusted to the memory of the Pastors of the Church, who from age to age have transmitted it to their successors.  
Therefore we must here examine the Reasons that moved the Roman Church to this; and this Question is of such importance, that its resolution would make the agreement in all the rest easy. The most considerable are the following:  
The first is, That the Holy Scripture has no Authority of itself, but stands in need of another Authority for its determination. The second, That it is obscure in itself, and has need of another light to discover it. The third, That though it had all the authority and clearness necessary, yet it is insufficient of itself, and wants another voice to declare unto us what it does not declare.  
Let us see then if the Holy Scripture has sufficient Authority to be received, clearness enough to be understood, and comprehensive enough to exclude all other means.  
When I speak, Brethren, of the Authority of the Holy Scripture, I mean a certain Character, of Majesty, Holiness, Truth, and Excellency, which clothes it from the beginning to the end, that causeth us to perceive those things in it, that are not to be found in any other Book besides this of Life and Salvation, and persuades us at the same time of its Authority, without the help of any other testimony.  
Its Authors were Prophets and Apostles, equally inspired by God; never was any thing observed in their life, that could bring them under the suspicion of any lie or corruption; it was always consonant to the holiness of their writings. They saw with their eyes, they felt with their hands, and heard with their ears, what they have taught us of the Word of Life. They were neither esteemed great by their birth, nor distinguished by their employments. God has chosen neither the Nobles nor Wisemen of the world, but he has chosen the weak things of the world, to confounded the things which are mighty; and instead of employing Orators and Consuls( as says St. Austin) he made use of the poorest sort of people; that his Word might be received for itself, and not for the greatness and eloquence of men. These sacred Authors never acted upon the account of interest or reputation; they were afflicted, afflicted, they were stoned, they were sawed asunder. And as the world was unworthy of them, so they renounced all its pomp. Their fiercest enemies have born witness in all times to the things they preached.  
Which things are either deep mysteries, and incomprehensible by all the strength of human reason; or wonderful miracles, which no less astonish than the mysteries themselves; or histories filled up with variety of circumstances; or weighty truths, which represent the life, the conduct, the conversation, and passions of men.  
Their way of writing, answers to admiration the matter they handle: Never men spake after that manner. There is an unimitable sweetness, together with a Majesty, in their Discourses; and to use the Apostles expression, their word is a word quick and powerful, more sharp and piercing than any two-edged sword.  
But these Characters of Truth, visible all along in the Scripture, will persuade us entirely, if we join to so many outward circumstances, the inward assurance of the Holy Ghost.  
Which inward assurance is absolutely necessary, either by reason of the darkness sin has spread over our mind, or by reason of the weakness of our nature, that of itself can do nothing.  
Jesus Christ has  told us of this necessity in these words, joining to His own Authority that of the Old Testament: No man can come to me, unless the Father that sent me draw him: 'Tis written in the Prophets, they shall be all taught of God: Whosoever has heard of the Father, and learned, cometh to me. 
1 Cor. 12.  No man( saith the Apostle) can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. God has revealed these things to us by his Spirit, 
1 Cor. 2. ( says he in another place) for the Spirit searches all things, yea the deep things of God; but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. We should writ out all the Epistles of St. Paul, if we would allege all the places that prove this Truth; but from these we may infer several consequences of great importance.  
1. That all those which see, do see by the Spirit of God. 2. That without that Holy Spirit, the Scripture is wrapped up in a cloud, which no authority of man can break. 3. That this Spirit is no private Spirit, that is in any man of himself, but an universal one, spread through all the Saints, which God imparts to whom he pleases, when he pleases, as he pleases, and is never to be gotten by our own strength; which made the Prophet cry out, Lord open thou mine eyes, that I may see the wondrous things of thy Law.  
The manner in which this Spirit moves in us is invisible. We are certain of his motion, 
Rom. 9.  for all those that are the children of God, are lead by the Spirit of God; and he that hath not His Spirit, 
Rom. 6.  is none of His. But we cannot perceive the manner of it; He does not speak by articulate sounds and set syllables, to tell us, this is true, and that false; but He enters the bottom of our heart, pierces our thoughts, and persuades us to whatever He proposes, though never so seemingly opposite, not only to our own apprehensions, but to those also of all the world.  
Therefore Christ has a voice, called eminently by him his own voice, which his sheep alone do hear; 
John 10. 1 John 2.  My sheep, says he, hear my voice. The same anointing teaches you all things, says St. John. When this voice speaks, all human voices hold their peace; man submits himself to God, who is instructing him Himself; his own thoughts vanish away, as the shinings of the night do before those of the day.  
If then the outward characters of this Divine Word, if the inward assurance of the Holy Ghost, make up the authority and certainty of the Holy Scripture, to what purpose should one admit Tradition, that must needs overthrow it? For this Tradition is no more, than the common agreement of some men, assuring us they are Trustees of an unwritten Word of God. But no human assurance can be the object of our Faith: the Faith of Christians must be grounded upon an eternal and infallible testimony; we receive what God reveals unto us, only because these qualities are in Him; He is the same at all times, He can never deceive, nor be deceived, and He accompanies His Word with the same beams of light that are always round about Him, by which we know that it is from Him. The testimony of men has none of these things, 'tis liable to change and error, it carries every where the character of that weakness and deceit, which is natural to it, and our Faith cannot be infallible upon so shaking a foundation.  
Is our Faith of another nature than that which the Apostles did preach? That could not be grounded upon Tradition, since there was no Tradition yet extant: And must we say, that that man has no Faith, who has received it by reading only the Scripture, without ever hearing a word of the authority and testimony of the Church.  
What Pope, what Council, what Assembly of Fathers, has such divine marks for their authority as the Scriptures? Are they as much to be valued for the holiness of their Doctrine, the sublimity of their style, the greatness of their Miracles, the Life of their Apostles, the Sufferings of their Martyrs, the fulfilling of their Prophecies, and the testimony of their very Enemies?  
It will be to no purpose to say, that indeed the Scripture is certain in itself, but that in relation to us it has no authority, unless we be assured by the Church, that it is the Scripture, and that same Church offers it to us as the Object of our Faith. That is to say, it is certain as to its Doctrine, but it is uncertain what books include this Doctrine, and the Church must tell us what are these books, that we may receive them.  
But, Brethren, there is nothing more known than the Scripture, and nothing more unknown than the Church; every one agrees concerning the true Scriptures, but no body agrees concerning the Church. The Armenians, Ethiopians, Romans, and Protestants agree, almost about all the caconical Books, they all receive them with the same veneration: But none of these agree about the Church; and all of them without exception, pretend as much as the Romans to be a part of it.  
Have not the Apostles relied more upon the testimony of the Scripture, than on their own? St. 
2. Pet. 1.  Peter having assured the new Saints, that he himself had heard the Eternal Father declaring Jesus Christ to be his Son, does he not sand them back to the Prophets, which he tells them to be surer than all that he could say? Does not Jesus Christ seem to have taught them this by his Example? St. John Baptist having born witness of him, does he not tell them plainly, that he has a testimony far greater than that of John the Baptist; 
Joan. 5.  his Miracles; the word of his Father, and the voice of the Scriptures? In a word, are not all the words of Councils and Fathers tried by the rule of Scripture? Are the decisions of those Councils, and thoughts of those Fathers, more Sacred and Divine than those of St. Paul: 
Act. 19.  yet the Saints at Berea are commended in the Acts, for trying if the Preaching of this Apostle was according to Scripture.  
But how should the Scripture take its authority from the Church, if the Church her self has all hers from the Scripture. 'Tis thereby she knows her self to be the true Church. 'Tis by it the Fathers laboured to bring the heretics into her bosom. 'Tis from that St. 
Aug. ad Par.  Austin desires the Donatists to prove they were the true Church: And was not this conduct very just? since three hundred years had passed, before ever the Church thought upon framing a Canon of the Books of the Scripture. 
Conc. Load. ca. de Ser.  The Laodicean Council is the first that marked which they were: The first and third Council of Carthage, 
Conc. Cor. 1. c. a. 3. c. 19. dear. 1. sect. 3.  the Popes Innocent and Gelasius, have done the same, thinking it enough to show the number of them, without pretending to give them any authority.  
But if the Scripture has its Authority from itself, it has also its clearness from itself. 
Psal. 19.  The Testimonies of the Lord are pure, enlightening the Eyes, says the Prophet: they spread all over our Souls, the Beams they are filled with; and as the Light of the Sun fills the Eyes of our Body at our opening them; so this heavenly Light, fills the eyes of our Heart, when the Grace of the Holy Ghost opens them. 'Tis St. Peter's sense, 
2 Pet. c. 1.  who compares the word of the Prophets to a Light that shineth in a dark place, until the day down, and the day Star arise in our Heart. 'Tis also St. Paul's, who bids the Saints red his Epistles with great care, 
Rom. 15.  and tells them, that whatsoever things were written afore time, were written for our learning. 
Deut. 30.  'Tis also Moses's, who teaches us, that the Law of the Lord, is not in Heaven, that we may not say, How can we go up to Heaven? 'Tis not beyond the Sea, that we might not say, How can we go over the Sea? But the Word is very nigh unto us, in our Mouth and in our Heart. In a word, 'tis that of God himself, 
Deut. 30.  who commands, that his Law be red not only to Kings, and Wise men, but to all Israel, to the poorest sort of People, to Women and Children, as not being hide from any, and free from that darkness the World fancies in it.  
Not that I intend by this to oppose the Preaching of the Gospel, which is the most ordinary mean of Converting and enlightening Souls. Jesus Christ has established Ministers in the Church, to feed the People with sound and uncorrupted doctrine. 
Tit. 2.8.  We ought to harken to them with great respect, and pay them all the honour that is due to them. Nay, 'tis dangerous to oppose the universal consent of Pastors: And this has drawn from St. 
Aug. advers. Manich.  Austin's mouth that famed saying so often used in Controversies; I should not believe the Gospel without the Authority of the catholic Church.  
I do not intend to deny that there are things in Scripture, which are not easily understood: St. Peter affirms it of some places in St. 
2 Peter, 3.  Paul's Epistles. Those difficulties have given colour to all Heresies, and by them it is, that the same Jesus Christ, who has been precious to some, 
1 Peter, 2.8.  has been a ston of stumbling, and a Rock of offence to others.  
But I maintain, that these difficult places contain nothing essential to Salvation. That God( as St. Austin says excellently well) has left them there to bring down our Pride, 
Aug. de civit. cap. 3. l. 12,  to inflame our desires, and make us earnestly pray him to open the Scripture to us, and such places that concern our Salvation, 
Aug. de doct. Christ. cap. 6.  are explained by other places, so clear and persuading, that every one may understand them. Yes, Brethren, the Word of God brings in it a Light which none can take from it: So that this Divine Word made David more Learned than the ancients, 
Psal. 119. Act. 13.  and more Prudent than his Enemies. So in the Acts, a Heathen believed through astonishment, or as another Version has it, through admiration of the Doctrine of the Lord. And you will find it fear and trembling, to be more pure and more shining than Gold, or precious Stones.  
Nothing remains then for the entire overthrowing of Tradition, but to prove it useless, and that the Scriptures include either in express words, or by consequences clear, easy, and sure, all that is necessary to Salvation. This is taught by the great Apostle, in these terms, All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, 
2 Tim. 3.  and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, and thoroughly furnished unto all good works. If the man of God be thoroughly furnished unto all good works, if he be corrected when he fails, if he be instructed in what he is ignorant, if there be no Duty in the Christian Life in which he is not taught and thoroughly instructed; can one doubt of the sufficiency and fullness of the Scripture? For how can he be convinced by the Scripture, if it cannot satisfy his doubts? how can he be corrected, if it cannot show him all his faults? how can he be instructed, if it does not contain all that is necessary to his instruction? how can he be fitted unto all good works, if it is deficient in any thing.  
'Tis to stop the pride of men, and to keep them to their only rule, that the same Apostle forbids us expressly to presume any thing beyond what is written; 
1 Cor. 4.  from whence it may be concluded, either that all that is necessary is written, or that the Apostle intended to keep men from their salvation, in forbidding them to seek what was necessary towards it. This is a consequence to be abhorred by all Christians, as pernicious and damnable.  
It would be easy to make out this by other places, that are no less clear to the same purpose, but time will not give leave to discuss them exactly, it will be enough, Brethren, to omit nothing of moment against this Tradition, to prove that it can have no force, since it does not stand upon a firm and fixed Principle, the same in all Ages, to whom we might refer ourselves, as to an immutable Judge.  
If this unwritten Word of God hath been inviolable, if this Consent of the Fathers has been without exception, it must especially be so in the first Ages, when the memory of the Apostles was so fresh, when the Martyrs blood began to be  shed so plenteously in defence of the Truth, and men learned more to suffer than to dispute; yet Tradition never appear so contrary to itself as then.  
Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, a man of the apostles times, has written five Books of the unwritten Words of our Lord, 
Euseb. lib. 3. cap. ult.  but Eusebius affirms them to be full of Fables and Lies.  
The Western Church differs from the Eastern in the time of keeping Easter; 
Euseb. lib. 5. cap. 23.  the first will have it, that it ought to be kept at one time, according to the Tradition of St. Peter and St. Paul; 
Socr. lib. 5. cap. 22.  the second will have it kept at another time, according to the Tradition of St. John and St. Philip.  
Tertullian, Basil, with many others, 
tart. lib. de corona mill. Basil. lib. de Sp. Sanct. Aug. Ep. 86. ad Casul.  maintain, that the Apostles have set times apart for fasting and not fasting: St. Austin asserts they have not done it, affirming besides, that those disputes about the Traditions of the Apostles, were fit to raise new questions, but not to resolve them.  
The Custom of giving the Eucharist to Children, has been received in the Church as necessary to their salvation, 
Cypr. serm. de laps. Iunoc. epist. ad council. mill. Gelas. in ep. ad epist. in Picen. August. lib. 1. contra Jul. cap. 2.  being grounded upon the Tradition of many Ages, and received without opposition by all the world: St. Cyprian, Innocent the first, Gelasius, and St. Austin, assure us of it. This notwithstanding, that custom has been abrogated in the following Ages, and condemned by the Council of Trent.  
But to give more light and force to this consideration, I must tell you, that the Fathers had never that opinion of themselves, that Rome would have us believe of them. They always looked upon themselves as private Authors, who indeed had great lights, but were subject to errors, and did really err many times. So St. Ambrose, St. Austin, St. Justin, Tertullian, Theodoret, and Origen, believed that the Saints should not enjoy the sight of God before the Resurrection of the Dead. So many of the Ancients admitted of no material Creatures. We find many places in St. Anathanasius, Chrisostom, Origen, and Jerome, forbidding all sorts of Oaths whatsoever. So according to what St. Jerome relates, in his Book of Illustrious Persons, 
Aug. ep. 12. & seq. P●ct. de vita Christi. Euseb. l. 5. hist Eccl cap. 2. Cypr. epist.  Severus, Ireneus, Apollinaris, &c. did believe Christ should come one day in his flesh, to reign with his Saints for some time upon earth. So St. Epiphanius opposed St. Chrisostom, St. Jerome opposed St. Austin, polycrates Victor, St. Cyprian Stephen, to pass by thousands of other examples of this nature.  
But the Popes and Councils will( it may be) have better luck, and that Tradition which wanders every where else, shall there shine as in her Throne; for if the Pope is infallible, if his Heart is a Temple never without the Holy Ghost, if he speaks by the force and power of God; though many times he be found subject to the passions and miseries of other men, there is no room for a further dispute. Again, if God rules all in the Council, and utters his Oracles by the Mouth of the Bishops that compose it, we must submit to its Decisions and its Decrees. But neither the one nor the other are infallible.  
I will not instance, as to the Council, that to prove it infallible, they ought to give us those assurances which men are not able to give, concerning both the intention of the Legislators, and the caconical way of their meeting. I will neither speak of the Intrigues nor the subtleties of the Roman Court. I will not instance, that we can find nothing almost uncorrupted of the first Ages, that the misery of the times, the ignorance of men, the inundations of the Barbarians, the ambition of Popes, have almost corrupted all. I will not say, that nothing is so hard, as the discerning of true Councils; that the Meeting at Rimini, and the second Council at Ephesus, pretend both to be no less ecumenical, than the first at Ephesus, and first at Nice; that the Grecians do canonize their Councils, as well as the Romans.  
I will affirm only, that both Pope and Council are equally Enemies to their own Infallibility. The Pope pretends no Council ought to be received, if 'tis not called by his Summons, and confirmed by his Authority, though we find many universal ones, wherein he had no part at all.  
Again, the Council pretends to the power of deposing Popes, and forcing them to give an account of their behaviour, many Popes having done it already; nay, they have proceeded even to the condemning them after their death, and anathematizing the errors they held during their lives. 
Conc. Constan. D●… gen. Act. 34. & seq.  So the Council of Constantinople declared Honorius a Monothelite. So Boniface, Xystus, Marcellus, cleared themselves before Councils of what they were charged with. But without going higher, the Council of Constance did declare the Pope to be under the Council; though it be true, that that decision lasted but to the Lateran Council under lo the tenth, it being then declared, that the Council was under the Pope.  
'Tis evident, that either the Pope or the Council is mistaken, not only in one of the points of Tradition, but in the essential point thereof. The Council must be no more referred unto, since they contradict themselves so visibly and absurdly. The Pope also must be no more referred unto, since the Council makes itself Judge of his Authority and his Doctrine. Whither will they have us then, Brethren, to go in quest of this unwritten word? Here we might enlarge upon the pretended Infallibility of Popes; upon the means by which their authority is grown so high; upon the dominion they are so willing to usurp over Souls, though it belongs to none but to him who purchased it by his Death and Blood. We might mention the quarrel of the two Apostles, that of polycrates with Victor, and that of Cyprian with Steven. We might give an account of the falls of Tiberius, Honorius, and Felix; we might recount all the violent intrusions, the false Revelations, the Spirit of Blood and War, which appeared all along in the Alexanders and Julius's, we might in this, hear what has been  told us by the Authors of the Romish Church, that were most commendable for their holiness and doctrine.  
In a word, without searching into the first ages, we should harken unto a Pope, who being consulted upon an essential point of St. Austin's doctrine, freed himself of that trouble, saying with a more infallible certainty than that they pretend to, I understand it not, I am no Divine. How can one be so, after he has forsaken the Fountain of true Divinity, the Holy Scripture; or rather, how can one avoid being exposed to all the errors I shall speak of, in this my second part.   

The SECOND PART.  
Those Errors are so numerous, and of so many sorts, that the Church may very well cry out with David, Lord, why are those that persecute me so much increased? 
Aug. in Isa.  For, Brethren, the Church is as much persecuted by Errors, as by her Enemies, and as she has nothing more precious than Truth, so she fears the loss of nothing, more than of that.  
But to regulate in some measure, things without Order, we may say in general, that they all have Christ for their object, and that from the first Error which tramples upon his Word, and substitutes human traditions by little and little in its place, sprung all those other Errors that defile his Body. For the Romish Church opposing the Death of Jesus Christ with the Sacrifice of the Mass, does not rest there; but she must also oppose his Presence in Heaven with the Sacrament of the Altar, she must oppose the infinite satisfaction with which this adored Lord has blotted out our Sins; with her doctrine of Purgatory and Indulgences; his Divine and Holy quality of Mediator, with her Invocation of Saints; the Adoration in Spirit and in Truth, which he came to establish, with her worshipping of Images, and many more outward practices of ill directed Piety, together with thousands of Superstitious Ceremonies, that have nothing of the Primitive Zeal and the Primitive Discipline of the Saints. Behold, Brethren, these are the consequences of this Tradition, and the Rocks on which those who forsake the Scriptures, shipwreck themselves. Lot us say a word of every one of them, and that the rather, to show that we did not pass them without considering them, than to sound their depth.  
'Tis very well, they call the Eucharist, an Incomprehensible Mystery. To defend it, we must renounce both sense and natural Reason, depart from Scripture, and embrace plain contradictions.  
I know it, Brethren, the Romish Church forbids us to consult our Sences, and requires only a blind Faith. But why is the Testimony of our Sences to be admitted in all other Mysteries, and not in this? God submitted all the Figures of the Old Testament to the Testimony of the Sences. His Manna, his Tabernacle, 
Ex. 10, 11, 12.  and the brazen Serpent, were things that could be seen and felt.  
The Sences were not mistaken in the mutations of Moses's Rod into a Serpent, 
Deut. 8.3.  
Num. 27.8.  of the Water of Nilus into Blood, and in the other Miracles of this Leader of God's People. 
Psal. 105.29.  Jesus Christ submitted the Flesh he put on, the Sacraments he Instituted, the Words he spoken, 
Num. 27.  the Actions he did to the Testimony of the Sences. 
Act. 1.  He would have the Hands of an unbeliever, and the Eyes of his Disciples to be witnesses of his Resurrection and glorious ascension. 
Nat. 28.  His Apostles began their Preaching with the Authority of Sences, We declare unto you that which we have seen, 
1 John, 1.  which our Hands have handled, of the word of life. But in this new mystery they will have us to see, feel, and taste, but so, that our Eyes, our Hands, and our Taste are deceived; and that we do not see, taste, and feel, that which we think we see, taste, and feel. With the same injustice that they take away our Sences, they forbid us also the use of our Reason in this mystery. They will not have us see impossibilities and contradictions. They silence it, at the same time that they attempt upon its most uncontroverted Principles. 'Tis true, Reason must not be set equal with Faith; for besides that it is of an inferior Order, Sin has covered it with darkness, and reduced it to a deplorable condition. But though it be darkened, it is not not extinguished. That natural light we have through Reason, is as much from God, as the Divine Light we have through Faith. Jesus Christ raises us to sublime apprehensions, but never subverts the Order and various constitution he placed things in. And at the same time that he lays down before us the things which are above us, he shows us the connexion they have, with those we know. 
Rom. 1.21. Act. 17.  So we see the invinsible things of God, by the things that are made. So St. Paul did strengthen with natural Reasons the Sermon he made to the Athenians; and the Fathers after him, do use a manner of arguing, which they take from the natural order of things, to prove the most Divine Mysteries. But what can we say of a Mystery overthrowing all these Principles? setting the same Body in a thousand different places, making it to exist after the manner of Spirits, bringing forth fruits out of a cause no more in being, keeping up and holding firm accidents without their subjects, dividing a Body without dividing it, destroying it without corrupting it; and setting it open to all profanations and indignities imaginable, without the least interesting His rest or glory whose Body it is.  
'Tis in vain to pretend, that the Scripture, which is the supreme Reason of Christians, suspends our Reason; if what Jesus Christ says of His Body is understood in the literal sense, all that He says of Himself must also be thus understood, and by this we lay ourselves open to infinite absurdities. We must believe Him a Lion, a ston, a Door, and leaving that wonderful way he made use of, to discover unto us the various effects of his Mercifulness by those Divine Metaphors, take up a killing letter, which cannot but destroy us.  
The Sacrifice of the Mass being the Product of Transubstantiation, it lies under the same difficulties. 
Heb. 10.  We are sanctified through the offering up of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all, says the Apostle: This man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sate down on the right hand of God. To what purpose then is this shadow of a repeated Sacrifice? To what purpose this Victim they offer without shedding blood, and which is consumed without dying? Thou hast offered thyself once, O Lord! at the time of thy suffering upon the infamous across; thou offerest thyself every day more really and truly; that is to say, the Virtue of thy first Oblation continues yet, and the Voice with which thou didst cry for us is heard yet, and will be heard until the day of thy Kingdom and Glory.  
This Satisfaction of Jesus Christ, so full and ample, gives occasion to speak about Indulgencies.  
A man must needs be the most indulgent person in the world to these Indulgences, not to picture out both their Authors and Promulgators with all the Colours they deserve. But the Majesty and Holiness of the Place I am in, allows me only to say, that never Doctrine was more uncapable of being defended; the Roman Divines themselves for the most part do not conceive it, and they that have found the way to live by it, and feed their avarice with it, publish surprising things of it. They give the Pope inexhaustible Treasures, and make his Reign a Reign of all Ages. A Soul in the depth of all corruption may buy the freedom of sinning without fear of punishment. But leaving these corrupted Doctors, whom God hath given over to a reprobate sense, and to ignominious passions, let us hear what the best and wisest of them do say about it. Their Doctrine makes more show, but it is as weak.  
Indulgences according to them are nothing else, than a relaxation of the Penance, enjoined Sinners by the Canons of the Church, for the Martyrs sake; and are never granted, as the Popes say themselves, but to those that are truly converted; and as St. Cyprian and the Fathers speak, to those who ask, who pray, who are actually under the Yoke of Penance; according to this Principle, which is the only one they have to colour over their Indulgences; What will become of that Authority, by virtue of which the Pope alone takes upon himself to grant them? Will not the meanest Pastors have the same power? what then shall become of those unexhaustible treasures which are shared among the Living and the Dead.  
But to overthrow this quiter, it will suffice to say, that the Fathers by Indulgences, never understood any thing, besides a shortening of the time Sinners were to be separated from the Church, to which they were admitted again, upon the change of Life, and the plenty of their Tears. To what purpose are Indulgences granted? when we are truly Converted, when we pray, ask, and labour; and after that Jesus Christ has changed us, through the fullness of his Grace, and our Hearts that were before of ston, are become hearts of Flesh, are not our Sins forgiven? If they are not forgiven us, we are not Converted. God looks upon none in his Anger, but those he has not changed, and after he has changed them, their former Sins are never again imputed to them; he becomes unto them a God of Mercy and Bounty, and looks only upon the present condition he has set them in. But this Indulgence, says the Romish Church, is granted to them, if they pray, ask, and labour. Now either this Indulgence frees them from praying, asking, and labouring; or it does not. If it does not free them, Why is it called Indulgence? and if it does free them from it, what will become of the Lord's commandment, 
Thess. 5.10.  to pray always? What will become of the Precept of the Apostle, to do whatsoever we do, 
1 Cor. 10.  to the Glory of Him, by whom we do all things.  
Let us pass from their Indulgences, and enter into their imaginary spaces, I mean their Purgatory. This is that wherein the Romish Church shows her Eloquence most. Souls are there described in pools of Fire and Brimstone, and in bitterness, beyond all imagination. A picture is drawn of them equally terrible and pitiful; and that the Living may gain, by the help they give the Dead, a thousand Inventions are found out for relieving those Languishing Souls.  
But not to lose more time in relating them; upon what place of Scripture; nay, upon what Principle of Tradition is this doctrine grounded, what rational foundation have they found out to maintain it. O! ye that are so bold as to judge Men, after that God himself has judged them, and that carry your thoughts into the depth of His Thoughts; tell us, pray, where you find so many miseries, and so many remedies for them. The place that makes most for their purpose here, is that of the 12th of St. Matthew, where Jesus Christ speaks of Sins, that are not forgiven neither in this World, neither in the World to come; and being not forgiven in Heaven, since no vile thing enters there, nor in Hell, since the punishment there is for ever, they conclude their must be a third place, and consequently, a Purgatory. But besides, that this consequence is forced, none of the Fathers have thus understood it, they all agree, that Jesus Christ meant by it only to teach us the heinousness of some Sins, which no torments neither of this World, neither of the World to come can punish sufficiently.  
Do we not see in a hundred places of Scripture, that Jesus Christ has obtained for us a perfect Redemption, that he has blotted out our Sins, and washed them with his Blood. If this Redemption is perfect, if none of our Debts remain to be paid, why do they fancy a new Expiation, a new Redemption, a new place wherein God punishes Sins, that are no longer in being, or must continue for ever.  
But the Romish Church is not contented, to dwell upon Earth, and destroy our Sacrifices here below, to go down into Hell, and prepare us new sufferings there. She must get up to Heaven, and raise us there new intercessors. She will not only have us hear Dead men complaining, but she will have us make our addresses to Saints, who do not hear us.  
The Invocation of Angels and Saints is no less injurious to God, than it is impossible in itself. I am very well satisfied, Brethren, that we ought to honour the Saints, and admire those great men, 
1 Cor. 10.3.  who being in the flesh, as the Apostle speaks, did not war after the flesh. We ought to study their lives, that we may imitate them, and( if I may mix a profane Story with so Holy a subject,) as the glory of Miltiades kept Themistocles from sleep; so the Idea of their great actions should keep us awake, and raise us out of that sluggishness in which we are plunged. But there is great difference, between imitating of them, and Invocating them. The Scripture which speaks of the one, forbids the other, in not Commanding it. Its silence in this case is an invincible proof against it. They cannot show us one place that authorises this practise. On the contrary, it teaches every where, that we have but one Mediator, one Advocate, one Redeemer; that he knows our miseries by himself, 
Heb. 8. 1 Cor. 15.  and cures them by himself; that the Saints are through his grace all that they are; that they know, as St. Austin speaks excellently well, that God crowning their merits crowns only His own Graces; and so far are they from receiving the Vows and Incense offered them, that they are ready to say with the Angel, before whom St. John fell down, See thou do it not, 
Revel. 22.  for I am thy fellow-servant, worship God.  
'Tis true I mistake myself in saying, that the Scripture does not speak of the Invocation of Saints. It speaks thereof, and speaks in plain terms too: Let no man beguile you, 
Col. 2.18.  says the Apostle, of your reward, in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels. The Apostle uses the word beguile, or seduce, according to the vulgar acceptation of it. And in earnest, is there any seduction or beguiling, equal to that, which makes Creatures partakers of the Authority of God; which attributes unto them His immensity, making them hear all those who pray unto them from all the parts of the world; and His searching the heart and reigns, 
Psal. 7.11. ( which He so often claims to Himself alone) making them know the very thoughts and wishes of those who pray to them; which offers Sacrifiees to Saints, builds Altars to them, and sings Hymns to their praise?  
The first Christians were so far from this false Worship, that nothing is to be seen of it in the three first Ages of the Church. Yet in those days, Tertullian, Cyprian, Clement, Arnobius, and Origen, did flourish; but they all abhorred it. So that some heretics, who prayed unto Angels, appearing then, 
Theedor. Cone. Laod.  they were condemned by the Laodicean Council in an express Canon. What would that Council say, if they saw how far the Roman Church goes now? if they should hear her speaking to Angels and Saints in her Prayers, as she does to Christ, asking them to free her from evils, to led her in the way to Heaven, to blot out her sins, to enlighten her, and to defend her?  
But the Roman Church is yet gone further, from a subtle Idolatry to a gross one, I mean from the Invocation of Saints to the Worship of their Images and relics. She adores graved Images, sets them upon her Altars, offers Incense, and burns Lights to them. This is no exaggeration, nor any other Figure of rhetoric. We believe without any doubt, says the second Council of Nice,( which is the seventh General) that the Images of Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Virgin, of the Angels and Saints, ought to be adored, and let him be Anathema who doubts of the adoration due to them.  
Let him who does not adore the Image of Jesus Christ, 
Act. 5.  says the Council of Constantinople,( which is the eighth General) not see his face in his second coming. By the same reason we adore the Images of his Mother, of the Angels and Saints The Council of Trent says the same thing. 
Conc. Tr. s. 23.  Thomas Aquinas, and the most Learned Schoolmen, will have it, that the across ought to be adored with the Worship of Latria, that is to say, with a sovereign Worship. Bellarmin, Suarez, and others, 
Bellarm. lib. de Eccl. Triumph. cap. 21. Suar. in 3. cap. 3. q. sect. 4.  will have it, that the Images are worthy of some veneration in themselves. The zeal of the Idolaters never went so far, they never adored the Image in the Image, which Celsus proves well, as Origen cites him. They never acknowledged in their Gods a power absolute, uniform, and subsisting in them all, but only a power derived from the sovereign of the Gods.  
It would be superfluous to show, how much the Scripture condemns this method; God forbids it expressly in the Decalogue; 
Exod. 20. 2 Kings 20.  and one cannot say, that it is only a legal prohibition, without intimating, that the Commandment which forbids Idolatry is of the same nature. The reproaches which God casts on Jeroboam for having made graved Images, are eminently remarkable. Ezekias breaks in pieces the brazen Serpent, though it had been the only hope of the People of God. In fine, can one speak more strongly than the Apostle, when he reproaches these Idolaters, they having changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an Image made like to corruptible man.  
These are, Brethren, the most considerable errors of the Roman Church, which spring all from that first Principle, which I laid down even now, their leaving the Scripture to embrace human Traditions. I renounce them forever, and cast myself into your Arms, to approve by my words, but more by the course of my life, this renunciation sincere and unfeigned.  
I am bound to bear this testimony, Brethren, That the Church of England has things in Her, able to draw to Her all those that have the least taste of the ancient Discipline of the Church, and of Her true Doctrine.  
Must we not admire the Government of these Bishops, 
1 Pet. 1.  that are the Guide of their Flocks, who do not domineer in the House of God, but justify by their Example what they teach by their Doctrine, 
1 Cor. 9.  and make themselves all things to all, that they might gain all the world to Christ?  
Must we not be sensible of the zeal, vigilance, and learning of these Ministers, who instruct their Sheep without ceasing, and feed them with the Holy Word of Jesus Christ, according to what the Apostles have taught us. And though I know that in saying this, I entrench upon the modesty of those who govern the Church wherein I speak, yet I feel myself bound in duty to aclowledge, that God has given this Church Ministers that are powerful in works and in speech, whose zeal is mixed with deep learning, and whose learning is quickened with a great zeal, and who leave us in a doubt, as St. Basil said of St. Gregory, which is the more remarkable, the holiness of their Lives, or the purity of their Doctrine.  
Let the Romish Church compare her Worship and her Ceremonies with yours. You have cast out whatever savoured of judaisme. You have renounced that outward formality and pomp which charms the Eyes, but at the same time dries up the Heart. You have adhered to the two great things Jesus Christ has bequeathed to the World, his Word, and Prayer. You compile this last, you join your Hearts and Voices in your Sacred Singing of Psalms; and the first is distributed among you, in a way, easy, solid, and able not only to feed you, but to defend you.  
Do not wonder then, if I am no more what you once were, and if I am now what you are; for I hope I may obtain your leave, to tell you, 
Ephes. 5.  that you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; that heretofore you were entangle in the Bonds of the Romish Church, but now you sing, the Bonds are loosed, and we are made free. Heretofore you did groan under the burden of human traditions, and now you feed yourselves only with Divine Truths.  
But at the same time, Brethren, that you rejoice for the grace God has given me, you must humble yourselves for that which you have received from him; your Life must be conformable unto the Faith you have received. You must set your heart above the deceits and illusions of this present Life. You must die to all things that perish, and aspire after that which does not perish. If Truth free you, the less you have of Truth, the less freedom you will have; The less you shall live the life you ought to live, the less part will you have in the combat of the Saints, and by consequence, in the rewards God has promised them.  
To Him, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory, &c.  
FINIS.